Layered Lemon

Welcome back to my blog.  Since it is the end of the school year and many people are probably looking for a recipe for the end-of-year staff party, or the volunteer luncheon or what-ever pot luck meal you are invited to, I decided to give up one of my favourite recipes for such events.

This is my go-to recipe for most pot luck lunches.  I prefer making dessert anytime instead of cooking for a large group.  This recipe is great because it makes a large pan and it is too decadent to make just for yourself even if you cut the recipe in half.  It travels well and looks pretty when displayed.

It is always a hit. People have dropped hints for me to make it again--sometimes someone will remind me that I haven't made it in a while.

The original recipe calls for a short bread base, but I switched it to a graham cracker crust instead. ( I found it in Desserts by Company's Coming, 1986)  Sometimes, I fancy up the top with decorative sprinkles or chocolate shavings.

My best tip:  always use Philadelphia cream cheese.  It's just richer, sweeter and better.

First layer: Crust

1/3 c. Butter (you can use margarine, not as good)
1 1/2 c.    Graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp brown sugar

Crust: Melt butter in saucepan.  Stir in crumbs and sugar.  Pat into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan (22x33cm)  It won't be too thick.  I usually bake 10 minutes in 350 degree oven.  Let cool.

Second layer:

2  8oz packages cream chees
1 c icing sugar
1 envelope of Dream Whip
1/2 c milk

Beat cheese and icing sugar together well.  Prepare Dream Whip topping with milk as directed on package.  Fold into cream cheese mixture.  Spread over cooled crust.

Third layer:

2 packages of lemon pudding and pie filling (each makes one pie)

Prepare lemon pie filling as directed on package.  Cool, stirring often.  Pour over cheese layer and spread to even.

Fourth layer:

2 envelopes of Dream Whip
or
2 c. whipping cream
2 tbsp of granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff or prepare Dream Whip as directed.  Spread over lemon layer when cooled.

Garnish with nuts, sprinkles, chocolate shavings or almonds.

Refrigerate before serving.  Makes 15 generous servings or 24 normal servings.

Shown below with the shortbread crust and nuts on top.  I have never decorated with nuts because of the potential food sensitivities or allergies.

The Other Side of the Bridge

I would not usually recommend a book that made me cry.  Life gives us enough opportunity and reason to cry, we don't need to go looking for sadness in books.  However, even as as the tears were pouring down my face I was thinking how much I was enjoying this book.  And that I would read it again someday.

Mary Lawson became my new favourite writer when I read Road Ends.  I also read Crow Lake, her first novel.  Although I liked it, Crow Lake did not enthral me the way that Road Ends and The Other Side of the Bridge did.

I like Lawson's writing because of her compelling characters but also because she so vividly paints time and place in her novels. The novel stretches through a lifetime from the Great Depression, through the war and onward. She catches the life in rural farming communities so realistically during those times that Struan could be anywhere in Northern Ontario.

The central character of the novel, Arthur is anything but a typical hero in a book.  Certainly not a romantic hero.  He's not good looking.  He is not smart or quick witted.  But his younger brother is.  In fact, Arthur doesn't have much going for him.  He certainly not mysterious, or athletic or particularly clever.  He struggles in school in a time when students repeated entire grades in high school so that his brother catches up to him.  He is shy and words do not come easily to him so he unable to be charming or humorous.  But in the end, he is endearing to the reader without being pitiable.  He is just a guy who puts one foot in front of the other to do what needs to be done.  He doesn't complain.  He's faithful, loyal and dependable.  He is everything his brother is not and his brother, Jake, is everything Arthur would like to be.

Arthur gets the girl, the one that he is in competition with his brother.  But there is a lot more to the story than that.  There is a good plot to this novel and several other storylines as well so that you do care about what is going to happen.  However, Mary Lawson creates such powerful characterization that the plot is almost secondary.  You are really reading to know what will happen to Arthur.  How will everything turn out for him and for the other characters who interact with him.

We all know Arthurs, perhaps even are Arthurs or at least some of Arthur.  The dependable, reliable person who is usually overshadowed by more outgoing, bigger personalities.  Lawson manages however, to make him not too moral and too good to be likeable.  He does make some questionable choices, he is capable of selfishness, and has enough back bone and stubbornness to to remain strong when pushed.  However always without fuss.

Speaking of being overshadowed.  There is another entire story within the novel about the farmhand Ian that is overshadowed by the story of sibling rivalry between Arthur and Jake.  Unlike Arthur, Ian is has so many choices available to him that he is struggling to decide what and who he will become.

Lawson swings chapters between Ian and Arthur, yet Ian's story always leads back to Arthur.  Which in the end is why this reader was crying.

Mary Lawson remains my new favourite author. And The Other Side of the Bridge is a book I will read again even if it made me cry.

About My Retirement Gift to Me

I had wanted a stand mixer like this for such a very long time but there was always a reason why that desire was unfulfilled.  The fact that I seldom found time to bake and had a perfectly good hand mixer did not justify the expense.  And then I was going to retire and I knew that I wanted to use some of my time to bake.

Stand mixers were on sale before Christmas along with a mail-in-rebate from Kitchen Aid. The time had come to fulfill that want.

The most difficult part was committing to which one to purchase.  Lift bowl or tilt-head, professional grade or home use, which colour, (probably the biggest and most important decision) how big a bowl or motor?  So many decisions!  I polled the bakers and cooks at school, sent e-mails to friends for their input that I took into full consideration. But in the end, I purchased the very one that I had been admiring for years; a beautiful fire engine red Kitchen Aid Artisan stand mixer with a tilt head.  It has a stainless steel bowl and comes with three beaters and a port for the attachments that I am sure to investigating soon.  

I brought it home the night before my last day at school. A perfect retirement gift for me. I've had it for six months now and every time I use it I think how I wish I had invested in this years ago! It works beautifully. It is easy to use, easy to clean and looks fabulous on my counter. 

It is a bit heavy to move so I had to find a spot that works to store it yet is also where it can be used. The heaviness is actually a bonus as it is solid while in use, so I can do other tasks. I'm looking forward to adding the glass bowl and after I tried making my own pasta dough, I know I want the pasta attachments.  I've used it so often already and I love it.  I highly recommend! 

It does make me wonder though... why do we so often put off what we really want until we can get a reason to give it to ourselves as a gift? 

My Mistake..sort of, kind of..

Our garage right now is beautiful--not quite a work of art but really rather nice for a garage that actually is a garage with a car in it and loads of stuff that needs to be kept in a garage.  That same garage was a disaster from January until just last week.  Which was really disappointing because in the last few years we have put a lot of work into organizing it and in the fall we were confident that this winter would be different and it would stay neat enough until spring.  Hah!  A few things foiled that plan.

First, in January, I went on my annual January craze of organizing and reorganizing. I love to start the year off right as so many other people do--that's why the Canadian Tire flyer is full of organizing materials in January.   This year with all those extra hours to tear apart closets and sort through drawers the pile of items to give away, take to the cottage or donate grew and grew.  And it grew in the garage, neatly against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.  Neatly but still in a guilt inducing don't look at me way.  A pile that was annoying and irritating every time you passed by it.

The second thing that destroyed the plan is that grown children sometimes need space to store their things while they go away or they because they don't have a place for their summer tires.  That kind of storage makes things really tight so there is no room to put anything else.

Well the grown children responsible for the storing of things were here last week collecting those things.  And as the wonderful adults that they are they cleaned and organized the garage after they reclaimed their things.  It was a way of saying thank you for the storage.  I painted a bench and spray painted planters while they worked in the garage.  A truly wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

That beautifully clean, organized garage inspired me to do some further upgrading of the space.  I had found a can of white paint to use on the bench, and there was enough left to use in the garage to repaint the door into the house and the door out into the yard.  That cleaned up some rather messy doors nicely.  Then I decided to paint the garage stair railings that managed to survive for twenty-five years without paint.  That turned out well and really brightened things up.

I was satisfied for a day or two but I still had some paint remaining.  Hmmm...maybe the actual stair threads could use a coat of paint.   Then they would match the railing and over time they would lose the paint but would take on that nice worn look.  That's what I was thinking.  So I did it.  I painted the stair threads with a nice thick coat of paint and planned to do a second coat the next day.

That was a mistake.  And it took only a little bit of time to figure this out.

I had left the garage door open so that the warm air could dry the paint before people needed to use the stairs.  However the cat from next door also came to visit.  He left his very dirty paw prints on my lovely dry white paint. Every footstep showed.  Every footstep is going to show.  My lovely white paint is already filthy.  Not in a timeworn shabby chic kind of way but in a nasty, non-glamorous, need to be cleaned kind of way.

I am not going to do another coat, I am not going to wash those stairs so I will need to live with the glaring dirt until the paint wears off.  Hopefully soon.   I will find a way to use the remainder of that paint.  And it won't be a mistake.

My Baking Challenge!

Cinnamon Twist Wreath

When I saw this picture in April's Chatelaine, I knew I had to try it. It meant I needed to clear an afternoon or a whole morning but I was so excited to give this a try!

I have made it twice now and will make it again with some embellishment to the recipe--mainly I will make the filling more sugary and more buttery, like really yummy cinnamon buns. The recipe is good as is but it is not decadent, yet.

 The first time, I organized it very well--to come out of the oven just before hubby came home from work so that the kitchen, actually the whole house would smell amazing!

I was quite proud of it and was allowing it to cool before plating it and taking a picture so that I could show the difference between the magazine pic and the actual first time attempt.  It was not a pintrest fail but the centre of my wreath was very tight.  Where I failed though was that I forgot to tell Moe not to touch.

When I returned from getting the serving plate I wanted to use there was a large chunk missing from the wreath and of course plenty of crumbs! It was still warm, and a bit gooey like warm bread...so delish!  We skipped the picture and enjoyed the wreath.

On this second attempt, I timed everything so that it would be out of the oven, cooled, on a plate and photographed before anyone else was in the house. This second attempt resulted in a better baked wreath and more even braiding but I still didn`t manage to affix the ends smoothly and my centre was less than perfect but it still tasted great.

Despite the need to practice my braiding and work on how I affix the ends together, the effect is good. This is one of my pictures.

Instructions

• COMBINE yeast with warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let stand until frothy, 10 min. Beat in warm milk, 1/4 cup melted butter and yolks until combined. Add flour, granulated sugar and salt (2). Beat on medium, until dough is smooth and pulls cleanly away from the bottom and sides of bowl, 4 to 6 min. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover loosely with a damp kitchen towel. Let rest until dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• PREHEAT oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Stir 1/2 cup butter with brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat egg with 1 tbsp water in a small bowl until combined.
• ROLL dough on a lightly floured surface into a 22 × 12 in. rectangle, trimming edges if needed. Spread butter mixture evenly over dough to the edges. With the long edge facing you, tightly roll up dough in jelly roll fashion (3). End roll with seam-side up. Use a sharp knife to cut the log lengthwise in half along the seam (4). Tightly weave the two pieces together, leaving the cut sides exposed. Gently transfer to prepared sheet. Brush a 2-in. portion of one woven end with egg wash (5). Form into a wreath, firmly pinching the egg-washed end underneath the other to seal (6). Cover with same damp kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, 1 more hour.
• BAKE in centre of oven until bread is deep golden, 35 to 40 min. Cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
  

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.