cup milk
A newcomer to Heart Lake on this Saturday afternoon might have thought that there was a big January sale going on somewhere down by Emma’s Quilt Corner. In spite of the dusting of snow on the ground, every parking space on downtown Lake Way was taken and a good-sized crowd of people milled along both sides of the little no-name cobblestone street in their coats, hats, and mittens.
Emma, Sarah, and Jamie stood up toward the front of the crowd with their nearest and dearest, taking it all in.
“I can’t believe this turnout,” said Jamie.
“A lot more than at our kickoff meeting,” Emma agreed. “I think maybe we did make a difference.”
Sarah gave her a one-armed hug. “You bet we did.”
“I think everybody’s here now. It would be nice if we could get on with this before our tails freeze,” said Jamie.
“Don’t worry,” said Josh, hugging her from behind. “I’ll keep your tail warm.”
Emma’s new boyfriend, James, had driven up from Oregon to help her celebrate the success of their good-deed campaign. He smiled at that and took her gloved hand.
“Oh, good. Finally,” Jamie said as the excited crowd parted to let Mayor Quinn through.
“Always making an entrance,” Sarah said in disgust.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t take too long to make an exit,” said Jamie, hunching her shoulders against the tiny snowflakes that were starting to fall.
Now the mayor was in front of the new street pole at the corner. Its top was covered with a big sheet of canvas held on by a giant red ribbon bow. She raised her hands for silence. “As you all know, we are honoring three special women today. It’s easy to take the place where you live and the people you live with for granted. Thank you, ladies, for saving us from that.” The crowd exploded into applause and hoots as she awarded each woman with a commemorative plaque and shook her hand.
“Thank you,” Sarah said, speaking for all of them. “A town can’t come together unless everyone cooperates. Many of you were at the grange earlier this week and shared some of the good things you’ve been doing for each other, and that just proves my point. The honor belongs to all of you.”
Her speech earned even more applause than Mayor Quinn’s. Madame Mayor almost managed to look genuine when she smiled and hugged Sarah as everyone clapped.
The mayor reached up and pulled off the bow and the canvas with a flourish to reveal the new street sign. “I now declare this street Angel Lane in honor of our three good angels, Sarah Goodwin, Emma Swanson, and Jamie Moore.”
“Wow,” breathed Emma as everyone clapped and hooted.
“Just like in a movie,” said James, putting an arm around her shoulder.
The little no-name alley now had a name, and Heart Lake was, hopefully, a more closely knit town. Mission accomplished.
There was nothing left to do but celebrate, so the three friends and their biggest fans went to the Family Inn for pie and coffee.
“I feel like I’m married to Mother Teresa,” said Sam, as the waitress freshened his coffee cup. “You could probably run for mayor right now and win by a landslide.”
“Don’t tempt her,” said Jamie with a grin. “There’s probably nothing she’d like better.”
“Good point,” said Sam. “And if you became mayor I’d really never see you.”
“Don’t worry,” Sarah assured him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ve got my hands full keeping you in line. The last thing I need is to have to worry about a whole town. But it felt good to know that I’ve made a difference right here where I live.”
“I agree,” said Emma. She smiled at James. “And tonight I feel like the luckiest woman alive.”
“Second luckiest,” Jamie corrected, taking Josh’s hand.
“Well, then, here’s to three lucky women,” said Sarah, raising her coffee cup. “And to giving season. May it last all year long.”
Sarah and Jamie thought you might enjoy
making some of their favorite recipes.
Happy eating!
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
½ cup butter, room temperature
cup milk
1 egg
Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Cut in butter as for pie crust, then add the milk and egg. Mix until you have dough, but don’t overmix. Roll out dough into a 1¼-inch-thick round and cut with a biscuit cutter (or cut into squares with a knife). Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350°.
Makes 6 to 9 biscuits, depending on what size you cut the biscuits.
FILLING
1 cup raisins
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
2¼ teaspoons flour
teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg
COOKIE
3½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 egg
½ cup milk
Mix all of the filling ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat.
Cream together shortening and sugar in mixing bowl, then add egg and milk. Sift dry ingredients and add to sugar, shortening, egg, and milk. In manageable batches, roll out the dough to about ¼-inch thickness (as for sugar cookies). Cut out with round 6-inch cookie cutter (or, if you don’t have one, a drinking glass), and lay out rounds on ungreased cookie sheets. Reserve enough rounds to top each bottom round.
Put 1 heaping teaspoon of filling on top of each cookie round. Top with remaining rounds and then crimp the edges together as if making a little tart. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°.
Note: This recipe makes approximately 28 cookies, depending on whether you use a biscuit cutter or make your cutouts the old-fashioned way, using a drinking glass. You might be able to squeeze out another cookie or two from the dab of dough left in the bowl, but Sarah prefers to either toss it or let her granddaughters play with it as this kind of dough can get tough after too many encounters with the rolling pin. Anyway, making creations out of leftover cookie dough is a great way to introduce little girls to the fun of playing in the kitchen.
COOKIE
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
FROSTING
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cream cheese, room temperature
4 teaspoons milk
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla
Cream shortening, butter, and pumpkin in mixing bowl; blend in egg. Sift together dry ingredients and blend into pumpkin mixture. Fold in raisins and nuts. Drop by spoonfuls (Sarah uses a regular dinner spoon) onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Combine butter, milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until dissolved. Remove from burner and add cream cheese. Stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over warm cookies. Let dry completely before storing.
Makes about 3 dozen.
½ cup margarine
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1½ cups flour
1½ cups rolled oats (Sarah uses the old-fashioned kind)
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons orange extract
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup dried cranberries
Cream together margarine, sugars, and egg. Add extract. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Finally, mix in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Makes about 28 cookies, depending on how much of the dough disappears before getting to the baking sheet. These cookies go fast, so Sarah recommends doubling the recipe.
¾ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cream shortening and sugar until smooth. Add molasses and egg and cream until thoroughly mixed. Sift dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture. Sarah doesn’t do this, but you can chill for an hour if you want a dough that is easier to work with. Form dough into 1-inch balls and bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until browned and flattened.
Makes about 3 dozen.
(Adapted from a recipe by Rana French)
CAKE
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
FILLING
cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups fresh or frozen huckleberries
¾ cup water or huckleberry juice
TOPPING
¼ cup butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
¼ cup slivered almonds
For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, water (or juice), and berries in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thickened and clear. Set aside to cool.
To make cake, sift flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add sugar. Cut in butter to form fine crumbs. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir until blended. Spread half the batter in 2 greased round 8-inch pans. Divide filling between the 2 pans, spreading evenly over each batch of batter. Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over filling.
Prepare topping by cutting butter into previously blended flour and sugar; then stir in nuts. Spread topping on top of cakes.
Bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes. (If desired, one coffee cake can be baked in a 13 × 9 × 2-inch pan.)
Makes 16 pieces.
Note: Sarah uses wild huckleberries, but frozen raspberries or blueberries also work great.
PASTRY BASE
1 cup sifted flour
½ cup margarine
2 tablespoons water
TOP
½ cup margarine
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3 eggs
ICING
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup slivered almonds
For pastry base, measure flour into a medium-sized mixing bowl and cut in margarine as for pie crust. Sprinkle with water and mix with a fork. Divide into 2 balls. Put on a large, ungreased cookie sheet and pat into two long strips 12 inches by 3 inches.
To prepare top, put margarine and water into a small pan and bring to a rolling boil. Add vanilla and remove from heat. Stir in flour quickly. When smooth, thick, and slightly cooled, add eggs one at a time, beating till smooth. Divide in half and spread evenly over each strip of pastry. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (or until brown and puffy—Sarah always checks it at 40 minutes). Let cool.
For icing, mix powdered sugar with extract until smooth. Spread over both pastries and top with slivered almonds.
Serves 8 to 10.
(Courtesy of Maria Parra-Boxley, Dulce Passion Bakery)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.) (La Lechera)
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablet Nestlé Abuelita authentic Mexican chocolate drink mix
2 tablespoons cinnamon spice blend
CINNAMON SPICE BLEND (POUR INTO A SMALL PLASTIC ZIP SANDWICH BAG AND COMBINE):
1 tablespoon Saigon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ancho chile pepper
1 tablespoon ground red cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cinnamon plus spice blend (The Pampered Chef)
Line an 8- or 9-inch square pan with waxed paper. In a heavy saucepan over low heat melt tablet of Nestlé Abuelita authentic Mexican chocolate drink mix on one side. When you see it begin to melt on one side turn it over to melt the other side (tablet will not fully melt until combined with sweetened condensed milk). Add 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips and stir in 2 tablespoons cinnamon spice blend (cinnamon spice blend can be decreased or increased according to your heat taste buds). Continue to stir slowly so your chocolate doesn’t stick and burn. The chocolate and spice mix will start to get heavy and clumpy. At this point add the sweetened condensed milk and keep stirring until well combined. Turn off heat and pour the fudge into prepared pan. Let cool and chill for 2 hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board; peel off paper and cut into squares. Store loosely covered or at room temperature.
Makes about 2 pounds of fudge.
(Courtesy of Kathy Nordlie)
¾ cup (4 ounces) pitted prunes, each prune cut into eighths
¼ cup Armagnac
cup heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, such as Lindt or Tobler, broken into small pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup toasted pecans, finely chopped
½ cup cocoa powder for coating
In a small bowl, combine the prunes and the Armagnac. Cover tightly and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to soften.
In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the chocolate and remove from the heat. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Beat in the butter.
Drain the prunes, reserving 1 tablespoon of the Armagnac. Add the prunes, the reserved Armagnac, and the pecans to the chocolate mixture, mixing until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl and refrigerate, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 hours.
Coat your palms with the cocoa. For each truffle, form about 1 teaspoon of the cold truffle mixture into a ball, rolling it between your palms. Place the truffles on waxed paper. After the truffles are shaped, dredge them lightly in the cocoa, then toss gently from palm to palm to remove any excess. Place each truffle in a paper petit four cup and refrigerate for at least 1 day to let the flavors mellow.
Makes about 30 truffles.
1 cup cream
3 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons shortening
4 teaspoons lemon extract
24 ounces (3 boxes) Baker’s white baking chocolate
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup powdered sugar
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl, along with the shortening. In a small saucepan, bring cream slowly to a light boil. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and keep stirring until the chocolate is melted. Beat well, as if for ganache. Add powdered sugar, lemon extract, and coconut, and pour into a 9-by-9-inch glass baking pan. Let sit for 2 hours or until firm.
Makes 9 to 12 pieces, depending on how you cut it.
Note: This is truly the best fudge on the planet. Jamie stumbled onto it quite by accident, early in her truffle-making career. When the ganache didn’t set up (it probably would have if she’d been a little more patient!) she tried to roll it into balls and dip it in melted white chocolate anyway, hoping against hope the truffle fairies would fix the mess. All she got was a tray full of blobs that looked like they had candy leprosy. Disgusted, she scooped up the mess, combined it with the leftover white chocolate for coating, then mixed in some powdered sugar and dumped the whole thing in a 9-by-9-inch glass pan. And shockingly, she wound up with incredible fudge. It just goes to show, nothing is ever wasted in the kitchen if a girl is clever!
(Courtesy of Carol Isaacson)
One bag Rollo candies
One small (16-ounce) bag small, knotted pretzels
One medium-sized bag (6 ounces) of pecans
Lay out pretzels on an ungreased cookie sheet. Put a Rollo candy on each pretzel. Put in oven at 250° for 4 minutes. Take out and top each with a pecan. (Press pecan in lightly.) Put in refrigerator to harden for 3 minutes. (Don’t leave in the fridge. Jamie’s not sure why you shouldn’t leave them in the fridge, but Carol told her not to, so she doesn’t!)
You can make up to 57 of these if you use a whole bag of Rollos. You’ll probably have extra pretzels left. Eat the evidence.
Single baked pie crust (you can use a prepared crust or make from scratch) or prepared chocolate crumb crust
1 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
4 ounces (squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted
4 eggs
¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Using mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add melted chocolate and blend well. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then flavorings. Pour mixture into shell and freeze until solid. Can be served with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, peppermint candy, or coconut.
Serves 8.
Note: You can actually serve more since this pie is so rich that a very small serving goes a very long way.