Spring Fling

are capers weird?

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From Karyl’s Cook & Tell Newspaper Column (March 20, 1977)

The signals are there. On this, the first day of spring, the thermometer on the back stoop is pushing 60 degrees at noon. The weather lady foresees temperatures in the 70s for tomorrow and maybe the day after. If this weren’t spring, it could be summer. On the other hand, snowflakes played tag for hours around here on St. Patrick’s Day and we are not really surprised by a plowable snowfall in April. The brook that gurgles into the cove on its meandering course through the woods sounds like a love song, as many things do when you’re paying attention, like hellos exchanged at the island general store or the ring of a phone call from a faraway daughter.

While spring is making up its mind as to when to ditch the white for good and put on the pink and yellow, one way to put the scare into a sky that keeps flirting with snowflakes is to station a bouquet of fresh flowers from the supermarket on the kitchen counter. A graduate of the bunch school of flower arrangement, I’m all for a minimum of fussing with stems and leaves. Go easy on the ikebana. Let a mass of unplotted blooms bid winter farewell!

I once knew a countrywoman, a writer with an artist’s inclinations, who taught me much of what I know about the pleasures and comforts of cooking. She was also my former mother-in-law. When spring seemed to be hanging back, she would set her table in yellow linen and grace it with a centerpiece of daffodils and pink blossoms for a dinner party. Her guest list would be an improbable mix—not the usual old friends, but an unexpected combination that guaranteed ad libbing and liveliness. Her menu for these pastel repasts restored appetites bored by heavy winter fare.

Karyl’s Headnotes

Years ago, when I first made this dish, you couldn’t find the kind of exquisite Hungarian paprika you can now, and capers were borderline weird. Either way, this spring entrée wins a bouquet any season of the year and is best accompanied by buttered egg noodles. Serve with fresh salad greens dressed in a raspberry vinaigrette.

Happy Easter! a sketch by my mother, Karyl Bannister

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VEAL GOULASH AUSTRIAN

• 3 or 4 large onions, chopped

• 2 or 3 T. butter

• 4 lb. stewing veal, cut in cubes

• 3 T. good paprika

• 2 t. salt

• 2 large tomatoes, chopped

• 4 T. capers and their liquid

• 2 c. sour cream

• Hot cooked egg noodles, buttered

• Loads of chopped parsley

Cook the onions in the butter in a skillet or Dutch oven large enough to hold everything. Add the veal, paprika and salt. Brown the meat (it won’t really brown, but simmers in those buttery onions). Add the tomatoes and cook slowly, covered, about 45 minutes, until tender. Correct the seasoning. Add the capers. Just before serving, add in sour cream. Serve over noodles. Top with parsley.

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Amie’s Endnotes

In addition to being a grand hostess, cook extraordinaire and originator of the goulash recipe, my grandmother—Barbara Webster—published ten books ranging from novels to nonfiction. Her most well-known book was a collaboration with foodwriter Gladys Taber, with whom she’d attended Wellesley College. For years, the two exchanged letters written from their respective farms (Taber’s Stillmeadow Farm in Connecticut; Webster’s Sugarbridge Farm in Pennsylvania) which eventually led to the publishing of Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge in 1953 and was illustrated by her husband—my grandfather—Edward Shenton.

With a family food writing history this storied (ha!), you might be thinking I should write a book about it.

Guess what? I am.

from Karyl’s sketchbook

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For more on how foodwriters take recipe notes, check out the ever-captivating Noted newsletter by

Jillian Hess

which features the legendary Italian chef and author,

Domenica Marchetti

and a rookie cook and aspiring foodwriter—me!

Delicious Notes II: How Amie McGraham and Domenica Marchetti Record Recipes

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And for more on my grandfather’s illustrations, I recently wrote about his studio and artwork in my 100-word newsletter, the micro mashup .

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