Chelsea Conaboy makes lemon sponge pudding with her son, Hartley Byun, at their home in South Portland. Photo by Yoon S. Byun
Hartley attempts to squeeze more juice out of a lemon and add it to the batter. A copy of the recipe and the cover of the book from which it came, the "New American Cook Book" by Lily Wallace, hangs on the wall above the mixer. Photo by Yoon S. Byun
One dish, two spoons: Chef and sous chef enjoy the fruits of their labor. Photo by Yoon S. Byun
Chelsea Conaboy pours boiling water into a tray holding ramekins for lemon sponge pudding. Her son, Hartley Byun, waits to taste-test.
Margaret Conaboy's copy of the Lily Wallace "New American Cook Book" was a resource in the kitchen – as well as a repository. Tucked into its pages were an obituary, a wedding announcement, notes on an envelope. When her granddaughter promised to send her a copy of this newspaper article, Conaboy said, "Put a copy in that book, too."
Chelsea Conaboy is reflected in a framed page of the recipe for lemon sponge pudding. The worn copy of her 94-year-old grandmother's "New American Cook Book," which features the recipe, is held together with packing tape.
Conaboy pours batter into serving bowls before putting a tray into the oven. Her Nana made the lemon sponge pudding recipe "now and then," she said, because she was fond of lemon.
Nana said she didn't use the pudding for special occasions or for company, but it was a hit with children.
Chelsea Conaboy squeezes a lemon in her kitchen. Conaboy admits that she had no clue what a "pudding dish" was or what sponge pudding was supposed to look like.
Conaboy separates eggs with her son, Hartley Byun. He helped his mother with preparing the dish, helping juice lemons and fold in stiff egg whites.
Hartley Byun in mom's kitchen. Lily Wallace writes that it's "highly predictable that the lives of children, whose grandparents may yet be unborn, will be influenced by the meals being served in many homes today."
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