Poetry: Fading

Fading

From dizzying heights I watch myself fade.

Falling out of your thoughts like a lost star.

No longer illuminating your world with love

I scarcely have a reason to shine.

You won’t forget me all at once,

But little by little you’ll think of me less

Until one day you’ll stop and wonder

When I last crossed your mind.

Maybe you’ll convince yourself

That I never loved you so fiercely

If I was able to walk away from you.

You might think it, but you’ll be wrong.

Inside my orbit, I burn and inward turn.

Despairing, I am a singularity.

My light can’t reach your lush blue world.

 And I’m forced to admit I no longer exist.

Please don’t believe such slander.

Though I fade in your mind you never leave mine.

My hand still reaches for yours in vain.

To offer safety and strength to you.

I may be  fading now.

I may seem translucent now.

I may seem far away now.

But I’m here, as close as a breath on your cheek.

Stacie Ferrante

6-28-10

Sunday Supper: Summer Berry Upside-Down Cake

I made this for Tony's Fathers' Day BBQ, and it was so good I had to make it again. Lots of people asked me for the recipe, and I realized that I fiddled with the original enough that I needed to re-write it so people could reproduce my results. I think I am going to start posting occasional recipes on this blog space, so I will call it the Sunday Supper feature, since I tend to put the extra special effort into my dinner on Sunday night for my family.

Summer Berry Upside-Down Cake

Special equipment you will need:

A 10-inch, well seasoned cast iron skillet

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the topping:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3 cups mixed berries. (I used one cup each blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Add the sugar, stir to incorporate, and let it cook undisturbed for 3 minutes. Add the berries in an even layer and take off the heat. Do not stir.

For the cake:

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened.
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one lemon

1/2 cup half and half

Sift together in a separate bowl
1 3/4 cups cake flour (not all-purpose)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


In a mixing bowl, blend butter and sugars with a mixer until it is lighter in color and creamy. Add eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla and mix. Add sifted mixture and half&half in turns and mix until blended. Spoon batter over berries in an even layer. Bake 30 minutes, until top is golden brown and springy to the touch.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in the skillet for at least 10 minutes before loosening with a knife around the edges and inverting onto a serving plate. (Turn skillet and plate while pressing them together as one unit)

Serve wedges warm or room temperature with fresh whipped cream.

Dream: Things are Unfriendly in Portland

My dreams sure are strange.

In my dream I drove to Portland, and did half of the drive in my sleep, so I wasn't really sure where I was. Tony met me and we checked into a hotel. Unfortunately, our room had no privacy, because the elevator was inside it, and there was no door on the bathroom.

We found out there was some kind of film festival going on. This would have been cool if that was what we were there for, but we didn't want to participate. It seemed like there were people absolutely everywhere, and they were so focused on the film festival that they overran everything.

Then we came upon a street with lots of little shops and a pub on the corner that was painted bright green. I was remarking that I had seen it before in a dream, so I wanted to explore. Film festival people were everywhere, and they were very unhappy with us being there since we were not participating in the event.

At one point I asked a woman on the corner who was a local "Are people usually more friendly here?"

"Not really." she said. "Not like you'd think."

The rest of the dream was spent trying to get back to the car to get out of Portland and away from the hostile people. It was totally weird, because I know Portland is a laid back, cool place. I have considered several times to relocate there and have looked at schools up there for continuing my education.

If I ever see that pub in real life, I will laugh so hard.