[poem and recipe] orange you glad it’s friday?

~ jama

“Orange is the happiest color.” ~ Frank Sinatra

Warm, cheerful and uplifting, the color orange combines the passion of red with the positivity of yellow. Ever vibrant, orange inspires creativity, boosts energy and stimulates the appetite.

California-based poet Lori Levy once said that poets paint in words. I love how she’s embraced her orange palette to create the vivid images in today’s delightful poem.

*

“Monarch Butterfly” by Juan Bosco.
IN THE MOOD FOR ORANGE
by Lori Levy

I want to discover what's orange in the world:
to come upon a leopard lily;
flame lichen clinging to a rock.
A barn swallow's chest, a monarch's wing,
Or just a bird-of-paradise against the sky.

I could slice a mango or suck on a section
of tangerine. Make soup for lunch
with pumpkin, squash, carrots, yams.
Could settle down by a fire, copper and blue,
or by the orange glow of a glass lamp.

What I have in mind is a fat ripe sun
the scarlet of a California poppy --
and me in an ocher-orange dress,
lips painted mandarin, twirling
to the rattle of Mexican maracas

until I drop like the sun
and the world grows dark again.

~ from In the Mood for Orange (Gvanim, 2007)
“California Poppies” by Marcia Baldwin.

*

“Tropical Flirtation” by Carol Collette.

Revel in it!

Perhaps the best part about the color orange is that it’s a symbol of autumn, my favorite season. Yes, I love the pumpkins, squashes, carrots and yams in the second stanza. Eating healthy and delicious orange foods is a wonderful way to diversify your diet. šŸ™‚

We’ve previously shared quite a few orange-y food recipes here at Alphabet Soup including: Butternut Bisque, 14-Carrot Cupcakes, Apple Pumpkin Walnut Muffins, Pumpkin Pancakes, Mango Bread, Carrot Cookies, Yogurt Marmalade Cake. Yum!

Do you like Chef Hoppy’s carrot ear warmers?

Since Mr Cornelius’s friend Carrot is visiting this week, we made some šŸ„•Carrot MuffinsšŸ„• in her honor. We found the recipe in the Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King (yes, she’s the person behind those famous chocolate chip cookies). Chock full of diced apples, nuts, and raisins in addition to grated carrots, these delectable muffins are great for breakfast and perfect for people who like carrot cake but would appreciate something less sweet and guilt inducing without the rich cream cheese icing. We like getting our beta carotene/Vitamin A fix this way too.

With the resident leprechaun grating the carrots and dicing the apple, these were a breeze to whip up. Mr Cornelius polished off three before settling down with Carrot and Chef Hoppy to read some of their favorite books with orange spines. I think you need to make some Carrot Muffins this weekend. Go Orange!!

Carrot Muffins

  • Servings: 10-12 muffins
  • Difficulty: average
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 cups carrots, grated
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins (I used golden)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or use paper liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil, and eggs. Mix until they are well combined. Stir in the carrots, nuts, vanilla, and apple. Fold in the flour mixture.
  4. Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin cups (they should be filled to the top).
  5. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Note: Though the original recipe specifies 10 muffins, I was able to get 12. I think this is because I used extra large eggs and a large apple.

~ adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), as posted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

What is your favorite orange food?

*

Lovely and talented Catherine Flynn is hosting the Roundup at Reading to the Core. Take her a carrot muffin and check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Happy Weekend!

*

“California Beach Sunset” by Don Schimmel.

“The sky takes on shades of orange during sunrise and sunset, the colour that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again.” ~ Ram Charan

*Copyright Ā© 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

24 thoughts on “[poem and recipe] orange you glad it’s friday?”

  1. Ha! What a great post. Love the orange theme…and that board of chopped orange foods is beautiful. But, the image that gave me a giggle is that finale yam. I’m printing out the recipe for my college grad who is taking coding courses as she looks for work…and destresses by cooking and baking. Oh, we may never let her move out!
    Yes, let’s revel in orange this month!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I love orange foods. I guess my favorite orange food are carrots. I like them raw and cooked in a hearty bowl of chicken soup, and of course in carrot cake and muffins. I actually met Kathleen Kingā€™s sister Karen years ago when we were asked by friends to visit their small home in the Hamptons several days after Christmas. I believe it was 1976! I never met Kathleen, but saw the small farm stand that belonged to her farmer parents, and was told by Karen that her younger sister was a baker and sold her cookies at the stand! I guess I was there for the ā€œbirthā€ of Tateā€™s cookies!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Lovely post focusing on things that are orange that are all around us. Very cheerful and uplifting. I’ve never thought of orange as one of my favorite colors, but it certainly is a major part of the fall theme and loved everything you shared. Have a good week.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Pingback: bread and breakfast recipe archive | Jama's Alphabet Soup

  5. Dear Jama, I love this roundup of orange! I guess oranges would be my favorite orange food, and I have some great memories being a child and poking a hole in an orange to suck/squeeze all the juice out. It took a while, but it was so much fun and of course fresh and delicious. Also, my mother grew up on a citrus farm in central FL, and lots of visits there in my childhood, so citrus is part of my DNA! As a poet, the first think I think of when I hear “orange” is the fact of “no word rhymes with orange.” Orange is not only a special color, a special word! xo

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I love ALL the orange foods…well, maybe not hot peppers! Riffing off of Irene’s childhood orange memories, I had a mom who would peel oranges upon request. What a gift! When we were still allowed to bring birthday treats to school, I would bring Clementines and challenge my students to get the peel off in one piece. Fun times.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Those muffins look delicious, Jama! I make some carrot cake breakfast cookies that Ariana really loves (and I do, too). The chef’s ear warmers are adorable.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Jama, I adore how you go all in on your posts! From the reflections on orange to fresh baked muffins (recipe included) to the detail of the carrot ear warmers — so wonderful! You always make me smile!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Do you have a favorite orange recipe, Jama? I love carrot cake and pumpkin donuts! My grandpa was a produce broker, so he would bring boxes of oranges to our house in the winter. Always a treat!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Can’t say I have a fave orange recipe — unless you count Orange Marmalade Cake (Pioneer Woman). Did you see Pick a Pumpkin in the book pile? šŸ™‚

      Like

  13. Oh, Jama, Oh, Mr. Cornelius, how this tickles my little ole orange lovin’ heart!
    Muchas gracias for setting my day aglow. Happy fall!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. All the splendor of orange! Thank you, Jama! I think I will try the muffin recipe. I haven’t made muffins in quite a while!!! This is another gorgeous post, but I especially love the sunset at the end. Something about purple and orange together… magical and mystical! Cheers!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Jama, what a beautiful post. I love all the orange beauty. The poem by Lori Levy is so full of imagery. I can taste, smell and see all the deliciousness. Your stack of orange books, Chef Hoppy’s ear warmers and more just made me smile throughout. I clicked on some of those old recipes too, and I have a plan for mango bread, which I missed ten years ago when you posted it. Thanks for this delight, and yes, I’m glad it’s Friday!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Some of my favorite foods are orange: yams, carrots, oranges/clementines. I have a butternut squash bisque recipe that is always a favorite on Thanksgiving. Lori Levy’s poem is such fun! I think it will be a great mentor poem for my 6th graders. Thank you for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. My favorite blogger singing the praises of my favorite color in my favorite month. It doesn’t get any better than this. Except Lori Levy’s poem. šŸ™‚
    (Do orange peanut m&m’s count?)

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.