January 7, 2014

Of Birthdays and Biscuits



So, my birthday came and went recently.
Gifts of honey and liqueur, among other things, came my way. Comb honey; sage honey; orange blossom honey; whipped,"creamed", organic honey!
A bounty to add to my collection (which includes the mesquite honey pictured above).  
 I spent the day with family. Togetherness seemed to be the theme: everyone pitched in for dinner and made the meal. Even the cats wanted in on it.  


There was a beautiful cake from Mom and Dad. Mom added fresh raspberrries and blackberries to dazzling effect. Oh so professional - I thought it'd come from the bakery that way! 
None of us could resist the fruit, this being mid-winter, and us being berry fiends, so they didn't last on the cake too long, but as they say, presentation is everything!


  
  There was a BisCake - part Biscuit, part Cake! So delicious and simple. My brother, AKA Hoss, an expert biscuit maker, thought it up spontaneously; why go through all the rolling and cutting if all the dough 
can be baked in a single pan? This method turned out really well. To make it more cake-like, he added a touch more sugar, more flour, and used a full 10 tablespoons of red palm oil. The fact that he used oat flour really made it crumbly and tender. Really incredible.     This was so good, in fact, that a few days later, when The Accomplice had his birthday, he made a request for a BisCake as well, only this time, it was made with barley flour and soaked in pure Grade B maple syrup.



The main course was spaghetti  - an excellent choice for the somewhat chilly night.
The sauce - tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, skillfully seasoned by my other brother and vegan accomplice - was addicting and abundant.  I'd been avoiding wheat for a while, but nevertheless, this really hit the spot!   



Deep, dark Creme Yvette went exceptionally well with the spaghetti.  What the liqueur has to do with my birthday, I haven't a clue, but it's perfect, because the violets are going crazy right now. I finally had an excuse to pick some of them for the pictures!

Leftover bis*cake, crumbled and topped with some of the blackberries and some comb honey made for a memorable breakfast/brunch.   



So. Another one bites the dust. But.
 All in all, a good day.




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