Of Pimms. In Chapter 12 things have been hectic. Elizabeth says, “I think I’d like a long evening-in with a nice supper and one of those lovely novels.” She’s thinking of the shelf of Grace Livingston Hill novels that Sarah Lea Davidson has made available to her.

Carrie agrees, adding that afterward she’d like “a nice after dinner Pimms and time to watch the sunset from the porch.”

Nearly twenty years ago I had my first Pimms No. 1 Cup at The Trout Inn on the Thames. The Trout is about a twenty-minute walk from the center of Oxford along a winding footpath through a meadow. It had been a warm afternoon in the city so the walk out into the countryside was welcome. It was just about sunset when we saw The Trout, a quaint old stone building. What a wonderful treat to sit outside at one of the wooden picnic tables watching the changing light overlooking the river. I was told I’d like “The Oxford Summer Drink,” described as “very refreshing.” I was not disappointed.

A few years later I was in Tokyo for the summer. It was terribly hot. A friend from the UK invited me to her apartment and asked if I’d like to try “The Cambridge Summer Drink.” A graduate of Cambridge, she described the drink as “very refreshing.” Out came a bottle of Pimms and another of fizzy lemon. (By this time I understood that lemonade, as I knew it, was referred to as lemon squash by friends from the UK and fizzy lemonade was carbonated.) She cut orange, lemon and lime, threw in a stick of celery and some mint, maybe a cherry or strawberry—I don’t remember. I just remember that it was the same drink I’d had at The Trout with slight adaptations. I learned later, this drink is referred to as the Wimbledon drink, too, perhaps because a Pimms bar was opened at Wimbledon. It must be just the thing to sip one’s Pimms and watch the matches.

The Pimms Cup or Summer Cooler, by whatever name, is reported to be second only to tea in popularity in the UK. Finding it here wasn’t so easy a few years ago (unless you were in New Orleans, I’m told). I recall a few years ago when I thought it would be fun to serve a summer cooler to friends who were visiting at the house in Ocean Grove. We went out into the surrounding area looking for a bottle of Pimms No. 1 Cup. An hour and a half, and I can’t remember how many puzzled expressions later, we found a store that carried it.

According to an article in The New York Times, the summer cooler is now becoming popular sate-side. When I was looking for it’s history I discovered that there is some discrepancy in reports of the date it was created. In any case, sometime in the 1840s, James Pimm introduced a tonic for digestion in his Oyster Bar on Poultry Street in London. It wasn’t bottled until the late 1850s. So it’s a Victorian drink. James Pimm didn’t share his secret ingredients. “The recipe is still a secret, and only six persons know exactly how it is made” Retrieved May 26, 2014 from http://www.webtender.com/db/ingred/150

See

http://recipewise.co.uk/pimms-cocktail-recipe

britishfood.about.com/od/drinkingtraditions/a/pimms.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/dining/the-pimms-cup-grows-in-popularity-as-a-summer-cocktail.html

Of Pie. In Chapter 14, Carrie has one of her legendary lemon cream pie failures. It turns out to be an explosive event. We don’t know anything about her past failures except that one unfortunate episode was due to technical errors resulting in “an island of weepy and shriveled meringue on top of a runny filling.”

The difference between a lemon meringue pie and a lemon cream meringue pie depends on what one means by lemon cream meringue. There are lemon cream pie recipes that call for cream cheese or sour cream in the filling. In Carrie’s recipe, milk is used rather than water; otherwise it is similar to the traditional lemon meringue pie.

A good pie requires a good crust. Many people like to use a piecrust mix or buy pre-made crusts, but Carrie wouldn’t approve. Making your own is not so hard and worth the effort. Carrie’s recipe is pretty standard and may be used as an alternative to violence in working through frustrations.

 Pie crust for one 9” pie 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together:

1 cup all-purpose white flour

½ teaspoon salt

pinch of sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 tablespoon margarine or butter

Add half a tablespoon at a time:

3 tablespoons ice water (approximately)

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt using a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly. (This is the opportunity to work out frustrations.) Lumps should be no larger than the size of a small green pea. Stir in the water, adding 1-2 teaspoons more as necessary. You should be able to gather the dough up into a ball without it falling apart or being sticky.

Pat the dough into a flat round shape and roll into a circle with a floured rolling pin. The circle should be a couple of inches larger than the pie pan (from the rim or turned upside down). Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin and position it over the pie pan. Ease the pastry into the pie pan and press it down against the bottom and around the pie pan side. Trim the pastry about an inch wider than the rim. Flute with a fork or by hand, anchoring the curst under the rim to discourage shrinkage. Prick the crust all over with a fork. Put a round of parchment paper or tinfoil on the bottom of the pan, fill it with rice or beans and set it on the middle rack of the oven. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees F. Cook for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Remove the beans and return to the oven. Bake until the crust is lightly browned.

Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

As Carrie puts it: “A good pie crust requires a bit of effort. No matter how precise you are, you can never be sure the combination of ingredients will be right. Sometimes you have to add a bit more water; sometimes the measured amount is too much. So much depends on the weather. It’s never certain. . . But that’s why it’s fun! The uncertainty is what keeps it interesting.”

Carrie knows the lemon cream meringue pie by heart. What could be better than “a glorious, golden brown” pie filling “the kitchen with the incomparable smell of a fresh lemon meringue pie.”  Unless, of course, things haven’t gone right–but that is part of  the book and I don’t want to spoil any surprises.

Lemon Cream Meringue Pie

2 cups milk

2/3 cup sugar

3 to 4 medium-size lemons (juiced and strained to make ½ cup + 2 tablespoons juice)

1/4 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

In the top of a 2 quart double boiler (or over low heat), combine milk and sugar. Bring to a boil.

Mix lemon juice and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Beat the egg yolks into the juice and cornstarch. When the milk and sugar are boiling, whisk about a third into the lemon mixture, pouring in a small stream and beating constantly with a wire whip or whisk. Add up to another 1/3 of the milk and sugar. Then return this combined mixture back to the boiling milk and sugar, whisking constantly until all has been added and the filling boils and thickens. Boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Add butter and mix thoroughly.

Cool for a few minutes.  Spread the slightly cooled filling evenly in the crust. Set in a warm place where it will stay warm while making the meringue.

Meringue  “The trick was to have the whites stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without them spilling.”

Oven set at 400 degrees F.

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

pinch of cream of tartar

1/3 cup sugar (some people add up to 2/3 cup sugar, but Carrie likes hers less sweet)

Beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks. Gradually beat in sugar a tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks that don’t collapse. Add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla if desired. Spoon onto hot pie filling. Swirl the meringue over the pie, taking it out to the edges of the crust. Sealing it at the crust prevents weeping meringue.

“Carrie gently turned the meringue onto the warm pie, keeping her spatula upright to keep the volume in the large mound of white. She carefully swirled it out to touch and seal the crust. She liked a nice meringue, not the piles one found on most bakery pies, but a nice mound. The meringue browned in the oven while she tidied up.” It was a keeper.

Of Pie and Pimms. Lemon Cream Meringue Pie will go very nicely with tea. It will not go nicely with a Pimms Cup! A summer cooler is better paired with watching the sun set, if not over the Thames or from a front porch in Ocean Grove, then from some other lovely space.

Hope you like the recipes, by the way! They’re family recipes, handed down from a line of serious lemon cream pie fans.