This should have been a post about apples since Rosh Hashanah began last night and apples are the fruit of the holiday. This should have been a happy post about new beginnings, the book of life and all things sweet. This post should have been a lot of things…  But now it’s not going to be any of them.

Last Saturday all those happy, new beginnings turned into shocking, tragic endings when my nana of 97 years died unexpectedly of heart failure. She’d broken her hip the week before and went in for surgery. My grandmother was never a fan of hospitals, but she knew, as we all did, that this was something that wouldn’t mend without outside help. She came through the surgery fine, but when you’re elderly sometimes things just happen.

Born in 1914, she lived through two world wars, the Prohibition, the Depression, the assassination of a president and 9/11. She was a world traveler and had impeccable taste in clothes. As a matter of fact, I got my nose for a good bargain from my mother who got it from her mother who never, ever bought retail. Her clothes were always either made for her or  purchased at Filene’s Basement, the original discount store. Although my nana definitely did things her own way and had her own opinions about everything from food to clothing she was always there for family. She loved each and every one of us and was there whenever we needed her.

Nana through her life.

Because we lived on the west coast and she spent most of her life in Swampscott, Mass, I only got to see her twice a year. She’d always come for a week or so and we’d do everything from go to museums to visit movies to go out for ice cream since that was her favorite dessert. We always had fun when she was here and were always sad to see her go. I’m sure Nana is where the emotional streak in our family comes from. See, every time we’d take her to the airport saying good-bye was never simple. What should have been a quick hug and a kiss with a promise of more to come in a few months, turned into a tear fest, the kind of which you’ve never seen. After years of witnessing this display of emotion I finally understand why I, and every other female member of my family cries at Hallmark commercials or animated movies like The Fox and the Hound. It’s clearly hereditary.

While I wasn’t super close with her, I loved her all the same. She was the only grandmother I ever knew and I cherished every moment I got to spend with her. I’m sorry I wasn’t there with her at the end, but I’ll always remember the way she smiled, the way she was always dressed to the nines even when it was just coming over for a casual dinner and the way she lit up every time she saw A. I’m sorry he won’t get to know his GG, but at least he knew her for a little while.  We’ll miss you, Nana. We love you and in honor of you and your 97 wonderful years, some peaches filled with a little cheesecake.

Cheesecake-Stuffed Peaches

• 10 peaches, halved and pitted
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter melted
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Line a 15x10x1 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Trim a very thin slice from the round side of each half of peach so the halves stand flat on the baking sheet. Dip the peach halves in melted butter to coat. (Don’t worry if the butter congeals while sitting on the baking sheet, it’ll cook up nice once they’re in the oven.) Arrange peach halves, cut side up, in prepared pan. Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon sugar; set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until combined. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peach centers.
4. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and softened. Serve warm or at room temperature. They’re also delicious cold the next day. But if you’re serving them the next day, keep them covered in the refrigerator.

Trying to come up with this week’s classic cocktail, I wanted to make something that included ingredients I had in my bar and refrigerator. I just wasn’t up for buying yet another liquor that I’d use for just one drink and never use again. I swear, I could open my own bar at this point with the amount of different liquors and cordials I’ve purchased. Anyway, in my search I found something called a Horse’s Neck. While the name doesn’t sound that appealing, the drink is actually quite nice. It’s light and refreshing and has just the right amount of kick.  And with only 3 ingredients, it couldn’t be easier. You don’t even need a cocktail shaker.

The cocktail originally wasn’t a cocktail at all. When it was first created in the late 1800′s it was a simple elixir made up of just ginger ale and a twist of lemon that extends to the bottom of the glass. If there’s no alcohol, you’re probably wondering why in the world I have it as one of my classic cocktails. Well, while there wasn’t any alcohol originally, bourbon was smartly added to the drink by an Atlantic City bartender around 1910. Supposedly the bartender created the cocktail just as he was about to be fired. But the drink became so popular the bar’s owner kept him on.

The cocktail gets its name from the lemon peel which hangs over the rim of the high ball glass and reaches all the way to the bottom. See, because it hangs so low in the glass, the lemon rind resembles the neck of a horse hanging into the drink. And it’s that lemon rind that’s the hardest part of making this cocktail. Unlike sazeracs, cosmopolitans and a variety of other cocktails that come with a lemon twist, this twist is comprised of the whole rind of one lemon, cut off the fruit in a spiral fashion. While it does take some effort (it took me three lemons before I managed to peel the whole thing in one strip), the spectacle is impressive and the drink itself is well worth the work, especially on a hot evening.

Horse’s Neck Cocktail

• 2 ounces bourbon
• ginger ale
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Peel an entire lemon in one spiral strand and hang the peel over the rim of a high ball glass.

Pour in the bourbon. Fill the rest of the glass with ginger ale and add the bitters. Enjoy.

As you all know I love me my spices. I’m making savory things sweeter by adding cinnamon to everything from baked goods to my morning coffee to meat and potatoes. (Believe it or not cinnamon’s a great addition to a meat or pork rub.) And I’m turning those sweet desserts into spicier morsels by adding basil to fruits and chocolate.

Since I’m such a big spice fan I love to participate in the monthly spice chat on Twitter sponsored by My Spice Sage. Every month a single spice is covered and new ideas and recipes are bandied about for an hour. I always come away from the chat with at least one new recipe and usually several ideas for other things to try.

This month was no different. We covered bay leaves and up until the chat, I thought bay leaves were pretty much reserved for stews, soups, and slow cookers. As usual I couldn’t have been more wrong. Turns out (as I’m discovering more and more) spices turn those sweet fruits we love so much into something savory. Add a little basil to your watermelon for a wonderful salad or macerate your strawberries with it and pour over ice cream for a delectable dessert. The bay leaf is no different.

Several people from the chat recommended pairing the herb with blueberries for a nice jam. Since I’d never considered using the herb with fruit before I was very intrigued. The food-making part of my brain started to percolate and I knew I was going to have to create something combining these two flavors. But it wasn’t going to be jam as I’m not a jam maker… at least not yet. I am, however, a cookie and pie maker, so I thought a blueberry bay tart would be awesome.

It was. The bay leaf added a nice smoky flavor that when combined with the blueberry and lemon made the whole tart feel like autumn had come early. And since blueberries seem to be available year round, this sweet treat doesn’t need to be reserved for spring or summer anymore. Simply adding a few bay leaves will make this spring dessert feel right at home at your winter feast.

Yum!

Blueberry Bay Tart

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 1 egg, divided
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine butter, flour, 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolk (save the white for later) in a food processor and pulse until well mixed and crumbly. Place dough in a resealable bag and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Pat dough in a tart pan making sure to go up the sides. Pour the egg white over the crust and spill off the excess. Chill crust for another 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

While the crust chills, place 1 cup of sugar and bay leaves into a clean food processor and pulse until the bay leaves are minced into the sugar. Pour into a large bowl. Add the berries and lemon juice to the bowl and toss with your hands until berries are covered in bay sugar and lemon juice.

Pull crust out of the refrigerator and pour berry mixture into crust, mounding the berries in the center. Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my recent posts took you on a trip to New Orleans. I covered food and cocktails and so, to continue with the theme I thought I’d do a drink that’s not only a classic, but classically the Big Easy: the Pimm’s Cup.

Now, I’m not a big fan of gin. Bourbon, yes. Vodka, absolutely! But gin, blech. Keep that clear liquid as far away from me as possible, please.  Because I detest the liquor so much, no one was more surprised than me that I became such a devoted fan. I must’ve had at least six or seven two or three while we were down south. I don’t know what it is about the drink that had me begging for more, but I could not get enough.  Maybe it was the ginger ale. Maybe it was the lemon juice. Maybe it was the fact that you can’t use any old gin. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s the reason.

Don’t get me wrong, I guess you could use Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire, but then it probably wouldn’t be a Pimm’s Cup. Nope, it turns out there’s a special liquor called Pimm’s No. 1 that’s specifically for the Pimm’s Cup. And I’m pretty sure that’s why I like this drink so much. It doesn’t taste like any gin I’ve ever had. First of all it’s dark brown. Secondly, there’s a sweet and spiciness to it that’s delectably indescribable. Seriously, I could drink this liqueur straight. And I have. But back to the Pimm’s and what makes it a true classic.

Pimm’s was created in 1840 by James Pimm, a bartender in London’s financial district. He blended gin with quinine and various herbs and served it in tankards (known as “No. 1 cups”) as a digestive tonic.  I can’t tell you what the combination of herbs is as only six people know the actual recipe. His “tonic” was such a big hit, by 1859 Pimm was selling Pimm’s No.1 commercially and the liqueur became a must-have concoction among English socialites. I’m not sure when ginger ale was added to the mix, but the cocktail has become so popular it’s to Wimbledon what the Mint Julep is to the Kentucky Derby.  As a matter of fact, over 80,000 pints are sold to Wimbledon spectators each year.

Considering how English the cocktail is, I have absolutely no idea how it became associated with New Orleans. But no matter. All that matters is the cocktail is good and should be consumed more than once if possible. And why not? It is afterall an alcoholic version of Alka-Seltzer.

Pimm’s Cup Cocktail

• 2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• Ginger ale to top up glass
• slice of lemon and cucumber for garnish

Fill a high ball glass with ice. Pour in the Pimm’s and lemon juice. Fill the rest of the glass with ginger ale. Drop in a slice of lemon and garnish with cucumber. Drink ’til your heart’s content.

Greg over at Sippity Sup, a blog I read regularly, did a post on pickled peppers. His pictures were so bright and colorful, I wanted to run right out and buy peppers. But life got in the way and I didn’t get a chance.

Luckily, a week later I was at my local farmer’s market perusing the vendors and relishing all the fruits and vegetables when I came across a vendor selling every pepper under the sun. There were your basic red and green bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, and a variety of chili peppers. But in the middle of this rainbow was something even better: a pepper salad.

Like all vendors at the market, he had a variety of sliced fruit and vegetables available for tasting, including this pepper salad. So being the food lover I am, I grabbed a toothpick and tasted the salad. It was so good, I knew I had to make it immediately.

I grabbed a variety of peppers both sweet and tangy and made the salad to go with dinner that night. The only thing I added to vendor’s already awesome creation were a couple heirloom tomatoes. The juice from the tomatoes, combined with the salt and lemon juice heightened the salad to a whole other level. Best of all, the combination of juices from the lemons and tomatoes means no dressing is needed. So the next time you’re at the farmer’s market, pick up some peppers. This salad is the easiest to make and one of the tastiest you’ll ever have.

Pepper Salad

• an assortment of peppers (both sweet and hot)
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Choose a variety of colorful peppers. I used red and yellow bells and a couple bananas, but the choice is yours. If you like your peppers spicy, throw in a jalapeno or two. If you like ‘em sweeter add more bells. Chop them all up into bite-size pieces.

Place the chopped peppers, tomatoes, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss until well combined. Serve with your favorite protein or have by itself for a delicious snack.