Posted on 04/14/2016 3:24:45 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
Long before we had 'The Pioneer Woman', we had a Pioneer Lady: Jane Watson Hopping, who published many cookbooks featuring old-fashioned recipes and reminiscences of country life.
Last weekend, while Liz was posting those beautiful, fresh, Spring-like salads, we were having weather that was very bitter for April - biting winds, low temps, and even some snow. At the thrift store I found Hopping's book, 'The Pioneer Lady's Hearty Winter Cookbook', and it seemed perfect for the strange April day that we were experiencing.
The book is full of recipes; but remarkable for how the recipes are framed by old family photos and memories, tales of country life in a long-gone era, poetry, and reproductions of pretty vintage drawings. It's a book to be quiet with, curled up by a fire; and reminds me somewhat of Gladys Taber's many books and articles from Stillmeadow Farm (q.v.).
(The cover of the book is a detail from Grant Wood's 1934 painting 'Dinner for Threshers' - which is probably what first attracted me, as he is one of my favorite 20th Century American painters :-) - and many of Hopping's books appear to be still available through Amazon:)
http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Watson-Hopping/e/B001HMMP7G
One of the recipes is described as a 'late harvest' dish; but looks good for us now all the year around:
Ida Louise's Late Harvest Jeweled Slaw
6 Cups shredded White Cabbage
1/2 yellow Bell Pepper, cut into slivers
1/2 Cup red Bell Pepper, cut into slivers
1 Cup Pineapple Tidbits, drained
2 T. Chopped Chives or Sweet Onion
1/2 tsp. Salt
Dash of freshly-ground Pepper
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1 T. Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard
1/4 tsp. Paprika
In a medium to large salad bowl, combine cabbage, red and yellow peppers, pineapple and chives. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
In a smaller bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Toss the dressing lightly with the vegetables, and chill at least an hour before serving. _________________________________________________________
I promised to try a hummus recipe this week, and I was intrigued by Califreak's post about “Authentic Syrian Kicked Up Hummus”, because the garlic was roasted first, which is very different from every recipe I've used before; and that's the one I tried this week.
I was all geared-up to pick the skins off of those chickpeas, but the brand I used was 'Iberia': much smaller chickpeas and with very little skin, so I didn't bother with that 'peeling' business, this time.
The recipe used a bit more Tahini than I was used to using; and I wondered if that would create the silkiness of my remembered 'Excellent K Street Hummus'.
As it turned out, this is a really good recipe for what I recall as 'Sandwich' hummus - mine came out thick, not silky; might have used a little more salt; and depending on your chickpeas, you might want to add a little more lemon juice, or a little water, to make it better for dipping. Roasting the garlic gives it a more mellow hint of garlic, far less sharp than recipes calling for raw garlic. But overall, an excellent recipe for hummus!
After chilling, we drizzled a little olive oil on top, sprinkled paprika, and spread it on Naan that we found in the grocery. I couldn't find the frozen brand that Miss Marmelstein recommends, but will keep looking (and Miss M. was absolutely right about packaged Naan from supermarket bread shelves - it's gummy, and has an odd flavor.)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/126786/authentic-kicked-up-syrian-hummus/
-JT
I find most hummus recipes end up too thick for my tastes. For some reason. I always add extra water (extra oil makes it too greasy).
“I’d rather sit down with an old cookbook than any reading material. “
Same here. I read cookbooks for fun. The older ones with a historical note are the best.
She sounds like an amazing woman - the furniture store in my home town was owned by a survivor of the concentration camps, not sure which one (didn’t ask) but he had the numbers tattooed on his arm. He had three sons and when each of them graduated college he set them up with stores of their own. His name was Jack and he remembered every customer, great guy who had truly been through hell.
Those cookbooks sound very interesting! thanks for listing them - I’ll add them to my list of books to look for.
In the Army once I had one of my cooks making slaw dressing. He got confused and understood the abbreviation for teaspoons as table spoons on the mustard being added to the 12 gallons of slaw.
To salvage it I took about six cups of bland mayo and then rolled and squeezed successive batches of the slaw in a clean cheese cloth wrap. Without that, it was unedible.
That’s it. Enjoy.
My husband always tells me that Jacques Pepin always calls water something like ‘chateau de faucet’ :-)
In my experience, you do always have to add some water to any hummus recipe.
-JT
Oops! Husband just told me that it should be ‘Chateau Faucet’, or ‘Chateau Sink’, without the ‘de’.
Go figure- he studied German, and I studied French...and Spanish :-)
-JT
cute!
I like my hummus quite runny, so I’m always adding water. lots. most recipes make it really thick. it would break most pita chips!
Tomatoes and peppers will be in the garden (albeit covered with front blankets overnight) this weekend. Cukes and a couple others are out, also covered overnight.
I think we’ve turned the corner on cold weather. ‘bout time...
Wife & I are looking at utility vehicles, IE: JD Gator or the like from Polaris, Kawasaki, etc.
Anyone have experience with these units?
We’d like to find a JD 825 with low hours. From what we’ve looked at, used Gators are either near-new with < 50 hours or beaten up with 900 hours.
I think one reason that my friend’s apartment was so beautiful, is because she and her husband also had friends in the furniture/antique business. There was a wonderful Sleigh bed in her apartment that must have been almost 200 years old.
She had a leaded-glass Moravian Star, that she gave me. My husband and I made it into a hanging lamp that always decorates our Christmas, in her memory.
-JT
That looks great, and nice to have the ‘low-carb’ sweetening option. Will Try.
-JT
Well, I guess ‘stuff happens’; but we can usually rescue things :-)
-JT
I have her Christmas book.
Better be past the last frost. I’m driving all the way out there to plant all the flower pots on the decks and put out stuff by the front door (for the deer and rabbits I’m afraid).
I got the last of ten new cactus I bought planted here and 70% of my winter petunias and pansies have burnt up, so now it is time for me to plant stuff that will die over there.
We have asperagus planted just above the lake rip rap on our rental cabin. It mostly survived the floods but I think I’ll shop for some new guys...
Excellent !
After a few days in the upper 70s it is back into the 80s for us. We already had a stretch in the 90s last weekend. 100s are just around the corner here.
Just don’t go running the power line cuts with that four wheeler. Had a buddy on the Linn Creek arm go out doing that and hit a hidden power pole hole that was unused and never filled in. The brush hide it and he hit it and flipped. Broke bones and tore ligaments that he still cusses five years later.
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