The Family Larder

"If God had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn't have given us Grandmothers."-Linda Henley



My Great-Grandmother, Ethel to you, Nanny to me, died a few weeks before my tenth birthday. She was much-loved by all, to say nothing of her cooking. Three generations of us sat at her table, enjoying her dishes, taking for granted that the recipes, if not the lady herself, would always be there for us. We were wrong. A handful of prized recipes died with her. Some have been partially recovered though never fully duplicated; others are simply gone.

We love to cook, the lot of us. Our pleasure, collective and individual, in good food could fill several volumes.We savor it, we talk about it, we anticipate it: it is one of the ingredients in the glue that binds us together as a family.

Yet ask each of us which dish of Ethel's we miss the most and you'll have a variety of answers, answers which are likely to change like the weather. I have not tasted real banana pudding in nearly 26-years. Perhaps one day I will make it myself, playing around in the kitchen until I find the exact combination which reminds me,the most, of hers.

In order to prevent such future disasters, my mom and I complied a family cookbook about nine years ago. It was difficult, complicated and a pain. For several months, my Grandmother conducted what we called LEONA'S TEST KITCHEN. In other words, we cajoled and begged and ordered the woman to measure things while she prepared dishes which had long been habit. I am sure that she whined for a moment or two but, no matter: we now all have access to the same well-loved recipes, with the same little-to-no chance of making anything half as well as she does. With all of our ability and passion, my Grandmother remains the head chef and pie maker for a reason.

Somehow, no matter how accomplished you become in the kitchen, food always tastes better when it comes from the family food archivist:Grandma!!

Austen Family Cooks/Recipe: Sauerkraut Balls

This is the most-requested appetizer we make--especially when my Aunt Lauree prepares them. When I was a little girl, it was a treat to roll the balls into the bread crumbs. My fingers always became yellow-coated with egg yolk before swelling to three times their slender size with bread-crumb residue. While it is not season-specific, it seems to surge in popularity during the colder months. This weekend is the perfect time to make sauerkraut balls, as Winter takes its last, extinguishing gasp.

SAUERKRAUT BALLS

1/2 pound bulk sausage

1/4 cup onion, chopped 14-ounce can of sauerkraut, drained and snipped

2 Tablespoons bread crumbs (not fine)

3 ounces cream cheese

2 Tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon mustard

1 dash garlic salt

1 dash pepper

2 eggs, well beaten

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup bread crumbs (not fine)

Flour for coating

Brown sausage and onion;drain. Add sauerkraut and bread crumbs to sausage mixture. Combine remaining ingredients and add to sauerkraut mixture. Chill. Shape into balls and coat with flour. Roll the balls into a mixture of eggs and milk; and then into 3/4 cup bread crumbs. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Painting:La jeune cuisiniere by Francois Moreau