A Tribute to Friendship (and Artisan Bread)

[Two of my favorite photos of K, one of the 2 of us in around 1994
and the other of K and her husband and my little
Asher when they came to visit around 2004]

Today is my dear friend, Karin’s birthday…
Happy Birthday Kariney!

I have been feeling the need to write a tribute to Karin, as she has had such a large influence on my life. And though we haven’t lived in the same city for years and years, her influence continues to shape and mark me.

It was 20 years ago that we met on Belmont’s campus.  She was my next door neighbor.  I came from Knoxville, Tennessee and she from California.  Having grown up in the south all my life, southern living was all I knew.  Karin is pronounced kah-RIN (think Corinne rather than Karen, which makes sense because she is from hip-California after all).  Not only did Karin bring an engaging, fun, deep, creative friendship into my life, she also brought a lot of other things …

She taught me the value of 100% cotton sheets, vintage linens, old quilts, black and white photography, Origins products (which had not yet arrived in Nashville at the time), and a café au lait (coffee with steamed milk) –my coffee drink of choice still today. 

The next school year we moved off campus together with our friend Teresa.  We established a household that was a wonderful haven, as well as my first home apart from my family.  Karin’s influence on my cooking really began to take effect in these three years as we shared a kitchen.

My mother is such a wonderful cook, baker and entertainer.  She has most certainly been the primary influence in this area of my life.  However, Karin became a huge additional influence, with her different angle that she brought to the kitchen counter, coming from California. Also, you have to understand that this was at the dawning of the internet. So, not only was my little life expanding its borders – being in a bigger city, establishing my own household, having a cultured roommate – but also the world was expanding its borders as well, as technology began to make the world more accessible.  Recipes, ideas and ingredients were regional, and the recipes I had were limited to the cookbooks I had or the recipes I had handwritten in my box.  There were no on-line resources.  The way you expanded your horizons was by other people who had other landscapes to offer you. (Are you thinking I sound like I’m speaking of the 1800’s at this point?)

I remember vividly Karin introducing me to balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  She taught me about kosher salt and fresh herbs.  I didn’t even know basil existed.  She introduced me to mango! She taught me how to steam squash (which she did all the time).  She even made steamed artichokes with drawn butter and gave us all a tutorial on how to eat a fresh artichoke properly. 

And Artisan bread.  The first time she came home with a loaf of Pane Bello bread from the then-brand-new Bread and Company bread store, I was in awe.  It was a beautiful, artistic loaf of bread, and when she sliced it and served it with our pasta (not spaghetti like I grew up eating, but “pasta”) I was confused.  The hard crusty exterior threw me off.  I had always had bread that was soft, while maybe a little crispy on the edge, like “French Bread”, with our spaghetti. I had never had bread with a tough crust and a porous, holey crumb.  I asked her if it was supposed to be this crusty and hard to eat and she said, “yes!”

Little did I know that Artisan bread (or as my kids call it, “crusty bread”) would become  such a love of mine and my family.  My favorite sandwiches are made on crusty bread.  We made grilled cheese on it this week for Halloween with friends.  We dip it in olive oil with herbs when we have a fancy Italian night. 

A couple of years ago I began trying to make my own artisan bread.  Since I love to bake, and like to try new adventures and am cheap, I really wanted to give it a try.  It is astounding to me that you can make beautiful loves of delicious bread with flour, salt, water, yeast and sometimes a little olive oil and/or honey.  For pennies!  So, I asked my friend, Steve- the bread man- about the best resource and he recommended The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Barenbaum.  I bought it and have tried several recipes from it.

My favorite scones are from that book. (You must make them if you haven’t already!)
The artisan bread recipes are quite complicated, and have weight measurements included in the recipes (which is a tip off that it is high level…a little out of my league).  I have had some success with the artisan bread recipes in the book but have had a couple of flops as well.

Then, this summer I learned about this book:  Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. I checked it out of the library and made a couple of different recipes and it is crazy-simple and so yummy. In fact, Dave warned me that I couldn’t make a habit of this bread making because our family’s waist-lines can’t handle it. We cannot ration well.  So, I am trying to pace myself.  I bought the sequel to their book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day, thinking at least whole wheat flour might help out.


Here is a video of the authors demonstrating their technique. 

So, in honor of Karin, I made a couple of Boules (Free-form artisan loaves). I wanted to share them with you, readers, to hopefully inspire you to give it a try (click HERE for the recipe and instructions). You can do it!!! Karin has always encouraged me to take risks and has always believed in me when I doubted my abilities.  

And, if you have a friend (or friends) who have taught you and influenced you, I encourage you to take a minute to thank them specifically for the things they have given to you. 

K's family including their newest addition
who I can't wait to meet!
(I borrowed the photo from facebook)

To Karin: I wish I could run a loaf over to you in Vermont to share with you (and your sweet family) and serve some with butter and jam and a café au lait.  You are a loyal, dear friend.  We have been through thick and thin together.  You have taught me beautiful life lessons: like accountability, and taking risks, and acceptance. You inspire me and have improved my life in countless ways… far beyond the kitchen.

DIY Tortilla Soup

A couple of years ago I went to a Mexican Cantina and ordered their Chicken Tortilla Soup. When the meal arrived, to my surprise, I was served a plate with a bowl that contained rice, beans and chicken in it and a spread of fresh ingredients beside it on the plate including diced tomatoes, avocado slices, pico de gallo, and shredded cheese.  The broth was brought in a pitcher and was poured over the ingredients in the bowl at the table-side.

I then topped the soup with the fresh ingredients from the plate. It was so fresh, tasty and fun.  I thought it was brilliant! Fresh soup, with fresh ingredients and made to order.  I took the idea and thought I would recreate it at home and make DIY Tortilla Soup.

Our small group for church has dinner each week at our home and we decided to do a taco night. In addition to tortillas, we had a pot of broth on the stove.  That way, with the same ingredients we could offer soup and tacos. People could choose the ingredients they like, topped with broth rather than wrapped in a tortilla.

It was a hit.  You can spice it up with salsa and peppers, make it meatless, or bean-less, or experiment with your favorite combinations.  Subsequently, we have embraced it as a new, crowd-pleasing menu at our table.

And it's Do It Yourself - and there is something novel about that. 

the Broth (click to print)
4 cans Chicken Broth
juice of 1/2 lime
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 handful fresh cilantro

Place all ingredients into a large pot.
Let broth simmer for a few minutes on the stove, allowing the flavors to meld.
(You might want to alter the seasoning of this to your liking - add spices, add hot sauce, decrease lime, omit cilantro, etc.)

the Beans
1 Can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 Can water
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Sprinkle with cumin and salt

Place all ingredients into a small pot.
Heat on the stove.


the Chicken
4 Chicken breasts, cut into medium sized pieces
juice from 1/2 lime
A sprinkle of cumin
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
A pinch of Salt
A dash of Cholula

Place meat in a glass dish and add other ingredients. Toss to coat well.
Grill on stove top grill (or sautee on stove top, or bake in the oven on a baking sheet, or grill on the grill...whatever you choose).

Prepare other toppings:

• Rice (you can make a pot of white or brown rice or one of the mexican rice packages found in the grocery store for more seasoned rice)
• Diced tomatoes
• Shredded cheese
• Sour cream
• Chips slightly broken (which are conveniently located at the bottom of the bag of chips)
• Salsa (my favorite salsa recipe is HERE)
• Avocado- sliced  (I thought I would share with you how I prepare an avocado.  It can be intimidating but usually this method works like a charm).

Using a sharp knife, cut a lateral line through the center, cutting around the large center pit

Using a large spoon, insert the spoon as close to the skin as you can and shimmy between the edge of the avocado and the skin.

Repeat the process with the other side.

Place the avocado on the cutting board and slice.

Using a sharp knife,
cut a lateral line through 
the center, cutting around the 
large center pit

Using a large spoon,
insert the spoon as close
to the skin as you can
and shimmy between the
edge of the avocado 
and the skin,

Remove the avocado.
Repeat the process
with the other side
Place the avocado
on the cutting board
and slice

Fall Favorites

I'm on my second lap.  It's year 2 for my blog and I have posted through each season.  I like to write about seasonally inspired foods and since I began my blog last August, I posted some of my perennial fall favorites last September and October.  In the next couple of weeks, I plan to make some of these recipes at our house. 

So I wanted to remind you about them. (Or if you have come to my kitchen recently and haven't read the posts of these time honored traditions at my table, I wanted to share them with you).  

Pumpkin Iced Sugar Cookies

My childhood tradition at every holiday.  They are beautiful and delicious!

Fresh Apple Cake

It says "fall" to me.  It's dense and filled with apples and cinnamony goodness.

Tomato Soup and Fancy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

A favorite fall meal and our traditional Halloween dinner fare.

Pumpkin Muffins
Some with pecans, some with chocolate chips, some plain...and my new twist...

a good dollup of cream cheese pressed into the batter and baked in.

Pumpkin Dip and Caramel Toffee Dip with Apples
Fun party food- both dips are so yummy with apples and graham crackers!

Bran Muffins (Dirt & Stick Muffins)

If I had to choose one baked good to make, it would be muffins.  They are so easy, versatile and tasty. Since breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I love that they are a main-course baked good! I appreciate creative, unique muffins and simple classic ones as well.  It's great when you find a quality, basic muffin recipe that you can then add to and tweak depending on your mood.  Furthermore, I think muffins are a great treat to share with people:
with my kids' teachers at school to start their day,
with my college students to offer some homemade goodness,
with my neighbors on a saturday morning to celebrate the weekend,
or a new parent who's been up all night,
or struggling friend who needs some kindness and nourishment,
or a child, because they are so fun to eat!

My former student, Amy, who is now in Colorado in grad school, sent me this NPR article about showing compassion through the gift of food.  If you have a couple of minutes, you should read it. It's inspiring! Thanks, Amy, for thinking of me!
(Speaking of my college students, my student Becca, surprised our 9:30 class this week with a gift of very special pumpkin cream cheese streusel muffins.  They were deliciously fall!  I ate one at class and another for lunch.  Here's the recipe.)

the Bran. You can find it in the health
food aisle of the grocery

Muffins come in all flavors and sizes.  I love a cupcake-like muffin, I mean, how could I not?  It's like a license to eat cake for breakfast! But bran muffins are at the top of my list.  When I'm reaching for a muffin at a bakery, I usually go for a bran muffin.  This bran muffin recipe is my favorite for a hearty, whole grain, rusky muffin.  Dave calls them my "dirt and stick muffins" because they have real wheat bran in them and they feel healthy (though still moist and yummy)!

I have some history with bran muffins.  My mom raised us on raisin bran muffins, which are really tasty, easy to make, and are perfect for those reluctant-to-eat-bran people.  They are fluffy and sweet (lots of sugar in this recipe) and light in their color and texture. If that is the bran muffin that sounds appealing to you, here is the recipe.

If you are more of a hearty, denser, healthier muffin, this one is for you.

In both recipes, the batter is able to be kept in the fridge up to a few weeks, so that you can bake a few of them fresh each day.   (The Raisin Bran ones actually require refrigeration for 6 hours prior to baking them – which for me just means that I mix the batter at night and let it refrigerate for the 6 hours I sleep and it's ready when I wake up; the Hearty Bran don't require refrigeration before baking).

I have tried many mix-ins with these: craisins, blueberries, raisins, apples, pears, walnuts, pecans, peaches, you name it.  A local favorite coffee shop, The Frothy Monkey, has daily muffins and they usually have a bran of some creative variety – i've had mango pineapple bran, blueberry bran, prune bran, and last week they had apricot almond bran.

[I have posted several muffin recipes on this blog, click on THIS ONE that has my tricks and tips that I have learned along the way to help with your muffin-baking pursuit]

Hearty Bran Muffins

1 cup bran soaking in hot water

the batter

3 cups Unprocessed Wheat Bran

1 cup boiling water

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened (or I sometimes use ¼ cup vanilla yogurt; ¼ cup butter)

2 ½ cups All-purpose flour (or I sometimes use 1 cup whole wheat/ 1 ½ cups white wheat)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups buttermilk

¼ cup honey

Any "mix-ins" you would like (craisins, blueberries, nuts, etc)

Mix 1 cup of wheat bran with 1 cup boiling water; stir and let water absorb into bran.  
In a bowl, blend sugar and butter.  
Measure and combine flour, baking soda and salt.  
Combine the moist bran with the beaten eggs, the remaining 2 cups of bran, buttermilk, blended sugar/butter mixture, and the dry ingredient mixture.  
Stir until well blended.  
Add ¼ cup honey and any “mix-ins” you would like.
Place in refrigerator for future use, OR bake at once - (If you are going to wait to make the muffins until later, I think it is best to omit the mix-ins until the time you are baking them).

batter in the fridge for whenever you want to bake them

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
Stir batter and scoop into greased muffin tins. I like to sprinkle some turbinado sugar (coarse raw sugar) on top before baking.  If I used a "mix-in", I sprinkle some of those ingredients on top to indicate what's inside, and because it's so pretty!  
Bake 15 minutes, or until done.  


Keep remaining mixture in airtight container for 2 to 4 weeks.  Makes about 2 dozen muffins.

Happy Friday muffins for teachers

Ginger Snap Enlightenment

I'm turning the calendar to October and I couldn't be happier about it.  I love fall. What a great season!  I have been thinking about fall foods – what I want to make and eat and blog about. My list of things to cook includes: all things pumpkin, ginger, sweet potato, and comfort. I'm wishing for lots of time in the kitchen to make some of these things. I decided Ginger Snaps should start the season because this recipe is so very amazing and I think you should have it now so that you can make it as many times as you can in the next few months. Because when February rolls around, you might be ready to move on to chocolate and valentines.

Now, I have to confess that the idea of Ginger Snaps was never appealing to me. They are one of those foods that I had stereotyped.  I am teaching a course this semester called Exploring Human Diversity (I am a professor of social work when I'm not baking, blogging and mothering). We have been discussing stereotypes and seeking to courageously face them in ourselves so that we can dismantle them in our lives and grow beyond them.  So, admittedly, one of my stereotypes (albeit inconsequential compared to other more destructive ones I am certain that I harbor) has been against Ginger Snap cookies.
In my mind they have always been a hard, stale, dark molasses cookie that was found in a box on a shelf and really didn't deserve the title of cookie.  I mean, cookies are a pretty special category, if you ask me.  I thought of them more like molasses disks.  I even bought the ones once that were packaged in a cute kraft brown paper sack, since I'm a sucker for packaging and somehow thought they must be homemade-tasting if they were in that fun sack.  Not so.  This just reinforced my stereotype about Ginger Snaps.  So I wrote them off.  Not worth the calories.  And certainly Dave wouldn't go for them, as he is majorly biased towards soft cookies.

And then, my friend Lisa, brought freshly baked Ginger Snaps to an event and they were so beautiful  – like little puffy, intricately cracked, sugar-coated, round treasures.  I had to pick one up and hold it in my hand and then I had to taste it. In that moment my stereotype was shattered.  I was enlightened!  It was incredible.  It was chewy and the perfect amount of spicy and salty and sweet.  It was unlike any Ginger Snap I had experienced.

In my Diversity course, we have been discussing that the way to undo your stereotypes is to actually encounter people "up-close" and "personal" from the group about which you have made assumptions and generalizations.  And indeed this remedy was true for me and my cookie issues.  I discovered that not all Ginger Snaps are the same.  And that day, this recipe was added to my list of favorite cookies.

So, I encourage you, if you are like me and have some stereotyping baggage associated with hard, store-bought ginger snaps, to try this recipe. This way you can have an "up-close" and "personal" encounter with Lisa's Ginger Snap Cookies and perhaps overcome your bias, all while celebrating the fall season!

Ginger Snaps

3/4 cup Crisco (shortening)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (I use coarse salt)

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Extra sugar for rolling

Cream together shortening and sugar.
Beat in egg and molasses.
Add flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls.
Roll in small bowl of sugar until completely coated.
Place on baking sheet lined with parchment (or a greased baking sheet).
Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes
(depending on the size of the balls and heat of your oven).

Watch to see that they are browning just a touch on the edges and flattening.

Remove from oven and let sit on pan for a few minutes – cookies will form the beautiful cracks as they cool a little.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

My kids were discussing Snickerdoodles versus Ginger Snaps versus Brown Sugar Cookies (from Joy the Baker that my friend Melissa brought over).  Lucy, my 3 year old was discussing the nuances between the 3 cookies with Asher, my 9 year old.  Lucy argued that Ginger Snaps were browner, and that Snickerdoodles were whiter and were sour (I think she's right – it's that cream of tartar in Snickerdoodles).  Asher asked her how she knew this about cookies, being that she is 3 and all, to which she replied, "I'm an Expert!".  I have no idea where she learned the term, "expert", but I think she probably is a cookie expert.

People's Choice

It was one of those weeks! No fun baking happened here, just trying to make-do and get something on the table to feed my people.  We did some cleaning out of the refrigerator and creative meal fixing.  We had what we call "People's Choice".

Let me define the term "People's Choice", coined by my mom sometime in my childhood.  I must preface this description by saying that I have a very creative mother.  She is smart and clever and always in pursuit of making things fun.  When I was growing up, she made cleaning the house a race in our home (with estimated times, kitchen timers set, tasks assigned and music playing) and made tasks more bearable with singing and assigning creative names to things.  Dave says, "just imagine Maria from The Sound of Music" – playclothes made from old draperies, picnics on the hillside, learning music theory by dancing up steps, overcoming the fear of storms by singing of woolen mittens... you get the picture?

Growing up, a half sandwich (one piece of bread, folded over) was far more fun if called a "foldy"... it still is, actually.  A melted ham and cheese sandwich on a bun called a "yumbo" sounded like party food.  Mom could take the ordinary and make it memorable.  She still can.

One of her mainstays was "People's Choice".  Did I also mention that she is also very positive? She's a lemonade-out-of-lemon kind of a lady.  (And she doesn't like wasting or throwing things away.) People's Choice is the name my mother coined for leftovers.  Rather than "left-over night" being a disappointing, re-heating of seen-before-meals, her people's choice was a free-for-all of the leftovers from the previous days, with the addition of some fresh fruit or salad, at times, to complete the meal.  And it worked.  It wasn't dreadful.  It was actually kinda fun.

People's Choice infers that you have the power to choose.  Whatever meal you most enjoyed during the previous days, you can stake your claim on it.  It is almost like working a puzzle (which we happen to really like too).  This is done with the goal in mind of trying to see if you can clear out all of the containers – or at least some of them – and feed all the people at the table something they would enjoy.  This meal requires only 10 to 15 minutes to prep, you are cleaning out the fridge, while simultaneously reducing waste and feeding a household!

So, of course, we carry this tradition on in our home and when the fridge is full of containers of leftovers, and we don't have the time or energy to invent a new meal.  We declare that it is People's Choice night!  Hip Hip Hooray!

(the photo at the top of the page is a typical People's Choice offering at the Hunt house: 2 bowls of leftover tomato soup, 2 slices of lasagna, a pile of roasted veggies, some pita pizzas thrown in to help bridge the gap for kids and to stretch the quantity ... and of course a little plate of fresh fruit – you know how essential that seems to be at my table!)

(or below:  some leftover pasta salad, barley salad, beans – from a home-cooked meal, paired with fajita peppers and onions brought home from a Mexican restaurant, and some bruschetta.  Something for everyone!)  I know you might be thinking, "you brought home peppers and onions from the restaurant?" Yes!  We had eaten most of the meat and the trimmings but had a pile of peppers and onions left, which we paid for, that could make some nice veggie tacos at home.

So remember, when you need to clean out those leftovers in your fridge and you just have a little of this and a little of that and no time or energy to create a new meal ... think People's Choice! And exercise your power to choose!

Book Clubs & Tea Cakes

My 7-year-old loves to read.  So does her mom.  I am thrilled to have a bookworm daughter.   At any given moment, you can find her in a room with her nose in a book – standing, sitting, lying down, perched on the side of the sofa, in the bathroom.  Then, if you walk into another room, you will find another book opened and turned over, marking the page where she left off. (I am trying to teach her the use of bookmarks – a ribbon, slip of paper, gum wrapper, whatever – as a more effective way of marking the book than her technique).  The other day I caught her reading and playing the piano simultaneously and snapped this photo! I know... multi-tasking at its finest!

So last year I decided that maybe she and I should help start a mom/daughter book club.  One of my heros, Brené Brown, whom I wrote about a while back, has a wonderful blog called Ordinary Courage.  It is a wealth of resources, information, thought-provoking challenges and a fresh perspective on living a courageously, whole-hearted life.  I read on her blog about a mom/daughter group that she and her daughter have done with several peers of theirs and I was so inspired that I sought out how I might be able to emulate what she has done.  After a few conversations and several emails, we had an excited group of women and their 1st grade daughters gathered together to begin a book club.  We chose The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes, as our first book, following Brene's example for our first read.  If you haven't read it, you must.  It is a simple, heartfelt book from the 1944 and yet the themes are timeless and poignant.

One mother, a professor of English (how convenient), facilitated our discussion as we sat around our large oval table and talked about the author, the period in which it was written, the imagery, the scenes that stuck with us, the conflict in the plot, the less-than-ideal-ending and how we had wished the book had ended.  We discussed the great opportunity that reading provides in our lives, to give us insight into our own lives, and even the chance to "write our own ending" to the story of our situations, perhaps influenced and enlightened by the characters in a book.

Another mother and her daughter gathered fun art supplies for the girls to make their own bookmarks with dress-themed adornments.  The girls loved this component of the gathering.  The women even had the unexpected chance to visit while the girls were busy with their art project!

We had fresh berries, salty snacks, raspberry lemonade and tea cakes.  These tea cakes are one of my most treasured recipes.  The recipe came from my friend, Connie.  She got it from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  There is a bakery, Ham'N Goodys, in Knoxville that makes these. They had a location in Nashville also, but, sadly, it closed several years ago. It was such a disappointment, because their lemon sugar cookies and tea cakes with thick almond glaze are out of this world.

It's hard to find a good recipe for a tea cake.  That term, "tea cake", can be interpreted a lot of ways.  Some cookbooks see it more like a Mexican wedding cookie, others think of it as a quick bread with dried fruit and nuts.  I think of tea cakes in the Ham'N Goodys Bakery way:  a soft, puffy, cakey sugar cookie with a thick almond glaze covering the top.  This recipe accomplishes it!

It is bigger than a cookie and easier to serve, transport and eat than a cupcake!  People love them! Kids and adults alike.  And they are so pretty.  My friend, Melissa (the florist) makes them also and I have seen her pipe a monogram or initial on the top with some buttercream icing.  They are lovely!

The recipe only has a few ingredients and I find it interesting that whipping cream serves as both the oil (fat) and the liquid of the recipe.  The only trick to this recipe is getting them the correct thickness and doneness.  You really must try them!

Tea Cakes

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (you choose)

3 1/2 cups of self-rising flour

Glaze- 4 cups powdered sugar, a few drops almond extract & a few spoons of water

Mix together sugar, whipping cream, egg and extract in a bowl.  Add flour one cup at a time (because it can become stiff), stirring in between.  Add flour until incorporated and not too sticky to handle.  Roll the dough into golf ball size balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Watch closely- they typically do not brown on the top, only on the bottom.

After they are fully cooked, remove from pans and let cool on wire racks.  While cooling, mix together powdered sugar with a few drops of almond extract and a few Tablespoons of water.  Continue stirring, adding water as needed to get the desired consistency.  You want it to be thick enough to stay on the cookie but thin enough to spread  easily. Let them rest until glaze is firm. (If you want to add sprinkles, do so while they are still wet.  If you want pipe a design on top, wait until they are dry and set). 

(I make them with almond extract but you can exchange that with vanilla or lemon if you want.)

doughy-goodness!

I often double-layer the dough to insure the right thickness

smoothing on glaze with the back of a spoon

sprinkles (if you want) and then drying on a rack

And I can't think of anything more delightful than curling up with one of these Tea Cakes, a cup of coffee or tea, and a good book. Sigh – take me there!