Laurie Colwin — 2013 — The 21st Century Matriarch

A year ago I posted about finding something to celebrate each day. It’s an easy thing for me to do and the habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations;’ here are my top 10.

Hummingbirds. The zinnas and cardinal flowers on our deck have been magnets for hummingbirds all during August. I love watching them from my kitchen window. They are the flying jewels of the garden.

Laurie Colwin. I had read most of her books years ago but finally read Home Cooking this month. I celebrated the books she wrote - wishing she had lived to produce more.

Declining weight. It is a wonderful thing when a diet has the desired effect. I celebrated a major milestone with a piece of cheesecake and each lower weight with small piece of dark chocolate. Of course - those celebratory calories have to be included in the total for the day….no backsliding allowed.

Goldfinches. The seeds on the blazing stars are ripening enough to be attractive to goldfinches. I am anticipating that we will see more of them as it gets cooler.

Gardening. It is unusual to have the flowerbeds weed free at the same time. I’m celebrating the accomplishment…..and the room it gives me to try propagating the overgrown hydrangea bushes.

Flip flops. I found 2 flip flops in my size on sale - and it was the sale tax free week too!

Open window. It was wonderfully cool on quite a few mornings this August and I opened my office window to the sounds of the outdoors. How much more connected people were with the outdoors before air conditioning!

Morning snack ritual. I enjoy sitting outside while eating my fruit at mid-morning. The deck is in heavy shade at that time of day and I light the shelf fungus wick in a plate of oil. The large, bell toned chimes add to the sounds of insects and birds with every little breeze.

Coursera History of Humankind. It is probably the most thought provoking course I’ve taken so far….and I am celebrating that it lasts for 17 weeks!

Fresh mint tea. I have harvest mint twice this summer already and there will be another harvest before frost. My favorite beverage is made with a chopped mint leaves and black tea in the filter of my tea maker (a coffee maker that has never made coffee). Most of the crop is dried but the pots made with the freshly chopped leaves are always the most fragrant and flavorful.

I am prompted by Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking to think about cookbooks. Does everyone that cooks have some reference they use at least occasionally? I have three that I use periodically - and almost always for some kind of bread or dessert.

The one I use most frequently is a Good Housekeeping Cookbook my grandmother gave me for Christmas just as I was beginning to help out in the kitchen - about 50 years ago. It was not something I used at first but I liked having such a ‘grown up’ present. I appreciated it more as soon as I was on my own in the kitchen - it was the book I had for guidance. The index is the most referenced part of the whole book but that doesn’t show. The splashes on recipe pages are obvious markers in the book and reveal the favorites. In this book it is corn bread, gingerbread, baked custard, popovers, applesauce cake, coffee cake, and apple brown betty (which I made with peaches at least as often as with apples). Now that I am looking at this book more closely….there is a yummy looking recipe for baked barbeque chicken (homemade sauce); it may be time to look at the other sections of this book!

There are only two pages that are food splattered in the Williamsburg cookbook purchased when I first visited Colonial Williamsburg: Christiana Campbell’s Tavern Sweet Potato Muffins and Sally Lunn. I’ve made the muffins with all kinds of variations: pumpkin instead of sweat potato, left over baked sweet potatoes, canned sweet potatoes, mini-muffins, muffin tops, raisins and nuts depending on what is on hand.

The last cookbook was one I inherited from my mother-in-law. I’m not sure whether it was something she had for years or that she bought not that long before she died at a used book sale. Either way - it has a wonderful spice cake recipe (that includes cayenne pepper).