breakfast

i n  t h e  m o r n i n g  s u n .

milk & cookies

On a very snowy first of March.

cake bunting

Before we left to go to the sea we had a little celebrating in order. I made some paper bunting to go on top of our favorite almond cake. Here are some simple instructions!

w h a t  y o u  w i l l  n e e d ::

2 little sticks (I used bamboo skewers)

Embroidery thread

Origami paper

Glue stick

Scissors

Cut the origami paper into small triangles and using the glue stick attach them to the embroidery thread. Just put a dab right on the top. Press down leaving a bit of space between each triangle. Tie each end of the thread to the sticks and there you have it! Now eat cake.

An ever growing list of cookbooks that I love and use is over on the sidebar now. Maybe you will like one too! These are some pictures from an old post. Honey & Rosemary cake. Good for a rainy day and the tummy too.

cookie recipe!

A few readers were curious about the oatmeal thumbprint cookie recipe so I thought I would post it! I also added a simple one for almond thumbprint cookies from the same cookbook. Excuse all of the cookie photos...I just couldn't stop!

Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies

3 Sticks butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2 cups oats

2 cups flour (we used both whole wheat and white)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

3. Add egg and vanilla, beat well.

4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, including the raisins and nuts (if using).

5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend well.

6. Roll dough into 1- inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.

7. Flatten balls slightly and make a thumbprint in each cookie. Fill with jam.

8. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Almond Butter Thumbprint Cookies

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup almond butter

1-1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter.

3. Mix in syrup.

4. Mix in almond butter.

5. Combine the dry ingredients and then add them to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

6. Roll dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet.

7. Press centers with thumb and fill with jam.

8. Bake for about 12 minutes.

oatmeal thumbprint cookies

When I was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, I spent many, many mornings baking away with a tableful of eager little hands, so I was happy to see that many of the recipes had been gathered into this one, sweet book, The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Book. I find  this cookbook handy and nice for a couple of reasons. One, is that all of the recipes can be baked or cooked in a morning (even the breads!)because they all come straight from Waldorf classrooms where one is challenged to bake an apple-crisp with twelve children in the midst of a busy classroom and have the table neatly set with a warm crisp in the center by a certain time! And secondly, they are all quite healthy, nourishing foods, sweetened with honey, and syrup and often made with whole wheat flour. We recently made these oatmeal thumbprint cookies and they were really quite delicious warm out of the oven and with a cup of tea! Do let me know if you would like me to post the full recipe, okay?

Have a lovely start to your week!

egg in a basket with a jam heart

I think eggs in a basket are pretty darn brilliant. Who came up with the idea anyway? The bread gets all buttery and perfectly crisp as it toasts in a skillet on the stovetop. I love how the egg yolk breaks and sends a river of yellow to moisten the toast just at the right moment. Recently, I have been cutting a whole in the bread with different shaped cookie cutters and it makes me smile each time. Sometimes it's just the little things, isn't it? I like to spread a bit of jam on the cut out piece of toast which add just a hint of sweetness for a finishing touch!

There is such a bounty of good things to eat here in July. Our counters are full of fruits and vegetables still warm from the sun. They are ready to be baked into tarts and chopped into salads or eaten just as they are. It is always with the first bite of corn, dripping with melted butter and glistening with sea salt, that it feels as though summer is really here. The air is heavy and still and we move just a bit slower. We find pockets of water wherever we can and stay out of doors long after the dinner table has been cleared. What a gift this season is. What a celebration of life's simple pleasures. It seems at times we only need to push our hands into soil and pull out a plump orange carrot to feel as though all is well with the world. 

I made this simple bunting out of some vintage cocktail napkins. They came in a lovely set of colors and I stitched them onto some rose-colored bias binding. I thought they would be nice for a new baby gift or as a birthday banner with an embroidered message on one of the napkins. They are quite joyful to look at and they blow nicely in the warm breezes of summer. Oh, and I just love the idea of using cloth cocktail napkins. It seems so elegant and old-fashioned to hold them beneath a frosted glass housing a mint julep or a fresh cup of lemonade! 

And speaking of  Mint Juleps ::

For each chilled mug or glass, crush 4 sprigs of fresh mint leaves with 1 teaspoon superfine sugar and 1 ounce club soda in a bowl. Add 3 ounces of bourbon (Kentucky bourbon is best!) and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Strain into the ice-filled, chilled glasses (or the classic silver mug) and stir well. Garnish each with a sprig of fresh mint and serve with a straw!

let them eat cake!

I made this yummy h o n e y  &  r o s e m a r y cake for my mom on Mother's Day. Of course, we all got to dive into it too! It is from one of the most lovely cookbooks ever. I hope you like it too!

good oats!

Each morning, in our little family, we gather around our old dining table, light our candles and indulge in big warm bowls of oatmeal. It is quite a treat and such a nice way to begin the day. When evening approaches we come together again for a meal and a lovely circle has been completed. 

Oats are so hearty, good for you and most importantly delicious! I soak mine the night before in half of their cooking water along with two tablespoons of yogurt. Soaking the oats softens them so by morning they cook in no time flat, really five minutes or less. The yogurt helps in the process of lacto-fermentation which aids in bringing out all of the oats beneficial nutrients making them more accessible to the body.  I cook the oats with a pinch of salt and maple syrup.  Once they are done, I let them rest a bit with plenty of butter melting on top. They are particularly good when we add things like roasted almonds, small wild blueberries and cinnamon. I like them too with apples and raisins! 

This cookbook is really wonderful and it is where I found the basic oat recipe!

Yum!

mama mia

Awhile back we made delicious homemade pasta from this wonderful cookbook. It is such a nice way to pass some time on a lazy weekend day. All one needs are some fresh eggs and flour so it is easy enough to make on a whim. For us, the process became something of a family affair! From our littlest family member who joyously played in the flour and learned to say, "Mama Mia"! with full gusto, to my own Papa who gently gave me pointers as to how his Mother and the other women is his small, mountainous Italian village used to make it. I love food for this reason. It is a living thing, full of stories and history and memories. I felt so close with my Grandmother, who passed away long ago, as I kneaded the dough and wiped flour on my apron. I loved too that my own young son was becoming part of that long chain of food and tradition and memories being passed down from one generation to the next. 

P.s. For those who do not have the cookbook you can find the recipe here. It is a variation with basil (which would be divine!) but you can just leave out the basil if you want! 

P.p.s Thanks to my lovely and talented kin for helping me reformat this little old blog of mine! I had been feeling like I needed more space and wanted to be able to post extra large photos. I am still toying with it all a bit to make it just so! Thanks for putting up with me while I do!   

maple syrup

I think I have mentioned before just how much I love maple syrup. Really, I do not think I could ever live any where other than New England if not for this very reason! So, it is always with great joy that I welcome the start of maple sugaring season. Suddenly, one day, you start to see great billows of smoke coming out of all of the little sugar shacks that have sat cold and still for months and months. They come to life with big wood fires, people delivering buckets upon buckets of sap and the wonderful feeling that after the long winter spring is surely near. As a child my family made our own syrup, tapping our maples and boiling down the gallons of sap in a large outdoor caldron atop a blazing fire. It was such a wonderful time and I hope to do it again sometime. For now though we are lucky enough to have many neighbors who do it for us. We already bought our first gallon from our local policeman who makes it up the road and it goes on anything I can think to put it on...oats, pancakes, yogurt. We may just have to go get another gallon soon!

lingering.

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One spends so much time planning for the holidays. What stews to simmer on the stove, what cakes to bake, what gifts to make and discover for the little ones.  We wait for family to arrive at the door. And then, so quickly, it is over and we slowly fall back into our daily rhythm. 

I love how we still have these lovely sweets still lingering in our home, reminding us of days spent decorating a tree, of lounging by a fire, of gathering around a table with family.  

P.s. The last photo is of peppermint bark which was gifted to us.  It is the first time I had ever had it and it really is quite a treat! I think next year I will try to make some too.

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