Celebrating the Man in My Life

Today is my husband’s birthday and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love him. There are no words in the English language that can even come close. He holds my heart ever so gently in his warm comforting hands; he knows me like no other, sometimes I think even better than I know myself. He is always there to soothe my oft frazzled nerves, he’s there to lend a helping hand when I need it. He’s my enabler when it comes to my creative pursuits and enjoys (truly) joining me on that journey. He is my rock. He makes me swoon.

I am so incredibly proud of him and in awe of his amazing talents as a musician and an artist; he plays guitar and he builds guitars; he plays banjo (and trust me, you’ve never heard banjo music like this before…no “Beverly Hillbillies” around these parts), he repairs and restores instruments; he draws with both graphite and pixels. He’s been making beautiful music longer than I’ve been on this earth.

We met at work…the second time. I can’t really say that the first time we met we actually saw or spoke to each other but we were in the same place at the same time and as far as I’m concerned it was destiny. You see, when he was in high school he was in a band and among other far warmer places, they played at a local ice skating rink on Long Island. I grew up in Queens but every so often my friends and I would convince our parents to take us to that same rink for several hours of icy fun. I’m several years younger than my husband so we needed a chauffeur. I very clearly remember there being a band and watching them play as we skated. It was an unbelievable moment when we realized that it was his band that played there during that time period so many years ago. See, destiny.

I cannot begin to do his story or his journey justice so the best way I can introduce you to him is by sending you to this wonderful interview!

Do give it a read, oh and there are audio samples too!

Happy birthday honey, I love you with all my beans! XOXO

Read Full Post »

A Special Celebration and a Glazed Clementine Cake

This post has special meaning for my entire family. Six months ago my father-in-law was very sick and though we didn’t really talk about it, there was a chance he wouldn’t be here right now. Luckily, he was a perfect candidate for a special heart study; this surgical procedure saved his life. We are all very thankful.

About ten days ago we celebrated his birthday!

Because this was such a special day, I wanted to make something different and unique rather than a traditional birthday cake with a heavy buttercream icing.

I had this big box of clementines sitting on my dining room table and it suddenly occurred to me to use them in a cake where I might more traditionally use orange or lemon.

Looking through my archives, I found this recipe for a glazed lemon cake by Chef Nathan Coulon in Cooking Light. I decided this would be a perfect candidate for substituting clementine for the lemon, just what I was looking for.

I made a few additional changes by substituting low-fat sour cream for the buttermilk and some of the white flour with white whole wheat flour. Incidentally, this was the first time I tried King Arthur Flour’s white whole wheat and i must say I was pleased, as I always seem to be with their products. The next time I will try replacing more of the white flour. I also cut the number of whole eggs, replacing one of them with two egg whites. Because the sour cream is thicker than buttermilk I upped the juice to add a little more moisture and since clementines have a more subtle flavor than lemon I thought it might need a little extra umph.

I was also inspired by this beautifully simple recipe for candied clementines by Brian Samuels, the mastermind behind the beautiful blog, athoughtforfood. When they were done and I popped one in my mouth there was such a wonderful burst of flavor I almost couldn’t believe it, I had to stop before I ate them all.

You can get the recipe here. I used these beauties as a garnish on my cake. They’re also great with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce (as Brian mentioned) and with my favorite Chobani yogurt, and in oatmeal and in a cup of tea…okay you get the picture.

Aren’t they pretty on top of the cake?

I tweaked the glaze a bit too, substituting clementine rind and juice, of course. I also increased the amount of juice to get a stronger clementine flavor and added a bit more powdered sugar to get the consistency I wanted.

I was going to put a whole bunch of the candied clementines on top of the cake but I was afraid that it would get soggy by the time I got the cake to my in-laws house and we had dessert. I also needed to take pictures of it before I left but next time, there will be a strategically mounded bunch of these gems on top of this cake. Hmm, I wonder about adding them between the two layers…what do yo think?

Here is my Celebration Clementine Cake, enjoy!
Adapted from Nathan’s Lemon Cake in Cooking Light

Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated cane sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 cup low-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons finely grated clementine rind
3 tablespoons clementine juice

Icing
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon clementine rind
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons clementine juice

Candied Clementines (recipe here)

Instructions
1. Preheat 350 degrees.
2. Coat two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray the parchment with cooking spray. Dust with flour and set aside.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
5. Add eggs and egg whites one at a time, beating after each addition.
6. Alternating adding the flour and sour cream to the sugar mixture, ending with the flour.
7. Add the clementine rind and juice, mix well.
8. Pour batter into prepared pans. Rap pans on countertop once to remove air bubbles.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 32 minutes or unit a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
10. Cool in the pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To Prepare Glaze
Combine the powdered sugar, butter, rind and juice in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Assembly

Place one layer on a cake round or plate spread about half of the glaze on the layer, letting it flow over the edges.

Place the second layer on top and spread the remaining glaze on top, again letting it naturally flow over the edges.

NOTE:
Store the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve. When ready, top with candied clementines if desired.

Read Full Post »

How I Spent My Birthday

Friday was my birthday! I have always enjoyed celebrating it I think because I see it as my special day. That’s not meant to be a selfish thing (well maybe a little), I just see birthdays as a celebration of oneself…so that’s what I did, I celebrated ME by embracing what I love. I did say yarnieness, sweets, culinary delights and pictures in my post that day, didn’t I?

Interestingly enough most of these pictures (the out and about ones) were taken with my iPhone. Because of my achy back and all the walking I knew I’d be doing, I just couldn’t handle carrying my real camera because of the type of bag I currently have. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised and relieved to see how well those pix turned out. Of course if I had I the right bag…

Okay so since my husband and I live on Long Island we took the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) to the city (read: NYC). Our first stop was the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. We got there just before it opened so we had to wait a few minutes (we were not the only ones there). I walked in to see a wall of color:

There was a nice lace pattern scarf knitted up on one of their displays made with a wintery yarn. I liked the pattern so I bought this to make it: It will be more of a springy thing.

I also got this baby alpaca because, well…

And they were/are having an in-store special 15% off sale for my birthday…no, just kidding about it being for my birthday. They really are having a sale for the month of July, you just have to say the magic word, really.
Leave me a comment and I’ll let you know what it is via email.

From there we jumped into a cab and headed down to the Soho / Nolita area and stopped into “The Little Cupcake Bakeshop” for a sweet snack. Fondling all that yarn made me hungry. I had a “Mott street” cupcake:

It’s a cupcake that tastes like tiramisu, what could be bad? Sticking with the Italian theme, it was accompanied by an iced Illy coffee.

My husband had a peanut butter and chocolate cupcake (a favorite flavor combo of his):

and fresh lemonade.

From there we had planned on going to the Crumpler store in Soho but apparently it’s not open yet…wish I’d known (no worries, we went to a different location, more on that later). Anyway we continued onto my next stop, Purl Soho. Ok, um, if you do anything with yarn, if you quilt, sew or do needlework you MUST go there. They were so nice and incredibly helpful.

There was one thing in particular that I knew I wanted when I got there, Shelter. I know exactly what I am going to do with it too! (Not telling yet.)

I also saw this: my husband took one look at the color way and said you have to get it. Who am I to argue with such logic!?

I’d been looking for just the right summery yellow…

By now we’d worked up a serious appetite so we walked over to Antique Garage for a late lunch. This place was originally an actual garage, as in car repair garage, note the front door!

The entire place is decorated with an eclectic array of antiques, including the tables and chairs. Unfortunately we were so hungry I totally forgot to take pictures of our food and by the time I realized it, it wouldn’t have been a pretty picture (pun intended). Anyway, I had the Turkish meatballs and my husband had the chicken kebob, both Delicious!

Between the cupcakes and lunch we needed some exercise so we walked about 1 1/2 – 2 miles to the other Crumpler store. Jackpot! I found exactly what I was looking for in a non-camera bag looking camera bag and my husband also found a camera bag he liked so we both scored.

A cab ride back uptown to Penn Station and a quiet train ride home completed this wonderful day. But you know what really made this day special? Spending it with my best friend, my soulmate, my husband who in his words, enjoys sharing in my creative pursuits…and I in his.

I just love birthdays, don’t you!?

Read Full Post »

Happy Birthday to Me…

Today is my birthday!!!

YEA I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!!!

So, I have big plans for this day chock full of yarnieness, sweets, culinary delights and of course pictures!

Here’s a shot of the cakes my coworkers got for me to celebrate yesterday:

It’s great to work with thoughtful, kind people.  I consider myself very lucky. Thanks Andrea for making this such a nice party!

I’ll fill you in on my exploits after I recover.  Hee Hee!

(Oh and for anyone who was wondering if I feel off the earth, I’m still here. Been focused on an very ill family member.)

Read Full Post »

A Whimsical Birthday Cake

Today is my husband’s birthday and I made him a cake. Not just any cake, this one is a bit playful, fanciful, fun…well if you knew my husband you’d get it.

My husband has this wonderful sense of whimsy, one of the many reasons I love him. About a month or so ago we were at the Tanger Outlets in Riverhead, NY and of course stopped into the Williams-Sonoma Outlet store. As I meticulously combed through the aisles looking for some new gadget I came across these funky cake pans:

When I showed the box to my husband he smiled and asked if I would make this as his birthday cake this year. Sure, why not. Great, he said, there’s just one thing, could you make a vanilla cake with chocolate filling instead? Hee hee, see, whimsical (yes, I know there are Oreo cookies like that, but this is a cake, let’s just go with it). Although my husband likes chocolate, he’s not a big birthday cake fan and less so a chocolate cake fan so in addition to inverting the flavors, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t overly sweet.

Not a problem. I made my trusty classic yellow cake recipe from the “King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion” cookbook. The recipe itself is not too sweet so I knew he would be happy with this choice. The only change I made was to use one teaspoon of vanilla and one of almond, rather than two vanilla (he really likes almond). Normally I use buttermilk when I make this recipe because I like the tang it gives the cake and I suppose that helps prevent it from tasting too sweet but by some miracle of absentmindedness, I forgot to buy it; so I used one cup of milk and a half cup of Greek yogurt. It worked.

Note: These pans are shallower than typical cake pans so you will have batter left over…I made cupcakes!

The only thing I was a bit concerned about was the pans themselves. There were so many nooks and crannies that I had a moment of panic as I was greasing and flouring every divot, every letter, every…you get my point. Hey, what is the difference between a “nook” and a “cranny” anyway? Got any ideas? Let me know.

Ahem, I digress… as it turned out both layers came out fine, although I think I was holding my breath as I removed them from the pans.

I decided to wing it a bit with the buttercream. I wanted something a little stiffer than normal so I could make him a “double-stuff” cake and not have to worry about ooze. This recipe is inspired by one in the “King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion” cookbook and one that I scribbled on a piece of paper from who knows when and who knows where.

I always like to use a little espresso whenever I make something chocolate. It does two things for me: enhances the chocolate flavor and cuts some of the sweetness, especially in a buttercream.

Here’s my recipe for Stiff Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients
1/2 stick room temp butter cut into cubes
pinch of salt
1/2 tbs instant espresso powder
1/2 cup milk (plus more if needed)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 – 1lb of confectioners sugar (depending on how sweet you want it, I used 3/4 lb)

Instructions
1. Whip the butter and salt until it’s smooth and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
2. While that is going, dissolve the espresso powder in the milk. The brand I use is so fine that it will dissolve in the milk without heating it.
3. On slow speed add about 1/3 of the confectioners sugar and mix until blended.
4. Add half of the espresso-milk mixture and all of the vanilla, mixing until combined.
5. Continue alternating the sugar and expresso-milk mixture, mixing until blended between each addition.
6. Carefully add the cocoa powder and mix until combined.
If it’s too stiff add additional milk a tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistancy you want.

Note:You can refrigerate the buttercream until ready to use but make sure you allow it to soften before doing so.

Read Full Post »