1.15.2013

kitchen gadgets


P O M M E S   C O N F I T E S
( i n  t h e  m a k i n g )



I love a project and I love to cook. So, naturally when I came across Dorie Greenspan's project, French Friday's With Dorie I quickly figured out how to participate. The concept is that the group cooks their way through her book, 'AROUND MY FRENCH TABLEby cooking the assigned recipe every Friday. It is an ongoing project so I am late to the party, as they say. This is my first week and my first recipe is 'Long and Slow Apples' (pg 390) or classically known in France as Pommes Confites. What a perfect entree to this project. I'm going to like this!!!!!

The recipe calls for thinly sliced apples - preferably sliced on a mandoline but since I don't have one I used a very sharp pairing knife, which worked great. (I got kind of obsessed with how thin I could slice an apple). I should probably have one of these very sharp and very scary looking pieces of equipment in my cooking ensemble but on the whole, I try not to have too many gadgets in the kitchen. My rule is if I need something 20 times then I will purchase. Completely random I know but it does keep me from splurging at TYLER FLORENCE'S kitchen store down the street every time I walk in!!!!

The recipe is quite easy and was quite fun to fan the layers of apples in the ramekins (another obsession here). The ramekins cook at a low temp for a long period of time and then rest for about half that time. It was a perfect all day project for me as I multitasked in the kitchen and at my desk. So, now I sit and patiently wait for the cool down part of the recipe. I am not sure my will power to wait to try these apples is as strong as it is to wait for kitchen gadgets... yum!

1.03.2013

remembering december

D E C E M B E R   2 0 1 2



The holidays ooze with tradition and my children love this time of year because of it. It is expected they will remember the advent calendar with chocolate hiding behind the windows and that they will anticipate our annual gingerbread house architecture contest but I am amazed they remember the nuances from year to year, too. Reminiscing about the ornaments, requesting to listen to Chris Isaak's christmas album, correctly hanging the stockings in birth order on the mantle, imaginary play with the Creche, eating off of our christmas plates... Children love routine and I think December is a perfect ending to the year to remind us about who we are as a family. My husband and I are both from the south (Georgia and Alabama respectively) so our traditions are a combination of both the south and the San Francisco Bay area. Here are a few of them... 

food
  • dungenous crab + butter (our christmas eve lunch - crab is a sf bay area tradition)
  • buche du noel (i normally make mine from the TARTINE cookbook but have been tempted on occasion to stop by the bakery and buy one of theirs)
  • beef tenderloin + horseradish + asparagus and leeks + parkerhouse rolls. english christmas crackers at each place setting - (they must be opened before dinner and all guests must wear the paper crown at the table on Christmas Eve.)
  • egg + bread + sausage + cheese casserole - (my mother made this every christmas morning. she still does)
  • gingerbread cookies with icing - (made with springerle cookie molds)
  • egg nog + bourbon
  • champagne - and lots of it!!!!!!!!
  • russian tea - (this takes me back to my childhood. Tang and instant iced tea)
activities
  • making gingerbread 'structures' out of graham crackers and decorating with the best candy that MIETTE sells
  • delighting in the naughty elves
  • lighting the advent wreath
  • going to the SF BALLET nutcracker
  • listening to CHRIS ISAAK'S christmas music
  • hearing handal's messiah at GRACE CATHEDRAL
  • driving to tahoe after christmas eve lunch and church
  • soaking black eyed peas on the 31st for new year's day lunch