A BLUEBERRY KIND OF DAY

One of the things I always loved about being a mother was birthdays, where I could make a special cake, such as a train, a doll's dress, a piano, etc.  It was always such fun to think of a cake that matched something current in Jonel's life.  I think of all the cakes I made her, the upright piano cake was my favorite.  She was in high school, and studying the recorder as well as the piano.  I made a tiny sheet of the music which I propped on the piano, and a little vase of flowers on the top.

Now with granddaughters I get to do this double-fold.  I have made a dog, a monkey, a chick to name just a few.  This year I asked Elsa what she wanted me to make for her cake...Elsa the blueberry lover said "a blueberry cake"  I asked what shape and she said round.  So I initially thought, easy a blueberry layer cake.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that this soon-to-be-three year old, plucked the blueberries out of muffins and mostly just ate those, so I doubted she wanted a cake with blueberries in it.  Giving it all a bit more thought over the days, I realized she probably really did not have a concept of a 9" layer cake as round, to her round probably meant round like a blueberry.  Duh!

Now this was a challenge.

 

 

 

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

The start of the birthday cake.  This was a great tasting cake and I, if anyone wished, could include the recipe.  I thought a lot about how I was going to accomplish a 'round' blueberry like cake, and decided the best I could do was a bunch of blueberries.  I used the smallest of my stainless steel bowls, of which I had two.  It took quite a while to bake all of the batter, two bowls at a time.

...butter and floured bowls before baking...

While the first two 'berries' were baking, I toyed around with cream cheese for frosting.  I had wanted to frost each small cake a deep blue and thought I could accomplish coloring with the blueberries.  Wrong, this only gave me a pinkish hue.  I tried blue food dye, (see above) but knew I really did not want the children ingesting this stuff.  It surely isn't a friendly food.  So searching for another idea.

First two 'berries' out of the oven.

 

All of them out of the oven and split in the middle.

A blueberry sauce spread on each....

Cream cheese frosting applied all around....

....blueberries covering each little round berry, was the closest I could come to a blue frosting....

A few flowers from the yard, an actual blueberry blossom and blueberry bush leaves from a neighbors bushes, and the cake is complete.   Elsa loved it!!!

SO WHO NEEDS HIGH TECH TOYS????????????

Not these girls................

GIVE A KID A BOX

...CUT A WINDOW...

....CUT ANOTHER WINDOW...

....TAPE, KIDS JUST LOVE TAPE...

....HOW CUTE IS THIS...

...A HOME IS MADE...

 ...PILLOWS AND BLANKETS...

...PRETTY RESTFUL....

...MORE BOXES...LOTS MORE...

...COOPERATION....

...ADDING MUCH NEEDED ROOF FOR PRIVACY...

AND THIS WENT ON FOR HOURS!!

What a joy to see such imagination in action with such simple 'toys'.  No need for fancy talking toys or remotes, etc.  Rich in the ways of childhood.  As an ex-Waldorf teacher, this just couldn't get any better.

AN ADVENTURE IN PASTRY

Despite the strange early spring, and the  not-so-spring April, the rhubarb is doing splendidly and is truly prolific, at least in my neighbors patch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is my patch, which is lovely, especially with the vineyard in the background.  However, my rhubarb has struggled to grow for several years now.  I have moved part of this patch, and purchased some organic new plants, and moved them to my kitchen garden.  There I hope they will flourish. I recently did go to my neighbor's and pulled a nice batch. 

 

 

 

 

Here it is cut up and ready for cooking.  I had committed to bringing a dessert to an local event, and decided to make something I had never made before....rhubarb turnovers with the real classic butter layered dough.

...in the pot cooking.  Six cups of rhubarb, sugar (about 1 3/4 c.) a touch of cinnamon and some cornstarch.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until tender.

In the mean time I made the dough.  Two c. organic all-purpose flour, 1 c. organic butter, divided.  Cut in 1/2 c. cold butter in the flour until the size of small peas. Divide the dough in half, roll into a 4" x 8" rectangle.  Cut half of the remaining butter into paper thin slices and lay over 2/3 of rectangle.  Fold top third of dough over butter, and then the lower third over that.  Roll again and again, until it measures about 8" x 4" and refrigerate.  Repeat with the other half of dough and butter.  After about 30 minutes in the frig remove and roll out into 16" x 16" square.  Cut into smaller squares.

...brush with egg/water mixture, cut into squares...

Put a spoonful of rhubarb (largish) onto each square...

...fold over into a triangle and seal with a fork...

...brush again with a mixture of egg and water...  Bake at 450 degrees about 17 minutes.

...just removed from the oven and looking and smelling good enough to eat...

...and added drizzle of powdered sugar/half and half, and not only do they look good enough to eat, I simply could not resist a still warm one.  MMMMMMMMM  I took them to the event, but am making a batch for us today!!!!

AGLOW

Wow!  a new Blog navigation application that I am failing at, big time.  I will continue and see if I can right all of what seems wrong to me.

(Like being unable to delete this underlining!!!!)

So, to continue.  The first of the burdock stems (Garduni, in Sicilian) graced our table and our tastes just two night ago.  

Here it is having just been blanched to remove bitterness, bunched together rolled in a beaten egg, then in Italian bread crumbs waiting....

to be fried in canola oil!  It is delicious served with a squirt of lemon juice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day Iris did an in depth study of the many sea shells in  my collection.

         

The long ago start of weaving this small lampshade...

The wool yarns with which I was weaving.

The finished lampshade.

Completed and set upon a lamp  then lit.  The glow through these gentle colors is really quite nice.

WEAVER EXTRAORDINAIRE

The lovely spring warmth seems to have left us these past two days, replaced with cold, gray, and to say 'windy' is to put is extremely mildly. I can't say that I recall such raucous winds lasting for more than a few hours in the past.

Still, last evening when I went to bed it seemed somewhat mild. I opted to open the window fully and not just the usual crack. I did not sleep all that well because I would awaken to a strong breeze blowing over me, ruffling my hair, and each and every time bringing a smile to my face. I felt close and at one with the outdoors, and yet protected and comfortable in my warm bed.

Still this morning evidence of the wildness of the winds was everywhere, from downed twigs, branches, blown debris, to this....

intricately woven, sweet, small nest with, when I found it on the grass strip to my cabin, this sweet Banded Woolly Bear Caterpillar tucked into a little fuzz ball, looking not altogether different than a tiny fuzzy egg.

This Woolly Bear (Isia Isabella) will one day (with the assistance of Iris and Elsa) be an Isabella Tiger Moth. We will gently tend it until through its stages and until it is ready to fly away.

In the mean time I am deeply intrigued by the beauty of this loosely though sturdily woven nest.

SMALL SECRETS

Hard frost has spread across our farm for several nights running. The buds on our 890 (or so) grape vines have been out for quite some time, and I am sure that this first bud is no longer viable. I have been in the vineyard on a daily basis pruning vines that grew so vigorously last season, that some of the canes are upwards of 30 feet long, stretched far from their desired location of the mother trunk. We are approaching completion, with perhaps 150 vines left to do. Grape vines, unlike fruit trees, have a primary bud (this is the one that has been burned off by frost) a secondary bud, and even a tertiary bud if all else fails. Still, when you lose the first bud, you have already lost at least half a crop. So, it is kind of depressing to work the vines, despite loving being in the vineyard, in the sunshine, overlooking this beautiful valley.

Each early morning as I come back to the cabin, I pass my small, weedy tulip hill. The tulips budded out several weeks ago with the warm and very early spring. The buds did not open then, and only started to partially open last week, with a little more blossom each day.

Every morning there is one peony tulip that seems to have succumbed to the frost...

lying flat, limp and utterly dead-looking on a bed of Creep(y)ing Charlie. Each day I am sure that it's life has ended...

and each and every day, this happens. It seems incredible to me that it can continue to pop up and open after lying so limply and woebegone each morning.

I am grateful for this daily 'reincarnation' and know that it speaks of promises deep and profound. I take this small gift and treasure it.

HAPPY EASTER

Thankfully the bloss0ms were not effected by the frost of the last three nights.

Easter Breads

The dough for Hot Cross Buns and Kulich (Russian Easter Bread) is approximately the same, although the Russian Bread has the addition of chopped almonds and lemon.

...Hot Cross Buns...

...Russian Easter Bread...

Eggs wrapped first in wet onion skins then in towels/rags, secured with string, brought to a boil and let sit for 20 minutes. Iris and Elsa were so patient and concentrated in doing this task. Never a cracked nor a broken egg.

Beautifully mottled orange/yellow eggs just out of the onion wrap.

The girls so loved doing this, that as soon as the pot was put to boil and we had to wait, they were off with the left over onion skins, my collection of glass eggs and kitchen pots to continue the activity in the toy room.

...sketched blown egg...

...another...

...some more...

...and yet more...
This activity was such fun for me, that all eggs I used for cooking were blown out so that I could sketch on them. Perhaps I am done for this season.
Happy Easter to all! ! !