Joe’s Special!

by Larry keller

Well, family, here we are, halfway through the year, and it’s time for another family recipe for your consideration. In this case, it will be Joe’s Special. First, though, a little family history: way back in the late 1950’s Dad, Mom, Jim, Kathleen, and I were living in the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. As the spirit moved him, Dad would sometimes take Jim and me (sorry, Kathleen, you were about 3) somewhere unique to broaden our exposures. This evening, we were treated to a trip to the Tenderloin district for supper at the Original Joe’s at 144 Taylor St near Market. The area was pretty sketchy even then, but we were with Dad, so we felt ok. This was the original Joe’s, which opened in 1937. We settled into this really neat, old-timey place replete with an open kitchen, lively diners, and tuxedoed waiters. It had a broad menu and even a famous hamburger. Clearly Dad had eaten here before, and he ordered the Joe’s Special for all of us and an interesting side dish for himself. Jim and I LOVED ours and were just getting started when Dad served each of us an offering from his side dish. It was tasty and creamy, and we were ok with it until he told us it was… sweetbreads. Ugh, offals! That was enough of that, and we chased it down with the rest of our meal, much to Dad’s amusement.

Our family’s love of what we simply called Special began that night and we made it at home many times over the years. Special is a quick and inexpensive one pan meal that always satisfies. Served with a fresh salad and slices of crispy sourdough bread it is a complete meal any time of the day. 

A recipe for Special is on page 34 of the Family Cookbook, but you may also enjoy this one, which is my new favorite:   

Ready in 20 minutes, Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 – 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Beat the eggs and set aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

When the butter has melted, add the ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crumbly.

Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is tender but not browned.

Stir in the spinach, until well mixed.

Add basil, oregano, and nutmeg. Adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Add the beaten eggs to the beef/spinach mixture and cook until the eggs are set, about 3 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: Even though cheese is not included in the recipe, after we took the photo, we decided to sprinkle a goodly amount of Parmesan Reggiano on top to add an extra depth of flavor. Which it did! Enjoy!

Jenna, hard at work!

Who doesn’t love a sweet treat every now and then? And who loves the convenience of the Starbucks Danishes? What’s better than cooking with your family? Well, the girls and I were motivated to try a Cheese Danish recipe that we found online, and so, we made some and gave them to people in our neighborhood. Who knew how much joy this simple act would bring? It all started with the puff pastry from the store. We added some apricots on top from my dad’s friend’s garden. We delivered them to one neighbor who is going through some chemo. She quickly texted us back and said they were the most delicious things she had had, and that’s a huge compliment because she can’t taste much with all the side effects. It brought us a lot of joy, so we brought her another plateful. Then we delivered some to our neighbors who were just returning from Europe. It was a surprise that she had just written down on her grocery list that she wanted some pastries, coffee cake, or something sweet. So, when we brought the Danishes over, she was very pleased. They gave us a 10 out of 10, saying they would purchase these Danishes if we were to open up a bakery! The last delivery was to my parents, and I know my mom would have loved to sit and have coffee and tea and eat them together. Which reminds me of Grandma Margaret. Every time we would go and visit her, she would always make us tea and bring out a tin of cookies. I hope you find this recipe easy to follow and are inspired to bake for yourself or for someone else. You never know what kind of joy you can bring. As a side note, this may be the last year I have all my kids here, as Jenna is a sophomore in High School, Josie will live here until she gets married next summer, and Cade is returning to Sacramento after living in Chico for 6 years and 3 seasons with Cal Fire. He will then return to college at CSUS. I look forward to cooking, laughing, and lots of messes!

RECIPE FOR CHEESE DANISH:

Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 15 minutes; Total time: 25 minutes; Makes 8 pastries

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 – 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, optional

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed if frozen

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla (if using) until smooth.
3. Unroll puff pastry and, if needed, use a rolling pin to gently roll out to a rectangle approximately 9×13 inches. Cut pastry into 8 rectangles.
4. Transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space between. (You might need two baking sheets.) Using a paring knife, score a smaller rectangle inside each piece of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Be careful to not cut all the way through the dough.
5. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese ixture onto each smaller rectangle. Beat together egg and water, then use a pastry brush or paper towel to brush the egg wash on the uncovered pastry edges.
6. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Now, who would like to share a story and a recipe in July?

On June 7, our James will be 21 years old! This is a huge birthday in any young person’s life, but there’s so much more to celebrate as James reaches this milestone! When I think back on how much work he’s put in to becoming the beautiful and fine young man that he is now, it’s almost too much to comprehend! It was not an easy road for him or for his mom. From early on, there were inner and outer battles that needed to constantly be overcome, as well as pressures to expose his senses to tastes, sounds, and smells that his body did not like. But with a lot of encouragement, love, and support from Heather, James persevered and kept moving forward. James is now everything and even more than we had wished for him. He’s wonderfully comfortable in his own skin and has become a confident and accomplished person in his own right. Recently, he performed at a local talent show and, not surprisingly, was such a hit that people were asking to have their picture taken with him!

And so, to celebrate James, I’ve gone outside of our Family Cookbook and would like to share with you the special cake that I will be making for this occasion. It is called Kransekake (wreath cake). The Norwegian version looks like this:

I’ve only made a Kransekake one time before, and that was for Peter and Diane’s wedding. It was Peter’s groom’s cake. Jim and Jenness had come down a couple of days before the wedding, so she was able to help me make and assemble the cake. As most of you remember, Peter and Diane’s wedding was in the middle of the day, so everything needed to be done the day before. Kransekake is made by creating 18 rings of almond dough, starting with a ring 10″ in diameter and making each subsequent ring 1/4″ shorter. When a Kransekake is made for a wedding, a bottle of champagne is often inserted in the center. The couple will then drink that champagne on their 1st anniversary. James loves Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider, so we might do something similar for him—though we definitely won’t make him wait a whole year! The rings are fairly crunchy, sort of like the texture of a biscotti, since they are made with almond paste and egg whites. I have seen recent recipes that use almond macaroon dough instead, which gives you a much chewier bite. I don’t think the rings would be as firm, so I’m not sure how well the structure holds. The rings can be made by hand by rolling dough ropes and joining them together, or you can buy a Kransekake kit that includes all the molds, which takes a lot of the measuring and math out of it. That’s what I’ll be using. The icing is very strong and will hold most of your decorations – small fairy lights, streamers, anything that signifies what you’re celebrating. If you want to make sure everything stays in place, an extra toothpick here and there will do the trick. Since this recipe is relatively long, I’m not going to include it in this blog. However, if you’re interested in making one, I’d be glad to send you the recipe. You can also find recipes for Kransekake online. I’m not sure if James will enjoy the flavor and texture of this particular birthday cake, but if nothing else, I know a couple of family members who will be glad to eat his portion! James will undoubtedly be asked what kind of cake he would like to have…. I’m guessing something with strawberries… and that cake will be the main event. But I can’t think of anything more special to make for our very special birthday person on his very special day! 🎉🎊🎈

Today is the 17th of May, Norway’s Constitution Day. As with the 4th of July, everything served today is about red, white, and blue, which, interestingly, are both Norway’s and America’s flag colors. Strawberry Cream cake is the traditional cake served most often for this celebration. It is one of those super moist, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cakes, not only because it’s filled with whipped cream and strawberries, but also because you poke small holes into the sponge cake and dribble a little bit of juice – pineapple, orange, your choice – into the holes. The cake is best assembled just before you serve it. My first taste of Strawberry Cream Cake was at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church Christmas Bazaar on Hyde Street in San Francisco. I’m sure I must have had a piece sometime in my childhood, but I actually don’t remember. My mother was a terrific baker, but we were only 4 in our immediate family, so she wouldn’t have seen the point in making one just for us. Practical people, these Norwegians! The Seaman’s Church has a fabulous Christmas Bazaar each year during the weekend right before Thanksgiving. If you have a chance to go, please do. It’s so much fun, and the food – open-faced sandwiches, Norwegian Christmas cookies, and Strawberry Cream Cake are incredible. They’re all made right there by the ladies’ group in the church’s kitchen. One thing to know ahead of time is that the parking on Hyde Street and throughout the neighborhood is two-hour parking, and the parking police are VERY VIGILANT that weekend! You are best off if you Lyft back and forth or have someone drop you off and pick you up. That way, you can spend as much time as you wish to, and I promise you, you’ll be there longer than you think. You’ll find the recipe for Norwegian Strawberry Cream Cake on page 57 of our Family Cookbook. Give it a try. I know you’re going to love it!

A 17th of May celebration on Savona Walk just a few years ago. Megan is wearing the Oslo bunad (national costume).💓

Stefan and Hayley met in Missouri while he was attending school there. When it was time for Stefan to begin working on his PhD., they decided to move to Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Hayley attended graduate school in Boston, and it has been a favorite place for her ever since. Her degree is in Library Sciences. She is now an archivist at Tufts University. They are both doing well and enjoying living in the Boston area. They are also happy to be close to the cottage in Maine, which is where the photo was taken. Stefan and Hayley are currently planning their wedding for August 2027. It will take place in Hayley’s hometown of St. Louis. I couldn’t think of a better recipe to go with my news than Whoopie Pies. When I think of Maine, I always think of blueberries or Whoopie Pies. Whoopie Pies are also a favorite of Josie Keller. You can find the recipe on page 69 of the Keller Family Cookbook.

This month’s entry was going to be the last in our Keller family blog series. Even though Persimmons are a Fall fruit and there won’t be any at farmers’ markets or in grocery stores for months, I knew I couldn’t end our project without sharing this special memory and really great recipe. When we decided to continue the Keller family blog for a while longer, I debated whether I should tuck this one away for another time or not. I finally decided to go ahead and share it anyway. I know the timing is a little crazy. If you wanted to make this recipe tomorrow and didn’t have leftover persimmon puree from last year, you couldn’t. But this story is such a happy memory for me. And so, even without access to persimmons, here we go!

During a visit in 2010, right before Thanksgiving, Dad/Grandpa suddenly declared that Larry and I, Jim and Jenness, Grandma and Grandpa would all drive north on Highway 101, just past Cloverdale, and pick up some persimmons at a local family orchard. These were the Hachiya persimmons, which are great for cooking and baking. They are bulb-shaped with a soft point at the end.

These were not the round Fuyu persimmons that you eat like an apple, as in the image below.

It was a beautiful drive, especially that time of year, and all too soon, we were driving up a private road toward the front of a large, old house. On the front deck of the house were benches covered with baskets full of handpicked persimmons, all perfect and ripe and being sold for an incredibly low price! As with so many other fruits, all the persimmons from the owner’s many trees came ripe at the same time. Their persimmon trees were huge. I have no idea how old they were, but they obviously had been there a long time. The birds ate the fruit at the top, where the owners couldn’t reach. But below that, the fruit was still beautiful and plentiful. It didn’t take long before we had made our purchases and were driving back to Santa Rosa with our treasures. Mom/Grandma had already given me her recipe for steamed persimmon pudding, which I made that same Christmas as one of our desserts. It’s absolutely delicious with a lemon or vanilla sauce over the top. For a celebratory dessert, you may want to try that great Hard Sauce from the recipe. I didn’t make that one (although it sounded awfully good!) because kids would also be eating my Persimmon Pudding. You will find Grandma’s Persimmon Pudding with Hard Sauce on page 59 of the Keller family cookbook.

Dad/Grandpa had a wonderful trick for turning a trove of persimmons into puree in no time at all. You put the persimmons into freezer bags and freeze them for at least overnight. When you’re ready to use your persimmons, let them thaw (make sure you leave them in the bag while they’re thawing. They get super mushy and keeping them in a bag will contain the juice for you). The pulp will come off from the skin easily, and now, your pulp is ready for the blender. I bag and freeze my persimmon pulp in 1 and 2-cup portions. That way, I’m ready to make pudding, muffins, or persimmon bread any time! Persimmon bread is especially delicious when you include raisins and toasted walnuts. If you have never made anything with Hachiya persimmons, I urge you to give them a try when November comes around. You’ll be so glad you did!

With so many wonderful young people in our youngest generation of Kellers and so many exciting futures ahead for them, I thought it perfect to begin sharing some of their stories by congratulating Josie Keller and Martin Kungys on their engagement! Some of you already know Martin well, but others don’t, so I would like to share with you how Larry and I came to meet him.

Larry and I met Martin as he was finishing up his last semester at California State University, Long Beach. I think he was majoring in Baking and Pastry Arts at the time. Josie brought him over to the house so we could meet him, and he us, and he brought along a beautiful cake he had made for us to share… absolutely delicious! It was a lovely visit, and we could see even then that there was something special between them. Martin is a very talented cook and baker, and as a natural extension of that, he is now specializing in Food Science at UC Davis. He is of German and Lithuanian descent. Wouldn’t Grandma/Great Grandma Keller have loved meeting him?

Martin and Josie met in 2020 when they were both working at Raley’s grocery store. This was when COVID was at its most dangerous, and when we were isolated from each other out of necessity. They liked each other right away and had already been exposed to each other through work, and so they began keeping company. That friendship continued to grow, and in 2026, they made their relationship official!

I couldn’t think of a more appropriate recipe to honor Josie and Martin than our Puff Pastry Apple and Raisin Strudel on page 60 of the Keller Family Cookbook! Recently, Josie made her first Apple Strudel from scratch with Martin’s mom. I bet she was a wonderful teacher! For the rest of us, the shortcut version of Apple Strudel gets us close and is almost foolproof! By the way, some of you know this already, but apple strudel was one of Jim Keller’s favorite desserts. We used to have conversations about how fun it would be to make one, and how delicious it would taste, still warm, with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream alongside! (That was Grandpa’s contribution!) Between time and distance, we never did manage to make that apple strudel, but we got very close to it one day at Grandma/Great Grandma’s house. We had our recipe, our ingredients, and Grandma was at the ready to help. But something interrupted our plans that day, and the opportunity never presented itself again. Not to get too deep into this, but there’s a life lesson here. I shouldn’t have let it drop. This was before Grandma’s eyes began to fail, so there was still time. How great it would have been to have had that experience and maybe even some photos to remember it by. Even though that day never happened, the plan doesn’t need to end there. I just need to be more determined to not let time slip away next time. Carpe Diem, family!

The Keller family received wonderful news today! This afternoon, April 1, we learned that Stefan and Hayley are engaged! First Josie, now Stefan…there’s definitely love in the air for the Keller family! Perhaps Jenness could tell us a little bit about Hayley, how she and Stefan met, and what a favorite recipe of theirs might be?

And so, I end the first of two April Keller family blogs with heartfelt congratulations to Stefan and Hayley, and a very special congratulations to Mom! ❤️

p.s. I was originally going to publish the April blog on Jim’s birthday, but with such great news to share, I decided to send it off today, instead. I have a fun one ready to go on April 11. Perhaps Jenness would like May? If not – I know she has several trips planned in the next couple of months – I’ll see if I can get some information about Stefan and Hayley, a few more photos, and hopefully, in May, we’ll all get to know Hayley better. Happy Easter to all of you! 🐤🐰

Bill Marquardt was quite the character. He was also a dear friend to both Rex and Marie, although he was especially fond of Mom/Grandma, as she was of him. “Uncle Bill”, as he was known, was an important figure in the Keller family’s lives through the 1950’s and well into the late 1960’s.

Dad/Grandpa Keller met Bill Marquardt on the streetcar he drove. Bill was what they called “a regular”, meaning he was on the same streetcar at the same time almost every evening. By then, he had already had a fascinating career. He was born in Switzerland, where he was classically trained as a chef, and for many years afterward, he worked as a waiter for Matson Cruise Lines. He had sailed to many exotic destinations, such as the Pacific Islands and Australia. Mom/Grandma and Dad/Grandpa had several souvenirs from his trips, including a Kiwi bird that used to be on their fireplace in both Ukiah and Santa Rosa. Do you remember it? I had seen it on their mantle for years but never knew the story of how they ended up with it until after they passed away. Somewhere along the line, the Kiwi bird chipped. I’m not sure what happened to it after that.

Both Bill and Dad/Grandpa were wonderful conversationalists, and so I’m sure it didn’t take them long during those streetcar rides to learn about each other and become fast friends. At the time they met, Bill was the headwaiter at the famous Paoli’s restaurant, a major gathering place for politicians and boxing figures in San Francisco. Somewhere during that time, Bill also rented the front downstairs apartment on 15th Street and remained there until Dad/Grandpa’s parents moved in. It was during Bill’s stay that he and Dad/Grandpa decided to become entrepreneurs and open a breakfast place in South Lake Tahoe. It was called the Breakfast Bar. Some of you know most of this story; some of you know some of this story. However, my telling of one of the most famous Keller family stories of all time would do a terrible disservice to Rex and Bill’s Great Adventure! This is a story best told in person by someone who was there, with plenty of wine and plenty of time.

Bill was famous for his delicious, buttery spaetzle, a Swiss specialty. Larry still remembers eating a bowl of it at Uncle Bill’s apartment in San Francisco’s Financial District. Dad/Grandpa and Mom/Grandma loved his spaetzle too, and Mom picked up the technique of making them in no time. I can still see her standing over a large pot on the stove, deftly slipping small bits of dough into the boiling water as if it were the easiest thing in the world. I have never been able to make my spaetzle anywhere near as perfect as hers, and so I’ve decided that before I make them again, I’m buying a spaetzle maker! It looks like a cheese grater with large, round holes. If you have a colander or a slotted spoon with large holes, that should work well, too. That evening, Mom/Grandma served her spaetzle with salt, pepper, butter, and parsley, which is about as perfect a presentation as you would want. She might even have put some garlic in it. I’m not sure, though.

When we were assembling the family cookbook, several of us looked for Bill’s or Mom/Grandma’s spaetzle recipe, but we never could find it. I decided to check online for a similar recipe and, in the process, came across a recipe that included mushrooms in a rich mustard sauce. It sounded so good that I put that version in the cookbook as our spaetzle representation. Not that long ago, Larry and I finally made the recipe. OMG, so delicious! You have got to try this one! Other than a few fresh herbs, you should have most of the ingredients already in your refrigerator and pantry. Don’t worry if you don’t have a large-holed colander, slotted spoon, or spaetzle maker. You might just do better with Mom/Grandma’s method than I did. She used 2 teaspoons. She would dip the end of one teaspoon into the boiling water to wet it, then dip it into the batter. Then, she pushed the spaetzle dough with the other teaspoon into the boiling water. The spaetzle turned out to be just the right shape and looked as perfect as anything you would see in a restaurant. I can tell you from personal experience that if they turn out to be larger than the traditional size, they will taste just as delicious. They’ll just make the dish a bit more hearty and take a few more minutes to float to the top.

Mushroom and Mustard Spaetzle is on page 20 of the Keller family cookbook. The recipe calls for button mushrooms, but you can use any kind of mushroom you wish. The image I’ve included with this blog looks like they used either Chanterelle or Cremini mushrooms, which are both very pretty and have a slightly deeper mushroom flavor than the buttons. I don’t think you can go wrong with either version! Enjoy!

As most of you know, I grew up in a Norwegian household. My parents may have lived in the United States, but their food was definitely in Norway. My parents never made traditional Irish food and never celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. My first experience with a Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner was at Grandma and Grandpa Keller’s home. The flavors were very familiar. Norwegians eat a lot of boiled dinners, and cabbage is almost a constant. And then there’s the Irish Soda Bread…yum!!! Quite a few Scandinavian breads include caraway seed and raisins, one of my favorite flavor combinations! Why my parents never “ventured” into the world of Irish food, I have no idea. It would have been the most natural thing in the world. But that’s how it was. Larry loves a Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, and of course, a true Keller must always have a brand-new bottle of the most potent horseradish he can find to go with it! I’m not a big fan of foods that you can FEEL through your nostrils when you bite into them, so a small dab of mustard works best for me. As delicious as this meal is, no St. Patrick’s Day dinner would be complete without Irish Soda Bread! I usually make it within 2 hours of when we’re going to sit down, so the soda bread is still warm. It will crumble more when it’s warm, but I think it’s well worth it! If you want prettier-looking wedges, the bread will hold together better the cooler it gets. My neighbor swears by Irish butter. Something to do with grass-fed cows? I haven’t tried it, but maybe that’s the way to go on St. Patrick’s Day? And so, to honor this day and the Irish in all of us, I wanted to share my go-to Irish Soda bread recipe. It’s super easy and tastes great! This recipe makes 1 loaf, but I always double it and make 2. Sometimes we share the second one with a neighbor, and sometimes it goes in the freezer to be warmed up another day. Warm Irish Soda bread with butter or marmalade is especially delicious alongside your first cup of coffee or tea in the morning!

Marilyn O’Reilly’s Irish Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons caraway seeds, optional

1 cup raisins

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

Directions

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt and stir well to mix.
3. Add the butter and rub in until the butter disappears into the dry ingredients.
4. Stir in the caraway seeds and the raisins.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together and mix them into the dough mixture.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, flour your hands, then fold the dough over itself several times to shape it into a round loaf. Transfer the loaf to a cookie sheet covered with parchment and cut a cross in the top. I sprinkle some flour over my knife before I make the cuts.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes more, until golden brown and a toothpick plunged into the center comes out clean.
8. Cool the soda bread on a rack and serve it with plenty of sweet butter and bitter orange marmalade. Sláinte!

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