Green bacon on a stick

Breakfast always tasted better outside, my mother told me years ago as we carried the fixings for a bacon-and-egg breakfast down the steep hillside to the waterfront at Queen Lake, where we visited our cousins Edie and Bill each summer.

Of course she was right, but I don’t know if I would have immediately realized it if she hadn’t told me that day.

Edie was my mother’s cousin, but as close as a big sister to her, and Bill and my father became fast friends. We kids were crazy about our older cousins, and our times at the camp, as we called their rustic house on the lake, were some of the happiest and carefree of my childhood.

Bill loved to regale us with stories – of coming face to face with a Grizzly Bear while hunting in Alaska or hauling telephone poles to hilltops in rural Vermont. But he was a kidder, and when we were young it was sometimes hard to tell where the real story ended and the tall tale began.

At that first lakeside breakfast he told us about cooking over a campfire out in the wilderness. His voice started booming as he described boiling eggs in a pot of coffee and cooking bacon over the fire on a green stick.

Somehow, in the conversation that followed, the green was transposed from the stick to the bacon.

This was long before I was allowed to have coffee, but for some reason the concept of cooking eggs in the coffee really appealed to me, perhaps because it sounded both elemental and efficient. My mother, who loved her coffee, declared that it would ruin the brew, but that nothing would be worse than green bacon on a stick.

Bill was delighted with the concept, and, for all the years we enjoyed breakfast down by the water, he never failed to ask if anyone wanted green bacon on a stick.

Now here's a saint's day featuring some food I like

My friend Mary Helen mentioned that tomorrow, March 19, is St. Joseph's Day, when the bakeries in the North End (Boston) feature cream-filled pastries.

A nice change of emphasis from the American tradition of a St. Patrick's Day boiled dinner.

I don't know where I've been, but I never heard of this tradition until today.

A little research turns up the story of Sicily's being saved from drought and famine during the Middle Ages through the intercession of St. Joseph. Bob points out that the luxury of cream-filled pastries makes a nice counterpoint to the travails of famine.

Where green was the color of the day on March 17, those celebrating St. Joseph wear red, and it's traditional to honor fathers, even though, strictly speaking, St. Joseph was more of a stepfather than a dad.

At any rate, when it comes to a feast, I prefer the Italian influence, despite my last name.

Maybe I'll wander over to the North End for a cannoli tomorrow.

But even as I indulge, as so many of us in America do, there is still hunger and famine throughout the world, much of it the result of armed conflict.

Corned beef & cabbage -- No thanks

Growing up, I usually had to face a corned beef and cabbage dinner on or around St. Patrick's Day. Never cared for the meat or the cabbage, but the carrots and potatoes picked up wonderful flavor from the briney water of the boiled dinner.

I've never served this dish to my family.

The other unpleasant food associated with the Irish -- at least in my book -- was the soda bread studded with caraway seeds and currants. Neither appeals to me.

So what a revelation it was when I first tasted wheaten bread in Ireland. This dense, no-yeast loaf is both healthy and delicious. Made with whole wheat flour and buttermilk, it has a creamy taste -- and no add-ins to spoil the consistency and taste. I've made it from several different recipes (and can never remember which I used last). There are any number of versions online. I like the look of this recipe, but I'd use butter instead of margarine.

If I'm over in West Newton, (Mass.) I pick up the delicious wheaten loaves at the Keltic Krust Bakery,

Emergency Fluff shipment

Sent Marjorie back to England with four vats of Marshmallow Fluff last week. She's studying there this semester, and it seems that her British friends are fascinated with Fluff, which isn't available there.

One woman wanted to use it to make whoopie pies. (Something I never do, but more on that later.) Others wanted to try Fluffernutters. I'll ask Marjorie for an update on how the Fluff was received.

Early on in her stay there, Marjorie mentioned that "there are no cups or teaspoons," which I found shocking, given the tea-drinking culture. It took me a moment to realize that she was referring to the use of metric measure in cooking, so I included some measuring cups and spoons with the Fluff. I'm slated to make chocolate and pumpkin whoopie pies when I visit later in the spring.

By the way, Fluff originated in Massachusetts and can be difficult to find in other parts of the country. Check out the "Fluff Finder" on the Marshmallow Fluff Web site, which also has the Fluffernutter jingle!

Pancakes, cinnamon chips & a superb substitution

Bob was up early this morning to make pancakes for our daughter Nora before she headed out to take the SATs. But there were no eggs, as Nora had used them all making a double batch of Toll House cookies for school.

When I heard that the pancakes were eggless, I made a face (involuntarily). But then I recalled another recent eggless day, when Bob had substituted three tablespoons of canola oil – figuring that the fat was the important component of the eggs – and the recipe had turned out just fine.

I asked him to remind me what he had been cooking that day. Turns out it was pancakes.

So when I got back from driving Nora, I made myself a latte and some cinnamon chip pancakes. The batter had risen to form an airy sponge and dropped in large balls onto the frying pan.

These pancakes were fabulous and light, with a consistency that reminded me of a flaky piecrust. They may not have provided any protein, but I’ll never again turn up my nose at an eggless pancake.

A confession: We don't make homemade pancakes but use the Ultimate Pancake recipe that is sometimes printed on the Bisquick box. It's really good, so, even though I have a whole-wheat recipe I like, we go with this version that the family prefers.

The kids add in chocolate chips, and Bob and I go for mini cinnamon chips. Our son Aidan got us started on them. At one time we could buy Hershey's brand from the supermarket, but none of the area stores stock them these days. I found a superior product online at the Prepared Pantry and order them in large quantitites.