Tag Archives: mother’s day

May 15, 2015 · 1:59 pm

Mother’s Day Celebrations

Last weekend was fantastic because not only did I get to have a pre-Mother’s Day celebration with my own Mom, I also got to spend Mother’s Day itself with my two kids. Neither of those things would have happened if our friends Rick and Thomas hadn’t decided to get married.

The weekend was a whirlwind of logistics, and I felt like the commanding officer, which is a good thing because as anyone who knows me knows I like to be in charge of things. Something about being a Capricorn and a first child I guess, though my younger brother would chalk it up to my being a “bossy boots”. To get us all to the wedding I first had to pick up Russell at Simon’s Rock after his last class on Friday (do not ask me why a lab gets out at 4:45 on a Friday afternoon). Since I would be that far west in Massachusetts it didn’t really seem much further to hop over the New York border and see my folks who were working that weekend at our family’s art gallery in Hudson, New York. I arranged a pre-Mother’s Day lunch with Mom and Dad prior to scooping up my ~~boy~~ young man.

I packed a pretty basic lunch – carrot soup, a few oatmeal banana cookies, and the ingredients for some cheesy baking powder biscuits. All in all a safe, easy lunch. Except for the part where I misread the recipe as I was throwing the biscuit ingredients together at 6 am before jumping in the car. What has my friend Rick told me for years?

Read the recipe!

Turns out I spooned in a few too many teaspoons of baking powder. The biscuits looked delicious as they came out of my parent’s apartment oven, nicely browned, with a sharp cheddar cheese melted on top and oozing out on the sides, but one bite and your eyes started to water as your tongue curled up from the bitter, salty taste of excess baking powder. So much for my “simple” pre-Mother’s day lunch. The good part was that since it was family we just peeled off the cheesy tops and dipped those into our soup. I was a bit embarrassed but the good news is my family loves me despite the occasional mess up in the kitchen.

On a trip out to feed more quarters into the parking meter I popped into Talbott & Arding to see if they had some decent bread my parents could eat with their leftover soup (the biscuits were definitely off the menu). T & A had some delicious looking focaccia. I also spied a just-out-of-the-oven Lemon Olive Oil Cake amongst their baked goods, as well as little glass jars of Lemon Curd stacked in the refrigerator. I knew Mom loved lemon curd and I’d been wanting to try an olive oil cake for a while now so I added a slice of cake and a bitsy jar of lemon curd to my order and trotted back upstairs.

The double whammy of the cold, creamy, super-tart lemon curd with the subtle lemony moistness of the cake was divine. A match made in culinary heaven. So one bust (the awful biscuits) and one boom (the lemon/lemon dessert), and if you’re paying attention I’ll say it right here – we had two desserts that day (remember those banana oatmeal cookies I mentioned above). Life is short and I love dessert.

After catching up with my folks I drove to Great Barrington with Olive Oil Lemon cake on my mind, picked up Russ, and headed home. We packed up the tuxes and fancy duds, searched for cufflinks and studs, and made sure the dog sitter had the keys so that bright and early Saturday morning we could zoom down to UNH and get Isabelle. As per usual with our family we were off like a herd of turtles on Saturday morning, but we made it down there. With everybody squeezed into the car we headed over to the train station and caught a train into the city just six minutes after parking the car.

It’s been twenty-five years since I lived in the NYC, but find that I slip back into the grove of city life instantly. After a moment to orient myself to the North-West-South-East of Manhattan we were off weaving our way past pretzel vendors and tourists pointing their cell phones at everything, behemoth skyscrapers and little tiny shops barely wider than a doorway. While I didn’t love many of the midtown odors wafting our way, I did enjoy walking through the various businesses districts as we went from Grand Central to Penn Station. Being back in New York really is like riding the proverbial bicycle – you don’t forget how.

The wedding itself was fabulous, a true celebration of two people I hold dear. It was a chance to catch up with old friends and folks I hadn’t seen in ages, as well as finally meet some I’d only previously heard about. We were well-fed, the champagne and conversation flowed, and I even got to bust out some of my old dance moves. In a toast to the newlyweds Tom’s cousin said, “One of the great things about Tom and Rick is that they show up. In a world where people seem to be busier than ever, sometimes the simple act of showing up is the greatest thing you can do.” He’s right, and it was such a pleasure to be able to show up for their special day.

While Saturday was all about Rick & Thomas, the boys (as I fondly think of them) had conveniently chosen Mother’s Day weekend to tie the knot, which meant that I was able to be with my own two munchkins. Had it not been for the wedding Isabelle and Russell would have been at their respective colleges getting ready to present final projects, as well as studying for finals and exams. So a big thanks guys for my (inadvertent) Mother’s Day present!

I didn’t ask for the Lemon Olive Oil cake recipe when I was at T & A so after I got back from the wedding I played around with testing different Olive Oil cakes. Some have yogurt in them and some don’t. I think the one we ate didn’t have any dairy, but who knows, I guess I’ll have to go back and try another slice. Of the ones I baked here is my favorite*, along with the recipe for Rose Levy Bernanbaum‘s lemon curd, a true classic.

Mother’s Day Olive Oil Lemon Cake

4 eggs

1 cups sugar

1/2 cup olive oil (fruity is good, but not too zippy)

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Zest of 2-3 lemons

Juice of 2-3 lemons (about 1/2 cup)

Powdered sugar for sprinkling, optional

Preheat the oven to 350ºF then lightly grease and flour a 9″ cake pan, lining the bottom with parchment paper. You may think it isn’t necessary to line the bottom, but trust me that you will come to regret it if you skip this step.

Beat the eggs and sugar on high with a heavy duty stand mixer for about 5 minutes or until very light and fluffy. If you are doing this by hand you’ll be able to skip the gym for the day because it will take you soooo much longer. With the beaters on low drizzle in the olive oil, zest**, and lemon juice. At this point you may need to switch to incorporating things by hand, because you don’t want to deflate the eggs/sugar too much. Sift the dry ingredients over the mixture and gently fold until all the flour is incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and bake 42-47 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10-20 minutes then carefully make sure the edge is free by running a knife around the edge. Pop out the cake and finish cooling on a rack, then store in an air tight container.

*I found and modified the recipe for the cake on this blog as I meandered around the internet, and she got it from the Vegetarian Times Mediterranean cookbook.

**When you zest a lemon the oils want to sprintz all over which, while it will make your kitchen smell great, means those oils do not end up in your cake. The solution (thanks to Food52) is to grate the lemon over the olive oil or even the oil/sugar mix. That way those yummy oils sprintz into the cake batter adding to the overall lemony-ness of things.

Very Tart Lemon Curd

6 egg yolks

1 light cup sugar (measure out a cup then remove a Tablespoon or so)

zest from 3-4 lemons (depending on size)

5 ounces fresh lemon juice (which should be the juice from 3-4 lemons)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium size stainless steel pan whisk together the yolks and sugar together. Once they’re well blended stir in the zest, juice, salt and butter. The butter won’t completely mix in, so don’t worry it will melt as you put it on the heat.

Why does it have to be stainless steel? Well it doesn’t, it could be glass if you have a glass pan that works on your stove top. It’s more important that you don’t put the acidic lemon juice into a pan that it could react to such as cast iron or aluminum. Now you know.

Keep whisking the whole lemon-sugar-egg-butter mixture over medium low heat and it will start to thicken up and turn glossy as the ingredients emulsify. If you don’t keep whisking you’ll end up with a pan of sweet/tart scrambled egg yolks. The goal for lemon curd is thick enough to coat a spoon, while still being loose enough to pour. Remember this mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

When you’ve gotten to the point of thick but not too thick, pour through a very fine mesh strainer. This will separate out the lemon zest bits as well as any stray blobs of cooked yolk. Cover the curd with a piece of plastic wrap so a skin does not form on the top and let cool. Once cool you can store it in the fridge for a week or so.

Here’s to happy marriages, all things lemon, Mother’s Day, and showing up!

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Filed under 50 Recipes

Tagged as #RichmondandThomas, Caldwell Gallery Hudson, Food52, lemon curd, lemon olive oil cake, mother's day, NYC, Rose Levy Bernanbaum, Talbott & Arding

May 14, 2014 · 5:35 pm

The Cape of Shame

Today is day three of a forty-five day quarantine.* It looks like it will be a long month and a half.

Mother’s Day was beautiful – 70s, sunny, enough breeze to keep away the bugs. I was enjoying myself sitting out on the deck for the first time this season and painting. Someone let the dog out so he could enjoy it too. We all, humans and animals alike, have had a serious case of cabin fever after such a relentless winter. Then – zoooom – the dog launched himself off the deck to go chase something furry. What can I say? He’s a terrier.

I kept on painting and sipping my wine until his barks switched from “I’m the boss and you’re in my yard” to “I’m in trouble, but that doesn’t matter cause I’m still going to get you”, punctuated with yelps of pain. We all dashed down and found our Jack Russell Terrier had taken on a raccoon. There was a lot of racing under and around the wood piles, with lots of barking and growling. We couldn’t really reach them, and even if we could have, no one wanted to get between the two combatants. Finally my husband managed to separate them after Oliver had grabbed the raccoon by the back of its neck and given him a vicious shake. I took off my work shirt and wrapped the dog with it since he was covered with dirt and blood and who knows what. He was also crazy out of his little walnut sized brain with the excitement of the hunt.

Shawn came up to the house to bathe Oliver while I called our town’s animal control officer. By the time the ACO arrived Oliver was ready for round two and the raccoon had crawled back under the wood pile. The officer decided not to dispatch the raccoon in part because he didn’t have a clear shot and in part because he felt the raccoon wasn’t acting all that strangely. We knew we’d have to get Oliver a rabies vaccine booster and figured that was that. Our Mother’s Day dinner would be a little late, but we’d all move on.

Turns out it’s not that simple. Yes, if your pet is up to date on their shots, they do need a booster, but they also get put under house arrest/quarantine for 45 days. In the house, with only short leashed walks (by an adult), for a month and a half. Did I mention we have a Jack Russell Terrier?

Also because my husband and I had both touched Oliver we too needed to get rabies shots. A lot of them. Starting with five given at the ER, followed by several more at our doctor’s office over the next three weeks. It is a serious pain in the ass, and I mean that literally since that is where many of the initial shots go. As my sister said via text:

Super bum-mer! Pun intended!!!

So I made Oliver a cape of shame. His very own necktie with a hot pink Q on it for quarantine. Think The Scarlet Letter meets Wishbone. My god-daughter suggested the orange and pink color combination after a favorite pair of sandals she had last summer. I hope Oliver likes wearing it for the next few weeks.

After my Easter disaster and now the Mother’s Day debacle the nurses at our local ER cannot wait to see what I do for Memorial Day.

*From some of the emails I received I realize I need to clarify that the 45 day quarantine is for the dog, not my husband or myself. Though if we start foaming at the mouth and acting all crazy I believe we will get our own special quarantine in a hospital somewhere.

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Filed under In between

Tagged as jack russell terrier, mother's day, quarantine, rabies vaccine, raccoon

May 9, 2014 · 4:23 pm

The Frugality of Angel Food Cake

One of the biggest challenges I faced when switching from being a chef to food styling was the waste. Not the oh, this is moldy let’s throw it out waste, but this strawberry is too darn big or that bun has a little dimple on one side or the pith of this lemon is a quarter of an inch too thick or this slice of swiss cheese doesn’t have enough holes to read as swiss cheese. Some of these defects you can change or manipulate. Not enough holes in the swiss cheese? No problem, get out your trusty plain pastry tips and cut a few more holes. If the bun is dimpled on one side swivel it so the dimple is away from the camera’s lens. But a strawberry that is too shaped funny? There is not a lot you can do about it. You can’t send it to the gym or carve it into the right shape the art director wants. Instead you buy lots and lots and lots of strawberries. The rejects – those that are too big, too small, too light, or who might have a slight bruise – get used as stand-ins or nibbled on as we work with the perfect ones. If we have the time we’ll try to arrange for a food bank pick up at the end of the day, but it’s not always possible. A chef, on the other hand, buys what they need. They minimize waste. It does need to look good, but it also has to taste good, and food costs have to be kept in mind. As a chef I would use all of the strawberries below. As a food stylist I would reject all but the bottom one, and even that one is a bit iffy as a hero strawberry.

As much as I am a food stylist with an eye for the most gorgeous, I am also a former chef who is frugal down to her bones. And the later is why I love to make Angel Food Cake because the former chef in me cannot throw away an egg white. If I make a batch of my Grammy Thompson’s Scandinavian Cookies or whip up my Mom’s hollandaise sauce to dip some steamed artichokes into I always slip the leftover egg whites into the freezer. Yolks won’t freeze, but the whites freeze beautifully. Every time I open the freezer door I eyeball my stash of frozen whites, judging if I have enough to make an angel food cake. I’ve twiddled with Jasper White’s recipe over the years and have found that two cups is the right amount for this classic dessert.

I think this cake would be a wonderful cake to make for Mother’s Day. So if you don’t have a stash of frozen egg whites waiting for you then cook up a load of eggs benedict or something else that uses egg yolks and then get ready to whip up an angel food cake.

Angel Food Cake

1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups egg whites, thawed to room temperature if they were frozen

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. You’ll need a 10″ tube pan with a removable bottom. Cut out a parchment paper liner for the bottom of the angel food cake pan since this cake will want to stick otherwise. I usually trace a circle around the insert, then fold the circle in quarters and snip the pointy end so it will look like a giant doughnut and shimmy down the center tube. Do not grease the pan.

Normally I am not too much of a stickler about sifting flour, but for this recipe it is imperative. You sift it before you measure it, then sift along with the salt two more times. You want light, fluffy, aerated flour so your angel food cake can almost take wing.

Then it’s time to beat the egg whites. My stand mixer is on the fritz so I did this with a sturdy hand-held mixer. It took almost 15 minutes so be prepared if hand-held is all you have. It should be slightly quicker if you do have a good stand mixer. I cannot begin to guess what whipping this by hand would take. Start by putting the egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. I used my stand mixer bowl since I knew it could hold the volume. As the mixture starts to get foamy slowly dribble in the sugar a few Tablespoons at a time while you continue beating. Keep going until you have stiff, glossy peaks. Do not overbeat.

Sift half of the flour/salt over the egg whites and with a large spatula or your hand (remember to take off your watch first) fold it in. Lumpy is ok. Sift the remaining flour/salt mixture and loosely fold that in too. It is a delicate dance of incorporating the dry mixture into the wet while at the same time not loosing too much volume from all the whipping.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove and if your pan has “legs” (3 short prongs riveted onto the top edge) turn the cake upside down on these. If not slip it onto an empty glass bottle.

I have some small angel food cake pans which required me to find some tiny things for them to rest upside down on as you can see in the picture. Why does the cake need to cool upside down? I don’t know, but it does.

To remove it from the pan once it’s cool simply slide a very thin paring or butter knife around the outside edge of the pan, with the knife blade slightly angled toward the pan rather than cake. Do the same around the tube in the middle. With a little jiggling the cake should come out and you can peel off the parchment paper.

Accompaniments are endless. Macerated* fresh berries and a dab of whipped cream. If you’re making this recipe in late June enjoy a slice of cake served with the Holy Trinity of Fruit. My friend Rick Ellis adds a little powdered ginger to his angel food cake then serves it with peaches which have been tossed with sugar and a shot of bourbon. I personally love a ladle full of stewed rhubarb and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Whatever you serve it with remember that angel food cake needs to be torn or pulled apart with two forks. If you’re very gentle you can saw slices with a bread knife. A regular knife will just squash it.

*Macerating simply means adding sugar to let the juices come out. If you have strawberries rinse, slice, and toss with a few spoonfuls of sugar. With self-contained berries such as blueberries or raspberries you may need to smush a few in order for the juices to run.

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Filed under 50 Recipes

Tagged as Angel Food Cake, egg whites, frozen egg whites, frugal cooking, Jasper White, mother's day, Rick Ellis