Baking – movingforwardslowly

A Week of Celebrations

Chinese Fire Horse 2026 image generated by AI. My daughter was born in a Metal Horse year. “Metal Horses are often described as ‘spiritual warriors’ due to their immense inner strength and endurance.”

President’s Day holiday, Mardi Gras, the beginning of Ramadan, and the Chinese New Year all will be happening this coming week.

My brother’s birthday was last week, and he wrote to me that his wife was making him an angel food cake. When we were growing up together our mom would often make him one with strawberries and whipped cream for his birthday. I cannot remember the last time I made one.

This conversation got me to thinking about making an angel food cake for my family. I have one of the special inverted cake pans that is very old, so I decided to search for a new one. This took me outside my normal day to day radius, and I had fun exploring the Galleria. I found a nice new angel food cake pan.

I have been researching recipes because this cake needs to be dressed up for more flavor. I did not want to make the standard strawberries and whipped cream version. I found a recipe that uses pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. I happen to have a can of pumpkin leftover from the Christmas holidays. This recipe does use whipped cream with added crystallized ginger for the middle and top of the cake. I had previously read that “gourds, particularly bottle gourds or hulu are significant in Chinese New Year for symbolizing prosperity, health, and protection.” Since pumpkin is in the gourd family, the pumpkin angel food cake will be the recipe I use. If I can successfully make one and get a good picture, I will post it later. I will need to wait a day for the crystallized ginger to arrive.

I hope your week ahead is productive and festive in one way or another.

I made the cake. There were a few small problems I worked around. It tastes great! I am not a professional baker. This was the first time I made a whipped cream frosting. It was made with a pint of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. It made more that I expected. I had not originally intended to ice the whole cake. It will need to be refrigerated. You cannot see it, but between the two layers is a crystallized ginger paste. I made the mistake of putting some in a food processer and it made a sticky paste of it. Fortunately I did not put all of it in the processor, so I had some to chop into smaller pieces for the top. I think this will be my early birthday cake.

Snow Day 3!

This is how I am feeling today — worn out from baking cookies.

My husband shoveled our driveway yesterday. He said it is like blocks of cement out there. The temperatures outside have been varying between the mid single digit range with wind chill at zero or below, and when it warms up it reaches the low to mid 20’s. I have stayed inside cooking and baking. At least we have been well-fed.

I received a Spring 2026 catalog from Vermont Bean Seed company recently. I shopped for seeds and indoor grow lights yesterday. My intention is to give vegetable growing another try. I have been reading up on planting asparagus from crowns. I first read about growing asparagus last year in a Martha Stewart article. I learned that asparagus is a perennial vegetable, and this interested me since I have experience growing many perennial flowers. Yesterday, I ordered some asparagus crowns, a Sweet Purple variety. I hope to do the preparation work early spring. “Hope springs eternal…” (This is a partial quote from Alexander Pope 1733.)

Thinking about spring helps to weather the winter pauses. I hear there is the possibility of another winter weather system coming this weekend.

Stay warm and don’t hurt yourself shoveling!

Invasion of the Cowbirds

This picture was taken by rfotostock located on Pixabay. I wanted you to see what the male cowbird looks like.

I woke up very early this morning when it was still dark outside, though the whiteness of the snow made it possible to see. At this time of morning there was no visible bird activity. I was wide awake, so I made a black walnut banana bread, and drank some tea as it was baking. Eventually, I went back to bed, and slept for about an hour before the noise of bird activity woke me up. I went into the kitchen and was somewhat startled to see about 2 dozen cowbirds resting on our deck as close to the door as they could get. There were many more cowbirds resting in the surrounding trees and several fighting over the seeds in a couple of feeders.

My husband had purchased a small wooden birdhouse that is a seed feeder that he placed on the back railing of our deck. Normally many small sparrows play inside and outside of it eating the seeds. This morning many cowbirds were flocked around it. When I opened the door to scare the noisy flock they all flew away or up into surrounding trees. There was one exception, one cowbird was left stuck inside the little bird house. I called my husband to come see the commotion. I will let him decide what to do with the stuck cowbird. Perhaps it can eventually free itself.

Our regular backyard birds were still around. I spotted the cardinals, a blue jay, the visiting winter juncos, and I was delighted to see a cute little wren exploring the corners of the deck.

I was not delighted to see the cowbird flock. I used to see a few here and there in our garden many many years ago. They are not regular inhabitants here, and I have not seen any in a very long time. They are called cowbirds because they follow herds of cattle and eat the seeds and insects stirred up by the herd. They used to be called bison birds before many of the bison were killed off. The female cowbirds do not look like the males, and are very non-descript looking. They do not build nests, and they are called brood parasites because they will lay their egg in another birds nest. Often the other bird will foster the cowbird egg along with their own eggs. I used to read a lot about the different birds I would see in my garden.

It is still snowing and perhaps the cowbirds were brought here by this weather system. They will eventually move along, especially if the feeders are empty.

Enjoy the snow if you can, and stay warm.

Hello January!

I have not made any resolutions per se, though, I would like to remember to buy flowers more often to brighten the table on the cold winter days ahead of us.

Yesterday I made https://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/quakers-chewy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies. To the left of these flowers sits a jumbo size Mason jar full of cookies I made from this recipe. The nuts was an optional ingredient. I added chopped pecans. I found my favorite wrap around bib apron the other day, which means I don’t have to change my clothes to cook and bake, so I hope to do more baking through the winter.

Early this morning I woke to a light dusting of snow outside. I hope the winter brings some beautiful days of snow, and yet not too much to cause big problems for travelers.

Let us celebrate the season for it is part of nature’s cycle!

Looking Ahead to Next Year

Al generated image. I asked for a pistachio cake.

As New Year’s Eve approaches I am thinking about the year ahead of us. This is when I realized that my birthday will be on what seems like an auspicious date–02/26/2026. I will be turning 67. At first this scared me a little, though I know God will be watching over me as always.

Do numbers and dates hold power? I am inclined to think they do when I look around at the news and advertising media.

I decided to look up the date to see what I might find. An AI overview stated that it is known for celebrations like National Pistachio Day and Tell a Fairy Tale Day. This information made me laugh and put me at ease.

Then I looked up the day of February 26 in history and was pleased to see that in 1919 The Grand Canyon was officially designated, in 1929 Grand Teton National Park was established, and in 1933 the ground-breaking ceremony for the Golden Gate Bridge was held.

Now, I feel relieved that when the day is put into a bigger perspective, the day will pass like any other day. Perhaps I will eat a pistachio cake for my birthday, and maybe a fairy tale will be told.

Smile and Have a Happy New Year!

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.

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.

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.