cake recipes

amy ludwig vanderwater: little birds, a grandma and THAT CAKE

~ jama ~ 2 Comments

#15 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2011

 

Hello my little chickies!

Just in time for Easter weekend, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and her three children have brought some eggs to our poetry feast! They just happen to live at Heart Rock Farm, set on a sprawling 24 acres up in Holland, New York, where they cavort with Icelandic sheep, rabbits, cats, a dog, and of course, chickens.

L to R: Hope, Amy, Georgia and Henry VanDerwater with eggs used in today’s recipe.

In this season of growth and renewal, it’s good to celebrate life, ponder its mysteries, cherish its fleeting moments, and hold our loved ones close. Amy enjoys growing meaningful words and thoughts at her Poem Farm, cultivating the seeds of promising ideas, nurturing them as they blossom into words, and then sending them off into the big wide world. Whether you’re hatching a brand new idea or gazing upon the faces of your biological offspring with wonder and awe, there’s no better way to sing of these sweet miracles than with a poem.

Amy: I wrote this poem in 2000, the year our third child, Henry, was born. That same year, Mark’s paternal grandmother died. Grandma’s recipe for “Pineapple Slices” carries on, as do so many memories of her strength and goodness. Watching Hope, Georgia, and Henry grow up, I realize how quickly this cycle circles ’round, how swift is the time between egg and mother bird.

MOTHER BIRD’S LULLABY
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Someday
you’ll be
grown up birds.
You’ll fly
to far-off places.
And I will keep
this memory
of your tiny
feathered faces.

Someday
you’ll be
grown up birds.
You’ll do
grown up bird things.
And I will keep
this place for you
right here
beneath my wings.

© 2000 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. All rights reserved.

So lovely! And there’s nothing I love more than hearing about a family recipe that’s flavored with fond memories and becomes a precious legacy for succeeding generations. Amy wrote about Grandma VanDerwater’s famous Pineapple Slices (or “cake”) in this funny, charming essay/commentary  for WBFO/National Public Radio. Seems when she was dating her husband-to-be, Mark, she learned “the cake” would undeniably figure in their future together.

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riding the scary-go-round with jessica swaim

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#7 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2011.


Jessica (center) with friends Kate Morton (Madame Ratowski) and Caroline Stutson (The Kid).

At every party, there’s always at least one guest who knows how to make a dramatic entrance. 

Behold Jessica Swaim as Count Dracula’s bride, bedecked in lace and ready for a spooky delicious time. She’s brought along her ghoul friends, Madame Ratowski and The Kid, straight from the pages of her latest picture book, SCARUM FAIR, which was a 2010 Cybils Poetry Finalist. She’d love us to have some blood red punch (Types A, B, and O), a fur-lined cup of steamy, stinky Cat-Hair Stew and a Devil’s Food cupcake. Perfect way to channel the spirit of her creepy carnival and wake up the dead.


         Flamingo Bakery/flickr

Up for an eerie coffin race, a bug tattoo, a ride in a terrifying teacup? Madame Ratowski will gladly read your palm for a piece of Swiss cheese. Personally, I’d like Dr. Crunch to straighten out my creaky cranium.

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dishing up eggs over evie by alison jackson (and there’s cake)!

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RECIPE FOR EGGS OVER EVIE

1 girl, age thirteen
2 parents, divorced
1 dog, big and friendly
1 cranky old neighbor
1 stepmom expecting twins
1 cute cooking partner
Lots of eggs
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients without crowding the pan. And don’t forget to sprinkle in a quirky teacher, a missing cat, and a few snob dinners with Chef Dad. Stir gently!

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As soon as I finished reading Alison Jackson’s Eggs Over Evie, I just had to try one of the many recipes included in the book. It was the perfect way to extend my enjoyment of this sweet and savory story about budding chef Evie Carson, who lives with her Mom.

Cooking helps Evie cope with some of the changes and adjustments that come with being the child of divorced parents. She’s always shared a special bond with her Dad, a celebrity chef and cookbook author who married his young editor (now expecting twins). When he moves to a condo on the other side of the lake, he takes their dog and all traces of their family life with him. Making soufflés, pies, pizzas, cookies and brownies helps Evie stay connected to her father. Challenges such as learning how to get along with her new stepmom, reaching out to a grumpy neighbor who’s lost her cat, making a new friend at cooking class, and accepting her mom’s new dating status, all provide unique opportunities for character development.

Evie bakes a Red Velvet Cake for her neighbor, whose cat’s gone missing.

Evie’s voice is authentic and engaging, and I like how the story focuses on her personal relationships without glossing over the difficulties of divorce. Her vulnerability and true-to-life reactions endear her to the reader, and the minor characters are well drawn for such a short novel. Of course I especially appreciated how the food theme was extended throughout with quotes from famous chefs and a recipe and cooking tip for each chapter.

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the always beguiling tanita s. davis

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#20 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2010.

via Rolland Glass


For Tanita S. Davis, love is spelled, “L-I-M-E.”

The girl is wild about them, “in ANYTHING and everything.” Now, prior to this Potluck, it would never have occurred to me that she might want to dive into that vase to get at those limes, one sassy slice at a time. But after reading her poem, I suspect her refrigerator is full of limes, her bed, lined with them, her dreams, haunted by them. Splash!


Thanks to Tanita, I’ve gained new respect for these little green fruit. Oh, how I’ve callously overlooked them in my naive tunnel-vision of lemon love! My knowledge of limes is limited to a few Mexican food rendezvous, a passing glance at a Margarita.

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peck peck, peep peep, yum yum: here’s elaine magliaro!

~ jama ~ 2 Comments

#2 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2010.


photo by njchow82.

Happy Easter Monday!

A lovely wild rose is our very first Poetry Potluck guest: Elaine Magliaro!

She sent me several poems and said I could take my pick. Though I liked them all, there was one I found so adorable I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. It’s perfect for this time of year, and perfect as a “first poem” for the Potluck.

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