It’s hard on a girl not to feel pretty. Or even just ‘good enough to go out in public.’ This allergy snafu has done a number on the ol’ vanity. However this evening my little one informed me that “only witches are ugly. Except the good ones.” So there you have it. The wisdom of the ages!
Perhaps all this not-so-prettyness has got me looking for the mundane prettiness in little things, like the early morning light in my bedroom and how it gave these little folk art dolls that are some of my most prized possession such an ethereal look. They live perched up on an antique dresser and were made just for me by celebrated doll artist Christine Crocker. They are gorgeous and perfectly made, they feel like they are truly from another world. Love them. They prove that a crackly face and a bit of a tattery outfit are indeed lovely to gaze upon.
Something else pretty (and yummy) on my mind this weekend has been cake. Even when I had no energy to make one or appetite to even eat one, I dreamt of the ensured magic of Karen S. Booth’s post about this British recipe for Coffee Walnut Cake. And this isn’t ‘coffee cake’ in the American sense of ‘a cake you eat while having cake.’ Its is a cake with coffee in it. Just like my own Grandma Pansy used to use coffee as the secret ingredient of her show-stopping brownies, this cake takes on the rich nutty flavor of your favorite brew. Karen has become such a wonderful person to chat with as I’ve come to know her, and I’m sure you’d love visiting her blog. She hales originally from North Yorkshire in the UK, and spends her time there or at her B&B in the South of France where she makes the most beautiful meals and cakes and writes elegantly and with such rich historical detail that I love stopping in each morning as if it were part of breakfast 🙂
Looking at her cake and mine, mine of course seems thin and pancakey. And I’m not sure how her icing got to be such a lovely brown while mine stayed white. Should I blame the 4 year old who road shot-gun on this baking project? Surely not….I do think my self rising flour I found may not be up to snuff.
But its tonight’s dessert, and buzzards are circling. So I better sign off and have a bit….I’m sure it will make me pretty 🙂
~H
Sleightholm Folk Art 
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