Buttery Pound Cake

I have been really enjoying and using my subscriptions to Chatelaine and Canadian Living.  Every month, I seem to grab a couple of recipes from each to try.  Usually baking from Chatelaine and cooking from Canadian Living.  However, this perfect Pound Cake recipe was at the back of February's Canadian Living.

It is yummy alone but even better served with jam, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or berries.  I am planning on making it to serve with berries, instead of making a shortcake.

It does require lots of beating, but a wonderful recipe if you have a stand mixer to do the work.

• Prep time25 minutes
• Total time2 hours and 45 minutes
• Portion size16 servings

Ingredients

Preparation

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light, fluffy and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Add 1 egg; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side. Repeat with remaining eggs, adding 1 at a time. Beat in milk, vanilla and salt until combined (mixture may appear curdled).

Add half of the flour; stir gently just until combined. Repeat with remaining flour. Scrape into parchment paper–line 8- x 4-inch (1.5 L) loaf pan, smoothing top.

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven until top is golden and cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack; let cool completely. Peel off parchment paper. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap; store for up to 2 days.)

Great recipe for a weekend.  And my mom approved it enthusiastically at Easter.  

Reading Corners

One of the great things about retirement is the gift of time to read! Enough time to read with out interruption, time enough to really immerse yourself in the story without distraction.  And enough mind to be able to concentrate.  Enough mind to be able to think about what you read.   I love to read but during the school year it can be difficult to read for enjoyment even for an avid reader. Reading of worthwhile books meant waiting until summer and sometimes the Christmas holidays if we weren't too busy.

Prepping to make the most of my time to enjoy reading again, I dusted off my library card and the pile of books in my bed table that are waiting for sufficient time to be enjoyed.  We have a perfect reading corner in our living room. It's not the only area in the house where we might read but it is a delightful spot to curl up with a good book or a copy of Maclean's any time during the winter.

I think everyone has a favourite spot in their house where they like curl up and read.  Often that spot is in bed. However, that often means you only read in the morning or at night before sleeping, if your light doesn't disturb anyone else.  If you want to read during the day or while sitting up, that's better in a reading corner.  

If your setting up a reading corner you might consider ensuring that you have the a few of these elements for cozy reading.

A comfortable chair--preferably one that can be reclined if you suddenly feel like a snooze.  The chair in our corner is considered my husband's chair but it's the perfect size for me to pull my legs up to curl into the corner.

Adequate lighting at the right height as well as a source of natural lighting.  I am quite short so the table lamp is high enough to cast light onto whatever I'm reading.  Many people prefer a standing lamp so that the light is behind and above them.  We moved our floor lamp from behind the chair because it was needed else where.

A surface close by for your beverage, book mark, snack, reading glasses and any other items you might need. Sometimes I like to have flags, sticky notes or a couple of other books on hand depending on what or why I am reading.

A throw or blanket to cuddle up in and keep you warm is a necessity in the winter but can be welcome on cooler days in the summer.  I often like to creep downstairs early in the morning to read while still in my pajamas so a warm wrap is essential.

Not essential but nice accompaniments are a reading shawl to protect your shoulders and chest from being chilled, and big fluffy socks to keep your feet toasty.  Chapters often have cozy choices of these in the fall but a big sweater or a trendy poncho can be re-purposed to add coziness to your winter reading.

Add in your choice of beverage, wine, cocoa, tea or coffee and snack you can eat while you read and enjoy your book.

I love all the free time I have to read now.  I love to read first thing in the morning in bed with coffee, quietly some afternoons with tea and late into the night with hot chocolate.  It means I can read those books that I put aside when I was working because they deserved to be read without distraction and interruption.

Snowshoeing in April

I certainly don't like that the copious amount of snow that descended upon us last week has stayed on the ground.  However, it did provide me with an opportunity to make up for a missed chance in March.  

I have so loved snowshoeing this winter, something that I haven't been able to enjoy in many years.  Since January, whenever it was warm enough (which wasn't often) I managed to get in a good hike while soaking up all the benefits of outdoor exercise.  Warm sunshine and vitamin D, fresh air and a chance to marvel at the beauty of snow and trees and open space.

In March, when weather forecasts indicated the season was just about over, I wanted to do one last hike and get some pictures of a gorgeous spot on my trail, as well.  Please note: I am not the photographer in the family.  However, it was a perfect day.  I put the iPad in a plastic bag and set off into the glorious sunshine. And I took fabulous pictures!  How could I miss?  The sun was so bright and clear that all I could see on the screen was black but the scenes of glittering snow and tall pines thick with snow were perfect.  The sunlight was so brilliant, it completely overpowered the capabilities of my camera.  I was excited about the blog I would craft highlighting my wonderful pictures.

Once home, I discovered... no such luck.  The screen had not been black because of the glare from the glorious sun, it was black because I had not removed the protector from the camera lens at the back of the iPad. All of my hard work was wasted, my good intentions for naught. As I said, I am not the family photographer.

But last week's snowfall gave me a second chance.

So off I went but without snowshoes.  I had put them away and didn't want to go get them.  Besides, I thought how hard could it be? The snow is not that deep.  Wow, did I find out differently.

Exercise is good for a person, but not all exercise is created equal. On the treadmill, I can walk at a good clip and on an incline for a good length of time working up maybe a mild sheen but no real discomfort.  Five minutes (probably less) of walking through the snow had me stopping to catch my breath.  At the end of a thirty minute hike with stopping to take pictures and to catch my breath multiple times, I was so warm that once inside I was tossing my outdoor clothing off at a rapid rate to cool myself down.  And all the muscles accustomed to the treadmill were talking to me, and not kindly!

The pictures I took are okay. But the sun was not as brilliant as last time and the snow neither as deep or as heavy on the trees but I still want to share a spot that makes the trek worth the effort.

I seem to like tree stumps.

Looking back at where you have been is so rewarding.

My path back home.  Thankfully, I only needed to follow the path I had already created. The first step off of the road had me sinking up past my knees but the field and in the bush was only ankle deep.   It does seem I was having trouble keeping a straight line on the way in. Still wish the sun had been shining but there is always next winter.

Leaving Tomorrow

 Leaving Tomorrow

I seem to be on a reading binge of Canadian authors.  This and the next two books I read were  by Canadian authors.  David Bergen is a new author to me.  I found the book in our local library and although he has several other books, this was the one that caught my attention.  You must admit, the title is rather intriguing in its ambiguity.


Bergen is an interesting writer.  The writing is crisp, clean, and straightforward, yet unexpectedly he will use a word in such a way that you are searching for it in dictionary.com.  I like that.  Usually, if a word used by an author causes you pause in its newness, you can use clues, context or otherwise to determine the meaning or the near meaning. Bergen doesn't do that. He throws the word out there, singular, isolated--staring at you in your ignorance.
It suits the story however, as the main character, Arthur has read expansively acquiring a huge vocabulary and aspires to be a writer.

The book is a family story set in the tiny town of Tomorrow, Alberta.  Arthur, the avid reader, has outgrown the small town and yearns to live in Paris.    Part of Arthur's problem, besides being unlikable, is that his extensive reading and expansive vocabulary has set him apart and isolates him in his town.  Or so he thinks, since he feels intellectually superior to others and has learned nothing of human nature from his reading.  Arthur does make it to Paris, only to discover that he is isolated and incompatible there as well, partly because of language (again) but also because he is so self absorbed (again).  There are other more enjoyable characters in the story who have interesting interactions with Arthur.  Bergen draws the story to its conclusion nicely with Arthur remaining incredibly intelligent, yet unable to understand the simplest of things without those to whom he feels superior explaining them.

I will read other books by Bergen because I like his style, but I hope that their protagonists are more likable and less self absorbed than Arthur.  

10 Things I learned from making pasta from scratch.

Today it snowed, not just a little but a significant amount.  Enough to make it seem like winter was well on its way and you just wanted to stay warm indoors.  So I decided it was a perfect day to make pasta from scratch.  I had never done this before but ever since I found a how-to article in Canadian Living in January I have been meaning to do it. Note; this was my very first time and I have never watched anyone else do it either.  So I really didn't know what I was doing. This is what I learned.

1. Good intentions can wait a long time.  Since I've already mentioned that I have been intending to do this since January, it is safe to say that you can put off or at least I can put off a good intention for considerable time.

2. Motivation can come in strange shapes.  In this case, Moe (my husband) put aside a small amount of hamburger in the fridge asking me what I could do with it.  He was making hamburger patties--something that I can't do because the meat is too cold!  I told him I would use it in spaghetti sauce. A great reason to try to make my own spaghetti.  And then it snowed today and I was staying in anyways.

3. You can find a video demonstrating almost anything, especially for cooking. The videos are great and they are not only on youtube. In this case I used the Canadian Living video that matched the recipe to demonstrate how to make the pasta dough. http://www.canadianliving.com/food/fresh_pasta_dough.php

4. The video works much faster than you do!!  I needed to replay the video so often I lost count.  In fact, I replayed it for every tiny step of the process, which was still easier than reading and rereading the recipe to work it out.

5.  Watch the video first and follow it.  The well in my flour did not hold.  I had bits of egg white escaping and sliding down the sides of my well making a dash for freedom at all points.  I had to scoop that up repeatedly and that prevented me from breaking the yolks until I had the whites under control.  Next time, I follow the video exactly and start with my flour in a bowl so that I can form a perfect egg trapping well.

6.  Canadian Living thinks you know stuff you don't know. (To be fair other recipes act like this too)   The video was just about making the dough.  It wasn't all that clear about telling when you had kneaded the dough sufficiently.  ( I got that from another video) and it didn't tell me anything about how to roll and cut the dough.  Again other videos for that.

7.  The cutter for spaghetti I bought at HomeSense doesn't work even if it is made in Italy.  I wanted to try making pasta before I invested in an expensive roller or attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer so I thought I had things well under control by investing in a $5 rolling pin that promised to cut the dough.  Haha, maybe it would work for someone who knew what they were doing but not for me.

8. Cutting spaghetti by hand is time consuming but also rather fun.  I rolled out my dough until it was almost transparent and then used the supposed cutter--all it did was score the dough rather well.  I then used those score lines to cut the dough.  Once I tried a tri-fold (most videos demonstrate this method) and then scored and then cut but I still needed to unfold the cut spaghetti and as I worked toward the center, the pieces became less willing to separate. So the next piece I cut it strips of individual spaghetti--I'm glad I had lots of time and patience.

9. It really does taste great!

10.  I am going to invest in the attachment for my Kitchenaid since it will roll and cut!  I want to make pasta from scratch but I don't want to cut it by hand.  The rolling part was actually fun because the dough keeps springing back after you roll it.

Although my adventures in pasta making took up a lot of time, and I did manage to get flour in places it didn't need to be, I still want to do it again.  Next time will be so much easier.  If anyone wants to try my spaghetti rolling pin let me know.

Granola Bowls

Like many people I made some plans about improving my eating habits and getting healthier once I retired.  For me, one of those ways to get healthier was to have breakfast everyday, instead of rushing out the door with coffee in hand and maybe something to eat.  Toast with peanut butter and banana with maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon or a drizzle of honey was about the height of my workday breakfasts. However, it was often less than that and worst case, it was something at my desk when I got to work.  Yuck!

So I have been breakfasting much better--I run through a routine of French toast (my all time favourite breakfast food), steel cut oats (yum!) and omelettes (tomato, cheese, mushrooms, onions, peppers, celery) and maybe a boiled egg or toast with peanut butter and banana for old time sake.

Then I saw this cute recipe for granola bowls in this month's Canadian Living. (I have two other recipes tagged as well)  Hmmm.  One of my favourite summer breakfasts is to have yogurt with fresh fruit.  These edible granola bowls would be perfect to upgrade that choice.  Plus they really can act as the bowl!

Super easy to make; however, next time I will make a greater effort to make them look like they do in the magazine.  I made the bottoms too thick thinking the yogurt would go right through--it doesn't.  I also like more fruit added than what I can put in with short sides and a thick bottom.  But I will do this recipe again, because I tried one for breakfast (yogurt, fresh strawberry and banana) and I just finished one for lunch, (yogurt, fresh strawberries and frozen berries with cinnamon sugar).  Come on summer, so I can take one of these out onto the deck full of yogurt and fresh fruit!!

Granola Bowls

3 tbsp packed sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp liquid honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups large-flake rolled oats
3/4 cup sliced natural (skin-on) almonds (I just used what I had)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

In small saucepan, combine brown sugar, oil, and honey and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. (I found the oil stayed somewhat separate from the sugars.)

In food processor, pulse together oats, almonds, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar mixture until combined but still chunky, about 5 - 6 times.

Press scant 1/2 cup into bottom and up sides of each well of a greased (I didn't do this and it still worked very well) 6 count jumbo muffin pan.  (Tip from test kitchen: moisten hands if the granola mixture starts to stick to your fingers as you're pressing into the muffin pan--I should have done this.  Also I will try putting in less and then add more so that it would be easier to press around the sides of the muffin wells.)

Bake in 300 F oven until golden, 25-30 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 20 minutes.  Gently twist granola bowls to loosen from pan; transfer to rack to cool completely.  Can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

The bowls are sturdy enough according to Canadian Living to handle scoops of ice cream.