vintage cakes

"O Winter, king of intimate delights..."  William Cowper

And delicious cakes to extend the delight, I might add, especially when the cold blasts of winter arrive and baking takes on special industry.

I can't specifically say I am baking my way through this book, yet I am purposely having fun choosing certain recipes to experiment with and mark as cake favorites. Thus far, all that I have undertaken to bake have been worth it all both in time and effort. Jane Brocket certainly has a way with elevating even the most quotidian activity to new levels. The photographs of cakes displayed in this book are candy for the eyes with its vintage hand-embroidiered tablecloths, delicate china plates and unique cakestands. You might just find yourself pulling out a notepad with plans to begin a list on which ones to try first. Some of the cake recipes given are not what you might consider traditional cakes necessarily, but muffins, cookies, doughnuts and sweet breads. Still, all very good. Many of the pages included backgrounds of particular cakes and snippets of cultural history to how they were served.

The Devil's Food Cake is a classic chocolate cake with the addition of a half cup of espresso (or strong coffee); brown sugar is used in the frosting which I thought was different, but I liked the results.

Simple Chocolate Cake, a vintage "tried and true" cake, requires the simplest ingredients. It is a perfect cake to have fun with decorating as I did here for a dear friend's birthday back in October when the nasturtiums still bloomed in my garden.

Retro cakes bring back such fond memories, and since this is the season for fresh pineapple, a Pineapple Upside Down cake was baked over the Christmas holidays for a family that had just lost a member of their family. So sad and unexpected; I thought of the sweetness that this dear man added to his wife, children and grandchildren. I hugged them as I delivered the cake, and my tears were the best part of what I could express to them at the time.

This particular cake is not in the book, but I love the cake enough to include it in my list of vintage cakes. The recipe for this Buttermilk Cake can be found here. We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday this past weekend which naturally included the decorating and lighting of candles. Charlotte sprinkled winter colors of silver and blue upon its snowy top.

 My notepad list had me also baking the Celebration and Madeira cakes. The gingerbread might just be my next treat to bake, inspiration is bubbling around the edges!

a clean and tidy way

January has blown in, literally with vigorous winds, colder temps and bleak beauty all around.

The Christmas decorations have been taken down and stored way back in the attic, until next year.

Yes, it is a clean and tidy way to begin a new year.

The lights will continue to glow over my kitchen windows during dark month of January, because dark comes early.

Little January
Will stay a month with me
And we will have such jolly times -
Just come along and see."
-  Winifred C. Marshall, January

A Very Merry Christmas 2013

...having ourselves a very merry December 1-7...

Our December begins with attendance at a presentation of Handel's Messiah,  and the beginning of the lighting of  our Advent candles.

Memories of Christmas' when sitting around the table and shelling nuts was the norm at Grandma's house at this time of year. It settles me somewhat to buy a bag of nuts and pull out the old metal nutcracker.

And speaking of nutcrackers...we were...right?...

costuming always involves hours of altering and handsewing to get every dancer dressed for the performance.. Thankfully, I was allowed to bring some of the work home.

Charlotte danced in the Nutcracker as a soldier and marzipan this year. This creates a whirlwind of activity literally weeks before Christmas, but I will not go into that in detail in this space.

  

This was the second go round, Rose baked me a flourless chocolate cake, rich and delicious. This lemon cake with buttercream icing was baked and decorated by Claire. It came with yet another round of song, candles and birthday wishes, naturally.

Piano recitals upon which renditions of Carol of the Bells and Silver Bells were played.

This cute idea was happily snatched from Pinterest. A tasty peanut butter cookie, fun to decorate too. I realized I love peanut butter cookies and I wondered why I never bake them to keep around.

...having ourselves a very merry December 17-24...

Violin recital in the sun room.

Widow's luncheon

"Lets' have coffee"....a coffee tray waiting for anyone who stops in for a visit.

Another birthday to celebrate, at home, gathered around the table. 

Charlotte and her best buddy's annual gingerbread house decorating one morning. It began quite early...

Charlotte' s new hair bob, no more buns for awhile; and her delight as well as ours, when she plays Christmas songs on her violin for us to enjoy.

This has definitely won the place of Honorable Mention this year!

 My husband and I wait until all shopping is done, events to attend or host are over, and then we plan a quiet, unrushed evening upon which we dress up and enjoy a meal dining at a favorite restaurant. Even though I could not finish my meal, dessert was still ordered... and boxed and brought home after only a few bites. 

I got up the next morning, and while no one else was around I sat down at the kitchen table and finished it off in its entirety, enjoying every single mouthful. I should blush, and I did actually feel remotely shamed when my husband and daughter portrayed their disappointment in my execrable actions. Even if you do not imbibe whiskey, this recipe might involve a discreet visit to the liquor store because the whiskey is a key ingredient to the sauce (yet you do not taste the whiskey).

...having ourselves a very merry Christmas Day...

We missed Alan tremendously this year! I am thankful over and over for skyping. We skyped him while we opened our presents that morning, then when Witt and Claire came over later, we gathered once again to have him "with us".

And speaking of "with us".

 Emmanuel, God with us. 

Our Savior is not thousands of miles away, being missed until it hurts,

 He is, with us.

Christmas Eve

"Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever. Even though you grew up and found you never could quite bring back the magic feeling of this night. The melody would stay in your heart always-a song for all the years."

~Bess Streeter Aldrich

A Song of Years

Merry Christmas!

picky eater

Do you have one that lives at your house? 

We do, and after around nine years of having a "food tyrant" in the home, we decided enough is enough.

It is certainly taking time, baby steps, and there are still many things she will not eat, but it is improving month by month. Ah, the sweet smell of progress. I am contemplating embroidering her a napkin with the above quote...but I fear it might just get lost in the wash.

a cowl to knit and some books to read

While Charlotte practices Christmas pieces on the piano, reminding me of the approaching season, I do my own prep of sorts with the knitting of these cowls to be given as Christmas gifts. With fifteen inch needles and requiring only one skein of  *Lion Brand Wool Ease* yarn, they are extremely easy, very quick and so inexpensive to knit. I thought some of Ginny's yarn-along readers would enjoy making some also.

For concentrated reading, God is King by Tom Wells is an excellent book on God's sovereignty.  By my bedside is a book by Lynn Austin, Eve's Daughters,  which meets my need of before bedtime reading material when I find books must be of a lighter fare, but still must be an engaging story. 

capturing interludes

An interlude is needed in my day, so here I give you two small interludes that were intentionally captured.

A view from an upstairs window of the maple tree showing off. 

At times George would abide here during the day; I think the beauty perhaps lured him too.

The leaves are falling, the bees are slowing, and I am slowly pruning and putting my garden to sleep for the colder days ahead. 

blue-footed marvel

I am in love!

It all began with a TV documentary about the Galapagos Islands. Then it spanned into a library book by Ruth Heller.

 From there we pulled up this video on YouTube.

                                          "Oh LORD, how manifold are Thy works!

                                              In wisdom hast Thou made them all: 

                                                      the earth is full of Thy riches."

                                                                                                       Psalm 104:24

soup around the fire

We made a day trip to visit with my mother-in-law for the day. After being in the car for a quad of hours, we knew without a doubt that being outside to enjoy our evening meal would be the most satisfying leisure

 A fire was kindled and bowls of kale and sausage soup were served.

Everything met with our expectations.

a walk in town

Always looking for a way to make the use of my time as profitable as possible when my children are at their private lessons.

Charlotte has a new piano teacher this year. This means she takes a 45 minute private lesson twice a week, and a 45 minute group theory class once a week. I only have so many errands to run while I am out, so I may chose to read, do handwork, or take a nap (after all, one of the classes is at 4:15 in the afternoon), while I am waiting for her.

I was glad the gorgeous fall temperatures allowed for a walk this morning while she had one of her lessons.

It was more of a walk in town rather than in a neighborhood, as I am accustomed.

Around the YMCA, through the city park, and across the parking lot of the city pool/tennis area, mainly I walked on the sidewalks.

 I wanted to share this sand sculpture that was created in the park for this past weekend's special event. 

The detail was amazing.

flat pastry cake topped with blackberries

In other words, the French meaning for the word galette.

I like to call them rustic tarts, but since we are studying French things, galette it is for now.

  Comfort food in simple form; make a buttery crust, throw in two cups of blackberries and a handful of raspberries, add three tablespoons of sugar and 3 teaspoons of cornstarch (I also tossed in about one tablespoon of flour because my berries were juicy), fold the edges of the crust around the mound of berries and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

 Of course, I will serve it with vanilla ice cream.