Elegant Special Occasion Cab Franc

Mount Veeder Cabernet Franc 2006

From the mountain vineyards of the Napa Valley to your table. Smooth, silky, supple . . . elegant. We really enjoyed this wine from the first sip to the last. Did you know that Cabernet Franc is one of the five noble red varieties of Bordeaux? In France, it's called Chinon, the red grape of the Loire region. Apparently, there's not much of this stuff planted in California, so it's really special. As a wine club member of "Expressions Of The Vine", I received this wonderful bottle as one of their featured wines for November, 2010.

Order a bottle today by clicking here.

Less than 300 cases made. $45 a bottle.

Be Well~Red,

Love, Katie

Fresh Pear Cake

Delicious, moist and irresistible. Perfect for the season. Definitely
 a new favorite. Made from pears freshly picked
 from the Brenner Ranch.

The Ingredients

4 cups finely chopped fresh pears

(peeled and cored)

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil

3 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze ~ 1 cup of powdered sugar, 3-4 tablespoons of cream, and a dash of pure vanilla extract. Combine all ingredients, adding a little cream at a time until the glaze is the right consistency for a beautiful drizzle.

The Process

Combine the pears, sugar and nuts in a large bowl. Mix occasionally and let stand for one hour. The mixture will become more syrupy as the sugar melts and the pears release their juices. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan. Now add the dry ingredients to the pear mixture. No need to sift. No need for an electric mixer. Simply add the dry ingredients to the pear mixture and stir to combine. Now, this seems weird, but next, add the liquid ingredients. The oil, eggs and extract. Honestly, it just does not seem right, but you will have to trust me on this. It will look strange and it will seem that the oil won't blend into the batter. But you will find, voila'! . . . It blends nicely. Don't overmix. Just stir well until blended. Spoon or pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Start watching closely after one hour. I actually took mine out after 1 hour and 5 minutes and it was perfecto. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for awhile. Maybe 20-30 minutes or so. Invert it onto a wire rack and then, turn it right side up again. Poke holes into the cake with a wooden skewer or a fork or a toothpick. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake and let it drip down the sides. Don't you just LOVE that? Allow it to cool a little further before digging in. Everyone will love this cake and it's baker. Enjoy! Click HERE for the printable version of this recipe!

Peace & Pears, Love, Katie 

Orange Cranberry Walnut Bread Circa 1979

Last weekend, I made a pre-Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night. A whole turkey breast on the grill, homemade stuffing, sweet potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce. I guess I was just in the mood, right? The cranberry sauce triggered a memory of my mom's cranberry nut bread from "back in the day". Turns out to be over 30 years ago. She liked to serve each slice with a generous smear of cream cheese and it was soooo delicious! So, yesterday, I asked my mom if she could retrieve the recipe and she immediately pointed to the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook on the second shelf of her armoire. I was so happy that she knew exactly where the recipe came from. She assured me that it was the right recipe because she had just recently picked up the same cookbook (about a week ago), and re-read it, cover to cover. The corner of page 223 was folded to mark the page of this recipe. We perused the book for other old recipes, one of which was a classic sour cream pound cake that I definitely remember being buttery, dense and wonderful. Over a cup of tea and some sweet treats, my mom pulled out yet another favorite pan for me . . . her tube pan for the sour cream pound cake AND . . . her deep springform pan with the removable bottom for her infamous lemon glazed cheesecake. She washed and dried both pans and sent me home with them to enjoy with all of the other vessels, tools and utensils and countless kitchen items she has gifted to me over the years. My collection is growing. This recipe (adapted and shown below) produces a moist and delicious quick bread with very little preparation and few ingredients. The tartness of the cranberries combined with the nuts is of course, a classic and winning combination. The cookbook is a 1979 printing of the first edition 1978 Better Homes & Gardens "COMPLETE STEP~BY~STEP COOKBOOK".

The Recipe

Orange Cranberry Walnut Bread Circa 1979

3 medium oranges

1 beaten egg

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Zest one orange. Reserve. Juice all three oranges. Measure 3/4 cup orange juice. Reserve remaining juice. Combine 3/4 cup orange juice, 1 teaspoon of the zest, the egg and the oil. In a separate bowl, stir or whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the orange juice mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir to just combine. Don't overmix. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Turn into greased 8x4x2 or 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick or cake tester inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool. Prepare glaze by adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of orange juice to powdered sugar until it becomes smooth, and of drizzling consistency. Drizzle onto cooled loaf and sprinkle with additional orange zest.

Click here for printable recipe

KPK Notes-n-Tips: If you don't own a juicer, feel free to use good quality orange juice (I love Tropicana NOT from concentrate with extra pulp). If you do have a juicer, use it! I did. (Don't hate - Appreciate). It only takes a minute to juice three oranges, folks! If you don't have a Microplane zester, buy one, ok? You won't be able to stop zesting. Next note: I used canola oil with excellent results. Timesaver note: Trader Joe's sells sliced sweetened frozen cranberries! Talk about convenient. You can throw this loaf together in NO time. Planning note: I tend to toast a good quantity of nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts - separately) when I have time. Then I keep them fresh in ziplock bags in the freezer. That way, I always have toasted nuts on hand for baking. Grease tip: Use a bit of oil to grease the pan or a non-stick cooking spray. Cooling tip: I cooled the loaf in the pan on a rack for awhile. I then transferred the partially cooled loaf to the rack and glazed it while it was slightly warm. Line a sheet pan with parchment or wax paper underneath your rack to catch the drips for easy cleanup. Let the glaze cool completely on the cake. Simple and delicious and perfect for the season. Secret Note: While writing this post, it occurred to me that I am quite sure that I did not add salt to the flour mixture when I made this today, LOL. It was still great! Haha. Make one today and let me know how you like it. I made this one when I woke up this morning and brought it to work for my taste-testers. I couldn't wait to call my mom and tell her when it was in the oven. She was so happy that I baked it and she was like "Did you put it in your blog?" . . . I did now!

Great reviews. 1979 & 2010.

Thanks, Em. Love you.

From Amelia's Kitchen to mine to yours,

Love, Katie