The Day of the Lemon Cake

Sierra has been wanting to make a cake for a week. No particular reason. Well, if sugar counts as a reason, then yeah, one particular reason. So after searching for just the right flavor and recipe, she came upon a Lemon Cake recipe that looked pretty tasty.

We didn't realize that it also happened to be Gluten Free until we were really concentrating on writing down the ingredients for the shopping list. One would think it would be difficult to find brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, guar gum, and maybe even lemon extract. But guess what? Whole Foods has every single one of these items in one aisle!



So with our ingredients in hand, Sierra began the cake making process. First the cake part - pretty straightforward - mix a bunch of stuff together, pour in a pan, and bake. One ingredient we somehow overlooked was canola oil. I always have coconut oil on hand, so I got it out, heated it just enough to bring it to liquid state, then gave it to Sierra to add to a milk/lemon zest mixture she needed to do before incorporating into the cake batter. Guess what happens when you mix coconut oil with cold milk? Uh huh. Back to solid. Oh well, warmed the mixture again back to liquid and had no problems after that.





Next was the lemon curd. This was where she used the guar gum. Very easy and it thickened up really nicely.



So we split the two cake layers in half and basically made lemon curd sandwiches of them before putting them back together for frosting. This is the only part I was allowed to do because she didn't trust herself to split the cakes horizontally.



Finally, there was frosting to be made. I cannot believe it has taken me all these years to realize it - but I only learned about a month ago that you can make your own powdered sugar by putting granulated sugar in a powerful enough blender. What a money saver. So she made some powdered sugar, added it to butter, lemon, lemon extract, and lemon zest and that was the frosting. Oh, 1 1/2 times the recipe of course, for decorating purposes.

It was time for the base level of frosting.



But just a simple layer of frosting isn't too exciting, now is it? So you need some whoop-te-doos and piping and whatnot, and of course some sprinkles, because what is a cake without sprinkles? Wait...I wonder if the sprinkles un-gluten-freed the cake!?! Hmmmm.



And the finished cake with the baker.



And finally, the cake after cutting. It always gets dark outside when I'm trying to photograph food and you just can't see the layers as well as I'd like - but they're there, believe me.



UPDATE: Daytime photo of the yummy layers



I told Sierra this and I don't think she truly believes me...but this is the best cake I have ever eaten. I cannot explain exactly why - of course it was made with love, and it's flavors that I adore, etc. - but the flavors shine through with the exact right amount of sweet, moist, and flavorful: not too much or too little of anything.

I would say that you could potentially double the lemon curd recipe if you really like lemon curd....I thought we really weren't going to be able to taste it at all because it's a pretty thin layer, but surprisingly it held up really well and you could definitely taste it.

If you'd like to try it yourself, you can go to the Lemon Layer Cake recipe at Epicurious. It's from the November, 2005 Gourmet, which, like any good packrat, I have in my "November section" of my food magazine racks.

And yes, I did call this The DAY of the Lemon Cake for a reason. What was supposed to be a 2-hour-total-time cake recipe somehow took around 5 hours. Oh well, that's okay. It was worth it.

Ryan finally wanted me to video the whole song....so here you go:

A couple of minutes of Ryan's latest song....

Don't forget - Train at the Fox Theater in Oakland April 10!

COBRA STRIKE!


Check out the new video from Judgement Day, a local "string metal" band made up of guys playing violin, cello and drums. The strings players happen to be the sons of Sierra's violin teacher, and they were nice enough to ask her to be part of the video. Click here for some behind-the-scenes info.

You'll see Sierra at 1:49; 2:02; 2:19; 2:28; 2:31; 2:41; and 2:47. It's fast, so pay attention!

HOMEMADE HERBAL COUGH DROPS




It's that time of year again folks. Cough/cold/nasty what the heck is that person hacking up time. We go through bags and bags and bags of Ricola. The only person who is a bigger baby about having a sore throat than me is Sierra. Way bigger. Where'd she get that from? So I thought...hmmm...how hard can it be to make these things? Turns out not hard at all. You just have to approach it like I try to approach sewing - NO FEAR.


So I researched (you know...I googled it) recipes, formulas and herbs and settled in on one recipe. All properties described are internet-retrieved, so you choose whether to believe the purported properties of the herbs. However, I will say that my brain believed them as I sucked on the finished product.


Here's the recipe:


1 cup dried herbs (see here for herb guide). Mix and match according to your preference

3 cups boiling water

3 1/2 cups brown sugar or same amount of honey [see note about honey]

2 teaspoons peppermint extract if desired (may not go with honey?!)

Candy thermometer


First you will want to steep the dried herbs in the tea. Steep for about 30 minutes or so. Strain well using a tea press or cheesecloth.

Next add brown sugar or honey over medium heat and bring to a boil slowly. Be sure to keep stirring constantly. When the brown sugar or honey herbs mixture reaches 290 to 300 degrees and pulls apart in threads it is done.

At this point remove from heat and add the peppermint extract if desired. You can then proceed to pull the mixture like taffy and make little balls. Or the easiest and fastest thing to do is spread over a cookie sheet. I tried putting them in a loaf pan (I made a 1/2 recipe) and scoring them. When the herbal mixture it hardens you can then break into pieces. Use wax paper to store them.

[Note about honey - These tasted great but after a couple of weeks in a container began to draw in moisture and try to become liquid again. Still edible....just had to twist a piece off. Someone suggested putting one of those little silicon(e)? packets inside the container to prevent this which I think I'll try next time]


The herbs were easy to find. Whole Foods was my first stop and they had everything but horehound. However, next time I'll just go to Lhasa K to get everything, which is where I found the horehound.

This is what the dried herbs look like pre-tea:

Horehound has been used for decades for coughs and bronchial upsets. It is a great herb for breaking up congestion. It contains murubiin which stimulates bronchial secretions.

Mullein is an herb that will help soothe the bronchial and lungs. It is extremely gentle and effective. It will help ease coughs.

This herb is used to help relieve inflammation of the bronchial.

So you make up this big pan of tea and then do the straining:

The tea comes out looking like this:

Then, put it back in a pan with the brown sugar or honey.

Pour it in a pan (for a 1/2 recipe I used a loaf pan)....next time I'll probably line the pan with wax paper and butter it, for easier removal.

If you decide to pour it on a cookie sheet you're done. You'll simply break it up like brittle when it's ready. But if you use a pan like I did (thinking I could make the shape of the original herbal flavor Ricolas) you need to score the cough drops...unless you're a hard candy expert and know how to quickly and efficiently pull and shape the taffy-like candy into little balls. That's not me so I'm scoring. The challenge is that you have to score when it's not too hot and not too cool. I would run my small, sharp knife through a little butter, then dip the tip in and draw a line. Sometimes I'd start at the edges and do the edges all the way around, then wait as the middle cooled a bit more a go back in a little at a time. When it's too hot the candy sticks to the knife - too cool, you won't be able to score it at all.

Sounds hard but it's not. Although I do want to look into getting hard candy molds so I can make nice little round balls without the taffy-pulling part. Good luck!

HELP NEEDED FROM CREATIVES (OR WOULD-BE CREATIVES):

I am trying to reimagine our front yard. My imagination is currently hovering somewhere between art garden and/or courtyard found in San Miguel de Allende. And frankly, I don't believe they're mutually exclusive. Why San Miguel? Color, color and more color, natch.

A few inspiration photos:

Sort of art garden meets the casa. Our house style is Monterey Colonial, which is already kind of a mash-up, so I figure let's mash some more. We obviously have a long way to go...

The old yard:

It's okay. But the boxwood and the camellias bored me to death. And I wanted a front porch somethin' fierce. So, after putting the camellias on Craig's List (free to whoever came and dug them out-3 offers within 2 hours), I built me one.

It hard to see, but I've got some great slate-like tiles, bordered and sectioned by railroad ties. The front tie, 15 feet long, I drove to Modesto for, had them load it on top of Scott's ski racks, and pushed the sucker off the car myself into the front yard. I don't mess around when I want something done.

(Oh, and did you notice the lovely carpet of leaves is basically unchanged? Yes, that's my solution to the drought....never let them see your lawn - or lack thereof.)

The loveseat and chair are an Ohmega Salvage purchase, for which I have the cushions and fabric for recovering. I finished one since last summer.....speed's not my middle name.

I also made these end tables, inspired by a french pigeon basket coffee table I saw (for $1200!), and I love them with the loveseat and chair.

Also note the hanging lanterns purchased a separate time from Ohmega, as well as the wall lantern, for which I am still looking for a mate.

So in the casa-inspired version, all the brick comes out, the gate moves to the corner, there's some kind of pavers curved to the front door, the house gets painted, there's a cool-ish new fence and a fountain.....somewhere.

So now you're mostly you're up-to-speed. Oh, well, except for the piece of....ummm....art?.....that I bought at Urban Ore. Some employee had put it together as a display for their area, and I happened to come in on a day she was gone, and they sold it to me. The best shot I have of it is from behind Ryan and Sierra's heads. It's a frame, built from leftover electrical components and such, and I'm still figuring out how and where to place IT in the front yard.

OK, now to the part where I need some help/ideas/suggestions. Here is my latest Ohmega Salvage purchase:

It's galvanized steel, and it's former life was as a floral display used with individual pots. For those not familiar with Ohmega, they have lots of great architectural salvage materials, and then lots of just plain WTF? stuff. Not sure into which category my new purchase falls, but that's neither here nor there. I don't intend to use it the way it was originally intended, and here's where I need your help.

I envision putting it upright (full upright-not slanted upright like in the photo)......

But then what? What am I not thinking of? What could it do? What could it look like? What could it represent? Would love your input.....just comment, e-mail, or Facebook me. Thanks!

What do pierced ears and chickens have in common?

Sierra finally got her ears pierced. For those who don't know, she had to complete a goal first in order to be able to do so. The goal was to keep her room clean for six months straight. Some may say, so what? She should keep her room clean all the time anyway. Uh huh. Is your room clean 24/7 for six months in a row? Mine is certainly not. Others say...six months? Harsh! Well, there is a good reason. I needed for her to prove that she was responsible enough to be able to care for her ears. Too many of her friends seemed to be getting infections after getting their ears pierced. If she is responsible enough to keep her room clean for that long, she is responsible enough to keep her ears as clean as they need to be for the first 6 months of piercing. She started this journey when she was 8...went for about a month, then it all fell apart and she had to start over. Then she decided to time it out so that right around her 9th birthday, if successful, she could have pierced ears. And hooray! She made it! And let me tell you, I have never seen anyone so responsible with their ear cleaning. Her ear cleaning solution and cotton balls have gone with her EVERYWHERE. Sleepovers. Summer day camp. Oregon. Three times a day, without fail, she cleans and twists, twists and cleans. This Sunday is a very exciting milestone...she gets to change earrings. She already has a strategy that she'll change them every other day, always leaving in the originals for overnight. This will be the strategy through November, which will complete the first 6 months of pierced ears. She's not taking any chances. And I'm extremely proud.

So, having watched this all unfold, Ryan has decided that he has a goal of keeping his room clean for six months. And the prize he wants? Chickens. He really really really really wants to raise chickens so we can have fresh eggs. Sierra's violin teacher has four chickens that roam around her Oakland yard, and many other families in the hills have them, as they're legal to have in Oakland. Obviously chickens are a big responsibility. I'm not quite sure taking care of chickens is equivalent to taking care of newly-pierced ears, or if keeping your room clean qualifies either, but somehow we've embarked on a let's-see journey. We'll let you know what happens!

Did you hear about the hottest new band? Uh huh....they're called Rock Candy and they're all the rage! Their latest gig was at the Starry Plough in Berkeley. Oh, you haven't heard? Well you can read today's SF Chronicle Datebook section....or go online to SFGate and read the article (be sure to click through the "view more images" link for a super-secret suprise image!).

Time to praise Craig's List again. In this economy, I can't imagine how or why anyone buys anything new. Of course, there's the whole argument about needing to stimulate the economy in order for businesses to make it through these times....so if you're of that mind and able to do so, go for it. But the environmentalist in me (and we all have some of it in us somewhere) says, reduce, reuse, recycle - and of course Craig's List satisfies that particular need in me.

Ryan loves model trains, and has wanted to put together a track plan. We have absolutely no space....but figured out how to put together a 4 x 8 space in his room if we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and then moved everything around. So we thought about how to create even more space, and a loft bed seemed like a good option. If you look around at loft beds, they can be really flimsy....and expensive for what you get! But then I went to CL, and found this:

This was custom-made for a boy by his dad. The boy is now off to college.....and we get the benefit of being the second owner. This guy knew what he was doing....the craftsmanship is beautiful. By the way, he's moved on from woodworking....currently he's building an airplane in his garage....not a model airplane.....an actual airplane. We got to see the wings portion...very cool. Anyway, we paid way way way way way less than other beds that are out there - and they gave Ryan a deal because he was paying for it with his own money. It has 6 drawers - which then meant we could get rid of the huge dresser in his room as well....hooray! And the other side has a bookshelf - which meant we could get rid of a book shelf in his room....and mom and dad gained a bookshelf in their room....double hooray! So then, a small desk was needed. And where did I turn? CL natch. And in the small world category, the desk I found (which is identical to the one we already own in our office but in a different color) was being sold by a woman in my book club who then lowered the price by $10 when she found out it was me. So a desk that we paid around $200ish for a few years ago, I picked up for $70. Oh, and that drum stool under the desk? That was a bonus stool from the drum set Ryan bought off CL last year.....for some reason the kid had two drum stools (which we didn't originally know) so it's the purchase that keeps on giving.

Today, a collection of writing from Sierra:

E-mail one sent from car ride home from Tahoe yesterday (I stayed home while everyone else went skiing for the day). I am not correcting spelling or grammar - but will insert a word or explanation in parenthesis and italicized if clarification may be needed:

This is a really cute picture of me when I was drinking hot chocolate with extra whipped cream! We had two stops for hot chocolate. Both times it was very very good. The 2nd time there was no whipped cream. But we had to add "all perpose cream". The contaner of crem was stuck in a huge tub with a bunch of ice and water foer some reason. I thoght that it was quit weird and interesting. My favorite run was the easy one but they had split it in half and one side was a train [terrain] park. I liked the train park the best. Right now, we are stuck in traffic for some reason. Dad thinks that there must have been an acsadent ahead. I think that he just changed what he thought was ahead but I couldn't quit hear what he said. Got to go because Ryan is complaning that it is to long and that I should send it abot now.

Love,

Sierra

E-mail two, half an hour later:

Here is another picture for you.

Love,

Sierra

And finally, e-mail three, another half an hour later:

Here is another one. You should read this ones caption before you read the other caption of the picture in the email above this one because other ways it doesn't make any sence at all. I have chose that I don't really like to go skiing with dad, dad and ryan, or in ski school or blue angels. I don't like blue angels because of the movies and the middel school and also the dinner at in and out [this is the program last year where they rode up on the bus with 7-16 year olds - hence the movies on the bus reference, the middle school kids reference...and finally the reference to In and Out Burger where they made a dinner stop on the way home after a full day of skiing]. The food there is really really bad. It is gross. I hate it. I am really board and hungry right now and I am defenentaly not in the mood for sushi right now. I do not have any shoes on right now or socks and I am really really hot. Ryan does not like me typing long emails for some weird reason. He keeps complaining about it. It is just a long email for goodness sake! I am learning how to text emails on dads phone just like I am right now. It is really fun once you get your fingers used to putting them in the right places. There Ryan goes again complaining about the long email again! My butt herts from sitting so long in the car. I can not wait to see you when we get to the resterant. I hope that I spelled resterant right. We are going to call you in about five minets dad says but I do not know why. We have a full moon tonight. It is very very pretty. You will want to see it when we get home because it is so beatiful. The snow in Tahoe looked like the softest cloud blanket made of snow and the houses looked like huge ginger bread houses.

And now a little touch from today....she went online to make a drawing and e-mailed it to me. I've captured it with her words.....

I'm not sure who the subject is....however I do know that there is no loss of self-esteem in Sierra right now. And her stream-of-consciousness writing.....well, does it remind you of anyone?

I've fudged the dates a bit on the new Inauguration blog....so you'll see lots of photos and links on a January 16 post that I actually created today.....so make sure to scroll down.....and from now on new posts will appear chronologically with the newest being first.

Erik T. Johnson for the New York Times

I've started an Inauguration Scrapbook blog. I don't know why I do this to myself...but I figure if I can start to put it all in one place online, then when I finally do a real scrapbook, I'll have somewhere to start......it's the first item under Links to the right. Enjoy!

FREE STUFF!!

Ah, the power of the free. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Craig's List. I love the buying, I love the selling, I love the friendships I've made (oh yeah....really) and I love the best book ever about the sheer power of it - One Red Paperclip - who the heck can beat trading a red paperclip for a house? And now apparently he's looking to trade the house! I don't peruse CL for free stuff normally, however, because it's too time-consuming, and frankly, anything good goes within about a second. Even the for sale stuff goes with lightening speed. I've been looking to purchase a small desk for Ryan's room for a couple of months, and the 3 or 4 I've replied to were within hours of posting and I missed out on all of them. When we bought Ryan's drum set I had vowed to sit in front of the computer one Sunday morning and just keep hitting refresh on my "drum kit" search and guess what? The seller was shocked that I responded within 20 minutes of their post....and it takes CL at least 10 minutes to get it up there after you list it! But if you really really really want something, that's what you need to do.

However, when you're not in the market for something in particular, that's when free and happened-upon is the best ever. I have two very recent examples. First, Sierra and I were hiking back down from the ridge above our house along the streets, and lo and behold someone had set out bunches of free stuff. The usual suspects....old lamps, chairs, furniture, children's stuff.....and this true treasure - Mancala.

Look at the beautiful glass pieces. Sierra was beside herself with joy....she has wanted a Mancala game for a couple of years but it's one of those things that we just forget about at gift-giving times because it's not the big, showy thing. We brought it home, cleaned it up (although not much cleaning seemed to be required) and now she literally plays it at least three times a week....often by herself. In fact, we had a few guests over recently and one little girl's mom set out to find her - and happened on her all alone in Sierra's room happily playing by herself. There's something mystical about it somehow because I often find Sierra doing the same thing.

And the next free treasure? It's what the Mancala is sitting on. Stressed about cleaning my house up for same said guest get-together, I was really thinking about how to have our games in a really accessible place that didn't look too cluttery. A bookshelf would be good, but not a likely candidate for long-term because one day I vow to truly have a "put-together" living room, and this would not be included in that plan. As I was off to do some last minute errands that day, I drove to the end of the street and - AHA! - saw some furniture left out with the always-exciting FREE STUFF sign. I was on my way out so I called home and asked Scott to go to the end of the street and check it out. When I returned, both he AND both kids reported that none of it was any good. I said, "hmph, y'all don't know what you're talking about" and stomped to the bottom of the street (which can only happen if you live on hilly streets). Ryan decided to come with....probably to watch what it looks like when a crazy lady inspects free stuff....and the minute I saw this bookshelf I knew it was perfect. Again Ryan tried to talk me out of it...."it's paint is peeling"...."Sierra didn't like the color" (and by the way - where did I get this daughter who shuns most colorful stuff in favor of restrained, earthy tones - it's almost worse than discovering I'm raising a republican)...."blah, blah, blah." "Yeah, yeah - help me carry it home." So up the hill we went carrying this thing and then I got to show Ryan the magic of a power sander. "Look!" "Watch this!" "Magic!" And there it was.....a bright, beautiful, appropriately-brightly-hued-to-highlight-a-fun-game-collection shelf. Bring it inside, place it with care, line the top with Ipus homemade by me and Sierra, and now we're happy.

Is it stately? Well-appointed? Heck no. Does it represent me and my personality? Heck yeah. And it doesn't overwhelm the room too much, as evidenced by the above photo. And you know I had these pillows WAAAY before I got the bookshelf.....the whole beige-on-carribean-blue thing works kind of well, yes? I think Ryan's now a convert (power tools go a long way in making something cool to him). Sierra? Well, who cares - she can be in charge of her own room.

If you hadn't heard yet (which probably isn't possible since I've literally told every passing person I've seen), Ryan is one of 43 boys with the San Francisco Boys Chorus chosen to sing at Barack Obama's Inauguration ceremonies. Along with 43 girls from the San Francisco Girls Chorus (for whom Sierra sings - but not quite at that level yet), they will be the only children who are part of the official ceremonies - besides Obama's children, of course. Below are the 43 boys (Ryan is front row, 5th from the left with his hair pulled back) and SFBC Artistic Director Ian Robertson.

When we first heard about it, we were, of course, very excited. Something about "prime placement on the steps" is what was said. I was proud....but truly - the impact of the honor didn't really hit me until I saw the official schedule:

Festivities will commence at 10 a.m. on the west front of the U.S. Capitol and will include:

• Musical Selections: The United States Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus

• Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein

• Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren

• Musical Selection: Aretha Franklin

• Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will be sworn into office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John Paul Stevens

• Musical Selection: John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet)

• President-elect Barack H. Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln’s Inaugural Bible, administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.

• Inaugural Address

• Poem: Elizabeth Alexander

• Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery

• The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band “Sea Chanters”

Some more background info is available on the New York Times blog.

The program participants were invited by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and chosen by the Chairman, the President-elect, and the Vice President-elect.

Obviously this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and honor. It is also so much richer because Ryan was the most fervant Obama supporter in a household full of Obama supporters. He's the kid who yelled at the tv during the Republican convention when McCain spoke ill of Obama's remarks...."THAT'S NOT WHAT HE SAID!" The kid who whole-heartedly believes in Obama and his plans and hope for our future. And the kid who, when asked how he would feel if McCain had won and he was given the opportunity to sing for his inauguration, said "I would feel honored to sing for the President of the United States...no matter who it was." Such a pro.

Ryan will turn 10 twelve days before he sings in Washington, DC. I can't think of a better way for him to usher in his 10th year.

This is my idea of paradise. This little beauty will go up for auction at this year's Barrett Jackson car auction in Scottsdale in January. For those of you who thought they only sold hot rods, think again. Imagine where you could go with this. If Slow Food is all the rage, Slow Driving shouldn't be far behind. I heart VW buses.