Election Cake

Since our family is praying and abstaining from sweets until this election is over, no election day party for us. But I always enjoy reading and collecting traditional recipes for feast days and other “Red-Letter Days”. For many years election day was a holiday.

There’s a traditional Election Cake that comes from the New England states, also known as Hartford Election Cake. History of Election Cake goes back to colonial times. For comparison, see this version, and this one from Boston Cooking School Cookbook, 1911. Have fun seeing the variety when you search at Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project. Use the search engine and type in “election cake” — there’s a nice variety.

For a quicker idea, I’m sure a flag cake or Election Day Cupcakes or full plans for an Election Day party might be easier than a 4 hour cake.

I shared this recipe on Catholic Culture from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Dorothy Gladys Spicer, from From Feast-Day Cakes from Many Lands, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, copyright 1960.

Election Day was the great holiday of early New England. In importance it ranked second only to Thanksgiving. Even after 1776, Election Day boasted more processions, sermons, social gatherings and good eating than either Fourth of July or Training Day — the time when volunteer militiamen marched and drilled in all their glory. Since our Puritan ancestors were denied the joys of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsunday, Election Day with its festivities — parades, religious ceremonies, balls, and fine foods — helped compensate for the loss.

“Their Chief Red Letter Day is St. Election which is annually Observed according to Charter to choose their Governor,” wrote Madam Sarah Kemble Knight about the State of Connecticut, in her Journal of 1702. The Honorable John Winthrop, Esquire, a descendant of the Massachusetts founder, was Governor of Connecticut at the time. Madam Knight, a retired schoolmistress, who was traveling from Boston to New York on business, kept a diary of all the interesting customs and events she observed along the way.

At Hartford, Election Day — which came there on the second Thursday in May — was unmatched in excitement by any other occasion. A traditional feature was the famous Hartford Election Cake which, according to one old family recipe, called for seven eggs, five pounds of shortening (largely butter), a pint of yeast, and unspecified amounts of wine and brandy. In other places Election Cake might be just a sweet raised bread, topped by egg-and-molasses glaze, but in Hartford it resembled a rich well-seasoned fruit cake.

In his autobiography Edward Everett Hale, who was born in Boston and there became the most famous preacher of his day, reminisces on early nineteenth-century election customs. Every child expected a present of ” ‘lection money” from his elders, according to Mr. Hale. This was pocket money to squander at stalls and booths on the Common. For most youngsters election spending sprees were confined largely to things to eat and drink. The Hale children’s mother gave each of her own brood twelve-and-a-half cents, and with coins jingling in pockets the young were off to the Common — boys with boys, and girls with girls. There, food hucksters sold such delicacies as dates, candies of all descriptions, and oysters — two for a penny. There were lobsters, too, for those who wanted them, but the Hale children got plenty of them at home. Ginger beer and spruce beer, sold from small wheelbarrows, were favorite thirst-quenchers. And if a lad lacked two cents — the price for a full glass — dealers obliged with a half glass at half price.

Election night supper was always a festive meal which featured such delicacies as homemade sausages, creamed potatoes — made with real cream and plenty of butter — pickles, relishes, and hot soda biscuits with fruit preserves. The meal ended with Election Cake and several kinds of pie.

There are many versions of Election Cake, the crowning glory of New England’s holiday festivities. This cake — a cross between fruit cake and fruit-filled yeast bread — keeps a long time when wrapped in foil and stored in the refrigerator. A century and a half ago, housewives made the cake in quantities large enough to last the winter. There was enough fruit and brandy in the original Hartford variety to ensure freshness for several months. The cake was sliced and offered with wine or eggnog. I can think of no better way to serve it today, although the cake is delicious with all hot beverages, or with tall glasses of milk.

Election Cake

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
3 cups sifted all purpose flour (approximately)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
4 tablespoons brandy
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced citron
1/2 cup seeded raisin, chopped, or 1/2 cup currants, or 1/4 cup figs, chopped and 1/4 cup seeded raisins, chopped
Orange or Lemon Frosting (see below)

Scald milk, add white sugar. When lukewarm add yeast, stir, and set aside for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour, beat thoroughly and let rise in greased covered bowl until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Cream butter and brown sugar until very light. Then add egg and brandy and beat vigorously. Add to raised yeast mixture and stir.

Dredge fruits with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Then sift together remaining flour with salt and spices and add to other mixture gradually, beating after each addition. If batter is too thin, a little more flour may be added. Work in fruits last of all.

Put dough in well-greased floured bread pan, or in 9- to 10-inch tube pan. Let rise, covered, in warm place until double in bulk (about 1 1/4 hours). Bake about 45 minutes in moderate oven (375° F.).

Some cooks prefer Election Cake decorated like fruit cake, others like a butter icing which, when ornamented with candied fruits, has a truly festive appearance. For the first type of decoration arrange candied cherries, citron, and other fruits on top of the dough before baking. A sheet of foil placed over the loaf will prevent scorching.

When frosting is used let the loaf cool thoroughly before spreading top and sides. Use Orange or Lemon Frosting.

Orange or Lemon Frosting

1/4 cup orange or lemon juice, heated
4 tablespoons melted butter
Confectioners’ sugar, as needed
1 teaspoon grated orange or lemon peel
Candied cherries, citron, pineapple, as desired

Add sifted sugar to liquids until of right consistency to spread. Beat until light and fluffy. Add peel, mix thoroughly. Spread thickly over top and sides of cake and decorate with fruits. Frost the election cake.

St. Martin’s Mice

A little late for today’s dinner, but I posted a suggestion for the optional memorial of St. Martin de Porres, St. Martin’s Mice over at Catholic Cuisine.

Hallowed Days

I’m a bit late for the Catholic Cuisine Hallowed Days Blog Fair, but I wanted to share a few ideas.

I love this time of year — the change of seasons, the winding down of Ordinary Time with the month of the Poor Souls. Hallowe’en, All Saints Day and All Souls Day are the three days that illustrate the Communion of Saints: The Church Triumphant (saints in heaven), Church Militant (people on earth praying for living and dead), and Church Suffering (Poor Souls in Purgatory).

I’ve written a few thoughts on these feast days in the past, Ideas for Sanctifying Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day and also a reminder on
Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November. I love visiting the cemeteries, both of family and friends and strangers and praying for the Poor Souls.

Hallowe’en or All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day each are marked with their unique foods and festivities and popular piety.

Because of my sons’ food allergies, most of the great festive recipes won’t be happening here. We can’t even do the the great Mexican Sugar Skulls because they require meringue powder or egg whites, which we can’t eat or touch. So, once again, I’m starting from scratch to find feast day recipes. I’m not a big experimenter with recipes. I like to tweak recipes, when I know ingredients. But since our family has food allergies to wheat, eggs, and milk, this is an area I don’t like to experiment much. I haven’t found the perfect substitutes, so switching out recipes for baked goods have always been a dismal failure, and I get too discouraged. So my general approach is to find existing recipes that only need small tweaks to be allergy friendly in the family.

Apple cider and doughnuts (soul cakes) are my favorite foods for these feast days. I have not tried rising with yeast with gluten or wheat free flours. So I’m thrilled to actually find a recipe that doesn’t even use wheat flour. I don’t have chestnut flour here, though. I have a favorite food store in PA that carries it, and I wish I found this when I was visiting this past weekend! So the trial will have to wait two weeks. This comes from one of my favorite Italian cookbooks, Festa: Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays by Helen Barolini:

Chestnut Fritters

Makes 6 servings

1/2 pound chestnut flour (available at Italian groceries and specialty shops)
1 cup water
Pinch salt
1/2 cup seedless black raisins
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts
1 tablespoon finest grade light extra virgin olive oil
Peanut oil for frying
Confectioner’s sugar

1. Put the chestnut flour in a bowl, and slowly stir in enough water to make a thick paste. Stir in the salt, raisins, pistachio nuts, and olive oil. Mix well.

2. Pour 4 inches of peanut oil into a deep skillet or deep-fat fryer. Heat oil to 375 degrees F on a deep-fat frying thermometer.

3. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful into the oil, and fry the fritters, a few at at time, until golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.

4. Serve hot, sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.

Instead of raisins, I might substitute a bit of sugar to sweeten the dough.

I forgot that Halloween falls on a Friday, which I prefer to keep meatless, so I’m going to make our special dinner for Thursday, which will be better since we won’t be running around. This is also from Festa. There are some steps I would tweak…either eliminate the flour part, or substitute with corn starch or rice flour, and no parmesan cheese.

Beef Stew in a Pumpkin Shell with Potato-Pumpkin Puree

Makes 6 servings

1 medium pumpkin (about 6 pounds)
Salt, to taste
1/2 onion
4 slices bacon
1 stalk celery
1 carrot, pared
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine, if necessary)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds lean beef cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup seasoned flour (flour mixed with salt and pepper to taste) (use corn starch or rice flour)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 1/2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups beef stock, hot
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 small whole onions, peeled
2 carrots, cut in strips
1 pound boiling potatoes
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin, and set it aside for a lid. Scoop out all the seeds. (They can be dried, roasted on a baking sheet, and eaten as a snack.) Salt the inside of the pumpkin, replace the top, and wrap it securely in oiled aluminum foil. Bake about 2 1/2 hours.

2. While the pumpkin is baking, chop together the bacon, celery, and carrot. Put two tablespoons of the butter (or margarine) and all the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat. When oil mixture is hot, add the bacon-vegetable mixture, and cook until lightly browned.

3. Roll the beef cubes in seasoned flour. Add them to the pan, and cook over medium-high heat, turning to brown on all sides.

4. Add the wine. Cook over high heat until the alcohol evaporates.

5. Dissolve the tomato paste in 1 cup of the hot beef stock. Add the bay leaf, clove, and pepper. Pour the liquid over the meat, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for two hours, or until the meat is tender. Add more hot stock as needed.

6. About 30 minutes before the beef is done, add the 6 small onions and the carrot strips to the pan.

7. Peel the potatoes and, in another saucepan, cook them in lightly salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well, and push them through a food mill into a larger saucepan.

I’ve been eyeing this recipe for years and I hope I can make it come together this year!

May your hallowed days be faith and family focused, and don’t forget to pray and sacrifice for the Poor Souls!

Dorset Apple Cake

I do hope the apple harvest will still be as bountiful after November 4th. Our family is trying to abstain from sweets for the election. In the meantime, I’ve got a few apple cake recipes that have to wait. I have a Favorite Apple Cake and my mouth is watering reading Kathryn’s plans to bake Dorset Apple Cake.

Her version is British measurement and ingredients. I have difficulty “translating” British recipes, as everything that gives the substitutes contradicts each other.

Thankfully, I found an American version from one of my old cookbooks, From An English Oven: Cakes, Buns and Breads of County Tradition by Dorothy Gladys Spicer, and thought I would share it here:

Dorset Apple Cake

One of the most famous of all English tea cakes is Dorset apple cake (also called pudding), which comes from the county where simple domestic cooking is thought to have been practiced longer than in any other part of the country. The older object found at Maiden Castle, during archaeological excavations, was a primitive oven. This discovery connect the ancient art of cooking with England’s earliest civilization.

Dorset apple cake must be eaten fresh and hot from the oven. Serve it with plenty of sugar and butter, with whipped cream, or foamy egg sauce. Make the cake in a large square, greased tin, and seve in generous squares for tea. This is how to make the famous delicacy:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 pound cooking apples
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Milk to mix

Sigt together the flour, baking powder and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is the consistency of coarse meal. Peel, core and chop the apples, mixing them with the sugar. Stir the apples and sugar into the first mixutre (adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg, if desired). Add the egg, which has been well beaten, and enough milk to make a fairly stiff batter.

Bake 3/4 to 1 hour in moderate oven (350 degrees F.).

Some other versions from British food blogs are from Baking for Britain and WaitRose. The latter has a sugar topping which always sounds nice to add.

I’m not sure exactly how to “dredge” the cake in sugar after it’s done baking. Roll it in the sugar? Or just cover the top really well? I’ve only dredged before frying. Must mean something else in British cooking, as I came across the term in several places.

And the Winner Is…

Thanks for visiting and leaving such wonderful comments for my Cookbook Give Away!

The winner is Christine, number 17 commenter, who left her favorite fall recipe: Pork Stew with Apricots at Epicurious.com!

I wish I had more to give away! I plan on compiling all the wonderful ideas for the upcoming feast of Hallowe’en, All Saints, and All Souls. This is one of my favorite times of the Liturgical Year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cookbook Giveaway

I’m slowly moving my food posts from my blogspirit blog to this blog. And since I posted an outside link for Catholic Cuisine, I thought I’d celebrate the (re)launching of my food blog by giving away a cookbook. (Although I’m not promising lots of posts here, as I do a lot of posting at Catholic Cuisine for food ideas.)

I found an extra copy of The Festive Food of Ireland by Darina Allen, the copyright is 1992. My other copy I bought in Ireland when I visited around on my 30th birthday. The book is delightful with a flavor of true Irish recipes, traditions, and luscious photographs and illustrations. The festive days covered are:

St. Bridget’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
Easter
May Day
The Stations
Hay Making
Lughnasa
Threshing
Michaelmas
Hallowe’en
St. Martin’s Eve
Christmas
St. Stephen’s Day
The Twelfth Day of Christmas

It’s a slim but packed cookbook, delightful if you enjoy reading cookbooks, especially about Irish cooking. I wanted to send this book out before Hallowe’en and St. Martin’s Day as the Irish traditions are many for these days.

Leave a comment and share what foods (besides Halloween candy) you like to eat or make (or plan to) for Hallowe’en, All Saints All Souls, and/or Martinmas (November 11).

We’ll have a drawing of the winner on Saturday evening, October 18 (the feast of St. Luke) and announce the winner Sunday morning.

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Bountiful Harvests

It seems for so many fall is the favorite season of the year. The change of season to autumn brings harvest time, and connected with harvest are so many activities. And all these remind us how God bestows these blessings.

Even the little one loves the fall views.

Some highlights:

Our vegetable garden is giving its last tomatoes, and will soon be pulled up to let the soil rest until next planting. I was surprised to see how many ripe tomatoes we still have (here in Northern Virginia we haven’t had our first frost). I’ve shared in the past some of our Favorite Tomato Recipes. Since the temperature is cooler it inspires me to want to cook more heavier foods — sauces, soups, stews, slow-cooked meals. So with the remaining tomato harvest we’re going to have Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce. I’m using this recipe and Elizabeth’s recipe as guides, but I’m a tweaker, so I know I won’t follow one way strictly.

My bounty of ripe tomatoes on my counter remind me of the warm summer days! I’m happy to be able to freeze some sauce for later. And while I’m smelling the aroma of the tomatoes baking, I’ll be sure to whisper a prayer for Elizabeth, who is on strict bedrest and can’t enjoy the fall outings.

Apple picking is something our family has not tried yet. Virginia is a wonderful apple region. We normally stop at Virginia Farm Markets to enjoy the bounty of local ripe apples. And I’m going to make this cake with our fresh apples. In all our married life, I haven’t made it for him, and it is to die for!

Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups sifted flour (sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 cup raisins, optional
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan.

Beat oil and sugar together while assembling remaining ingredients. Add the eggs and beat until mixture is creamy. Mix in vanilla extract.

Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon and soda. Gradually stir into batter.

Add all the remaining ingredients (nuts and raisins); stir to blend.

Pour mixture into a greased and floured tube or Bundt pan. Bake 50-75 minutes, until toothpick comes clean.

And of course, pumpkins play a large role in this time. Apples, pumpkins, leaf changes all tie in together. Yesterday our family had an outing towards the Shenandoah Mountains to see the fall foliage and pick pumpkins. We always enjoy our visits to Sky Meadows State Park and we also visited nearby Hollins Farms. We prefer simple pumpkin patches without all the bells and whistles and high cost of admission.

The excitement doesn’t end, as we are doing Nature Study, trips to Pennsylvania (more beautiful foliage), football games, and more stops to get fresh apples.

The fall also brings about the new school year, a new focus on family prayer life and family together time. It is so beautiful that the outside can help us look on the inside and renew and refresh us.

Thanks be to God for all his blessings!

Food for St. James the Great, Apostle

Update: I added a photo of our St. James Torte — I used both the stencils for the decoration. The torte was dense and tasty…definitely a recipe to repeat. The chicken was delicious, nice and juicy.

I’ve been looking forward to July 25, feast of St. James. See today’s entry in Family in Feast and Feria for more information on this feast day.

For food, I’m going to use some Spanish recipes. In spirit I want to be in the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. For ideas of famous foods from that region, see Gastronomy of Santiago. The empanadas sound wonderful, but I don’t have time to attempt wheat, egg and dairy free empanadas, but it might be something I try in the future.

So for the main meal I’m going to adapt a Tapas recipe. I love all of Penelope Casas’ books, and her Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain is what I’m using for inspiration. But I confess, I’m planning my meal by what I have in the house. Our garden is slowly ripening and I also have chicken. I’m going to make

Chicken in Beer (Pollo en Cerveza)

“This chicken has a subtle lemony flavor, and although I have chosen to use the wing portion for easy handling, you might also use small drumsticks or any other part of the chicken (skin on), cut in small pieces.”

Serves 6 as appetizer, but for main meal probably 2 or 3
Start preparation several hours in advance

12 chicken wings (or thighs or drumsticks with skin)
12 ounce bottle beer (minus 1 Tablespoon for sauce)
salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf

Sauce:
1/4 tsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. beer
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Chop the wings into three parts, discarding the tip portion. As I’m making this the main meal, I’m using whole thighs. In shallow bowl or zipper top bag, mix together the marinade: beer (except reserve 1 Tbsp.), pepper, salt, thyme and bay leaf. Arange the chicken in marinade and soak for several hours, turning occasionally.

When ready to cook, combine Sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. At this point you can either grill or broil the chicken. If broiling, arrange on a broiler pan, brush on the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. Broil or grill for about 5 minutes (longer if other kinds of parts), flip and baste and salt and pepper. Continue cooking until golden but still juicy. Use a meat thermometer to make sure they are cooked thoroughly.

For dessert, I’m going to attempt to make the famous Tarta de Santiago. This will not be allergy free, but I’m up for the challenge, and to give a nice treat on this wonderful feast day for my dh. There are oodles of recipes on the internet for this cake. There are two different version — one has a crust and filling, the other is more like a flat cake.

Some examples: Food Network,
Reading Room (nice picture), Travel and Living and Spain Recipes (another good picture).

The recipe I’m using is from my favorite Spanish cookbook, My Kitchen in Spain by Janet Mendel . I’ve mentioned in another post, Memories of Little Grandma. I happen to have a bag of ground almond meal (thanks to Trader Joe’s), so the tart shoudn’t be too time-consuming. Almonds don’t grow in this area of Spain, so it is a puzzlement that this cake is made with them. Mendel speculates that it originally might have been made from chestnuts.

The torte is usually decorated with a pattern of the Cross of St. James or the cockle shell, both symbols of St. James. I prepared some patterns of the Cross of St. James and the cockle shell of St. James. Print and cut out the images. Place the image in the middle of the torte and sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over the rest of the cake. Remove the pattern carefully and you’ll have the cross or shell in the middle of the cake.

If you don’t have time to make this torte from scratch, any cake will do. Purchase a pound cake even, and put the design on the cake. If you need to resize the pattern, use image program, such as Paint Shop Pro. After opening the image in the program, go to print and choose the size you want it to be on the page. It’s that easy — and I just discovered that after all these years of frustration!

Almond Torte from Santiago de la Compostela
Torta de Almendras de Santiago

Ingredients:
1 pound ground almonds
2/3 cup butter
2 3/4 cup granulated sugar
7 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Greas a 10-inch springform pan.

Spread the almonds in a baking pan and toast them in the oven, stirring often. Remove from oven when light colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Give time to cool.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat, one at a time. Gradually stir in the flour, the almond meal and lemon zest.

Pour mixture into the greased pan and bake about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester in the center comes out clean and the center when lightly pressed bounces back.

Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Poke the surface of the torte with a skewer and drizzle with lemon juice over the top. Add the pattern of the cross and dust the surface with confectioner’s sugar.

Catholic Culture has a few more suggestions for recipes for St. James. I am going to go French a bit and serve some green beans, inspired by this recipe. The cookbooks Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf and A Continual Feast by Evelyn Vitz also have some unique recipes for the feast of St. James.

Triduum and Easter Plans

I’ve been neglecting my food blog. I visit here often, because I have found it so convenient to print out my recipes, and not have to search around. But I haven’t been very creative in the kitchen, so I haven’t added to the blog.

But for those that are tired of seeing blueberries on the top venue, this post is for you.

I have to mention that I’ve decided blogging is the best thing for me. Why? Because when I write down my plans and/or the events of the feast days, I can remind myself next year what I did. It was nice to see last year’s events, and easy for me to remember what cake recipe I actually did make for the lamb.

I’m keeping meals at basic for the Triduum. After seeing Joanna Bogle on Feasts and Seasons, it made me want Hot Cross Buns, which I may buy from the grocery store. I preferred her recipe which had a flour and water cross, but the whole bun had a sugar glaze. The local ones just have icing crosses, which seem less penitential. But Mrs. Bogle said having the buns on Good Friday, even with their spicy sweetness makes that day special. It’s a special food only eaten on that day (although she did mention some serve the buns on Easter morning, too).

She also mentioned something about being in the kitchen more during holydays, such as Holy Week than the rest of the year. I’ve been feeling guilty that I bake only during these times, that it’s not a good representation of my life, and I worried I was detracting from the feast. But she said just the opposite — spending the extra time making these treats for the holy days marks the time and food as special, unique. She said it more eloquently, but it made me feel more confident to continue.

Tonight I’m serving roast beef and mashed potatoes. We’ll rushing out to get a good seat for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, but we’ll try to do similar to last year.

We’re spending Easter Sunday at my mother’s. Her meal will be roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, green salad, rolls, and I will bring the Lamb Cake for dessert.

I’m making two cakes, one allergy safe for my son. I can’t praise enough the mixes from The Cravings Place. These are the best egg, dairy, and gluten free mixes ever. Trust me, I can’t make something this good from scratch. We’ve now had the brownies and chocolate cake mix. Yummy, even for those who don’t have to abstain from certain foods.

Easter Monday, part of the Octave of Easter, when each day is Easter Sunday all over again. I’ll be serving up Ham with Spirit Glaze. I love serving ham. It makes me feel frugal, when I can whip up several meals and lunches from one ham. It also is one of my son’s favorite meals.

And now to work….

Blueberry Meringue Pie

Here’s an entry for The Virtual Kitchen’s Blueberry Bash.

This is an easy recipe from my mother-in-law, and I do believe this was her mother’s recipe, also. The pie shell is a meringue crust. For my husband this recipe is a must (and comfort food) for Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. It means summer is here, and evokes all sorts of cozy family summer memories.

The shell isn’t pure meringue, as the crackers and nuts add some texture. The contrast of the crunchy shell and sweet smooth whipped cream and blueberries makes a delicious summer treat.

Shell:
3 egg whites, beaten stiffly
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup rolled soda crackers
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup nuts, chopped

Filling
1/2 pint whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar, to taste
flavoring vanilla, cognac, other liqueur (optional), to taste
1 quart fresh blueberries (or other berries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar and pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, a little at a time, continue beating until stiff peaks form again.

Fold in vanilla, soda crackers and nuts.

Pour into buttered pie pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool

While baking, whip heavy cream (with sugar and flavorings). Add blueberries, mix through the cream. Chill.

After pie crust has cooled, pour filling into pie crust.

Chill until ready to serve.