Quality Time, Tatting and More Food!

I had a nice day today, spent it with my mom learning how to tat. I bought a class through Craftsy. The teacher is awful! She came highly recommended, but so far I'm not impressed. Just as mom and I are feeling like we must be unteachable (is that a word? and yes it is, looked it up) I started searching the internet for a YouTube video or something and found one. Yeah! Learned how to do the darn stitch that we'd been struggling with all morning in less than five minutes. So, guess it isn't us after all.

Today, we finally learned the double stitch, watched a little more of the paid for class to learn how to make a ring and picot, feeling totally frustrated again, went to my new YouTube teacher and learned in under two minutes.

I'm going to give it a try again in a few days, but if it proceeds as today, I think I will send Craftsy an email and let them know that they need to hire a new teacher and suggest the one from YouTube and her film crew. Here's the link, if anyone is interested: http://www.tattedtreasures.com/tutorials/ This woman is awesome, very clear and concise!

After our tatting adventure, we made dinner together, cedar-planked grilled wild-caught salmon with Ancho chili rub, roasted fresh asparagus with garlic, and 1905 salad from the Columbia cookbook. It was very good. For dessert, we had a piece of yesterday's cherry almond pound cake! Yum.

Oh and if you don't know what the Columbia is, it is an awesome Spanish restaurant in St. Augustine and Ybor City.  Here is a link to their website, so you can check them out for yourself: http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/ . Just found out when I picked up the link, they also have restaurants in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Worth a trip, if you are ever near one of these cities. I can recommend their 1905 salad, black beans and rice, pollo "Riojana", and the roast pork a la Cubana. Of course their flan for dessert is wonderful too.

Well, two days of food talk, time for some diet days and gentle exercises!

Until next time...

The Best Pound Cake Ever!

I thought today my DH needed something special and I was inspired by a recipe  for Cherry Almond Pound cake that I saw online the other day. His favorite cake is Whipping Cream Pound Cake. I've made all kinds of pound cake: buttermilk, chocolate, sour cream, cream cheese and they were good, but this pound cake is super special.

The recipe for Whipping Cream Pound Cake was given to me by Allen's (my DH) Aunt Vergie. She was the sweetest little lady South Carolina ever produced! She was a true Charlestonian, and spoke with a Geechee accent. She brought this cake to one of the many family reunions that we had the privilege of attending at Allen's grandfather's early 19th century home.

The day I met Aunt Vergie, she literally bounced into the room, all smiles and energy. One could never guess that she was a lady in her mid-seventies. Never a complaint, never a bad word for anyone, she was a character. Not to say that she didn't have a temper, you could see it popping, if someone pushed her buttons (there was some Irish in her ancestry).

She carried in this beautiful cake, smelling like it was just taken from the oven, beautiful brown crusty top that was split and begging to be pinched off. Later, when it was cut, it was tender and each bite literally melted in your mouth and left you wanting more.

To know how good this cake is, it beat out all the competitors at the William's reunion that year! You had to be there and see the wonderful items provided by these amazing southern cooks, but take my word for it, winning was a major accomplishment! I don't make it often, especially now that there are only two of us at home. We would waddle when we walk if I did!

This is a picture of today's cake. Using the recipe, I baked them, as you can see, in loaf pans instead of the traditional tube pan.  The one in front is plain Whipping Cream Pound Cake, the one in back is Cherry Almond Pound Cake, my version inspired by this website. I will let you know how it turned out when the cake is cool enough to cut!

Here is the recipe: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

1/2 cup Crisco

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, no substitutes-if you put margarine or some new-fangled butter wannabe in here don't blame me!

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 cups All-Purpose flour (I use King Arthur , it is bromide free and simply awesome flour)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cream shortening, softened butter, and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and whipping cream alternately. (1 cup flour, beat, 1/2 cup cream, beat, 1 cup flour, beat, remaining cream beat, remaining flour, beat) Do not over beat, just until fluffy and everything is incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared tube pan or into two loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour and a half. Test with toothpick when top is golden, it should come out clean. Let sit for a bit then turn out onto cooling racks.

For the Cherry Almond variation: I added about 3/4 cup of dried cherries and a scant teaspoon of pure almond flavoring and folded it into half the batter before adding to the pan. If you want to make the whole recipe Cherry Almond flavor, just double that or to your taste.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Update: The Cherry Almond was a hit, Allen loved it. I like almond flavoring, so I thought it could have used just a little bit more, maybe even up to a teaspoon and a half for half the batter, but Allen liked it the way it was, so your choice depending on how much almond you like! The dried cherries were wonderful!

It's all about perception

It was a nice spring day today. Windy, a little cloudy, but nice. I went for a walk this morning, met my mom around the corner. She's an inspiration, 73, feeling like she is getting too stiff so out for a walk she goes. She's finally guilted me into it, but I think I better add some yoga to the routine. Feeling a little sore and stiff tonight. I've tried to work through the Fibro pain before without success, it only got worse, but have to try again.

If anyone has any ideas to help with Fibro pain, please let me know. I've tried so many alternative methods of dealing with this condition, but I'm open to more ideas and opinions! Doctors don't have the answer that's for sure. Rheumatologist put me on Cymbalta. It helped the depression, did not help the pain. It made me so dizzy that I finally ended up on the kitchen floor and couldn't stand up without holding on to something waiting for the room to stop spinning. Getting off of it was no picnic either.

So I'm back to Sam-E for depression, Baclofen for muscle spasms, and Tramadol for pain. I just added Melatonin to help me sleep at night. Mostly, I feel that I'm at the point of whatever. It hurts, deal with it and keep going. Sitting on my rear isn't an option and that hurts too. Sure, there are things I can't do, things that I still do and pay for with huge amounts of discomfort, but this is my life so I make the best of it and enjoy all the wonderful things that I have to enjoy.

I enjoy so many things, my children, my husband, my cats, my mom, just waking up in the morning and hearing the birds singing outside my window is wonderful. I thank God every day for all of the things I have to enjoy, beauty surrounds us every moment. There is a list of things I can no longer do, but instead of focusing on those things I try very hard to focus on what I can do.

I love this time of year and watching the different birds that are only here for a short time as they migrate through to places farther north. I actually saw a Baltimore Oriole the other day, first one ever, he was gorgeous, bright orange and black. The bluebirds are here, little tufted titmice, robins and so many others that I cannot name.

We planted tiny annuals last weekend under our Date palm and they are already starting to grow and put on buds. A neighbor shared some Canna bulbs with me and I planted those in the back yard near the porch windows. I can't wait to see what they look like and what color the blooms will be. The dogwood and azalea bush in the front yard are nearly finished blooming.

Life is beautiful and good when we look at it with the right perception!