Fish Shore

Easy lemon polenta cake

The lemon polenta cake I made for my birthday would make an excellent Easter cake. Consider it, won't you?

Ingredients

14 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

1 cup sugar

2 cups almond meal/flour

3/4 cup fine polenta/cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs

Zest 2 lemons (save the juice for the syrup)

Syrup

Juice from 2 lemons

Heaping 1 cup powdered sugar

Line the base of a 9″ cake pan with parchment paper and grease its sides lightly with butter. Preheat the oven to 350f/175c.

Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped using a mixer.

Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour, spoon the mixture into your prepared pan and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. When tested, a skewer should come out cleanish and the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in the pan.

JOSIE note: After the cake was cool I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge. The next day I poked it with a fork a number of times and poured two shots of limoncello over it and then wrapped it up and refrigerated it again for about an hour before adding the syrup.

Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a smallish saucepan. Once the confectioners’ sugar has dissolved into the juice, it is ready. Pour the syrup over the cake (it should have holes in it from the limoncello step). Make sure it goes over the edges so you get a nice crispy crust.

Source: Nigella Lawson. 

Rice Pudding

Combine 3 cups of cooked rice (I used brown) with 3 cups of milk (I used almond), a 1/2 cup of sugar (I used ungranulated), and 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix in 1/2 cup of craisins and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and cook for 25 minutes. Add lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Scoop into individual portions.

Spring Photo Montage

Alas! Only a few days ago it was Spring in the District, complete with short sleeves, sunshine, and cherry blossom buds.
Now look at it...
Is there an emoticon for weather-induced weariness?

*** = (,_,) 

That will have to do. 
At least Kevin and I really soaked up the mini-Spring while it was here.

First we went to the Freer Sackler gallery where I got a poster and a charming book about Chinese folktales (50% off).  Kevin and I were both really captivated by one drawing in the book depicting a large turtle-man so I attempted to recreate it for him this morning.

After the Freer, we stood outside and struck the kind of casual poses one would expect on a 70 degree day.

Then I touched some buds and they couldn't do anything about it.

so soft

Later we watched a dramatic sunset on the mall.

and went home to make noodle bowls and watch Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The next morning was cold and windy. 

Painfully windy. 

It is still February after all. 

The latest Jovin drawings

Kevin was inspired to draw this capybara after watching a video like this...

He was also kind enough to paint some flowers for me.

Lately all of my sketches have morphed into bad fantasy art. Maybe I should stop working in crayon.

Happy Valentine's Day from 1 of 4

Whale you be my Valentine?

Shrimpy Sweetheart

This jumbo shrimp is Kevin's early Valentine's day present. He's wearing an over-sized multi-colored baseball hat from the 90s.

horses with hands riding horses

Kevin was inspired to draw this by this website

card for Anastasia

I am learning to finger pick...

I am really enjoying Mad Men right now.