A Necessary Detour

It's been weeks since my last post and my guilt is overwhelming! How can I let my blog just languish in the ether? How can I call myself a blogger if I don't constantly post?

Well, I guess the important thing is that I haven't been languishing in the kitchen. While I've taken a necessary detour from my mother's cookbook project (for reasons that will be revealed later), I have been truly inspired by the freshness of the season: peaches, tomatoes, arugula, fresh figs, lemons, mint...

[Grilled Peaches with Gorgonzola and Proscuitto over a bed of Arugula]

The above came together on a gorgeous Sunday morning that Olivia and I had all to ourselves (one of the few gorgeous mornings we've had this year, thanks to an unbelievably long season of June Gloom).  Daddy was out of town so we pulled out the little swimming pool and a beach chair and made the backyard our own private resort. 

I had been wanting to grill peaches for a while because they seem to be a staple item in every celebrity chef's cookbook and on all the gourmet magazine covers when summer rolls around. So I thought I'd give it a go. Now normally, I don't touch the grill—it's not my domain. I leave that to the expert in the house. But why not? It doesn't require actually building a fire after all. Just turning some knobs. Once I figured out how to find the Low setting on the dial...I know, kind of a standard operation, but I was in foreign territory...I whipped out those peaches, brushed them with some olive oil, and laid them on the grates (is that what they're called?) along with some homemade bread and a frozen thin crust margherita pizza I had in the freezer. 

While Olivia splashed around, I whipped together this beautiful little picnic with very little fuss and in very little time. Under our big, beautiful tree, we sat on a blanket and ate and played and laid on our backs looking up at the tree, and it was perfect. For just a few moments, mommy and daughter had a sunny summer moment, and Angus didn't even try to steal our food.

I've mentioned homemade bread before—it is my new obsession, when I have time to be obsessed about something.

I've been baking bread with my new best friend, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the greatest bread baking cookbook on the planet by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I don't know what it is about baking bread, but it is empowering for me. And the Master Recipe in this cookbook is so incredibly simple but produces the most amazing loaves—I've made several batches in the past few months and have not screwed up a single time. It's truly foolproof. If anyone out there is intimidated by baking bread, go buy this book and a pizza stone, and go to town! 

The recipe is essentially this: 3 cups lukewarm water; 2 packets of yeast; 1 1/2 tablespoons of kosher salt; 6 1/2 cups of flour. Mix it with a standmixer with the dough hook. Let rise for two hours and then you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just pull off a grapefruit size hunk, knead it a bit, form it into a variety of shapes, let rest for about 40 minutes, then bake on a pizza stone at 450 for about 30-35 minutes. There are many variations on this recipe in the book, along with great recipes for side dishes, pizzas, appetizers, and main dishes.

[Pesto Chicken Salad with Burrata, Sundried Tomatoes, and Arugula on Homemade Ciabatta Rolls]

While on my detour, I've also spent a lot of time perusing some of my favorite food blogs, gaining inspiration, and marveling at how prolific they are!! How do they have the time? The one I got the above recipe from is called BGSK (Big Girls Small Kitchen) and I wish they were around when I was a "quarter-life cook" living on my own in my tiny apartment and just beginning to learn that I could actually prepare food that wasn't intended for the microwave. This was around the time that cooking shows were starting to change my culinary landscape, and that of the entire country. My first show was The Naked Chef with Jamie Oliver, years before he would become a crusader against childhood obesity. He was darling and hysterical and his food was so unfussy and pure. From then on, the only channel I would ever want to watch was the Food Network—that was really all there was when it came to cooking shows—and then my cookbook collection started, and my repertoire of "go to" recipes expanded, and now it's food blogs and Top Chef and my very own cookbook project. 


Anyway, the sandwich above was perfect for a picnic at the Hollywood Bowl; one was plenty for my husband and I to share. Knowing that I had roasted the chicken myself a few days before, and that the pesto was also homemade, the recipe was that much more satisfying. While I love eating out at restaurants fine and cheap alike—and will eat almost anything a food truck will serve me—I am truly appreciating the satisfaction of a homemade meal that involves as little prepared or packaged food as possible. I guess I'm trying my hand at making things from scratch, whenever I can possibly find a few extra moments to do it. 

I'll be making my way back onto the cookbook project road soon, now that the reason for my detour—morning sickness—has seemingly passed. I just couldn't face another chewy, gooey cookie recipe when all I wanted to do was have a pickle and a saltine cracker. Yep, that's right baby #2 is on the way in February, so I've got to "get on the stick" as my mother would say and whip this cookbook into shape before another little munchkin enters my life. I've realized I need to focus more on compiling the recipes into the cookbook layout itself than on testing recipes. I have a huge stack of cards I just need to type up and lots of decisions to make about accompanying copy, fonts, colors, photos (I'm a graphic designer after all, and could spend a year just creating the book!) So back to it I will go with a jar of pickles at my side.

Chewy and Gooey

Ahh, the joys of spending the whole morning in the kitchen baking up a storm. I'm on vacation and I should be relaxing, right? Kicking my feet up and watching hour upon hour of Food Network shows? You would think, but I find baking so incredibly relaxing and calming and peaceful. The sense of accomplishment is well worth the sore feet.

Yesterday morning produced three chewy, gooey desserts: Fudge Cake, Pecan Pie Bars, and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies.

Fudge Cake
Granny Elizabeth's special recipe

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 stick of butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. When mixture is melted, pour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, flour, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Add walnuts and vanilla. Bake in greased 9x9 glass dish at 325 for about 40 minutes.

[These gooey chocolately squares are really more fudgy than cakey, like super moist brownies. I think they could have cooked a little bit longer because they virtually fell apart when I tried to get them out of the pan. But who cares?!]

Pecan Pie Bars

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar (divided)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp butter
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat over to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1" baking pan. In large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. With a mixer, cut in 1 cup butter until mixture has coarse crumbs. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan for the crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 3 Tbsp of butter. In a large bowl, mix eggs, corn syrup, remaining sugar, melted butter, and vanilla until blended. Stir in pecans. Spread evenly over hot crust. Bake for 40 minutes or until set. Cut into bars.

[Like popping a mini pecan pie in your mouth with each square. Super rich and delicious. I would make the crust a little thinner next time, but the extra buttery goodness of a little extra crust was not a deal breaker.]

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Let me first explain that the amounts below are a little cumbersome because I took my mother's recipe, which yields an overabundant 5 1/2 dozen cookies, and cut it in half. Not an easy task considering I don't do math and the amounts of the ingredients were all in 1/4s and 3/4s and quarts, etc. My husband lent his calculating skills to the task and I think we got the amounts correct because the cookies are perfect. I'm sure more skilled chefs out there will laugh at my amounts and there are probably conversions that would make more sense. But c'est la vie. These cookies are good.

1 cup + 6 Tbsp of butter
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp of sugar
1 1/2 cup + 4 Tbsp of brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
5/8 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker oats, uncooked
7/8 cup pecans or walnuts
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add slowly to wet mixture and mix on low speed until well blended. Add oats, nuts, and chocolate chips. Place walnut sized dough balls on greased cookie sheet 2" apart. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes. Cookies will appear underbaked but will firm during cooling.

My Uncle Paul

Since this blog is not entirely just about cooking, but more and more about my mother's family, I would be remiss if I didn't report the passing of my Uncle Paul, my mother's only sibling and one of her very few remaining relatives. This has been a painful time for her being far away from him in his final days. She's been blessed with reports from Paul's children who have been caring for him, but those reports have been very hard to hear. Being the caregiver that my mother naturally is, she would have loved to have been by his side to lend a bit of her vast amounts of TLC during the past few months, not only to assist him, but to relieve his children who have put aside their lives to be by his side. But she's got a long list of people to care for here, there, and everywhere. In the end, mother will have her three daughters with her as we travel back to Wisconsin this weekend to celebrate my Uncle Paul's life and have a bit of a family reunion as well...a side benefit of family funerals, I guess.

The following obituary for my uncle ran in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. What it doesn't mention is how he would curse like a sailor when talking about politics, or how he wore black knee socks with shorts, or how he would always convince me that if I could kiss my elbow, I would get a pot of gold coins. He could fly through the NY times crossword puzzle every week. He was an amazing photographer and used his photos to make cards that I always loved receiving as a child. I'd love to have an album of all of his photos, so many of them taken at my grandparents home in Sparta—Granny's peonies, Pa dove hunting. He was a character. He will be missed.

Paul Dillon Howard: February 26, 1925 - June 24, 2010

Born on 2/26/1925 to Augustus & Lula (Dillon) Howard in Akron, OH. The family moved from Akron to Sparta, TN where Paul grew up. In 1943 he graduated from Sparta High School and made the decision to join the Navy. He participated in the Navy's V-12 program which led him to Penn State University where he would receive his bachelor's degree. After college Paul moved to St. Paul where he took on a job at 3M. It was during this time that he met Donna Tofting. The two were married and settled in Hudson. This marriage would be blessed with son, Gordon & daughter, Laura. After some time the marriage dissolved. In 1962 Paul married Marian Webster Kermott and lived in St.Paul for several years before taking a job with FreightMaster and moving to Ft.Worth, TX. In 1992 Paul and Marian bought a condo in Hudson and split their time between Hudson and Ft.Worth. Later in his career Paul started his own business, Transportation Marketing Inc and would run that until his retirement in 2005. In 2007 they moved to The Lutheran Home in River Falls. Paul was a very hard working and dedicated husband, friend, and father. He demonstrated a great work ethic and was loved and respected by all who were a part of his life. He enjoyed music - particularly Jazz. His favorite artists included Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, among others. He also was an avid, self-taught professional photographer. He was never far from a camera and loved to take pictures of everything from flowers, to nature, family, to anything else that caught his attention including advertising photography for FreightMaster. Paul was a very longtime member of AA, always willing to help and lend support to others. He was also a lifetime member of the Hudson Masonic Lodge. His greatest joy was his family and he loved sharing his loves with his kids and grandkids. He had a wonderful sense of humor was always willing to do anything for anybody and left a positive impression on those who called him friend. Paul is survived by; his wife, Marian (Webster) of Hudson; son, Gordon Howard of Eau Claire; daughter, Laura Rush of Eau Claire; daughter, Katharine Kermott (John Ahern) of St. Paul; daughter, Pam Wasson of Fort Worth, TX; daughter, Claudia (Lynn) Rhymes of Santa Rosa, CA; sister, Vera (Jennings) Davis of Oak Park, CA; 12 grandkids and 3 great-grandkids; and ex-wife Donna Vierbicher. He is further survived by other relatives and many dear friends. A memorial gathering for Paul will be held on Sat 7/3 at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, WI from 11am to 1pm. The gathering will conclude with military honors provided by the Hudson American Legion and VFW. A very special thanks to the entire staff of The Lutheran Home for their loving care and continuing care of Marian.

10 Recipes (More or Less) in 2 Weeks

After a bit of a hiatus from the cookbook project (and the blog), a two-week vacation should allow for plenty of time to pick things up full steam. I have a handful of recipes that I've been wanting to tackle and finally have the time to really devote myself to the effort, uninterrupted by the demands of the job and the little one at my feet...she's in school this week while I'm at home and, while I love the peace and quiet of the house, I did have a little pang of sadness dropping her off this morning and turning around to go home without her. The older she gets and the more we actually communicate on a real, formed sentences kind of level, she's become this other person in our world instead of the baby we must tend to and feed and keep occupied, or the terrible two-year-old we're trying to restrain. She occupies herself most of the time now, with little scenarios that involve the Wonder Pets, or baby dolls, or stacking coins, or "reading" books. I sit with her in awe of all that she knows and how quickly she learns and retains.

So while the uninterrupted time will allow me to get back to this project, I have to say the quiet in the house right now is deafening!

Anyway, I started back at it this weekend with two savory casseroles, before I dive into a week of mainly sweets...which will just do wonders for my summer bathingsuit bod. I hope the neighbors are hungry.

The first is a casserole from my Granny Lula's collection, written on a weathered and yellowed index card in her handwriting: Carrot Casserole. Very few ingredients, sounds tasty, so I made it to go with a Saturday night dinner of roasted chicken and sauteed broccolini. Good color for the plate and maybe, just maybe, Olivia would like it since she loves carrots in cooked and raw form.

I really stayed true to the recipe as written; no tinkering, except for the addition of a nutmeg sprinkling on top before it went in the oven. The only question mark was the "2 cups grated cheese" ingredient...what kind of cheese? Which got me thinking, I bet there was only one kind back in the day: cheddar. I wouldn't normally put cheese with carrots, and my first choice probably would have been parmesan lightly sprinkled on top or something. Anyway, must ask mom about that one.

The casserole turned out to be souffle-like, light and fluffy. If you were going to tinker with it, I could see maybe adding some thinly sliced scallions, or add a little red pepper to add a little spice. But it was delicious as is, at least to me. Olivia didn't touch it.

Carrot Casserole
Lula Howard

3 cups mashed, cooked carrots
2/3 stick of butter
2/3 cup of milk
2 cups grated cheese
3 eggs, separated

Boil carrots with salt until mashable. Mix in butter, milk, and grated cheese. Separate three eggs. Beat yellows first and stir into carrot mixture. Then fold in beaten egg white. Pour into baking dish and top with more cheese (and a dash of nutmeg, my only addition). Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

The next casserole is a breakfast dish that has made my mom famous: Creamed Eggs. It's a standard brunch item for us...Christmas, Easter, or any family gathering calling for a heavy and decadent way to start the day. If you're used to eating a small bowl of granola and a banana for breakfast, this will throw you into a food coma for sure. Add bacon and toast on the side, and you're done for the day.

Essentially here's the recipe: drown 6 hard boiled eggs in a rich creamy cheese sauce, top with more cheese, and bake. It's one of those things that my mom makes that screams home cooking for me, and it will always be a dish that I associate with her, with family gatherings, and with a full belly.

Creamed Eggs
Vera Davis

6 hard boiled eggs, pealed
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
dash of Worchestershire sauce
sprinkle of paprika

Hard boil eggs and peal. Cut into quarters. Set aside. Melt butter over low heat. Mix flour, salt, and pepper, then stir into melted butter. Stir constantly with a whisk to smooth the sauce. Whisk briskly to avoid lumps. Pour in milk and stir as you mix. Boil until the sauce is medium thick. Add most of the cheese to the sauce, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the dish. Stir until melted and smooth. Add a dash or two of Worchestershire sauce and stir. Remove from heat and fold in eggs. Pour mixture into lightly greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese and paprika. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until bubbly. [If you are making this for a larger group, use 12 eggs and double the sauce recipe.]

And yes, that is homemade bread on the side, fresh from the oven that morning. Feel free to clap.

More to come this week: cookie day, the pecan extravaganza, and overcoming the cake conundrum.

Spring Green Pesto

My sister's contribution to the cookbook project is her famously delicious Pesto Sauce. She has perfected this recipe and typically makes it using basil grown in her own potted garden—huge, prolific plants that reap the most amazing bright green leaves. And in the past, the making of the pesto has been an event, as she cautiously tweaks and hones the flavors until the perfect balance of basil, garlic, parmesan, and pine nuts emerges. One such pesto party was in her basement apartment in D.C., during the hot, sticky months of summer when her miniscule kitchen was sweltering. She had piles of her unbelievably fresh basil leaves and a block of parmesan transported from Zabar's in New York. The resulting concoction was the best I have ever tasted, no doubt enhanced by the relief of cool night air that descended on the patio where we ate and the sense of accomplishment that comes from making something so delicious from scratch. If nothing else, this cookbook project reinforces this feeling in me and keeps me going even when grabbing the processed package of Buotoni pesto at the market is quicker and easier.

I have to say my attempt was pretty good, despite the fact that I had to use store bought basil—sadly the basil in our Driveway Garden didn't make it—and I didn't use the parsley in the recipe. But poured over penne and topped with grilled shrimp, it was a delicious spring meal. Hopefully we'll get another round of basil planted in time for a nice summer pesto party in the tradition of my sister.

Pesto Sauce
Liz Davis

4-5 cups fresh basil leaves
5 tsp parsley leaves
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
approx. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, pulse the leaves until finely chopped. Add about half the pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and pine nuts gradually and blend. Then add a slow stream of olive oil into the blending processor until a nice thick consistency forms. Turn off processor and taste. Add remaining portions of ingredients until you get the "perfect balance" of flavors. Finish with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta cooked pasta. Store in refrigerator "for weeks" with a film of olive oil on top.

Driveway Garden Update:
The garden seems to be doing pretty well, with two tomato plants growing like weeds with tons of yellow blooms and the beginnings of delicious tomatoes coming in everywhere. Looking forward to the day when I can make homemade tomato sauce with our homegrown beauties. We also have squash blossoms, peppers starting to pop out of their white blooms, and STRAWBERRIES! Olivia was so excited to pick the first one and eat it right off the plant. I guess two little plants are not going to mean the end of the packages I buy at the market every week, but it's still fun to see them grow in our own backyard (or should I say driveway). 

Success and Failure for Mother's Day

Well, you can't win 'em all...and in my case, you can't make two great desserts in one day. Apparently, only one will be a success and one will fail miserably. 

Let's start with the success. And I consider it a success primarily because my nephew, Cameron, said it tasted just like Granny's cobbler, which is his favorite dessert of all time. So for this reason alone, the cobbler passed the test. I personally think that the top crust was too thick and the filling was a little too buttery, but I achieved the perfect balance between sweet and tart, though, which was my biggest triumph—I've had this cobbler when the rhubarb was so sour, we all sat around puckered and squinting. I'll take the small victories.

For both recipes, I made the crust from "perfect every time" pie crust recipe found in the vintage Crisco Favorite Family Foods Cookbook, the one my mother uses and, in fact, she does make perfect crust every time. It was pretty easy [of course, not as easy as opening the wrapper on a store-bought crust, am I right??!] I made it the night before and then rolled it out with the greatest of ease in the morning, feeling the satisfaction of having done something from scratch...and letting that store-bought crust sit another day in my freezer. See the end of this post for the recipe.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
1 large bag of frozen whole strawberries (fresh berries tend to get too mushy)
6-8 stalks of fresh rhubarb
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour (or cornstarch)
1 tsp. salt
1 stick butter

Defrost the strawberries and cut in quarters. Peel the rhubarb (like celery) and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Mix sugar, flour, and salt thoroughly and then add to the fruit. Stir until all dry ingredients are liquified. Pour fruit mixture into the pyrex dish on top of the pastry crust. Cut butter in small pieces and place around on top of the fruit (the recipe actually called for 2 sticks of butter, but I cut it to 1 and still found it too buttery). Then place the other pastry (very thinly rolled out) on top of the fruit. Sprinkle the top with sugar. Place pyrex dish on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 375. Then continue cooking at 350 until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes on the top rack.

The result was really beautiful, bubbly and browned on top, and that gorgeous shade of red oozing out the sides. It looked and tasted pretty good. Success.

Now let's move on to the failure...

Note to self: just because a recipe looks easy on the card, it still has the potential to turn into a complete failure. I thought I had done it right, even gauging the very vague instruction, "stirring constantly until 'right thickness,'" to be the thickness that I remembered seeing my mother achieve when she had made it before. But things started to get shaky when I poured the perfectly thick chocolatey goodness into the 9" pie crust and realized I was probably supposed to double the recipe for a 9" pie pan. I went through the machinations in my brain that I usually go through when I hit a snag with one of my mom's recipes: should I make another batch? should I double the meringue? should I just follow the recipe and let the cards fall where they may? I went with option 3 and made the meringue...that only covered about 1/3 of the chocolate filling. So I'll just make more meringue...but realized I had no more eggs. The disaster was gaining steam. My husband was going to the store for other items in a few minutes, so add eggs to the list, dear, your wife is creating a monster.

In the end, with a sorry batch of pitiful wilting meringue on top, the pie cooked, and turned golden brown on top, and I thought, well maybe it pulled itself together. Maybe. Not so much. I cut into it and the meringue gave way to a pool of liquified chocolate. The slice I was able to get on the plate was essentially crust and meringue with what amounted to chocolate sauce. Okay then.

My mom was horrified, not at my "creation" but because she didn't give me good instructions. She was apologizing profusely, while my sister kept assuring me that it actually tasted pretty good...what she could slurp up into her spoon, that is.

Anyway, no pictures of this one, thank you. Just the recipe that I WILL MASTER SOMEDAY. Try it and if you have more success, please send pictures so I'll have something to aspire to.

Chocolate Meringue Pie (a.k.a. Mother's Favorite Chocolate Pie)
IMPORTANT: If you are using a 9" pie pan, double the chocolate and meringue.

2 eggs yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue; add more if you want a really tall pie)
2/3 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp flour
dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp butter
cooked pie crust
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Mix cocoa, flour, and salt in a nonstick skillet. Beat egg yolks and add sugar and milk. Use a whisk to mix liquid ingredients with dry ingredients over medium heat, stirring constantly until "right thickness." Add butter and vanilla; continue stirring. Don't boil. Pour into cooked pie crust. Make meringue: beat egg whites (2 or 4 depending) with 2 Tbsp sugar and cream of tartar until you get stiff peaks. Spoon the meringue on top of the chocolate and seal it to the edges of the crust. Bake until golden brown on top at 300, approximately 20 minutes.

Crisco Pastry Crust
Single Crust:
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Crisco
3 Tbsp cold water

Double Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cups Crisco
1/4 cup cold water


Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in Crisco (I think this means cut the Crisco in little pieces and mix it into the flour) until mixture is uniform; mixture should be fairly coarse. Sprinkle with water, a little at a time, and keep adding the water until you can form a ball.(If you've made the double crust, cut the dough ball in half.) Put dough on floured board and using rolling pin to roll pastry to "right" thickness (maybe about an 1/8", but not really sure). Place pastry in pie pan, 8" or 9", trim one-half inch beyond edge of pan. Crimp edges. If you are making the cobbler, place the pastry in the bottom of an 8 x 10 or 13 x 9 pyrex pan, then cover the fruit with the other half of the dough; you don't have to seal it, but cut slits in the pastry to allow for air and for a little fruit syrup to bubble through. If you are making the Chocolate Meringue Pie, you'll need to prick the pastry with a fork and then bake it at 375 for about 10 minutes, then fill with the chocolate filling and meringue.

Mother's Day Reflection

Big weekend ahead with two Mother's Day celebrations covering mothers on both sides of the family. It gives me an opportunity to test a few more recipes and actually serve them to my mother on Saturday: Chocolate Pie (which my mother won't eat; more on that later...) and Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler. The Chocolate Pie, covered in delicious meringue, is a Granny Lula specialty and a childhood favorite. The cobbler came along later in the family history, but is a much-requested item by my nephew. So Saturday morning I'll be in the kitchen! Recipes and photos to come...

Now about that no chocolate policy my mother adopted several years ago...that's right, no chocolate. No chocolate chips, flakes, or syrups; no chocolate cakes, pies, puddings, or cookies. No chocolate whatsoever. Ever. She gave it up and for a reason that speaks volumes about the kind of mother that my mother is.

She became friends with a drug addict. Yes, my sweet, innocent, and naive mom from Sparta—who hadn't had more than a sip of alcohol in her whole life, much less a controlled substance—befriended a woman who spent years battling various addictions that landed her out on the street, pregnant, in and out of rehab, and finally into sobriety. [We'll call her Thelma.] My mother wrote Thelma letters, prayed for her, counseled her, visited her in rehab, cried when Thelma ran away from rehab, sat at the hospital while Thelma went through labor and gave up her baby for adoption, and then finally rejoiced as Thelma found her way to sobriety.

Through all of this, my mother came to the conclusion that she was addicted to chocolate and, if she was encouraging Thelma to get clean, well then she should too. It was her attempt to find common ground with this woman—so different from herself—who needed someone to be on her side, making sacrifices on her behalf. Whether or not she was REALLY addicted to chocolate, who knows. Regardless, she gave up something that she loved in order to make someone else feel loved. That's my mother. A mother to everyone.

In Sandra Bullock's acceptance speech at the Oscars, she thanked "the mommies who take care of the babies" in this world. My mother takes care of her babies and her babies' babies. She takes care of friends and strangers, acquaintances, neighbors, children and the elderly, the addicts, the saved and the sinners alike.

And typically all of this caring involves baking a lot of desserts...with chocolate. But she never takes a bite.