food

Does this Candle Make Me Look Fat?

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

LemonPoundCakeCandle2In choosing candles, I am most often drawn to food scents. There are several reasons for this. One, it fills the house with a wonderful aroma, as if there were something tempting baking in the oven right now. Two, I have yet to be allergic to a food scent, whereas florals and some other scents can give me migraines or worse. Delicious food scented candles are nothing but pleasurable.

But I wonder …. do they make us look fat? That’s become an old joke by now*, but you have to wonder … considering all the research that has been done on things that inspire or drive us to do one thing or another,  do food-scented candles make us fat? In other words, when that lemon pound cake candle is burning, does it make us want to get up and go eat something sweet or does it perhaps fulfill the urge to nibble on a sweetie?

MapleButterCandle2I bet someone in the wide world of research has a grant on that but only you know for sure when you light that wick. The two candles pictured here, Lemon Pound Cake and Maple Butter, are both delicious and  by Village Candle, one of the best candle makers I know. Village Candle is located in Maine, and all their candles are made at that location. So if you’re looking for a candle made in the USA, here’s one for you!

*One of the funnier examples of this was when a friend who rides had tacked up her horse – who she described as rather vain –  and “overheard” him say to another horse, “Does this saddle make me look fat?”

The Simple Things

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

HomesteadCoffee2Isn’t it good to have a few simple things in life that make you happy? I’ve found that one of the greatest joys in life can really come from simple things …. books, (often purchased at $1 – $2 at the library/sale), music, (streaming online while I work is wonderful), candles with scents that are just delicious, (and always available somewhere on sale or bestowed upon me as a gift), and … good coffee. OK, make that very good coffee.

Some people love wine, aged scotch, Coke … you can keep it all. My beverage of choice is coffee. And how lucky am I that excellent coffee is just on the other side of the river and a short drive away or is even available in a number of local shops? Homestead Coffee Roasters sells a variety of delicious brews, many of which are organic, Fair Trade coffee. They roast all coffee on the premises, buying all their beans green and sourced from a number of countries where the quality is outstanding. In addition to a caffeinated choice or two, I always have some decaf on hand and the last time there, I bought this Ethiopian water-processed decaf, full of flavor.

They do custom small batches and have their own signature blends like Ringing Rocks Roast, Peruvian Sunrise, Dead Man’s Brew, etc. They also make delicious seasonal flavored coffees such as Frosty Winter Morning, a blend of graham crackers, nuts and cinnamon. Yum. Pour that into one of my 4 new (different-colored) mugs, given as a gift to me from one of my animal-loving friends, and I am good to go.

So while some are out buying $300 shoes and the next and newest model classy car, I’ll curl up with my coffee and book, light a favorite candle and be perfectly content. Easy-peasy. And I have every confidence that many of you reading this post feel exactly the same way. It’s something simple that warms your heart, that speaks to you, and puts a smile on your face. Simple is good.

Food-ish Thoughts for the New Year

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

I am not really one for New Year’s resolutions, but Christmas baking has me thinking of more than one thing I’d like to commit to in the upcoming year. For one, I really would like to cook and/or bake on a more regular basis. I love good, home-cooked food or from-scratch breads, cookies or desserts.

CheddarBiscuits2

Take one of the items I baked for Christmas – quite simple – old-fashioned baking powder biscuits. With the addition of a good quality, extra-sharp cheddar, they became even better. This was not a major investment in time, and just reminded me that simple or more complex dishes of all kinds are not always that time-consuming. Good food is a gift we can give ourselves, (and others.) Why not make/find a little more time? Seems like something worth giving a try …

p.s. As I was lightly kneading the dough I started wondering what I’d use to cut the biscuits, and then remembered what I had … the biscuit cutter my Mom used to use when I was growing up. Perfect!

Mmmmmmmmmm … Pie

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Thanksgiving is a time that honors tradition … Grandma’s stuffing, Mom’s sweet potatoes, Aunt Betty’s pumpkin pie. But then there’s this, a frequent thought of mine …  so many recipes, so little time. So I tried another new dessert for Thanksgiving. In fact, I had spotted this recipe months ago, and knew I would make it.

The pie just out of the oven!

Happily, my host is of the same ilk, and four of the dishes served for our main meal were also first-timers, (but definitely not the stuffing – one of his  family recipes.)

So what could make pumpkin pie even yummier? How about a layer of cheesecake underneath? This recipe appeared in a terrific but now defunct magazine, General Store, the issue over 10 years old. It is not clear exactly where the recipe came from except it was recommended by a couple from central Jersey with a passion for early American living.

A portion of the pie cut for taking home.

Well, the pie turned out quite well, the pumpkin nicely spiced and the cream cheese layer appropriately creamy. As I have no place to link to, I thought to share this with you pumpkin pie lovers.

Paradise Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
1- 9 inch unbaked pastry crust
1-8 oz. pkg Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 sugar
1/2 tsp.vanilla
1 egg

1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
Maple syrup
Pecan halves

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Blend in egg. Spread onto bottom of pastry shell.

Combine remaining ingredients except maple syrup and pecans. Mix well. Pour carefully over cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350˚ for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Cool. Brush with maple syrup and decorate with pecans, if desired.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

/ still a dreamer / 1 Comment

No, that’s not a bundt cake, though she sure is sweet.
That’s Livy, a rescued Belgian draft horse.

Each year Mylestone Equine Rescue holds its annual Open House. As Mylestone is a private farm, this event is their big annual fundraiser and the chance for visitors to come and meet all the rescue horses, learn more about the rescue, participate in a silent auction and … buy goodies from their bake sale tent. As one of 20+ volunteers, I spend the day educating visitors, discussing the need for horse rescue, introducing the horses and their histories to people, and functioning as photographer for the day. I also bake.

Unfortunately, last Sunday, the official date, had to be postponed due to rain and cold weather, and is being held today, October 14th. And unfortunately, I had previous plans and am not able to be there. However, as always, I baked something for their bake sale.

I’ve made this chocolate chip bundt cake once before and chose it again because it is so unbelievably moist and delicious.  It’s all butter with plenty of dark brown sugar and buttermilk. What makes it extra tasty is a blend of chopped pecans, butter and sugar which are mixed together and spread in the bundt pan before the batter is spooned in. It adds a just-right, sweet crunch that complements the dark chocolate mini-morsels.

Of course, I had to taste a very small sliver before packaging individual slices just to make sure it was safe for human consumption!

All packaged up,  ready to go and be enjoyed by Open House visitors. In a world where baking from mixes seems to have become fairly common, that little sign saying the cake is all-butter and made from scratch always turns out to be a great selling point!

You can find this chocolate chip bundt cake recipe at myrecipes.com.