Crooked Creek and Lemon Cake
Except for early-morning bread baking, summer heat kept me from the kitchen for several weeks. While it was nice to take a break, it was even nicer to try out a couple of new recipes recently.
This is a rich, zesty, and fluffy lemon cake. The recipe is for a layer cake, but I made cakelettes instead. They were messy to frost, and a reminder that one should keep one's kitchen skills honed.
The consistency is perfect, the lemony goodness just right, and the first bite mouthwatering. Beware, there is a lot of lemon flavor packed into each morsel. It's shown here with blueberries, but I wish I had made a raspberry pure for it at the time.
While writing this post, I thought of the next Crooked Creek book, which will be Clara's full story (I think ahead to the next book far too much.). For those who don't know, Clara owns an inn (I like inns, B&Bs, cottages, etc.), and that inn gets a lot of weary travelers, many of whom are hungry men who want a soft bed and homecooked meal. Clara's kitchen is more likely to serve a heavier version that falls somewhere between this and pound cake.
A Short Passage from
"Clara of Crooked Creek"
Clara released a slow breath and cast a loving gaze upon her daughter. “I can’t quite say why this soon, but I feel as though I’ve found a home here. A place where Alice and I can make a new life, build something that will stand for all time, a legacy.”
Emma began folding bandages, listening to Alice’s soft voice in the background as her doll and new horse talked with each other. “Do you plan to do it alone?”
“Didn’t you?”
“For a time.” She set aside the first pile and stared on the second. “I wasn’t sure I’d marry again, or love again, but when Casey came along my heart didn’t give me a choice.”
“I loved Alice’s father very much. I’m not ready to love another, not yet.”
“There’s plenty of time.” Emma placed the folded white bandages on a shelf and returned with a tin and a bottle of clear liquid. She dropped various silver instruments into the liquid. “I learned early on that if I keep all of my surgical equipment disinfected not only before a surgery, but ongoing, it prevents infection.” Emma laid out a fresh white cloth and one by one removed the instruments. “I say there’s time, but we both know that’s not always true. Neither of us had enough time to love our men, but when it comes to matters of the heart, we can’t be timekeepers.”
Do you agree with Emma that we can't be timekeepers when it comes to matters of the heart? Clara has a lot of work ahead of her to make her inn a success. Will she have time for anyone else besides her daughter?
We have a bit of time before we discover the answer seeing as how I have to write the book first, but it's a question I'll be asking often.
I hope you make time every now and then to escape into a good book and relax. We are too often pressured to keep up grueling work paces, either from necessity or expectation, and forget that the quiet moments of peace are often even more important.
The Book: The Women of Crooked Creek
The Beverage: Moringa with Spearmint and Sage tea from Traditional Medicinals
From the Kitchen: You can find the recipe in a printable PDF on the recipes page.
The scent of lemon, a whisper of sweetness,
Rises with the cake, a symphony of scent,
Calm blooms in the heat, in the rise,
In the quiet triumph of transformation,
From raw to baked, from simple to sublime.
