Baking – movingforwardslowly

The Gourd Family

All these pictures were taken by me years ago at a road-side market in Berryville, Virginia.

Yesterday I was visiting several places in my community taking advantage of some rare time away from home and work. Most places I went I saw pumpkins and various other members of the gourd family.

Did you know that cucumbers were in the gourd family? I did not know this until today.

As I was walking into one of the stores I was visiting, I heard a little boy behind me ask whether he could have a pumpkin. I heard his father respond that pumpkins were for October. Without thinking, I responded, “Pumpkins are already in the stores.” Then as I slowed to get a shopping cart, the father smiled at me, and I realized that it was his lame excuse for not buying his son a pumpkin. I smiled back, and went on my way knowing my words could not be taken back. I hope the little boy will get his pumpkin, and I hope that he can draw faces on it or have his dad carve a friendly face on it.

I love the beauty and versatility of gourds. They are one of the reasons I love the fall season, and of course all the pumpkin breads, muffins, pies, and cookies that are available at this time of year. I saw my husband had a carton of a pumpkin spice high protein drink, and I winced at the thought of it. Is this carrying it too far?

Anyways, I went looking for my pumpkin pictures, and I was reminded of my husband’s Uncle Buddy and his llama farm. He is no longer with us, nor is the llama farm still there. All was sold off, and I believe the land was sold to a neighboring horse training farm. Time moves on and things can change. I will post a picture in honor of Buddy and his llamas. I am not sure whether his wife Cheryl is still alive. She left to be closer to some of her children.

I still have some llama wool items I purchased to help support the cause. I will have to pull out the llama wool blanket that I have never used for fear of ruining it. I might as well use it at this point since their is no good reason to ‘save it’.

Some of Uncle Buddy’s llamas near Berryville, Virginia. His property was a stone’s throw from the West Virginia and Virginia border. He was on the West Virginia side.

Candied Pecans

I have been reading up on the benefits of eating various nuts. With the idea of making oatmeal walnut cookies, I went searching through all my pantry boxes looking for walnuts which I thought I had in abundance. It turns out I was wrong. I found an over abundance of pecans, including some I bought just the other day.

What should I do? Nobody in my house needs cookies. I decided to do something with just the pecans, and I thought of candied pecans which is a healthier way to satisfy a sweet tooth. I frequently make oatmeal for breakfast, so adding chopped candied pecans will give more protein and fiber, and it will substitute the little bit of maple syrup that I am currently adding.

I went looking for a recipe. Surely, I could find one in my Treasury of Christmas cookbook with over 750 recipes. Here is the recipe I found that appealed to me.

Modifications needed to be made to the recipe due to available ingredients. I had no whole almonds. I used 3 cups of pecans. I had no grated lemon peel so this was omitted. I had everything else. I did use 2 egg whites. The picture above shows the end product. They taste pretty good, especially with the touch of citrus flavor. Adding a few chopped up ones to my morning oatmeal will be a delicious way to use up some of the excess pecans. They might also be good adding a few chopped up ones to a salad.

Date Palm: Phoenix dactylifera

This picture was taken from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park Alliance website

My fascination with Palm trees continues. With Palm Sunday arriving this weekend, I have been exploring the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera). There are many of these trees on the property owned by the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park in California. One of my fondest memories is taking my daughter on a Safari drive through this park when she was young. We were visiting my sister who lived in Los Angeles at the time. My daughter was thrilled and a little scared to feed the giraffes carrots. They would come up to the safari truck and with their prehensile tongues they would scoop them out of our hands.

The fruit of the Date Palm tree are called Medjool dates. I bought some the other day at one of our local grocery stores. I have eaten them in salads at restaurants, but I have never bought a box of them to consume at home. We have been eating them today, and I can definitely say that they are delicious. My plan is to chop some of them up to put into a pound cake I hope to make this weekend. I enjoy experimenting. One of my recent goals this year is to try new foods and experiment with different recipes. I am currently focused on the Medjool date.

The dates I bought were grown in the Bard Valley of California. I had to research the name Bard since I attended an elementary school in California in 3rd and 4th grade by the name of Richard Bard. Curiously I don’t ever remember eating whole dates when I was young and lived in California. This is a shame since I could have discovered them long ago.

If I end up making the cake this weekend, I will post a picture. It would be a nice addition to a Palm Sunday brunch.

I made the Vanilla Sour Creme Pound Cake and added chopped medjool dates. I baked it this morning. Now all I need to do is make the brunch tomorrow morning to go with it. It will be simple.

I found a picture (08/09/25) of Ivan the giraffe that would use his tongue to scoop the carrots out of your hand.

Heart Strings

The common name is bleeding heart, but I like the name heart strings better. The scientific name is written in the caption. The pictures were taken by me long ago at Meadowlark Botanical Garden not too far from our home.

Today we celebrate the 35th birthday of Laura. We had lunch at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. The quote written on their to-go bags is: “There is no love more sincere than the love of food.” I would like to add “and family” at the end. However more people probably agree with their version.

We all agree that Carrabba’s Cannoli Cake for Two was incredibly delicious! Better to have birthday cake out than have a whole cake at home (way too many calories.).

This cannoli cake for two** at Carrabba’s Italian Grill is very moist and wonderfully delicious.
It was shared by two people, and still the calories should not be consumed daily.

In attempts to get a picture of this cake to share, I found many recipes out there trying to recreate this cake at home. It is good to know I will be able to find the recipe if I ever decide to make one at home. I am definitely more inclined to go back to Carrabba’s. They had a wonderful promotion on taking home meals. I should be set for the rest of the work week ahead. Thank you Carrabba’s!

Pizza Night

I would highly recommend this Crate and Barrel pizza plate. It thoroughly cooked the whole wheat dough. Additionally, it is light weight and easy to clean.

The only problem was I added too much cheese. There are sliced peppers under all the cheese that you cannot see very well. Next time I will make it with less cheese and the sliced peppers on top.

Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie

AI generated image. “Pastry board and rolling pin.”

Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie is a phrase that keeps whirling around my head.I kick it out and it circles back.
I discovered it was a song popular when I was growing up, though, I don't remember it from then.
It was chanted by some when playing hide-and-seek.
Who's not ready? Holler, "I".

I have had pie on my brain, and tarts, and crostatas, and galettes, etc., etc.

Last weekend I made a granny smith apple tart with a chopped ginger cookie and pecan crumbled topping, and then I got fancy and cut out circles with the remaining pie dough and decorated the top. It was delicious.

Is there a real difference between a pie, tart, galette, and crostata?
Not really. There are differences. I read that a pie has two crusts, one on top, and one on the bottom, whereas tarts, have no top.
Galettes and crostatas appear to be the same thing, one with a French name, and the other with a Spanish or Italian name. Both are free form tarts placed directly on a baking sheet and folded up at the edges.

I have invested in some new things to make my kitchen more baking friendly, and I am also branching out into gourmet pizza making. I invested in a carbon steel pizza plate with holes on the bottom in order to have a crisper crust.

This weekend I made a dense hearty cornbread for the chili cook off at my school tomorrow. I plan to make another pie or traditional tart or possibly a free form tart on Election Day. I will need to keep busy to stay off the news channels.

I have also been cleaning and organizing up a storm. My shower walls are sparkling now. I took a carload to Good Will this past week. You have to clean out the old to make room for the new.

All of this activity has helped me to stay away from the internet and all the political news. It drives me crazy! Are you ready for election day? I just want it all to be over. I pray that whatever the outcome, everyone stays calm and thinks about the consequences before they act.
Crowd mentality can make people go wild and do things they would not normally do.

By the end of the week, it will all be over.
Thank God!
Whatever the result we all need to find some peace.
My peace will be found while baking.