My Mother's Cookbook: Memories from Another Era

The three things that I knew how to make when I got married were French fries, fudge and date-filled oatmeal cookies, none of which made a meal!  And none of which were in my mother's black cookbook.  I remember all of them from watching her make them when I was a child.  I loved those cookies and often helped Mom make them, rolling out the dough, cutting them into circles and then spreading the date filling between two cookies before they went into the oven.

As I browsed through her handwritten black book, stopping here and there as I remembered those recipes she baked, roasted or cooked, other memories were triggered as well:  of people, of times at the table and of other recipes not in her book, but ones I loved--and some that I did not like at all.  I also remembered our kitchen, which is usually where she would be.  My mother's life was a busy one, although at the time I did not realize it.   

She did not have all the luxury items we have today to make cleaning, cooking, washing and ironing easier.  In the 1940s her iron was heavy and one which she placed on the hot wood stove to heat up.  I remember that iron as I used it as a young girl before we moved to Nova Scotia.  In those days, nearly everything was ironed!  In N.S. we finally had an electric iron, an electric stove and an electric fridge.  Up until then we had had an ice box, with ice delivered to the house.  The ice man would come down our gangway to the backyard, carrying that dripping cold block with large tongs.  I remember it sitting in the sun on the back steps leading up to our back door, awaiting my father to take it--still dripping--to the top, two flights up.

All Mom's recipes, except for some of the later ones, are short and to the point, with very little method given.  One has to guess how to make them.  Obviously she knew how and perhaps learned next to her mother or grandmother in those long-ago kitchens of the early 1900s when she was growing up. 

On the left is Grandma Tillie, Mom's mother, in the late 1950s.

I used to sit beside my mother and watch her bake and prepare food for our dinner when I was very young.  I loved that time with her, but I never learned to cook at home.  I really wasn't interested and she didn't push any of us.  I learned the hard way by trial and error--some flops and some successes--after I was married.  I sometimes wrote to her asking for a particular recipe and via return mail it would arrive in our mail box, with full directions.

The photo on the right is the house where I grew up as a young girl in Charlottetown.  It is still there.  Things have changed a lot since then as the houses on each side were torn down and a Best Western is now to the right, where once chestnut trees and a large house once stood.  Our gangway was to the right of the house.

I'm not sure how Mom managed to find the time to bake and cook such wonderful meals as she not only went without a lot of the appliances that made life easier later, but she also had four children to contend with in the third-floor apartment of my grandfather's apartment house.  But bake and cook she did:  cookies, cakes, pies, bread, preserves in the fall and all manner of home-cooked food for the table.

Those were the days of sugar and butter rationing, which meant baked things were usually not as sweet as they are today; less butter was also used (shortening and often lard were used instead).  Our stoves have also changed, so the timing for baking can be somewhat different.  In the 1940s in Charlottetown my mother was baking in a coal and wood stove oven; today I am baking in a convection oven.

Below left, the filled cookies

I decided that I would make those long-ago remembered oatmeal cookies once again.  I made them for old-times-sake and to see if they were as good as I had thought back in the 1940s when I was a young child.  One day last week I made them.  They turned out well, but they are time-consuming to make and a fair amount of work.  Although the recipe said it was my mother's, they are not as I remembered them.  They definitely were not sweet enough and they were chewier than they should have been--or so I think now.

Mom had two recipes for them and both were almost identical except for the amount of oatmeal and water called for (all other ingredients and amounts were the same).  I made the one calling for two cups of oatmeal, not the one calling for a cup and a half.  That second one also called for three tablespoons of water; the one I used didn't call for any.  I used oatmeal flakes and not the finer oatmeal.  Perhaps those things made the difference.  (I did add water to the version I baked as otherwise it would have been difficult to gather it into a ball and to roll it out.  Here is the recipe.

Mom's Date-Filled Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter and shortening, mixed (I used all butter)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

4 tablespoons water (my addition)

Date Filling

1/2 lb dates, stoned and cup up (I would use more dates next time, about 3/4 lb; mine came already stoned)

1/2 tablespoon white sugar (with more dates, use a bit more sugar and other ingredients)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

The only directions my mother gave:  "Just let the dough rise overnight and roll out thin.  Cut, place filling between two cookies and bake in a 375F oven."

The cookies at right are shown with the filling on them and ready to be topped with another rolled out one. 

My method:  In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter mixture until light and fluffy.  Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture.  Work in well with your hands as it is too difficult to do otherwise.  Add the water, enough so the dough is damp.  Mix well.  Leave in bowl and let rise overnight, covered with a towel.  (I did this, but I don't really think this step is necessary.  It does mean you don't have to do it all the same day however.)  Next morning, form into a ball.  Preheat oven to 375F (190C).

Filling:  Place cut-up dates into a small saucepan.  Add enough water (about 1/2 cup) to keep them from burning and cook until soft, stirring constantly.  Add the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla.  Mix well.

Dough:  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into 1/8-inch thickness (1/4 inch is too thick).  Cut into circles with a cookie cutter or a glass with a thin edge.  Place them on a cookie sheet.  Spread them with about a teaspoon or two of filling, almost to the edges, but not quite. Then cover each cookie with another rolled out one.  (I placed only so many at a time on the cookie sheet before adding the filling; otherwise, I might have run out of enough filling.)  Place the cookies in the oven, baking for about 12 to15 minutes or until lightly browned.  I had two pans of 12 double cookies on each pan. (Note:  I would use more dates another time.)

My thoughts after I had finished baking them and tasting them?  I might try making present-day oatmeal cookies next time, placing cooked date filling between two of them after they come out of the oven.  That's only if I decide to make them again!

That second thing I liked--French fries--I make every so often.  When I have the time, I make them from scratch.  We didn't have French fries often when I was young but occasionally Mom made them with fish.  I discussed the Belgian way to cook them in an earlier blog post (June 11, 2010; Green Soup, Waffles and French Fries).  I do soak my cut-up potatoes in cold water as the Belgians do for a good 20 minutes but not always do I cook them twice.

On the left, the thinly sliced potatoes in cold water; on the right, the almost ready potatoes frying in hot oil.

One of the ways I love them is slicing them very thinly, no more than 1/8 inch thick.  All you need for that is a sharp knife.  I soak them well in ice cold water and then dry them thoroughly with a clean tea towel and/or paper towels.  I separate them as I put them into the hot oil (making sure they are dry), stir them often, and when they are crisp looking and golden brown, I remove them from the pot and drain them well.  I did fry the first batch quickly the second time after I removed the second batch from the oil.  I then re-fried those quickly again as well.  That ensures the fries are crisp.

On the left, the fries just out of the pot, crisp and golden.  On the right, ready to have with some chicken wings (another of my favourite foods).

They are almost like potato chips and with some salt, they are so good!  In Belgium and here in Germany as well, many use mayonnaise instead of Ketchup with pommes frites (as they are called here), although young children use the latter more often these days.

Mom and Dad on Cook Avenue, Halifax, in the mid 1950s

The fudge I loved I make once or twice a year and it always brings back memories.  Dad loved fudge, too, and he would sometimes make it, although it was Mom who usually did.  In those days, he would put it on a plate when it was ready and pass it around.  We would each take a piece and then he would pass it around again.  So a second one.  But that would be about it (there were six of us altogether).  Naturally I always wanted more!



 One day, when I was a young teen and my parents were out and my sisters were as well, I decided to make some myself.  I had watched often enough so I knew how.  I made the fudge.  It turned out perfectly.  I cleaned everything, leaving no trace behind.  Then I took the whole plate to my bedroom where I hid it and ate every single piece myself!  That satisfied my craving for it then and there.  I never did that again, but I have never forgotten the thrill of having it all to myself!

Here is the recipe I made that long-ago day and again this past week.

Chocolate Fudge
3 cups sugar (half white, half brown)
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup milk
Butter
Vanilla
Chopped walnuts

Note:  I often make two-thirds the recipe (as this time):  2 cups sugar, 2 Tbsp cocoa, 2/3 cup milk plus butter, vanilla and walnuts.  I also used dark brown sugar this time as I didn't have any light brown and it was just as good, perhaps even better.

Method:  Place the sugar, cocoa and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly (do not stop stirring).  When it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer, without stirring, until it reaches the soft ball stage.  Now, my way to test for the soft ball stage is the way I do it still, although you can use a candy thermometer.  I put a small saucer or dish in the fridge freezer so that it becomes very cold.  When I think the fudge is nearly ready (the mixture will be low in the pot), I test a small bit on the cold fridge plate.  If I can form it into a soft ball, it is ready.


As soon as the soft ball stage has been reached, I remove it from the stove.  I immediately add a large piece of butter (about two tablespoons or so), without stirring it in, and then set the pot aside until the candy cools a bit.  I then stir in the butter, add a good teaspoon of vanilla and beat it until it begins to thicken.
The picture at right shows the butter melting in the fudge mixture.

These walnuts we gathered last fall.  They are best left a while before using; they were perfect now.

The picture at right shows the walnuts in the pot mixture and almost ready to pour into the dish.

Before the shine starts to disappear and just before it becomes too thick (the trickiest part), add chopped walnuts and immediately pour the fudge onto a buttered pie plate.  Don't leave it too late to do that or the candy will harden before you can pour it in.  If that happens, put it back on the heat just long enough to soften it, stir quickly and pour it quickly again on the plate. 

 

On the left, the newly poured fudge.  On the right, ready to eat!

This is a delicious and creamy chocolate fudge.

As I looked through my mother's small black cookbook, with names and recipes from the past rising from its tattered pages, my young life rose to the surface along with them:  great Aunt Emma's gingersnaps, great Aunt Willie's ginger cookies, Georgie's Scotch cake, Aunt Grace's cupcakes, her mother's sultana cake and my father's mother's plum pudding along with many others.

On the left, Aunt Emma's gingersnap recipe.  No method other than soften butter and lard.  Add molasses.

On the right, Georgie's recipe for Scotch cake, the ones I make and gave the recipe for in my blog post of 14 December 2009.

The most interesting to me in Mom's cookbook was my grandmother's dandelion wine recipe, mainly because I had never seen her take a drink of alcohol of any kind.  Not to say that she never did.  I don't remember my mother ever making this and I doubt that I ever shall, not with all the wonderful wines we can buy today and considering the work this wine would take to make!  But this is a very old recipe so interesting for that alone.  Here is the recipe (I clarified it somewhat from the written page):

 

Grandma Tillie's Dandelion Wine

To each quart of dandelion blooms add one quart boiling water.  Stir well and cover.  Let stand three days, stirring occasionally.  Strain off the flowers.

To each gallon of liquid, add 3-1/2 pounds white sugar, rind of one lemon, a little root ginger and boil for a short time.  Cut one orange and one lemon into the hot liquid.  Cool.  When sufficiently cold, ferment with yeast cake.  (J:  In those days yeast was in a solid piece, in squares that I remember still.)  Add small piece of toast and 5 c. of isinglass (according to the Oxford dictionary, that is a kind of gelatin obtained from sturgeon, etc.).  Let the mixture stand two days; strain and put away for two months.  Then bottle.

So many of these recipes in her cookbook she made over the years and so many of them made for special occasions.  Not all of them though; many she made for regular meals for dinner or supper throughout the year.  Another era, now long gone, but an era that shaped my life and the lives of millions of others.

Note:  Keep in mind that you can enlarge any of the pictures in order to see them more clearly.  Just click on the picture.

The Days of Christmas

During those days leading up to Christmas the aroma of baking wafts through the house.  Decorating the house inside and out with our two cats underfoot starts on First Advent weekend and finishes on the 24th, with cards and letters to friends and family written at the kitchen table from late November onwards.  In the last week before Christmas we buy our scallops for Christmas Eve supper and the goose for Christmas Day.  During those last weeks, we enjoy many outings to fine restaurants and family Gasthäuser, with good food, good wine and good company.  As it is for everyone, a busy time of year. 

Here are some of our highlights this past week or so:

On Fourth Advent Sunday we picked up our friend Lina in Freiburg and headed to Glottertal, well known for its many beautiful restaurants and Gasthäuser and one of our favourite places in which to dine.  Some years ago now I counted fourteen restaurants (perhaps even more today) in that small town of about 600 residents.  It is situated about twenty minutes northeast of Freiburg, a university city of about 150,000 people.  On any given day or evening, many of the guests will be from that city.  Glottertal became known all over Germany and elsewhere in Europe in the early 1980s because of a television series, "Die Schwarzwald Klinik," filmed there.  Of course, the town has always been renowned for its hotels and restaurants, its food and wine.  Many Canadians stationed here in Lahr knew it well.

On this occasion, we went to Zum goldenen Engel, a Gasthaus-Restaurant in the Black Forest Style:  red and white curtains on the windows, the waitresses wearing Trachten and with many lovely decorations inside and out.  It is a very old Gasthaus, one of the oldest in the town, dating back 500 years.  Its wooden floors and ceiling, soft lighting, tables topped with sparkling white linen, candles and glasses along with the friendly owners and staff, welcome one to come in and enjoy the ambience, good food, wine and other liquid refreshments.

The picture at left shows one of the rooms with the Stammtisch at the forefront, left.

We had not reserved ahead as we weren't sure about the weather beforehand.  It was becoming colder and snow was in the forecast.  Fortunately, the roads were fine that day.  On a Sunday in Glottertal or almost anywhere else where there is good dining, it is recommended to book a table.  Luckily, two tables were free, the only two in that huge restaurant as all the rest had been reserved.

On the right, another of the rooms.  This was 4th Advent Sunday but only three of the candles are burning as the one behind had burnt itself out!

We sat near the bar, where one has a great view of the Gasthaus, the guests, the food and drinks being served.  We were also close to the Stammtisch, where on that morning (it was just before noon hour when we arrived) some of the elder men from the town were enjoying glasses of wine before heading home for Mittagessen (their midday dinner).

Hans took this picture for me.  The men raised their glasses in a prost to us, which we returned, as we sat just kitty corner from them.  That table is very old and is filled with initials carved into it over the years.

Just below right is our table facing the bar.  We always like to sit where the action is.

Lina, at age 95, is as young as a person in her 40s when it comes to her mind.  She has trouble walking but goes out on her own with her walker.  She mentioned that many of her friends who are also quite elderly told her that they do not buy any new things for themselves anymore and wondered why she did.  That day she wore a new white and lace blouse with a lace underlay, as well as a very smart black jacket with white trim on it.  She was her usual talkative and interesting self.  She listens well but also has an opinion about everything, from politics, to customs, to men.  Oh, to be like her in our old age! 

The three of us having a wonderful afternoon, enjoying the ambiance.

Lina ordered Zander, a delicacy (shown at left).  The perch was served over Sauerkraut and a delicious sauce, along with Schinken pieces.  (You may remember that I wrote about another outing with her, saying how upset she was when those smoked bacon or ham bits were served with the Chanterelle mushrooms.  This time she mentioned it to us but just laughed.  Hans again ate her bacon bits!)

Hans and I both ordered Schweine Medaillons (pork filet).  It was accompanied by creamed Wirsingkohl, which is Savoy cabbage.  Hans cooks that at home from time to time when we have a beef or pork filet.  It is not a vegetable that we see people buying often in Nova Scotia, but it makes for a delicious vegetable dish.  Our meal came with gnocchi, but we both requested Bratkartoffeln instead.  Those fried potatoes sauteed in butter were crisp and delicious.  (As a note of interest, in many Gasthäuser in our part of Germany--as at Zum goldenen Engel--instead of being called Bratkartoffeln, they are known by the Allemannisch name of Brägele.)

Hans' Wirsingkohl:  He just slices the Savoy cabbage (as you would a regular cabbage), adds it to boiling water and some vegetable bouillon (not too much bouillon), then lets it simmer until tender.  He then drains it well, adds cream, salt and pepper and voila!, you have a superb vegetable dish.

I spent some time doing some Christmas baking during the last couple of weeks.  My mother's recipe book came out from the bookcase and once again I made her Scotch cake, better known elsewhere as shortbread.

On the outer circle are whipped shortbread.  On the inside, ginger snaps; on the inner circle, my Scotch cake. (I gave the recipe for my Scotch cake in my post of Dec. 14, 2009.)

The ginger snaps I made particularly because an English-Canadian friend of ours loves them and as they are not known here in Germany he is unable to buy them.  So he has a few and so do we.  Many of my cookies I give as gifts. 

I had thought I might make my mother's mocha cakes--one of her baked sweets I loved the most--but they will wait until next year as they are a lot of work and time ran out.  First you must bake a cake and then cut it into squares.  Then you frost all sides with chocolate icing and roll the squares in crushed peanuts.  The recipe for Stollen that our friend Ursula gave me this year will also wait until 2012.  It is Ludwig's mother's recipe from Dresden (where it is renowned) and is a very old one, which was passed down to her.  Stollen is somewhat similar to English fruitcake. 

 The Bruckerhof Gasthaus at right (taken in spring)

Last Wednesday we women joined the men at the Bruckerhof.  It is now traditional for the men to invite us to join them before Christmas.  Many Canadians knew this Gasthaus well when they were stationed here.  It is not a place one finds easily as it is down a long, narrow country road (wide enough in places for only one car at a time); then you drive up a hill and through a farmer's yard before finally reaching the Gasthaus at the end of the road.

The group of us at the left.  I ordered a Cordon Bleu and Hans, saure Leber.  We both took half home!  The servings are huge.  Sour liver is one of the specialties in Baden-Württemberg.  It has vinegar in the sauce but is not really that sour in taste.  Each Gasthaus will make it somewhat differently, with more or less sourness at each place.

The liver came with a salad and Bratkartoffeln.

Hans' liver below

One of our friends ordered a steak with onions.  It is almost as large as the plate!

Just down from our table was a large group of elderly men, all there to celebrate the 89th birthday of one of them.  I remarked at the time that he looked to be in his 70s, not in his late 80s.  They were having a great time, singing and prosting with their beer and wine glasses.  After they had eaten, they began singing German folk songs, accompanied by one of the men on an accordion.  What a great pre-Christmas celebration for all of us!

Although the picture on the right is dark, you can see the raised glasses in song.

On the Thursday before Christmas, we drove up into the hills to get our tree at a farm we go to each December.  We had put off getting it, as early in the week there had been snow, none of which stayed long, but in the hills it might have been tricky for driving.  All their trees are Nordmann spruce and do not shed their needles easily.  After we made our choice, we sat in the little warm hut, heated by a pot-bellied wood stove.  Everyone who buys their tree there is offered various types of Schnaps (on the house), produced there by the farmer and his family.  Hans also bought a good-sized salami to take home with us. 

Fourth Advent had arrived and now it was Christmas Eve.  We had our traditional Coquilles St Jacques (the best I have made I think), followed by Hans' potato salad and German wieners, along with an excellent bottle of 1993 Chablis, still perfect after 18 years.

 

 

Food and drink and our customs at Christmas, almost more than anything else or any other time, bring back nostalgic days and times spent with family and friends over the years.  Those memories are to be treasured as are all those we continue to make each year.  We hope you all had a very:

Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!  Joyeux Noel!

and

We wish you all a Happy New Year and all the Best for 2012!

Prosit!   Cheers!   A Votre Sante!

Fondue, Wine, Schnaps and Other Cheese Things

I have never been a true "Cheese" person, although many I know are, including Hans.  He loves cheese in every way and especially by itself with some good bread.  I like mild ones; he loves the strong ones:  the stronger the better in taste and the stronger in aroma, the better he also likes it, it seems to me!  I enjoy cheese just as it is from time to time, but I especially enjoy it in baked dishes or melted at the table with some French bread or potatoes.

The Christmas season is now here with the New Year not far behind.  What better way to spend a simple and cosy evening than over a cheese fondue during this busy time of year.  We have had in the past fondue or raclette on New Year's Eve, which was a great way to end the year.  Just last weekend, on Second Advent, we had cheese fondue once again.

A fondue is a lovely way to enjoy a leisurely supper on a cold, winter's night.  It has perhaps gone out of fashion, but in the 1970s and 1980s it was a popular way to entertain a small group of friends or the family.  It still is a great way to do so!  It is easy and relaxing with little preparation ahead.  Fondues--whether meat, fish, chocolate or cheese--have one thing in common:  they follow the custom of everyone eating from the same pot.

For a cheese fondue, the mixture and the pot used are important.  One can buy the ready-to-make fondues and that can be fine; however, it is better when one adds to it.  When we buy the fondue mixture, Hans always adds more of our own cheese (Emmental or Gruyere), more white wine and Kirschwasser.

The traditional ceramic-type pot or dish sits atop a burner, one using spirits, which means the pot or dish must be heatproof.  If you do not have the traditional pot, use a pot that withstands good heat.  You can start heating the cheese fondue in a pot on the stove and then transferring it to your fondue pot over its burner or you can start it directly over the fondue burner.  Here is the recipe for the original Swiss fondue as given with our made-in-Switzerland "Spring" fondue set.

Swiss Fondue - Serves 4:  Rub the pot with 1 cut clove of garlic.  Warm 1-1/2 cups of dry white wine in the cheese pot; to the wine, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice (the dry wine and the lemon juice help to melt the cheese).  Add gradually, stirring continuously (do it in a figure 8-motion), 20 ounces grated cheese (half Emmental, half Gruyere.  If there is no Gruyere cheese available, according to "Spring" add a pinch of salt to the Emmental cheese in the pot.)  Do not stop stirring.

Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch to a jigger of Kirschwasser (Schnaps), stirring until the cornstarch is dissolved.  (A jigger is about 4 tablespoons.)  The Schnaps does add to the flavour.  Kirschwasser is the traditional one used.  When the cheese is bubbling, stir in the Kirschwasser/cornstarch mixture.  Season according to your taste with some pepper, nutmeg and paprika.

Hans doesn't always follow recipes, but when he does use one, he adds to it and changes it to suit his own taste.  It was no different with the fondue this time. 

Hans' Fondue:  First, he rubbed the cheese pot well with a cut garlic clove.  He then melted in our fondue pot, on top of the stove at low heat, about 700 grams (1-1/4 pounds or so) of equal amounts of Emmental and Gruyere cheese, cut into pieces.  (Grating the cheese, as called for, would be better as it would melt more quickly and would be easier to stir.)  He added one garlic clove, minced, and some butter (not really needed).  He did not use any flour or cornstarch.

Below, the Gruyere cheese is shown on the left; the Emmental on the right

He added at the same time a good splash of lemon juice and about a cup of Weissherbst, a rose-type wine found only in three or four German grape-growing states.  It was excellent in it.  It has good acidity and is flavourful.  (We would not use a regular rose wine from France or Italy nor a Portuguiser rose from Germany, as the fondue would have an entirely different taste.)  Normally, we do use a dry white Riesling.  Hans stirred continuously (as did I).

Hans then added a good jigger of Kirschwasser and then placed the pot over the fondue burner.  He added more Kirschwasser and more again just before eating, stirring it in well.  It may sound as if it would overwhelm the cheese (and our taste buds), but it did not.  You need that flavour.  I rarely drink Kirschwasser and normally do not like a lot of its flavour in a dish, but this was not too much--although I was saying while he poured it, "No, No, No!"  The fondue flavour was excellent.  A sprinkle of pepper and paprika at the end and it was ready.  Nutmeg is also usually added.  Note:  Do not mistake North American Kirsch for Kirschwasser;  Kirsch is a cherry-flavoured liqueur and not suitable in a fondue.

With the fondue, serve fresh baguette, cut into cubes.  (Bread cubes sauteed in butter and garlic ahead of time and then set aside until ready to fondue add extra flavour.)  On New Year's Eve one year we also dipped small, whole potatoes, cauliflower florets and mushrooms into the bubbling cheese (none of them should be too soft or cooked too much beforehand).  Olives, sweet pickled onions and sweet pickles are also very good as accompaniments on the side.  Make sure to have the long fondue forks to use for the dipping.

 

Wine to serve with a cheese fondue is usually a Riesling--or the white wine used in the pot.  On this occasion we had a 2005 bottle of Huxelrebe Rheinhessen Kabinett, one we have bought many times as it is one of our favourite white wines to have in the afternoon or without food.  It also goes well with flavourful dishes such as the cheese in a fondue.  This particular bottle came from vintner Holdenried in the town of Partenheim, a place we have visited many times over the years for their white wines (they also have an excellent Weissherbst).  We have given many of those bottles as gifts because they carry Hans' surname.  At some long-ago time someone who passed along the family name likely came from Partenheim.   

Over the years we have hosted several wine and cheese evenings, both here in Germany and in Nova Scotia.  On at least one of these occasions at our house in N.S. we passed out paper and pens and asked everyone to write down their favourite cheese and wine combinations.  Hans had matched each type of cheese with the appropriate wine.  The winner was Munster with a Gewürtztraminer Spätlese or Auslese wine. The second favourite was Roquefort--a blue cheese--with a Sauterne.  This was the same result as at our house in Germany.  This really surprised us in Nova Scotia as we had wondered whether Canadians would enjoy either cheese, as these two are not to everyone's taste (nor to mine, but they are Hans' favourites).

(I took the following four pictures from snapshots, thus the reason they are somewhat unclear.)

Below, our friend Rosi from Nürnberg, Germany beside Hans, before the other guests arrived.

Hans is opening the first bottle of wine to get the cheese and wine party started.  My sister Paula is in yellow.

Canadians have, of course, been enjoying wine and cheese evenings since about the 1970s when it became a popular way to entertain.  In those days, however, the variety of cheese available was small in comparison to today.  I lived in Winnipeg during several of those years of the '70s, during which time a cheese boutique opened in the Shopping Mall at Polo Park.  They had a good selection, although their cheese was expensive.

For our cheese buffet we had brought all the cheese--except for the Cheddar and Feta--to Nova Scotia with us from Germany (all of it bought in Germany and Alsace, France) as one is allowed to bring into Canada up to 20 kilo.  If you do buy cheese to take back from Europe, make sure to declare it on your customs form.  You cannot import cheese in liquid, such as Feta, into Canada.  That one we bought at a cheese farm just south of Aylesford, about 40 minutes from our house in N.S.  His wife is the daughter of good friends of mine.

Our guests making their decisions on what to have and what they like best.

Years ago, when posted to Marville, France, we had cheese every so often.  Up until then I likely had had only Cheddar and perhaps Velveeta or cheese slices.  My husband loved all kinds of cheese and would buy several types, keeping them in the fridge.  As it happened on one such occasion--in about 1962/63--my sister Paula was visiting us.  She had come over with a friend to tour Europe.  Later, she came to stay with us for a while.

As she wanted to make herself useful and help out, she decided to clean out the fridge one day while we were out.  "Goodness," she said to herself, "this smells terrible!  And so does this!"  And out of the fridge it went until all of her brother-in-law's cheese was thrown into the garbage can.  He, of course, went looking for it to have for supper and that is when she had to confess.  She didn't know, of course, that such cheese as Munster, for example, does smell pretty high.  My husband took it in good stride and Paula learned that not all that smells bad is!  (We make sure to keep all cheese well wrapped and in an air-tight container in the fridge so that the aroma isn't so pungent when opening its door!)

This was Hans' supper last evening.  (I had a Schnitzel and a glass of wine!)

Here is a long-time dessert recipe of mine that I have made over the years and one that my friend Mary in Ontario still makes often when she entertains.  It is an uncooked cheesecake that can be made ahead and frozen.  It was  one of Mary Moore's recipes published in the Regina Leader Post in the late 1960s.  At that time we were living in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Cheesecake:  Makes 8 servings

1-1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (200 gram box of chocolate wafers, using about 3/4); roll into crumbs

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

2 three-ounce packages cream cheese, softened (about 200g total)

1/2 cup white sugar

Pinch salt

2 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Green food colouring (optional)

1 basket strawberries (optional, but worth it)

Combine the crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter.  Press the mixture into an 8-inch or 8-1/2-inch spring form pan (sides need to be removed later).  Chill.

Beat the cheese, white sugar and salt together until very light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla; beat well.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites (with clean beaters) until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in the whipped cream and the egg whites into the cheese mixture.  Tint mixture a soft green with a little food colouring, if wished.  Pour over the crumbs.  Cover and freeze 6 hours or overnight.  Remove cheesecake from the freezer 1-1/2 hours before serving and place on the fridge shelf.  To serve:  Place pan on a serving dish and remove the sides.  Cover the top with whole strawberries or pass them separately.  Cut into wedges and serve.  Note:  If you serve this in the summer, it will soften quickly.  The trick is to cut it and serve it to your guests before it does.

We have just celebrated Third Advent, with Christmas just two weeks away.  Enjoy the lovely season!