Spring Teaser

It was a balmy 70° in Philadelphia today. It was so warm, I opened all the windows to warm up the house. Ha ha! The sun shone only through noon unfortunately, and then it became very overcast. But at least it didn't rain and it stayed warm until the evening. I was so desperate to do some kind of laundry - to hang things up outside - I grabbed all of the kitchen towels. Nothing is better than outside-air-dried things.
This morning I worked on preparing for the workshop I'm giving next Saturday at Moore for the Alumna. This afternoon I baked. This is an Orange Polenta Cake from Gourmet magazine. I guess that means the recipe should be on epicurious.com? Nope. I just looked. I'm too lazy to get up and get the recipe - but I'll post it if any one's interested. It's basically a caramel base with orange slices on top, then an almond/polenta/orange flower water batter on top. Tomorrow it gets a glaze. The recipe says to use orange marmalade but when I (ahem) sampled the bottom with some this afternoon - it was too sweet. So I think I will use some of my lime marmalade. Should lend the right tartness to it. The BADass (Book Arts Discussion) Group is meeting tomorrow and I asked if they would mind being guinea pigs for this recipe. If it's a hit, this will be the basis for my edible book for the Edible Book party coming up at the end of the month.
I did some more colorful cooking yesterday. I made Rotkohl (Red Cabbage) following a couple of different recipes and from what I remember of how my mom used to make it. It turned out darn good. :) Plus its extra pretty when you put it in the lime green pot Jessica gave me a few years ago. This is what I'm thinking for the color combo in my bathroom. . . don'tcha think it could work?
Red Cabbage: (must be made one day before)
1 red cabbage cut in half, sliced crosswise very fine.
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
1 tart apple, cored, cut in quarters
3 whole cloves
3 whole allspice
1/2c red wine vinegar
1/2c water
1 T brown sugar
In a large pot put one or two table spoons olive oil, heat and add the chopped onion. Cook until soft. Add the red cabbage and lightly saute ( i was thinking of how I make collard greens - but the red cabbage doesn't really wilt the same way. . . so . . .sorry no advice there). With heat on medium, add the apple, spices, vinegar and water and stir a bit more. Cover. When the cloves become aromatic sprinkle sugar on top. Allow to simmer on low for an hour, stirring every once in a while. Turn heat off, keep covered and let sit over night. My mother always left the pot on the stove and nobody died, so that's what I did. I also don't ever remember eating the apple. That was discarded - and for heaven's sake - watch that you don't chomp into a clove or allspice - that will definitely put a damper on the experience. This is also called sweet and sour cabbage. It's not every one's taste, as kids we hated it, but, wow, today it tasted so good. :)
I also finally managed to get some larger window sills installed. Now I have some place to put plants in the kitchen.