Turning it Upside-Down

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”  —Hans Hofmann

I’ve been feeling like a fraud this past week. I’m not who I’ve professed to be.  I haven’t been filled with gratitude, watching and taking in the little blessings of the day.  I’ve been controlling and negative.  I even yelled at my students who were laughing while I was trying to give them instructions.  After seven years of teaching, I thought I’d learned how not to be a yeller. Apparently not.  Sure, I have lots of legitimate reasons for being crabby.  I won’t go into them because who doesn’t?  But I have to remind myself that I can’t control other people.  I can’t make them behave the way I want them to.  All I can do is work on behaving how I want me to.  How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice!

Lately I’ve been practicing being a wino.  Every night I look forward to watching a show on my laptop while sipping a glass of wine (I admit, another half a glass after that) and munching on a couple of rice cakes (or three to go with the next half glass of wine).  What’s the harm in that?  Of course, I can’t write or paint or practice my sax or clean or pay bills because I’m a bit . . . loose, shall we say?  So when I complain about not having time to write or get things taken care of, I have a legitimate reason.  I need to relax at night.  I’m entitled, right?

A little teeny weeny voice inside tells me, hmm, it might not be the best way to go on this.  Today I’m taking another look.  And I’ve had a little help.  For some reason the volume on my computer is low.  I didn’t do it.  I can’t figure out how to get it high enough to watch any shows online.  I see this as one of those little blessings.  What a blessing to have an eye for blessings again.  Now here I am, at night of all things, writing. I’m back in business.  The necessary is speaking and I’m listening.  I may have an extra hour or more in my day to create, take care of business, list my gratitudes, or just do some of the things I enjoy, like drink wine, eat rice cakes and watch movies!

Oh, some people never learn!

But at least I’m learning how to turn things upside down a bit.  

This upside down cake is not my original recipe, but I can’t remember what magazine I got it from.  Guess I’ll need more practice stealing recipes.

Apple-Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake

1 stick unsalted butter room temp

½ c. plus ¾ c. sugar

About 4 medium apples peeled, cored of course and sliced into wedges. (Braeburn or Honey Crisp are good choices.)

¾ c. unbleached flour

2 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

1/3 c. yellow corn meal

½ boiling water

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1/3 c. milk

I made this in a 9 inch cast iron skillet which worked beautifully.  If you don’t have one, you can use a nine inch round cake pan and butter it generously.  I buttered my skillet that way too.  The recipe says to use parchment paper if you use a cake pan and butter that too.  I don’t have patience for that but I see the reasoning.

Now onto the cooking!  Melt 2 T. in skillet over medium heat.  Add ½ c. sugar and cook until sugar dissolves and turns a golden brown, stirring occasionally for six minutes.  Mine hardened and I thought all was lost, but I kept going anyway.  Hope springs eternal.  Add apple wedges and coat gently with the caramel.  Cover and cook until apples release their juices, about five minutes.  Uncover and cook until apples are tender and caramel thickens and coats apples, about thirteen minutes.  Remove from heat and leave in cast iron skillet or transfer to your prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Combine flour, powder and salt in a small bowl.  Place corn meal in a large bowl and pour ½ c. boiling water over.  Stir to blend.  Add 6 T. butter and ¾ c. of sugar to cornmeal mixture.  Mix well and beat in eggs and vanilla.  Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk.  Blend till smooth and pour evenly over apples in the skillet.

Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes or until fork or toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before moving a knife around the edges to loosen.  Carefully turn your cake over onto a plate and hope for the best.  I got lucky and the cake came out perfectly.  Remove the parchment paper if you used it.  Let cool about 15 minutes.  Slice and top with vanilla ice cream if you want. 

Practice makes perfect.  If you’re really lucky, you’ll have to practice this one over and over again.  Then you’ll have to practice a diet!