Some years ago we bought a second home out in the California desert. It took us a long, long time deciding if we wanted to buy a second home in Maine (although we’d never lived there, just had enjoyed visiting there a few times in the summer months) or Colorado, or up along the northern California coast, or half a dozen other places. Making lists helped – how often would we visit a place in Maine. Or Colorado. Really. So, we narrowed it down to places we could drive to within a few hours. Figuring we’d use it more often. And indeed we have. We love our house in the desert. It’s on a golf course, and our house there looks out on a view similar to the above.

We went out to our house there this week. It was raining cats and dogs when we left home in Orange County, and it never ceases to amaze us, once we slip through the pass at Banning and Beaumont, the skies clear up, the air is clean and the weather turns to nice and comfortable. It takes us about 75 minutes to get there, door to door. We have complete sets of everything there, so all we have to take is our prescription drugs, the books we’re reading and an ice chest with any food we think we’ll use. Clothes do travel back and forth sometimes. As so many two-home families say, you go to your closet looking for something specific and realize, oh, it’s at the other house. We feel very fortunate to be able to have this house. We bought it after DH’s elderly aunt died. We didn’t know that DH was named her heir. So we came into a bit of an inheritance we weren’t expecting and decided to invest the money in real estate.

We zip back and forth, fitting in a few days at a time every week or so. To avoid the traffic we often drive later in the evening, after dinner. That way we avoid the crawling lanes of commuters. We went out there on a late evening, and returned at the same time. No traffic whatsoever.

After we’d had a nice lunch with friends, we were driving our golf cart back to our house and I spied this view. There are hundreds of similar views, but the sun’s reflection on the water, the trees, etc. just offered a nice site for a photo. DH and I enjoy driving our golf cart around the golf paths just to look around. The development is a mile square, contains two 18-hole golf courses, and several miles of golf paths. We like grabbing a morning cup of coffee, bundling ourselves up in jackets and driving around for fun. Stopping to enjoy the multitude of lakes and streams, watching and listening to the birds, and pausing to listen to the loud whack of golf balls careening off the tees.

If you’ve never been to Palm Springs or Palm Desert in the wintertime, you’re missing out. It’s just gorgeous. The weather is usually very pleasant. People play golf there year around, but it’s the best from about November 1st through April 30th. After that it gets too hot. At least it’s too hot for me. The June day we took possession of the house it was 110. Schlepping stuff back and forth from the garage into the house was just outrageously uncomfortable. There are countless restaurants there, shopping galore, and new people to meet from all over the world. Thousands of people live there year around. It’s just in those hot summer months that they live inside homes and offices. All the time. Every day. But the winter months are heavenly.

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Nobody seems to make custard anymore. What happened to custard? Is it perceived as too bland? Pale? Wrong color altogether? It’s a sad state of affairs. Custard is the ubiquitous dessert. Wonderful for a homey dinner. Nice enough for a company dinner, especially if accompanied by some fruit, or a cookie. I must admit that it’s been a long while since I’ve made any custard. And yet, I like it very much.

So, when I was scouring through some recipes a week or so ago I ran across a custard recipe I haven’t made in years and years. Pairing custard with almond may seem unusual. But it’s a lovely match, especially since you add the apple juice concentrate as a perk at the end. What’s unusual about this recipe is that there is no refined sugar in it. The custard is made with just eggs, flavorings (vanilla and almond) and the two milk types. Once baked and cooled, you put on the thickened apple juice topping, which is naturally sweet, and that provides the only sweet thing in the custard. Then you sprinkle almonds on top.This may not be a WOW kind of recipe, but it looks pretty enough, and represents good old American home cookin’. And note, this is gluten-free also, in case you’re searching for those kinds of recipes.

A former employee, Kathleen Heckathorn., brought this to one of our potluck lunches at Ad Masters (the ad agency I’ve talked about before that I co-owned), and everybody just scooped it right up. I’ve made it a few times over the years, although not for awhile. I hadn’t input it into my recipe program, so that’s why I’d lost track of it. But it was in my catch-all alphabetized recipe files – the clippings, photocopies, some of them ancient, that live in a file cabinet. I use more of the apple juice concentrate that Kathleen did – to make sure there is enough sauce to go around, and Kathleen began the thickening with cornstarch, which wasn’t part of the original recipe. The concentrate is just a bit too thin, as is out of the can, for a topping, so the cornstarch helps it along well. If you find the custard odd tasting (no sugar) you could add a little bit to it. Just not very much.

After making this, I phoned Kathleen to thank her for this recipe. Hadn’t talked to her in years. It was great fun catching up about our families, etc. So, thanks Kathleen for this great recipe.

I have another custard recipe that I’ll be sharing with you after the first of the year. It’s truly low calorie. But you’d never know it. Absolutely wouldn’t ever figure it out. It is a pumpkin custard. Since I haven’t had my fill of pumpkin yet this year (I only got to eat two slices of pie over Thanksgiving), it will be something nice to make in the New Year. When DH and I have agreed we’re going to work on reducing the calories around here. Blog writing isn’t exactly the best thing for the waistline, I’ll admit. I keep wanting to share more and more of my old tried and true recipes.
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You’re really missing out on something wonderful if you don’t make chicken and dumplings once in awhile. One day a year or so ago, in reading The Orange County Register, the Food Editor Cathy Thomas wrote up all the joys and virtues of chicken and dumplings. It set my mouth to watering, and I promptly made hers. Oh my. Was it ever GOOD. Actually, the chicken was Jamee Ruth’s version, from the book The Cookware Cookbook (had never heard of it, actually). It’s relatively simple, although it calls for ingredients I don’t often have on hand (6 leeks, for example and 6 shallots). The gravy/broth is just delicious, helped along with the addition of apple juice of all things. This is worth a trip to the grocery store. A good recipe for a chilly winter’s evening. I like to remove the chicken from the bones (and remove all the skin too so DH won’t eat it). Just reheat briefly.

Serve it in a wide soup bowl, with the light dumplings on top. And I highly recommend Marion Cunningham’s recipe for Feather Dumplings which has fresh bread crumbs and onion in them. The minced onion gives a nice little crunch in the dumpling. Something a little different, but they’re worth making. From her book Lost Recipes: Meals to Share with Family & Friends. Although surely this dish is one you ordinarily think of as homespun, it would be wonderful to share with family, and good friends. Here it is in the bowl with the dumplings.

If you have leftovers, when reheating, put the chicken mixture in a saucepan, heat just to a low simmer, then gently lower in the leftover dumplings. Top with a lid and allow to simmer very slowly for just a few minutes, then serve. I also find that the broth/gravy can have some added water. When I made the chicken and dumplings this time, after completing all the cooking (except the dumplings), I ladled out about 7/8 of the leeks with some broth and whizzed them up in the food processor. That made the gravy a bit thicker, which is a good thing.
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Someone who reads my blog has asked me to share the recipe for Gulliver’s Creamed Spinach. Here is the recipe, directly from the same book as the Gulliver’s Creamed Corn, that I blogged about just yesterday: Dear S.O.S.:30 Years of Recipe Requests to the Los Angeles Times, by Rose Dosti (from the Los Angeles Times). According to the blurb in the book, The Times first published the recipe in 1974. [November, 2011: my hubby and I had dinner at Gulliver’s and I took photos of the two veggies – they were just as good as I remembered – I took the pictures with my iPhone and brightened them up a bit with Photoshop.]

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I was really prepared to NOT like this salad. I mean, Kalamata olives are strong. Pungent. Overwhelming in flavor sometimes. I certainly don’t like eating them straight away. And I thought they’d just overwhelm the tender watercress and Belgian endive leaves. I should know better than to distrust Phillis Carey, one of my favorite cooking teachers. She made this salad at the cooking class I attended in San Diego, at Great News, about 10 days ago.

She made this salad as part of a tenderloin of beef dinner. And it was absolutely delicious. I’ll be making this again and again. It would be perfect with nearly any kind of grilled meat. Even fish. It would make a lovely first course too. It’s colorful. Delicious.

Phillis soaked the red onion in acidulated water (with the vinegar) for 10-20 minutes. I’d forgotten that technique of getting the pungency, the bitterness, that sharpness out of onions. I might soak them longer, depending on the onion I used. And I found another use for my ball bearing whisk. I forget to use this thing, but it was perfect for the dressing here, so you didn’t mash up the olive pieces.
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If you’ve never had Gulliver’s corn. . . Well, what can I say. You’re missing out. Uh, yea, missing out on a whole lot of calories and fat, I suppose. But missing out on undoubtedly the best creamy corn you’re ever gonna eat. We’re lucky to still HAVE a Gulliver’s Restaurant here in the county where I live. Although I can’t say that I’ve been there for at least 4+ years. They do make some mighty fine prime rib. But it’s the corn – only the corn – that I’d go there for – just to have seconds.

The recipe was printed in the Los Angeles Times Food Section, back in the 1970’s. I’ve made it dozens of times since. I can remember, really I can, the day it appeared in the Times. My face lit up like a lightbulb. I never thought I’d get the recipe! What’s funny is that it’s nothing fancy. No unusual ingredients – just rich cream, a little sugar and Parmesan cheese on top. And likely, back in the 70’s it was that green canned Parmesan, not the real thing.

It’s a staple at Thanksgiving dinner for some dear friends of ours (yes, Maggie, that’s you!). They hosted our family many a holiday and I made a triple batch to serve the multitudes on one of them. When I went to look for the recipe today, it wasn’t there, so I turned to a book, given to me by a dear friend, Linda T., when she worked at the Times. She was the outside sales rep for the Times, we were the customer, our ad agency, Ad Masters. Linda kindly brought me a Rose Dosti autographed copy of the book in 1994, when it was published. Dear SOS was the column in each week’s Food Section with requests from readers for “special” recipes, or more often, ones from popular restaurants, bakeries, even some dives, in and around Southern California. Restaurants like the Brown Derby, Chasen’s, Benihana, Bullock’s, Clifton’s (a venerable old cafeteria), El Cholo, Lawry’s, Love’s Barbecue, Marrakesh, and the Velvet Turtle. Dear S.O.S.:30 Years of Recipe Requests to the Los Angeles Times, by Rose Dosti. It’s a treasured book in my collection; one I refer to occasionally. It’s particularly fun to see the restaurants mentioned in it, many no longer in business. The book was printed just once in 1994- it’s long out of print. I was so pleased to get one. In doing a Google search, ebay has one for $12.99 plus shipping. In case you always wanted one.

Back in those days I took different clients of our ad agency on a tour of the Times, probably about twice a year. It was a perk for our clients – the management at the Times would kindly entertain the client, the actual advertiser – we were just the middle man, the encourager, the ad writers and designers. (Because then, and even today when newspaper advertising is down, the Times charges an arm and a leg to advertise.) The tour included a lovely lunch in their executive dining room (not open to the public, not even to most employees). In taking the tour, we always walked past the test kitchen. It was all enclosed, with a big window. And a wide shade. In all the years (17), only once was I able to peek in the kitchen – the shade was UP. But alas, nobody was in there. No tasty goodies being prepared. No Rose Dosti popping in or out of an office or door. I’d heard stories about the aromas wafting in and out of the halls. Oh well.

So this recipe came from that book, and I am sure it’s an authentic one pried from the owners of Gulliver’s. Otherwise it wouldn’t be in the book under the Gulliver’s name. Gulliver’s Creamed Spinach is on the same page. Also very good. But it’s the Creamed Corn that is a favorite around our house. Made only on very, very special occasions. And although the recipe indicates it serves 8-10 people, if you have hearty eaters, or people who like seconds (ah-hem) this won’t feed but about 6-7 people is my guess. [November, 2011: I updated the photo at top – my hubby and I went there for dinner – so I took some photos with my iPhone and fiddled with them using Photoshop – the veggies were just as good as ever although I am certain they make their corn with frozen corn. There was no way it was fresh off the cob. Nor could I taste even a smidgen of Parmesan cheese. ? ? ?]
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Once a year my AAUW Evening Books group (American Association of University Women – you have to be a college grad from an accredited school to be a member) gathers at my home for an annual potluck dinner. Other months of the year we trade around what house we visit. But December. Well, it’s always at my house. I have a big kitchen and this enormous 12 foot square island which makes easy work for a buffet dinner. And a dining room table that seats 12 with ease. And a view of the twinkly lights looking towards Newport Beach and Palos Verdes. I enjoy the Christmas decorating too. Everybody brings a salad, vegetable or salad, and a few people sign up for desserts (otherwise we’d have too many) and I provide the beverages (red and white wine, soft drinks, etc.) and an urn of coffee.

We enjoy our dinner – always lots of raves all around – we have some very good cooks in our group – and the desserts with coffee, then we gather in the living room, around the fireplace and tell stories. Or read a passage from a book, about Christmas. We don’t read a designated book in December. Nor do we do our normal sharing of other books we’ve read. This is just a time for reading aloud an article or very short story about the Christmas season. Some years people don’t have much to share; other years we have several who do. In many of the past seasons I’ve not shared because I didn’t have anything I thought appropriate. But this year I found a new book – A Family Christmas. See the red covered book below. I can’t say enough nice things about it. It’s an anthology compiled by Caroline Kennedy, with chapters divided up by aspects of the season: Santa Claus, Deck the Halls, the Christmas Feast, Winter Wonderland, with related poems, the words from Christmas carols, that pertain to these subjects. There are stories that could be read to children, others that are more complex, some almost academic in nature, about the history of Christmas, and lovely illustrations too. I have read about half the book so far and have pink stickies poking out of it in many places. All possible reads for the book group in coming years.
Speaking of Christmas books, I must share another book I own. Valerie in our book group brought this one December, and I had to have it. Seasons Greetings from the White House. It’s an absolutely charming book about the history of Christmas cards sent from the White House. Lovely photographs, fascinating history, and a nice coffee table book to put out in December. We’ve received 3 or 4 White House Christmas cards and I keep them in this book.

Ever since reading that book I’ve watched the Christmas special on HGTV, the one that shows the frantic decorating that goes on at the White House starting a few days after Thanksgiving. And it usually includes a segment about this year’s Christmas card. The White House Christmas 2007. Hundreds and hundreds of workers come in, working 24 hours a day, to get the White House completely decorated before the first Christmas celebration held at the White House every year, usually on December 1st. My Tivo has been programmed for a couple of weeks for this show – it’s on Sunday night, the 16th at 8:30 pm.

But, back to Caroline Kennedy’s book: if you’re still looking for something for someone on your Christmas list, this might just be the perfect answer:

So, I’ll close this particular posting with the first page in this book. It’s a letter found in the Kennedy family archives. Kennedy finds it “really embarrassing, but everyone else insisted we use it in the book.” It was Caroline Kennedy’s letter to Santa, December 19, 1962. She was just 5 – not old enough to write it herself, but dictated it to her mother, Jacqueline. It was to be her last Christmas at the White House.

Dear Santa:
I would like a pair of silver
skates – and one of those horse
wagons with lucky dips – and Susie Smart and
Candy Fashion dolls and a real pet
reindeer and a clock to tell time and a
covered wagon & a farm and you
decide anything else –
And interesting planes or bumpy thing he can ride in or some
noisy thing or something he can push or pull for John.
Love from Caroline
PS I would like a basket for my bicycle

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Last night, it was absolutely great fun to meet with friends of ours, Marty & Julie, to attend a performance at our gorgeous Concert Hall here in Orange County, CA. The acoustics are amazing in this place. I probably wouldn’t have gone to the trouble to buy the tickets for this show, knowing very little about the Von Trapp group other than they are descendants of the famous Sound of Music family. But our friends did, and asked us to go along with them. I’m so glad they did…

here, you’ll learn all about them, their tour schedule, etc. In case you’re interested. If you’d like to read an outsider’s article about the facts behind the Von Trapp family, read Movie vs. Reality: The Real Story of the von Trapp Family, by Joan Gearino from the National Archives.

It was a wonderful program. Our Pacific Symphony played for the first half, a combination of secular and non-secular music of the season. Even a sing-along was included. Then the Von Trapps arrived on stage. The four children, ranging in age from 13 to 19, are the four grandchildren of Kurt, one of the imps you’ll likely remember from the movie. These four, great grandchildren of Georg Von Trapp, billed The Von Trapp Family Children, have their own CD’s and have traveled the world over giving performances. They’re adorable. They’re sweet, with lovely, mostly undeveloped voices, although certainly professionally trained voices. The 13-year old, the boy, has a near soprano voice. So far. He was and is the imp, I guess. All the children performed in native Austrian dress, including using coins as buttons, which were ones Maria and Georg brought with them on the escape. They’re singing was good. Very good. They sang some of the tunes from the musical, told stories about themselves and their family (they live in Montana, one of the few Von Trapps who live outside of Vermont, where the family’s inn is located in Stowe), and sang Christmas carols and other songs which got us all in the Christmas spirit. If you go to their website

We did learn that the musical compressed the Von Trapp story into a mere 3 months of time with Georg and Maria. By doing some online snooping today from the National Archives story above, I learned more about the true facts: in actuality, they met in 1926, when Maria was hired to be a tutor to one of the Von Trapp daughters who had contracted scarlet fever. Georg fell in love with Maria. Maria fell in love with the children. When Georg asked her to marry him, he specifically asked that she become the mother to the children. She wasn’t in love with Georg, but agreed, because she adored the children. She eventually fell in love with Georg too. So, by 1938, they had been married for 11 years, and had two of their own children, before escaping in 1938, by train to Italy (and then on to the United States). The family says that Georg was not the tyrant portrayed in the movie; he was actually a very loving and kind man, also extremely musical. Nor was Maria quite the sweet young, demure thing portrayed by Julie Andrews. Maria was a strong woman, knew what she wanted in life, and even had a temper.

Oh yes, the children also told us that Maria never did make clothes out of drapes. Poof. Another myth blown into thin air.

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It was one Christmas about 10+ years ago and I needed some kind of fruit to serve with Christmas morning’s breakfast. I always try to have food partially prepared ahead of time. I didn’t want to be stuck in the kitchen cutting up fresh fruit while everybody else was around the tree passing presents around, and missing out on the joy of all that. So I found this recipe for a spiced fruit, and having prepared it several times I’ve made a few changes to it, but haven’t tinkered too much with the basic concoction. It’s mostly canned fruit, you combine it and let it marinate for a couple of days, then I usually add in some sliced apples the night before or the morning of. It can be served hot or cold. It might depend on what you’re serving for breakfast as to which you’d want. I usually serve it cold, since it’s a nice contrast to whatever hot breakfast dish I’m serving.

Because my DH is a diabetic, I always use Splenda or some kind of artificial sweetener for part of it. He really enjoys this side dish, so I like to make it so he can enjoy a little bit of it. I’ve tried to make it with all Splenda, but it doesn’t taste right, so I just use some Splenda. By all means, use all sugar if you’re able to.

Just remember that it should be made ahead (a good thing in my book) and you can vary the canned fruit you add to it. Don’t use soft fruits (like apricots) because after a week or so they kind of become mush. I have used canned cherries, but the juice is dark and it colors the liquid significantly. I prefer a clear juice. I’m not making Christmas breakfast this year, so don’t have a photo of it. I found the one above on the internet.
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Oh, just looking at the photo of these makes my mouth water. This is an older picture in my archive, and I don’t think I took this one, but yep, that’s them. In some parts of the world these are known as Nanaimo Bars (Nanaimo is a small city in western British Columbia). Some recipes contain mint. Mine do not. I don’t like the mint version at all. But if that intrigues you, do a Google search for Nanaimo Bars and you’ll find lots of variations. I haven’t made these yet this year, but didn’t want to dilly-dally around waiting in case you wanted to make them.

I got this recipe in 1963. My first husband and I had moved to Washington, D.C. and stayed briefly with family friends of my parents who lived in Virginia. The wife introduced me to a neighbor of hers, who told this unbelievable story about this recipe. It bears a resemblance to other stories you may have heard. But in this case I MET the woman who’d been “done in,” so to speak. She and her husband had celebrated a milestone anniversary and had gone to New York. They’d stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, and had dinner in their fine restaurant. After dinner, she’d ordered this dessert, titled on the menu as New York Special Slices, and was blown away by the taste, so asked the waiter for the recipe. The chef said, through the waiter, get her address and he’d send it to her. It arrived, but with a bill for $200. Now back in the 1960’s, a $200 recipe would set anybody back more than just a little bit. So, this woman consulted her attorney, found out it was useless to argue. Pay it, he said. So, she gave it away to anybody she could find. Our friends served these bars to us, and I fell in love. Right there, on the spot.

These aren’t hard to make, although they do take a bit of time in or around the kitchen because you need to chill the layers in between creating them. Overall, though, these will come together in a jiffy. They need to be refrigerated – you can’t leave them out at room temp for very long or the unsweetened chocolate on the top layer gets soft. And it will come off in your hands if you pick it up.

These became a Christmas tradition in my family from then on. You can cut them into very small pieces, or into large squares to serve as a dessert. They’re very rich, very chocolatey, so might not be appropriate to serve at the end of a very heavy, rich meal. I usually serve them as you would a cookie, allowed to warm up at room temp for just 5-10 minutes only. I recommend that these be cut into bars ahead of time, as they’re a bit tricky to cut. Best not to do that while your guests are waiting at the dinner table.

First you make a graham cracker, coconut and chocolate base, chill it. Then you make a custard filling. Bird’s Dessert Mix (Powder) is a dry mix, similar to instant pudding mixes we’d buy at our local market, BUT, Bird’s does not have any sugar or butter in it. My local Ralph’s carries it, and I’ve found it at some specialty markets too. It’s British in origin if that helps you find it. If you can’t find Bird’s powder, use instant pudding mix, but don’t add the sugar or butter, just the milk noted in the filling ingredients. You’re after a thick filling, not a soupy one, so be careful and don’t add too much milk. That gets spread on top of the base, and is then chilled. Wait a bit for the next step, then gently melt some unsweetened chocolate and a bit of butter, cool it a few minutes, then pour it over the custard and carefully spread it over the the top, filling in any spots. There is just barely enough chocolate to cover. Chill again, then use a knife dipped in hot water to cut the cookies. They will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.
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