Matthew 6:34

Last month, I was awakened at 2 am to answer a page and couldn't get back to sleep. The first full week of school was to start in the morning and no notices had been sent home from first grade advising the other parents on Brynn's allergies. So I composed my email to the teacher in my mind, worrying about sounding paranoid or pushy, wondering if I should just write and print the letter for her, mentally revising my prose until I finally fell asleep and forgot about the matter when I woke up.

That afternoon, this letter showed up on pink paper in the backpack. It showed up without my prompting, it showed up in spite of my worry, it showed up written better than my sleepy mind could have composed.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

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Makin' the Doughnuts

I know I could have sent a muffin with sprinkles and it would have worked out fine.  But "fine" is not the way we roll around here.  Sometimes the pressure of an orchard field trip with cider and doughnuts as the class treat is what I need to move from "fine" to "Mom, you're the best!"  I've made 'doughnuts' before, frying up some Meijer brand buttermilk biscuits  (no butter or milk in those...really scary, eh?) and dusting them in powdered sugar.  Those are tolerable when fresh, but inedible the next day, and I've always felt a bit sheepish about frying up a can of dough.
I think I read through 13 doughnut recipes, tried one that failed terribly (hint: never, ever, deep-fry in lard...no matter what Fanny Farmer or King Arthur say), and then I came upon this winner.  These are an egg-free and dairy-free adaptation of a Paula Deen recipe.  They're soft, cakey, slightly sweet...perfect for a fall day with a glass of cider.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Cider Icing

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg replacers ( I use Ener-G)
1 cup Tofutti Sour Supreme (Dairy-Free Sour Cream)
1 cup mashed sweet potato ( I bet canned pumpkin would work, but our store had a pumpkin shortage!)

1.) Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
2.) Blend the egg replacers, tofutti and sweet potato until smooth. I used an immersion blender, but a food processor or blender would be fine too.
3.) Add the sweet potato mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and blend carefully with a spoon. Don't go crazy mixing, or they'll be tough. The dough is really sticky.
4.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes while you set up the oil and make the icing.
5.) While the oil is heating up to 360 degrees F, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness, adding flour to your surface and rolling pin to keep things from sticking. Cut into donut shapes. I have a cool set of plastic nesting rounds and the biggest and smallest sizes work perfectly.
6.) Fry in vegetable oil for 2 minutes on the first side, and 1-2 minutes on the second side. Soybean oil is great, canola smells fishy, and lard smells like bovine carcass. Don't use lard, ever, ever.
7.)  Let the donuts cool on paper towel before icing and sprinkling.

Cider Icing

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 T apple cider

1.) Mix until smooth and frost the cooled doughnuts.

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Fairy Cakes, American Girl Place and Rebar!

     Sounds like a standard September at our house! Honestly, when we have projects...we go big. The girls had 5 and 7 year birthdays this past week, which also coincided with torrential downpours and breaking ground on our addition. We have a serious clay situation in our front yard and the backyard...words fail me. When an engineer designs an addition, prepare for overbuilding. This addition is made of concrete and enough rebar to withstand 'The Big One', which might make more sense if we weren't living in the Midwest.

     I had a table full of cookbooks from the library on fancy fondant cakes and other crazy plans, but seeing the hole in my backyard pulled me back to reality. This year was the perfect chance to try out some Edible Images. Our local grocery store is one of the few left with an in-house bakery. My girls love gazing at the cakes and flipping through their glossy cake book to plan their birthdays. Lucky for me, after explaining our situation, the bakery has been willing to sell me their 'cake toppers' without a cake.
     This year, to my surprise and delight, they were willing to print and sell me an Edible Image with a photo to put on our allergen-friendly cakes. $4 each. Amazing. The cakes were chocolate and lemon, and we were split on which one was the best. Add on a trip to American Girl Place to pick out their dolls, and you have a perfect September weekend. Now, if I could just fix that hole in our backyard...

So much dirt!!

Kit and Molly find their home

Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups soy milk

1 T. cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cups oil

1 T. vanilla (optional)

2 cups flour

2/3 cups cocoa powder ( I use Nestle)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.) Preheat oven to 350. Prepare your cake pan. I used the birthday as an excuse to buy a new metal cake pan, but a Pyrex casserole pan should work fine. Fold a sheet of parchment so it lays crosswise into a 9 x 13 pan and hangs up over the edges (this way you can 'lift' the cake out of the pan by the paper to the cooling rack) . Spray well with cooking spray.

2.) Whisk soy and vinegar together in a medium bowl and let thicken. Then add the sugar, oil and vanilla. Mix well.

3.) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, soda, baking powder and salt. My cocoa and baking soda are always lumpy, so I sift mine into the bowl through a mesh strainer to get out the lumps.

4.) Carefully dump and mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Just blend until most of the lumps are out. Don't beat the heck out of it.

5.) Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the center is set and you can poke a knife into the center and it comes out clean. Let the cake rest for a few minutes before lifting out and cooling on a rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

You'll have extra, so don't hesitate to take a few spoonfuls while baking.

1 stick margarine, softened ( I use Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine)

1/2 cup shortening

1/8 teaspoon of salt, or a couple pinches.

1 cup cocoa powder (I use Nestle)

5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup soymilk ( more if needed)

1.) Cream the margarine and shortening until fluffy.

2.) Add the salt and cocoa powder.

3.) Add the powdered sugar slowly. You can add a little of the soymilk as you are trying to mix in all the powdered sugar if things get too thick.

4.) Once all the powdered sugar is mixed in, you can start adding soymilk until you get the frosting thickness you want. Sometimes I like it dense, sometimes I like it fluffy and mousse-like.

Lemon Sheet Cake

This is a great cake to try some coconut oil. The coconut flavor is very subtle and tastes rather buttery. I bought a big jar on Amazon for half the price of our local health food store, and only $1 shipping. Canola works fine, but you'll need to crank up the lemon or vanilla flavors, otherwise the cake tastes like bland cornbread. Lemon oil is amazing stuff, I found mine at Williams-Sonoma but King Arthur has it by mail order. It lasts forever in the fridge.

2 cups soy milk

1 T. cider vinegar

2/3 cup oil (I used melted coconut oil)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 T. vanilla

1/4 teaspoon lemon oil (or 1 teaspoon fine lemon zest, don't use lemon extract or the cake will taste like floor polish)

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.) Preheat oven to 350. Prepare your cake pan. I used the birthday as an excuse to buy a new metal cake pan, but a Pyrex casserole pan should work fine. Fold a sheet of parchment so it lays crosswise into a 9 x 13 pan and hangs up over the edges (this way you can 'lift' the cake out of the pan by the paper to the cooling rack) . Spray well with cooking spray.

2.) Whisk soy and vinegar together in a medium bowl and let thicken. Then add the sugar, oil and flavorings. Mix well.

3.) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, soda, baking powder and salt. My cornstarch and baking soda are always lumpy, so I sift mine into the bowl through a mesh strainer to get out the lumps.

4.) Carefully dump and mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Just blend until most of the lumps are out. Don't beat the heck out of it.

5.) Pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the center is set and you can poke a knife into the center and it comes out clean. Let the cake rest for a few minutes before lifting out and cooling on a rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Lightly Lemony Frosting

1 stick margarine, softened ( I use Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine)

1/2 cup shortening

1/8 teaspoon of salt, or a couple pinches.

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup soymilk ( more if needed)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon lemon oil or 1/4 teaspoon fine lemon zest (not lemon extract)

1.) Cream the margarine and shortening until fluffy.

2.) Add the salt and cocoa powder.

3.) Add the powdered sugar slowly. You can add a little of the soymilk as you are trying to mix in all the powdered sugar if things get too thick.

4.) Once all the powdered sugar is mixed in, you can start adding soymilk until you get the frosting thickness you want. Sometimes I like it dense, sometimes I like it fluffy and mousse-like.

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