Vanilla Bean Pudding

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Vanilla Bean Pudding

Vanilla Bean Pudding

Simplicity.

It's an idea we all ascribe to, a concept we all strive for, and a belief we all can't help but hold faith in. If we could simplify our lives, everything would be easier. If we could control the day to day chaos, we would be happier. Simplicity. Even the word itself brings up images of organized bookshelves and Norman Rockwell paintings.

But, as I've realized over the past few weeks, simplicity can have many meanings.

Vanilla Bean Pudding

When I think of a simple lifestyle, I flashback to reruns of Leave It To Beaver and The Brady Bunch. A hot, homemade meal is on the table precisely at six o'clock every evening. The house is always spotless, no excuses (you never know when company will arrive). Even the linen closets are photogenic enough to grace the cover of Good Housekeeping. If chaos does enter this genuinely unnatural world, it is dealt with so elegantly, so gracefully, that the issue simply evaporates by the end of the scheduled half hour period.

I can imagine maintaining that lifestyle is more trouble than it's worth. Not to mention, you know, impossible.

So how can we simplify our own lives without looking to The Wonder Years for advice?

The truth is that there is no quick, cookie cutter answer. We all have different ideas of what a little simplicity would do for ourselves. Some dream of keeping house like Martha Stewart and finding peace in the familiarity. Others imagine moving to the mountains and freeing themselves from everything but running water. I dream of a cup of tea, a good book, and unplugging myself from the electronic world, if only for a few hours.

Vanilla Bean Pudding

I started my personal quest for simplicity by uncluttering the bits and pieces of my life. I stopped working so many hours a week, opting for a more reasonable forty. I've gained a good deal more sanity with a cut in pay. The pursuit of money, as we all know (but often forget), is not everything.

I cleaned up my room. I sorted through the nightmare that is my food prop closet. I'm trying to take small steps every day to maintaining a more organized home. I have always been drawn to the internet, wasting days and weeks of my life doing things that are utterly forgettable (can you even remember what you looked at yesterday?). It's easy to get caught up between blogs and Google searches, ignoring the hands making circles around the clock. I cleaned up my virtual life, sparing only the websites that are most dear to me from harsh reality of the delete button. I'm trying to watch less television.

Even though I can't remove all of the chaos or complexity in my life (and nor would I want to), I've made room for simple moments. Baking in the kitchen while the radio serenades me from the next room. Giving myself over to the camera for an hour and letting food divulge its secrets. Reading beautiful, haunting novels near a blazing fireplace. Savoring a small bowl of vanilla bean pudding as the winter sun sets.

Simple moments.

That's the secret to simplicity.

What do your simple moments look like?

Vanilla Bean Pudding

Vanilla Bean Pudding is simple and unpretentious. Lovely warmed for cold evenings or chilled for hot summer afternoons, this pudding is sweet comfort food. It is thickened with a combination of cornstarch and egg yolks which lends a creamy, smooth texture. Vanilla bean adds such a pure flavor to the pudding—the vanilla bean pods are steamed in the milk to add extra flavor—but vanilla extract can be used in a pinch.

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Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

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Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

We are creatures of habit.

Good habits, bad habits, healthy habits, poor habits—we have them all. Some we are proud of, like our ability to be someplace on time or flossing our teeth before bed each evening. Some we are ashamed of, like the amount of books we don't make time to read or how often we bite our nails. Some are hard to keep and others are hard to lose. We have hundreds of little habits and, whether we like it or not, they help to define us. They help us through the day.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

I originally sat down to write a post about my cravings to have a sweet ending with every meal, but I soon realized I wrote about that exactly one year ago. Since I've been trying to eat healthier in the new year (as I attempt every year), I often feel my sweet cravings hold me back from my fantasy health food diet. I plan on eating carrot sticks and quinoa, but cake finds its way into my daydreams instead. Sweetness has become a habit, much to the chagrin of my dentist.

I have a few good habits I'm proud to share. I make time to exercise every week. I eat breakfast every morning. I try to find the positive in every situation. I also have a few habits I would like to break. I wish I had the motivation to be more productive. I wish I made more time for the people I care about. It is as easy for me to be cruel as to be kind.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

It's easy to be hard on ourselves when we struggle to break our bad habits. Sometimes we actually change them and it's a true moment of self celebration. More often than not, however, we find our habits too difficult to alter, despite our best intentions. Does this make us bad people? No. Habits are habits for a reason—they are extremely difficult to change. Some are so ingrained in ourselves, our souls, that they have almost become involuntary.

Accepting our habits, for better or worse, is something we all must come to terms with at some point in our lives. Wanting to change our bad habits and turn them into positive ones is honorable. Realizing that these habits make us who we are, the big and the small, the significant or insignificant, may be the most important revelation of all.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Cinnamon Sugar Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

This Cinnamon Sugar Cake is frosted with a sweet Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream. The cake is made with sour cream, which lends a moist texture to the final product, but the cake itself is not very sweet. The brown sugar buttercream, however, is the perfect complement to the cinnamon sugar cake. The brown sugar addition gives the buttercream a slight grit, which is reminiscent of a warm piece of cinnamon sugar toast. This cake is an everyday cake to sweeten up your daily moments.

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Tuesday Tip: How to Make Cake Flour

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Cake flour is an ingredient called for in nearly every recipe involving cake (it almost goes without saying, doesn't it?). However, from my own personal experience, cake flour can be expensive and an annoyance to buy. Not only do you have to find cupboard space for the all-purpose and whole wheat flour, but now you have to make space for the cake flour too?

I just don't think that's going to happen.

Luckily, cake flour is a snap to make.

For every 2 cups of cake flour the recipe calls for, add 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) cornstarch.

2 cups cake flour = 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour + 1/4 cup cornstarch

or

1 cup cake flour = 7/8 cups all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch

So, you may be wondering, why should I bother using cake flour instead of all purpose? There are scientific reasons for doing so, but it really boils down to two reasons: 1) Cake flour makes cakes much lighter and less dense. 2) Cake flour also lends a more velvety texture to baked goods than all-purpose (the crumb is smaller).

If you don't typically use cake flour, give it a try and you'll notice the difference it will make to your cakes and baked goods. You won't be able to turn back.

* I'm trying out a new mini-series, Tuesday Tips, to give you shortcuts and new tricks to use in the kitchen. Let me know if you're interested in hearing more!