7 minute read
The Simple Life
by SARA MOULTON
Celebrity TV chef and cookbook author Sara Moulton shares her memoir of escaping to Laurel Farm, her family’s treasured haven tucked away in rural Massachusetts.
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Stephen Hamilton captures her story and recipes through images from his own great escapes.
My parents bought a farmhouse with a barn in northeast Massachusetts when I was seven. Built in 1726, it has beams on the ceiling and six fireplaces, (including a huge one in the living room with a big hook for hanging pots, and a baking oven). The house and barn are surrounded on all sides by fields and then forest.
We have almost a hundred acres, although a significant chunk of a back forest has been taken over by beavers. There is a pond in the middle of one of the fields and a stream running through much of the forest. It is like a wildlife preserve. It is very, very quiet. My folks own it with my aunt and uncle. Each couple had three kids, all of the kids got married and most of them had kids. Now we don’t fit there at one time without setting up sleeping tents on the back lawn, which we refer to as the wedding lawn because many of us got married there.
Every summer since my daughter Ruthie was four, my little family—me, the husband and two kids—go up for a week in late August, just the four of us.
I look forward to it all year. But it takes awhile to get adjusted. We are not used to the country and its silence, or its animal sounds. The frogs wake us up at night. We worry about the ax murderers breaking in. It doesn’t help that there is a ghost. Old farmer Heywood’s brother was murdered in the barn in the late 1930s by two young thugs from a nearby town looking for money. Sometimes we think we hear him.
But finally, we get into a routine and relax. There is a framed photo by the front door in the kitchen, a New Yorker cartoon that depicts a business man coming up from the subway into a beautiful forest. That is how we feel after a day or two. My kids (now 25 and 21) like to play tennis on our beaten up court and Ping-Pong in the barn. My husband checks out all the yard sales and flea markets, scouring for Christmas music for his annual Christmas DVD. Me, I read books and take long rigorous walks and, oddly enough, focus on making new recipes.
It helps that we usually have a good-size vegetable garden in the backyard. Everyone gets together and plants on Memorial Day weekend. There are always assorted lettuces, broccoli, tomatoes (big and cherry), chiles, squashes, and herbs. The row of raspberry bushes has already shed its crop before we get there, but usually the wild blueberries are ripening during our stay. And we can supplement from a farm stand down the road that not only has fresh corn every day (August is the best time for corn), but also sells other fruits, vegetables and locally raised lamb, pork and beef.
mexican-style street corn
( makes 4 servings )
4 ears corn, husks removed, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup fresh herbs such as cilantro, oregano, basil, thyme or parsley, or a mixture, 1/2 garlic clove, minced, 1/4 pound very cold Cheddar cheese
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slow-roasted spiced baby back ribs
(makes 6 servings)
6 pounds baby back ribs,¼ cup sweet or hot paprika, 2 tablespoons kosher salt ½ cup fi rmly packed dark brown sugar, ¼ cup chili powder, 5 to 6 garlic cloves, minced, 2 tablespoons ground cumin, 1 tablespoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or more to taste, 4 cups your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce
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The town center boasts two churches, a town green complete with bandstand for Wednesday night concerts, and a rundown old general store that sells penny candy, hardware, wine, a few staples, and tucked in the back, a butcher shop and deli run by Pat and Linda. Pat makes a large variety of excellent sausages. Sometimes when we are lucky, we get there just as he is fi nishing his homemade kielbasa and he will give us a warm piece right out of the smoker.
The most important part of the day for me is from 6:00 to 7:00 when we all go out and sit behind the house next to the flower garden, drink a glass of wine or gin and tonic and hang out.
The light at that time of day, especially in August, is magical. We can see the wedding lawn, back field and pond from this vantage point. Sometimes there is a great blue heron hanging out by the water hunting frogs. We put in a stone fountain two years ago for my parent’s anniversary which provides a soothing sound track.
sparkling watermelon lemonade
( makes 6 drinks )
4 cups cubed fresh watermelon (seeds removed), 5 to 6 tablespoons superfi ne sugar or to taste, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, seltzer, well chilled, Fresh mint or herb sprigs for garnish
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dill pickle cucumber slices
( makes 1 1/3 cups )
One 5 to 6 inch piece cucumber, 1/4 red onion, sliced thin, 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves or 1 teaspoon dried, 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 4 large romaine lettuce leaves
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I prep dinner from 5:30 to 6:00, and then the kids join me after cocktail hour to fi nish making the dishes. We eat at the kitchen table, a wooden picnic table covered with a colorful plastic tablecloth and cloth napkins. I insist on lighting candles although I don’t think anyone else cares. We make simple fare, eat it with pleasure, and talk about the day just past and the one to come. Occasionally I manage to drag everyone out to the back fi eld to look at the stars. Then we go to bed and try not to be distracted by the things in nature that go bump in the night.
“Fried” Catfish Sandwich
( makes 4 servings )
8 slices bacon - optional, 2 plum tomatoes, Kosher salt, ¾ c mayonnaise, ¼ c fresh basil leaves, ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, Freshly ground black pepper, 4 slices fi rm white bread, ¼ c Wondra or unbleached all-purpose fl our, 1 large egg , Four 4 oz catfi sh fi llets, ¼ c extra virgin olive oil, 8 slices rustic bread 4 large romaine lettuce leaves
