I’ve had a fondness for LOVE & HEARTS for a very long time.  I try to find images of them when I am out and about in the world.  I have taken numerous photos of things with the letters L-O-V-E and heart shapes, even in the most random of places.  A street sign or a maintenance vehicle are unlikely spots you think of when you think of love. Yet when I see them I get so excited . They are visual reminders!!  And I love it even more when it is foodie related.  An accidental heart shaped scone.  Or even an ‘on purpose’ heart shaped fried egg for a ‘breakfast in bed treat’ for a loved one.

My LOVE & HEART affection has become contagious as my granddaughter now likes to get into the hunt and search.  She has helped me find hearts in loads of things such as a rock which we discovered on a walk this summer.  Nature is filled with an abundance of love if we just look for it!  Hubby has gotten into it as well and made me heart shaped toast for my birthday last year.

When I started on my snapchat journey I kept with the tradition and would snap away at various things that had heart and love images.  Or else I would draw hearts on the snaps before I sent them to my story.  I love that aspect of snapchat!   Though I am defo not an artist, you can choose a color and write words or draw anything on top of the pic you snap.  My go to is always a HEART!  Some of my followers said they found my snaps to be heartwarming and enjoyed them.  So I decided to put together this competition so they too could join in the hunt and search.  I’ve done some competitions before for my snapchat followers, but this one has been by far the most loving contest ever.  It’s also longer.  I wanted to give people more time to spread the love!  It’s been going on this whole week and will culminate with the winner or winners being announced on Sunday 15/11/15 at 9 pm.

There are three prizes, one for the first image sent to me.  The second prize is for the most images sent to me.  The third is for the best image.  The images must be of a heart, or the word LOVE, but could also be something that represents love (such as lovers holding hands or a baby and momma hugging) .  It is amazing to see how much love people are finding in their worlds.  And I believe this shift of focus, into something positive, lifts a person’s spirits!  Sometimes people only see the ugly things out there, and let’s face it, they are out there.  The contest started on Sunday evening, when people are usually grumpy about the weekend ending.  But this has put a little spark in the week.  For all of us involved.  I’ve been sending out snaps reminding them of LOVEfest week and thanking them for all the images they’ve sent.  I have noticed, people are very competitive and are totally taking this seriously!

Of the several competitions I’ve done in the short time I’ve been on snapchat, this one has been the most fun for me.  I am blown away by not only the amount of snaps I am getting, but by the creativity of the entires.  It has been not only LOVEly but FabuLOVE!  While I can’t show any of the entrants images until we have a winner on Sunday, I will share some of the pics I have taken along the way.  As well I will share my red velvet cupcake recipe.  Though I bake up this recipe pretty regularly, I always make it for Christmas and Valentine’s.  But who says you need to wait until the holidays to share the love!?.

Red Velvet Cake

For the cake:

60 g unsalted butter, room temperature

150g caster sugar

1 egg room temperature

10 g cocoa powder

20 ml red food colouring

½ tsp vanilla extract

120 ml buttermilk

150 g plain flour, sifted

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp white wine vinegar

For the frosting:

300 g icing sugar

50 g unsalted butter, room temperature

125 g cream cheese

 

1. Preheat oven to 170 C/325F/Gas mark 3

2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy about 3-5 mins; add the egg slowly and beat until incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa powder, red food coloring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste. Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined (make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Turn the mixer down and slowly pour in half the buttermilk. Beat until well mixed then add half the flour and mix until everything is well incorporated. Repeat this process until the buttermilk and flour have all been added. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn the mixer up and mix until it is smoother. Then turn mixer down and slowly add the salt, baking soda and the vinegar. Beat until well mixed.

4. Fill prepared baking tins and bake until done, when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (15 – 20 mins for cupcakes). Put on a rack to cool in the tins.

5. To make the frosting, beat together the icing sugar and butter until it has come together and is well mixed. Turn down speed and add the cream cheese all in one go and beat until incorporated. Turn up speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 mins. Then spread on cakes and add heart decorations. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. Double if you are making a layer cake.

In case you are wondering why I am so OTT with this LOVE business, it is quite simple.  My purpose in life is to share love.  My job may be in the food business, but I found I can spread love by adding it to my food (my special ingredient).  I can share it with my family and friends through not only saying the words, but by showing them through my loving behavior.  By being a support system, a listener, a cheerleader and a helper, they experience my love manifested.  I even like to shower love on my snapchat friends (most of whom I have never met in person) or strangers, such as a grocery store clerk.  Simply being kind, saying “Hello, how is your day going?” is a loving gesture.  Or taking the time to watch my followers’ snaps and sending them an encouraging note.  Love is a verb, which means, it is an action.  So a card, call, text, hug, kind word, freshly baked treat, are all actions to reflect the feelings in the heart.

All the so called “good things in life” can also be “too much of a good thing”. Too much good food and you get a sore tummy, too much good wine and you get a sore head, too much good dancing and you get sore feet.  But LOVE is the one thing you can never get too much of, and why?  Because your heart has the ability to stretch, allowing it to give more, and also to receive more.  But it can get worn out if it is only going in one direction.  Love needs to be two ways, reciprocal, for it to continue to flow properly.  So if your love isn’t getting received in one place, that is okay.  There are loads of other places just happily waiting to accept it. Trust me, I’ve experienced that scenario first hand!

If you are reading this right now, stop, and take a moment to look in your world for visual images (reminders) of LOVE!  It can be the letters L-O-V-E sewn on your throw pillow there on the sofa.  Or maybe your reminder is that heart shaped stone you found on the beach when you were on your hols and you keep it by your bedside.  Or if you are at your desk drinking out of your favorite mug, maybe there is a heart on the graphics that you might not have even noticed before now.  Send me a comment on here and tell me about it.  Why is it important to you and how do you see love in your world?  If you are on Twitter you can tweet it to me (@yankeedoodlepad) or to my instagram (@yankeedoodlepaddy).  You too can have a chance of winning one of three prizes for this contest.  There might just be one person who wins all three (first, most and best).  And there is a chance you’ll find that you’ve already won by playing in this competition.  You’re prize is getting back in touch with your heart.  It is the best navigational system in the world, which we are born fully equipped with folks!  Did you ever wonder why that is?   Because our GPS heart leads us to the one thing that makes us uniquely human,  LOVE.

Me love you long time!

YDP

P.S. As I was writing this my daughter found this image and emailed it to me…see what I mean, it is beautifully and eternally infectious, this search for visual reminders!  And this one is a good one! Thanks Heather! Love you! xo

Tomorrow is a national holiday in America.  It has been celebrated on November 11th since the year 1919.  In the beginning it was called Armistice Day, but in 1954 it was changed to Veterans Day.  Living in London at this time of year you can’t turn a corner without seeing someone wearing a Red Poppy in honor of Remembrance Day which is also recognized on 11/11.  Though this is the first time I have had to write about the holiday, it has had meaningful significance to me for many years.

I have a great fondness for the military.  It seems strange to say that given the fact that I abhor conflict of any kind.  I don’t even like to get in a disagreement with anyone and will usually defer to others just to avoid it.  I’m always going on about Love and Peace, not War and Peace.  However, deep down I appreciate my freedom.  And that saying, “Freedom isn’t free” rings true to me.  It is a fact of life that one of the things that protects our freedom is the military.

In my own life I have had family members serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.   Though not in the military, I have shared the story about my father who was a fireman.  I think that this kind of life, not just wearing a uniform, but sacrificing their own lives to save another’s, must be a calling.  The way being a nurse, teacher or someone in the religious orders is a calling. When someone has a “calling” to a vocation, it isn’t normally an external drive, as in making money etc.  However, it is the internal drive that seems to motivate them.  Which is why honoring these people is so important.  It lends credence and significance for their devotion to the cause.

I am grateful our country has a day to honor those who have given their time and devotion to protecting its citizens.  Sure there are critics, and many people feel there should be this change or that.  But there is an underlying sense of security that we are blessed to have knowing that a Hitler type person isn’t going to come rolling through our streets taking away our liberties. When my Hubby and I went to Normandy in France and toured around the area once occupied by the Germans during WWII we saw the visible scars that remain.  Yet, the French there are still so appreciative for what the Allied troops did to free them from the Nazis.  When we visited Auschwitz it was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever had.  To see the remnants of those horrors made me pray that it would never ever happen again.  But this is why we need our military, strong and ready, to circumvent a human disaster such as that.

Though I was born in Chicago, for many years I lived in Los Angeles.  It’s where my kids were  born and raised.  A place where people worship Hollywood heroes with animated 3D capes.  Where “Showtime” Sports heroes are given parades for their bravery at winning trophies.  Where reality tv show heroes are showered with massive sums of money for their sacrifice of showing up at an opening of a new nightclub.  However it is the real heroes, the ones without capes or parades with money pouring down like confetti, who are the ones we honor this day.  These heroes wear dog tags.  They have their names, social security number, blood type and religious affiliation engraved on them.  But what is engraved on my heart is how much I love and appreciate my family that has served, and all the military personnel and their support systems at home.

God bless America!

YDP

 My Grandpa O’Neill (Army) with my mom

My Uncle Joe (Navy) with my dad and their mom, my Grandma Geraghty (from Sligo)

 

 

 

It is all festive and fall-ish around here.  The clocks have turned back an hour now in the U.S. (we did it over in this part of the world almost two weeks ago) and it is getting dark earlier and earlier.  The leaves are a million shades of color and there are more of them on the ground than on the trees.  We made it through Halloween and that means we are nearly to my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  But first, today is Guy Fawkes Day.  Say what?

I know I had the same reaction. Here is a little ditty to jog your memory…

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot ….

So, basically the upshot is that on this day 410 years ago a guy named Guy Fawkes (and that IS where we get the term ‘guy’ that we use today) tried to blow up Westminster on the opening of Parliament in an attempt to assassinate the King and his ministers.  G-Fawk led a group of Catholic activist who were tired of being persecuted by the Protestant Regime. The plot was foiled (Guy and his men were executed) and every year since then the British have celebrated the day by blowing off fireworks and having bon fires.  As a way to say “In your face dude (or rather “guy”) if we want explosives we’ll do them ourselves!”  And indeed they do!  They even sell them at the neighborhood Tesco at 2 for 1!

And so tonight whilst the rest of London is out partying and pyromania-ing, I’ll be home comforting my pretty pit Stella (dogs don’t’ like fireworks, hello) and making something nice and pumpkin-y.  Lest we forget that Americans celebrate the last Thursday in November as a way to give thanks for having food, family and friends as well as to honor our history.  When the Pilgrims left England and sailed to the New Land it was only for the help of strangers, the Native American Indians, that they were able to survive.  Not that it is a somber holiday, but it is reverential.  We save the hoopla and fireworks displays for our Independence Day which is July 4, 1776.  It is still amazing to me that the U.S. is such a baby country in comparison to this part of the world.

I’ve already shared with you a pumpkin cheesecake recipe and a pumpkin pancake recipe which are both beyond delish.  And last week I shared a super tasty smashing pumpkin penne pasta recipe as well.  Note to yourselves, all of these can be enjoyed through the year my friends!  But this recipe, for pumpkin bread pudding, will seriously make you want to freaking go out and have a bon fire, like, tonight. Then you can use it to make smoke signals to say, “Hey, guys, come on over to my pad and eat the best tasting dessert you’ve ever had in your entire lives.  Now that is something we can really celebrate.”  Well, maybe that is too long for a smoke signal message.  In fact it is probably too long for a twitter 140 character message.  But the recipe is so quick and easy you have that to look forward to!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

Serves 6

For the bread pudding:

2 cups (500 ml) Single Cream

1 15 oz (425 g) can of pure pumpkin puree (or fresh)

2 large eggs

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract

10 cups (10 oz) ½ in. size cubes of white yeast or brioche bread

*optional ½ cup golden raisins or pecans

For the caramel sauce:

1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar

½ cup (4 oz) unsalted butter

½ cup (4 oz) double cream

 

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/350F/Gas mark 4

 

2. Whisk the single cream, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, eggs, spices and vanilla in a large bowl. Fold in the bread. Stir in the raisins or pecans if using. Transfer mixture to an 11×7 inch glass baking dish. Let stand for 15 minutes. Then bake for approx. 40 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit for few minutes before slicing.

 

3. Meanwhile make the caramel sauce. Whisk the brown sugar and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts. Whisk in the cream and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and the sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

 

4. Serve pudding warm with a dusting of icing sugar and the caramel sauce. You can add vanilla ice cream as well for an extra indulgence!

In the pic above, I made the pudding in the large tray but used a round cutter (usually used for scones) to make the single serving size.  Totally not necessary, as you can just use a spatula to serve a portion.  I was just trying to be fancy.  But defo make sure you douse it in the caramel sauce.  And if you are like me you will be transported into a caramel coma! Vanilla Ice Cream is super nice with it too, especially if you can make homemade like I did! MMMMmmm!

Remember to savor the flavor! Or savour the flavour, as you would do in this part of the world. Especially cuz it’s a British holiday I’d better defer on the spelling.  Which by the way, most holidays are for something that has been accomplished, not something that wasn’t.   And this holiday is for something that wasn’t.  Does that make sense?   Well, you will surely accomplish making this pumpkin bread pudding and eating it all!  Then you will be thanking me like a Pilgrim!

Pump up the pumpkin!

YDP

ps. In no way am I being disparaging of this country’s national holiday.  I have great respect for the United Kingdom.  In fact if you look at its size relative to its influence in the world, it is actually astounding.  English might well be considered the global language as it is spoken literally everywhere!  And a recent visit to the Greenwich Observatory reminded me that even our time keeping has been impacted by the genius of the British.  So maybe because they don’t have an Independence Day like the U.S. or a St. Patrick’s Day like the Irish, this is their one day to kinda go a bit bonkers and have a some of fun (or craic as the Irish say).