After attending a Lenten program featuring Hot Cross Buns, my mother-in-law, soon to be 93, said, “I learned something new today.” She likes making new discoveries. So do I.
Although I still actively research many subjects, I especially appreciate learning incidentally new information that I will use frequently. For me, such discoveries are like stumbling across hidden treasure without the arduous work of digging usually involved. I’ve encountered two such incidents lately.
On our most recent visit to Texas, a family member had made an angel food cake for supper. When we arrived, it was still hanging upside down on a Coke bottle to cool.
Immediately, I remembered the only time I had ever made an angel food cake years and years ago. For days afterwards, I kept finding slivers of dried batter from beating so many egg whites so hard for so long. Bits of batter had been flung everywhere. It was almost as bad as the time that I had made a cake from a magazine recipe to take on vacation and it exploded in my oven. There I was, cleaning an oven the old fashioned way when I needed to be packing. I tore that recipe into shreds and we took store bought cookies for our picnics.
Likewise, I had not made another angel food cake until I tasted this one this summer. Covered with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, the cake itself was especially light and tasty.
I confessed my reluctance to try to make one again. She reached into the trash can and pulled out the cake box. “I use a mix.” She studied the directions, “You just add one and a fourth cups of water, blend and beat for one minute. The directions even say, DO NOT OVERBEAT.” She went on to explain that she preferred using the Duncan Hines mix, but that her grocery store now only carried the Betty Crocker mix. “It’s just as good.”
When I went to the grocery store, I looked for the Betty Crocker mix. My store only had the Duncan Hines mix. They are equally as good.
Most of the time, I make cakes from scratch. A couple of my favorite recipes start with cake mixes but add other ingredients and utilize different directions. But with this angel food cake mix, I just follow the box directions. Now, I keep a box on my pantry shelf.
A few weeks later, we visited Bob’s aunt and uncle who live in Brunswick. This uncle has always grown a garden year round. This aunt does wonderful things with the harvest. Hers was the first toss salad without a leaf of lettuce that I had ever eaten. She just chopped up a variety of raw vegetables from the garden. On this visit, they were sharing their abundant crop of squash.
She asked if I had ever eaten squash pie. I shook my head. “You must try it. It’s a great way to use the extra large squash.” She found the recipe and I copied it. She also told me that sometimes she tries to remove the larger seeds, but that it really isn’t necessary since she makes the batter in a blender. When I told Bob about it, he was skeptical to say the least. “I’m not going to like that,” he said.
“I’m going to try it at least once,” I said, looking at the large bag of squash we had.
It has now become one of Bob’s favorite desserts. I may be the absolute last person to learn about these two hints for the kitchen, but if not, I want to share them. This recipe for two pies may easily be cut into half.
Two Squash Pies
3 cups of cooked, unsalted squash, well drained (about 6 large squash)
1-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened or melted
1/3 cup self-rising flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon extract
dash of salt
two unbaked pie shells
nutmeg to sprinkle on top of unbaked pies
a dollop of whipped cream for garnish
Place squash in a blender and begin to puree. Gradually add remaining ingredients. Blend until batter is fluffy. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until custard is well set and top is beginning to brown slightly. (For my oven, it’s closer to an hour.)
2003
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