Door County, Wisconsin, 1976. If the books don't interest you, then you can play with the ball.
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
October 22, 2016
Grab a Book: Intelligent Edition
Door County, Wisconsin, 1976. If the books don't interest you, then you can play with the ball.
October 17, 2016
Tender
Near Erlangen, German, about 1944. By the time this woman—a medical-school classmate of my Mom's—gave Mom this snapshot, the woman's husband had long departed for the Eastern Front.
October 9, 2016
Put that down and pay attention to me.
Suburban Chicago, November 1984. Meškė persuades Mom to stop knitting.
October 3, 2016
September 23, 2016
September 18, 2016
Grab a Book: Lap-Dog Edition
Door County, Wisconsin, July 1977. Mom and Gigi settle into a Sunday afternoon.
August 25, 2016
August 24, 2016
August 3, 2016
Patience
Sacred Heart School, Melrose Park, Illinois, Spring 1967. My third-grade teacher tolerates the class crush.
July 8, 2016
"We're as busy as bees!"
Sacred Heart School, Melrose Park, Illinois, Spring 1967. This is my third-grade teacher. She was the subject of the "class crush."
I love the crisp, cotton, shirt dress, its Peter Pan collar, and the pintuck pleats. Doesn't the dress make you think "starch"?
June 6, 2016
June 1, 2016
May 29, 2016
Grab a Book: Sunday-at-the-Park Edition
Brooklyn, New York, June 1950. Yes, the focus is bad (there's only so much software will do); but there's that hairstyle again.
May 11, 2016
April 26, 2016
After Work
Suburban Chicago, June 1972. Dad and Gigi relax in the Rec Room. Mom's there, too, knitting.
April 21, 2016
April 20, 2016
Make one at home.
I started baking in the early 1970s. I don't recall what sparked my interest, but I grew curious about trying new recipes. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, did not venture much beyond her own repertoire. My Mom worked full time, so she never cooked, and she only occasionally baked for the holidays. We also had few cookbooks. Besides the 1956 edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Book, I remember the German-language edition of this book, and a copy of European Desserts for American Kitchens.
I started experimenting with some of the recipes in European Desserts for American Kitchens. I first made a Dobos Torte, and then I moved on to a dessert—Crepes Saint Martin—that featured a delicious, rice-pudding-like filling. I finally saw that the book contained a recipe for one of the "triple crowns" of Lithuanian baking: "Baumkuchenas" (the other two "crowns" would be "Napoleonas" and Nut Torte ... at least at our house).
A homemade Baumkuchenas, of course, would not feature the typical "branches" or dough spikes created by baking the cake on a turning rotisserie over an open flame. If you want a Baumkuchenas with the typical appearance, then order one (the mail-order cakes are quite good). The recipe in European Desserts for American Kitchens, however, tastes almost identical to the traditional, branched cake, and I've been making it since 1972. A few years had passed since I made one, so yesterday I got ambitious.
Here's how I adapted the recipe:
1-1/2 cups (7.2 ounces) potato or cornstarch
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8.4 ounces) granulated sugar
9 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
9 egg yolks, room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons freshly-squeeze lemon juice
Adjust the oven rack to about six inches below the broiler element. Preheat the oven—on the broiler setting—to 475 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and the sides of the springform pan with butter. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess.
Sift the potato or cornstarch and set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, begin mixing the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt and low to medium speed until the egg whites begin to get foamy. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and then high. While beating, add about 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Continue beating until the meringue is stiff and holds its shape. Set the bowl with the meringue aside.
In another bowl of the electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the remaining sugar. This should take about 5 to 6 minutes, and the mixture should be very light and pale in color. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the lemon rind and the vanilla extract.
On low speed (or by hand, using a spatula), mix in about one-third of the potato starch. Gently fold in half the meringue. Then, add one-half of the remaining potato starch and the rest of the meringue. Finally, fold in the remainder of the potato starch.
Before beginning to bake, place the bowl with the batter, a trivet, and a large spoon or ladle near the oven. Using the spoon or ladle (or a small, offset spatula), spread about 1/4 cup of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the layer is lightly browned. The first layer may take about 2-1/2 to 3 minutes. When the first layer is done, remove the pan from the oven, set it on the trivet, and spread another 1/4 cup batter over the first layer. Continue in this manner until you have used up all of the batter. In our oven, the layers take about 2 to 2-1/2 minutes each, and you should end up with about 14 or 15 layers. The baking process is tedious.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest, in the pan, on a wire rack for about one hour. Run a knife around the sides of the pan and remove the springform. Let the cake rest until it is completely cool, about two hours.
Before serving, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and spread it on top of the cake.
I started experimenting with some of the recipes in European Desserts for American Kitchens. I first made a Dobos Torte, and then I moved on to a dessert—Crepes Saint Martin—that featured a delicious, rice-pudding-like filling. I finally saw that the book contained a recipe for one of the "triple crowns" of Lithuanian baking: "Baumkuchenas" (the other two "crowns" would be "Napoleonas" and Nut Torte ... at least at our house).
A homemade Baumkuchenas, of course, would not feature the typical "branches" or dough spikes created by baking the cake on a turning rotisserie over an open flame. If you want a Baumkuchenas with the typical appearance, then order one (the mail-order cakes are quite good). The recipe in European Desserts for American Kitchens, however, tastes almost identical to the traditional, branched cake, and I've been making it since 1972. A few years had passed since I made one, so yesterday I got ambitious.
* * * * *
Here's how I adapted the recipe:
Baumkuchenas
1-1/2 cups (7.2 ounces) potato or cornstarch
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8.4 ounces) granulated sugar
9 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
9 egg yolks, room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons freshly-squeeze lemon juice
Adjust the oven rack to about six inches below the broiler element. Preheat the oven—on the broiler setting—to 475 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and the sides of the springform pan with butter. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess.
Sift the potato or cornstarch and set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, begin mixing the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt and low to medium speed until the egg whites begin to get foamy. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and then high. While beating, add about 4 tablespoons of the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Continue beating until the meringue is stiff and holds its shape. Set the bowl with the meringue aside.
In another bowl of the electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the remaining sugar. This should take about 5 to 6 minutes, and the mixture should be very light and pale in color. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the lemon rind and the vanilla extract.
On low speed (or by hand, using a spatula), mix in about one-third of the potato starch. Gently fold in half the meringue. Then, add one-half of the remaining potato starch and the rest of the meringue. Finally, fold in the remainder of the potato starch.
Before beginning to bake, place the bowl with the batter, a trivet, and a large spoon or ladle near the oven. Using the spoon or ladle (or a small, offset spatula), spread about 1/4 cup of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the layer is lightly browned. The first layer may take about 2-1/2 to 3 minutes. When the first layer is done, remove the pan from the oven, set it on the trivet, and spread another 1/4 cup batter over the first layer. Continue in this manner until you have used up all of the batter. In our oven, the layers take about 2 to 2-1/2 minutes each, and you should end up with about 14 or 15 layers. The baking process is tedious.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest, in the pan, on a wire rack for about one hour. Run a knife around the sides of the pan and remove the springform. Let the cake rest until it is completely cool, about two hours.
Before serving, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and spread it on top of the cake.
April 16, 2016
A Saturday Visit to the Waiting Room
* * * * *
Suburban Chicago, December 1972. I don't recall why we visited Mom's office that day. Perhaps Dad wanted to hang some more photos in the waiting room (where, like in most doctors' offices, the magazines were plentiful and outdated).
Notice the $2.00 charges for non-business-hours telephone consultations. I worked in that office as a receptionist during the summers; here I am sewing that blouse.
February 25, 2016
February 8, 2016
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