Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a challenge or difficulty? Many people do not know this, but I did not actually speak until I was sixteen years old.  My friends and family will tell you that I have made up for lost time! wink…wink… I suffered from the same terrible speech impediment that my maternal grandfather, mother and uncle had. It was in my grandmother’s kitchen that I found refuge. My grandmother’s kitchen was my safe haven — a place to belong. There I was loved unconditionally. I also learned how to cook with a secret ingredient –love.

My grandmother would never know how much power was in the hour we spent together each day. I spent a great deal of time with my grandmother in her tiny kitchen in Fall River, Massachusetts. We lived in the apartment upstairs above her home. You can imagine the smells that emanated from her kitchen! Vavo loved feeding people and my mother was committed to family dinners every night. I rode my bike around the block one hour each day so that I was able to eat two suppers most of my childhood — that’s how important my time with my grandmother was to me!

With the help of my five senses, I am often reminded of my grandmother’s presence and I never cook alone because her spirit is always with me. My five senses stir memories.

Feeding Souls

As I grew up, my love of people and food continued to grow and I often tell people that I won my handsome husband’s heart through his stomach! Our children grew up in the kitchen and around the table as well. Because of my grandmother’s love and example, I knew how to unlock this power.  We are a very close family and with sons ages twenty-two and nineteen, we are often asked to share our secret.  I wrote my first book, YOU NEVER COOK ALONE. It is in my book that I share how families can strengthen and build relationships by connecting in the kitchen and around the table!  The time my grandmother spent with me (a-child-who-could-not-even-say-her-own-name) not only helped me speak but set the tenor for my adult life! Just imagine what time in the kitchen and around the table can do for your family?

The Perfect Gift for Every Mother

You Never Cook Alone delights cooks whether novice or expert. Hundreds of easy-to-follow recipes are combined into dozens of tasty meals that will please any family or gathering of friends.

You Never Cook Alone is divided into two main sections: “Eventful Meals” and “No Passport Necessary.”

Eventful Meals builds complete menus from our family’s favorite recipes to create memorable cooking and dining experiences the whole family will enjoy. Chapter titles like “It’s More Than Pizza” or “A Murder Mystery Dinner” entice you to try various recipe combinations and turn busy weekday meals into your own happenings to be savored.

The second section of the cookbook is titled “No Passport Necessary – Expanding Your Family’s World One Meal at a Time.” Through regional, ethnic and international cuisine, I will show you how to take your family around the world, just as I have helped my own children to explore the world through food.

Adding spice to the recipes, you’ll find glimpses into our family’s life scattered among the menus. But be prepared! Some stories may bring a smile and chuckle, while others may produce a full belly-laugh as if you were around the table with our family. You may even need a tissue or two to dab the tears on occasion.

All of the recipes, meals and stories are fully indexed so you can quickly find just what you need as you contemplate your own meal preparations.

Building Legacies

I hope that you’ll learn to cook with the secret ingredient – love.

You Never Cook Alone invites you into our family’s world of “Stirring Memories, Feeding Souls and Building Legacies” so that you and your loved ones can become a truly “Well-Fed Family” – spiritually, emotionally and relationally…as well as physically.

YOU NEVER COOK ALONE is the perfect gift for Mother’s Day for the mom who loves to read cookbooks, cook with her family and desires to leave a legacy!

Order a copy for your mom or wife today!

Passing on Passions

I can still see Mike and our boys sitting on our sofa years later looking through numerous photo albums. Filled within the pages of these albums were baseball cards that Mike had since he was a very young boy. Of course most of the cards that made up this collection featured players from his beloved team the Red Sox.

Watching Red Sox games has always been a family pastime. Just as my husband had enjoyed as a child, a teen, and a young adult, my oldest son Nathaniel has enjoyed keeping score during the games whether in the comfort and quietness of our home or among the immense crowd of fans at Fenway.

We adore the sights and sounds of Fenway Park!  Fenway has always been somewhat of a magical place for our family and hundreds of thousands of New England fans.  Filled with history and mystique, Fenway Park is the place where childhood memories are conjured up as fans break out  in song singing “Sweet Caroline.” It’s where Dads hold their kids on their shoulders just as their dads had done years before. It’s the place where Yaz, or Carl Yastrzemski, blasted baseballs out of the park, whacking his 3,000th career hit in 1979. Fenway is where fans reveled in the stunning strikeouts thrown by Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez. Fenway is the place where batters like Jim Rice were cheered on countless times. It’s one of those special places our family holds dear and has made innumerable memories!

When my husband Mike turned the ripe young age of forty, my boys and I surprised him with a special trip to Fenway Park. We all took a special tour of the park. Mike even got a wave from one of his favorite players warming up on the field. We walked onto the field and were allowed to take a small cylinder of dirt home. We bought baseball hats and t-shirts and enjoyed a game in the best seats we could afford. Mike was also surprised to see a Happy Birthday message especially for him on the scoreboard.

Today the park celebrates its’ 100 Year Birthday. Fenway is the longest-running baseball stadium in America.  100 years ago today at three o’clock in the afternoon, the Red Sox played the New York Yankees just as they will do today.  Happy Birthday to that magical place, that place of history, memories and legacies.

The smells of freshly-popped popcorn and the sounds of young men calling out “Peanuts! Popcorn!”  make me smile. In celebration of Fenway’s 100th birthday, we are having Sausage and Pepper Hoagies for dinner!

One hundred years later…

Sausage and Pepper Hoagies

Expecting company for dinner yesterday, I decided to drop by the strawberry patch and pick up a big bucket of bright red beauties.  The smell of these fresh red ripened strawberries permeated the air. I decided to make the classic strawberry shortcake and boy was it delicious!

Shortcake Biscuits

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons aluminum free baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

12 tablespoons very cold butter, cubed

Zest of one orange, divided in half

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Strawberries and Cream Topping

2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

Other half of your fresh orange zest

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar

For biscuits, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to your food processor.  Pulse once or twice to combine. Add very cold butter cubes and pulse a few times until the butter is combined and the mixture looks like tiny peas.

Place mixture in a bowl, make a well and add orange zest, buttermilk, heavy cream and vanilla extract. Using  a fork , combine just until mixture is combined. It will appear dry, but it is not. Pour mixture onto your counter or island and knead for a minute or so until a ball forms.

Roll out dough into a rectangle approximately 6 x 8 inches long- doesn’t have to be exact. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While your shortcake is baking, place your strawberries, orange zest and sugar in a bowl. Stir and allow strawberries to set whole shortcake is cooking. The natural juices in the strawberries will be extract to make a yummy topping for your shortcake!

Now prepare you whipped topping. this couldn’t be any easier! Place your cream in a bowl, add almond extract and sugar. Whip up until your achieve the consistency you desire. using a cold bowl will help the cream whip up quicker.

Once your shortcake is baked, cut into large squares, place on a plate adn top with strawberries and whipped cream. All that’s left to do is to enjoy!

A PLACE WHERE I BELONGED

Elise’s new book, YOU NEVER COOK ALONE: Stirring Memories, Feeding Souls & Building Legacies helps families make meals eventful.   Through her grandmother’s and parents’ loving illustrations, Elise learned the enormous benefits of cooking with family and friends and gathering around the table for fellowship.  The family table was where Elise felt most comfortable. It was the place where she belonged.

Without distractions, her family enjoyed a home-cooked meal each and every night. With Elise’s own family, mealtime has always been very meaningful whether they are making a quick and easy weeknight meal, learning about a different culture through their cuisine, or welcoming visitors into their home. Cooking together and gathering around the table creates memories, makes meals eventful, connects generations and builds legacies.

Elise will not only help you get delicious, tried and true recipes on your family table, but she will make you laugh and cry as you read her stories.

Join Elise, the child-who-never-spoke, as she now continues her grandmother’s legacy of inter-generational cooking.  Elise enjoys connecting with all of you, so welcome!  We look forward to getting to know you better!

Chinese almond cookies are circular in shape, much like a pecan sandie, and decorated with almond slivers. Not only easy and quick to make, you need only basic ingredients for these delectable, buttery and crunchy cookies.

Unlike its cousin the fortune cookie, Chinese almond cookies are served in Chinese restaurants in between courses and not at the end of the meal to cleanse your palate. I like how they think! Whether eaten in between courses or at the end of your meal, Chinese almond cookies symbolize coins, which is why our family traditionally makes them in celebration of Chinese New Year and gives them as gifts to our family and friends.

Did you know that according to traditional Chinese medicine, almonds are thought to be anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic, so eat up!

Happy Baking! ~E

Chinese Almond Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup softened slated butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2  teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Slivered almonds

Method

This recipe couldn’t be any easier! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, sugar, egg, and extracts until smooth.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to wet and mix.

Roll into small balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or stone and press three slivered almonds on top.

Bake for 10 -12 minutes or until golden brown but remember that cookies harden as they sit so be sure to take them out before they are fully cooked.

As I kneaded, I could see my Vavo placing the dough into the large pan and working it for what seemed like forever. She always made several breads at once, which took a great deal of muscle!  I was only making two sweet breads and my arms were already beginning to tire.

I recalled my grandmother cutting a sign of the cross in the top of the dough, covering the pan with a large clean dishtowel, laying her rosary beads over top and then setting the pan in a draft-free place to rise for a second time.  Like my grandmother, I too cut a cross in the top of my dough and carefully set it aside to rise.

When I checked on the dough hours later, I noticed that once it rose, the cross had disappeared. While my boys looked on, I began to weep. I suddenly realized what the bread signified–the death and resurrection of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The large pan was like the tomb Jesus’ body was laid in. The dish towel that covered and protected the dough was like the shroud Jesus was wrapped in after His death.

The disappearance of the cross showed the victory of life over death that we can all share through the resurrection of Jesus.

My grandmother and I shared a bond that went beyond words. What Vavo did in the kitchen and what I now do echo eternal truths.

The recipe for Easter Bread is the same as the Massa Sovada with the addition of five whole brown eggs that are cooked into the bread. If you are baking massa with eggs (Folar da Pascoa) for the Easter season, after the first rise and before the second rise place the dough into the shapes or pans that you prefer, and then carefully push your whole raw eggs into the top of the dough. The dough will rise around the eggs.

Massa Sovada (Portuguese Sweet Bread)

Makes 2 large round loaves or several small rolls.

My grandmother made the best Portuguese sweet bread–known as “massa”–several times a year. Because eggs represent life, large brown hardboiled eggs were baked into the bread only at Easter time.  Massa with eggs baked in it is referred to as Folar da Páscoa. My Vavo made dozens of this bread in different sizes, including little individual breads with one egg in them.

I suspect that my Vavo learned how to make massa in the small village of Livremente and later with her stepmother in the States. My grandmother never had recipes, nor did she ever write anything down. She simply created remarkable food, which is a tell-tale sign of a gifted cook. The secret to being an extraordinary cook is undeniably love — pure and simple.

Vavo would spend hours downstairs in her kitchen with her apron on, mixing, kneading and forming her breads by hand.  She would make several large round loaves of bread, as well as braided breads and little breads. Various large bowls covered in dishtowels could be found strategically placed in warm, draft-free areas all over her immaculate, well-used kitchen.

Although my grandmother’s recipe was never written down, I have done my best to replicate it over the years.  One day during Easter, after years of trying to get the massa just right, my children and I finally had a breakthrough. Our massa tasted just like hers, and the texture was just right! Although this recipe takes some time to prepare, let rise and bake, it is definitely worth it.

10 cups (more or less) unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons active dry yeast, plus one teaspoon granulated sugar

½ cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

9 large eggs (white or brown), at room temperature

1 cup salted butter

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 cup whole milk

2¼ granulated sugar

Zest of two large lemons

Egg wash (one egg mixed with a splash milk)

Take your eggs out of the refrigerator at least two hours before using.  In a bowl, dissolve your yeast in ½ cup of warm water with one teaspoon of granulated sugar. Allow your yeast to “proof”—that is, turn bubbly and creamy. Note the amazing smell!

Beat nine eggs until they are light, fluffy and a beautiful creamy yellow. Add your “sponge”—a term for proofed yeast–to the eggs and mix in just enough flour to make a batter. Cover the batter with a dishcloth and/or blanket until it forms bubbles. In the meantime, melt the butter over low heat. Add the canola oil to the butter and mix it in. Add in the milk, a pinch of salt and the lemon zest.

When the bread batter has formed bubbles, add the granulated sugar into the butter mixture. Mix well. Add in the remaining flour one cup at a time, mixing well each time. If your dough is very sticky, don’t panic! It’s supposed to be! When it becomes too difficult to stir the dough with a wooden spoon, it’s ready. Pour it out onto a floured surface (I use my island). Knead, adding the remaining flour little by little until the dough is smooth and not too sticky. Resist adding too much flour. You want a light and fluffy bread in the end.

Cover your bread dough with a towel. Let it rise until it doubles in size.

Shape the loaves of bread into the sizes you want and place them in buttered loaf pans.

Cover the dough with a towel until it has doubled in size. Allow the dough to rise a second time. When ready to bake brush each loaf with the egg wash to achieve a bright and shiny crust. Bake for one hour on the low oven rack at 275 degrees F.

Note: Let the dough rise (ball form and bread pan form) for about 4 to 6 hours.

May the beauty of Easter touch your hearts and fill your souls! ~E

Feeds a family of four

Salad

4 chicken breasts
1 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 teaspoon Slap Ya Mama seasoning or salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 cups green leaf and romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn
2 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro
1/2 cup grapes, halved
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 cup strawberry slices
1 cup mandarin oranges
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup Spiced Nuts

Citrus Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon raw honey
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced shallot
½ teaspoon Slap Ya Mama seasoning
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate.

Marinate chicken breasts in orange and pineapple juices, Creole seasoning, cilantro and oil. Place in refrigerator for thirty minutes. When ready, grill chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Let rest a minute or so before cutting into. This keeps your chicken breast moist. If you cut too early after grilling, the juices will run out – Oh no, we don’t want that!

Arrange greens, freshly chopped cilantro, chicken, fruit, goat cheese and spiced nuts on a plate. Drizzle your Citrus Vinaigrette over top and enjoy!

The perfect Mother’s Day gift for your wife or parents, this one-night weekend stay is being offered to one winner and includes a stay in one of the newly-renovated suites and includes a memorable Breakfast for Two at the Hilton’s Remington restaurant! This certificate is valid until June 9, 2012, but the Hilton will try to make arrangements if the dates are inconvenient for you.

The Mansion on the Hill looks forward to your visit and knows you will enjoy your stay!

Your complimentary guestroom includes room and tax only, is valid Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and is subject to availability. I will mail the certificate to the winner right away.

Simply leave a comment below on why you would like to surprise or give this gift to your wife or parents and tweet about the contest using #elise johnson. One winner will be chosen. Good luck!

This prize does not include airfare.

1 stick salted butter
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup polenta or corn grits
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk
2 cans blueberry pie filling, or your favorite pie filling (cherry, apple…)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Zest of one orange

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place one unwrapped stick of butter in 9 x 13-in pan in the oven.

While your butter is melting, mix together flour, polenta, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the milk, mix well and pour directly into pan. DO NOT MIX!

Dollop the pie filling all over the batter. RESIST MIXING!

Grate nutmeg and orange zest on top.

Place in the middle of your oven and bake your cobbler for 40-45 minutes or until lightly brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of freshly whipped cream! You’re gonna kiss me!

Alex and I started our Mac and Cheese by making the sauce.

First we melted butter in a large saucepan. Once melted we added the green onions and crumbled cooked bacon. We then added two tablespoons of flour and cooked it out for one minute, stirring constantly.

In went the milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Once it thickened a bit we added the cheese.

Once the cheese melted, we added it to our cooked elbow macaroni.

We placed seven buttered ramekins onto a sheet pan and divided the mac and cheese. We topped each cup off with some Panko breadcrumbs, sprayed them with non-stick butter spray and placed them under the broiler, watching carefully until they browned a bit on top.

Yum! What a great, easy and comforting lunch!

Mac and Cheese Cups

2 tablespoons salted butter
3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 1/2 to 3 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup Panko or regular bread crumbs
Non-stick butter flavored cooking spray

Place seven ramekins onto a baking sheet. Butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter, add scallions and crumbled cooked bacon. cook for one minuter. Add flour adn stir for a minute more to get the flour taste out of your dish.

Add milk and allow to thicken a few minutes. Once thickened add nutmeg, salt adn pepper. Add cheese adn stir just until it melts. Add cheese sauce to your cooked macaroni. Divide your mac and cheese mixture into your ramekins. Sprinkle the top of each cup with a little Panko breadcrumbs. Spray each top with non-stick cooking spray and place under the broiler for a minute being careful not to burn. Using tongs, carefully place ramekins in separate cakes. Enjoy!