Popovers on the Square

Lou and I got married a little over two years ago in New Castle, NH at Wentworth by the Sea.

The Wentworth is worthy of it's own blog entry, but if you have never heard of it, it is considered a Grand Hotel, from the late 1800's.

In the early 90's the hotel was left in disrepair and the word on the street from the local fire department was, if it was on fire, let it burn!

Thanks to a group of determined citizens who wanted to bring the hotel back to its original splendor, Wentworth by the Sea was remodeled and reopened. It is now a 4 Diamond hotel managed by Marriot, and it is an amazing venue for a wedding.

New Castle, NH where the Wentworth is located, is next to Portsmouth, NH. When we were planning our wedding, it required several trips to the area, and we often found ourselves wandering the streets of Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a historical town, with many shops and restaurants.

Our absolute favorite place for lunch in Portsmouth is Popovers on the Square. The Square is what I consider the center of Portsmouth. It's where several streets meet and a large church with a beautiful white steeple is located.

Popovers has built their entire menu around, what else... The popover! A Popover is an egg based muffin which has a crispy exterior and porous interior.

If you order just a popover in this establishment, you will get a side of maple butter to go with it. It is pure deliciousness.

The perfect popover may have been the inspiration for this place, but it is not the only thing which screams perfection. There is an array of lunch items available as well as a large selections of pastries. One of our favorite things to get in the winter is a hearty bowl of clam chowder which is accompanied by a mini herbed popover. Since the mini popover hardly satisfies our need for a popover, Lou and I each get a large popover on the side as well.

If you are in the Portsmouth area, stop in and tell them Lou and Kris sent you. They won't know who the heck we are, but if enough people say it, they will start to wonder!

Paella on the Vineyard with Mabelle

I am lucky enough to have a mother- in -law who has a house on the Vineyard, and even luckier she lets Lou and I use it for a week every summer. We headed down in July and had an amazing time with friends, but one of the most special moments of our trip was our last night there.

Lou and I needed a place to stay our last night on the island and, Linda, my mother-in-law, has a good friend Mabelle who was kind enough to invite us into her home to stay the night. I know you are not supposed to tell a woman's age, but when that woman is 83, looks no older than 60, plays tennis and has more energy all day, than I have first thing in the morning, I say it with astonishment. Mabelle is 83?!? She is also one of Lou's and my favorite people we have ever met. I've never felt so comfortable, so quickly in a stranger's home. Thank you Mabelle. You are one of a kind.

When we arrived at Mabelles, I got a huge surprise. Mabelle is the originator of the paella recipe Linda gave me last year, and she was cooking it for dinner!

It is one thing to get a recipe from someone, but it is another to be able to witness them cooking it. Mabelle not only let me witness, she asked me to help her cook.

Two major things Mabelle does different than I do with the paella...

#1 she cooks amazing, bone in, chicken for the recipe. I use skinless tenders, and I missed her cooking the chicken, total bummer.

#2 She actually uses real saffron and makes the rice from scratch. I use a similar technique to cook the rice, but I go the lazy spice route and buy Goya paella rice with a spice packet.

The verdict? You can't compete with the original recipe. If we had done the Bobby Flay throw down, I don't think I would have stood a chance against Mabelle's paella

It is great when someone trusts you to help them with dinner. Mabelle not only had me help with the paella, she also let me make the salad.

As if Mabelle wouldn't have beat me in a throw down already, she topped off our cooking with Dark and Stormies. A combination of Gosling Ginger Beer and Dark Rum.

Now I just have to figure out how to get invited back!

Cook with your Grandparents

Mother Dear

Lou's maternal grandmother is 91 years old. She is a tiny woman and walks slowly with a cane, but don't be fooled. I wouldn't mess with Mother Dear. Mother still lives on her own in the house she raised all her children in. She is as sharp as ever and doesn't hesitate to tell you how she shot a man who broke into her house and tried to steal her purse. At 91 with 3 grown children, 5 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren, Lou and I figured we should take Mother Dear out for a nice dinner, but she had other plans.

We showed up to her house in Elberton, GA for a visit, and there was Mother in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I had heard about her fried creamed corn for years from Lou. When I saw she was making it, and she said I could help, I jumped at the chance.

When I say I helped, basically I shucked the corn and then observed asking a lot of questions. It was my first time in Mother's kitchen, and starting at apprentice was fine with me.

Mother started by cutting the corn off the cobs. She told me the closer you cut, the creamier the corn is. She said, most people don't cut the corn close enough, so they add cream to their creamed corn, but if you do it right, that isn't necessary.

Next was the pan. Mother had an iron skillet which she said, was the pan you have got to use to make fried creamed corn. In it, she had some back fat cooking. She had cooked it until it was extremely crispy, then she removed it from the pan and left some of the fat to combine with the corn.

She put the corn in the pan with the lard from the back fat and let it come to a boil.

Once the corn was boiling it looked like this, and she let it continue to simmer for about 15 minutes stirring it once in a while. The finished product was so good, I think she must have snuck in some other ingredients when I wasn't looking. Corn and back fat fried in a pan tastes like this?

Before we arrived, mother had also made corn bread for us and....

Sweet potato pie!

We also had friend chicken yum!

If you are lucky enough to have a grandparent still alive who has a special recipe, or is just an amazing cook. Don't waste anytime. If you haven't already, cook with them.