December 2017

This cookie was discovered when I was bored. I wrote up a recipe and the Lembas cookie was invented! This cookie is named after the Lembas bread from the Lord of the Rings that the elves make. And, just like the bread, you can eat one cookie and be full for a couple of hours. As my family says: “It tastes like gingerbread, smells like banana bread, and has a texture like a sponge cake.” This cookie is truly unique. Ingredients 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour (or cake flour. I use all-purpose for everything) 1 cup (200g) sugar (less if you like. You can use ½ – ⅔ cup (200g) of honey as a substitute. I found that honey tastes better if you like that sort of thing.) ½ cup (115g) butter (unsalted, as salted doesn’t taste good. Blech!) 2 eggs 1 pinch salt 1 tsp baking soda (to make it rise. Don’t be surprised when something bubbles in the oven, it’s just the soda!) ½ cup (120ml) milk (lactose-free works just as well as the real thing) Optional ingredients These optional ingredients are just suggested flavorings. Some people don’t like ginger, so if they don’t want to, they can take it out with no ill effects, same with the cinnamon, and the molasses. Ginger (½ – ¾ tsp) Cinnamon (½ – ¾ tsp) Molasses (up to 1 tsp, to taste) Method Put all the dry ingredients into a big bowl. If using honey instead of sugar, please see next step. Melt the butter (but not completely!) and add to the dry stuff. If using honey, pour it in now, please. If you use honey, it might be runnier, but once it’s baked, it’ll be fine. Add the eggs and mix in. Pour in the milk and mix everything together. In the meantime, you can preheat the oven (some ovens heat up almost immediately, like mine does, so for me, heating the oven is always the last step. If yours heats up slowly, turn it on while melting the butter). Pour the mixture onto a baking tray tray (approx 9 x 13” / 23 x 33cm) covered in parchment paper, and bake at 400 ̊F (200 ̊C) until golden brown (around 20-30 mins). Don’t worry if the mixture is runny at first, because this is what is supposed to happen. Enjoy with jam or butter. Yum!

One Saturday night a long time ago, my grandma and I had nothing to do. I went in the pantry to find some baking recipes.  I saw a recipe that said Very Berry Pie. “Grandma,” I said “come look at what I found!”  My grandma told me this was her great grandma’s recipe. “LET’S BAKE IT!” I said excitedly.  We got out the pans and got the oven ready. We rolled out the pie crust and put it around the rim of the pie pan. Meanwhile my little brother sneaked into the kitchen and took some pie dough to play with. “WHERE DID THE PIECE OF THE PIE CRUST GO?” I hollered. I saw my little brother run off. He was so fast I could not catch up! DONK! I tripped over the stairs. He dropped the piece of pie crust and I caught it! “I HAVE RETURNED THE PIE CRUST!”  I shouted like a brave knight.  I looked at my arm and saw that it was bleeding. “That little rascal”, I whispered.  I grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around my arm.  It stop bleeding. When we finished baking the pie, the crust was golden brown.  The filling was warm and looked like a mixture of thick berries and sauce.  I will always remember the first day I made Very Berry Pie because I still have a scar on my arm, and I bet my little brother will remember, too. Ingredients List of ingredients for the crust 1½ cups (180g) flour 1 stick (120g) butter ¼ cup (60ml) ice water a pinch of salt 1 egg yolk List of ingredients for the filling 8 oz (200g) blueberries 8 oz (200g) blackberries 8 oz (200g). raspberries 3 thinly sliced strawberries 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar ½ cup (55g) cornstarch 1 lemon Method How to make the crust First, get out a 12 inch (30cm) pie pan. Next, you need your flour and put it in a bowl. Rub the butter into it with your fingers. After that, take your egg. To separate the yolk, crack the egg in half over a bowl, let the yolk settle in one half of the shell and then keep transferring the yolk back and forth allowing the egg white to fall out into the bowl. Tip the egg yolk in another bowl. Make sure there are no egg shells in it. Whisk it with a whisk until it gets thick. Put it in with the flour and mix it in. Grab your half cup of water and pour it in the flour. Mix until thickened and combined. Take your hands and pick up the dough and sprinkle some flour on the counter. Take a rolling pin and roll out two pie crusts. Then gently set one crust in the pie pan. Put the crust around the rim. How to make the filling and bake the pie Take out a two quart saucepan and put in the berries and the sugar. The berries should be boiling. You want to reduce the heat, then add the cornstarch, and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook the berries over medium heat until they reduce. They should be thickened after 15 minutes. Let them cool off for 19 minutes. Take your lemon and stab it with a fork. Cut it in half. Squeeze the lemon juice in with the berries. Mix until thick. Scoop up the filling and drop into the crust in the pie pan.  Wet the edges of the bottom pie crust so the top crust can stick together. Take your 2nd pie crust and put it on the top of the filling, then crimp both crusts together using a fork. Take your fork and put a little hole in the top of the crust so the pie can have some air. Bake the pie for ¾ – 1 hour at 350⁰F (175⁰C).*  Let it cool for about fifteen minutes. *A note from the Stone Soup test kitchen: the pie will turn golden brown. This might take a little longer or a little less time, depending on your oven. You can start to check it after 35-40 minutes. Skylar Carroscia, 8South Euclid, OH