“Cleave ever to the Sunnier Side of Doubt”

by //
aut_1424.JPGan excerpt from

‘The Ancient Sage
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-892)
Thou canst not prove the Nameless, O my son,
Nor canst thou prove the world thou movest in,
Thou canst not prove that thou art body alone,
Nor canst thou prove that thou art spirit alone,  
Nor canst thou prove that thou art both in one:
Thou canst not prove thou art immortal, no
Nor yet that thou art mortal -nay my son,
Thou canst not prove that I, who speak with thee,
Am not thyself in converse with thyself,
For nothing worthy proving can be proven,
Nor yet disproven: wherefore thou be wise,
Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,
And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith
She reels not in the storm of warring words,  
She brightens at the clash of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’,
She sees the Best that glimmers through the Worst,
She feels the Sun is hid but for a night,
She spies the summer through the winter bud,
She tastes the fruit before the blossom falls,
She hears the lark within the songless egg,
She finds the fountain where they wailed ‘Mirage’!

I am having a few technical difficulties taking photos at present so please excuse my absence for the last little while. I did intend to post everyday with some new treasure but my best laid plans seem to have gone awry.

So please enjoy this lovely poem from Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the meantime. I particularly love the idea to “Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt.”  I’ll be back soon with some new recipes and gardening ideas for you.

xoxo

Resolutions passed- and Breakfast the most important meals of the year.

by //

Happy 2008!

Rick and I spent a quiet holiday this year puttering around the house and spending what we jokingly refer to as “Pirate Time” – you know “ARRR and ARRR”. It’s been bitterly cold and snowy but we’ve been snug as can be in our own little bungalow.

aebelskiver.JPG

On Christmas we made our traditional Aebleskiver Christmas Breakfast. When we married we found that between us we have four Aebleskiver pans-including one from his Danish great-grandmother. My Danish great-great-grandmother didn’t pass one on to me but I managed to find a couple of lovely cast iron ones along the way. Aebleskiver are little round pancakes that resemble a large doughnut hole. They can be filled with jam or applesauce or left plain and simply rolled in powdered sugar whilst they are warm.

aebelskiver-pan.JPG

Aebleskivers

  • 2-3/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups half and half
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup melted butter

Sift flour before measuring, mix with baking powder and salt. Beat eggs until light, beat in sugar. Stir in half and half, vanilla and melted butter. Make a well in dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients to well and mix well. Place aebleskiver pan over low-medium heat, add a little butter to each indentation. Fill 2/3 full with batter by using two tablespoons. Cook until golden brown turning with a fork (or traditionally a knitting needle) to cook all sides. You can fill these with a little jam or applesauce by placing a little batter then a teaspoon or so of filling, then more batter in each indentation. Cook until well puffed and golden, remove from pan and roll each ball in powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Every day of our holiday we enjoyed a lovely breakfast hour (or two) spent playing Upwords complete with delicious food and lattes. In the afternoons we relaxed with a tea time and on a few evenings Rick mixed up a new cocktail (or two) that he invented.

Rick is building two Waco UPF7 biplanes at present and so he has commandeered the office for the winter. We spent many a happy afternoon in adjoining rooms while he turned seemingly unfathomable plans into wooden parts and I cooked, read, knitted or drooled over seed catalogs while making long greedy lists of plants for spring planting.

We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve and got up fairly early for the first meal of the new year. This is an Eggs Benedict sort of dish- Sourdough toast with ham, fried eggs, avocado and a Mornay Sauce.  The house breakfast special of a sort.

eggs118.JPG

Since we had not been out to a party the night before- we felt entitled to a bit of the bubbly for breakfast- enjoy a Bellini -fill a champagne flute bottom with a few tablespoons of peach puree and top off with Champagne or Asti Spumante!

eggsnewyear.JPG

This year I am not making any resolutions other than “not to make any resolutions” and although I understand that this somewhat makes a Moebius Ring of logic- I’m okay with it.

I know that every day is a new year’s day and that for me change is best accomplished through small movements rather than through grand gestures- so I refuse to “resolve.” I am intent on “evolving” to enjoy my life more, to be at peace, to value the contentment of quiet moments. I value what I have now- and if it can be improved I am certain that I will get there eventually in the cha-cha-cha-one step forward one step back- gyrations that seem to set the pace of my life.

This life is not the life I led last year nor the year before-each year brings its own opportunities and obstacles. Each year I live, life’s tidal current sets me a little farther along the beach of experience and I am increasingly humbled by the extended view.

Right now I am grateful for a love which enfolds and secures me and for the generosity of friends whose hearts are huge, open and wide. I am grateful for a place to express optimism and enthusiasm without embarrassment or hesitation. I am grateful for good food, good hearth and another season to grow. From this place I send to you all my best wishes for health, happiness and all good things in 2008.

A Happy Holiday with the Daring Bakers and a Buche de Noel!

by //

buche-de-noel-1.JPG

This month the Daring Bakers’ (headed by Lis at La Mia Cucina and Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice) are baking up a whole forest of delightful Yule Logs- also known as Buche de Noel. Most of their delights were posted on the 22nd or 23rd of December, with the two-day flexibility given for scheduling during this hectic month, check all of the beautiful logs out here. Unfortunately I was unable to make mine until the 25th and could not post about it until  today. So those lovely DBs have given me a little “lateness latitude” in the spirit of the season.

Once upon a time I vowed that I would never make another Buche de Noel. This was after making several hundred of them in the span of two weeks as a baker for a small patisserie. It was only the fabulous community of Daring Bakers that could induce me to make another. – I must admit, though, that it was fun to make one again. I guess I must have recovered by now. 🙂 You can see the challenge recipe on Ivonne’s blog so I won’t list it here.

buche-de-noel-2.JPG

I decided to make a chocolate cake and buttercream since I like the darker look-so I added 2oz of melted chocolate to the cake and 4oz to the butter cream. For the filling I used 8oz of cream cheese whipped with a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice and a teaspoon of vanilla to make a “no bake” cheesecake filling. I spread a jar of Morello cherry preserves over the cake and then the well-chilled cream cheese mixture before rolling it up.

Then I had fun “tarting it up” with different fungi and forest decorations. I made meringue Button Mushrooms and a red Toadstool and then used Marzipan for some Chanterelles, a scale Lichen and a Morel mushroom. (I know they are not realistic to be growing there all together in the season but I was having fun) The acorns are modeled from caramels with tootsie roll caps. The holly was made from lime leaves from my front porch that I trimmed in a holly shape and then added red cinnamon candies for the berries. White chocolate for the “Joyeux Noel” and some powdered sugar for a sprinkling of snow were added right before serving.

buche-closeup.JPG

One of the old legends of Yule is that the Holly King and the Oak King battle for control of the light as we reach the longest night of the year on the Winter Solstice of December 21st. The Oak King wins control and the light begins to gain strength for a return to longer days. I think it’s a nice legend for those cold dark days of winter- to add a log to burn brightly against the night. I hope this Yule log fills you with cheer and the spirit of Joy and Peace. Many wishes for a bright new year to you all.

xoxo

« Older posts
Newer posts »