SPANISH CAKE FROM THE ENGLISH KITCHEN

There are some amazing food blogs

on line and one I enjoy is Marie's

"THE ENGLISH KITCHEN". 

She now lives in Canada and 

her blog is very popular.  She

is also on Face Book which she

uses to point people to her blog.

Yesterday I saw her recipe that caught

 my eye for a little Spanish Cake with cinnamon and maple extract and nuts

 (I used pecans).  I went right to the kitchen after printing it out

 and we had some with our dinner and 

sent some to our "more senior than us"

 neighbors.  That sounds funny but

 seriously, he is 93 years old.

Marie's recipe was for one small cake

so I just multiplied the ingredients by four

and made a 2 layer cake.

Please help yourself to a slice and

have a cup of tea.

We are having a sunny January Day

and enjoying the brightness even

though it is very cold.  As I look

out on our fish pond all frozen

I feel sorry for the fish who just lie

still down at the bottom.

As January comes to a close

I hope you stay healthy and

happy.  Maybe you are already

in the kitchen getting ready to bake!

FIRESIDE LEMON MERINGUE PIE AND TEA

 Winter is a wonderful time to read,

watch old movies and learn something

new.  I have so many interests that getting 

bored doesn't seem to be a problem for me.

Every season has it's special delights.

I just "refreshed" my birdfeeders earlier

today since they were way down in seed.

  As I went out on the deck I heard masses

 of birds up in the trees.  There were 

hundreds of bluebirds but they just seemed

 to be resting way up and not coming

down at all.

BLUEBIRDS

There in the trees and up in the sky

Bluebirds on branches 

Hundreds rest,  waiting to fly

I tried to entice them

With birdseed and rye

But they seemed on a journey

So we bid them Goodbye!

Today I made a Lemon Meringue

Pie.  I wonder how many of these I've

baked over the years?

Let's take a seat over by the cozy fireplace

and enjoy our pie.

You might want to bake this pie too:

Prepare a pie shell and bake it! I use the old recipe of 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup Crisco and 3-4 Tb ice water) Bake 450 degrees about 8 min 

The ingredients for pie are as follows but

frankly I doubled this for a really deep

dish pie.

1 1/3 cups of sugar, 4 Tb cornstarch, 1 Tb flour, 1/2 cup cold water, 1 1/2 cups of separate water ready boil, 4 egg yolks slightly beaten, 2 Tb butter, 1 Tb grated lemon rind, 1/3 cup lemon juice

For the meringue you will need 4 egg whites, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and 1/2 cup sugar

Combine the 1 1/3 cups of sugar, the cornstarch, the flour and cold water in a medium size saucepan and blend them together until smooth.  Stir in the boiling water and cook stirring constantly until the mixture begins to bubble and is thick.  Simmer about 2 minutes and keeping stirring to keep from burning! Remove from heat

Now blend about 1/2 of this hot mixture into the egg yolks and return all to saucepan and cook about 2 minutes.  Remove again and add butter, lemon rind and juice and stir through well.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Stir to let out steam and help cooling.  I put the bowl in the refrigerator to cool.  Once cool I pour it into the baked pie shell and put it into the baked pie shell and I go ahead and refrigerate.  I find this works for me but I do see people do this step differently here.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a medium size bowl. Slowly add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating still stiff. 

 When the pie is cold in the refrigerator, spread egg white meringue on top.  Put in the preheated oven of 400 degrees for about 6 to 8 minutes - watch for browning.  Cool on a rack - when cool refrigerate again for several hours.

CHERRY TARTS & TEA IN THE KITCHEN

 The kitchen at our house is the perfect

spot for tea because there is a fireplace

we turn on with the flip of a switch.

Sometimes we walk in the door and

that's the first thing to happen to take

the chill out of the air.

So let's enjoy a cup of tea and a little

cherry tart.  You can make up the recipe for

the butter shells and freeze them so they

 are ready to use when you need them.

I shared the buttery shell recipe before

and here. I recommend you make them

up on a day when you really don't plan

to need them.  Then, freeze them taking

out whatever you need for your occasion.

Today I just put some canned cherry pie filling in these with a little whipped

 cream on top but of course you could 

make your own various types of filling.

The recipe in the link actually makes

around 100 shells in the mini muffins

tins.

We are using my English Devonshire brown

transferware by Johnson Brothers.

We were at the market today and I 

found some sweet flowers.  Please pour

yourself a cup of tea.  Winter is really

just getting started so this is a good time

to think about some indoor hobbies or

crafting.  Perhaps you like to bake.

There are so many things to keep us busy.

2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

 I did not blog as much in 2021

but I do want to share my review of

some of my blog posts.  Looking at

the photos today causes me to miss

my flower garden!  Let's go back

though to a year ago and start:

JANUARY:

A Fireside Tea Time

 

FEBRUARY:

Chocolate Fudge Cake Oh la la

MARCH:

Irish Currant Scones

APRIL:

Spring Is Here Part II

MAY:

Time Moves on in May With Foxgloves

JUNE:

Hollyhocks and Lemon Coconut Cake

JULY:

Tea In The Garden

AUGUST:

Little Women Recipe Book

SEPTEMBER:

Easy Butter Tarts for 

Tea In The Garden

OCTOBER:

Pumpkin Muffins on a Fall Day

NOVEMBER:

A Real Pioneer Woman

in Boonville

December:

Little Lights at Night

JUST A DUSTING OF SNOW

 

Last night we got our first winter

dusting of snow.  It seems to be

staying on the ground since it

was 9 degrees out this morning.

You can see our birdbaths and

garden statuary are covered with

 plastic bags to protect them.

In Missouri things shut down because

of ice issues.  This is how our koi pond

looks in winter with netting over it.

We keep the water feature going but

it all freezes over.  I am glad I am

not a fish!  They go down to the center

where it is 36" deep and just lie still.

It's a perfect day for a cup of tea

and bird watching.

A NEW YEAR IS HERE!

 (I am pretending we have snow

in Missouri as we might get

some late today) Our area actually

gets ice here and our church has

already canceled for Sunday.