lucky 13

time certainly flies when you're in love...

more here

from one end of the world

Just spent a fun & relaxing string of days with family at the cabin in the Northern Adirondacks: good food, great company, kayaking, hiking, cocktails on the screened-in porch overlooking the water, & waking up to the sound of loons calling every morning; no phones, no internet, no traffic noise. I will certainly draw on this in the busy weeks to come...

summer love

We topped off the weekend with a lovely family cook out - lots of catching up & laughter, & enjoying the lush beauty of New England in the summertime. My niece is growing into a beautiful young woman. Happy 4th!

seventeen

Together. Love!

good beginnings

It began with hunting & gathering for supplies for creative pursuits, & a quiet evening at home with sushi, champagne & toasting the New Year as it rang in through Prague & Eastern Europe; it ended with family, feasting & laughter. I think I'm ready for this new year to begin... and you?

takes the cake

Every year when autumn rolls around in Vermont & it's apple harvest time, I mean to ask my mother if she has my grandmother's recipe for apple cake, & every year I don't get around to it for one reason or another. Today we play our final round of croquet with friends, a festive time when the year's champion gets awarded with a traditional champagne-cork trophy, & we share food & spirits in the dazzlingly brisk & colorful autumn air. With loads of apples from our CSA in cold storage, I got a hankering to make apple cake to share with friends & savor the flavor of the season.


While I don't have her exact recipe, I do have a cookbook from my grandmother's collection which my mother gave to me, a delightfully dated ring-bound folio with a portrait of the author, a proud woman sporting elaborately coiffed hair & fantastic eyeglasses. Poring through the pages, & with a quick look online where I found a delicious-sounding, traditional recipe, I found the inspiration I needed to omit & add some ingredients to create a version of apple cake perfect for a festive Vermont day.


autumn apple cake
adapted from smitten kitchen & inspired by polish grandmothers

6 apples  I used honey crisp & sansa
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
5 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 3/4 cups pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup  I used dark
1/4 cup spiced or dark rum, or a combination thereof
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Butter a tube pan

prepare the filling
Peel, core & chop the apples into chunks. Toss with the the cinnamon, ginger & sugar & set aside.

prepare the cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder & salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, rum, sugar, maple syrup & vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add the eggs, one at a time, until all ingredients are well incorporated.

assemble the cake
Pour half of the batter into the buttered pan. Spread half of the apples over it; pour the remaining batter over the apples & arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

make the topping
Whip the heavy cream, sour cream & maple syrup together until soft peaks form. Serve on top of a still-warm piece of cake.

wowza.

this one goes to 11

Eleven years ago I said I do, & would say it again today. Big love to my husband, my best friend... here's to continuing to grow together!

a bird in hand

I was always aware that I loved birds, but it wasn't until putting up artwork when we first moved into our home that I realized a good number of our pieces have birds in them. Now, I do realize that a few years ago bird motifs in the design world were all the rage, but our collection predates that time & has to do with the fact that I've long had a thing for feathered creatures.

Anna Wili-Highfield's gorgeous work would be very much at home in our little aviary.

Her charming sculptures made from torn paper so aptly capture the lightness & grace of her feathered subjects.

images from here

Love of birds runs in the family; while studying ornithology as an undergrad I spent some afternoons at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, a particular thrill for me as my Grandmother helped collect some of the specimens for their waterfowl collection. In fact, the much beloved photograph on the banner of this blog shows her in action...

Ella in the 1930s

getaway...

The Fourth of July weekend found us just west of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, a bittersweet time filled with family, bountiful food & beautiful countryside.

Western New York State is filled with lush, gently rolling hills, & long, limpid lakes. I went to college not far from here, & my husband spent his teenage years in this part of the world, a place that resonates deeply with him, where his mother's family settled when they first came to the U.S.

We met up with his sister, her partner & a cousin, & attended a memorial service for another cousin, an older gentleman who was their last blood relative in the area. Saturday was spent cleaning out his home, tracing the history of objects that went back a few generations.My husband & his family remember playing in the yard as children, & the many old photos we unearthed brought back memories & stories.

the old farmhouse, & magnificent old maple tree

A stop at the local Historical Society also turned up some family photos, as well as compelling artifacts from the area in general.

This time also marked 15 years of coupledom for us. While in some ways time has flown & it feels like just yesterday when we met & recognized each other, in other ways it is as though we have always been together. In celebration we stayed in a lovely old Victorian B&B & had dinner in a restaurant that was once a grand old library, both in the city my husband spent his high school years playing music & being a teen.

We would love to get back to this region sometime in the near future, to explore the hills & drink some of the delicious rieslings the area is known for, & hopefully next summer for a Singer family reunion.