Meg Favreau - Little Old Lady Recipes: Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom

Copyright 2011 by Quirk Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number: 2011922695 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-59474-518-8
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59474-702-1 Designed by Katie Hatz
Production management by John J. McGurk
Photographs by Michael Reali Quirk Books
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quirkbooks.com v3.1 Disclaimer: Like many little old ladies, we dont worry too much about precise times or temperatures or expiration dates. We love leftovers.

And we sure dont have weak stomachs. So use your common sense when youre cooking recipes from this book (or any other). If you dont like it, dont eat it. And if it smells bad, its probably rotten. These are rules thatll serve you well in life and in the kitchen.

Sure, people are still eating, but Im not sure if I understand what.

Protein bars? Ill be darned if I can understand how a foil-wrapped hunk that tastes like a chocolate-dipped cow pie is supposed to replace a meal. Square-inch pieces of fish topped with a single sprout and a hibiscus flower flown in from France? Haute cuisine belongs in some distant future when were all wearing silver clothing. Green juices? The only place seaweed should be is under my feet once a year when I go to the shore, and even then I can barely stand the stuff, all squishy and smelling like salt waters unwashed underwear. Food should be food. You shouldnt need to go to the corners of the earth to get it or use some crazy gizmo to prepare it. Life was better when the most confusing thing served was a hot dogand even then, we understood what went in em.

We just didnt really want to think about it. Its time we get back to cooking the comforting foods that made family dinners great. We should be following the advice of the women who made those meals, the women who alternated between doting mothers and tough-as-nails disciplinarians, ladies who worked, raised families, hosted great parties, and made the best out of the worst. Simple, good, and sassy: little old ladies know how to bring the goods to the kitchen. And its my hope that with this book, you will, too.

Some people point to video games or guns or those sneakers with wheels in them to show whats wrong with America.

But I say this country went south when TV and magazines started reminding people to eat breakfast, and it was actually news. Darn right, its the most important meal of the day. Heck, there was a time when we barely had the food to eat breakfast, and now people want to skip it because they need to lounge in bed an extra 20 minutes? Remember this: Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and full of bacon. APPLESAUCE 2 lbs cooking applescup sugar1 tbsp lemon juice Wash, quarter, and core apples. Add about 1 cup of water to barely cover, cook until nearly soft, and then stir in sugar. Add a pinch or two of nutmeg and cinnamon if you want more flavor.

Cook a few minutes longer. Mash. Makes enough to serve with dinner and have leftovers to can or freeze. Cider Applesauce Skip the lemon juice, halve the sugar, and replace the water with apple cider. Canned Applesauce Boil your jars to make sure theyre sterile. Fill them with applesauce and run a knife around the inside to get rid of air bubbles.

Put on lids and boil on a canner ring for 20 minutes. If any of the jars dont seal, put them in the fridge and eat them soon. Nobody likes botulism.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS 1 cup blueberries2 cups flourcup buttercup sugar1 egg, beaten4 tsp baking powdertsp salt1 cup milk Make a batch of these muffins on Sunday afternoon, and youll have something to grab any morning of the week that you dont have time for bacon and eggs. Toss blueberries in cup of the flour and let them sit an hour. Cream butter and sugar and beat in the egg.

In a separate bowl, mix baking powder and salt into the rest of the flour. Stir flour mixture and milk into the butter mixture. Gently stir in floured berries last. Scoop into buttered muffin tins and bake 25 minutes in a 425F oven. Makes 12 muffins. Butter comes from cows.

Tell me where the heck margarine comes from, and then maybe Ill eat it! Phyllis, organist, 72 BRAN MUFFINS 1 (15-oz) box Raisin Bran5 cups flour1 cups sugar2 tsp salt2 tbsp baking soda3 tbsp cinnamon2 tbsp nutmegZest of one large orange4 eggs, beaten1 cup vegetable oil1 qt buttermilkcup raisinscup dried cranberries or cherries