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READ ON MY KINDLE DURING THE TRIP TO ENGLAND: The Forgotten Garden (by Kate Morton, on my Kindle); several generations of women pepper this book with the story of their lives. It all revolves around a young girl who arrives on a pier in Australia in 1912 with no papers, no family. Nothing except a small white suitcase with little concrete information about her past. She’s four years old and keeps silent about what little she knows. Her story starts there, but then it jumps forward to 2005 when her granddaughter inherits a house in Cornwall (England), purchased by the grandmother and kept secret until after her death. There’s some secrecy going on with all the women. Then the story jumps back to 1975 when the grandmother is a middle-aged woman and you hear part of her story. Much of the book revolves around a walled garden at this house in Cornwall, and how it relates to the “big house” where the grandmother lived some of her early years. It’s quite a complex web of a family saga. I liked it, although each new chapter jumped to a different time, and it’s not until the last 10 pages or so that everything resolves. Good read.

Also read The Queen’s Governess (by Karen Harper, on my Kindle); this one is about a young girl from an impoverished family who is taken to Court and eventually becomes a playmate/governess to Elizabeth I (the story is based on fact, but is a novel). The two girls grow up together. It tells the story of  Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mother) and others of the court at that time, the intrigues, the murders, the beheadings, and the perseverance of all of the potential kings and queens. Fascinating story, particularly since we visited Castle Howard where where a small part of Henry VIII’s story transpires.

And, I read The Invisible Bridge (by Julie Orringer, on my Kindle) too; a riveting story about a young Hungarian Jew who goes to Paris to study architecture, just before the start of WW II. He manages to scrape together enough money to eat, but barely, falls in love with an older woman, yet his work comes to the attention of some of the school’s teachers. He’s one of only a handful of Jews at the school. Then the Nazis begin invading. And the story goes into plenty of detail about the hardships, the imprisonments and eventual deaths of many of his friends and family. I could hardly put it down, though. Heart-wrenching, however.

STILL READING: Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster – by Alison Weir (paperback from Costco). I was expecting this book to be along the same genre as Philippa Gregory’s novels – honing in on a particular English royal woman – telling her story in novel form. This is not one of those types. It’s non-fiction, and tells the factual story of Katherine Swynford, who eventually became the Duchess of Lancaster. But her journey from young bride to Hugh Swynford (this takes place in the 1300′s) to the Duchess is bursting with intrigue as she was John of Gaunt’s mistress for some time (eventually he married her when she was 46 (certainly an advanced age for that century), which caused all kinds of royal scandal). In that period of history no one related to royalty married for love. It was all about family, bearing many children to inherit land and wealth, to fight for the king, to maintain title and fortune. The Duchess’ children eventually became the House of Tudor (King Henry VII). Katherine Swynford was both reviled (because of her immoral behavior) and loved (by nearly everyone who knew her). Alison Weir is obviously a stickler for research – the footnotes comprise over 40 pages of fine print. She paints a different picture of this woman than was done by Anya Seton in her world-famous novel Katherine, first published in 1954. I was infatuated with that novel – it was one of my all-time favorites. But it’s a romance, and apparently many of the supposed facts – well, aren’t. Life in those times were not romantic. This Alison Weir book is not exactly easy reading; it’s almost like reading a textbook. But it’s fascinating and I’m enjoying it very much.

FINISHEDTime and Again – by Jack Finney (paperback); read for one of my book clubs. Written in the 1940′s it was a runaway hit back then. An early look at time travel. It’s about a U.S. government experiment in the 1960′s (this is fiction, remember), sending a selected few men back to the 1880′s in New York City. They were told to observe. Not to change anything. To be unnoticeable. Yet one of the young men, just couldn’t quite do that  (of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be a story!). It’s his adventure you read. The writer is a master at description. The reader feels transported to that time. Our book club really enjoyed it. Generally I’m not into that kind of book at all, but I found the book fascinating. There is a sequel as well, called From Time to Time.

Spoken from the Heart— autobiography by Laura Bush (hardback from Costco). What a delightful read. It’s not about politics. It’s about Laura’s journey from her young years growing up in Midland, Texas to loving parents, to college grad to school teacher, librarian, to meeting George, whom she barely knew even though they grew up in the same small town, then marrying him. She didn’t come naturally to being a public speaker, but did it, to help her husband. I enjoyed reading about her early years more than the years at the White House. Much of that part was about all the social events required of the President and First Lady. Still interesting, though. I enjoyed the book very much.

IN THE POWDER ROOM: Our guest half-bath has a little table with a pile of books that I change every now and then. They’re books that might pique someone’s interest even if for a very short read. The Greatest Stories Never Told; and Sara Midda’s South of France; and  Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See; (edited by Bill Shapiro); Monet’s Table: The Cooking Journals of Claude Monet (Joyes); The Trouble with Poetry (Billy Collins).

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Posted in Breads, Brunch, on April 9th, 2009.

custard-filled-cornbread 

The name Marion Cunningham reached the altitude of my food-seeking radar a couple of years ago. I know I’d heard her name in foodie circles (magazines, books, Food Network) over the years, but didn’t own any of her books. She’s most famous for writing the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. And more recently she wrote a book called Lost Recipes, about good, old-fashioned kinds of recipes we’re known to rely on, but they’ve gotten lost in the flurry of fast food, take out and a general cooking malaise. The first recipe to reach my radar was a year or so ago when I made her unbelievably good and light dumplings on top of a chicken stew. That’s when I realized she knew a thing or two about how to get around a baking kitchen.

Then, recently I tried a coffee cake that came from her book, The Breakfast Book. I didn’t own that cookbook either. But I made a trip to a local library and found it there – so I photocopied a bunch of recipes from it. This recipe below was one.

The other night we’d invited friends to come over for a salad dinner. It was warm enough to eat outside, and I had most of the ingredients on hand to make one of my favorite salads – another Phillis Carey recipe – her Mexican Chopped Salad with Cilantro Dressing . I added chicken to it and it became our main course. Sue brought over an appetizer – one of my recipes as a matter of fact – gorgonzola, grape and pine nut crostini – and some brownies she’d made the day before which I paired with my roasted strawberry balsamic vinegar ice cream. We had a feast, along with the leftover margaritas I’d made over the weekend.

So, now, to finally get to the recipe, I didn’t have any bread to serve with the salad dinner, so I grabbed the photocopied recipe for custard-filled cornbread I’d just saved from Cunningham’s book. It took about 10+ minutes to put together. Tops.

This bread, served as is, probably is best suited to serve with breakfast – but only because of the sweetness to it. But actually, if you reduce the sugar just a little bit, it’s wonderful with any dinner. Yes, it’s cornbread. And yes, it’s a little sweet (not overly, though), but it’s SO delicious. It’s like no cornbread you’ve ever had, unless you’ve had one similar to this one. You mix up a cornbread batter (I used fine ground polenta-type cornmeal) and pour it into a hot 9×9 pan. Then, just before you carefully pop this into the oven, you pour a cup of cream into the CENTER of the batter. And you don’t touch it. No stirring. Nothing. As it bakes, the cream infiltrates the entire pan in the middle of the cornbread (how? I have no idea the chemistry of this, except to note that it works!), and gives you a very moist, creamy, soft cornbread. You can see the creamy, custardy layer in the center, in the photo at top. We had this as leftovers a couple of nights later, and it was as good if not better than the first time. My DH even went back for a second piece. It went perfectly with the salad. I will make this again. Definitely. And, I’ll be on the lookout at used book stores for some of Cunningham’s older cookbooks.

Custard-Filled Cornbread

Recipe: Marion Cunningham, from The Breakfast Book
Servings: 12
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal — fine ground is better
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons butter — melted
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup heavy cream
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish, and place it in the hot oven while you prepare the batter.
3. Sift or stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and the melted butter until well-blended. Add the sugar, salt, milk and vinegar and beat well. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture just until the batter is smooth and there are no lumps.
5. Pour the batter into the heated baking dish. Pour the heavy cream into the center of the batter. Do not stir. Check the cornbread after 45 minutes. It is done when the top becomes lightly browned. Serve warm.
NOTES: If you’re making this to go with dinner, reduce the sugar by half.
Per Serving: 213 Calories; 13g Fat (53.1% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 76mg Cholesterol; 251mg Sodium.
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A year ago: Pork Tenderloin with Maple-Mustard Sauce

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  1. farida

    said on April 9th, 2009:

    This looks absolutely delicious! I will save the recipe to make this for my kids for breakfast. I am sure they will love it. Thanks for sharing, Carolyn!

    You’re welcome – they are just fabulous. They’re all gone already (although I gave away some of them) and am already craving to make them again . . . carolyn t

  2. Toffeeapple

    said on April 11th, 2009:

    I might just have to find my baking dish! It’s a long time since I had corn bread so I really should make the effort to do this.

    Oh, you should! This cornbread is better than any cornbread I’ve ever had, I do believe. .. . carolyn t

  3. Marie

    said on April 15th, 2009:

    Great minds must think alike Carolyn. I have all of Marion’s cookbooks and I love them. I have long wanted to make this cornbread and after seeing yours, I must not put it off any longer! That looks fantastic!! (can you believe I have worn out 3 copies of the Fanny Farmer cookbook? I got my first one when I was 16. It’s the best).

    Wow. Really? THREE copies! I guess I’ll have to invest in one of them. Maybe I’ll replace my old Joy of Cooking with a new copy of the F.F. cookbook. And yes, the cornbread is really scrumptious. . . carolyn t

  4. Rachelle

    said on April 27th, 2009:

    This looks heavenly! I made a similar recipe from Martha Stewart that called for corn kernels as well… If you go check out my blog, you can see the results. I’m thinking it wasn’t right. I love how yours has that little layer of custard in the center, I followed the instructions exactly and mine had way more in the center than anywhere else. Do you really just pour the cream right into the very center? I wondered about pouring it in rows? I also used medium cornmeal, maybe that had something to do with it? Anyway, I will try this recipe next time. It looks perfect!

    Rachelle – yup, you pour the cream ONLY in the very center. The recipe is SO easy. As I mentioned, I did use fine polenta, but supposedly you can use any type of grind. Adding corn might be a great idea – maybe I’ll try it next time. . . carolyn t

  5. sue

    said on April 25th, 2010:

    You can get a wonderfully custard-y cornbread without using cream at all, and no fancy pouring.

    Just make a regular cornbread recipe, using whole wheat pastry flour as the flour. Add 3 cups of whatever milk you have on hand milk (I use 1%) and add as usual, with the beaten eggs. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. It separates BY ITSELF into layers, bran on the top, custard in the middle and crunchy cornmeal on the bottom. This recipe is from Edward Espe Brown’s Tassajara Breadbook from the early 1970′s. He calls it “Easy! Glorious! Amazing!”

    I’ve been enjoying it for 40 years. It has also made the rounds on chowhound.com’s home cooking board.

    How interesting. I’ll have to go hunt for the recipe. I used to have that bread cookbook, but must have given it away. Thanks for the idea. . . carolyn t

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