In other news, I finally get to use a prized possession tomorrow. Long ago my great-grandmother Bertha used a cast iron mold like this to make a lamb cake for Easter. Mom gave me the mold a while back and I have yet to use it. Until tomorrow. I get to bring the dessert for Easter. I can't wait to make a lamb cake! And yes, Mom, I will remember to put the toothpicks in the ears so they don't fall off.
I think I'll also bake some bread, because I have been missing baking lately. We ate out a ton in March and I'm feeling a little distanced from my kitchen. Last night I made crumb cake, thanks to an old stand-by Martha recipe which is about half cake and half crumb. So yum. And the most fun thing about it was that they are individual square crumb cakes. I bought the pan about a year ago half price at Williams Sonoma-- couldn't pass it up. Ooo- might stop there after work today to see if they have Eastery things on sale.... Anyway, the pan has twelve little square muffin cups with separate bottoms-- like there's a hole in the middle of the bottom of the muffin cup, and a separate square piece of metal that is the size of the bottom of the cup, making removal of the individual crumb cakes super easy and very rewarding. We each had one last night during Whose Line Is It Anyway and also for breakfast. Yum.
Takes me back to my days in Baltimore when I cooked for fun all the time. I so enjoyed those times. I was just out of college and had moved halfway across the country with three weeks' notice to take a job teaching middle school math using a curriculum I hated at a school of only girls taking over for a teacher who was usually drunk and therefore was fired. Not what I had envisioned for myself, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me. For that first semester I taught under perhaps the finest administrator ever in the world, who taught me that it was perfectly acceptable to make mistakes. Novel! She moved away at the end of that school year, but her impact has lasted. Anyway, during the week my days were filled with planning, prepping, and grading. But weekends were for cooking. Saturday was usually a run down to the Farmer's Market for fresh flowers, fresh produce, and then a stop at whatever garage sales or second hand shops I could find. Then I'd thumb through the lastest Martha Stewart Living magazines for recipes or projects to try. I got quite a few little treasures from those mags. Kills me that I threw them out before moving down here. We all have at least one regret, right? The crumb cake recipe is one of those treasures. When I used to make it on Sunday night and bring it in to school on Monday, the other teachers would say that they needed to find me a husband so my cooking would be appreciated. It only took three years and quite a few crumb cakes for Brad to catch a whiff of the cinnamon-y scent...
3 comments:
I can't believe that you threw out all those Martha Mags. Wasn't that your pride and joy? I once caught my mom hording old magazines. It was late 90's and the mags were from the early 80's. We had moved 4 times with them never leaving their boxes. So it's really a good thing that you got rid of them now, before you turn into my mother. I hope you have a very happy Easter! Miss you. ps. Thanks for turning me on to "How about Orange" blog. she's got some great ideas!
Yo. Thanks for the link to the crumb cake recipe. Since I grew up in NYC, I suppose I take it for granted that everyone had crumb cake growing up. I haven't had it in years, and I haven't really even noticed. But the link brings it all back! :)
Hey Lovey, The cake mold you have is the original from your great grandmother. So glad that you were successful in making a lamb cake for Easter. About the magazines, you should look for some old copies on ebay, they would make a nice gift. Mom
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