Sally Ride Science

Every year around my birthday (July 10), I attempt to find what we used to call "summer apples," typically a Lodi.  This year I found them at Stringtown, an Amish grocery just north of Kalona, Iowa.  The apples are yellow-green in color and are much more tangy than fall apples.  My paternal grandmother, Nannie, was known for her cooking.  Her house always smelled of something delicious.  Nannie and Papa raised chickens and had a "summer apple" tree that grew up over the chicken house.  The chicken egg yolks became the best homemade noodles ever, and the egg whites, Angel Food cake.  The fallen apples provided a nice treat for the chickens.  Every summer I looked forward to Nannie's summer applesauce and count it as one of my all-time favorite foods.  It's easy to make.  The only special equipment required is a food mill.  I found mine as a freebie give-away on someone's curb at just the time...

Comfort for a cold winter's day: the most wonderfully delicious and easy-to-make asparagus (my favorite vegetable) soup!  I find all the ingredients at my local Aldis, or you may already have them on hand. the recipe snap off the tough ends and add to compost bin you're left with only the best part whirrr...whirrr...whirrr don't skimp on the (fresh ground) pepper slurp soon you'll have an empty bowl from Bear Wallow Books

This recipe is from Osa, the late mother of one of my high school girlfriends, Sonja.  Her mother was a Norwegian native and made this whenever I would visit.  It's good anytime of the year with chicken or turkey, but an especially nice way to use Thanksgiving leftovers.  The recipe is shown here in my own mother's handwriting from a book of her favorite recipes she gave me one year for Christmas.  When my own mother is gone (and I hope that is many years away!) one of the things I will miss the most is her cooking.  

This recipe is from a dear friend, a fellow quilter, and one of my "adopted" grandmothers, Caroline Trumpold, of Main Amana, Iowa.  Dill beans are a German treat to look forward to every summer, if you are fortunate enough to find fresh yellow wax beans.  This year I made them over Labor Day after stumbling on the wax beans at a high-end grocer in downtown Iowa City .  The summer before I got the beans from a vegetable stand upon special request.  The recipe is for about one pound of beans.  I think I had two pounds and did a recipe-and-a-half of the brine.