The Patch of Blue and Popovers

Yesterday afternoon I finished reading The Patch of Blue by Grace Livingston Hill. It was a delightful story set during the Great Depression. A wealthy family loses everything and has to learn to live with very little. The oldest son finds this change in life very difficult, but throughout the story we watch him grow and learn the importance of relying on God.

Grace Livingston Hill is one of my favorite authors. I love her descriptions of family and home life. I thought it might be fun to share a couple of paragraphs from The Patch of Blue, as well as, one of my favorite recipes.

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"They had a cheery supper that night in spite of the simple fare. The mother was resurrecting all her old recipes, plain wholesome food, cheaply bought and deriving its savory taste and smell from the old deftness in seasoning, the trick of long cooking, the careful preparation. Perhaps because of its very difference from what they had been eating for years, its simplicity rather charmed the family. Bean soup made with tomatoes, potatoes and celery tops, a "mess of pottage" the mother called it; brown bread; baked apples and cream; even bread pudding with a dash of chocolate to make it tasty; hash! Yes, they loved it, Mother's hash. That was different. Mother could make hash taste like stuffed turkey."

"They sat down to dinner as if it were a picnic. Somehow it didn't seem so mournful, after all, as he had expected. Chris thought he would always remember his father's first blessing at the little golden oak table with mother's coarsest table cloth upon it, and the old dishes that had been used mostly in the kitchen at the other house. It was:

'Father, we remember that Thy Son had not where to lay His head at times when He was upon the earth. We thank Thee for this comfortable quiet home that Thou hast given us, and for this evening meal. Make us to show forth Thy glory by the strength of it. Amen.'

Chris was very quiet and thoughtful during the meal, jumping up to get a pitcher of water, and replenish the popovers from the pan in the warming oven, to save his mother and sister."

The Patch of Blue Grace Livingston Hill
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One of our favorite additions to a meal of soup is popovers! They are also a lovely addition to tea when served hot from the oven with butter and homemade jam. I even serve them with a pot roast dinner in place of Yorkshire pudding.

Popovers :

2 eggs 
1 cup milk
1 cup flour 
1/4 tsp salt 
1 tbsp melted butter

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees with popover pan in oven.
2. Beat eggs, add milk together. Add in melted butter.
3. Sift flour and salt together and add it to the wet ingredients. Beat until smooth.
4. Once oven is pre-heated, remove hot pan from oven, grease muffin tins with cooking spray, and fill 2/3 full.
5. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes.