Black and White

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Donalyn

Winter and I get along just fine.  From December and for another 28 days we can be pals.  I don’t even mind the lack of color. This is not a black and white photo – there just wasn’t anything else to see that day. I took this as we were driving across the infamous Tughill Plateau. It is up north of us and they have some truly gnarly weather up there. Every single branch, weed and wire was coated with a heavy frost and then it had snowed on top. It was so beautiful.
Now here is a little color – and a little closer to home too. This is the creek that runs right next to our house, during a thaw earlier this winter. Trust me, nothing is thawing around here these days.And now we are forecast for a couple days of snow, sleet, cold and wind. I think I will stay in the house and point my camera at things like cookies and Riley.

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Spicy Orange Gingerbread

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Donalyn

gingerbreadHere in the Northeast, winter has wrapped its icy fingers around our hearts and squeezed hard. I like winter. I enjoy the change of seasons, and the contrast we have as we go through the year. For the last week though, even my fascination with contrast has been a little strained. A wind chill of -31 will do that to you I guess. It also makes me want to bake something comforting and satisfying. Something that makes you feel safe and snug because it is served warmed and is full of nice cozy spices. Gingerbread is all of that and it has a air of old fashioned simplicity that can bring up memories of winters a long time ago when your Mom made it. At least it does for me, because my Mom did make gingerbread fairly often. It is a quick, easy dessert and since she was feeding a family of seven the fact that it was inexpensive figured in as well. This is a little different because I wanted to use some oranges I got on sale. Typical gingerbread recipes use ground ginger, but I use fresh here and augment it with a few other spices that go well together. See? Nice, old fashioned ingredients.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pan – you can use an 8 x 8 square or a 9 inch round, as I did here. When following this recipe, notice that the amounts are flexible for some of the spices and you can choose either dark or light molasses. The larger amount of spice and dark molasses will, as you might expect, give a richer and spicier flavor – the smaller amount of spice and lighter molasses will have a milder flavor.

In a medium bowl, whisk together and set aside:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon all spice

In another medium bowl, combine:
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup dark or light molasses
5 tablespoons soft butter

After that is combined, add:
grated zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger [or 1 tablespoon ground ginger]
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 beaten egg

Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Scrape into the prepared pan and level the top. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center has just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. You can cool the cake in the pan, or carefully turn it out onto a cooling rack. I used a metal pan, so I took it out to cool – in glass I probably would have just left in. I like to serve it warm. And check it out – that Orange Curd from earlier in the week looks right home with the gingerbread, don’t you think? So they don’t get lonely, I suggest a nice big dollop of whipped cream too.All of the sudden, it doesn’t seem nearly so cold does it?orange gingerbread

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Just a little green

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Donalyn

The primary color I can see outdoors right now is white. Lots of white actually. Not that white is a primary color. White isn’t a color at all of course, but rather the absence of color. By primary I mean the principal color or lack thereof. We bloggers have to be precise about these things because otherwise we get comments and emails that explain to us exactly where we have gone wrong in something that we have said. There are a lot of extremely helpful people in this world, and many of them read blogs. But I digress. As usual.

So anyway, the white is not at all a bad thing though, even though it’s snow. With our temperatures down in single digits and even below zero a time or two, that snow blanket is protecting my daylilies and hostas and all of the other stuff out in the garden. Personally, I prefer a nice thick cotton quilt or two and some fuzzy socks, but snow seems to work just fine for plants. There is no blanket for this ivy though, because it is growing up the side of a tree. I didn’t even intentionally plant it. It was in a porch planter, along with some impatiens about 15 years ago. When the frost got it, I tossed the dirt over the bank and forgot about it for a few years, until I realized that we had ivy growing everywhere. I know it can be invasive in areas with mild winters, but that is not a problem here. So, I’m happy to have it because this bank is a darned pain in the butt and now the ivy keeps the weeds out. And in January, when we have 3 feet of snow on the ground, that ivy sits on this tree, glowing in the morning light, reminding me that there is green in the world.ivyI love that.

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Orange Curd

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Donalyn

orange curd 2Orange Curd is a very yummy thing. But, it’s not really something that we usually eat all by itself. This is true of all curds – they are a sort of dessert condiment rather than something you eat by the bowlful. That is not to say that it’s a bad idea though. Sweet, intensely fruity and silky smooth – why not just tuck into a nice big pool of it if you like? I’m only going to tell you how to make it and what you do with it after that is up to you. I would strongly suggest coming back in a day or two though, because then I’ll show you what I did with this batch. It involves a delicious rustic dessert and some whipped cream. You don’t want to miss that.

But back to the orange curd. It is a very simple method and takes just a few minutes. Here is what you need:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 & 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice [4 to 5 oranges]
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon orange zest

In a 1 to 2 quart heavy saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in the orange juice and then the egg. Turn the heat to medium, and stir the mixture constantly, until it comes up to a boil and thickens. Whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time and remove from heat. Stir in the orange zest. Scrape into a glass or stainless steel bowl, and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface. This ensures you don’t end up with a skin on top of your curd. If you plan to serve it in the next few hours, say on a slice of gingerbread* for instance, you can leave at room temperature. Otherwise, it should be chilled in the fridge. It can then served cold or, warmed slightly. I personally think that it’s a good idea to have perhaps just a small bowl so that you can determine if the quality is good.orange curdAll good hosts and hostesses should do whatever they can to ensure everyone is getting really stuff to eat, don’t you think?

*okay – you got it out of me – the other recipe is for gingerbread.

Posted in Frosting & Toppings, recipes | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Call me crazy…

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Donalyn

….but they shut up the minute they realized I was watching them.mourning doves I’m sure they are planning something.

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