Homemade whoopie pies — a New England classic!

So where did they come from? Whoopie pies are commonly thought to be a treat with Pennsylvania Amish roots, but a loud New England voice – heavy emphasis on the Maine accent. Food historians credit the Amish with making the first whoopie pies with leftover cake batter and tucking them into lunch pails (causing farmers and children to exclaim “Whoopie!” with delight upon their discovery), but when the treat made its way to New England it quickly grew in popularity. Labadie’s Bakery in Lewiston, Maine began making and selling whoopie pies in 1925 (and still does today), and the now-defunct Berwick Cake Company of Roxbury, MA began churning them out in 1931.

While beloved through most of New England (and ever increasingly – everywhere else), the state of Maine has a few extra claims to whoopie pie fame. In 2011 it was declared the official “state treat” of Maine, and that same year the world’s largest whoopie pie was made in South Portland, clocking in at 1,062 pounds. Profits made from selling pieces of the whopper whoopie were used to fund sending Maine-made whoopie pies to soldiers overseas.

To make homemade whoopie pies, you first need to make a batter using plenty of good cocoa powder. I used a spring-loaded ice cream scoop to get my whoopie “cookies” the exact same size every time. I also went with a size scoop that would give me whoopie pies as large as I remember from childhood – about 4 inches across – but you can certainly use a tablespoon or smaller cookie scoop to make your whoopie pies more “bite sized” (only why would you!?).

A spring-loaded ice cream scoop perfectly portions the whoopie pie batter.

After baking, the cakes are cooled and then half are topped with a thick layer of cream filling. Traditional whoopie pie filling in New England is made with vegetable shortening, Marshmallow Fluff, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. I kept things traditional here, but there are many other versions of whoopie pie filling made like frosting with butter or even cream cheese.

Marshmallow Fluff is the classic New England ingredient in traditional whoopie pie filling.

The remaining cakes are sandwiched on top of the filling, and voila — a tray of homemade whoopie pies. It’s best to wrap each individual whoopie pie in plastic wrap to keep it fresh, which works perfectly for bake sales and sharing. I also double-wrapped a few and froze them for future snacking.

Homemade whoopie pies — ready to eat!

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And yes, I also look forward to a Mexican beer or margarita.

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “fifth of May”) is held on May 5 throughout the U.S. and regionally in Mexico. It is not a day commemorating Mexican independence (as is commonly assumed) but instead marks the day Mexican forces were victorious over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. “Cinco de Mayo” as a holiday originated with Mexican-American communities in the American West as a way to honor the cause of freedom and democracy during the early years of the American Civil War, and today we mark Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

This, of course, includes tasty Mexican-American food, so let’s make Mexican Stuffed Peppers!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers start with (you guessed it) a colorful cluster of peppers.

To begin, not all peppers are created equal. For a sweeter flavor stick with red, yellow, and orange peppers. They’re a little pricier, but I think they’re’ worth the extra change. It’s also important to blanch the peppers before stuffing and baking them so they’ll be perfectly tender when it’s time to dig in. This is done by putting the peppers in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before plunging them into a bath of icy water to stop the cooking process.

Once the stems are removed, clear out the ribs and seeds from inside each pepper.

Then it’s onto the filling. I keep my filling meatless, but you could certainly add in ground hamburg, turkey, or even sausage. In my version brown rice, black beans, corn, onions, and mushrooms are mixed together and perfectly flavored with seasoning, hot sauce, and generous handful of fresh cilantro.

Hearty brown rice with beans, mushrooms, onions, tomato puree, corn, and spices makes the perfect stuffed pepper filling.

Fit the peppers snugly into a deep baking dish to keep them upright, then spoon in the filling. If you’re not ready to eat right away you can always stick them in the fridge for a few hours.

Stuffed and ready for cheese and the oven!

Freshly grated Vermont cheddar topped my peppers before and during the baking process, but you can swap the cheddar out for any cheese you like. Opt for mozzarella if you want a pizza-like experience, or pepper jack for some added heat.

Top each pepper with shredded cheddar, pepper jack, or mozzarella cheese and bake!

And finally, if I may make a suggestion — while you’re waiting for your Mexican stuffed peppers to bake, throw together a batch of homemade pico de gallo, crack open a tasty Mexican beer, and put on your favorite salsa music. It’ll have you thinking Mexico in no time.

Round out your Cinco de Mayo with fresh, homemade pico de gallo, tortilla chips, and an icy cold Mexican beer.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Beyond savory slow cookers do a great job with baked puddings for dessert, but they’re also handy for breakfast! It’s especially helpful if you’ve got guests to feed and want to visit with them while the food cooks rather than standing at the stove and flipping eggs or pancakes.

For example, this recipe for Maple Cornbread with Sausage and Apples had everyone sniffing the air here in the Yankee office and wondering aloud who was baking bread (never mind that the most robust piece of baking equipment usually on site is an ancient toaster oven).

Slow Cooker Maple Cornbread drizzled with more of the good stuff.

Thanks to some boxed corn muffin mix, the recipe is easy and comes together in the time it takes to peel and chop an apple.

Ingredients assembled and ready for the slow cooker!

Savory sausage crumbles and sweet bites of apple paired perfectly with the maple cornbread. I’ll definitely be making this again, perhaps even swapping out the apples for some jalapeno and adding some fresh cheddar.

Slow Cooker Maple Cornbread studded with Sausage and Apples.

Another great slow cooker breakfast dish is a bread pudding, which calls for pieces of cut up bread to be soaked in a batter and baked until the bread is puffed. This recipe for Cinnamon-Raisin Granola Bread Pudding uses cinnamon raisin bread and the batter gets a flavor boost from chai tea latte concentrate.

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding.

The granola on top added a great crunch. If you like your bread pudding to melt in your mouth you’ll like this version, but if you prefer a texture that’s more dense, crack a few eggs into the batter to help it firm up while baking.

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding with Granola.

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Slivered almonds add an elegant crunch.

The pineapple (named for its resemblance to the pine cone) is native to South America, and was brought back to Europe by Christopher Columbus in 1493. Soon after it’s believed a Spanish ship brought it to Hawaii, where it flourished and eventually became a monster crop for the island chain.

We often see pineapples used throughout New England at inns and restaurants as symbols of welcome and hospitality, harking back to the days when sea captains would return from voyages to the Caribbean Islands. Legend tells us that the captain would place a pineapple from the voyage on a fence post outside the house to let friends and neighbors know he had returned safely, and to welcome them inside for a visit (and likely, some rum).

Why not continue the tradition by showing up at a friend’s house with this pineapple right-side-up cake to share over coffee and conversation?

Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Because it calls for oil instead of butter, this cake is a one-bowl wonder with no creaming step. Moist and sweet, you’ll have no trouble finding willing volunteers to help make it disappear — I didn’t!

Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Think spring (and then summer) by making this pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting and sharing the delicious results!

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Eggs were also originally forbidden during Lent (the 40 days before Easter), so when the big day came perhaps it was time to enjoy them again with gusto.

Italian Easter Bread with Dyed eggs is both a beautiful and delicious table centerpiece.

My family is Italian Catholic on my maternal grandfather’s side, and while I spent many Easters wriggling on a pew in church before visiting my Great Grammy in Everett, MA with my sisters and cousins, where we lined up for the obligatory douse of Grammy’s holy water, I don’t remember ever having Italian Easter Bread.

Me, my cousins Jaime and Mark, and sister Courtney at Great Grammy’s on Easter in the late 80′s.

Surely I would have remembered a sweet, braided bread with dyed Easter eggs snuggled down inside, right?

Well, after years of admiring Italian Easter Bread with dyed eggs when it showed up in magazines and on food blogs each spring, this year I decided to make my own.

The dough is a basic sweet yeast dough, and once it was set to rise I got out my hard-boiled eggs. I hadn’t dyed Easter eggs since the early 1990′s, but unlike so many other things from childhood, the process is pretty much exactly the same today. Wanting my eggs to look like authentic birds’ eggs, I tried to get them the perfect shade of pale turquoise.

Then, I mixed a bit of brown gel food coloring with water and got out a fresh toothbrush. By dipping the head of the toothbrush into the dye and then running my thumb over it, I was able to “spray” speckles of brown onto the eggs. I practiced first onto a paper towel and suggest you do the same.

Food coloring and a toothbrush help create an authentic speckle to dyed eggs.

Once the dough was ready, chopped almonds and candied fruit (or raisins) were kneaded in. I had a surplus of golden raisins on hand, so that’s what I used. Then it was cut in half, and each half rolled out into a long, thin rope. The fruit and nuts made this a little tricky by forming air pockets inside the dough ropes, but with a little firm coaxing they were long enough. After wrapping the two ropes together and forming a wreath, the strands were separated enough to nestle a dyed egg firmly between them.

After twisting the strands together, gently separate and insert eggs.

You can use our recipe for sweet yeasted bread at the end of this post, or substitute your own favorite sweet dough or challah recipe.

Beautiful baked Easter bread with dyed eggs!

Out of the oven the bread will fill your kitchen with the intoxicating smell of sweet homemade bread. Unfortunately, the egg dye bled in the oven, but since there was nothing I could do about it I just tried to draw the eye elsewhere by using a liberal hand with the glaze and sprinkles that are optional (but strongly encouraged) on Italian Easter Bread. Just keep the glaze off the eggs.

A sugary glaze and colored sprinkles make things even more festive.

This bread makes a gorgeous Easter centerpiece, and is a holiday tradition for many families. Yes, it’s a little unusual to stick hard-boiled eggs into your bread before baking it, and then pry them out the next day to make egg salad for lunch (like I did), but it sure is fun.

And the final result was also delicious. Sweet and light with just enough almond and raisin filling to make it special. Why not make Italian Easter Bread with dyed eggs this year and add a new tradition to your Easter table?

Sweet and dense Italian Easter Bread!

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Just ask the pile of crumbs left on the pie plate at the end of a recent Yankee Editorial staff meeting…

Spring is coming, folks. I promise, it is! If you’re like me and you like to hurry things along one easy way to get yourself thinking and feeling spring is to lighten up your menu and start adding some early spring produce to your dishes. Since I love asparagus, those bright green spears are the first things I reach for.

In this quiche, the asparagus is joined by baby portabella mushrooms and thinly sliced shallots, along with a generous handful of Swiss cheese, to pack in plenty of flavor.

The extra steps come with the eggs/milk part of the process. Instead of relying on a large amount of eggs to set the filling, you’re going to reach for the heavy cream and prepare a savory custard.

Once the cooked asparagus, mushrooms, and shallots are in place and topped with cheese, heavy cream is scalded and then cooled before being slowly whisked into a bowl of beaten eggs. Then the liquid is poured over the filling, and into the oven it goes.

I like my asparagus in trimmed spears on top of the quiche so I wait until the liquid has been poured before gently placing them on top.

Out of the oven the quiche smells wonderful, but how could it not? Buttery crust, eggs, cream, cheese, and veggies sure know how to work together.

At first bite I thought the quiche hadn’t baked long enough — that’s how smooth and creamy the custard filling was. I inspected my slice with confusion. The knife tester had come out clean and the slice was neat and tidy, but since I’d never had a bite of quiche melt in my mouth before, I thought something must have been wrong with it.

Turns out there was just something wrong with me. I cautiously served a slice to our Web Editor Brenda and she declared it “the best quiche I’ve ever had.” Whew!

Next time you’re craving quiche, or if company is coming for brunch, give this one a try. You can always swap out the veggies for your favorites, or lighten it up by using half milk and half heavy cream, but you’ll lose out on some creaminess with the calories.

Happy spring! Bring on the green!

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Vegetarian Slow-Cooker Baked Beans

Boston Baked Beans
“This dish, New England’s favorite Saturday night supper, is apt to be eaten again with codfish balls for breakfast on Sunday morning, and I doubt if a church supper has even been held here that didn’t offer big pots of beans along with baked ham, chicken pie, and cole slaw.”

Bourbon Baked Beans
“If you’d rather start with the canned variety, try this Kennebunk, Maine, way to doctor them up — and convince everyone you slaved for hours. These are hearty, flavorful, and perfect for a summer cookout.”

Fiesta Baked Beans
“A good and easy supper with a spicy kick that can also be left to simmer all day in a slow cooker on low heat.”

Vegetarian Slow-Cooker Baked Beans
“All the goodness of seasoned, simmered old-fashioned New England baked beans, without the salt pork plus the added convenience of the slow cooker! Both bean traditionalists and vegetarians will gobble these up.”

Bean-Hole Baked Beans
“For 75 years, the Smith/Smart family has gathered annually in Maine to enjoy each other’s company and feast on a potluck meal. There’s always one staple: real bean-hole baked beans. John Madden, whose mother was a Smart, says that the family sometimes has three pots of beans going at once. (“They eat a lot of beans up there, morning, noon, and night sometimes,” says John’s wife, Evelyn.) John suggests using a three-legged, cast-iron kettle with a flared sheet metal cover to bake the beans in.”

Maine Baked Beans with an Italian Touch
“This recipe is based on one my 94-year-old aunt sent to her 90-year-old brother when he lost his mother’s bean “rule,” but since my Yankee palate has been hopelessly contaminated by a number of years in Italy, I’ve added some unorthodox garlic and increased the number of bay leaves. Aunt Doris’s instructions ended: “You said you lost your recipe, so I put it on a card. This time, tack it up inside cupboard door.” And that’s where I keep it.”

Vermont-Style Baked Beans
“This maple-laced, slow-cooked dish ranks high among our favorites. We love the bacon, but be sure to use a brand that’s not too smoky, to avoid overpowering the rest of the party. Yellow-eye beans are a traditional Maine crop, but navy beans are a good substitute (although they don’t hold their shape as well).”

New England Baked Bean Soup
“Baked Beans — a classic New England dish if there ever was one. But why stop at eating them as a side dish? Thinned out with a little water, and flavored with tomatoes, celery, onion, and extra spices, baked beans also make a delicious soup! We started with a recipe from the original Fannie Farmer cookbook, then modified it to keep it simple and easy. We think you’ll love Baked Bean Soup with a grilled cheese or hot dog for a quick winter evening meal.”

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Brownies are a classic American chocolate dessert, and though reportedly initially developed at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago during the late 1800’s as a “fork-less cake” boxed-lunch dessert option (complete with apricot glaze), the brownie maintains strong New England ties thanks to its inclusion in a large number of publications to come out of the region during the early years of the twentieth century, including the 1906 Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which certainly helped spread its popularity.

Like the chocolate chip cookie, it seems no two brownie recipes are exactly alike. Some folks like their brownies light and cakey, while others crave them chewy or even gooey. Some like them chunky with nuts or chocolate chips, while others prefer them frosted or swirled with cream cheese. Some eat them plain, and some dream about them a la mode, warm and soft with a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

I started by whipping up a batch of Raspberry Brownies, which get a boost of color from a generous swirl of seedless raspberry jam, not to mention of the addition of the berries’ sweet and juicy flavor. In truth, I thought the amount of jam called for was perhaps too much (hard as that is to believe) because the brownies had a hard time cooking in areas where it was thick, so I’ve updated the original recipe to lighten things up.

Then it was time to try something unusual, a recipe from the Yankee recipe archives for Inside-Out Brownies.

The recipe called for a thick, dry chocolate batter to be wrapped around a chocolate kiss and then rolled into a ball and baked before being dipped in chocolate. These are my favorite kinds of recipes — the head-scratchers that leave you guessing until you take your first bite.

And what a bite it was! The firm, chocolate “brownie” had baked up around the chocolate kiss, and once cooled, the kiss had hardened back into a solid chocolate core. My fellow Yankee staffers adored these, remarking that unlike cookies where the chocolate kiss sits on top and can be awkwardly hard, in this cookie it pairs perfectly with its surroundings.

I jazzed them up for Valentine’s Day by using red candy melts, but you can keep things 100% chocolate by dipping the cooled brownie bites in melted semi-sweet chocolate instead.

No matter what, we think that if you celebrate cupid this year by making fun Valentine’s Day brownies, both your sweetheart and your sweet tooth will thank you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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On a recent trip to Florida, I brought bag a bag of mixed citrus to help brighten my plate on my return home to cold (VERY cold!) New England. Since the citrus season falls during the winter, it’s the perfect time to break out your zester and incorporate oranges and grapefruit into your baked goods.

Heck, why not just use the whole fruit? I took our recipe for Scottish Oat Scones and decided to punch them up with a whole Florida grapefruit. First I collected the zest, then peeled the grapefruit and removed the fruit.

I chopped up the fruit (being careful not to lose the juice!), then transferred the fruit and juice to a strainer suspended over a bowl to collect the juice while the fruit drained.

When the batter was ready, I firmly blotted the fruit between thick layers of paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible, then gently mixed it in before shaping the dough into a circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Out of the oven, the pink fruit had darkened into a lovely coral-y orange. Once cooled, it was time for the glaze!

Made from powdered sugar combined with the reserved grapefruit juice and zest, the glaze provides the perfect amount of sweet pucker on top of the scones.

Yum! Moist and packed with hearty oats along with bright citrus flavor, these Grapefruit Oatmeal Scones with Citrus Glaze are just the thing start your day on a cold winter morning and remind you of warm summer breezes to come…eventually.

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Today we’re making breakfast popovers, a delicious weekend treat!

Piping hot popovers with butter and jam.

Making popovers is ridiculously easy, but for “biggest” results, you’ll want to start with a smooth batter, hot oven, preheated pan, and (if you want to go the extra mile) a special popover pan. Similar to a muffin pan, a popover pan has individual baking cups, but they’re deeper and have open space around each cup for better air circulation while baking, which ultimately leads to a larger “pop.” The “pop” seems like magic, but it’s really just the result of the eggs in the batter reacting to the high heat in the oven.

Eggs, flour, butter, and milk get popovers going.

The bake time is somewhat long (around 40 minutes) and you have to be patient. Opening the oven will disrupt the level of heat critical to popover success, so no peeking! Once they’re out of the oven, use a knife to make a slit in the bottom of each popover to let the steam escape. This will keep your popovers crispy!

Gently cut in half and spread with butter, these popovers (plus a large cup of coffee) were almost ready for breakfast, but not quite. I knew they needed something sweet to be perfect.

High heat from the oven and steam make popovers pop.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have on hand a jar of Raspberry and Hibiscus Flower Jam from Blake Hill Preserves in Grafton, VT. Poured by hand and packed with the bright and juicy taste of raspberries and delicate floral hibiscus flower, it was the perfect fruity topping for a buttery popover, and local to boot!

Don’t forget the local jam!

And finally, because maple season is just around the corner and everything for breakfast tastes better with a little robust Grade B, I added a swirl of pure maple syrup to take these breakfast popovers over the top. Beautiful breakfast popover perfection!

Also, don’t forget the drizzle of pure maple syrup!

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In the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Yankee, we feature the original Fannie Farmer Cookbook in our “Up Close” column, compiled by Deb Despres, and I knew it would be a good place to find a new way to enjoy baked beans.

Farmer was born in the Boston suburb of Medford in 1857 and graduated with promise from the Boston Cooking School in 1889 at the age of 32. She remained at the school for another 13 years, and in 1896 her cookbook classic The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book was published, eventually becoming the bestselling cookbook of of its time. Written for housewives instead of “professionals,” it aimed to provide information on basic nutrition alongside its many recipes. The book became so popular that later editions (and it’s still being published today) were simply titled The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

This edition is from 1920, and sure it enough, it had a recipe for Baked Bean Soup. Yum!

By starting with cold baked beans, then thinning most of them out with water along before adding tomatoes, celery, onion, brown sugar and a hint of hot sauce, you’ll be on your way to baked bean soup in no time. I took some liberties with Ms. Farmer’s recipe, omitting the flour and butter, and keeping things simple with canned baked beans and tomatoes.

By pureeing the soup before adding the remaining baked beans (I used a handheld immersion blender) you remove all traces of the extra veggies, but if you want a chunkier soup you can leave it as-is.

Basically, if you love baked beans, you’re going to love this soup. I enjoyed my pot for supper with a toasty grilled cheese or buttery English muffin over the course of a few evenings — perfect for this cold New England winter weather!

Ready to make your own?

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And on a recent winter evening, that is exactly what happened.

So how did it happen? For me, this is how to meet Stephen King.

1. Read his books. Become a fan. Share the love.

I picked up my first Stephen King paperback (the Night Shift anthology, with its eyeball-strewn bandaged hand cover, already worn and creased by my older brother) when I was ten. The slithering whisper of the title character from the story “The Boogeyman” was my first taste of that unique combination of delicious horror and well-crafted story that Stephen King is just so darn good at, and I was hooked.

Over the years I worked my way through the signature massive tomes like IT and The Stand. I read On Writing and learned to fear the dreaded adverb. I met cockadoodie Annie Wilkes in Misery and the woman in room 217 at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. I read the Bachman books, the Straub collaborations, The Green Mile serials, and the Different Seasons novellas. Trips to Maine with friends during the summers of the early 2000’s led to lengthy analysis and debates about the pending outcome of the complex and beautiful Dark Tower series, with its hungry lobstrosities and fragile rose. On one trip we even drove to Bangor, stopping at the Paul Bunyan statue and standpipe featured in IT, as well as the author’s house, with its famous gate.

2. Get lucky and know the right people.

This past June, my sister Courtney got an email from her alma matter, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, announcing tickets would soon go on sale for an upcoming event they were calling “A Conversation with Stephen King” as part of their new Chancellor’s Speaker Series. It was billed as a one-night-only event, where attendees would be treated to a question and answer period between King and moderator Andre Dubus III (UMass Lowell English professor, friend, and fellow bestselling author), a live reading, and questions from the audience. Aware of my devotion, she forwarded the email to me with the words “Any interest?” Does Pennywise the clown like balloons? After my rapid reply, she snapped up two tickets and presented them to me as a birthday present in August, tucked into King’s latest book, the historically thrilling 11/22/63. Ecstatic, I drew a large red circle around Friday, December 7th on my calendar. “STEPHEN KING” I wrote in capital letters underneath.

3. Get even luckier.

As if seeing Stephen King read aloud wasn’t enough, a few days before the event I got a phone call from my stepdad Arthur with even better news — instead of just attending the event, I was also going to get to attend the reception beforehand where I’d have the opportunity to possibly meet my favorite author. Be still my horror-loving heart.

4. Be polite, but persistent.

On the big night, clutching my copy of IT (a used British hardcover edition) I made my way into the Tsongas Center with Courtney on the UMass Lowell Campus. We took the elevator up to the private reception in a lounge area overlooking the arena, which was mostly empty when we arrived, but would soon hold a sold-out crowd of 3,000 people. Seated at a table among dozens of other guests, sipping wine and snacking on appetizers, I wondered with increasing butterflies when he would show up, how long he would stay, and if I’d actually get a chance to talk to him.

I knew right away when he arrived. A slight buzz registered near the entrance of the room, followed by a smattering of camera flashes. I slid off my seat and began gathering up my coat, purse, phone, and camera with clumsy urgency. What if he was just walking through and I’d miss him? I hurried to where the action seemed to be, motioning to Courtney to follow, and then there was Stephen King, perched on a stool at a table and wearing regular blue jeans and a black tshirt. The kind with a pocket on the front. He was thin, with salt and pepper hair that reflected his 65 years, and wearing small wire-framed glasses. A small crowd had gathered around him with the beginnings of a line, like a budding balloon string. I joined it, willing to be a bit pushy but hoping not to, and a few moments later, I was handing over my copy of IT to my favorite author and asking if he’d mind signing it. Like most nervous people, I rambled. I apologized for its worn state but said that I had moved a half dozen times since getting it but I just couldn’t ever leave it behind (hahaha). He opened it up and signed his name, handing it back with a smile, saying “I always like to see a well-read book.” Success!

After our meeting, a young woman stepped up to present him with a drawing she had done of him, then promptly burst into tears. He stood up, gave her a hug, and chatted with her some more before posing for a photo. I took a moment to love him for his kindness, but then my heart sank. A photo! How had I missed getting a photo!?

5. Make friends. Get scrappy. This is Stephen King!

“You forgot to give me your camera!” Courtney said, and she was right. I had been so nervous I had forgotten to ask, but now the thought of leaving without a photo was heartbreaking. I turned to my sister and told her it was time to get serious. By this time Mr. King was wandering through the crowd, stopping periodically to visit with a table, sign a book, or pose for a photo. He chuckled and grinned and asked questions, appearing to feel right at home, the way I imagine he does among his fellow New Englanders. “He’s so normal!” Courtney said.

We made our way over to the opposite side of the lounge, where a couple and their pre-teen son were also watching his progress. The man looked excited, and gestured to us. “You guys need to get over there!” he called. “He’s met all of us clowns before — it’s  the prettiest girls in the room and the young people he wants to talk to!”

Assuming we were the pretty girls he was referring to, and his son the young person, we modestly agreed, then urged his son forward. “You’ll regret it if you don’t!” I said. Then, a few moments later, after seeing the boy smiling next to his new favorite author while the camera flashed, I took my own advice and gently muscled my way back to Mr. King while Courtney befriended a kind and bubbly server who had finished handing out her tray of spanikopita and was now also encouraging us to “go for the photo.”

Hovering behind his elbow, I waited. As he turned I began, “Mr. King, I’m sorry but I was so nervous before I forgot to ask if I could get a picture with you.” Before I had even finished the sentence his arm was around my shoulder (with Courtney on the other side) and we smiled at the server who was hoisting up Courtney’s clunky DSLR camera.

While we waited, smiles frozen with dozens of eyes on us, a voice from the crowd called out “Hey Stevie, not too bad!”

Everyone laughed, even Stevie, who then told the fumbling server in a slow voice, “Oh, don’t hurry…”

The laughter from the crowd doubled, and I took the opportunity to briefly lean my head onto his shoulder in sheer delight before the second photo could be snapped — the one above.

Flush with the kind of pure joy that comes from a dizzying mix of excitement, adrenaline, and childlike awe, we clutched our books and belongings and made our way to an empty pair of seats in the arena, then settled in to wait for the official event, which would start at any moment.

On stage were two chairs and side tables, which were soon occupied by Mr. King and Mr. Dubus. It took about 5 seconds for me to recognize Mr. Dubus as the man in the crowd who had called out his approval for Mr. King posing with his arms around two beaming young women.  Well, OF COURSE it was.

After a fun and spirited conversation between the two men (an easy thing between old friends), Mr. King read an excerpt from a new story he’s working on titled Afterlife, and then took a series of questions from the crowd. His answers were thoughtful, honest, and funny — just like everything he does — and when the evening ended, the packed arena rose to its feet to applaud its home-region hero.

The event was a resounding success for the debut event of the UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Speaker Series. In addition to the delight and enrichment of hosting Mr. King (who also toured the campus that afternoon and spoke to creative writing students), the author donated his speaking fee to help endow a new scholarship fund in his and his wife Tabitha’s name. He then autographed the chairs from the event so they could be raffled off, with the proceeds adding to the scholarship fund.

The evening was also the thrill of a lifetime for this Constant Reader, who finally figured out how to meet Stephen King, a literary and regional legend of a man, who has contributed so much to my imagination and writer’s toolkit. I can’t wait to read his upcoming novels Joyland and Doctor Sleep (a sequel to The Shining) in 2013. Can you?

Read more about “A Conversation with Stephen King” from the UMass Lowell website.

The post How to Meet Stephen King appeared first on Yankee Magazine.

The dough for these homemade graham cracker cookies is finicky but manageable with a little practice, and lends itself beautifully to rolling and cutting, provided you keep it cold and have a steady sprinkle of flour to keep it from sticking. I’ve used this dough to make traditional rectangle “graham crackers,” but its pleasant crunch and warm cinnamon-and-sugar flavor make it a dream choice for sturdy, fragrant Christmas cookies.

In addition to my trusty vintage star, I happen to have mini cookie cutters (just an inch across) shaped like a house and gingerbread man, so I couldn’t resist the chance to whip up a batch of cookies for the holiday season.

These homemade graham cracker Christmas cookies start with the basics – flour, dark brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. The brown sugar really shines here in lending deep flavor to the cookies. I make my dough in the food processor because it gets pretty thick and needs a lot of muscle, but you could use a standing mixer or robust hand-mixer as well.

Once everything is combined, a stick of cold butter is cut into pieces and added to the mix. Blend the butter into the mixture similar to the way you would for pie dough, meaning you want to get it where the mixture looks like coarse meal.

Then, in a small bowl, whisk together honey, milk, vanilla. Once it’s smooth, it gets added to the flour mixture until you have a thick, sticky dough.

“Sticky” is the key word for this dough, which is why you need to flour your countertop before turning the dough onto it. Using your hands, work the dough into the ball, then transfer to the center of a piece of plastic wrap. Using your hands or a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle about one inch thick, and then wrap it securely in the plastic wrap before refrigerating it for at least 2 hours to firm up.

I like to put the wrapped dough on a baking sheet to make sure it stays level and smooth.

After it’s chilled, remove the dough from the fridge and cut it neatly in half. Re-wrap one half and return it to the fridge. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

On a well-floured surface (very important!), roll the dough out until it’s 1/8” thick. Cut into shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Once a baking sheet is filled pop it back in the fridge to chill again.

If the dough you’re working with is sticking too much, re-wrap what’s left of it in plastic and return it to the fridge, swapping it out for the other half of dough. When I make these cookies I sometimes have 3 or 4 sections of dough in fridge-to-counter rotation, to make sure I am always working with the coldest dough.

Once you have two baking sheets full of cut and chilled cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar, then lightly sprinkle it over the cookies. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick holes in the center of each cookie so they will stay flat while baking. Make the hole last so it won’t get filled in with the cinnamon and sugar! Bake for 10 minutes for small cookies, and up to 15 minutes for larger cookies or until golden brown and set.

If you’re looking for a delicious holiday cookie that will be gobbled up by your friends and family (if you don’t eat them all first!), these Homemade Graham Cracker Christmas Cookies are the perfect choice.

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I fell in love with cheese straws over the course of recipe testing for the new Yankee Magazine cookbook, Lost and Vintage Recipes. Cheese Straws are just one of the many tasty and classic recipes featured in the cookbook, which is also packed with beautiful photography. If you don’t have a copy yet, look for it wherever Yankee Magazine is sold, or order it from the Yankee Magazine store!

Extra! Click to read what it’s like Behind the Scenes at a Yankee Cookbook Photo Shoot.

Of course, to make the best cheese straws you’ll need some fresh sharp Vermont cheddar cheese. I know it’s easier to grab the bag of shredded cheese, but your straws will taste much better if you grate the cheese by hand. Bagged shredded cheese is coated with a thin layer of cellulose to keep the cheese from sticking, so you get a better “melt” with hand-shredded cheese.

The dough comes together easily and is rolled out like pie dough. I used a pizza cutter to slice the dough into (mostly) neat and even strips, which I then arranged on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

In the oven, these party straws bake up tender and golden and smell heavenly. You can’t go wrong with butter and cheese. Serve the cheese straws lined up on a platter or standing up in bag or cone like french fries for a pretty presentation — no ketchup needed!

Additionally, if you want to ration out the cheesy goodness, you can easily freeze a portion for later.

Click here to view and print the recipe for Cheese Straws.

Extra! Want more appetizers? Check out our special ongoing web series “Holiday Appetizers Through the Decades” or click on the image below.

The post Cheese Straws appeared first on Yankee Magazine.

Well, those days are officially over. Thanks to the colonial-era experts at Plimoth Plantation, we now have a trusty Indian Pudding recipe that you can make right in your slow cooker!

In truth, Indian Pudding wants to be in the slow cooker. It’s supposed to sit and simmer for a long time in the oven at a low temperature to achieve a smooth and creamy texture. If it’s rushed, or if the oven door keeps opening and closing, the cornmeal might not break down properly, and your pudding will be gritty. This is why the slow cooker is ideal for good Indian Pudding. With a little prep up front on the stove-top, you can then transfer the batter to the slow cooker for a nice long, slow bake.

Once mine was ready, I spooned a generous amount into a dessert bowl, but it wasn’t quite finished.

What it needed was in the freezer — a thick scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Placed on top of the hot pudding, the ice cream melts and combines with the pudding to form a caramel-colored sauce.For me, this sauce is the very best part of the whole Indian Pudding experience.

Mmmm. As I am fond of saying, this is a dish that’s not going to win any beauty contests, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious!

Dessert (or sometimes breakfast) of colonial champions!

I’m so glad to now have an easy slow cooker Indian Pudding recipe that I can have baking away while dinner is cooking, I’m at work, or out doing holiday errands. Coming home to this is like coming home to the most vintage of New England comfort food.

Try it this holiday season or winter and see for yourself, then let us know what you think!

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Want more Indian Pudding? Check out “Encyclopedia of Fall: I is for Indian Pudding” from Yankee’s recent “Foliage A-Z” feature from September/October 2012.

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The cheese and apple pie pairing can come in a few different forms. Some folks prefer a thick hunk of freshly cut sharp cheddar on the plate next to the pie so they can parcel out individual portions of both with their fork. Others slice the cheddar thin and bake it right into the pie, or grate it and add it into the dough for the crust. Still others melt it on top on the pie.

This apple/cheese recipe for Cheesy Dapper Apple Squares favors the “cheese sliced thin and baked right in” (see how I am keeping this rhyming thing going?) school of thought, and as the name implies, it’s not a pie, but these squares are easier, faster, and just as tasty!

A buttery crumb crust is pressed into the pan, then topped with Vermont sharp cheddar cheese, sugary apples, and finally a generous handful of crumb topping laced with nuts (or in my case, delicate slivered almonds for increased fancy-factor). The cheddar settles into a thin, salty layer that perfectly pairs with the sweetness of the tart apples and buttery brown sugar crust and topping.

These cheddar apple squares were a hit with both my coworkers and my landlady Helen — both reliable endorsements for the “make again” category. It’s also a perfect dish for someone that has pie-anxiety, is short on time, or is looking for a dish to take to a gathering or party. It doesn’t get easier than bars in the portable department!

So have I convinced you to make these? Do you like apple and cheese together?

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I can celebrate Halloween with one of my standard Saturday night suppers — hot, crispy, and cheesy English muffin pizzas next to a bowl of soup — turned into Mummy Muffin Pizzas by using tomato sauce, peeled strips of string cheese, and black olive eyes. The string cheese will keep it’s shape longer in the oven than fresh mozzarella, plus the extras make a great snack.

Popcorn balls at Halloween are as classic as candy apples, but if you’re craving a sweet popcorn treat with colorful candy extras and don’t have much time, it’s Monster Munch to the rescue. I made a batch by mixing a bag of store-bought kettle corn with festive autumn candies on a large baking sheet, then tossed the mixture with melted monster slime (also known as vibrant green candy melts) that seal everything together until it dries into a truly tasty popcorn and candy snack. I used candy corn and peanut butter candies in fall colors for just the right amount of chew and crunch.

My coworkers braved the sugar rush and labeled Monster Munch “totally addictive.”

Finally, since you can’t go wrong with a classic, whip up a batch of our Never-Fail Christmas Fudge and press a candy corn into the fudge before it’s set for an easy, festive treat.

Happy Halloween — we hope you enjoy these fun and easy Halloween treats!

The post Halloween Recipes | Scare up Some Spooky Treats appeared first on Yankee Magazine.

As a New Englander, I am, of course, talking about the Hood blimp with its telltale red oval logo. Hood is a longtime New England company, dating back to 1846 when Harvey Perley Hood began operating a dairy business out of Charlestown, MA. Today the Hood dairy company (HP Hood LLC) is based in Lynnfield, MA and is one of New England’s most recognizable dairy brands, with products ranging from milk and ice cream to sour cream and seven flavors of seasonal eggnog.

And let’s not forget my favorite, the Hoodsie cup.

Since 1947 the neatly divided chocolate and vanilla ice cream cups (peel back the paper top and dig in with a wooden spoon if you can get your hands on one) have been a summer cookout, school party, and birthday celebration staple for nearly all New England kids.

The Hood blimp came along later. It began cruising the summer skies in 1996, most recognizably over Fenway Park, where it captures aerial footage of the field during baseball games. As the “official dairy of the Boston Red Sox” it’s no surprise that Hood carries special flavors like Green Monster Mint, Comeback Caramel, and Fenway Fudge — each featuring milk-chocolate “Sox.”

Right on time, a pickup truck with the Hood logo swung into the lot, and a trim man in his early sixties emerged, smiling beneath a neat mustache and wearing a Hood polo.

“You must be waiting for me!” he said.

It was longtime Hood blimp pilot Leigh Bradbury. After we shook hands I climbed in next to him and we made our way to the where the blimp was (for lack of a better word) tethered. “So which route do you want to take?” Leigh asked as we passed through the secure gate and onto the airfield. “Over the city and Fenway Park or up along the coast where you’ll get the chance to see some lighthouses and all the nice summer homes?”

I was temporarily stumped. I hadn’t considered the option of going anywhere BUT over Boston, but since it wasn’t a game day, and I had already experienced a memorable view of Boston’s top ballpark covering Behind the Scenes at Fenway Park’s 100th Anniversary Celebration, I told Leigh to head for the coast. He seemed pleased with my decision.

Then the blimp came into view. This is the first season since 2008 that Hood has leased the blimp, and it’s been a busy one, including a dozen Red Sox home games, numerous festivals, and plenty of trips like mine with no set agenda.

The blimp is big — 36 feet wide, 44 feet high, and 128 feet long. It’s filled with 68,000 cubic feet of helium, and Leigh told me it takes a week or two in the hangar to inflate and deflate each season. The red Hood seal is a decal, which was a surprise to me, but like MBTA busses “wrapped” in promotional advertising, blimps get a new outfit for each job.

A closer look revealed how carefully and intricately the blimp was constructed. Up close it reminded me of a marionette.

As a crew member made some final adjustments inside the cockpit, Leigh and I waited our turn to board. The inside of the “gondola” has two seats up front with a bench seat behind them. It’s cozy but comfy quarters.

As I settled into the co-pilot seat, Leigh shared a bit of the seat’s past. “Mick Jagger sat there once,” he says, pointing to my seat. “This blimp was the official east coast Rolling Stones blimp promoting their tour back in 2002.” It had a different decal then, of course.

As the crew prepared us for takeoff (liftoff?) I checked out the flickering dash in front of me. The controls meant nothing to my eyes, but fortunately, Leigh has been piloting blimps for a variety of companies like MetLife and Monster.com since 1993 (and all manner of aircraft dating back to his senior year of high school) and knows his stuff.

I strapped on my headphones and positioned the microphone in front of my mouth so Leigh and I could talk easily, and then it was go-time. Almost immediately, we were in the air. It happened quickly and without turbulence.

The view was spectacular. Unlike airplanes, where there are just seconds on the ascent or descent to enjoy a view high enough to give perspective but low enough to show detail, a blimp ride is almost totally bird’s eye view.

With the airport behind us, we angled towards the harbor.

Once I adjusted to the fact that I was gliding above the Massachusetts coast, I got a good look at how Leigh was controlling the blimp. His chair resembled a wheel chair on the sides, with pedals at his feet. The wheels controlled the up-and-down motion, while the pedals worked the rudders to move left or right — no traditional steering wheel!

Leigh is a native of Arizona and is based out of San Fransisco, so when I asked him what towns were passing below us he pulled out the map and traced our intended route from Beverly past Manchester-by-the-Sea and up to Gloucester.

We stuck to around 1,000 feet while we were over thickly settled ground, but once things thinned out we were able to dip down to 500 feet.

In front of me was the blimp’s windshield, but to my right was a window, and again unlike an airplane, it was wide open. I stuck my arm out of it to feel the breeze, then stuck my head out of it (just a little) for the ultimate 360 degree view.

Closer to Beverly, houses and businesses were clustered together and boats dotted the harbors and inlets. Because the ocean was on my side of the blimp on the first leg of the trip, I waited until the coastline was out my window before taking the majority of my photos.

As we circled around Gloucester and headed back, Leigh pointed out the popular Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial, built in 1925 to commemorate the loss of thousands of fishermen throughout Gloucester’s long fishing history.

While the Hood blimp is known for taking in the sights at Fenway Park, I’m glad to say my ride wasn’t without a diamond of its own.

And what’s this? A castle on the Massachusetts coast?

Rocky peninsulas jutted out, many with the impressive “summer homes” Leigh had mentioned. He hadn’t been exaggerating.

Like a gliding ship, the slow-moving shadow of the blimp on the water below kept perfect pace with us in the sky.

Also as promised, a lighthouse was part of the show.

We glided along gently at around 35 miles per hour (the blimp moves slower in Boston), feeling like a balloon on the breeze, which is exactly what we looked like. Leigh told me that one time he was flying over a school field near Concord, NH when a group of cheerleaders on the field spelled out “HI” with their bodies.

People get excited to see the Hood blimp, and Hood responded by sponsoring a contest this year titled the “Hood Blimp Spotting” campaign, encouraging fans to post photos of the blimp on the Hood Facebook page or tweet a photo with the #HoodBlimp hashtag. Each “share” gave fans the opportunity to win Hood/Red Sox prizes packs including game tickets, ice cream parties, and even rides in the blimp!

Meanwhile, my blimp ride continued along the stunning Massachusetts north shore.

The coastline view showed the clear contrast between how the ocean behaves on two sides of a thin strip of land. Look at the difference in color and surf! I wonder if the residents of this house built the in-ground pool on the tip so they didn’t have to choose which was better for swimming.

The first blushes of foliage were creeping into the landscape, outshining even the stateliest of coastal mansions.

All too quickly, however, my time in the blimp was running out.

We descended into Beverly airport, and Leigh pointed out the crew in V-formation up ahead, already in position awaiting our arrival.

As we gently bumped to a stop the crew ran to their posts, grabbing ropes and securing the blimp with efficient precision. The crew chief kept things organized with a series of hand signals that were both amusing and impressive. These guys were clearly a well-trained team.

After thanking Leigh for the “airship experience of a lifetime” I asked him to pose for a photo with me in front of the blimp, despite the fact that my hair clearly revealed that I’d been having too much fun leaning out the window into the ocean breeze.

Some experiences are worth a bad hair day. My sincere and enthusiastic thanks to Hood and Captain Leigh Bradbury for the opportunity to see the world (at least our little gorgeous corner of it) from a ride in the Hood blimp and share it with Yankee’s online readers!

Keep your eyes skyward and peeled for the Hood blimp, and if you ever win your own trip aboard, be sure to take photos and share it with us!

The post Blimp with a View | A Special Ride in the Hood Blimp appeared first on Yankee Magazine.

Last weekend I set out with fellow Yankee staffers Heather and Brenda for a day of outdoor fall fun in Vermont, with plans to hit up the Brattleboro Farmers’ Market and Scott Farm in nearby Dummerston for apple picking. When we learned that Scott’s entire pick-your-own crop had been damaged from the late spring frost, we soldiered on with a scenic drive in hopes of coming across a more fortunate orchard.

We found one at Harlow’s Sugar House in Putney, Vermont.

The friendly folks at Harlow’s let us know that their crop wasn’t ideal, but that they were still letting pickers do their best with it. Because of the poor condition of most of the apples the normal pick-your-own routine was suspended, meaning the trees weren’t marked, but not wanting to waste what fruit there was, willing pickers were allowed certain amount free up front, with a fee if they wanted to pick more.

The free amount was around a 1/2 peck each, and it was plenty for me (thank you, Harlow’s!) to bake this cake and snack on a few out of hand or tucked into an Apple & Mustard Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

It was a gorgeous day, and bad apple season or not, the orchard was sunny, fragrant, and a welcome sight for those of us that look forward to our annual seasonal New England traditions. It’s just not fall without apple picking!

When I got home, despite not knowing exactly what kinds of apples I was working with, I cored, peeled, and chopped up 5 of them to go into this easy sheet cake Apple Cake. Fortunately, it turned out great. The batter was chunky with apples to the point where I was worried there wouldn’t be enough “cake” to fill the spaces in between, but sure enough, the baking powder got to work in the oven and everything puffed up beautifully.

Studded with apples (some tart, some sweet) in every bite, the cake’s mellow sweetness perfectly complimented the punch of the fruit. I enjoyed my apple cake unadorned with coffee for breakfast, but you could easily dress it up with ice cream, whipped cream, or a caramel sauce for a sweet fall supper ending.

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*Note: The recipe calls for 6-8 apples but I thought 5 large apples was plenty. The batter should be chunky, but use your judgement.

The post Apple Picking Adventures and Apple Cake appeared first on Yankee Magazine.

When I spotted this recipe in the pages of Yankee’s 1981 The Yankee Magazine Cookbook, my curiosity was piqued and I knew I wanted to try it.

To start, you’ll need some freshly mashed potatoes. Two potatoes gave me plenty (a perfect excuse to eat the extra with some butter, salt, and cheddar cheese with my supper). You won’t actually taste the mashed potatoes in the finished cake, but it lends a rich moistness to the final texture.

Along with the mashed potatoes, melted unsweetened chocolate and a combination of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and vanilla and almond extracts make up the dominant flavors, while beaten egg whites give the dense crumb a lift.

Once the batter is ready, it’s poured into a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan. Bundts are my favorite kinds of cakes — they look pretty right out of the pan, and only need a glaze or dusting of powdered sugar to be table-ready.

Out of the oven, the chocolate potato cake filled my kitchen with the warm, spicy smells of the holiday season. It might have looked like summer outside my window, but if I closed my eyes I could imagine falling snow and the faint croon of Bing Crosby from the other room.

Once cooled the cake is flipped onto a plate, dusted with powdered sugar, and ready to serve. I brought my chocolate potato cake to a staff meeting here at the Yankee office, where it was met with rave reviews.

A dense, tender crumb makes this cake a winner, packed with plenty of flavor to omit the need for frosting, though if you are a frosting fan you could certainly whip up a chocolate glaze to drizzle over the top once the cake has cooled.

I am looking forward to making this cake again during the holiday season, not only because it will instantly make my kitchen smell like the inside of a gingerbread house, but because the dense, moist texture of the cake keeps beautifully for several days if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, making it perfect for giving and sharing.

Want to try this unique and tasty chocolate potato cake for yourself?

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Doesn’t it look like you’d get some good Italian food at this table…or at least a tasty beverage?

My Great Grammy, Mary Generazzo (back center), knew her sauce. That’s my Great Grandfather, Michael Generazzo, next to her, c. late 1950s in Everett, Massachusetts.

The sauce was the opening act and the grand finale of most meals, and yet, until my late twenties, I never bothered to learn how to make fresh tomato sauce myself. There are a lot of perfectly good jarred sauce options out there, but at the end of the summer, when the tomatoes outnumber my annual explosion of freckles, I know it’s time to get out the stockpot. For sauce lovers it’s foolish not to take advantage, and make a batch (or two, or three) of homemade fresh tomato sauce. Its taste is unparalleled, and the extra effort is worth it when you pull carefully portioned containers of your sauce out of the freezer and enjoy the flavor of summer while a blustery Nor’easter pounds at your windows in February.

The great thing about fresh tomato sauce is that your tomatoes don’t need to be pretty for a perfect, flavorful sauce. Here you can see I took advantage of the “unloved” tomatoes at my local farm stand (on the left). They need a little extra time with the paring knife, but they cost 50% less than their picture-perfect counterparts, and taste just as good.

Because tomatoes have a lot of flavor along with soft flesh that easily breaks down and thickens as it cooks, they are a wonderful base for sauces, both simple and complex.

To start, the tomatoes needed to lose their skins. One method we’ve shared in the past for how to skin a tomato is with the help of a box grater, but I also like the boiling method, where the tomatoes are scored with an “X” and then placed in boiling water for 30 seconds to loosen the skin. After they’ve spent some time cooling in an ice bath, the skins slip right off and you’re ready to get to work on the seeds.

I sliced my peeled tomatoes into quarters, then used a melon baller to remove the seeds. You can keep the seeds in the sauce, but it will take longer (a lot longer) to thicken, and the texture will be…well, seedy. By discarding the seeds in a colander over a bowl, you save the rich tomato juice left behind while the pulpy seed flesh drains. This comes in handy later if you need to add some liquid to your simmering sauce — why use water when you can use fresh tomato juice?

Once doctored up, the unloved tomato varieties lent great color and flavor to my sauce.

For flavor, I chopped up two smallish onions and a large handful of baby portabella mushrooms to simmer along with some minced garlic in the stockpot. I love mushrooms in my tomato sauce, but you can swap them out (or add to them) with peppers, celery, carrots, or even zucchini.

While the mushrooms, onion, and garlic cooked I roughly chopped up my tomatoes.

After adding the tomatoes to the onions and mushrooms, I adjusted the temperature until the sauce was simmering along without boiling. This is a good time to clean up the wreckage from peeling, seeding, and chopping all of those juicy tomatoes.

After about 45 minutes the tomatoes were soft and broken down, but I used a potato masher to help them along, and added some final seasonings to taste. I also decided to use my hand-held immersion blender to further smooth out my sauce, since the mushrooms were still quite chunky. I like some bite, but it’s speedier to use the immersion blender or transfer a few cups at a time to a blender to puree them, then add them back to the pot until you’ve got the texture  you want for your sauce.

As you can see, the pureed mushrooms (and generous cup of packed, fresh basil leaves) gave my sauce a meaty look and feel that made it marvelously rich, but unfortunately, dimmed the scarlet red of the tomatoes.

On a bed of whole-wheat spaghetti, a ladle of fresh tomato sauce topped with fresh basil made for one terrific, healthy supper that I think my Great Grammy would have approved of, or at least admit was a start. I’d settle for that.

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I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade, but in truth I consider myself more of a “carbohydratarian.” My love for the almighty grain and in any of its bread, pasta, rice, and pretzel forms has always been more appealing to me than a carrot or Brussel sprout…or even chocolate. I’d take a French baguette over fudge any day, so I consider myself a bit of a bread expert.

These buttery, light, tender “fan tan” dinner rolls are pull-apart perfection, and originated right here in New England. Small enough to accompany a meal and help mop us a sauce or gravy, but tasty enough to eat on their own without extra butter. Buttery bread doughs are satiny and easy to work with, so making these fan tan rolls is also a bit less tricky than some other rolls.

I use a large plastic pitcher to measure my dough while it’s rising, but you’ll know for sure it’s ready when you press a finger into the dough and it keeps its shape. Gently roll it out and (you guessed it) add more butter, this time melted.

I used a pizza cutter to make even strips of dough. You can see my measuring tape helped me keep things mostly even.

Then the strips are stacked on top of each other before being cut again, into individual portions.

The little stacks are placed into muffin cups, and you’ll want to gently separate the end of the “fans” a little so they bake up in a nice shape.

When the rolls come out of the oven they remind me of a cluster of underwater sea anemones, delicately reaching this way and that. They also smell heavenly. On baking day I had my windows wide open, and my landlady Helen called to me from outside to ask what on Earth I was making that smelled so good. Always a positive sign!

Like string cheese or those chocolate candy oranges, part of the fun in eating fan tan rolls is peeling them apart, layer by layer, and savoring each buttery bite.

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I am doing this because I’m currently working my way through two absolutely delicious jars of homemade jam made from New England’s most famous summer berries – strawberries and blueberries – which perfectly complement and enhance the nutty, buttery flavors in the thumbprint cookie.

They are called thumbprints, of course, because you use your thumb to make the well in the center of the cookie that will hold onto the jam once the cookies have cooled.

Despite owning books on the subject and a penchant for purchasing canning jars (which I end up using as containers for gifted baked goods), I have never actually canned or preserved anything. I mean to…I want to…but in the end the process intimidates me. Someday soon I am going to make this right, but until then, I am lucky enough to have a sister and co-worker that like to can, and more importantly, like to share.

My sister Courtney is the jam queen in our family. She’s been making jam in different flavors for around a decade, and I look forward to my jar each year with the enthusiasm I once had for my Easter basket. This year Court made strawberry jam with berries picked at Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, MA.

The blueberry jam was a gift from Lucille Rines, a Senior Production Artist here at Yankee with 36 years (!!!) at Yankee Publishing under her belt. I collaborate with Lucille on the bi-weekly Recipe Box Newsletter, and Lucille is also a terrific cook, so it seems we are always discussing and sharing food and recipes. When I told her I was thinking about including these thumbprint cookies in this week’s newsletter (which is all about blueberries), she brought in a jar of her delicious homemade jam for me to use. What luck!

Lucille and her husband are a formidable canning team. The blueberries (the small, wild, lowbrush variety) were picked on Gap Mountain in nearby Troy, and this year, over the course of just one day, they canned a whopping 72 jars of blueberry jam.

This (plus the zucchini relish, strawberry jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam, bread-and-butter pickles, and tomato sauce they also churn out – whew!) is a recent hobby for them. I couldn’t believe it when she said they’ve only been canning for about 6 years. Way to make up for lost time and set that bar sky high!

Yes, of course, you can use store-bought jam to fill these buttery gems, but if you’re not ready to get canning in the kitchen anytime soon, or are still working on your courage (like me), then do yourself a big favor and get on the good side of those that do and sweet talk your way into a jar.

If they are nice and share, you’ll be a convert for life. Just make sure to return the jar!

Thanks for the jam, Court and Lucille! It did these thumbprint cookies summertime-proud.

Summer Jam-Filled Thumbprint Cookies Recipe Links
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In my family we like to pick our own at Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, MA, but if you don’t have time to pick you can usually get pre-picked cartons at the stand for a slightly higher price. The contents of the green cartons can then be turned into a variety of sweet, blue-studded treats like muffins, pies, donuts, and my favorite, Blueberry Boy Bait.

More than just a fun name that promises to ensnare your current heart’s desire, Blueberry Boy Bait is a juicy reward for an hour’s berry picking.

I wish I knew how it got its name, but like many of our regional dishes (hermits, cabinets, johnny cakes, blueberry buckle) the strange name is part of the dish’s charm. And if it helps you land a man (or woman, since I am sure it works both ways), all the more reason to get picking in the barrens and mixing in the kitchen.

To make Blueberry Boy Bait, a thick cake batter is topped (not mixed) with handfuls of fresh blueberries and a generous dusting of cinnamon and sugar. As it bakes it puffs up in the oven; the cake rising snug around the berries until they’re like eggs in a nest.

Sliced and served warm with coffee for breakfast, with vanilla ice cream for dessert, or just plain any old time for a snack, Blueberry Boy Bait is a great way to enjoy mid-summer’s finest fruit.

Pick more than you can eat or just want to make sure you enjoy your blueberries all year long? Freeze a batch! Arrange the unwashed berries in a single layer on a baking sheet, then freeze. Pour the frozen berries into freezer-safe containers and enjoy their bright summery flavor in February.

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More on the treats in a minute…

When we celebrate Independence Day each July we are honoring the day the Continental Congress of the United States declared independence from England at their Philadelphia convention on July 4, 1776. Many cities still celebrate a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, preferably from the exact spot where it was first read aloud. In Boston this happens at the Old State House, a beloved landmark that stands slightly out of place amidst the concrete of today’s Financial District, but sets the perfect scene with its patriotic balcony bunting of red, white, and blue.

America is a patriotic country, and the 4th of July is our favorite excuse to wild with all things red, white, and blue – including what we eat. Time to make some easy 4th of July desserts!

With fresh berries in season and the mercury rising, one refreshing way to celebrate the 4th is with a Patriotic Pudding Parfait, a simple dessert made up of layers of graham crackers, creamy vanilla pudding, and fresh strawberries and blueberries.

It all comes together in a snap, and looks beautiful.

After chilling in the fridge for a few hours, which gives the graham crackers a chance to soak up some of the pudding, the parfait desserts are topped with whipped cream and sprinkles before serving.

Want something a little colder?

Homemade mini ice cream sandwiches come together in minutes and are a huge hit with kids. If they can work fast enough, you can even let them build their own.

I started with a batch of Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, then used my cookie scoop to place miniature scoops of vanilla ice cream between two of the cookies before rolling the sides in festive sprinkles (jimmies to us New Englanders).

Pop the finished ice cream sandwiches back in the freezer to firm up again before serving.

Both of these 4th of July desserts would make a perfect ending to the typical summer holiday feast of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, and hot corn on the cob.

How do you celebrate the 4th of July?

View and print the recipe for Patriotic Pudding Parfaits
View and print the recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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After a leisurely breakfast of eggs and homemade sweet potato and onion hash, we piled into my car and took off for a scenic drive through the Monadnock region’s rolling hills and tranquil ponds. Our journey inevitably led to a stop at Kimball Farm in Jaffrey (a 2012 Yankee Best Bargain pick) for ice cream and (for the girls) a plate of fried clams. I spent many summers working at the Kimball’s Westford location, so I knew which flavor I wanted before we even arrived — the delightfully sweet and salty caramel cashew chip, in a cup with a sugar cone on top.

Our stomachs full, we headed back towards Keene by way of Dublin. The Friendly Farm has been located on Route 101, just a few minutes from the Yankee offices, and family-owned since 1965. Much more than a petting zoo, The Friendly Farm is five acres of lawns, pastures, and pens with happy residents that cluck, moo, oink, baa, and quack their greetings. I drive by the farm every day, but since it’s only open from Memorial Day through mid-September, this was my first chance to visit since moving to the area in November.

The girls were game, so we pulled over, paid the entrance fee, and collected bags of grain to feed the animals for an extra dollar.

The first thing we visited was the chicken coop, home to hundreds of chicks, chickens, and roosters in both familiar and unusual breeds. Some were in roomy cages, while others roamed free. Visitors are even allowed to (gently!) pick up a baby chick and feel for themselves the softness of its downy feathers.

Nearby was another enclosure with rabbits, and a pen that was home to honking geese that angled for attention when they spotted our paper bags of grain.

My favorite “attraction” at The Friendly Farm by far was the pen housing the goats. I am not sure what breed they were, but they were petite and curious and climbed all over us like ants on a fallen lollipop.

Just look at those ears!

After the goat love-fest, we wandered down towards a large, open pen full of sheep. A quick look back up the hill towards the farm buildings painted a pretty picture.

The sheep, both large and small, wooly and shorn, had free reign and made galloping beelines for us when they saw us carrying the telltale paper bags. Their throaty “baaaa’s” were plentiful, and sometimes startlingly loud.

Also nearby were a pair of pigs, llamas, and a turkey (which gobbled with hearty gusto).

After the fresh air, ice cream, and animals it was time to head home.  A quart of fresh, seasonal strawberries were on my counter, just begging to be made into a deep dish strawberry rhubarb pie.

A little on the juicy side, but still delicious.

With ice cream and pie as bookends, a day at The Friendly Farm made for a fun afternoon, proving that acting like a kid should not only be acceptable, but actively encouraged!

Where do you go to get your cute animal fix?

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Alongside my coworkers, Heather Atwell and Heather Marcus, and the latter Heather’s two little girls (Ella and Lucy, ages 6 and 4 respectively, and with enough energy to power a small city), I tackled a day hike on Mount Monadnock on a recent sunny Sunday. We chose to hike the Dublin Trail, which begins at roughly 1,450 feet and climbs 1,700 feet over 2.2 miles to the summit.

The first quarter mile wound through heavy forest dotted with spruce and maple. Then things turned steep and narrow, with a lot more rocks, roots, and unpleasantly (thanks to the growing shade) buzzing insects.

At 1.7 miles we emerged above the tree line and were greeted by lovely views of Pack Monadnock and the Dublin Ridge to the east, Mount Kearsage and Dublin Lake to the north, and the Uncanoonucs along the north-east horizon. It made for a good snack stop.

With just a half mile left, we trekked on, and before long cairns (man-made piles of stones) started appearing, letting us know we were close.

Just a few more steps to the top!

Monadnock is often cited as “the second most climbed mountain in the world,”after Mount Fuji in Japan, and once you get to the top, it’s easy to see why. The view is panoramic and stunning in all directions, and because of its popularity, the summit turns into a high elevation hangout.

Individual hikers, couples, and families lounge on rocks, snap photos, and enjoy their hard earned lunch-with-a-view.

No hike is complete without pressing your foot onto the official U.S. Geodetic Survey marker.

Careful inspection reveals carvings in the rock showing the names and dates of highly motivated past hikers.

I was happy just to eat my cheese sandwich and pose for a quick photo before we started back down the Dublin trail (the D in D/M). I am not known for my love of hiking (although this is slowly changing), so it seemed important to document the event for those in my life who might question it.

We thought they’d be tired, but once again, the 6 and under set proved us wrong. Good thing mom didn’t mind carrying the extra backpacks.

It took us about 5 hours to hike Monadnock from start to finish, and I know my muscles appreciated the slow and steady workout, while my spirit was thoroughly refreshed by both the views and sense of satisfaction when I got to the top. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Want more Mount Monadnock?

A dominant figure in the landscape of southwestern New Hampshire, Mount Monadnock has been part of Yankee‘s story-telling for many years. Here are some “Classics” that reflect the mountain’s popularity, its magnetism, and its mystique:

Monadnock: It’s Never Lonely at the Top
Larry Davis Climbed Monadnock Every Day for Years
The Monadnock Roar

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