The Gift of Cheese

My neighbor had some lovely extra items from a party she hosted. She brought them to our house. We enjoyed sampling the cheeses, accompanied by red grapes, pepper strips and celery sticks she gifted us.

Thank you Kelly.

I started looking up cheese and saw that many people can’t eat hard cheeses and some get migraines and cheese can cause painful indigestion for others. Lactose intolerance affects some people, too. Ouch.

I like cheese and probably consume too much of it as I find it satisfying and delicious. But it has high fat content!

A lovely sampling of cheeses

Do you have a favorite cheese?

Cheese info here

“Cheeses come in eight varieties including blue, hard, pasta filata, processed, semi-hard, semi-soft, soft and fresh, and soft-ripened”

Click here for Cheese recipes from Wisconsin

And an article Is Velveeta Real Cheese?

And another for debate

Creamy Rice Pudding and Custard in Cans

I saw these two Ambrosia cans on the shelf in the World Market (and there are other pudding choices in the store) in Columbus Ohio.

I didn’t purchase but was curious.

Perhaps a reader has tasted a these products and can give a review.

Fall Festival Highlights

Fall Festival at the Stephen Foster Community Center on Friday September 12.

Kielbasa Pirogies Sauerkraut Applesauce
Pumpkin pie
Raffle Prizes
The Pittsburgh Zoo Mobile came to the Center
Pancake Turtle named Jack
Photo of Red Boa by Artist Nancy Fenton. Thank you

And I won a mum- blurry clip from a selfie video

Plum Tortes in Pittsburgh, Florida, Nova Scotia and New York City and a late edition

Pittsburgh -My friend Roberta brought this Plum Torte to breakfast Labor Day 2025. On that same day, my friend Joanne sent me a NYTimes article about it being
Plum Torte Season

My sister Mary has two clippings of recipes from the NYTimes

My sister’s Italian Prune Plums, Halved

And another clipping c1985,86

The article from Sept 1st in the NYTimes

Here’s what Joanne says

Ruth ~ After talking to you about Marion Burros’  Purple Plum Torte I decided to make it once again.  The New York Times has made it famous by writing about it and  publishing the recipe, and I know your friend brought you one recently.  The recipe is easy and foolproof.  I made one individual serving in a little cocotte, and served it up with some Jeni’s “Brambleberry Crisp” ice cream and a small glass of plum wine.  A great idea for some future dinner party.  

And I cut the large one with a 6-piece pie/cake cutter that I found at my local restaurant supply store.  

Thanks for giving me the idea to bake this fall classic!

JB

Joanne’s Purple Plums in Florida
St Augustine Plum Torte by Joanne

Joanne’s dear friend Colleen (you’ve seen her quilts and cookbooks on the blog )

Nova Scotia Plum Torte

Colleen says Thanks for sharing. It’s delicious

New York City Last years Plum Torte blog post

Here’s one I baked in 2015

And if you’re still reading you might like this Food 52 article about Marian Burros and her Plum Torte,

Editors note: A late edition added to the plum torte extravaganza

This just in 9/8/2025 from Sarah in New Jersey who says “Due to time constraints this will have to suffice 🥰🥰”

Recapturing a Flavor From Childhood

In the late 1950s my father would get Limpa Bread from a Swedish man named Elmer in a deli in New Jersey. Sharp cheese wrapped in a paper went on the slice of brown bread. It was delicious. I made the Joy of Cooking recipe for Limpa bread about 40 years ago but it wasn’t as I remembered. But-

I got a recipe from this library book pictured below, using some of the sourdough starter my friend gave me

Orange zest, molasses, anise seed, beer, and rye flour help recreate the flavor of
Limpa Bread

I wanted an honest critique of my efforts so Chef Sam met me in the Millvale parking lot to try a slice. He brought sharp cheese, a homegrown cucumber sliced and Kalamata Olives

Maybe a tad less of the dark rye, he said, but that the flavors were wonderful

I think the recipe from this cookbook was the answer to baking the bread of my childhood, delicious

The Gift of a Peach

On lemon blueberry ice cream

It’s Zucchini Season

After I created the 9 image grid, (pics photographed in natural window light) I realized I was missing part of the sequence.
See the 3 pics below in the night kitchen light

One thing I learned from a Gordon Ramsey cooking show, a few years ago, was to place what you’re cooking in an order so you know when to turn which piece. Start at 12:00 noon. Then 1,2, 3 o’clock etc.

My First Loaf of Sourdough

A friend at exercise class gave me sourdough starter and a basic recipe. I learned why she advised don’t use tap water. Filtered or Spring water. The chlorine in the city water can kill the yeast (or at least slow it down.)

I’ve been feeding the starter refrigerating it when I’d leave town, take it back out and feed it again and was planning to bake sourdough bread.

Today was the day. I used a ln enameled cast iron bread baker that Jen S and I bought from Aldi last year.

Putting it into a handmade bread bag.
“Always Fresh Bread” in Ukrainian

I took a book out of the library through the Libby App online and renewed it tonight.

This video was a good resource

Potential Eastern Redbud Trees

You’re to harvest the pods with the seeds inside in the fall when they are dried and turn brown. Supposedly they can be eaten at this stage, .

How many potential trees in this one tree alone?

How do you like your scrambled eggs?