Thomas Jefferson and Monticello

Thomas Jefferson,  circa 1800

Recently while driving the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway my husband and I stopped to visit Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.  

Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia.  He was a public official, historian, philosopher, inventor and plantation owner.

He was born on April 13, 1743, at the Shadwell Plantation located just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, and had five siblings. 

His father Peter Jefferson was a successful planter, surveyor and cartographer who produced the first accurate map of the Province of Virginia.   Having inherited a considerable estate from his father, Jefferson began building Monticello (pronounced “Monti-chello” like the musical instrument) when he was twenty-six years old.

Raspberry Sponge Cake

Valentine's Day Easy-Peasy Raspberry Sponge Cake

Let me just put this out there: 
I love raspberries and desserts with raspberries. 

I like them on salads and with breakfast cereal or oatmeal. 
But wait, I love them with ice cream too!

This could go on forever……

This is a pretty vertical recipe, meaning you can use many different types of fruit.  Blackberry is wonderful and another of my favorites,  but try apples for autumn, it delicious too. 

And this is a perfect dessert to serve after a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.  Or serve it to guests at a tea party, dinner party, book club or garden party, etc.
But serve it…… all of it…… to other people.
Do not make it,
and then eat nearly the entire thing,
over a two day period.
Do Not……