A FEW STILLMEADOW RECIPES

A few Stillmeadow Recipes by Gladys Taber

"[T]here is only one true shortcake, and this is how to make it:

“Sift together 2 cups of flour, 4 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar. I work in 1/3 cup of butter and gradually add 3/4 cup of milk. I toss the mixture on a floured board, patting it rather than rolling it. I bake it in a deep pie pan in a hot oven (425º) for about 25 to 30 minutes, then split it and butter both halves.

“I pour the berries on the bottom layer of the shortcake, pour more on top and serve immediately. This will probably serve four, unless they are dedicated! I like it in shallow soup plates so the juice is easy to spoon up" (The Best of Stillmeadow, 263-4).

“Squash and Cucumbers:

“A crook-necked squash should be picked when it is not much thicker than two thumbs. The skin is pale and waxy, not knobby and mustard yellow. It should be easy to slice with a table knife.

“The slices, dusted with seasoned flour, can be sautéed in butter with a suggestion of diced onion in it. This is squash as it should be. By the time a squash must be peeled, I am losing interest in it.

Cucumbers, on the other hand, are delicious when they are ripe. They turn to the color of a new-minted penny and are large and plump. Then we split them lengthwise, scrape out the seeds an stuff them with anything from poultry dressing to steamed chicken. And bake in seasoned milk, not quite covering them.

Baked stuffed cucumbers and a tossed green salad make a gardener's supper. For dessert a bowl of ever-bearing raspberries with sweet cream, and plenty of coffee. Afterward Jill decides she will plant another row of cucumbers next year" (The Best of Stillmeadow, 301-2).