Three Kings Day Infamy

Three Kings Day, this year, and for the rest of my life, will be marred by what happened in our nation's capital.  The storming of the Capitol by a right-wing mob, with the intent of overturning the certification of our duly elected president will be recorded for posterity in the most ignominious ways.

Hopefully, like the Epiphany that revealed the light of God to the Magi, perhaps the character of the outgoing president has finally been revealed to those that follow him.  We hope and pray, anyway.

I'd like to believe that the Three Kings saved us, and, even though we are still sheltering in our homes, and avoiding large gatherings because of this awful pandemic, I needed to celebrate and give thanks, so I baked a cake and buried a “bean” in the batter, so that the finder could be declared “King for the Day.”

Let's all pray a little extra hard tonight.

A Stars and Plaid Independence Day

Hurray for the Red, White and Blue!  I love Independence Day!  A day to celebrate our freedom and the many blessings we enjoy, even in these trying times!

The plaid patchwork quilt came straight off the bed of one of our guest rooms.  It used to belong to my son, John.  Well, just for today, it's gonna do double duty as our tablecloth!

Let's start things off with some watermelon stars and blueberries.  They were surprisingly easy and fast to do, and they look so festive!

See what happens?  Give me an inch and I'll take the whole arm!  The watermelon stars turned out so well, that I decided to make apple stars for the sangria.  Ugh!  What did I get myself into?  The process was painfully time consuming.  The apple wedges were barely big enough to get one star out of each wedge.  For the thrifty souls among you, don't worry, we turned the discarded apple pieces into delicious juice.

We soaked the apple stars in lots of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown, then incorporated them into the sangria.  It was delicious!

I have to confess that we wimped out and added a 20-oz. bottle of Sprite to the sangria.  It was too hot for alcohol, and we're not big drinkers anyway.

Red Cambria Stoneware dishes, American Star Flag napkins and Bistro Flatware all came from Pottery Barn.  The chargers came from Pier 1, they were originally hot pink, and were spray painted in this soft ivory.

Our guests could snack on some treats while the rest of the lunch was prepared.  In addition to the watermelon and blueberry, we had pretzels, popcorn and dark chocolate-covered almonds.  A little juicy, a little salt, a little sweet, a little chocolate.  All the bases were covered.

Red, white and blue . . . and berries, too!  I am forever on the lookout for cute cocktail napkins.  

Have you ever seen Gerbera daisies in such a brilliant red?  I didn't have to work very hard at putting together a centerpiece for this table.  With these beauties, anything else seemed redundant.

Voilà!  The table is set.  Given the pandemic, I was thankful to be able to pull all these pretty things out of storage without having to shop.

We grilled the most amazing shrimp.  Here's the recipe:  2 pounds of extra large shrimp, peel and deveined.  Make the marinade with ½ cup honey, 6 tablespoons low-sodium tamari sauce, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 6-8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (be lavish with the garlic!), and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.  Add the marinade to the shrimp and refrigerate for 4 hours in a plastic bag, turning occasionally.  Skewer the shrimp and cook on the hot grill for 3 minutes on each side.  You've got to try this!

We served it with Spanish rice, corn on-the-cob, and cornbread.  

These are, hands down, our favorite corn holders - and we've owned a lot of them.  Our kids loved corn-on-the-cob, and we made it frequently.  Consequently, we went through a lot of corn holders.  They are generally rather flimsy, and the tines break off after a few uses.  The clear acrylic with brilliant colors, and the fact that they interlock with each other for storage are nice features, too!  I bought them at Whole Foods, but they are available at other supermarkets as well.

Among my favorite memories of our trips to Italy are the wonderful cakes that hotels serve for breakfast.  When we travel abroad we prefer eating a hearty breakfast at the hotel before heading out for a day of sightseeing.  These cakes tend to be a bit on the dry side and not overly sweet.  They are meant to accompany a great cappuccino.

A Cherry Almond Cake was just the ticket.  My husband was very helpful in photographing a few shots for this post, while I was busy getting lunch ready.

Aha!  So this is why he was being so helpful . . .

Easy, Tiger!  We've got to keep this G-Rated!

Anyway, the cake turned out delicious.  I used a yellow box cake mix, added almond extract and fresh cherries.  Then, I covered the batter with sliced almonds.  When the cake cooled, it was covered with powder sugar.

These days, I don't wear makeup for just anybody.  We got up early to watch the neighborhood's Independence Day car parade.  We wanted to support our association, that has worked so hard to keep the neighbors engaged, and safe during this pandemic.

One more picture with my hubby because he's a cutie pie, and has made the day tremendously fun for me.

And one more picture of the Gerbera daisies because, flowers.  I hope your holiday was fantastic!

Dinner Fit for a President

The Liberty Blue Ironstone china was made in Staffordshire, England as a promotional item for the American Bicentennial, by Benjamin Franklin Federal Savings & Loan Association.  

I only own a few pieces of this china, just enough to put together a simple dinner table for two, in honor of George Washington, our first president.

The dinner plate depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and it's slightly smaller than a regular dinner plate, so I added the Lenox Federal Platinum dinner plate beneath it, to act as a charger.

Then, came the Bread & Butter plate, depicting Washington leaving Christ Church.

Ever since I began collecting dishes, it's become a compulsion to turn the plates upside down to see what I can find on the back side.

The darling cobalt, glass-blown vase came from the gift shop at Monticello, originally the residence of fellow Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson.  I'm sure Jefferson could never imagine his home becoming a museum with a charming little gift shop, but there you have it.  It wasn't easy, a mere few days after Valentine's Day, but I managed to find some spray carnations with a touch of red on the leaves.  Now, I could have some red, white and blue on the table.

The Reticello lace napkins, were given to me by my godmother on the baptism of my second son.  They are only 18" x 18" so I generally prefer using them for luncheons, but I felt Martha Washington might have appreciated them, following Abigail Adams advise to her husband in a letter dated March 31, 1776, to "remember the ladies."  The placemats are Sferra in the Clearwater color.  Similar shades were often found in colonial homes paired with Prussian blue.

The Jefferson flatware by Reed & Barton for Monticello.  I've had this flatware for years and still love the Fiddle & Thread pattern typical of the 18th century, and which Jefferson loved.  With all his flaws, I'm a big fan of TJ.

The Laguiole butter knife with the rosewood handle, is made in France, but derived from a Spanish-Arabic knife style typically found among the shepherds in Cataluña, Spain.  It's doubtful that it would have appeared in Martha's table, George would probably not have approved, but I love these little spreaders and bring them out to play whenever I can.  

George might have been a stickler for proper behavior, and even wrote a book about it.  I wonder what he would think of today's manners.  I wonder what he would think about my calling him George.

The Cape Fear candlesticks are made of pewter, an alloy very common in Colonial America.  Cape Fear is an actual port in North Carolina, but very treacherous to make landings, hence, the name. Both the glasses came from the Dollar Tree.

The table is set.  For dinner, a hearty beef roast surrounded by root vegetables, all of which could be found in the colonies.

And for dessert, Cherry Pie.  It was delicious, I cannot tell a lie.

A Patriotic Celebration!

What would it be like to have dinner with one of the Founding Fathers . . . say, Benjamin Franklin . . . ?

Oh, to be treated to that razor-sharp wit - as long as it wasn't directed at me, of course!  So many sayings we use nowadays were coined by the clever Mr. Franklin!  Here's one of my favorite quotes:  “Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.”  A man after my own heart!  Do you have a favorite BF quote?

We tried the Cabernet Sauvignon with Mr. Franklin's portrait on the label to make an Apple-Berry Sangría.  I wonder if he ever tasted sangría.  Did you know that the word sangría is a derivative of sanguis, the Latin word for blood?  Literally, it means bleeding.

A Spaniard of long ago might have said to his tavern keeper:  “¡Prepara una sangría!” (Prepare a bleeding!), meaning, of course, “Prepare a pitcher of that delicious concoction with red wine and brandy and fruit,” not a true bleeding, unless, of course, he was referring to a bull fight . . . Yikes! Not going there, at least, not today.

There are as many recipes for sangría, as there are sangría lovers.  I have never found the definitive recipe. My husband and I traveled all over Spain on our honeymoon sampling local variations.  I mean, when in Spain . . . We have carried on with the quest for over 30 years now, and it's still ongoing . . . No task is too onerous to make the world a better place . . .

I was inspired for this table by the bandanna tablecloth.  I kept imagining cowboys on a cattle drive, wearing colorful bandannas around their necks . . .

And later stopping to pick a posy of wildflowers for their sweetheart . . .

It was too hot for a heavy meal so we kept the menu simple  . . .

Hamburgers with all the trimmings and my homemade potato salad.  Potato salad is another one of those dishes for which everybody has a favorite recipe, but here's mine:

5 lbs. red potatoes (if you are going to make it, you might as well commit), peeled and cubed
1 dz. eggs, hard-boiled and coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 cups Hellmann's mayonnaise
½ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup granulated sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until just done.  Add chopped eggs, onion and celery.  In a small bowl mix the mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.  Pour over the potato-egg mixture.  Combine thoroughly. Chill. Garnish with Spanish smoked paprika (I prefer it to Hungarian Paprika) and parsley sprigs.

A strong recommendation:  Please use the very best wine vinegar you can find, instead of using pickle brine. Nowadays commercial brines are made with the cheapest quality distilled vinegars, often derived from petroleum, and then sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. Enough said.

We saved room for dessert:  Cherries Jubilee over Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!  As you can see, I'm still playing with cherries.  This time, I got to light them on fire with the help of a little kirsch!  My first flambée!

I used Martha Stewart's recipe. Here's the link:  Cherries Jubilee.  Make sure your ice cream is very hard, as it will melt quickly when you add the warm cherries.  If this happens, do not despair, do like I did, and eat it like soup!  It will still be vastly delicious!  I'll be making this again.  After all, practice makes perfect! (That's not a Ben Franklin quote, but doesn't it sound like it ought to be?).

The photo below was taken on Father's Day at U.S. Cellular Field, where we watched the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 3-2.  That big, ol' Star-Spangled Banner stretched out across the field makes it perfect to add to this post, and gives me an opportunity to show off the handsome men in my life!

Happy Independence Day!  As my youngest son is being deployed to Kuwait, I pray for his safety and that of all of our soldiers; it is because of their sacrifice that we can celebrate on this day.  Peace.

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for the weekly Tablescape Thursday party!  Please stop in and take a peak at all the marvelous tablescapes!

Tea Bread Tuesday: Cherry Almond Bread

For those who don't know by now, I love tea breads.  A slice of fruity bread, paired with a cup of tea can bring a lot of joy to my day.  Then, if a rainy, summer afternoon happens to come my way, on a day when I don't have to be anywhere else, well, that's as close to ideal as life can get for me.

It so happens that I found myself at home this past weekend, with a luscious bowl of cherries, which are in season now, time on my hands, and the promise of a summer shower later in the day . . . the perfect time to do a little baking.

I've underestimated cherries most of my life.  At first, I used to know them only as the “red fruit” in a can of Libby's Fruit Cocktail, or as the nauseatingly sweet syrup in cough medicine.  Then, one day, I was introduced to “real” cherries in a freshly baked Black Forest cake, while attending a dinner-theatre performance of Cabaret.  When the Master of Ceremonies began singing “Willkomen, Bienvenue, Welcome . . . ”  I felt like it should have been me singing!  They were superb!  The show was pretty good, too.  And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

If you are planning to experiment with fresh cherries, you'll need a cherry pitter.  It's a little tool that removes the pit from the cherry quickly and efficiently.  It was also fun to use.  I see a lot of cherry desserts in my future (cherry pie comes to mind right away, but we'll leave that for another post.)  The one in the picture above is from Williams-Sonoma.  I'm told that it's also good for pitting olives.  How about that?  I can play with olives, too!

The bread turned out delicious!  The cherry and almond flavors complement each other beautifully, and it was very moist.  This one is a keeper.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1½ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup sweet cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

½ milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ teaspoons almond extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350º F.  Grease and flour a 8" x 4" loaf pan.  Set aside.

2.  In a small bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.  Gently fold in the cherries, and mix until well coated.

3.  In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients and lightly beat with a fork until blended.

4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just moistened.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5.  Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes in loaf pan, then invert into serving platter and allow bread to cool completely.  Wrap in plastic wrap until ready to serve.

“Life is just a bowl of cherries, don't take it serious, it's mysterious.  Life is just a bowl of cherries, so live and laugh, and laugh at love, love a laugh, laugh and love.”  —Bob Fosse