Flicker Farm

Easter Lamb Cake: Black Sheep Edition. 🖤

Some years ago a friend gifted us his mom’s vintage cast iron lamb cake pan from the 1950’s, after her passing. I’ve been making Lamb Cake every Easter since.

Every year is a little different. I’ve done traditional vanilla, toasted coconut, lemon, red velvet. This year a black sheep version felt appropriate, and chocolate is my favorite. To get the black ‘wool’ I tossed some shredded coconut with cocoa powder and a little activated charcoal {about 1 tsp}. I also added a bit of activated charcoal to the chocolate frosting to give it a darker color. Reminiscent of a real life black sheep.

The pans can be tricky as the shape is unusual and it can be hard un-mold the ears + nose without losing any.

The pan must be buttered and floured, spray oil doesn’t really work. Using fingers or a culinary brush, spread soft butter into every nook and cranny. Lightly dust with flour, shaking the pan around to get every spot covered.

I’ve found a dense cake, such as pound cake works the best. It holds its shape and can stay upright. I started out using regular cake recipes and they’re too light- I’d always be reconstructing the face + ears with toothpicks to hold together. Pound cake, any pound cake recipe should do!

Eyes and nose are usually jelly beans. Decorate with spring blooms from your yard or fruit or whatever you like.

Lamb Cake has become a fun tradition, but doesn’t always have to be vanilla!

Mugwort, the Mother of Herbs’. Have you ever gotten acupuncture and they used moxa? Moxa = mugwort! If you like the green Japanese mochi, it gets its color from mugwort. Before hops became mainstream, mugwort was used to flavor beer.

Medicinally it’s used as a bitter to increase bile flow {maybe a good addition if you’re making your own Digestive Bitters}; as a calming nervine to improve mood + stress; it’s known to promote good sleep, reduce nightmares and increase lucid dreaming. I have had this experience myself of really nice, vivid dreams from mugwort, as well as others that have shared with me.

A small batch of Common Mugwort Tincture is now available in my shop and ready to ship. And a detailed post with all medicinal details and recipes for making your own can be found on my Patreon. {link to both in my bio} 🌱

Psyllium Husk as Poor Man’s Ozempic? Not quite the same but they do share some characteristics.

You may have read my prior posts on my thyroid, and my only real sign was unexplained weight gain. But I’m also 43 and in perimenopause so that probably contributes too. And guess what else is common in perimenopause? Blood sugar dysregulation. Earlier this spring I was wearing a CGM {continuous glucose monitor} and noticed my blood sugar was too high, especially in my luteal {2nd half} of my cycle, it’s common to have fluctuations depending on where you’re at in your cycle {females, obviously}.

I wasn’t in the diabetic range but I wasn’t in the ideal range either- that was pretty upsetting! For years I’ve eaten mostly homemade {homegrown} whole and real foods, grains as a treat not a staple, whole fruits but not a lot of carbs otherwise so I was really surprised as I’ve never had blood sugar issues until recently.

Anyway…I started using 1 tsp of psyllium husk powder in water before most meals and within weeks I noticed a huge decrease in my fasting blood sugar. I saw 30-40 points less during the first half of my cycle and an average of 23 mg/dl less overall {including my higher 2nd half}! Without even trying I started losing about 1 pound a week just by including psyllium husk for the last 8 weeks as my fasting glucose decreased.

It acts as a prebiotic for your gut flora and can help detoxify as well, so make sure you take meds/supplements away from it. See slides for who should avoid it.

My favorite brand is Viva Naturals Organic Psyllium Powder {$15} and I highly recommend using a milk frother too {$5} {mixing with a spoon/shaking just doesn’t work}. I’ll link both in my stories for the next 24 hours, but if you miss that- they are saved in my Amazon Storefront in my bio, under ‘Holistic Health’.

I also add lots of raspberries {1 cup = 8g fiber}, whole artichokes {1 globe = 7-10g}, steamed broccoli {1 cup = 8g}, avocado {1/2 each = 7g} to my meals.

For more details and resources, see my latest Patreon article about psyllium husk!