Christmastide:MLK Weekend Tuesday - Gingertopia

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Yep, pretty darn cold this morning. Good thing they called off school. 

Dale's workplace was closed for the money so he worked. from home. Sylvester was very active this morning and started to terrorize Dale while he was trying to work on the computer. The little guy finally settled in behind Dale's computer and calmed down. 

Dale's building opened up in the afternoon so he decided to go in and get a little more work done. I decided to have a cigar upstairs.

And a little port.  

Afterward I got some reading done. I'm now halfway through this book on Swedish American foodways and holiday foods. 

Dale stopped by the store on his way home from work. He picked up some gingery things like ginger snaps and some raspberry jam to go with them. 

They go really well together. 

Listened to some music. 

I had a gingerbread cake mix which I got ready just before dinner. 

After dinner Dale mixed up some whipped cream and we had the gingerbread cake for dessert. 

Lots Going On Today

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

It's 2-2-22. There's a lot going on today. Candlemas...

Feast of the Presentation...

Groundhog Day. Word is there's 6 more weeks of winter. 

Laid back evening. Salmon open face  and leftover gingerbread cake. 

Chilly January Afternoon and Evening - Gingerbread and Music

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Didn't make gingerbread this past holiday season until this afternoon. 

Used a Betty Crocker mix and it turned out great. 

Listened to some wintery music while it was in the oven.

For dessert it was simply heaven with whipped cream.

Odds & Ends: Sunday Dinner

Sunday, January 31, 2021

I'll be returning to work on site tomorrow after having worked remotely since this past March. I'm feeling a little anxiety about it. Also finishing up a slightly modified dry January I went four weeks without a drink. Decided to finish up the Irish cream that's been sitting in the fridge since Christmas. Not much left. Just enough for half a glass. 

Listened to The Nutcracker a couple of times today. The recording I have was conducted by Andre Previn.

For cocktail hour I had a martini. It went down okay but it negatively affected my sleep. Maybe I'll do a dry February too. 

For dinner Dale and I made Tater Tot Hotdish. It turned out wonderfully. There's a rib-sticking quality to this that's especially appealing during winter time. 

For dessert we had a gingerbread cake. Unlike the one I made from scratch for Old Twelfth Night, this one was from a boxed mix. Regardless, it was delicious and especially so with whipped cream. 

MLK Weekend - MLK Day

Monday, January 18, 2021

Largely quiet day today. Dale and I went to the gym this morning and the store in the afternoon. In the alley Athena and I found evidence of Christmas slowly slipping away. 

Had a nice amount of time to read and blog today and also get in some gingerbread and coffee as the afternoon wound down. 

Also had a chance to listen to some more music. Sting's If On a Winter's Night is perfect for mid-winter.  

MLK Weekend 2021 - Old Twelfth Night: Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Quiet and restful day today. Was checking some old blog posts and realized today is Old Twelfth Night. According to Karen Burns-Booth's blog, Lavender & Lovage, "Today, the 17th of January, is Old Twelfth Night, a date that is still celebrated in many rural communities throughout Great Britain, particularly in the  English counties where apples and orchards are prevalent, mainly Suffolk, Kent, Somerset, Herefordshire, and Devon, and, where wassailing the apple orchards and trees is still celebrated. These English counties are also the main cider (cyder) and apple juice producing areas of the U.K. too." The different date all has to do with the conversion of the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian one. For me it comes down to having and excuse for one more celebration to recognize during the cold, dark winter months. 

Since I didn't get to making a cake for Twelfth Night on the 5th I decided I'd make one for tonight, Old Twelfth Night. Something with apples probably would have been more appropriate but since I didn't get to make anything gingerbread this Christmastide I decided to go with that. A number of years ago I tried making a gingerbread cake with a house-shaped Bundt pan from Nordic Ware. I didn't turn out right. It didn't quite bake through. This time I decided I'd try it but with a regular Bundt pan in case the odd shape of the previous one had something to do with the shape of the pan. 

It looked okay when it came out of the oven. 

However, upon turning it over I discovered the result wasn't quite what I'd hoped for. What you see on top of the cake was stuck to the pan. Although the recipe recommended baking it for 55-65 minutes I kept it in for 70.  I guess I didn't use enough cooking spray. 

The cake ended up being rather crumbly. In reviewing the recipe afterward I realized I only used two eggs instead of the required four so this is most likely the reason for that consistency. Regardless, it still tasted fantastic and a huge amount of whipped cream covered up the imperfections. Maybe I'll retry making it at Valentine's Day keeping in mind the cooking spray and the eggs.