The Emporia Gazette

November 20, 2009

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May Day — May 1 — is Friday and is generally celebrated as the advent of spring, being halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.

Surely, by this point, we can put the frosts behind us?

I spoke with Cindy Hadicke, an educator at Lowther North. She is teaching about May baskets this week, and her students are learning how nice it is to give something handmade to someone else in secret. Cindy was focusing on the benefits of doing good deeds for others, and the baskets that are built will be given anonymously to students at the school who need an emotional boost. Way to go!

May Day roots go back a long way. For Gaelic peoples it was celebrated as Beltane. Germanic tribes observed it as Walpurgisnacht. In the Middle Ages, the English would erect maypoles and hold “Morris” dances.

Some typical ways May Day is celebrated is by crowning a May Queen, putting up a maypole and making May Day baskets and leaving them on the doors of your neighbors, friends and family members. In the late 19th century, May Day became a symbol of the achievements of the labor movement (which brought you the two-day weekend, the eight-hour work day and a minimum wage), and was celebrated as “Labor Day.” Cold War politics rescheduled America’s Labor Day.

It is interesting to note Beltane and Walpurgisnacht both use bonfires as part of the celebration. Fires protected the people from spirits and purified the land for a good growing season. It reminds me a bit of prairie burning.

But we’re here for the May baskets and a way to enliven the gift a bit.

Making a basket is easy: Cut a circle of construction paper, cut halfway along the diameter and wrap the two cut edges around the rest of the paper to form a cone shape. Tape it shut. You can make a handle with some ribbon, wire or an extra piece of construction paper and decorate the exterior as you wish.

Now, pick some spring blossoms: daffodils, grape hyacinths, Lily of the Valley — maybe even dandelions? Pick whatever you’ve got going out in the yard and stick these in the basket along with a small, bite-size treat or two. Another idea is to print a line or two of spring poetry on a small piece of paper, roll it up like a scroll and tie it around the handle with a ribbon.

You can use parchment paper, wax paper or cellophane to wrap your treats individually. A small tube of nuts or a macaroon would just hit the spot!

MAY DAY MACAROONS

2 large egg whites

Pinch of salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

8 oz. finely ground blanched almonds

About 30 whole almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Add the salt, increase the speed to high, and beat until soft peaks form, one or two minutes. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff and glossy, five to eight minutes. Add the almond extract and fold in the ground nuts.

Drop by tablespoonfuls, 1 1/2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. If desired, press an almond into the center of each mound.

Bake until firm and golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Makes about 30 cookies.

If you like, you could press little egg-shaped candies or jelly beans in the top of the partially cooled macaroon to be more “spring-like.”

A piece of poem for your macaroons, from “To Flush, My Dog” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Whiskered cats arointed flee —

Sturdy stoppers keep from thee

Cologne distillations;

Nuts lie in thy path for stones,

And thy feast-day macaroons

Turn to daily rations!

VVV

Dawn Young is the coordinator for the Quest program, and I met her and volunteer Soni Velasquez after school Monday, along with four Quest program participants. They were making May baskets, which is an annual tradition at the middle school. Various students are guided through the process of building more than 100 baskets, which are then filled with candy and a silk flower.

On May Day (or as close to that time as they can) students go through the building hanging them on the doors of every teacher, staff member and administrator as a thank you.

“The kids really love it.” Dawn said. “You should see their smiles when the teachers get their basket. It’s a lot of fun.”

This recipe is great for any time you feel the urge for a cool, rich peppermint taste. If you go to the candy supply store you can try different flavors, too.

MAY DAY MINTS

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. water

Peppermint extract

Various food coloring

Combine granulated sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Whisk in flavoring, food coloring, and powdered sugar. Quickly drop on wax paper, returning to heat briefly as needed to prevent lumps.

Here is a piece of poetry to celebrate your subsequent minty-fresh breath. It’s an excerpt from the 19th century “The First Breath of Spring” by Kansan Ellen P. Allerton

Winter is king: yet, soft and sweet,

Comes a whisper, a fair, faint tone

Of distant music in muffled beat,

Only a breath — yet it shakes his throne!   VVV

How about a white chocolate truffle, tinted in pastel colors to mimic the lovely spring flowers?

WHITE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

1 cup Crème Fraîche (or heavy cream)

14 oz. plus 8 oz. white chocolate

3 Tbsp. butter

food coloring, as desired

Break chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl. Bring cream slowly to a light boil. Pour boiling cream over chocolate and keep stirring until all the chocolate has melted and the batter is smooth. Quickly mix in the butter.

When the ganache is warm it is too creamy to shape. You can thicken it by whisking it (the oxygen causes it to thicken) or by putting it in the refrigerator for a bit. You want the ganache to be just thick enough to easily form the truffle balls

Using two spoons, form even and round balls and place them on parchment or wax paper. I’m not very good at this technique, so I use one spoon to roll up a curl of chocolate and quickly form it into a ball with my palms, which I keep cold by plunging them into an ice water bath. Painful, but it works for me.

Melt the rest of the chocolate in a double-boiler. If you want to tint the whole batch one color, add one or two drops of food coloring and mix well. If you want different colors, divide the chocolate into separate containers and tint each individually.

Use a toothpick or tiny metal skewer to dip each ball in the melted chocolate. Set on waxed paper to finish cooling. If you want to roll them in something like toasted coconut or finely chopped pistachios, now would be the time.

Wrap your truffles like a peppermint candy, or just tie the edges of a piece of cellophane or plastic wrap up around the top with some string to form “un pouffe.”

Haiku poet David Ash wrote a book, “Haiku for Chocolate Lovers.” Here is one you can tuck in with a truffle:

because cacao grows

around the planet's waistline,

it ends up on mine

VVV

The Emporia Farmer’s Market opens Saturday. It will be so nice to easily get locally grown things once again. The Market is at Seventh Avenue and Merchant Street in the parking lot. It opens at 8 a.m. and continues until everyone sells out or gets tired, usually about three hours. There should be baked goods, canned things and whatever’s fresh and popping up in the cold frame right now. Set your alarm so you don’t miss out!

Next week we’ll have some great recipes for Mother’s Day. If you have a recipe you would like to share with all our readers, send it me at Murphy’s Menu, 517 Merchant St. or murphysmenu@yahoo.com. Let’s Get Cooking!

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