Wildflour Bakery Anchorage, Alaska- Guest Blog
My wish is you get to Anchorage Alaska and taste Wildflour Bakery pies. Although I am back in the lower 48 today I have some more Alaska posts.
When visiting friends in Homer Alaska, we met some very nice people in their interesting home that our host had helped build.
The first thing they did was offer us pie and coffee. Who could resist?
Three types of apple pie. As we sampled a sliver of each type, we talked about the excellent flavor and crust (one gluten- free) and then I learned about the pie creator, Wildflour Bakery Owner Olivia Allen of Anchorage. Although I took a few photos of the pie (see below) I wanted to know more.
Meet bakery owner Olivia Allen- photograph by Julia Bevins, I asked Julia if she would like to be guest blogger! What a great photo.
Then I called Olivia. She returned my call just as we were entering our departing flight but emailed me more photos and information about Wildflour Bakery. Here is her blog link Look into the World See Olivia’s watercolor illustrations and follow her on Instagram Wildflour Bakery Handcrafted pies and galettes made with foraged wild berries, organic ingredients and lots of love 🌸
Olivia writes-
Wildflour Bakery uses locally sourced and foraged wild berries, herbs, flowers and backyard honey to craft beautiful and sweet treats with creative flair.
Each pie or galette is handcrafted with the intention of highlighting the Alaskan spirit of our wild spaces, near and far.
Beautifully photographed by Julia Bevins.
Gallery of photos below , sent to me by Olivia
Here are my pie photos so you see why I needed Olivia to send me some more.
And here is her artwork. I love the part about “serve generous slices.” Yes!!
We fairly well decimated the pies! You can see why I needed more photos to create this blog post as you look at my three photos I took at the kitchen table.
A few years ago I featured friend and pie judge Rob Bard.on National Pie Day. I know he would have enjoyed the pies.
Throwback Rhubarb Cake Recipe Success
Guest blogger Kristin used this old recipe from my mother’s recipe box.
I posted about my old Throwback Recipe Blog which I abandoned but 62 El Salvadorians found recently. No one else seems to be able to access it. I was able to screenshot the post of the Rhubarb Cake Recipe. I don’t even know who Beth Boettner is/was.
Rhubarb. You either love it or not.
I suggested butter for shortening and Kristin doubled the rhubarb to 3 cups She texted her photos to me.
Here’s the cake! Looks moist.
Here is her husband Rick enjoying the cake.
Verdict? Delicious!
Love the candid. Thanks Kristin (and Rick)
Would vanilla ice cream or a bit of cream complement the taste? Hmmmmmm
Here’s the old blog address. Throwback Recipes Blog Let me know if you can get to it
Notice -“Booming Stats” on Abandoned Blog Today
Five years ago I tried to create a recipe blog from my grandmother’s wooden recipe box and my mother’s recipe cards. I’d forgotten all about it until today when I got a notice from WordPress. Try this link to the blog A friend wrote she had trouble
getting to it
I didn’t stick with this blog for very long.
There were SIX followers. Throwback seemed as if the recipes weren’t really relevant nowadays.
It stopped seeming like such a cool idea.
But today I got a notice “Your stats are BOOMING!” On the Throwback Recipes blog. Rhubarb Cake recipe and the home page
And 65 hits (that’s booming after zero) are from El Salvador, 2 are from United States and 1 from Australia. And in just ONE hour.
So thought I would share about my abandoned blog that got rediscovered today.
Did you ever start a blog and abandon it?
It’s always nice to receive those notices from WordPress.
Here is the Chocolate Pound Cake recipe my mother made
Vanilla, Almond, Orange, Anise
Pure
The bottles of extract all say Pure so they must be, right?
Fun weekly photo challenge Jen H.
Matt Carries Freshly Baked Croissants
He was headed to Enrico’s Biscotti Company. I was headed to Ohio.
Wait, may I take your photo? I wanted to get out the real camera, not the phone.
I was parked just in front of his truck
He was so nice. His name’s Matt. He baked these down on 31st Street and was bringing them to Enrico’s Biscotti. If you saw the movie The Bread My Sweet/ A Wedding for Bella, you’ve been inside bakery.
And this is the part you are never going to believe.
I watched that very movie (renamed A Wedding for Bella) not twelve hours before I ran into Matt taking the croissants to the same bakery in the film. If you click on the title above you can read Roger Ebert’s review. All filmed in Pittsburgh, right in the Strip District.
Matt and his Freshly Baked Croissants.
You can see the sign for Enrico’s on Penn Avenue in this shot as I got into my car.
Portuguese Orange-Olive Oil Cake
Did some research for a Portuguese dessert and this cake came up in two places. Recipe for Orange-Olive Oil Cake.
I went across the Allegheny to Labriola’s and bought a new Zoe Olive Oil as recommended in the recipe. Fresh eggs. And five navel oranges were five dollars at Whole You-Know.
Zested three oranges and squeezed four to get 1 1/2 c of juice.
Used a tube pan as I did not have a light colored bundt pan. Baked it 1 1/4 hours.
Make it at least a day before serving. I did.
Will let you know what the verdict is after Friday night dessert. I usually don’t make a new recipe to share, untested.
I put it on a glass cake stand after it cooled.
Change: From Dough to Cookies
Change is this week’s photography challenge and Friday I posted my children as they are all grown up with families of their own. I’ve looked at quite a few fellow bloggers posts and didn’t see this one yet but I might have missed it. So many possibilities for posts illustrating change.
I was baking some cookies, noticed the mixing bowl of dough, and I thought- change.
I went to the other room and got the real camera instead of the phone.
The light seemed nice in the kitchen.
Oatmeal Crisps from the Farm Journal Cookbook (1972 ed.)
I cut the recipe in half and left out the coconut. You could add nuts and/or raisins.
My minor adjustments to the original recipe below.
1 C butter, room temp ( I happened to have Irish butter on hand)
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
3 C Bob’s Red Mill Oats
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
dash of cinnamon and dash of ginger
Bake about 11 minutes @ 350
Thanks to Kristin Snow for the challenge this week. You have to check out her blog Snowmads
Excerpt from her blog is below. You will be inspired for adventure after reading it.
“Who are the Snowmads?
We’re Jason and Kristin Snow, a travel-addicted couple who walked away from cubicles and conventional lives two years ago to roam full-time, gaining valuable perspective on life and meeting new friends at every turn. We hope to inspire others to follow their dreams and collect experiences instead of things. Please feel free to share some travel tips right back at us whenever possible — we love hearing from you!”
Aunt Georgeann Brought Cupcakes from Regent Square
Four of the grandchildren are visiting for the weekend, along with their parents. Saturday night we had dinner and guests. Aunt Georgeann came to see how they’d grown. She arrived with a big pink box.
Sweet!
She knew there was almond, lemon, red velvet, and a carrot cake with the sliver of candied ginger, plus two chocolate with espresso frosting. A dozen sweet cakes.We needed a key but came up with a solution.
She’d stopped off in Regent Square at Vanilla Pastry Studio
Molly gave me this birthday gift of a Rooster Harkerware piece just yesterday.
Aunt Georgeann cut them in half so the kids could decide what they wanted to eat. It was fun to try the different flavors.
You can see everyone enjoyed the treat! 
I took one of the leftovers and put it on a cupcake stand Joanne gave me years ago.
Practicing my food photography.
I wanted to show the big pink box!
One More Plum Torte Post
JJBegonias post of Marian Burros Plum Torte has inspired many to bake one.
My friend Roberta made a couple and gave me one she baked but unfortunately Steve and I ate it without thinking about photographing it,
I made one for my friend Josie’s parents and then her sister Carol made one and Josie sent me a photo of it on the phone. Looks like they paired it with a cup of coffee. Mmmm.
Then here is the one I made
Happy Day or 1-2-3-4 Cake?
If you’ve been following the blog since the beginning, you might remember the photos and recipes.On several occasions, I’ve posted our “go to” birthday cake recipes.
My sister got me the one Swan’s Down vintage cake pan in Omak, Washington when were visiting our brother one summer.
I did mail a birthday card to my sister. (Unusual for me that it wasn’t belated)
In my family, we’d try to get it in the octave, as my mom would call it. Enjoy your day!
Happy Day Cake Recipe-
For Birthdays it was the 1-2-3-4 Cake recipe or the Happy Day Cake recipe on the back of the Swan’s Down Cake Flour box, frosted with Penuche icing. My mother would put the saucepan into a sink of cold water and then beat it by hand once it cooled. I can hear the ring of the metal loop at the end of the pan’s handle. And as I remember it she added a dash of vanilla extract. My dad would pour milk over a slice and eat it with a spoon. Cake and frosting recipes below photo.
Happy Day Cake
2½ cups sifted cake flour
1½ cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
Sift flour with sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir shortening to soften. Add flour mixture, ¾ cup of the milk and vanilla. Mix until all flour is dampened, then beat two minutes at medium speed. Add eggs and remaining ¼ cup milk. Beat one minute longer. Pour into two 9-inch layer pans that have been lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans; remove from pans and cool thoroughly on racks.
This cake also may be baked in three 8-inch layer pans for 25 to 35 minutes, or in a 13- by 9-inch pan for 30 to 35 minutes. Batter may be spooned into 36 medium paper baking cups in muffin pans, filling half full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, more or less
- hot water, optional
Preparation:
In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add the brown sugar. Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually add sifted confectioners’ sugar. Beat until thick enough to spread. If too thick, add a little hot water. Frosts top and sides of a 2-layer cake or a 13×9-inch cake.
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p.s. Last year I mailed an actual cake but this year it will be virtual
and another connection was the post when my friend J sent me a cupcake tree to Ohio when I was visiting
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