The New Time Travel Kitchen
Desserts for a Strawberry Moon and Welcome to my New Kitchen
Hello and Welcome!
My apartment move happened and I’m still surrounded by boxes and staring at them as I write this. I love my new place and am, of course, infatuated with the kitchen — and the view. I’m feeling very lucky and grateful.
The breadboard that belonged to my former apartment kitchen came with me and I’m so happy about that. It’s already being put to good use as you can see in the photo above and it keeps the connection going with my beloved 1927 kitchen, the inspiration for this newsletter.
In the coming weeks, I’m looking forward to having you travel along with me — and hearing your ideas — as I get my 1969 kitchen up and running with new stories, recipes and history.
I know you’ll forgive me when I tell you I baked absolutely nothing this week. But wait— that doesn’t mean there’s no dessert!
I bought beautiful, ripe pints of strawberries at the farmer’s market on Tuesday and so I offer three no-fuss treats where the plump strawberries are the stars of the show.
And since the Full Strawberry Super Moon is this Tuesday, June 14, why not celebrate?
From the The Old Farmer’s Almanac, a little history about why the June Full Moon is called the Strawberry Moon:
This name has been used by Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota peoples, among others, to mark the ripening of “June-bearing” strawberries that are ready to be gathered.
If you’d like to watch the Strawberry Super Moon rise in your time zone (while eating strawberry desserts) there is a calculator on the site at: https://www.almanac.com/astronomy/moon-rise-and-set
Strawberries 1-2-3
Strawberries #1
This couldn’t be easier. Wash, dry and hull your strawberries and cut them in halves or quarters, depending on their size. Toss them with sugar — about 1-2 Tbsp per 2 cups of strawberries (depends on how sweet you like them) — Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and let them sit for about 20 minutes. Fill a pretty dish with your favorite ice cream and spoon the strawberries over it. Add a cookie if you like and since I didn’t have any mint on hand, but did have basil, I garnished with that, it tastes great with strawberries.
Strawberries #2
So simple and good. Wash, dry, hull and halve or quarter the berries, put in bowl and this time add a grind of fresh black pepper, the sugar (about 1-2 Tbsp per 2 cups of strawberries) and a squeeze of lemon juice. Macerate the strawberries for 20 minutes. Serve and drizzle with good balsamic vinegar. It’s a syrupy glaze with sweet acidity and is great over ice cream, with goat cheese, yogurt, in salads - versatile and delicious.
Strawberries #3
In honor of Wimbledon which starts later this month — the easiest strawberry dish of them all. Wash, dry and hull your berries and if they are small leave them whole. Pour cold, heavy whipping cream over the sweet berries and that’s it. Delicious. Note: in the U.S. the fat content in heavy whipping cream is 36% - 38% while in the U.K. the butterfat content in double cream is a luxurious 48%.
And if you’ve got the time
Last year I made this sponge cake from a 1933 recipe and slathered it with lots of whipped cream and dressed it up with strawberries, blackberries and mint. I’ve linked to the article and recipe below the photo if you’d like to give it a try — it’s worth the time if you’ve got it.
Click ‘Read More’ for recipe.
Strawberry Finale and More
Now that I’m living in a skyscraper built in 1969, I’m intrigued not only by the building design, but with the kitchen design and colors used during that period (please note my new avocado-ish colored place mats;) I’m also interested in textile designs of the era.
The cloth napkins I used in the photos are from the 1970’s (found on Etsy) by artist, designer and entrepreneur Vera Neumann. She created wearable art and fashion for the home. Color saturated pieces, her signature always included a ladybug, symbol of resilience and good luck.
Vera’s strawberries are bold and playful, not unlike the “Strawberry Hills” print by famed designer Maija Isola for Marimekko. The pattern, pictured above, was designed in 1969 and influenced by two Beatles songs. “Strawberry Fields” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m most interested in the food, recipes and cookbooks of the 60’s and 70’s in this new chapter of Time Travel Kitchen (but as time-travelers we reserve the right to jump around to other decades ;)
But I’m also looking at the history, the trends, the turmoil, the activism, the art, the politics, the music, the style and the spirit of the years 1960-1979 —and want to dip in to that as well — and make all the connections.
So stay tuned. Next Friday I’ll have an announcement on how I plan to do it.
But rest assured, one thing will never change: every week I’ll share food and baking with you from the Time Travel Kitchen!
Thank you all so much. See you next Friday!
Jolene
References:
HTTPS://Marimekko.com
HTTPS://VeraNeumann.com
Wait … strawberries with balsamic vinegar? Goat cheese? Mike drop.
Sit down and have a strawberry martini, Jolene! You’re in a new kitchen and decade! So exciting! It’s beautiful. Your kitchen and this post, too. Congrats!