Squash Cheese Casserole

We seem to be eating everything orange this month. I brought this dish to the library potluck this week. Give it a try.

Squash-Cheese Casserole
(from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook, 1977)

 2 medium-large butternut or acorn squash
1 heaping cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves crushed (I chopped it) garlic
1 heaping cup mixed green and red peppers, chopped
3 T. butter or olive oil for sauté (I used oil)
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt
Black and red pepper to taste (I used black only)
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (each one is  good)
½ crumbled feta cheese

 Cut the squash down the middle, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and place it face-down on an oiled tray. Bake it at 375 about 35 minutes, or until soft. Cool until handle-able; scoop out and mash.

Sauté the onion and garlic, lightly-salted, in butter or oil. When the onion is translucent add the chopped peppers. Sauté until peppers are just under-done.

Beat eggs with buttermilk or yogurt. Crumble in the feat cheese. Combine everything and mix well. Add salt, black and red pepper or hot sauce to taste.

Spread into buttered casserole or baking pan. Top with sunflower seeds or nuts if desired. Bake at 375 covered, 25 minutes, uncovered, 10 minutes. Bon appétit!

The Thirteenth Tale

Reading is both an occupational hazard and a beloved hobby, but there never seems to be enough time for all that catches my eye.  (Point of fact: I have an entire bookcase filled with books that I have bought or been given which I wish to read, but haven’t had a chance to peek at yet!)

At the end of spring term, one of my colleagues put out a call to find out what people planned to read over the summer.  I had chosen The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  Though I had purchased it nearly 2 years ago, it had sat, waiting for me, on my bookcase.  It’s a book we own at the library, as well, and each time it was checked out and returned, I would look at it, re-read the book description, and promise myself that this would be something I’d read soon.

I’m thrilled to say that “soon” arrived this summer.  And frankly, The Thirteenth Tale was over too soon!  Not because it is a short book, but simply because I enjoyed it too much.  This is a story for those who are willing, nay, apt to get sucked into the world of the books they read.  I was engrossed in the world which the author created, sucked in by the false paths and tangents that occur in everyday life, but go unnoticed.  I read much of it sitting on my front porch, hurtled out of my book world only when a dog passed by and sent my dog into a barking frenzy.

This isn’t a perfect book – the last 30 pages or so felt a little pat to me – but maybe my disappointment in those last few pages stems from the fact that the majority of the book was so extraordinary, I was let down when the end was “merely” good!

I’m purposely not saying much about the storyline.  It’s something that I want readers to explore on their own.  But if you love books, and enjoy a story that has a quiet setting but a lot of drama , this is a choice I encourage you to pick up. 

Next up for me – the two library books I checked out 2 weeks ago, intending to read during my vacation.  (Those titles: The Amulet of Samarkand and Girls in Trucks.)  If I’m really fortunate, I’ll fall into a world which encompasses me whole.  And then, perhaps, it will be time to pull another gem off my bookshelf – or maybe something will entice me as I pass a library bookshelf.

~Christine Aden

Summer in Tredway

Okay, so we run a restaurant here sometimes, three days this week as a matter of fact. It smells like a restaurant, looks like a restaurant, a buffet, that is, with really long lines of people chatting excitedly. At least we make people happy as we serve lunch to lots and lots of parents of new students at Augie. I say “we” but it’s not library staff doing the serving, of course; it’s those hardworking catering folks. If i were them, I’d get really tired of coldcuts, rolls, salad, and brownies, and oh, coleslaw. They don’t complain, though; they are good natured and nice.

Do we like using the library as a restaurant? Nope; the idea of mayonnaise getting accidentally smeared on the Encyclopedia Britannica is kind of scary. And the odor is, well, different than the usual book smell. I just hope there are lots of ideas being generated and exchanged over coldcuts and coleslaw. That’s what we are all about, right, ideas?

Margi

A Holiday Dessert

We like to eat in the library, and at this time of year we often have a great variety of treats. In that spirit, I offer a recipe for chocolate-pumpkin layer cake, taken from the New York Times. It’s the perfect blend of holiday flavors.

Adapted from John Down, Christopher Norman Chocolates

Time: 1 1/2 hours plus cooling

20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) soft unsalted butter, more for greasing
2 cups flour, more for dusting
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup plain pumpkin purée, canned, frozen or fresh
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
10 ounces unsweetened chocolate, preferably 99 or 100 percent, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Use a little butter to grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter and flour the paper. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream 8 tablespoons butter and the granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in pumpkin purée. Mixture may look slightly curdled. Stir in flour mixture about half a cup at a time until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips and pecans.

3. Divide batter into pans and bake in middle of oven until springy to the touch and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, run a knife around edges, invert onto racks and peel off paper. Let cakes cool completely.

4. In a large bowl, blend remaining 12 tablespoons butter and confectioners’ sugar together. Blend in chocolate and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

5. Place one cake layer, smooth side up, on a platter. Ice top. Place second layer, smooth side down, on top; ice top and sides of cake.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

Cookbooks, anyone?

Last week’s edition of the “New York Times Book Review” included a rundown on recent cookbooks, good for summer. This one caught my eye: “Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook” by Jim Denevan and Marah Stets. Denevan is a chef who drives around a bus named “Outstanding” in which he takes guests to dinners in fields, vineyards, gardens, etc. The Times characterizes Denevan’s mobile dining as “performance art, meant to reconnect people to the land.” Maybe with Augie’s interest in the environment and sustainable living, we should suggest a learning community that consists of a course in environmental cooking and a course in theatre; dinners could be held by the Slough, on the athletic field, and on the banks of the Mississippi. What should we name the van?

From “The River Cottage Cookbook” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, we get this nugget of wisdom: “Pigs must have a secure shelter to sleep and rest in, but it doesn’t have to be fancy.” Thank you.

Or how about this from “The Elements of Cooking” by Michael Ruhlman? “Recipes are sheet music.”

“Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook” by Mark Robinson reminded me of my daughter Hannah’s discovery of a tiny Italian restaurant in Tokyo that is run by one man who plays the same Italian tape every night year after year. Hey, at least they had pasta with tomato sauce.

Margi

 

Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies (submitted by Vicky Ruklic)

Fresh gingerroot is the secret of these fragrant cookies.–”A Taste of Mexico: Vegetarian Cuisine” by Kippy Nigh

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark sugar
4 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. grated lime or lemon ring
1 tsp. grated orange rind
3 Tbl. yogurt

Combine the two flours, baking soda, and salt. Beat the butter and add the eggs one at a time. Add the sugars and then the flour mixture, combining well after each addition. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lime rind, orange rind, and yogurt, and stir until well mixed. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Form the dough into teaspoon-sized balls, and arrange on a lightly greased sheet. Back for 10 minutes until the cookies barely begin to brown.  Makes 5 dozen cookies.