Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Let's stay in strawberry month!

It's the beginning of the month, so that means Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar (1962)! And it's June! This is the month I've been waiting for. "Red Letter Foods" of the month:


Peas and strawberries! I must admit that I am crazy for both. I buzz through at least a couple pounds of sugar snap peas every month, and who doesn't love strawberries (aside from those who suffer an allergy)? We would stay in pea and strawberry month all year if I had anything to say about it. But I don't. (And actually, I think I'd need to at least allow for October, too, so I could have Halloween and pumpkins. How about a year of alternating Junes and Octobers?)

Even though I wouldn't strongly advocate eating peas and strawberries together, I can think of an occasion when I would be tempted. One day when I was at an ice cream shop, the owner was experimenting with flavors and brought me a taste of sweet pea ice cream. It had such a delicate, fresh flavor-- a scoop of that with a couple scoops of strawberry ice cream would be a nice summery treat....

I chose our menu for the month because Betty seemed to have initially forgotten where she was and headed straight to November:


From the roast turkey to the jellied cranberries, the "Graduation Dinner" sounds more like Thanksgiving to me. Who wants to make roast turkey and dressing in early June? Good luck finding the cranberries... The dessert-- "Fruit Platter Pie"-- sensibly gets back to something more summer appropriate. Betty is committed to the idea of a fruit platter, too. This is patted out in a circle on a baking sheet, not prepared in a pie pan. The crust even incorporates the cheese one might serve on the side for a fruit and cheese platter. This platter/ pie is pretty enough for June:


It also gives me an excuse to sneak in a hint. At the end of the month, you can expect a post for the Pieathalon!

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