Cardamom-Pistacio Carrot Cake

Yesterday I made the Cardamom-Pistacio Carrot Cake recipe from Bon Appétit.  You can find the recipe here.  If you’ve never baked a cake from scratch before, I wouldn’t start with this one.  But, if you have a bit of experience and a free afternoon, you should be fine.  This was how it went for me.

First, I measure and weigh all my ingredients.  I find that weighing gives me a much more accurate amount to use.  In this case, it was particularly important for two of the ingredients.  First, the recipe calls for 3 medium carrots.  In the body of the recipe it states 2 1/2 cups or 250 grams of shredded carrots.  Medium in a carrot is subjective.  I bought a bunch of carrots at the store that I thought were medium in size.  I needed the whole bunch, which was five carrots, to equal 250 grams.  Obviously, my medium is someone else’s small.  Secondly, I didn’t have raw pistachios on hand and in this era of isolation I was not about to drive around to numerous markets looking for some.  Instead, I substituted walnuts because I love walnuts in carrot cake and I had a lot of them on hand.  Walnuts are a different shape and density than pistachios so I definitely needed to weigh them.  It took more than the one cup called for in the recipe.  I measure and weigh all my ingredients before I get started. I have, in the past, gotten half way through a recipe and realized I don’t have something.  Or gotten to the end and realized I forgot to put in one of the ingredients.  Measuring before starting eliminates those errors and it feels like the baking goes faster.  But maybe that’s just me.

I put egg shells and coffee grounds in the compost bin.  Carrot peelings and other scraps go to the chickens.

The first step was to melt the butter, add the nuts, and let the butter and nuts brown.  Then I drained the nuts, reserving the brown butter.

Next, I beat together the eggs, sugars, and seasonings with a hand held electric mixer on high for about three minutes.  The batter got very thick and increased in volume.  It was beautiful.  It reminded me of the way eggs react when you whip them for crème brûlée or custard.

The next step was a bit tricky.  If you have ever made mayonnaise or an aïoli sauce, you will recognize the technique.  I set the glass measuring cup that held the drained brown butter to the left of my bowl and held the mixer in my right.  I decreased the mixer speed to medium and drizzled in about a teaspoon of butter while the mixer was running.  When I couldn’t see the butter anymore, I added a wee bit more.  I continued doing this, with the mixer running constantly, until all the butter was incorporated.  The batter was now thick and silky; really beautiful.  I felt like singing.

Last, I used a rubber spatula to carefully fold in the flour and then the carrots and nuts.  I didn’t want to lose any of the volume or any of the silkiness I had worked so carefully to create.  I poured the batter into my prepared pan, gave it a spin, and put it in the oven.  The cake rose, and browned and when I took it out of the oven I wanted to sing again.

After the cake had cooled, I prepared the glaze.  The recipe calls for carrot juice but there hadn’t been any of that at the store when I shopped a few days ago.  Instead, I bought a bottle of carrot orange Naked Juice.  It worked fine.  The glaze was easy — put the juice, cream, sugar, and salt in a pot and turn the heat to high.  And don’t touch it; just watch.  The tricky part was getting it to the right thickness without letting it brown.  At the end, I second guessed myself and probably took it off a minute too early but it was still thick enough to work; just not as thick as the glaze in the recipe photo.

The finished product was delicious.  The glaze is super sweet so a little bit goes a long way.  I don’t like super sweet things so that was my opinion anyway.  Brett, who has a super sweet tooth, thought it was perfect.  I would make it again.

Turning 60 in Isolation

Today is my 60th birthday.  I’m looking forward to my 60s.  Is that weird?  I’m retired, I’m healthy, I have a ton of hobbies and interests and the time to enjoy them.  Sure, I have some aches and pains and Brett says I look pretty funny when I run (its true), but in general I’m happy and healthy.

I remember a couple things my mom said to me about getting older.  She said that she really enjoyed her life, even with its limitations, and said it was a very happy time.  At the time, I think I looked at her like she was nuts, but now I understand.  She also said that it was shock when she would pass a mirror in a store or someplace and see herself, unexpectedly.  She said she’d think, “Who is that old lady?” And then, with a shock, realize it was herself.  I’m starting to experience that now.  I get it.  I saw an ad for a swim suit the other day and thought, oh, that would look cute on me.  And then paused and added, back when I was much younger.  I forgot for a moment that I wasn’t 19 anymore and constantly on the hunt for a swim suit that would flatter my skinny, short waisted, flat-chested body.  I am no longer skinny, that’s for sure.  Short waisted, yes.  And saggy, instead of flat-chested.  It’s a 60 year old body, well used.

It really bothered Brett that we couldn’t have a party for my birthday.  We had a big party with family and close friends when he turned 60 and I guess he’s been thinking we would do the same for me.  We just had a big party for my retirement, a few months ago, so I’m good.  I am not a party girl.  At all.

Today the sky was grey and low, and it was cold outside.  However, the couch by the hearth was very inviting.  So I spent time there reading all my birthday wishes on Facebook and relaxing.

I spent most of the day in the kitchen.  When I was younger, it would have bothered me that I made my own birthday dinner.  Not anymore.  The way I see it, I can make/bake whatever I want and not worry if everyone doesn’t love it.  In this case, it was just me and Brett — and he’s happy with most everything I cook.  Dinner was shared with my kids, via video chat, which worked out great.

Brett barbecued a nice rack of lamb and some plump asparagus for the main course.  This morning I baked focaccia that I had started yesterday.  It was amazing. We ate a ton of it, dipped in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I also made a cardamom pistachio carrot cake.  I didn’t have pistachios on hand so I substituted walnuts. The recipe was a bit daunting, but since I had the whole afternoon in front of me... I figured, why not give it a shot?

I had fun and it worked!  I was so happy.

All-in-all, it was a very good birthday.

That Quarantined Life

Life is definitely different now.  We’ve been under “stay-at-home” restrictions for about a week. Things seem to be settling down and people are getting with the program.  I no longer see posts about local people or business blowing off the restrictions.  That’s good.  Our county has just had 3 cases so far, and no fatalities.  There are benefits to living in the sticks.

Some of the grocery stores have put senior hours in place, typically around 8am, the hour before the market would normally open.  Seniors are funny people.  You would think that the stores would be nice and quiet early in the morning.  That is what we thought.  But, instead seniors start lining up (with a cart between each) hours before the store opens.  All seniors have insomnia, right?  I know we are awake well before daybreak.  So, that senior hour at the markets is mobbed.  ...we are choosing to go later in the day if we go out at all.  We did make it a week without having to go back to the market.  I think that’s pretty good, given that I typically shop every few days.

When the weather is nice, I have more than enough projects to keep me busy outside.  There is always the garden, of course.  The greenhouse is full of seedlings, there are still a number of fruit trees to clear, compost and mulch, and I’m itching to start hot composting.  We’ve been doing cold composting for years — basically, pile the stuff, turn it once in a blue moon, and eventually get compost.  The hot method is fast — and labor intensive.  Brett and I are arguing debating the urgency of this project.  He’s ready to head down the mountain to the lumber yard and buy supplies.  My position is that this is a non-essential project and can wait.  In the meantime, I could rig together something.  Brett is anti-rig-together.  This is what one of my friends from class put together.  I think it would work fine.

This is what he plans to build:

Another non-essential service is our cleaning lady.  We’ve been using her since we moved up here and she does a good job.  When I was working, I always had a cleaning service because I (1) didn’t have much free time, (2) hated cleaning, and (3) wanted a clean apartment/house/abode.  When the kids were small, it was a real sanity-saver.  I’ve felt kind of strange having her come since I retired.  I mean, I do have time now.  But, I didn’t want to adversely impact her business.  When the shelter-in-place mandate came down, we put her services on hold.  Brett agreed to do all the floors (he has a thing about clean floors so he was happy to take it on).  So now, on rainy days, I either bake or clean. I don’t think our house has ever been so clean.  And, I got a great deal of satisfaction from cleaning, which surprised me.  Don’t tell: I even watched YouTube hacks on cleaning.  Maybe that comes with age — I hated cleaning as a kid, the way kids always hate chores.  I had a neighborhood friend who had a toy vacuum and loved to play “clean the house.”  I thought that was weird.  So far, I don’t mind it at all which I’m sure has something to do with having a lot of free time.

What are you doing to keep busy?

March Garden

My garden is starting to come to life.  My asparagus and rhubarb are up.  I should be able to make my first rhubarb pie soon.  The asparagus are still young — maybe next year I’ll be able to harvest some for our table.

Rhubarb

My peach, plum and cherry trees bloomed and my pear started to release their buds.

Peach blossoms

Pear blossoms

I’ve been very busy with the fruit trees this month.  I’m completely re-doing their irrigation and replacing the mint ground cover with compost and mulch.  I can get one tree done in a day, a bit quicker when Brett helps bring over cart-fulls of compost and shredded bark.  The orchard has always looked a bit unkempt and I’m really happy with how clean it looks now.  The trees should be happier too.  I’ve learned a lot about orchard care in my classes and am busy practicing what they taught us.

Before — a tangle of weeds and mint (still dormant) under the trees

Ground-cover gone and replaced with a layer of compost topped with shredded bark mulch.

Flowers are making the garden bright and cheerful.  There are still daffodils, poppies and pansies.  This month they were joined by Japanese quince and violas.

Violas

Japanese quince

Poppies and pansies

Despite the usual days of rain and the snow, which we desperately need, we have had a few days of sunshine between storms.  Those are the days I wear holes in my gardening gloves and cover my pants in dirt.  Those are my favorite days.

Our New Reality

We are adjusting to our new reality.  Just a week ago I was in my Master Gardener class, sitting a good distance from my neighbor, but in a room with 25 or more people.  Afterwards, I sat with a couple classmates and discussed our group project.  That seems like another lifetime.  So far, the impact this week has been:

1.  No more in-person classes.  Instead of lectures and hands-on applications, I’m watching videos and reading, reading, reading.  It’s okay, but I miss the classroom interaction and I really miss the hands-on stuff.

2.  My project has been cancelled.  ...technically “on hold” but if we aren’t meeting, its a bit hard to present.  I have already done a significant amount of research on my piece but that’s okay, the research was interesting.

3.  The vet was supposed to come out today and vaccinate the horses and donkeys.  That was cancelled.  As of last night, Californians are only going out for essentials: food, doctors, pharmacy.

4.  Brett called Costco to see if they would mail Kersey’s prescription which is due to be refilled in less than a week.  They said no, so we will have to go to Costco in the next week or so.  I’m not happy about that.

5.  A pipe broke in the front pasture around noontime.  Brett saw a gusher when he went out to feed.  Fortunately, he had the knowledge and supplies handy to fix the pipe.  I’m not sure if plumbers are even working right now.

6.  I figured out how to borrow books from the library and have them delivered to my Kindle (for Brett) and to my iPad (for me).  We went into a bit of a panic when the library closed.

7. Dinner was good, though.  We had asparagus I picked up at the market yesterday and lamb from the freezer.  As the weeks go on, it will be more frozen veggies and less fresh.

8.  Our little town made the news in Sacramento.  It was quite embarrassing.  Placerville was profiled for failing to follow the governor’s mandate to close bars and restaurants to in-house dining.  Take-out is allowed and many restaurants are offering curbside pick up which is great.  But some were ignoring the directive and there were enough residents who think (a) this is fake news or (b) they are safe because no cases have been reported in our county yet or (c) don’t want the god-da*n government telling them what to do — to fill those restaurants and bars.  Needless to say, we were quite disgusted with said behavior.  There has now been a case reported in our County so I’m hoping categories (a) and (b) are now with the program.  I don’t think the category (c) people will ever get there.  ...which is why Brett and I are not going out at all.

9.  The coolest thing is all the connections that have been happening.  I’ve been getting emails and messages from people all over the place; people who are important to me but who I rarely hear from. Staying connected is so important.

A Break in Weather

We have a few days of clear skies on tap before the next storm comes in so we all got busy.

I headed out right after chores and breakfast to the grocery store.  What a surreal experience that was; wiping down the cart with Purcell, making wide circles around the other (relatively few) shoppers; entire empty sections in the aisles with quantity limit signs everywhere.  There was no bread at all.  Fortunately, I know how to make bread so I’ll get cracking on that this afternoon.  We bought TP a month ago so I didn’t even go down that aisle.  They did have tequila — I see many margaritas in my future.  I bought the limit on butter (two packages) and I should have bought flour, but didn’t think of it at the time.

On my way home, I stopped by the corner market to see if they had bread.  They didn’t.

When I got home, Brett was busy hooking up the trailer to his truck to go make a hay run.  Pistol and Flash are doing great on alfalfa so we need to get more.  We only bought a few bales initially because Pistol has a history of allergy to alfalfa.  Fortunately, she appears to have outgrown that; not a hive to be seen and calm as can be.

The horses were, ahem, busy as well.  Pistol and Flash:

Looking out past the barn

Looking towards the road

And, in the long pasture, the other three.  Lucy was laying down with them — so all five horses were down at the same time which is a major violation of herd protocol — but she got up as soon as she saw me coming with my camera.  Guilty conscience, most likely.  Not that I blamed them for napping in the sun; its been a long, cold, and wet week.

Luek in front, Tex behind, Lucy standing

A Wild and Wooly Weekend

We hoped for a March Miracle and we got one.  No rain in February was unprecendented and not a good thing for California’s water supply.  An inadequate snow pack in the Sierras means water rationing in the summer.

I think we got all of February’s rain over the weekend.

It started with a soaking rain which developed into a torrential downpour.  The horse were snug in the barn so the rain was a good thing.  It was rather fun to watch, from the warmth of the hearth room, actually.

Saturday evening the rain turned to snow.  Nasty snow.  Heavy, wet, limb breaking, tree toppling, power-line-snapping heavy snow.    We lost power, of course.  It still isn’t back.  Tomorrow, if we are lucky.  The telephone line sagged under the weight of the snow, then pulled away from the house and draped itself elegantly over the pasture fence.  Fortunately, the horses were in the barn so we didn’t have to worry about them running into/through/decapitating themselves on the wire.

The snow continued to cover us in slush on Sunday and finally left this morning.  The sun was out, and the horses were all staring longingly at their pastures.  The house sparkled.  It is magical when the sun bounces off the snow,

We couldn’t move Tex, Lucy and Luek back to their pasture because of the telephone wire.  We put Tex with Flash and Pistol in their pasture because Tex gets along with both of them great.  We put Lucy and Luek (Romeo and Juliet) in with the donkeys.  They all proceeded to race around, jumping the stream, circling the pond (where the geese sat  safely, watching), and kicking up the snow.

Luek seemed rather fascinated by the snow.  He took a big bite and walked around chewing and licking, trying to figure it out.

Tex, of course, immediately rolled in the snow.  He loves making snow angels.

Cabin Fever

A huge storm moved in yesterday.  We brought the horses into the barn, loaded up on library books, and prepared to hibernate.  Yesterday afternoon and overnight, we had a deluge of rain interspersed with hail.  This morning the rain continued, with some slushy icy bits mixed in for good measure.

We spent the morning inside, by the fire, with our books.  While I worked on my Master Gardener exam, Sage sat with me and chewed on a toy.  I’ve never had a lap dog before and it certainly wasn’t what I expected when we got her.  I’m not at all complaining.  Snuggles are a good thing.

At noon, Brett let the dogs out when he went out to feed.  I pulled my back out of whack putting wood on the fire this morning, so I stayed on the couch.  Brett came back in but the dogs stayed out.  I could see them back by our pile of shredded bark, busy with something.

A couple hours later, they showed up at the door wanting to come back inside.

Brett toweled them off as best he could and now they are drying in their crates.  They had far too much fun in the mud to be lap dogs for awhile.

Sage and the Gopher

Before we go to bed at night, the dogs go out to pee.  We open the front door, turn on the porch light, and they go down onto the front “lawn” (mowed weeds) to do their business.  It’s all very fast and efficient; no lollygagging, which is good because in the winter its dang cold out there.

The other night, as Sage squatted and peed, Kersey circled looking for the best spot to do her business.  She stopped, put her nose to the ground, and then snapped her head forward and down.  I saw something kind of move — maybe hop — but there was no moon and the front porch light doesn’t throw light very far so I wasn’t sure.  Sage popped up from her squat, mid-pee and ran over to investigate.  She took whatever it was from Kersey and ran off.  I saw what I thought was a leg dangling from her mouth.

Sage ran off past the planters that border the lawn and was lost in the dark.  I could hear her running, running, running — to the driveway, to the stream, to the barn but I couldn’t really see her.  And, of course, there was no way she was going to come.  Brett went back inside the house and got his flashlight.

He proceeded to follow Sage around with the beam of light as she continued to run.  She loves catching things but then she doesn’t know what to do with them.  I suppose I should be thankful for that.  But, it was getting late and it was cold and I was not feeling thankful.

Eventually, she came to the porch and we could see that it was a rodent.  I held out a dog treat and she considered trading her catch for the dog bone.  Brett grabbed her collar and pried her mouth open.  A rather soggy dead gopher dropped to the ground.

I love that she catches gophers and ground squirrels but, honestly, doing it at bedtime is not so great.

Girls Weekend

Last weekend Camille and Ana came up to the ranch for a fun girls weekend.  One of my good friends was scheduled to join us but unfortunately got sick (no, not Coronavirus) so she had to cancel.   Brett went off to spend the weekend with his brother.  He spent the weekend boating and enjoying the Arizona sunshine.  Here, the weather was overcast and cold, with a good soaking rain on Saturday.

Camille always spends time with the donkeys when she visits.  She and Ana were a huge help with all the barn chores.

They mucked the side pasture so she got to meet Luek up close and personal.  He is an up close and personal kind of horse.

Luek appears to be ruling the pasture.  He and Lucy are together all the time, with Tex following at a respectful distance.  Luek pushes Lucy and appears to be in charge which is interesting.  Lucy is quite the opinionated drama queen so to see her meekly giving her space to Luek is quite surprising.

Camille and Ana did some wine tasting.

I was the designated driver but I didn’t suffer.  We put together an amazing cheese plate and opened a bottle of champagne for dinner.  I baked a loaf of walnut fig bread which paired perfectly with the cheese.  Sage thought she was one of the girls and tried to join in.

It was too wet to do any hiking so we spent Sunday in front of the fire, reading books and relaxing.  We have a big storm coming in this weekend, with the possibility of snow and quite a bit of rain.  We are currently at 50% of normal for rainfall and the rainy season is almost over so a big storm is a welcome thing.

Shuffling

Flash and Pistol went in for their check-ups yesterday.  They are both in very good health, with no issues other than being a bit thinner than optimum.  Our vet recommended putting both of them on alfalfa to help with maintaining good weight.  As horses age, it becomes more difficult to keep weight on and they are both going to be 24 this year.  They’ve both been easy keepers all their lives so I don’t expect it will be hard to add a few more pounds.

We don’t want the other horses on alfalfa as they are all plenty fat and would totally blimp out on alfalfa.  So, we rearranged the pastures.  We decided to put Flash and Pistol together in the front pasture, which is flat and gets the most grass (which isn’t much of anything right now due to our lack of rain).  That meant Tex and Luek would be joining Lucy in the long, sloping pasture which has lots of oaks and pines but no grass to speak of.  We knew Tex and Lucy would be fine together as they have been pastured together before.  The wild card was Luek.  Lucy is an alpha mare; as in an ALPHA mare.  She and Flash cannot be together as he is an alpha as well and they fight.  Luek seems pretty easy going going, though, so we were optimistic that it would work fine.

It took some orchestration.  We put Pistol in a turn-out and then moved Tex and Luek over to the shady pasture.  Sage trotted along with us.  Brett took Tex in first, since we knew that would go well.  Lucy immediately came over to investigate, which made Tex nervous, which made Brett step away from the gate.  The gate swung open — I had Luek some distance away so I couldn’t catch it —  Lucy saw the open gate and she was gone.  That would have been fine, she’s easy to catch, except that Sage saw it as her opportunity to herd Lucy back in.  She lunged at Lucy’s heels, Lucy jumped the stream and she was gone in a cloud of dirt and clattering hoofs.  Luek watched them go.

I put Luek in the pasture with Tex and set off to get Lucy.  I found her by the barn, in another turn-out.  Sage looked pretty pleased with herself.

I haltered Lucy and took her back to the pasture.  That actual pasture integration of a new mix of horses was a non-event.

Tex and Luek are happy to be with a cute girl; and she’s happy to be admired.

Last, we moved Pistol in with Flash.  They’ve known each other for 15 years, have been on many trail rides and in trail competitions together.  They are old friends.  Pistol wandered off to try and find some grass while Flash dove into the alfalfa.

Geese eat Dogs

During the winter and spring, Canada Geese stay in our area.  They are everywhere; in open fields stabbing their beaks into the marshy ground near natural ponds; soaring overhead honking loudly; circling and then landing in a crowd in the boys pasture.  There are also two who return every year and spend their time in the donkey pasture.

Killdeer also arrive in the early spring, running back and forth, squeaking excitedly.  They are primarily in the boys pasture which offers lots of flat ground for nesting.  But, you can see two of them above, joining the Canada geese in the donkey pasture.

The other day, Sage and I were in the garden.  While I tidied up the flower beds, Sage looked for sticks to chew.  Two geese soared overhead and announced their arrival loudly as they coasted towards the donkey pasture.  Sage tucked her tail and dashed into the greenhouse.

I’ve seen Sage chase geese who are hanging out up by the stream that runs next to the dressage court so I was a bit surprised at her response.  Maybe she got confused and thought it was a hawk.

First Ride at Home

Luek continues to settle in.  At the present time, he has inserted himself in between Flash and Tex in the pecking order.  He’s pushing Flash around a bit at the feeder so he may move up to alpha.  Flash, at 24, just doesn’t care about that stuff like he used to.

Both yesterday and today, Luek stood guard while Tex and Flash took a long nap in the sun.  I haven’t seen Luek nap or roll yet; he’s still very clean when I groom him.  He is thoroughly enjoying the big pasture water trough though.  I don’t know if he had a bucket or an automatic waterer at the barn, but here we have big deep water troughs.  He loves thrusting his nose into the water, almost up to his eyeballs, and then splashing water back and forth.

Since we brought him home two days ago, we’ve been hand-walking him around the ranch a couple times a day.  The first day was windy and cold, and he had his head high as we walked.  After that, he’s walked on a loose lead while we explore and hand graze.  We went on troll patrol in the dressage court, and he didn’t find any.

So today I hopped on him for a short ride.  We are both out of shape so we’re going to ease into this riding thing.  I’m a firm believer in riding for 20 minutes and making it count versus going around and around for an hour.

There is something about riding at home that is so good for the soul.  Maybe because I’m not worried about being in someone’s way; maybe its the sound of birds in the pines and oaks; maybe its the quiet that allows me to center, breathe and connect.  I don’t know why, but it just works.  We worked in the arena for about 15 minutes; mostly at walk but a bit of trot and canter.  We’re figuring each other out. And we had fun.

Seamless Integration

Luek spent a quiet night in his paddock.  This morning, he was back standing at the gate with Tex and Flash discussing the morning news.  They looked like a group of old men, sitting on a bench, discussing their surgery scars.  Brett calls them the three amigos.

Our original plan was to keep Luek in the paddock for a few days, or more, until they all got bored with each other and then move Luek into the pasture.  After walking Luek around the property and up to the dressage court, we decided to go ahead and make the transition.  Luek was not particularly happy with the paddock and they all were getting on fine.  The boys pasture looks green but it is chewed down to the nubs so we weren’t worried about Luek getting too much green grass.

We carefully orchestrated the transition.  Brett got Flash and Tex to come down to the main gate by bribing them with carrots and cookies.  While they were occupied, I opened the gate between Luek’s paddock and the pasture and he sailed through.  I slipped out his paddock gate so Brett and I were safely out of the pasture, should there be any fireworks.

There weren’t.  Little Bear had even climbed to the top of the goat tower to watch the show.  He was disappointed.

Tex and Flash wouldn’t leave me and Brett.  Meanwhile, Luek explored the pasture.  When he got to the far corner, he noticed that Tex and Flash were hanging with the humans, and probably getting treats, so he high-tailed it over.

Tex would not leave me alone.  It was very cute, given how flighty he can be at times.   He clearly needed reassurance that he is still my main squeeze.

Eventually, they all wandered off to graze.

Dinner was also calm.  Sometimes dinner is when the alpha sorting dynamics come out.  The new horse won’t be allowed to the feeder until order, and proper respect from the new horse, is established.  Apparently, they worked it all out over the fence last night because they, all three, ate quietly together.

I guess he’s meant to be here.