A Cook Full of Stories

My favorite cookbooks tell stories

and Nathalie Dupree tells good stories.

Her Matters of Taste is full of good stories

and recipes that never fail

including the sexiest story ever about tomato soup.

"After he ate the soup, they worked together,

she on one side of his desk, he on the other.

The sun filtered through to her work in a golden beam,

moving around the room as they worked.

He taught her so much that the small,

hard part of her soul became plump and tender,

like a raisin soaked in wine.

Without a touch or a word of love,

they had each given the other a new world.

She never made the soup again

without thinking of him."

That makes my toes curl under with passion

as much as a romantic movie scene.

Today I tried another of Dupree's recipes,

her Apple Crisp from her chapter on comfort foods.

I set a dessert table for two with glass snack plates

shaped like apples.

I peeled and sliced 3 organic Granny Smith apples

and 4 McIntosh apples.

I tossed in a cup of cranberries and 

a little chopped crystalized ginger.

Nathalie said to sprinkle with a 1/4 cup of water

but I doused the fruit with Boiled Cider

from King Arthur Flour's catalog.

I topped that with a mixture of 1 cup sugar,

1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt,

1 1/2 cups of flour, stirred and 6 tablespoons of butter

cut into the dry ingredients.

I put the dessert, covered, into a 350 degree oven

for 1/2 hour, removed the aluminum foil and

continued to bake for….

the recipe called for another 1/2 hour.

At least an hour later I realized my timer 

had not gone off.

Tears, frustration and much wailing to R.H. later,

we decided to eat it.

Can you believe that it was delicious?

The apples were like a condensed applesauce.

I'll make this again but next time?

Next time I'll be sure my timer is working.