Cooking with Mother Goose: A
series of occasional posts inspired by children's stories and rhymes.
Cobbler, Cobbler
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe;
Have it done by half past two;
Is it black or is it brown;
Is it up or is it down?
This rhyme has saved us countless times as we tried to entertain our children during one of those seemingly interminable waits. Like at a restaurant when three seconds after ordering someone asks indignantly, "where is our food!?!" Or while in waiting in line at the post office/grocery store/DMV, trying to keep everyone in line and reasonably quiet. Or fifteen minutes into a long car ride when after the inevitable, "are we there yet?"
We play it as a guessing game. To play, put a penny or pebble in one hand and curl both hands into a fist. As you recite the rhyme, tap one fist on top of the other, alternating which hand goes on top. At the end, others guess which hand contains the object.
As I was perusing the internet to see if there are any other versions of this rhyme, I again realized that perhaps my version is not the original. It is quite different from the others I found which are variations of these:
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe;
Have it done by half past two;
Half past two is much too late!
Have it done by half past eight.
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe;
Have it done by half past two;
Stitch it up or stitch it down;
And I'll give you half a crown;
Or:
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe;
Have it done by half past two.
Stitch it up or stitch it down;
Then I'll walk around the town.
Cobbler, cobbler, mend my boot;
Mend it well to fit my foot;
Stitch it Up or stitch it down;
Then I'll walk around the town.
Maybe our version was adapted by our children's nursery school, Acorn Hill. Whatever the provenance, we still use it from time to time, and the last few times I made cobbler, it raced through my head. The best kind of cobbler, cobbler.
2009: Homemade Ricotta
2010: Peach Macarons
2011: Herbed Ricotta-Feta Spread
Peach Cobbler
This recipe, like peach pie, lets perfectly ripe peaches shine. We are comng to the end of peach season in these parts, and this is an excellent way to use up any you have left. It is also delicious with blackberries instead or a mix of the two.
Serves 8
40 minutes preparation time
30-35 minutes baking time
8-10 medium peaches (about 6 cups cut and peeled)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/3 cup boiling water
vanilla ice cream for serving (optional, but really, really good)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the peaches and boil them for about 1 minute. Drain and let cool. When the peaches are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins. Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir to coat the peaches. Add the cornstarch and sugar and mix until the cornstarch and sugar are fully incorporated.
To make the dough, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix the butter into the flour with your fingers, working until the bits of butter range in size from grains of sand to small pebbles. Add the boiling water and stir with a fork until the batter is uniformly moist.
Pour the peaches into a pie plate. With a large spoon, scoop the dough over the peaches, making sure to leave lots of gaps (even more than I show in the picture) between the lumps of dough so that the steam can escape.
Slide the pie plate onto the baking sheet and bake until the peaches are bubbling and the top of the cobbler is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve, ideally with vanilla ice cream.
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