Recipes, old and new

So here's a confession: after about twenty years of not doing much in the kitchen as far as cakes are concerned, I've been baking again. A good friend who heard about this from an email I sent her, offered to send me an easy recipe for a berry cake. Which she did. Kind of. She sent me the online link.

Ah yes, as the mother of a friend of mine discovered, you can find any and every recipe you can dream up or name on the internet.

But me? Truth to tell I was kind of disappointed. And you know why? Because I get a kick out of using my old, hand-written (although sometimes also typed-out) recipes in my special 'cooking clips' file. Somehow this brings a connection to the person who originally gave me the recipe. There's my mother's one for scones, another from her mother called 'Nannie's sweet scones'. And yet another, recalling early childhood days: 'Sunshine's pancakes'. There's my sister-in-law's 'Penny's Lemon Loaf' as well as 'Plain cake', a wonderful standby when I want something without icing that will last for a few days if not a week.

My favourite chocolate cake to bake for birthdays and other special occasions came from a long-ago acquaintance called Barbara. I wonder what became of her. Then there's Joan's Granola, which I make all the time. This came from my recently-deceased aunt, my mom's youngest sister, who insisted on giving it to me even though I declared I would never get around to using the recipe!!

Lastly, I have a hastily-scrawled recipe from an old friend I got to know because our first-born daughters were six weeks apart in age. When more babies came along, we were kept pretty busy; and so the recipe for a quick chocolate cake from Delia begins:

'Into your mixing bowl, hurl two eggs...'

Hmm. I don't think you'd find anything like that on the internet. ;-)

Another take on 'Summer Good-bye'

I don't know about you, but I'm somewhat conflicted right now. It's hard to say good-bye to those lazing days of summer, but man, am I happy to have my drive back. My mind is firing on all cylinders again, focussing again, and very soon I'll be publishing some ebooks. Better still, the ideas are flying in like geese from further north. And yes, some of them are squawking!

So, forgive me if I'm brief, but today other writing matters are calling. Catch u again soon!

The Fading Days

I succumbed to a summer cold...
Was I mourning the loss of a season?
Even though the flowers still bloom
and leaves hang green,
rustling in the cooler breeze?

Yes, the air is different.

Change.

What does it demand of me?
How about: let go of lethargy?
Get down to business, Nan,
Take hold of life,
Forget the dreamy days of summer.

What to wear?

This morning I spent some time and energy on thinking about what to wear. Yes, the weather is changing, so the clothes I've been flinging on are no longer the obvious choices. In general, when it comes to deciding, I stare at my closet and go through a few questions in my mind:

What will the temperature be?

Pants or skirt?

and then the most difficult:
What do I feel like wearing?

Ah yes, there, in that last, lies the rub. And there I can empathize with Daisy, my latest heroine. She has a shopping addition which threatens all she holds dear in the world. So she has to learn to deal and overcome it. As for me, I'm holding off going to the sales. The urge to acquire something new will soon fade!

Some authors like to write in their p.j.s The occasional few get dressed up as if for the office. Me, I'm somewhere in the middle. It's not good for my mental health if I feel too slumpy. On the other hand, I don't like to be formal. But it's nice to feel nice, don't you think?