Orange You Glad?

Orange you glad that as it gets darker sooner outside, it gets cozier sooner inside? I am! My candles are lit as soon as I get home from work and my cozy lamps make the rooms feel cheerier in this Fall season. We are not long away from twinkle lights and late nights up talking over a cup of hot chocolate for me and a cup of hot tea for Mr. Michie.

When the seasons turn to evening coming quicker and the air gets frosty, I love to have breakfast for  dinner. We do it so many ways; we will have Southern breakfast with biscuits and grits, or maybe French style, a Croque-Monsieur with a fried egg on top and a dressed salad, or a fluffy cheesy omelet with toast or simply a nice stack of pancakes, dripping with syrup.

After receiving my last "Willard" from the lovely Susan Branch, I went to check out her new homepage and in reading, discovered the following recipe, I think it will be going into our "breakfast for dinner" stash of ideas. I can't wait to try it!

(Image copyright Susan Branch click on the image to go to a larger version)

Quick as A Rabbit

I went to the gorgeous Susan Branch's website today and saw this bunny cake on her homepage. He is too cute not to share! Wouldn't he be fun to make for all the little people coming to your Easter party?

(Image copyright Susan Branch)

Hopes, Wishes & Dreams

anta Claus is coming soon, so we're gonna have to be on our best behavior from now on! One of my favorite things during the holidays is buying presents. I like receiving, but, the thing I love more, is to see the look on someone's face when you have given them that perfect present, whether it be homemade or purchased.

I have already bought a few Christmas gifts at the Fair and I have done a little window shopping, but I have not seriously shopped yet. I don't mind picking up things as I see them, but I like the hustle and bustle of a real holiday crowd all out shopping with Christmas lights strung through the streets and store windows decked out in magical displays. Fortnum & Mason, always do beautiful windows; last year was The Snow Queen, in all her frosty glory. This year the theme is Swan Lake.

There is usually a shopping meltdown, someone is too hot, or arms are tired from carrying packages, or there are too many pushy people and when that happens we just stop, have a meltdown hug and then continue (in theory) a little more merrily on our way.

I am a constant list writer, I love the satisfaction of crossing something off of my list. I write out a list of everyone I am giving too with ideas, or items already purchased. This year I am doing a mixture of some bought and some homemade gifts.

I am going to make up cotton drawstring bags and embroider on them a vintage Christmas pattern or something I designed pertaining to the person on the receiving end and I will fill them with homemade mini pound cakes or a fresh homemade bread loaf (I haven't decided which, both are so yummy!).

All beautifully wrapped in cellophane and bakers twine or a big grosgrain bow, maybe a spring of holly tucked in the bow knot and then placed inside their bag.I think homespun gifts are a nice old-fashioned touch to a magical holiday that can become all to commercial if you let.

This would be the cutest stationary to write out your Christmas hopes, wishes and dreams or a gift giving list on. Click on the Susan Branch image to get a larger printable view.

("S" by:Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische)

Apple Picking Season

I met my husband last week after work and walking away from his building we passed the most delightful apple tree near the gates. Its branches were laden with fruit ripe for the picking. Their juicy ruby red skins glittered in the afternoon sun. I wanted to jump the small hedge in front of the tree and start picking apples. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to carry them in, for once I was unprepared. My husband handed me his phone and I attempted to photograph my discovery in the blustery weather.

It brought me back to being little. I grew up on a farm and during this time of year my dad would come home with bushels of apples and my parents would start making the most delicious applesauce. My sister and I would sit at the counter and watch my dad run the cooked apples through a food mill and see the now smooth mixture plip-plop into the pot below. Seasoned with sugar and cinnamon, we would live off of this, it was one of our favorite breakfasts!

My mom would portion off some of the plain apple mixture for herself and start to make her apple butter for the winter. She would sterilize her jars and our job was to hand her the lids to screw on over this rich cinnamony reddish-brown spread that tasted like heaven on biscuits or toast. We would have it all winter long to enjoy and she always made enough to give away as gifts as well.

This apple tree reminded me of being little, when your world was so simple and there was nothing better in the universe than to wake up to a bowl of fresh applesauce on a cool morning, your dangling legs swinging back and forth off the chair at the counter, watching the sun creep over the orchard from the kitchen window. I think there still might be nothing better in the world, than to wake up to your favorite comforts in a cozy home filled with love.

As Laura Ingalls Wilder said, "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."
(Apple Basket Image by Susan Branch)

Creme de Pumpkin

Who doesn't like creme brulee? This recipe from the Susan Branch website looks heavenly. It would be like putting the best of fall in your mouth and a new twist on the classic pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie, that was my Birthday "cake" this year.

Just like Mrs. Branch, I would LOVE it chilled first too (as that is my favorite way to eat creme brulee)! Then make a hot crunchy bubbly brown sugar topping to crack your spoon through. For me that is the best part, the glass breaking sugar crunch of your spoon dipping in for the first bite. I would also be tempted to serve it with some fresh whipped vanilla cream piped next to it.

This was too wonderful an autumnal discovery not to share. Click on the image and it will whisk you away to this yummy recipe.

Click here to go directly to her Website and discover more Fall recipes in her cooking section:

The Cookie Jar

Food, like music, is a cultural transcendent. We bond over food. In looking at our cultural and geographical diversities we do have similar dishes to one another. The smell, look, taste and even thoughts of food conjure up very powerful memories for me. For better or for worse, food makes me happy. I have only to think of Paris and I can see the patisserie my sister and I visited near the apartment we were staying in. What could be better than sugar for breakfast? We feasted like Marie Antoinette on pastel colored cakes, éclairs, iced in chocolate, with billowing clouds of pastry cream oozing out and strawberries delicately sliced on top.

The aroma of something delicious wafting out of an oven door or an open window brings to mind childhood reminiscences. I grew up in an unusual household, in that both of my parents are excellent cooks. Through them I have learned to cook and to trust my instincts in the kitchen, to know if something is “right” by the smell, the look, the taste.

The food was just as important as the company. We all ate dinner together. That was our time to talk, to be. It took time to make the meal and therefore it should take time to enjoy it. We caught up on our day, on what was coming up for us in school, in work. Both of my parents worked and yet we still ate healthy balanced meals and they made time to be with us, no matter how tired they were.

It is a sad comment on today’s society that food companies are now making commercials to encourage us to prepare their particular meal in the hopes that we will have a "family night" once a week to enjoy it. Family night is every night. It should be the core of your household; the kitchen is after all the "heart of the home". But, maybe the problem lies with us instead, with the busier we get as a society and the more media based we become, possibly the only option is for the media to encourage us to get back down to family basics.

As I was doing a little research I came across an old Susan Branch newsletter pertaining to some of her cookie recipes. I have always loved her illustrations, wishing I had that talent. I have given her books to friends in the past knowing they will thoroughly enjoy thumbing through them with a good cup of hot cocoa or tea, but at the same time, I am sad to not be keeping it for myself as my own little treasure to go back to again and again.

Having made some of her recipes in the past I wanted to share this link with you; I am not sure which I enjoy more the recipes or just staring over the charming illustrations surrounding them. As Julia Child says, "Bon Appétit"!

Please Click on the Cookie Jar to go to Susan Branch's Website.


(recipe card image taken from "Recovered Recipes")