- When your cat meows [whines] all morning because she's hungry, but you ignore her and she comes and sits and purrs on your lap at breakfast anyway.
- When you're stressed at work and you remember you have a stash of pretzel rods to chew on. You know, the really salty kind that gets crumbs everywhere, best paired with a lemon-lime soda, making for the ultimate comfort snack duo since my childhood.
- When you have car problems for months that your mechanic can't figure out, and you finally bite the bullet and take it to the [gulp] dealership and prepare to transfer funds from your emergency account for some major repair, only to find out that your car has been recalled, which you think is bad, but it just means you get a free replacement part, and by the way, the main problem you were having was simply due to a lousy light bulb, and, "You don't owe a dime," the Toyota guy tells you. Here's your freshly-washed car.
- When the weekend begins with a purchase of a bottle of tequila called "Sparkle Donkey."
- When your friend makes homemade deodorant and gives you a bar and it smells so good you kind of start using it as perfume (Spokanites can buy this stuff at Bazaar next weekend!).
- When you hand off 273 pages for other people to edit (and proceed to clear the pretzel rod crumbs from your desk).
- When your boyfriend comes back from the store and hands you a Take 5 bar (Pretzels + caramel + peanut butter + peanuts, covered in chocolate. Ever had one? The best.).
- When you go through the drudgery of cleaning out the fridge and find a package of almond meal that you don't remember buying and realize you're suddenly in the mood to bake with it, and WHAT !! you have all the ingredients splayed out on the counter already (along with the containers of rotting food, but no matter).
I must say, this has been a year in which I have really needed to write this kind of stuff down. It's been emotionally exhausting in so many ways, good and bad - nothing catastrophic, thank goodness - but I'll be darned if Oprah didn't make a difference in my life all those years ago when she told America about the power of gratitude journals in getting through every step of your life. It's also in writing this that I learn I may never get over my love of pretzels, no matter what.
This would be an appropriate post to introduce you to a pretzel-crusted pie or something, but back to that almond meal in the fridge.
This here cake is so simple, you might impress yourself by reading the recipe once and find that you can do it by memory. It's gluten-free with almond meal and GF cornmeal. Dense but bright with lemon, and not too sweet, it's a good plain cake that still seems special when you add some strawberries.
Lemon polenta cake with strawberries
adapted from Nigella Lawson
1 c. sugar
14 T. butter (1 3/4 sticks - plus some for greasing the pan)
1 c. almond meal/flour
3/4 c. cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
zest of 2 lemons (set them aside to juice for the syrup)
--Syrup--
juice of 2 lemons
1 c. powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 and butter and line the base of a springform or regular cake pan with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk the dry ingredients separately and add a third of it to the butter and sugar mixture, followed by an egg. Continue alternating the dry ingredients with the eggs, scraping the bowl down as needed. Fold in the lemon zest and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and turn the cake out on a plate.
Heat the lemon juice on the stovetop over medium heat and add the powdered sugar. Let it simmer a little until all the sugar is disolved.
Prick across the top of the cake with a toothpick, and drizzle the lemony syrup and let it seep in. Serve with freshly sliced (or, if you're feeling super gourmet, roasted) strawberries.
The cake keeps, covered, for several days.
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