We’re aiming to be home by Christmas. We’ll have to stay with you and Father for a few months until we get our living arrangements sorted. Quinn wrote that we’re welcome to build on their property whenever we chose to come home. She wasn’t very good at hiding how much she wanted me home for your sake. Offering up property was a last-ditch effort, I suppose?
We’ve also corresponded with Theo, and he’s only too happy to have Phillip come into the practice as a partner. He said Emerson Pass is growing so fast he can’t keep up with all the babies. I’m excited to come home and be the town doctor’s wife. I’ve grown pretty good at nursing, having assisted Robert these last few years. I don’t know if I’ll have time once the baby comes, but we’ll have to see.
Regardless, it doesn’t matter how we get there or where we live, I’m coming home where I belong.
Love,
Florence
Note from Tess - if you’d like to read the first novel in my Castaway Christmas Series and learn about Wesley and Luci Ford and how they came to Castaway, Maine download COME TOMORROW.
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For more Emerson Pass, download the historical books in the series. Travel back in time to meet the original residents of Emerson Pass, starring the Barnes family.
The School Mistress
The Spinster
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The first of the Emerson Pass Contemporaries, The Sugar Queen, starring the descendants of the Barnes family is available at your favorite retailer.
The Recipes
Dear readers!
I asked for family recipes and you sent them. Thank you so much. This was way too much fun for my assistant and me. We enjoyed reading each of them, smiling as we read between the lines that so clearly conveyed the love the memories and recipes evoked from the sender. Although they weren’t all appropriate for the time period that Lizzie would have been cooking, we decided to include them all!
I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Be sure to email me at [email protected] if you cook any of the recipes and I’ll include your note and photos in my newsletter.
Love,
Tess
Swiss Macaroni & Cheese sent by Teresa (Tee) Jacober
My father's parents were both immigrants from Switzerland way back when. In fact, my Grandfather only met my Grandmother when he was getting ready to board the boat to bring him to America - she was working in a small family owned eatery when they met and fell in love. He promised he would send for her once he was settled in America and he did. Not sure of the whole story but they ended up in Bakersfield, although I know my Dad was born in Pasadena. In Bakersfield they opened a restaurant in an area of town known as Edison called Joe's Place. Sadly, due to numerous moves by all family members over the years I no longer have photos - but I have seen them.
This is not a recipe from their restaurant, but because my Dad was Swiss, Swiss cheese was the only cheese he would eat and my mom made the following Mac and Cheese version for him, which everyone in our family loved!
I don't really have true amounts so I am guessing but the ingredients are simple and to taste. These days I don't eat meat or dairy any longer, however typing this out makes me want to make and gorge on this just for old times’ sake.
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Swiss Macaroni and Cheese
1 Large Onion, Sliced into thin slices and separated
1 stick real Butter
1 lb elbow Macaroni
1 lb Swiss Cheese, grated.
Melt butter in a skillet and sauté the onions until golden and soft and silky.
Meanwhile cook the macaroni until al dente and drain. Immediately put Macaroni back in the pan and dump the grated cheese onto the hot pasta and stir until the cheese is melted and gooey and coating the macaroni. Once all combined, pour the butter and onions all over and mix again and serve.
Mom always served with Sourdough bread and butter as well as applesauce on the side. Enjoy!
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Vanilla Crescent Cookies by Carol Corbin
Every Fall my mom would start baking dozens and dozens of cookies for the holiday season. All the favorites had chocolate in them. My mom would make this recipe specifically for me because I couldn’t have very much sugar because of a blood sugar problem. Nor could I have chocolate because it gave me migraines instantly. This all started when I was only 13. Mom continued to do this every year until she passed five years ago when I was 61. Mom made special cookies for me for a whole lot of years.
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Here is the very simple recipe:
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2 cups Flour
1/2 lb Butter
1/2 lb ground pecans
1/2 cup sugar
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Cream butter & sugar, stir in flour, then stir in pecans.
Roll into little balls, smaller than a walnut, and bake at 350° until light brown. Approximately 12 minutes.
When cool, roll in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
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Joe Frogger’s Cookies by Christina Boyd
My father-in-law in Maine always made these Joe Frogger’s Cookies at Christmas. When he died no one made them that first year. So I made them the next year and made sure to make enough to send to my mother-in-law. Usually I forget the rum because we often don’t have it in the house when I start to make these. I guess that’s my tradition.
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves and nutmeg
1/4 tsp all spice
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs rum
6 Tbs water
Stir molasses & soda together and set aside to foam.
Cream butter and sugar.
Mix flour and spices.
Add rum and water to molasses mixture, then combine all ingredients.
Cover. Refrigerate overnight.
Roll out 1/4” thick, cut into 3” rounds.
Bake on well-greased and floured pans are 350 for 10-15 minutes.
Cool before removing from pan.
Makes 3 dozen.
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Baked Raisin Pudding by Lisa Sanetra
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This dessert recipe was a great favorite of my late mother. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen together and to this day I think of her whenever I cook or bake.
Another enthusiastic participant in our kitchen adventures was our collie mix "Copper" who was always around looking for handouts.
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1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup flour ( unsifted)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
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Combine brown sugar, water, and butter in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Pour into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, raisins, milk, and vanilla; blend thoroughly. Pour over the hot mixture in the casserole dish.
Bake raisin pudding for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
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Easter Deviled Eggs by Susan Hill
Tie-dye eggs
Place boiled eggs, with shell on, in a zip bag (Lizzie will have to improvise)
Put a few drops of food coloring in the bag. Shake up the eggs, allowing the shells to crack. When peeled, they look awesome! You can have the kids help, putting 2-3 eggs in each bag, each with a different color.
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How Did She Do That eggs
Boil and remove shells
Make several bowls of strong food colored water, each a different color.
Cut and remove yolk, rinse off any yolk residue. Put whites in the colore
d water and let sit until it reaches the color you want. Pat dry and fill with your favorite yolk mixture. Always a hit!
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Cabbage Noodles by Jane Heuker Ring
This is one of my favorite potluck dinner dishes and is Hungarian or German. It always disappears quickly!
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1 cup of Cream of Wheat
1 onion
1 stick of butter or more as necessary
Shredded cabbage
Egg noodles
Sour cream as garnish
Hungarian paprika as garnish
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Sauté the Cream of Wheat and the onion in a stick of butter in a deep skillet.
When lightly toasted, add shredded cabbage. Sauté the cabbage. If more butter or a tablespoon of water is needed, go for it!
The more the cabbage is cooked and browned, the sweeter the cabbage gets.
In a separate pan boil egg noodles. Drain the noodles and add to the buttered cabbage.
Serve a huge scoop with sour cream.
You can also sprinkle Hungarian paprika on the sour cream to add color and flavor.
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Buttered Pasta by David Cox
My family recipe is one my sister mandated when she was a pre-teen. My mother was not the world's best cook, something she herself acknowledged later in her life by telling my sister and I she wasn't going to invite us over to dinner anymore since we were both much better cooks than she. She preferred coming to our houses! Mom's spaghetti sauce was not great, and my sister insisted that when we had spaghetti, she just wanted butter on her pasta. Just butter.
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Pasta
Butter
Boil pasta per package instructions. When al dente top with butter to each person’s liking.
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Steak Soup / Stoup by Beth Morrissette
I now make this in my Instant Pot because I can sauté then slow cook in the same pot…less cleanup! Nowadays for convenience, I use a 10 oz bag of frozen peas and carrots, and canned green beans and fire-roasted tomatoes. Family loves this classic beef/steak soup for delicious, easy, and quick lunches…and we call it Stoup. (Hubby doesn’t much care for leftovers, but loves stoup warmed in the microwave.)
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Steak Soup / Stoup
1 lb beef sirloin steak, cubed
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup green peas
1-1/2 cups green beans, topped and tailed, cut into 1-1/2” pieces
1-1/2 cups fire-roasted tomatoes, chopped
40 oz beef stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
For roux: ¾ cup each butter and flour
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In medium fry pan, sauté beef cubes then remove from pan.
In same pan, sauté celery and onion in beef drippings until onion is slightly translucent.
Put beef, celery, onions, any pan fond and drippings into a large stockpot; add rest of ingredients except butter and flour, cover and simmer on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally.
In medium fry pan, make roux with butter and flour, cooking until light brown. Stir into soup. Turn heat to medium-high and simmer vigorously another hour. Serve.
Beef casserole by Mary Allen
This is one of the first things I learned to make and was so easy with no extra dishes. The macaroni is flavored by the meat and corn. No extra dishes to clean and you have a starch, a vegetable and protein. I remember eating this when I was growing up and also when I first went out on my own. It isn't pretty but it is delicious.
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1 lb. fresh ground chuck (80/20) Use the day you buy it.
3/4 cup dry elbow macaroni
1 can Del Monte cream style corn (other brands don't have enough corn.)
Put all three ingredients in glass casserole dish and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 350 for an hour.
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Graham Cracker Ice Cream by Marilyn Scolari
Hello, not sure what you consider a secret recipe? So many old recipes are now considered not healthy, but darn it, they still taste good. Here's one that I remember with fondness. I'd like to say how many servings, but would have to admit to eating the whole thing...
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1/2 cup sugar
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. Vanilla
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Combine and freeze in tray (yeah, remember when "ice boxes" had those aluminum freezer trays?)
When partially frozen, place mixture in a bowl and beat to thoroughly combine.
Put back in tray and freeze until firm. (Of course you can use any similar container)
This will be a bit soft and melts quickly so eat up fast!
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Brown Sugar Pecan Rounds by Phyllis Sharrow
This is a recipe for my Aunt’s cookies that she always had for us .. in a gold tin container. What a treat!
From Zia (Victorine Granberg, our aunt)
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½ cup butter or margarine softened (1 cube)
1 ¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg (slightly beaten)
Mix butter, brown sugar and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients.
1 ¼ cup Gold Medal flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
Drop dough by teaspoons, 2” apart. Use ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes in 350.
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Brownie Cake by Phyllis Sharrow
This is a brownie cake from softball days for my daughter...it's brownie height poured in a cookie sheet and a family favorite.
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Put in mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
Boil together:
½ cup oil
1 cube butter
4 T Cocoa
1 cup water
Pour over flour and sugar
ADD:
½ cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
Put in well-greased cookie sheet.
Bake 20 minutes at 350.
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Frosting:
1 cube butter
6 T Milk
4 tsp cocoa
1 box powdered sugar (16 ounces)
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Grandpa Sam’s Potato Latkes (Pancakes) by Cynthia Spencer
Ingredients:
6-7 medium potatoes, peeled & shredded
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
2 eggs, warmed to room temperature
5 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
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Preheat oven to 275° to keep latkes warm after frying until time to serve. Place large baking sheet in the oven. Line a 2nd baking sheet with paper towels.
In large bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, salt, baking powder and pepper.
Shred the potatoes and onion, then quickly add to the egg mixture (to avoid potatoes discoloring).
In a large skillet, heat ¼” oil over medium-high heat until sizzles. Drop ¼ cup mounds of the potato mixture into the skillet and flatten into 3” rounds with spatula.
Cook 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel-lined baking sheet, then transfer to oven to keep warm.
Repeat steps 3-4 until all the batter is cooked, stirring potato mixture before adding each batch to the skillet. Add more oil to skillet as needed between batches.
Serve warm with applesauce and sour cream.
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Mediterranean Baked Cod by Cynthia Spencer
This recipe works well with any
firm white fish (halibut, red snapper, cod, etc.). I used Costco’s
Spanish olives that are stuffed with jalapeño & garlic, which added wonderful flavor. Original
recipe called for more peppers. I traded for green beans & mushrooms.
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Serve with rice and crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
5 tbsp olive oil (divided)
2+ lbs skinless cod fillets (easiest if precut into portion size)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 - 2 sweet peppers, cut into thin strips
12 oz fresh green beans, cut in half
24 pitted green Spanish olives, sliced
1 medium finely chopped onion
1⁄2 lb sliced brown mushrooms
1+ tbsp minced garlic
2 cups canned tomatoes: drained & chopped
1 tsp dried oregano (or Italian spices)
1or 2 bay leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce (or 1⁄2 cup fish broth)
Red pepper flakes
1⁄2 lb feta cheese, crumbled
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1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Coat bottom of a large baking pan with 1 T of the olive oil. Arrange fish fillets in the
pan. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.
3. In a large fry pan, toast the mushrooms in 1 T olive oil, then drain off excess water and
set aside.
4. Heat remaining 3 T olive oil in the fry pan, add the garlic, onions and green beans.
The Patron Page 24