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Author Archive: Michelle Stahl

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Back in Time for Dinner with Mark Twain
By May 21, 2021 Read More →

Back in Time for Dinner with Mark Twain

A few years ago, I toured one of the most beautiful historic homes I’ve ever visited. It was the home on Samuel L. Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Clemens and his wife Olivia spent 17 years in this 25-room house in Hartford, CT, with their three daughters. At a desk in the corner of […]

Deviled Carrots
By May 21, 2021 Read More →

Deviled Carrots

Serves 6-8 3 tablespoons brown sugar1 tablespoon prepared mustard2 tablespoons melted butterPinch of salt3 cups of hot, sliced, cooked carrots 1. Cook carrots separately.2. Combine other ingredients, mix thoroughly and pour over hot carrots.3. Heat until well combined and very hot.

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Little Girl’s Pudding
By May 21, 2021 Read More →

Little Girl’s Pudding

Serves 6 1 cup uncooked white rice1 cup sugar1/2 cup butter4 cups milkNutmeg, cinnamon, and salt to taste1. Melt butter in the baking dish.2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees. Stir frequently until the rice is swollen.

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Back in Time for Dinner with Calvin & Grace Coolidge
By May 14, 2021 Read More →

Back in Time for Dinner with Calvin & Grace Coolidge

A few years back I visited the boyhood home of Calvin Coolidge in Plymouth Notch, VT. While looking into Calvin’s parent’s sitting room, I could almost picture the morning of August 3, 1923, when Calvin’s father, a notary public, conducted the oath of office that would make his son our 30th president. The ceremony was […]

New England Corn Muffins
By May 14, 2021 Read More →

New England Corn Muffins

Makes 12 muffins or corn sticks 1 egg, well beaten1 1/2 cups buttermilk1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 cup flour1 1/2 cups corn meal1 teaspoon sugar3 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon salt1/4 cup melted butter 1. Heat oven to 450 degrees,2. Grease muffin tins. (Calvin preferred the cast iron corn stick pan) and place in oven while you […]

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Fish Sauce
By May 14, 2021 Read More →

Fish Sauce

1 tablespoon mayonnaise3 egg yolks, well beaten1/2 teaspoon dry mustard1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce12 capers, finely chopped2 pimentos, finely chopped 1. Blend all ingredients together.2. Drizzle over baked white fish just before serving.

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Back in Time for Lunch with Julia Child
By May 7, 2021 Read More →

Back in Time for Lunch with Julia Child

I wonder if any of you ever got to meet Julia Child during one of several trips she and her husband Paul made to the area in the 1980s and 1990s? The closest I ever got was a glimpse of her as she passed me in the hallway at South Meadow School in 1993, when […]

Avocado Citrus Salad
By May 7, 2021 Read More →

Avocado Citrus Salad

Avocado Citrus SaladServes 6This recipe appeared in a cooking magazine just about the time of Julia’s visit in 1983. I think it was the first recipe I made that used avocados. It’s still one of my all-time favorite salads. Light and delicious!2 large pink grapefruit2 navel oranges1 avocado1/2 red onion, cut crosswise and into thin […]

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Baked White Fish
By May 7, 2021 Read More →

Baked White Fish

Baked White FishServes 4-61 1/2 lbs. of any white fish (Julia loved sole so that would be a good choice)1 teaspoon fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon mayonnaise1/8 teaspoon onion powder1/8 teaspoon white pepper1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 1/2 teaspoon melted butter 1. Oil or butter a shallow baking dish large enough to accommodate the fish without […]

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Back in Time for Dinner with Ralph Waldo Emerson
By April 30, 2021 Read More →

Back in Time for Dinner with Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Before Covid forced many museums to temporarily close their doors, I had the chance to visit Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home in Concord, MA. Emerson and his second wife Lidian lived with their four children in their Concord house for 47 years. Upon purchasing the house in 1835, he wrote to his brother that he […]