Dominic Chose the Cheese Blintzes!

As authors, Lori and I have understood the power of books to enhance our lives from early on, how they are created and how they find their way into our lives. From the classics like Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre, given to us by our grandmother who often gave us books as gifts instead of toys, and also our mother who was an avid reader and who also passed on other classic volumes by writers like Shakespeare and Jane Austin.

As the process of marketing our book, Hazel Moon, unfolded we came upon two other books published by our editor through Heritage Press, The Love of Cooking, a volume of recipes and stories based on the audio memoir of his mother, Adeline Bencriscutto, and, My WWII Story, a memoir of his soldiering days by Adeline's significant other, John Fecondo.

These books made their way into our father, Dominic's, hands who is considering gathering the stories for a similar memoir of his days as a soldier in the Korean Conflict, but reading the cookbook, we asked him to pick out a recipe and we'd make it for him for Father's Day and or his upcoming birthday. He picked out Adeline's Spinning-Wheel-Famous Cheese Blintzes which were a longtime hit on the Spinning Wheel's Sunday Brunch.

So, here's a couple of videos she and her daughter, Denise, made to help us with the process of making her classic blintzes.

https://soundcloud.com/lafamiglia2014/adeline-blintz-recipewma

It began with a Sound Cloud audio recording about making the filling.

That was followed by a video on making the crepes.

And, one about filling them. (Find recipe below)

On Father's Day Lori and I made the crepes, filled them, rolled them up, pan fried them in a little butter, and served them up to our dad...and the look on his face (above) tells the whole story as to how he felt about them...so I guess we did pretty good!!


Find below some pics related to the ongoing process of marketing Hazel Moon and working on the sequel, Hawthorn Moon.

Above, Stacey receiving a commemorative plaque of the cover shot for Hawthorn Moon.

Above, Lori and I in Lake Geneva passing out fliers promoting our June 17th Book Signing at The Bottle Shop!

And finally, Lori singing at a '40's themed show with The Rat Package in Mequon, Wisconsin over last weekend.

CHEESE BLINTZ RECIPE FROM, The Love of Cooking

CHEESE BLINTZES

For 12 crepes:

Mix in a blender or bowl 2 eggs, ¾ cup of flour, 1/3 tsp. of salt, 2 tbsp. melted butter, 1 cup of skim or whole milk.

Mix with water and let sit for an hour until the gluten starts setting.

Melt some butter in a kettle until the milk solids settle to the bottom, then, skim off the froth from the surface.

Just use the clarified butter by pouring it off slowly.

Use a little on a crepe skillet, an 8” pan.

Pour in some batter and fry using high heat on one side only.

Flip over onto a sheet of wax paper.

Make 12 crepes, let cool.

Note: I usually make the crepes in the morning, the filling in the afternoon.

For the filling, mix a pound of baker’s dried cheese, or a pound of cream cheese softened to room temperature with ½ cup of sugar, 1/8 tsp. of cinnamon, ½ tsp. vanilla, 1 egg yolk, a dash of salt, and ¼ tsp. of grated lemon rind.

Mix thoroughly.

Put 1 tbsp. of the filling on the browned side of the crepe.

Fold over like an envelop, and roll up.

To serve, fry in a warmed up skillet with a little butter until golden brown.

Serve with powdered sugar, or just plain with jam, or make a sauce.

Cook up some strawberries with a ½ cup of sugar, some liquor, a dash of salt, some lemon juice.

Boil together and reduce to a syrup with 2 tbsp. butter.