This month the Reader’s Garden Book Group met to discuss Book of Ages, The life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore, an American historian and journalist. Sad to say, I didn’t finish the book in time for our scheduled discussion. I wasn’t alone – our host Charlotte, who had chosen the book, didn’t finish it either. Actually, only one of us finished before our meeting. Making the most of it, Charlotte came up with a list of relevant questions that prompted lively discussion about the book generally.
Jane Franklin was Ben Franklin’s sister, and much of this scholarly treatise was about Ben, rather than Jane. Jane and Ben corresponded throughout their lives, and although she saved his letters, he didn’t save hers, so much of the authors ideas about Jane were just conjecture from what she could glean from Ben’s letters to Jane, and from what she knew about lives of women at the time generally. Marian suggested that the book could have been titled The Hidden Franklin. We agreed!
It’s no surprise that we didn’t devour the book – it had only been three weeks since our last meeting, and spring has since sprung. The blazing sunshine is beckoning us all outside. However, the book did provide David, Charlotte’s husband, with ample inspiration for a delicious meal of Colonial repast. He had hoped to buy shad at the fish store, but settled for blue fish. It was so mild and wonderful. It was served with cornbread studded with peppers, and roasted, caramelized root vegetables.
Charlotte had visited here two days earlier to take a look at the sad state of my pollinator path. It’s filled with invasives – including garlic mustard. Ron and I have some work to do. But the colonists grew garlic mustard in their kitchen gardens, so it only seemed fitting that I do some weeding and some harvesting at the same time. I baked a couple of baguettes, and whipped up a batch of Garlic Mustard Pesto for the Reader’s Garden Book Group. It wasn’t so bad – I think Jane would have approved.
Garlic Mustard Pesto
Ingredients
- 6 ounces packed garlic mustard leaves (approximately 11 cups)
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup grapeseed oil (or some other neutral-tasting oil)
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t sugar
- 1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Blanch the garlic mustard – pull the leaves from the stems and plunge the greens into boiling water for only a minute. Then dunk into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the bright green color. Let it drain and cool. When cool, squeeze the remaining water out of the greens, and give them a rough chop.
- Blend the pesto – Chop the garlic into a few big pieces, then drop it into a the food processor while it's running. Wait until the garlic pieces are no longer bouncing around inside the bowl, then add the walnuts and Parmesan and process until combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the garlic mustard. With the machine running, pour in a steady stream of grapeseed oil and continue processing until smooth.
- Finish – Add salt, sugar, and lemon juice, and whir until mixed. Serve.
Notes
The meal ended with “Indian Pudding” and vanilla ice cream served in a variety of blue and white Japanese, footed bowls. The spicy pudding was made with Grandma’s Molasses – we loved it. I must also mention that Charlotte’s tablecloth and napkins were distractingly beautiful. They were from Portugal, but I could easily imagine Jane Franklin expressing her creativity with similar embroidery. I would hesitate to spread these exquisite textiles out on a table and allow people to eat and drink on them, for fear of spills and stains. But of course that’s what Oxiclean is for. One of the small and myriad ways that life is much easier for us than for women in Colonial times.
