By Isa Covo
We are already in the second month of this year, and because of the pandemic, we have hardly focused these past two years on the annual events that are flagged on our calendars.
February 14 is Valentine’s Day, and because it is a symbol of love, be it romantic, familial or friendly, it is also a time for an exchange of cards, flowers, chocolates, and other gifts. It is a happy, elegant, and enjoyable time.
February is also Black History Month. In this continent, it is a history that dates from the day the first abducted Africans, those who survived a grueling and deadly transport in ships from many nations, overloaded with human cargo, arrived.
Human exploitation, one of the faces of it being slavery, goes back thousands of years. Researchers estimate that on the American continent, it started in the15th century with a ship landing in Mexico. The practice soon expanded to the Southern and Northern colonized parts of the continent.
In the US, 1619 is recognized as the date the fist shipload of future slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. However, slavery in the Northern territories started earlier. The 13th amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery was signed in December 1865.
The abolition of slavery was, unfortunately, followed by the execrable Jim Crow, or segregationist laws that were adopted by several states, especially the Southern ones. It took close to a century to abolish them, and restore civil rights to all citizens, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed by then President Lyndon Johnson.
Martin Luther King Jr., the charismatic civil rights leader, whose birthday was celebrated this year on January 17, was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Deeply religious and passionate for his cause, he succeeded in rallying enthusiastic crowds composed of various faiths, races, social standings and education levels, especially among the younger generation. The road to this goal was not without sacrifice, as he and some others lost their lives in the process.
His “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates, and you can find a link to it here: npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety
When this speech was made almost fifty-nine years ago, certain problems encountered by the African American community already existed: one important complaint was police misconduct and brutality. It may not be universal, but the fact that it still exists is unconscionable.
It would be a fantasy to think that we can love everybody, but we must stop this hate that creeps around us, where people, sometime neighbors, threaten anybody they want to. Our society must change, and honor Martin Luther King’s dream of an egalitarian society, where our affections and friendships will not be affected by the color of one’s skin, origin, gender or social status.
When you change a person, you change the world. When you help a person, you help the world.
Cream Almond Cakes
A nice treat for a Valentine’s breakfast or tea, or for any day, any time
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cake flour
- ¼ cup potato or corn starch
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon orange extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons of sliced almonds
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the flours, the baking powder and the granulated sugar and whisk the ingredients to mix thoroughly
- Incorporate the butter into the flour using a pastry blender. The mixture should resemble coarse meal.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the cream and the extracts, then pour it into the bowl with butter-flour mixture, reserving a tablespoon to brush over the cakes before baking them. With your fingertips, knead the dough until it becomes smooth and holds together. Roll into a ball and leave it in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate as you heat the oven to 400°.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a flat surface. Flatten with your hands into an 8-inch circle.
- With a biscuit cutter cut into 4- or 6-inch circles.
- Brush each circle with the reserved egg-cream mixture and distribute the sliced almonds over the cake and press them lightly on the surface to make them adhere
- Bake the cakes in the middle of the oven until thoroughly cooked and golden on top, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cool on a rack for five minutes and dust the tops with powdered sugar.
Yield: 4 to 6 cakes
