Philpy

A friend gave me this book last year and it's a good one. It is filled with a lot of recipes that were brought West by the 49er's and folks that came here to start a new life. Interesting stories about how the early settlers got here and brought their favorite recipes with them.
It's a cookbook and a history book all in one. It was publish in 1952. The year my sister was born.
Hey, Sis. I thought you were 39! No, that can't be right because I'm only 49. No... that can't be right because my oldest son is 41. Oh, this isn't working well anymore. We may have to get older... *#&%@. I will call you soon.
Anyway...
Here is one recipe, in the book, that I had never heard of but I thought the name was kind of catchy so last night I decided to make it. It looked really easy.
I didn't have any leftover rice so I made some earlier in the day. 
I took a good look at the recipe first. I've been known to start a recipe without looking to see if I have all the ingredients. Since we live in the middle of nowhere and don't have "next door" neighbors, I try to be sure and have everything I need before I start cooking or baking. The chickens and the goats have heard me shout..."Oh no. I don't have any bla, bla, bla." So, I always check first.
Here's the recipe...

I did have everything I needed. I used 1% milk. and Polenta in place of the corn meal. It's a little grainier than corn meal but I like the texture. I'm Italian... mostly, so I always have Polenta in the cupboard.
My helpers were in place... sometimes I call it "underfoot".

Cutter (on the left) is always in the kitchen when I am. He's my main man when I'm cooking. Carl (on the rug) doesn't usually show up until dinner is on the table. That's why he looks a little like he's not suppose to be there.
Yesterday they were both anxiously waiting for whatever was going to happen.
I preheated the oven to 350 degrees,  got a bowl and mixed all the ingredients together and poured the mixture into a glass 9X12 pan. I told you this was easy...
Be sure to spray the pan with a non stick spray of some kind. Egg mixes tend to stick if you don't.
"Bake until nicely brown" ended up being  about 30 mins. I checked at 20 minutes but I continued baking the bread for 10 more minutes. It's suppose to be thin and crispy. With a 10 in. pie pan, the bread would have been thicker and might have required more baking time. At 30 mins. the bread was brown, crispy and done.

I cut it into pieces and piled them on a plate for dinner.

We ate this with some steak and Broccoli. It was delicious!

It reminded me of something from my childhood but I knew that I had never eaten Philpy.
Until Breakfast...
We had leftovers and when I took the Philpy out of the refrigerator, it seems like I had done this before. 
Way back in my memory was this picture of my mother cutting up Polenta, from the night before, frying it in a pan and serving it to us with butter and syrup.
Oh yes. This was the memory that had been calling to me.. 
This recipe was a little different. Mom's Polenta didn't have milk or rice in it.
But... when I covered pieces of Philpy with butter and popped them into the microwave for a minute and then poured some syrup over them. Oh my. Did I have a rush of nostalgia. 
Philpy is heavier because of the rice but the taste and the flavor was so similar to fried Polenta. It just took me right back to my Mom's kitchen on a Saturday morning. It was a plateful of sweetness and wonderful memories just sitting there waiting for me. 
I could even here my Dad saying " Pass the butter or I'll walk right down the middle of the table."
He never did, of course, and then he'd say, "Jackie, this is so good. Can I have some more please?".... and my sister and I would laugh and the whole world was happy. 
I have never figured out how we had so much left over Polenta if we ate most of it for dinner the night before. Maybe Mom made a double batch so we would have enough for breakfast.
  I looked it up and some recipes for Philpy don't have corn meal in them.  Some say that it has "Southern" roots and is what poor people ate. Some recipes add a little flour. Some use wild rice. Some use shredded cheese and spices. I think you could just about use anything you wanted to as long as you keep the basics the same.
Enjoy the recipe. It's really a good staple for dinner.
It's inexpensive, quick and very good.

Buon Apetite!

Pyromaniacs Down on the Farm

Every year, in the summer, our gourd group is invited to have one of their meetings at Sylvia's Farm. We have a workshop and a potluck lunch and a whole lot of fun. We have a short business meeting on the porch and drool over Sylvia's house with all the antiques, wall to ceiling bookcases and the beautiful built in buffet filled with gourd art and old dishes.
Her garden is always so lovely and the weather perfect. It has never been too hot to be outside whether we're having a meeting, eating or working on the gourds. So far we have been lucky. Sacramento valley can be extremely hot in the summer. Yesterday was perfect.

We all shared our skills with a propane torch, a smaller (creme brulee) torch, and a heat gun. Some of us had learned this technique a couple of years ago and either showed others how to do it or perfected our own skills. We all had a good time lighting the gourds on fire, burning them and putting the burning embers out with our spray bottles of water. Later the gourds will be stained, embellish, and turned into a piece of art. The burning is a great effect and makes the gourd look very old. Usually this is done on a gourd that is broken or one that a critter got to when it was drying...and if a rat didn't help make the holes, you can make them yourself.
At our next meeting, I will take some pictures of the finished gourd art and post them on the blog.You'll be surprised how these burnt gourds transform into beautiful vases, bowls and containers of all kinds...even jewelry.  We had so much fun with the torches, but were very careful not to get anywhere near the dry grass around the farm. This project could turn into a disaster if you weren't careful. Sylvia and her husband have a perfect covered, concrete area in front of their workshop, with metal tables and running water. It's always a great place for us to "play with fire".

Then we ate...
Everyone brought the most delicious food and we feasted like kings and queens. I brought a dessert with...what else... ZUCCHINI. It was a lemon zucchini cake with pecans and a cream cheese, lemon zest frosting. Everyone like it and I used up two more of my prolific zucchini.
I love going down into the valley to Sylvia's place. It's so nice to know that ,not far from the booming metropolis of Sacramento, there is still a small farming community with people who grow their own food, raise animals, and have dogs that greet you like you're the most wonderful person they know. She and her husband have lived there for 35 years... raised their kids there and have no intention of moving and selling their farm. It's a place with too many memories to sell for a profit.... Two much love in the walls.
Thanks Sylvia. Again, we didn't burn down the barn and , again, we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Tonight is the Amador City Wine, Art and Music Summer Social.I love this venue. It's only from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and very low keyed. (Could be all the wine.) Everyone seems to have a great time and if we sell something...all the better. Christie (a fellow gourd artist) and I will have a table set up with some of our gourds. If you're anywhere close to us , come by and visit.
This is an event sponsored by the Goldpan Merchants Assoc. and the Amador Whitney Museum. Wine tasting is $15. which includes a commemorative Amador City glass to take home and entitles guests to taste all the participating wineries. There's live music and lots of local artists. Should be a nice evening.