November 2024 A Note from Marcy
Dear Friends and fellow bakers,
(Firstly – the gorgeous original art of the cranberries is from the generous paint brush of artist Robin Anderson who you can find at https://www.robinandersonfineart.com/. Thank you Robin!)
Welcome to a fresh new edition of baking with Betterbaking.com!
It’s November, that short and mercurial month. On occasion of this first November morning, Halloween is already an echo of autumn on-its-way-out and we’re standing at the hallowed gates just outside the baker’s winter kingdom.
To me, November is one of the sweetest months on the calendar since it’s brimming with anticipation of the holidays ahead. It also means that a new harvest of fresh cranberries are just in time to replenish my dwindling cranberry freezer stash so gather ye cranberries while you may! Don’t you find that cranberries are like the White Rabbit of ingredients; at first you see them everywhere, thinking – ok, I need a package or two for baking or cranberry sauce and forget to stock up, thinking there will be time enough for that. Then when you look and/or really need them, they’ve vanished (along with the clementines or the good clementines at any rate). It’s probably because cranberries, versus most other produce, aren’t widely produced outside North America so cranberries have retained some distinct seasonality and I love them for that and their other attributes.
November also has that ‘anything is possible’ magic to it. There’s that early frost that quietly whispers to you to bake all you want, buy as many vanilla-based perfumes as you deem essential, perfect your bread and most of all, squirrel away or stock up on flour, butter and eggs. But there’s also this wee bit of mysterious and hopeful potential in the air that’s almost more potent than the festive season itself that lies ahead.
To catch up a bit, last month I was awash in roadblocks. My computer went kaput, my website needed repairs and the Jewish New Year was swirling around me with its demands for traditional baking and cooking to celebrate the holiday at hand. To be fair, I like celebrating Rosh Hashanah with my family and it’s a joy to prepare the recipes we love but it does take up time on the culinary schedule. I intended to put out a great big October issue filled with spice and pumpkins. Sometimes you can’t fight city hall and in the end, given all the resistance going on, I had to let it go. So it certainly feels like it’s been awhile and I’ve missed you but I’m back! The light in the window and the oven’s pilot light are glowing beacons of welcome and I’ve been up to beautiful sugar-and-spice mischief I am happy to share with you.
A baker in a café…
The other day, sitting at a café which is a great place to ponder in, I had a thought. I realized there are so many amazing, new recipes on my website (what’s the point of false modesty? These are fabulous recipes that are languishing. Like the bestselling titles novels of Colleen Hoover or Stephen King that explode onto the bestselling list for a year or so, my newest recipes are also bestsellers but then are retired into the BB Recipe Archives. Once I launch a new recipe in a monthly issue of Betterbaking I find and I wager you also tend to forget those recipes are there, hidden in the BB archives. In publishing, they call these bestselling books that are lit up for a year or the ‘back list’ list titles. They are worthy but they have their moment and then things with more shine supplant them. Similarly, I have a treasure chest of ‘back list’ recipes on my site and I think they need exposure. They’re here for a month in the current newsletter and then even I forget they’re there like quiet gold.
Soooo……someone who follows me on Instagram mentioned recently: when are you going to put all these new recipes from the website in a cookbook? What a great idea and so yes! It’s now on my to-do list. The last (and only) time I did a Best of Betterbaking.com cookbook was in 2003 and there are so many unique, new recipes that are hidden in the archives. They really need a light to shine on them and after the bread cookbooks I’m embroiled in, it will be a Best of BB Cookbook, circa 2003-2024. (I was going to call my next cookbook: Scroll to Recipe J!) All the best recipes I’ve created in the last two decades (oy!) are too special to stay hidden – even invisible.
Some invisible recipes you should consider and there are so many more, from pumpkin pie to cranberry loaf or biscotti, brown sugar and cinnamon everything, best ever turkey and gravy, Parker House rolls, and more. Meanwhile:
Senate Bean Soup https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/senate-bean-soup/
Pumpkin Eruption Cheesecake
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/pumpkin-eruption-cheesecake/
Election Day Cake
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/election-day-coffee-cake/
Caramel Oatmeal Crisp Top Pie
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/caramel-oatmeal-crisp-apple-pie/
Do you feel invisible? Don’t worry, it’s only the ghost of a false inner narrative….
Invisibility is also a theme lately in people’s conversations. I’ve seen it on many women’s Facebook pages or in stores, friends, even features in the NYT and closer to home, in my own book club. Forty-somethings onward have mentioned it and it’s not just a women thing. Men have mentioned it, i.e. the single guys on The Golden Bachelorette brought it up. So why do so many of us feel invisible or is it a theme?
I’ve had many mood and person-hood states in my life and many existential passages. It’s the price of being human but feeling invisible isn’t one of those states. I’ve had times where I’ve wondered what I am doing in life, or if I am or my work is important or relevant. I’ve questioned friendships I’ve had and I’ve re-examined parenthood a ton of times. So, and I am not judging, I wonder if invisibility is an inside job that occurs when we’ve lost touch with our essential selves.
Our essential selves have nothing to do with income, weight, wrinkles, age, work or how we spend our days.
If someone ignores me because I am older (and that is a total presumption I am using as an example because it is the one I hear most often) it’s is a false narrative that might have at best, a thread of truth or none at all) I sort of relax. If I am un-noticed because I am older (or whatever it is because anyone can make-up any story about why something negative is occurring) I actually find it a secret super power to go about the world stealthily and only show up as my confident womanly self versus the nervous girl I was a large part of my life. I felt like that when I coached baseball against the other male coaches. The expectations were so low it was totally freeing! What I am trying to say is that I really don’t care if I am ignored (not respected is something else and I have remedies for that). And conversely, I might be ignoring lots of things in the world because I am pre-occupied or not noticing a stranger because I’m transfixed by the ray of sunshine streaming through the window in the café. In other words, it works both ways. The forces ignoring me are not larger or really have a say in my life.
I’m on my own a lot (and as a writer, it comes with the territory and you have to deal) and I still think I’m a good time. I like my alone time. It’s when I gather myself. I’m also the one that talks to strangers who either embrace or dismiss me (depending on the day or stranger), a risk I am willing to take.
So this thing about invisibility and feeling un-noticed or separate, I suspect it comes from an inner narrative that tells us we’re alone or un-noticed or not valued. The story of why this is so can vary but it’s a horrid little fib that can rob us of our vitality and joy. Morever it’s not true – I promise you. The Oprah Magazine articles as well as “largely unsubstantiated limited studies” that ‘prove’ the collective feeling of invisibility and why that is so aren’t always right. They just make good click bait that comes from the Misery Loves Company imaginary press that overshadows the beauty and positive realities that are less catchy click bait but so much more true and fun.
Being visible starts with noticing and expressing ourselves to ourselves first. We can’t rely on the external world to validate us especially as it’s made of other individuals, all rank and file, perhaps all feeling equally sucky themselves. And maybe everyone’s expectations of that ‘outer’ world and its response to us are a bit high especially because the external world is legions of more individuals all seeking the same validation. The world as you imagine it is in your head is not a collective; it might be just three people on one bad day who ignored you but that doesn’t make it a global reality. If we rely on that, those outer nods or proofs that we count, it’s never going to be enough. Also if you have people who love you, or a beloved pet or a benign cast of characters in your building or neighbourhood how invisible can you feel? You can commune with a tree if need be (and I have) and feel reverence and connection.
The tonic to invisibility is either enjoy or accept travelling incognito, wear purple or tattoo your face with pink stars or better yet: fill yourself up so much that you glow and magnetize others to you. By that time, you will feel real, empowered and centered and the noticing of you, by others, will just be a bonus. But, and I say this from personal experience, embrace your nation of one first. Let that be enough.
I wish you a joyous November, many beautiful table-side occasions, effective vaccines, butter-on-sale, and (for my American friends and readers) some Election Day….peace throughout this democratic process. Happy voting, football, new hockey season, Hallmark holiday movies, and happy Thanksgiving.
Here is the free recipe for November – Muesli Buns
https://betterbaking.com/free-recipe/
Warm wishes from my kitchen to yours,
Marcy Goldman
November 2024 Recipes (free one is Muesli Buns at https://betterbaking.com/free-recipe/)
Pumpkin Loaf with Crumb Topped
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/pumpkin-crumb-topped-loaf-with-apple-cider-glaze/
This is a moist and tender pumpkin loaf that features a generous buttery crumb topping and an optional apple cider glaze. It’s one of the best quick breads I’ve ever created. For the Apple Cider Glaze you can swap in cream (instead of cider) and add 1 teaspoon vanilla if you prefer.
Costco-Style Cranberry Muffins
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/costco-ish-orange-cranberry-muffins/
While browsing online I found a reference to Costco Orange Muffins. I’d never seen these in my local Costco but the accolades were over the top. I thought about what a Costco Orange muffin could taste like: big, sturdy, fine-grained, cakey and rife with flavor. So I made my own in the spirit and sensibility of Costco.
French Apple Tartlettes
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/normandy-apple-tarts/
These are classic but updated with some extra baker wisdom. I've added a layer of apple butter underneath the frangipane (almond butter no-cook filling). Apple butter is easily found in the jam aisle or health food store); it intensifies the glorious apple flavor of these French-pastry store perfect tarts. These taste far better than any pastry shop could. The pastry here is a breeze but you can also use store-bought puff pastry dough for another taste-sensation.
Carrot Cheesecake Biscotti
https://betterbaking.com/recipe-items/carrot-cheesecake-biscotti/
Imagine a world that offers carrot cake biscotti with a genius filling of cheesecake in it?
How is it even possible? Use this recipe to find out.These sweet and sassy biscotti features a mellow vanilla, cinnamon, orange batter that hides a thick cheesecake filling.
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