XXI, Issue 2, May 2017
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"Squirrel!!!. . ."
is the NEW Contest!
Enter stories &/or PHOTOS by July 1st.
Samples:
Here's lookin' at ya.
Dream Donaldson
Lulu and Debby Mayer
Lulu is a backyard huntress all right, but it's not a pretty sight for the one who has to clean up after her. Last October, I was weeding the garden alongside the house after work, while Lulu hung out in her fenced yard in back of the house.
As twilight deepened, I gave up my labors and let myself inside the fence, only to discover that Lulu had a big fat squirrel in her mouth. I recall hearing a few last chirps from that squirrel, before it gave up the ghost. Lulu would not give up the squirrel, would not come to me, would not do anything but run around with her prize. I didn't want to praise her, but neither could I correct her - she was only doing what comes naturally to a huntress in a yard full
of plump squirrels that she had been chasing all summer˜and I didn't want to see her rip the squirrel apart. Nothing to do but tell her no, she could not bring the squirrel indoors, and then wait for dark; even a dead squirrel wouldn't keep her out alone at night. I got my shovel at the ready and at darkness she did drop the squirrel. I shoveled it up, walked the 100-foot length of the yard and across the paved alley thats home to garages on my street, and tossed the squirrel into the no-man's-land of woods across from my yard, for "recycling." After that, Lulu's yard time had focus.
She got smarter, too; she realized that if she sat right under the tree, a squirrel would not come down. She learned to sit at a distance, watching. I fell to praising her for her efforts; really, if she cleaned up every squirrel in the yard, I wouldn't care.
A couple of weeks ago, as Lulu and I left for work, I let her go, leashed up, while I locked the door. When I caught up with her she had a big black crow in her mouth. Oh, Lulu, yuck, go brush your teeth! And in fact, she didn't want to eat crow, she dropped it pretty promptly and I did the thing with the shovel again, and again, I don't like the crows as they're noisy and ugly and crap all over the yard furniture. She can kill them all. And I remind myself that we're outdoors here in Hudson; it's intense, but not as bad as when I discovered Lulu "pointing" a snake in our bedroom in the Hollowville countryside. My concern is that my neighbor across the alley is cleaning up the woods, and what will I do without a place to toss Lulu's triumphs?
RECIPES:
SWEETS!
Red lentil and dark chocolate cake by Luisa Ghetti
Some time ago I came across, at the site of the Italian kitchen, in 3 dessert recipes made with lentils . Last night I tried to make a cake with red peeled lentils and dark chocolate.
INGREDIENTS
cake tin 28cm diameter
red lentils 200g peeled
1 tablespoon caster sugar
150g flour 0
50g starch potatoes
3 eggs
180g dark chocolate 64%
170g butter
170g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon extract vanilla
1 pinch salt PROCEDURE Bring a convection oven at 180 ° C. Boil the lentils in 1 liter of water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Sclatele and whisk them away. Put the cream aside to cool.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, a pinch of salt and vanilla.
Melt in microwave the chocolate with the butter.
Put in a bowl the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
Add the eggs mounted with sugar, dark chocolate with the butter and then the sifted flour, finally the cream of lentils.
Grease a springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.Pour the mixture and bake in a convection oven at 180 ° C for 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let cool and misshapen.
CONSIDERATIONS
Not being specified in the recipe I cooked lentils 10 minutes. Stir in the lentils warm and little by little because as they cools and hardens this makes it difficult to combine it with the other ingredients.
It's like a sponge cake, light and perfumed ... that seems slightly chestnut scent.
I have also accompanied with whipped cream with a little icing sugar: this is better because it creates a contrast. It is not very sweet.
M approves. 
Ch. Apu Little Red Lentil RE AX MXJ NF OAP NJP OFP THD GRC CGC TDIA MVB
Pit of Dis Pear Cake by Jaimie Gruttadauria
INGREDIENTS:
5-6 pears, skinned and cored
12 Tbsp butter
Juice and zest of one lemon
90 g sugar, separated
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
220 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Confectioners sugar for dusting
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut 4 pears into 1-inch cubes. Add the pear cubes, lemon juice, 2 Tbsp butter, 40 g sugar, and the salt to a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the juices have disappeared and the pears have begun to caramelize. Puree the mixture and allow to cool fully.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper, pressing it down into the corners. Add the eggs and 50 g sugar to a bowl and whisk until combined.
3. Melt and cool the remaining 10 Tbsp butter.
4. Add the flour and baking powder to a separate bowl and whisk them with a dry whisk. Add half of the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture, whisking until smooth. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix in the milk, vanilla, lemon zest. Fold in the remaining flour mixture. Fold in the pear puree. Fold in the melted butter until well combined.
5. Slice the remaining pear into ~1-cm slices. Pour the batter into the tin. Place the pear slices into the batter in some kind of starburst pattern. Bake about 45 minutes.
6. Cool the cake on a wire rack and dust powdered sugar on top (mainly for looks).
Jackie Dering's Peach Blueberry cake.
INGREDIENTS
. For pastry
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
. For filling
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca
• 2 lb firm-ripe large peaches (about 4), halved lengthwise, pitted, and each half cut lengthwise into fourths
• 1 cup blueberries (1/2 pint)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Special equipment: a 9- to 91/2-inch (24-cm) spring form pan; an electric coffee/spice grinder
Patricia Rivers' Italian Ricotta Cookies.
