Signs of Late Spring

One of the signs of spring would be Mothers Day gifts. My lovely and talented daughter is quite creative with pottery painting. I enjoy the tea set she painted for me for Mothers Day last year so much! She has a way with color and pattern.

This year she surprised me with two delightful plates one yellow with purple polka dots and one purple with yellow polka dots! They will be a great way to display some of my Daring Baker and Daring Cook creations and other delights. Sometimes it's difficult for talented people to realize that one of the best gifts they can give is something they made themselves. I know that I will treasure these plates for a long time.

Another sign of late spring is a roomful of seedlings ready to plant. Our sunspace, part of the passive solar design of our home, is a great place to grow seedlings. Year before last I grew six kinds of heirloom tomatoes. This year I stuck to three heirloom varieties, but I'm also growing three kinds of summer squash, eggplant, cucumber, chard, and green beans.

Spring is when a young at heart man's fancy turns to poetry. An unexpected gift was the following poem, dedicated to the lovely tomato. Since Poss was the recipient of some of those sunspace grown tomato seedlings, it should be fun to match up the poem with the fruits of his labors later in the season.

To May 'Toes

A gift that grows
in leafy bower,
With daily hose,
Voila! A tower.

Steadfast weeding
of the plot,
Constant heeding
Yields a lot.

Spaded soil,
A sunny sky.
Upwards toil
'Til late July.



Then gently pick,
rinse, cut, chill.
Serve up quick
Dash'd with dill

Dress up spicey,
Vinegars, oregano.
Sweet orbs slicey,
BLT, extra mayo!

Of perfect veggies
Most wishful
Home-grown 'Maters
are most blissful!

Poss Pragoff, May 09

Happy late spring to you! Hope you are finding your own signs of the season!!

Happy Mother's Day from the Land of St. Honore'

Once upon a time in the Land of St. Honore’, a young girl wanted to make a special cake to welcome her mother home from her travels. She had been gone over a week and now it was Mother's Day. Liza knew her mother would enjoy something baked with love.

Liza started by preparing a Bundt pan, buttering it well and scattering dry bread crumbs over the butter. Excess bread crumbs were shaken out in the door yard and the chickens appreciated that.

Next she chopped deep dark unsweetened chocolate into small shards, then melted them in a bowl over hot water on the stove. The melted chocolate would cool a bit while she worked on the rest of the ingredients.

Strong coffee was measured into a cup and some spirits were added to make it more festive. Bourbon was her mother’s favorite, but she knew that Irish whiskey or rum would be tasty, too.

She sifted flour into a large bowl, then added salt and baking soda and stirred it well.

In another large bowl she creamed soft butter with sugar, then added some vanilla and beat it in. She added an egg, beat it in, added another egg, beat it in, and added a final egg and beat it in well. Now was the time to add that melted chocolate. Oh, the batter smelled wonderful!

The oven was hot enough, so she worked quickly, first adding some dry ingredients, then some wet, repeated that,then finished with the last of the dry ingredients.

Into her Bundt pan went the fragrant batter. A quick twist of the pan in either direction popped bubbled, and then the pan went into the oven.

While the cake cooked, she washed up the many bowls, then sat and had a cup of tea.

At last the cake was done! It seemed like forever, but had only taken a little over an hour. She let it cool in the pan, then turned it onto a fancy plate.

When her mother arrived home for dinner, she noticed how sweet the house smelled, but she was still surprised when Liza brought out the cake for dessert. Thick slices showed how moist and rich and chocolaty it was. Her smile after she took her first bite assured her daughter that the day had been well spent.

Wishing each of you the tender love of your mother. Even mother's who have died leave their love in us and even more so if your mother enjoyed baking and you do too.


I've been blesed with the best mother in the world...and she loves to cook and bake just as much as I do. I'll be seeing her soon on my way to Ireland. Sweetie and I will be driving on the other side of the road, sipping Irish whiskey and Guiness, eating salmon, hearty Irish breakfasts and brown bread and exploring the western part of Ireland. While we are there I'll see if I can figure out how to post an update now and again. Might even get to meet distant relatives who live there. Sharing upon return, at least of photos and any good stories.

Probably will do another post or two before I leave, but then it will be sparse. Won't be doing the Daring Bakers this month, but I assure you that you will want to check out our favorite Daring Bakers sites toward the end of the month!

This cake is almost the same as the 86 Proof Chocolate Cake from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, but I removed 1 cup of the batter once it had been mixed. Into that cup of batter I folded 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts that had been mixed with 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. Then I put half the remaining batter into the prepared pan, plopped spoonfuls of the walnut enriched batter all around the Bundt pan and spread it out with the back of the spoon, then poured the remaining batter on top and smoothed it out. The rest is exactly like the recipe which can be found HERE.

The original version is silky and very chocolate flavored. The version with the walnuts seems even better to me because the walnuts add crunch and also seem to heighten the chocolate experience. You could try each version and let me know what you think :) Use the best chocolate you can find..it makes all the difference in this cake. Use a different liquor if you like for a different taste.

Only a Week Away

Mothers Day is a week from tomorrow.

I just talked with my daughter on the phone and she is so cute.

She said she is sending me a Mother's Day present early. I told her, "That's great. I won't open it until Mother's Day." It's actually surprising that anything is coming because a week or so ago she said she wanted to celebrate Parent's Day (a combination of Mother's & Father's Day which is an old family tradition) if we visit her this summer.

But who am I to turn down a Mother's Day gift? Even if the press of work and a bad cold on her part means it comes unwrapped and with no card. I don't care. I'm thrilled that she is sending me a gift. She has the best heart, and great taste, too.

What I will miss is not having her here this year to share a cup of tea with me.
She bought me the tea pot pictured here not once, but twice, when the first one was broken by accident. It took some doing, but she tracked down a matching tea pot and it is such a well balanced and beautiful one. Kind of like my daughter.

And the tea cup? A gift from my Mother. So next week I'll put tea into the pot, pour myself a cup of Earl Gray tea and drink a toast to mothers and daughters everywhere, and especially my dear Mother and my sweet daughter.

Hope you find a meaningful way to remember your Mother.