About the book: Esther Rose Graber was born during the Great Depression. She collaborated on this book with her five daughters and one daughter-in-law, all who love to cook. Although their heritage is rich in Amish and Mennonite cooking, members of the family have spent time in India, Puerto Rico, Italy and other parts of Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Mexico. Many of the recipes in this cookbook come from those places. Each of the seven women offers a menu of her favorite dishes. There are also chapters on special meals — Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July and Christmas — as well as Indian, Puerto Rican, Thai and Bulgarian cuisine. We loved the recipe we made and look forward to trying Grandma's Rhubarb Cream Pie (P. 55), Spicy Shrimp and Sausage with Cheesy Grits (P. 90), Plantain Fritters (P. 156) and Thai Ginger Chicken Soup (P. 183).
In their own words: "Each meal takes into account the ease of preparation, balance of textures and flavors, and eye appeal. Partly because we're a family of artists — watercolorists, book illustrators, potters, designers, musicians — we know these meals will look as beautiful as they taste."
What you get: More than 300 recipes, many accompanied by beautiful photographs. Also, lots of tips. For example, did you know that it's best to soak bamboo or wooden skewers in water for 10-20 minutes before threading meat on them?
What we made
Variation on a Capri Salad (P. 125)
(recipe by Susan Graber Hunsberger)
20 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Generous drizzle extra-virgin olive oil*
½ to ¾ teaspoon salt, to taste
¼ cup fresh oregano leaves, or basil leaves, roughly chopped
16 fresh mini mozzarella balls, or baby bocconcini, drained and cut in halves
16 black kalamata olives, pitted
Dash white balsamic vinegar
Generous grind of black pepper
1. In a table-worthy serving bowl, place the tomatoes, olive oil and salt together to mingle flavors.
2. Get the rest of the ingredients ready to toss into the bowl just before serving – herbs chopped, mozzarella drained and chopped, olives pitted. (I squish them with my thumb on a cutting board and rip out the pits.) The salad is best at room temperature, so these things can sit out on the counter.
3. Right before serving, add the reserved ingredients to the bowl with the tomatoes. Give it a gentle toss and a very light dash of white balsamic vinegar.
*We interpreted “generous drizzle” to be about 1/3 cup.
Our assessment: This salad takes only minutes to prepare. We shared it with co-workers, who said it was delicious and full of flavor. It's important, however, to add the balsamic vinegar right before serving because otherwise it will break down the cheese.
Variations: Always looking for ways to stretch a dollar, we doubled the number of tomatoes to make a larger quantity of salad (the other ingredients are rather expensive). And if you don't have white balsamic vinegar, we say go with the regular dark brown version unless it will bother you that the mozzarella won't be pristine white.
Growing your own cherry tomatoes? If you have a bumper crop, consider tripling the amount of tomatoes in this salad. There's still plenty of mozzarella bits and olives to go around. And never refrigerate cherry tomatoes. The cold turns them mushy and kills their flavor. Instead, store in a single layer on the counter or in a shallow pan and wash just before you use them. And because cherry tomatoes can't take the cold, this salad won't make good leftovers … as if there would be any, it's so delicious.
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