Creamy Bacon & Peas Pasta

Creamy Bacon & Peas Pasta

1/2 lb. thin spaghetti

3 slices slivered frozen bacon

1/2 c. frozen peas

1 medium onion, diced

1 c. half & half

2 tsp. corn starch

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

     This dish was created for Katherine Birkle while I was her weekend caregiver in the beginning of 2017, when she celebrated her one hundred and second birthday!  It's always fun creating a menu from what you have on hand. In the pantry was a box of thin spaghetti, corn starch, garlic powder, salt, pepper and an onion, in the fridge half & half, and in the freezer a bag of frozen peas and portioned bacon.

     First, start boiling the water for the spaghetti.  Then in a 2 quart saucepan sauté 3 slices slivered frozen bacon over medium-high heat until it starts to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Then add a diced onion and sauté until onion is soft, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove excess bacon fat with a paper towel, if desired.  Next, measure 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into a cup and stir in 1/4 cup of cold half & half. Stir into bacon onion mixture.  It will thicken up immediately;  be sure to add more half & half until it gets to a saucy consistency.  As a final touch to the sauce add, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder with salt and pepper to taste.

     Boil less than  half the box of pasta until it's three-quarters cooked; then add a 1/2 cup of frozen peas. Drain when al dente or cooked to your taste and stir into sauce. Serve with salad and bread sticks.  Katherine Birkle absolutely loved this pasta dish and I hope you will, too!

"Time carries on!" Katherine Birkle - January 25, 2017 Born February 9, 1915 - College Point, New York  Katherine grew up on the same block that I did in College Point- Graham Court. We shared stories of swimming in the Flushing Bay growing up forty years apart. Katherine and her two sisters donned swimsuits and walked 50 yards to the cliff overlooking the bay, descending to the beach; then swimming out to the big black rock and sunbathing. My two sisters, Laura, Jayne and I only wet our feet and played in the sand with Mrs. (Zizi) Montalbano, our father's tenant,  in the early sixties but I remember having a great time. Once our maternal grandfather, Ruthland O. Davis found the three of us about to "set sail" in an abandoned row boat saving us from drowning! There are many more stories about Graham Court but that is for another time...to be continued. -Mimi, Mary Lillian Bradshaw Duncan

Don't Fritter Away Your Life; Just Eat Them!

Canadian British West Indian fritters were new to me when I ate them at my cousin Dave and Audrey's home in Chateauguay, Canada just outside Montreal. It was amazing how flour, water and a little salt fried in 
oil could be so tasty. I've been making these fritters for thirty years myself and I love when my son, Derek and my niece, Nicole ask me for the recipe. The last time I made them at my son's apartment he was looking over my shoulder to see the consistency.  That's the trick you see! It has to have the consistency of a pancake batter.  A few weeks ago my niece, Nicole sent me a video of  her batter which was a little too thick.

I should tell you why I call them Canadian British West Indian fritters before I give you the recipe. My family emigrated from different parts of the British West Indies -Barbados, St.Vincent and The Grenadines to American and Canada.

Canadian British West Indian Fritters

2 cups Pillsbury Flour

1 1/2 cups of water with

1 tsp. salt (to taste) dissolved.

Corn or Canola oil

It is not optional to use any other flour.  Pillsbury flour 

tastes similar to Canadian flour.

 Preheat a half inch of oil in a medium frying pan as you make the fritter batter.

In a deep bowl put two cups of flour then add the salted water stirring until the consistency of pancake batter. It's OK to add more water if you have to.  I make it at the sink and add tap water as I go. Taste the batter for saltiness before you add more water.  You don't want bland fritters nor do you want over salted fritters.

I pour them into the hot oil because I use a pitcher mixing bowl but cousin Dave always spoons them in two- inch circles or ovals.  You probably won't get the recipe right the first time.  If you at least use Pillsbury flour they will be light and tasty.  When they brown on one side turn them over and brown on the other. My pan usually makes five fritters at a time.  It's a good idea to make one first to see if you have the oil at the perfect temperature to brown not burn. Drain on paper towels. Serve with eggs and bacon, ham, buttered, plain,or with jelly.

Enjoy!