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Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

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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.

Here’s Looking at You, Kid!

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Finally! Work subsided sufficiently that my blogging brain returned and I knew what I was going to write for a post as soon as I got the chance. But in the meantime, something else happened.

 

In the afternoon, the western sun bathes my office and upstairs bedrooms in warmth and light. Great in cooler weather, not so much in the summer. Anyway, about noon or so each day I go upstairs and open all the windows facing that way so as to soak up as much heat as possible to stave off the chill of the cooler autumn evenings and nights. In the back bedroom, Claude was soaking up that sun on top of a piece of furniture, too, but seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was being closely watched!

Then he realized … it moved! As I moved with my camera, the praying mantis got into prayer/attack position and rotated his head to keep an eye on me. Claude was interested only when he moved, which I suspect has something to do with an animal’s depth perception or ability to comprehend something on the other side of both screen and glass.

These creatures are so bizarre looking, but so fascinating. If they are symbols of good luck, which has been said to me, then I ought to be in for one big bucket-o-luck anytime soon!

Claude, below, not quite knowing what to make of this slow-moving creature. (I’ll get to that other post real soon. This was too good to pass up!)

 

Touched By an Angel

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She’s just a bit of a thing – her name is Pipsqueak and she’s a female betta fish. I first met her when my neighbors prepared to go on vacation, a time when I mind their cats and their pond fish. This year, one of the girls brought over a vase with her new pet, Pipsqueak. My experience of Pipsqueak was so enjoyable; I never imagined such a tiny creature to have such a personality – not only curious about everything, but also very responsive to me as we got to know each other over the 3+ weeks of her stay.

Pipsqueak and one of her favorite friends. (Pipsqueak is not actually that big, BTW, nor are the marbles – it’s a distortion of the glass.)

Pipsqueak often stayed on my computer desk while I worked, though not too close to the computer, and sometimes on my other work desk. I often placed various items next to her, as she seemed to really enjoy checking out new objects. But one struck her fancy, as you can see in the photo … a Willow angel given to me as a gift. She is an Angel of Wishes.

Pips was fascinated. She checked out the angel’s face, (which, if you know Willow angels, you know their faces have no features), but then every aspect of her from top to bottom. She really seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Sometimes I rotated the angel a bit, and she became interested all over again. Of all the things she had the opportunity to see, the angel and my bringing my face up to the glass and waving at her – which brought out actual body wiggling and fast and furious front fin action – were Pipsqueak’s favorites.

I think I was touched by a little angel, too.

 

 

Take Me Out to the Farmstand

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I’ve always said it doesn’t take all that much to make me happy, so if I can drive to my local farmstand, buy wonderful fresh produce, and photograph it as well? Hey, that makes me happy. Hope these photographs taken at Phillips Farms in nearby Holland make you happy, too.

Plants, herbs and usually fresh flowers are for sale

Oscar keeps an eye on the stand and promotes the whole “Jersey Fresh” concept. I’ve suggested they try him at the edge of the road to promote business, but really, you either know where the farmstand is or you don’t. Located on a typical 2-lane blacktop in the middle of a variety of farms, it’s not the most highly traveled road.

Tomatoes of every kind. They had some Brandywine tomatoes; I don’t know what they are, but I got home and wondered why hadn’t I gotten some to find out? There’s always a next time, and tomatoes are still coming in. In fact, early Gala apples were already in.

Beautiful produce of every kind plus berries and greens in the nearby fridge. If only I had a parallel life I could just cook and bake with all this fabulous stuff. Although I didn’t photograph the peaches, I did buy enough to make something delicious over the weekend.

Corn! Today they had bi-color, which as long as it’s sweet makes no matter to me.

Hope this inspires you to go find or visit a farmstand by you this weekend and enjoy what nature has to offer while it’s still summer. Before you know it, it’ll be fall and the apples, squash and pumpkins will be in!

Dragons and Gargoyles and … A Man on Stilts? Oh, My!

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Sunday was a miserable day to go anywhere … very hot and super humid. But … that does not stop the intrepid who have an art festival to attend!

Starting out with breakfast at a favorite restaurant in Frenchtown, Lovin’ Oven, (a post for another time), we made a super quick detour – all of 200′ – so I could photograph some outdoor statuary next door at Two Buttons. I wanted to send these fabulous cement bulldogs’ photo to someone who favors the breed, and I wanted to take the gargoyles because … well … they are fabulous and I want one.

The gargoyles come in two finishes – the bronze type patina and the rough, sand-like texture. These are surprisingly lighter than you might imagine, and largely hollow. Unlike the bulldogs, which are solid cement and weigh a ton. Every time I visit Two Buttons, I yearn for the type of property which would afford me a walled garden that someone who knew wayyyyy more than me would plant and maintain. It would have winding walks, stone resting benches where one could stop and read or meditate, and, of course, fabulous statuary. Ahhhh — maybe next lifetime.

This particular gargoyle, I was told by one of the owners, is a replica from a cathedral in Germany. Two Buttons is the import business started by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, and her husband Jose that she met and fell in love with in Bali in the last section of her book. It’s a huge warehouse of amazing things, worth a look.

These magnificent beasts photographed, we hopped in the car, over the nearby bridge to Pennsylvania and down the shady and ever-scenic Rt. 32 to Tinicum.

The Tinicum Arts Festival is an annual 2 day event featuring many talented artists and artisans. With rare exception, the vendors have fine quality wares and for this reason, it’s always a pleasure to attend this festival. (except for the absolutely wilting weather, of course.)

It was, in fact, so humid, that I didn’t even take any photos, but for Uncle Sam on stilts! My friend and I were both fading, but did make a few stops and a few purchases each. I may show these off in the future, but I purchased a beautiful pair of green tourmaline and sterling silver earrings, my treat to myself. And while I wavered, feeling somewhat guilty about spending even more on myself, my friend offered to treat me to the object of my desire, a beautifully wrought dragon mug.

There were quite a few very talented potters at Tinicum, and I could have easily purchased something from any of them, but I kept coming back to  Marian Van Buren and her River Otter Pottery. Small world, it turns out her studio is in nearby Flemington! Such a fine eye and such fabulous glazes. And then the dragon on the mug.

Well, it started to rain and we were done anyway, so onward to home. It wasn’t too long before that gorgeous mug was holding coffee. This mug is not on Marian’s web site, though something similar with frogs is. How gorgeous is this! It’s frightening to think how much I could have bought at this event if I really had more money to spend. But spending it with someone who makes art for their living, who brings their heart and soul to their craft … it seems supporting such artists is always money well spent.

 

The piece de resistance …