“Well, that sounds like just the thing for her, really. She was never fully happy here. I’m glad she’s where she is most comfortable,” Claire says.
“Me too,” I say, leaving out the part where it’s also the most comfortable for the rest of us.
My mom comes out of the kitchen with a tall coconut cake.
“Wow! Mom, that looks amazing.”
“Is that coconut cake?” Shawn asks.
“Yep.” My mom grins. “It’s Cheryl’s recipe. She mentioned to me when we had lunch last week that it’s one of your favorites.”
Glenn and Darren have started golfing together once a week, and when they do, my mom and Cheryl have been hanging out, sometimes with Claire. Two weeks ago Shawn and I popped over while walking Simca on a Sunday afternoon and found the five of them on the sunporch indulging in some of Claire’s glaucoma pot, stoned to the gills and eating pizza. I swear, raising senior citizens is hard.
“Oh, Lord,” Shawn says. “You spoil me rotten.”
“Well, you spoil my Eloise, so that seems only right.”
My mom cuts huge slices of cake for all of us, and Shawn brings out the bottle of champagne we brought over to celebrate his condo offer and the new house plans. We toast to family and home and the future, and the sheer joy of having sweetness on the tongue and bubbles in the nose, and so much extraordinary love and possibility around us.
Recipes
Here are a few of the more special recipes mentioned in the book.
Mrs. O’Connor’s Macaroni and Cheese
SERVES 8 AS A SIDE DISH
When Eloise’s dad passes away, her former teacher starts showing up with comfort food just when Eloise and her mom most need it. This is one of those dishes, and it is not your everyday mac. This is your special-treat, soul-soothing mac, and I save it for very important occasions when someone really needs healing.
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pound cavatappi or other pasta noodle
1 quart heavy cream
8 ounces Hoffman’s super-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces smoked gouda (grocery store cheap stuff here, not fancy or aged), shredded
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, toast the bread crumbs in the melted butter until coated. Set aside to cool.
Boil pasta in well-salted water according to package directions. While water is coming to a boil, heat the cream to a light simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shredded cheeses and stir constantly until the mixture becomes a cohesive thick and creamy sauce. Taste, and adjust seasoning to your preference with salt and pepper.
When pasta is cooked al dente, drain and return it to the pot. Add the cheese sauce and stir well to combine. Put the mac into a casserole dish and cover generously with the toasted bread crumbs. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes to crisp the topping, and serve hot.
Marcy’s Cornflake Snickerdoodle Cookies
MAKES APPROXIMATELY 1 DOZEN
Marcy’s work with Sophie Langer (from my earlier novel Wedding Girl) is always fun and full of interesting baking problems to solve. So when Sophie decides she wants a cookie that tastes like the crispy cornflake topping of her grandmother’s famous noodle kugel, Marcy is up to the challenge. This cookie is infused with cornflake flavor and then rolled in the same topping as is usually sprinkled on a kugel, for a whole new taste sensation. It goes without saying that they are really delicious dunked in milk!
COOKIE DOUGH:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
1 egg
1⅓ cups flour
¼ cup fine corn flour (You don’t want cornmeal here; use corn flour.)
⅔ cup cornflake powder (Pulse cornflakes in your food processor until you get a powder, and then measure out ⅔ cup of that powder.)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
TOPPING:
1 cup crushed cornflakes (You want more of a crumble here, as opposed to the powder in the cookie dough. You can do this by putting the flakes into a Ziploc bag and gently crushing it with a rolling pin to create small crumbs.)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping the bowl halfway through to be sure everything is getting combined. The mixture should be super fluffy. Add the egg and beat for 7 to 8 minutes until smooth.
With the mixer on low, add the flour, corn flour, cornflake powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a wide, shallow bowl, mix the crushed cornflakes, sugar, and cinnamon. Make generous balls of the cookie dough—about the size of golf balls. Roll the balls in the topping mixture, pressing so that each ball is well coated with the topping. Arrange them on the sheet pan. Press the tops of the cookie dough balls with the heel of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten slightly. When all of the flattened balls are on the pan, cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or as long as a week. Chilling is really important here. If you bake the cookies at room temperature, the butter will get greasy and the cookies won’t have that perfect combo of crunch and chew! (This is a pretty good tip for most butter-based cookies, especially if you tend to have problems with them spreading too much or getting too thin.)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Rearrange the chilled dough circles so they’re a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. They should be golden brown at the edges and slightly paler toward the middle.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate, since they will be tender and can break in half pretty easily if you move them too quickly.
Ian’s Winning Meat Loaf with Fig Barbecue Glaze
SERVES 8
Ian knows that meat loaf is always a crowd-pleaser with his family, and Eloise has taught him how to elevate any classic family recipe to wow the judges on America’s Junior SuperChef. This is the recipe that gets him a callback for the competition. The spicy-sweet fig glaze is balanced by the crispy bacon topping. For me, it is the perfect dinner party dish, delightfully surprising in its hominess but still elegant enough for company. I would serve it with mashed potatoes enriched with sour cream and chives in addition to the usual butter and milk, and a steamed green vegetable.
GLAZE:
1 cup chili sauce
8 tablespoons fig jam
4 teaspoons fig balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
MEAT LOAF:
2 teaspoons oil
1 cup finely chopped sweet onion
2 eggs
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1⅓ cups soft white bread cubes (crusts removed)
½ cup heavy cream
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground veal
⅓ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 pound thin-sliced bacon
FOR THE GLAZE:
Mix all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes to thicken slightly, stirring
occasionally. Set aside to cool.
FOR THE MEAT LOAF:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and sauté until softened—about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing the remaining ingredients.
Mix the eggs with the thyme, salt, black pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and red pepper flakes. In a separate bowl, mix the bread cubes with the cream to create a paste. In a large bowl, add the egg mixture and the cream/bread mixture to the ground meat, parsley, and cooked onion. Mix with your hands or a fork until the meat mixture is evenly blended and does not stick to the bowl. If mixture sticks, add additional cream, a couple tablespoons at a time, until it no longer sticks.
Turn the meat mixture onto a foil-lined shallow baking pan. With wet hands, pat mixture into an approximately 9 x 5-inch loaf shape. Brush with half of the glaze, then arrange the bacon slices, crosswise, over the loaf, overlapping them slightly and tucking only the tips of the slices under the loaf.
Bake the meat loaf until the bacon is crisp and the loaf registers 160°F in the center—about 1 hour. Let it rest at least 20 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Serve with extra glaze passed separately.
Chocolate Cream Pie
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF VALERI LUCKS
Eloise might be nervous about connecting with Shawn’s family, but she is never nervous about her cooking skills, and she knows that the way to win them over is with this pie for Easter Sunday! I first tasted it at Palomino Bar in Milwaukee, and it haunted me so much I reached out to the chef for the recipe and asked if I could share it with all of you. Valeri was very kind, and I’ve made this a few times for friends and family, and everyone raves. If you ever have reason to be in Milwaukee, Palomino is a terrific gastropub with killer fried chicken and a whole case of extraordinary pies.
CRUST:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, melted
FILLING:
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2½ cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ to ¾ cups chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
shaved chocolate or chocolate chips for garnish (optional)
FOR THE CRUST:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over graham cracker mixture. Stir together until butter is incorporated (mixture should feel like wet sand). Press graham cracker mixture into a deep 9-inch pie pan. Use the bottom of a glass or a measuring cup to press crust together firmly in the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
FOR THE FILLING:
In a large nonreactive saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, salt, and sugar until glossy and a pale yellow color. Slowly whisk in cornstarch until smooth and glossy. Pour in milk and whisk together. Put pan over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until bubbles form and the mixture is thickened—about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Mix chocolate into the hot cream. The heat from the cream will be enough to melt the chocolate; do not return to heat. Whisk until all the chocolate has completely blended into the cream.
Pour chocolate mixture over the bottom of cooled piecrust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours until cool. Top with whipped cream and decorate pie with some shaved chocolate or chocolate chips.
Eloise’s Lemon Chicken Pasta
SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE OR 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH
When Eloise peeks into her fridge for inspiration, leftover roasted chicken isn’t just fodder for chicken salad or a sandwich. This fast and delicious creamy pasta is the kind of thing that comes together in a flash but is also inspiring for Eloise, making her think about the kind of food she wants to celebrate in her cookbook.
1 pound linguine
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1½ cups leftover chicken meat, shredded
1 egg yolk
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (This will work best if you buy a chunk of good Parmesan and grate it yourself on a Microplane grater. Pre-grated stuff in the store often has cornstarch or other things in it to prevent clumping, and it can make your sauce grainy.)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Cook linguine to al dente in well-salted water in a large, wide-bottomed pot.
While pasta is cooking, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet and sauté the chicken—just to heat through and crisp a bit on the edges. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk, cream, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese.
Drain pasta, reserving 1½ cups of pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to your pot, and over medium-low heat add the butter, stirring and tossing to coat all the pasta. Stir in the chicken. Then add ¼ cup of the lemon juice and mix well. Add the cream and cheese sauce to the pot along with ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water, and stir to combine well. The sauce should be smooth and velvety. If it needs to be looser, add more pasta water, ¼ cup at a time, until you get the consistency you want. The pasta should just be coated with the sauce, not soupy. Taste a strand of pasta to see if you want to add the remaining lemon juice—I usually do, but I like this really tart. Stir in chives and parsley, and season generously with salt and pepper. Serve with more cheese on the side.
Questions for Discussion
The goals that Eloise and her friends come up with are meant to be challenging and to push each woman outside of her comfort zone. What goals would you set for yourself? What goals would you create for your friends?
Eloise, Lynne, and Teresa have been friends since high school. How would you characterize their relationships? Do you think friendships can last beyond high school? Do you think that they should? Why or why not?
Lynne accuses Eloise of breaking “girl code.” What do you think of Eloise’s choices? How do you feel about Lynne’s reaction? Use specific examples from the book to illustrate your points.
Discuss how the book handles race. Why do you think the author chose to feature an interracial couple? How did it affect your reading of the novel?
How would you characterize Eloise’s relationship with her clients? Do you think that her devotion to other families has been beneficial or detrimental to her own happiness and achieving all of her life’s goals? Use specific examples from the book to illustrate your points.
Eloise, Lynne, and Teresa each seem to play a specific role in their friend group. Discuss those roles. Do they change over the course of the novel? What role do you play in your own friendships?
Why do you think the author chose to include the character of Marcy? What does she add to the story? What do you make of her interactions with and feelings toward the other women?
Stacey Ballis is the author of ten foodie novels: Inappropriate Men, Sleeping Over, Room for Improvement, The Spinster Sisters, Good Enough to Eat, Off the Menu, Out to Lunch, Recipe for Disaster, Wedding Girl, and How to Change a Life. She is a contributing author to three nonfiction anthologies: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, and Living Jewishly.
For more information, visit staceyballis.com or check out her blog at blog.polymathchronicles.net. You can also visit her online at facebook.com/staceyballis1 and follow her on Twitter @staceyballis.
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