Elm Creek Quilts [13] The Quilter's Kitchen (10 page)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a gratin dish or an 8 x 8-inch pan.

Place the cream, milk, salt, garlic, pepper, and nutmeg in a small saucepan and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Place the potatoes and carrots in the buttered dish and pour the hot cream over them. Press down with the back of a spoon.

Transfer to the oven and bake until the potatoes and carrots are tender, 45 to 55 minutes. Raise the heat to 425 degrees F, press the potatoes down and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Continue baking until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Broccoli Almondine

Serves 8

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

½ cup sliced or chopped almonds

2 broccoli heads, florets chopped and blanched, stems discarded (or saved for another use)

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch black pepper

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter. When the butter has melted, add the almonds and broccoli, and cook until the almonds are lightly toasted and the broccoli is heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.

Pfannkuchen

Serves 6 to 8

For the apples:

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

¼ cup light brown sugar

For the batter:

6 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

To prepare the apples:
Place two 10-to 12-inch skillets over medium heat and to each, add half the butter. When the butter has melted, add half the apples and brown sugar to each and cook until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Do not stir often.

To prepare the batter:
Place the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and mix well. Add the flour and salt and stir until smooth.

Pour half the batter over the cooked apples in each skillet and transfer the skillets to the oven. Bake until the pancakes have puffed up and are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with confectioners’ sugar, from the skillets.

Pink Champagne Cake

Serves 10 to 12

For the cake:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups sugar

6 large egg whites

1 cup Champagne or sparkling wine

For the coconut filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups marshmallows (about 16 large marshmallows)

1 cup flaked coconut

For the pink frosting:

1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons Champagne or sparkling wine

¼ teaspoon red food coloring

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

To make the cake:
Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle and mix until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg whites and mix on high speed until light and airy, about 1 minute. Add half the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the Champagne and mix until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix an additional 30 seconds on high speed. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pans 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack to room temperature.

To prepare the filling:
While the cakes are cooling, place the butter and marshmallows in a medium-size pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until melted and smooth. Add the coconut and stir to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

To prepare the frosting:
Once the cakes are cool, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, and mix on high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, and mix until combined. Add the Champagne, red food coloring, and salt and mix on high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 30 seconds.

To assemble the cake:
Place one layer of the cake on a cake plate or stand. Top with the coconut filling and spread in an even layer. Top with the remaining cake layer, top side down, and frost with the pink frosting.

Feuerzangenbowle(Traditional Punch with
Red Wine, Cinnamon, Allspice, Cardamom, Lemon, Orange, Sugar, and Rum)

Serves 6

½ cup sugar

1 cup dark rum

1 750 ml bottle red wine

2 cinnamon sticks

¹
/
₈
teaspoon cardamom

6 allspice berries

Peel of 1 orange (without the white pith)

Peel of 1 lemon (without the white pith)

Place the sugar and the rum in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and very carefully light the rum. Let the flames burn until the sugar begins to caramelize, about 30 seconds. Cover the pot to extinguish the flame. When the flame is out, carefully add the wine, spices, and fruit peels. Set the pot over medium heat and cook until hot but not boiling, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sylvia and Anna worked through the afternoon, occasionally chatting, sometimes lost in their own thoughts. Within the drawers and cupboards they discovered other long-forgotten treasures—potholders Claudia had woven at Girl Scout camp, a small bowl and spoon that had once belonged to Sylvia’s younger brother—cherished keepsakes that told Anna how significant a setting the kitchen had been in the history of the Bergstrom family. She was determined to preserve that history, for regardless of the changes she was bringing to the appearance and the function of the kitchen, its spirit must remain the same.

She resolved to do it, somehow.

In the late afternoon they broke for supper—sandwiches and a can of soup Anna reluctantly heated in the microwave, wishing she had thought to bring something more palatable from home—and afterward worked on until evening. Then, fatigued but proud of the work they had accomplished, they agreed to call it a day and reunite in the morning to finish the job.

Anna offered to prepare blueberry muffins and a yummy cranberry-orange coffee cake at her apartment and bring them for breakfast, if Sylvia would put on a large pot of coffee to share. Sylvia agreed, adding, “It will be our own Farewell Breakfast, bidding good-bye to the old kitchen as we look forward to a fresh start in the new one.”

“We can eat on the cornerstone patio if you like,” Anna said, picking up on Sylvia’s allusion to a favorite Elm Creek Quilts celebration. On Saturday mornings during camp season, the Elm Creek Quilters served their guests a delicious al fresco breakfast buffet on a broad, square patio paved with the same gray stones from which the manor had been built. Lilac bushes surrounded the patio, leafy, green, and lush, loveliest in spring when their fragrant blossoms bloomed. Hidden among the tree branches, where the patio touched the northeast corner of the manor, was the cornerstone that Sylvia’s great-grandfather Hans Bergstrom had placed with the help of his wife, Anneke, and his sister, Gerda, the legendary cook. Anna had felt an unexpected thrill the first time she read the proud engraving,
BERGSTROM
1858, and realized that from that day forward she too would contribute to the rich history of Elm Creek Manor.

“It may be a bit too brisk to have breakfast outdoors,” Sylvia said, gazing out the window at the autumn sky, darkening with the close of day. A few bare limbs etched stark lines through the colorful foliage, signs of the certainty of winter. “And what’s a Farewell Breakfast without show-and-tell? Our campers love showing off their handiwork and sharing their favorite memories of their week at quilt camp.”

“We’ve enjoyed a show-and-tell all day long,” Anna reminded her. “Your red-and-white picnic tablecloth, your sister’s cornucopia, your great-aunt Lydia’s apron collection—and we’re only two-thirds of the way through the cabinets. I can only imagine what we’ll discover tomorrow.”

“More keepsakes, more memories,” Sylvia promised. “As well as more things that should have been thrown out long ago. Sometimes I wish my ancestors had been more discerning about what they kept and what they threw away.”

“But aren’t you glad they weren’t?” Anna protested. “What if someone had thrown out the basket for your mother’s cut-glass dish because the handle broke? You might not have shared its story with me. And what if someone had decided that your great-aunt’s aprons were too worn and fit only for rags? I saw the look on your face when you rediscovered them, and all those old memories came to the surface. You wouldn’t have missed that for the world, and I wouldn’t have either. Hearing your stories—”

When Anna abruptly stopped, Sylvia studied her over the rims of her glasses. “Don’t stop there, dear.”

Anna hesitated, but then she decided to confess the truth. “Hearing your stories makes me feel like I’m a real Elm Creek Quilter.”

“You
are
a real Elm Creek Quilter,” Sylvia exclaimed, astonished. “You became one the moment you agreed to join our staff.”

“But you founding members have been through so much together. Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll always be a newcomer, that I’ll never find my place within your circle of quilters.”

“Nonsense.” Sylvia placed her hands on Anna’s shoulders and looked her squarely in the eye. “You’re one of us. Never doubt that. If my stories make you feel as if you belong, then I’ll tell you stories until you feel as if you’ve experienced every celebration, every argument, every hard day’s work, and every idle moment that passed within these gray stone walls. I’ll tell you stories until you can’t bear the sound of my voice any longer.”

Anna couldn’t help laughing. “You’d run out of stories before that happened.”

“You’d be surprised, dear. Elm Creek Manor has a rich, storied history.”

“I don’t doubt that for a moment, or that we need to share that history with our campers so they feel it in every room of the manor.” Anna turned slowly in place, studying the kitchen and considering the possibilities. The answer was there, nearby, if she could just put her finger on it. “Especially here. I’ve always believed that a kitchen should be the heart of the home. As the heart of Elm Creek Manor, this kitchen should preserve the past and present of the Bergstrom family and Elm Creek Quilts as no other place in the manor could.”

“What do you suggest, dear?”

Anna’s thoughts were racing so that she could barely keep up with them. “All those treasures we’ve discovered today, the family keepsakes that generations of Bergstroms have cherished. We need to display them here—just as we would at a Farewell Breakfast. It will be a continuous show-and-tell and sharing of memories so that everyone who enters this kitchen will know what a special place this is.”

“But the tablecloth is half-ruined, and the aprons are worn almost threadbare.” Suddenly Sylvia brightened. “But we don’t need to save every scrap. We’ll do as quilters have done since the dawn of patchwork.”

All at once, Anna understood. “We’ll salvage the usable pieces and sew them into a quilt.”

Sylvia’s eyes were bright with excitement as she strode to the bare wall near the hallway entrance and traced a large square in the air with her hands as if framing a work of art. “We’ll display it here so our guests see it as soon as they cross the threshold. We’ll sew blocks that tell the stories of all the special occasions and ordinary family meals we prepared in this kitchen. A Cut-Glass Dish block for my mother’s favorite potluck serving piece, of course—”

“And a Harvest Home block, to remind us of the Harvest Dances the Bergstrom women prepared their best recipes for,” Anna broke in. “Honeybee, for the quilting bees you hosted.”

“And all the quilting bees we’ll enjoy in the future,” Sylvia agreed. “Fond Farewell, for the Farewell Breakfasts that wrap up each week of quilt camp. Friendship Square for National Quilting Day.”

“Don’t forget a Cornucopia block for your sister,” Anna teased.

“I suppose we must.” Sylvia gazed heavenward, feigning resignation. “The story of this quilter’s kitchen wouldn’t be complete without it. But I insist that our handiwork must surpass my sister’s even if we must sacrifice historical accuracy for aesthetics.”

“You make the quilt,” said Anna. “I’ll collect the recipes. Lucinda’s cards are a wonderful beginning, but we have so many more to gather.”

Just as they needed to preserve the precious scraps of heir-loom fabric, so must they also preserve the wonderful flavors of Elm Creek Manor, past and present. Bergstrom family traditions and new camper favorites alike, because both, together, created the flavor of Elm Creek Quilts.

As evening fell and the tall trees on the banks of Elm Creek cast long shadows upon the manor, Anna and Sylvia felt their weariness lift, to be replaced by the sweetest anticipation.

They could only imagine what they would find within the quilter’s kitchen the next day when they resumed their work—and the delicious flavors and exquisite quilt blocks their discoveries would inspire.

Waffles

Serves 4

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornstarch

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup buttermilk

6 tablespoons canola oil

¼ cup whole milk

1 large egg, separated

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and combine well.

Place the buttermilk, oil, milk, and egg yolk in a small bowl and mix well.

Place the egg white in a medium bowl and whip using a whisk, to soft peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until firm. Add the vanilla extract.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and whisk until just mixed. Gently add the egg-white mixture.

Pour into a waffle iron and proceed according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal

²
/
₃
cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups frozen blueberries

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt or sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Place the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl and mix well. Add the berries and gently toss until they are coated with the mixture.

Place the butter, eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk well. Add the flour mixture by hand and stir until just combined. (Do not overmix.)

Fill each cup almost to the top. Transfer the muffin pan to the oven and bake until golden, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, and then place on a wire rack to cool.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Yield: twelve 6-inch pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups buttermilk

½ cup milk

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or canola oil

Unsalted butter, for the pan

Pure maple syrup, for serving

Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine.

Place the buttermilk, milk, eggs, and melted butter in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and when it is hot, add the butter. Drop ladlefuls of batter on the surface of the skillet. Cook until bubbles form. Flip over and cook for about 2 minutes. Serve immediately with pure maple syrup.

Biscuits

Yield: 12 biscuits

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons (¼ cup) unsalted butter, chilled and cut in slices

4 tablespoons (¼ cup) shortening, chilled and cut in pieces

½ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and mix to combine. While the processor is going, add the butter and shortening, a few slices at a time, and process until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl; add the cream and, using a wooden spoon, mix until combined.

Divide the mixture into 12 pieces, pat each down to ½ inch, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Denver Omelet

Serves 8

For the filling:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 small onion, or 2 leeks, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup Virginia baked or smoked ham, diced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the omelet:

16 eggs, lightly beaten

¼ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon butter

To prepare the filling:
Place a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and when it is hot, add the butter. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the ham and salt and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a plate and set aside.