Susan Branch's Blog, page 34

MARCH MADNESS

It’s Friday and tomorrow it’s MARCH (rabbit-rabbit).  Just when we’re dreaming of spring, here comes thirty-one days of chill (in like a lion) known as March Madness. And it’s the weekend.  Do you have plans?  Hey, you darling California people, enjoy that rain, stay away from mud, drive carefully!  I’m thinking about you! MUSICA.

It’s a great weekend for MOVIES, plus we have the Oscars on Sunday — hope the rain is over by then so the stars don’t cover up their dresses!  I’m trying to figure out our Oscar Menu that night.  Peah-Ci-da to start!  Because the month of March seems to last forever, I think of it as a time to get things done so when Spring actually arrives, I’ll be FREE.  I try to get as much out of every abnormally long and never-ending day as humanly possible.  It’s a healthy-eating, organizing (with Kellee and Sheri, thinking about what new things we can get for our web store this year, what new designs we can come up with, we were on the phone for two hours yesterday, plotting!); it’s a cleaning-the-studio and getting-ready kind of time, vacation and garden planning, being cozy reading a good book (I’m reading Goldfinch ~ (did I say Hummingbird?) ~ has anyone read it?  I’m barely into it, but the writing is great so far).  It’s such a thick book ~ I can live inside this book for a while.  I hope it turns out to be nice in there.

Since we went to England, a very long time ago, I’ve not had the chance to really clean my studio!  New piles get added to old piles, and you can almost hear them groan.  So, with next year’s calendars finally done, that’s how I’ve been spending the last week, filing, organizing, throwing away.   I’ll have you know it is heaven in here right now.  I can see the tops of tables.  Shocking! And I thought I’d give you a little tour of what’s on my front burners: THIS ↑ in all its glory, may look like a mess to you, but it’s actually everything I need to write a diary about my first little house on the island, drawings and memories. ♥ I’m always scribbling something, I write while I watch TV, when I first wake up, in restaurants and while we’re driving and these are stories gathered over the years that have been piling up.  Now I get to organize them into some sort of sense that spells B-O-O-K.  Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know yet.  I compare the process to sweeping the kitchen floor.  All the tiny bits and pieces are scattered to every corner, I sweep and sweep and the crumbs and kitty hairs come closer to each other, I sweep some more until they are one solid thing in the dust pan.  That’s book writing.

And then there is this ↑ pile to consider.  It’s everything I need, recipes, stories, and sketches to write a book all about tea and tea parties.  This will be my prettiest book ~ think dishes, teacups, creamers, flowers, delectable desserts and delicate sandwiches.

Then of course there’s this↑, my Pancake Book, like a giant lump of clay just begging to be shaped into something that brings all of you home for breakfast on a snowy morning or outside for a summer brunch under the roses.  It doesn’t look cozy from here, but trust me, this pile of paper is like warm-just-from-the-dryer flannel jammies personified.  Every time I make something delicious for breakfast, the recipe goes into this pile. This book will also have the story about my mom called Pancakes which some of you have read.

There are more piles in here, a read-aloud Christmas Story, a couple of How-To books about Creativity, a pile of sketches I would like to paint (and paint and paint).  I don’t lack for something to do.  But you can see above, this is where my heart of heart lives, even in this freezing weather . . . this is where my dreams go to grow.  When I do this, I am happy, and I’ve been doing it since I moved here, always to the same place.  Martha’s Vineyard, empty wide beach.  Snow is gone for the moment, so we take advantage of it.

For the all too important work of shell collecting.  It’s spring and I can’t have enough yellow things in my house right now.  These paper thin shells are called Jingle Shells (like the song) or Mermaid’s Toenails.

Quite perky for a windowsill.

My destiny, isn’t it a kind of meditation?  Salt water seashore and cold winter wind and jingling seashells?

And now, this morning.  I come downstairs and it’s still dark and I turn on the light over the stove to make my tea.

And there is the little Missy, already downstairs, waiting for me.  I love how her eyes need to adjust to the light . . . I grab the camera.

Blink-blink-blink, she squints at me.  And then . . . clickity-click down the stairs comes the King of the Roost, the Lord of the Manor, he who is waited on hand and foot, Jack.

He goes straight to Girl as he always does ~ but normally he never gets this close, she runs long before he can get to her.  Leaps across the kitchen table in a single bound if need be, to get away from him.  But this morning, I think he got a kiss!

I couldn’t move too much or I would scare them and this is too rare, but look at that…. don’t you think he’s getting a kiss?  Look at her feet.  She’s such a dainty Girl.

So much for that, the romantic moment doesn’t last long — she’s outta there, enough is enough!

So, have a fun rest-of-the-day!  Here ↑ are a few more ways to get the most out of March!  I’m off to see my friend Margot’s newest art project with two of our girlfriends today, and then the four of us are going to LUNCH.  I love to go to Lunch with the girls ~ one of the things that makes for a red letter day. ♥

  Have you had lunch with your girlfriends lately?  If not, wouldn’t now be a good time to put a date on your calendar, something fun to look forward to?  You need to catch up!  Have yourself a wonderful weekend!  Bunny-Bunny, Girlfriends.  XOXO

Lamb Cakes and Kitchen Gardens

Here I am with our extra-large Bonnet, all ready for our Lamb Cake and Kitchen Garden drawing and a little MUSICA to start things off right  . . . ♥

 

 ♥ ♥ ♥ It had to be a really big bonnet ~ with almost 4,000 comments from all the Girlfriends, we will need it!  She’s still upstairs, Vanna, watching the very last of Downton Abbey, in bed in the Peter Rabbit room, cuddled into her quilt with her tea and Girl Kitty.  She’ll sweep down the kitchen stairs in a few minutes, sweep, as she is wont to do, make-up fully applied.  She’s a little hard to live with, but no one draws a winning name with more flair than our own private game-show girl, Vanna. I have all your names in that hat now, she’s going to choose one.  Yikes.  How to choose one.  Good thing this is all her fault and not mine, because choosing just one name is really not my cup of tea. I could keep this contest going forever just so I wouldn’t have to do that! But Vanna is steely.

Speaking of hats and Downton Abbey, let’s talk.  I love to hash it over . . . Did you notice the amazingly adorable hats on everyone this time?  Gorgeous elegant hats for the upstairs girls, but my favorites were the straw ones with the flowers worn for the fun day at the beach  ~ I thought Mrs. Patmore’s hat won for most adorable of all.

And while I’m in a noticing mood . . . Did you see the champagne glasses at the party?  Please.  I’m not that wild about champagne but those glasses made me want to drink it.  Would be even better with Peah-Cida!   Other things I loved:  The ride-in-the-car conversation between Violet (the Dowager Countess) and Isobel (Mrs.  

Crawley, “much cattle, much care”) was so funny and good.  Those two!  Apparently the lesson they teach us is to never come right out and say another person is wrong, but show with your eyes and expression that someone is ver y wrong and it isn’t you.  And “Mary’s Men”  ha ha ha ha ~ how cute all the men were in their tuxedoes with those white ties!

I was so afraid Daisy would go to America . . . she’s always trying to better herself, using new words and becoming such a graceful girl and the way she said she “never gets excited.”  (I loved her big clunky hat at her picnic last week), I thought sure she would say yes. I’m beginning to think America is where Downton characters go to die and I’m not ready for Daisy to go away.  SO happy Edith is going to get her baby girl, can’t wait to meet her and see her little clothes!  And Edith has power of attorney!  I knew that guy she’s in love with was a good one!

 But my favorite thing, after the hats, the gorgeous dresses, Rose’s coming out party, the punch bowls, the baskets (hampers of food) for that PICNIC in front of the Albert Memorial (wanted to be there ~ have you seen The Young Victoria?  I loved learning a little about Prince Albert, what a doll), the musicians, the convenient (for the moment) difference between right and wrong (right: breaking and entering, forging and picking pockets (love you Mr. Bates), wrong: protecting possible killer of definite rapist; thank goodness Mary came to her senses and burnt that ticket), those long necklaces (want), the cars (want) and the musicians . . . the kindness of Mr. Mosely, the wisdom of Mrs. Hughes, and the consternation in the face of Mr. Carson with his moral sensibilities having to deal with the young American’s (what was he? a butler?) love life; but they saved the very best for last, didn’t they?  (SPOILER ALERT, close eyes, skip next photo if you haven’t seen it!)

 Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson holding hands, she saying the lovely words “We’re getting on, we can afford to live a little,” bare feet in sand, walk into ocean, cue music, wipe tears, wait another year. ♥

Such a good show.  My England fix.  Can’t wait for next winter!  Lots of living to do between now and then, spring planting, beach walks, Christmas shopping!  I guess that’s enough of that. . . where is that Vanna Girl . . . I think I hear the bath water running.  She’ll probably have to have her bubble bath before coming down to grace us with her peachy visage.   Patience is the name of the game when it comes to Vanna.  I’m glad I’m not married to her.  I’ll go out back and take a picture of our snow drops for you. Bright sunshine on the island today. Be right back . . .

Whew, I’m IN . . .  it’s freeeeeezing out there!  I laid flat on my stomach for this one, a lovely whale-like sight in giant old leather jacket . . . snow’s all blown away but the ground is an ice cube ~ we’re hearing we may have another storm coming soon, and yet, despite common sense and every other thing, from the frozen tundra the miracle occurs and there it is, new life, our first snow drops poking through little crunchy iceberg-like dirt clods. ♥

I saw this out there too, they think it’s spring!  . . . Oh!  and one more thing I can tell you. . .

Our handmade Bunny Banner and Lambie-Pie Garlands have finally arrived!  Yay!

Oh, I hear Vanna, clunking down the stairs in her pink slippers, she’s coming, that bonnet is ready to go . . . now what was that Giveaway?

Ah, yes.  I remember it well.  And, with a little drum roll, Jack watching her every move, the lavender-bath-oil-smelling Vanna puts long arm deep into the bonnet and swirls the names until they become a blur, she’s in there up to her shoulder . . . she’s pulling a name, hope it’s yours – hope it’s yours . . . pulling out, out, out, here it comes!  She’s got one!  Thank you Vanna, beautifully done!  And now, with no further adieu, well, maybe I shouldn’t tell you, I’ll show you instead . . .

Signed, sealed, flowered and ready to be delivered to  K A R E N    P O W E L L  . . . I sent her an email and told her she is our winner.  Karen, if you read this, Congratulations from all of us!!  Write me back and tell me where to send your KITCHEN GARDEN BOOK and LAMB CAKE MOLD. ♥

Things wouldn’t be right unless there was a consolation prize no matter how small, a little cheerer upper, how about a beautiful photo of the Forget-Me-Nots from Bateman’s garden in England?  That should cheer anyone up!

It won’t be long and this wonderful little flower will be blooming all over America!  Also, for those of you wishing to get your hands on your own vintage copy of KITCHEN GARDENS illustrated by Tasha Tudor . . . I have been thinking of you.  On our cross-country driving trip, whenever I ran into a copy of this book (not as often as I wished) I bought it and took my little stack to Kellee at the studio!  She’s taken pictures of them, and is putting them up in the VINTAGE section of our web store even as we speak.  So there are a few anyway.  Go see.  And with that happy thought, I will let you get on with the creative business of living life and I will go back to the art table!  Wishing you the MOST wonderful day, thank you for all your fabulous comments!  It was a joy.  Oh!  One more thing Girlfriends, speaking of comments, I can’t thank you enough for all your kind words about A FINE ROMANCE.  I spent many months writing that book and am still living in the glow of it ~ I periodically see it, pick it up, and kiss it.  Can’t be helped, I love it.  It’s like a little friend.  And as of today, we have 267 five-star reviews on Amazon and I could not be more surprised and thrilled (and grateful!). Thought you’d like to know since you are the ones that made it happen. Bye for now, see you soon!  ♥  XOXO

HAPPY SUNDAY ♥

♥ H A P P Y   S U N D A Y   D E A R   H E A R T S ! ♥

MUSICA and flowers for you!  I’m just wondering if you’ve been reading your comments?  Are you not the most wonderful gathering of people you have ever seen?  I have enjoyed them so much, all 1,400 of them . . . each comment individually, but when you put them all together, it’s Spring! ♣ It’s family, it’s memories, beauty, l♥ve and creativity and charm and trying hard and making a difference ~ all the things I have always loved about the readers of my books ~ which I learned about from the letters I received from so many of you over the years, but now, here we are, together at last and it’s just so lovely to read!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write!  I thought I would wish you all a Happy Sunday — and let the drawing go a couple more days so everyone has a chance to sign up.  If you’re not sure what “drawing” I’m talking about, scroll down to the next post ~ we’re in the middle of a Give-Away!  ← That’s a hint.

 You can leave your comment either here or there (at the bottom of either post where you see the tiny gray letters “comments” just click and there you go) and as many times as you like because Vanna is brilliant and knows to choose only one from each name/address.  Until then, from my Girlfriends Forever book, the perfect title for US, this, for all you beautiful girls . . .

Thank you for being here! Keep the home fires burning! ♥ Downton Abbey tonight!  Ooooo-La-Wee!  xoxo

Inspire Spring

The way I see it, we need a little spring.  As they say, reality is something you rise above, so let’s do that today!  Let’s rise above!  Get a cup of tea Girlfriends, turn on the MUSICA, put your face close to the screen so even your peripheral vision is enveloped in bloom and enjoy your. . .

It’s spring fever.  You don’t quite know what it is you want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so bad.  ♥ The Adorable Mark Twain who knew.

Can you smell the fresh ocean air up from the harbor, still cold, filled with flowery scents of spring?  Whoosh!  The wind blows through the petals.  Wrap your sweater a little tighter.  Mmmm, we are so lucky.  Don’t you just love the internet?!

We can see last year’s weeping cherry trees in full bloom even on a snowy day . . . makes you want it so bad, your heart just aches for it.  It’s coming Girlfriends.  The waiting is what makes it so wonderful. ♥

Right now we are still having our most delicious dinners of deep dark and delicious homemade Chicken Soup – but today we are looking for COLOR and so it’s time out for . . .

We love to do the chicken dance — here’s my recipe for Carrot Cupcakes which I think you will want to save.  SO good, filled with fruit and nuts, lots of shreded carrots, pineapple and coconut. Cream Cheese frosting.  The recipe will also make a three-layer cake ~ with so much batter you will have extra cupcakes, enough for your spring-starved girlfriends, chicken hearts and wolfmen too.

We just got in a new batch of these festive easy-to-make kits for darling dancing chicken cupcake toppers in case you’d like one.

And we still have the Cupcake Garlands that Janie made for us.  It’s these happy colors I love to see.  But you know, I’m on a lamb kick right now.

They are just so darn cute. They baaaa “Spring.”

And here’s my newest concoction.  We found perfect old-fashioned Lamb Cake Molds for our web store . . . I made the cake using my Grandma’s homemade Lemon Daisy Cake recipe because it makes a firm cake, almost a pound cake but not quite, a cake that isn’t too crumbly and holds together.  But a box cake and frosting will work too and I’m not against anything that makes a lovely smell come from the oven (there’s one boxed white cake I’ve used that has confetti colors in it that I think might be perfect for lamb cake) ~ the directions that come with the pan tell you to make it using less liquid. ~ in case you feel a need for speed.  I’ll show you how to make the Lemon Daisy Cake, and I’ll put the full recipe at the end of this post so you can print it out.

So here we go.  First tip: Successful unmolding of your cake is paramount.  The way to do that (for any molded cake) is this:  Melt a couple tablespoons of Crisco and brush it into ever nook and cranny of your mold.  The mold should be cool when you do it so the oil will stick.

Also, take the time to flour your pans.  Just shake flour over the oil until it sticks everywhere and shake out any extra.  Notice we have kitchen twine, toothpicks and wooden skewers?  You will need these … as you’ll see later.  Put your prepared pan on a cookie sheet with the lamb face down. Preheat your oven to 375º ~ feel your kitchen getting warm and cozier by the minute. Pop an old movie into the player . . . I watched/listened to Gosford Park while I cooked — here’s the MUSICA from it …

This recipe and lamb cake is really so easy!  All ingredients should be at room temperature.  Two sticks of butter and two cups of sugar go into a large mixing bowl.

Put four roughly measured cups of flour into your sifter and sift three times . . . then measure out 3 cups.  You want to measure after sifting.  Any extra flour goes back into your container.  Put the sifted flour back into the sifter, add one TBSP baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt and sift again two more times.  Use my waxed paper method for sifting unless you have a method you like better.

Allow all petty pets to watch your every move.

Now cream the softened butter and sugar together with an electric mixer . . .

. . . until light colored and fluffy

Then, one at a time, add the yolks of four eggs (save the whites in another bowl), beating well after each.

Once the eggs are incorporated, sift in dry ingredients by thirds alternating with buttermilk ~ little bit of flour, a little bit of milk, repeat~ beat until smooth after each third.

I like the old-fashioned tangy flavor the buttermilk gives this cake, but if you are at home and all you have is regular milk, that will do just fine.

Stir in the grated rind of two lemons . . . so easy to do with the wonderful  Microplane Graters (← let me demonstrate!) . . . Miracle things no kitchen should be without.  Like little razor blades for fast easy no-more-knuckle-in-the-food cooking.

Beat your reserved egg whites until stiff, then fold them into the cake, and voila, Daisy Cake batter is done.

Fill the face side of your mold (you’ll be able to tell which side to fill because the other side has a tiny steam-hole in it).  Big tip #2:  Head-falling-off can occur, it’s a possibility you will want to avoid from the get go.  Because if it does, you’ll try to glue it back on with frosting.  Which puts a wide messy crumbly lump around the lamb’s neck.  While you’re busy sticking the head back on, the ears fall off.  It’s terrible. I’ve made that mistake, but no more.  Now I am stick woman.  Toothpicks for the ears and wooden skewers for the neck.

Then I tie the mold together with kitchen string, just in case.  If, for some reason the batter tries escape out the sides, I’m ready. We want a perfectly molded little lamb here, on the first try. Pop the cake in the oven an let it fill your toasty kitchen with fragrance of lemon-baking heaven.

Set your timer for 55 minutes and take a look outside and see what’s going on.

There’s bound to be something.

After the cake comes out and is cooling, you can pull out your Summer Book and find my recipe for Old-Fashioned Boiled Frosting on p. 109.  But just in case you don’t have that book, here’s the recipe . . .

This is another easy recipe that’s like science magic.  You need a candy thermometer like you see here.  I have it hooked on the side of a small heavy-bottomed pan that already has a third-cup of water in it . . . I’m adding a cup of sugar.

Then 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt gets stirred in ~ put the pan over high heat and boil without stirring until mixture reaches 240°.

While that’s going on, beat two egg whites until stiff.

When the sugar liquid is hot enough, pour it in a thin stream into your egg whites beating all the while, and watch it get thick, white and fluffy . . .

Just like this!  Look at that!  You are a genius!

When the buzzer goes off,  Ta-Daaa your lamb cake is done.  Pull it out of the oven, and now is where your patience must never come to an end.  You have to wait until he is totally cool before you set him up to frost.  You can cut the string, take off the top part of the mold, let him sit like that a while.  Put the mold piece back on, turn it over, and do the same thing.  Until he is completely cool.

Meanwhile you’ll have made your frosting . . . swipe the middle of your cake platter with a wide swath of frosting so the lamb has something to anchor him in standing position.

This is what we’ve waited for.  He’s up!  He came right out of the pan with no help.  Look at him!  He’s perfect.  I didn’t have to do a thing but turn the pan into my hand and set him into the frosting smear.  But then, how to frost him was my next question. I wanted to see if I could come up with something a little bit different than the way I usually did it (with raisin nose and chocolate chip eyes), make him more real.  I needed inspiration and I knew just where to get it.

I pulled out the little book we bought in a bookstore in Ambleside in England filled with lamb pictures, all the different breeds.

I thumbed through it and chose this guy.  That’s what I wanted my lamb to look like. Within reason.

So I started applying the frosting.  I couldn’t hold the camera and frost at the same time,  but there is no real trick in the frosting ~ it all goes pretty easily.  For the corners like under his chin or around the ears, just put a good lump of frosting on the very end of your spatula or wide knife and plunk it right where you want it, spreading from there.  You can wipe off the plate with a damp paper towel when you are finished.

Hello just-born lamb.  Of course Lemon cake and coconut go together perfectly, and lambs need wool, so here is.  If you press the coconut in a little bit, it keeps him from looking too hairy.

Just as sweet from the back.  In the past I’ve decorated the plate with green-tinted coconut (like Easter grass) and jelly beans, and egg-shaped frosted cookies . . . but I was taking this cake to friends for dinner and it isn’t Easter quite yet, so I decided to leave it plain and my version of homemade-elegant.

So darling, always the cutest thing on the table at any party. (Just pulled out my lamb vase too — almost time to fill him with forsythia cuttings!  I collected a few more lamb vases when I could find them on our cross-country trip in case you “need” one too . . .)

I wrapped him up, lamb cake-to-go-go.  So that’s about it.  I hope you enjoyed our springtime retreat and are all inspired to make a lamb cake of your own.  And if so, you might need a lamb pan, and that is what I can help with.

Because I washed my lamb cake mold, dried it and tied it with a ribbon, and here it is, all freshly imbued with successful lamb-cake baking DNA ~ and I hope you will leave me a comment at the bottom of this post, because if you do, you will be entered in my drawing, and he can be your very own.  In the next few days, our darling girl Vanna will pull one of your names out of her Easter Bonnet (the one with all the frills), and one of you will be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.  Or, at least you will have a new, slightly used, lamb cake mold. ♥

Now one other thing I wanted to ask you.  Do you have this book?  Because if you do, you will know how inspiring it is.  I found this one years ago in a used bookstore and have loved it ever since.  It’s my go-to, never-gets-old classic; a small, inviting garden book, where every word is a pearl.   Planning a garden takes a little time, and this book will help you get in the mood.  You feel as you should when you read it, as part of the earth, part of the ebb and flow of the seasons and the ancient practices of sowing and reaping from the precious green earth that God has given us.  You can smell the warm dirt, taste the crisp, still-warm-from-the garden organic vegetables, hear the bees buzzing in the rosemary.  That’s how you feel when you read this little book. ♥

The charm doesn’t end with the wonderful words of Mary Mason Campbell, it continues with darling drawings by Tasha Tudor.  Kitchen Gardens was published in 1971 and describes the art of gardening as the simple and wonderful thing that it is.

And this book is for you too.  I have two, and you get one.  I signed it and when I find out the name of the winner, I will put their name in this lovely old book and off they will go, Lamb Cake pan and Kitchen Gardens, hopefully to make someone’s day.  I have to say, you deserve to win after reading all this!  It’s getting long — I’m so sorry!

And now, one last thing, just so you can see ~ this is where we were going for dinner the night I made the lamb cake . . . Isn’t it pure fairy tale?  Our friends Arnie and Paula live here.  When I see visions such as this, I think maybe winter’s not really that bad!  Here’s your recipe:

LEMON DAISY LAMB CAKE

You will need melted Crisco and flour to prepare mold, plus two wooden skewers and two toothpicks for lamb.

2 sticks butter (1 c.), room temp.
2 c. sugar
3 c. sifted cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs, separated, room temp.
1 c. buttermilk
zest of two lemons

Grater, in case you need one . . .

Preheat oven to 375°. Paint the inside of your mold with melted Crisco, sprinkle with flour and shake out extra.  Cream softened butter and sugar together with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Measure your dry ingredients: sift approx. 3 c. flour three times before measuring out three cups and putting them back into the sifter (any extra flour just goes back into your container) ~ add baking powder and salt to sifter with flour in it and sift two more times.  Set aside.

Add egg yolks, one at a time, to butter-sugar mixture; beat well after each ~ put the egg whites in another bowl.

Sift in flour mixture by thirds, alternating with buttermilk, beating until smooth after each addition.  Stir in lemon zest.  Beat egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter.

Fill face part of lamb mold (the side that doesn’t have the hole in it) full and put it on a cookie sheet.  Lay toothpicks in centers of lamb ears, put clipped wooden skewers or a popsicle stick in center of neck down to body for support.  Press them down slightly into batter.  Put on the top of the mold and tie it together with string.  Put the cookie sheet with the lamb cake into preheated oven and bake 55 minutes. Remove from oven, cut string, allow lamb to cool 15 min; remove top, cool longer, turn it over, remove other side of mold, allow it to cool competely before frosting.

You will have extra batter — enough for one 8″ single layer cake, or several cupcakes.   With my extra batter, I made a bunny cake… with a vintage bunny cake mold I found somewhere on my travels.  Lambies and chickies and bunnies . . . oh my!

 

 CLASSIC OLD-FASHIONED BOILED FROSTING

You will need a candy thermometer for this.  Pour 1/3 c. water into a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, then stir in 1 c. sugar, 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Hook the thermometer on the side of the pan making sure the tip of it is in the mixture.  Boil until the mixture reaches 240°.  Meanwhile beat 2 egg whites until stiff.  Pour the 240° syrup over the whites in a thin stream, beating constantly until thick and glossy.  Lay a wide strip of frosting down the middle of an oval serving plate.  Tip the lamb cake out of the pan into your hand and set it in the strip of frosting to anchor it.  Frost the lamb; pat and sprinkle coconut onto sides.  Press coconut in slightly to keep the lamb from looking too hairy.  Voila, he is done, and you are amazing!  Happy Spring Girlfriends!   I think I have delighted you (in the immortal words of Jane Austen) long enough! ♥

Staying Warm

This is what my house looks like right now . . .

Lucky lucky lucky.  Hope you are staying warm . . . xoxo

 

BLIZZARDSVILLE USA

Happy Sunday from Blizzardsville!

Here we are at dawn this morning in the kitchen watching the Snow Moon set and the light come up on the house next door.  The weather has been wild the last couple of days.

The winds were so treacherous last Thursday, the day we were supposed to go off-island, that the boat stopped running and we had to cancel the trip until the next day.  So on Friday, come what may, we had to go —  I put on my seasickness wrist bands and off we went across the water to the mainland because I had a date to be interviewed by Madeline Meile Holt for the Cape Cod Writers Center . . .

. . . for their TV show called Books and the World.  So here I am, and Joe’s in the background taking pictures . . .

We brought along our pet lamb but forgot to mention it during the interview.  I wonder what viewers will be thinking about him!  I was on this show years ago, when my first book came out, so it was fun to come back.  They said they’d send me a link to the show in a few days and if they do I’ll be sure to put it up.

The next day, which was Saturday, there were Winter Storm Warnings for central MA, and Blizzard Warnings for the coast and islands.  That was the day we needed to be at Costco.  So up we went, north, just south of Boston to the Costco in Avon, MA.  We arrived amid a flurry of customers rushing to get stocked up before the storm came in.  It was fun.   There was a holiday aspect in the air; Costco would be closing early so their employees could get home safely.  People were all bundled in snow clothes, hats and scarves, some of our Girlfriends braved the storm and came to see me, Twitter friends too, and I signed books for lots of nice Costco employees.  I met some darling children — and while I did that, Joe shopped for us and our neighbors Lowely and John, he filled his basket and packed up the van . . . then we ran for the boat, Joe was sure we could make it before Blizzard conditions took over.

I wasn’t so sure, but here we are, homeward bound.  The whole time my chicken gene is telling Joe’s wild wolf gene that this was not a good idea.  Pure icy slush on the road, it was already a deluge and the Blizzard warning had not even gone into effect. But wolfman was not listening.  He was putting on some MUSICA … snow patters the windows like hail . . . wind blows . . . you can’t tell where road ends and sky begins.  Chicken gene has me thinking too much.

I was forced to explain to Joe that there are two of us in the car. One is a victim and one is a wolf.  Snow is slanting into the windshield.  I take my mind off of imminent slide into cranberry bog by taking pictures.  Can you imagine how cold that water is right now.  OMG.

But Joe was sure, he promised me it would be all his fault if something happened (which of course just made everything OK) and persevered through car-rocking wind blasts, eating Costco guacamole (yum) and Costco “pop chips” brown rice, quinoa, multi-grain chips (also yum), over the Bourne Bridge (arched high over the frozen Cape Cod Canal), down Rt. 28 careening past cars who were going five miles an hour, finally arriving here, in Falmouth, we made the turn to Woods Hole. My chicken mouth quit peeping because “we” seemed to be committed.  (Dad, I tried to tell him you wouldn’t like it!  He howled ow! ow! owwwww!)

As Joe sings “theres a song that they sing as they take to the highway …” I kept reminding myself that he was born here.  He speaks the language of winter.  He has never gotten in an accident.  He can fix anything.  (What has that got to do with it?  I don’t know.)  And then, there’s the sign to the island blurring past, we are getting closer.  But we still don’t know if the boat will be running or not.  It’s blowing snow, visibility isn’t very good, if the boat does go, will the Captain be able to see the island or will we drive right past, lost in the blizzard, on our way to France?  Is he a wolf or does he have some intelligent chicken blood in him?

Woods Hole, we’re here … and that’s the ocean out there.  Visibility is wonderful.  Perfect weather for boating.  Is the boat even here?  Can we get on when our reservation isn’t until 7:30 and we’ve managed to arrive at 3:45?????  These are the questions.

But yes, there it was, big mouth wide open, almost done loading but there was room for us.  No turning back now.  Thoughts of kitties are what I’m using for propellant because good sense would never allow this.  Wolf packs run the ferry boats.

On we went, wristbands in place. Straight to the bar.

We made it, you know that because here I am.  A happy ending.  My hunny bunny got me home safe and sound just as he promised.  Wolves rule.  If chickens ran the world we might never get home.  I am sense and he is sensibility.  We are so brave.  Jack jumped up and rubbed against me a hundred times.  Girl rolled over for her tummy rub.  We unpacked the van and slept all through the storm and look how gorgeous it is today.

Snowflowers are on every tree, like spring cherry trees in bloom.

Joe’s outside filling the bird feeders . . . And I’m doing this.  Making a lamb cake to take to a dinner party tonight . . . the 1933 version of State Fair is on TV, I’ve never seen it — but it makes good background noise for stove heating and cake baking.

First I grease the pans . . . I’ll save the rest of the story until next time.  Have a wonderful day Girlfriends. ♥

 

Shirley Temple was an American Valentine

Valentine’s Day is almost here . . . I hope everyone who wanted one got one of our Love Banners … I hung one on the door in my studio where I display some of the wonderful letters I get from kids.  Just seems to fit right in there.

As lots of you know, a national treasure passed away yesterday.  Shirley Temple, in case you missed it, died at age eighty-five.

Like so many of you, my mom introduced me to Shirley when I was a little girl ~ we would watch her movies and sing her songs while we hung clothes on the line or did dishes; we knew all the words.  We could do a Shirley Temple singalong in our backyard.

Yesterday we started what’s turned out to be an unexpected memorial for Shirley on our Facebook page  – everyone is remembering how they “met” her.  I don’t think it’s slowed down yet today . . . in case you’re in the mood to read happy memories about the joy one little girl brought to the world, we have a lovely representation on FOSB.  Here she is dancing her heart out, as adorable as always . . .

She was and is a kind of fairytale hero to me.  Her movie characters were always brave, strong, wily, and self-sufficient.  In her films wholesome goodness won out over meanness and evil every time.  I liked the way life looked through her eyes.  If you have a young daughter or granddaughter, this would be a most excellent way to share something beautiful . . .  to give them not only Shirley, but wonderful old movies in general, for a lifetime of happy tears, romance, something to do on a rainy day and a lovely way to escape from harsher realities of life.  We all need to take a break sometimes, kids need to learn how that’s done and this is the perfect way to show them how to supply themselves with a world the way they want it to be. During the depression and even when President Kennedy was shot (among other trying times in our history)  . . . who was it that kept the home fires burning?  Shirley Temple, always there on film, filling us with her contagious joy.

She went on to lead a fulfilling life and bring even more honor to her country.  This is Shirley when she’s around three or four in Baby Take a Bow, one of her first movies (Hasn’t he got everything . . .♫).

 I met Shirley Temple in person when I was eight.  She was grown up and married, she was Shirley Temple Black and looked more like she did in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.  I’d gone to work with my best friend Karen and her dad — he painted sets at NBC Studios in Burbank, it was Saturday and he had to go pick something up so he took us along.  Shirley was walking down the hall. In high heels and a suit with long curled hair, all grown up.  She  bent over to us to say hello.  I could hardly believe that the person I’d loved for as long as I could remember was right in front of me.  But the dimples were a giveaway. Of course I was awestruck and couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mom. ♥  Shirley sparkled through my childhood, for the world and now she’s gone.  But she left behind a lovely light.  Goodbye dear Shirley, and thank you. ♥ You were the perfect person to grow up with.

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

No, it cannot.  And look what I got yesterday, just a little reminder.  A preview ~ of course I had to show you . . . the new spring banners that Janie is making for us right now.  It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before we get them, but I had to show you, because LOOK, Lambs!  Adorable, with the little card and envelope —  don’t you think?

And Bunnies!  Which I immediately hung in my window, flinging spring right into the snow’s face!  The lambs are the normal size you are used to . . . the bunnies are quite a bit bigger — but they too have the cute envelope and card so you can send them to lucky friends and drape them in your kitchen windows.

My bunny boy and I are going to be off island celebrating Valentine’s Day on old Cape Cod.   The next day (Saturday, the 15th) we’ll be at Costco in Avon, MA signing A FINE ROMANCE from 1 to 3 in the afternoon.  So if you’re a Costco member, come by and say hello!  Don’t leave me there alone!

We’re going on the ferry, even though it still pretty much looks like this outside.  I’ll be wearing my sea bands even for the forty-five minute ride, because we’re expecting crazy winds and more of everything cold, wet, drizzly, frozen, drenching and blowing.

I turned in my very last calendar just this morning.  In the nick of time.  But they are done!  2015 is buttoned up, calendar wise.  As soon as I have the artwork in bloggable form, I’ll give you a little preview!  I get to go write a new book!  As soon as I figure it out, I’ll tell you what it is!

One more thing before I go . . . A quilt to brighten your day . . .

Pamela, one of our Girlfriends wanted to see a bigger picture of the quilt I posted a few days ago in front of the snowy window in my studio.  So here it is.

This may be my favorite quilt of all the ones I have . . . or at least close.  Love this design called Grandmother’s Flower Garden and the colors and the way this quilter left a white space in the middle of the flower and used the same fabric all around it on every one of them …. and look at all the wonderful vintage fabrics.

OK, gotta go pack and do kitty kissing for a while.  We’ve got a good kitty sitter coming to stay here while we’re away.  Big and brawny kitty sitter, but sweet as pie when it comes to kitties.  When we get home I’ll get busy on that promised giveaway.  I haven’t forgotten — just trying to be in a spot where I’ll be able to moderate, not in a Fine Romance Van out in a storm somewhere!  Wish us luck! Happy Valentine’s Day Girlfriends! ♥

WOMAN’S HOME COMPANION

Here I am, your woman’s home companion, busy at work.  Happy Sunday!  Guess what!  I finished the new Blotter Calendar yesterday!

  So happy.  Did I tell you it’s much bigger than the old one?  It is — it’s 17″ x 22″ — very professional and so much space to write in.  But still adorable like the others!  Now only one calendar left to do, the little mini calendar, starting that today.  MUSICA. And then freedom!  And new book to write and paint!

And after I get done with the calendars, I have some fun surprises for you!!  Yes I do, and that includes a special giveaway.  I just need time to the handle comment “moderation” which comes with giveaways — otherwise it would be today. (I have a terrible time keeping secrets so this is not easy!)  But today is taken . . . first mini calendar . . . and then . . . you know, Downton Abbey!  

I’ve held off showing this bit of information that Laura from Twitter sent me until you all had hopefully caught up with last week’s adventure.  It’s a closeup of the letter Edith got from her Doctor. (I know you’re way over this English Girlfriends and those who find it unbearable not to peek ahead, but for us still in the throes of discovery . . .)  Remember how quick they showed this letter?  Way too quick to read.  I got to “consultation” and it was gone!  Joe didn’t get it either.  Blinking and deep breathing occurred.  Hate bubbles went to writer.  But Laura froze it and sent it to me and I saved it so in case you missed it, here is the scary truth of what is going on!!!

Yikes!  ”writing to confirm my findings . . . ”  Here she is, poor Edith, finally out from the judgement of Mary who is so mean to her (Why? I do not know. Wait ’til she hears this), getting a wardrobe full of fun flapper clothes, becoming independent suffragette-type modern woman, kissing in restaurants, falling in love with a cute guy who has now disappeared (Why? We don’t know), and now this.  My only prayer is that those symptoms are also consistent with a touch of the flu.  Perhaps vertigo.  Or stress.  Maybe she has the chicken pox.  We shall see, tonight Girlfriends!  Until then, back to work I go!  Later Tater!

ANNIVERSARY for me

 Today is the 32nd Anniversary of my move from California to Martha’s Vineyard.   (MUSICA) On March 5, 1982, at around three in the afternoon, I was bundled up, standing at the rail on the ferry with my eyes tearing in the freezing wind,  looking out over the choppy waves at the blurry island slowly coming into focus as we came closer.  The foghorn blew from the lighthouse, church spires and chimneys trailing smoke poked above the tree line.  When I got there I thought I would look in the paper, find a furnished place to rent and stay for three months.  I wanted to see what it was like to live in New England and have seasons. So I was going to see winter turn to spring and then to summer.  That was my plan.  The whole entire plan.

This is the little house I bought about a week after I arrived.  Buying a house 3,000 miles from everyone and everything I had known and loved was not part of the plan. It was actually a bit of an accident because I was at loose ends and there was a really cute old-fashioned stove in that kitchen.  So now I had a 9′ x 9′ bedroom to decorate in forget-me-not blue wallpaper where I would wake from now on and see snow falling outside the windows, or leaf shadows shimmering on the walls.  Me and three kitties to keep me warm.  The doorway to my future and in such an unsuspected place.

The thing I love most about time passing is how I can look back and see everything falling into place.  Just as it was meant to be.  Thirty two Years!  The best accident I was ever in!    My prayer:

Sky, be my depth;

Wind, be my width and my height;

World, my heart’s span;

Loneliness, wings for my flight.

♥ Leonora Speyer

Same ol’ same ol’

Pouring rain this morning Girlfriends and I just heard the long wail of the boat whistle.  What am I doing?  Same ol’ same ol’.  MUSICA?  Get ready, it’s a little bit of heaven.  ♥

My world is a bit of a Johnny-One-Note right now, just working on the 2015 calendars pretty much every day . . . in cause you wonder what I am doing, it’s this.  Which is the reason I’m not writing on the blog as much ~ mostly I’m trying to get the calendars done and turned in.  I finished the wall-calendar, the magnet calendar, the purse calendar and I’m working on the big blotter calendar right now . . . only nine months to go for that, then the Mini and I am done!  So my life is pretty much the same thing every day. Up and attem with a break now and then for a trek to the post office or supermarket — smacked joyfully in the face with cold air and snow flakes twirling off the barn in the wind for a good little wake up call. Our neighborhood smells like woodsmoke because everyone is hunkered down.

 This is when the little things in life are really all there are . . . little things like this squirrel who’s come to investigate our bird feeders . . .

Like the peaceful little view from my studio . . .

Storm after storm has come in this winter and our fireplace has been going snap, crackle and pop almost every day . . . In the photo below you can see my inspiration for the painting on the January page of my calendar . . . isn’t that fun?  I love to paint the things around me.

But yesterday was amazing ~ instead of our normal 20° day . . .  it was almost springlike ~ something we haven’t had in a long time.  Most of our snow went away, birds were singing, Joe and I put on our boots and went for a muddy walk down the dirt road to the water.  Thick fog was coming off the pond, warm air meets frozen ground blurred everything.  This morning, when I was getting the photos ready for this post, rain was sheeting down my window panes, but just now, like the flick of a light switch, I looked out and the rain has turned to snow.  Here we go again!

I go from my studio, and this view from my art table, to the kitchen to make tea, then out on the kitchen porch to look at the black shuttered houses around us and listen to the quiet in my neighborhood ~ I have to add, it looks exactly like this right this moment … pouring snow and our ground is all white again!

Although I’m working hard, you can see I’m pretty good at procrastination.  I agree with Ellen DeGeneres who said, “Procrastination is not the problem, it’s the solution.” Everything from the gloriousness that is Downton Abbey (Daisy!  What a doll!  Poor little thing), to yesterday’s not-as-Super-as-we-expected-but-the-food-and-the-company-was-fabulous Bowl down at my girlfriend Lowely’s house.  I made French Bread stuffed with Clam Dip (then baked for three hours) from my first book.  Any little thing takes me away, and there are so many little things . . .

Hello.  This is Jack’s “Do you have it? Should I get it? Where is it?  Throw it-throw it-throw it!” face.

There it is my little play-boy.  And to him, these are not the little things in life, these are the moments that make life worth living.

The eyes tell the whole story — IS HE NOT THE MOST ADORABLE KITTY THIS SIDE OF THE PECOS?  I MEAN, REALLY!  He kills me.  I have to grab him, roll him about, wrap him in my shawl, moosh him and kiss him.  I am mad about him, even when he steals my pencils and puts his foot in my paint water.  His newest thing is that he climbs into my chair with me at night without me even begging.  Cuddles up next to me, right there, with my hand in his neck fur.

So I do his every bidding. ♥

I place the ball at the top of his post and wait while he stalks it, tail wagging back and forth, then suddenly he leaps up and grabs it.  Then we do it again.  Next he will stand on top of his scratching post/playground, his eyes perfectly round and full of concentration; I throw the ball to him, he catches it in midair, then drops it on the floor, I go to it, bend over and pick it up, go back, and throw it again.  And again.  When I get bored, I will do the wild and crazy thing and throw it the length of the room.  He will tear off the post, over the back of the chair, onto the couch, over the arm and across the room to where it fell, then trot back, full of kitty pride, red ball in mouth, to put it somewhere in my vicinity, and here we go again.  It’s a thrill a minute here.

We do this for a while, until maybe he sees something lurking or flitting about outside. . .

For a kitty, there’s a lot to see from our kitchen windows.  (BTW, FYI, we don’t keep Girl Kitty locked in a closet somewhere.  She lives on the bed in the Peter Rabbit room and has total access to the rest of the house ~ but most of the time we have to go to her room to give her kisses.  She’s just too shy for the real world and takes no chances.)  MAS MUSICA? 

Our driveway is sometimes lined in cardinals.  Joe shovels a path to the barn so we can get out there to where we keep the birdseed, then he sprinkles it in the path . . . and here they come! Now whenever they’re in the yard when we drive in the driveway — when we get out of the car, they don’t run.  They like us!  I hope this is OK.  I’ve never had turkeys for friends before (uh, maybe one or two along the way come to think of it); I’m not quite sure what to expect.  Is this a good thing?  So far, so good.

Jack thinks the turkeys are exciting, but . . .

no where near as interesting as the neighbor’s cats . . . and this one thinks the turkeys might make a delicious lunch, or worse, really a fun toy . . . he’s actually stalking them.

He did this for a good fifteen minutes while Jack and I watched . . . we wondered what this cat would do with an entire turkey if he accidentally got one.

But that wasn’t going to happen.  He rushed them and they scattered . . .

That blew his mind, turkeys in all directions, which should he go to first?

I don’t think the turkeys were as respectful of the kitty as the kitty thought they should be but Jack loved every moment of it.

So I warm up some broccoli soup while the heat from the furnace vent blows across the wooden floor and wraps around my slippered feet ~ I put bread into the toaster and hang up our favorite Valentine while Frank sings “Hate California, it’s cold and it’s damp!”  

And just in case you think we have nothing blooming around here . . . no green things growing, look at this! How can you possibly think I don’t lead the most exciting life!

We have a turnip oops, rutabaga that loves the weather in our kitchen . . . It looks like the earth, isn’t it beautiful?  I don’t think we can eat this even though they are delicious mashed with butter and a little nutmeg or diced and roasted in olive oil on a cookie sheet in a hot oven, then just salted and peppered.  But this one, due to charm quotient, is getting a presidential pardon.

Another little thing . . . the mail, our connection to the real world.  It came and look what I got!  It’s the January/February issue of the new magazine that has the interview I posted back a few weeks ago.  I hope this lovely effort manages to be successful in this odd transitional period we are going through for things in actual print.  It’s thick (153 pages and no ads), filled with cooking, crafts, travel, how-to’s; the cover is soft and smooth, the paper is nice, the stories are interesting, and the photos are gorgeous.

So much work.  And here’s us . . .

Six lovely pages of us . . .

There’s lots of Valentine ideas and decor . . .

. . . and a wonderful sixteen-page visit to Chatsworth House in England. (Jane Austen visited Chatsworth ~ she made it the model for Mr. Darcy’s house when she wrote Pride and Prejudice.)

Plus the recipe for these cookies is inside too ~ and so much more!

Ah yes, winter. 

With love from the Heart of the Home, located right around the corner from I’m OK and So Are You. ♥ Back to work Girlfriends! XOXO