Around the Kitchen Table

Crispy Cheese Snacks and Board Games

Hello,

Living in a railroad apartment in the East Village during college, I acquired a couple of sturdy wood chairs from one of the roommates who came and went. I repainted them three times, once in a canary yellow, once in grass green, and once in fire engine red. I can’t even remember the order now, but they were basic colors you could find in the 16-box set of Crayolas. After moving to my own apartment, I purchased a table from the 1930s with a green-trimmed tin tabletop that conceals a handy drawer for rarely used utensils at a second-hand shop. The painted chairs were paired with the funky table. The little set-up allowed for one dinner guest, and the forgiving tin surface allowed for any number of art projects and cookie baking without worry about harm to the surface. We still have the table in the kitchen of our house, and it has been paired with different chairs, the painted ones were let go of long ago.

At Christmas time, I avoid purchasing the wreath for our front door at any box stores that have opened in our area. I go to a local nursery where the owner makes the wreaths and will add ribbons and embellishments of your choosing. The place has become rather ramshackle, probably due to a loss of customers, and you can’t always count on the wreaths being ready when you are, but she knows me, and that counts for something. Plus, she is skillful in what she does. She has a variety of antiques in her greenhouses or placed about randomly outside, some of which she incorporates into floral arrangements. Last December, I found four maple chairs with cane seats sitting outside in the elements. I should say three chairs with cane seats because the caning on one chair was destroyed. A friend had admonished me that chairs with cane seats were no longer popular, but that information made me want them even more. The chairs, one with a new cane seat, are around my tin table.

Alton Brown, who I am most familiar with from the Food Network show Good Eats, was recently interviewed on the PBS Newshour about his new memoir. When asked what tool every home cook should have, Brown replied that a good kitchen table is essential for people to come together to share food and should be the center of the house. I am in total agreement. A snack or a cup of tea is always close at hand, and it’s a cozy place to do homework or play a game of Pictionary. I can still picture our son playing table top rod hockey at the table with his dad or “football” with a sheet of lined paper folded into a triangle with a friend. It still baffles me how entertaining they found that simple game.

Favorite games, such as pick-up sticks or mancala, are fun despite lacking visual appeal. Others, such as Uncle Wiggily, are beautifully illustrated and evoke a different time. Howard R. Garis was inspired to create the character of Uncle Wiggily Longears after a walk in the woods near his home in Verona, New Jersey. Garis began writing stories for the Newark News based on Uncle Wiggily in 1910. He wrote an Uncle Wiggily story every day, except Sundays, for more than 52 years and published 79 books in his lifetime! Various illustrators were employed over the years. The game features menacing characters such as the Bad Pipsisewah, who causes players to lose a turn, and more helpful ones like the puppy at the Bow Wow Dog House as players compete to be the first to reach Dr. Possum’s house so that Uncle Wiggily can be treated for his rheumatism.

Snacks are always part of any game night and I tried several recipes of cheese crisps. The recipe listed below is modified slightly from the website Simply Recipes. I omitted the poppy seeds and paprika and these proved to be the best of the ones that I experimented with. HOWEVER, melting some cheese on your favorite cracker in the microwave may prove to be a better (and easier) option.

Cheese Crisps

Ingredients

2 cups sharp cheddar, grated

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using the large holes of a grater, grate the cheese. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and cayenne. Add the butter, and mix with a fork or your fingers until blended in. Add the grated cheese and toss with your hands to combine. Mound tablespoon-size portions of the cheese mixture on the baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly with the back of the spoon. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Let the crisps cool completely on the baking sheets. Lift the edge of the parchment to lift the crisps off the baking sheet, then peel them off. Store in an airtight container.

This was the only recipes I found that called for flour and baking powder. It was a bit strange combining flour with grated cheese, but I do think this made the crisps work better than the ones that were just cheese and flavorings.

What is your favorite game night snack?

Thanks for reading,

Vicki