The Christmas Ham, #LetsLunch

Ham and Cheddar cheese scone.Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

One of the great privileges of mommyhood is sharing the books that I loved as a child with my girls. My  youngest, at seven, still allows me to read to her at night, so I have another Christmas sharing Barbara Robinson's "Best Christmas Pageant Ever," one of the best modern re-tellings of the Nativity that I can name. The six unruly Herdman children take over a church's Christmas pageant and learn the reason for the season. It's one of those books that entertains younger readers and gives parents an "a-ha" moment, too.

The opening sentence pretty much sums up the Herdmans:

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down toolhouse."

The Herdmans only show up at the church because they hear there are snacks and threaten their way into all the plum roles in the pageant. The Christmas story gets a fresh interpretation from the Herdmans - the Wise Men are spies, King Herod needs a good beating. But the best part, the very best part, is the ending, after the children are told about how the Wise Men gave the most precious gifts they had to the Baby Jesus, and the play is over and the Herdman kids leave their charity Christmas ham on the stage. I mean, really, I've never cried and laughed so much over a ham. 

"Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson ($5.99 Harper Collins). Read it aloud this Christmas. To a child, or even yourself.

Ham and cheese scones. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

  

 They say that eternity is two people and a Christmas ham. I don't like to think so ~ I love having a Christmas ham around. First we start with a ham dinner with sides of macaroni and cheese and green beans, then on to ham sandwiches. 

Later in the week, the ham is taken off the bone and we make bean soup. I may grind up some of the ham and mix it with boiled dressing and mayo for ham salad. To put a savory spin on my favorite buttermilk scones, I added ham and rat-trap Cheddar. These kid-pleasing biscuits would make a fine breakfast or brunch treat. Try them split with a dab of last summer's homemade strawberry preserves.

Merry Christmas! 

Ham and cheese scones. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Buttermilk Scones with Ham and Cheddar Cheese

If your ham is watery, dice it then heat it in a small pan

 over medium high heat until it crisps up and loses moisture.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, very cold
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped ham
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
half and half or milk or cream for glazing

1. In a batter bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Using a grater, shred the very cold butter and lightly mix the shavings into the dry ingredients. Using your hands and a gentle, quick touch, make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

2. Stir in the cheese and ham. Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently with either a wooden spoon or my instrument of choice, a silicone spatula. If mixture seems dry, add additional buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The dough should be slightly wet and sticky, but not overly so.

3. On a floured countertop, press dough into a rough 12 X 6 inch rectangle and cut into 16 triangles. (A pictorial for my scone shaping method can be found here.) Place scones on a lined baking sheet. The scones can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Carefully brush each wedge with buttermilk or cream. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. They may need a bit more time, depending on your oven, convection, etc. Scones are ready when they are golden brown on top and bounce back when touched lightly in the center.

This post is part of #LetsLunch, a monthly Twitter party featuring outstanding food stories

 told with bright, original prose. This month's topic is Celebrating Christmas around the world. Interested in joining the party?
 Follow #LetsLunch on Twitter and ask for an invitation to the Facebook page.

Thanks to this month's host, Rashda! See all of the fabulous blog posts on her pinboard.

Annabelle's Pecan Slices at Glass of Fancy

Linda's Sorrel Cocktail at Spicebox Travels

Grace's Persimmon Salad at Hapa Mama

Joe's Orange Honey Cake

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

My favorite books for Christmas

My favorite Christmas books. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and when I'm not jingle-belling and caroling out in the snoooow, I've got my nose stuck in a book. I have a shelf in my living room that is devoted to Christmas books and these are a few of my favorites:

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

1. "Reader's Digest Book of Christmas," a big red book that is quite easy to find in grandparents' homes and used book sales. It includes an excerpt from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," Betty Smith's marvelous story of Irish immigrants in New York, circa 1910. The story, "Francie Nolan's Christmas," is about two poor kids determined to get a Christmas tree, and the bruising punishment they endure to obtain it. (On reflection, it reads better than it sounds.) This volume is loaded with holiday songs, traditions and stories.

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

2. "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote. Simply one of the best short stories ever written. Capote's enduring story of a young boy and his unconventional elderly aunt is available in many editions, including a children's book version with illustrations by Beth Peck, that is a favorite. (The story is also included in the Reader's Digest book, above). All these years later, I still worry for Buddy and Sook when they visit Mr. Haha Jones to get the liquor for the fruitcakes.

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

3. "Why the Chimes Rang" by Raymond Macdonald Alden. The short story can be difficult to find on its own, but it is included in the Reader's Digest book and some anthologies. I found an ancient hardcover at a Goodwill book sale years ago, and I treasure it. The story is about two young brothers travelling on Christmas Eve to a great cathedral, and the sacrifices they make in order to hear the chimes ring. I remember my grade school teacher reading this story to my class. Sentimental and essential.

Illustrations from "Why the Chimes Rang." Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

A few more, in no particular order,


4. "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. The Herdman children smoke cigars and learn about Jesus' birthday. I've never cried so much over the presence of a ham.

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

5. "A Certain Small Shepherd" by Rebecca Caudill. More sentimental stuff, but I love it. A young boy in Appalachia becomes a part of a Christmas miracle.

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

6. "Christmas Letters" by Lee Smith. Like all of Lee Smith's stories, it involves laughter through tears, or is that tears through laughter? Also includes recipes, so some might say it's the perfect Christmas book.

7. "Silent Night" by Philip Lee Williams. Memoir by one of Georgia's most elegant writers, published by Algonquin.

8. "To Whom the Angel Spoke" by Terry Kay. The real joy of this retelling of the Christmas story is to hear it read by Georgia's own Terry Kay, who is blessed with the voice of a preacher.

By Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

9. "Miracle on 34th Street" by Valentine Davies.  Of course, it's more famous as a movie, but among my treasured books is a first edition of the novel.

These are just a few of my favorites - I haven't even discussed children's picture books for Christmas - what would Christmas be without "The Polar Express" and William Joyce's "Santa Calls?"

Please tell me your favorite Christmas stories and books, the ones you read each year, in the comments section. 

And Merry Christmas!



Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer

Happy Haul-idays from Chronicle Books

Cookbooks needing company. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Chronicle Books has been one of my favorite publishers since the days of "Griffin & Sabine," and their volumes continue to fill my bookshelves. In addition to fiction, art and children's books, they just so happen to produce some of the loveliest cookbooks around, and well, I have a thing for cookbooks.

Again this year, Chronicle Books is sponsoring "Happy Haul-idays" a contest designed to fill more bookshelves - yours, mine and a charity of my choice. All I have to do is list how I would spend $500 for Chronicle titles and all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post. If my entry is selected, I win the list, and one lucky commenter chosen at random wins the books on the list, too. And this year, a charity of my choice will win their choice of $500 worth of Chronicle's list!. I'm crossing fingers & toes and hoping that all of us win - my charity of choice is the new library in my town - what a blessing this would be to fill up their bookshelves!

Here's my list, topped by a book from one of my favorite food writers:

1. Ruhlman's Twenty by (you guessed it) Michael Ruhlman. This is the blurb:

"Rare is the cookbook that redefines how we cook. And rare is the author who can do so with the ease and expertise of acclaimed writer and culinary authority Michael Ruhlman. Twenty distills Ruhlman’s decades of cooking, writing, and working with the world’s greatest chefs into twenty essential ideas—from ingredients to processes to attitude—that are guaranteed to make every cook more accomplished. Whether cooking a multi-course meal, the juiciest roast chicken, or just some really good scrambled eggs, Ruhlman reveals how a cook’s success boils down to the same twenty concepts." At $40, it promises to be more than just some pretty words...

2. Rustica: a Return to Spanish Home Cooking  by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish $35.00

3. Country Cooking of Italy by Colman Andrews (photography by Christopher Hirsheimer) promises to be a beautiful book. $50.00

4. Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson $40.00

5. Cake Pops by Bakerella $19.95

6. Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley $16.95

7. Flour by Joanne Chang. $35.00

8. Saveur the New Comfort Table $35.00

9. Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli  $25.00

10. Fairy Parties $19.95

11. Commonsense Kitchen by Tom Hudgens $35.00

12. Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton $24.95

13. Southern Pies by Nancie McDermott $22.95

14. Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott $19.95

15. Very Merry Cookie Party By Barbara Grunes and Virginia Van Vynckt $19.95

16. Fast Bread by Elinor Klivans $19.95

17. Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker $35.00


I think I'm pretty close to $500, but if there's room, I'd like to toss a few Moleskines in the kitty, you know, "the legendary notebooks of Picasso, Hemingway and Chatwin."

Leave a comment and let me know what books on the Chronicle list you would like for Christmas. If my post is chosen at random from the list of participating bloggers, then I win the list of books (don't worry, I'll share!) & one commenter on this post will be chosen at random to receive the list of books, too! (+ my local libraries will receive their choice of $500 in Chronicle Books). So, it's win-win-win! Please be sure to leave an email address so that I can notify you if you win. Entries without a valid email address will not be a part of the drawing if I win the Happy Haul-idays contest.

* Disclaimer: I have not been compensated for this post. I just really really like books, especially cookbooks.

Comments are now closed for this post. Sorry my blog didn't win the contest - maybe 2012 will be our year!
 

Book Booty



Cookbooks from the closing of Borders. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Nearly four years ago, when I was casting about for a name for this blog, I had two criteria. The title must begin with an "A" so that it would land near the top of alphabetical blogrolls, and it must express my love of two things: cooking and books. You see, I've spent too many years in bookstores, both as an employee and a customer, and I have a little problem with saying no to the voices that call to me from the stacks. "Take me home!" they say as they fall into my arms.

When we designed our kitchen, we built bookshelves all around to hold my collection of cookbooks.This is just a small part of the shelves - they go around three walls.




Kitchen. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Throughout the house, stacked on bedside tables, in corners, bookshelves and my pantry floor, are books, and truth be told, they're mostly cookbooks and food memoirs, with a little Gladwell and chick lit thrown in. I still have my very first cookbook, a paperback copy of "The Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook" (my mom even let me make a quiche-like Cottleston Pie from it!).

My bookselling job ended last week when the lights were turned off and the locks turned counter-clockwise for the last time at Borders. You can read my melancholy story on Open Salon about the end of my bookselling days. Right now, though, I want to be one of the giddy bargain-hunters who loaded up on deals when the store tanked. Within about six weeks, I purchased at least 50 books and magazines, most of them food-related. Here's a selection:

Love Soup by Anna Thomas - a lively vegetarian soup cookbook, hoeing the same quirky row as Mollie Katzen's Moosewood books.

A trio of doorstopper-sized books published by Phaidon: 1080 Recipes by Ortega, Spanish cuisine; Silver Spoon and Silver Spooon Pasta, both on Italian cuisine.

Junk Foodie: 51 Delicious Recipes for the Lowbrow Gourmand by Emilie Baltz. A novelty cookbook with a novel gimmick - gourmet recipes created from snack foods. I picked it up as much for its visual style as its recipes.

Best Food Writing 2010, edited by Holly Hughes. Essays from Barry Estabrook, Francis Lam, Kim Severson, and many other favorite writers.

Gourmet's Guide Cheese from the bargain table, and it kind of has that book club look to it, but a very well done overview of the world of cheese. For $3 and some change, I think it will be a useful resource.

Two of food scientist Harold McGee's titles: On Food and Cooking, and Keys to Good Cooking. I've already used a tip from the latter in perfecting apple pie - drain the fruit, boil the liquid and thicken with starch.

Patricia Wells' Salad as a Meal a lovely, lovely book for diving into on a rainy winter Saturday, when all I want to do is dream of spring.

The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. An excellent reference book that is enjoyable just for browsing, flipping through and finding out something new.

One Big Table by Molly O'Neill. This is One Big Book - 880 pages - and is popping up on remainder tables and bargain book sites. Pick it up if you find it - it's a highly enjoyable, well-written tour of American kitchens.

David Tanis' Heart of the Artichoke - I already have a signed copy of the marvelous book. This is a copy to share.

The End of Overeating by David Kessler. I know there's a certain irony to including this, but Kessler's work on how food is manufactured and marketed in the U.S. has been on my must-read list for awhile.

My $1 box. I paid $1 apiece for these books on Borders last day. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Did you shop the Borders liquidation sale? What finds did you bring home?

Denouement for a bookseller



Borders press pass lanyard and earpiece. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 This weekend, I’ll pull my last shift as a bookseller, and if God is with me, my last retail shift ever. My Borders store hasn’t flatlined yet, but it’s just a matter of days, and I’ve decided to hang up my lanyard and radio earpiece a few days early. I'm worn out and worn down by the customers, most of which are bewildered and bitchy while picking apart the store. "When is your last day?" they'll ask. "When are the next discounts?" "Can you hold this for me?" "Do you have 'The Help?'"




Borders #376. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


I’ve worked at store #376 for nearly three years and the Angel of Death has hovered over the store the entire time. Outsiders have an “84 Charing Cross Road” idea of booksellers, that we read on the job and hold forth on Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky if ever given the chance. Well, the truth is, during my tenure, reading on the job at Borders was considered stealing from the company. And most folks wouldn’t know Tolstoy if he walked up and introduced himself. The job was mostly about getting product on the floor and getting customers to the product they wanted, and in some cases, didn't know they wanted. Along the way, there were titles we were told to push in order for the company to get some slack from the publishers, and within the past year a rewards program that we pushed that was a good value for the early subscribers, but not so for the last to sign up. People will say that the Kindle killed Borders. The truth is more complex than that - overexpansion during the height of the real estate market; five CEOs in five years, none of whom had bookstore experience; a corporate culture of waste. I could go on, but what's the point? Maybe someday, someone will write an e-book about what went wrong at Borders.




Shakespeare was here two weeks ago. Now it's fixtures awaiting pick-up. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

  I'll miss many things about my job. My colleagues, who put the "q" in quirky. Some are long-term friends, from a previous independent bookselling gig, and some will continue to be my buddies. We get each other's jokes, something that has to do with not wincing when a customer asks for "Withering Heights" or mispronounces Albert Camus. I'll miss, too, the privilege of being around so much reading material. While reading on the clock was frowned on, reading on your lunch break was considered a right and the greatest perk of the job. I'd grab the latest magazines and newest cookbooks to peruse on my lunch hour. My friends and I would huddle around the table in the dingy breakroom, feeding our reading habits and ourselves.




Childcare/Psychology/Self-Improvement. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

  I’ll miss a few of the customers and those precious bookselling moments where you sell a preteen her copy of “Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret,” or a new mom “The Velveteen Rabbit” or a newly pregnant woman “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

Bookstores are for ages and stages and now the experts tell us that the new age demands books via byte.

I don’t buy it. I think there will always be a market for tangible, dust-gathering books made of real, tangible, forest-clearing paper. Gutenberg had a good thing going and I think there will always be a market for brick and mortar bookstores. I just hope the grand poobahs of the remaining bookstores chains will find my suburban county and realize what a great location it is for a bookstore.

In 2006, a few years before he passed, John Updike addressed the BookExpo convention in Washington, D.C. His speech focused on Google’s plan to digitize books and how that would influence the writer; it ended with a call to arms for booksellers.

The full text of Updike's speech can be found here, but my favorite part is near the end: “Books traditionally have edges: some are rough-cut, some are smooth-cut, and a few, at least at my extravagant publishing house, are even top-stained. In the electronic anthill, where are the edges? The book revolution, which, from the Renaissance on, taught men and women to cherish and cultivate their individuality, threatens to end in a sparkling cloud of snippets.

"So, booksellers, defend your lonely forts. Keep your edges dry. Your edges are our edges. For some of us, books are intrinsic to our sense of personal identity.”

Now it seems the revolution has passed us by and there are fewer forts for us to defend.

And I’m not sure what hurts more – my feet or my heart.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

This story was published first on Open Salon, where it was selected as an Editor's Pick and received many comments from book lovers and those who embrace the e-revolution. Check it out here.

7 Things to Bring to a Borders Liquidation Sale (and 5 Things to Leave at Home)

Borders Books by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Some history on Borders and me: I’ve worked as a part-time bookseller at Borders for close to three years. These weren't the glory years, to be sure, but as a passionate reader, being able to share my knowledge of books with customers has been a source of joy to me. There are a lot of reasons why Borders is closing, and all I have to say on the subject is that the Kindle alone didn't kill Borders; there were lots of railcars in that trainwreck. All the employees care about now is closing the store with dignity, knowing they did their best to keep the bookstore alive. 

After a month of Christmas-like crowds without the requisite goodwill, I decided to put together a primer on How to Shop the Borders Liquidation without Losing Your Mind.

A few items from the cafe sale: cups, shot glass, tamper. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Seven things to bring to the Borders liquidation sale:

1. Understanding the term “all sales are final.” This means that once you walk away from the cash register, there are no returns. If you get home and realize that you already have  the Nora Roberts/Lee Child/John Grisham title, just wrap it up and give it as a Christmas gift.

2. BYOB. Bring your own bags or boxes, especially if you’re buying big. We’re down to the medium-size bags which are great for small items, not so good for outsize bargain books and toys.

3. Bring proper form of payment. Cash, credit and debit cards are a yes. Checks are a no. The liquidation company will honor gift cards throughout the sale. Pro tip: while waiting in line to pay, locate gift cards and make sure they are for Borders and not another retailer. If paying with a credit or debit card, have i.d. in hand – cashiers are required to check i.d. on unsigned cards.

4. A calculator or the ability to compute percentages in your head. If you’re a parent, this is an optimal teaching moment. For newbies, now that we’re in the 40 to 60 percent range, ballpark at half price and count on slight displeasure or pleasant surprise. Bonus points for knowing local sales tax and guesstimating final tally with tax. Pro tip: The discount is applied to the list price. For non-bargain merchandise, that’s the price on the yellow sticker. For bargain merchandise, it’s the price listed on the red or blue label.

5. Lowered expectations for the merchandise. If you’re looking for “The Help” or the Jaycee Dugard story, you'll just have to look elsewhere. As far as locating books, keep in mind that the store is straightened every night, but within a few hours of opening, it is trashed again by bookstore gremlins. After four weeks of this, the books are no longer in alphabetical order, although most start out the day in proper section. This is old-school book retailing, without title look-up and the booksellers’ internal GPS. Pro tip: Touch the books as you look through them; there will be fewer opportunities in the future to do this before buying.

6. Respect for the employees. Remember that 11,000 Borders employees will lose their jobs when the sale is over. We have bills to pay just like everyone else and we do not relish the idea of looking for new jobs in this economy. The thing to know about booksellers is that, by and large, they are overeducated and underpaid. They chose to work in a business that they loved – sharing books, music and movies with others.

7. An empty bladder. Restrooms are closed, at least in our store. A curious quirk of Borders retail history is restroom horror stories. All I really need to say about this is: go before you leave the house.

Cafe cups and ornaments by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

And five things to leave at home:

1. Any list of books that you expect to hand to an employee with the expectation that the books can be located. As mentioned in #4, it’s old school book shopping now. Employees on the floor, including those at the registers, do not have access to title look-up. We can direct you to the section where the book would be shelved in the good ol’days. After that, you’re on your own.

2. Rewards cards. It’s no use digging for them. The basic Borders rewards program ended July 31 when the last Borders Bucks expired. The Borders Rewards Plus program officially ended a few weeks ago, but a version has been brought back for a few days this week. (Keep in mind that to use this offer, you must have either the printed-out coupon or the Borders Rewards Plus account number. And to the rude man who threw his Borders rewards card at me yesterday; I'm embarrassed for you and your family and sincerely hope that you have the opportunity to work a retail liquidation someday.

3. Classroom discount cards. This program ended when Borders was sold to its present owner. If you choose to be all grumbly about it, look at it this way: you are purchasing new books at half-price or better and pumping money into your local economy, which in turn helps local schools. You could purchase the same books new through Amazon at a higher price, or second-hand through online booksellers at a comparable price, but neither purchase would help your local economy.




Tamper and shot glass by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


4. The kidoodles. I enjoy children, but as a parent, I would really encourage parents to shop without them. Or tag team so that one parent can shop while another watches the children. I write this as much for the children’s sake as the parents. I’ve seen stressed-out parents frustrated with their children who do not know how to look for books after they can not locate their favorite authors. If you do shop with your children, at we still have harmonicas, squeaky ducks and talking books.
5. Questions about the closing of the store and when the next mark-downs will come. First of all, I hear "store closing" as "no more paycheck," so it's hard to get excited about that 90 percent day. And it’s not as one customer suggested to me, a game that the cashiers are playing with the customers; that it’s a secret that we will only share with our closest friends. We truly don’t know anything beyond what is reported in the media; that the company expects to be completely liquidated by the end of September. To be honest, I get a little nervous just taking my lunch break. (That’s a joke, friends, and after being asked that question 376 times yesterday, I’m rather proud that I can still make a joke.)

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

What about you? Is Borders in your community? Are you shopping the sales?

Consider the kumquat

Kumquats from Florida. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Funny story: yesterday, my daughter's preschool teacher shared another "Lindsey story" that made her laugh. It was "L" week and Miss Katie gathered the class and gave them each a dab of lavender lotion to rub on their hands. Ooh, doesn't it smell good? Oooh, it's so soft! My little Lindsey said, "it smells just like my Mom's kumquat pie!"

I grinned at the story and confessed that we do indeed eat kumquat pie at my house. I'm not so sure that it smells like lavender, but if you're crazy for citrus like we are here, you'll get lightheaded at the sight and smell of intensely citrus-y and creamy kumquat pie.

Before I made the pie, I made Candied Kumquats, inspired by a recipe in David Tanis' "Heart of the Artichoke" (Artisan Books, 2010). He tops lemon bars with candied kumquats and the picture in the book sold me - shortbread crust topped with lemon curd then glorious, glistening sunshine-orange kumquats. The candied kumquats are a cinch to make - in a saucepan, heat 1/2 cup water and pour in 3/4 cup sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved. Halve kumquats and flick the seed out with a knife. Place halved kumquats in sugar syrup and let bubble away for about 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn or bubble over. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in an airtight container such as a glass jar in the fridge. Candied kumquats are a lovely garnish for the following pie or can be eaten on their own, straight up.

In the heart of winter, Atlanta supermarket produce aisles are stocked with the best of Florida's citrus - grapefruits, oranges and tangerines, but you have to look carefully for the fruit that you can eat peel and all - the kumquat. The golden yellow gems are sold in cartons, sometimes in the refrigerator case. Tart and sweet kumquats can be eaten raw, but absolutely shine in sweet desserts such as this creamy and refreshing Kumquat Pie. This recipe uses low and non-fat ingredients to keep the fat count down and New Year's resolutions intact.


Kumquat Pie. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Kumquat Pie

Purchase a ready-made graham cracker crust or make this homemade version. Some supermarket crusts are small, you may need to purchase two.

Graham Cracker Crust

9 graham crackers

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted


1. Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, blitz the graham crackers into fine crumbs. Add sugar, salt and melted butter. Press mixture into a 9-inch glass pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes; crust will be dry and firm when done.

Filling

1 pint kumquats

1 (14 oz.) can non-fat sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping such as Cool Whip, thawed

½ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice


1. Pick over the kumquats and remove any that are mushy or bruised. With each fruit, remove the stem, then slice in half pole to pole and with a knife, flick out the seeds. Place the kumquats in the bowl of a food processor and pulverize to bits.
2. In a bowl, fold the sweetened condensed milk into the Cool Whip. Stir in the lemon juice and the kumquats. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Have you ever tried kumquats? Do you eat them raw or cooked?

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer.

Birthday Cake




Chocolate Pound Cake decorated by the Birthday Girl. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 

Birthday girl by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

We sing this blessing a lot in our house, and it's especially appropriate here when I've made a chocolate cake for Little Bit's Birthday.

"God is good, God is great.

God created chocolate cake.

He's a righteous dude and He gives great food.

Rub a dub dub three men in a tub.

We thank you, Lord for this great grub.

Amen amen amen amen.

Fresh....."

Here's the recipe, Chocolate Pound Cake. I made another one this week that went to the North Georgia State Fair to be judged in the pound cake recipe. Wish me luck!

Required Reading

A rare Saturday afternoon at home and while the girls played with the Wii, I caught up on reading. Roger Ebert is a thoughtful writer and this piece from the Chicago Sun-Times explains his health problems of recent years and what he misses most about not eating. Roger Ebert's story "Nil by Mouth" here.

My current fiction read is "The Piano Teacher" by Janice Y.K. Lee, about Hong Kong during WWII and again in 1953. I'll probably follow this with "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick. I read the first eight pages and want to know more about the characters and setting - always a good sign.

My newest cookbook is "My Bread" by Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery. I've turned out about a half dozen of the no-knead loaves and they are wonderful.

Next on my cookbook must-purchase list: "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I've perused this book already. I think it's Rose's most beautiful book - lots of photographs, all stunning. Of course, the recipes will be first-rate, I expect nothing less.

Bedside Table

Books are burgeoning from the bedside table. I don't have a problem, honestly, I don't, it seems harmless enough to leave a couple books on the table with the lamp and the tissue box and flashlight. Except now, I can't find the flashlight under the 16 books stacked on the table. And I can't find the paperback I started two days ago. Did I put it on the table? Aha!, it must be on the table at the foot of the bed with the 30 or so left there.

Found it! This is a book that I just love, and I would never have read it if I judged books by their covers. "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan has a bouncing 10-year old on the cover, bobbed hair flying, bare legs folded, against an impossibly cerulean sky. It reminds me of the cover of a book that I liked - "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," (although the first book, "Little Altars Everywhere" is much better), but still I need a push to actually open the book and begin reading. A push like a boss saying I need to read it. And guess what? I love it. Even if I synopsize the book, you will start backing away saying "thanks, but I don't think that's my cup of tea." But give it a try.

It's a memoir. Of cancer. But it's about so much more. Corrigan is in her late 30s, married and with two young daughters, when she's diagnosed with breast cancer. Halfway through the book, her beloved daddy is diagnosed with cancer as well. The book is loaded with pop culture references to my 80s generation. I'm not sure if I expected Corrigan's voice to be the smart-aleck, been-there, done that, got the tattoo tough chick. She's honest and vulnerable, self-deprecating, but not really needy, which is good, because there's a fine line between mirth and maudlin on this journey through cancer. I'm only halfway through the book and I'm ready to make a bunch of brownies, tote them cross-country and show up for girl gab on her back deck.

More from the stacks:

1. Jacques Pepin, "More Fast Food My Way." If I could choose my parents, I would pick Chef Jacques to be my dad. I've read and cooked through most of his cookbooks & never get tired of his approach to food. This is the second tour through quick-and-easy fare, and promises to be just as yummy.

2. Anne Lamott, "Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith." The remainder table has been very good to me. Lamott could write about plumbing fixtures & I would be fascinated. Lucky for me, it's parenthood, the future of the planet, sobriety and God and Jesus.

3. Ann Cooper, "Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children." The reason I have a CSA subscription. I still buy Rice Krispies instead of Kashi, but I've got to start somewhere.

4. Another from the remainder table that I haven't read yet: "These United States: Original Essays by American Writers on Their State of the Union." It's edited by the late John Leonard, whose convoluted prose made me chuckle and think. Occasionally at the same time.

5. Bill Smith, "Seasoned in the South: Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home." I haven't cooked out of it yet, but it simply screams "sense of place!" Reading the recipes, I want to make something, just haven't made up my mind yet.

6. "Patrick O'Connell's Refined American Cuisine: Inn at Little Washington." Did I mention that the remainder table has been very good to me? This gorgeous book was originally published at a heart-stopping price of $45 (!). I think I paid less than $5, and I guess I can say that it's worth what I paid for it, even if I never cook from it. I usually don't go for pricey chefly ego trip books, but this one's a stunner, with O'Connell's pleasure-seeking id on overdrive. I'm not sure I'll cook from it, but the photographs and the recipes are tempting, at least on a basic level, as in without the truffle dust and Maine lobster. A soup of apple and rutabaga is bookmarked, and Little Yellow Grits Souffles, too.

A Low-Country High

The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life
by Pat Conroy with Suzanne Williamson Pollak
Hardcover, 282 pages, (pub. Dec. 2004)

"When I refer to myself as Southern, I am talking about the part of myself that is most deeply human and deeply feeling. It is the part of me that connects most intimately and cordially with the family of humankind. There are qualities of grace and friendship and courtesy that will always seem essentially Southern to me, no matter where I encounter them on the road." (Page 135)

"Paris is a city of words and a secret city of words not written. Signs on buildings give away the names of unknown authors who once lived between those walls. You cannot take a step in Paris without walking on the footprints of a thousand artists and writer who have come before you. It excites every cell in your body; it unnerves you that you are adding your voice to the great simmering bouillon of all the writers who have come before you as the great city and time turn their blind careless eyes toward you." (Page 163)

There are two essential things to know about best-selling author Pat Conroy: first, he’s a storyteller, a raconteur; second, he’s passionate about food and cooking. In this compulsively readable memoir-with-recipes, Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides, opens the window to his life as a writer, a Southerner, an expatriate, a husband, a son, a father, and most of all, gourmand and cook.

It’s a shame this is called the Pat Conroy Cookbook, because while it most certainly includes ravishing recipes, it’s that rare cookbook that serves as autobiography and writer’s guide. Conroy lived in Paris and Italy and recounts his food and adventures abroad, but home will always be his beloved Beaufort, South Carolina. Conroy fans will delight in the Low Country mythology behind his novels and the stories of his family. Not to be missed: the shadow of Hemingway at a Paris bistro, his daughter’s wedding in Beaufort with an appearance by a neighborly alligator, and the small-town boy makes good story behind the publication of his debut novel The Water is Wide. You may be tempted to keep this book in the kitchen - the recipes are top-notch, but while you’re waiting on the ribollita or the pot likker soup, you’ll find yourself curling up on the sofa, reading and re-reading Conroy’s stories, his South Carolina drawl and belly laugh ringing in your ears.

In the Stacks

A selection of titles borrowed from my local library:

1. Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama. The title grabbed me.

2. The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain. I used to watch No Reservations; I'll see if his writing hooks me.

3. Being Dead is No Excuse: Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral by Gayden Metcalf and Charlotte Hays. Another great title. There should be a chapter on Funeral Casseroles.

4. Cooking with Jamie by Jamie Oliver. I really enjoy the "Jamie's Table" show on Food Network and like what I've read so far in the book (I'm only through Equipment and Salads), but this title is definitely going on my Amazon Wishlist.

I Always Judge Books by Their Covers

With a sniff and a sigh, I just finished "On Agate Hill" by Lee Smith. I've been away from novels for several years, but I've always loved Lee Smith and when I saw the book in trade paper, it all but jumped off the shelf into my hands. This was in Nashville at Davis-Kidd Booksellers, so my girls played contentedly with the Thomas the Tank Engine train table while I read the back of the book. Curled up in a mission-style rocker, which I coveted, I read the author's notes in which Smith describes the death of her adult son and her difficulty returning to writing while still grieving. I was wiping tears from my eyes when I put "Agate Hill" on my stack of "must buys."

Molly Petree is the heroine of "Agate Hill," and the story traces her life as an orphan in North Carolina following the Civil War clear through her adult life at the turn of the century. Molly is familiar in that she's the spitfire Southern girl I've always wanted either to be or have as my best friend. She reminds me very much of Cean in Caroline Miller's "Lamb in His Bosom" or any of the spunky heroines of Edna Ferber, or even Catherine Marshall's "Christy." The rural, pre-industrial North Carolina setting and characters spark to life like flint to steel.

Years ago, I attended a luncheon at which Lee Smith spoke. She told her albino squirrel story, which I would repeat, but I'm afraid I wouldn't get the details right. The story has to do with an albino squirrel that she wrote about on her very first day as a reporter for a small town newspaper. I laughed as tears of familiarity ran down my face. If you've answered phones at a small town newspaper, and interviewed the local citizens, the somewhat normal and the flat-out crazy, you'd know why I laughed.

More from Erma

For Mother's Day, I can think of no better gift than the book "Forever, Erma," a collection of Erma Bombeck's best columns. Here are two of my favorite quotes:

"When I was born, I was 40 years old with a cup of cold coffee in one hand, a sponge in the other hand, and the original Excedrin headache. My parents exclaimed, "Good grief! We've given birth to a 130-pound parent!" Or so it seemed."

"Had it not been for "As the World Turns" and pacifiers, I'd have slipped into humming and braiding my hair. Every day I'd put a pacifier into whatever part of his face was open, get a plate full of buttered noodles and sit in front of the TV set and watch someone who was worse off than I was."

Bookstore Score

Recently travelled to Nashville, Tenn., and visited a terrific independent bookstore, Davis-Kidd Booksellers at the Mall at Green Hills. After settling my girls in with I Spy and American Girls, I scoured the cookbook, fiction and general non-fiction sections plus the outstanding remainder selection and came away with some excellent finds:

1. "All-American Dessert Book" by Nancy Baggett. Very clear, concise recipes and nice photographs. $12.99.

2. "BHG New Baking Book." I'm a sucker for ring-bound books. Besides, it was $8.50. I tried a recipe for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Pudding Cake that tasted ok, but looked like a New York street in need of repair. I'm still spelunking for hidden treasure here.

3. "Cornbread Gospels" by Crescent Dragonwagon. I treasure Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread, so I'm looking forward to digging out the golden nuggets in this.

4. "BHG Fast-Fix Family Food." OK, it's got more than a few processed ingredients, but I was lured in the by the flashy graphics and promises of kid-friendly food. It's enjoyable to peruse, and maybe my 9 year old will like it better than the Rachael Ray Cooking Rocks! book, which I find to be perfectly anoying.

5. "The Splendid Table" by Lynne Rosetto Kosper. For $12.99. Lovely and transporting. There's an almond pasta that sounds doable for my crew. Even if I don't cook from it, I'm enjoying the read.

6. Ann Patchett's itsy-bitsy inspirational title "What Now?" I've been a fan since "Patron Saint of Liars" and I thought "Truth & Beauty" was just about a perfect memoir.

7. Lee Smith's "On Agate Hill." While the girls were being sweet in the store, I read the author's essay in the back of the book about how she wrote this book after the sudden death of her son. Just reading the anguish of a mom burying her child and trying to make sense of that made me want to read the fiction that came out of the experience.

More from the Bedside Table

1. "More Home Cooking" by Laurie Colwin. Featuring essays on duck, making your own yogurt, and at least two recipes using lima beans (so far).

2. Damon Lee Fowler's "New Southern Cooking." I've probably had it for 5 years and I'm just now reading it.

3. Damon Lee Fowler's "New Southern Baking." I needed more guilt, so I bought a second book by an author I know I should be reading.

4. "Around the Southern Table" by Sarah Belk. Very informative and fresh take on Southern standbys.

5. "Debt to Plesaure" by John Lanchester. Very engaging prose. I've had this ARC edition for nearly 10 years - how can I not have picked it up before now? It's so good!

The Bedside Table 5

Here's what I'm browsing through:

1. Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking." I first read this nearly 20 years ago and it's just as wonderful each time I re-read it. Some folks re-read Proust every year; I read Colwin, she's essential.

2. Peter Reinhart's "Sacramental Magic in a Small-Town Cafe." Again, a re-read. I'd forgotten that there's so much more than bread in this book - salads, sandwiches and drinks. The tabbouleh sounds especially worth a try.

3. King Arthur Flour Baking Book (revised edition). I tried the Apricot Cream Cheese Scones and they were heavenly.

4. Pam Anderson's "Perfect Recipes for Having People Over." Much-needed inspiration for entertaining.

5. "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. What Marcella is to Italian cooking, Lewis and Peacock are to Southern regional culinary traditions.