Free Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen by Rae Katherine Eighmey

memory from pioneers, Lincoln, and even my own past. It is a magical window with a delicious pumpkin pie sitting on the sill, just waiting for me to see, smell, taste, touch, and take a sweet bite out of history.
    O memory! Thou mid-way world
    â€™Twixt Earth and Paradise,
    Where things decayed, and loved ones lost
    In dreamy shadows rise.
    PAWPAWS: Fresh pawpaws can be found in late summer and early fall at some eastern, mid-Atlantic, and southern farmers markets. Alas, they don’t grow in Minnesota. Fortunately a Missouri friend of a friend was kind enough to ship me a few of the fragile fruits carefully wrapped in paper towels and plastic bags and placed in a cooler. My backyard thermometer was close to 100°F the afternoon the package arrived. The outside of the box was hot to the touch and I feared I’d find only fermenting mush inside. But when I lifted the cooler lid, an almost-tropical sweet fragrance filled the kitchen. Fortunately the cooler had done its job. I chilled the pawpaws for a couple of hours and then it was time to taste.
    Perfectly ripened pawpaws have a rich custardy flesh you can eat with a spoon. Cut down the center and lift out the row of hard, large black seeds before digging in. You can slice the orange flesh of slightly underripe pawpaws and enjoy it like a mango.
    Like fresh apricots, pawpaws are more aromatic than flavorful. When I opened one of the protective bags, the aroma was nearly overpowering. I smelled banana, mango, pineapple, apricot, even brandy. The taste, however, was far subtler, with some of those same fruity flavors. Pawpaws have a pumpkiny richness, but they’re not as earthy. And, although sweet, they are not nearly as sweet as berries.
    As to how the pioneers enjoyed them, the memoirs are as elusive as the flavors. They may have mashed the flesh into a sauce sweetened with a bit of honey or sugar. Or, as the old song suggests, they simply ate them during the short season. Frozen pawpaw puree can be ordered from several online sources. Missouri State University in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, both have pawpaw propagation projects. Though the Internet is loaded with recipes using pawpaws in a variety of cooked dishes, I think the fruit is best discovered as the pioneers would have enjoyed it, eaten out of hand or as a simple sauce.
    ENJOYING OTHER WILD FRUITS: You may be fortunate enough to live in an area where you can forage for wild berries, grapes, plums, or evenmushrooms. My husband remembers picking wildgooseberries growing in the patch of woods behind his boyhood home in northern Iowa. His mother baked them into a pie that he recalls as “very tart.” Luckily gooseberries are one of the heritage fruits that can be purchased. The simple recipe for gooseberry pie printed on the label of Oregon brand gooseberries is very nice—and very tart.
    GOOSEBERRY PUDDING
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    Nineteenth-centurypuddings are not like the sweet, milk-based desserts we enjoy. A Lincoln-era pudding resembles a thickened fruit cobbler in some versions or a dense cake. As with many hearty pioneer recipes, a little serving goes a long way. If you can’t find fresh gooseberries, green grapes make a good substitute
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    1 ½ cups fresh green gooseberries or green grapes, or one 15-ounce can gooseberries, drained
    Â½ cup sugar
    2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
    3 large eggs
    1 ¼ cups fresh breadcrumbs made from grated stale, homemade-style bread
    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 1-quart baking dish. Slice the gooseberries or grapes in half. If using fresh fruit, put in a microwavable container, cover with plastic wrap and cook at half power until tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool. (If using canned gooseberries, continue recipe from this point.)
    Mix the fruit and ¼ cup of the sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl,cream thebutter and the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Add the eggs 1 at a time,