Walking into my grandmother’s house, I gaze at the Christmas tree, sparkling lights winding their way to the peak where a silver star adorns the top branch of the petit pine. Beneath, is a mini lit-up Christmas village, with a fragile train chugging its way through the town and winding through the snow-coated cottages. My grandmother has arranged this small village for nearly fifty years, since she married my grandfather. This year is no different; the same train whistles. I hear my aunt’s dog bark a cheerful “hello.” Nat King Cole’s, silky tone is singing “The Christmas Song” alongside the joyful chorus of voices from my aunts and uncles. I sigh blissfully. I breath in the sweet, spicy smell of the Ponche. The list of ingredients gallop through my mind: cinnamon, cider, cloves, coconut, pineapple, papaya… Just this past autumn, my grandmother taught me the recipe, patiently helping me prepare it, and write down what had been locked away in her mind. My grandmother greets me at the door, giving me a hug, and smiling, the words spilling out of her mouth soft, smooth and sweet, “Feliz Navidad!” She proceeds to present me with the Ponche, and I gladly take it, daintily slurping the flavorful drink: spices, apples and raisins fill my mouth. The cup is warm to the touch; heat is radiating off the white ceramic mug and filling my heart with happiness. Serves 7 Ingredients 1 medium Granny Smith apple 1 small Gala apple 1 ½ cups (350g) papaya (any variety) 1 ½ cups (350g) pineapple 1 baby Thai coconut 9 pitted prunes ½ cup (115g) raisins 4 cups (1 litre) water 4 cups (1 litre) apple cider 3 medium cinnamon sticks 3 cloves 4 allspice berries ½ cup (115g) raw sugar Method Dice the apples, papaya and the pineapple into small cubes. Place them in a large pot. Have an adult open the coconut. Empty the juice into a separate glass. (You will not need it in this recipe.) Scoop away the coconut flesh with a spoon. Place the coconut in the pot. Cut the pitted prunes in half. Place them in the pot, and add the raisins. Pour the apple cider and the water into the pot. Put in the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Pour in the sugar. Set on the stove with medium heat until it boils. Lower the flame and simmer for 18-20 minutes. Serve hot. Catherine Gruen, 10Chino Hills, California
Recipe-Sweet
Mom’s S’mores Bars, from My Family Cookbook
My mom always makes these for my family and me. She also made them for my neighbors when they first moved in, that was our way of making them feel welcomed. They also loved them. My mom is an amazing baker and can make anything that requires baking for any type of occasion. Ingredients ½ cup (115g) butter, softened ¾ cup (175g) brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/3 cups (200g) all-purpose flour ¾ cup (65g) graham cracker crumbs (or crushed wheatmeal or Digestive biscuits) 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 5 Hershey bars, or 200g other milk chocolate) 1 small container marshmallow crème, or 200g marshmallows Method Heat oven to 350ᐤF (180ᐤC). Grease one 8-inch (20cm) square pan. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla beat well. Stir together flour, graham crackers, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat well until blended. Press half the dough into pan. Arrange chocolate bars over dough. Spread marshmallow crème over it and press rest of dough over it. Bake 30-35 minutes.
Disaster Raspberry Smoothie
It all began with boredom. It was a sweltering August day, and my younger brother, Ciaran, and I couldn’t agree on what to do. “We could play Go Fish,” Ciaran suggested. I shook my head. “No.” Okay,” Ciaran fidgeted a little, trying to think. “How about—” “I could read to you,” I interjected. Ciaran sighed. “C’mon, Evelyn, it’s summer. School doesn’t start for two weeks. How about—” Once again, I interrupted: “We can pick raspberries and make a raspberry smoothie.” On the side of our house, there is a colossal, overgrown raspberry bush that produces many raspberries from about May up until mid-October, when the weather turns cold. One of my favorite summer activities is picking raspberries and then eating them. But it was a small spark of genius that it might be fun to try to make raspberries into a smoothie. After all, we had a blender—though I had never used it before. Ciaran smiled and agreed with me. “Let’s do it.” And after grabbing a couple of bowls and calling, “Mom, going outside to pick raspberries!”, we were on our way. When we pick raspberries, it isn’t the most pleasant thing in the world. It just so happens that the bush is west of the house, and that at 3:00 in the afternoon, the scorching sun is in the west, too, and it decides to roast your back. It doesn’t help that the bush produces raspberries as well as thorns. The thought of getting a cool smoothie at the end of all of this kept me going, and at least it was only 90°. As soon as we filled three bowls with raspberries, we went inside, dumped the raspberries in a strainer, and washed them. As we did, Mom came into the kitchen. “Hi,” she greeted us. “What are you doing with the raspberries?” “Making a smoothie,” Ciaran replied as I set down the strainer and searched in the cupboard for the blender. “You’ve never made one before,” she said. “Do you need help?” I shook my head. “We’re good. This was our idea, after all.” “Okay,” she said and left. As we dumped the raspberries from the strainer to the blender, we couldn’t help but be excited. We had never made anything with raspberries, and now we were making a smoothie. “Moment of truth,” I told Ciaran as I plugged the blender into an outlet and switched it ON. The blender began to whirr, and the raspberries began to spin. It looked pretty good, actually, in the minute before raspberry smoothie bits began spewing out the top and onto the counter that had just been cleaned. “No, no, no!” I fretted. To Ciaran, who was closer to the blender, I said, “Switch it off!” “I can’t do that without—” Ciaran began, reaching for the switch. Before he could, mushed raspberry bits sprayed him in the cheek. “Who cares?” I snapped at him. “You can wash your face after!” A few raspberry bits in the face later, Ciaran flipped the switch and it was off. I reached for a towel so that I could cover the top of the blender. A few minutes later, after we drank our smoothies, Mom came into the kitchen. “How did it go?” she asked. I smiled. “Perfect. Just perfect.” Now picking raspberries and making smoothies out of them is one of our favorite summer activities. Of course, we put a rag over the top now so that raspberry bits stay in the blender. But if I were to choose, I wouldn’t put a rag over the blender, just for the fun of it. Serves 1 Ingredients 1 cup (200g) fresh raspberries 1 Mandarin orange, peeled 2 ice cubes Method Put all ingredients in a blender and switch it to high. Blend until thick and smooth. Note: If your blender is over-reactive, make sure to screw the top on tight and put a towel over the top, just in case! Evelyn Kelly, 10Spokane, WA