Non-Death & Disease-Related Post (Plum Kuchen, More to the Point!)

Shocking, isn't it? I really do have a post here that doesn't relate to anyone dying or diseased -- including me. And you thought it had become the medical blog! We are all bipping along rather well at the moment. Scott planted approximately 6 zillion bulbs yesterday (daffodil, tulip, hyacinth, crocus, iris -- yes, I know they're not bulbs, lilies, and I don't know what all else), and I graded the same number of essay papers, I swear. No great bloomers this time, except for the student who referred to the "Super Attendant of Education" (as opposed, you know, to the "Superintendant"), and the one who kept referencing The Jim Crow Society, as though it were a club one joined (yes, we're reading Angelou's "Graduation" again -- great essay, why change it?). All in all, my students this year are really quite a joy -- intelligent, cheery, and much better writers (particularly in terms of mechanics) than in former years.

Speaking of joyful things, have I mentioned butter & sugar recently? I have the most ridiculously delicious recipe for Plum Kuchen ever. I got it from my very dear friend Lori Schafer, with whom I spent much time knitting and happily gossiping during long cold Colville winters -- and short sunny Colville summers. Very happy golden years, those were. The kuchen recipe comes from her grandmother, an Austrian native who obviously can bake in the very best Austrian tradition. Don't even look at it if you're doing anything like trying to avoid calories. It's terribly delicious with coffee, after dinner, before breakfast, FOR breakfast .... well, you get the idea.

Note: This recipe can also be made with other fruit, such as apples, rhubarb, peaches, etc. You will want to use a single layer of peeled, sliced apples/peaches, or about 3 c rhubarb.


:: Lori's Oma's Plum Kuchen ::

5 c flour
1 c butter (Lori uses margarine, as they're vegan)
1 1/2 c sugar
3 t bkng. pwd.
2 t vanilla
3 eggs (Lori uses egg replacer [see above reason] and it comes out beautifully)

Mix the above together well -- I do mine in the Kitchen Aid. Add a bit of milk, until the dough holds together, is slightly sticky and almost like a slightly more mobile sugar cookie dough (I usually end up adding +/- 1/4 c.).

Divide dough in half between two ungreased 9 x 13 baking pans. Press or roll dough out evenly over bottom of pan, using fingers to build it up a bit on the sides.

Place halved, pitted plums SKIN SIDE DOWN in a single layer atop the dough. Sprinkle the plums lightly with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon (like all good family recipes, this one requires a bit of eyeballing).

Top with crumb topping (recipe below), and bake at 350 degrees until crust is lightly browned, and plums are bubbling.

*Crumb Topping
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 c sugar
1 c butter/margarine

Cut above mixture together until the butter/marg. is the size of green peas. Sprinkle half on each pan of kuchen.


Enjoy! You will suddenly become deeply popular.

love, kristin

I Love Easy Recipes That Make a Ton

A blog that I find really fun to read is Like Mother, Like Daughter. The main writer is just the nicest kind of mother -- the sort who had a well-functioning home full of children, and is herself full of good advice, delicious recipes, warm ideas, and gentle encouragement. You just long to go visit her.

Recently, she did a wonderful post on how to make a fruit crisp (apple for example, but she tells how to use other fruits, as well) with crisp topping that you keep extra of in the freezer to pull out and use later. I have a recipe that uses dry cake mix for a fast crumble top, but a homemade mix has to be healthier, tastier, and, if I have actually planned ahead this way, just as fast. Such a smart lady, she is! At least I can visit her in a bloggy sort of way ...

love, kristin

Hot Weather Cucumber Salad

We have been having the most DREADFULLY hot weather -- and I know that the Willamette Valley, if nowhere else, has been having the same thing. Following is the most refreshing summer recipe. I got it from (gasp) Mom; she's been making it for as long as I can remember, and I'm sure long before that. It's so cool, easy, and light. In fact, a really scrumptious hot-weather supper is this salad, a potato salad, and a Greek green salad (or a fruit salad)-- everything cold and lovely! Enjoy ...


* Evelyn's Cucumber Sour Cream Salad

2 medium, fresh cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin (a mandolin slicer works great for this)

Mix thoroughly and marinate for at least two hours in the refrigerator in the following mixture:

1 c sour cream
2 T cider vinegar
1 scant T sugar (I use a little less)
1/2 t salt
2 T chopped chives (I usually omit these, but they are tasty)
2 T chopped fresh dill weed (1/2 t if using dried, which works just fine)

love, kristin

Reports of My Death Much Exaggerated (Oh, and Do You Like Peach Pie?)

Wow. What a hiatus THAT was! I knew I'd not be blogging while on our mid-June family camping trip to Idaho, but I didn't really expect to be gone for a MONTH. Just before we left for camping, our friendly local floor guy, Devin, and his crew started work on a major floor replacement for the entire ground level of our house. This necessitated moving out of the ground level entirely -- down to the pictures on the walls (I guess we COULD have left them, but I LIKE them ...). The computer was relegated, with everything else, to the garage.

Now I'm back in business, I have reconnected to the cyberworld (I've missed it!), and maybe I'll be more in gear. Our floors are nearly done -- enough so that we are sort of half-moved in, and half still camped out (our stuff, I mean) in the garage. Currently, the connection cable for my camera is AWOL somewhere out there, so I cannot put up pictures of our camping trip -- they're coming! I'll also post pictures of the result of the remodel. For those of you who have been in my home in your live bodies, imagine hardwood in the living/dining/kitchen area and tile in the mudroom. I'm very happy with how things have gone. Devin is a perfectionist and a craftsman. His business is called Advanced Tile (although he does any sort of floor covering), and I am unabashedly advertising him right here. He does a very high-quality job.

I've also discovered the joys of remodeling in an older house. Ours is a 1913, and we had (drumroll, please) FOUR layers of subfloor and two actual floors below our carpet and linoleum in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. We also had a creative assortment of floor levels, flooring substance, and a rat (thankfully, he's actually confined to UNDER the house, but I really didn't want to know he was there). Devin nobly refrained from swearing all along, but I was beginning to despair.

And since we're talking about despair, how about dessert?? We have some early RedHaven peaches on in our area ("we" meaning someone down the road), and I want to share a really great and unusual peach recipe with you. It's from Mom, of course. All my really good recipes are (well, almost!). The hugely important thing to remember in this is to use a 8 x 8 inch METAL square baking pan. Did I mention to use metal? If you use glass, one of the steps involved will cause your pan to break, and egg and cream custard to spill all over your oven. Ask Mom how she knows this. Otherwise it's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

** Homestyle Peach Cream Pie **

Crust:
2 c all-purp. flour
1/4 t. baking pwd.
1/2 t. salt
2 T sugar
1/2 c butter or cube margarine

Fruit filling:
6 medium peaches (you may end up using fewer if they are large)
3/4 c sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
3 egg yolks (or 1 whole egg and 1 egg white)
2/3 c heavy cream/half and half (you can even use Mocha Mix coffee creamer in a pinch)

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar together; cut in butter with a pastry blender until it's the size of small peas. Press the crust into the 8 x 8 METAL baking pan (it will be crumbly). Pat it down well into the bottom, and up the sides of the pan as best you can.

Peel, halve, and pit peaches. Arrange them CUT SIDE DOWN (i.e., rounded sides facing up) on crust. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over fruit (it will seem like a lot, but just trust me). Put in oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend egg yolks with cream well. Do not knock it onto the floor. But if you do, bring the labrador inside and have him lick it up for you. Slide the oven rack out with your pie on it, and carefully pour the cream/egg mixture into it. It will mostly cover the peaches. Carefully slide the rack and pan back into the oven so you won't slosh the cream everywhere.

Continue baking for 30 mins. or until set on top when you gently jiggle the pan (it will still move some -- you just don't want raw egg in the middle!). Cool for at least one hour before eating.

Hoo, mama, it's good!

love, kristin

Butter. Mmmm, Butter.

My parents will recognize the cover of this cookbook, and my sisters will recognize at least part of the name. Endicott, Washington, is the town to which my great-grandfather (Conrad Schierman) and his three brothers moved after emigrating from Russia. They were Volga Germans, and established what became known as the Palouse Colony, which became a destination for many other Volga German immigrants -- either as a place to settle, or as a place to get used to America!

Conrad Schierman had a large wheat farm outside of town, on which he raised his eight children (including my grandmother, Esther Schierman Bergman). My father also spent large chunks of his growing-up years on The Farm. The land around Endicott is smooth, rolling hills. In the spring, the ground seems upholstered in green velvet (which is really the sprouting wheat), and in the late summer, just before harvest, the whole earth seems to be one carpet of white-gold.
Even today, many of the farming families have German/Volga German backgrounds. Potlucks in this part of the state are outrageously delicious. The food is not fancy or gourmet -- it's good, old-fashioned farm food. Lots of meats, potatoes, casseroles ... and desserts. Pies, cakes, cobblers. You do NOT need to worry about calories when you're working hard on a farm! (You know, like I do all the time.) Our family reunions are absolutely sinful when it comes to food. I can't even tell you.

My mom gave me this cookbook several years ago for my birthday. It was actually published in 1964 by the Endicott Education Association and the communities of Endicott and Winona (another small town nearby) -- I assume as a fundraiser for the school. Here is one of my favorite recipes from it. It looks long, but is really very uncomplicated:

***Sweet Rolls *** (Mrs. Elmer Bafus)

Dough:

2 T dry yeast
1/2 c. lukewarm water
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. milk
1 t. salt
3 eggs
5 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. vegetable oil

Soften yeast in lukewarm water to which 1 t. sugar has been added. Scald milk, pour into large bowl. Add sugar and salt. Cook to lukewarm. Stir in yeast mixture. Add beaten eggs and part of flour (about 2 c.). Add oil. Mix well. Add remaining flour and knead until smooth (dough should be kept as soft as possible -- almost sticky). Let rise in warm place until double in bulk -- about 1 hour. Knead briefly (adding a very small amount of flour if necessary to prevent sticking), and let rise again until almost double -- about 45 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll one portion into oblong 15 x 9 inches. [Mrs. Bafus here gives directions for making only the one portion of the dough into sweet rolls, and suggests making the rest into dinner rolls. If you want to make two pans of sweet rolls, just do the following instructions twice.]

Filling:

4 T melted butter [personally, I just dump some vegetable oil on the rolled-out dough and swirl it around with my fingers--that's the way Grandma Bergman did it]
1/2 c. brown sugar [I never measure this part or the cinnamon --just dump away!]
1/8 t. cinnamon

Brush rolled dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up as jelly roll [starting with the long side]. Cut into 1-inch slices.

Topping:

1/3 c. melted butter
1/4 c. corn syrup (or maple syrup)
1/2 c. brown sugar

Pour melted butter in 12 x 8 1/2 inch pan. Sprinkle in brown sugar and add syrup. Place rolls in pan. Let rise till double in bulk, about 45 minutes. Place in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Makes about 20 rolls.

Enjoy! And thank you, Mrs. Bafus, wherever you are.

Love, kristin