Cranberry Cornmeal Cake

I feel like I still have so much to tell you about the food I ate over the holidays. But pretty soon it’s just going to be too late and I’ll have to start talking about the food I’m actually eating now. Before that happens, I have to share this fabulous cake I made for New Year’s Day.

J and I spent the holiday flitting back and forth between his parents’ and my Mom’s house, cooking and eating at both. We always spend Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas Day mostly with mine. The plan was to make this cake for Christmas dinner with my Mom, but the rest of that meal became so elaborate and time-consuming that none of us had the energy to either make or consume cake. So we promised that we’d save it for New Year’s Day.

Our supper was simple: spaghetti with sundried tomatoes and pine nuts and a green salad. This cake was the perfect ending. (Since there were only three of us, I halved the orginal recipe, which I found over at the Wednesday Chef, one of my favourite blogs.) It was fruity and crumbly but not too rich and not too sweet. The cranberries lent a beautiful tang, and I personally think you could add even more than the recipe calls for. It looked so wonderful and festive on the platter, so warm and golden with bursts of red. I also like that it is perfect with no icing or topping or anything. Not that a little whipped cream of vanilla ice cream would be out of place … but it’s not at all necessary.

What’s better than sharing food, cake and a little wine with those you love to start the new year?

In more recent food news, we’ve been eating a lot of salads. A lot of bean salads. J still isn’t sure how he feels about beans, so it’s been touch and go. Our friend Susan is getting a lot of food donations from us recently.

Other than that, I’m happy to be back in Edmonton, back into a shopping routine, going to the market. It feels good. There are a couple of salad recipes I’d like to share soon. I must say, though, it’s hard to take a good photo of a bean or grain salad, which I think is partly why I’ve been hesitating to post them. All the pictures look so blah and unappetizing. It doesn’t help that the only hours I’m in the apartment during the week are when there is absolutely no natural light.

Salads are what we are eating, however, so it is salads that you will see!

After that convincing pitch, I’m sure you’ll all be checking back every day just to hear about the salads. Right.