016. cinnamon pear cake/Things That Make Me Feel Better

Does the person you love ever do something so consistently and so unnecessarily that it drives you a little bit crazy? Even if it's something incredibly sweet? Well, J has this habit of calling me every single time he gets off work and is about to drive home. Every single time I answer and tell him that we can just talk when he gets home because the drive home literally take 6 minutes in traffic. What a weird, sweet man I have. 

Last Friday I got some bad work-related news. I wasn't going to be able to teach part-time at the other Montessori school as well as mine due to a "conflict of interest." This meant I had to continue working my current part-time job that I was really beginning to hate. I took it well and told them I understood. I really thought I was okay with it but, as usual, it took a minute so sink in. By the time I drove my 15 minutes home from work, I was on the verge of tears and insanely sensitive and J said something so kind that I laid my head on his shoulder and sobbed for an unnecessary amount of time. He soothed me and comforted me. The way that I work the butter into the flour, rubbing gently, every tiny piece when I make a pie crust, that's the way he soothed my crying. Gently and slowly and by the end of it I was okay and I'd fallen in love with him all over again and I had this incredible urge to bake. Actually, as I flipped through the rolodex I keep tucked away in my head of Things That Make Me Feel Better many options poked out their heads. Did I want to take a mountain drive? Did I want to walk along the creek? Did I want to get under the covers and read Calvin & Hobbes? Did I want to bake? "YES," my mind yelled at me "YOU WANT TO BAKE!"

And so I baked. J comforted me so well and now I needed to self-soothe with butter and flour and vanilla sugar and cinnamon and maybe plums? Or apples? I decided on pears and dug out a recipe I'd saved on Pinterest weeks ago. I was going to make Cinnamon Pear Cake and I was going to feel better. And I really did. And it was okay that J calls me unnecessarily because really, he just loves me, and also because he inspired me to bake this cake. So be thankful. I know I am.

This cinnamon pear cake is insanely good right away or heated up the next day along with a mug of Bhakti chai. Share it with your friends and neighbors or they will get fussy. I added gold sprinkles, left over from my best friends wedding, to add a little pretty to my gloomy day.

Cinnamon Pear Cake

(adapted from Roxana's Home Baking)

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1 pear, diced

whipped cream (optional)
cinnamon for dusting (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease/butter a 9" round baking pan. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on, cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a separate bowl.

4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 5. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Add the flour mixture slowly, alternating with the milk.

7. Beat until just combined. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

8. Top with the pear chunks.

9. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.*

(sorry my stove is disgusting! i promise i cleaned it later that same day...)

10. Let the cake cool completely in the pan (but you might want to run a butter knife along the edges just in case.)

11. Once it's cool, remove it from the pan and cover it with whipped cream, use a knife to tame those peaks and slather it all over.**

12. Dust this baby in cinnamon and gold sprinkles because why not?

13. Eat & share & thank me later.

*The original recipe called for 45 minutes baking time but mine took closer to 60 minutes. Maybe it's my oven or something but it took forever to get a nice golden brown around the edges. So totally worth the wait.

**The original recipe calls for cool whip instead of whipped cream but that stuff freaks me out. I bet this cake would be just as good without any topping or with a thin layer of your favorite jam. (Lingonberry! Whoa!) 

Love,
Marta

015. for the blustery days/for zipping up coats

And here we are. The yellow leaves are blowing off the trees and the squirrels are everywhere, cheeks stuffed to bursting. The heat comes on during the day and my toes are ice cold when I get into bed at night (J's least favorite thing.) I daydream of crock-pot recipes and Morning Glory muffins and hearty apple cakes. We have a lot more bundling up to do of the children at the Preschool for outside time-- so many hats to tug on and zippers to zip, fuzzy boots to smush their little feet into and red noses to wipe. It is cold and, for me, that's when I feel the most at peace. When I look out the window to yellow leaves barely visible through thick fog and I see my breath when I step outside. When the world feels still, yet especially habitable, I feel like me.

I am getting used to my new job. I work at a Preschool, as a French teacher and assistant teacher in the toddler classroom. I am so happy with it. I like nothing more than spending my days with little ones, watching them learn and helping them grow. I am grateful to have finally discovered this about myself. I am completely myself around children, there's no act. Around adults I always have to put on some sort of mask, but not around children. Its refreshing to let so much of myself out on a daily basis. The daily routines are getting better, too. I am learning to be in bed by 11:00 every night and I'm learning that if I leave my house after 8:10 am I will get stuck in all the school zones. I know what jeans will work for constantly getting up and down all day (answer: none. leggings all the way.) and what shoes will kill my toes after an hour. I am learning to expect less of myself, not in a negative way but in a "recognize my need for me-time" kind of way.

I am learning what recipes are always worth the extra time (lentil soup) and which ones are not (cauliflower pizza crust.) I have spent a lot of time on lentil soup. Not necessarily because it takes so long but because I make it constantly. I came across the recipe on Megan Gordon's blog, A Sweet Spoonful, last January. Megan is excellent at weaving food into stories and I find myself re-reading this particular blog post often. I recommend it, the post and the recipe. What appealed to me about the recipe was the inclusion of red wine vinegar and dijon mustard-- combined with lentils brings up many memories of childhood. I made them once, last winter, and was immediately hooked. I've experimented since then, adding more liquid, no celery, ground bison, italian sausage, fried egg on top.

It's such a hearty, soul-warming meal. It's perfect for days like today, when the wind is blowing all the yellow leaves off the trees and the squirrels' cheeks are stuffed to a brim. I will make it again for dinner tonight and I wanted to make sure you'd be able to, as well.

Cold Day Lentils

(adapted from Megan Gordon's recipe for Sam's Lentils) 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, very thinly sliced
1 cup of green French Le Puy lentils
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lbs ground Italian sausage, mild (or get spicy if you prefer!)

In a kettle or pot, boil 3 1/2 cups of water.

Heat the oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until it's translucent. Fold in the carrots and celery and cook until soft. 

Add the lentils to the saucepan and stir well to coat the lentils in the veggies. Pour the boiling water into the saucepan until the lentils are fully covered with about an extra 1/2 inch of water on top. Bring back to a boil and then turn the heat to low and let them cook, covered, for about 20 minutes. 

Stir in the mustard, vinegar, and salt and let cook for another 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, cook your sausage in a seperate pan. When fully cooked, stir into the lentil pot and let it rest for the full 15-20 minutes. 

Test for doneness-- I usually have to wait a little longer but sometimes they're ready after 15 minutes. The lentils should still be slightly chewy but mostly tender. Serve immediately! They're also great the next day, so I usually make a little extra. This amount feeds 2-4 people, depending on how hungry you are.