The Found Recipe Box

When Autumn Won’t Let Go: Apple Turnovers

2012-02-15T22:13:00.000-06:00

Last January, when we brought Lucy home from the hospital, the wind chill was 25 below zero. I never truly despised winter until that moment, when I had to step into the piercing cold with my brand new baby girl. Every piece of the car creaked and cracked in the cold on the drive home and I think it took the entire 20-minute trip for the engine to completely thaw out.

But this year, we’ve had a very temperate winter. Back in October, the meteorologists started saying, “Enjoy this weather folks, it will be the last nice weekend of the year.” Up until a couple of weeks ago, they were still staying that. We’ve been seeing temperatures in the 40s and even a few 50s all the way into January. For those of us who were seriously considering packing our bags and moving south last winter, it’s pretty nice. But for those who are longing to pull their skis out of the closet, go sledding, or are ready to drill a hole into the ice and go fishing, it hasn’t been a good season.

In honor of the lingering autumn weather, I made a fall favorite: Apple Turnovers. Topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, these delicious pockets of molten cinnamon apple are the ideal combination of hot and cold – a perfect complement to our unseasonably warm weather. Lucy’s new favorite treat is apple slices, so she was able to enjoy the pre-cooked ingredient, while Ryan and I savored the sweet and soothing finished product. Without looking at the calendar, one bite of these and a glance out the window would make you think it’s time to start carving pumpkins and planning a Thanksgiving menu rather than exchanging Valentine cards.

For Lucy’s first birthday, we gazed across our bare, brown backyard and reminisced about the weather one year ago – bitter cold, three feet of snow on the ground, near constant will chill advisories. Maybe you’ll get to go sledding on snow next year, Lucy, instead of dry grass and piles of leftover autumn leaves. But remember to enjoy this nice weather, because this still is winter in Minnesota and it just might be the last nice weekend of the season.

December Birthday Cake of the Month: Peppermint Candy Cake

2012-01-16T14:22:00.000-06:00

Do you remember the Birthday Cake of the Month card? The last cake I posted was from November 2010 when I announced I was pregnant and starting a new job. I can hardly believe that was over a year ago. I only had two cakes left to go and sadly, that December and January were a little hectic and the cakes were never made. So this year, I dug the card back out and made the first of the last two cakes: Peppermint Candy Cake. And in true Found Recipe Box fashion, it ended up being the perfect recipe for the situation.

Last December, all through the month, I kept thinking that I needed to make the birthday cake of the month. I remember checking the card and seeing “Christmas Package Cake” in black type. In my mind, I thought of all the fun ways I could decorate the cake, all of the different adornments I could add to make it a truly tempting package to tear into. But December came and went and the cake was never made.

At various times throughout the past year, it would pop back into my mind. “In December,” I thought to myself, “I get to decorate a cake to look like a beautiful present!” And again the list of colors and bows and fancy gift tags would float around in my mind. I thought back to the Queen of Hearts Cake and the Merry-Go-Round Cake and made a mental list of ways I could incorporate different artistic styles.

Finally, December arrived. I pulled out the card, grabbed the New Party Cakes for All Occasions booklet, turned to page 19 and…it wasn’t there. The cake inside the package was supposed to be a jam cake. I flipped though each page of the booklet, but never came across the jam cake. I looked again, read each recipe title carefully. Nothing. So I flipped back to page 19 and was treated to a nice surprise. Instead of a jam cake, there was something much more delicious and appropriate for the holiday season in its place: a Peppermint Candy Cake.

While I was crushing up candy canes to sprinkle into the batter, I kept thinking of the Chocolate Roll Cake and my mom’s variation, which will always be an absolute favorite of mine. She put crushed peppermints into the whipped cream center of the cake, giving it just a hint of Christmas flavor and a slight crunch with each bite. Lucy watched as I slowly turned the red and white canes into small chunks and powder. I wonder, when she’s older, what recipes will remind her of me. Sadly, I don’t think it will be this one.

Once the cake was completed and decorated, we dug in for our first taste.

Immediately I noticed the consistency. It wasn’t the soft, moist bite I was expecting. Instead it was dense and a little crumbly. I’ve been told that the ratios of ingredients on some of these older recipes need to be adjusted a bit. Perhaps if I play around with it, I can soften the cake up (here’s another example of chemistry coming back to haunt me!). Because with just a little more moisture and maybe a few extra candy cane pieces thrown in, this just might be a cake that Lucy would remember well into her adulthood. And it fit perfectly with the lesson I’ve been reminded of again and again the past few years. Sometimes we hit bumps in the road, whether it is something as major as unemployment or as simple as a recipe missing from the page or a dry cake. Regardless, we just need to stay focused, make a few adjustments and move forward. Of course, typing those words out are much easier than applying them to real life sometimes, but when the prize for all that hard work is a delicious piece of Peppermint Candy Cake, it makes the tough road ahead a little easier to follow.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to moisten the cake or adjust the ratios of the ingredients, let me know!

First Tastes: Baked Sweetbreads and Mushrooms

2011-12-14T19:55:00.000-06:00

When I started this project, my goal was to make every recipe in the box, take pictures, taste it, and then write a story about it. I was excited because it would push the limits of my comfort zone and force me to try new things. I thought this was a great idea – until I came across the card for Baked Sweetbreads and Mushrooms.

I knew I had heard the term “sweetbread” before, but I couldn’t remember the exact definition. My sweet tooth began conjuring images of cake with chocolate fudge drizzled – no poured – all over it. But there was this nagging voice of reason giggling in the back of my mind telling me that my fantasy was about to be destroyed. Somewhere deep in my memory vault was the definition of sweetbreads, but it was too chicken to reveal itself. So I enlisted the help of Google to discover the truth…and immediately amended my goal for the blog.

I found a few variations on the definition, but basically sweetbreads are the thymus glands or pancreas of veal, beef, lamb and pork. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, then you know I’m no Andrew Zimmern. This pushes the limits of my comfort zone a little too far and I’m just not brave enough to purchase these supposed delicacies, let alone bake them and put them in my mouth. But a recent commercial on TV sparked an idea for a different theme for this post.

If you’ve been watching NBC recently, then you’ve probably heard that they’ve resurrected the show Fear Factor, one of the original “reality” shows and probably one of the first places on American TV where people subjected themselves to horrifying stunts, such as eating live bugs or animal eyeballs, for a shot at a large chunk of prize money.

Thinking back to those early episodes of the show, when it was such a revolutionary idea to make people eat disgusting things for money, made me ponder the idea of “first tastes.” Lucy is starting to eat real food now and it’s fun to watch her reaction to different foods.

Lucy's first taste of rice cereal -- this picture makes me crack up every time I see it.

Everything is new – the texture, the smell, the taste – and everything needs to be examined thoroughly before it’s allowed to slip past her two teeth and down her throat. It’s been so long that I’ve tried something completely new that I’ve forgotten that feeling of hesitation and apprehension. She first pokes the item with her finger. If it is squishy and sticky, such as a banana, then it’s quickly rejected and sent to the floor for the dog to eat. If it is bread or something crunchy, like a cracker, then it’s carefully picked up and tentatively placed just inside her lips. And if it passes the test, then it’s gobbled up. Her little fingers work together furiously to grab as many pieces as possible and shovel them into her open mouth. Fortunately, the combination of her zeal and lack of coordination sends most of the pieces to her lap so she doesn’t choke on them.

My little Irish lass gobbling down potatoes at McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola, FL.

Lucy’s a pretty adventurous eater. Aside from her aversion to certain textures, there really isn’t too much she won’t eat, or at least try. But I wonder if even she would be brave enough to try sweetbreads. Watching her explore the world has already rekindled so much in me that has lain dormant for way too long. Maybe I should take a lesson from her and give some new foods a try. But instead of taking the plunge and starting with sweetbreads, I think I’ll wade in and give Brussels sprouts a try instead. Does anyone have any good recipes to share?

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: Waffles

2011-08-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

When Ryan and I started dating, we lived six hours apart. There was a lot of time spent on the phone or driving to see one another. But all that time away just made the moments we got to be together that much more special. Often times we’d pick a place in the middle and meet there for a long weekend. And there was one thing we always looked forward to during those trips…waffles (that’s not what you thought I was going to say, was it?).

We loved to find the hotels that offered not only a free continental breakfast, but one which included a “make your own waffle” station – with the batter pre-measured into little paper Dixie cups that could be easily poured into a piping hot waffle iron. In the morning, we’d patiently wait our turn to choose just the right cup of batter, then listen to it sizzle and pop as we carefully spread the thick liquid evenly through the channels of the iron. Smiles spread across our faces as the smell of cooking waffles slowly drifted up to our noses. At the sound of the timer, we’d pry our breakfast out with a plastic fork, drop it onto a paper plate and carry it to our table where we’d sit and enjoy our “home cooked” meal.

It’s not that they were the best waffles I’d ever eaten – most of the time they were mediocre at best, hardly better than their frozen cousins. It was what they represented that made them so special. Eating those waffles meant that I was spending time with Ryan, something I only got to do a few hours a month. They became part of our routine, something that’s hard to establish when you see each other infrequently and each time it’s in a different place. But it was a routine nonetheless.
After a year and a half of dating long distance, we decided it was time to save some gas money and move closer to each other. And the rest is history. But those waffles never lost their special meaning. We still seek them out at hotels when we’re traveling. It’s as if they are a talisman that we cling to, reminding us of where we started and how far we’ve come. Over the years, we even got a waffle iron of our own. We’ve tried several waffle batter variations, but they never seem to be the same as the ones in the hotels. So we were excited to find a recipe in the box that we could put to the test.

Sadly, we weren’t too impressed with this recipe. The consistency was a little runny and the waffles were thin and limp. But, because of the baby and money being tight from unemployment, we haven’t traveled much in the past few years. So when that familiar sizzling sound hit our ears and the enticing smell of batter cooking on a hot iron drifted into our noses, we felt “home” again. It’s true what they say, absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Before I began this project, I never imagined that I would miss being in the kitchen making a mess with flour all over the counters, swearing at boiled icing, or waiting to see if the cake I pull from the oven will be light and fluffy or hard and caved in. But in those moments between the time when Lucy finally falls asleep and when my body gives into the exhaustion and passes out, my mind carries me back to the same thought time and time again: I miss writing and cooking. I miss them the same way I used to miss Ryan after we’d packed our bags at the hotel on Sunday afternoon, each driving away in opposite directions.

There are things that are just a part of who we are. A long time ago, I learned that I am a “writer.” It’s deep in my soul. No matter what I do, nothing will ever change that. It doesn’t matter if I ever get published or if anyone else reads what I’ve written, I need to feel the soft glide of ink across paper, get a cramp in my hand when my body can’t write fast enough to keep up with my excited mind, or listen to the tip tap of my fingers as they type out thoughts on the keyboard. There have been times in my life when writing and I have taken a vacation apart from each other, but we’ve always come back. We are like lovers who see each other on opposite ends of the beach and run, almost in slow motion, towards each other until we slam against one another in a tight embrace, as if we are trying to fuse our bodies into one so that we may never be separated again.

Only now, I’ve come to realize that cooking, too, has entered that embrace. As I stare at my lonely kitchen utensils and realize it has been months since I’ve made a Found Recipe Box recipe and posted it on the blog, I get that pang deep in my gut and long for an afternoon in the kitchen.

Lucy just turned six months old. I can’t believe it. Everyone said it would go by fast, but I never imagined time could move this quickly.

She’s getting so grown up already and insists that she’s a big girl. I want to freeze time and enjoy each precious moment for as long as I can. But I also can’t wait for the day when she can join me in the kitchen. I love to watch her interact with the world. She’s so inquisitive and pays close attention to everything around her – I think she’ll catch onto baking quickly. And someday, I’ll pull out the waffle iron and teach her how to prepare her own batch of batter, all the while regaling her with stories of all the adventures her mom and dad went on…after their fulfilling breakfast of fresh-made waffles, of course. Hopefully by then we’ll have perfected the recipe, finding just the right blend to recreate those thick, flavorful hotel waffles.

A Forever Friend: Frozen Lemon Dessert

2011-06-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

The week before Memorial Day, my family had to say a very unexpected goodbye to a very special friend. My parents’ dog Sage lost his brief, but heroic battle against an illness – whose cause is still undetermined – only days before I returned home for the holiday weekend.

Ever since I was a baby, my family has always had a dog. And during that time, we’ve had some incredible dogs, the kinds of dogs that easily transcend from being the family pet to a member of the family. Every one of them left a paw print on my heart, but there are a few who were so special, there’s no other way to describe them than as a “forever friend.”

I already introduced you to one of those special dogs, Buck, who was our very first Flactcoated Retriever. Well, Sage (also a Flatcoat), was another one of those dogs. When he fell ill, I kept the highest of hopes that he’d recover quickly so he could keep spreading his special kind of joy to the world. But when I heard from my parents that he had lost his valiant fight, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe I’d never bury my face in his soft ears again, never hear him “woo woo” at me when I walked in the door, never cuddle up next to him, scratch his head and literally feel him radiate happiness. Sage, like Buck, was the kind of dog who not only left a paw print on your heart, but also a gaping hole in it when he left. He was one of those dogs who was truly man’s best friend – a friend you’d long to see at the end of a rough day, a friend who would make all your worries wash away, a friend who you’d remember forever. I still get a pang of sadness when I think about Buck. And I know it will be the same years from now when I remember Sage.

You didn’t have to be a dog lover to appreciate how special Sage was; even people who weren’t all that fond of flying clumps of dog hair, sloppy kisses or barking loved that dog. There was something about him that just changed the mood in the air when he walked into a room. It was as if he had special powers and could just emanate happiness (for all you Twilight fans, he was basically like Jasper and had the power to change your mood). And you couldn’t help but chuckle when you watched him clumsily run across the yard – his legs flailing about, ears flapping in the wind, tongue hanging out and a look of childlike giddiness spread across his face. Graceful he was not, but that dog truly knew how to enjoy life.

So when I dove into the box in search of a recipe to make in his honor, I knew it had to be something pretty special. It took some digging, but I eventually found the perfect dish: Frozen Lemon Dessert. This worked on several levels.

First, one of Sage’s favorite treats was ice cubes. Not because he liked to eat them, but because his favorite pastime was making a mess and next to tearing up Kleenex or digging holes in the yard, these proved to be perfect tools for accomplishing his goal. Whenever he got one, he’d carry it into the dining room and chew it into pieces, which he then left to melt on the floor. You’d think we’d learn to stop giving the dog ice cubes right? Not when you saw the look of pure bliss on his face as he bounded off with the coveted treat tucked into his lips. How can you deny him such happiness?

So the fact that it was a frozen dessert was a perfect choice for Sage. Second, he was the sweetest dog I’ve ever met. Honestly. He could turn even the bitterest moment into something heartwarming. And that’s just what this dessert did to the lemons. On their own, lemons make your mouth pucker and choke, but mix them with a little sugar and whipped cream and your lips curl right into a bright smile.

This is a pretty simple dessert to make and doesn’t take much time at all. I only made one change and used graham crackers for the crust instead of the vanilla wafers. After a short time in the freezer, it was ready to serve. Each bite filled me with warm memories of Sage and left a cool hint of lemon on my tongue. It was the perfect way to honor his memory. As a tribute to him, I even thought about leaving chunks of ice cubes on the floor, but the warm temperatures would have quickly melted my memorial and left only a big mess to clean up. And that just isn’t as much fun to do when Sage wasn’t the one who made it.

Murphy agrees that this is the perfect tribute to Sage

I miss you so much, Mr. Sage. I still can’t believe you’re gone. I keep hoping to wake up from this terrible dream and hear you in the background when I’m talking to mom and dad on the phone chewing your squeaky ball and annoying the bejesus out of everyone within ear shot (he could chew those obnoxious toys for hours and never get bored, it’s amazing he didn’t go deaf).

Sage and his favorite squeeky ball

But as I said when Buck died, life can be cruel sometimes and insanely unfair. Such a sweet life certainly didn’t deserve such a tragic and untimely end. You touched many lives though, and your love lives on in all of us, especially my sweet Dorie who I know misses you more than any of us. You will always be my friend, Sage, forever and ever.

Sage & Dorie

A Reduced Menu: Sweet Potato Recipes

2011-05-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

Lucy recently turned three months old (I still can’t believe it) and during that time, we’ve faced many feeding issues. She lost a lot of weight after coming home from the hospital and had to go straight back in to see the doctor. We learned that she wasn’t getting enough to eat and we had to start supplementing her meals with formula. Once that was figured out, she began to spit up. Then the spit up became more significant. The doctor thought she may have a food intolerance and suggested I begin by eliminating dairy from my diet. Easy enough right? I quickly learned that dairy is not only in a lot of my favorite foods (pizza, pasta dishes, sweets, etc…) but also food items I never imagined contained milk (bread, crackers, and some lunch meat for example). After some internet research, I found several great resources that provided lists of dairy-free food products and was able to easily change my menu. And I’ve even been able to indulge on some sweets. Did you know that Oreos don’t contain dairy? Neither does Pillsbury’s sugar cookie dough. I can still have warm cookies straight from the oven!

After a few weeks, Lucy was better, but was still having occasional bouts of heavy spit up. The doctor then recommended that I try the elimination diet, which basically cuts out any possible allergen. For a week and a half, I ate nothing more than chicken, pears, potatoes, squash, rice and water. I was miserable, but Lucy felt great. I slowly started to add things back in to determine what was disagreeing with her. I am still dairy-free, but have not been able to positively identify any other triggers. It can be extremely difficult to see such a tiny little body heave out such exceptionally massive amounts of liquid. The other morning, 15 minutes before I needed to leave for work, she expelled an impressive arc of stomach contents that left her, me and the floor completely soaked. She got a bath, I took a second shower and the floor got a quick mop-down. But through it all, Lucy never stopped smiling.

Although eliminating dairy wasn’t as difficult as I originally imagined, I am still looking forward to the day when she is able to tolerate it again (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is a temporary issue and not an actual allergy). I really miss pizza. And chocolate. And a glass of milk with dinner. And when I dug into the Found Recipe Box for recipes to post on the blog, I realized how many of them listed milk or butter as a main ingredient. There was one, however, that stood out right away and I knew I needed to post it as a tribute to my stint on the elimination diet: sweet potato recipes. There are a few variations listed on the card, but I chose the glazed sweet potatoes. They resemble thick-cut baked sweet potato fries. It didn’t take long for the house to fill with the delicious aroma of the beautiful orange tuber baking with brown sugar…and smoke. I had placed the potato slices onto parchment paper in a metal baking dish. The paper, though, didn’t fit the entire bottom of the dish. Some of the glaze slid off the paper and onto the metal where it began to bubble and burn and turn into a material that resembled black Hawaiian lava rock. Thankfully it was nothing that a quick soak in soapy, hot water couldn’t fix.

Once the smoke had cleared and we were able to sit down to dinner, we dug into the sweet potatoes and discovered they were delicious! In honor of the elimination diet, we also had squash, but swapped out the chicken for tilapia. The best part of this meal, though, was that it was in celebration of my very first Mother’s Day. This day has always been special because of how much my own mother means to me. But this year, as I gazed into the bright blue eyes of my beautiful baby girl, it gained a whole new meaning. Thank you Lucy and Ryan for making my very first Mother’s Day so incredibly special!

I found several other recipes in the box that are dairy-free so I hope to have more to post soon. Otherwise, I guess I’ll just have to make the recipes for cakes and pies and give them away. Luckily, I think I know a few people who wouldn’t mind receiving the gift of a fresh-baked cake.

Loving the Leftovers: Cream of Crabmeat Soup

2011-03-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

These days, free time comes in short supply and when I do find an extra moment during the day I either make a mad dash for the shower or run to the basement to throw yet another load of dirty burp cloths and baby clothes into the washing machine. So when it comes to meals, time is of the essence and the easier the preparation, the better. We’ve found a few favorite dinners that are easy to put together and make enough to throw leftovers into the freezer for a future meal. Our freezer, which was previously virtually unused, is now stocked full with Tupperware icicles just waiting to be unthawed.

One of our favorite meals to make is soup. Before Lucy was born, we dug into the Found Recipe Box for some new recipes to try and pulled out the card for Cream of Crabmeat Soup. At that time, I didn’t appreciate how easy this recipe is to prepare. I took my time opening cans and pouring them into the soup pot, scraping each one to make sure I got every last drop. I carefully cut up the crabmeat, daydreaming the whole time about what life would be like with a baby and how I couldn’t wait to share the Found Recipe Box with my little girl. When it came time to eat, Ryan and I both sat down at the same time, savored each spoonful of soup and lingered around the dinner table after we finished so that we could see the end of our TV show before doing dishes. As we poured the rest of the soup into a container to freeze, I never imagined how different our lives would be the next time we tasted that rich, creamy broth.

Now, unless we can time meal preparation perfectly to catch a moment when Lucy is sleeping, Ryan and I take shifts to eat – and by “eat” I mean devour our food so quickly we barely taste it so that the next person can dive into their meal which has already started cooling off. I am no longer reading recipe cards, but instead am following the heating instructions for already prepared meals. And any daydreams I have are usually the result of dozing off on the couch with Murphy while Ryan and Lucy spend quality time together discussing her future of following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a soccer player – a sport which she practiced frequently while in the womb.

But, life moves quickly and I know that these sleep-deprived days will be over before I know it. Soon, Lucy will be crawling around collecting dog hair on the floor while I heat up those frozen meals. Then she’ll be walking, soon after running, and chasing Murphy around the yard. So I’ve taken the lesson Cream of Crabmeat Soup taught me and I’m savoring every moment I have with Lucy. When she falls asleep in my arms, I just stare at her instead of placing her in bed to sleep like all the books recommend. I absorb her warmth, memorize her face and place soft kisses on her forehead, careful not to disturb her peaceful slumber. Sometimes I wish I could press pause, freezing those moments just like I did the leftover soup, and linger there just a little longer before thawing it out and moving into the future. Because you can always throw a cold meal in the microwave to reheat it, but if I let those precious moments I have with Lucy go, I can never get them back. And nothing is more delicious than spending time with my little soccer player/future Found Recipe Box baker.

She's trying to think of something sweeter than her...shortbread tarts, chocolate cake? Nope, not even those!

Introducing the Newest Little Cook in the Kitchen: Pink & White Birthday Cake

2011-03-09T15:50:00.000-06:00

On Monday, January 31st, Ryan and I welcomed the newest addition to our family into the world and I am very excited to introduce you to Lucy:

Although she decided to join us one week earlier than expected, she took her own sweet time in arriving. After 30 grueling hours of labor, we were finally united with our beautiful little girl. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 20 inches long. We had a few bumps in the road throughout delivery and Lucy had to spend two days in the Special Care Nursery, but she’s a trooper and was ready to head home with Ryan and me when we left the hospital. We were so happy to bring her home and there were a lot of people who were very excited to meet her, especially her big fur brother, Murphy.

Although, his enthusiasm wore off pretty quickly when he realized that she would be keeping him up throughout the night. He tossed and turned and grunted his frustration through those first few late night feedings, but has since learned to sleep through it and has grown quite fond of his new little sister.

Lucy and I have been slowly recovering and adjusting to life apart from each other. It was a weird feeling to not be pregnant any longer. I used to spend so much time with my hand on my belly eagerly awaiting my baby’s next kick. Then, all of a sudden (well, after 30 hours), she wasn’t there anymore. It was an empty feeling, until I got to cradle her in my arms, stare into her wide blue eyes, run my fingers through her thick hair (can you believe all that hair?!) and hold those tiny little feet to see firsthand what was creating all those kicks I had grown so fond of.

Look at all that hair!

I’ve never really been a person who sits still very well; I always have to be doing something. But since Lucy has come into my life, I have discovered that I could spend hour upon hour simply sitting and staring at my beautiful baby girl. I am in complete awe of her.

I have also discovered that it was a lot easier to get things done during the day when she was still that little bundle of joy kicking inside my belly. I haven’t had more than a couple of hours of sleep at a time in over a month, showering has become a luxury and laundry has turned into a daily chore. But thanks to a rare afternoon when Lucy took a nap for about four hours, I was able to sneak into the kitchen and make the cake I picked out for her as soon as we found out we were having a girl: Pink & White Birthday Cake. I made a few changes to the recipe to save some time. I only made two layers instead of three and I chose to make them marbled pink and white instead of solid color layers. And I also used store-bought pink vanilla frosting (with Funfetti of course!). The cake was delicious and was a huge hit with all of the visitors who came over to meet Lucy. It was the perfect recipe from the box to celebrate Lucy’s birth.

Once Lucy and I have a better routine, I’m hoping to be able to spend a little more time in the kitchen. But until then, my postings will be a little sporadic. I apologize for the huge delays, but promise that I will be back. We still have a lot of recipes to make and I’m committed to making every single one in The Found Recipe Box! Hopefully I can finish before Lucy starts school...or gets her driver's license.

It’s All Happening: November Birthday Cake of the Month/Chrysanthemum Cake

2010-12-14T22:43:00.000-06:00

One of my all-time favorite movies is Almost Famous and there’s a line from the movie that struck a chord with me the very first time I heard it: “It’s all happening.” It basically refers to one of those moments in life when everything seems to come together at once. I’ve doodled this quote in journals and in the margins of notebooks many, many times since I first heard it ten years ago (has it really been that long since the movie was released?). Over the past two years, however, the meaning of the quote changed somewhat for me. A lot was happening, but it wasn’t the type of stuff that causes you to squeal with joy and throw your hands into the air with jubilation. Until recently.

Murphy has a very exciting announcement to make and he couldn’t think of a better way to do it than with a cake:

In February, Murphy will become a big brother…well, at least that’s what we’re calling it. Ryan and I are expecting our first baby! And quite honestly, I don’t know who is more excited, us or the dog. In fact, Murphy knew before we did (I’m not kidding) and ever since his amazing discovery, he has become my shadow and protector. He pokes my belly all the time and when we ask him where the baby is, he gently places his wet nose on my stomach. It’s pretty incredible to watch.

I’ve waited to make this announcement on the blog until I had a job, which leads me to my second big announcement (one that Murphy is definitely not as excited about): I got a job. It’s only part-time, but I’m excited to have a paycheck and with our current situation, it works out very well.

I apologize for the lack of posts recently and for sending out the November birthday cake of the month so late, but between the pregnancy and starting a new job, I have been absolutely exhausted and haven’t had much brain power left at the end of the day. I have also been working furiously on my submission for The Sketchbook Project, which is due in January, and finally feel like it will be done soon. I’ll be sure to post pictures when it’s completed.

I’m excited to share the Chrysanthemum cake with you and it came to be very symbolic for a few reasons this weekend. The cake itself is actually one that I’ve made before; it was just the decorations that were different. And I am not an expert cake decorator so my design was very simple and plain, but just seeing that bright, colorful flower in the middle of winter brightened my day.

The Twin Cities were buried in snow this weekend (we got 18 inches at my house) and just to make it worse, the temperatures plummeted to zero (or below) right after the storm. Wind chills at night have been 20 below zero. Poor Murphy barely has time to get off the deck to go to the bathroom before his feet freeze. Ryan even took the snow thrower into the yard to make a trail for him because the snow was too deep to walk through (he was hopping around like a gazelle through the yard, which was hilarious to watch, but very frustrating for the dog).


Ryan snow-throwing trails in the yard for Murphy

Snow dog!

After dealing with all the snow a simple orange flower, even one made out of sugar, was a welcome sight. And in honor of the season, I even added some “snowflakes” to the cake.

For the frosting, I wanted to try something a little different so I used the recipe on the inside of the Baker’s Chocolate box. Here’s the card, it might be a little hard to read because the ink is faint, but I hope it comes through.

We were really happy with this frosting. It has a nice rich flavor, but isn’t too chocolaty. For a cake this size, I had to make two batches of frosting to use as filling and to cover the cake completely. The cake is the same Four Egg White Cake that I made with the Easter Egg Cakes and has a wonderful hint of almond, which paired up very well with the chocolate frosting.

Staring at the orange flower on the cake not only made me think of summer and sitting on a deck that isn’t covered in nearly two feet of snow, but also reminded me of the quote, “it’s all happening.” Only this time, I was able to squeal with joy again and throw my hands around my rapidly expanding belly in jubilation. When I lost my job nearly two years ago, a lot of dreams were put on hold indefinitely. But starting a family was something I never gave up on. We still have a lot of rebuilding to do and there is still a lot of fear and uncertainty, but every time I feel the baby kick – even when she is waging war on my liver or extending her tiny little appendages out of my belly in a way that reminds me of the movie Alien – I just smile and know that everything is going to be O.K., because no matter what happens, I will always have my family by my side. And even though the baby hasn’t arrived yet, cooking is already a part of her life. For our shower, my sister-in-law gave blank recipe cards to each of the guests with a stamped envelope addressed to me. She asked each guest to send their favorite recipe to the baby so that I could start a recipe box especially for her. It was one of the coolest gifts I got that day and it meant the world to me to have my family and friends share something so special with me and my baby. Now I just have to find a recipe box for the cards!

Again, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I promise I’ll catch up soon! I even have a special recipe already picked out for the arrival of the baby. Nine months always sounded like a long time, but February is just around the corner and I’ll be posting that recipe before I know it! Until then, I have some great comfort foods picked out to help get us through this winter season. One of our local meteorologists said that the Twin Cities has 2/3 of our seasonal snowfall on the ground already. It’s the second week of December. I hope that means that winter will be over early, but sadly, I think it’s a sign that we need to hunker down in front of the fire with a good movie and a steaming bowl of soup or heaping plate of a casserole dish. Thankfully, The Found Recipe Box has plenty to offer in both categories.

Gratitude: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

2010-11-30T22:54:00.001-06:00

Recently, while reorganizing some stuff in the house, I came across a journal my mom gave me in 1998. It is one of those notebooks I was afraid to start using because it was so beautiful. The cover has a deep green background and a beautiful fairy with a flute who sings to the woodland creatures.

Looking at the picture always makes me happy, partly because it reminds me of my mom and partly because it portrays a scene of love and festivity. I finally put words into it on January 14, 1998. The first entry was a quote my mom had written in my 21st birthday card:

“Optimism, like the happiness habit, can be learned. Start today with a little experiment. Smile at everyone you meet. Today, expect something good to happen to you no matter what occurred yesterday. Realize the past no longer holds you captive. It can only continue to hurt you if you hold onto it. Let the past go. A simply abundant world awaits.” -- Sarah Ban Breathnach from the book Simple Abundance

I began to fill the book with lists of things that I was grateful for. Looking through the list that is now 12 years old, I realized two things: 1.) that none of the things I had written were material possessions, they were all irreplaceable people, places or moments and 2.) that 12 years later, not many of them had changed. I’m still grateful for each and every one of them.

During the past two years, Ryan and I have had to cut back on a lot of things. It’s hard, sometimes, to watch others move in directions you wish you were going – traveling, buying new things, paying off debt, etc… but after pushing through all that envy and frustration, something amazing happened. I started to focus on all the things I already had that I was truly grateful for. It’s ironic, actually, that I found this journal when I did because I’ve been mentally compiling a gratitude list in my mind for the past several weeks. So when I opened the book and saw the same list that was building in my head, I just had to smile. Then I turned to a fresh page and added to the list.

I think it’s important that Thanksgiving is the day that officially kicks off the winter holiday season. It’s a day that is about much more than stuffing ourselves to an uncomfortable level and traveling near and far to see family and friends. It’s a day to pull out those gratitude lists and remember what we’re truly thankful for. You might be surprised to find that the things that mean the most to you are the ones that don’t cost a thing. And once we’re aware of all that gratitude, we need to keep it close to our hearts – not just during the holidays, but all year long. Here are a few of the items from my list that I started many years ago, but still mean just as much to me now as they did then:

1.) My family

2.) Artistic talents

3.) The sound of my parents’ laughter

4.) Kisses from a dog and the feeling of a warm canine companion sleeping next to you at night

5.) Music

For Thanksgiving this year, I took several moments throughout the day to just stop and take it all in – the sound of laughter, the smell of turkey cooking in the oven, the sight of snowflakes slowly tumbling to the ground. It’s amazing how quickly the stress of worry disappears when you take those few seconds to focus on something happy. And as we sat down for dinner, I also realized how working on this blog for the past year has made me more aware of different tastes and smells, given me the courage to try new things, and has taught me how easy it can be to make a homemade treat prepared with love. This year, I brought the third and final version of pumpkin chiffon pie from the box with, of course, a large container of homemade whipped cream. Last year, the whipped cream was a huge hit with the kids and this year was no exception. But Ryan’s mom added a little twist to their plates of the fluffy white topping: Ovaltine sprinkled on top. This was a totally new concept to me, but the kids were big fans and ran to the kitchen in a thunderous stampede to claim their plate of this unique dessert, which worked out well because it meant more pie for the adults!

On the drive home, after the car had warmed up and my teeth had stopped chattering from the nearly negative wind chill, I watched the world pass by outside the window. More and more houses were twinkling with colorful displays of Christmas decorations and the fresh layer of snow reminded me that the December holidays really aren’t that far away. In fact, that morning we had already seen tents lining up in front of the Best Buy in town waiting for the doors to open Friday morning for those post-Thanksgiving door buster deals (considering that the temps were falling into the single digits Thursday night, I couldn’t fathom a deal that was worth missing out on Thanksgiving dinner and risking frostbite for). Every year, the month of December seems to fill with anxiety over finding the perfect gifts for loved ones (and finding a way to pay for them) and compiling a list of resolutions – all those things we want to change about ourselves, but know we’ll end up breaking only a few weeks into the new year.

But as I watched tiny white lights twinkle against the frozen landscape, I vowed not to fall into that same destructive cycle. I will enjoy the month of December and if ever I start to stress out about gift buying or resolutions, I’ll think of my gratitude journal instead and replace that stress with dog cuddles, the resonating roll of my dad’s infectious laughter and music, specifically George Winston’s December album. Not only is it my favorite holiday album, but it’s the one I turn to when I feel down any time of the year and need to go to my “happy place.” As the first strike of the ivories echoes through the speakers, I’m instantly transported to my parents’ living room at Christmastime where a tall, fat pine tree stands beautifully decorated with ornaments from my childhood and outside, white lights illuminate snow-covered bushes that look very similar to a heaping pile of homemade whipped cream.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and were surrounded by loved ones and delicious plates of traditional treats. Over the next few weeks, as the holiday season ramps up and you find yourself needing a way to wind down, I encourage you to make a gratitude list of your own. Keep it next to your bed or fold it up and stick it into your wallet. Then, any time during the year when you need a moment to escape into grateful bliss, just pull it out and read it over. I bet in 12 years, when you look back on it, you’ll have the same experience I did and realize that it hasn’t changed all that much. And if you ever need an extra serving of happiness, just add a heaping dollop of homemade whipped cream to whatever it is you’re eating…or just eat it all by itself, that seems to be how the kids are doing it these days.

Spicing It Up: Curry Puffs & Stuffed Peppers

2010-11-17T22:43:00.001-06:00

My husband is a Green Bay Packer fan. Wait, let me rephrase that. My husband bleeds green and gold. We have a neighbor that is in the middle of repainting their house from yellow to green. They’ve run into some setbacks and the project is temporarily on hold, so now the house is half green/half gold. Ryan stares longingly across the yard and asks if he can do that to our house. At first I laughed, and then I had the sickening feeling that he wasn’t kidding. Every time he needs to make a “quick run to the hardware store” I check to make sure no cans of Packer-colored exterior house paint found their way into his cart. So far, so good.

His brother is just as big of a fan as my husband, but instead of painting the outside of his house the team colors, he dedicated an entire room inside to the players instead. The “Man Room,” as they call it, is quite an impressive display, even if you don’t care for the sport. The walls are painted in the official Packer green, official Packer carpet covers the floor, and historic team and player photos cover the walls. Every Sunday, I lose Ryan to the Man Room where he follows the moves of his favorite team (and all the players throughout the league who he recruited for his fantasy team). He sits on plush leather chairs, drinking beer ceremoniously from his leather mug (which he swears brings the team luck), and rarely moves his eyes from the 60” flat screen TV for hours on end.

I choose not to partake in these events. Well, let’s be serious, girls aren’t really “allowed” in the Man Room anyway so I don’t need much of an excuse to spend the day doing other activities. But a couple of weeks ago, Ryan made a request for some appetizers from The Found Recipe Box that he could bring over for the festivities. I gave him the list of recipes and he picked out curry puffs and stuffed peppers. I was excited to explore a new category in the box and to try two recipes I’ve never made before.

I started with the curry puffs because the meat filling needs to be chilled overnight. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of curry so I wasn’t excited to try this one. But after browning the onions and meat and filling the house with the aroma of the completed mixture, I began to change my tune. There isn’t much curry powder in this recipe at all and when I sampled the meat filling, I never would have known it was in there if I hadn’t been the one to add it. Instead, I was greeted by a savory mixture of meat and vegetables that were bathed in a pleasant array of spices. I couldn’t wait to try the final product!

The next day, while the pastry puff dough and chilled meat filling thawed out, I started on the stuffed peppers. This is a recipe card that, had I pulled it from the box a year ago, would have scared me to death. There aren’t many exact measurements on the card and most of the ingredients are lists of options of items that could be used for each step. This was the first time I’ve really experimented with a recipe and truly made it my own.

I started by cutting the peppers in half and parboiling them for a few minutes to soften them up. For my stuffing I chose the following combination: brown rice, ½ pound of browned ground beef, tomatoes, chicken broth, onions, celery, salt, pepper, and paprika. The only ingredients I had exact amounts for were the brown rice and ground beef. The card recommended three cups of rice, but I think two would be plenty. The rest of the ingredients I added and reevaluated along the way, especially the spices.

Peppers - post parboiling

Stuffing mixture for peppers

Over the summer, I attended several cooking demonstrations at the Mill City Farmer’s Market in downtown Minneapolis. Every time, the chef would talk about interacting with your food, tasting it throughout the cooking process and determining what, if anything, needed to be added along the way. Over the past year, I’ve pretty much followed these recipes to a T and other than licking the batter from the bowl after the cake was placed in the oven, haven’t really done much interacting until I devour the final product. But making the stuffing for the peppers was a new and exciting experience. I felt more in control of what I was doing, like I was a captain and could decide where this ship would go next. It was liberating and empowering and gave me an entirely different perspective on the cooking process. I’d add a dash of salt, grind in some fresh pepper, sprinkle a red dusting of paprika over the mixture, stir it up, taste it and then decide which step needed to be repeated. Once the stuffing met my approval, I packed it into the waiting pepper cups, added a layer of bread crumbs and placed them in the oven.

Stuffed Peppers - before baking

While those baked, I spooned the curry meat mixture onto cut up pieces of pastry puff, folded them up and once the peppers were done, gave the puffs their turn in the oven. The combination of the cooking appetizers made the house smell amazing. Once everything was completed, they were all packed up and sent for their unveiling in the Man Room. I could only hope they’d bring just as much luck to the team as my husband’s leather mug.

Curry puff shell, filling and a completed pre-baked puff

As I cleaned the heaping pile of dishes produced by my latest culinary exploits, I considered how fearlessly I had tackled this challenge proposed by my husband. If he had requested these appetizers for a game last season at the beginning of my journey into The Found Recipe Box, I don’t know if I would have accepted the challenge. My lack of confidence in my cooking skills might have caused me to shy away. However, I didn’t hesitate when he pulled those cards from the box. In fact, I not only made the dishes, but I also ate the curry puffs, something that I never would have thought I’d try and you know what? They are one of my favorite items I’ve made. In fact, I was home in Illinois visiting my family this past weekend and made them again. I’ve learned a lot from this little box of cards and one of the biggest lessons has been to try new things, especially the ones that bring you just a little bit outside of your comfort zone. I never imagined that I could learn so much from cooking, but I’m grateful for every nugget of wisdom that has been attached to each card I’ve pulled from the box. It makes me wonder what the previous owner learned while she prepared these recipes. Maybe these lessons are her words, her experiences that she somehow magically attached to each card so that the next person to make the recipe would absorb the knowledge as if through osmosis. Perhaps this box is more like the block of wood from the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium than I previously thought (click here to read my previous post about the connection between this box and that movie). I truly believe there is magic packed inside and if the previous owner spiced it up with some of her own life lessons, then I can only hope mine are being added to the list as I tuck each completed card back into the box. Hopefully someday someone else will learn as much from these cards as I have!

Stuffed Peppers

Curry Puffs

The Found Recipe Box Turns One!: Fluffy Yellow Cake & Chocolate Butter Icing (For Elinor)

2010-11-03T17:21:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my first post to the blog. It’s amazing to look back and see how far I’ve come in this journey. A lot has happened this year and I never imagined that a recipe box would be such an integral part of that experience. I’ve learned a lot, not only in the kitchen, but about myself as well. And I’ve tried so many things I may not have taken a chance on had I not challenged myself with this project.

In one of the first few posts, I listed all the categories and how many recipes are contained on the cards in the box. Of the 479 recipes, I’ve posted 102 (including today’s post). On one hand, I can’t believe how many new recipes I’ve made in the past year. On the other, I realize I have a long way to go! But as I stated in the beginning, this project wasn’t something that I wanted to complete in a certain time frame. Also, due to budget restraints and amount of people willing to eat the large number of cakes and desserts, I need to spread out the recipes and allow a few calories to be burned before I fill friends’ and family’s plates with more food. So I hope you’re all willing to hang in there for a while, because there is a lot left to accomplish in the kitchen!

Amazingly, there are only a few recipes out of 102 that didn’t receive an enthusiastic thumbs-up. On the other hand, it’s hard to go back and think of all the ones that we absolutely loved. Here’s a short list of favorites from the past year (click each one for a link to the recipe):

Tiny Shortbread Tarts
Apple Kuchen
Apple Crisp
Cranberry Bars
Caramel Bars
Angel Cup Cakes
Fudge Cake
Cheesecake Squares
Apple Butter
Creamy Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Chicken Casserole
(Do you see a trend?)

Each recipe has taught me something. I’ve learned new skills in the kitchen, such has how to separate eggs and can apple butter. Through the trials and tribulations of making frosting, I’ve learned that I loathe boiled icing, but appreciate the challenge of sticking with it until I’ve conquered the task. I’ve even gotten several history lessons and have been introduced to amazing people such as Lucretia Brown and Clementine Paddleford.

And last April, I embarked on a journey of my own that I realize I never reported back on. April was International Fake Journal Month and for four weeks, I kept a journal that I wrote from the perspective of the woman who used to own this box. It’s all speculative, but after spending so much time with her recipes, I felt very connected to her and believe that by paying attention to what she collected, I could learn a little more about her. I believe she was an entertainer. So many of these recipes feed quite a few people and I think she had a large group of family and friends that she had over often for parties, celebrations or casual get-togethers. She was a thoughtful and generous person. She put a lot of care and love into each dish she made and I believe everyone who tasted her food could feel that love. And she wasn’t afraid of a challenge, obviously since she had so many cakes that required boiled icing! As I wrote about this woman, a name came to mind and has stuck in my heart from the first time it entered my thoughts: Elinor. I will probably never know who she really was, but for me, she will always be Elinor and I will always be grateful that she collected all of these cards and that they somehow found their way into my hands.

Elinor has been with me through this entire journey, but she’s not the only one; there are a lot of people I need to thank for standing by my side for the past year. Most importantly I need to extend a huge round of gratitude to, my husband, Ryan. Ryan has been so encouraging and understanding throughout everything I’ve attempted and taken on over the past twelve months. He’s endured a kitchen that is constantly in a state of chaos, an ever-growing collection of utensils that we simply have no room for and are scattered throughout the house, a constant barrage of desserts (a challenge for him because he really doesn’t have a sweet tooth), and he’s even been understanding when I do crazy things like make dresses for dolls that are going to be placed on a cake or go hunting for plastic animals to create a merry-go-round cake topper. Through all of that, he has enthusiastically been a food-tester, no matter what the dish, and has offered a plentitude of hugs, both in congratulations on a job well done and in sympathy for a frustrating day in the kitchen. Thank you, Ryan, for everything. You are the most amazing husband a girl could ask for and I’m so proud to have you by my side through all the adventures we take in life.

And to my dog, Murphy, who has also been there through everything, usually sitting at my feet waiting for samples or a bowl to lick clean. I don’t know what I’d do without my dog, he truly is my best friend. He has provided so much fodder for things to write about in my blog posts and is always excited to try whatever I am concocting. Initially he wasn’t thrilled about the amount of time I spent in the kitchen, but has learned to be patient when he sees the mixing bowls and bag of flour emerge from the cabinets. Thank you, Murphy, you’re my sweet, sweet boy and cooking just wouldn’t be the same without you in the kitchen.

Murphy brought his birthday monkey out for the celebration!

To my parents who have also been encouraging and supportive through this entire journey. Thank you for letting me take over your kitchen every time I come home so that I can share this project with you. My whole life you guys have encouraged me to follow my dreams and go where my heart leads me. I bet you never imagined it would take me to the kitchen. But no matter where I’ve gone or what I’ve done, you’ve always been there to cheer me on, pick me up when I fall down and help me find my way back to where I was going. You have been amazing role models and my best friends. I love you guys, with all my heart. Thank you, for everything.

I also need to thank my poetry group. Over the past year I have inundated them with countless amounts of calories and fat, usually in the form of chocolate or cake (or both) and they have graciously accepted every treat with enthusiasm and support. You guys are the best. Thank you for your encouragement and for helping me to consume all of this food. We have a long way to go, I hope you’re up for it!

And most importantly, to all of you who read this blog. Thank you! Over the past year I have received some of the kindest and most supportive feedback from people I will probably never get the chance to meet face to face. When I started this project, I had no idea if anyone would be interested in what I was doing and have been amazed by the strong ties food can create. One of the best parts of the project has been meeting new people and hearing their stories behind some of the recipes in the box. Everyone has a family favorite and every family has their own special way of making it. Over the past year, I’ve learned the importance of keeping those stories close to our hearts and making sure those traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Food is, quite literally, a form of oral tradition only, you don’t just get to hear the story with your ears, you get to taste it and make it a part of who you are as well.

When I found this recipe box, it made me sad to think of someone’s family stories being sold off at an antique show. My main purpose when purchasing the box was to bring it home and show it the love it deserved. I had no idea how dramatically it would change my life. I hope that some of these recipes have found their way into your homes and that some will even become a family favorite that you’ll pass down through the generations. And I hope that wherever she is, Elinor knows that her cherished recipes are being loved and shared. Especially her recipes for Fluffy Yellow Cake and Chocolate Butter Icing, which I chose to make for The Found Recipe Box’s birthday celebration. This is quite possibly my favorite cake recipe so far (I know, I keep saying that, but these are really good!). I was skeptical when I saw the list of ingredients for the cake, but these are so moist and the hint of flavor makes them a truly special treat. I used almond flavoring instead of orange and was very happy with the outcome. Add the chocolate butter icing to the top and you have the perfect way to celebrate a the birthday of a magical little box.

There are just under 400 recipes left to make. I’m up for the challenge, are you? My goal this year is to dip a little deeper into the different categories, there are some I have yet to post recipes from (for example: appetizers, puddings and vegetables). I also have a booklet that contains 48 Butter Crust Pie recipes. Originally I was going to make one and post the rest of the booklet, but I want to try to make them all. I’ve thought of inviting guest bakers who would be willing to donate their time and resources to help me achieve this goal. I also thought of donating the pies or having a bake sale. I’m still working on ideas, but if you have any of your own and would like to help out, let me know. You can send me an e-mail at thefoundrecipebox@hotmail.com or leave me a message on The Found Recipe Box Facebook page. I have some other exciting things planned for the next year and hope to incorporate a few field trips along the way as well. I’m excited to see where the rest of this journey takes me and to have you join me along the way. Thank you, all of you, for everything.

Happy Birthday to The Found Recipe Box!

Finding Inspiration in Cookies: Springerle

2010-11-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been in a creative rut for quite some time. I stare at my art supplies and all I can do is organize them and put them away. I open a journal and words can’t find their way to the page. I know that the cause of this stress stems from unemployment, but breaking through it is hard to do.

At the beginning of my unemployment, the situation gave me a reason to write. There was so much going on in my head, I had to get it all down to make sense of it. But this coming February will mark my 2-year anniversary of losing my job. I never thought it would last this long. The constant frustration of never hearing back from employers or interviewing and getting excited about the position only to find out I didn’t get an offer has taken its toll. Add to that the negative stigma surrounding the phrase “long-term unemployed” and harsh comments I’ve received about falling into that category have left me feeling scared, discouraged, ashamed and alone. I can’t even find respite in sleep. Instead of crashing into the pillow and retreating into the crazy dream world behind my eyelids, I lie awake pondering what possessions I can sell to pay the bills, wonder when things will turn around, and try to remember a time when I wasn’t so stressed out.

Writing down my thoughts used to help, but I’ve gotten sick of writing the same worries over and over. I’ve tried filling pages with nothing but words of encouragement, but then a setback will occur and doubt will lodge its destructive-self deep into my head, destroying all the hard work of those positive words. So I pulled out all of my art books for inspiration and turned to the work of my favorite artists to get my mind focused on creativity and hopefulness instead of stress and worry.

In my very first blog post, I mentioned the work of Dan Eldon, who is one of my greatest inspirations. I also spoke of him in my presentation to the Visual Journaling Collective in June. So I began to sift through his journal pages. Then I turned to the work of Keri Smith, another of my favorite artists. She has a book called “How to be an Explorer of the World” that I absolutely love. It is filled with ways to discover the world around you, interact with your surroundings, and truly pay attention to everything you see. She uses a lot of found objects in her work and since acquiring her book a few years ago, I am constantly looking for things, especially when I take walks with Murphy. I have quite a collection of random objects that I’ve discovered throughout our journeys. I also highly recommend her books “Wreck This Journal,” “This is Not a Book,” and “Mess.” Each is a journal with prompts on how to let your creativity go wild. For example, one page instructed me to fill it with dirt. I took one look at my dog who had just dug a hole in my yard and thought, “Perfect!” I ran over, grabbed his foot, wiped it all over the page and presto – art was made! For someone like me who is constantly struggling to “let go of perfect,” this was a big breakthrough.

The "artist" with his work

In an attempt to jumpstart my creativity, I signed up for two projects: The Sketchbook Project and Mary Ann Moss’ online class, Remains of the Day. However, I encountered the same block and struggled to get started. There is no deadline for my online class, but the Sketchbook Project needs to be sent back by January. The looming deadline added to the list of worries and as I flipped through pages of visual journaling books, my inner critic began to chant “you can’t do this, you’re no good!” Ironically, it was around this time that another of my favorite artists wrote a post on her blog about this very topic. Her name is Dawn DeVries Sokol and she recently released a book called Doodle Diary: Art Journaling for Girls. Her post (click here to read it) really resonated with me and with a copy of the Doodle Diary and another journal in hand, I sat on the deck with Murphy and began to doodle. I tried hard to block out any thoughts, just looked around and put lines on paper. It felt good.

But I knew there was something else I was missing, another inspiration looming out there that I hadn’t yet turned to. Walking into the kitchen to get a snack, it hit me like a brick – The Found Recipe Box. And I remembered a recipe that I had found the first time I flipped through the box. It was a name I didn’t recognize so I had to do a Google search to learn more about it. I dug into the box to retrieve it and as I pulled the tattered piece of paper out, I knew it was just what I needed.

The recipe is for Springerle, which are German cookies that have a design or picture on each cookie made by a special rolling pin. The designs usually have a theme and the images are meant to tell a story. I found many variations of the history of these cookies, but the common thread that runs through each is that they date back centuries (perhaps as early as the 14th century) and were originally pagan tokens of sacrifice. Since people couldn’t afford to offer live animals for sacrifice, they would stamp images on these cookies and offer them instead. Their purpose changed over time, but people still told stories with these treats. They later contained biblical tales, stories of knights, themes of fertility, and celebrated modern life. I found three translations for Springerle: little knight, little jumper and jumping horse (which is my favorite, of course).

Over the past year, I have been collecting Springerle rolling pins and now have four. The images are very different on each one and as I traced my fingers over the ornate designs, I realized how many stories on these pins were already represented in the blog:

A fish – for the stories of my grandfather and our fishing adventures together.

Cherries – for the trip Ryan and I took to Door County this summer.

A pecking bird – for the time that the birds tried to bore a hole in the side of my house (a feat which they are still trying to accomplish by the way).

I dove into the process of making these ancient cookies and I knew just the people I had to share them with: my poetry group. This burden of a creative block has left me unable to write poetry in months, so I knew if anyone would appreciate the attempt at edible creativity, it would be them. The batter itself is not difficult to make. Rolling out the images onto the batter, however, is a whole other story. It took several attempts to get even one useable design, but soon I had a process (which included a lot of flour) and my cookie sheets were filling up with tasty tales.

They were left to set overnight and the next day I placed the sheets in the oven. The dough is rolled pretty thin, so I was surprised to see how puffy the cookies were after baking. Images came to life and I imagined that each one was packed with possibility. They taste almost like a combination of a sugar cookie and shortbread, but are a little chewier than either of those cookies. I tried to find anise seeds and eventually located them, but they were quite expensive so I opted to leave those off my cookies. A variation my poetry group and I agreed might be worth a try would be to dip the bottoms in chocolate (have I mentioned that we’re all a bunch of chocoholics?).

After facing my fears and acknowledging my creative block, I knew it was time to do something about it. My inner critic had already assaulted me with the worst insults imaginable so there was nothing worse he/she could say. It was time to shut off that destructive voice and listen to my own. What makes the fear and anxiety of unemployment so difficult to deal with is the lack of control over the situation. But with writing and art, all I have to do is turn off the editor and let intuition guide my hand across the page. I finally started Mary Ann Moss’ Remains of the Day online class. And if she wasn’t all the way across the country in LA, I’d drive to her house and hug her. I have been a big fan of her journals for quite some time and watching her videos for the class, seeing her process, and listening to her say “there is no such thing as a mistake” and “trust your intuition,” has opened the floodgates on my creativity. I’ve turned off the television (which became a crutch recently, a way to escape from all the stress for a while) and have spent hours at my art table surrounded by paper, fabric scraps, ribbon and even my sewing machine (I once wrote a post about my fear of the sewing machine, so this was quite an accomplishment for me). I’ll be sure to post pictures of my creation when it’s completed!

Tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary of the creation of The Found Recipe Box blog. I have a special post planned, complete with a celebratory recipe. I can’t believe how far I’ve come (and how much I still have left to do!). But there is one thing that I’ve been able to count on during the past year – that no matter what the situation in my life might be, there has always been a recipe in the box that accompanies the story. It truly is a magical little box, and I’m constantly reminded of the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and how the character Molly found her inspiration from a block of wood (I have a post about that too, click here to read it). And this recipe was no exception. Only, this time, it had an added bonus. Not only did it help to tell the tale, but it spun a few of its own. Looking at all those delicious little cookies, I couldn’t help but start writing stories in my mind for each of the characters that had been carved into the dough. Before I started writing this blog, I attempted to start writing a story. It, too, got stuck. But while staring at all those yummy morsels on the counter, I got an idea of where the story should go next. And suddenly, The Found Recipe Box was front and center of the story. In case I need a little extra inspiration, all I have to do is turn over the Springerle recipe card. There’s a portion of a letter on the other side!

Who knows, maybe someday it will turn into a book. But for right now, I’m just having fun seeing where it will take me. For once, that uncertainty has a positive side. And creativity never tasted so good.

A Tricky Treat: October Birthday Cake – Chocolate Cake De Luxe (For Roz)

2010-10-29T17:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was National Chocolate Day, one of the greatest holidays ever invented (in my opinion) and the perfect day to unveil the October birthday cake of the month: Chocolate Cake De Luxe. I consider myself a pretty extreme chocoholic; it takes a lot for me to deem something “too chocolaty.” But I have to admit that this dessert truly lives up to its name and is one of the most decadent chocolate cakes I have ever tasted.

There are three different kinds of chocolate: the cake itself, the middle layer of frosting and the outside frosting. I completed the first two components with relative ease, but the outside frosting required a bit of patience and finesse. Of all the things I’ve attempted this year, surprisingly, frostings have given me the most trouble.

The cake and middle layer of frosting

The first batch was a bust. I was rushed and didn’t give the mixture the attention it needed. The second attempt was a success, but I had used all of my unsweetened baking chocolate squares in the first try so I had to improvise. Semisweet would have to do. It worked, but it also fell quite short of covering the entire cake. So I was on to my third batch. Again, I was running out of chocolate so I finished up what I had of the semisweet and also threw in some German baking chocolate. I, of course, tasted all three batches and was pleasantly surprised at how well the different chocolates worked together. They weren’t too sweet and the flavors blended instead of competing with each other. The next step: decoration.

The New Party Cakes For All Occasions booklet offers several suggestions for Halloween decorations for this cake. I was running short on time, and after the struggle I had just to frost the cake, I decided to make the decorations simple. I opted for a single, large Jack-o-lantern on the top of the cake.

The recipe for this cake wasn’t printed in the New Party Cakes booklet; I’ve run into that problem with a few of the other monthly birthday cakes. But luckily I had a copy of the card in the box. It was one of the cakes I had considered making for my presentation to the Visual Journaling Collective at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts back in June. The coordinator of the group, Roz, is like me and is not only a huge fan of cake, but also of chocolate. As soon as I pulled the card out for the October birthday cake, I instantly thought of Roz.

At our monthly Visual Journaling Collective meeting a few weeks ago, Roz talked about something that really resonated with me and hasn’t left my mind since her words touched my ears. We were discussing topics for our 2011 meetings and she mentioned that she wanted to provide opportunities for us to draw at every meeting. There were a few groans, and I have to admit, even my heart fluttered at bit at the thought, but she went on to explain why it was so important.

Drawing, she said, causes us to pay more attention to the world around us. We are more present in the moment, notice little things we tend to overlook otherwise, and truly interact with our surroundings all through the power of observation. She went on to emphasize that skill level doesn’t matter, it’s the habit of continuing to put pen or pencil to paper that counts. Skill will be developed through practice. You just need to keep doing it.

I thanked her for saying that after the meeting, it was something I really needed to hear. I’ve been creatively blocked for a while (something I will be writing about in my next post) and her words immediately implanted themselves in my heart. I always feel better when I’m creating – whether it is through art projects, writing or cooking – and this block has been truly frustrating.

I thought back to Halloween of last year and remembered how I spent the evening. My husband was at the University of Minnesota football game, so Murphy and I were on our own to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. While I waited between doorbell rings, I sat at the kitchen table with The Found Recipe Box and a journal. I hadn’t started the blog yet, I was still deciding what I wanted to do or if I was going to do anything at all. After sorting through all the cards and laying the framework for my spreadsheet of recipes, I opened my journal and started to sketch the box. Then I pulled out colored pencils and added some color to the page. I wasn’t particularly happy with the drawings, but it felt absolutely amazing just to participate in the act of creating.

Roz, thank you for your constant inspiration and encouragement, it means the world to me. I owe you two chocolate cakes: one you can eat and one you can hang on your fridge. Perhaps the latter I will create this year while I wait for trick-or-treaters and put myself into a sugar coma while enjoying a piece of this decadent cake.

I encourage everyone to find that activity that makes you more present in the world and makes you feel alive. It could be drawing, meditation, or even cooking. And I hope you all have someone like Roz in your life that will encourage you to keep working at it, even when you feel like you don’t have the strength to consider the idea. If you need some more encouragement to get going, I have a special recipe to offer inspiration that I’ll be posting soon. I hope it helps! And if you need a little energy boost along the way, whip up a Chocolate Cake De Luxe. But I have to warn you, this cake should come with the same warning as alcoholic drinks – enjoy in moderation – because this chocolaty concoction really packs a punch!

Even Murphy could smell that this cake is trouble!

All-In-One Thanksgiving Dinner: Chicken & Stuffing Casserole

2010-10-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

As the days get shorter and colder, more and more signs that the holiday season is quickly approaching begin to pop up everywhere. Stores are already decorating for Christmas. Reminders to order your Thanksgiving turkey are in grocery stores and farmers markets. And when we were visiting friends last weekend, their 5-year old was already watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special on DVD (I had to applaud her for that one, it’s one of my favorites and always makes me happy, no matter what time of year I see it).

But the cooler temperatures and leafless trees trigger more than the desire to bundle up, they also stir up cravings for comfort food. One of my favorite types of comfort food is casseroles (or hot dishes as they are typically called in Minnesota). So after I closed all the windows and flipped the switch for heat in the house, I dove into the casserole section of The Found Recipe Box to see what I could find. And I found just the recipe to get us all in the mood for the upcoming November holiday: Chicken & Stuffing Casserole.

This is yet another very simple recipe to prepare: throw some chicken breasts in a baking dish, cover them with Swiss cheese, stir the stuffing mixture, pour it over the top of the chicken, and then throw it in the oven. The hardest part is waiting the two hours for it to bake. But it was well worth the wait. Upon first bite, my husband and I both agreed that it tasted just like Thanksgiving dinner. The only thing missing was a side of cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie (or perhaps pumpkin chiffon pie – either version 1 or version 2 from The Found Recipe Box). The only change we’d make is to skip the Swiss cheese layer the next time.

If you’re looking for a way to get into the spirit if the holidays without stepping foot into a store that is all lit up and that bombards you with the smell of cinnamon pine cones, pop this dish into the oven. Soon your home will be enveloped in the aroma of Thanksgiving and even the first bite will warm you up enough to ward off the winter cool down for just a little longer. It’s a great way to enjoy all the senses of the season without all the stress that comes along with preparing a full Thanksgiving meal. And if that doesn’t put you in the holiday mood, pop in the Charlie Brown Christmas DVD – it always fills my heart with that warm, loving light of the season.

First Taste of the Season: Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

2010-10-20T10:10:00.001-05:00

I am happy to announce that canned pumpkin is back on the shelves at the grocery store! Halloween decorations are popping up all over the neighborhood and to celebrate autumn, and the return of canned pumpkin, I decided to make the first pumpkin pie of the season.

When we bought our house, I was excited to be able to decorate the outside for all the holidays. Since fall is my favorite season, I took particular interest in jazzing up the house’s curb appeal with pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks. However, my excitement was short lived when I discovered what a ruckus the décor would cause among the local squirrel community. They began by scaling the corn stalks in search of leftover ears, which they then threw to the ground and began to fight over. But that was only the beginning of the commotion. Next, they set their sights on my pumpkins. They chewed a hole into the side of each pumpkin, large enough for their rotund little bodies to fit through, then sat inside the bulbous food pit and ate it from the inside out.

The decorations before the squirrels found them

A view through the window - if you look closely, you can see a tail protruding from the pumpkin

Post squirrel pumpkin carnage

There was only room for one fat squirrel at a time so some serious fights ensued at the front door of the “restaurant.” These brawls were often so loud that it sounded as if they were taking place in a ring right in the middle of my living room. This, of course, drove the dog nuts. From his perch on the ottoman beside the front picture window, he barked and growled with such gusto that I knew it was only a matter of time before he crashed through the glass to join the scuffle. Needless to say, that was the end of the autumn decorations in the front of the house. In order to keep peace in the neighborhood, the pumpkins were discarded and the cornstalks dismantled.

But, there is a way that I can enjoy pumpkins every year without the disruption of rodent and canine confrontation – pumpkin pie. There are three versions of the pumpkin chiffon pie recipe in the box. I made one last year for Thanksgiving and it was my first introduction to this fluffy and extraordinary pie. I have always been a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but the chiffon version just might be my new favorite variety of this traditional dessert. This version on the second card from the box is deliciously rich, it’s as if the spices all gather hands and do a little square dance right there on your tongue. And the filling itself is so light and fluffy that it leaves you feeling refreshed and satisfied, not stuffed liked the Thanksgiving turkey.

I actually had enough filling to make two 9-inch pies: one with a traditional crust and the second with a graham cracker crust. Murphy was excited because this meant that the second pie would become a special delivery to his best friend next door, our neighbor Wayne. As soon as he looked at the pie, Wayne’s eyes filled with tears. “I love pumpkin pie,” he said, “and I just had my first piece of the season tonight at dinner.” Then he lovingly clutched his gift in his hands and went inside to find a special place for it in his fridge.

As we walked away, my eyes, too, filled with tears. This project has come to mean so much to me over the past year. Not only has it given me the chance to learn so many things about cooking and heirloom recipes, but the act of writing about them has also given me the chance to see the process, and my life, from a different perspective. But for as wonderful as that experience has been, nothing beats seeing the glow on someone’s face when you hand them something you made especially for them from scratch in your kitchen. It seems like such a simple act, but sometimes, that little thing can mean the absolute world to someone.

The holiday season is quickly approaching, which means schdules will soon be packed and time will feel as if we’re living in fast-forward. Before life gets too crazy, I encourage you to head to the kitchen and make a tasty treat for someone special in your life. Baking will momentarily take you away from your hectic day and the simple act of giving your creation away will fill multiple hearts with joy.

It’s too bad that squirrels and dogs can’t cook or this would be a valuable lesson that could also be shared with Murphy and his bushy-tailed friends. Perhaps if they could sit down together and share a pumpkin pie, it would prevent any further cage matches from occurring on my front step. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep the pumpkin decorations safe inside the house. At least Murphy gets to share his pumpkin pies with Wayne, I know that brings joy to both of their hearts.

Sucking the Last Juices From Summer: Individual Peach Dumplings

2010-10-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

Technically, it may be fall, but in the Twin Cities the past week or so has felt like summer. Last week we even had temperatures in the 80s for a few days. If it wasn’t for all the bare trees and leaves piling up in the yard, you’d think we were still making our way through the summer months.

All of these warm, sunny afternoons have left me craving those delectable summer treats and when I dove into the box to find a recipe to satisfy my taste buds, I came out carrying a pamphlet for Colorado peaches. The pages contain several different peach recipes, but as soon as I made my way to the store and discovered how hard the fuzzy summer fruit would be to find, I decided to settle for just making one…if I could ever find fresh peaches.

One afternoon, Murphy and I began to make the rounds of all the local grocery stores in search of the main ingredient. Finally, at our last stop, we discovered a heaping pile of beautiful autumn-colored peaches. And they just happened to be from Colorado – how fitting! The smell floating up from the mound of ripe fruit was intoxicating and was the perfect match to the blue skies and rising mercury outside.

After selecting a few, I returned to the car where Murphy was patiently waiting for me to return and lower the windows so he, too, could soak up the last drops of summer as we drove home.

Ryan and I decided on the Individual Peach Dumplings, which just might be one of the easiest recipes I’ve made from the box so far. After rolling out the dough, cutting up the fruit, sprinkling it with cinnamon sugar, salt and butter, we tucked the dumplings into large muffin tins and popped them in the oven for half an hour.

Luckily, the time passed quickly and soon we each had our own little peach pie sitting on a plate coupled with a fast-melting scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Inside view

This is one of those recipes that remind us that food doesn’t need to include exotic ingredients and preparation doesn’t need to be labor intensive in order for the dish to taste absolutely delicious. These little dumplings are simple to make for one or two people or would even be great for a small dinner party. If you can still find peaches, I highly encourage you to give this one a try. Especially if you’re in an area like the Midwest where these beautiful days are in short supply and soon we’ll be shoveling that dreaded white stuff (I can’t even bring myself to say the word…snow…yuck).

Here’s my recommendation: take a plate with your individual peach dumpling and ice cream out to the deck, enjoy it with friends, family or your four-legged best friend by your side and take a moment to let it all soak in. Absorb the remarkable autumn colors, the smell of fallen leaves, the feeling of fresh fall air on your skin. Soon the peaches will be gone and the trees will all be empty, but the memory of that one perfect moment will last forever – or at least until the nice weather returns and you can make more memories (and more peach dumplings!).

A Chocolate Do-Over: Chocolate Cake

2010-10-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

I apologize again for the delay in posting. My mom came to visit and we were busy running all over the Twin Cities in search of antique treasures (more on that to come). Then I got knocked out with a cold that kept me prisoner on the couch for several days and left my head in a near constant haze. But I am slowly on the mend and eager to get back into the kitchen!

The thing about being sick is that it leaves you with that feeling at the end of the day of being behind. I know I was sick and needed to rest, but I still felt like there were so many things that needed to be done and I didn’t accomplish any of them. Most importantly, I left another huge gap in posts on the blog. We’ve all had those days – the ones where you wish you could rewind and start over from the beginning and maybe, just maybe, things would go differently.

There are experiences in the kitchen that leave us with the same longing for a do-over. A few weeks ago when Ryan and I went down to visit friends and their new baby, I had planned on making a chocolate cake from the box. Only, when I began to pull ingredients from the cabinet, I realized that I was lacking one main ingredient – cocoa – and didn’t have time to run back to the store to pick more up so I had to switch to the Southern Fudge Cake (which proved to be a very delicious substitution). This taught me a valuable lesson: even when you think you have everything you need, double check before starting a recipe...just in case.

During a recent trip to the grocery store, I restocked my cocoa supply and decided it was time for a recipe do-over. This chocolate cake, when you have all the ingredients, is very simple to make. I chose to do cupcakes instead of a cake and I have to admit, I didn’t make the frosting on the card. I cheated and bought a can of pink frosting with funfetti (I love that stuff! It makes whatever you sprinkle it onto look “happy.”) Everyone who tasted these cupcakes agreed: this is possibly the most rich and moist cake anyone has tasted. And I suggest having a fork close by, even if you make the cupcakes. They can be quite crumbly, but in a very delicious way!

It would be nice if every day had the opportunity for such a rich and tasty do-over. But at least now I have a recipe to pull out for those days when nothing seems to be going right. I guess the moral of the story is: when it all appears to be crumbling away, pull out your fork and enjoy all those delectable morsels. Because things are always a little better when chocolate is by your side.

Take the Long Way Home: September Birthday Cake/Brown-Eyed Susan Cake

2010-09-29T17:17:00.001-05:00

This weekend we traveled to Illinois to celebrate my dad’s birthday. This is such a beautiful time of year – the leaves are just beginning to change and the landscape seemed to glow all the way through Wisconsin. As Ryan steered us through the illuminated scenes, I stared out the window seeking inspiration from the autumn palette. Listening to the hum of the tires on the road and counting rows of pine trees in structured groves along the side of the highway, I realized that every ounce of the experience reminded me of my dad.

Some of my earliest memories are of cruising around in cars with my dad. He has always had an affinity for “cool” cars, especially the classics, and I can’t remember a time in my life when there wasn’t a car sitting in our driveway that made men salivate and my mom threaten to put a “for sale” sign on it. Much to my mom’s dismay, I inherited the car gene and was always intrigued by these vehicles. When I was little, I’m not sure if it was the car that was so fascinating or the fact that it meant uninterrupted time with my dad that was the appeal. But I’ll never forget the feeling of driving around town in my dad’s dark green Trans-Am with the windows down, letting the summer air swat my hair into tangled knots, listening to songs that will forever be embedded into my heart, and looking over and smiling at my dad. Ironically, the songs that are the most dear to me from that time are on Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” album – how fitting that food is mentioned in the title.

My dad’s family used to have a cabin in a little town in northern Wisconsin called Crivitz. Not far from the cabin is a county park with hiking trails that lead to a river whose main attraction is a set of waterfalls, the one I remember the most being Dave’s Falls. Every trip, my dad and I would drive over, hike the area and hang out at the falls. He’d regale me with stories of his childhood adventures in Crivitz while we hiked with pine needles crunching underfoot and the sound of raging water pounding against rock in the background. On the drive home, we were usually so tired that we let the Wisconsin scenery lull us into an inspired silence.

When I was old enough to drive, I learned that those car rides with my dad had had more of an effect on me than I ever imagined. If I had a bad day or was plagued by something that I needed to think over, I found that driving was the solution to calm my nerves or still my mind enough to think things through. But even when I was alone in the car, my dad was always with me. I’d drive the routes he took me on when I was a kid, listen to the music we listened to together, and remember the stories he told me about his own childhood. It didn’t matter what car I was in, it was the act of being behind the wheel, hearing the hum of rubber against asphalt, and feeling the wind against my skin that instantly drew pictures of my father in my mind. And driving home to celebrate his birthday, in the middle of the state where we had many outdoor adventures together, I realized that after all this time, driving still had the same effect.

For the celebration, I chose to make the September Birthday Cake of the Month: a Brown-Eyed Susan Cake. At first, I wasn’t sure my choice was the appropriate match for my dad, but as I mixed batter, created the different flavors and constructed the cake, I knew it was perfect. This is a marble cake with one flavor being chocolate and the other having a hint of orange. The colors immediately reminded me of the current autumn season and the golden hue of the orange-flavored batter made me think of those Wisconsin landscapes that have drifted past my eyes for so many years. Then, as I dropped spoonfuls of batter into the cake pans, I was taken back to Dave’s Falls – the orange cake being the leaf-stained water of the river and the chocolate being the boulders the water constantly clobbers.

The first layer of the cake

The chocolate frosting layer in the middle of the cake

The cake, completely frosted and topped off with chocolate shavings

The best part of cooking at my parents’ house is the three helpers I get in the kitchen with me.

My helpers: Nell, Dorie & Sage

Unlike Murphy, who pretty much stays out of my way, these three are never far from my feet, anxiously awaiting a handout or for a morsel to fall on the ground. This makes cooking both interesting and very dangerous (I’ve nearly fallen over them several times). This time however, the only thing that fell to the dogs was flour as I greased the cake pans and they weren’t too interested in that.

"My" dog Dorie all decorated with flour

Cooking, I’ve come to realize, has a similar effect on me that driving does. It is an act that calms the mind, takes me to another place, and brings back a lot of memories. Certain recipes can evoke just as strong an emotion as driving down the roads of my childhood. However, I’m not sure which is the cheaper trip down memory lane – gas may be expensive, but with the amount of cooking I’ve been doing lately, the grocery bills are starting to add up!

When I was in high school my grandmother (my dad’s mom) passed away and we had to sell the cabin in Crivitz. But on a camping trip several years ago, some friends and I went river rafting not far from the area. One afternoon, I pulled out all those memories of my dad’s cabin and retraced our steps. Somehow, I was able to find the house and even made it to Dave’s Falls (which, thanks to the internet, was a little easier to locate). Standing in front of the hunter green cabin and staring at the lake behind it made me long for those days of being a kid in the seat next to my dad, driving down the road without a care in the world. The world has gotten a lot more complicated since those days, but it’s comforting to know that all I have to do is get behind the wheel, turn on Supertramp, let the wind dance through the car and magically, I’ll be transported back in time. And as I started to get swept up in my emotions standing in front of the cabin that used to be ours, I did just that. At the time, I had a Jeep Wrangler (a car that, to this day, I still regret getting rid of). With the top down, I crunched back down the gravel road and out onto the rural highway where I got lost among groves of perfectly placed pine trees and memories of a man whom I love with all my heart.

Thanks dad, for everything. I hope you had a great birthday! I look forward to our next road trip, even if it’s just a quick run to Starbucks. We’ll need to listen to Supertramp and do as they suggest…take the long way home.

Welcoming Autumn: Sugar Cookies

2010-09-23T16:00:00.001-05:00

Last night at 10:09pm the seasons officially changed from summer to fall, although, around here it has actually felt like fall for the past few weeks. The temperatures have been dipping into the 40s at night – which would be great sleeping weather if my dog would stop stealing the extra blanket I threw on the bed! And the colors of the leaves are fading fast, creating a layer of camouflage across the back yard the color of a Golden Retriever, perfect for Murphy to hide in while sneaking up on his squirrel enemies and completing his mission of destroying every pinecone that falls in the yard. There are piles of pinecone carnage everywhere.

Last weekend, Ryan and I went to our last Minnesota Stars soccer game of the season. A few weeks ago when we went, it was blazing hot and we were trying to find ways to cool off. This time, we were desperately seeking hot chocolate and even brought a blanket to sit on and save our tender summer bottoms from the chilled aluminum benches. Before each game, we gather with a large group of other dedicated soccer fans and cook out. It seemed that everyone was celebrating the end of the season because instead of the typical burger patties and hot dogs, the grill was covered in homemade Juicy Lucys (a burger with the cheese on the inside), fresh salmon filets and our contribution, wild rice brats (it was our culinary way of cheering for the home team). To accompany our fancy brats, I also made the Classic German Potato Salad I saw at the cooking demonstration at the Mill City Farmers Market this summer. But I knew I had to also make something from The Found Recipe Box as well. It needed to be a toast to the sweetness of summer, but also something that complimented the crisp fall air and also packed well for a picnic. As I flipped through the cookie section, I found just the thing: Sugar Cookies.

These cookies are not the kind for frosting; they are light and airy and practically crumble to bits in your mouth with each bite. They remind me of those brittle autumn leaves that Murphy and I trudge through on our daily walks that audibly deteriorate beneath our feet and release that distinct aroma of the season.

The top of the recipe card says that it makes 11 or 12 dozen. There was no way I needed that many cookies so I cut it in half, which actually yielded only about 3 dozen cookies. But there was also a mystery ingredient listed that required some research. Well, by “research” I mean scanning the card, sending it to my mom, and asking her opinion, which thankfully provided quick results (thanks mom!). It appears that the ingredient listed is “ole.” But my mom suggested it was supposed to be oleo, which is margarine. That’s what I went with and after sampling both the batter and the final product, I believe my mom was right.

The final step for making the cookies is to press the batter balls down with a sugared glass before placing them in the oven. With the first batch, I forgot to do this step until two minutes before they were done cooking, at which time I promptly removed them from the oven, pressed them down and let them finish cooking. This batch ended up being a little chewier and didn’t fall apart as much as the others. Also, they kept their shape better. So if you prefer a chewier, softer sugar cookie, I suggest trying this.

The cookies were a hit at the game. And to top off the night, the Stars won, giving them a chance to move on to the playoffs. Walking back to the car, wrapped up in a blanket and with my hands shoved into my pockets that were full of cookie crumbs from sneaking a few into the stadium, I couldn’t believe that fall was already here. A few weeks ago we were roasting at the Minnesota State Fair and now we were bundled up and taking bets on when the first snow storm would hit. It’s amazing how quickly time flies by, sometimes as fast as a plate of sugar cookies at a soccer game. But as I rolled the crumbs around between my fingers, I reminded myself that winter would (hopefully) go by just as fast and pretty soon we’d be gearing up for a new season of soccer and outdoor BBQs. That’s only a few months away; I’d better start thinking planning a menu!

Delivering Bundles of Joy: Southern Fudge Cake & Strawberry Chiffon Pie

2010-09-15T16:20:00.001-05:00

The other day, while wandering through the aisles of the grocery store with a grumbling stomach and rising level of agitation at not being able to find anything (they’re currently renovating so everything has been moved to a temporary location that the search into a game of “Where’s Waldo”), I started to pay more attention to the people around me rather than the food. Sure, there were those who were just as frustrated as I was that a ten minute “quick” run to the store had turned into a quest more daunting than Frodo’s trip to Mordor (my husband is a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan, I haven’t yet read the books, but the story still keeps finding its way into my life regardless). But then I noticed something else: the bleary-eyed, glazed-over look that seemed to have taken possession of so many of the faces around me. Many grabbed aimlessly for meals in a box or frozen bag that required little to no preparation. Others seemed totally disconnected from the experience all together and as their arms reached out to grab items and toss them into the cart, I wondered if they would even remember doing it when they got home and unloaded their bags.

After locating the few items I needed, I made my way back to the growing lines at the checkout. Instead of scanning tabloid headlines like I usually do to waste time in line, I began to contemplate how much thought we actually put into the food we make. So many of us are too worn out at the end of the day to care enough to put our few remaining scraps of energy into a well-planned, home cooked meal. To be honest, until I started this project, I didn’t pay as much attention to my weekly menu as I do now. Before, my husband and I planned meals that would provide enough leftovers for the rest of the week or, if we hadn’t had time to run to the store, we’d piece together the remnants of the freezer, fridge and pantry until it resembled something edible.

I recently read the book “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake” by Aimee Bender. It’s a story about a girl who, when she eats something, is able to feel the emotions of the person who made it. Ever since I finished the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl’s talents. Every time I made a meal I wondered what she would be able to tell about me from tasting the food. And as I stood in line watching the other customers who were either impatiently pacing or were complete zombies staring into the depths of nothing, I wondered what their meals would taste like when they prepared them at home.

That weekend, we were visiting friends who had just arrived home from the hospital with their third child. We offered to bring down dinner and, of course, desserts from The Found Recipe Box. I asked them to give me a list of their favorite types of dessert so that I could match them up with my recipe list. And I was happy to find two that seemed to match their tastes perfectly: Southern Fudge Cake and Strawberry Chiffon Pie. With the image of the zombie clan from the grocery store and the main character of “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake” in my mind, I made sure to focus on love and happiness while I was preparing the two desserts. But, I would soon discover that it is entirely possible to overthink a meal.

After arriving at our friends’ house and visiting with their beautiful new addition to the family, we sat down to dinner, which was promptly followed by dessert. The unveiling of the desserts garnered a positive reaction from the audience, which included a 5-year old and a 2 ½ year old. And after dishing out pieces of each to everyone, it was time to start collecting feedback. Usually this process involves either my poetry group or just my husband and my dog, Murphy (who rarely dislikes anything). This was the first time I had children as taste testers and I was excited to hear their response, because typically, kids will tell you exactly how they feel about everything. Even if it’s not the reaction you were expecting.

First up was the strawberry chiffon pie. I actually had two of these because the filling made enough for two 9-inch pie crusts. I chose to add some variety and used a standard crust for one pie and a graham cracker crust for the other. We only cut into the graham cracker crust, which I felt was a nice complement to the light, sweet pie filling. The adults all agreed that the filling reminded them of a Dairy Queen strawberry Blizzard. The 5-year old described it as jiggly and yummy. But when we asked the 2 ½ year old what she thought, she responded, “It smells like poop.” At first we were shocked. Then we howled with laughter. After a few moments, we realized she was sitting next to her new little sister who was in need of a diaper change. We tried to explain the cause for the smell, but the girl couldn’t be convinced. Eventually, she dipped her finger into the gelatinous filling, but even after tasting the sweet strawberry flavor, she wouldn’t take a bite of the pie.

So we moved on to the Southern fudge cake, which is actually more like a very moist, dense brownie than a cake. I chose not to frost it and instead dropped a dollop of the homemade whipped cream on top that we also used for the pie. When asked how she liked the cake, the younger girl enthusiastically nodded her head up and down in approval. Her older sister giggled, but agreed with her that this dessert was very yummy. The adults were also in agreement, but it came out more as a muffled, “mmmmmm” as they shoveled bites of the decadent chocolate cake into their mouths. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again.

I recently took a Food Writing class to learn more about the genre and get some inspiration for blog posts. One of the activities we spent a lot of time focusing on was descriptions of food and how to find unique and interesting ways to describe a meal. But as I sat watching the two young girls devour their desserts and listened to their comments, I couldn’t help but realize that I had overthought the entire meal. I spent so much time pondering the process of food preparation and how I would uniquely write about it, that I forgot about the most important part: the time we spend enjoying the meal. So often I sit for many long moments at my computer, fretting over the “perfect” word to describe something I’ve made. I imagine that as I stare hypnotically at my screen sifting through words in my mind, I must resemble the zombies at the grocery store that I spent so much time staring at just days before. And as rumbles of laughter still reverberated through the kitchen from the “poop” comment, I accepted that sometimes words like jiggly and yummy just happen to be the perfect way to describe a pie or cake.

I learned a lot that afternoon. I think it’s important to get out of our heads sometimes when we feel stuck and there’s nothing better than listening to a child’s interpretation of the world around them. They have such a creative and unrestricted way of looking at things. To them, there is no box that requires thinking outside of, they just think. I envy that their minds are so free. I think I need to recruit them more often to be taste testers – so girls, if you’re up for it, you’re hired! Just send me a list of your favorite food items. And next time, we’ll make sure that the baby’s diaper is fresh and clean before we start eating.

Saying Goodbye to Summer: August Birthday Cake/Banana Cake

2010-09-07T14:43:00.001-05:00

The end of August is a bittersweet time in Minnesota. On one hand, the sudden appearance of school buses practicing their routes through neighborhood streets is a reminder that school, and the end of summer, are right around the corner. But on the other hand, we have the Minnesota State Fair to look forward to. A few years ago, my family came up to attend the State Fair for their very first time. They instantly fell in love and it has been a tradition ever since. And this year was no exception.

At the first hint of summer, my mom began asking when they’d release the list of new food items for the fair this year. It’s always exciting to see the unique ways people invent to prepare and serve food (did you ever think you could eat an entire Thanksgiving dinner in one glorious lump served on a stick? Well you can!) We had to wait for what seemed a lifetime, but soon enough the papers and news programs began to discuss the latest foods to be deep fried and skewered. The hot item this year was camel on a stick and it was instantly placed at the top of our “to-try” list. After weeks of collecting articles, mapping out where our favorites were being served and crossing the days off the calendar, my parents finally arrived and it was time to hit the fair. Here are the photos of everything we tried along with our reviews:

The first stop we made was at the Midtown Global Market to try the infamous camel on a stick. We hadn’t planned on that being the first thing we ate, but it was near the entrance and we didn’t want to risk being too full at the end of the day to order it.

The nice thing about going with a group is that you can share a little bit of everything you order, which is especially helpful when you’re trying something new and aren’t sure if you’re going to like it. As we passed along this lump of exotic meat, we unanimously agreed that we didn’t enjoy it. My mom instantly spit it out, but Ryan, my dad and I hung in there a little longer. The meet was ground, but was pretty chunky and somewhat grisly. I’m not even sure what to compare it too. It tasted a little more “gamey” than your typical hamburger, but the spices used to flavor the meat were too overpowering for me. It came with a zesty mustard sauce that didn’t help to cover the flavor of the meat. Perhaps we aren’t adventurous enough eaters, but this one wasn’t going to become a favorite item that we order every year. I’m glad we tried it, but it was time to move on to other foods.

Camel on a stick

Next on the list was my dad’s all-time favorite: pork chops on a stick. He looks forward to this stop all year long. My parents and Ryan all gave these an enthusiastic two thumbs up. My mom even bought the seasoning and tried to recreate them at home, but said it just wasn’t the same as the fair.


Ryan, my dad, and my mom with their pork chops

Pork chop on a stick

The day we went to the State Fair, the temperatures were expected to hit the upper 80s, perhaps the low 90s and be coupled with soaring humidity levels. We went in the morning to take advantage of the early day coolness, but even after walking around for about an hour we were already pouring sweat and very thirsty. Last year we were intrigued by a sign offering Beergaritas, a combination of Leinie’s Honey Weiss beer and frozen margarita mix. They were surprisingly tasty and refreshing. And with the constantly rising dew points, refreshing was sounding pretty nice. So the next stop was at the beergarita stand, which was conveniently located next to the stand selling beignets. While my parents and Ryan indulged on their frozen refreshments, I went next door and got us an order of the wonderful fried dough.

A Beergarita

Although I’ve heard these aren’t exactly like the traditional beignets, they are still quite delicious. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with fried dough covered in powdered sugar can you? And when you’re splitting an order with three other people, it’s a little easier to justify the caloric intake, which I have to say is totally worth it. These are one of my favorite treats at the fair.

Beignets

Once we were cooled down and loaded with deep-fried calories, it was time to see some of the other attractions the fair has to offer. One of my favorite events of the day was the bee building where we learned about the different types of honey and even saw a cooking demonstration.

The recipe was for Honey Cole Slaw and after having a taste, everyone agreed it was one of the best cole slaws they had ever tried. We also received a handout with several honey recipes, including the cole slaw. If you’d like to try it, here it is:

Honey Cole Slaw
½ cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp honey
¼ tsp onion powder
4 cups grated cabbage
2 Tbsp vinegar (she used apple cider vinegar)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp celery seed

Combine all ingredients except cabbage. Pour over shredded cabbage and mix well
(Cathy Rufer ABF Auxiliary Cookbook)

Next we went to get our yearly State Fair favorites:

Hush Puppies, which are always great every year

A Wild Rice Hamburger that wasn’t as good as it has been in past years, it was actually very tough this time around

Caramel apple in a bowl: hot, gooey caramel + crispy, juicy apples…need I say more?

The corn was crispy, juicy and delicious!

And Ryan’s favorite: a Pronto Pup, which is similar to a corn dog, but with a slightly different batter.

And speaking of pups, we couldn’t go to the State Fair and forget about Murphy! Yes, even the dog got a treat on a stick. A vendor in the pet area was selling 2-for-1 dog biscuits on a stick (a rawhide stick). Even though Murphy was sad he couldn’t join us for the fun, he appreciated that we thought of him and brought a treat home for him to enjoy.


Dog biscuits on a stick

Murphy is a big fan of the biscuits!

Where did it go?

This year my dad decided to be adventurous, I think starting off with camel on a stick inspired him. After years of passing up alligator on a stick, he decided this was the year to finally try it. Sadly, after only a single bite, he threw the anemic looking sausage link into the garbage. The look on his face said it all and he didn’t even have to answer our questions of, “So what did you think?”

My dad before eating the alligator on a stick

On our way out, we made a point of stopping in the Dairy Barn. Every year, one lucky lady is crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way as part of the Minnesota Dairy Princess Program. In addition to the prestigious title and crown, she and the members of her court also gets their faces carved into butter. Now this isn’t a little chunk of butter like the lamb mold you put on your dinner table at Easter, this is a 90-pound block which requires the sculptor and model to sit inside of a glass-walled refrigerator for 6-8 hours. It’s quite an artistic feat. And every year we forget to go see it. So this year, we kept reminding each other, “We need to go see Princess Kay!” Seeing the carvings in person was just as awe-inspiring as I imagined.

And last but not least, our final stop on our way out of the fair was at Sweet Martha’s Cookies. This is a tradition for many State Fair visitors and Sweet Martha’s consistently has a long line. You can either order a cone of cookies or a bucket, which although is more expensive, is also convenient because you can put the lid on and safely carry your cookies home. Regardless of which you order, the servers pile the cookies on high so you get a towering heap of cookies that is well worth the price you pay for them. Sadly, this teetering tower isn’t always easy for people to control as they maneuver their way back through the line and the ground is littered with crushed cookies that didn’t make the trip. But the ones that survive and end up in your mouth are sure to offer you a truly euphoric experience. These are honestly some of the best cookies I’ve had – warm and gooey, fresh from the oven, and sure to leave at least some chocolate dribbled across your face or hands.

A heaping tower of delicious Sweet Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookies

But out eating adventures weren’t over yet. In addition to the Minnesota State Fair and all the fabulous area restaurants we hit while my family was in town, I also shared a special cake from The Found Recipe Box. The August Birthday Cake of the Month was supposed to be a Watermelon Cake, but when I looked in the New Party Cakes booklet, it wasn’t there. So instead, I chose an old family favorite: Banana Cake. One summer in Door County, my aunt purchased a banana sheet cake from a local bakery that was supposed to be for dessert. But it stayed out on the kitchen counter all day and every time someone passed by, a little chunk went missing. Needless to say, by the time dinner rolled around, there wasn’t much of the cake left. However, the next morning, we awoke to discover my aunt had made a special trip to the bakery to get another one. Ever since then, we have been searching for a banana cake recipe that would be as good and I was excited to put this one to the test. This version is a 2-layer cake so it isn’t as easy to pick at as the one we had as kids, but I made sure to make one thing consistent: the frosting. The Door County cake had a rich cream cheese frosting that melted in your mouth. For my version, I used my new favorite recipe for whipped cream, cream cheese frosting and it worked perfectly. After delivering each slice, Ryan, my parents and I all took a bite and instantly fell in love. This cake is moist, rich and wonderfully smooth. And despite all the fried, heavy food on a stick we ate earlier, this cake was a delicious and savory treat to end the day.

Banana Cake

Every year I’m sad to see the doors to the Minnesota State Fair close. There’s something magical and adventurous about those two weeks. They are packed with people watching, a plethora of exotic food options, and opportunities to pet horses and see all the other farm animals. The end of the fair also means the end of summer and our temperatures have already taken a turn to the cool side. But I also know that it will all be back next year and until then, I have plenty of recipes in the box to keep me warm and open the doors to all kinds of exciting new adventures.

Trying to Beat the Heat: Fort Atkinson Gingerbread

2010-09-03T13:56:00.001-05:00

August was a hot month in Minnesota. There were several times when our heat index rose to the 100+ degree level. On a couple of those weekends, I was shocked to hear that Ryan’s soccer league wasn’t cancelling games and my super-dedicated husband willingly played in that oppressive heat. At least he’s a goalie so he could hang back and watch as his teammates risked heat stroke for the thrill of the score. Murphy and I played it safe and stayed home, tucked inside in the cool comfort of central air.

I decided to dive into The Found Recipe Box in search of some relief from our summer heat wave. Ironically, I flipped right past all the frozen desserts, the puddings and the fruit recipes and for some reason, was drawn to the gingerbread. There are two recipes for gingerbread in the box and they have always piqued my interest. I’m a huge fan of gingerbread cookies, but have never tasted a loaf of actual gingerbread, so I chose the card for Fort Atkinson Gingerbread and began to gather ingredients.

Unfortunately, this recipe required turning on the oven, but the word “gingerbread” conjured sweet memories of the Christmas season, little white flickering lights, and a blanket of snow over my backyard that seemed to instantly cool me down. More of these memories flooded my brain as I pulled ginger and cinnamon out of the cabinet. There’s something about that combination of aromas that instantly transports me to my parents’ living room where a tree is brightly decorated and even though he no longer works, the talking Teddy Ruxpin bear from my childhood still ceremoniously takes his place beneath the tree waiting to tell holiday stories to children.

Among that list of memory-inducing ingredients is molasses and as soon as I began to pour the viscous liquid into the batter, I was instantly reminded of the Joe Frogger cookies I made in December. This batter is nowhere near as thick and my hand mixer wasn’t at risk for breakage, but the way the mixture inflated with the addition of the molasses and that distinctive smell reminded me of those wonderful gingerbread cookies.

Joe Frogger Cookies

Once the batter was completed and placed into the hot oven to bake, it was time to focus on the lemon sauce. The recipe on the back of the card calls for an egg and, although it is cooked over a double boiler for 15 minutes and the fact that the eggs at my grocery store are safe, the recent egg recall made me a bit weary to serve this particular version to friends. But, this provided me an opportunity to dive into the pile of recipes I’ve pulled out of magazines over the past few months and give one a try. The January 2010 issue of Southern Living featured a recipe for Lemon Hard Sauce with Gingerbread, which didn’t require an egg for the sauce (click here for the recipe). As soon as the tang of fresh lemon hit my nose and mixed with the sweet smell of the sugar, I wondered what the combination of those flavors would taste like with gingerbread. Would it be too sweet? Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

When serving the gingerbread with the lemon sauce, the bread needs to be warm. Not necessarily hot out of the oven, but warm enough to allow the sauce to melt and seep into the nooks and crannies of the bread. I tried the gingerbread both with and without the sauce and although it’s good either way, I really enjoyed it with the sauce. The combination of the sweet, tart sauce with the rich, dense bread is truly divine. I know I keep saying this, but this recipe is one of my all-time favorites from the box. The bread was so moist and the flavor was full without being overpowering. I will definitely be making this recipe again during the holiday season. And despite having to turn on the oven, I’m glad I chose the gingerbread for relief from the heat. Not only did I find a delicious new treat, but recalling some of my favorite family holiday traditions led me on a search to discover that Teddy Ruxpin is making a comeback. Perhaps this year for Christmas, as the adults indulge on gingerbread and Christmas punch, my nephew can listen as Teddy tells him some of the same stories my brothers and I grew up hearing as kids. I see this becoming a new tradition: gingerbread served alongside a holiday story told by a talking bear beneath a twinkling tree.

Be Back Very Soon!

2010-08-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

I apologize again for the long delay in posting. The laptop died, completely this time (hard drive, OS, and motherboard all went kaput) and the desktop decided it no longer appreciated its promotion and rejected all new responsibilities. But we just bought a new computer and it's being set up as I type this! I'll be back online very soon and I'm excited to share some delicious recipes and a full recap of my trip to the Minnesota State Fair (complete with photos of everything we ate)! Thank you for your patience!

A Door County Excursion: Fresh Cherry Cobbler

2010-08-22T18:25:00.001-05:00

Once again, I apologize for the delay in posting. My laptop died and this time could not be revived. While it is out being diagnosed for potential repair, I spent the week convincing my 10-year old desktop to accept the software for my scanner and camera. After hours of persuasion, it finally accepted the challenge. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it enjoys its new role and continues to chug along.

Now that I’m finally up and running again, I can share my adventures in Door County, WI. My husband and I made the trek across the state of Wisconsin last weekend to attend a family reunion. I was excited to see family I haven’t seen in years, introduce Ryan to this beautiful area, and also to indulge in some of my favorite Door County treats.

As with most gatherings, the weekend involved a lot of eating – from snacks to savory dinners to mouth-watering desserts. But my favorite part wasn’t just devouring the food, it was the conversations surrounding the dishes and sharing recipes for them. I’ve always enjoyed discovering new recipes, but since I’ve started this blog, I’ve come to truly appreciate the traditions, history and memories associated with each one. As I promised to pass along the recipes for the tortilla roll-up appetizer and tomato/avocado/mozzarella dip I brought, I mentally tagged each card with the faces of my family and the backdrop of the sun setting over the gently rolling lake in the background. Another recipe that was eagerly sought after was my aunt’s famous chocolate caramel brownies, one that I was lucky enough to inherit when I purchased this recipe box (the owner had a version very similar to the one my aunt uses). However, I did beg her for copies of her spaghetti sauce, beef & gravy, and mushroom noodle recipes.

Tortilla Roll-Ups

Tomato/avocado/mozzarella dip

Every time my family travels to Door County, there is a stop we simply can’t pass up: Bea’s Ho-Made Products. Although they have a variety of pies, our favorite is the blueberry. We get one (or more) for everyone to share that weekend, then place an order to pick up pies on our way out of town to take home and enjoy later. I sadly haven’t been to Door County for many years and was wondering if Bea’s blueberry pie would be as good as I remembered or if during my years of absence, I had built up the memory in my mind into something divine and untouchable. But immediately upon placing the first bite in my mouth, I was assured my memory served me correctly and the pie was truly one of the best I had ever tasted.

The Door County peninsula is famous for their cherries. Signs for cherry farms, cherry desserts or cherry jams and jellies are scattered all along the roads driving up and down the narrow strip of land. Unfortunately, Ryan and I never stopped to pick up a bunch. But when I got home, I knew I had to make a cherry recipe from the box in honor of our trip. The recipe I chose was Fresh Cherry Cobbler. The most time consuming part of this entire recipe is pitting the cherries, but otherwise, it is quite simple to make. Once the cherries were pitted and cooked in a bath of water and sugar, I transferred them to the baking dish where butter and an unexpected ingredient were added: cinnamon.

While the mixture cooled, I made the batter for the topping then dropped it over the cherries in spoonfuls.

Pre-cooked

Fresh out of the oven

I wasn’t sure what the combination of cherry and cinnamon would taste like, but this cobbler is a wonderful treat for a summer afternoon. The cake-like topping drinks up the cherry liquid and each bite is complete with the wide range of flavors and textures. The dessert is great on its own, but you might want to try serving it with whipped cream or even vanilla ice cream just for an added treat.

I hope that I will be able to travel to Door County again very soon. After spending several days staring at the expansive lake and rugged bluffs, I can’t believe I went so long without visiting one of my favorite vacation spots and seeing family that I love so much. When we were kids, my family used to stay with my aunt, uncle and cousins in their cabin up there at least once a summer. When it came time to leave, I always got that pang in my chest and my eyes welled up with tears; I was just never quite ready to leave. That feeling isn’t something you only experience as a child, it returned as my husband and I were making the rounds to say goodbye on our final day. But we vowed to return soon – for family, for fun, for relaxation and, of course, for blueberry pie. Maybe next time, we’ll break out of our routine and try something different. Perhaps even the pie Door County is famous for: cherry.

Savoring the Memories: “I Remember” Baked Beans

2010-08-10T16:29:00.001-05:00

It always amazes me how smelling a dish baking in the oven or the first bite of a favorite food can flood my mind my memories, some that I haven’t recalled in years. Sometimes, however, it’s even easier than that. The mere mention of the name can send me back in time. For instance, fried chicken will always remind me of summers in Pensacola, FL and going to the now defunct Hopkins Boarding House for fried chicken dinners. It was the best I’d ever eaten and my whole family was really disappointed when we learned they were closing down.

And peanut butter sandwiches, the staple of every kid’s school lunch, will always remind me of my grandmother and the way she used to make them when I was little: two pieces of white Wonder bread (each one slathered in real butter), a heaping layer of peanut butter was added to each side, then it was all topped off with a generous drizzle of honey. Looking back, I sometimes want to cringe at the utter unhealthiness of this concoction, but it still gives me that warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy when I think of it because it just tasted like my grandmother and no one could replicate the way she made peanut butter sandwiches.

When I pulled the recipe for “I Remember” Baked Beans out of the box, I had a very similar experience. My mind instantly filled with memories, one very specific which I didn’t even know was locked away in my brain. I hadn’t gathered the ingredients for the recipe yet, nor had I inhaled the aroma of baking beans. It was simply the name printed on top of the old magazine cut out. I thought of my parents, of the first house we lived in when I was a small child, and of my Uncle Mike.

My mom has a baked bean recipe that apparently was quite a favorite of my uncle’s. During the summer, he’d request it for BBQs, family gatherings or just the ordinary Saturday afternoon. I don’t remember ever eating it, I don’t remember what it smelled like, in fact, all that pops into my head is his love for those beans and the crock pot my mom used to cook them in. I can picture it, clear as day, sitting on the counter in that tiny kitchen. It was the classic 70’s color combination of a burnt orange exterior and chocolate brown ceramic interior. I can picture myself standing in that cramped room, staring up at the laminate counter and watching the crock pot magically cook the beans that would make my uncle’s day.

We moved out of that house the summer after I finished second grade, but the room comes back to life as if I just left. About two years after we moved, my uncle passed away, but he too springs back to life in my mind whenever I read the top of that recipe card. I love that about food, the way it preserves memories as if it’s making a fossil in your mind out of smell or taste or sound. When my uncle died, I tried so hard to replay the sound of his voice every day in my head so that it would never leave me. I collected things that I knew were his in hopes his smell would be permanently embedded into the items. Some smells and sounds fade away, but others become triggers to memories that, when recalled, make you feel warm and protected like a childhood safety blanket.

As I gathered the ingredients for this recipe, I imagined my mom all those years ago doing the same thing. Ironically, I got to cook these beans for my family, in my mom’s kitchen. It was a different house, a different counter and a new crock pot, but the nostalgia flooded back just the same. Only this time I was actually tall enough to see the beans inside the crock pot instead of only watching from the outside. My uncle may not have been there in person, but his spirit was definitely present and mingled in with the aroma of baked beans.

A recipe box is so much more than just a collection of cards with ingredients and instructions. It’s a scrapbook, a family history, a map of generations of people that shows where they came from and where they’re going. I wonder what this recipe meant to the original owner of the box. I wonder what caused her to grab her scissors and cut this out of a magazine. Did she have memories of a lost relative tied to that scrap of paper? Where did she go when the smell of baking beans and brown sugar paraded around her nose? The next time you’re flipping through your recipes trying to decide what to make for dinner, slow down. Carefully read each card. Let the memories float off the paper and take you on a trip through time. I hope you enjoy your journey.

Solvitur Ambulando: July Birthday Cake/Merry-Go-Round Cake

2010-08-06T23:58:00.002-05:00

I’m back online!

I apologize once again for the delay in posts. My computer died last week. I checked e-mail in the morning, walked away to do something and when I came back, it was sleeping. Only, it was in such a deep sleep, I was unable to awake it. The lights on the keyboard were illuminated, but it just didn’t want to do any work. I tried restarting it. Same result. I checked the power cord. Nothing. The next step was to panic. All I could think about were all of my documents that were stranded on the hard drive. I wanted nothing more than to throw them a life raft and save them. My photographs and poetry and attempts at writing a book were all drowning in a sea of technological uncertainty.

After the initial wave of panic washed over me, I was hit by another ripple of anxiety-ridden thoughts: I couldn’t post to the blog, I couldn’t check e-mail or Facebook, and web searches were nowhere in my near future. I decided I needed to step away from the comatose machine and clear my head. So Murphy and I headed out for our daily walk.

As I’ve mentioned before, there is nothing athletically redeeming whatsoever about our walks. Murphy is much more interested in smelling every square inch of the route than he is in elevating his heart rate. Typically the only workout I get from these adventures is perhaps some stretching and the resistance training of pulling my 75 pound dog away from light poles, stop signs, patches of grass, etc… But that day, I had a lot on my mind and I caught myself zoning out a bit as he stopped to smell the usual spots. At one point, I realized we had been stopped at the same light pole for several minutes; all the while I was lost in the cascade of negative thoughts flowing through my mind about possible outcomes for the computer. I forced myself out of my head and took a moment to watch my dog. And what I noticed amazed me.

Murphy is meticulous in the way he investigates a spot. His nose travels up and down each blade of grass and his brow furrows with intense focus. He reminds me of the way I must look when I’m at an antique store searching through the piles of trinkets trying to find my treasure. He’ll stay like this for minutes on end until he is satisfied that every bit of information has been gathered. Then, he’ll leave his own mark by lifting his leg. By the end of the walk, he is merely going through the motions because his bladder is dry and he has nothing left to leave.

I decided I needed to be a little more like Murphy and for the rest of the walk I paid close attention to my surroundings. I listened closely to the cackling caws of the crows and quickly realized that they had a wide range of calls, not just the ca-caw sound I was used to hearing. In fact, at one point, it sounded as if they were actually trying to talk to Murphy and me using human language. I tried to identify other birds on our walk and even saw a goldfinch. They are regular attendees to the birdfeeder at my parents’ house and I was excited to see one on my own turf. I also took notice of the landscaping in my neighbors’ yards, saw plants I’ve never noticed before, and was amazed at the palette of exotic colors in each garden.

When I got home and looked at the sleeping computer, it hit me how much I let it control my life. Even though I don’t currently have an 8:00-5:00 desk job, I sit in front of the computer most of the day constantly refreshing e-mail in case a new one comes through, obsessively checking jobs boards, scanning the headlines in all the news websites so that I’m aware of everything going on in the world, and scrolling through the newsfeed in Facebook to see what my friends are doing. I’ve been so concerned about the lives around me, that I’ve neglected checking in on my own. It’s so easy to get lost in the technological world that sometimes we need reminders to step away and rejoin the world right outside our door.

The more I thought about it, I couldn’t even remember the last time I scanned the night sky for shooting stars or rode the merry-go-round. So, while the computer took an extended nap, I headed to the kitchen to remedy that problem. There might not be a merry-go-round close to my house, but I could make one. And that’s just what I did.

The birthday cake for the month of July was a merry-go-round cake. Before the computer crashed, I looked up pictures to get decoration ideas. There were some amazing cakes online and I quickly realized that I didn’t posses the cake decorating skills to duplicate these intricate pieces of art. But there was an art form with which I am very familiar, even if it’s not edible (well, most people don’t eat it I guess) – paper. After stocking my kitchen with the necessary ingredients, I went on a hunt to find the other items for my cake. At Party City I found the animals, which turned out to be mostly safari animals with a moose to represent Minnesota and a polar bear thrown into the mix. And from my ever-expanding paper collection, I found two patterns which I felt would be a good match to the animals that I could use for the canopy.

The top of the canopy

Underneath the canopy

While the cake was in the oven, I retired to the basement where I have my art room. After experimenting with several designs for the paper canopy, I chose a circle the diameter of the cake, then cut it into pie pieces and supported it with lollipop sticks (purchased at JoAnn Fabric). Sitting at my craft desk working on the canopy felt really good and I realized how long it had been since I’d worked on art projects. I made a mental note to reacquaint myself with my art supplies then went back upstairs to decorate the cake.

The cake itself is a white cake, but it appears more light and spongy almost as if it were a white cake/angel food cake hybrid.

The frosting included with the recipe is a rich, chocolate frosting, not boiled, that matches the taste of the cake perfectly. When I made the frosting, it was a little thin so I added an extra ½ cup of powdered sugar and that seemed to do the trick.

Once the cake was frosted, it was time to decorate it. The lollipop sticks were attached to the paper canopy top with push pins, then gently inserted into the cake. When it was firmly in place, it was time to match up the animals and position them in the merry-go-round.

After it was all complete, the basic chocolate-frosted cake had been transformed into a fun and exciting animal adventure. It wasn’t the most beautiful or exotic merry-go-round cake I’ve ever seen, but it was fun to make and staring at it reminded me of carefree, whimsical childhood afternoons.

That weekend, my husband and I were provided with another opportunity to take a walk when my car died about two miles from our house, leaving us stranded with recently purchased pasta salad and a full tank of gas that we had just filled for the lawn mower. This is the third time in three months that my car has done this and, of course, mechanics can provide no explanation. We pushed the car to a safe location then began the long, hot trek home. The first few minutes were spent cussing out the car, along with any and all technical problems we had recently endured. But then we started talking about happier topics, began taking notice of things along the path we had only ever driven by and never been close enough to actually see. I was reminded of Murphy and the way he carefully inspected every spec of the path we walked on. Aside from Ryan constantly having to shift the gas can between arms as one went numb and my choice to wear flip flops that morning, it was a pleasant walk and forced us to take the time to have deep conversation rather than talking at each other in passing as we rush from one daily task to the next. Two hours later, after my car had time to rest, we drove Ryan’s car back to gas station and sure enough, my car started on the first try.

This week, the computer also decided to wake up from its deep slumber. All the data was quickly dumped onto an external drive. Although it isn’t completely working at full capacity and has a tendency to throw a tantrum and shut itself down at times, it’s useable. I’ve been bouncing between my temperamental laptop and my 10+ year old desktop that takes approximately 15 minutes to switch between programs (if it will do it at all). But the combination of the two has me back in business and I’ve just needed to learn a little patience in order to deal with my ailing machines.

Once the car was tucked safely in the garage and the laptop was in the process of backing up all of my data, Ryan and I sat down to a generous slice of merry-go-round cake with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream. Remember how I said this cake looks light and airy? It isn’t. It’s dense and moist and utterly delicious. The combination of cake + chocolate frosting + ice cream made me feel like a kid again, a final reminder in a long week of wake-up calls to hold onto that feeling where everything is new and exciting and an adventure.

I was recently introduced to the Latin term solvitur ambulando, which means “it is solved by walking” (some translations I found were slightly different in wording, but mean the same thing). I found this serendipitous encounter with this ancient phrase to be the final cog in my wheel of lessons for the past two weeks. I felt the universe was trying to send me a signal to slow down, take a step back and truly be aware. I guess I didn’t realize how disconnected I was from myself until I became technologically disconnected from the world around me. Of course, now that the computer is back up and running and I have an internet connection again, I’m reading the newspaper online and checking e-mail constantly. But I’m remembering to listen to the crows as they attempt to learn human language and when Murphy stops to smell every light post along our walk, I take that time to take a deep breath, try to identify the flowers blooming in the neighborhood gardens and keep that feeling alive of riding in circles on fiberglass merry-go-round horses.

I may not have solved all the world’s problems during the walks I’ve taken in the past few weeks, but at least I feel that I’m finally walking through the world with my eyes wide open. And the other night, I took the time to sit outside with Murphy and stare into the night sky. As I watched the million-year old flickering lights and tried to recall the names of the constellations, I saw a shooting star briefly blaze across the black sky. I haven’t seen a shooting star in years and was so excited that I completely forgot to make a wish. Then I realized I didn’t need to, that seeing the brilliant streak of light was itself a wish come true. But just in case I still had time to get a wish in, I quickly sent a message to the sky that a new computer and a reliable car would be pretty nice too, but promised not to let go of the lessons the universe had thrown in my lap over the past few weeks. Although I appreciate all the opportunities to apply solvitur ambulando, I’d prefer to do it on my own terms and not when my computer or car decides to leave me stranded.

Farmers Market and a Backyard Party: Creamy Fudge Sundae Pie

2010-07-27T16:40:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I finally made it to the Mill City Farmers Market in downtown Minneapolis. If you have a chance to stop by one Saturday morning before they close in October, I highly recommend it. Not only do they have great fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers, but you can get ground buffalo, fresh baked bread, honey, beautiful flowers, woven goods, hear live music, and even see a cooking demonstration.

The Mill City Farmers Market

Next to the honey tasting (I’ll get to that in a minute), the cooking demo was my favorite part of the morning. We got to see local chef Nick Schneider prepare salads that would be perfect for a picnic or a potluck dinner. The two he made were a classic German potato salad and a beet, chevre, raspberry and pecan salad (both recipes will be on the Mill City Farmers Market website until Friday – click here – or you can contact the chef at the email address listed on the site). The German potato salad recipe was interesting because he didn’t use any mayonnaise, but instead created a vinaigrette out of sautéed bacon and onion mixed with red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. Instead of being a thick, heavy salad, it looked light and refreshing and the color of the red potatoes mixed with the bright green of the parsley and chives in the bowl was quite beautiful.

More intriguing, however, was the beet salad. Before Saturday, I had never in my life tasted a beet. I had no idea how to prepare them, what texture they had once you bit into them or even what their taste could be compared to. But after watching the chef prepare this stunning salad, my friend Hilary and I decided to take on the challenge or making it for the BBQ we were having at my house later that evening. Not only were we curious as to what a beet tasted like, but we were mesmerized by the magnificent color of this salad. We had never eaten something such a beautiful shade of fuchsia before in our lives. We had to try it. So after the demonstration, we collected all the ingredients from the vendors at the farmers market.

You can see the bright pink beet salad in the bowl reflected in the mirror above the table

On our way out, we had to stop for fresh baked bread and the most beautiful bouquets of flowers (that were only $6!). And then we hit the Ames Farm honey stand. I knew I wanted to get a jar of local honey, but I never expected the decision of which one to choose would be so hard. I learned that there is more than one flavor of honey. In fact, they had about ten different flavors to choose from. Each flavor came from a single source (a different type of flower) and had a very distinct flavor. A couple of the flavors we sampled were basswood and dandelion. It was amazing how different they were. The basswood was soft and light and carried a hint of a mint flavor. The dandelion was much darker and had a heavier taste. It was a more intense honey and much sweeter than the basswood. After going back and forth, I decided on the basswood. Next time, however, I think I’m going to get the variety pack, which includes several small jars of the different flavors so you can try them all.

That night, Hilary and I got together with two other friends for a BBQ/collaborative dinner. We had quite the extensive menu and after catching up for quite awhile, it was time to get down to business. The main portion of the dinner was grilled salmon which was prepared with a fish rub. Although the rub stained the fish red with spices that made me think of BBQ or Creole, it had a much tamer taste and the spices worked really well with the natural flavor of the fish instead of overpowering it. Side dishes included a salad of green leaf lettuce, mint leaves, cucumber and feta cheese. I would never have though to put cut up mint leaves in a salad, but it was a great addition and just enough to add a different mix of flavors without being too strong. It was an interesting contrast to the sharp bite of the feta and the soft leaves added a nice mix of texture next to the crisp lettuce. We also had popovers (the recipe from The Found Recipe Box) and grilled zucchini. And for an additional side, Hilary and I put together the beet salad we had seen at the Mill City Farmers Market.

After the beets are steamed and cut up, it really doesn’t take much time at all to assemble the salad. Seeing as how neither of us had ever tried a beet, we were a little hesitant to pop these shocking pink clumps into our mouths. But I was pleasantly surprised at how good the salad was. This salad runs the full gamut of flavors, from the rich, earthy flavor of the beats to the bitter citrus bite of lemon, then back to the sharp taste of the chevre and finishes up with the lovely sweet kiss of raspberries. Best of all, are the bites when you’re lucky enough to include a toasted pecan on your fork. We used some of my grandfather’s pecans for this salad, so it was an extra special side dish to our dinner.

Unfortunately, I was so excited to see my friends who I haven’t seen in a long time and we were so busy talking and cooking that I completely forgot to take pictures of all the wonderful food! I apologize, especially for the beet salad because it was absolutely exquisite. But hopefully you’ll be intrigued by the description and you’ll make the salad for yourself (if you can’t find the recipe on the Mill City Farmers Market site, let me know and I’ll send it over to you).

To top off the evening, we had a dessert, of course, from The Found Recipe Box. As a treat to combat the hot weather, I made a frozen dessert: Creamy Fudge Sundae Pie. It’s really quite simple to make and if you like ice cream cake (especially the one from Dairy Queen), then I think you’ll love this dessert. I put the vanilla wafers in the food processor, but I’m not sure that’s necessary. The recipe instructs to just fill the bottom of the pan with the crumbs, but there’s really nothing to hold them together so when you scoop out a piece of the sundae, you’ll need a spoon to make sure you can gather up all the crushed wafers to go with each piece. The chocolate layer in this sundae pie is absolutely incredible. It’s a rich, mouth-watering chocolate flavor so if you don’t like a heavy chocolate taste, you might not enjoy it. But for those of you who are like me and can never OD on chocolate, this is quite a treat. My favorite part was the crushed peppermint candies on top. They are the perfect addition and truly complete this dessert.

There is also a Heavenly Fruit Torte recipe listed on the bottom of this card, but I didn’t make this one. My friend Christine also brought a homemade plum pie (yum!) so we had more than enough sweets. But if you make this recipe, please let me know and be sure to send a picture of your creation! I’d love to hear how it turns out.

Making the Rounds with Rhubarb: Popular Rhubarb Cake & Rhubarb Dessert

2010-07-25T17:54:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, this summer has gotten busy and I’ve fallen behind a bit. But I promise to catch up this week and I have some great recipes to share!

I have to admit, I’m not a fan of rhubarb. But when a friend handed me an armful of green and red stalks from her garden few weeks ago, I knew it would be a great opportunity to share more recipes from the box. Aside from all the learning experiences in the kitchen and eating great food, sharing the recipes with friends and family is one of my favorite parts of this project. I knew that all that rhubarb would go a long way, especially since I don’t eat it.

I chose to start with the Popular Rhubarb Cake and the Rhubarb Dessert. The first step was to clean and chop up the rhubarb. I quickly learned that not only do I not like the taste of those Christmas-colored stalks, but I also don’t care for the smell. I cut up the amount I needed for both recipes as fast as I could and moved onto the next step, which smelled much better: the batter.

The cake reminds me of a coffee cake or a breakfast crumb cake and smells quite similar while baking. The cinnamon masks the odor of the rhubarb very well. Once it was removed from the oven and cut into pieces, aside from the bits of red coloring dotted throughout the cake, you’d really never know the rhubarb was in there. I was even brave enough to try a bite and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. I’d try making it again, but instead of rhubarb, I think I’d substitute for strawberries or blueberries.

The dessert won me over as soon as I realized that the bottom layer is shortbread. I love shortbread. And this recipe is also very easy to make and doesn’t take much time at all once the rhubarb has been finely chopped. I had to try a bite of this one as well and was again surprised at how good it was. The shortbread definitely helped and I think the combination of flavors complimented each other well and as a result, the rhubarb wasn’t overpowering. I believe you could also make substitutions for the rhubarb in this recipe. One of my favorite things to put with shortbread is raspberries so I may be trying this again sometime during the summer before they go out of season.

Although these two desserts aren’t large, I was able to share them on three different occasions. They went to my poetry group, to our neighbors (the ones Murphy delivered a birthday cake to) who love rhubarb, and they also made a trip down to Illinois to my family. I took the rest of the rhubarb stalks with me on that trip and had planned to make a shortcake recipe, but the weekend went by way too fast and was over before I knew it. I never made the shortcake and on the drive back to Minnesota, I realized I had forgotten the rest of the stalks at my parents’ house. Maybe, subconsciously, I left them there on purpose. I think I needed a break from rhubarb. But I told my parents to share them with anyone they know who loves the smelly stalks so hopefully they went to good use. I’ll have to save the shortcake recipe for the next time someone needs to purge excess rhubarb from their garden.

Murphy needed to inspect the package before it was delivered to the neighbors

A Golden Celebration: Pumpkin Cake

2010-07-18T20:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Murphy’s 4th birthday. His big present was spending the day at doggy daycare, or “camp” as we call it (he knows that word and gets very excited when he hears it). Camp is Murphy’s favorite place in the whole world. He recognizes the route we take to get there and starts shaking miles before we even pull in the driveway. Once we arrive, he makes a mad dash for the door, dragging me along behind him. After he says hello to the staff and they prepare him for playtime, he’s turned loose into the large daycare room with all the other dogs. And every time it’s the same scene: they open the door to let him in, he takes enough steps to barely get his whole body in the room, and then he falls down on the floor with all four legs up in the air. All the dogs take turns sniffing him to make sure he’s O.K. and when they’re done, Murphy bounces up and runs around the room hoping someone will chase him. Chase is his favorite game. Whenever my husband and I are doing yard work that involves rakes or shovels, Murphy taunts the gardening tools until we chase him around the yard with them. I can’t imagine what our neighbors think of this game.

Of all the presents Murphy received for his birthday, camp was definitely his favorite. He loves other dogs. I’ve often contemplated getting a second dog for him to play with, but that would double food expenses, kennel bills and the amount of hair collecting on my living room rug. Not long after we brought him home as a puppy, we discovered his infatuation with other dogs. At puppy class, Murphy paid no attention to either Ryan or me and focused solely on the other puppies in class. The first ten minutes were free play so the puppies could expel some of their extra energy with the intent that they’d pay better attention in class. For Murphy, however, this had the opposite effect. When it was time to get down to business, he would turn his back to us and stare at all the other dogs. One of the skills required to graduate from puppy school was to hold your dog’s attention for five seconds. That’s not very long, right? Well, we couldn’t even get Murphy to turn and look at us. We tried food. He didn’t care. He has never been food motivated (until you open a bag of shredded cheese or he smells the lid being removed from a rotisserie chicken). We tried toys. He didn’t even glance over his shoulder. We even tried different names when the teacher suggested that “Murphy” wasn’t the name he wanted to be called. Nothing mattered, nothing except all those other puppies who were so obediently staring into their owners’ eyes.

Needless to say, Murphy didn’t graduate. He went back for another round. Pretty soon, he towered over all the other puppies in class. But his focus never changed, all he cared about was breaking free and running around with his classmates. My frustration level escalated every week because not only was my dog not looking at me and failing puppy class, but this also meant that he wasn’t coming when he was called. That was a skill that wasn’t just a passing requirement, but vital for his future. The teacher eventually took pity on Murphy and sent him to the next level, but it didn’t change anything so we quit going. I hoped a little distance, and maybe some age, would help him focus. And it did, but not entirely.

A couple of years later, we signed up for a dog training class through our local community education program. Much to our utter shock and amazement, Murphy was the best dog in class. There was another Golden Retriever who could launch from a sitting position and jump straight up to kiss his owner square on the nose. As impressive as his vertical leap was, I constantly wondered if there was a fence that dog couldn’t jump over. The energy required to achieve such a task ran rampant through that dog and he never stopped moving, or barking. We stayed on the opposite side of the room. There were several dogs in class who liked to bark. And bark. And bark. But Murphy never took part in their shenanigans. Instead, when we weren’t working on drills, he curled up on the floor at my feet and took a nap. I couldn’t believe this was the same dog that only passed puppy class out of pity from the teacher. I even got him to hold my attention! And when he was on a leash in class, he would come when he was called! As exciting as this was in class, I couldn’t get him to do it at home. Maybe he just needed a little more time to mature. I hoped it wasn’t too much more time.

Because of his refusal to come when he’s called, Murphy doesn’t go to dog parks or places without a fence. We are very careful when we have visitors over and constantly remind them to keep the gate to the yard closed. Once a man doing work on the house left the gate open and let the dog out. Luckily, Murphy was so excited to see the man in our driveway that he went right to him and was easily grabbed. Now he’s either locked in his crate or goes to camp when work needs to be done. Camp, ironically, is one of the few places Murphy will actually respond to his name. I think it’s because he’s exhausted when he leaves and he’s ready to go home and sleep on the couch so he’s more willing to be captured and contained. Regardless of the reason, it’s always a good feeling to see my dog staring me in the eyes and coming to the sound of my voice.

Murphy has a taught me a lot over the years, but most importantly, he has taught me patience and perseverance. Dogs don’t change their behavior immediately. They need to be taught. And they need to be reminded, quite often. But on those days when we’re practicing out in the yard and he comes running at the sound of my voice, it’s all worth it. All those days of embarrassment and frustration in puppy class fade away and I’m left with the reward of hugging my dog and burying my face into his soft ears as I tell him what a good boy he is. When he was a puppy, he might have just been at that age when he was too cool for his parents and all that mattered were his friends (remember that age?). Now that he’s older and wiser, maybe he’s come to appreciate the importance of a big hug and kind words. We still have a long way to go, but at the same time, it’s nice to look back and realize how far we’ve come since he was a puppy.

You're never too big to sit in my lap...

...but it would be nice if you'd share the covers.

Cooking can be very similar to training a dog. You don’t always understand what you’re doing and things don’t always turn out the way you expect. But with enough patience and perseverance, you end up creating something you’re very proud of and it can serve as a mile marker for how far you’ve come in your journey. For Murphy’s birthday, I wanted to make a special cake for my special boy. And I thought it needed to match him in some way so I chose a pumpkin cake. But when I went to the grocery store to stock up on ingredients, I encountered an obstacle. Apparently there is a shortage of canned pumpkin. The shelves in the grocery stores where the cans of pumpkin typically reside are empty except for signs announcing their absence and hopeful return around September. I considered trying a different recipe, but had my heart set on a pumpkin cake for Murphy so I decided to keep on trying. After trying several stores and asking some friends if they had any cans stored in their pantries that they could part with, I finally found some cans of organic pumpkin at a local grocery store. Walking down the aisle and seeing those orange cans on the shelves gave me that feeling of Murphy coming when he is called in the backyard. I felt triumphant. So while Murphy was celebrating his birthday at camp with all of his friends, I set to work in the kitchen baking his special cake and wrapping his presents. I did make one change to the recipe however. Instead of the Raisin Brown Sugar Double Boiler Icing and the Raisin Sour Cream Icing, I made Cream Cheese Frosting (click here for the recipe). If you don’t like raisins or don’t want to take on the challenge of a boiled icing, this is a perfect substitution and this recipe made more than enough to frost a 2-layer cake.

When I arrived at camp that afternoon to pick up the birthday boy, he came running right to me. My heart melted. He was so tired from playing that he almost left without saying thank you to the staff for the great party and the presents they gave him (this place is awesome, I can’t believe they sent him home with presents! I love taking my dog to a kennel that truly understands how our pets are a part of the family and they give them the same love they receive at home…including lots of snuggles and birthday presents. No wonder Murphy loves camp so much!).

After he spent the afternoon resting on the couch, it was time for his second party. And more presents!

Murphy doesn’t care so much about removing the wrapping paper from the gift as he does snatching the present as soon as a part of it is showing and insisting on taking it outside to chew on.

He had several gifts to unwrap, but as soon as they were all uncovered, the new posse of toys was carried outside and introduced to the backyard.

Once the toys had passed initiation and were introduced to all his old toys (Murphy is very formal and likes to make sure everyone has been properly acquainted), it was time to come in for cake.

It smells good, but how does it taste?

Yum!

Ryan and I had to try it out first to make sure it was O.K. and then we shared a small piece with the birthday dog. He sniffed it out for a while, probably investigating this food that was the same color as him, and then dove right in. Since cheese is one of his favorite foods, I’m sure the frosting was the best part. As for Ryan and I, we fell in love with how moist this cake was and what a perfect combination it was with the cream cheese frosting. Every bite reminded me of autumn, changing leaves and cooler weather (a nice thought on a tropical day). Although it may have been a bit out of season, it was the perfect recipe to celebrate my pumpkin-colored dog’s birthday.

Happy birthday Murphy! During the past four years, you have brought such happiness, excitement, love and laughter into our lives. You have taught us so much, not only about raising a dog, but about ourselves and life as well. There is no better escape from the daily grind than curling up with you, snuggling my nose into the fluff behind your ears and smelling the sun and backyard on your fur. You fill my heart with joy. I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I can’t wait to celebrate many, many more with you. Maybe some year I can talk Ryan into getting you a puppy for your big present. Or maybe even a horse! And don’t worry, I know he keeps threatening to throw away some of your old toys to make room for the news ones, but I’ll protect them for you. It’s the least I can do in return for everything you’ve done for me. Well, with the exception of the holes you’ve dug in my backyard of course. But even that is worth it if it means I get to have you in my life. You truly are my best friend.

Learning to Improvise: Oatmeal Cookies

2010-07-13T14:48:00.001-05:00

Every so often, I’m reintroduced to the idea of choosing a song as your personal mantra. I love music, it’s a huge part of my life (I have a post I want to write about this, it’s just waiting for the right recipe). And a few weeks ago, it felt as if music was seeking me out to send me a message. I was listening to the radio in the car, which I don’t do too often because I usually listen to my iPod, and a song came on that I haven’t heard in years. It’s one of those songs that immediately transports you back in time and conjures up memories of big hair, summer vacations, and junior high sock hops. But once I sifted through those images, I began to hear the song in a completely different way.

REO Speedwagon was telling me to “Roll With the Changes.” And as I sat there and listened carefully to the lyrics, I knew they were right. When I lost my job, it threw me for a loop. All of a sudden all those plans that Ryan and I had for our lives were put on hold and the landscape of our future was changing. As time went on and the news about the economy worsened, I felt a dark cloud settle over my head and wondered when, or if, it would ever get better. And now, here I am a year and a half later still looking for work and still listening to dreary economic reports. But I’ve begun to ease my way out from under that dark cloud. I realized, a few weeks ago, when I listened to author Kate DiCamillo speak about stories and how they are all around us, that the combination of cooking and story telling is responsible for helping me take those small steps from beneath the darkness. They have both helped me learn to “roll with the changes” and even learn a little something from them along the way. The long holiday weekend over the 4th of July served up the perfect example of both.

A couple of weeks ago, we had to add an addition to the fence in our yard. We had been having some problems with the neighbor kids taunting Murphy and hitting him with sticks. My attempts at speaking with them proved fruitless. The tipping point was when they began spraying my dog in the face with an unknown substance. That weekend, a friend helped us install a corner privacy fence to protect Murphy from any further harm. Once the dog was safe, it was time to “dress up” this ugly fence appendage.

The back corner before the fence addition and yard work

We hadn’t been able to do much with the yard this summer until that weekend so the list was long, but included ideas on how to make the back corner look more appealing. There were bushes in another garden that needed to be removed because they had grown too large for the space, so we thought we might be able to use those near the new fence. And one of my favorite local greenhouses was having a sale on perennials so I was finally able to get some of the plants that had been on my wish list for the past few years to fill in the space the bushes would be vacating. We didn’t have any definite plans. We decided, instead, to just start working and see where it took us. The entire time, REO Speedwagon was cheering me on inside my head. And after several days of hard work, we were both very proud of what we had accomplished. Not only was Murphy safe, but the yard had been transformed into our own little backyard oasis. We even found an inexpensive bird bath/water fountain and can now listen to the soothing sound of water cascading down the levels while we sit outside and watch Murphy tear apart mulch (this is his new favorite activity).

The new fence after being "dressed up"

This is where the bushes used to be and these are the plants that replaced them

I love all the color in this garden now!

Murphy and his mulch

Murphy loving up the sod we put in to cover the huge hole he dug

The new bird bath/fountain

Between all the digging, planting, mulch distribution and mosquito swatting, we had a Fourth of July BBQ to attend. I offered to bring a recipe from the box. Originally I was ambitious and planned on bringing a cake or other intriguing dessert, but after all the yard work, something a little simpler sounded more appealing. I decided on oatmeal cookies. As I gathered ingredients and read through the instructions, I knew I had chosen the perfect card. The last line on the card says “use spices and flavoring as desired.” I rarely improvise when I make recipes. I can follow instructions and make a decent dish, but I just don’t have the talent to know what spices and flavors can be thrown together to create a culinary masterpiece. But when I read that line, I got goose bumps. Of all the cards I could have pulled from the box, I chose this one, the one telling me to improvise. Considering the activities occurring in the yard and the song that kept popping into my head, I knew I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect recipe for the weekend.

I wasn’t too adventurous. The only flavoring I added was 1 teaspoon of vanilla (I know, how boring). But that’s only because I chose to add chocolate chips instead of raisins. I want to make these cookies again and next time I’ll choose raisins because then I think they allow more flexibility to work with spices. I immediately thought of cinnamon, or perhaps even a dash of nutmeg. Now that I’ve acquired quite a collection of spice jars, I’ll have a plethora of options to truly make that batch of cookies my own special recipe. But as for the boring vanilla and chocolate chips…they were fabulous, and a big hit at the party, especially with the kids (cookies are an easy grab-and-run type of food that can be snatched and then eaten in the tree house away from prying adult eyes that send warnings of spoiling your dinner).

At the conclusion to the long holiday weekend, Ryan and I sat on the deck listening to the trickling fountain, admiring all the beautiful new plants, and smiling at our dog who was safely taking a nap in the middle of the yard. I considered the song that had gotten me through all the hard work and was reminded of another that keeps finding its way into my head that is just as inspiring. I first heard it on an episode of Bones and as soon as I did, I went directly to iTunes to download it. The song is “Keep on Trying” by Poco (another oldie, but goodie). The chorus to the song goes like this:

And I feel so satisfied when
I can see you smile
I want to confine in
All that is true, so I’ll
Keep on tryin’, I’m
Through with lyin’
Just like the sun above
I’ll come shining through
Oh yes I’ll
Keep on tryin’, I’m
Tired of cryin’
I got to find a way
To get on home to you

I have this song in my “Sing Out Loud” playlist for when I’m alone in the car (I DON’T sing in front of anyone, I’m terrible, but I love to do it). It’s one of those songs you feel in your bones when you belt it out from deep inside your diaphragm. I’ve always loved that line about the sun shining through and it made me think of how I’ve felt during the past year and a half of uncertainty. Put the two songs together and I think they make for a very strong mantra (hey, who says you can only have one mantra song?). Life never goes according to our plans and maybe that’s a good thing. If I hadn’t lost my job, I never would have started this blog and I may have kept letting the stories in the world around me slip away. But now, my eyes are open and my ears are tuned into the music coming across the airwaves. Who knows where it will lead me next.

For My Sweet Little Angel: Angel Cup Cakes

2010-06-30T20:59:00.001-05:00

A while ago, I mentioned my “other” dog, Dorie. Technically she’s my parents’ dog, but every time I go home and get accosted at the door, I’m reminded of the very special bond that she and I share. I’ve wanted to write a post about her for a while because she had a near brush with death, but thankfully pulled through and I’ve had several recipes put aside just for her (all of them with “angel” in the title). Then I remembered that I hadn’t yet posted the birthday cake for the month of June and quickly pulled out the Birthday Cake for Every Month card to check what was next. Ironically, the cake on the card wasn’t listed in the New Party Cakes for Every Occasion booklet so I’d have to choose another cake from the booklet to substitute. And I found the perfect one: Angel Cup Cakes.

Dorie celebrated her 10th birthday this spring and I’ll never forget when she was born. We had tragically lost our previous Flatcoated Retriever, Buck, and after his death we tried to contact his breeder to alert her of his passing, but couldn’t locate her. I went online to contact other breeders in the area to see if they knew how to find her. No one did, but they put me in contact with a woman who worked with the Flatcoated Retriever Society of America, Joan. I didn’t know it at the time, but Joan would end up having an incredible impact our lives.

I shared our story with Joan and told her of the amazing connection with had with Buck, of his seizures, how he ultimately went into one he never came out of and died with my mom and me by his side. She tracked his lineage, did research into his lines and tried to identify where, or if, epilepsy was ever in his family history. Afterward, she told me she wanted to find us a puppy. I explained that we weren’t ready quite yet, but we’d let her know when we were. Well, she was ready before we were because she contacted us again and told us of a litter in Tennessee, insisting that we bring home one of the puppies. They were offspring of one of her dogs, a dog that was as special to her as Buck had been to us. We couldn’t say no.

Before we were able to drive down to Tennessee to pick up our new puppy, we got another call from Joan. The breeder had passed away and her husband wanted to find homes for the adult Flatcoats, he didn’t want to continue breeding dogs without his wife. Joan had recommended that we be the ones to take the mom dog, Bonnie, as well as our puppy. Bonnie had been the breeder’s special dog, a bond my family completely understood, and we were honored that Joan choose us to take her. Keep in mind, we had never met Joan, she had never seen our home and didn’t personally know our previous dog. We had conversations over the internet and phone. But it was our true love for this very special breed that brought us together. And something we said about our love for Buck and how deeply his loss devastated us had resonated with her, sealing that bond without the need for a face to face meeting.

Dorie & Bonnie shortly after arriving at our house

We agreed to take Bonnie. Doing so was not only very special, but also heart wrenching. She looked longingly at her owner wondering why he was putting her into a stranger’s car. It was so hard to take this heartbroken dog away from her home, but we promised her owner that we would love her immensely and give her a happy life. And that’s just what we did.

Not long after she arrived at my parents’ house, Bonnie quickly bonded with my dad. He now had a relationship with her similar to the one my mom and I had had with Buck. And while those two were wiggling their ways into each other’s hearts, Dorie was doing the same into mine.

Dorie & Bonnie in their Christmas collars

Dorie was hesitant about life at first. She spent her first few days at our house buried beneath tables or hidden behind couches. We worried that she would never warm up to us. But soon, she began to explore her surroundings and us. She and I would go on adventures in my parents’ acre-long backyard. Beneath the huge weeping willow tree we’d search for bugs, mice and whatever else called the aging bark and loose dirt around the roots home. I’d watch as she’d hunt frogs in the small pond, snapping at the water and stepping in lightly, not caring that my mom was yelling at her (and me) from the deck to get out.

Dorie developed a special way of chewing on my arms to greet me and using her front teeth to carefully pinch the skin on my legs to get my attention. My mom told me that Dorie had decided I was one of her “litter mates.” I and one of my brothers’ friends were the only two people she did this to. As annoying as it could be, I also felt proud to be chosen as one of her siblings.

There are times when our pets can literally make our hearts melt and Dorie does it to me every time I go home for a visit. I’ll be sitting on the couch watching TV and I’ll hear a thump. Thump……..thump. Thump….thump...thump. I’ll look up to see her laying at my feet, staring at me with the most loving gaze and her tail slowing wagging faster and faster against the hardwood floor. When our eyes meet, it will turn to thump, thump, thump, thump, thump! At that point we’ll both get up, go in for a hug, and I’ll get a face full of dog tongue. Dorie isn’t big on hugging, she likes her personal space. But if you let her lick your face and arms she’s a happy dog.

Me & Dorie

Recently I’ve started to catch Murphy staring at me the way Dorie does. He’s more stealth about it though and doesn’t wag his tail. But the look in my Golden Retriever’s eyes is priceless and reminds me of my sweet dog Dorie every time.

When my mom called to tell me that Dorie had been rushed into emergency surgery to treat bloat, the world hung motionless for a moment. She immediately followed up with “She’s O.K., I didn’t want to call you until I knew that she was going to be O.K.” But my mind was still swimming with the fear of losing my special dog. I thought of watching her swim in her pool, our hunting adventures in the backyard, all the obedience, rally and field work she did with my parents, how funny it is to watch her fish in the lake (she literally studies the fish and snaps at them, someday she’s going to get one!), or the tail thumping I love so much.

Dorie doing a water retrieve with a bumper

Dorie (center) celebrating her Rally Excellent title

Dorie swimming in the pool

Dorie hunting for frogs in the pond...

...and stepping in for a closer look.

But someone was looking out for her, someone knew we needed more time. And I thought that someone just might be the woman who brought us together in the first place.

Joan passed away this spring. It was a tragic loss to the Flatcoated Retriever community and to all that knew her. She was an amazing woman who did incredible things for the breed and loved those dogs with all her heart. And she took a chance on us, a family who had suffered a tragic loss of their own and she ultimately brought two very special dogs into our home. Several years ago, Bonnie passed away and I contacted Joan to let her know. I saved the e-mail she sent back to me because it was so moving. In it, she wrote:

“I always had the best feeling about sweet Bonnie being with you. I knew she was loved and perfectly cared for throughout her Golden Years. I am sorry she has left us. I believe so strongly that the good dogs go to some special place set aside for them and that Bonnie has joined my dear Frankie in that place, where there is no illness and they can wait for us to join them someday. Thank you for all you did for her. I am glad we still have our dear Dorie, in whom both Bonnie and Frankie live on.”

Bonnie

Dorie had a guardian angel looking out for her that day she went into surgery. And I’m so thankful she did. None of us were ready to say goodbye. When I went home for Memorial Day weekend, I gave her the biggest hug ever, even though she doesn’t particularly care for them. But she just leaned into me and absorbed every ounce of love I sent her way. Her incision had healed, but it was major surgery and still very fragile so we had to be careful. But the first thing I did was go out into the yard and embark on the adventures I’ve loved having with my dog. The willow tree is no longer there, but the pond is and she went right in. Then we swam in the pool, searched for bunnies under the shed and investigated all the flowerbeds for any treasures to be found. And every time I watched her do one of the activities she loves so much, I thanked her angel for looking out for my sweet dog and allowing me more time with her.

I knew, as soon as I heard the news about Dorie, that she needed a special recipe. It had to be sweet, just like her and pay homage not only to the angel she is, but also the one looking out for her. And the Angel Cup Cakes were the perfect choice. They are basically a dense angel food cake. After all the battles I’ve had with boiled icing, I’m always excited to try something new, something easier and hope to find a frosting that causes fewer tears and tastes better. The icing that accompanies the Angel Cup Cake is, dare I say, perfect. It’s really easy to make and has a chocolate taste that is rich, but doesn’t overpower the gentle flavor of the cup cakes. Next to my mom’s famous chocolate frosting, this is my new favorite. As soon as the cupcakes were cooled and frosted I, of course, had to try one. Immediately after swallowing the last bite, I called my mom to tell her that Dorie’s cupcakes were incredible and definitely one of my absolute favorite recipes from the box. I then had to explain to her what I was talking about and that I was dedicating a post to my sweet dog. First she corrected me (with a little chuckle) and reminded me that Dorie is her dog. Then she continued by saying, “Well, what did you expect? Dorie is the sweetest dog ever!”

That she is. And Dorie, I don’t care what mom says…you’ll always be my girl.

First Public Appearance: Chocolate Joy Cake, Milk Chocolate Cake, Cherry Torte, Swedish Shortbread & Blueberry Muffins

2010-06-28T16:53:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the delay in posting my recap of The Found Recipe Box’s first public appearance. It’s been a crazy week and my scanner decided it didn’t want to work for a while!

Last Monday night, I did a presentation about The Found Recipe Box project for the Visual Journaling Collective at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. There were about 25 people in attendance at the meeting, including two very special guests: my husband and my mom. I got a surprise the week before when I found out my mom would be coming to help me bake and to watch the presentation. She was a huge help in the kitchen and it meant a lot to have her there because there was a lot I had to thank her for (click here to read about how she got me involved in art).

I included quite a few items for show and tell in my presentation including the two recipe boxes I’ve added to my collection, two recipe boxes I decoupaged years ago and use to store writing ideas and keepsakes, articles I’ve come across in my research for the project, the spreadsheet of all the recipes in the box, and the boards I made for my Dan Eldon emulation project. But the most popular ones were the treats I brought to share. I made five recipes: Chocolate Joy Cake, Milk Chocolate Cake, Cherry Torte, Swedish Shortbread and Blueberry Muffins. It was really nice to have an extra set of hands while trying to make five recipes in two days! After I finished speaking, we cut up the desserts, but the group couldn’t dive in just yet. Everyone had to draw their food before eating it. There was a lot of moaning and groaning as people began to inhale the irresistible smell of chocolate cake and shortbread, but soon the room became quite and everyone focused on completing their drawings so they could eat their desserts.

Artist Suzanne Hughes' sketch of chocolate cake

But my favorite part of the night was when people shared their own stories with me. That’s what I’ve loved so much about this project, is when something I’ve posted has triggered memories for someone else and they share their stories. Monday night I heard about food traditions from Europe, family recipe boxes, artist inspirations, and how people have related to something I’ve written about, such as the struggle to “let go of perfect.” It was so empowering to hear each person’s memories or feelings and I realized what an impact food has on our lives. Before I began this project, I had a challenging relationship with food. It’s something that we require to survive, but it can also be difficult to make good choices all the time, which can lead to feelings of regret and shame. I have an insatiable sweet tooth. I don’t like very many vegetables. And I don’t have a very adventurous palate. But since I’ve started this blog, I realize there’s a lot more to food than just the act of eating (and sometimes feeling bad about it). There’s a story embedded into every card in every recipe box across the globe.

One of the things I talked about in my presentation was the inspiration for my posts. I explained that it has been a very serendipitous experience. For every recipe I’ve posted, the story literally fell off the card as I pulled it out of the box. For some, this has been a more fluid process than others, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised how quickly the stories and recipes find each other. The Saturday before my presentation, my mom and I saw author Kate DiCamillo read at a library in the Twin Cities. If you’ve never read any of her books, I highly recommend checking her out. She writes kids’ books, but they are stories that resonate with adults as well. My mom and I recently read The Magician’s Elephant and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s one of those stories that reignite your belief in the impossible. I really needed that spark to relight the fire in my heart, and this book did the trick. And seeing her in person was just as inspiring as reading her books. One of the things she discussed was where ideas come from. She suggested that you take a ride on a city bus and pay attention to everything happening around you. One bus ride, she said, will produce more stories than you could write down in a lifetime. In fact, she has an essay on her website about this very topic. Her first book, Because of Winn Dixie, was born out of an experience she had walking out of a Winn Dixie and seeing a woman with a tambourine sitting on top of a 100-pound bag of dog food singing about the moon. The book didn’t come immediately after their meeting; it stewed in her head for a while until it finally poured out onto paper. But if she had never been paying attention to the world, if she had never taken the time to write down what she saw, Because of Winn Dixie would never have come to life. I always thought my life was mundane and uninspired. I never imagined that birds pecking holes in my house, falling off a horse, my dog digging holes in my yard, or organic chemistry could be more than just an annoyance – until I started to write the stories down. Sometimes the things we overlook because we perceive them as plain or boring can truly spring to life when we write them down (or pair them up with a recipe).

I was recently told that a reader of my blog was inspired to pull out her family recipe box, write down the stories connected to the favorites, and make copies for each of her daughters. I love this idea! It’s something that I wish I had for all the recipes in my family and something that I hope to be able to pass along to my own children someday now that I’ve started collecting my stories. And it’s something that I encourage everyone to do for their own families. You don’t have to be a “writer” to capture those stories and keep them alive. Just put them down on paper and pass them along. The collection will become a cherished family memento that people will devour right along with the recipes themselves.

After drawing and sharing stories, we got to everyone’s favorite part of the evening: the food. Since we have several people in the group who are big fans of cake, I made two chocolate cakes. The first cake was a Chocolate Joy Cake.

The recipe for the frosting called for an egg yolk (uncooked). I had horrible visions of giving the group salmonella so some other unpleasant stomach ailment, so I swapped out this recipe for my mom’s famous chocolate frosting that she always uses on our birthday cakes. It was a hit. (Domingo's Chocolate Frosting found on page 81 in the Ghirardelli Original Chocolate Cookbook - Second Edition. Author Phyllis Larsen. Published by Ghirardelli Chocolate Company)

The second cake was a Milk Chocolate Cake.

I was excited to try this one because it uses malted milk in both the cake and the frosting. It’s not an overpowering flavor, there’s just enough to give it a hint of malt taste. The day my mom and I made this cake, it was about 90 degrees outside and even with the air conditioning on in the house the frosting was melting faster than I could get it on the cake. So we spread on a quick layer then threw it into the fridge where it stayed until just before we left when we brought it out to do touch-ups, re-chilled it, then quickly put it in the air conditioned car to transport to the meeting location.

Despite it’s less than perfect appearance, it was hard to tell which chocolate cake was more popular, the messy malt cake or the one with the famous frosting.

I also wanted to throw in some options for those people who aren’t huge fans of chocolate. The first dessert was a cherry torte, which was basically a cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and cherry topping. It too, was popular and was gone almost before I got to take a picture of it!

The second option was Swedish Shortbread. I’m a huge fan of shortbread and this is a great variation of the basic shortbread recipe. It includes a dollop of raspberry jam and a light drizzle of frosting over the top. Delicious!

And finally, I offered an option for anyone who didn’t have a sweet tooth (I think my husband was the only one present that didn’t have an overwhelming tendency to hit the desserts) – blueberry muffins. Muffins are one of those foods that we tend to buy either pre-made or get one of the boxes that require only an egg and water or oil. But this recipe is just as easy as the box and rewards your extra effort with that wonderful homemade taste.

As I began my talk Monday night, I was really nervous. It had been a while since I’d done any kind of public speaking. But as I talked about this project, which has become such a huge part of my life and is something that is very dear to my heart, the nerves were replaced by excitement and I gained strength from every face in the crowd, especially my husband and my mom. And it helped that the group I was speaking to was so encouraging and supportive and very excited about cake! I’d like to thank Roz and all the members of the Visual Journaling Collective for giving me the opportunity to share my project and all the stories I’ve collected along the way. I had a blast! Also, thanks to my mom and Ryan for coming out to support me, you guys are the best. I hope to have more opportunities to share this project with people. And when I do, I promise to bring treats!

A few other members of the group posted pictures from the presentation on their blogs and can be viewed at the links below:

Roz Wound Up

Courageously Creating

Suzanne I Am

A Lifelong Love For Animals: Pancakes

2010-06-20T09:59:00.001-05:00

Father’s Day is today and I immediately knew which recipe I wanted to make in honor of my dad (besides the Hunter Dan Marble Loaf Cake, of course) – pancakes. When my brothers and I were kids and it was my dad’s turn to make dinner, we always had one special meal: animal pancakes. He’d spread pancake batter over the griddle into random shapes and we’d all hover around trying to decide which animal he’d brought to life. It was kind of like watching stories being told in the clouds as they drift across the summer sky.

Ever since the time I was born, I have had animals in my life. My parents had an Irish Setter named Casey when I was a baby. He was a great helper dog and would hold me down with his paw while my mom changed my diaper. When I was several years older, my dad and I would hike in the woods behind our house with Casey. He always had to lead the way, scouting out ahead to make sure the path was safe. We played a game where we’d hide in the bushes along the trail when he was far ahead of us. Once he noticed our absence, he’d come barreling back to our last known location and set his nose to work. He found us every time and when he did, he’d give us a look that said, “Stop doing that you guys, it’s not funny!” But he’d immediately set back out to blaze the trail ahead.

I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at a very young age I fell in love with horses. My dad made me a deal: if I did well in school, I could take horseback riding lessons. I was in first or second grade so thankfully it wasn’t too hard to fulfill my end of the bargain (if he had done that in college when I was taking organic chemistry, it would have been a different story). I’ll never forget the thrill of walking in that barn with my dad and seeing all the horses. We’d always arrive early to look at them in their stalls. There was on in particular that instantly became my favorite. His name was Riverman. He was huge, and not just because I was a first grader, but because he stood much taller than the horse I was used to riding. He had the most beautiful black coat and flowing mane. Thinking back, I wonder if he was a Friesian (my love with Friesians may have started a lot earlier than I thought!). He was privately owned so he wasn’t available for lessons, but every week, we’d visit him, pet his muzzle through the stall bars and tell him how beautiful he was. We met the owner once. He tied Riverman up in the aisle so that we could feed him carrots and pet him all over. It was like meeting a favorite author or musician, I just stood there in awe of the majestic creature and as I walked away I looked at my hand and thought, “Wow, I just pet Riverman!”

My dad and me at the barn

Me and Sailor, the horse I rode for lessons

When I was in third grade we moved and I had to stop taking riding lessons. But the presence of animals in my life never ceased. We had dogs, cats, hamsters, and even a rabbit that I begged my dad for, but that turned out to be evil and once bit me in the face. It’s a love that is imprinted on my heart, I can’t be without them. Even when I moved out and lived on my own, I had to have a pet. I am so thankful that my husband agreed to get a dog. He didn’t grow up with animals the way I had and having a puppy in the house was quite a shock, requiring a huge adjustment period for everyone involved. Murphy went through a stage where he wouldn’t sleep at night unless either Ryan or I was sleeping on the floor next to his crate with our finger poking in the front door. It’s amazing what we’ll do for our animals. Ryan wasn’t always happy about it, but I just told him to look at it as preparation for fatherhood later in life. When Murphy was old enough, he was allowed to sleep in our bed. Some people may not agree with allowing animals to do this, but for us, it had a miraculous outcome. My husband had been plagued with night terrors ever since he was a child. The night Murphy started sleeping in our bed was the first night of nightmare-free sleep for Ryan. He hasn’t had one since. Maybe it was Murphy’s way of thanking him for all those nights of sleeping on the floor and he wanted Ryan to finally have a peaceful night sleep. Every once in a while, I’ll wake up with Murphy’s head across my chest or his nose tucked under my neck. It’s not always the most comfortable position, but I’m careful not to disturb him because I don’t want him to move. It makes me understand Ryan’s peacefulness at night. My heart smiles when I feel him next me, his fuzzy fur against my cheek, and the rhythm of his chest rising and falling with his sleeping breaths. It’s a feeling that I wouldn’t understand or appreciate if I hadn’t grown up with pets and parents who loved them like part of the family. And I’m so thankful to share that with my husband and make it a part of his life too.

Ryan & Murphy sleeping peacefully

So in honor of my dad and all of the animals in my life, I made animal pancakes for breakfast. There’s a Golden Retriever for Ryan:

A horse (that looks more like a camel), for Riverman and the future Friesian I’ll own someday:

The "horse" before being flipped

The "horse" post-flip

A chinchilla for Chico:

Chico before being flipped

Chico post-flip

And for the Gulf Coast – where my dad and I have taken so many walks along the beach and had the best conversations about dogs, books and life in general – I made a sea turtle and a starfish:

Sea Turtle

Starfish

Happy Father’s Day Dad! Thanks for my love of animals, my adventurous spirit, all of our road trips (both long and short), the conversations, the laughter and everything in between. You’re the best. And just like all the real animals you’ve brought into my life, the pancakes ones will always hold a very special place in my heart.

To Ryan from Murphy – you’re the best doggy daddy ever! Thanks for letting me stay even though I made you sleep on the floor, I chewed on your favorite flip-flops and I dig holes all over your yard.

And to all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day! I hope you’re day is filled with smiles and sweet treats to celebrate the day.

Savoring Every Bite: Pecan Pie

2010-06-15T16:34:00.001-05:00

Sunday night was the season premiere of Season 3 of True Blood on HBO. I got addicted to the show about a year ago when I started reading the books by Charlaine Harris that the TV show is based on. I’m currently reading book 9 in the series and it’s really hard to put down. I could have read the entire series in about a week, but I knew if I did that then it would be over and I’d have to wait patiently for Charlaine Harris to write another one (I really, really hope she keeps this series going, I love it!). So I made a deal with myself that I had to read one or more books between each book in the series. It’s been hard, but at the same time, reading each book is like savoring every bite of a really good dessert to make it last just a little bit longer.

In season one of True Blood, there’s a scene where the main character, Sookie, is eating a pecan pie. It was made by her grandmother who had recently passed away and as she eats each bite, you can literally see her recalling memories of her grandmother and grabbing onto each one to lock into her heart forever. In honor of the season premiere, I made a pecan pie. But not just any pecan pie, one made with pecans that were picked and shelled by my grandfather before he passed away last April.

Both my mom and my grandmother have bags of these pecans in their freezers. The last time I was home, I asked if I could have one. Holding it in my hands, I felt connected to my grandfather and could imagine him collecting the nuts from his backyard and sitting on the porch freeing each one from its shell. I felt honored to be able to make a pie with his pecans. And with each bite, I could taste the memories I have of my grandfather come back to life.

My grandfather was an avid hunter and fisherman. It all began when he was a small boy growing up in the northern suburbs of Chicago, which at that time were rich in farm fields and open land, much unlike the landscape of the area today. He’d go hunting or set traps before school and then check those traps after school was over. He carried this passion with him his entire life. When I was a child, he took me hunting and fishing with him. I think I only went duck hunting with him once, and after watching the beautiful ducks get shot out of the sky and carried dead across the field, I officially retired from the sport (I was about 5 years old). But fishing was something that I loved to do with my grandfather.

Me and my grandfather returning from a fishing trip

Pensacola - 1991

I have two very clear memories of our fishing adventures. The first was when I was about eight years old. We were fishing in a boat on a lake near where I grew up. As we cast our lines into the water, he began to tell me about the various types of fish in the lake. One fish, the Bullhead, particularly caught my attention because he mentioned its sharp barbs. He told me that if we caught one, I was to be careful of it flopping around in the boat and to let him take it off the hook. No problem, I thought, I sure didn’t want to get stuck. So what’s the first thing I catch? The dreaded spiked fish, of course. No fish likes to be speared by a hook and plucked out of the water, so as soon as we got it into the boat, it began thrashing around. My first reaction, as an 8-year old who didn’t want to get hurt, was to launch myself to the edge of the boat as far away from the dangerous fish as possible. My grandfather, who was trying to carefully grab the Bullhead and steady the boat at the same time, yelled at me to settle down before I tipped us over. Looking back, I can imagine standing on the shore and watching the scene play out. It would have been hilarious to watch. At the time, however, I was scared. I didn’t want to get hurt, but more importantly, I didn’t want to disappoint my grandfather. But I’d get a chance, years later, to truly prove myself.

My grandparents retired to Florida when my brothers and I were young. On one hand it was awful because we didn’t get to see them whenever we wanted to anymore. On the other hand, it meant that we got to go to Florida every summer and spend a week or two visiting, playing on the beach, and fishing with my grandfather. Sometimes we’d surf fish for pompano right from the beach. Other times, we’d take the boat out into Pensacola Bay. Those trips meant waking up before the sun and spending hours sitting on the boat hoping that you’d at least get a nibble. Once, when I was in high school, I got more than a nibble, I caught the biggest fish of my life. For nearly an hour, I battled that fish on the line and my grandfather chased it in the boat. I kept asking him to take the rod, but he told me it was my fish and I had to bring it in. He also sternly reminded me NOT to drop the pole in the water if my arms got tired. Somehow, I won the battle and the tired fish was finally pulled into the boat. It was a Jack Crevalle that was nearly half as long as me. What was even more rewarding than heaving my massive opponent into the boat, was seeing the expression on my grandfather’s face. He was positively beaming. This was a story we were going to have a lot of fun sharing for years to come.

Stories are what I remember best about my grandfather. Maybe he’s the one I inherited my love of storytelling from. And remembering all of our fishing expeditions is starting to shed some light on my obsession with the show River Monsters on Animal Planet. Although I loved his hunting and fishing stories, his airplane adventures were my favorites. My grandfather was a Navy flight instructor during World War II. He was stationed at the Navy base in Pensacola and had the most incredible stories about training runs with his students, mechanical problems in mid-flight with his planes, and even a fly-by he did on my grandmother’s house when they were dating. I could sit and listen for hours to those stories. I marveled at his bravery and courage and felt his pain when he recalled all the pilots he trained who never made it home from the war. I always wanted to get a tape recorder and record him telling those tales so that I’d never lose the sound of his voice when I thought of them. But last April, he fell ill. I traveled to Florida with my parents to help take care of him. Upon our arrival, he learned that his condition was terminal and that he had about a year to live. We set up hospice in his home and for two weeks, I sat by his bedside absorbing every detail of the stories I loved so much to hear. My parents and I needed to return home for a short while, but as we said goodbye, we promised we’d be back very soon. I needed to hear more stories; I needed to record those words I loved so much. Little did we know that those two weeks were all we’d get.

My grandfather and his Douglas SBD Dauntless

I had been home in Minnesota for a little more than a day when I got the call that he had passed away. The stories that I loved to hear were gone forever. I cursed myself for never recording them, but I knew that the ones I remembered would be locked away in my heart forever. In addition to being a hunter, a fisherman, and a pilot, my grandfather was also a teacher and a coach. He taught me how not to “throw like a girl” and instilled in me a drive to perform at my best. Between the sports and fishing I did with my grandfather and the hiking and camping adventures I took my with my dad and our dog, I believe I have the two of them to thank for my tom-boy spirit. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just before my grandfather died, he received a letter from one of the boys he coached in hockey. After high school, the man had gone on to enjoy a very successful career in college hockey and even set school records. He credited my grandfather’s coaching for all of his success, not just on the ice, but in the rest of his life as well. My grandfather had had an incredible influence on him and his lessons stayed with the man for his entire life. After my grandfather’s death, more of these stories began to surface from previous students and athletes. It was amazing to see the effect my grandfather had on the lives of people he encountered, especially the kids who would keep those lessons with them into adulthood and reach out to his family after his death to share their love for a man who had made a difference in their life. It was wonderful to know that I wasn’t the only one keeping his stories alive, there were people across the country who would remember my grandfather either as a teacher, a coach, a sportsman, an adventurer, or all of the above.

As I sat down to enjoy my piece of pecan pie, I imagined each nut representing a story my grandfather had shared with me. I thought back to Sookie eating the last piece of her grandmother’s pie, knowing that when it was gone, there would never be another one. I took a bite, slowly pulling the pie from the fork into my mouth, savoring each moment it was on my tongue and hesitating to swallow. It’s hard to go wrong with pecan pie and this one was absolutely delicious. But knowing that each of those pecans had touched my grandfather’s hands made the pie even more wonderful.

I still have enough pecans for a few more pies. Someday, however, they’ll run out and all I’ll be left with is the sweet memory of that very special ingredient. But I’ll be sure to lovingly tuck that memory on the shelf in my mind between the ones of the infamous Jack Crevalle and the scary barbed Bullhead.

Letting Go of Perfect: Perfect Sponge Cake

2010-06-09T16:55:00.001-05:00

The Found Recipe Box will be making its first public appearance on June 21st! I’m a member of the Visual Journaling Collective at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and the group coordinator, Roz Stendahl, has asked me to give a presentation about the project for the June meeting. I’m excited to share this experience with the group and even more excited to be able to share a bunch of the recipes! As I’ve been preparing for the presentation, it has caused me to do a lot of reflecting on my artistic past as well as my future.

I’ve always loved art, but I have my mom to thank for pushing me into pursuing it and making it a part of my life. My freshman year in high school, she encouraged me to sign up for a drawing class. From that point forward, art was a part of every semester’s class schedule. I was frequently frustrated with my abilities (or lack of, as I saw it), but during my junior and senior years of high school, I met an art teacher who would change my life in ways I didn’t realize until much later.

Everyone has a teacher from their school years that stands out as an inspiration and monumental figure in their development. I have several that come to mind, but none as prominent as Ross Shellenberger, or “Mr. S” (that’s what his students called him). He was one of those teachers that would never give up on you and most certainly would not let you give up on yourself. I was in classes with some amazingly talented artists and it was very easy to get intimidated and want to throw down the pencil or brush. But he would always pick it up, put it back in your hand, and show you where to go next.

A sample of my art from high school

To give an example of how influential Mr. S was and how dedicated he was to his students, he created a class for me my senior year when my schedule conflicted with all the classes he was offering that semester. He was scheduled for hall monitor duty at the front door to the high school and had it approved that I could pull up a desk and sit with him for that hour. It was the best class I’ve ever had. I had one-on-one instruction from my favorite art teacher for an entire hour. And without any other students in the class, I was forced to focus on my own work and not compare myself to everyone else.

Mr. S encouraged me to continue with my art studies in college. But as I went off to school freshman year, I was enrolled in science and math classes to fulfill requirements for a biology major. Art was left by the wayside. However, during my sophomore year, organic chemistry made me realize I was heading down a path I didn’t enjoy and I began junior year in a new direction: with writing and art. But there were still challenges to be faced.

I started my art minor with drawing classes and was shocked how quickly my lack of self confidence in my abilities returned. I couldn’t make things look “real” and easily got frustrated. Without Mr. S there to look over my shoulder and tell me to believe in myself and give my skills a chance, I was left to figure it out on my own. I decided to try something different and enrolled in photography classes. How much more “real” could it get than a photograph? I was about to find out.

While I was so wrapped up in making things look “perfect,” I had completely forgotten about the whole purpose of making art. What was my reaction to the image I was creating? What about composition? What did I want to say with my drawing or photograph? As I was drowning in questions about my intentions with art and listening to my inner critic verbally abuse every aspect of my creative self, my mom was watching a TV show about someone who, like Mr. S, would change my life, and my art, forever.

A sample of my photography from college:

I went home one weekend to visit my family and while I was there my mom and I went to a bookstore. We wandered off in different directions for a while and met up at the café with a stack of books in our hands. As we sat down, she handed me a book and explained that she had recently seen something about this photographer on TV. He was a photojournalist and had been killed in Somalia at the age of 22. After his death, his mom found a stack of his journals and decided to compile them into a book and publish them. This book, The Journey is the Destination, was full of his journal pages and my mom wanted me to have them. As soon as she had seen the show, she knew he would be a huge inspiration to me. And she was right.

The photographer’s name was Dan Eldon.

Dan’s journals have inspired countless people around the world and I’m sure there is no end to the stories of people who have been moved by his work and his desire to make the world a better place. I keep his book in a special place on my bookshelf and have spent hours and hours reading the words, looking at the pictures, and marveling at how courageous and free he was with his art. He took pictures and tore them up, wrote on them, spilled ink all over them, pasted newspapers and tickets over them. He wasn’t destroying his photographs; he was giving them a new purpose and a new voice that was calling to me. But it’s not just his art that was so moving. Those journals also recorded Dan’s reactions to the world around him. They became a recording of his passion for travel and adventure, his sorrow for the intense suffering of people across Africa, and a montage of the violence he witnessed throughout his journeys.

Not long after my mom gave me that book, I had to do an emulation project in my photography class. The assignment was to take photographs using the style of a famous photographer. I chose Dan. I created seven boards on which I pasted my photographs and followed Dan’s process of tearing them, gluing on top of them, painting them and writing all over the boards. It was liberating, exhilarating, and felt like “home.” I had finally created something that felt good to me, something that I was proud of and that made me feel alive. When I took the boards in for the class critique, my classmates turned to me stunned and asked, “You did this?” They were so used to seeing things that were cut “perfectly,” framed “perfectly,” and totally void of feeling that this came as quite a shock. One of the guys whose photography I admired most in that class came to me afterwards and told me how impressed he was with my work and that he really hoped I’d continue in that direction. He said he really “felt” my pieces. I wanted to hug him. It was one of the nicest things I’d ever heard about my art.

The 7 boards I created for my emulation project

This experience caused me to broaden my artistic boundaries. My new favorite painters became Van Gogh and Matisse. I loved their ability to let go, challenge people’s perceptions of the world, and express their views the way they saw them, not the way others expected them to do it. One of the things that I think was so powerful about Dan’s work was that he never meant for anyone to see it. Those were his personal journals; he never intended to publish them. So he took chances that he may not have if he knew others would be studying the pages and truly let himself be free.

About two years ago, I was formally introduced to visual journaling through a class I took at a local workshop. This is a relatively broad term and might mean something a little different to each artist. To me, it means keeping a journal (either a blank book or an old book that I have “repurposed” into a journal) full of writing, collage, photographs, sketches, or whatever else I feel like putting on those pages. It’s a place to be free. It’s a place to experiment. It’s a place to try new things and figure out who I am as an artist, or even as a person. I am addicted to books and one of my favorite subjects is art “how-to” books, specifically visual journaling. I recently discovered a new book called The Journal Junkies Workshop: Visual Ammunition for the Art Addict by Eric M. Scott and David R. Modler. It instantly became my favorite. It’s not that it had any new groundbreaking techniques between its pages, but it did have something that no other visual journaling book I’ve read has: a foreword by Kathy Eldon (Dan’s mom) and a special dedication from the authors to the memory of Dan Eldon. My eyes immediately teared up when I read that and I ran to the checkout counter with the book lovingly embraced tight against my chest.

A page from one of my journals

A page I created soon after I found this recipe box

Pages from a journal I took to San Francisco several years ago

As I dove into the book’s pages, I had my presentation for the Visual Journaling Collective tucked in the back of my mind. And when I thought of them both together, I realized that I have my mom, Mr. S and Dan Eldon all to thank for this blog. I found this recipe box at an antique show. I wasn’t looking for it; I wasn’t even that interested in cooking at the time. In fact, I was there looking for things to use for art: paper, old books, postcards, or anything that could be glued into my journal. Instead, I found a recipe box full of old recipes (ironically, I never had the thought to pull all of those old cards out of the box and turn them into art). But if my mom had never encouraged me to take an art class, if Mr. S had never pushed me to continue making art a part of my life, if I had never made the acquaintance of Dan Eldon through his journals, I may never have been at that antique show and this box of recipes may not have found its way into my home and my heart. It’s amazing to follow the trail of inspiration back to moments in your life that, at the time, may have seemed insignificant, but years down the road you realize were life changing.

Through all of this – my art and this project – I keep encountering situations that produce the same conclusion: I need to let go of “perfect.” Some days it’s really hard to mute that horrid inner critic, but when I do and I’m submersed in a project (art, writing or cooking) I get that same feeling I got when I did my photography emulation project. I feel like I’m “home.” I recently came across a video interview with Dan’s mom and sister, Kathy and Amy. It was explained that Dan began keeping journals as part of a school project and continued to keep them even after the assignment was completed. Kathy said, “He was never happy with his photographs, so he cut them up and shredded them and added things to them and painted them and decorated them and made them into masks.” When I heard that, I thought of my own artistic experiences, how frustrated I felt with what I produced and how liberating it was to follow in Dan’s footsteps. I felt immensely connected to Dan when I watched that interview and it confirmed my belief that I need to let go of “perfect.” Or more importantly, just let go. Life is too short to avoid the things we love most just because we’re scared of how others will perceive it or because we feel we’re not good enough. Imagine if Van Gogh never painted Starry Night, or if the Beatles never broke the musical mold, or if J.K. Rowling never put Harry Potter down on paper. A simple idea can change the world. The hardest part is just mustering up the courage to breathe life into it.

And to those three people who have been so incredibly influential to me, I dedicate this recipe: Perfect Sponge Cake. To Dan Eldon – a man who left this world way, way too early, but whose influence will resonate across the globe for many generations. To Mr. S – a teacher who believed in his students and realized their potential even when they struggled to see it. And to my mom, my wonderful, amazing mom, I have so many incredible things to thank you for. But, for encouraging me to sign up for art classes, for introducing me to Dan Eldon and for always believing in me, I am eternally grateful to you and owe you a lifetime of trips to Disney World (and when I win the lottery or publish a book, you and I are making a special trip to Disney together…our first stop, of course, will be the new Hogwarts castle at Universal Studios). This is an amazing cake, and I can honestly say, one of my absolute favorites from the box. Dare I call it “perfect?” It’s easy to make and has a light, refreshing flavor with just a splash of citrus taste that goes really well with whipped cream and some fresh fruit. This is definitely a recipe I will make many, many times throughout my lifetime and with every bite, I’ll think of all the special people in my life that push me to be a better person and strive to achieve my goals.

I often wonder if Kathy Eldon had any idea when she published Dan’s journals that they would be as incredibly inspiring to the world as they have been or if she had any doubt about whether or not to even publish them at all. I am so grateful she made those journals available to the public, as I’m sure millions of others across the globe are as well. There is no doubt that the world suffered a tragic loss when Dan was killed. I hope his family can find solace in the fact that he lives on through those journal pages and that every time someone encounters them, their life is forever changed in a deep and profound way.

I think most people have the dream of doing something that will positively impact people’s lives and make the world a better place. I would love to know that something I’ve done has touched someone as deeply as Dan’s art has touched me. But those goals will never be accomplished unless we give our dreams a chance. So whether you want to write a book or start an organization to help those in need, keep the lessons from my mom, Mr. S and Dan Eldon in mind: get involved, believe in yourself and let your creativity be free. You never know what you’re capable of until you let go.

If you are in the Twin Cities area and are interested in Visual Journaling, please stop by the Visual Journaling Collective meeting on June 21, 2010 from 7:00 – 9:00pm and say hello (it’s free and open to all artists – click here for more info.). I will do a presentation about The Found Recipe Box project and then we’ll have treats (all will be recipes from the box). However, we will be sketching the food before we eat it – hey, this is supposed to be about art right? Don’t worry about skill level or what type of art you’re interested in. Everyone in the group is extremely supportive and encouraging and we all have very diverse backgrounds (graphic designers, print makers, cartoon artists, landscape painters, textile artists, etc…).

To learn more about Dan Eldon and to see some of his journal pages, please visit:
www.daneldon.org

I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book The Journey is the Destination, the Journals of Dan Eldon. I hope it speaks to you the way it did to me. And for more information about Dan and his journals, check out the book Dan Eldon: The Art of Life by Jennifer New.

If you would like to further explore the world of visual journaling, I highly recommend the following books:

By Danny Gregory:
An Illustrated Life
The Creative License
Everyday Matters

By Sabrina Ward Harrison:
Spilling Open
Brave on the Rocks
Messy Thrilling Life

By Maira Kalman:
The Principles of Uncertainty

By Keri Smith:
How To Be An Explorer Of The World
Living Out Loud
This Is Not A Book Wreck This Journal

By Someguy
The 1000 Journals Project
(click here for the 1000 Journals Project website)

By Kate T. Williamson
A Year in Japan