Sunday, January 13, 2013

It's cold, I mean really cold

Fire Pit is chilly
Managed to survive the norovirus and live, and managed to catch it again. Had to take my husband to the hospital for some out patient surgery last Friday and lo and behold, I have succumbed to the stuff again. Be gone virus!!!

Seems as though loads of folk are getting queasy, so I'm not alone although this is the first time I have had a stomach virus.

I broke ice on the pond this morning so that the birds could get to some water, and I also chopped veggies, apples and other miscellaneous titbits for them. The ground is extremely hard and I am sure the birds are not used to this weather any more than I am. A killing frost!!

Frozen cloche
Several weeks ago I managed to paint a painting that became a gift to Jeff Forsdick, my sister's lovely partner in crime and life. Jeff lives around the 8000' level in the middle of no where, well I suppose that's relative, it's quite isolated. Any way, we stayed with Jeff and Agnes in October along with another visitor. Jeff's place is wonderful, in fact pygmy bunnies live around his home, they are quite endangered, and was also another inspiration for a painting of bunnies and snow. So I finished the moose and the pygmy, and then thought about England, and my Dad which of course means Bluebells and his passing in May.  Which could have made me really low but then my sister at Christmas time went snow shoeing with Jeff looking for fox under the full moon at the Green River, and I thought I'd do a fox in bluebells.

All of this of course is making staying indoors less boring, which is good, but I must admit I can hardly wait for it to warm up to around 50 degrees so that I can go outside again and keep my blood flowing and my fingers don't turn white from the cold.

There's a wee moose loose in the hoose
Incognito

Bluebells & Fox




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Gluten Free Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Lavender & Honey Glaze

1 tablespoon butter
1 package GF Betty Crocker Yellow Sponge Cake Mix
2 tablespoons of GF flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut sugar
Zest of one whole lemon
1/2 cup local extra virgin olive oil
⅔ cup lactose free milk
1 tablespoon lemon extract or liqueur
¾ cup honey
3 sprigs lavender


Preheat oven to 325°. Grease an 11-cup bundt pan with butter and dust with 2 tablespoons GF flour. Set prepared pan aside. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs and sugar together until pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 3 cups flour, lemon zest, oil, milk, and extract and stir with a wooden spoon or electric mixer (that's what I used) until well combined. Spoon batter into bundt pan, and smooth out top with the back of the spoon.


Bake until cake is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes (I live at 2000' so additional time is needed to bake, adjust for elevation). Transfer cake to a wire rack to let cool completely in its pan.

Meanwhile heat the honey and lavender sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about 7 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lavender sprigs, and once the cake is cool, remove from pan and drizzle the honey over the top of the cake.

Golden Brown cooling down

Honey and Lavender glaze

This cake was delicious, even my husband gobble this down, didn't taste like a gluten free cake at all. I kept covered out on the kitchen counter top and it held well for three days, all gone after that.


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Original recipe from Edible Shasta & Butte County, California
Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Lavender & Honey Glaze
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups plus
2 tablespoons flour
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
Zest of one whole lemon
¾ cup local extra virgin olive oil
⅔ cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon extract or liqueur
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ cup local honey
3 sprigs lavender

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease an 11-cup bundt pan with butter
and dust with 2 tablespoons flour. Set prepared pan aside.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs and sugar together until pale yellow,
about 1 minute. Add remaining 3 cups flour, lemon zest, oil, milk, and extract and stir with a
wooden spoon until well combined. Add baking powder and stir until thoroughly combined.
Spoon batter into bundt pan, and smooth out top with the back of the spoon.
Bake until cake is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean,
about 40 minutes. Transfer cake to a wire rack to let cool completely in its pan.
Meanwhile heat the honey and lavender sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for
about 7 minutes.
Remove from heat, remove lavender sprigs, and once the cake is cool, remove from pan and drizzle the
honey over the top of the cake.