Taking a Pause

Happy Winter Solstice!

Japanese Anemone seed heads basking in the sunrise.

I'm taking a brief pause to enjoy vacation time with My Pirate and finish up some lingering projects.  Don't worry, I'll be back soon feeling refreshed and organized.  If you'd like to contribute a guest post or some pictures during this break please let me know!  I wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with warmth and loved ones.  

Oh, and some gravy too!   -Laura

There's a Cherpumple in My Kitchen

Sometimes I need a little processed insanity in the kitchen to balance all of my scratch cooking and home grown produce.  When I watched Charles Phoenix bake his Cherpumple in this video, I was mesmerized.

I mean, it's just three different flavored freezer pies baked into three different flavored cakes stacked into a behemoth of a cake dripping with store bought cream cheese frosting that is somehow designed to impress your friends. What could possible go wrong?

Well, first off don't let Charles Phoenix's little five minute ditty of a video fool you about the money and time that this cake costs.  My cake cost $28 and it took half a day to construct.  Not even my Bavarian Banana Cake recipe takes that much effort and cost.  But, I did giggle throughout this project, even though the pumpkin pie floated up in the spice cake batter and tilted as it baked.

My Pirate helped me assemble the cake and even put the final coating of frosting and sprinkles on it while I was enjoying myself at Heather's tech/blogger/garden party.  He did a great job.  

Our friends giggled and gasped in surprise at those three mighty pie cake layers.

 The obsessed calorie counter of the group cried out, "My God!  Do you even know how many calories are in that thing?"

Roughly 22,000, give or take a thousand. Once cut open the Cherpumple leaned sideways like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  My advice is to put the pumpkin pie cake on the bottom for better structural support.

And the Cherpumple eventually collapsed.  

I managed to eat a couple of sugary sweet bites before giving up.  I confess that I'm not into processed desserts.  But, I do believe that Charles Phoenix is onto something with pies baked into cakes.  A sour cherry pie baked into a chocolate truffle cake sounds sublime.  I might have to try that someday.  But for now, I'm happy to conclude my Turducken Cherpumple phase in the kitchen.

So, what do you think?  Are you ready to bake a Cherpumple?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: December 2013

Even though there aren't any blooms in my December garden,  I'm still enjoying the beauty of the seed heads from sunrise to sunset.  

I'm particularly smitten with the rugosa rose hips in the early morning light. 

The grass seed heads are lovely in an icy coating of freezing fog.

The ligularia seed heads draped in spider webs sparkle in the freezing fog.

Barnaby flossed his teeth with an ornamental grass while I took pictures.

The tomatillo skeletons shimmered with ice crystals.

And a pastel sunset concluded the short winter day.  Go see actual blooms at May Dreams Gardens! 

Snow and Spiced Christmas Coffee

Tuesday morning, we woke up to another soft dusting of snow.  I stepped outside and took pictures while my Spiced Christmas Coffee steeped in the French Press on the kitchen counter.

Barnaby supervised me out the front window.

I listened to the shivering high school students complain about going to school on a snow day

 until the bus arrived.  (Don't worry, school was cancelled for them the next morning for freezing fog.)

Then I contemplated the sad state of the cardoon.  Will it survive?

I adore the rugosa rose hips in winter.  They add a festive touch while the garden sleeps.  Or dies.  These low temperatures may have killed many of the new plants that I added this fall.  

I stepped out back and took pictures of the ligularia seed heads while Barnaby helped arrange them for me.  He's so helpful.

Barnaby wrestling with Gunner while Rivan looks on.

Then, I poured my Spiced Christmas Coffee into a thermos and we headed to the dog park.  By the time we returned from the dog park, the snow in our garden had melted.  

Spiced Christmas Coffee

by Laura Heldreth

I like to add some holiday spice to my coffee this time of year.  This coffee reminds me of my favorite spice cake recipe.  Don't forget to add the mace because its sweet spiciness pulls all the flavors together.   

• 4 cups boiling water
• 3 to 5 Tablespoons of your favorite ground coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• large pinch of mace*
• tiny glug of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of sugar (optional)
• cream (optional)

In your four cup French Press, pour the boiling water over the ground coffee and spices.  Let brew for at least five minutes.  Pour and serve or add some cream.

For an extra flourish, add fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

*Mace is a spice.  It's the lacy sheath that covers the nutmeg nut.  You can find it on the spice aisle at most supermarkets.  I found my bottle at New Seasons. 

Braised Celery with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

My Victory Garden is shivering while it sleeps.  Brrr...

The temperatures dipped down into the single digits over the weekend and I'm wondering if the rosemary and bay are going to survive.  Only time will tell.

Last Friday, I whipped up our dinner with a nod toward Marcella Hazan and used some oven roasted tomatoes from My Victory Garden.  We both pushed aside the roasted lemon chicken to devour the braised celery with oven roasted tomatoes.  I was astonished.  Braised celery truly is a Genius recipe that surpasses its simple ingredients. 

I always keep a bunch of celery floundering in the crisper to munch on with peanut butter or hummus.  I'm going to give celery center stage more often, now that I know what it can become coaxed gently along with an onion, olive oil, pancetta, and oven roasted tomatoes. I plan on putting this dish on high rotation in my kitchen, perhaps even stirred in with some pasta and topped with parmesan.

You need to try this easy and fantastic recipe!  You'll never look at celery the same way.

Braised Celery with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

adapted slightly from Marcella Hazan's

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking 

I riffed on Marcella's recipe by using what I had on hand.  This recipe stands up to different proportions of ingredients.  

• 3/4 pound of celery, cut into two inch chunks
• 1 onion, small dice
• 2 T. olive oil
• 3 ounces of pancetta, cut into strips
• 1/2 cup of oven roasted tomatoes
• 2 T. water
• salt

Heat the olive oil over medium heat then add the onion. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Saute until the onion starts to turn golden.  Add the pancetta and cook until it for a few minutes.  Then add the celery, water, and oven roasted tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer, stir well, add a lid, then lower the heat to keep it at a low simmer.  

Cook until the celery is tender and slumps in the sauce.  I cooked mine for approximately 45 minutes. Cook it until you sigh when you taste it. Enjoy!