S3 E8 - Show notes for our Tom Lake episode
Cherry pie, flavour bombs, comfort reads, bibliotherapy and more good things.
Welcome to the Shownotes for our Tom Lake episode, filled with books and good things to eat. The sun is shining, and the weekend is nearly here, so we hope you enjoy all of the below ‘somethings to eat and read’. Including Sophie’s recipe for cherry pie/galette, plus a few more for tasty, dressings and toppings and a heap of ideas for using them. And of course, Germaine’s reading recommendations!
“It's about paying attention to all of the small moments of your life, realizing that your life really is just the compilation of small moments. And either you are awake to them and pay attention to them, or you're always looking ahead and you miss your life.” Ann Patchett talking about Tom Lake
From Sophie
Listening to Meryl Streep read me Ann Patchett’s book Tom Lake was a highlight of the past month. I’d make myself a nice lunch, sit out in the sun and listen to this story of life on a cherry farm, of the joy of having your children home with you in your quiet little corner of the world, of the calm contentedness of marriage to a good person, of living with the seasons, of hard, repetitive work. It made me want to make pie and wear sundresses while picking fruit. It made me want to be like Maisie who just rustles up feasts like this when a bunch of actors just drop in for lunch: “Fried chicken and biscuits and butter beans and corn cooked on the cob and baked apples.” Let’s start with pie and see how we go!
Cherry frangipane galette/pie
Prep time 25 mins (plus 30 mins resting time for the pastry)
Cook time 25 mins
Serves 4-6
I know it’s not (yet) cherry season here, so you could sub in rhubarb compote, strawberries, or any seasonal fruit you like. Or, should you have a jar of preserved cherries lurking at the back of the pantry…now’s the time to pop that lid.
This pastry can also of course be made in a food processor but I quite like doing it by hand; feeling the flour and butter coming together and giving yourself the time (it takes no more than 5 minutes) to quietly knead together. You may find that this recipe below makes more frangipane mixture than you need but this isn’t a bad thing; roll up any excess in baking paper and freeze then next time you want to make a quick pudding, grab some frozen puff pastry, cut into squares, top each with a few slices of the frozen frangipane, let it all thaw a little then top with a few slices of peach, a few berries or other seasonal fruit, pinch up the pastry sides to form an edge and bake until golden.
Three more good things about this tart; you don’t need to blind bake it, it almost looks better if the edges are a bit rough, and it travels beautifully.
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