Chocolate Feather Cake: An Old Recipe Worth Rescuing

 

I don’t make angel food cake because I don’t like angel food cake, and yet, it appears that I have made an angel food cake. Let me explain.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been going through my old recipes. This is partly an exercise in organization and partly an archaeological dig into my own culinary past. One recipe I couldn’t find (and have been looking for for years) was for chocolate feather cake. It was a family friend’s iconic dessert. Anytime she was asked to bring a dessert to a gathering, this was what she brought. And it wasn’t just a recipe she had picked up somewhere along the way. It had been handed down to her by her mother-in-law, who had gotten it from her mother, so this is an old recipe with some history behind it. I had never actually eaten it.That seemed like a fairly significant omission, particularly since I was already in the midst of reliving the past one recipe card at a time. So when I finally found the recipe, I had to make it.

 There was just one little problem.

 Fifteen egg whites.

 Yes. Fifteen.

 Which means, of course, that there are also fifteen egg yolks sitting on your counter looking at you accusingly.

I managed to put those yolks to good use. They ended up in a meatball pasta dish, chicken à la King, and a swoonably delicious butterscotch pudding. The remaining yolks got a little salt, a good whisking, and a trip to the freezer to think about what they might become when I get around to them.

And then there was the cake.

 Despite my general lack of enthusiasm for angel food cake, I have to admit that this one is delicious. It is light and spongy, certainly, but the chocolate is intense enough to make you forget that you are, essentially, eating a very tall chocolate cloud.

 The recipe card I uncovered is heavily stained, slightly foxed, and has those wonderful crimped edges that immediately tell you it has been around for a while. Someone wrote on the card that the cake freezes beautifully and retains its texture when thawed.

 I believe it.

 And while I still wouldn’t exactly say that I’ve become an angel food cake convert, I understand now why this particular cake was so beloved. Sometimes the old recipes know what they’re doing.Chocolate Feather Cake

 This makes one tall cake in a 10-inch tube pan, about 4 inches deep.

2 c. sugar, divided
1½ c. cake flour
⅔ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
15 large egg whites, at room temperature*
1½ t. vanilla extract
⅔ t. salt
1½ t. cream of tartar

 Preheat the oven to 300°F.

 Combine 1 cup of the sugar with the cake flour and cocoa powder. Sift the mixture together three or four times. Yes, three or four times. This is one of those old recipes that is not interested in your impatience.

 In a large, impeccably clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the vanilla, salt, and cream of tartar until foamy.

Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar while continuing to beat. Keep beating until the meringue is very stiff—stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside down without the contents making a break for freedom.

 Sift the flour-and-cocoa mixture over the meringue in several additions, gently folding after each addition. Be careful not to overmix; the whole point here is to preserve as much of that lovely air as possible.

 Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

 Bake at 300°F for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 30 minutes. Check the cake with a cake tester or toothpick. It may need another 10–15 minutes. The tester should come out almost clean, with perhaps a few moist crumbs.

 Immediately invert the pan onto a bottle or cooling rack and allow the cake to hang upside down until completely cool.

 This keeps the cake from collapsing.

Once completely cool, run a thin knife around the edges and tube of the pan to release the cake.

 And there you have it: a very tall, very chocolaty, very feather-light cake that I apparently made despite not liking angel food cake.

I suppose there are worse things that could happen when cleaning out an old recipe box.

 *A word about those 15 egg whites: Get yourself an egg separator. I recommend this one. It makes the job ridiculously simple and quick as a flash, and I suspect you’re going to discover plenty of uses for it in the future. It separates eggs magnificently.

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A Colorful Thanksgiving Table for Two

For my Thanksgiving table for two this year, I decided to throw caution to the wind and embrace color. Lots of color! I started with a chocolate-brown, floor-length tablecloth and topped it with a colorful fabric square featuring beautiful autumn scenes. It’s a warm, inviting combination that provides the perfect backdrop for all the seasonal goodies to come. 

The centerpiece is a pumpkin tureen I purchased about 25 years ago at a shop on historic Main Street here in Saint Charles. Sadly, the shop is no longer in business, but it was once one of my mother’s and my favorite places to browse. I have such fond memories of those shopping excursions, and this tureen is a lovely reminder of them.

When I bought the tureen, I also purchased the elliptical ring of bittersweet berries that surrounds it. I’ve used the two together every year in one form or another. I know fall has officially arrived when I haul both up from the basement. 

Flanking the centerpiece are pine cone candleholders I purchased last Christmas at Walmart, of all places. I absolutely love them! They’re rustic, charming, and versatile enough to work beautifully for both fall and winter. I do appreciate a decoration that earns its keep for more than one season. 

For the place settings, I started with gold chargers topped with dinner plates featuring a plaid border. I bought those at Pier 1 Imports before they, sadly, closed their stores. (Apparently, this post is becoming a memorial to some of my favorite shops!) I miss being able to browse those stores, but at least I have the pleasure of using the treasures I found there. 

On top of the plaid dinner plates, I decided to go bold with green. I added one of my favorite salad plates from Portmeirion in the “Botanic Garden Harmony” pattern. The green adds a fresh, unexpected pop of color and looks wonderful against the gold, brown, and autumn hues.

Last year, I purchased the most adorable little turkey plates, and they’re back for another Thanksgiving. They’ll be used to serve a tasty starter, adding one more layer to the plate stack. I love these plates so much that I can practically guarantee they’ll be gracing every Thanksgiving table I set from here on out. A little turkey charm never hurt anybody, especially at Thanksgiving! 

The pumpkin-colored coffee cups were also purchased last year, along with the bright orange napkins. Amber water glasses add another touch of golden warmth, tying everything together beautifully.

New this year is the adorable turkey gravy boat with matching tray from Fitz and Floyd. I love the whimsy of it, all of the colors, the wonderful detail, and how practical it’s going to be. 

 

And then there’s the flatware. Bright orange! Oddly enough, orange flatware is something I’ve never used for Thanksgiving before, but I absolutely love the look. Sometimes a little departure from tradition is just what a table needs. Who says Thanksgiving has to be all brown, burgundy, and gold? 

Rounding out each place setting is a tiny rustic wooden candleholder. These little touches bring a bit of woodland charm to the table and complement the pine cone candleholders and bittersweet berries.  

So there you have it: a Thanksgiving table for two filled with treasured finds, memories of shopping trips with my mother, a few clever bargains, and a whole lot of color. Some pieces are decades old, others are recent purchases, and a few are reminders of shops we can no longer visit. Together, they create a table that feels entirely like me. 

 

After all, setting a holiday table isn’t just about matching dishes or following decorating rules. It’s about surrounding yourself with things you love, remembering the people and places that made them special, and making even a small gathering feel like an occasion. 

And if that means orange flatware, turkey plates, and a pumpkin tureen with a 25-year history, so be it.

 Thanksgiving for two deserves a little fanfare, too!

Many thanks to Rita of Panoply for organizing this Thanksgiving Tablescape Blog Hop.

 Click on the links below for more Halloween table inspiration from my blogging friends:

 Panoply - A Thanksgiving Table of Endless Harvest Blooms

Everyday Living - A Bounty of Blessings

Life and Linda - A Ralph Lauren Thanksgiving

Me and My Captain - Thanksgiving!..."As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".

Hyacinths for the Soul - Abundance ~ Thanksgiving Tablescape Hop

The Cat's Whiskerz - Thanksgiving with Feathered Friends

Mantel and Table - Friendsgiving After Dark: A Beautiful Fall Table

My Thrift Store Addiction - Friendly Village Vintage Thanksgiving Breakfast Table

The Little Yellow Corner Store - The Fall Harvest Tablescape for Thanksgiving

Olla Podrida - A Colorful Thanksgiving Table for Two

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - A Bundle of Thanksgiving Tablescape

Thrifting Wonderland - Thanksgiving with the Birds Thrifted Tablescape

Dinner at Eight - Styling a Simply Classic Thanksgiving Table

The Bookish Dilettante - Giving Thanks Tablescape

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Sometimes You Have to Take Extreme Measures

At some point in all of our lives, we’re going to have to deal with death, as uncomfortable as that is to think about. It’s either going to be the demise of a loved one or, eventually, of ourselves. It’s important to be as prepared as possible when you lose someone significant in your life, so, by way of stressing the importance of that, I’m going to tell you a little tale.

My late husband and I had separate cell phones. He handled his bill, and I handled mine. What I didn’t realize when he got his cell phone was that, because we bought them in complete ignorance, he put his name down as the only authorized user.

That is a huge mistake. Don’t do it, and I’ll tell you why.

 We were some of the last holdouts when it came to having cell phones. I don’t think we got them until my husband spotted our garbage man with a phone wedged between his ear and shoulder while he was lifting our cans into the truck. That’s when he apparently realized that perhaps we were the last people on the planet without cell phones.

But that’s not important.

What is important is that when he got his phone, he was listed as the only authorized user, and when he passed away, that became a problem.

He used T-Mobile. Let that be a warning to you.

When I sought to shut down his cell phone service, I took the phone and his death certificate into one of the local T-Mobile stores. They refused to cancel it. The sales clerk (and they do hire some dim ones at T-Mobile) told me that because I was not the authorized user, I couldn’t cancel the service. It had to be the authorized user.

I kept flashing the death certificate in front of his face, trying to explain the concept of end of life to this man, but he just wasn't having it.

 So, before I walked out of the store, I told him, “Look, I’m not paying any more of these bills. And because he’s dead, he’s not going to be making any more phone calls. At least, I don’t expect him to.”

 That was not the end of it, of course.

 The bills started coming.

 Each time one arrived, I wrote "DECEASED -- RETURN TO SENDER" on it and popped it back into the mail.

 I did this three times.

 The bills kept coming.

 Eventually, T-Mobile turned my dead husband over to collections.

 At this point, I had just about had it.

 So I decided I was going to write them a letter and do something very special to drive my point home.

I wrote the letter as friendly as I could manage through gritted teeth. I explained that my husband had passed away, that I had gone to the local store with his death certificate, and that I had tried to shut off the phone. For whatever reason, they wouldn’t accept it.

 So I told them that since I couldn’t seem to get through to them, they could take it up with my late husband, who was enclosed.

 What I did was this:

Before I folded the letter and put it into the envelope, I went into the fireplace with a little shovel, scooped out some of the ashes, and carefully put them into the letter.

 Then I folded it up, slid it into the envelope, sealed it, and sent it on its merry way.

 Let me just tell you something. I never heard from them again.

 I have often wondered what the person who opened that letter thought when the ashes came tumbling out onto his or her desk (or perhaps into his or her lap).

 Imagine reading a perfectly ordinary customer-service letter and suddenly discovering that you have been covered in [what you think are] cremains.

 Sometimes you have to take extreme measures.

 So save yourself the trouble. Make sure there is more than one authorized user on your cell phone account. Better yet, make sure someone you trust knows exactly how to deal with your accounts if something happens to you.

 And, based on my experience, avoid T-Mobile at all costs.

That’s the lesson for this month, folks.

This story is part of my series Life on Planet Pattie, about the foibles of life, resilience, and the occasional furniture-moving adventure.

 You might also enjoy:

A Fall Tradition Gone Slightly Awry

Perils of Pattie: Kissing the Pavement

Hilarious 80s Mom Fail: The Pepperoni That Stole the Show at Pizza Hut

The Great Potting Soil Heist (and Other Adventures in Independent Living)

Clean and Presentable, or so I thought.

A Winter-Weathered Miracle Under the Chair

My Dance with the Devil

Nothing Is Ever Simple (Featuring a Refrigerator and My — GASP! — Underwear)

Refrigerator Roulette, Round Two 

The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop Review: Pure Holiday Comfort Reading

 

I absolutely loved The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop. Once I started, I barely paused for meal breaks until I reached the end, which is generally a very good indication that a book has me firmly in its clutches. This is pure women’s fiction with a warm romance at its heart. It’s kind of story where you know exactly how it’s going to end fairly early on, but you keep reading anyway because getting there is such fun. This was my first book by this author, and I was positively thrilled to discover that she has written plenty of others for me to immediately add to my reading list. Having visited the Cotswolds myself, I could picture every cozy corner of this village, and the book left me yearning for the days when independent bookshops were the heart of a community. Finch’s, with its old shelves, loyal customers, village gossip, and Heathcliff the cat (who clearly considers the humans to be his employees), practically became a character. I did have to make one small linguistic adjustment: the British use of “mooching.” Apparently it means wandering around, rather than what it means in America, where it generally refers to someone freeloading. Once I got that straight, I was perfectly happy to mooch along with the rest of them.

 After losing her fancy London publishing job, Isla returns home for Christmas without telling anyone the real reason and gradually finds herself spending more and more time at Finch’s, the bookshop where she worked as a teenager. As she helps the owners, Jon and Miriam, she discovers how much she loves the work—talking books, remembering what people loved as children, and finding exactly the right story for someone who can’t sleep. Then there’s Guy, the handsome property consultant who arrives with ideas about the shop. Isla immediately decides she doesn’t like him, but unfortunately for her, Guy refuses to behave badly enough to make that decision easy. Watching their relationship develop, particularly the anticipation surrounding their first date and Guy’s refreshing directness, was delightful. Charlie, Isla’s first love, also reappears, because apparently one attractive man is not enough to make a woman’s Christmas complicated. Meanwhile, Isla has to choose between an impressive new position heading the romance department at a major publisher and the quieter, considerably less glamorous life she is rediscovering at the bookshop.

What I loved most, though, is Isla herself. She’s hiding her redundancy, trying to save Finch’s, juggling old feelings and new ones, and insisting that she doesn’t have any big decisions to make when, in fact, she has a rather enormous one sitting right in front of her. At its heart, this is a lovely reminder that losing the impressive version of your life doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Sometimes the life that looks smaller from the outside is the one in which you finally feel useful, happy, and completely yourself. Add Christmas, snow, twinkling lights, a charming Cotswold village, a beloved bookshop, two attractive men, and one opinionated cat, and you have pretty much everything I want in a holiday read. I knew where this story was going, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single mile of the journey.

 My Rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)

 You can order a copy here.

 Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Finished at Last, and Already on to the Next Stitch

If you read my earlier blog post (that you can find here), you may be wondering whether I finished that Halloween cross-stitch project I started years ago. I wasn’t entirely sure I would get it done, but I’m happy to report that I finally finished it!

 As you can see from the picture above (with a little help from ChatGPT in creating that wonderfully spooky background), not only did I finish the big moon and all the remaining stitching, but I also completed an entirely separate Halloween project. Apparently, once I got going, I couldn’t stop!

 The larger piece is When Skeletons Dance, a cross-stitch pattern designed by The Drawn Thread. It was a long time in the making, but there is something particularly satisfying about finally finishing a project that has been sitting around for far too long. And just look at it now! I think it was worth the wait.

 The smaller piece is The Raven, designed by La D Da and featuring a quote from one of my favorite literary figures, Edgar Allan Poe. I’m rather pleased with how it turned out, although I haven’t quite decided whether I want to keep it in its frame.

 Bizarrely (or not so bizarrely, depending upon your bent) I have Edgar Allan Poe bedding, along with a number of Edgar Allan Poe pillows. I’m beginning to think this little cross-stitch might look absolutely wonderful made into a pillow (as I did with this stitching project from ten years ago. Ten! Where does the time go?) for my autumnal bed.

 For now, I’m simply enjoying the satisfaction of having both projects finished. There is something lovely about finally crossing those last few stitches off the list, especially when a project has been waiting patiently for years.

 Of course, I couldn’t possibly leave my needle and thread alone for long. I’ve already started another little project, this time a small, frame-worthy Victorian saying from Modern Folk Embroidery. They have a wonderful collection of unusual and distinctive cross-stitch charts, and this particular design features one of my favorite Victorian expressions: “Got the morbs.”

Photo from Modern Folk Embroidery 

 If you’ve never encountered the expression, the morbs refers to a feeling of melancholy or low spirits, to being a little blue, a bit gloomy, or simply in one of those moods when you feel like throwing yourself down and having a good old-fashioned wallow.

 I must confess that I get the morbs from time to time, so I think this little saying deserves a place of honor somewhere in my home. After all, if one is going to feel melancholy, one might as well have a charming Victorian expression to describe it!

 Now I just need to finish the stitching, decide on a frame, and find the perfect place to display it. Stay tuned.

 Happy Halloween everybody! 

A Spooky Season of Handmade Halloween Cards

 

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a postcard-sending, notecard-writing, letter-penning, holiday-card-creating sort of woman. I’ve been designing my own Christmas and Halloween cards for more than two decades. Of all the cards I create throughout the year, I think Halloween cards might be my favorites.

Naturally, I can’t simply slap a pumpkin on a card and call it Halloween. Oh, no. I like to do a little research, hunting down obscure facts, fascinating places, unusual traditions, and anything suitably spooky. If I happen to uncover something of local interest, so much the better. This year’s card features a local mausoleum, and you can read its story in the photo below. Nothing says holiday cheer quite like a mausoleum, does it?

Decorating the envelopes is almost as much fun as designing the cards themselves. I put considerable thought into those little paper packages, too, because why should the inside get all the attention? This year, I decided to coffee-dye the envelopes before decorating them with rubber stamps.

 

There was just one tiny detail I hadn’t considered: when coffee-dyeing envelopes, leave the flaps open! Otherwise, the coffee acts like a rather enthusiastic postal adhesive, sealing everything shut. I discovered this the hard way and had a devil of a time getting the envelopes open again. Fortunately, I prevailed, and the envelopes survived the ordeal. No one will be the wiser. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

As in years past, I relied heavily on the wonderful rubber stamp creations of Tim Holtz to bring my spooky designs to life. His stamps are practically made for this sort of thing, and they fit right in with my fondness for the mysterious, the macabre, and the delightfully peculiar. I used the following sets:

 Tim Holtz - Framed Frights

 Tim Holtz - CADAVEROUS

 Tim Holtz - Mr. Bones 

 The funny thing about being so passionate about this little creative endeavor is that I’ve already planned themes for the next three years! Apparently, my Halloween card production department has no intention of slowing down. I suppose that’s what happens when you combine a love of crafting with a fondness for obscure history and all things spooky. I hope you’re enjoying the Halloween season as much as I am. May your days be filled with creativity, your nights with a little mystery, and your mailboxes with something more interesting than bills and political advertisements.

Here’s to a spooky, creative season!

I haven’t blogged about all of the Halloween cards that I’ve made over the years, but I have about these three. If you’re interested just click on the highlighted links below.

 Halloween Card 2025

Halloween Card 2024

 Halloween Card 2011

 

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