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Fall in Love: Autumn Recipes & Romance

A portrayal of my Nanny, and her joy of cooking for those she loved.

By Daniela BishopPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
Second Place in Trick or Treats Challenge
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Dutch Apple Pie, original content

There’s something about Fall that incites powerful memories. The crisp breezes, falling leaves, and crackling bonfires induce a robust nostalgia; a blend of gentle memories amidst more painful reminders of things that we miss. People that we miss. I know when the temperature drops, and I cozy up on my front porch with a blanket and cup of tea; my mind drifts towards past lovers, misspent youth, and family members who have long since passed on. My great-grandmother is at the forefront of those memories. I called her Nanny, as did most of my family members. Others called her Magdelaine.

Magdelaine Marie Moncrief

Magdelaine Delwick was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1925. Her father owned a large leather factory that would attribute to the fate of Nanny’s life. Towards the end of World War II, American soldiers occupied a part of Brussels, commandeering the leather factory to make supplies for the soldiers. It was during this time she met my Papa, Jack Moncrief. She was only nineteen at the time.

It was love at first sight, it had to be, because she didn’t speak a lick of English, nor did he speak French. They had a whirlwind romance accompanied by chaperones, and a friend to translate between them. I know Nanny learned at least one English phrase, because my Papa kept repeating it. He would say, I’m gonna marry you, over and over. She just shook her head and called him a crazy American. But he was right, It didn’t take long before they were married in Brussels, at a local Catholic church. The war ended in 1945, and Jack was shipped back to the states, unable to bring Magdelaine with him.

It took six months, a lot of letters, and a visit to a Georgia senator to bring her to the states. She was finally able to immigrate on a Red Cross ship heading towards Ellis Island in New York City. He met her there, and together they took the train back to her new home in Thomasville, Georgia. Soon after settling in, with a renewed love for each other they decided to get married again in Thomasville, at the court house.

Nanny’s English improved overtime, she learned by reading People magazines, and watching daytime television. The times were hard, their family impoverished, but they fell more in love, had two wonderful kids, and although they didn’t have much, they weren’t poor when it came to the things that mattered.

Snapshot of her life in '89

I called my grandmother recently to reminisce about Nanny for this article. Meme, I call her, told me that growing up they were poor as heck, but she didn’t realize it because Nanny could make something delicious out of anything. She recalled fondly different dishes my Nanny would cook up.

Grits, and gravy made with bacon drippings. Shrimp and potato croquettes with a squeeze of lemon. Boulettes and tête de veau made with her special sirop de liege. Salmon salad with homemade pomme frites, which are just french fries cooked the Belgian way; thinly cut and double fried. And of course, Daddy’s cake. A three layer white cake with shaved chocolate and pecan filling, and a thick chocolate frosting. Unfortunately Papa got sick, and passed away in his mid-forties, I never got the chance to meet him; and Nanny never loved anyone again.

My own memories of Nanny also revolve heavily around food. Because my mom had me when she was twenty, and my dad wasn’t in the picture; Nanny raised me until I was old enough to start school. For breakfast she would make me ‘oeufs À la coque’, a soft-boiled egg served in an eggcup with the top cracked off, accompanied by little bread strip soldiers for dipping. Often during breakfast she would sing me french nursery rhymes, I have one called ‘Lundi Matin’ memorized.

I treasure the time we spent together during my formative years, I remember vividly how we would play poker on her prized walnut coffee table, and how she would read Goosebumps books to me, and record Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Sailor Moon if I was off playing with a neighborhood kid, or taking a nap.

Nanny and Me, early 90's

But most of all I remember the cooking. I would spend hours helping her in the kitchen, we would mash hamburger patties with her wooden press, set them between sheets of wax paper to freeze for later. We made croquettes; I was in charge of rolling the potato mixture into ovals, and battering them in eggs and breadcrumbs. We made accoridan cookies, and her famous Canadian cookies, a more buttery version of the classic chocolate chip. But most of all, two recipes stick out more than the others, split pea soup, and Dutch apple pie.

Nanny and Me, Christmas mid 90's

I want to share these recipes with you, they may not seem like much, because Nanny was a simple cook. But I guarantee that this creamy split pea soup will sooth your soul, and a piece of dutch apple pie will warm you on cool Fall evenings.

Nanny’s Split Pea Soup w/homemade croutons

1 (16 oz) bag of split peas

1 Tbsp butter or oil

1 medium yellow onion

1 cup of celery

1 cup carrots

4 cups of water

4 cups of broth

a few bay leaves

Ham bone or ham scraps

Salt and pepper to taste

Loaf of crusty bread, oil for pan frying

__________________________

As with a lot of cooks, I practice an intuitive style of savory cooking that involves just adding a little this and that, until it tastes good. But I know for some, an actual recipe helps a ton, so I tried to be as thorough as possible, so anybody could make it! Feel free to adjust and add things if you’d like, this basic recipe is great for expanding on. You can also make it vegan, just by omitting the ham.

Step 1: Rinse the split peas and pick out any debris, no soaking required.

Step 2: Chop onions, carrots, and celery. This is known as mirepoix, the holy trinity of French cooking. In a large dutch oven or soup pot, add your oil and sweat the vegetables until soft and fragrant. I usually add a pinch of salt at this stage, and whatever herbs I feel like at the time, thyme or sage for example. A good tip I learned, if you want to cook with butter, add a little oil to keep the butter from burning to quickly.

Step 3: Add split peas, broth, water, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 30-40 minutes until peas are soft. With a foodmill, immersion blender, or sieve: process the soup until creamy.

Step 4: Bring soup back to a boil, adding more liquid if needed, add ham bone or ham scraps. Continue to cook for another 30-40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and voilà! Soup will thicken as it cools, you can always add more liquid as needed.

Step 5: Croutons! Dice crusty bread, I recommend using bread with some substance. Normal sandwich bread is often too pourus, and will soak up a lot of oil. Add a shallow layer of oil to a frying pan. We're just pan frying, not deep frying. Add bread to hot pan, coat croutons in oil, and keep an eye on them as they turn golden brown, making sure to flip. Remove and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Tori Avey, 2012

Now, for dessert! A Dutch apple pie isn’t too different from a regular apple pie. The main difference is the missing top crust, replaced by a streusel topping.

Dutch Apple Pie

*I’m going to include my crust recipe, but I understand it can be a hassle to muster up the energy sometimes, so if you’d prefer to buy a store bought crust, it’ll be just as good. If you do make the crust homemade, you may have leftovers depending on the size of your baking dash, you can freeze it for later use.

For Crust

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of very cold butter (2 sticks)

3-6 tbsp of ice water

Filling

5 cups of sliced cooking apples

1 tbsp of lemon juice

¼ cup of granulated sugar

¼ cup of brown sugar

2 tbsp of flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp nutmeg

Streusel Topping

¾ cup of flour

½ cup of brown sugar

⅓ cup of granulated sugar

6 tbsp of softened butter

Dutch Apple Pie, original content

Step 1 Prepare the crust. My trick for a perfect crust is to grate the butter and refreeze before adding to the flour. You can also dice the butter, and add directly to the flour, but the colder the butter, the better. Add flour and salt, add cold butter. I mix by hand, but you're welcome to use a food processor or pastry cutter.

Mixing the butter into the flour, use your fingertips to keep the butter as cold as possible. Mix until it resembles coarse sand. Add only a couple tablespoons of ice water at a time, I use a fork to mix the water in, you want the crust to just come together. Pour out onto floured surface, and knead into a circle, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour.

Step 2 Mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl, thoroughly coating the apples. I like to use Granny Smith apples, but you can use whichever you prefer. Let sit, while you roll out the crust and prepare the streusel topping. The sugars will help draw the moisutre from the apples, if you find the filling too liquidy you can pour a little out before adding to the crust.

Step 3 Prepare the streusel topping. Combine all streusal ingredients into a bowl, mixing well until all components are evenly distributed. I usually stick this back in the fridge for a few minutes if the butter has gone too soft. Sometimes as a variation, I add some chopped nuts in with the streusal.

Step 4 Roll out crust. On a floured surface, roll out crust to desired size. I prefer a thin pie, so I use a shallow dish, but you can use a smaller pan if you like a thicker pie. Place dough into the dish, and trim excess with scissors, leaving enough to flute, or roll, whichever design you prefer on the edge of your crust.

Step 5 Place the apple filling into the pie dish, and evenly spread the streusal mixture on top. Place pie on lower oven rack, and bake on 375°F for 50-60 minutes. You want the pie golden brown, and bubbly. Be sure to keep an eye on the crust, if it gets to dark, wrap some aluminum foil around the edges to keep from burning.

Once removed from the oven, let sit about twenty minutes to let the juices firm up. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or just eat it straight!

When Nanny passed away in 2008, I was sixteen. I was an angsty teenager and had stopped spending as much time with her. When she was hospitalized, I was too gentle or stubborn to look grief in the face. I hardly visited her at the hospital, and I regret that to this day. I remember the one time I did visit her, she looked so happy laying in her hospital bed, I told her that I had just started learning French, that pleased her. Recently I did spend a year in Paris working as an au pair to improve my French, and I hope one day I can spend some time in Belgium and meet some of my long lost cousins.

I hope these recipes bring you joy and comfort, and maybe you can incorporate them into your own family traditions, so that one day a great-granddaughter will be filled with nostalgic memories of simmering onions wafting from the kitchen and a slice of warm apple pie.

Childhood note to Nanny

humanity
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About the Creator

Daniela Bishop

Patron saint of procrastination.

Insta: @sylvia.apathy

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