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Brown Penny William Butler Yeats

Guest poem submitted by Jessica K. Schnell:

(Poem #1963) Brown Penny I whispered, "I am too young," And then, "I am old enough"; Wherefore I threw a penny To find out if I might love. "Go and love, go and love, young man, If the lady be young and fair." Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, I am looped in the loops of her hair. O love is the crooked thing, There is nobody wise enough To find out all that is in it, For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon. Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny, One cannot begin it too soon. -- William Butler Yeats

This little poem was recited by Christopher Plummer in the 2005 motion
picture "Must Love Dogs," and a part of the reason for my submitting
this particular selection. It seems all too rare that poems are found
in modern culture, and always a wonderful surprise when quoted in films
(another popular W. B. Yeats one is Poem #597). And, as always, I
delight in poems that encourage one to carpe diem and be run away with
love.

Jessica.

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Brown Delivers a Republican Budget without Republicans

In any other year, the new budget plan supported by Governor Brown and the Democrats in the legislature would have been considered a major victory for fiscal conservatives. Not only does the budget reduce vital services by billions of dollars, but it does virtually nothing to increase future revenues. In fact, in the great tradition of Californian governors, Brown can only make his plan seem balanced by projecting wildly optimistic tax returns, and if $4 billion new dollars dont come in, another round of budget cuts will be triggered.

What I do not understand is why the progressive caucus in the legislature did not try to block the deal and put on the table progressive solutions. Perhaps our only hope is that Brown will work with unions to put progressive taxes on a special election ballot. Brown has even hinted that he might support modifying Prop 13.

In terms of the UC, the news is mixed. We did not get the full $1 billion cut, but more reductions will occur if the rosy tax revenue predictions do not come to fruition. Of course, the total cut of $650 million will justify a new round of tuition increases and a faster slide towards privatization.

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Bourbon and Brown Sugar Peach Pie

As far as I can remember, I’ve always been Team Cake. Moist, fluffy cake topped with creamy, delicious frosting. Is there anything better? The first thing I ever obsessively baked was cake — for me, there is something especially cathartic about bringing a cake together, especially when it came to frosting it. Whether opting for smooth edges or rustic swirls, I found decorating cake to be much more forgiving and easier than anything to do with pie.

Because pie. Ugh, don’t get me started.

I’ve never been the world’s best pie baker. At worst, my pie crusts came out soggy. At best, despite finally mastering the tasty flavor and texture, they came out ugly. Shrunken or over-stretched crusts, broken and shrunken lattices… name any kind of pie blemish that you can imagine, and I guarantee you that all my pies have had it. Even after afternoons spent with superior pie bakers and several repeated trials of the same recipe, my pies were inconsistent. Sure, they gradually became better in flavor and flakier in texture… but in terms of looks, they still didn’t hold a candle the gorgeous latticework on Apt 2B Baking Co and Food52. I silently, jealously admired their crusts from a far and decided to avoid making pie as much as possible. Leave it to the experts, ya know?

But all the beautiful berries and stonefruit in season have convinced me that it’s time to face my fear. I was going to master the lattice pie this summer, whether or not it killed me.


My first attempt was a few weeks ago, with a cherry pie so unphotogenic that it didn’t even make it to this blog. After seeing Elizabeth’s beautiful wide lattice pie, I’d tried to recreate it on my own without paying too close attention to the instructions. And there we have it — Lesson #1: Pay Attention to the Recipe. A lattice pie isn’t something you can really wing.

My second attempt is this bourbon and brown sugar peach pie. I literally watched and re-watched this Food52 video on how to weave a lattice crust like 500 times. And it paid off! Pre-baked, it looked awesome(!!!)... and then I pulled it out of the oven. My heart sank. The crust had shrunk a little and pulled away from the pie rim, as well as puffing up weirdly at certain places. I’d used the wrong kind of egg wash, and it hadn’t turned into the beautiful golden brown that I wanted.

Disappointed, I almost didn’t share this pie with you guys — but then I grabbed a fork and took a bite. Despite its pale appearance, the crust was perfect! Flaky and tender, with a slight tang from dash of apple cider vinegar recommended by the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book. But I’ve written about this pie crust before, so it wasn’t anything new or worthwhile to add to the blog.

Instead, the peach, bourbon, and brown sugar filling is really what made the cut.


I’d trusted my intuition and used only a couple tablespoons of brown sugar in the filling. Most peach pie recipes have way too much sugar — but too much doesn’t allow the fruit’s natural sweetness and flavor shine! And with a dash of bourbon and a pinch of cinnamon? Perfect.

So watch this space. I’m gonna try making a pie a few more times before summer’s over, just so I can say I’ve nailed the lattice. Next time will be attempt #3. Keep your fingers crossed; they say the third time’s the charm.


Some baker's notes:

Instead of listing my typical baker's notes, I'll talk about what went wrong and how I think I'll fix it:

• Oven temperature was too hot. I winged this recipe and just googled a bunch of peach pie recipes. Almost all instructed me to bake the pie at a temperature between 425 - 450 (F) for a quarter of the time needed to bake, before lowering to a cooler temperature (usually 350 (F)) to bake for the rest of the time. I'm pretty sure that this higher temperature is what caused my pie crust to shrink; apparently gluten tends to tighten in higher heat, which causes the shrinkage. Next time, I'll try baking the pie at 350 (F) for the entire time.


• Cream washes aren't as good as egg washes. Since I was running low on eggs, I'd hastily decided to brush the pie dough with cream instead of the traditional, recommended egg wash. Mistake. The crust came out too pale, almost looking undercooked. You really gotta stick with egg washes for that golden color.

get the recipe »

Available link for download

brown butter pumpkin rolls with a vanilla bean crème fraà che glaze

Guys. It's finally fall.

There's a crisp, coolness in the air, and everybody's breaking out their wool sweaters and coats. The stores are lined with autumn produce like apples, pears, and of course, all things pumpkin. And today I'm jumping on that pumpkin bandwagon and bringing you these incredibly tasty brown butter pumpkin rolls.

They're basically my regular cinnamon roll, but spiked with pumpkin to give them that beautiful orange color and that unmistakeable fall flavor. The rolls are filled to the brim with all sorts of goodness like browned butter, dark brown sugar, and all the pumpkin spices that we all know and love. The crowning glory here, however, is that tangy vanilla bean crème fraîche glaze. It's amazing. They're delicious and I ate two buns in one sitting because I'm gross like that.


But can I be honest with you guys?

It took me three freaking times to get the recipe right. I don't know what was going on,  maybe I just had a mental block or something — but the first batch didn't rise, the second batch rose too much, I forgot certain ingredients, made terrible proportions, blahdeblahdeblah. And so when I finally perfected the recipe, it just seemed so sad to type up three weekends' worth of work in a generic Google doc.

Enter these beautiful recipe cards:


With the internet quickly eradicating all things pen-and-paper, it never even occurred to me to record my recipes in anything other than this blog or a Google doc. And it's not something I probably would have done on my own, had Birch Press Design not sent me this pretty Recipe Box from Rifle Paper Company.

So instead of doing my usual 'hunching-over-my-laptop-while-blogging-and-simultaneously-watching-SVU' routine, I sat down at my marble kitchen island and did nothing else but actually, physically write down the recipe on one of these beautiful cards. And you know what? It felt really, pretty freakin' good. Like when you pick up a book for the first time after squinting at that discount Kindle you bought on the cheap during Prime Day, or when you see finally see that friend in real life who you spent the last year texting and g-chatting with because you live on opposite sides of the country.


In addition to their beautiful paper products (seriously, their laser-cut and letterpress collection is on point), Birch Press offers gorgeous kitchenware like real wood rolling pins from Vermont Rolling Pins (like the shaker cherry one seen in the pictures for this post), cake stands, Staub cast-iron cookware, and more. Right now, Birch Press is offering a 20% discount of your entire purchase to all readers of my blog — just use the code HUMMINGBIRD at checkout! The offer expires November 6, 2015.

Thank you to Birch Press Design for sponsoring this post by providing the props and the compensation to make it happen. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I really think Birch Press has some gorgeous stuff. To wit, I've got my eye on these vases, these cake toppers, these beautiful nesting bowls and these matching thimble cups. Thank you for supporting Hummingbird High and my sponsors, and I really hope you guys take advantage of that sweet discount!


Some baker's notes:

• Plan ahead for this one! The dough requires a ton of proofing time — 1 1/2 hours for the first rise, and another hour for the second rise. If you're strapped for time, you can allow the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator — follow the instructions for doing so in this recipe for black sesame buttermilk rolls.


• Remember that yeast is a living thing — it thrives when the water's not boiling, but just warm enough. A good test is to stick a finger in the water and see if it's a temperature you'd like to take a shower or bath in — if it's too cold or hot for you, it's likely the case for the yeast as well.


• I used this new vanilla bean crème fraîche from Vermont Creamery that I absolutely freaking love and highly recommend. But if you can't find it in your store, you can totally fake it too — all you need to do is stir the seeds from one vanilla bean pod into some crème fraîche. In a pinch, you can also use sour cream but it'll likely be tangier than my original recipe.

get the recipe »

Available link for download