Category: My Family

Without a family, one seldom thinks long term

Posted on

more lemon in lemon meringue pie

one slice after another!
one slice after another!

My family does surprise me and I learn about it in interesting ways. For example, they love Lemon Meringue Pies. I should have known that it was the lemons they love because of all the things they like that have lemons in them… lemon drops, lemon squares… but frankly, I thought it was a phase that would pass.

Obviously, lemon has wonderful uses in cooking, however, for me, a little lemon goes a long way.

Here is the basic ingredient list for the FILLING:

1 3/4 cups lemon juice

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons lemon rind

Basic steps to making a lemon pie filling
Basic steps to making a lemon pie filling

Here’s how to make the MERINGUE:

a) In a small pan, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/3 cup water and 1 tablespoon sugar. The mixture will thicken after several minutes on the stove stirring constantly. Once thick, emove and allow to cool slightly.

b) Beat your 4 egg whites until frothy, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/2 cup of sugar… beat until puffy. Add the cornstarch mixture with a blender at high speed until you can make peaks with the meringue.

Bake: 350 degrees for around 20 minutes… check often

enjoy!

Roger Freberg

Posted on

it is baking season

"TURGOOSEN" --a chicken within a duck within a goose within a turkey
“TURGOOSEN” –a chicken within a duck within a goose within a turkey

For those who bake, you already know this, but we are in the throes of what is commercially referred to as ‘Baking Season.” Although commercial food product companies gear up and market this time of year, it is actually a proper reflection of what people do between September and January… we bake!

During this ‘season’, families are together more and people prepare those special occasion dishes that are reserved for only the best of times. A Thanksgiving Turkey, a Christmas Ham and a New Year’s Champagne brunch are so ingrained in some families that a lot of things will be dropped from the social calendar before any of these gatherings. I celebrate Japanese New Year with sushi, sashimi and other yummy things. I joke that sushi is my life… and homemade and fresh is best.

What I am starting to gather together are a few things I need for this season’s projects. Our daughters will be arriving in December and have requested a ‘Greek Night’… Dolmades, Tiropetes, Baklava, Honey Pie and Moussaka. Yes, there will be music and then we dance! Laura loves to bake her mushroom cookies and I will enjoy putting together this year’s Turgoosen! Jenny Craig will just have to be a little understanding.

Oh, I will be making and baking an assortment of other family favorites from  Corned Beef Pie ( the beef is ‘corning’ away as I write this) to General Washington’s great contribution to Western Civilization…. his incomparable ‘Egg Nog’. I also search and acquire cookbooks from times gone by and not always expensive ones… this time I found a 1908 cookbook by  Rumford (Clabber Girl).  You don’t have to buy an original ( I have one), but you can buy a nice copy that’ll work just nicely.

So, celebrate this season by making something wonderful for those you love!

Roger

Posted on

you’ve been invited to speak

welcome to our meeting!
welcome to our meeting!

My family has done a lot of  interesting things… Kristin has come back from a year in Iraq and everyone wants her unclassified stories, Laura has written another book and  a fun blog, and Karen has had one globe trotter of a year, herself. So it doesn’t surprise me that groups ask them to speak.

Many of the groups they talk about sound familiar: Rotary, Lions, Soroptimists, Kiwanis, Elks among many others…. however, a few invitations raise an eyebrow or two for being unfamiliar or unknown. Can’t helping it,  I do ask the proverbial question: “what do you know about this group?” ….. and I usually get the typical ‘oh, dad!’ answer.

Hard to stop being a dad.

Roger Freberg

Posted on

welcome home kristin

my daughter Kristin serving in Iraq
my daughter Kristin serving in Iraq

Life is supposed to be interesting and my daughters certainly love to do curious things. Sometimes they  are a bit too ‘interesting’ for their mother… but I do see much of their mother in them. Laura is a professor who loves what she does and, by her example, our daughters have had the academic experience of both sitting in the seats and at the lectern. They both have masters degrees and have the genuine thirst that comes with life long learners.

Kristin is competent and professional, but her appearance has generated a few comments from friends and family with the moniker “Combat Engineer Barbie.” She just tactfully smiles when she hears it.

Kristin has finished her second tour of Iraq, the first coming at the original invasion in 2003. We have had some glimpses into her life as we all are ‘friends’ on facebook and Kristin has been nice enough to share some of her everyday life with us. Her Army future seems to be planned out for the next few years… and I hear, that teaching for a while at her alma mater West Point may be in the works. With Kristin soon to be on the east coast near Karen, I suspect that they will continue their travel adventures together as Kristin has leave.

In the meantime, welcome home Kristin!

Love,

Dad

Posted on

nothin like homemade blueberry jam

00Homemadeblueberryjam

Not a lot of folks make their own jams and jellies anymore… and this is too bad because the homemade stuff is well worth the little time, effort and practice to make it right.

Blueberry jam isn’t exactly on the top of most shoppers lists, but it should be as it is wonderfully delicious and as my daughter Karla informs me,”Blueberries are very healthy too.” ( That is, if you ignore the large amount of sugar that goes into the process)

The basic recipes are easy and they come with any package of  Sure-Jel or equivalent ( this is pectin which adds the body to the mixture). You might consider adding a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice and a bit more sugar… but it is a very nice set of simple recipes.

In the meantime,  Karla is happy to have some Blueberry Jam in the house.

Roger Freberg