3/4 C plus 2 T water
1 T margarine or butter, softened
2-1/3 C whole wheat flour
2 T packed brown sugar (can substitute white sugar)
1 t salt
1-1/2 t regular active dry yeast OR 1-1/4 t bread machine or quick-acting dry yeast
Place ingredients in bread machine in the order indicated in the manual and press start.

1 12-oz beer
3 C self-rising flour
3 T sugar

Combine ingredients and bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 F for about an hour.

If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can use regular flour and add:
1-1/2 T baking powder
1-1/2 tsp salt.
…but that means 5 ingredients, so I’d have to change the name of the recipe.

In a shallow baking dish or pie pan, sprinkle 1-1/2 C of the cookie crumbs. Spread the peaches over the crumbs and top with the remainder of the crumbs. Dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until peaches are softened. Makes 4 servings.

Bring a kettle of water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and pour into a mug.

Let the water stand for 3 minutes.

Put one green teabag into the cup.

Let the tea steep for 3 minutes.

Remove the teabag.

Let the tea rest for 3 minutes.

Enjoy your tea.

Red leaf, apple, and gorgonzola salad
1/3 C chopped pecans, toasted
1 head red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
3 oz crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Toss ingredients with dressing (see below)

Dressing
3 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
Pinch salt and pepper
Shake together in a small jar.

Please put yogurt and potatoes (with an ‘e’) in a bowl and mix together. Mix together the spices and add to yogurt. Serve.

Meps with a bowl of aebleskiver, the pan, and the special knitting needles

This is the recipe we used to make them, based on one found on the internet from Lindgren’s Bed & Breakfast in Minnesota. I hope the illustrations will help you understand the process.

4 eggs, separated
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 T vegetable oil
2 C buttermilk
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 C all-purpose flour
Oil or butter for the pan

Beat the egg whites until stiff. In another bowl, beat the rest of the ingredients until smooth, then fold in the egg whites.

Heat the special pan over moderate heat, and melt about 1/8 t of butter in each of the holes. Swirl the pan to coat with the butter.

Aebleskiver pan with butter melting in the holes

Fill each indentation about three-fourths of the way with batter. Now carefully watch the edges, so you’ll notice when they are starting to brown.

You’ll use a pair of knitting needles (traditional) or chopsticks or forks to turn them over. The trick to turning them is not pulling them around, like you would do with a spatula, but pushing each one down on one side and pulling up a little on the other. That’s why you use two knitting needles.

Sometimes, you can only get them turned partway, then let them brown a little more before turning them the rest of the way.

Test to see if they are done by poking them in the middle with a knitting needle and making sure it comes out dry.

Serve with your favorite decadent assortment of jams, syrups, honey, butter, and whipped cream. We had lemon curd, chili-chocolate sauce, seedless blackberry jam, and whipped cream with this batch. Be careful — the accoutrements can easily overshadow the beautiful aebleskiver!

Philip coats the pan with butter

Carefully ladling batter into the pan

Turning aebleskiver with two knitting needles

Golden brown aebleskiver, turned about halfway

After the aebleskiver are turned, the final browning

1/2 lb crusty white bread, crusts removed
4 oz raw peeled almonds*
2 cloves garlic
7 cups water
1 cup olive oil
Red wine vinegar, to taste

Possible garnishes: Seedless grapes, apple slices, melon, shrimp, or sliced roasted almonds.

Soak the bread in water. In a powerful blender or food processor, grind the almonds with the garlic and a little salt, as fine as you can (the finer they are ground, the creamier the result will be). Then add the soaked bread and blend until you get a white homogeneous paste. Still blending, slowly add the oil in a thread, as you would in a mayonnaise. Then combine the vinegar and water and very slowly add them in a thin stream while blending.

Serve very cold with the garnish of your choice.

*I’ve never tried to peel an almond. But evidently, you can dip them in boiling water for a few seconds, and then the dark skins will pop off.

You can serve this over rice to soak up the broth, or just eat it with a spoon.

2 3-oz pkgs cream cheese
1/3 C mayonnaise
3 T chili sauce
2 t lemon juice
1 T finely chopped onion
1/4 t Worcestershire sauce
1 5-oz can shrimp

Combine all and chill all day or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

3/4 C brown rice
1/4 C amaranth
2 C water
3/4 t salt
3 cloves garlic, minced fine or grated
1/2 to 1 T butter
1/2 to 1 T olive oil

In a pressure cooker, bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, amaranth, and salt. Lock the lid and pressure cook for 20 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 15 minutes. Open the pressure cooker and stir in the garlic, butter, and olive oil.

Serve garnished with parsley or nuts.

For years, the culinary highlight of our annual White Elephant party was a grilled turkey, which served dozens of hungry guests with minimal work. As I once wrote on Adventures with Meps ‘n’ Barry:

Barry discovered how easy it was to throw a turkey on the barbecue grill, so that became the central menu item. He’d take it off the grill as the party was getting in full swing and plop it on a platter in the middle of the table, next to a carving fork and knife. Then he’d walk away.

The guests would stand around, looking puzzled. “Who’s going to carve the turkey?” they’d ask. Finally, someone who couldn’t stand to wait any longer would just pick up the knife and start carving away. And Barry and I would give each other a high-five, since we knew how to cook a turkey, but didn’t want to admit that carving it was beyond us.

This past Christmas, Barry’s mother prepared a turkey on her grill, and we documented the process with the camera. It’s so easy, it’s worth buying a turkey any time of the year!

What you’ll need:

A large kettle-style barbecue grill (such as a Weber)
A large bag of charcoal – regular briquettes, not Matchlight
Lighter fluid or a chimney-style charcoal starter with newspaper
A rectangular pan (disposable foil pans work, but may leak) to put under the turkey
Optional: Hardware cloth to hold briquettes
Optional: Turkey lifter
Optional: Lid spacers — metal rods or 2×4′s wrapped in foil

1. Before buying your turkey, measure the height of your grill lid from the grate that holds the turkey. If your turkey isn’t small enough to fit under the lid, you can use spacers to gain an extra inch or two. The spacers are illustrated in step #9. (The turkey may take a little longer to cook, but the results will be fine.)
2. Light your charcoal, using either lighter fluid or a chimney-style charcoal lighter with newspaper.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the turkey. Remove any giblets, wash the turkey, and tie up the wings and legs with wire or string. Rub the outside of the turkey with butter or olive oil. Important: This cooking method does not work with a turkey that’s stuffed. If you want stuffing, you’ll have to roast it in a separate pan in the oven.
   
4. Once all the briquettes have a layer of gray ash on them, they’re ready to use. Using tongs, divide the briquettes into two piles, one on each side of the grill, with the rectangular pan in the middle. There should be about 25-30 briquettes on each side. The goal is to cook the turkey with indirect heat and catch the drippings in the pan. One way to make this a little easier is to create “baskets” out of hardware cloth to hold the briquettes on the sides.
   
   
   
5. Put a little water into the drippings pan.
6. Place the grill on top of the charcoal and drippings pan.
   
7. If you have a turkey lifter, put it on top of the grill.
   
8. Put the turkey on the grill, centered over the foil pan. (in the photo below, the turkey was not perfectly centered, and the left wing was slightly scorched)
   
9. Put the lid over the turkey and set a timer for one hour.
10. Optional: The spacers shown below are only needed if the lid does not fit over the turkey. In a pinch, when we discovered the turkey was too tall at the last minute, we used 2×4′s wrapped in foil, one on either side of the grill. But if you know ahead of time that your turkey is too tall, metal rods like these are an elegant solution.
    
    
11. When an hour has passed, open the grill and add 8 or 9 fresh charcoal briquettes to the burnt-down briquettes on each side. There’s no need for lighter fluid. It’s easiest to do this if you remove the turkey to a baking sheet. When you put the turkey back, check to make sure it’s centered. You may also want to add a little water to the drippings pan.
    
12. Repeat step #9 every hour until the turkey is done. The total time should be about 12 minutes per pound. Use a meat thermometer to be absolutely certain that it’s done.
    
13. If you want to make gravy from the drippings, use a baster to remove the drippings about a half hour before the turkey is done.
14. Remove the turkey to a platter. Let it sit for 15 minutes on the counter before carving. If you put it on the table at a party, it will usually take about 15 minutes of discussion before one of the guests grabs the carving knife.

1. Toast the chiles and soak them in 4 C of warm water with the sun-dried tomatoes.
2. Drain, reserving 1 C water (if it’s not bitter — if it is, discard and use plain water in the following step).
3. Put the chiles and the tomatoes in a blender or food processor and puree with the remaining ingredients, including the reserved water.

1 T olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 14-oz can of garbanzo beans (drained)
Juice of 2 limes
1 C large black olives, halved
1/2 C pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced
1 C TVP, toasted in a dry skillet until golden brown
2-3 C water

In a Dutch oven, saute the onions and peppers until soft. Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds, then add the tomatoes and beans and a couple of cups of water. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the lime juice, olives, and TVP. This is when you might want to adjust the water and add more for soup or less for stew. Simmer until the TVP is cooked and serve.

Optional: Garnish with grated co-jack cheese and cilantro.

4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1/4 C (1/2 stick) butter
1-2/3 C boiling water
2-1/3 C all-purpose flour
2 C sugar
1/2 C sour cream
2 eggs
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t vanilla

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease two 8- or 9-inch round pans. Combine chocolate, butter, and water in large bowl and stir until chocolate and butter are melted. Add remaining ingredients and beat on low speed of mixer until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake about a half hour or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Frost with chocolate buttercream frosting: 3 oz chocolate and 3 T butter, melted together. Using an electric mixer, mix with 3 C powdered sugar, 1/2 C milk, 1 t vanilla, and 1/8 t salt.

2 C applesauce, drained in a fine-mesh strainer (or substitute apricot puree)
2 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 T unflavored gelatin
6 T cold water
1 C coarsely chopped nuts
1 1/2 T lemon juice
Powdered sugar
In a heavy saucepan, bring applesauce, sugar, and salt to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until very thick, 45 min to 1 hour. In the meantime, soak gelatin in cold water. When applesauce mixture is thick, add gelatin and stir. Continue cooking until gelatin is thorougly dissolved. Remove from heat and add nuts and lemon juice. Pour into shallow pan, about 10 by 12 inches, that has been rinsed with cold water. Cool to room temp. and place in refrigerator overnight. Cut into squares or rectangles, roll in powdered sugar. Store in cool, dry place with wax paper between layers and between rows.

Although I love dips a great deal, these are intended to combat “dip fatigue.” That’s what happens when one party guest monopolizes the dip bowl, rendering it inaccessible to your other guests. With these finger foods, you can put them around the room, or even offer them from trays, and they can’t be monopolized.

1. Finger sandwiches (trim bread crusts, cut sandwiches in triangles, and wrap in damp paper towels to keep fresh before serving)
2. Cucumbers with dill-cream cheese spread piped on top (and a piece of pimiento)
3. Chicken salad – try Guam Chicken Lemon Salad
4. Vietnamese sandwiches (Crusty French bread, chicken or ham, cilantro, mayo, hot sauce, pickled carrots and onions) – If you live someplace where they sell these, they usually cost less than $3 apiece, and you can cut each one into 5 or 6 appetizer servings.
5. Dates stuffed with almonds (try soaking the almonds in rosewater overnight first)
6. Dates stuffed with Gorgonzola cream cheese
7. Dried apricot half sandwiches with sweetened cream cheese
8. Figs stuffed with sweetened Marscapone cheese and toasted pine nuts
9. Tortilla pinwheels
10. Strawberries, cut in half lengthwise, stuffed with sweetened cream cheese and chocolate

Some ideas from the Silver Palette cookbook:

1. Figs, wrapped in proscuitto and sprinkled with lime juice and pepper
2. Chilled skewers of:

– Shrimp and grapes
– Melon, proscuitto, and smoked turkey
– Apple chunks and ham
– Lime-marinated scallops and avocado
– Cherry tomatoes and vinaigrette-marinated roast beef
– Swiss cheese, ham, and watermelon pickle (allow cheese to come to room temperature before threading onto skewers, or it will crack)

A couple more ideas from The Party Girl Cookbook:

1. Endive leaves, each topped with a spoonful of sour cream and some fruity salsa
2. A walkaround salad: In a very small drink cup (you could even use a Dixie cup), put a few tablespoons of creamy dip or dressing. Stand up an artful handful of assorted tall and skinny veggies, like carrots, celery, green beans, and broccoli.