Bastille Day, 2010, Paris and a Crepe Recipe

Two re-posts from Paris, 2010 in honor of Bastille Day, plus a link to Isabella's crepe recipe from her years in French school here in SF.

Bastille Day Eve, 2010

Bastille day is tomorrow. This city knows how to celebrate their independence.

Two big events were going on, just in the Bastille/Marais neighborhood we are staying in.

First, there was the Bal de Pompier (fireman just does not have the same ring to it as pompier). We saw everyone lining up and much later in the evening, we looked in at a very happening party with a disco ball and crazy lights.  Seemed fun, and I believe it’s a fundraiser of some sort.

More importantly, and where we ended up, was the Concert for Diversity in the Place de la Bastille. Granted, most of the music was not up our alley, but the event was fun nonetheless.

We’ve watched quite a bit of MTV here (can’t understand most of what’s going on, but found some good videos). Ben l’Oncle Soul and Shi’m both played at the concert. We had seen their videos and liked them, so it was a nice surprise to see them live.

The crowd was really well behaved, there was no pushing, no jockeying for position, no negativity. The craziest part was that, apparently, it’s ok to drink anywhere. There were tons of people with open bottles of wine wandering around, chatting with the cops.  No one was super drunk, and overall, everyone was enjoying themselves.

We left around 9:30 (when that picture was taken, still light out) and made our way back home to watch the last hour of it on TV.

A really nice start to the holiday.

Originally posted here.

 Bastille Day, 2010, Paris, France

Not only did we go to the Champs-Elysses for the Bastille Day Parade, but we also got to see some of it right down the block from our apartment on the Rue du Rivoli.

We went up to the parade route, with me vaguely aware of the fact that it was probably going to be pandemonium.

Yes, I was right.

The biggest issue we had was our height, or lack there of. I had forgotten how hard it is in huge crowds and events it is for me to see, let alone my little lady. We did our best.

The planes overhead were awesome, got some video of them, too. We heard the music of the marching bands, and saw the members of the band coming off the parade route.

And, we did manage to see a bunch of horses and their regiment dressed up ready to go. As they were preparing, the skies opened up and there was a huge downpour.

At this point, we were right near the Franklin Roosevelt Metro stop, so we ran inside. Our size here was an asset, since we had our tickets and could wiggle our way in between the crowds.

Once back in our neighborhood, we noticed the military out in the street and that the big thoroughfare was shut to traffic. As we walked around, we started seeing crowds gathering on the corners. It occurred to us that the parade was coming down our way.

And, so it did. We saw many tanks filled with crisply outfitted military men (only one or two women in the bunch). They were not slowly going down the route. No, they were booking down the road towards the Bastille where presumably parade ended. We have video of this, too, which I will try to post soon.

The skies opened up again somewhere around when the first tank appeared. We stayed put with a completely unobstructed view of the parade. But, eventually, we had seen enough and it sure felt like we were being pelted with hail, so we went home to have a crepe and dry off.

Originally posted here.

Crepes a la Isabella

originally published in

this post,

2009.

You will need a flatish-round, nonsticl pan, or better yet, a nonstick crepe pan.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour (you can substitute Gluten-Free Pantry Flour mix here)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2cup water
• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients well in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes, undisturbed.
3. Heat the non-stick crepe pan over medium heat.
4. Spray a light coating of vegetable oil on pan.
5. Pour batter slowly into center of pan. Then, quickly pick up pan and twist the handle to move batter around into a thin coating.
6. Leave undisturbed on medium heat for 3 minutes, until edges begin to curl a little.

• Flip the crepe over. Cook another 2 minutes and flip onto a plate.
• Cover finished crepes with a clean kitchen towel while making the others.
• Serve immediately with Nutella or sugar rolled inside.
• If storing, simply make a stack of crepes and wrap in plastic wrap.

Adapted from The Joy of Coking

Re-Post from Paris: Farmhouse Culture, Schwartz's Deli, Sauerkraut and Hot Dogs

My friend Aviva gave me three wonderful sauerkrauts made by Farmhouse Culture. If you are local to SF and the Bay Area, you can get some at the Farmer's Market in the Castro on Wednesday nights. If not, click here to order from their website. I love the smoked jalapeño sauerkraut the best.

The sauerkraut reminded me of a great hot dog I had in Paris at Schwartz's Deli. Here is my post from July, 2010.

Not everything is open on Sunday in Paris. We knew this and planned on another round of tea at Mariage Freres later in the day, but wanted to get out and do something with our morning.

We headed out to an area we had discovered the night before. It was literally only one block further away from our house than we had been walking, and there was some nice window shopping to do.

Some stores did end up being open, best of which was the soap store, La Maison du Savon.  There were over 100 varieties of Marseilles soap, all reasonably priced and smelling divine. They have every scent from sweet to spicy, including pine, rose, tilleul (which I think is Linden) and rosemary. We bought 5 bars of soap and Isabella got some special rose and angel shaped ones for herself.

Realizing that tea wasn’t until after 3pm, we decided to eat. Yes, as the picture denotes, hot dogs. It being Sunday, all of the kosher restaurants were open. We chose Schwartz’s since they seemed to have a nice looking deli counter and a good NY deli menu.

It did not disappoint. Isabella got hers plain on a bun. I got the sauerkraut and relish on mine. They also brought some house-made dill pickles to the table, which were not too salty and just tart enough. Isabella was a fan of the onion rings, too.

We thoroughly enjoyed out American hot dogs, and thought it would have been nice to have celebrated Fourth of July at Schwartz’s as well.

This post was originally posted on Summer Jetsetter, my notes on our month in Paris, 2010.

not just eggs

Reposting a great egg Frittata recipe for Easter. enjoy....Picture a hot summer morning at the beach. Five kids, two parents, pitchers of water, seltzer and juice, and tons of sunblock. It must be noted here, that many members of The Family (as the larger group of my siblings and parents shall hence forth be known, no cult-association intended here) hated the beach.

Herewith, some back-story on The Family history with the beach. Joe, our Dad, does not care for the sun. Being one of those blonde-haired, non-olive-skinned Italians, it is understandable why. So, we would head out to Jones Beach, in Long Island, at the crack of 7AM on a potentially sunny Sunday. We'd get there by 7:30, eat pastries on the boardwalk and then set up on the beach. At that hour, there was always plenty of choice real estate available, so we were right near the shore. We were usually packing up sometime around lunch, to avoid the high sun and the traffic back to Queens.

Another major issue, were the jelly fish. I'm not sure when it happened, but I do recall as early as age six that Gran Fran had scared us witless regarding these slimy creatures. Walking on the edge of the ocean was fraught with looking for the telltale globs of jelly-fishness. Gran Fran was convinced that if we got within even five feet of one, we would come away stung. Needless to say, none of us ever got a sting, but we all steered well clear of the jelly fish. And, to this day, poor Iz has to deal with my ever-lasting fear, with calls of "You keeps your eyes open for jelly fish. You don't want to get stung!" I guess no matter what we do, we all eventually turn into our parents.

As the morning progressed, we played in the surf, buried ourselves in the sand and collected a multitude of seashells (and some kelp, if I remember correctly, that was not allowed in the car home). We'd get hungry again around 11:00. This was the big event.

Enter the greatest lunch on earth: Gran Fran's Fritatta. Simply put, it is just a potato and egg pie, like an omelette, but fluffier and filled with fried potatoes.

But, Gran Fran has a way with eggs like no one else. It must be said here that she cooks all egg dishes in olive oil, not butter. Olive oil is the preferred cooking medium for all things savory in Gran Fran's world. Heaven forfend using butter for anything other than baked goods, especially eggs. She gags at the thought of it.

Out came the Frittata. Gran Fran is known for her wrapping (no, it's not elegant, but it is always thorough), and did not scrimp on the waxed paper then foil wrap to ensure the eggs would stay nice and soft, and the temperature would remain as cool as possible.

Cups of seltzer were poured and the eggs handed out. There was always quiet once everyone was served and was munching on their delectable treat. At those times, it was nice to see such a large family having a nice peaceful lunch on a sunny beach day.

But once the eggs were eaten, everyone dispersed again to do what they had been doing before lunch (avoiding the jelly fish, mind you). Overall, we were sated, happy and sunburned. And, it was high noon, time for The Family to head out. That Gran Fran, she sure knows how to feed a crowd!

Fritatta A la Gran Fran

Serves 4 as a meal, or 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

• 2 Russet potatoes peeled and sliced thin
• 5 Eggs
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• Salt to taste

You will need a broiler-proof non-reactive deep skillet.

Method:

• Heat pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and swirl it around to coat the sides and bottom of the pan.
• Place potatoes in pan, one at a time to create one layer. Do not crowd them. This will make a nice base for the Fritatta.
• Cook the potatoes over medium heat until they are browned, about 10 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and cook another 5 to 8minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don't burn.
• Crack 5 eggs into a bowl and mix them as if you’re making scrambled eggs. Be sure to break up all the yolks and get them all mixed together well. Add salt to taste, but not too much.
• When the potatoes are cooked on both sides, sprinkle them gently with salt. Pour the beaten eggs over the potatoes. Move the pan around to distribute the eggs evenly. After a minute or two, slide a spatula around the sides of the pan and tilt the pan so the raw eggs run into the space that the spatula created.
• Keep the pan on the flame for 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan gently, until the eggs begin to set to about an inch around the circumference of the fritata.
• Set the broiler for 3 minutes. Place pan under the broiler and watch carefully as top of eggs get bubbly, firm, and golden, until the top is well browned.
• Remove from oven. Place a serving plate on top of the pan, using oven mitts, grab the pan and plate and flip the Fritatta out onto the plate.

Enjoy hot, warm, cold, or at room temperature. Wonderful with a ripe tomato salad sprinkled wiht finely minced scallions, a dusting of kosher salt, and a good dollop of olive oil (this is Gran Fran's addendum to the above recipe).

Crepes at 6AM

In keeping with the theme of cooking at any hour of the day or night, I got up this morning and made 20 crepes for Ms. Iz’s class at school. It didn’t seem so crazy on Sunday night when we had our friends over for a dinner party. But, in the light of day (or, I should say, the dark-of-ever-rainy-SF morning), with a kitchen full of dirty dishes and breakfast, lunch, and dog to deal with, not so good.Here it is, Iz asked me to make crepes for her school for Mardi Gras. Yes, it was a week late, and all, but I agreed since it’s such a nice thing for your kid to bring in something special to share. It must be mentioned here that she attends a French school. In hindsight, I was insane to agree to make such a treat for a bunch of real French people, but I wasn’t thinking of that.

What was going through my mind, was how Gran Fran, no matter what, would send me off to preschool (then known as Nursery school) with fresh-baked treats for whatever holiday was being celebrated. I attended a Jewish Nursery school (long story, short, even though our family wasn’t Jewish, the private Nursery school was willing to take me a year earlier than the public school) and so Gran Fran made many challahs, and even hamantaschen cookies for Purim

Oddly, this is the first time I’ve made the connection between putting Iz into a French school as a non-French person, and my Jewish Nursery school experience. That being said, it just shows to go you that you can never walk far away from you past. Gran Fran is always on my shoulder saying “What? So, you get up a little early? What’s it going to cost you … a little sleep?” This, from a woman who seems to need no more than 5 hours of sleep a night. Who knows if that is a product of raising five kids, what with all the worry and all, or if she was always that way.

On Saturday before she left for her Dad’s house, she asked if I had bought the crepe pan and Nutella yet. I assured her the purchases would be made before she returned the next night. I did get everything, Iz made the batter, and then, with many cooks in my kitchen, we tried to make the crepes. There was the learning curve to deal with, having never made crepes, the burn Iz got on her finger whilst trying to flip one, and the inevitable boredom that comes from making the same thing over and over. And, that, my friends, is how I ended up making these at 6AM on a Monday.

The crepes, as it turned out, were a huge success. Iz was very proud to report back that she got to serve them and was able to have two with Nutella for herself. She was the only one who brought crepes, with some of the other kids supplying donuts the week before, or other sweet treats. So, in the end, Gran Fran was right (as usual). Who needs sleep when you can supply such joy with a little bit of flour, butter, milk and eggs?

Crepes ala Iz

Makes 25 crepesYou will need a flatish-round, nonsticl pan, or better yet, a nonstick crepe pan.

Ingredients:

• 1cup flour
• 1cup milk
• 1/2cup water
• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt

Method:

• Mix all ingredients well in a food processor or blender until smooth.
• Let the batter stand for 30 minutes, undisturbed.
• Heat the non-stick crepe pan over medium heat.
• Spray a light coating of vegetable oil on pan.
• Pour batter slowly into center of pan. Then, quickly pick up pan and twist the handle to move batter around into a thin coating.
• Leave undisturbed on medium heat for 3 minutes, until edges begin to curl a little.
• Flip the crepe over. Cook another 2 minutes and flip onto a plate.
• Cover finished crepes with a clean kitchen towel while making the others.
• Serve immediately with Nutella or sugar rolled inside.
• If storing, simply make a stack of crepes and wrap in plastic wrap.

Adapted from The Joy of Coking

Challah ala Gran Fran

Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water (100 to 110 F)
• 2 packages (1/2 ounce or 4 1/2 tsp) Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/4 to 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon water
• Poppy Seed and/or Sesame Seed, optional

Method:

Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, sugar, margarine, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well. Stir in 3 eggs, 1 egg white (reserve 1 yolk), and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide remaining half into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3 of the dough. Divide larger piece into 3 equal pieces; roll to 12-inch ropes. Place ropes on greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal. Divide remaining piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll to 10-inch ropes; braid. Place small braid on large braid. Pinch ends firmly to seal and secure to large braid. Repeat with remaining dough to make second loaf. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes. Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seed, if desired. Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until done, switching positions of sheets in oven halfway through baking time. Remove from sheets; let cool on wire racks.

Source: Fleischmann's Yeast, a division of Burns Philp Food, Inc.

Hamantaschen Cookies ala Gran Fran

Dough Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Butter (salted, or add a pinch of salt)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspon Baking powder
• 1 Egg
• Vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Milk
• 2 cups Flour

Filling Ingredients

• 1/4 lb. dried apricots
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water

Method (Dough):

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cream butter sugar and add egg.
• Mix and sift flour and baking powder and salt and add some of mixture to creamed butter and sugar mixture.
• Add the milk and rest of flour. Add flavoring.
• Roll dough out, cut into rounds and place spoonful of filling on each round.
• Fold up 3 edges to form triangles and pinch the corners so they'll hold their shape in the oven.
• Bake at 375 F. for 15 to 20 min. depending on size.

Method (Filling): you can use apricot jam (or whatever flavor you'd like) or make your own:

• Cover apricots with 1/2 cup water.
• Cook over low heat in covered pan for 15 minutes.
• Mash and add sugar while hot, then add 2 tablespoons water.

the stronger, the better: my must-have comfort food

Comfort food makes me happy.Check out this drinks list: apple juice, iced coffee in the blender, Vin Santo, single malt whiskey.

What, pray tell, do these four drinks have in common? I believe only a select few outside of The Family would know this, so I’ll tell you. The list represents key Gran Fran-esque drinks over the span of my childhood into my adulthood. And, there is a food pairing for each, too. All of these make my comfort food list. This is more of a stroll down memory lane, rather than a plethora of Gran Fran recipes. But, it does shed some light on the nice times we had as a family over the past four-plus decades.

Apple Juice: Our friend-after-school-snack consisted of pretzels (either the super salty skinny pretzel sticks, or the traditional pretzel shaped ones) and apple juice. This was offered all the way through high school to our friends, who made snide remarks about the kiddie snacks at our house, but who told me later in life that it was still a favorite snack. I still crave this snack when things get tough and I find myself serving it to my daughter and her friends, too.

The super salty skinny pretzels came in their own individual boxes and were made by Mr. Salty. You know, the sailor pretzel guy? Sadly, I have found that they are not available any longer and I can't even find picture of them. But, any super salty pretzel will work here with your apple juice!

Blender Cappuccino: On very hot summer days, Gran Fran would break out the blender, grab some ice cubes, milk and espresso and blend it all up. I think she also added sugar. It was lovely. Real coffee and milk, none of this modern-day Starbucks blended stuff. Even though we were little, we were allowed to have this treat. A nice side with this was Gran Fran's best-ever pound cake.

I can no longer drink coffee (makes me very angry and too hyped up), but the smell of coffee in the summer always brings me back to the kitchen in Queens with Gran Fran jamming ice cubes into her blender and telling us all to "Stand back!” At least I can still make the pound cake, which is a little consolation for the demise of my coffee drinking days.

Vin Santo: Gran Fran and I went to Italy in 1989 on a college trip (I was in college, she was recently unemployed so she came along with the group). It was the first time we traveled together, and it lasted a month. The evenings were filled with drinking local wines and eating ourselves silly.

Gran Fran hung out with all of us, until one night when we young'uns decided to go to the local Disco. She opted to hang at the Enoteca, the local wine bar. When we came back to get her, she had been drinking Vin Santo, a sweetish wine that is paired with salume and heavier meats. She was in heaven! I have not developed much of a taste for Vin Santo, but whenever I do have it, it brings back Gran Fran's happy smile in Italy, where she enjoyed the summer light.

Single Malt Whiskey: I am a girl who loves me a whiskey. In bars, they are always questioning whether I realize what I'm ordering, when I ask for a very smoky whiskey, neat. I am all of 5'2" and love to wear short dresses with boots. Not the typical looking whiskey woman.

The first time I had a good glass of whiskey was with both Gran Fran and Joe at a jazz club in Manhattan while watching Les Paul play guitar. I think I was about 20 or so at the time and thoroughly enjoyed it. We ate burgers and the pairing was exquisite.

For my money, you can't get better than apple juice, iced coffee in the blender, Vin Santo or single malt whiskey. I hope to bring this list into the next generation with Iz, but for now, we're sticking to apple juice and an occasional iced coffee in the blender.

Blender Cappuccino ala Gran Fran

serves 1 (but easy to make multiples)you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it) Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup whole milk or better yet half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

• Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
• Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
• Turn blender on high.
• Blend until frothy and creamy.
• Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
• Serve immediately.

Pound Cake ala Gran Fran

serves many!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks room-temperature butter
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour, unbleached, all purpose

Method:

• Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf or tube pan.
• In an electric mixer, or by hand, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together for about 10 minutes; longer if by hand.
• Add 4 eggs one at a time. Beat on medium for about 4 minutes, scraping bowl well.
• Add flour all at once. Beat on medium for about 3 minutes.
• On high speed, add final egg and beat for about 15 seconds.
• Place batter in pan. Place pan in cold oven on a lower third shelf.
• Turn oven on to 300 degrees.
• Bake for 2 hours if beaten in mixer. Bake for 90 minutes if beaten buy hand. Let cool on rack in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool.

Salume Platter ala Gran Fran

serves 8 (you can increase or reduce the amount of items you get based on how many people you are serving.)

to be served with Vin Santo

This doesn't really count as a recipe, more a serving suggestion for an excellent platter of Italian savory items.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Proscuitto di Parma
• 1 lb Soppresatta Salume, sliced thin
• 1 package Pate (Campagnola, is what I prefer, or Country-Style made with Pork)
• 1/2 cup Caper Berries
• 1 cup Black Oil Cured Olives
• 1 Sweet Baguette (or a nice loaf of Italian Bread), sliced
• 4 ripe Roma Tomatoes, diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, 3 minced, 2 cut in half
• 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus more for brushing on bread
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Preheat broiler or get toaster oven ready.
• On a large platter, disply the assortment of meats, with bowls for the caper berries and the olives.
• In a serving bowl, mix together the diced tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Add salt to taste.
• Place baguette slices on a baking sheet in one layer.
• Rub baguette with the cut garlic halves, and then brush the bread with oil. Add a sprinkling of salt.
• Toast baguette in broiler or toaster oven until brown, turning once after a minute or so.
• Serve baguette alongside the diced tomato mixture to have guests create their own bruschetta.

Hamburgers ala Gran Fran

serves 6 to be served with a nice single malt whiskey

you will need a large non-reactive skillet Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground sirloin, shaped into 4 fairly thin burgers (they retract and get fatter as they cook)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup Marsala, Madeira or other semi sweet wine
• 2 shallots minced
• 2 tablespoons butter

Method:

• Prepare burgers. Sprinkle generously with fresh-ground pepper.
• Heat nonstick pan over medium heat until very, very hot.
• Add butter and oil, swirling pan off heat so fats don’t burn
• Return pan to heat; add burgers keeping space around each.
• Cook over high heat for about 4 minutes; reduce heat to medium; continue cooking 4 minutes more. Increase heat to high.
• Turn burgers; cook over high heat for 4 minutes; reduce heat to medium; continue cooking 4 minutes longer.
• Remove burgers from pan. Sprinkle with salt.
• Over medium heat, sauté shallots, sprinkled with salt, until golden. Turn heat to high for 2 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat; add wine, swirl. Return pan to medium heat; simmer until the wine no longer tickles your nose. Swirl cod butter into sauce to make it creamy. Pour sauce over burgers and serve on bread of your choice or on a plate with mashed potatoes

dipping sauce? no, no, that’s frosting.

Gran Fran and Joe always honored our birthdays with a special meal (ask for anything, and they’d make it for the birthday kid in question) and an excellent homemade cake. In honor of my recent birthday (no, I won’t tell you how old I am) and my daughter’s (she turned 10), I found it fitting to recount my first attempt at frosting, which, until this past week, was known as dipping sauce here on the West Coast.

Let’s take the way-back machine to 1980, when, for my tenth birthday (oops, if you can do the math, you now know how old I am!), I requested a chocolate cake with mocha frosting. Our house was one of the few in the neighborhood with a Kitchen Aid stand mixer in it, and let me tell you, Gran Fran got a lot of use out of it. I say Gran Fran got a lot of use out of it, because the rest of us were not allowed to use it. If one of us did go near it, she would scream, in her high-pitched voice-of-fear “Don’t you dare go near that! It’ll cut your fingers off!” (Think back to the movie A Christmas Story…”you’ll put your eye out”, and you get the picture.)

Now, let’s talk about the stand mixer for a minute. There was a guard around the outside of the bowl and a lock on the machine that had to be closed for it to mix. Unless one of us actually tried to climb into the mixer, I really don’t believe there was much to fear. But, you will learn, as you read these posts, that there were many things in the kitchen to be a-feared of, from Gran Fran’s perspective, and it’s a wonder the five of us ended up cooking at all!!

But, for all of the screaming and words of caution, Gran Fran makes a mean frosting and cake, to boot. To this day, I have yet to find a frosting I prefer to hers, even at the fanciest of fancy bakeries. She whipped up that mocha frosting in a matter of minutes, cooled it and frosted the cake. Delicious!

OK, back to the dipping sauce scenario. Fast-forward to 1993, San Francisco. It was the first year I was out on my own, and I had made a birthday cake, for which I needed frosting. Store-bought was never offered in my house growing up, so it never even crossed my mind to buy it, rather than attempt to make it. How hard could it be? I mean, Gran Fran would whip it up in no time at all, so I figured I could handle it.

Oh, I couldn't have been more wrong. It was all going well, the baker’s chocolate was melting away with the sugar and butter in the double boiler, the very strong coffee was brewed and it all smelled right. But, once I got it off the stove and tried it, it was liquid. No amount of cold would get it to set. The cake came out great, but the frosting just wasn’t right.

There was no time left to fix work up another frosting, so I packed up the cake, covered the “frosting” and headed over to my friend Dennis’ house. Once there, candles were put on the cake, a loud and rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday to You!” was sung, and then it was time for serving. Out came the “frosting”. Dennis took one look at it, and asked “What’s with the dipping sauce for the cake? No frosting?”

At this point, the whole thing was so laughable, that I simply served the cake with the “sauce” on the side, which people did end up dipping the cake in. Over the next 15 years, I attempted frosting after frosting sometimes resorting to whipped cream, since you can’t mess that up, and even managed to make the dipping sauce work well with flourless chocolate tortes.

But, in 2009, my daughter, Iz specified that she would like me to try one more time to make actual frosting and not dipping sauce (which my “frosting” had become known as over the intervening years). How could I disappoint her on her big 1-0? So, back to the kitchen I went. But this time, I had Gran Fran on the phone consulting on the frosting, and Joe e-mailing me recipes from New York. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to report that the frosting was a success. I have no idea if it was the family support, Iz’s very heartfelt request, or if the stars were aligned that day, but I made an excellent frosting.

Hats off to Gran Fran for showing me as a child how to make the frosting, and for keeping my fingers intact and out of harm’s way (also known as the evil Kitchen Aid). And, Iz thanks you, too.

Craig Claiborne’s Recipe for Mocha Frosting
Frosts tops and sides of three 8-inch layers

You will need a candy thermometer and a hand or stand mixer

Ingredients
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup soft butter
• 1 ½ squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 tablespoon very strong coffee
• 1 ½ tablespoons rum

Method
• Boil sugar and water to 240 F. (Syrup forms a soft ball in cold water.)
• Beat the egg yolks until fluffy. While beating add the syrup gradually, and continue beating until the mixture is cool.
• Add the butter bit by bit, until it has all been beaten in. Beat in the chocolate, coffee and rum.

Real Red Devils Food Cake
Makes three 8-inch layers

You will need 3 8 inch cake pans, preferably shallow, and a hand or stand mixer

(nope, no Non-reactive Pan or Pot to be seen in this recipe!!)

Ingredients
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Butter the bottoms but not the sides of the baking pans.
• Cut a waxed paper or parchment round to fit in the center-bottom of the pan, leaving a 1/4-inch uncovered around the edge. Butter paper.
• Sift together into bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa
• Add the butter, and 2/3 cup of the milk
• Beat 2 min.
• Add the remaining 1/3 cup of the milk, the eggs and the vanilla.
• Beat 2 more min.
• Pour into prepared pans. Bake until cake tests done about 30 minutes. Place pans on rack. Then turn onto cooling rack after 10 minutes