Hello.

I feel like it's been so long that I don't know how to write anymore. But it's only been two weeks, and it's good to back--I've missed you all. I'm settling in to my new place fairly well--thank you to all of you for your support in my move! The move went well, nothing broken and no injuries in the process, which is always a good thing. For a couple of days I felt lost because my internet and cable were not set up (it's amazing how dependent I am on the internet and TV) and I didn't know what to do with myself except, well, unpack, which I guess is productive--but not appealing given all the packing I had just done prior to the move. My internet is up and running now (hooray!) but my little TV is still sitting in a dark corner of my living room, unplugged, lifeless and lonely.

I think while I was busy with my move, Spring must have crept up on me. Because I am suddenly surrounded by blooming flowers and bright green trees. There are some cherry trees nearby, and they're full of cherry blossoms, which make me want to stroll among them and breathe in their sweet scent. As much as I loved the rainy cold weather, I think I am now ready for Spring to arrive, when I don't have to leave the house with four layers of clothing and when I can get out of work and still be able to see the sun.


So in honor of Spring's arrival, when all things are new again, and to celebrate being back here again with you (!), I thought I'd try out my new oven (which is actually a little risky because an oven can be unpredictable at first and it can take a few tries to see what works) and my new bundt cake pan (which a friend gave to me fairly recently and I've never made a bundt cake before!) to make a blueberry bundt cake--although I cheated and used frozen blueberries, but only because I was told to use them so they wouldn't sink!

Prior to making my first very own bundt cake, my memories of bundt cakes have been from potlucks or church social gatherings. (Bundt cakes also remind me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", when the parents meet for the first time, and the Greek mother could not understand what a bundt cake was!) I've always liked how they looked, pretty just on its own and round with the soft ridges and the hole in the middle--kind of like a really fancy giant donut though not really. My friend who bought me the pan summed up bundt cakes in two (well, three) words: "moist and delicious" (and didn't I say I'd come back with something delicious?).



Blueberry Bundt Cake
Adapted from epicurious.com
Serves about 12

Preheat the ovent to 350F and grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

1. Using a wire whisk, mix together in a bowl:
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1 t. salt

2. In a separate bowl, cream together on low to medium until light and fluffy:
- 1-1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1-2/3 cups sugar

3. Once the butter and sugar have been creamed, add in, one at a time, until just mixed:
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 t. vanilla extract

4. Continue mixing on on low, adding the following and alternating between each, beginning and ending with the flour mixture:
- Flour mixture from #1
- 1 cup buttermilk

5. Fold in by hand:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries

6. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan, then allow to cool completely on a rack. Transfer the cake to a plate and dust with powdered sugar (which I forgot to do because I a little eager to try the cake!).

Think green.

I think green is my favorite color. I "think" because it kind of depends on what mood I'm in too, like when I want fun shoes or in choosing my stand mixer, I like red, or when I want a bright top, I sometimes like orange, but only if I'm wearing it with jeans, otherwise pink sometimes does the trick. And then there are M&Ms. I don't eat them often, but if I have them, usually they're in my trail mix and I only eat the green ones, but if I'm in the mood for more chocolate, I'll eat the orange ones, too. Green seems to be the color I always come back to. The color just speaks fresh, calm, and clean.

These days, or maybe it's always been the case, green also represents the color of environmental responsibility. I have some friends, a couple, who decided to take steps beyond putting plastic bottles in recycling bins, and started their own compost in their backyard. It was the first time I'd known someone personally to do something like that. Sometimes I think that what little I do won't make a difference, but they showed me that even if there is only the hope that every little thing can count, and if we can do something, then why not?

I helped throw a baby shower for these friends this past weekend, and how appropriately, though probably not intentionally, they chose the baby shower theme color to be a moss green. Since I was baking cupcakes for the shower, I was trying to think of a flavor that would work with the color, so I came up with lime cupcakes! Kiwi just didn't seem right, but lime was more feasible. I don't see lime as a cake or cupcake flavor very often, or at all, but if lemon is a popular flavor, then why not lime? Using a recipe for yellow cupcakes from The New Best Recipe, which has great recipes for every course of a meal, I added lime zest and lime juice, and they turned out wonderful! And for the frosting, instead of the cream cheese frosting which is often used on lemon cupcakes, I wanted a fluffier and softer texture, so I made a lime curd and mixed it with whipped cream. I have extra frosting in my freezer now, which tastes amazing on its own, like a mousse!

I can't claim that these cupcakes are environmentally friendly, but when you read the instructions on how to make the cupcake portion, you'll see that you don't waste much effort. The cupcakes come out pretty close to perfect even if all you do is throw all the ingredients together in the bowl and mix! Unfortunately, when I made these for the shower, I forgot to add the baking powder for half of them, so they didn't rise and were dense! It was late, and I served them anyway, and some guests thought they were meant to be like that!


Lime Cupcakes
Adapted from The New Best Recipe
Makes about one dozen

1 stick or 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla
The zest and juice of one regular lime (not key limes, which are small; if using key limes, use 2 or 3)

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and line the cupcake pan with liners.

Cream the butter in a bowl using a mixer on low to medium speed. Once light and fluffy, add all other ingredients and mix together until combined and smooth.

If this last step seems too risky, cream the butter with the sugar, then combine all the wet ingredients (buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, lime juice and zest) and mix together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt), then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter equally among the cupcake wells in the cupcake pan, and bake on the middle rack for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack.

Lime Curd Whipped Cream Frosting
Adapted from epicurious.com

For the lime curd:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
the zest and juice of 2 regular limes (about 1/4 cup of juice)
3/4 stick of butter, cubed

For the whipped cream:
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
green food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan whisk the eggs, sugar, lime juice and lime zest together. Over low heat, add the butter and continue to whisk the mixture. Continue doing so until it thickens and begins to bubble. You can increase the heat gradually if the mixture does not thicken. Once you can see whisk marks in the curd, remove the saucepan from heat and pour the curd through a sieve if it's a little lumpy. Allow the curd to cool and refrigerate the curd in a covered container until chilled (I did this overnight).

When ready to make the frosting, beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar with the whisk attachment on high until stiff peaks form. Add a little green food coloring just enough to tint the frosting (a couple of drops if using liquid), and fold in about 1/4 cup of the lime curd, then add another 1/4 cup (you'll have leftover lime curd). Chill the frosting to allow it to set. Frost the cooled cupcakes with a spatula or piping bag.

Good enough.

If you haven't already picked up on it, I try to be healthy. My friends might consider that an understatement. "Health nut" sums it up pretty well. I can border on obsessive when it comes to healthy eating (with all that information on the web, how can it not make anyone paranoid?), which doesn't always go hand in hand with pastries, sadly. I think that's partially why I like to bake for other people rather than myself. I can use all that butter and sugar and other good stuff freely--not because I don't care about their well-being, of course(!), and I do believe there is the right time to let those cares go and really savor food, whether it's "good" for me or not. But when it comes to baking or cooking something only for myself, I can endure the cardboard taste simply because I tell myself it's good for me. Once in a while, though, I come across something that just might be able to be shared with non-health-nuts and health-nuts alike.

Every so often, I go through an oatmeal phase. It kind of warms me up from the inside, especially useful for these cold days. And since last week, I've been contemplating, mulling over, engrossing myself with oatmeal. A bowl of hot oatmeal is wonderful in its simplicity, but oatmeal in cookies, in cake, or as a muffin provides a different indulgence. Oatmeal is the kind of food that makes you feel good about yourself. Eat an oatmeal raisin cookie, and I feel like I'm getting my daily intake of dietary fiber. Add it to chocolate chip cookies, and suddenly I'm convinced they're good for me. Yes, this is all self-deception, but oatmeal always makes me feel like home. So you can put away your bowl and lay aside your spoon, you're not going to need them for this oatmeal recipe.

This recipe originally came from allrecipes.com. What I appreciate about allrecipes.com and other sites like it is that they're usually recipes from people like me--not professionals, just people who have a love for cooking or baking. Of course, it's sometimes hard to tell whether it'll turn out or not--not all the recipes are great, but you do find a gem once in a while. Looking at the recipe initially, it certainly looked healthy, but I wasn't sure if there would be enough flavor or if it would come out dense and dry. Regardless, I was still convinced it had potential. With some tweaking, it turned out pretty nice, dare I say even fool-proof--and maybe good enough for the non-health-nuts out there.

Honey Oatmeal Cake
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Makes one 8" round cake or 12 muffins

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup low fat buttermilk (or milk if you prefer)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 t. vanilla
2/3 cup honey

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon

Soak the oats in buttermilk for about thirty minutes in a mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease a cake pan or cupcake tin.

Add the oil, egg, vanilla and honey to the oats and mix on low until combined. Scrape the sides down, then continue mixing, adding the dry ingredients (no need to sift or whisk beforehand!). Pour the batter into the cake pan or distribute the batter evenly among the cupcake wells.

Bake for about 30 minutes, if using a cake pan, or 20 to 25 minutes if a cupcake pan, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. You can serve it warm with preserves or any time by itself.