Hot Cross Buns!

I modified the healthier recipe that I used at Christmas for cinnamon rolls and made hot cross buns for Easter.

Rolls like these have been associated with the Christian tradition of Easter at least since the 12th Century. They are basically just a sweet roll recipe with spices and usually fruit included with a cross of icing on the top. The symbolism of the cross is obvious. The spices are to represent the spices associated with Jesus' burial. The rolls were a treat associated with breaking the fast of Lent.

This time, I included currants and a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

The nursery rhyme: "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns" has, like most folk rhymes, had many other words added over the centuries.

One really unusual fact is that under the reigns of both Elizabeth I and James I of England it was illegal to sell hot cross buns except at Easter, Christmas, or for funerals. The penalty was that the breads were seized and given to the poor! Consequently, the treats were usually made in domestic kitchens.

They are a nice treat! We each had one tonight and will have our other two each tomorrow along with a ham.

I've made them in the past, but not for a while. We always made them at Easter when I was growing up.

It was pretty nasty outside. I edited a lot and did watch a movie in the afternoon.

See Christmas 2025

Got Rhubarb? Got Apples?

 With an abundance of the two items mentioned above, I decided to make a crisp. I actually have a recipe for Apple-Rhubarb Crisp, but I tinkered with it. It is very good, but I think I'll tinker some more if I make it again. I liked the changes I made, except I think I'd use even less sugar. The apples moderate the sour rhubarb quite a bit.

I used 1 1/2 times the fruit called for, added oatmeal to the topping and sprinkled it liberally with walnuts.

Serving 1 was dinner, and serving 2 was dessert. No regrets. Serving 3 might be breakfast.

I edited the general text of the book and worked outside. Oh, and went to the food bank in the morning.

Recipe as I made it (I think I would cut the sugar-I like things a little tart- a little more and add more nutmeg)

mix in a bowl:
1 1/2 c chopped apple
1 1/2 c chopped rhubarb
1/2 c stevia (this can just be additional sugar, but I try to use part stevia in desserts)
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t nutmeg
1 beaten egg
spread in a glass 9x13 pan

mix in another bowl
1 stick (1/2 c) softened oleo
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. oatmeal
cut together until well mixed

spread over fruit and press down

sprinkle with as many walnuts as you want

bake at 375 for 30 min

See New Rhubarb Recipe

New Rhubarb Recipe

  The picture of these cookies with the recipe looked amazing. The reality... not so much. They are OK. Just a basic brown sugar cookie (which I've made from another cookbook and previously also declared "meh.")

These have little chunks of rhubarb in them. They're OK, but I have a book that I'll bet has some much better cookie recipe that uses rhubarb.

If anyone local needs rhubarb, I have a ton. Just contact me.

I edited a lot today. Worked outside for a bit, but it was still very wet when I was out there. Then I met with my proofreader. Oh, and I made cookies. Somehow, the day disappeared. I have a meeting this evening.

See Two Uses for Flour

A Day of Favorites

 A lot of really favorite things today. The weather was absolutely how I like it. Cool air, warm sun. We started with jackets, but ended up in shirtsleeves. The sky was clear blue.

It was the monthly hike for the Spirit of the Woods Chapter. We had 53 people, three dogs, and a ferret! These two pictures got all but three of the hikers. The group quickly split up into small groups or singles, so it didn't feel like a total herd except at the very beginning.

We hiked south from M20 on the North Country Trail. Part of that section is through a pine plantation.

Madeline and Roxy get acquainted.

Most everyone hiked as far as the White River, about 3.25 miles, and back.

That was my intention, but once I got that far, I couldn't stop. There was a group that went on to Echo Drive. This is part of the group.

So, that was 4.25 miles, for a hike total of 8.5. Then I continued on to the south, until I got to Marianne's house in Ohio. I made the trip today because the hike was already an hour south of my house. We visited, we did a little work, then we went to town...

...for ice cream! I tried Nutty BonBon. Mostly peanut butter in a vanilla base. Yum.

Total miles hiked in 2024: 183.8 of which 64.3 is North Country Trail.

Lovely day, perfect weather, a hike on the NCT, a car that runs, a friend, ice cream!

See SPW at Big M

Didja Hear the One about the Banana?

 Om has developed a cute little sense of humor in his old age. I had three bananas thawing on the counter that had been in the freezer. Of course they were black due to their recent housing situation.

So he comes out of the kitchen and completely deadpan says to me, "Those bananas are too ripe for me to eat." (This is quietly hilarious because he only eats green bananas, not even yellow ones.)

You know the fate of freezer-slumming bananas... bread.

One for now, and one for later.

I spent the rest of the day editing and writing. My eyeballs are swirling with words.

See Same as Last Year

Reality Times Three

How did those bowls of cookie dough turn out, you ask?

Pretty darn good! Finishing these was my project for today. (This is only part of them- to show all the different ones) Now it's back to work on other things.

See Anticipation Times Three

Anticipation times Three

What good things can you think of that come in sets of three? Red, yellow, blue. Sky, water, forest. Mary, Joseph, Jesus (hey- it's almost Christmas). Got more? Except for handbell practice, this is all I did today. What three things do you think these will turn into?

Oh, and someone took a picture of us looking festive at bell practice. This is almost everyone.

My back did not like standing in the kitchen all day. I'm about to go let it get flat. I do have to do a bit of cleanup, but not much.

See Two Uses for Flour

Philadelphia Flower Show - Another Euphorbia

For sheer bizarre-ness and variation in the species of one genus, Euphorbia is hard to beat. That makes it one of my favorite genera. The general common name is "Spurge." This is the 17th different Euphorbia I've shared on the blog. There are about 2000 species, so I'm sure not anywhere near seeing even a tiny collection. I know you know one of them. Poinsettia is a Euphorbia.

There were probably more of them at the Philadelphia Flower Show, but I did not spend as much time viewing the displays of individual plants as I usually do. We go for one day, 7 hours, and it's just not possible to see it all in detail.

However, here is one of the species, Euphorbia tirucalli. I think I have seen this before, but didn't have a picture of it. It is native to Africa and is sometimes called sticks-on-fire (it has a latex sap that can cause temporary blindness), pencil tree (it grows into a tree with a thin trunk and clusters of these green "pencils" at the ends), naked lady, Indian tree spurge, and milk bush (probably because of the latex sap).

This one was about four feet tall, not yet like a tree. It was part of a display from Longwood Gardens of rare or unusual plants.

Today, I shopped and then made peanut butter muffins. They have bran and raisins and cranberries in them. They are not very sweet, and I think they make an excellent breakfast. I ate a couple and the rest are going in the trailer with me.

I'm pretty well ready. Just a few things to load in the morning, one errand, and hitch up. I hope to leave at noon.

See other Euphorbias

Yellow Dinner

  Someone mentioned macaroni and cheese the other day, and sometimes that's all it takes to get me to make the real stuff. It's one of my favorites. That is... the baked kind. The only thing was that I had a big block of mild cheddar I really needed to use, and I'd prefer sharp cheddar, but it is still awesome.

And we were out of all dessert-y things too. I haven't made this in decades, but I remembered how good it is and the memory was correct. Here's a lemon cake. No artificial flavor. There is the juice and rind of a whole lemon in there.

Totally yummy. I suppose I can't justify cake for breakfast. We'll see if I care in the morning. I like homemade cakes- not from a box. The box cakes seem like so much flavored air to me. This cake is not heavy, but it has a little substance to it.

I should be all set with food until I leave next Tuesday.

In other news: I wasn't very disciplined today. I'm feeling rather obsessed with the database, and so I spent almost all the time I wasn't cooking on that.

See Low Key Thanksgiving

The Wrong Cookies

  There was a bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard that had gotten too hot and turned into a solid lump. I have quite a few recipies that call for melting a bag of chips, so I thought I'd make one today to use those up. I knew which book had our favorites in it, but I chose the wrong recipe. So sad. But not a crisis. There is nothing shabby about these. Om and I have eaten a fair pile of them already.

I made a note in the book sending me to the page for the favorite ones the next time I forget what I'm doing.

In other news: I spent most of the day working on hike pictures. I have the database set up and about 380 of the pictures sorted by date and time (it gets tricky when people who were with me also sent me pictures because most of the methods of sending them around the internet strips out the EXIF information, so I have to try to figure out the date-time info. 380 sounds great. For some hikes, that would be almost all the pictures, particularly back when I was using film. I did a quick-and-dirty estimate for this hike, and I think there are about 10,000 pictures.

I managed to work a little bit on some of the other projects, but I'm really hot on the picture database quest right now.

See Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles

Carrot Cake

  I don't believe I've made a carrot cake since I started blogging 14+ years ago. But I was definitely craving one. I put in walnuts, but I forgot raisins. That would have made it even better. Maybe it won't be 14 years before I make one again. Yum, yum.

In other news: I finished reading a book I chose for "research." It turned out to be not quite what I thought it would be, but it was interesting, so I finished it. At least it was unique. It was a humorous mystery set in Laos in 1979 with all the political intrigue you might expect from that place and time. I've certainly never read anything quite like it.

I dropped some things off at Cathy's and went grocery shopping. Took down one more table on which stuff was piled in the living room. There is actually a small bit of floor space there now as opposed to a single aisle.

See One Half Cake, One Whole Birthday

Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles

  Not so much sorting happened today, but I managed to get to the store, and I baked cookies again. This time they are peanut butter snickerdoodles.

And, I was able to wash the dishes without having to heat the water on the stove! Nice amenity.

I must be getting rested up. I woke up in the night and was awake several hours. That meant I could hardly stay awake in the middle of the day. Annoying. I guess I need to increase my daily energy output so that I'm tired enough at night.

I also finished reading a volume of 5 Mike Hammer mysteries by Mickey Spillane. Hard boiled- written from the 1940s to 1970. I read these more in the line of research than because they are my favorite style.

See Energy and Economy

Energy and Economy

  Buying cookies can be expensive, but of course that's what I've been doing for over a year.

Today, I had a clean enough kitchen and enough energy to do something about that. These are oatmeal raisin.

In other news: I worked on various sorting projects and went to the store.

See Out for a Stroll

Yum Yum

  This is one of my tried and true recipes to use up sour milk. You've seen them before. This time I made them whole wheat. As soon as the pan cools a tiny bit, I'll be indulging myself. Hopefully not to exceeding excess.

The only problem is that I had the kitchen ALL. CLEANED. UP. Now... it's not. Again. But I really tried hard not to spill new stuff on the floor.

Guess I'll tell a story on myself. I try really hard to be efficient with car trips. Did my errands and went to the house where I'm painting. I had forgotten the key. Sigh. Had to drive all the way home to get it. Definitely not efficient. It's a good reminder that there are going to be those kinds of days when the brain just doesn't get all the circuits hooked up right. No matter how perfect or wonderful or famous anyone is. There are going to be the days of stupid mistakes. Just take a deep breath, solve the problem, and get on with life.

In other news: I did errands and grocery shopping. You know how much I like that. Painted for four hours.

See Truck Picnic

Banana Bread Day

  Same as last year... the fruit basket spawned several over-ripe bananas. However, I am thrilled to tell you that I found a new recipe that I like a LOT better than the one I'd been using for close to 50 years.

This may be good or bad. I didn't eat much today except banana bread!

In other news: I worked at my editing job, and I did laundry, and other odds and ends.

See Banana Bread

Kitchen Day

  I was mostly lazy today. But the primary duties were kitchen ones. Two and a half are done. The other half is in progress, and the fourth one is postponed.

We decided to have a pork roast tomorrow, and it's good with mint jelly. I had some mint infusion in the freezer, and the store actually had pectin (not always a given), so... ta da!

And Om requested chocolate chip cookies. So I made those. This is a huge recipe. I should have cut it in half, but we will freeze a lot of them, and I'll be glad later that that made them.

The pecan rolls for tomorrow morning are raising. Then they just have to go in the pan with the sugar and butter and pecans and be put in the fridge for the second raising. They bake in the morning. Nothing much to show you yet on those.

We decided to wait on the cranberry relish. Om admitted we didn't really need it with the mint jelly. He just likes it. We'll do it in a couple of days. Works for me. I've had enough kitchen for a while.

Joshua came over for a while and we watched a virtual Christmas Eve service with five Ludington churches participating. It was very well done.

I still have some other stuff to do too.

In other news: I did my road walk. Even though it was cold, I bundled up enough that I was nice and warm. However, it was surprisingly slippery and I fell once, but all is well.

See Busy Day

Dinnerpieme

  What do you do when there are only 2 people, but you want pie? You have pie for dinner, and then there is still plenty for tomorrow too.

Are they good? Meh... I had a can of pumpkin, so the pumpkin filling wasn't made entirely from scratch. I had 2 bags of apples I needed to use, but they weren't good pie apples, so the apple pie is too sweet. I really like Northern Spies for apple pie, but maybe that is an eastern variety. I've only found them in Michigan once. But I do make good crust.

In other news: I cleaned up the house a bit. That and pies took up the whole day. No walking occurred. No writing occurred. Josh is coming over to eat with us tomorrow. There you have it.

My microscope camera toy replacement came, but it doesn't work right either, so I returned it. Not giving that model another chance. The next better one is a whole lot more money, so it's probably not happening.

See Pi(e) is a Relationship