Last Hurrah of the Morning Glories

Among my favorite flowers in the garden are the morning glories, they have been prolific, growing up and over the fences, this year the vines are spreading on the ground. A bit of morning cheer and they last from spring til the first frost each year. They are fading, some of the vines have dried and had to be cleared.

I wish I had luck with the moon flowers I tried growing. I had wanted to alternate them with morning glories so I would have the beautiful pale blossoms later in the day with their beautiful scent but they didn't take. I noticed the leaves on the trees in my neighborhood and especially the common (for those not from New England, some cities and most all old towns would have a small park in the center, that was for common usage, in some larger towns a larger common allowed farmers cows and sheep to graze on a market day. Or space for the town militia to muster in the lead up to the Revolutionary War thus the term common) have started to turn, though whether we will have beautiful yellows, oranges and reds on the trees or more brown and tans is anybody's guess. All I see is a hint of dullish color. It all depends on bright hot days, and cooler nights.

Chicken Corn Chowder

This is my family's favorite soup, it's fresh and light tasting, not starchy at all. The soup is thickened by pulsing half the corn kernels to a paste in a food processor. Served with a salad, and you have a meal that will satisy everyone, even your pickey eaters. It's a recipe I adapted in the early '90s from a cookbook I got out of the library, Blue Corn & Chocolate.

Serves 6

2 Tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, with leaves, sliced
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups or 4 ears of fresh sweet corn kernels, you can use frozen, but fresh is best
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
1/2 tsp dried sweet marjoram
1/2 cup light cream

Process half the sweet corn kernels in a food processor, ’til they are a coarse paste (do not puree), reserve the other half as is, to add much later in the cooking process). In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low to moderate heat. Add the onions and carrots and sauté slowly, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in the celery and the potato and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.

To the sautéd vegetables add the processed corn, the stock, the pepper, sugar and marjoram. Bring to a simmer then lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir in the remaining corn kernels and the chicken, bring back to a simmer and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.  Add the cream, and stir for 5 minutes or less til it is hot again but not boiling, sprinkle with fresh parsley, if you wish. Served as leftovers, it tastes even better the next day and freezes well.

Old Fashioned Hermit Cookies

With September coming my thoughts are more and more turning to fall, the leaves changing color, trips to an apple farm, and fall flavors. Hermits are an old fashioned cookie, traditionally the dough is rolled into logs and baked, then sliced and are called Hermit bars. I just find making them as drop cookies much easier. They are delicious and last a long time if stored in a tin. In olden times New England wives and mothers used to make them and give them to their sea faring fishermen, sailor, sons or husbands or other loved ones to have a piece of home to take with them. With their warm spices they are a familiar touch of fall. When I was a child my mother would pack them for school lunches or picnics, makes about 32 cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
¼ cup molasses
1 large egg
2/3 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375° and line a large baking sheet with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl or in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and continue to beat, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary. Gradually add the flour and spices mixture until just combined. Stir in the raisins. Drop tablespoonfuls of cookie dough on to baking sheet, and bake on the center rack of your oven for 13 minutes, until the edges are barely crisp, you don’t want to overcook them. Remove them from the oven and cool.

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Storm Last Tuesday

Tuesday, the 24th, this was the scene in the parking lot behind my church. The storm drains on this side street must have been clogged. I was grateful that I had been able to park on the Main St. when I needed to drop someone off. The day ended with the sun coming out, drying up with a high of 81°, with much lower humidity.

American Chop Suey

American Chop Suey has been an old standby in New England since the Great Depression, dishes like it, have been family favorites, and my mother made it regularly for dinner. She passed before I had a family of my own never got her recipe and ended up trying one recipe after another. Despite it being such a popular dish in my neck of the woods, I found that not everyone followed the same formula my mother, school cafeteria’s, diners had for decades. It was the proverbial needle in the haystack. Several years ago, I found Elise Bauer’s mom’s recipe Hamburger Macaroni on Simply Recipes and was happy to find that it was the definitive American Chop Suey. It’s a very adaptable recipe, I usually add 1 chopped green pepper as that is what I grew up with, or a few stalks of celery, chopped. You can stretch the recipe to serve 6 by using 3 cups of macaroni. 

4 servings

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1 tbsp olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Pinch chili powder

1/2 tsp celery seed

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Get a large pot of salted hot water (1 tbsp of salt for 2 quarts of water) boiling and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package. While the water is heating and macaroni cooking, prepare the sauce. In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tbsp of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown. When the beef has mostly browned, add the onions to the pan and toss to combine. Cook until the onions are soft, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the celery seed, a dash of crushed red pepper and seasoned salt. Pour in canned tomatoes, add the Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving a half cup of the pasta cooking water. Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and the parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in some of the pasta water if the dish is too dry. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.