#16 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
If you give a poet a cookie, she will eat it, learn to make more, and then grow up to write a poem about it that millions of people will hear on the radio.
I’m talking about Sondra Gash’s, “Rugelah, 5 a.m.,” of course, which Garrison Keillor read on The Writer’s Almanac back in August 2010. Sondra’s poem made me hungry to learn more about this popular Jewish confection, which is enjoyed year round and often called “cream cheese cookies” here in the U.S.
Rugelach dough is commonly rolled into a circle, then sliced into pie wedges which are then rolled up to form crescent shapes (via S. Filson).
Depending upon whom you talk to, the Yiddish term”rugelach,” can be translated as “royal,” “little twists,” or “horns.” The practice of combining cream cheese or sour cream with fruit, nuts, jams, and spices to make cookies, cakes and other pastries is a central European tradition with ancient Middle Eastern roots.
We have to thank Eastern European immigrants for bringing the first rugelach recipes to this country. According to Joan Nathan (JewishCooking in America), “There is no other Jewish sweet that has gone more mainstream than rugelach.” Though I have yet to bake any myself, thus far I’ve been unable to resist these rich, flaky little crescents whenever they appear on a holiday cookie tray or in a bakery window: raspberry jam and dark chocolate! marzipan and walnuts! cinnamon, poppy seeds, apricot preserves, raisins! A bite of history that stays with you forever.
Take another bite of this Apricot-Pecan-Raisin Rugelach. Yum! (via S. Filson)
Leave it to Leslie, one of my favorite picture book authors, to two-step into our little shindig and kick it up three, four, ten thousand notches. No surprise, dis hot mama peppery poet is always cookin’. When she’s not baking her famous bread or assembling yet another doughnut cake, she’s tossing together a bunch of tasty, chewy, spicy words and making new stories. We don’t call her “Bakery Babe” for nothing.
Cafe du Monde beignets via Chuck Yaeger
Remember when she had those mice baking a birthday cake in the middle of the night? What about that grumpy hedgehog sucking down his celery soup and shaking his maracas with his neighbor Paprika? Maybe you prefer sinking your fangs into something juicy or chomping on crispy beetles? Whatever your pleasure, Leslie knows how to serve it up!
#12 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You meet the nicest people through Poetry Friday.
I can’t remember exactly when Linda first joined “the gang,” only that she immediately felt like an old friend. At her lovely blog Teacher Dance, she not only shares a wealth of ideas and insights about teaching poetry and creative writing, but also many original poems and personal life reflections. Her warmth, caring and generosity have won over many blog readers, who, like me, appreciate her genuine interest in others and lifelong commitment to learning. One of the things Linda is doing for Poetry Month is continuing her project of creating poems which examine different ways of looking at children growing up, essentially saying goodbye to each precious stage. She plans to combine her series of poems with family photos and create a keepsake book for her grandchildren. Very cool!
Today I’m wearing my best bib, because Linda has brought biscuits! Some of you may know about my deep, abiding love for biscuits. Yes, I’ve dallied in the past with a few cupcakes, macarons, and pies. But there is just something about biscuits — small, round, gently risen in all their brown perfection, a piece of idyllic country life, a cozy Sunday morning family breakfast. Roll, pat, cut, a fine cloud of flour, particles of good memories that linger.
#9 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
Poetry is the home for all my yearnings each poem a separate room where wandering words find a cool bed, a bowl of soup
where names of trees and cities and people I know who want to know knock on doors, ring bells, invite me in for coffee and a rhyme
~ from “Homeroom” by Kathi Appelt (Poems from Homeroom: A Writer’s Place to Start, Henry Holt, 2002).
I’m thrilled and honored to welcome multiple award-winning poet and author Kathi Appelt to our Potluck today. As you can see by the opening stanzas of “Homeroom,” Kathi is a poet after my own heart.
A good poem makes us feel as though we’ve come home — to our own doubts, sorrows, joys, fears, wonder, gratitude. There is nothing quite like a room of carefully arranged words that invites you in for a quick visit, only to inhabit your soul forever.
I love the poem Kathi’s brought today, not only because it’s about pie — but because of its transcendent beauty. It speaks of that quiet inner space where love, memory, and longing converge. How would you build a room strong yet gentle enough to hold a fleeting moment in time? This poem is a flutter in the heart, a sweet reflection hovering in our imaginations.
Emma on her wedding day.
Kathi: I adored my husband’s grandmother, Emma. She was a wonderful cook, and her pecan pies were a staple of our holidays. Right after we were married, she wrote down her recipe for me, and I’ve had it ever since. Several years after she passed away, at the age of 96, I found myself baking her pies for Thanksgiving. Seeing her handwriting, with the faded ink, made me want to “toast” her in the best way I knew — with a poem.
via Dan’s Photo Art
Pecan Pie
Emma was my grandmother too, tied through wedding vows to her youngest grandson my one true love. On her back porch, she held my hands and sang ancient nursery rhymes in German, her very first tongue. The songs, her soft, steady voice, called up hummingbirds hovering just above pots of lantana and marigolds. Now what’s left is a scrap of paper, the whispy blue ink turned brown, her recipe for pecan pie. Each time I fold in the butter, chop the pecans, measure the light brown sugar, same shade as the ink, she holds my hands, hums an old tune about the little girl down the lane. My kitchen heats up.
Next thing I know, there are hummingbirds. A slice of pie, a cup of coffee, a language I don’t know, but still it comes to me. We hover there, our tiny wings, our rapid hearts, our solitary belief in sugar and pecans.
Thanksgiving, 2002 Copyright 2012 Kathi Appelt. All rights reserved.
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I can’t even imagine the fall holidays without baking one of Emma’s pecan pies. And whenever I bake one, I feel like Emma is right there in the room with me. It’s a sweet feeling, like I have an angel on my shoulder. I make these pies every year for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
via LOL
Southern Pecan Pie
1 cup light brown sugar (packed) 1/2 cup granulated white sugar 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup butter (stick) melted 1 cup pecans, chopped 1 unbaked pie shell
Mix sugars and flour, beat in thoroughly, eggs, milk, vanilla, butter. Fold in nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake 40 to 50 minutes in 350 degree oven.
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Kathi Appelt is the award-winning author of more than thirty books for children and young adults. Her picture book, MISS LADY BIRD’S WILDFLOWERS: HOW A FIRST LADY CHANGED AMERICA (HarperCollins, 2005) was given the “Growing Good Kids Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature.” In 2003 Appelt won the Irma and Simon Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature, given by the Bank Street College of Education, for her picture book BUBBA AND BEAU, BEST FRIENDS (Harcourt Brace, 2002). Her memoir, MY FATHER’S SUMMERS (Henry Holt, 2004) won the Paterson Prize for Young Adult Poetry.
Her first novel, THE UNDERNEATH, a haunting story of love and survival in the pine forests of East Texas, has been described by reviewers as a “classic.” It was named a National Book Award Finalist, a Newbery Honor Book, and most recently awarded the PEN USA Literature for Children Award.
Ms. Appelt was presented with the A.C. Greene Award by the Friends of Abilene Public Library, which named her a “Texas Distinguished Author.”
In addition to writing, Ms. Appelt is on the faculty in the Masters of Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Her newest book is KEEPER, published by Atheneum, 2010.
She and her husband Ken live in College Station, TX with four adorable cats, Django, Peach, Hoss and Jazz. They are the parents of two even more adorable sons, Jacob and Cooper, musicians who both play the double bass. For more information, check her website: www.kathiappelt.com.
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SURPRISE DOOR PRIZE!
Kathi has generously offered to send one lucky reader an autographed copy of her beautiful picture book, My Father’s House, illustrated by Raul Colon, published by Viking (2007).
For a chance to win, please leave a comment at this post no later than 12 noon (EDT) Saturday, April 14, 2012. Winner will be announced on Sunday, April 15th, along with the other door prize winners.
This post has been linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking, where all are invited to share food related posts (fiction/nonfiction/cookbook/movie reviews, photos, musings, recipes, etc.).
#6 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2012.
via New Jersey Jewish News
Today I’m very pleased to welcome New Jersey poet Gail Fishman Gerwin to the Potluck, the first of four guest poets who write primarily for adults rather than children. Whether you celebrate Passover or Easter, it’s likely you’ll be spending time this weekend observing holy rituals and sharing special meals with family and friends.
Gail is sharing a poem from her poetic memoir, Sugar and Sand (Full Court Press, 2009), a 2010 Paterson Poetry Prize finalist. “With or Without Rice, a Kitchen Ballet” is one of three poems comprising a segment about Gail’s mother, “Mastering the Art of Cele’s Cooking.”
Most of you know there’s nothing I love more than a recipe/cooking poem, and this slice-of-life beauty provides ample nourishment for body and soul, a delicious blend of family history and cultural heritage. We thank Gail for so generously sharing precious photos of her parents, sister, daughters and grandchildren, four generations in her family who’ve enjoyed stuffed cabbage at Passover. Gail has already made two batches for tonight’s Seder, which will include gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, brisket, spinach gnocchi, matzoh kugle, sponge cake, and veggies, among other special foods. Yum!
Gail’s daughters, Karen (10) and Kate (7), at the Seder table.
Now, let’s listen to the voices from Cele’s kitchen.
I’m thrilled and honored to welcome multiple award-winning poet and author 
Jama's Alphabet Soup 