Here now

View from my parents front yard Christmas Eve. Spectacular.

Well here we are, the day after Christmas. Aftermath. Here. Now.

The button popped off my jeans when I crouched over the other day. That would be one too many Christmas cookies. One too many glasses of wine.

I went with J for a bike ride this afternoon, I was silent because of this deep yet shallow breathing/gasping for breath I was doing.  I was sore from an hour and half bike ride. Frustrated as I was I reminded myself that I will just see drastic improvement from here on out. I told J thanks for sticking with me on the ride, he told me to tell him that in 50 years.

Here is a nice perspective from a woman who feels close but is far away. We are here now. here. now.

This is what I want to give to people for New Year's. No really it is what I want for New Year's.

Pretty sure my Dad makes the best apple pie, Mom peeled the apples. He also made black berry and a peanut butter pie for our Christmas Eve celebration. And pork ribs, which I learned how to make including his special sauce that he has been using since I was teenager.

Photos of food that I can get lost in for hours.

The other day I heard Dr. Andrew Weil discuss his new book, Spontaneous Happiness, where he talked about how inner contentment can lift depression:

“I was very surprised in writing this to discover how much scientific evidence we have for the power of gratitude to improve mood. There’s two aspects to this. It’s feeling grateful and expressing it. And the good thing here, there’s nothing in the way of doing it. All you have to do is remember to do it. You know, forgiveness also has great power, but that’s tricky. There’s a whole lot in the way of being forgiving.

But there’s nothing in the way of expressing gratitude. There’s a simple exercise from positive psychology called keeping a gratitude journal. You get a little notebook, keep it by your bed; during the day, make mental notes of things you have to be grateful for, jot them down when you go to bed. Doing that for one week can cause improvement of mood for up to six months. And that’s pretty dramatic.”

Joyful

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy festive season!! Eat, drink, be merry and all that.

Thank- you all so much for reading my little blog.

It's been a wonderful year. Your support means the world to me and is greatly appreciated!

Grapefruit Bourbon Punch & all things festive

My dog is stuck in the other room, looking at the freshly mopped floors with complete fear in her eyes. They are slicker than slug slime at the moment. Indoor ice skating rink for a 14 year old young dog. I tried hard not to laugh. They had to be cleaned, not because I actually care but my feet were sticking to them like a dirty dive bar at closing. There might have been a little bit of holiday cheer spilled across the pergo as friends gathered on here last Saturday night.

This is what the holidays are all about, close friends, new friends, good food, festive libations. Welcoming a house full of friends.

I have been up to my elbows in chocolate, creating hand dipped truffles for the holidays. Thank you to all have supported me in my endeavors. Anyone who is looking for a last minute gift idea and live in the Bellingham area, I have some truffles that would love to be gifted.

With all the heavy food around this time of year, including chocolate, chocolate and peanut butter covered in chocolate, bacon cheese logs and Cesar salad deviled eggs (that I really hope shows up at our Christmas), a vegan soup of all things has stole my heart. I just devoured this curried carrot soup. I tossed in a yam for good measure and replaced coconut oil for the canola oil. Make it. Make it for your colon. Be vegan for five minutes like it is no one's freaking business.

Then go eat chocolate for dessert.

Back to the holidays and debauchery. All things laden with heavy cream, cheese, meaty and boozy. I leave you with this punch that we quadrupled for our little party. It will treat you and your little holiday just right.

Bourbon Punch with Pink Grapefruit and Mint 
A twist on the mint julep that's perfect for a party.

Makes 8 to 10 servings By Melissa Clark December 2007

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
15 fresh mint sprigs, divided
4 cups strained fresh pink grapefruit juice
1 lemon
1 lime
2 1/2 cups bourbon
12 dashes angostura bitter 
1 cup club soda
1 ice block

Stir 1/3 cup water and sugar in small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Add 5 fresh mint sprigs. Remove from heat; cool syrup completely.

Strain syrup into punch bowl.

Add juice, bourbon, and bitters; mix in soda and 10 mint sprigs. Add lemon and lime disks. Add ice to bowl.

Cake Wreck Chocolate Cake

The best advice I could possibly give you, and forgive me if this seems glib, is to work. Work. Work. Work. Every day. At the same time every day. For as long as you can take it every day, work, work, work. Understand? Talent is for shit. I’ve taught school for nearly thirty years and never met a student who did not have some talent. It is as common as house dust or kudzu vine in Alabama and is just about as valuable. Nothing is as valuable as the habit of work, and work has to become a habit.
via chillit.htm

Some days things go horribly wrong.

I wonder if there is matter under my wild blond hair and between my big ears.

I love making old fashioned chocolate cakes. Two layers of moist chocolate cake, frosting to hold the cake together, ganache poured over the entire pastry and chilled. The result is a chewy layer of rich chocolate that encases a thoughtfully frosted cake.

Well, that is the intent of an old fashioned chocolate cake.

Needless to say things go horribly wrong sometimes.

For example, I frosted a perfectly honorable chocolate cake with a light whipped cream icing, all in a days work right? Toss it in the freezer and warmed a chocolate ganache in a double boiler. I had 15 minutes left on my shift, the last shift of the week, Friday. With 5 minutes left for the day I casually pulled the chilled cake out and set up a wire rack to pour the melted chocolate over the cake.

Only at the end of a day on Friday would this ever occur....

Whipped cream and hot ganache make a huge mess.

Did you hear me - don't be like the baker and melt a perfectly good cake.

What happened? I was left with a cake, you see above melting into a huge puddle of sweet disaster.

I kind of wanted to cry but I wanted to laugh even harder. I grabbed my camera and snapped a quick photo, then chef reminded me that the key to success is to be able to fix your mistakes. Believe it or not this massive disaster was saved.

One more good laugh with chef, no tears, I was out the door with yet another week of baking and "pastry school" under my belt.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Source, Chef Christy Fox
Makes 2, 8" cakes

This is a great everyday chocolate cake, it is the recipe that I use at the bistro and was handed down from the chef. Please note that there are roasted beets in the cake, they give the finished product moisture and a deep rich color. Simply roast a few beets in a bit of olive oil until soft to a fork, cool, peel, and puree.

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
4 ounces unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup beet puree
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups cake flour, sifted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup hot water

Pre heat the oven to 350. Line two 8 inch cake tins with parchment paper and oil.

Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler until smooth. Set aside.

Mix sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

In a mixer, combine sugar, vanilla, salt and chocolate/butter mixture. Mix until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time until just mixed. Do not over mix.

Add sour cream mixture and beets to the batter until just mixed.

Alternately add flour/cocoa mixture and hot water to the batter. Watch for lumps and mix until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the the center of the cake springs back when your index finger lightly taps it or a tester comes out with only crumbs.

Cool and invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Frost how you wish!

Pumpkin Waffles - Gluten Free

I haven't told you about something.

I really should have shared this a lot earlier.

You know the waffle story a couple weeks back?

Turns out, HE was right.

Yeah, I know.....

Egg white waffles are far superior to anything else I have tasted. I have yet to try yeasted waffles, which seems like my perfect waffle, until then, I will stick to the egg white method of making waffles. Further more, I will adhere to this pumpkin waffle recipe until tulips are pushing up through the frozen ground next Spring.

Pumpkin because I love any vegetable that is orange. Give me something that is orange and I will eat or drink it. Well, anything but government cheese. I draw the line folks. I have a love hate with Cheetos. Love 'em but hate everything about them. Doritos? Don't even set a bag near me they will be gone. The orange that I do want to devour with reckless abandon include pumpkin, yam, every form of winter squash, anything candied with orange. That is the orange I am talking about - the real orange. Mother Nature's GOLD.

I put pumpkin in waffles and melted my own heart. Three weekends in a row. This recipe is large, large for a family of two. I try my hardest, I powered through 3 waffles in one morning but I do not recommend it and the stomach ache accompanied by complete and utter lack of motivation brought on by a full belly.

Unless..... you are with someone with the same intent.

And if you must know......

If we are going to eat ourselves into a waffle pile of worthlessness:

I do not like anything on my waffles. I use a fork to cut manageable pieces off so I can eat them with my hands. I dunk waffles if the mood strikes. I eat waffles like toast.

Pumpkin Waffles
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used Bob Red Mills GF AP Flour and J didn't even notice )
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted


Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron. Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Fold them gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Brush waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter (about 2 cups for four 4-inch Belgian waffles) into waffle iron, spreading quickly. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp.

Make more waffles in same manner.

Freeze excess waffles wrapped in plastic wrap and pop in the toaster to reheat.

Time to Choose

When I’m nervous, I laugh.

When I’m tired, I struggle to form sentences.

When I’m hungry, I'm grumpy.

When I’m sad, I want to hide away.

When I'm stressed, my shoulders meet my ears and my neck hides.

When I'm happy, you will know.

Happiness is my favorite emotion, right next to love.

Emotions are as necessary as water to well being but just as hazardous when flooded by such. Conditions change. Happiness is fleeting but at the end you must choose to be happy. Choose your emotions, reactions, demeanor. 

Learn from those around you, choose to be happy.

You are in control of yourself, your emotions, your reactions. Choose wisely, with intent.

No matter how far you have gone down the wrong path, turn back.

Sables

People ask me what my favorite thing is to bake, I always answer beaming with confidence. Cookies.

Shortbread to chocolate chip to carrot cake sandwiches. I love cookies. Cookies without flour. Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. Letting the dough rest, baking until fragrant, developing unique flavors and textures all go into the beauty of baking cookies.

If you ask what to try from the pastry case I will hand you a cookie. Invite me to a dinner party and I will bring a plate of cookies to munch on for dessert. I took cookies to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Recently I had some work done on my teeth, the dentist asked for cookies in exchange.

The key to enjoy baking is to be efficient about the process. I have a few master recipes for cookies that I enjoy and know that work for me, I take these base recipes and slightly tweak it depending on what I have on hand. As an example, recently I made a double batch of sable dough and added a few sprigs of finely chopped rosemary to half the batch and rolled the other half in crushed Texan pecans.

Sables

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's, Baking

MAKES ABOUT 50 COOKIES

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted before measuring
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt
2 large egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour.

For the decoration (optional):
1 egg yolk
Crystal or dazzle sugar.

1. Working in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until it is smooth and very creamy. Add the sugars and salt and continue to beat until smooth and velvety, not fluffy and airy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in 2 egg yolks, again beating until well blended.

2. Turn off the mixer, pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the mixer and pulse the mixer about 5 times at low speed for 1 or 2 seconds each time. Take a peek; if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, stir for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough and the dough looks uniformly moist. If you still have some flour on the bottom of the bowl, stop mixing and use a rubber spatula to work the rest of it into the dough. (The dough will not come together in a ball -- and it shouldn't. You want to work the dough as little as possible. What you're aiming for is a soft, moist, clumpy dough. When pinched, it should feel a little like Play-Doh.)

3. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long (it's easiest to work on a piece of plastic wrap and use the plastic to help form the log). Wrap the logs well and chill them for at least 2 hours. The dough may be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

4. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and keep it at the ready.

5. To decorate the edges of the sables, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Place one log of chilled dough on a piece of waxed paper and brush it with yolk (the glue), and then sprinkle the entire surface of the log with sugar. Trim the ends of the roll if they are ragged and slice the log into 1/3-inch-thick cookies.

6. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving an inch of space between each cookie, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be light brown on the bottom, lightly golden around the edges and pale on top. Let the cookies rest 1 or 2 minutes before carefully lifting them onto a cooling rack with a wide metal spatula. Repeat with the remaining log of dough. (Make sure the sheet is cool before baking each batch.)

Variations:

Lemon Sables Before mixing the butter and sugar together, pour the sugar in a bowl with the grated zest of 1 to 1 1/2 lemons. Work the zest and sugar together with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and aromatic, then cream it with the butter in the mixer.

Parmesan Sables Replace sugars with 3/4 cup very finely grated Parmesan added to the beaten butter. A few grains of fleur de sel may be gently pressed into the top of each sable before the baking sheet is slipped into the oven.

Murmuration

There are things that take my breath away. This is one of them. Enjoy!


Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Waffles

Long before I had a ring(s) on my left hand, my house not yet filled with a sweet red bearded man every morning, before there was talk of children, retirement, and house hunting. In a time where sleep was an afterthought and there was a permanent sparkle in my eye. I am pretty sure that neither of us had Internet at the time or digital cameras. Before I even considered mountain biking.....

We listened to a lot of music and spent the mornings together. There was one morning that still flutters in and out of my memories. We had waffles one morning, unforgettable waffles. I remember it like yesterday, they were the best waffles I have ever had. Every thing tastes better when one is fresh into a relationship. I remember pulling a chair up to his kitchen table years ago, in his house that was tucked up on a hill side in one of Bellingham's more wooded neighborhoods. It was a cozy day.  There was a forest outside his back door, Natasha was probably there at our feet but I don't remember right now, I just remember those waffles. I devoured mine, plain, not dry just unaccompanied. Crispy exterior and soft inside. There was butter, he told me the secret lots of butter, not making these often, it was a splurge. We probably went for a hike that day or went climbing at Mount Erie. I just remember the waffle.

This morning I woke up and wanted waffles. I find a recipe and tip toe into our kitchen and whip up a batch using all whole wheat flour and a third of the butter that I remember J telling me he used in those infamous hook line and sinker waffles years ago. Soon J peers over my shoulder and asks if I was going to use egg whites. I was not. He asks, how can you have fluffy waffles without egg whites? You cannot.

The waffles I made this morning were tasty. They were crisp on the outside, tender where they should be. Hearty but scented with sweet vanilla.

 Waffles

Collapse This recipe (originally from Aretha Frankenstein's restaurant in Chattanooga, TN) is the ideal I-just-woke-up-from-a...

Serves 2 good waffle eaters

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup cornstarch 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk (or a combination) 
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1 egg 
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Ask the
hotline about
this ingredient!




1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.
   
   Ask the hotline about this step!
2. Heat a waffle iron. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and pure maple syrup or hold in a 200 degree oven, directly on the rack (don't stack them or they'll get soggy). These also reheat very well in the toaster.

Herb Tomato Gorgonzola Buttermilk Biscuits

It feels good to be home. Home in our house. Creating a home where we feel comfortable, regardless of the extent that we will be here at this location. I love parts of this home, the view of the sunset, proximity to parks and friends, the colors inside are warm and inviting, often bringing comfort in what can be a cold house.

We can make our house as welcoming as we can, but without one anther or the people in our lives that have made the transition back to Bellingham meaningful, the house, Bellingham would be colder, greyer than it is already. Luxurious would describe what it feels like to be back in a house, a lush sea of green landscape, bombarded by hippies, streets shut down from protests. All these random things aside, what makes this town special is the people that call this place home.

As we have been back for several weeks, I am still running into old acquaintances, family and previous co workers. It is great, smiles are exchanged, hugs, and brief recaps of the current events are shared. What has been warming my heart these days is the phrase I have heard a lot and figure I will never grow weary of, "It is nice to have you (two) back."  Simple but meaningful. It is great to be back in your company Bellingham. It is sure nice to be back. Thank you for the welcome homecoming.

Over the weekend J and I went to the first annual photo/video contest/fundraiser for one of our local trail associations Whatcom Independent Mountain Peddlers or WHIMPS. Over 400 people packed the Depot Market Square across the street from Boundary Bay Brewery to show their support for the local trail work that this group facilitates from the new Raptor Ridge Connector south of town in the Chuckanuts to the world renowned Galbraith Mountain. There were familiar faces and even more new people but we all had a common interest, the trails that weave their way through greater Bellingham. Thank you all who came, supported and are making Bellingham a more enjoyable place to live.

J and I have been in the habit of getting a few bike rides in together a week. We take quick Galbraith rips and day trips to Canada. Every day our house has less boxes filled with our stuff. We cook hearty dinners and meet friends for bites. We spend the weekend mornings together with coffee followed by breakfast and usually a mountain bike ride.

This weekend, rolling out of a mildly successful week of baking at the bistro I felt inspired to make one of my most popular breakfast pastries, a savory buttermilk biscuit. When I roll up on a bakery case I usually go for a big hearty muffin, J reaches for a savory, cheese and ham filled biscuit. I understand the craving for hearty substance, leaning on the protein end of the spectrum but I like the pick me up that fresh fruit and light sweetness brings to my morning. Flaky on the inside, a crunchy exterior, tang from a rich cheese, color from roasted tomatoes and lightly herbed these biscuits might have me rethinking my decision next time I stand there dumbfounded, needing coffee and calories.

Herb Tomato Gorgonzola Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes about 12 biscuits

Adapted from Dorie Greespan's Baking

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
3/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
1/2 cup roasted tomatoes
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup cold buttermilk


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and position a rack in the center. You will need a lined baking sheet and a biscuit cutter. Get your poop in a group.

Mix the dry ingredients together. You know what they are and I am not going to list them, all dry goes in one medium bowl. Parsley or whatever herb you choose (besides mint) is a dry ingredient.


Now mix in the stinky cheese. Or a not stinky cheese. Curve ball! Toss in the roasted tomatoes while you are at it.

Get that hand full of little pieces of butter that you cut, drop them in the flour and coat each piece. Now is the most important step. Keep that butter cold, we want flaky biscuits so get the lead out. Use forks, your hands or a pastry blender, cut and work the flour into the butter until the mixture is almost pebbly. Chunks of butter the size of almonds are perfect with mostly pea gravel texture. Stop mixing!

Pour the buttermilk over the the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together. Take a deep breath, put the fork down and reach in there with your hand and give it three to four good turns and presses to incorporate that sandy mixture in the bottom of the bowl. Don't go kneading the dough, you will get pucks.

Lightly flour your favorite work surface and turn the dough onto the surface. Working pretty fast because there are bike rides and books to read and flaky biscuits to be had, pat the dough until it is about 1/2 inch thick. It is okay if the dough is all chunky and uneven, that is totally normal. Your biscuit cutter is close so cut out as many as you can and arrange them an inch apart on your equally handy baking sheet. When there are scraps pile them on top of each other creating layers and press back to 1/2 inch thickness and cut. You can freeze them from this point with no need to defrost or bake them off.

Bake for about 15 minutes, they will be golden and puffy. Eat as soon as you can - you might burn your mouth but that is part of the fun.

Las Vegas

 

Las Vegas was a blast. A few short days, a couple long nights, all that a Vegas trip should be, nothing more.

Friends, shows, food.

Sunshine, people gazing and flashy clothing.

We scored some tickets to see Ben Harper play outside at the Cosmopolitan.

The venue for the show was pretty spectacular.

We had great friends that kept it fun, there were many great memories made and a life long friendship established.

We took in Absinthe at Caesar's Palace and I almost ran away with the circus. In my dreams, I am a gymnast. If you have the chance to see this show, please try and catch it. Funny off color humor that only Las Vegas can get away with.

 J rolling in style the entire time, including making us mimosas to break the desert heat and provide a little laughter as we mixed cocktails on the side of the strip. Classy.

My two cents: keep the kids out of Vegas. Vegas will keep the unmentionables out of Disney Land....

Circus Circus might be hell on Earth. A casino is the last place I ever want to ran over by a stroller.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

So I might have forgot baking soda once. Turns out leavening is kind of important to the consistency of baked goods especially when you want an airy moist cake.

I might have asked the chef how to frost a cake. For real.

She might have taught me some very valuable tricks of the trade. Even better.

Never be afraid to ask questions.

I might have made the same recipe twice in one day and both times it turned out awful.

Never label a recipe fool proof. Never.

I made cupcakes two days in a row, both times they overflowed and looked laughable.

Never give up.

I have to laugh at myself. I love it, I learn, I move on. 

I feel really stoked that I can make a few recipes from memory.

I smile.

My tart shells often leak. Tarts are gorgeous but not when they leak.

I love the word tartlette.

Never forget the salt. Always use real butter. Cream is nice. Buttermilk is awesome.

Each weekday morning I put my crazy curly hair in a high bun, run some mascara through my eyelashes at an unruly early hour and tip toe out of the house trying my hardest not to wake J.  Most days are smooth, I soak up all that I can, committing it to memory and making notes in an ever growing baker's binder. Creativity and craftiness.  I pull things out of the oven beaming with excitement, proud. I dance. There is laughter and smiles.

I pulled these cookies out of the oven, arranged them nicely and watched as they all were given good homes in warm bellies.

 Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Get creative and spin these tangy cookies with zest of oranges or limes. Try chocolate. How about cinnamon or cardamom. Please do tell me what you try!

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment add butter cream cheese, lemon zest and sugar. Cream on medium speed until slightly more pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Stop the mixer, add the flour.  Mix on low speed until dough comes together. 

On parchment lined cookie sheets place walnut sized balls of dough 2 inches apart.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't over bake, the edges should be slightly golden.