food, crochet, merriment
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our lives.
A simple, special, memorable moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and keep close to my heart.
If you are inspired to do the same–leave us a link in the comments.
Happy winter weekend my friends!
Maude says:
“When I showed some co workers these pictures, they voted for me to make it for another co worker’s wedding shower next Thursday. I’ll be improvising with the pan unless I get one before next Wednesday. (Is that a broad enough hint?)”
This was sooo fun, that I want to do it again. Besides, I found an amazing recipe for “Steamed Lemon Pudding,” and still on the lookout for a Key Lime…
Stay tuned my friends–thanks for entering!
So, April calls me one morning, and innocently says, “Do you need to go to JoAnn’s?”
“Neeeed?” I say. “Neeeed? Um…yeah, come to think of it. I DO.” heh, heh.
I desperately need to buy stacks of interlock to make warm undershirts and nightgowns for the little people. It’s mandatory.
With all those upcoming holidays–I’m pretty sure I need some twirly skirt fabric…and maybe enough for a teeny, tiny bow tie..or two. So very important.
And there’s this special project that I’d like to undertake–I’ll show you soon–that involves Cars, Tinkerbell and Ponyo. It’ll be fabulous…and incredibly necessary.
And lastly…how could we resist this lovely duo for a Toddler Sleeping Bag–for Chompy? She’s in love with “Chally Bown”–besides, it’s emergency preparedness. And of course, we want to “prepare every needful thing.”
snicker-snicker.
Now, I can truly say, “Bring on the blizzard.”
With my needed stash–I’m ready to be snowed in, for at least a month.
:} Check back at 10:00 am to find out the winner of our “Steamed Pudding Mold” giveaway!
I remember some kid at school asking me one day, “Isn’t your dad that cake guy?” and I said, “Yep.” I didn’t really get how he knew it, though. Turns out, that his brother was in my sister’s class and she had brought her teacher a fancy birthday cake that dad had made.
Laurie and I were famous for about two days–as daughters of “that cake guy.” It was lovely while it lasted.
Many years later, when I was married, with a couple of kids, Daddy called me and said, “Marie Osmond wants me to make her wedding cake.” I positively–ok, ok, nearly fainted dead away.
What you may not know, is that I’d always been a Donny fan and was, in fact, certain that if he’d been in his right mind–which he wasn’t–he would have married me…instead of whoever he actually married. So this was indeed big news.
Dad fussed and messed around in the bake shop for weeks, figuring and calculating how to make the most enormous cake he’d ever made before–because it’s what Marie wanted. I remember the day he was working on that bottom tier–biggest thing I’d ever seen–when somebody said, “Well, it’s pretty, but how are you going to fit it out the door?”
Eee Gads.
Seriously.
There he was, nearly finished with the thing and in fact, it wouldn’t, couldn’t possibly fit out the door.
Do you suppose it’s blasphemous to pray your guts out for a cake? I hope not, because that’s exactly what we did. As Dad and the guys lifted the ridiculous thing and headed to the door, we all whispered, “Please-please-please-please…” Then, as they started to tip it to the side, we crossed our fingers that it wouldn’t slide off the cake board and smash to the ground. We all chanted, “don’t let it slip…don’t let it slip…don’t let it slip.”
Miracle of miracles–and lucky for US…our prayers were answered…
and it didn’t.
Happy Birthday Beckham!
Happy Birthday Lily!
…with Caramel Sauce…AND a giveaway. That’s what I said.
Oh baby–the room is starting to spin. Grab something stable and hold on.
For some odd reason, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of making real Plum Pudding–you know just to see if it tastes like…dirt, or if it’s actually good. Now, it takes a special pan to make traditional Plum Pudding, so, I’ve been on the look-out for just such a pan for many years. Finally, after checking each holiday season, at Williams Sonoma–at last, at last, they had one. But, fortunately for all of us–the recipe included with the pan was for “Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Caramel Sauce.”
Oh my…oh my. Are you sitting down? Rock beats scissors. Paper beats rock. Chocolate beats just about anything–but certainly…plum.
Dude.
Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Ingredients:
9 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
9 Tbsp. butter, cut up
6 eggs, separated
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup caramel sauce
whipped cream
Directions:
Grease a steamed pudding mold. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and allow to cool. Beat the egg yolks and brown sugar on high speed for about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla, cooled chocolate and salt and beat until combined–about 1 minute. Transfer mixture into another bowl.
In a clean, dry bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a clean whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until medium-firm peaks form–about 4 minutes.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites and the chocolate mixture together until no whites are visible. Sift the flour over the batter and fold in until well blended. Pour the mixture into the greased mold. Place the lid securely on top.
Next, set the mold on an inverted colander or steam rack, set in a large pot. Fill the pot with water to come halfway up the sides of the mold. Cover the pot, and set over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes.
Remove mold from pan and let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Uncover the mold and pour caramel sauce over the pudding. Let cool in the mold for another 30 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and…
and serve warm.
Hot dang.
We loved this so much–especially the Bald Kid and I–that I can’t bear not to have a partner in-steamed-pudding-crime. Therefore my friends–I’m giving away a true, live, steamed pudding pan to one lucky reader–on Friday at 10:00 am…sharp. To enter, leave me a comment on this post. In fact, I’ll give you one entry for each comment you leave on any previous post–from this moment on. Ha ha! Comments for EVERYone!
