Despite keeping it covered for the winter, our beautiful fountain is showing damage from the extreme weather this year. I am trying to convince myself to consider it “added charm,” yet I hate to see some of our lions heads crumbling. Oh, what to do? I guess, just wait for spring. Once the fountain is running and splendor has returned to the garden, the old beasts will seem more at ease.
It was a beautiful sunrise this morning. So during breakfast, I took a minute to dash to the top of our fire escape to grab a few photos. This was one of my favorites. I hope that you are having a lovely day!
Pretty little candies, perfect for afternoon tea!
Ambrosia Fudge
Makes about 36 pieces of fudge
Orange-flavored white chocolate fudge studded with dried fruits and coconut.
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 2/3 c. granulated white sugar
3 T. unsalted butter
2 c. miniature marshmallows
7 1/2 oz. real white chocolate, chopped
2 t. orange extract
1/3 c. chopped dried apricots
1/3 c. chopped dried cherries
1/3 sweetened flaked coconut
Note: To store fudge, line an airtight container with waxed paper. Arrange the fudge pieces in the container. If you need to stack the pieces of fudge, place wax paper between layers. Top with waxed paper and then the lid to the container. Store in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature in the air tight container before serving.
Happy National Margarita Day (February 22nd)! To commemorate the occasion, here is the recipe for a beautiful and delicious Blood Orange Margarita. Salud!
Blood Orange Margarita
2 oz. anejo tequila
1 oz. orange liqueur
juice from 1 blood orange
juice from 1 lime
lime slice for garnish
edible flower for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add tequila, orange liqueur, blood orange juice and lime juice. Shake well to chill and to mix ingredients.
2. Strain into a margarita glass. Garnish with lime and flower.
Enjoy, but please don’t drink and drive!
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I just published a gallery of photos from some of the weddings that we have had the honor of hosting at The Morning Star. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos from all of the weddings, but I hope that you enjoy the images that we do have. Since most of our weddings are garden weddings, the gallery includes lots of garden photos.
Honey-Glazed Raisin Pecan Muffins
2 c. white rice flour (gluten-free)
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 c. Greek yogurt (full-fat)
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c. honey, plus extra for glazing muffins
2 lg. eggs
1 c. mixed jumbo raisins
1 c. chopped pecans
muffin papers or foils
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers or foils.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, butter, 1/2 c. honey, and eggs. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and then stir with a mixing spoon until no dry spots appear. Fold in raisins and walnuts.
4. Divide batter between muffin cups, mounding batter up in the center of each muffin and rounding with the back of a spoon. (Batter will stand above the top of the muffin pan.)
5. Bake for 20 – 23 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove muffins from the oven and immediately glaze each with about 1/2 t. of honey, spreading honey with the back of a spoon. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Muffins are best served warm with a bit of butter or jam. Enjoy!
Have a lovely weekend!
Each month, I write a newsletter called The Morning Star Update. A semi-regular feature is book recommendations from our guests at the B&B. So I was pretty pleased with the theme for today’s prompt.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss is a novel that I plan to read over the weekend. It was recommended to me by a delightful guest who has stayed with us a number of times; and I have enjoyed the other books that she suggested to me over the years. (Read a review of it from the NY Times.)
Wishing you a lovely weekend and a good book to read!
For more on the Daily Prompt …
This is a brownie recipe that I love because the brownies are super moist and let me make use of extra bananas, and an added bonus is that they freeze well. I just made a batch to put out for guests!
Banana Brownies
Not overly sweet or overly chocolatey, these have the added flavor and moistness of banana.
3/4 c. + 2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 t. salt
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped or just over 3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1-2 lg. eggs (use 1 for denser brownies, 2 for cakier brownies)
1/2 c. dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 c. granulated white sugar
1 c. mashed overripe banana (about 2 lg.)
1 t. vanilla extract
3.75 oz. chopped milk chocolate or 3/4 c. milk chocolate chips
Tip: Freeze overripe bananas so that you have them available whenever needed for baking. Thaw and then peel before using.
Serving suggestion: Sift with confectioner’s sugar before serving or tuck into banana splits.
Last night we received about seven and a half inches of snow. Around nine-thirty, while it was falling quite heavily, I went outside to take these pictures of our lights. Though you can’t see snowflakes in the pictures, the falling snow seemed to reflect quite a bit of ambient light, giving the atmosphere an unusual glow. It seemed never to get dark last night.
It looks like it is going to be a white Christmas. Happy Holidays!
Pumpkin Snack Cake
Ingredients
2 c. all-purpose flour (stir before measuring)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking power
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground mace
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
15 oz. (425 gm.) canned pumpkin
3/4 c. granulated white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. canola oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 lg. egg
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. dried currants
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×9″ pan with baking spray or with butter and flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together pumpkin, sugars, canola oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla until smooth and well-blended.
4. Stir pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients until smooth and no dry spots appear. Then fold in currants and walnuts. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Level top with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake for 38 – 48 minutes or until firm on top and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.
6. While cake is cooling, prepare cream cheese frosting. Once cake is cooled, invert onto a cooling rack, then re-invert onto a cutting board. Frost top of cake, then cut into squares. Enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. + 1 T. confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. + 1 t. milk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
Directions
Beat ingredients together until perfectly smooth.
A Taste of Morning 