How did you guys spend your Thanksgiving? Did you eat a ridiculous amount of food like I did? Did you eat pie for breakfast? Did you follow up your Thanksgiving day, binge-watching the Gilmore Girls? Did you get a Christmas tree? Tell me, I'd love to hear!
A few things I learned this past Thanksgiving. Never ever buy a 3lb tub of chocolate covered almonds from Costco. It's just a bad idea. Do not pre-book a workout class at 7am following a day of overeating and drinking. It's just not pretty. Unless you are a professional, do not day-drink on an empty stomach. And, always bring gloves when you go to cut-your-own Christmas tree or any tree for that matter.
My mom flew back home yesterday morning. She was visiting us for the past 10 days. It was a perfect visit, because, in that 10 days, Sebastian started walking full-time. He started saying more words. He now calls me - mama. He calls Brent - dada. He calls Ody - dog. He tells Ody - good boy. He calls food - more. And everything else is - gah! He knows animal sounds - lion, cow, turkey, and fish? He knows his head, ears, and nose, but occasionally he thinks his head is mama, and his nose is - rawr. My sister bought him a book for Christmas with pictures of animals and their accompanying sounds. We have learned that if we press the turkey button, with the sound - gobble gobble - Sebastian laughs hysterically. Now we ask him what a turkey says, and he just laughs.
During my mom's visit, the weather was pretty terrible - mostly raining. On the few days that the sun did come out, we went for walks, out for lunch, to the market, and then we cut our own Christmas tree! We drove to a tree farm just outside of the city. We drank apple cider and ate tiny Royal Dansk Danish Butter cookies, the ones from my childhood. We put Sebastian in the baby carrier and walked into the field where we found our perfect tree - a Turkish fir. It's such an absolutely beautiful tree and I want it to live forever. How long do you think I can keep it alive?
When the weather was miserable, we spent way too much time in Target, we binge watched Gilmore Girls and This is Us. We ate curry chowder, pizza, Thai, pasta, and more pasta. And then I made this grapefruit and olive oil cake and it turned out perfect. We had a slice every day, in the afternoon, with a cup of tea. My mom loves tea. And grapefruit. I remember her eating half a grapefruit every morning while I was growing up. She used to cut the grapefruit in half, and then cut the individual segments, and then scoop them out with a special grapefruit spoon. I always thought this was a lot of work for that early in the morning.
During this trip, I taught my mom how to segment a grapefruit using the skills I have, and this cute video. It's much easier, and you get way more grapefruit for your buck (is what I told her), compared to her traditional method of cutting. I used a sweet red grapefruit from Winter Sweetz, which is honestly the best grapefruit I have ever tasted. They are so juicy and much sweeter than your average grapefruit. To me, they taste similar to a pomelo but much juicier. I wanted to make my mom a citrus cake while she was here. She had never tried an olive oil cake, and I thought it would go well with the tartness from the grapefruit. I sprinkled it with some powdered sugar and topped with sliced almonds and grapefruit segments. The cake is slightly sweet while taking on the flavor from the olive oil. I used my favorite olive oil, one that I use religiously. It's earthy and buttery and worked really well in this cake. I think I have won her over, to olive oil cake and grapefruit segmenting ;)
*This post was sponsored by Winter Sweetz, the most delicious grapefruit that I have ever tasted. Thanks for supporting the brands that keep the Flourishing Foodie delicious. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
GRAPEFRUIT OLIVE OIL CAKE
recipe adapted from
serves 12
prep time: 20 minutes
cooking time: 60 minutes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cup 1% milk
3 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
toppings
1 grapefruit, segmented
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Grease a round cake pan* with butter, then dust with flour. Cut a piece of parchment paper, the same size as the cake pan, and line the bottom.
* I used an 8"x 4" cake pan for this recipe which resulted in a nice tall cake. You want to use a cake pan at least 2" deep.
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Place in the oven on the middle shelf. Bake for 60 minutes until the top of the cake is nice and golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cake cool. Once cool, run a knife around the edge of the cake to separate from the pan. Flip the cake upside down and gently remove the cake from the pan.
While the cake is cooling, segment the grapefruit into slices. Sprinkle the grapefruit with 1 tsp granulated sugar. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.
Garnish the cake with powder sugar, sliced almonds, and grapefruit.
The cake can be stored in the fridge for 3 - 4 days.
