Oh, it’s a long long while from May to December,
And the days grow short when you reach September …
Even though I love that song, I don’t particularly care for the truth of it. Here we are, on the first day of September and, as usual, I have no clue as to what it is that makes the time from Memorial Day to Labor Day pass so quickly.
The kids got out of school just a few short weeks ago, right? Yet one week from today, they’ll all be staring out the windows of a classroom, wondering what became of all the summer days they so looked forward to last June.
September, when leaves begin to turn, nights grow short, mornings are chilly and wet with dew. Football fever returns, even as baseball fans are watching final innings. Labor Day traffic crawls and ferry lines are stupefyingly long, as everyone tries to squeeze in one last summer outing. Malls and stores are packed with anxious mothers and sullen kids taking advantage of blaring “back-to-school specials.”
September is National Rice month, as well as National Honey, Chicken, Baby Safety, Better Breakfast, Library Card Sign Up, School Success and Women’s Achievement month.
Oh, yes, it’s also National Pediculosis Prevention Month, and just in case you’re wondering, that means head lice prevention. I’m all in favor of that, but had no idea there was an entire month dedicated to spreading the word about head lice, which are right up there with bedbugs on my gross-out list.
Remember Mary and her little lamb? The one with fleece as white as snow, who followed her to school one day? Well, 180 years ago, that poem was first published, giving whoever makes up these special days a reason for designating Sept. 1 National Mary Had a Little Lamb Day. Put that in your memory banks for future party chatter, along with Uncle Sam’s 197th Birthday, which is Friday, the 3rd. And Sunday, the 5th, is National Cheese Pizza Day, giving you the perfect excuse to order cheese pizza for Sunday supper, which takes care of at least one of those Labor Day weekend meals.
So, here we are, racing into the final big weekend of summer before we round up all the kids and deposit them into learning facilities of one sort or another. Back in one of my other lives, I taught school for 13 years, and I can tell you from personal experience that every September brings new and bigger challenges. Every year at this time, my thoughts and good wishes go out to both those who are trying to teach and those who are trying to learn.
“Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few …”
How do you plan to spend these precious days, the wonderful days of September?
RECIPES
September is what I think of as a transitional month, 30 days to wind down from summertime activities and decide what our winter projects will be.
And when nights get longer and chillier, I find myself longing for hearty soups, squash casseroles, pumpkin bread and pie, pot roast with potato dumplings, meat loaf and mashed potatoes, stewed chicken and dumplings; in other words, all the warm, comforting foods of fall and winter.
High on that list are popovers; nothing goes quite as well with a hearty soup as a golden, airy popover. These, made with a Gruyere cheese center, are, indeed, something to POP over.
GRUYERE POPOVERS
1 cup flour
½ t. salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
½-¾ cups grated Gruyere cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place one popover or muffin pan in the oven. (This recipe is perfect for six popovers, but may be a bit too much for six muffin cups. After you try these popover recipes, you may decide it’s worth having a popover pan. You won’t regret it.) In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt to blend. Heat milk in a heavy small saucepan over med. heat until very warm (about 125 degrees).
Whisk eggs in a larger bowl to blend. Gradually whisk warm milk into eggs, beginning with a very small amount at first to avoid cooking eggs, then adding in a thin steady stream, whisking as you add. When all the milk has been added, gradually stir in the flour mixture just to blend (don’t over mix; the batter will still be lumpy.
Remove hot pan from oven (leave oven on same temp.) and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon about a scant ¼ to 1/3 cup of batter into each cup. Top each with about 1½ T. cheese. Bake until puffed and deep brown, about
40 min. Remove from oven, remove popovers from pan and serve.
Note: Popovers are never better than when they are right out of the oven, so have all the other components of the meal ready when you bring the popovers out. Spectacular!
Equally as spectacular, but with a very different flavor, are these popovers, with a light cumin touch. Note that this recipe says to cut a small slit in the top of the popovers toward the end of baking; many popover recipes have this variation, which allows some steam to escape and dry the popover a bit at the end of baking. I’ve eaten them both ways and still have no particular preference.
CURRY CUMIN POPOVERS
½ t. cumin seeds
2 large eggs
¾ c. milk
¼ c. water
1 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup less 2 T. flour (yes, with popovers measurement matters)
½ t. salt
1 t. curry powder
With a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind ¼ t. of the cumin seeds. Preheat oven to
375 degrees and generously grease a 6 cup popover tin or 9 half cup muffin tins.
Whisk together the eggs, milk and water. Add the melted butter in a stream, whisking to blend well. Gradually add the flour and salt, whisking to blend but batter will still be lumpy. Whisk in the ground cumin seed and curry powder, just until blended.
Divide batter among prepared tins; sprinkle remaining whole cumin seeds on top. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 45 min., then use a small sharp knife to cut a ½-inch slit in the top of each and bake 10 min. more. Remove from oven; remove popovers from pan and serve.
If it has broccoli in it, it must be very good for you, right? A recipe from a long-time friend who knows of my love for popovers. Thanks, Diane, for these:
CHEDDAR BROCCOLI POPOVERS
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup flour
½ t. salt
¼ t. ground black pepper
1 cup milk
3 eggs
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (squeeze out as much liquid as you can)
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a 6-cup popover pan or muffin tin with cooking spray. Drizzle about ½ t. of the melted butter in the bottom of each cup.
In a med. bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and pepper to blend. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking until batter is smooth, about 2 min. Whisk the cheese into the batter.
Fill each popover cup about 1/3 full of the batter. Divide the chopped broccoli evenly among the cups, then divide remaining batter among the cups, pouring it over the broccoli. Bake for 20 min., then reduce heat 325 degrees and bake for an addition al 10-12 min., or until popovers are puffed and deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly; serve.
