Lemons, corned beef, cabbage friendship

March is being her usual mercurial self. March is like the eccentric old aunt come to visit.  Half the time I love her and the rest of the time I want to help her pack her bags and show her the door.

These past couple of weeks it's been all love with daily temps in the 60's, daffodils growing fat and promising to pop their bright yellow blooms, snowdrops in full bloom and the first tiny little scilla blossom peaking through last fall's dead leaves.

Despite the bright sunshine this morning, March is threatening to turn surly later today and tomorrow with snow back in the forecast.

So before March gets all crazy, I'm enjoying sitting in a bit of sunshine, sipping my lemon-ginger tea with the fresh Meyer lemons Maryann brought me from her neighbor's tree in Houston. These lemons from a stranger have been passed with love from one hand to another. More on that in a minute.

First we have a winner from last week's gratitude give-away. Louise who writes that she's grateful for a smile from her mum who has end stage dementia, the smell of hyacinths and the anticipation of blue bells.  Louise's list and other's who shared their moments of gratitude remind me that puny little gratitude isn't big and grand, it's everyday, readily available and so easily overlooked and forgotten that we can forget to stop for a moment and notice.  So thank you to all who wrote in, taking the time and effort to stop and feel that little spark of joy that gratitude gives us. Louise send your mailing address to felecia.babb@gmail.com, I'll put your painting in the mail post haste! Congratulations.

Back to the lemons.  Maryann's neighbor gave her lemons from his tree which she so thoughtfully brought to me.  Really fresh lemons, plucked right from the tree by the hand of someone who knows someone I know are more precious to me than a chest full of gold coins.

Thanks to this gift of lemons I spent yesterday in a happy reverie baking a lemon pound cake to take to Marijo's St. Patrick's day dinner.  The pound cake recipe called for sifted flour which meant pulling Mom's old sifter off it's shelf.  Somehow the sifter was given away or loaned out to a family friend, Susan, who kept it for 25 or 30 years before re-gifting it to me a few years ago.

My family isn't sentimental and so we cast off pictures, and household items without thought.  Susan has always been there to pick up the shards of memory, store and treasure them until she thinks one of us is ready and responsible enough to be trusted with the family treasure.

Sifting the flour reminded me of the all the cakes Mom, Susan and I've baked and shared. Such happy memories from a friendship that spans more than 50 years.

The recipe also called for nutmeg.  Mom gave me whole nutmegs and a small grater for Christmas this year.  We had fun making and drinking eggnog and then I put the nutmegs away and wondered when I'd have need of them again.  I had no idea what nutmegs look like.

Here's a picture with a penny to give you an idea of the scale of the nuts.  It delighted me to be able to put fresh nutmeg in the cake.  It felt like I was sprinkling a little extra love on top of the golden lemon juice as I folded the ingredients in.

Is there any better smell than lemon pound cake baking in the oven on a windy March day?  Maybe the rich smells of corned beef roasting?  Once the cake was baked, Prince Charming and I hot-footed it next door to Marijo's for her annual St. Patrick's Day feast of

corned beef, boiled cabbage,

roasted potatoes, Irish soda bread and Irish whiskey and Guinness

This story of love shared, started with a stranger giving away a lemon, which was then given away, squeezed and pulped and grated into a cake, shared with friends at the end of a feast. It took the stranger, Maryann, Susan, Mom, me and Marijo all giving and receiving, passing and sharing the love around to complete the story. So let March with all of her eccentricities batter at the door with wind and sleet, rain and snow. I've got my lemony sunshine of friendship, memory and tea to keep me warm.

Hope you're enjoying your day, take good care of each other until next week.

Here's the Lemon Cake Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup butter 
• 2 cups white sugar

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Juice of two lemons
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bread pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.