Header
Recipes

Experience the Flavor of Steinbeck Country

The stories in The Lavandula Series are intertwined with food, as are all significant moments in our lives. Sooner or later, we gather around the table. Enjoy the food the Wyman's created from their bountiful Carmel Valley harvest, and remember, the first ingredient is always love.

Lemon Curd

When Rita returned from her eventful overseas adventures, she had a special recipe for Lemon Curd in her pocket. In Carmel Valley, a thin-skinned, orangey lemon tree (later identified as a Meyer lemon) volunteered in the Sweet Tea Room Garden and the perfect Lemon Curd was born. With just four ingredients (lemon, butter, sugar and eggs), this delicate sweet-tart custard is ambrosiac in its effect on the palate.

Cream Scones soon

Just before Rita gave birth to Stevie, she gave birth to the idea of the Sweet Tea Room. She won Mama Maria over to the tea room plan with a basket of Cream Scones delivered with her morning espresso. Maria, pastry snob, let the soft butter and tender scone melt in her mouth. She set her cup down and picked up her checkbook. Mama Maria was no fool.

Award-Winning Blue Cornbread soon

In 1956, as a lark, Juana grew some blue corn, dried it, and ground it into cornmeal. Blue corn meal. It makes very pretty cornbread, especially combined with green onions or cilantro. Add fresh corn for a tasty surprise. Any color will do. Juana won Monterey County Fair awards with this cornbread recipe, and you will, too.

Toad in the Hole soon

Toad in the Hole was young Charles's favorite food at the country estate of his grandfather, the MP, where the cook, Mrs. Fallowfield, supplied treats for Chuck's lonely adventures. Chuck climbed his tree or sat on the stone bench and opened the steaming paper around his treasure – a toad in a hole. It always made him laugh. He'd say outloud to his make-believe friends, "It's a real live toad, you know," and he'd bite into it to make them squeal.

 

Book Cover

Return to the Lavandula Series Home Page  ::  Join our mailing list  ::  Visit our Contact page

 

NOTE: These are pdf files for viewing onscreen or printing on 8.5x11 inch paper.
The settings in your web browser determine what happens when you click these links.
All downloads from the Lucky Valley Press website are virus-free.