Phoebe's Kitchen

Cadwell's Cheese House

Cadwell's Cheese House in Dewittville, NY was the first to carry our latest book the Taste and Tales of New York. 

 I have know the owner Jane Currie- since the 70s..  She is an outstanding photographer and the author of several books about western New York state around Chautauqua.  Cheese  had been in the Currie family since the last 1800s and the Cadwell Cheese House has been selling quality cheese and gifts since 1927. 

Check out their website at http://www.janeandpamela.com/cadwellmain58/cheese32/pid1cheese.html

Taste and Tales of New York

        Introducing our latest cookbook with over 200 recipes and nearly 200 interesting tales and tidbits. 

Once again Louise Minks of Leverett, MA painted an amazing image that we used for the cover.  The colors literally just jump off.

Kudos go to Lynee Rudie of Turners Falls who designed the book.  She did an absolutely fabulous job. 

The book is available through our website, www.basspondpress.com.  There are representative tales and a delicious recipe for the official muffin of New York, an Apple Muffin.

 

 

Norwegian Kringle - 12 Days of Christmas Cookies

Here we are on the Monday before Christmas with five days left and only 7 cookies so far - so instead of the 12 Days of Christmas, it is going to be more like the 8 Days of Christmas.  To put it mildly, I misjudged my time and all that needed to be done.  I'll do better next year.  Besides making all these cookies - dozens and dozens of them, the question became what to do with all the cookies.  I'm really becoming quite inventive.

Below is a recipe given to me by friends in Florida who got it from a friend from Norway.  They are delicious and last fairly well if kept in an air tight container.  I leave mine on the porch where the cold seems to keep them fresh.

Norwegian Kringle 

 1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1 tablespoon water

Blend together.  Press on a 10 x 14-inch baking sheet.  Dip your fingers in cold water to help you press the mixture in place.  It can be done, it takes time and patience.

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat water and butter to the boiling point, remove from heat; add flour.  Stir until smooth.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add almond extract.  Spread on pie crust.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Mix together until smooth.  Spread on the cooled Kringle.  Cut into 1-inch squares.  This cookie is very rich!

 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies

Beginning on Monday, December 6th, I will present a different cookie for the next twelve days.  Today, we'll look at the history of Christmas cookies.  Personally, I first began making cookies with my Mother and then continued each Christmas by making several types and giving them as gifts. 

Cookies go back over 10,000 years when Neolithic farmers combined grain and water to make a paste which they then cooked on hot stones.  Some cultures still make flat bread by this method today.  Over time this flat cookie changed with the addition of various spices and ingredients to become the cookie we know today.  It was during the Middle Ages that the cookie began to come into its own.  From the exploration of Marco Polo and others who ventured forth from Western Europe came cinnamon, ginger, almonds and many other ingredients. 

In 1703, the word "cookie" was first seen in print.  It is thought by food researchers that Lebkuchen or gingerbread was probably the first cake/cookie related to Christmas.  The name "Lebkuchen" comes either from the old German word "lebbe" (very sweet) or from the Latin word "libum" (cakes).  According to the website, German Food Guide, "'The history of the Lebkuchen begins with the Honigkuchen (Honey Cake). The Egyptians, around the year 1500 BC, baked these cakes to be placed in the graves of kings. The Egyptians believed that honey was a gift for the gods. The Romans called their honey cakes "panus mellitus" (sweet bread). They not only used honey as a sweetener in the dough, but they also glazed the cakes with honey." 

"The Lebkuchen that we know today was originally founded in Belgium. It was introduced into Germany through the city of Aachen, where it was then taken over by the Franconian (fränkishe) monastaries. It was the nuns that created the Lebkuchen shapes that are used today. As "Pfefferkuchen," the cookies were introduced to the city of Ulm in 1296. Later in 1395 they were discovered in the city of Nürnberg, where they were baked by the local monks. The cookies were first called "Lebkuchen" in 1409. 

By early 1500s, the making of Christmas cookies had spread across Western Europe. 

 

Lebkuchen

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup molasses

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3 cup diced candied citron

1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

 

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the honey and molasses. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, egg, lemon juice and lemon zest. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Add the molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the citron and hazelnuts. Cover dough and chill overnight.
2. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar. If icing becomes sugary while brushing cookies, re-heat slightly- adding a little water until crystals dissolve.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
4. Using a small amount of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to ¼ -inch thickness. Cut into small rectangles and place them 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until no imprint remains when touched lightly. Brush the icing over the cookies while they are still hot and quickly remove them to wire cooling racks. Store in airtight container with a cup of orange or apple for a few days to mellow.

Yields:  5 dozen

 

Find Us In Wareham

The books from Bass Pond Press can be found in several stores in the Wareham area.  The first retailer to carry our books was the Tihonet Village Market.  It is a great little market and I can highly recommend their Cranberry Chicken Salad and their yogurt parfait.  Each Columbus Day weekend they host the Cranberry Harvest Festival.  Taking one of the helicopter rides is on my to-do list.  The last time I was there, the wind was simply to high for me.

Other places that are the Taste and Tales of Massachusetts,  Cape Cod , Coastal New Enlgand, A Taste of Cranbberries and A Taste of Lobsters include The Old Company Store, Borders, and the Paper Store. 

The Old Company Store is more than a general store.  Whatever Christmas present you are looking for be it cookbooks, specialty foods, penny candy, and all sorts of really neat gifts.

The new stores are joining forces this Saturday, Growing up Elf on the Shelf was a favorite.  I still have my elf which comes out each year.   Winter Wonderland Hay ride this Saturday, Decmber 4th! Arrive at Tihonet Village Market or The Old Company Store to join in the Elf Search. Ride over the river and through the Bogs searching for Elves and little Elf Houses. Cider, Cocoa, and treats will be served. Cookie and CupCake Decorating, Elf Hats, and other fun activities 10:00am-3:00pm.

Have fun shopping!

Farmers' Markets of Cape Cod

    For a few days in August I had been asked to do booksignings at some of the Farmers’ Markets at the Cape.  On Tuesday the 17^th, I arrived at the green on Rt. 6A in Sandwich early and had the opportunity to chat with a few vendors before the day began.  At the corner was a mobile pizza vendor called “Pizza Barbone.”  Jason O’Toole is the chef and produces a delicious variety of pizza. I was curious about the brick ovens and he told me that the internal temperature reaches 1000 degrees so he is able to cook the individual pizza in 2-3 minutes. There had been an article in the Sunday Cape Cod Times about Jason and his mobile pizza.  I can truly say people came from near and far to purchase his pizza.  Regretfully, by the time I got over to buy lunch, the Lobster Pizza was gone, actually everything was gone, but I managed to get half mozzarella and sopressata and the other half mozzarella and basil.  Jason does private parties, festivals, farmers’ markets, and even weddings and can be contacted through his website, www.pizzabarbone.com.

 

Also at the Sandwich market, I met the owner of Nantucket Wild Gourmet and Smokehouse in Chatham.  Drew catches all the fish, except the salmon, that he then smokes for nearly 20 hours.  I purchased some Smoked Bluefish to make the Bluefish Paté that J.W. Jackson in Phil Craig’s novel made famous.  This recipe was featured in a previous blog.

 

My friend, Lori Caron, of Salty Lou’s Lobster, hosted me at the Sandwich and Hyannis markets.  Her partner, Rob Martin harvests the lobster with over 500 traps in Cape Cod Bay and out to Stellwagen Bank, where this time of year the whales are on the move, along side his faithful four legged friend Salty Lou.  These products are guaranteed fresh, live and local.  Look forward to Lori's new restaurant, The Farmers Table on Sea Street in Hyannis.  As soon as it it officially open, I will let you all know.

 

LOBSTER WHIP

 

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 small onion minced

sea salt, pepper, celery salt

sprinkle of Worcestershire® sauce

1 pound cooked lobster meat, cut in bite-size pieces

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix together all of the above ingredients and place in a

1-pint baking dish.

3. Sprinkle with slivered almonds.

4. Spread with lobster.

5. Heat in oven for 15 minutes.

6. Serve on crackers directly from oven dish.

The Taste of Gloucester (1976)

 

 

I love going from table to table checking out the unusual fruits and vegetables that simply aren’t available at local grocery stores.  This year it was chocolate and husked cherry tomatoes and a zucchini/summer squash combination.  The husked cherry tomatoes have a tartness to them and are fun to squeeze from the husk and I thought 

the chocolate cherries from Crow Farms in E. Sandwich were a little sweet, but had no taste of chocolate.

 

 At Osterville, I was the guest of Books by the Sea for a booksigning along with three other authors.  It was here that I came across the husked cherry tomatoes from Allen Farms in Westport, MA.  Next to him was the Great Cape Baking Company.  They were also in Sandwich, but like the pizza man, they had nothing left by the time I got to them.  This time I was determined to try their apple cider donuts.  I almost lost out again.  This was   all they had left within a half hour of their arrival.  

 

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the Orleans Farmers’ Market to buy some of the soap by Summer House Soaps.  After much pondering, I decided on the Hydrangea, Beach Rose and Vineyard Lilac.  Their scents are marvelous and packaging quite lovely.  They would  

make terrific Christma gifts.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my few days at the Cape this year and look forward to next year!