featuring guest authors; crafting tips and projects; recipes from food editor and sleuthing sidekick Cloris McWerther; and decorating, travel, fashion, health, beauty, and finance tips from the rest of the American Woman editors.

Note: This site uses Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Monday, April 30, 2012

COOKING WITH CLORIS: CELEBRATE MOTHER GOOSE DAY WITH A PLUM TART


Do you know what today is? It’s Mother Goose Day, which was founded in 1987 by Gloria T. Delamar to coincide with the publication of her book, Mother Goose; From Nursery to Literature. Author Lois Winston, who writes those books about me, used to live a few blocks from Gloria T. Delamar and knew her years ago.

According to the Mother Goose Society, Mother Goose wasn’t a single person but many different men and women who wrote in different times with the rhymes passed down the way much of folklore is passed along from generation to generation.

In 1697, Charles Perrault, the author of such familiar stories as Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and others, published a collection of works titled Histories and Tales of Long Ago, with Morals. The book’s frontispiece depicted an old woman with the words, “Tales of My Mother the Goose.”

Around 1765, John Newbery published a collection of mostly traditional rhymes that he titled Mother Goose’s Melody: or Sonnets for the Cradle, thus cementing Mother Goose’s reputation as an author of children’s rhymes.

The purpose of Mother Goose Day is to re-appreciate the old nursery rhymes, and the motto for the day is: “Either alone or in sharing, read childhood nursery favorites and feel the warmth of Mother Goose’s embrace.”




In honor of Mother Goose Day, Cloris has a recipe for a Quick ‘n Easy Plum Tart. Why plum? Because little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating a pie (yes, we know it was a Christmas pie, but we’re taking some liberties here.) Anyway, he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum. Hence, a recipe for a Quick ‘n Easy Plum Tart.

Quick ‘n Easy Plum Tart

Serves 6
Ingredients;
1 frozen pie crust
1 lb. prune plums
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cut the plums in half. Remove the pits, then cut each half into three slices. Place the slices in a large bowl and toss with the sugar and salt to coat. Arrange the plum slices, cut sides up, in concentric circles within the pie crust. Crowd the fruit but don’t overlap the slices. Scrape the bowl of any remaining sugar and sprinkle over the top of the fruit. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven 40-50 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the fruit tender. 

So happy Mother Goose Day, everyone! What’s your favorite rhyme?


1 comment:

Liz said...

Scared the b-j out of me, so not a favorite to be found. But then, my older siblings assured me that every worse nightmare was true.