When I asked for “Sour Rye with Seeds, please” at the bakery counter, the woman looked at me quizzically.  “Sour…rye?”

“Oh, that’s an old term from my childhood on Long Island– sour rye bread came from our neighborhood bakery.  It’s as if my grandmother had sent me up to Bell Blvd. for a loaf at the local bakery and those words came out,” I smiled. Continue Reading »

Stacia Kelley, one of my oldest and dearest friends, developed this delicious pot roast recipe.  Known throughout the town of Pine Bush, NY, Stacia’s cozy, little kitchen always smelled like “Something great’s cooking!  Stacia’s Polish-American background and love flavored her wonderful recipes.  She knew this was my favorite so she’d make it for me when I would visit.

Ingredients:

5 lb. bottom round or rump

2 cans of beer and 2 cans of water

3 or 4 Tablespoons of barbecue sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 onion and 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)

Ginger snap cookies

Saute the chopped onion and garlic in oil.  Brown the meat.  Add the other ingredients (but not the cookies yet).  Simmer on the stove for three to four hours until tender.  Remove the pot roast to a warm platter.  Make the gravy by whisking in 6 to 8 gingersnaps to thicken… and simmer.  Strain if you wish for a smoother gravy.  Enjoy!  Nastrovia (sp?)!!!

Here is a delicious coffee cake with an old-time flavor.  Back in the day when my girls were little, we would have “play groups” among our circle of friends.  MaryEllen made this recipe and I’ve loved it ever since.  What a tasty, comfort-food treat for mid-February…or anytime!

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. butter (Cabots or Land o’ Lakes)

1 c. sugar

2 eggs (free-range from the farm, of course)

2 c. flour (King Arthur or Hecker’s)

1 teas. baking powder

1 teas. baking soda

1/4/ teas. salt

1 c. sour cream

1 teas. vanilla

1/2 c. or so of cinnamon sugar (to your taste)

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Grease and flour a tube pan; pre-heat the oven to 350. Cream the first three ingredients.  Sift the flour, baking soda and powder, and the salt together.  Add gradually to the creamed mixture, alternately with the sour cream and vanilla.  Spoon about a third of the batter into the tube pan.  Top with a layer of cinnamon sugar…then batter again, layer of cinnamon sugar, batter, and then cinnamon sugar on top.  Bake at 350 for 45 min. to one hour, depending on your oven. Remove from pan, cool on a wire rank, invert so that the crispy cinnamon sugar top layer faces up.  The aroma can only be beaten by the down home taste. Enjoy with a steaming cup of coffee, of course.

Records for freezing cold temperatures have been broken all over the country this past week.  Here in the hills of Northwest Connecticut, below zero temperatures greeted us every morning.  Donning silk longjohns under my jeans, two undershirts beneath my wooly reindeer sweater, and cotton socks beneath my grey alpaca socks,  I was warm as I left for the farm at 6:45 in the morning.  I wear a hat (not usually in public) that is red plaid, has long earmuffs and a cozy sherpa lining. My old coat is long and hooded, my boots sturdy…and I keep blankets in the car thrown over the kids’ car seats “just in case”. Continue Reading »

This past October weekend marked the last of the country fairs in our part of the State. Our tiny fair dates way back—and has a rich history.  Generations of people from the surrounding area mark this weekend as a highlight to be looked forward to, talked about, and remembered for quite some time. Many bring home treasured blue and red ribbons on their wares, a reminder of the honor of winning, but for me, the participating– we winners and losers entertain the crowds with what we’ve produced (often giving folks the chance to praise our skills, but also to rue the fact that their even better produce would have certainly won had they entered.). (www.rivertonfair.org)

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