Every Now and Then, You've Got to Give it up for The Domestic Goddess

I don’t profess to be any sort of domestic goddess. I think that there is a certain level of domestic perfection that comes only from the assistance of paid help, PAs, housekeepers, nannies and/or au pairs, drivers and personal shoppers, none of which I can justify or afford. Those of us that can, are able to live in a mythical world of tidiness, beautiful food, perfectly dressed and clean children and cashmere twinsets where, even if I could, I don’t think I would fit in. I like messy kids and my boobs aren’t really twin set friendly. (Did I just say boobs on a food blog?)

Every now and then though, I find I am looking longingly at the doyenne of goddesslike domesticity, envying her bevvy of staff and wishing that, even if it was just for a few moments, I had that kind of opportunity to create perfect cakes and make men swoon and women jealous just by saying ‘butter and sugar’ through my perfectly red pout or by licking something delicious off a perfectly manicured finger.

Instead of this vision, I am usually asked by my husband or eldest child if I know that I have a banana hand print on my shirt or something in my hair or food stuck to my chin. Plus, without my make-up team and stylist, my skin isn’t so smooth and dewy and my outfit is usually more wrinkled than not and on good days, but not always, stain and spot free. So, even if I could do the voice, I would wind up looking and sounding a little more slummy mummy than yummy mummy.

But try as I might to dismiss The Domestic Goddess altogether, I can’t. She, or her team, sometimes do great food. Several cake recipes I regularly use are hers. Sure, I give them a little tweak every now and then but generally the recipes are pretty perfect and not too complex and rarely disappoint. So, it is to an old Nigella recipe that I turned when I wanted to make a cake for tea that wasn’t too heavy and tasted summery. I also had some laboriously hand-picked raspberries that I wanted to add and I remembered at the end of the recipe, which was cut out of a UK magazine at least eight years ago, that she says, in the way only Nigella could, ‘I can’t stop myself murmuring ‘raspberries alongside’ to you either.’ I decided that if they would be good alongside, they would be even better in.

Mine got a little dark around the edge, which annoyed me, but it has strengthened my determination to remember to pick up an oven thermometer and to remember to set a timer. 

I used the metric measurements given but measured it out in cups for those of you without a scale. Just use the same measurements throughout, if you start with grams, weigh all the ingredients in grams, etc.

Damp Lemon and Almond Cake with Raspberries adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe I clipped out of a magazine a long, long time ago (serves 8)

225 grams (8 ounces or 1 cup) soft butter (I used salted, the original called for unsalted)

225 grams (8 ounces or 1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar (use caster sugar if you have it)

4 large eggs

50 grams (2 ounces or 1/4 + 1/3 of 1/4 cup (1/12??) all purpose flour

225 grams (8 ounces or 2 cups) ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon almond essence

grated zest and juice of two lemons

about 2/3 pint of raspberries (a few more or less isn’t going to hurt)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line and butter a 8-9 inch springform cake tin.

Cream together the butter and sugar until almost white. One at a time, beat in the eggs. Between each egg, add a quarter of the flour until it is fully incorporated. Stir the ground almonds and then add the almond essence, lemon zest and lemon juice.

Pour half the batter into the cake tin and arrange half the raspberries, saving the nicest ones for the top. Pour the remaining batter on top of the raspberries and spread it with a spatula. Arrange the rest of raspberries on top and gently push them into the batter a bit, not too far. 

Put cake in the oven and bake for about an hour.  You may need to cover it with foil after about half an hour so it doesn’t burn. It is done when a tester comes out with some damp crumbs and the top is firm. remove from the oven and cool.

This cake will keep, and Nigella thinks it is better when it is a few days old. We ate it the next day and it was just fine.

* Sorry for lack of baking process photos. I don’t have enough hands sometimes.

Riding a Bicycle was Never so Tasty

Years ago, in the days before children, I used to drink cocktails at the cocktail hour. I didn’t have to worry about supper for small girls or bath time or whether I should be drinking and nursing. All I had to worry about was what to wear with my new shoes.

Sometimes they were called sundowners. Sometimes they were called aperitifs. Sometimes they were drunk in a bar or a café overlooking a busy street or a beach. Sometimes they were drunk in a tiny, crowded and way too smoky, but back in the day I didn’t notice, hole in the wall bar. Sometimes they were drunk in the cockpit or on the bow of a boat. Sometimes they were drunk in the crew mess. 

The cocktails were occasionally margaritas or daquiris or martinis. More often, it was a beer or a glass of wine. Sometimes, depending on where the cocktail was being drunk, it was a delicious mix of Campari and something else.  A negroski or an americano or just a Campari and soda or grapefruit, any of them made the cocktail hour a little more satisfactory. You can even buy pre-mixed Campari Soda in little bottles in Italy, how civilized is that?

Someone once made me La Bicyclette. I had never had one and was sold as soon as I found out what was in it. Campari, white wine, club soda and lemon. I hadn’t even tasted it but I knew I would love it and I did. Refreshing and delicious and just a little bit fruity, not too bitter, not too sweet. The sweetness is easily adjusted by wine choice, the strength by soda quantity. I think that, strictly speaking, it should probably only have a splash of soda but these days I need one drink to last a long time or I’ll be asleep before bath time.

I know that Campari is not everyone’s favourite taste. Big Daughter saw my La Bicyclette this evening and her eyes lit up. She coyly asked for a sip expecting, I think, something tasting like toxic pink freezie. She was not at all impressed and informed me, ‘it is 32 yucky.’ I know that, on her scale of yuckiness, earwigs are a 34 yucky so I am guessing she has decided against Campari for the foreseeable future. Oh well, more for me.

I chose a wine that has some sweetness but not so much that we won’t drink it on its own. Valley Roads L’Acadie Muscat is not bone dry and has a bit of tropical fruit and citrus which always taste good with Campari. I also like to think it Nova Scotiafies this little tipple. 

La Bicyclette (makes one tasty cocktail)

2 ounces* Campari

2 ounces white wine (chose a sweeter wine, if you prefer sweeter drinks)

4 ounces club soda (it should probably only have about 1 ounce, a splash)

A slice or two of lemon

Ice cubes

Mix the Campari and wine together** and pour over ice and lemon in a wine glass. Top with club soda. Drink.

*or just use 1/4 cup if you, like me, don't seem to have a shot glass.

**if you want to get all fancy, you could use a shaker but I think a spoon and glass are just fine here.

Kitchen Saviour - Garlic Scape Pesto

Sometimes you feel like you are doing everything you can just to keep the wheels on the bus. That is exactly where we have been lately. Not that I haven't been cooking. I have been. It just seems that by the time I think to take a picture whatever it is has been eaten or I have forgotten to measure exactly and write it all down. 

It all started with the return from Sint Maarten and Big Daughter's birthday party preparations which took the better part of every evening for a week. The birthday party was quickly followed by a weekend in Toronto which, while fun and exciting, didn't exactly help in our household/day-to-day organizational crisis. A steady stream of house guests and summer activities has kept me on my toes since then. 

I wouldn't change any of it, I love being busy and I love a house full of folk, but something has to give sometimes. I gave up on bathing the girls for a little while because that seems to take an age these days, but we started having people cover their noses around us, so I had to get back on top of that. I wanted to give up on taking the garbage out and sorting the recycling but that may have caused a health hazard. I tried to give up on laundry but then they came to fix our water issue. So, the rare moments to play around in the kitchen and try not to forget what I am cooking in the oven had to be put on the proverbial back burner while we just about managed to 'keep her between the mustard and the mayonnaise,' as my old friend Dana used to say. He was referring to motor vehicles, but it works for life with children too.

***

Every year, I excitedly buy garlic scapes, the curly green stems of the garlic, as soon as I start seeing them at the market and I take them home and I put them away and a week later there they are, looking out at me, asking to be given a warm supper time welcome. Don't get me wrong, I love them but I have two little eaters that aren't as keen on strong new flavours - the littlest still only has two teeth and the biggest is becoming skeptical of new flavours in her old age, although as I write she is devouring some stilton and crackers as a bedtime snack.

Then, I saw it. The answer to my five day old garlic scape dilemma. Garlic Scape Pesto. It has made the past few weeks better in many ways. I have added it to sauces and dressings, substituted it for straight garlic, spread it on stuff and made the easiest and freshest spaghetti aglio olio there ever was. All devoured by young and old alike.

I am told that this will last for up to a year in your fridge as long as its covered with olive oil. I doubt you will need to worry as it won't last that long.

Garlic Scape Pesto (makes about one cup)

200 grams garlic scapes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Remove the tops of the garlic scapes just below the seed pod and chop the bottom parts into 1-inch or so pieces. Put these into the bowl of the food processor and pulse until chopped.

Add olive oil, salt and lemon juice and puree until smooth.

Put pesto into a clean glass jar and refrigerate. Keep the pesto covered with olive oil.

Use the pesto to toss with pasta, to add mild garlic flavour to sauces, soups, dressings, toss it with bread cubes and toast for great croutons, add some extra oil and drizzle over tomatoes or grilled vegetables. Use it almost anywhere.