Cranberry Scones

The Christmas tree is up, decorated and magically alive with lights. Now I can sit back and enjoy my efforts. Honestly, it becomes more difficult every year; this year I couldn't find the lights and completely lost a box of my favorite ornaments. I am ashamed to admit I gave up and bought new lights but thankfully my daughter discovered the precious (some of which she hand carried from a trip to Germany) box of ornaments buried in a back corner of my storage unit. I knew I had put them someplace safe and out of the way, but in the back corner under a pile of old clothes? Then, for the first time, I had to ask someone to help me put the tree in the stand. Growing older: it sucks.

My mother, as I have mentioned, was a superb cook and handled any number of people for dinner until one Christmas Eve when she turned to me with a slightly frantic look in her eyes and said: "My cake has not turned out right and the salad didn't gel. I didn't put the meat in at the right time and everything is a mess. I have to admit I am getting too old to manage dinner for our family." It upset her greatly and from that day until she passed away, my brother and his wife took over our Christmas Eve celebration and I had everyone at my house for Christmas Day dinner.

The reason I mention this is because my sister called last night and complained she thinks she has forgotten how to cook. Just making some cookies was a problem: she burned them twice and when she got a good batch, they didn't taste right. I reminded her of Mother's comment years ago and she laughed and agreed it comes to us all. Of course, she has six children and they come for the holidays with their spouses and children; however, I don't ever remember her saying she had these cooking problems before. Frankly I think there is just too much on her plate: decorating the tree and the house, wrapping gifts, attempting to get some of the cooking done in advance and into the freezer, planning breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the holiday week and trying to keep herself and everyone else full of the spirit of Christmas. Once everyone gets there, her daughters help but there are always weather worries in Michigan- will flights be delayed? Will we be making airport runs in the middle of the night?
My Christmas will not be so hectic; I will only have my daughter and son here this year as my oldest son and his family from Michigan were here for Thanksgiving. My daughter will be staying here, but likes to make her own breakfast and lunch. My son lives nearby, works nights in the ER of a local hospital and will only be joining us for our traditional Christmas morning brunch, then he will go home and go to bed. His night is our day. A difficult way to live, but he seems to thrive on it.

I like to try something new each year for our brunch. One thing I cannot change is the egg/cheese soufflé dish my children insist upon- now a tradition. It's a simple recipe I found in the 60's in the old Make It Now Bake It Later series. (I don't have a photo of it but will take one this year and post it and the recipe after Christmas.) We start off with a White Peach Bellini. Yum, shades of Venice! I found a source in California for white peach puree; it arrives frozen in a 30 ounce container. There is a minimum order so I suggest you get some friends together to share the cost with you. You can order online at http://perfectpuree.com/ or call them at 707-261-5100.

A couple days before you are going to use it, just remove it from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator. Get a lovely bottle of prosecco and you are set to go. We like a couple tablespoons of the purée in the glass, then fill carefully with chilled prosecco. Stir gently. Sip with pleasure.

For brunch this year I decided on a fresh fruit platter and some cranberry scones to accompany our cheese soufflé. I've had the scone recipe for some time and served them for the first time at Thanksgiving breakfast; everyone loved them. I adore scones anyway and find these to be light, not too sweet, a little tart and altogether very festive. They really don't need butter either, but it's hard to resist.

Cranberry Scones

Ingredients:3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, cold
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon sugar
Method:Place the cranberries in a food processor and pulse until they are crushed. Set aside.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in food processor. Pulse once and then cut up the butter and add. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour the mixture into a bowl and mix in cranberries, nuts and orange rind by hand. Stir in buttermilk with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out on a floured board and roll out to a 3/4 inch thick circle. Cut out with a cookie cutter and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush with the milk and sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake in a 400° oven on a lower rack for about 15 minutes or until browned. Serve hot with butter and be ready for seconds.

Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad with Limoncello
Adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

7 ounces Greek yogurt (recommended: Fage Total)
1/3 cup good quality bottled lemon curd
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sliced strawberries ( 1 pint)
1 cup blueberries ( 1/2 pint)
1 cup raspberries (1/2 pint)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoon Limencello liqueur
1 banana, sliced
Fresh mint sprigs

Method:

For the lemon yogurt topping: stir together the yogurt, lemon curd, honey and vanilla until smooth. Set aside. You can leave it at room temperature, or make it ahead and refrigerate; but bring it to room temperature before serving.

Carefully toss the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sugar and Limencello. Allow to stand at room temperature for at least 5 minutes. Fold in the banana just before serving.

I serve it in pretty glass bowls with some lemon yogurt on top; put the sauce on the table as well as everyone always wants more. Garnish with fresh mint sprig.

Bread Pudding

My mother was a fantastic cook- not the C.I.A. trained chef kind, but an old fashioned, traditional home cook. Her mother once owned a bakery with her sister when they were young marrieds and years later, during my childhood, my grandmother lived with us for half the year. We never knew what delight would greet us when we walked into the kitchen-something different every day. Often homemade noodles (hanging over kitchen cabinet doors to dry) which she would boil briefly and then fry in butter with some shallots and Swiss cheese; another day we would find her scrumptious potato pancakes waiting for our lunch; the kitchen was always warm with the heavenly fragrance of whatever treat she had cooking: long johns, breads of all kinds, jams, cakes and pies to die for- the list goes on and on.
So my mother came by her cooking abilities naturally and she was inventive to boot, so when I got around to writing a family cookbook, I used many of her recipes. Those that were not hers were either her mother's or recipes from the many talented cooks she had as good friends, or gleaned from magazines and cookbooks (of which she had an enormous collection) as well as a result of the cooking classes she constantly took. But even then, she would alter the recipes in some way to make them even better.

Mother had been making bread pudding for years- the kind everyone made back then; it was delicious and it was comfort food. So simple to throw together: torn bread, a mixture of eggs, milk and vanilla poured over it and baked. We loved it. Poured cream all over it.

In the 80's, Mother read a book by Nora Ephron called Heartburn; somewhere in the book there was a recipe for bread pudding that intrigued her. Nora Ephron referred to it as caramelized mush. My sister and I were with her at the time and after hearing her read aloud the ingredients, we talked her into making it that very day. Ambrosia! How can I describe it best? It is a heavenly, fattening, gooey/crunchy bread pudding. We have never made any other kind of bread pudding since. Haven't even been tempted. It's so rich it really needs nothing on top (but we pour cream on it anyway) and it is impossible to stop opening the oven and breaking off the crunchy pieces on top while it is still baking. And it's actually good cold! Now that I'm drooling just thinking about it, here's the photo and recipe. Don't ever say I didn't do you a favor!

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 loaf good bread, torn in chunks (I use challah)
1 cup raisins
6 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons vanilla

Method:With an electric mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well mixed and add the eggs one at a time. Add the milk with the mixer on low then add all the remaining ingredients except the bread. Remove from the mixer and and then dump in the torn bread. Mix briefly and carefully.
Pour into a large buttered casserole. Bake in a 350° oven for 2 hours.
Stir thoroughly from bottom to top, including the sides, after the first hour.
Serve with cream, although it is rich enough to eat all by itself- the cream actually breaks up the sweetness.
This is really rich so serves perhaps 8-10.