Simple Summer Food by Celia Wakefield

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It's another appearance by our own Celia Wakefield, here with more utterly delicious and not too tricky recipes you can use to impress your friends at your summer soiree - or just nosh from the sofa with the A/C turned high and a good show streaming.

 

I can’t believe that half of 2023 has passed already, are you wondering where it went? However lets not look back on the past but consider how we can enjoy summer. Julia thought it would be good to think about easy food to take on picnics, to barbecues, to Shakespeare in the Park or any other excuse for a meal outside. 

 

 

 

 

Looking back over June we had more activities than we had had in the previous three years, one of which was a Grandma shower. Yes, really. Normally we don’t think of a shower coupled with becoming a grandma other than possibly being the person who is hosting the event. But this shower was given for my friend, Thora, whose daughter, Hayley, living in Colorado, had just delivered daughter number 3, Alexandra Hope. Thora, now living in Maine, did not go west for the birth but her neighbors decided that as she was missing all the fun they would throw a shower for her. We met in a local wine bar and had a lot of fun. 

 

But this is the back story to one of the recipes - Spaghetti with fresh pea pesto. Scott, one of the guests, is a baker and had brought adorable homemade real icing cupcakes. I knew he could help me with one or two food issues and he did. I was planning an afternoon hangout with my memoir friends and was thinking of new teatime/drinks and nibbles ideas. Scott suggested among other ideas that toast squares with a fresh pea / cottage cheese mix was delightful and refreshing particularly as this was pea shoot time. I had pea shoot from my local farm stand and it all sounded delicious. However the hangout had to be rescheduled for a later date and I mentally filed that idea.

 

Forward to the Fourth of July, family gatherings. Barbecues and pie. Julia and I were discussing the differences in dessert between the USA and UK. Pie is definitely President in the USA followed by ice cream, and in the UK pudding probably rules. Pudding is a generic term for what may follow ones ‘mains’. Or as my beloved apparently said to his mother one day at dinner, “what’s for sex?” Meaning, what was for seconds, which might have been a pudding such as rice pudding, or perhaps an apple pie or even jelly, i.e. Jello. 

 

I decided to go UK for the dessert I would take to the Independence Day gathering, and make my Fourth of July pavlova, which I think I did for JRW a year or so ago. Well, the weather outside was frightful and had been for several days. Meringue is tricky enough when everything is low humidity but a damp day? No thank you. It’s important to pivot, which I did, and made my Fourth of July Eton mess, or as Julia said, call it an Eaton Mess after a town in NH. And that is what I made. 

 

The best thing about a Mess is that you can either bake or buy the merinques (I won’t tell and guests won’t know.) The morning of the Fourth I baked the Aquafaba meringues, the recipe of which was published on JRW in March this year. Then before we left the house, we prepped the local strawberries, whipped the cream with a little creme fraiche, broke the meringues into bite sized pieces and mixed them into the cream, together with cut strawberries and blueberries. I decorated the top with whole strawberries and the dessert was very well received.

 

Fourth of July Mess (taken from the English Eton mess, and no-one seems to know where this recipe originated.)

 

Ingredients:

Pint of heavy cream

1/4-1/2 Cup cream fraiche (optional)

Large punnet (basket) strawberries preferably local

Small punnet (basket) blueberries 

2 Cups Meringues broken up into bite sized pieces 

 

Method:

Wash if necessary and hull the strawberries taking out the nicest ones to decorate the top and cutting the rest into slices

Beat the cream to soft peaks adding the creme fraiche is using, in spoonfuls

Break up the meringues and mix gently into the cream

Add the strawberries and mix 

Like several of my recipes both of these recipes have amounts that are approximate. 

 

Fresh Pea Pesto for Pasta (that’s a lot of P’s)

This recipe is my combination of my new friend, Scott’s, idea for nibbles together with a recipe from Susan Spungen’s book VEG FORWARD , which I found in Katie Couric's site, and influenced by David Lebovitz, who was talking about Susan and her wonderful vegetables in his newsletter.

 

Ingredients

 

2-4 oz pasta per person

1-2 Cups Cottage Cheese

2 Cups frozen peas, defrost half of the peas

Garlic or garlic scapes dependent on what is available:

3 cloves of garlic either roasted or peeled, covered with olive oil and microwaved in a covered container for 2 minutes dependent on your microwave. I start with one minute.

1/4-1/2 cup of scapes cut into 1/4” pieces, covered with olive oil and microwaved.

2 Cups approximately snap peas, (snow peas should work if there are no snap peas available)

Pea shoots and tendrils - whatever you have

Fresh herbs if you have them; mint, parsley and basil are all good 

Salt, pepper and Trader Joe's chili lime to taste

Good squeeze of half a lemon

Grated Parmesan Cheese to serve

 

Method:

Microwave the garlic or scapes and drain keeping the olive oil in which they were cooked

Blanch 1 cup of snap peas together with 1 cup of frozen peas

Run under cold water and hold

Put the cottage cheese into the Food Processor and whirl, stopping several times to scrape down the sides until the mixture is smooth and silky

Add the uncooked (defrosted) peas together with the uncooked snap peas and pea shoots and tendrils (hold a few for decoration), then whirl till mixed in

Taste and add seasonings, but save the lemon juice for the end

Add the blanched peas, snap peas and the cooked garlic/scapes and whirl

Add the olive oil if the mixture is too stiff and taste again

Add more seasonings if necessary as well as a squeeze or two of lemon juice

If the mixture is still too stiff add some pasta water a spoon at a time till the consistency is to your liking

Cook the pasta and mix it together with the pea pesto. Sprinkle with parm. 

 

Buon appetito!

Happy Fourth of July

Dear reds and red readers,

On this day, we're wishing for us a country not divided, a country that welcomes strangers, a country that rejoices in diversity...that encourages all to succeed. In short, what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they met that day in July many years ago.

Happy Independence Day!

RHYS BOWEN:  Wishing all of our friends and followers a happy and relaxing Fourth of July! I think too many of us take independence and freedom for granted. We don't think twice when we express an opinion or criticize a political figure (and what's not to criticize these days?)
We tend to forget that in other countries this could lead to being hauled off to jail, tortured and even killed.

I am particularly aware of the meaning of independence this Fourth as I have just returned from Britain and witnessed the whole Brexit drama. If I'd been able to vote I really can't say which side I would have chosen. But I do understand the sentiment behind wanting to leave the EU. For those who voted to leave it meant being in control of Britain's own destiny. As an island nation the Brits have always been proud of having control of their laws, their borders and having never been invaded since 1066.  Britain's Magna Carta formed the basis of democracies around the world.

Under the EU many parts of life were dictated to by a non-elected body in Brussels. What kind of apples a farmer was allowed to grow, what kind of fish a fisherman was allowed to catch, the size of strawberries, meters instead of yards for cloth. And anyone allowed into the EU had a right to come and live and work in Britain. It was this feeling of lack of control that drove so many people to vote LEAVE.   Whether it will be a good thing for Britain in the long run, we'll have to wait and see.

I don't believe George Washington and his army knew whether the colonies would be better off without Britain, but they thought that the chance to decide their own destiny was worth the risk. It paid off for the US. Let's hope it pays off for Britain too.

You Cannot Make This Stuff Up

Someone asked me once, what's the perfect guest blog? I said...well, come to think of it, it was Thomas Kaufman who asked. And he certainly listened to my answer.

(And doesn't he look like Paul Newman here? Just saying.)

His new book is STEAL THE SHOW, and it's smart, compelling, fast-paced and oh-so-original. And today we're givng away a copy to a lucky commenter!

So put it this way. How often have you said, whoa, you cannot make this stuff up? Tom has the proof.

***************************************

TOM KAUFMAN: Hank, thanks for letting me come over, I'll leave my shoes by the door.

Like Hank, I work in the film and video business, but unlike Hank, I free lance. So I work on lots of different types of projects. I like this because I have to be good at everything, from hand-held, fly-on-the-wall documentary shooting, to lighting tabletop products shots, to shooting fiction films.

I've also shot and directed a lot of cop shows, and made friends with police, FBI, and DEA agents. Most of these guys are born storytellers. You can bet that the stories I heard and the crime scenes I visited have helped my writing.

Now, I have to tell you, that a lot of the criminals in these cases did not fit into the super-genius category. For instance, one guy killed his girlfriend, then got rid of the body by placing it in a 55 gallon metal drum. He burned her remains over a number of days, then emptied what was left into a nearby stream. Pretty smart, right?

Except he still had to get rid of the metal drum. So he waits until night, finds a construction site, and places his drum alongside two dozen others.

Problem was, the next morning the supervisor comes in and notices there's one green drum among two dozen blue ones. (In the dark, the killer couldn't see the color difference.)

The bottom of the drum contained bone fragments (which the killer neglected to hose out). A forensic anthropologist was able to match the fragments to the missing woman's height, weight, and age.

But what's worse, the killer, once he finished, went to a bar and told the dead woman's brother-in-law that he had killed her. Did that last fact make it into the show? No. Why not? Because, as the producer explained to me, for the show to work, these criminals need to be perceived as smart, even though they often weren't.

Hey, it's TV. Reality can take a backseat.

Before I went on location to shoot and direct these shows, the production company's researcher would send me scripts, treatments, police reports, all about the crime. One show was about identity theft, and I came across something extraordinary:

A wealthy man, let's call him Klemson, meets a handyman, who we'll call Blake. Blake does a few odd jobs for Klemson, meanwhile casing the guy. Blake discovers that Klemson, an older guy, lives alone, and his children are far away. Klemson has money. And he trusts Blake.

So Blake has an idea – kill Klemson, hide the body, but keep Klemson's checkbook. That way "Klemson" can write checks to Blake. Maybe not the most original crime in the world, but it works. For a while.

Then Klemson's family begins to wonder where he is – he hasn't answered his phone in a week, and he always lets them know when he's going away. The family calls the cops. Going through Klemson's canceled checks, the cops find some of them are to a mortgage company. But Klemson's mortgage was paid in full. The mortgage company tells the cops that the check went to a property owned by Blake.

So now the cops question Blake, who says that he did odd jobs for Klemson, and asked that Klemson write checks directly to Blake's mortgage company. The cops show Blake a photo of Klemson. Is this the guy?

Now, Blake thinks he's being clever and says no, that's not him. It was a different guy. This way, Blake hopes to throw the cops off the trail. The cops hand Blake over to a police sketch artist, and after an hour or so, the sketch artist shows the cops the picture.

And it's a picture of Blake! No kidding, this guy describes the perp to the sketch artist, and unconsciously, comes up with a sketch of himself.

I'm reading this, and grab the phone to call the researcher. Is this for real? Absolutely, the researcher assures me. Then I call the producer. This has got to be in the show, I say. Why? Because it's fantastic, yet at the same time rings true. I can believe it, but it's still amazing.

No, the producer says, that could never be in the show. Once we depict these criminals as stupid, the show falls flat. Forget about it.

But I can't -- details like this are what makes these stories so interesting. I'll be using this piece in my writing someday, when I find the right place for it.

How about you? Have you ever come across an incident that you're dying to put in a story?

HANK: I must say, nothing as hilarious as the too-dark-for-the-drums story. So how about you, Reds? And if you're rushing to get ready for your fourth of July celebrations, in honor of Steal the Show, you can just tell us your favorite summer movie to be entered to win Tom's wonderful book!

Tom's new book is STEAL THE SHOW--and what a great cover, huh?

****Not every private eye would try to adopt an abandoned baby, but Willis Gidney’s case is special – he was abandoned too. And having barely survived DC foster care, Willis can’t quite seem to let the system take over, especially with a child like Sarah. The DC authorities have a very different idea about fatherhood -- it does not include unmarried private eyes. That means Willis needs money for a lawyer, so he takes a job he shouldn’t—breaking into a film pirating center for a code-writing hacker named Rush Gemelli. Willis thinks this is a onetime venture, but Gemelli blackmails him into joining up with his father, Chuck Gemelli, the head of the motion picture lobby in Washington. When Chuck’s former partner is murdered, it seems like someone may be playing Gidney for the fall guy.

Add to that the unwanted attentions of a crazed actress, a foster care case worker from hell, and the Vietnamese and Salvadoran gangs out to kill him, and it’s all Gidney can do to keep from getting his movie ticket punched—permanently.

Thomas Kaufman is an Emmy-winning director/cameraman who also writes mysteries. His first book, DRINK THE TEA, won the PWA/St Martin's Press Competition for Best First Novel. His second book, STEAL THE SHOW, comes out this July. His blog tour continues this week at AllisonLeotta.com, International Thriller Writers, and Murderati .

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day from Jungle Red Writers! (We can't really say happy fourth when it's the fifth, can we?)

We hope you're out boating or playing golf or eating a fabulous picnic. Come back tomorrow for our regularly scheduled conversation--and lots more all week!

Celebrate!

RO: Whatever else you're eating or doing these two recipes will turn your Fourth into a party.

It comes from the divine Martha and is deceptively easy. Your friends - especially the ones who bring Costco cakes to bbq's and picnics, not that there's anything wrong with that ;-) - will think you are a domestic goddess.

Strawberry Cream Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup whole milk

1 pound strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-ounce envelope)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan, and line with parchment paper. Butter and flour paper and sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in 3 parts and milk in 2, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Spread batter in prepared pan.

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, split cake in half horizontally; place bottom half, cut side up, on a serving plate.

4. Make topping: In a large bowl, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a small saucepan, and sprinkle with gelatin; let soften 5 minutes. Place saucepan over very low heat, and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool.

5. Using an electric mixer, beat cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl until very soft peaks form. Continue to beat, and gradually add gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks form. 6. Arrange half of strawberries over bottom cake layer; top with half of whipped cream, leaving a 1-inch border. Cover with top half of cake, cut side down. Top cake with remaining whipped cream, leaving a 1-inch border. Refrigerate cake and remaining strawberries separately, at least 1 hour (or up to 1 day). Just before serving, spoon strawberries over cake.

7. My addition to Martha's recipe..sprinkle a handful of blueberries on top for a red, white and blue treat.

But man cannot live by cake alone (more's the pity.) This is from my pal Dan's wife, Linda..

White wine sangria

2 (750ml) bottles of dry white wine

6 ox Triple sec or Cointreau

6 oz fresh orange juice

3 oz fresh lemon or lime juice

3 oz brandy, optional

about 1/2 c sugar (superfine is best)

16 oz cold club soda or citrus flavored mineral water

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

Pour first 4 ingredients into a punch bowl. Sweeten to taste with sugar, stirring well to dissolve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Just before serving stir in club soda or mineral water. Add a block of ice and fruit slices. Enjoy.