“We had a cold and wet snow storm last week which wrecked havoc all over this mountain. The electricity went out to over 40,000 homes for over 3 days. (GOD BLESS WOOD STOVES and the power of a woman’s survival instincts!) It was quite an adventure! I was heating up snow, water and milk on top of the stove for hot drinks and water for my 4-legged monsters, used a pair of metal tongs to heat up sandwiches over the fire in the stove, I even scrambled eggs on top of the stove. All food supplies in the refrigerator and freezer eventually went bad and to the garbage dump.
But I was able to READ 3 complete novels, went sledding into my pasture and came up with quite a delicious but primitive type of fruit cobbler: Oats, brown sugar, peaches (canned and drained partially), cinnamon, nutmeg all mixed together and placed into a stainless steel bowl, then covered with tin-foil, and placed directly on top of the fire in the stove. 30 minutes later, I drizzled some maple syrup on top and delighted in my sweet creation.”
These are words from an email from Randi Levin whom we first met on The Great Wall of China in April 2007. On The Great Wall where everything else seems smaller than life, it takes a person like Randi Levin to make an impact on the mind, but much more, on the heart.
Jigyasa captures Randi Levin (on the right) with Pratibha - friendships at The Great Wall
Free spirited and gregarious, this is a woman who lives in the high range of Colorado, all by herself, with her pets (old white and orange kitty, Snowy Blanca, a Newfoundland/Setter mix/pound puppy, a pony, and…and…) for company, ending emails abruptly with, “Off to feed him, I just heard his WHINY for breakfast”. The snow and hail storms are her eternal fascinations…she does not mind the power cuts…she is nature’s child. “The thunder wasn’t too bad; it turned to snow within a 1/2 hour. 3 more inches last night and it looked so very pretty this morning!” she wrote to us on April17th last year.
At Randi’s pasture - snow after a spring storm & a view of mountain sunshine
Her website begins with: “There is one extraordinary ingredient that goes into everything I cook and bake. Please, do not forget this ingredient for it is important to all recipes. When I am cooking or baking, I add extra spoonfuls of love to all my recipes. Love added to all things good makes them just a little bit better.” This is what makes her an ideal protagonist for this week’s tribute recipe on our blog.
That lovely elk against the rainbow almost looks like a statue to my eyes. The yellow leaves are aspen leaves in the fall sitting on a bunch of grass and Shata Daisy leaves - email from Randi on June 2007.
Children, animals and nature are her three fascinations, and just like every other culinary lover, a good recipe. True to the spirit of the place where she lives, she brought out two books of recipes for the mountain dwellers.
Her Baking at High Altitude won many awards: Best First Cookbook in the World, Gourmand & First Place Cookbooks, EVVY Award, CIPA
The 2 books feature hundreds of original Recipes ranging from cookies and cakes to strudels and much more! Breakfast dishes to Dinner treats with colour photos. There are snippets of altitudinal wisdom prevalent through out the books; including special dietary adjustments, ingredient substitutions and equivalents.
When we sent her the link of our blog, she instantly replied: “Your site has made me smile through this current turmoil, it is gorgeous and the photos, though viewed before, literally just sent me some hugs of warmth, and for that I THANK YOU!!!!
I wish I could have met Pedatha, as she was and is a very special woman. I just know that she has met my Grandmom and that the 2 of them have enjoyed looking down upon, and watching over us together on numerous occasions. We are very lucky Grandchildren indeed!!!”
For a TRIBUTE RECIPE, Randi shares with us the Blue berry Muffins by her Great Grandmother.
RANDI WRITES:
Thank goodness for Grandmothers! Full of smiles, hugs and love, they are as sweet as can be. The wisdom they generously share with those they love and many they have yet to meet is precious and priceless. I find myself quite fortunate to have learned numerous lessons for days to come from my Grandmother while spending cherished moments in her tiny kitchen in a Philadelphia apartment building. I would watch as she would mix ingredients, adding an extra pinch of this and dash of that, while producing some of the most delicious treats a little girl could ever imagine, better yet taste. Oh my, the delights I felt each time she pulled a pan of fresh baked treats out of her oven will be treasured throughout my days. More often than not, I would attempt to grab a treat immediately, but was always warned to wait until they cooled just a bit or I might burn my fingers. Although her advice was just and worthy, I find it amazing how today, decades later, I still cannot resist the temptation of delicately baked hot treats, right out of the oven. Do I burn my fingers, occasionally, but the savor is worth the ting of pain.
My Mom’s name was Marlene, but everyone called her Mickey. Grandmom’s name was Gertrude, but all called her Gert. And my Great Grandmother’s name I was never told, as she was rarely spoken of. I can’t recall my Dad ever speaking of her, and my Grandmom only referred to her as Mother or YOUR Great Grandmother. I do know that she was born in Poland and came to the US in the later 1800’s and that she must have been a fabulous cook/baker, for many still enjoy her recipes today, over 100 years later. My apologies that I cannot be more helpful, my memory runs long, but for info never shared, it is empty!
To my surprise, Grandmom left a gift to me when she passed onto to greener pastures. I specifically remember the FedEx man ringing my doorbell one snowy afternoon, and handing me a heavy, but small package, with my grandmother’s return address. Confused, as she had been gone for a couple weeks, I immediately opened the package, while the FedEx truck slipped away. Inside was her treasured metal box of recipes saved and savored for decades. This same box is where she often pulled recipes to prepare for me when I was a child. I was in heaven, as I immediately sat on the floor and pulled out amber index cards and newspaper clippings of recipes from the 30’s and 40’s. Inside this box, (which as a child I always thought was magical) I found treasured recipes for coffee cakes, pies, cookies and much more.
Although I immediately recognized my grandmother’s handwriting on various cards, there were some that appeared older with a handwriting I did not recognize, so I called my Aunt. After reciting a few recipe titles to her, she began laughing, as these were HER grandmother’s recipes, of which I was commanded to copy and forward to her.
The muffin recipe that follows is one of my Great Grandmother’s. Please enjoy it as many have for more than a century to date!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
½ cup (1 stick) margarine
1½ cups sugar, or sugar substitute
1 tablespoon vanilla
4¼ cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk
1½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1. Thoroughly mix together the margarine, sugar, vanilla, milk, flour and baking powder.
2. Add the blueberries last gently, at slow speed, mix berries thoroughly into the batter.
3. Grease 8 sections of a large muffin tin, or 12 regular size muffin sections.
4. Fill each muffin section to top with batter.
Topping: Combine: 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
5. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top of each muffin.
6. Bake 20-35 minutes (depending on muffin section size) or until they are golden and feel firm on top or until inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean.
Variation: * Raspberries or diced peaches can be used in place of berries*
My excitement at finding this treasure of recipes was beyond me, I was having so much fun imaging the times and foods from way back when, for some of these recipes are over 100 years old. I felt like the luckiest gal on earth, for right before me, was a simple metal box, that turned magical as the lid opened. You see, that magical metal box, is not just filled with an exceptional array of flavors, it is overflowing with the love of Grandmothers’!
RANDI
Posted by PRATIBHA & JIGYASA
