My son, Sam loves molasses cookies. Our favorite, as I’ve mentioned before are the Silver Palate Molasses cookies, which are thin and crispy and perfect. But recently I happened upon a molasses cookie I thought was even better. It was in the most unlikely of places—a country ham store. Our friend Bob Woods (aka Hambobs) makes the best country ham I‘ve ever tasted. He cures and ages them in an old shed in Murfreesboro, Tenn. He doesn’t make a lot (I’m not exactly sure how many), and when he’s out he’s out, and his answering machine will simply say, “We’re out of hams for this year. Call back next year." Anyway, during a visit last year to see his operation, he had these cookies sitting at the register in little bags. I asked for the recipe and was given this. They’re super simple to make. Halfway into the recipe I realized I was out of molasses and used sorghum instead. They were not as “dark” but every bit as good.
1 cup shortening (1 stick Crisco), slightly melted
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup molasses or sorghum
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and molasses. Sift flour with spices. Add to sugar mixture. Roll into balls the size of walnuts and coat with granulated or turbinado sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.
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Fly fishing stream View of Mt. LeConte from the Lodge
Every now and then you happen upon a place so perfect you can’t believe your luck. Such was my luck last weekend at the Lodge at Buckberry Creek (buckberrylodge.com). Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, just above Gatlinburg, it’s an amazing place — rustic, yet luxurious, tucked away high in the mountains, but not so remote that you have to be airlifted in. It’s the kind of place you’d see in a movie — perfect in every way, yet full of kind, quirky characters to keep it interesting and fun. The minute my daughter, her friend, Maggie and I walked in the door we felt like family.
It’s run by the effervescent and huggable Buddy, an avid out-doors-man, who resembles everyone’s favorite uncle. Soon after we arrived, he pulled out a scrapbook of fishing pictures. No sooner did I mention that I’ve never been fly-fishing and would love to try it than our fishing lesson with a guide was set up. We met Brad, our guide, a true mountain man (and waiter from the night before — I loved this place), early the next morning for a trip straight through the Smoky Mountain National Park, to his favorite fishing “hole” in Cherokee, N.C. After a ride through the mountains, some elk spotting (and some accompanying car sickness from my daughter Nora), we arrived in Cherokee. After securing our fishing license, Brad led us to the “trophy section” (perfectly appropriate for us I thought) of the Raven’s Ford Tributary on the Cherokee reservation.
Jolly Ranchers Required
almost in waders and felt boots Nora and Maggie ready to fish
After gearing up in our neoprene waders and felt boots,which felt a bit like being “vacuum-packed,” (neoprene is super clingy), wewere ready for the water. But notbefore a handful of Jolly Ranchers were tucked in all our pockets. “Fishermen’sfriend” said Brad. Why is a mystery to me, Brad and I’m sure many others, butnonetheless a tradition.
I’m not going to say that it was everything I imagined, (A River Runs Through It comes to mind), but it was pretty darn close. Of course the first couple of casts felt very awkward, with a trove of instructions (similar to learning a golf swing-- head down, arms straight, knees bent, turn, rotate) from Brad—“arm up, hand here on the rod, tippet through finger, line loose, yet taught, wait, wait.” But after a few casts, you can easily get into the rhythm of the cast. My husband is an avid bass fisherman, and I’ve never quite gotten into it—sitting in a boat holding a rod in relative silence. I’m more of an action gal. But fly-fishing is different, as Brad said, you’re actually hunting the fish… hopping around on rocks sometimes in waist high water, casting and recasting. You truly feel atone with the water. And the promise of a fish is right in sight. Brad set us up, told us where to cast, then after a few casts, bam, I caught one. As did the girls. 
Nora and Brad with a trout
We had to release them so didn’t get to cook them up for dinner, but that was OK, we were looking forward to the Wild Game dinner that night,featuring dove, boar, elk, pheasant, venison, and quail.
On returning from our fishing expedition, we headed down to their pavilion on the creek, where they had a slow cooker full of tomato-blue cheese soup, some of the best stuff I’ve ever eaten—despite the fact that I don’t even like blue cheese. It’s super simple………and doesn’t require a neoprene suit. Here it is.
Lodge at Buckberry Creek Blue Cheese Tomato Soup
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 sprigs of rosemary (no stems)
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring heavy creamto a boil in a large saucepan. Add blue cheese and stir until melted. Addtomatoes and Worcestershire and rosemary. Heat through. Add salt and pepper totaste. Keep warm in a slow cooker or serve immediately.
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My daughter and I are always on the lookout for a good cup of hot chocolate. The other night, after a long day, I decided to have some for dinner. I had a bar of Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate that was sent to me at work. As I was out of milk, I resorted to heavy cream, which was the only dairy product in the fridge. I combined it with about a cup of water, the 3 ounce bar of Scharffen Berger, a smidge of sugar, and a dash of malted milk powder. I put it in a heavy pan over low heat, and left it to heat as I folded a load of laundry. I returned to the creamiest, best hot chocolate I've ever made. I've never paid that much attention to chocolate, as it's not my love. But in the past I've tried to make it like this with whatever inexpensive chocolate I've on hand. It's always been grainy and not very good. But this was an epiphany. I don't know if the 70% cacao (on the label) was the key, or the Scharffen Berger brand, but you can bet, when it comes to hot chocolate, or melting chocolate in general, I'll choose Scharffen Berger.
Best Hot Chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup water
3 ounces Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Chocolate
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon malted milk powder (optional)
Dash of salt
1. Combine all in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Fold the laundry or make a phone call. Return to barely simmering creamy hot chocolate. Stir well and serve in a mug all for yourself....... Actually will serve 2.
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I know it isn't customary to cook for your own birthday party, but I had all this roasted pumpkin left over from the healthy snack program at my son’s school and wanted to use it. So I decided to make some pumpkin ice cream to go with the maple cake my girlfriend was baking. I searched fruitlessly for a recipe that didn’t use a custard that must be cooked then cooled (didn’t have time for that, of course), so I decided to make some frozen yogurt. It was much simpler, and I liked the idea of the tangy yogurt with the rich pumpkin.
All mixed up and ready for the ice cream freezer.
I used the base of my favorite lemon frozen yogurt, then added the pureed pumpkin, spices, a dose of cream cheese for richness and a dash of heavy cream to finish it off. It was fabulous with the rich maple cake. However if you don’t have any of that on hand, a drizzle of warmed caramel sauce would be lovely.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt
3 cups Greek low fat yogurt (such as Fage)
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
2 cups pureed roasted pumpkin
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup cream cheese, softened in microwave until creamy
1/3 cup heavy cream
Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Place in container of ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturers instructions.
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