4th of July – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

20-8: Pie Crust

Jamie Martin Group 20: Basic Recipes, Section 4: Cooking School July 6, 2021July 6, 20214th of July, all-purpose flour, baked goods, blind bake, butter, chilled, cooking school, cornstarch, cottage cheese, cut in, dessert, dinner, dock, egg wash, eggs, filling, flaky, flute, food processor, granulated sugar, holiday baking, how-to, lattice, parbake, pastry, pastry wheel, pie crust, pie weights, pies, pot pie, quiches, shortening, summer, tart pan, vegetarian

I missed getting this one out in time for 4th of July, but summer’s far from over here in the U.S. If you happen to have some seasonal fruit or are looking for a lighter dinner option (I grew up on quiches and I love them), 20-8: Pie Crust can be a great base recipe for both of those. And of course, this isn’t limited to just summer–pie crusts are useful all year round.

You can even make up a bunch of pie crust dough balls using this recipe and freeze them individually–just pull one out when needed and let it defrost.

15-14: Knickerbocker Glory

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 28, 2021June 28, 20214th of July, American, chilled, chopped, cocktail, cold desserts, dessert, dollop, easy, fairly inexpensive, frozen, fruit, garnish, gluten-free, ice cream, maraschino cherries, mason jars, New York, nuts, powdered sugar, purée, raspberries, raspberry sauce, sorbet, stiff peaks, summer, sundaes, toppings, untested, vegetarian, walnuts, whipped, whipping cream

Hi there–it’s been a while, but things got busy recently. Here’s one that’s been half-finished in my draft queue for way too long.

We got onto a “ridiculous desserts” kick recently, and made 15-14: Knickerbocker Glory along with its similar cousin, 15-7: Banana Split. If you’re still holding off on going out somewhere for ice cream, either one of these are pretty easy to make at home and are definitely ridiculous. Not quite on the level of “cake hanging off of a milkshake for Instagram“, but also definitely not something you’d eat very often.

“Knickerbocker glory” is a real thing that Simply Delicious didn’t just make up, and has been around for about a hundred years at this point. They were allegedly invented in the US (at the Knickerbocker Hotel), but seem to be a much bigger deal in the UK these days than they are here. They’re even mentioned in Harry Potter!

Since Independence Day is just around the corner, maybe you can make these as an “American” summer treat–especially if it’s super hot where you are right now.

14-8: Baked Alaska

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods July 4, 2020July 27, 20201998 dinner, 4th of July, American, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cake pan, cakes, cognac, cooking class, dessert, egg whites, eggs, fairly easy, favorites, folded, granulated sugar, hot desserts, Hutton house, ice cream, inexpensive, jam/jelly/preserves, layers, liqueur, liquor, meringue, pastry bag, piped, raspberries, revisited, rum, stiff peaks, strawberries, summer, the sims, vegetarian

Today is Independence Day here in the U.S., so let’s do one of my favorite desserts and recipes from this book, 14-8: Baked Alaska. Obviously Simply Delicious didn’t invent this dish–it’s an American dessert that’s existed since Civil War times and is so well known you can even make it as a Sim.

I have a history with this particular version of the dish, however. I first made it as my “showstopper” dessert for a big family dinner I cooked as a teenager (along with a similarly-aged family friend) many years ago.

I also taught about 200 K-8 kids (ages 5-13ish) how to make this recipe and several others as part of an after-school cooking class program that was one of my first teaching-related jobs. I’ve been waiting YEARS to write this one, so now it’s your turn with it.

14-22: Strawberry-Peach Cobbler

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 25, 2020February 26, 20204th of July, à la mode, apples, baking powder, biscuit cutters, biscuits, butter, cobbler, cookie cutters, cored, dessert, dough, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, fruit, gift ideas, granulated sugar, hot desserts, hulled, nectarines, party food, pastry, peaches, peeled, salt, sliced, strawberries, summer, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream

Finally, we’ve reached the first recipe (for this project) made in my new (to you) kitchen: 14-22: Strawberry-Peach Cobbler. It was summer and 4th of July, so something with fruit that goes well with ice cream was bound to be a hit.

Speaking of 4th of July, I made 2-37: Chicken-Salami-Rice Salad for a party that I attended with a guy that I had just started dating. 10 years later, this is the first recipe I cooked in my very first house, that I bought with that same guy (who I ended up marrying not long after I made that first recipe).

Told you this book has some memories.

16-17: Meringue-Topped Cherry Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 8, 2019July 31, 20204th of July, all-purpose flour, black cherries, butter, cherries, chilled, cornstarch, cottage cheese, dessert, dough, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fail, fairly easy, fairly expensive, filling, flute, French, fruit, granulated sugar, melted, meringue, pies, springform pan, stiff peaks, tart pan, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian

I bet you thought I abandoned this project. You’d be wrong–I just started a few others and let this one get a bit dusty. After almost 5 years, I’m still plugging along, and will be until I finish this damn thing. I don’t even know when I cooked this, but here’s 16-17: Meringue-Topped Cherry Pie.

I know I cooked it sometime in 2018, and I know that I wanted to attempt a vegan version (which didn’t go well). I think I was making it to bring to work, but I have a feeling it never made it there. Looking over the pictures of it, I think I know why.

2-37: Chicken-Salami-Rice Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 16, 2016March 14, 20204th of July, appetizers, black olives, black pepper, boiled, celery, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken salad, chilled, cooked chicken, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dressing, easy, garlic, green bell peppers, inexpensive, lemons, lettuce, lunch, marinated, olive oil, party food, red bell peppers, red onions, revisited, rice, roach motel apt, salads, salami, sautéed, tomatoes, tuna

Today (Jan. 16) is my wedding anniversary, so I thought I’d post a recipe that has some relevance to my husband and I. I made this for a 4th of July party that we attended together back in 2009, when we had only just started dating.

We actually had a terrible time at the party, and I remember the salad being a bit strange with my modifications, but everything seems to have worked out in the end. My second attempt at the salad turned out much better, as most things do in life after a bit of thought. 🙂