July 20th marked the anniversary of man’s first footsteps on the moon, 42 years ago. We all clustered, some estimated 450 million of us, around radios and televisions sets all over the world, fascinated and scarcely able to believe what we were hearing and watching as a spacesuit-clad, awkwardly moving man stepped off a short ladder from the lunar landing module on to the surface of the moon.
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
If you were also watching that incredible event, that sentence is forever engraved in your memory banks. (Just forget the ensuing discussion about whether he actually said the “a” before “man” or not; it really doesn’t matter.)
Until that moment, a human being traveling through space and landing on the moon was the stuff of Buck Rogers comic books. My brother had a pile of them in his room, which I was forbidden to enter on pain of some awful punishment he’d threaten me with, but when he wasn’t around I’d sneak in and read them. Buck zipped around the galaxy in his space ship with little or no trouble, having endless adventures and saving us all from enemy aliens in every episode. I wanted to be Buck Rogers.
But this wasn’t Buck Rogers; it was a living, breathing man, just like my father, brother, uncles, and he was shuffling around on the surface of the moon almost as if he intended to take up residency there. Neil Armstrong and his astronaut buddy, Buzz Aldrin, spent more than two hours checking out the real estate of the moon, and I, for one, could not get enough of the story. In the newspapers, on television, over and over they’d show photos and re-broadcast the voices of the men as they explored, and oh, how I wanted to be there, too.
All of my life, I’ve been enthralled with the moon and when it’s full, hanging in the black night sky and, hopefully, un-obscured by clouds, I’m compelled to be outdoors, staring up. No, I don’t howl at the moon, but inwardly I imagine myself walking there, just as they did more than four decades ago. If it were possible, I’d request that my ashes be scattered there, although I’m not in any hurry.
There have been many space travel events since that amazing day, as well as a few tragedies, and now there are men and women living in space, spending weeks and months in a space station that continually orbits our earth, while we go on with our lives, paying little or no attention. Our space program presently appears to be in a slump, with no more space travel planned for the foreseeable future, but I’ve no doubt in my mind that future generations will follow in Neil Armstrong’s footsteps.
When I was very, very young, one of my grandmothers taught me a little ditty about the moon; I’ve been singing it ever since and have taught it to my children and grandchildren. It makes very little sense, as my granddaughters have pointed out more than once, but still, when the moon is full, I sing:
“I see the moon, the moon sees me,
The moon sees the ones I long to see,
God bless the moon, God bless me,
And God bless the ones I long to see.”
Thank you, Neil, Buzz, Michael and NASA, for taking us to the moon 42 years ago.
RECIPES
So, here we are, moonstruck and faced with talking about food and recipes. Well, that’s not such a big problem, since we have a lot of summertime moon treats/good eats to choose from. We may as well begin with some “over the moon” caviar hors d’oeuvre, certain to impress your guests.
CAVIAR MOONS
10 very thin slices of firm white sandwich bread
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
3 1/2 oz. (100g) caviar (your choice as to color/style, but these work out best if you keep the caviar small size)
One 2-inch crescent moon cookie cutter
Brush the bread with melted butter and cut out 40 moons. Arrange, buttered side up, on a large baking sheet. Bake in the middle of a 350-degree oven until pale golden, about 10 min. Allow to cool completely. At this point, you can put the toast moons in an airtight container and keep them at room temp. up to 24 hours, until ready to assemble and serve.
Spread each toast moon with sour cream and top with caviar; serve. Makes 40 appetizers.
Instead of the toasts, you might consider making these delicious, tender moon crackers as the base for your caviar, as well as anything else you may want to spread on these tasty morsels. You can make these up to 3 days ahead of party or picnic time; keep in an airtight container at room temp.
CHEDDAR POPPY MOON CRACKERS
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 T. poppy seeds
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits
1 cup coarsely shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
4-5 T. cold water
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 T. water)
Coarse salt, for sprinkling
In a bowl with a pastry blender, or in a food processor, blend or pulse together the flour, cornmeal, poppy seeds, salt and baking powder. Add butter and blend or pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add Cheddar and 4 T. water and toss with a fork or pulse until water is incorporated, adding remaining water, if necessary, to form a soft dough.
On a board or work surface, “smear” the dough forward 3 or 4 times with the heel of your hand, to develop the gluten a bit and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into 2 balls and flatten into disks.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease 2 large baking sheets. On a lightly floured surface roll out half the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin to make a 12-inch round about 1/16 of an inch thick. Using your crescent moon cookie cutter, cut out shapes, transferring them to baking sheets. Gather scraps and reroll dough; cut out more shapes and transfer to baking sheets.
Brush crescents lightly with egg wash and prick all over with a fork. Sprinkle crescents with salt and bake in the upper and lower third of the oven, switching sheets halfway through baking, until crackers are golden, about 12-14 min. Transfer with a metal spatula to racks and cool. Repeat process with remaining dough. Makes about 75 crackers.
These biscuits are so named for their resemblance to moon rocks, not because they’re hard as rocks. They’re tender and delicious, but to enjoy them at their best, eat them warm, spread with whatever you prefer (such as a bit of mascarpone cheese, for example).
MOON ROCK BISCUITS
2 cups flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 t. finely grated orange zest
In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in raisins and nuts.
Add cream and half and half; stir until the mixture is just combined. (Don’t overwork, or they will be rocks).
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop 4 mounds of the batter onto each sheet, leaving 1 1/2-2 inches between mounds. Stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the orange zest and sprinkle on the mounds. Bake on 2 shelves in the lower third of a 425-degree oven until puffed and golden, about 20-25 min., switching sheets halfway through baking. Transfer to a rack to cool only a little, then serve warm. Makes 8 moon rock biscuits.
