Random musings of a deco lady

An Open Letter To My Wife

2011-12-02T19:14:00.000-06:00

Dear Becky –

Shortly after my father died a few years ago, you posted an open letter to him on your blog. Recently it came to me that I wanted to write a letter to you and put it there as well. At first, I was not sure what I wanted to say. I could tell you how much I loved you, and love you still, but we said this often and you know it very well. Then something occurred to me that I don’t believe I did say to you nearly enough: “Thank you.”

Thank you for sharing over 33 years of your life with me in marriage. For allowing me to spend my life with you and for our most important joint work together: Two brilliant and beautiful little girls that have now become two brilliant and beautiful young ladies.

When we married, your mom said to me, “Well, Mike, your life will never be dull.” Truer words were never spoken. Thank you for all the fun. You once gave me a card with an appropriate picture on it that was addressed to me with the words, “From a high flier to feet-on-the-ground.” I think that was one of your favorite cards that you ever gave me. And I have come to realize even more, now that you have moved on and you are flying higher than ever, how much fun you created just by being you. With Becky around, flying so high, and holding onto her balloons with one hand and onto me with the other, even a stodgy old feet-on-the-ground guy like me was dragged along into new adventures of all sorts. Thank you for that.

But maybe you needed my role as an anchor for you as well. A couple that you and I came to know as friends just this last summer commented to me after you left us that they were really impressed by how well you and I “fit” together. With people, I am not sure that opposites attract so much as that they complement each other. I know you completed me, and maybe I did the same for you. You probably would say so.

Thank you for always supporting me in virtually everything I ever suggested we should do, even when it meant totally re-arranging our life together. You almost always said yes in the little things. But you always said yes in the big things, too--always ready to go along and always totally supportive.

When I suggested that maybe we should move from Dallas, Texas, to Huntsville, Alabama, where I had a great job offer, you said this would be fine if that is what I thought we should do. You totally supported this, even though we were moving away from a place where you had good friends and quite a bit of your family. As it turned out, we ended up driving to Alabama separately. You told me later that as you were driving out of Dallas, a place where you were always very happy, the radio started playing “Let's go to Luckenbach Texas with Willie and Waylon and the boys.” At that point, as it really hit you that we were leaving, you watched the Dallas skyline receding in the rear view mirror with tears streaming down your face. But despite this attachment, you had never hesitated for a second to sign up and go happily with me to a new place. Of course, that was not the end of your story. The very next song was the group Alabama singing “My Home’s in Alabama.” And you took that as a sign that we were doing exactly the right thing. And that made you happy again. That is so Becky. So much my Becky.

Another time a few years after we moved to Alabama, you came home one night to find me lying on the picnic table in the back yard, staring at the stars. Naturally, you asked what was going on. I explained with a lot of indecision that I was considering resigning my job at the company where I had a great salary and a lot of security and a nice recent promotion. The new opportunity would be helping to cofound a tiny high risk startup company that would mean very long hours and very low money, and it could very easily fail completely (as most of them do). So this was definitely a scary proposition. Your response was almost instantaneous (and you liked to quote yourself on this for years afterwards): “Let’s go for it!” You even quit your own job and joined us as our office manager and bookkeeper. That was quite an adventure, wasn’t it?

Thank you so much for your unfaltering and enthusiastic support in these things and in every big decision we made. I don’t think most people are lucky enough to be always given the gift of that kind of absolute support and confidence from their life partner.

Your constant example taught me so much about how we ought to be living our lives, even if I seemed to be resisting some of this a lot of the time. Beside our front door up in Tennessee, I recently noticed a small colorful notice that says, “Peace to All Who Enter Here” that you placed there a long time ago. But you didn’t put that up there just because it was a cute thing to do. You really meant it. You--with your bumper sticker saying “Teach Tolerance” and another one with a big equal sign and another one that says “Namaste” on it—you believed in these things, and you lived the example that our daughters and I saw in you every day. It was not just words with you, although you certainly had the conviction to say the words, too, even when facing people who might not agree with you. Your friends, and especially all your relatives, know that! Thank you for that example.

A lot of these things, I did not appreciate as much before as I do now. I should have, but I just did not see all of them as clearly. There was often no need to push myself along some of these paths because all I had to do was to hold your hand and be dragged along to fall into the right place.

Even when you became sick, your positive attitude never failed. Your doctors all loved to see you because of your fantastic attitude and because you cheered them up. When we were doing those all day long medical visits, during our lunch break you would suggest we go to a nice restaurant. And despite everything, you would be upbeat; and we would have a great lunch and really enjoy spending the time together. That bubbly personality and virtually perpetual optimism carried all of us along and supported us all. These last few years could have been a lot harder, but you made it so much easier for everyone around you. Thank you for that gift, too.

Just about two hours before you finally left us, as you sat up in your bed, you spoke in a cheery and very casual voice to someone I could not see. You said, “OK, let’s go!” You said it twice, a minute or so apart, and you spoke in a much clearer stronger voice than any other time in those last two weeks or so. I was confused at the time, but you weren’t. Now I understand that someone had come to get you, and you were ready to go with them. And now you are on a new part of the journey without me. Temporarily without me.

From the beginning of our lives together, you and I never talked in terms of “Til death do us part.” Instead, our way of referring to our love was “Forever and always.” We both understood that this never meant there would not be other people entering our lives. Certainly when our children arrived, we loved them at least as much as we loved each other. There is always enough love. But this understanding of our permanence meant that, whatever else might be added to our lives later, our own bond would never ever be broken.

The last text message you sent to me on your phone was from the Vanderbilt Hospital in response to something I had written saying I would be back to your room later. But now I think your note had a double meaning—one that neither of us understood at the time. Your very last message said simply, “I will wait for you.” I know that you want me to get along with my life here, and I have been doing that, and I will continue to do so. I intend to keep trying new things and building new relationships and growing. And I know you would totally approve and encourage all of that. But I also know that eventually, in some way, we will be coming together again. And I know that you will be waiting for me. Thank you for that, too.

You were always unusual, so sparkling, and so very special. I always knew that about you, even before there was an “us” when you were just my sister’s pretty college roommate. But I see it even more clearly now than I ever did before, and I appreciate it even more.

Thank you so much for agreeing to share your life with me, darling, and for our two wonderful daughters.

I love you, Becky. Forever and always.

Mike

Final Health Update

2011-11-30T12:53:00.003-06:00

A post from Becky’s husband:

As Becky’s husband of over 33 years, I have put together for her a final health update. Only week or so before we lost her, when it first became clear how this was likely to turn out, she asked me to write a synopsis of the history of her illness, with more details about the later stages, for a final blog entry she wanted to make about this. The reason for my involvement was to save her time and effort; she would edit my draft to make it her own without the need to do all the writing from scratch. I began right away, but I did not get it ready for her soon enough. There was a lot going on, and we all thought we would have more time—probably a few weeks. However, I have decided finally to complete this task as best I can and get it posted for her at last. She would have converted it all to first person as she modified it into her own words, of course, but I don’t think I can really do that for her.

This will not be the last entry to her blog. I have also written a letter to her that I intend to post here in a day or two. The words below mainly give an account of her illness. I think that is what she wanted to do in her health update. My words to be offered later will be a personal but open letter.

Final Health Update

Early in 2005 Becky had a routine physical with her general practitioner, who noticed that she had an unusual number of bruises. One possible cause for this can be low platelet count. To be safe, he ordered blood tests. Results did show her platelet count was slightly below normal. He explained that a number slightly below normal was probably not a significant problem; but being careful, he referred her to a hematologist who specializes in blood disorders.

The hematologist ordered more tests and diagnosed her condition as a very early stage of MDS or Myelodysplastic Syndrome. The basis for this problem is an acquired genetic defect. That is, it results from genetic errors acquired over time. These errors are neither inherited from parents nor passed on to descendants. MDS causes low blood counts that may affect one, two, or all three blood cell lines (red cells, white cells, platelets). The course of MDS can be highly variable and is not readily predictable. In some people it may progress rapidly; in others it progresses extremely slowly, and it may be many years before it begins to cause serious problems. In its earliest stages when the counts are not low enough to cause weakness (due to a low red count) or excessive susceptibility to infection (due to a low white count) or bleeding problems (due to a low platelet count), the usual course is simply to follow the patient and administer no treatment.

So that is what we did. However during this period while conventional medicine had nothing to offer anyway, we tried various treatments based upon complementary medicine that were largely non-pharmacological and noninvasive. These included things such as energy healing methods, cold laser, etc. These methods can cause no harm, and they may well have slowed the progression of her disease. No one can authoritatively say for sure. But certainly these methods did not bring about a physical cure.

There were two recently approved drugs that can be used to treat MDS when it progresses, but they are not curative. These can be effective in halting progression and even reversing the problems in many cases, for either short or long periods of time, but they are not helpful for everyone. The only cure recognized by traditional Western medicine is a transplant of bone marrow or marrow stem cells from a healthy matched donor.

Becky’s blood counts were relatively stable for a couple of years, but did decline very slowly. A second opinion was sought and obtained when we traveled to New York for a meeting with a leading expert in treating MDS cases. However, the results of this trip and the advice offered were essentially the same as that of our local doctors. Eventually all three cell lines were involved, and her counts became extremely low. She began to require transfusions of red cells, and eventually of platelets as well.

As things began to move faster, she tried both of the available drugs, one after the other, in 2008 and early 2009. However, both were ineffective for her; and in July of 2009, she underwent a bone marrow stem cell transplant performed at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville with a team of hematologist/oncologists. She was only in the hospital for about 10 days but was required to live very nearby in Nashville for about 4 months, with daily trips (typically lasting almost all day long) to the clinic for about 2 months. Later the frequency of clinic visits was reduced to alternate days and then less often. After 4 months, we moved back to Huntsville but continued monthly visits to Vanderbilt.

For a year or so, the transplant results were exceptionally good, and her counts returned to normal and became stable. Eventually her strength returned as well. However, in the fall of 2010, her counts began to fall once again; and by the end of the year, she once more required regular transfusions of red cells and later platelets as well. Nevertheless, buoyed by an infusion of red cells (and her boundless optimism), she and I went along on a school trip to France with our younger daughter in the spring of 2011. Becky did pretty well, including going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, by late April it seemed to us that she had less energy than she should have, even accounting for low red cell counts.

There were very important events coming up: Our younger daughter was graduating from high school in May, our elder daughter was to be married (at Disneyworld) in June with a reception at our farm in Tennessee to follow 10 days later, and Becky’s dish convention was coming up in July. And, at least for the wedding, there were some details still to be worked out. During the spring, her doctors at Vanderbilt recommended that she start treatments with a low dose of a drug she had tried before, which she did. A higher dose was not recommended this soon after transplant. And although this drug had not been effective earlier, her new immune system after transplant offered a very different host environment where it might be effective this time around. Also, it causes relatively few side effects and would not likely interfere with the upcoming happy events.

The plan was to try this for a while and see how it might work. If it did not reverse the disease in a few months, then we would return to Vanderbilt early in July after the graduation and the wedding to discuss what steps we should take next to make her well once again. So while this was a serious situation, we all remained optimistic. Our attitude was that we had been through all this before, after all; and we could do it again if necessary.

Becky attended and enjoyed the graduation and the wedding and the wedding reception, but she did seem to be getting weaker; and by the time of the reception she was also having a little shortness of breath. By the end of June, it was becoming clear that some new problems were developing. In addition to having trouble breathing, she began to have trouble swallowing and her voice also became nasal and a little hoarse.

When she went to her regular appointment on July 5 at Vanderbilt, they decided to put her into the hospital for a few days for tests. The tests included various CT scans, an MRI of her brain, and visits with the ear, nose, and throat doctors who used a scope to examine her nasal passages and throat. They found no structural problems. A spinal tap was also performed. The last visit was with a speech pathologist, who suggested that there were issues in the soft palate and her epiglottis was probably not opening and closing properly. No further diagnosis was made at this point. However, she seemed to improve slightly over the 3 or 4 days she was in the hospital. So she was released while the doctors pondered the test results. About the only thing they had to say at this point was to voice the opinion that this new set of problems probably was (surprisingly) unrelated to her bone marrow problems.

Her improvement was brief, however. When she returned for a regular appointment with her doctor in Huntsville on July 18, her breathing, swallowing, and speaking had become seriously impaired. He said she needed to return immediately to her transplant doctors at Vanderbilt for more attention. At Vanderbilt, the doctors were still puzzled and concerned that she was worse, rather than improved. By this time she needed oxygen, and things were beginning to look quite serious. At almost the last minute, Becky’s travel to the dish convention had to be cancelled because she really had become unable to travel safely.

She spent the next week in the hospital undergoing a new series of tests, this time focused mostly on neurology. The common denominator appeared to have to do with the motor neurons—the nerves that move muscles. She was not breathing well because the muscles that control breathing and the diaphragm were not moving properly. She was not swallowing or speaking normally because the muscles of the soft palate were not functioning properly. Tests included a swallowing study and tests of the nerves affecting muscular movement, as well as nerve conduction studies. An electromyogram test was performed to help understand what sorts of signals the nerves were sending to the muscles and how the muscles were responding. An extensive panel of cell studies was ordered, but final results of some of those tests were expected to take weeks.

It was not until about July 21 or 22 that some consensus was reached about the true nature of Becky’s new disease process, and even then a very precise diagnosis was not possible. However, the news was not good. The general opinion was that this definitely was some sort of neuromuscular disease. Because it had been progressing very rapidly, the most likely expectation for the future was that it might continue to progress very rapidly. The prognosis was poor, although again it was stressed that nobody could really predict the course the disease would take because it was an extremely rare situation.

Nonetheless, most of the doctors involved (certainly all the neurologists) expected that—if she decided she wanted to continue—eventually a feeding tube would be needed for nourishment as swallowing would become impossible, and a respirator would be needed to breathe for her because breathing would also become impossible. Becky has always felt she would not want to live like that. Now faced with the reality of the situation, her opinions held unchanged. Becky made her decisions and signed forms indicating “Do Not Resuscitate.”

Hospice care was first mentioned on Friday, July 22. She stayed in the hospital over the weekend in an attempt to help her become accustomed to the noninvasive Bi-Pap breathing support machine to be sent home with her (breathing masks to be worn at night, oxygen to be available at all times.) A lot of careful consideration and soul searching took place over that weekend, but no change of her heart or mind occurred. On Monday, more forms were signed indicating that no invasive treatments were to be used, and arrangements were made for hospice care at home and for appropriate equipment to be delivered.

On Tuesday, July 26, she returned home. While everyone agreed that spontaneous remission can happen and that nobody really could predict for sure what might lie ahead, it was clear that the doctors’ expectations were that she would not recover and that she had no more than a few weeks left. We made a round trip visit to Vanderbilt on Thursday to see a new pulmonologist. Becky liked her, but this doctor had little new to offer.

We lost Becky on Friday morning. The neuromuscular disease had progressed more quickly than anyone, including her doctors, had expected.
She was mentally clear right up to the end, and she even walked a few steps (with a lot of help) about 5 am on Friday; this was only 2 or 3 hours before her body stopped functioning. It is still believed that the new rare disease was unrelated to the older rare disease. The combination of two unrelated diseases this rare in a single person is extraordinarily unusual.

The speed with which this all progressed frankly astonished everyone involved, including her doctors. Although sad and very disappointed, Becky was never frightened about all this. She was sad about leaving us, very frustrated after all we had been through, and uncomfortable for the last week or two. But her belief system (and mine) accepted a much larger reality than we see around us and a continuation after death. She described herself as “spiritual, but not religious.” This belief system supported her well right up to her last moments. She was never afraid, just disappointed to have to leave us and concerned about her daughters.

Medical Update ~ 20 July 2011

2011-07-20T13:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a medical update in quite a while, so it is past time. Currently I am in the hospital at Vanderbilt. It has been two years and two days since my bone marrow transplant and I was not really planning on being back in the hospital now.

A recap: The first year and a half after the transplant I did very well. Then, starting last fall, my platelet count began dropping. I had a bone marrow biopsy, we watched the counts for a bit, and after another bone marrow biopsy the decision was made to start treating me with Vidaza. Hopefully the drug would knock out the dysplasia that was trying to come back and let my new donor bone marrow take over.

I seemed to be maintaining, though not improving a lot with the Vidaza. My other blood counts began to drop (an expected side effect), so I have been getting transfusions of red cells and platelets once or twice a week, depending on how low the counts get. However, because of our trip to France in March, Tori's graduation in May and Abbey's wedding and reception in June, we decided to keep on the Vidaza path until after the EVENTS, then reassess. (I kept telling all the docs I didn't have time to be !)

So we got to the end of June and time for reassessment. And then something weird happened. A couple of days after the reception at the farm I started getting hoarse, having a hard time breathing and a hard time swallowing. This has gotten progressively worse for the last month. When I came for my monthly appointment at Vanderbilt week before last, they put me in the hospital here to run some tests.

They did a whole battery of things: brain MRI, chest and abdominal CT scans, spinal tap, a myriad of blood tests, etc. Only to not be able to find out anything. Best guesses are that it is (a) maybe related to the emergency root canal I had right before the wedding that affected some nerves either at that time or (maybe more likely) in the healing process that followed, (b) maybe a virus, or (c) "idiopathic causes," which means they really have no idea and may never figure it out. I seemed to be getting a little better so they sent me home.

Monday I went to my doc at home and he was very concerned with how I sounded, gasping for breath, etc. Obviously I had gotten worse again by then. He called my Vanderbilt doc and they immediately sent me to the ER at Vandy. ER is supposed to make admission easier. HA! Do not believe anyone that tells you that. It was 8 hours from checking into ER before they put me in a room on the transplant floor in the hospital.

However, I've been here another two days and had more tests. More are scheduled. As a matter of fact they are coming shortly to take me for some neurological test called EMG. Swallowing, talking and breathing are all difficult, though they have me on oxygen to help with the breathing. And I get quite weak and tired when I try walking more than a few steps. They've been wheeling me around in a wheelchair. My doc is hopeful they can figure something out by Friday. And until we get this under control we aren't really doing anything else about the MDS. So this is kind of an update without an end. Will post more as they figure it out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Ice Cream Social ~ Peach Ice Cream

2011-07-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

During the summer when I was a little girl I always enjoyed ice cream at my great-grandmother, Louise's, house. Every night before they went to bed, Louise and Daddydear always had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Louise rarely bought ice cream, but made her own. The churn was a wooden bucket that held the ice and ice cream salt, with a metal container and dasher that had to be hand cranked. She always put the ice cream in an enamelled pan with a sliding lid to store it in the freezer. When we would visit we thought it was a wonderful treat to have a bowl of ice cream at night.

Another way I enjoyed ice cream as a child was when my grandmother would let us walk up the street to the general store in their little town and get an ice cream treat. She would either give me a nickle or let me charge it to her account. Typically I would get an Eskimo Pie. (And btw, does anyone know why this ice cream on a stick is called a pie?) For those of you who might be unfamiliar with an Eskimo Pie, it is a small block of vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate so that it has a chocolate shell and is on a popsicle stick. My grandfather always grew lots of strawberries, so Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream was also a summertime treat at their house.

When I was a teenager I decided I liked ice cream sandwiches - chocolate cookie with vanilla ice cream. And my early teen years were when my best friend and I ran the Peach Stand on the highway for her grandfather's peach farm. We always had tons of peaches in the summer and peach ice cream was a treat we really enjoyed. Later, when I was married and moved to Texas, I discovered Bluebell Fresh Peach Ice Cream. That was a great facsimile of what we had made at home in earlier years. Luckily, my grandmother had given me a Waring Ice Cream Parlour machine one year for my birthday. It was electric and used table salt, but it was still messy. However, it was much easier than hand-cranking or having to find ice cream salt.

Sometime after that I sort of lost my taste for ice cream. It's not something I buy or keep around the house. But a few years ago we had an excess of fresh figs on our tree and of course I had a recipe for Fig Ice Cream. I got a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and gave it a try. Oh my! That ice cream was so good and the Cuisinart made it so easy to make ice cream, that I have been making fresh fruit ice creams every summer. And a few times in the winter I have made Nigella's Pomegranate Ice Cream.

Which brings us to today. First, Suzy from Kitchen Bouquet is hosting another Ice Cream Social this year. Click on the logo to join in or just to see all the wonderful frozen treats being brought to the party.

Second, this weekend we celebrate not only National Ice Cream Day, but National Peach Ice Cream Day. I want to take part in the Ice Cream Social and we have lots of peaches on our trees.

What could be more perfect?

Before we get busy in the kitchen, I will say that this is my basic fruit ice cream recipe. While today peach is on the menu, you can use figs, strawberries, other berries, stone fruit, etc.

Let's start the custard by getting the egg (free-range from my CSA) and sugar in the pot.

Custard cooked until it coated the spoon:

Peaches sliced with sugar and lemon juice added:

Ingredients in Cuisinart:

Dipped out and ready for the social:

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

2 cups chopped fresh peaches
1 Tbsp lemon juice
generous 3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream, whipped slightly

Combine fruit, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar. Let stand until sugar is dissolved.

Mix remaining sugar with egg in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the milk and cook, continuing to stir constantly, until mixture is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and refrigerate custard several hours to chill. Combine fruit mixture with milk mixture and fold in the slightly whipped cream.

Freeze in 2 quart ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instructions. Then place in airtight container in freezer to ripen for several hours.

With this recipe I'm also joining:
Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum
Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Cherry Peach Preserves

2011-07-10T00:01:00.003-05:00

Another wonderful preserve recipe using beautiful summer fruits: Cherries and Peaches.

Fruits mixed together with sugar:

Juice draining into maslin pan:

Juices cooking:

Temperature approaching 220°F:

Preserves in jars waiting to seal:

Cherry Peach Preserves
adapted from the recipe I use for Peach Preserves
makes 5 or 6 half pints

5-6 cups, pitted, peeled and sliced peaches
2-3 cups pitted, quartered cherries
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sterilise jars and lids and keep warm.

Measure fruit. You need about 8 cups total. Gently mix fruit and pour the sugar on them. Turn gently and allow to sit at room temperature 2-3 hours. Place a colander over your preserving pan and pour the fruit and liquid into it. Let the juice drain for about 15 minutes. Put the fruit back in the bowl and set aside.

Add the lemon juice to the preserving pan and cook over high heat. You want to cook this into a syrup that is 222°F. How long it takes depends on the size and shape of your pan. I use a maslin pan and it takes about half an hour or so with the heat on high.

As soon as the syrup reaches the proper temperature, pour in the fruit and any other juice that has accumulated. Cook over high heat, stirring as needed, until the peaches begin to get translucent. This usually takes me about another half hour or so.

Pour preserves into jars, wipe rims, place on lids and rings. Process in BWB for 5 minutes. Remove from canner and allow to cool before storing. Be sure to listen for the pings that tell you the jars are sealed.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Peach Preserves

2011-07-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Fresh peaches are one of the best delights of summer. We have lots of them growing at the farm and I love to make Peach Preserves.

When I was growing up in Louisiana, my best friend's grandparents had a peach orchard ~ Phil-Lora brand peaches. Every summer her grandad would hire a bunch of us kids to either pick peaches or man the peach stand out at the highway. Trish and I always opted for peach stand duty. Summer in Louisiana is HOT and we got to work in the shade. During peach season my Mom and grandmother put up lots of peaches - mostly frozen and in preserves. I can remember my grandmother always put a peach kernel in every jar of her peach preserves.

Back in 1993, I got a copy of Preserving the Taste, by Edon Waycott. A number of recipes for the book were developed by her for La Brea Bakery and are quite popular there. I got this book when it was new and have loved a lot of her ideas. I was particularly delighted when I found this method of making peach preserves by cooking the juice into a syrup first, and will never make peach preserves any other way. They have to be the best we have ever tasted. Very much a fresh peach flavour, just bursting from every bite and not too sweet. The finished product is mostly fruit.

Peaches, peaches, peaches:

Sliced and measuring:

Sugar stirred into peaches:

Cooking in the maslin pan:

Sealed in jars:

Peach Preserves
adapted from Preserving the Taste
makes 5 or 6 half pints

6-7 lbs peaches
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 or 6 almonds (one per jar), if desired

Sterilise jars and lids and keep warm.

Peel and slice the peaches. You should have approximately 8 cups. Pour the sugar on them and mix gently. Allow to sit at room temperature 2-3 hours. Place a colander over your preserving pan and pour the peaches and liquid into it. Let the juice drain for about 15 minutes. Put the peaches back in the bowl and set aside.

Add the lemon juice to the preserving pan and cook over high heat. You want to cook this into a syrup that is 222°F. How long it takes depends on the size and shape of your pan. I use a maslin pan and it takes about half an hour.

As soon as the syrup reaches the proper temperature, pour in the peaches and any other juice that has accumulated. Cook over high heat, stirring as needed, until the peaches begin to get translucent. This took me about another half hour or so.

Pour preserves into jars and add an almond to each if you are using those. Process in BWB for 5 minutes. Remove from canner and allow to cool before storing. Be sure to listen for the pings that tell you the jars are sealed.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Blues and Bay - a canning recipe

2011-07-08T00:01:00.007-05:00

Another new recipe to use blueberries. Blues and Bay - just the name sounds intriguing. And it's a super easy recipe, too. The berries can be served with yogurt for breakfast or as a topping for ice cream, pound cake, cheesecake, pancakes, etc.

Fresh organic blueberries:

In the jars with a home grown fresh bay leaf from my bay tree:

Canned and listening for the ping of the seal:

Blues and Bay
adapted from The River Cottage Preserves Handbook
The delicate note of fresh bay complements the blueberries perfectly.
makes 6 half-pint jars

3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 1/2 lbs blueberries
6 fresh bay leaves

Sterilise jars and lids and keep warm.

Make a simple syrup with the sugar and water. Mix the sugar with the water in a saucepan and bring to a slow boil to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.

Pack blueberries firmly into jars without crushing them. Slide one bay leaf into each jar next to the glass.

Pour boiling syrup over fruit leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe rims, top with lids and screwbands. Process 15 minutes in BWB.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Blueberry Peach Jam

2011-07-07T00:01:00.005-05:00

Local organic blueberries and peaches are ready, so I am trying some new recipes. First up is this Blueberry Peach Jam. I was introduced to it by my friend Webbie @ Webbie's World and it is delicious.

Beautiful blueberries:

Luscious peaches:

And here are the peaches sliced up before going in the processor:

Peaches and blueberries in the the maslin pan:

SureJell and cinnamon stirred into the fruit:

Stirring in the sugar:

Jam cooking:

And in the jars waiting for the tell-tale ping so I know it's sealed:

This really is an amazing jam. I love the way the sweetness of the peaches combines with the tartness of the blueberries.

Blueberry Peach Jam
adapted from Blueberry-Recipe.com

3 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh peach slices
1 package Sure-Jell
1/4 tsp cinnamon
7 cups sugar

Sterilise jars and lids and keep warm.

Crush berries and put in a large saucepan. I use my maslin pan. Pulse peach slices a few times in the processor to chop. Add to the blueberries. Mix in Sure-Jell and cinnamon and cook over high heat until fruit comes to a boil, stirring constantly.

Add sugar all at once, bring to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim to remove foam. Ladle into prepared jars and process 15 minutes in BWB.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Mamah's Potato Salad

2011-07-06T00:01:00.009-05:00

The majority of my family recipes are from my Mom's side of the family, but this one came to me from my Papa's mother. And she got it from her mother. I really didn't have a lot of her recipes written down, so when I was first married and lived in Dallas, I would drive over to Fort Worth several days a week to spend time with Mamah and Aunt Jean. We went through lots and lots of family recipes and as I would write them down, I'd get her to actually measure. Because she would say things like, "Oh put in about half a handful." Everybody's hands are different, n'est pas? So she would measure into her hand and then we'd put it in a measuring cup. Sometimes we'd actually make the recipes with me watching and if she said, "Put in enough until it looks/feels right", I could measure that amount also. I am so glad I spent the time doing this, otherwise many of her recipes would be lost to us now.

A funny story. A few years ago I was making one of those recipes and my Aunt Sissy (Mamah's youngest daughter) was over here visiting. She said, "Mama never made the scalloped potatoes like that." And I said she must've changed how she did it, because I wrote it down as we made it. And we agreed that most of us will change up recipes as the mood or ingredients change.

From the first time I made it for him, this became The Guy's favourite potato salad. We have it often when we are barbequing during the summer. And always for the 4th of July. I never get out the recipe and measure anything when making this, I just use enough of the ingredients until it looks right. LOL. But in the recipe I listed the amounts my grandmother told me and the way we made it one long ago day in Fort Worth. Really you can adjust any of the ingredient amounts to suit your own taste.

Collected ingredients:

Potatoes cooking:

Put everything in a large bowl:

Look at the bright orange gold of the organically-grown free-range egg yolks.

This potato masher belonged to Mamah's mother. It is one of the few kitchen utensils I inherited from my Papa's family, and in my opinion is the best potato masher design ever. I'm guessing it has been mashing potato salad for somewhere around 100 years.

Mashed, stirred and served in a marigold Fiesta nappy:

Mamah's Potato Salad
Make early in the day or the day before you want to serve to give the flavours time to meld.

2½ quarts peeled, cubed potatoes
salt
4 hard cooked eggs
2 Tbsp chopped pimientos
½ cup chopped sweet pickle
2 Tbsp or so dill pickle juice or vinegar
1 cup good mayonnaise, approximately

Put potatoes in 3 qt. pot, salt and cover with water. Boil till tender, but not mushy. Chop eggs. Mash the potatoes slightly, leaving some lumps. Stir together the potatoes, eggs, pimiento, sweet pickle and some pickle juice. Fold in the mayonnaise. Adjust salt, mayonnaise and pickle juice to desired seasoning and consistency.

Notes:
1. Mamah always said that if you made this ahead of time you could bury a quarter of an onion in the middle of the salad and take it out before serving or you could stir in some chopped green onions. That's what her mother always did.
2. Sometimes I vary the recipe by adding mustard. The Guy's current favourite is a jalapeño flavoured one.
3. Adding fresh chopped dill is good, too.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Pie Party ~ Chocolate Pie

2011-07-05T00:01:00.036-05:00

Today over 1000 bakers are having a Pie Party. This started last week spontaneously on Facebook and Twitter -- talking about pie. A group of people were talking about how much we like pie, how we like making it, and how sad it makes us that people are too afraid of pie crust to make pie. So we're baking pies. And if you are one of those people who are afraid of pie crust, do try out the recipe I used today. It's simple, never-fail and made in a food processor. How easy is that?

The pie I'm offering today is a combination of OLD and NEW.

I have always loved making and been known for my pie crust. While my sister is the cake baker in our family, I am the pie baker. Recently I ran across a pie dough recipe that is made in the food processor and makes enough so that you can freeze it in portions to have ready to use another time. That is the crust I am using today. It's NEW!

Now what kind of filling? I looked through lots of my recipes and finally decided on a family recipe for Chocolate Meringue Pie. I can remember sitting at my great-great aunt's table eating a piece of this pie along with a glass of cold milk after playing the piano for her. (As an aside, she left her piano to me. It is a Cable-Nelson Upright Grand that was made around 1906. The piano has lived with me since she crossed in 1974, but just this last Christmas I passed it on to Abbey.)

Although I've had this recipe forever, I have never actually made the pie before. Chocolate is not my favourite flavour, you know. But my family loves chocolate, so it was high time for me to give this a try. The filling is the same recipe that my great-grandmother used to make chocolate pudding. So I'm guessing this was probably my great-great-grandmother's recipe. It's OLD!

Old recipes oftentimes do not give a specific oven temperature. That's because they were originally developed back when people cooked on woodstoves and there wasn't any really accurate way to know the temperature. Our OLD pie recipe says to bake in Slow Oven. A Slow Oven is normally considered to be 300°F. I made note of that in the recipe.

First we'll make the pie dough.

That's a duck egg from my CSA and whole wheat local pastry flour. The container of white stuff in the centre is rendered leaf lard. Leaf lard is not what you buy at the market in a box on a shelf. Leaf lard is the fat that surrounds the pig’s kidneys. It is extremely high quality and really is the gold standard for fat in pie dough. When rendered it makes the flakiest and best tasting pie crusts. There are several mail order and internet sources. I have always gotten mine from Dietrich's Meats. (Did I mention that I have won 1st place in Pie Competitions at our Parish Fairs using good lard for the crust?)

I know many people may be leery of using lard, but did you know it is probably the healthiest fat you can use for baking? It is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and higher in unsaturated fat than butter, and it has none of the transfats of the hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated man-made solid fats. Nor does it have any of the additives used in those. Leaf lard has little to no pork flavour, so it won't compete with the flavour of your filling.

Dry ingredients and lard in processor:

Leaf lard needs to be used right out of the refrigerator at its coldest temperature.

Liquid ingredients:

Dough divided into portions with five bags to go in the freezer:

Last portion rolled to use today:

Fitted in pie baker:

Ingredients for filling:

Filling getting mixed for cooking:
g

Cooked and poured into crust:

Meringue on pie:

Baked to a beautiful golden brown and sitting to cool:

Sliced and plated to serve on Fiesta:

Chocolate Pie

1 unbaked 10" pie crust

filling:
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa
4 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 cups milk
2 tsp good vanilla

meringue:
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
pinch salt
2 Tbsp sugar

Blind bake the pie crust: Preheat oven to 450°F. Place dough in 10" pie pan and shape to fit. Line with parchment or foil. If desired, add beans or pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights. Prick the bottom with a fork (aka docking) and bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

While crust is baking, make the filling and meringue.
Filling:
Beat egg yolks lightly. Mix sugar with cocoa, flour and salt. Gradually stir in the milk, then the egg yolks. Cook until thick, stirring constantly, and add vanilla. Pour into crust.

meringue:
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks. Slowly add sugar and beat until stiff. Put over pie and bake a 300°F for about 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

Remove from oven and let sit until pie comes to room temperature. Store in refrigerator.

Notes: The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar in the filling. That is too sweet for us, but if you like a sweeter filling, use the full amount.

Never Fail Processor Pastry
Makes enough pastry for 3 double-crust pies or 3½ dozen muffin-size tart shells.

5 cups pastry flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 lb leaf lard, use very cold - right out of refrigerator
2 tsp white vinegar
1 egg, slightly beaten
Water

Mix together flour, salt and baking powder in food processor. Cut in leaf lard until crumbly. Do not overmix as you don’t want the lard to get too hot and melt.

Add water to vinegar and egg to make 1 cup of liquid. Add liquid to dry ingredients and process just to mix. Remove from processor and shape into six balls. At this point you can place each ball in a Ziploc bag, press out air, seal and freeze. OR refrigerate for about an hour before rolling and using.

Roll out on a floured board. Crust can be rolled nearly paper thin and not fall apart. Let frozen pastry thaw overnight in fridge before using.

Besides the pie party, with this recipe I'm joining:
Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum
Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy your pie.

namasté,

Independence Day & Postcards from the Farm

2011-07-04T00:01:00.015-05:00

The 4th of July has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of celebrating Independence Day goes back to the Revolutionary War. Celebrations often include parades and fireworks. For our family food and companionship are always part of the equation.

When I was growing up the 4th of July was a huge party out at the Ranch. The Ranch belonged to my grandparents and great-grandparents. Everyone in my extended family came, as well as most of the townspeople. My great-grandfather was in charge of the barbeque. Back behind the ranch house, there was a huge pit dug in the ground, probably about 6 feet wide, maybe 10 feet long and I'm not sure how deep. The fire was built in the pit and the cooking started the day before the holiday. There were posts holding up a roof overhead and a large metal grate covered the pit.

Sides of beef, whole cabrito and pork were spit roasted over the fire. A barrel of oysters was always shipped up on the train from New Orleans and my uncle was in charge of shucking them for people. Sides, breads and desserts were provided by the women in the family as well as all the ladies from town. The tables were laden with the most wonderful bounty. My great-grandfather grew a watermelon patch every year, so a number of watermelons would be iced down for later consumption.

People would start arriving mid-morning and the meal was served in the afternoon. While the adults visited and drank iced tea or beer, the kids would all go swimming in the pond, gathering blackberries, or just in general playing and exploring outdoors. Once it got dark my grandfather would shoot off Roman Candles for us. It was an annual magical event that last occurred in 1965. Louise, my great-grandmother, crossed over in October that year and I guess the other adults just weren't up to doing it without her.

I have the most wonderful memories of those times and there is no way to compete with them. But we've tried to have 4th of July parties out at our farm whenever possible. One year Abbey and Tori invited a bunch of their friends in addition to the family and friends we invited. The place was festooned with dozens of flags and the dock and front porch were wrapped with red, white and blue swagged bunting. We barbequed and everyone brought plenty of sides and desserts. Ice cold watermelons were served, as well.

Two things about that particular party still stand out to me. The first was the astonishment from one of Abbey's friends. She could not believe that the other ladies and I made all of the food. Apparently her Mom didn't cook. The girl kept asking me how did we did that because her Mom always had parties catered. The girl's jaw literally dropped when she saw the tables all covered with delicious dishes that had been prepared at home.

The second thing involves fireworks. I had picked up a few fireworks. Unbeknownst to me, my sister also bought fireworks - more than I had. When the dad of one of Tori's friends asked what he could bring, I suggested fireworks. (He was a single dad and didn't cook.) Now what I didn't think of when I told him that: He was a military guy and was in charge of bombs and other exploding things for his job. Friends, be careful of what you say and to whom you say it. I believe the entire bed of his pick-up truck arrived at the farm piled FULL of fireworks!!!

It was the most amazing private fireworks display I have ever attended! The dad and some of the other guys took charge of firing them. The kids were over the moon with excitement and neighbors came over to enjoy them, too. All in all the display went on for over 2 hours. And we quit before all the fireworks were used.

I've made a number of photos from our Independence Day events, so here are some Patriotic Postcards from the Farm.

We're having a low-key celebration this year. I'm not really up to going anywhere, so dinner at home will be Barbeque Chicken, Mamah's Potato Salad, some sort of green beans, fresh garden tomatoes and Chocolate Meringue Pie. And I might wave a sparkler or two. I hope all of you who are celebrating have a most wonderful day.

I'm joining:
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday,
MaryT/TheTeach @ Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday

Happy
Birthday

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Pear Salad ~ Comfort Food

2011-07-02T06:01:00.001-05:00

I love looking at vintage food ads. Recently I came across these two and boy did they bring back some memories.

While we never used the featured product, we did often have Pear Salad. And it was more like the salad in the first ad. This was something my Mom grew up eating, so obviously it has been around since at least the Depression. Mimi and Mom would put some home-canned pear pieces (we didn't have commercially canned Bartletts) on a lettuce leaf, top each with a dollop of mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip), and sprinkle the top with grated cheddar cheese. And if there wasn't any lettuce on hand, pears were just put in a fruit bowl before being topped with the mayonnaise and cheese. I can remember how good those tasted! It was one of my favourite salads as a child.

Right after the transplant when I wasn't able to eat much, Pear Salad again made an appearance on our menus. Then it sort of dropped off the radar again. Seeing the ads made me hungry for Pear Salad last night, so I fixed some for my supper. I realize it's not sophisticated nor at the cutting edge of culinary delight, but it's nostalgic and comforting. Though I don't have home canned pears now, I think using store-bought ones are a reasonable facsimilie of the salads I grew up eating. And I just happened to have the main ingredients on hand.

Did I mention this is EASY? Only three ingredients:

Pears:

Pears with mayo:

Topped with cheese and plated in a lilac Fiesta fruit bowl:

Pear Salad
Per serving:
2 pear halves
2 tsp good mayonnaise
2 Tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Arrange pears on serving plate. Dollop a teaspoon of mayonnaise into each one and sprinkle each with half the cheddar cheese. Serve and enjoy!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

True Southern Cornbread

2011-06-30T12:01:00.002-05:00

We Southerners have some pretty fixed ideas about cornbread and how it should be prepared. As you know, I grew up in Louisiana. Louisiana is on the Gulf coast in the Deep South and this is our family recipe for cornbread. So let's get something settled right off the bat.

It's not cornbread if it is not baked in a cast iron skillet!

This is the #1 rule. If you bake it in some other pan, you will get a facsimilie, but it is just not the same. I see recipes all the time now that call for baking it in a Pyrex dish or a non-stick baking pan and I just cringe! Cornbread should have a nicely browned, crispy crust on the bottom and sides. To achieve that crust, you need to heat your iron skillet on the stove top with some oil in it while you are mixing up your batter. When you pour your batter into the hot skillet, it starts to form the beautiful crust. With other pans you do not get this crispy brown crust.

Then there is also the business about the ratio of cornmeal to flour, and whether or not you should add any sugar. Traditional cornbread should not be more than a 1:4 ratio of flour to cornmeal. If you see a recipe that calls for equal parts or 1:2, put it aside and go look for another recipe. That's not southern cornbread. As to the sugar, there are many southerners that eschew the use of it altogether. Sugar helps with browning, so we add just a small amount of sugar to our batter. You can leave it out, if you so desire.

Cornbread goes with so many different southern foods that it is something we serve fairly often. It is our favourite accompaniment for vegetable soup, as well as peas, greens and many other veggies..

While not absolutely necessary, I like to use stone ground cornmeal and I get it from Falls Mill, an old waterwheel mill in Belvidere, TN, which makes it a local product for me. Today I'm also using organically grown free-range duck eggs from my CSA box, but normally I use chicken eggs.

Heating the skillet - you can see how the oil is getting hot.

Wet and dry ingredients

Note: If you use duck eggs, they will need to be beaten more than chicken eggs to incorporate some air.

Ready to bake

Lovely cornbread turned out of skillet

Sliced and ready to serve on one of my favourite Fiesta plates

People at this house could inhale this cornbread. Tori and I have both been known to eat only cornbread for supper sometimes. LOL. This is one of those recipes where I don't really need to get the recipe out to look at. I just make it. It's really easy and if you try it I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

Country Cornbread
Serves 8

3 Tbsp oil, divided
2 cups yellow corn meal
6 Tbsp flour
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
8 pats of butter

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Heat cast iron skillet on stove top with 1 Tbsp oil.

In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients. In a batter bowl, whisk the eggs, 2 Tbsp oil, and milk. Pour the liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to just combine. Pour cornbread batter into hot iron skillet and bake about 30 minutes or till done.

Cut in 8 wedges. Slice the wedges in half horizontally and place a pat of butter in each one. Serve immediately!

With this recipe I'm joining:
Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum
Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking
Kim's Recipes to Run On

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Canning in the Summer Time

2011-06-29T12:00:00.013-05:00

I grew up canning. I did. When I was a child I was lucky enough to get to spend many summers with my grandparents. My grandfather always had a huge garden. What wasn't immediately eaten or given away, was "put up" by my grandmother. She canned, froze, preserved, pickled and otherwise prepared the food for long term storage, so they would be well-stocked for the off season. I thought that almost everybody did that, and was surprised to later find out how lucky we were. There were rarely any commercially canned goods in Mimi's pantry. Instead, it looked like this:

Mimi's utility room encompassed her canning Kitchen. In addition to the laundry equipment the utility room had countertops, a moveable centre table, a double sink with one extra deep bowl, a gas triple burner, a chest freezer and a spare refrigerator. I was grown before I realized what a treasure that really was. As many of you know, we are working on a plan to build a new house out at our farm. I seriously thought about how to incorporate a canning Kitchen. However, it came to me the other day that as the log house is going to become a "guest house", and how I already have that Kitchen set up for easy canning and dehydrating, I can simply do all my canning there.

My grandparents were for the most part self-sufficient in the food department. They had cattle, chickens (for both eggs and eating), several ponds for fish, muscadines, peaches, plums, figs, bush cherries, apples, pears and strawberries in addition to the garden. They also foraged (asparagus and blackberries mostly) and both my grandfather and great-grandfather hunted. To my knowledge they never raised pigs, but instead would trade a steer for a couple of hogs in the autumn and sometimes goats also. And for many years my great-grandmother kept a milk cow, so all their dairy was homegrown. Probably their main food purchases were flour, cornmeal, salt, shrimp, crabs and rice. I look back to that with some nostalgia and sometimes think I'd like to have a similar setup (sans the mammals), but I am realistic enough to know that at this point in my life, I don't want to sign up for keeping animals. But the gardening and canning remain right up my alley.

For quite some time home canning seemed to be going out of style, but I have been encouraged the last few years to see people reviving this household art. You know what is in your food and there is just no substitute for some of the recipes. You can also put up exotic preserves and pickles that would cost an arm and a leg at gourmet food purveyors. I know many people are afraid of canning as they are worried about making people ill, but I'd like to encourage anyone to give it a try. As long as you follow guidelines set out by the National Centre for Food Preservation or the Ball Blue Book, your food will be safe, healthier and certainly tastier than anything you can purchase.

Typically during the summer I spend most of my time at the farm - gardening, canning, pickling, preserving and freezing. Due to the MDS and transplant, I haven't been able to do that the last couple of years.

At my Kitchen here in town I have a Jennair cooktop. When we remodelled I chose glass surface burners, rather than the traditional coils. (Gas was not an option at the time.) After a number of years I learned you aren't supposed to use cast iron on a glass cooking surface! After all this time I haven't had any problems with that. Not wanting to miss out on all the canning fun last year, I put up a number of different pickles and preserves here in town. And as I couldn't go move all my canning supplies and utensils, I "made do" with the things I had here.

This led to a second no-no with glass cooktops - the size of the pot on the burner. I was subbing my shrimp boil pot for the water bath canner. This pot is considerably larger than the recommended 2" larger than the burner. To my dismay, this resulted in a cracked glass top. Fortunately I had gotten two of the plug-in units when we remodelled, but had never used the second one. I keep the cooktop set up with the grill on the right and the burners on the left. It was an easy replacement. For the rest of last year's preserves, I used my 8 quart stockpot for the canner. This necessitated using smaller jars and more batches in the BWB.

As I'm still not able to be out at the farm on a regular basis, and as I am not interested in purchasing another glass plug-in unit, I've been looking around for a better idea for canning in the Kitchen in town. I've known for years about a larger raised heating coil that Jennair makes called "big pot canning element". It plugs into a coil burner unit just like any other coil. But it is larger and taller with underside supports. This raises the bottom of the pot above the cooktop surface to allow for better airflow and the special air ring around the supports eliminates the problem of heat build-up under the oversized pots that can damage the component parts of the cooktop. The larger size makes the heating circle of the coil much more similar in size to a canner. It's my understanding that these big pot canning elements are available for most stoves that use electric coil elements. If you are canning on an electric stove, it's worth checking out.

Sometimes eBay really comes in handy! And this is where I get to the "thrifty" part of my post. I was able to purchase an older NIB big pot canning element and a gently used coil cooktop plug-in unit for less than a quarter of their current retail price. Don't you just love deals like that? Now all I have to do is unplug either the grill or the glass surface plug-in and replace it with the coil plug-in and canning element. I'm excited and am ready to start making some preserves and jam!

I'm joining:
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "K" - K is for "Kitchen", where all my canning takes place.
Thrifty Treasures Sunday at Southern Hospitality
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Happy canning.

namasté,

Abbey & Donnie: THE WEDDING

2011-06-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

All the planning, all the shopping for attire, all the fittings, all the organizing, and all the details culminate tonight. And all of a sudden the last eighteen months seem to have flown by! At 5:00pm EDT there will be the most fabulous affair at Disney's Wedding Pavillion on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon. My firstborn daughter will marry the love of her life. The Guy and I couldn't be happier. We're happy for Abbey because she is so happy. And we are happy to be welcoming such a wonderful son-in-law into our family. Abbey and Donnie, we love you!

In honour of this most auspicious occasion, I set a wedding table using Abbey's colours of Ivory and Gold. All of my diva friends:
Elaine @ Dishing with Carafaye,
Daphne @ Tabletop Time,
Rebecca @ Mybecca's Vintage Tables, and
Candy @ The Little Round Table,
are also doing wedding tables to help us celebrate. I was so thrilled when they agreed to join me in this endeavour! Please check out their blogs for totally different, absolutely fabulous takes on a wedding table.

For favours, we chose to use Fiesta. Judi Noble, the art director at Homer Laughlin China, created this beautiful fairy tale castle design, which was put on both bud vases and tumblers.

The Bride was thrilled. The Maid of Honour was thrilled. Their mother was thrilled. By default the Groom and the Father of the Bride were thrilled. All the other wedding planning has been equally as fun and satisfying. The Disney wedding team is fabulous. Please join in our happiness and celebration today.

For the ivory and gold table, I used post-86 ivory Fiesta dishes along with my wedding crystal and flatware. This is the first time I've ever done such a monochromatic ivory table. Normally when I use Fiesta, it is an explosion of colours! And I don't normally dress it up so much with silver and crystal. But I love how it looks!

And look! Although there is not a lot of sky showing in the summer from this angle, it's my first ever on-purpose blue hour photo:

Click here if you are interested in learning more about Blue Hour Photography, including the daily times when you can make these shots in your area.

On today's table:
Midcentury ivory rayon tablecloth and napkins
Specially made for us ivory post-86 fairy tale Fiesta tumblers and bud vases
Ivory post-86 Fiesta plates and pyramid candleholders
Ivory Century butter base decorated in gold
Silver napkin rings I've had forever
Lenox Eternal goblets and sherbets (my wedding crystal - the original Barclay shape, discontinued 1988)
Flatware - Golden Centennial silverplate by International (my wedding flatware - also discontinued 1988 - What was going on that year?)
Candles from TJMaxx
Roses from Fresh Market

This post is linking up with:
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "H" - H is for "Happily Ever After", which is the ending line of all fairy tale weddings. And no one does a fairy tale wedding as Disney does.
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday, where I'm excited to share the wedding table,
Suzanne @ The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday, because I'm afraid my crystal and flatware have become vintage ,
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, as June is the season for weddings, and
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday, in honour of Abbey and Donnie beginning their Together Stroll Through Life.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Love and magical best wishes to all!

namasté,

Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits

2011-05-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

In keeping with this weekend's Biscuit Festival in Knoxville, let's talk about drop biscuits. Now I grew up with biscuits that were rolled and cut. One time when I was still in Junior High School, a friend and I made some drop biscuits and they did not turn out well enough to convince me I should switch from my grandmother's recipe. Well, about four years ago Art Smith was on Oprah's show and he made some of his famous Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits. "These biscuits give a warm welcome to diners at Art Smith's Chicago restaurant, Table Fifty-Two."

A friend on a food board posted the recipe and I thought they sounded so good. Art Smith is a Southern boy at heart, so I trusted he knew how to make biscuits!!! Then a week or so later, there was Art Smith on Iron Chef America where the secret ingredient was cheddar cheese. He made a version of these biscuits using cheddar. Those looked great, too! Do you ever feel as if the universe is speaking to you? LOL. Drop biscuits had dropped back into my life.

I promptly decided I needed to make these. At the time I first made them I had on hand a regular French chèvre and some Cypress Grove Purple Haze Goat Cheese. I elected to make two batches of the biscuits, one with each of the cheeses. They were both delicious! But I have to say that I really liked the ones with the Purple Haze the best. That is one of my most favourite cheeses (flavoured with lavender and fennel pollen), so I am sure that is the reason.

Nothing like doing two at once:

I used my cookie scoop to make the biscuits a uniform size:

And here is how they looked plated:

The friend who posted this recipe on the board also liked to make them with a smaller scoop and bake them in the individual cast iron skillets so that each person got their own. I love that idea, but haven't remembered to look for the mini skillets when I've stopped at the Lodge Store in South Pittsburgh, TN. Maybe next time!

Since that day I have made these biscuits quite a few times, but these days I use Belle Chèvre, our LOCAL award winning goat cheese. To simulate the Purple Haze from Cypress Grove, I add some fennel pollen and lavender flowers to the plain cheese from Belle Chèvre and I am happy.

Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits
adapted from Art Smith
Makes 12 biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cold butter
4 Tbsp goat cheese
1 cup buttermilk
Extra butter to grease pan and top biscuits
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Place a 10" cast iron pan into the oven while it is preheating.

Mix flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter and goat cheese. Make a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the milk. Stir until the mixture is moistened, adding an extra tablespoon of milk if needed.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add a tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted, drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the pan. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake from 14–16 minutes until browned on the top and bottom. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Enjoy warm!

Notes:
1. I do not keep self-rising flour on hand. However when I took Food Prep 101 at college we learned several ways of making our own. This one is supposed to be optimum if the recipe called for buttermilk and is what I use to make these biscuits:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together and use as directed.

2. For recipes that don't use buttermilk, the substitution I use is 3 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt for every 2 cups flour.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum, Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking, and Kim's Recipes to Run On.

Thanks for stopping by today!

namasté,

Blue May Flowers

2011-05-28T00:01:00.012-05:00

For some time now I have wanted to do a tablescape using a blue and white flower cart patterned tablecloth I found.

It's such a cute design and it gave me a chance to use some of my favourite blue dishes.

April showers bring May flowers. How many times have we heard that line? We did get a good bit of rain in April and there are lots of flowers blooming now. I particularly love hydrangeas. And don't they look lovely in a vase next to the Harlequin candleholders?

I love all hydrangeas, but I am especially fond of the lace caps. My great-great aunt had huge bushes of lace cap hydrangeas in her backyard. When I was in high school, my Mom got a cutting and planted it outside my bedroom window. I used to love to look out and see that bush in full bloom. Now I have a lace cap hydrangea living in a pot on my balcony. It grew well last year and then survived the winter. This year it is doing even better. One thing I like to do is put little mini-vases at each place setting so everyone gets a flower or two of their own.

This is not a standard relish dish. It is combination of a cobalt Fiesta relish base and Harlequin blue Harlequin relish inserts.

This cobalt glassware is another of my favourites. It was made by the Louie Glass Company in 1936 as a tribute to the Marx Brothers. This particular style is Harpo and is somewhat easier to find than the other brothers.

I was lucky enough to find what I think are the perfect napkin rings for this tablecloth - ceramic watering cans.

The first one of these I ever saw was a dead ringer for persimmon P-86 Fiesta. I have since found them in other glazes that also match Fiesta colours (seamist, sunflower and sapphire), but I still haven't found out who made them.

I also like the blue plaid flatware with this table:

Gracing today's table:
Vintage blue and white flower cart tablecloth
Sapphire post-86 Fiesta plates and tabbed platter - Homer Laughlin China
Cobalt vintage Fiesta relish base - Homer Laughlin China
Harlequin blue Harlequin relish inserts and candleholders - Homer Laughlin China
Harpo pitcher and water glasses - Louis Glass Company
Contemporary wine goblets
Watering can napkin rings - unknown maker
Napkins - Pier 1
Flatware - bought on eBay
3 Vintage blue vases - unknown makers
Candles from TJ Maxx

This week I am joining ~
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday,
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday,
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday,
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "G" - G is for Growing blue things,
Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday,
Suzanne @ The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday, and
Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for Friday's Favourites.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please also remember to register for my 5 Year Blog Anniversary Give-Away.

namasté,

Pink Saturday ~ The Third Birthday

2011-05-27T13:16:00.009-05:00

It's a special day for Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound. She is celebrating the 3rd birthday of Pink Saturday!!! I started participating in Pink Saturday because it was somewhat of a challenge for me to find pinks to photograph and it has been a wonderful learning experience. To help celebrate this week, I would like to share some flowers from our farm. Come stroll around with me and see what all is blooming pink.

Trailing petunias

Sultanas

Yarrow

Verbena

Rose of Sharon

Lantana

Milk and Wine Lily

Zéphirine Drouhin Rose (the most heavenly fragrance)

Some of these flowers are old Southern pass-along plants. The Rose of Sharon is also known as Althea and is cousin to hibiscus. The Milk and Wine lilies are some I dug up from my great-grandmother's house when we first got the farm.

My great-grandmother was married in 1910 and she dug up and moved some of these Milk & Wine lilies from her mother's house to her new home. When my grandmother got married in 1929, she dug up and moved some of the Milk & Wine lilies to her house. When my Mom got married in 1952, she dug up and moved Milk & Wine lilies to the house where I grew up. These flowers had been growing at my great-grandmother's house for 85 years when I got mine back in 1995, so they are now well over 100 years old. I just love plants with a history.

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY BIRTHDAY! Do check out Beverly's blog to see how others have chosen to celebrate PINK this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please also remember to register for my 5 Year Blog Anniversary Give-Away.

namasté,

Pickled Ramps

2011-05-26T15:10:00.009-05:00

Ramps, also known as wild leeks, are a treat only available for a few weeks in the early spring. They are native to Appalachia and through the upper Midwest into southern Canada. A number of places in the mountains have ramp festivals every spring. The reason ramps are so celebrated is that they are traditionally the first vegetable to grow each year. In the old days people were so happy to get their first fresh vegetable after a season of dried or canned ones.

I am trying to grow a ramp patch at the farm, but it is rather puny so far. Once I get to move up there, I’m sure I can nurture it into expanding and providing a good supply of them for us. In the meanwhile, I typically order some fresh ramps when they are in season.

Ramps can be substituted in many recipes that use onions. Although they are also called wild leeks, they are much stronger than cultivated leeks. Since I first got interested in them, I’ve been collecting recipes that specifically call for ramps. One of those is this recipe for Pickled Ramps in Momofuku, the cookbook from David Chang of Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York City.

There the pickled ramps are used to make a Ramp Ranch Dressing, but you can use them just about any way you would use other pickles. I like to mince some of the leaves and add to tuna or egg salad, for instance. Or I serve the bulbs on a pickle tray along side other pickled vegetables.

For the brine I used water, rice vinegar, sugar, kosher salt and shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice mix):

And here are the pound of ramps with lots of roots still attached:

Ramp bulbs in one jar, tops in another and the pickling brine ready to add:

Ramps in brine:

Ramp greens in brine:

Jars cooling before going in the fridge:

Watch coming posts for the Ramp Ranch Dressing. And just so you know, next year I am going to try Tom Colicchio's recipe for Sweet Pickled Ramps from Think Like a Chef.

Momofuku Pickled Ramps
adapted from Momofuku

3 cups water
1½ cups rice wine vinegar
1 cup white sugar
2½ Tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice mix)
1 lb ramps

Mix the water, vinegar, sugar, salt and shichimi togarashi in a saucepan. Bring to a full boil to dissolve sugar. Alternatively put the ingredients in a large glass measuring cup and heat to boiling in microwave.

Clean ramps. Use a paring knife to trim the root, then peel the outer layer of skin and wash well.

Place cleaned ramps into a glass jar or a lidded plastic container (one that is safe for heating) and pour boiling liquid over them. Weigh down so that ramps are completely submerged. Let cool to room temperature, then store covered in refrigerator for about a week.

Notes:
1. Very young ramps with small leaves may be pickled whole. As the ramps get larger later in the season, trim the top of the ramp leaf, leaving about an inch of green. Tops should be saved for other uses (such as stock or pasta).
2. Pickled ramps can be stored in the refrigerator, or they can be canned for later use. Ramp greens should be used first (within a month) as they will go softer more quickly. Ramp bulbs will last in the refrigerator for several months.
3. This recipe made about a quart jar of pickled ramp bulbs and a half gallon jar of pickled ramp tops.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Namasté,

Scotch Eggs and the Rose & Crown

2011-05-24T20:15:00.014-05:00

First of all:

Scotch Eggs are not from Scotland.

This tasty dish was invented in 1738 or 1851 (depending on which source you believe) by Fortnum and Mason, a British food merchant/department store, supposedly as food for travellers. The name came about because the eggs were originally wrapped in Scottish beef. Often considered picnic food, the eggs are normally eaten cold with pickles and a salad. In the US, English-style pubs often serve them hot with mustard for dipping.

This past December when we were at DisneyWorld, we ate at the Rose & Crown Pub in Epcot one day.

It's a nice place to sit down and have a snack or a brew. We were in no hurry, so we went inside where we had a nice table by a window.

Their bar is all dark wood and what most people would expect an Americanized British pub to look like:

While we perused the menu, the Guy had a Black and Tan.

We decided to sit a spell and order some plates to share. One of those is Scotch Eggs pictured at the top of the post. The eggs were served warm along with some dressed greens, mustard and toast points. It was quite good and the kids went back another day specifically to eat Scotch Eggs.

This is a really simple dish to make at home. You hardly need a recipe and you don't have to go to a pub to eat one!

My CSA is wonderful. I get the best free-range eggs from pastured chickens and sausage from a farmer who raises the pigs organically and hormone-free. With those kinds of ingredients, the taste is divine. I love all the different colours of our CSA eggs:

Here they are cooked and peeled:

Getting the rest of the ingredients, including the sausage from our CSA:

Sausage was divided into six portions to wrap the eggs. I flatten each portion into a thin patty, then wrap it around the egg to totally encase it.

Six eggs ready to chill before cooking:

(Yes, I know I hard cooked a dozen eggs. The other six are going to turn into Louisiana Stuffed Eggs.)

Set up a breading station:

Now I personally do not like a lot of breading on foods, so I only put the sausage-wrapped eggs in the egg wash and panko once. If you like a thicker coating, repeat rolling in the egg wash and bread crumbs.

Cooking in my great-grandmother's cast iron chicken fryer:

Draining and cooling on paper towels:

And plated on tangerine P-86 Fiesta plates:

Look at the beautiful colour of the yolks of true free-range eggs.

For garnishes I used salted, halved grape tomatoes, mustard, horseradish, Wickles, and pickled cocktail sticks:

It is always good to serve a nice acid with any sort of fatty food, whether it is naturally fatty or fried, as the acid helps with digestion. In the South it is traditional to ALWAYS have a pickle tray on the table with a variety of pickled fruits and vegetables. This is the first time I have used those pickled cocktail stirrers and they were quite good with the eggs. The sweet-hot of the Wickles also went well with them.

Even though I said you don't really need a recipe for these, I did look about some online before writing this post. Someone did an unusual version of Scotch Eggs using Italian sausage and seasonings. I'm thinking those might be an interesting addition on an antipasti tray. But if you've never made them before, start with the standard version and see how you like them. They are quite popular with several of the people in this family.

Scotch Eggs
6 hard cooked eggs, peeled and chilled
1 lb bulk sausage
2 eggs
1 Tbsp water
Salt
1 cup panko
oil, for frying
mustard, for serving

Divide the sausage into six equal pieces. Shape each piece of sausage around one of the hard cooked eggs. Place sausage covered eggs in the refrigerator to keep chilled as you use up the remaining sausage and eggs. At this stage they can be refrigerated for several hours. I would chill them at least half an hour before cooking.

Crack the two uncooked eggs into a bowl and whisk in the water. Season with salt and set aside. Place breadcrumbs in another bowl.

Remove sausage covered eggs from fridge. Dip each one in egg wash, then in bread crumbs and set aside on a plate. Place the eggs back into the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. They can rest in the fridge for another hour or so, if you like. Just cover well with plastic wrap. I normally fry them as soon as they are coated with the bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375°F. I prefer to use a cast iron chicken fryer. Just because. It's the best thing for frying. Carefully place eggs, one at a time, into the hot oil. Let cook 3 to 4 minutes, then turn to cook the other side. Do not crowd the skillet. Remove from oil and drain.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice in half lengthwise. Serve with mustard and other chosen garnishes.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum, Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking, and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out.

Thanks for stopping by today! Please also remember to register for my 5 Year Blog Anniversary Give-Away.

namasté,

French Pinks ~ Part 3

2011-05-20T15:00:00.007-05:00

Picking up from last week there are still more lovely pinks from France.

Part of the crown jewels of France on display in the Louvre:

Paris apartment building:

Sign in one of the shop windows up in Tour Eiffel:

Fairy tale coach on the carousel across from the Eiffel Tower:

Macarons at Pierre Hermes:

Until next time

This post is linking up with:
Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound. Check out her blog to see what others have chosen to represent PINK this week.
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "F" - F is for France and all things French.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I've had a wonderful time sharing some of the pinks I saw in France. Please also remember to register for my 5 Year Blog Anniversary Give-Away.

namasté,

5 Year Blog Anniversary and Give-Away

2011-05-19T00:01:00.013-05:00

It was five years ago today that I made my first blog post. Nothing earth shattering and I didn't do much with this blog the first couple of years. But as time passed the blog has become a part of my daily life. I've used it to talk about food and share recipes with people all over the world. I've also been involved with a number of photo memes where we post photographs with particular themes. For a while now I've been participating in blog parties relating to setting a beautiful table, which gives me an opportunity to play with dishes and vintage tablecloths. And the blog has been therapy for me and a means of communication with my far-flung family and friends as I have dealt with my health journey through myelodysplastic syndrome and a bone marrow transplant.

It was only recently that I realized my blog was approaching its Five Year Anniversary. Five Years of posting my random musings! Now while I am highly anticipating the Five Year Anniversary of my transplant when the docs will consider me cured (and the Guy intends to give me an emerald bracelet to replace the hundreds of hospital bracelets I have had to wear over these years), five years of blogging is a good reason to celebrate.

With many thanks to my friend Ann, I am giving away the cutting board you see pictured here. Ann lives in British Columbia and blogs @ Thibeault's Table. I first met her on a food message board and let me tell you, this lady can cook! On her blog she features a beautiful cutting board gallery of handmade boards for sale. I am lucky enough to have two of these boards and I just love them! Each is unique. My favourites are the ones with the "live" edges. A live edge board features a natural edge and the giveaway board is one of those. The dimensions are 21”×9½”×¾”.

The boards from "Ann Thibeault's Signature Cutting and Serving Board Collection" are made from Vancouver Island Big Leaf Maple, a Canadian hardwood, which is the chief source for quality wood cutting boards around the world. Because of the exotic figures found in a small number of big leaf maple trees, including tiger stripe, quilt, spalt, curl, and birdseye, big leaf maple is among the most sought after of hardwoods.

Life is hectic around here at the moment with a graduation, a wedding at DisneyWorld, and a separate wedding reception here at the farm ten days later happening in the next four weeks. The drawing for this beautiful cutting board will take place on the afternoon of 31 May. I'm sorry, but the drawing is limited to readers and friends in Canada and the USA only. After the drawing, Ann will directly ship the board to the lucky winner. To register for the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. Be sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn.

DEADLINE for Registering
12:00 noon Central Daylight Time, 31 May 2011

Thank you to each of you who read my blog, comment or not, follow or not, encourage, empathize, sympathize, share recipes, tablesettings, photographs and otherwise interact with me. I am looking forward to many more great years online together!

namasté,

Burrata...

2011-05-18T22:05:00.015-05:00

Creamy delicious cheesy goodness. I first had burrata a number of years ago at an Italian restaurant in Chicago (whose name escapes me at the moment). It wasn't a fancy large "name" restaurant, just a small place with less than two dozen tables and a bar. There wasn't really a good description on the menu, but I am pretty adventurous when it comes to cheeses, so of course I chose to order it. And I am so glad I did. I fell in love with this cheese. The next day I took Tori there for lunch and we both ordered it. We went back for it a third time before we left town. The cheese was that good!

Burrata is a fresh cheese that should be eaten right away. Maximum shelf life is only about two weeks from when it is made and many times it is eaten immediately after it is put together. Burrata originated in the Puglia/Apulia area of Italy around 1920. The outer skin is a very thin layer of mozzarella which is filled with strands of mozzarella and cream - very delicate. Originally the balls of cheese were wrapped with asfodelo leaves (look similar to leek leaves), but now most are wrapped in paper facsimiles and plastic bags.

When we were in Italy I was lucky enough to eat burrata a number of times, but I haven't had any in almost three years. None of our local markets import it that I have been able to find, though it does tend to be available in gourmet cheese shops and is often made in-house in some restaurants. Abbey and Tori also love burrata, so I was thinking we might need to try to find some. Looking online I found a family dairy in California that makes nothing but burrata. Need I say more?????

It arrived yesterday. Abbey took home one so that she and Donnie could share. And actually Tori wound up eating theirs with them. Tonight the Guy and I had burrata for our dinner. To go with it, some nice Italian bread that I grilled briefly, and some prosciutto di Parma, olives, with a little salad of heirloom tomatoes, basil and olive oil on the side. A nice bottle of pinot grigio and we were set.

Is this cooking? Well, maybe not. But it was getting dinner together in a very easy manner! And a delicious one, to boot. Burrata is normally served at room temperature so that the cream is not solidified.

So I got out the things I thought I would need to make a nice dinner:

Started by getting the ciabatta slices ready to grill:

Love the grill marks! The bread is just the right crispiness with just enough char:

OK. I couldn't help it. I had to julienne the basil on my Romeo and Julienne cutting board (some things are just too cute):

Well, more like a chiffonade, but for the sake of the story, we will call in julienne.

Slices of prosciutto di Parma:

When I took the green paper leaves off the burrata it was wrapped in plastic:

Out of the bag and on the cutting board:

Cut in half:

The centre creaminess is calling to me!

Individual plated burrata topped with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of my favourite olive oil on a sapphire Fiesta plate:

And here's our dinner, including all of the above ingredients with some kalamata olives and a salted heirloom tomato salad with basil (from my kitchen container garden) drizzled with olive oil:

It was so good and I wish I could have had you all over for dinner. If you get the opportunity to try this cheese, don't turn it down! It is summer on a plate with the cheese, fresh heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil.

Burrata Dinner
Ciabatta loaf
good fruity olive oil
heirloom tomatoes
fresh basil
kosher salt
kalamata olives
thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma

Slice the ciabatta and drizzle with olive oil. Grill on each side.

Cut tomatoes up in wedges if they are small. You may want to cut the wedges in half crosswise if the tomatoes are larger. Sprinkle with kosher salt and the basil. Drizzle with olive oil and toss gently to coat.

Cut the burrata in wedges and place on individual plates. Let everyone choose their own accompaniments. Or not. Many people eat the burrata plain.

The table was simple. It's our circa 1946 green ice Formica table that the Guy's parents bought when they were first married, sapphire post-86 Fiesta, winter frost white Corelle serving dishes that I got back in 1978 when I moved into my first apartment, napkin rings I've had forever, Cityscape flatware by Oneida, and napkins from Pier One. Food from iGourmet, Fresh Market, Sciabaca's and my garden. Pinot Grigio from California - Frances Ford Coppola, IIRC.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum, Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking, and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out.

Almost like being back in Italy. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

World Labyrinth Day

2011-05-14T14:00:00.016-05:00

Design of the Labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France

This week for Pink Saturday I included a couple of photos I made on our recent trip at the Chartres Cathedral in France. Chartres is the home of the most famous labyrinth in the world. It was built during the second decade of the 13th century, but labyrinths were around long before that. They come in many shapes and numbers of circuits.

The very first labyrinth was from Ancient Greek mythology. Daedalus built it for the King of Crete to hold The Minotaur so that it couldn't escape. While that labyrinth was a confusing maze, by 430 BC labyrinths and mazes were becoming two different things. A maze is multicursal with many dead ends and it is easy to get lost. A labyrinth is unicursal. There is only one way in and one way out. Labyrinths are used for spiritual renewal. By walking the path to the centre and back while reflecting and meditating, a person can begin to find enlightenment.

The Chartres Labyrinth is an 11-circuit route. It is 42.3 feet in diameter and fills the nave of the cathedral. There is very little in the way of original documentation about the purpose of this particular labyrinth. Just in general though, back in medieval French cathedrals the priests were known to do Easter dances in celebration of the Resurrection. In addition, Catholics were expected to do pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Many were not able to do that, but they were able to get to cathedrals with labyrinths. With dispensation from a priest, walking the labyrinth could be an alternative to the Jerusalem pilgrimage.

During our travels the Guy and I have visited a number of different labyrinths, many of which are replicas of the one at Chartres: the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, VA, the Cathedral of Santa Fe in New Mexico, TMI in Faber, VA, the Senior Centre in Huntsville, AL and others. Several years ago we decided to build a garden labyrinth out at the farm. Just building the labyrinth was enlightening, as construction honours the tradition of sacred geometry. The idea of sacred geometry was first put out by Plato and then adopted by many mathematicians and scientists. While modern science abandoned sacred geometry for many decades, some are now finding there is truth in these ancient ideas.

Labyrinths are considered sacred places with inherent power. Our labyrinth, a replica of the Chartres Labyrinth, is a grass path divided by bricks and is 60 feet in diameter. It is oriented so that when you step into the centre you are facing East and the rising sun. The labyrinth was completed on Midsummer 2007. At the time of the solstice we buried some artifacts at the centre in a dedication ceremony.

Here are some photos of the construction of our labyrinth:

Walking the labyrinth is very personal. It means different things to different people and everyone has a different experience. When we knew we were going to France this spring, I started googling the Chartres Cathedral to find out when it was open, etc. I was dismayed to read that the Labyrinth is virtually always covered with chairs now. But at least I was prepared. We were still going to the Cathedral.

Imagine my surprise and delight when we walked in the door and the Labyrinth was uncovered and open. I turned to the Guy and said, "Look Guy! They cleared off the Labyrinth for me!" He gave me a hug and gracefully agreed. Then I fulfilled one of my bucket list items: I walked the Chartres Labyrinth. Tori was holding my camera and made a photo. That's me in the red coat.

And by the way, there is something known as Labyrinth Etiquette, something it appears that many tourists do not know. I am thinking in particular of a group of British teenagers who were quite rambunctious and loud. I'm sure their parents would have been mortified to see them acting with such disrespect inside a cathedral. Fortunately for the rest of us, they did not stay very long. These are some general guidelines for an optimal experience:

Enhancing the Labyrinth Experience
1. Please do not walk across a labyrinth if someone is in it. Walk around it in order to be respectful and honour their experience.
2. If there is someone in front of you, let that person make one left turn and one right turn before you start, if possible. This will allow for breathing space.
3. Before starting set an intention, but be ready to accept whatever comes without being judgemental. Your intention may be as simple as to relax or a prayer to allow the highest good to come forth or it can be much more complex.
4. If you meet someone going in the opposite direction, you can step to the side or pause in order to let the person pass. Some people do not make eye contact, but friends and loved ones may smile or touch hands as they pass each other.
5. You can walk or dance through the labyrinth in whatever manner feels right to you. You may even pause or stop to kneel.
6. It is perfectly acceptable to walk around someone who is walking more slowly or who has paused for awhile.
7. As you walk the path you are circling the centre. This circular movement energizes the centre and you may feel a physical change in temperature or in energy when you reach the centre.
8. Once you reach the centre you may remain as long as you like. The Centre is a place for inner experience, reflection, meditation, prayer, or listening and receiving. When you are ready, follow the path back out to the beginning to reconnect with the community of the greater world.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I wish peace and love to all of you.

namasté,

French Pinks ~ Part 2

2011-05-13T15:00:00.018-05:00

This week I am picking up where I left off last week. More pink in photos from France!

A lovely rosé for sale in the gift shop at Chambord:

Pink roadster on a carousel in Chartres:

Chartres Cathedral has been on my bucket list to visit for years. It is the home of the Chartres Labyrinth, perhaps the most famous labyrinth in the world. Some of you may remember that we have a garden replica of the Chartres Labyrinth at the farm. The Cathedral has many other interesting elements. This is an angel sundial that is on one of the exterior corners. The sun light gave it a pink cast and I did some editing in Photoshop to create a vignette and to add lighting elements.

Flowering tree behind Notre Dame in Paris (and yes, I got great photos of the flying buttresses, but they aren't pink):

Until next time

This post is linking up with:
Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound. Check out her blog to see what others have chosen to represent PINK this week.
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "E" - E is for Edification and Enjoyment which I got from being able to walk the Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral.

Thanks so much for stopping by! And tune in next week for a third installment of French Pinks.

namasté,

Salted Caramel Nutella Brownies

2011-05-09T10:30:00.005-05:00

Abbey and Tori have always loved Nutella, so whenever I see a recipe that uses it, I file it away to have on hand if I want to make them a special treat. Just before she left for Italy, my friend Annie over @ From the Bookshelf posted a recipe for Salted Caramel Nutella Brownies. If the Nutella weren't reason enough to make these, the caramel, which is someone's absolute favourite around here, sealed the deal. It is that same someone's birthday today, so she deserves a special treat!

Soapbox notice: One of my pet peeves is the way so many people mispronounce caramel these days. Caramel is a three syllable word, not two syllables. Care-a-mel, not Car-mel. Carmel is a town in California. Caramel is the delicious culinary confection.

Back to my regularly scheduled post: Annie adapted the recipe from someone who adapted it from someone else, etc., etc., etc. Credits listed at the end. I did some adapting, too. Ever since I first watched Ina Garten put espresso powder in nearly all things chocolate to intensify the flavour, I have done the same. And I saw that Annie used this same technique. The other thing I did differently involves nuts. To me, brownies absolutely, positively MUST HAVE NUTS. I intended to use hazlenuts, but as there were none in the freezer, I used pecans, which are always on hand at this house. (We do live in the south, you know.)

Gathering the ingredients (eggs from the CSA):

Dry ingredients:

Chopped nuts, mixed dry ingredients and mixed liquid ingredients waiting on the Nutella to melt:

Going into the oven:

And baked:

Now, on to the caramel. Many people are afraid of making caramel, and I am not sure how it got the reputation for being difficult to prepare. I guess it is just because people got away from doing it on a regular basis, so now it can seem intimidating. You do need to be careful with the boiling sugar, but that is just part of kitchen safety. Luckily I learned how to do this from my grandmother while I was in junior high, so it's never been a problem for me. I have a special heavy bottomed copper pot that I only use for melting sugar and making caramel. It is a wonderful tool! Unlike Alton Brown, I have utensils and gadgets that are for only one use. However, you can use any kind of heavy bottom pot. They will all work.

Sugar and water beginning to heat:

Sugar boiling:

Syrup cooked to an amber colour:

Stirring in the warmed cream (Do this SLOWLY! You don't want boiling sugar splattering out on you as it can cause severe burns.):

Adding the butter:

And poured over the brownies:

Close-up of the salted caramel:

I used Hawaiian red salt for the finishing salt and I love how it looks.

This morning I turned the brownies out of the baking dish. Some people line their dishes with foil leaving extra hanging over the edges to help with removal. I used to do that, but since I've begun using Fiesta baking dishes have not found it necessary. I just spray the dish with PAM or Bakers' Joy and things just turn right out.

And plated on white Fiesta:

Salted Caramel Nutella Brownies
½ cup flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp instant espresso powder
Pinch salt
¼ tsp baking powder
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp good vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup Nutella
¾ cup chopped nuts

Caramel Glaze
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut in pieces
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp finishing salt (I used Hawaiian red salt)

Preheat oven 350°F. Grease an 8”×8” square pan and set aside.

In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In large microwavable bowl (I use a glass measuring cup as it makes for easier pouring.), melt butter in 20 second intervals, stirring after each until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla, and whisk until well-mixed. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add to dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined.

In glass measuring cup or other microwave-safe bowl, melt Nutella in 20-second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth and pourable consistency. Stir into batter along with the nuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Once brownies are cool, make the caramel glaze. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm heavy cream, but do not let boil. Keep gently warm while melting the sugar.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water but DO NOT STIR. Place over medium-high heat & bring to a boil. Cook until mixture turns an amber colour, but not too dark that it looks like the sugar is burning. (This took me about 10 minutes, but it varies depending on your stove.) Remove from heat and slowly stir in the warm cream, butter, and ½ tsp kosher salt. Stir gently until smooth & well combined.

Pour over cooked brownies, tilting the pan to coat. Sprinkle with finishing salt and let glaze to set before cutting.

Credits: I adapted this from my friend Annie at From the Bookshelf, who adapted from Vittles & Bits, who adapted it from Noble Pig, with the Caramel Glaze slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

This week I'm linking to Sweet Tooth Friday with Allison @ Alli'n Son and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out. Do check them out to see what other goodies people are sharing.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

The Legendary Hot Brown

2011-05-09T06:00:00.006-05:00

The Hot Brown sandwich was created by Chef Fred K. Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky back in 1926 and is indeed legendary. In the Roaring Twenties the Brown Hotel was the place to be and served over 1,200 guests each evening at its wildly popular dinner dance. The band would play until around midnight, when they would take a break. At that time guests would repair to the restaurant for sustenance.

The story goes that the dancers grew bored with the ham and eggs that were traditionally served at that time of night, so Chef Schmidt came up with the Hot Brown. It was an instant sensation. Back then turkey was not really served except at holidays, so having turkey on a sandwich just any time was very innovative. While a Hot Brown is a great way to use up Turkey Day leftovers, I certainly enjoy it at other times of the year. And what better time than in early May with the running of the Kentucky Derby?

Today the hotel is still a desired destination, though the rates are somewhat changed from the advertised prices in the 1950 ad.

The Hot Brown has been featured in Southern Living, NBC's Today Show, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as being included in many cookbooks and all over the internet. It was also featured in an episode of Throwdown, where the chefs at the Brown Hotel beat Bobby Flay.

This sandwich is a local specialty and favourite of the Louisville area, indeed throughout Kentucky. In the Louisville surrounds it is known as a Louisville Hot Brown, while in the greater Kentucky area it's called a Kentucky Hot Brown. In many other places it is simply a Hot Brown.

I've known about this sandwich all my life, and when I was a kid I never could understand why it was called a brown sandwich. Nothing on it looked very brown to me! I believe I was off at college before I found out that "brown" referred to the name of the restaurant where it was created, rather than the colour of the food itself. Sadly the Brown Hotel was shut down from 1971 to 1985 and Hot Browns were unavailable at their point of origin. Luckily they now publish their recipe, so if you aren't able to travel to Louisville, you can still enjoy this wonderful sandwich.

The Hot Brown is a take-off on Welsh Rarebit and is reminiscent of Croque Monsieur in its presentation: open-faced sandwich of bread, meat and topped with sauce, but they are quite different in their components. The recipe from the Brown Hotel calls for toast, turkey, tomatoes, bacon and Mornay sauce. This video shows Chef Laurent Géroli, Executive Chef at The Brown Hotel, preparing to make the sandwich:

I've seen other variations that use asparagus, or mushrooms or peach in place of the tomatoes and sometimes there is a garnish of pimientos. While all of those sound good and interesting, today I'm pretty much going by the Brown Hotel's published recipe (which I understand differs a bit from what is currently served at the hotel - something about brioche for the bread and maybe adding some cheddar to the sauce as it is a more orange colour).

I would also like to mention that in honour of this year's 85th anniversary of the Hot Brown, Chef Géroli is creating 85 different versions of the Hot Brown. Yes, 85!!! Two new Hot Brown Specials every week. I think it would be great fun to try them all, and I challenge any of my friends who live in Louisville to do the best they can in this regard for the remainder of the year and let me know which ones they try and how they like them. Several of these recipes have been published and I intend to try both the Hot Brown Quiche and Hot Brown Croquettes.

Let's get together our ingredients (Eggs are from my CSA):

Mixing flour and butter to make the roux:

Roux cooked:

Whisking in the cream:

Layering the sandwiches in Fiesta individual bakers:

Popping in the oven:

And ready to serve:

The Mornay Sauce turned out a little bit thin, but that is an easy fix. I made a couple of substitutions to accomodate the ingredients I had on hand. First of all, Texas toast isn't something I just keep around so I used a multigrain bread. Also, plum tomatoes weren't looking too good at the market, so we had gotten grape tomatoes. I think I really like those better as the little bites of tomato are more spread throughout the dish. And I used more than what would be the equivalent of the designated amount of plum tomato. Last, I used considerably less turkey than what was called for in the recipe. Two reasons: Tori and I don't like that much meat, and the individual bakers would have been too full. This can really be up to individual preference without compromising the dish.

The Legendary Hot Brown
From the Brown Hotel, Louisville, KY
serves 2

Mornay Sauce:
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
1 qt heavy cream
½ cup Pecorino Romano, plus 1 Tbsp for garnish
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Sandwich:
14 oz sliced roast turkey breast
2 slices of Texas toast, crust trimmed
4 slices crispy bacon
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
Paprika and parsley

For the Mornay Sauce: In a two-quart saucepan, melt the butter and slowly whisk in the flour to combine and form a roux. Cook the roux for two minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk whipping cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino Romano cheese until the sauce is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For each Hot Brown Sandwich: Place one slice of toast in an oven safe dish and cover with 7 oz turkey. Take the two halves of Roma tomato and set them alongside the base of turkey and toast. Next, pour on half of the Mornay Sauce to completely cover the dish. Sprinkle with additional Pecorino Romano cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of bacon on top, sprinkle with paprika and parsley, and serve immediately.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you haven't made a Hot Brown before, give it a try. Everyone here gives this sandwich a two-thumbs-up.

namasté,

Kentucky Derby ~ The Run for the Roses

2011-05-07T09:25:00.007-05:00

The more things change, the more things stay the same. I would say that is particularly true for the last couple of weeks. We had catastrophic tornadoes here in north Alabama where the extent of the death and damage still isn't known, the Mississippi River is flooding at record levels all the way down the course of the river, Osama bin Laden is no more, and the Kentucky Derby runs on the first Saturday in May.

Churchill Downs. Louisville, Kentucky. Ladies in hats. Mint juleps. Fast horses on the track. Jockeys in their colours. And at the end: a gold trophy and a wreath of red roses.

I have never had the pleasure of attending the Kentucky Derby in person, but I think I will add it to my bucket list. We do, however, celebrate and watch the Kentucky Derby every year. I never miss singing and playing Dan Fogleberg's The Run for the Roses while wearing some sort of delightful millinery confection.

The running of the Derby means bring on the mint juleps. I never make these except on Derby Day. My pot of Kentucky Colonel mint survived the winter and is growing great. The Guy has a bottle of Woodford Reserve. Add a couple of cold glasses, some ice, a little sugar and voilà: Mint Juleps.

At the bar with the vintage Chase muddlers and shot measure:

Mixed and ready to serve. Notice the frost on the glasses.

Mint Julep
Per drink:
2 sprigs fresh ‘Kentucky Colonel' spearmint with 6-8 leaves
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 cups crushed ice
2 oz. Woodford Reserve Kentucky bourbon

Muddle one sprig of the mint with the sugar in the bottom of a glass so the mint leaves are lightly bruised to release their flavour. Add 1 cup of crushed ice and pour in the bourbon and a splash of water. Add enough remaining ice to almost fill the glass and stir. Garnish with another sprig of fresh mint and serve.

Notes: It's a good plan to put your glasses in the freezer for at least half an hour before serving. Then pick up the cups with a clean towel, holding them by their edges, so as not to mark the frosted surface.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you get to enjoy the Derby this afternoon.

namasté,

Meditation, Consciousness, Health and a Changing World

2011-05-07T00:01:00.005-05:00

Meditation. For many people it brings to mind the culture of the 1960s and 70s. I took up transcendental meditation back then, along with hatha yoga. And I had my first out of body experience (OBE) during a session when I was 16 years old. Over the years meditation and yoga have gone through phases in my life - sometimes taking up a huge segment and sometimes moving to a back burner. But I have discovered that once muscles learn the stretches and movements, they are always there. Even though I am not doing much yoga these days, I find I can drop back into the routines relatively quickly. And once you learn to meditate, it is a tool that you can use forever.

My meditation techniques have changed over the years, too. In the last 10 years I've been to a number of different classes and conferences on consciousness and mindful meditation. Everyone has to work out the best meditation program for themselves, but I have found it to be very helpful to me as I have gone through this journey with MDS, the bone marrow transplant and MDS again. There are all kinds of tools to help you so that you don't have to do it on your own. I find sound technology, particularly that used by The Monroe Institute, to be helpful to me.

"Human consciousness is evolving, awakening to the discovery of Self. All of us are participants in the evolution of consciousness, the next great leap for humanity. We perceive ourselves to be more than just our physical bodies. We are connected to the universe through nonphysical dimensions and a holographic matrix of timeless information. Life itself is not something physical and death something spiritual. For us, life's experiences have taken on a new significance. We marvel at the wonder of an emerging perception of reality that has been here waiting for us to realize all along."

The Monroe Institute is a non-profit education and research organization devoted to the exploration of human consciousness. They have been studying consciousness for more than 30 years. In more recent years mainstream science has taken to studying consciousness, people who meditate and how it affects them. Just recently Massachusetts General Hospital released a report, Benefits of Meditation in the Brain, where they found that people who meditate actually have structural changes in their brains in as few as 8 weeks and that, "changes in brain structure may underlie some of these [cognitive and psychological] improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing,". Pretty interesting stuff going on these days.

Once you learn to meditate and get in some practice, you can do so even amongst the madding crowd. A few years ago we were at DisneyWorld and it was a day that the Guy and I were off doing our thing and the girls were off doing their thing. Our plan was to meet up in the early evening for dinner. We were staying at the Polynesian and for some reason in the afternoon we stopped at the Ticket and Transportation Centre for the Guy to go over to our room and get something. I just waited at the TTC. And where I chose to wait was a bench at the entrance to the Epcot Monorail station. It had been a busy day, so I tuned out the cacophony to relax for a few minutes. I had been off in my own world when all of a sudden I heard giggling and voices saying, "That's Mother!" Some things, (e.g. your children's voices in the midst of thousands of others) can be heard through the deepest meditations. And I must say I enjoyed their reaction to unexpectedly finding their Mom in lotus position off communing with the universe amidst summer Disney crowds.

In Buddhism, there is a word, mettā, meaning “Loving Kindness”. Although I am not Buddhist, the cultivation of loving-kindness (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of meditation for those who practice it. In mettā meditation you are sending unconditional love to yourself and others - whether they are people with whom you are in accord or people who you feel are causing difficulty in your life. It's a way to create an environment for positive emotion. And with all the health issues I have very definitely needed positive emotion.

This is a mettā meditation I like:

May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be happy. May all beings find peace and ease.

And this week it seems especially appropriate. I am sending it out in particular for peace and ease to:
1. the families all over the world who lost loved ones through the actions of the world's #1 terrorist,
2. the US military and CIA members who undertook the task of getting rid of him,
3. and our President, who made the ultimate call.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I truly wish all of you health, happiness and peace.

namasté,

French Pinks ~ Part 1

2011-05-06T15:00:00.006-05:00

I have written before about the Interim program at Tori's school. Interim is every year in March, the week before Spring Break. It's a time when the students all do something educational that is not in their regular classrooms. There are many choices of things to do, including trips. This year her French teacher decided to take a French trip to France instead of Canada. She is actually from France, so that made it really special. Tori signed up for this trip as soon as she heard about it, and the Guy and I were lucky enough to get to go, also.

The trip was just wonderful. Spring is a lovely time to visit as so many flowers are beginning to bloom. The weather was nice and not too chilly most of the time. We flew into Paris, but immediately headed up to Normandie, where we spent several days touring before returning to Paris.

Quite a few pinks were around and I'd like to share these displays with you.

Bush beginning to flower near Pegasus Bridge in Normandie:

Flowering tree entering Honfleur:

Smart Car outside the casino at Ouistreham:

Display in a shop window in Tours:

Straws on the bar in the Hotel Harmonie, Tours:

Until next time

Today I am linking up with Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound. Check out her blog to see what others have chosen to represent PINK this week. I'm also posting with Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "D" - D is for Displays of Pink. Thanks so much for stopping by! And tune in next week for a second installment of French Pinks on Pink Saturday.

namasté,

Pear Bread with Fennel Pollen and Nuts

2011-05-05T12:01:00.007-05:00

Low blood counts have me spending a lot of time either in bed or just sitting around. When I have to rest like that one of my favourite things to do is look through recipes. The other day I was looking through an old file on my computer and ran across a breadmaker recipe for Pear, Fennel Pollen and Hazelnut Bread. Now doesn't that sound interesting? I know I've had this recipe for a long time because a: I didn't remember it, and b: I didn't save any attribution. Google hasn't turned up anything either.

So, I didn't have any fresh pears in the house. Nor any hazelnuts, wheat germ or bread flour. Ever resourceful I adapted the recipe to use what I did have: diced pears in light syrup, pecans, whole wheat flour, unbleached flour, and cracked wheat berries.

It's so easy when you use a breadmaker to prepare the dough. Just add all the ingredients and then when the dough cycle has finished, just put it in a loaf pan in the oven.

Look at how nicely it rose.

It slices very nicely, too.

I had a hard time waiting until it cooled to do the slicing.

This bread is great just being sliced and eaten, toasted, made into pain perdu, and for croutons in a salad that incorporates pears. I also really enjoyed the background floral flavour of the fennel pollen. Try it as a sandwich with prosciutto and some shaved Parmesan. Or bake in smaller pans and make crostini. It's a very versatile recipe! The next time I bake this, I think I will make individual loaves for each person to have their own.

Pear Bread with Fennel Pollen and Nuts
4 (4 oz) containers diced pears in light syrup (do not drain)
2 Tbsp warm water
3 Tbsp oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/4 cup cracked wheat berries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 Tbsp fennel pollen
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp soft butter

Place all ingredients except the soft butter in breadmaker in order given. Set machine to dough cycle and start.

When dough cycle has finished, place the dough in greased loaf pan. The dough will be very soft. Cover and let rise. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake for 375°F for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Brush top lightly with the soft butter. Turn loaf out of pan and wrap in a tea towel. Set aside to cool.

Notes:
1. You could use whatever kind of nuts you prefer. I think either pine nuts or walnuts would be good. But pecans are the nuts of choice at our house, so that is what I used.
2. If you wish to try the original, here is the list of ingredients. Follow the same directions for making the bread.
½ cup water warm
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp sugar
½ Tbsp salt
1½ large pears, peeled, cored and diced
3 1/8 cups bread flour
3 Tbsp wheat germ
½ Tbsp fennel pollen
3 Tbsp hazelnuts, chopped
2¼ tsp instant yeast

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Cinco de Mayo

2011-05-04T23:08:00.004-05:00

Cinco de Mayo marks a victory of the Mexican army over French forces way back in 1862. On 5 May, natch. While Cinco de Mayo is not actually a huge festival in all of Mexico, it is celebrated there in the state of Puebla and here in the USA. At our house it's a good reason to set the table with some fun Mexican/southwestern accessories and eat some great food from south of the border.

In the 1940s brightly coloured dishes and Mexican print tablecloths were all the rage. Fiesta dinnerware was popular all over the country. Many of us today inherited some of these dishes from our mothers and grandmothers. And the tablecloths were handed down also. They come in dozens of difference designs and I particularly like the one I used today because it goes with so many colours of the dishes. Mexican accessories also abound.

Mostly I used post-86 Fiesta.

But this vintage pitcher (found at an antique store with the decal applied) was just perfect for the table.

My favourite Depression glass pattern is called Manhattan. It is a fabulous art deco design AND the stemmed sherbets now double as margarita glasses.

Some of the accessories:

juicer (sitting in a vintage Fiesta sweets comport)

hors d'oeurves holder (also sitting in a vintage Fiesta sweets comport)

wire donkey holder with vintage Harlequin shakers (Donkey was originally made for Tupperware shakers in the 1960s, but a favourite of Harlequin collectors because the Harlequin shakers are a perfect fit.)

Flamenco dancers on a red Bauer pedestal cake plate are the centrepiece.

Around the base of the pedestal are several siesta wall pockets. These came in a number of different colour combinations.

Multi-coloured beaded napkin rings:

While this vintage covered chicken dish by Red Wing is not strictly Mexican, I like the way the curls and swirls of the feathers go with the design on the tablecloth.

On the table today:
Post-86 Fiesta plates and individual pasta bowls in scarlet and sunflower
Vintage Fiesta sweets comports and decalled disc water pitcher in cobalt and Fiesta red
Vintage Harlequin blue Harlequin shakers in the Tupperware donkey shaker holder
Vintage Red Wing covered chicken dish
Vintage Mexican juicer and hors d'oeurves holder - both made in Japan
Vintage Mexican wall pockets - maker unknown
Vintage Manhattan Depression glass by the Anchor Hocking glass company
Vintage ceramic flamenco dancers
Red handled flatware I brought home from Italy a few years ago
Napkins and napkin rings from Pier One

I am linking this up to The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, as it is always the season for Mexican food at our house and with Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Party on!

namasté,

Poached Leeks with Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise

2011-04-28T00:01:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in the post about Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise, I first made this dish for Easter dinner in 1986. It's been a tradition around here ever since.

Start with some nice leeks:

Trimmed and ready to cook:

Steamed and cooling:

Chilled overnight, plated, and ready to serve:

For our Easter table this year we chose lilac and chartreuse P-86 Fiesta. I thought this salad looked quite nice on this colour combo.

Poached Leeks with Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise
adapted from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook
Serves 6

12 nice sized leeks
Finishing salt (I like to use Hawaiian red salt)
Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise
Pink Peppercorns

Trim the root ends off the leeks and cut off most of the green top. Carefully wash and clean the leeks as sand gets down inside the leaves. Fringe the top end by cutting in half lengthwise for about 3 inches. Turn the leeks 90° and make another cut the same length. Rinse under running water again to be sure all the grit is washed away.

Using a steamer basket or bamboo steamer, steam the leeks until tender all the way through. Remove from steamer with tongs and set aside to cool.

Once leeks have reached room temperature, place in covered container and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

To serve, place two leeks on each individual serving plate. Sprinkle leeks with some of the finishing salt. Spoon dressing across the white ends of the leeks and sprinkle with a few pink peppercorns.

Notes:
1. In the cookbook they called for 3 leeks per person, but I find that 2 is usually enough.
2. Originally the directions called for poaching the leeks in salted water, but we like them better steamed.

I'm linking this post to Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out and Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Game Night

2011-04-24T17:00:00.009-05:00

Board Games, that is. Our family loves board games. Both the Guy and I grew up playing them and passed that along to our children. One day fairly early in our marriage, I asked the Guy to play a game of Monopoly with me. It was a little late and he wasn't too interested because, "it will take too long". I insisted we could play a game in half an hour or so. And as it happened, we did. And I won!

Now I do not normally set out to "win" games. I just enjoy playing them. If the Guy or one of the girls wins, I am happy. They tell me I take the fun out of it, but hey, I AM happy if they win. That's not to say I'm not happy if I win. That long ago Monopoly game was one of my finest hours!

Seventy-fifth Anniversary. For all of my dish friends, that means FIESTA. This year is the 75th anniversary of the introduction of Fiesta. Homer Laughlin is having an extravaganza with new shapes and a special anniversary colour. Well, this year is also the seventy-fifth anniversary of MONOPOLY. What a great year!!! With this table I am combining the two for a fun evening with friends.

Monopoly has always been my favourite board game. For years now I have collected the metal tokens. Not sure why. I would always pick them up at yard sales or antique malls if the price were right.

All this time I've just been collecting the tokens in a box. The original patent from 12/31/35 had six metal tokens: iron, cannon, thimble, ship, shoe, and top hat. In 1936 the car and the purse got added, but the purse was dropped after only one year. For many years those were the only pieces. The design of some of them changed slightly over the years (e.g. car with driver went to car without driver), but this was the basic set. During the 1960s there were 8 tokens, but the 70s saw two more added to make 10. Back in 1985 a deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition of the game came out with a new token: a train. And then in 1998 a moneybag was added. The standard edition of the game now has 11 tokens and the deluxe addition has twelve. And then there is the Heirloom edition which also has a piggybank token. Gets confusing, n'est pas? I wish they would bring back the purse.

train, purse, and piggy bank

original canon, current cannon and other tokens

Then different versions of Monopoly began being issued. All of them have their own tokens, so these days, there are a LOT of tokens - over 1100 at last count. Here's a link to a chart that will help keep the standard ones in order.

And if changing the tokens weren't enough, remember this guy?

As of the year 2000, our dear Rich Uncle Pennybags was renamed to Mr. Monopoly. What's the world coming to???

And there have been some other changes since I first started playing the game: Income tax is now a flat $200 (instead the player's choice of 10% of their total holdings or $200), and Luxury Tax increased from $75 to $100. I think I will just keep my old board, cards and tokens.

Even if Parker Bros. wants me to no longer have my rich uncle, I still love the game. And I decided to do a game night dinner. To begin with I started with a tied quilt to use for the tablecloth.

I figured I would use Post-86 Fiesta for the dishes, but I had to think about the flatware. Then I remembered this box.

Look what's inside:

The vintage Quikcut Flatware is in the perfect colours to go with the Monopoly game tablecloth.

Did you know there are Monopoly glasses?

And tin banks, too:

I kept looking for napkin rings, but never did find any I liked. Then I ran across these bookmarks:

A little craftiness with a hot glue gun and voilà, just what I needed to hold the napkins (which I made of Monopoly money fabric):

Back in the 1980s Hallmark put out these Free Parking paper plates. I topped them with clear glass plates to protect them.

I had a lot of fun building the centrepiece. I started with a Bauer pedestal cake stand and sat a Fiesta cake plate on top. A vintage British Monopoly tin spills out tokens and vintage wooden houses and hotels. A stuffed Uncle Penneybags and a tin bank are on one side. The other side has a couple of vintage thimble jiggers and a salesman sample flatiron, which all mimic tokens.

Gotta use my favourite candleholders. This time in chartreuse:

Lilac Fiesta also goes great with this tablecloth:

So, c'mon over and we can play a quick game. It won't take but half an hour or so!

On the table:
Handmade Monopoly quilt, aka tablecloth - eBay
Rich Uncle Pennybags glasses - McDonald's Happy Meal toy in the 1990s
Black stemmed goblets - Luminarc
Vintage and new Monopoly tokens, houses and hotels - various yard sales, antique malls, etc.
Pottery: Post-86 Fiesta in scarlet, sapphire, sunflower, lilac and chartreuse; Bauer 2000 pedestal cake stand in parrot green
Clear glass plates (unknown maker)
Vintage Monopoly No Parking paper plates by Hallmark
Vintage British Monopoly round tin
Vintage tin Monopoly bank
Contemporary Monopoly bookmarks made into napkin rings
Napkins - made from Monopoly money print fabric
Antique miniature flatiron - salesman sample
Vintage thimble jiggers
Flatware: vintage Quikcut Fiesta

Join me this week with:
Drowsy Monkey @ Mellow Yellow Monday
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday
MaryT/TheTeach over @ Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where this week's Letter is "B" - B is for Board Games
Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Suzanne @ The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday
Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for Friday's Favourites

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Easter Tidings

2011-04-24T00:01:00.004-05:00

To all my friends who celebrate this holiday:

Hope the Easter bunny brought you a basket full of all your favourite goodies!

Thanks for stopping by today!

namasté,

Lu-Ray Pastels for Easter Breakfast

2011-04-23T22:25:00.006-05:00

While my greatest dish love is Harlequin, followed closely by Fiesta and other brightly hued colourware from the 1930s and 40s, I confess to also really liking another line of dinnerware: Lu-Ray Pastels by Taylor, Smith & Taylor China Company. Lu-Ray Pastels were made from 1938-1961. The four original colours are: Sharon Pink, Windsor Blue, Surf Green and Persian Cream (yellow), and those are the colours I have collected. I've had these dishes for at least ten years and they have just been packed away. And I bought them strictly for use at Easter. Why? Because I fell in love with the egg cups.

At first I was only going to get the egg cups, but I did that and then they didn't match any of my other dishes. So what's a girl to do? Get enough to have a service for four, of course! And I really just got the pieces to have a breakfast set.

I love candles, even to use at breakfast.

This is a Johnson Brothers covered muffin dish. Johnson Brothers was an English pottery, so think English muffins to go in these, rather than American style muffins. The pattern is called Greydawn, though I have no idea why it's got the Grey in the name. This line came in a pastel blue and green.

The colour coordinates well with Lu-Ray Pastels, so I have no problem using them together.

On the table for Easter breakfast:
Lu-Ray Pastels place settings and serving pieces
Johnson Brothers muffin dish
Cityscape flatware, by Oneida
Egg spoons were a gift from a dear friend from England about 25 years ago
Silver napkin rings I've had a long time
Napkins with carrot embroidery from Williams Sonoma
Bunny candle holders and mini-tapers from Williams Sonoma
Vintage pink candleholders/flower frogs are marked USA
Glitter broken egg candles by Illuminations
Fat white tapers from TJ Maxx
Spiral wire egg cups I got locally sometime in the last 5 or 6 years, but I don't recall where

Today I am linking up to The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday.

Happy Easter!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise

2011-04-23T19:00:00.002-05:00

In 1977 Julee Russo and Shelia Lukins opened a gourmet food store in New York City called The Silver Palate. The store was quite popular and cookbooks followed. In the 1980s those books were all the rage. I received both the original Silver Palate Cookbook and the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook as gifts back then. And actually, I've used Good Times more than I have the original.

Back in 1986 the Guy and I were childless and were having a formal Easter dinner party. For the starter I chose to serve a recipe from Good Times: Poached Leeks with Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise. It was a huge hit with us and all the guests, and has been a regular on our Easter table ever since. However, the Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise gets made a lot more often than at Easter. Besides being served as a dressing for the leeks, it's delicious on tomatoes, chilled asparagus and as a dip, salad dressing or sandwich spread. The Guy really likes it on smoked turkey sandwiches. It is in a regular rotation at our house with other flavoured mayonnaises.

As we will be having Poached Leeks with Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise with Easter dinner tomorrow, I went ahead and made the mayonnaise this afternoon.

Mayonnaise ingredients (eggs from my CSA):

After processing and in a jar for the fridge:

Pink Peppercorn Mayonnaise
originally from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook

1 egg*
1 egg yolk*
2 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Dijon style mustard
1 Tbsp pink peppercorns
3/4 cup nice fruity olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
kosher salt, to taste

Put egg, egg yolk, lemon juice, tomato paste, mustard and peppercorns in food processor and pulse until blended. Pour both oils into one measuring cup. With machine running, add oil mixture in a thin stream and process until it makes a thick mayonnaise. Season with salt and refrigerate until ready to use.

*Note: The young, the old, and the immuno-compromised should use caution with consuming raw eggs. Either get the pasturized kind or simply process olive oil mayonnaise with the tomato paste, pink peppercorns and mustard for a similar product.

I'm linking this post to Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out and Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound.
Thanks for stopping by today!

namasté,

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

2011-04-12T19:06:00.005-05:00

Today was a major Wedding Planning Day. Abbey (the bride), DD#2 (the maid of honour), Sally (my sister), my niece, my Mom and I all met at our house to work on details and talk with the baker about the cake for the reception at the farm.

Mom had an early doctor appointment and I was pretty sure she would not have eaten first. So given that I felt better today when I got up than I have in a while, I thought I'd fix something breakfast-y. I haven't baked this coffee cake in a long time and it is a really good recipe. Plus I had all the ingredients on hand. I originally got the recipe several years ago from a friend on a food message board. She had gotten it from the San Antonio Express back in the mid 1980s. I have changed it up just a bit (adding extra preserves and almonds).

I wasn't up to making photos in progress, but I did get this one of the coffeecake with my cellphone.

Then my lovely darling DD#2 took pity on me for having TWO BROKEN LENSES off at Nikon for repair, and loaned me one of hers. This photo of the slice looks much better.

Plated on rose Fiesta.

Today I made this with some wild strawberry preserves that I brought home from France. They worked just as well, if not better, than the raspberry. I've also made this using vanilla flavouring, peach preserves and pecans. Just choose whatever combination of flavouring, preserves and nuts that sounds good to you.

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz raspberry preserves
1 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10" spring-form pan.

In a food processor combine flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Pulse to cut in butter until crumbly. Measure out and reserve 1 cup of the mixture. To the remainder, add baking powder, soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and 1 egg. Pulse to mix. Spread over bottom and 2" up the sides of the spring-form pan.

Combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg with an electric mixer. Pour atop crust. Spoon preserves on top of the cream cheese mixture. Mix reserved 1 cup of crumbs with the almonds and sprinkle over preserves. Bake 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and remove the sides of the pan. Serve warm or cool.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum, Sweet Tooth Friday with Allison @ Alli'n Son, Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out and Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

Jambalya, Crawfish Pie, Filé Gumbo

2011-04-11T21:12:00.001-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that I really miss Louisiana food?

My sister is the best sister in the world. She and my BIL went to Baton Rouge this past weekend for the LSU spring game. On her way home she called to tell me she was bringing me a present. But she wouldn't tell me what it was!!! Look what arrived:

Two coolers full of fresh boiled crawfish. I ate some as soon as I got one of the bags open. Comfort food heaven!

I've put a bunch of them in the freezer to make étouffée, gumbo, etc. at a later date. And I have to say, this is true sisterly LOVE!

namasté,

Happy Birthday, Mimi

2011-04-10T11:22:00.011-05:00

Mimi
photo from the 1940s

Today is my grandmother's birthday. Were she still with us, she would have turned 100 today. Sadly, she crossed back in 1988, before Abbey even turned a year old. I learned so much from my grandmother. Many summers were spent at her house, helping my grandfather garden and then canning with my grandmother. She also taught me most of what I know about cooking in general. In her kitchen was a little square stool that my great aunt had made by covering an ammunition box with leather. That little stool was pulled up to the counter for the kids to stand on and help Mimi cook.

One of the first things I remember making (or I should say, something I always remember making) was biscuits. Not a morning went by that Mimi did not bake biscuits. Hers were the best in the world. Biscuits are always made in a wooden biscuit bowl. Purists use their bowls ONLY for biscuits, but I admit to mixing dumplings and scones in mine, as well. I was lucky enough to inherit my great-grandmother's (Mimi's mother's) biscuit bowl, and I know the biscuits are better for it. Mimi had little miniature cutters for us to use, so we always knew which biscuits were "ours".

While Mimi had cookbooks and enjoyed collecting recipes, most of the time she just cooked. Recipes were in her head. And some things, like soup, might be a little different every time she made it. It just depended on what was on hand at the moment. Recipes that call for bell pepper might have those. Or the dishes may have used banana peppers or whatever other kind my grandfather had growing. When she wrote down our family gumbo recipe for me, after all the different seafoods, she wrote, "if you have them", indicating that while certainly crabs or such were a good addition, they weren't required to make a good gumbo.

I learned to fish, to cook those and to cook frog legs from Mimi. And some things that I must admit I would never eat these days (e.g. squirrel stew). One of my greatest hopes is that I will someday be as wonderful a grandmother as she was. (And I intend to be known as "Mimi", also.)

My grandparents lived in northwest Louisiana. Whenever I would visit in the summer Mimi and I would go shopping in Shreveport. There Mimi introduced me to Strawn's Eat Shop and their fabulous Fresh Strawberry Pies. As my grandfather grew strawberries, Mimi figured out how to make those pies and we often had them at home. Another treat we would sometimes stop and eat was Butter Roll at the Big Chain Cafeteria. Her grandmother had made Butter Roll often, but Mimi had not cooked them very much. After one such excursion, she and I came home and made a Butter Roll, using her grandmother's recipe (such as it was) and wrote down how we did it. I am so happy to have done that. And we also used to go eat at the Kon Tiki. The Kon Tiki was midcentury Polynesian food in all it's glory. Mimi always liked to try new foods, and I was the only one who showed much interest in going with her. Back then we loved the Kon Tiki.

When I was a poor graduate student Mimi used to send me care packages. These often included things that were on sale at the grocery or something she had bought with coupons. One of Mimi's care packages introduced me to instant pistachio pudding. That must've been a coupon thing, because I never saw that in her pantry!

Mimi would also save out some of her grocery money to get things for her grandchildren. Particularly if she wanted to give us something that my grandfather thought was too expensive to be a grandchild gift. One time she really went all out for me. She told my grandfather she wanted a KitchenAid mixer. And she did. So they bought the mixer. Lo and behold, it was too tall to fit on her kitchen counter under the upper cabinets. She moved it to the utility room. A few months later they came to Texas to visit us (summer 1980). Know what she brought to me? Yes, it was the KitchenAid mixer. Her plan all along was to get it for me. What unselfish love! And I am here to tell you that mixer is still going strong. I have it out at the farm with all it's attachments, including the copper bowl liner, sausage stuffer, pasta maker, and grinder. And it is a lot better than the newer one I have here in town.

Because I grew up cooking with Mimi, I tend to cook the way she did. At least with all our family recipes. And lots of times if I've tasted something and want to recreate it. But shhhhh! Don't tell the Guy. LOL. I'll never be able to explain the cookbook collection.

Mimi, I miss you every day and so wish you could be here for all the graduation and wedding festivities that are going on here now. I know you would be so very proud of your great-granddaughters. I love you!

namasté,

Milk Glass Chickens

2011-04-10T08:31:00.013-05:00

Don't these just remind you of your grandmother's house?

When I was growing up my Mom had a little milk glass chicken candy dish. It was about four inches long and had some cold painting of the details. The chickens also were made in a larger size and in different coloured glass. My great-grandmother had one of the larger ones in gold. And though they were very popular back in the first half of the 20th century, some of the hens are considerably older.

Fast forward to when I was in college, sometime in the 1970s. One day I was looking in a magazine and saw the larger chicken dishes in different colours being used as bowls with place settings on a Thanksgiving table. That idea stuck with me and as time passed I collected some of the chickens and used them that way. They were great for serving chicken soup - just the right size! But as more time passed, my kitchen got kind of crowded and as I wasn't using the chickens, I got rid of them.

More time passes and I took up tablescaping. You know what's coming next! This time I decided to go with milk glass chickens as they reminded me of the one my Mom had (not sure whatever happened to that one). And I would like to say, the hens on nests are wonderful to use for their intended purpose: candy dishes. I really like the milk glass ones during Easter season for candy.

As is my wont, I am always looking for vintage tablecloths. One day this one showed up on eBay.

Milk glass and chicken dishes! What could be better for my actual dishes??? And as Easter is just around the corner and the chickens are busy having chicks, it is a perfect time for this table.

I really like the colours in this tablecloth. Obviously it could go bright or more subdued. I chose a more calm colour scheme today. The grey dishes pick up the colours in the fabric and go nicely with the milk glass chickens.

And look how well the glassware coordinates:

For the centrepiece I used some odds and ends that seemed to go together:

Pyramid candleholders - my favourite Fiesta shape:

Napkins, rings and flatware are some I have used before.

On the table:
Post-86 Fiesta in pearl grey
Vintage milk glass nesting hen dishes
Treble Clef flatware by Gourmet Settings
Vintage peanut butter glasses
Napkins from Williams Sonoma
Wooden napkin rings I've had a long time
Mushroom made from vintage shaker - Etsy artist
Pair of ceramic chickens - I bought those at Chambord in France last month. (And I have to say, the Guy was not excited to see me buying cows and chickens to bring home! At least they were on the smallish side. Cows to make an appearance on a future tablescape. The chickens are going to go great with scarlet, chartreuse and lemongrass dishes, too.)

Join me this week with:
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday
Drowsy Monkey @ Mellow Yellow Monday
MaryT/TheTeach over @ Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday
Marty @ A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday
Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where today we are having Alphabet Soup and my Letter is "C" - C is for Chicken
Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Suzanne @ The Coloradolady for Vintage Thingy Thursday
Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking for Friday's Favourites

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

namasté,

A 50's Tropical Birthday Table - for Rebecca

2011-03-30T10:00:00.003-05:00

There is a group of friends known as the Tablecloth Fairies or Dish Divas, depending on the situation at the moment. One of the Divas has been especially busy and not able to participate in tablescaping lately. This particular Diva is particularly fond of tropical tablesettings and the 50's colours of Fiesta and Harlequin (dark or forest green, chartreuse, grey, rose, and medium green). So in honour of the anniversary of her birth, we are doing tablescapes for her blogland birthday party.

Be sure to check out the other Diva's blogs for more birthday tables:
Daphne @ Tabletop Time
Elaine @ Dishing with CaraFaye
Candy @ The Little Round Table

I started with a very cool 1950's tablecloth in a tropical pattern. And it includes chartreuse, dark green and grey, along with bright yellow and red.

Thinking about which dishes to use, at first I started with only the dark green Harlequin. But after looking at it, I decided to add some chartreuse and yellow.

Two of my favourite pieces: the casserole and teapot.

Cream and sugar have the same cone shape.

As does the sauceboat.

Harlequin's candleholders were discontinued before the 50's colours were introduced. But the yellow ones go well with this tablecloth, I think.

The glassware is a from a vintage set that also includes a pitcher.

Flatware and these atomic looking napkin rings continue the green theme.

Happiest of birthdays Rebecca! I wish you much joy today and every day!

Make a wish!

On the table:
Vintage Harlequin dinnerware in dark green, chartreuse and yellow
Cambridge flatware
Napkins and napkin rings from Pier One
Vintage glassware
Vintage tablecloth

This is being linked to Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "Y" - Y is for YELLOW candleholders and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Check out their blogs to see all the other fabulous tablescapes and takes on the letter Y.

namasté,

Cinnamon Custard Bread Pudding with Fresh Berries

2011-03-24T13:32:00.027-05:00

This was originally a recipe from Bradley Ogden that first appeared in Food & Wine back in 1987 - the year I had my first baby. Sometimes I do wonder where the time goes! I have always used this as a dessert (bread pudding, you know), but the magazine suggested it as a breakfast or brunch item. My friend Linda @ How to Cook a Wolf always serves it for Christmas breakfast with maple syrup and the berries. No matter when you eat this, it is delicious!

Yesterday I got several transfusions of red cells and platelets, so today I got to be one of those "wives with knives". You know, a person who gets to really cook. Someone, I wouldn't know who, had bought a loaf of Cinnabon Cinnamon Bread that needed something done with it. This recipe was just the thing to rescue that loaf of bread. After all, bread pudding (like pain perdue) was invented as a way to use up bread that might otherwise go stale.

Let's get everything we need together. (Now where is the butter hiding? I know it made it into the recipe.) Eggs with the beautiful green and brown shells are from my CSA.

(Look at how weird this picture looks. I'm trying out my new Coolpix P7000 while my D90 gets repaired. Have to work on the flatness.)

Bread torn up into pieces (I didn't have quite enough slices of cinnamon bread today, so I supplemented with some good white sandwich bread.)

Into the baker and ready to go in the oven

While the pudding is baking let's work on the topping. Some beautiful fresh raspberries, blackberries and blueberries along with my homemade Blackberry Liqueur.

Berries macerating.

I like to just put them in a canning jar and put them in the fridge for awhile.

Look how beautifully this bread pudding puffs.

Cooling before serving.

And plated in a maroon Harlequin bowl with Cityscape flatware. I love the way this recipe looks in this dish!

Bread Pudding is a wonderful Southern dessert and most families have their own version. There are three basic ingredients: bread, milk/cream, and eggs. It's the flavourings and additions that personalize the recipes. In Louisiana we typically used French bread, but using different breads gives a somewhat different end product. I've used French bread, brioche, croissants, etc. Really just whatever bread is on hand and needs to be used. Cinnamon raisin bread is a nice change of pace. Over time I have altered the way I make the recipe to be more like the way my Mom makes Bread Pudding, but the link to Food & Wine will take you to the original. Bon Appétit!

Cinnamon Custard Bread Pudding with Fresh Berries
16 slices of cinnamon or cinnamon/raisin bread
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
5 large eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp vanilla
pinch of salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
Fresh berries
Chambord or homemade Blackberry Liqueur, optional

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9"×13" glass or ceramic baking dish. These days I use my Fiesta rectangular baker.

Tear up bread into bite-sized pieces and drizzle with melted butter. (Pour bread into baking dish if you did this in a bowl.)

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the granulated sugar, milk, cream, vanilla, salt and nutmeg. Pour the milk mixture over the bread, pressing gently to be sure all the bread is moistened well.

Bake in the upper third of the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the custard is set. Transfer the baking dish to a rack and let rest for 15 minutes.

While the custard bread pudding is baking, macerate the berries in the liqueur if you are going to use that. Plate the pudding into individual dishes and serve with berries and a drizzle of their liquid.

Notes:
1. Like so many of the overnight "French Toast" recipes, this can be assembled several hours or the night before you want to bake it. If I do that I will take it out of the fridge to rest for about 20 minutes or so before putting it in the oven.
2. Another serving option would be with the fresh berries and whipped cream.

I'm linking this to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday @ Designs By Gollum, Friday's Favourites by Sandi & Bill @ Whistlestop Cafe Cooking, Sweet Tooth Friday with Allison @ Alli'n Son, and Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out.

namasté,

X-tra Special Art Deco Table

2011-03-23T13:43:00.005-05:00

Today I am so lucky! I have been able to set an X-tra special table. It is x-tra special because the tablecloth belongs to my friend Elaine @ Dishing with CaraFaye and she has loaned it to me. Elaine and I are IRL friends as well as online friends. We first met several years ago on our favourite dish board and have been friends ever since. Last month when my sister, my DDs and I went on our girls' trip to Virgina, we stopped by to visit Elaine. Her house, dishes and tablecloths are TDF. I had seen photos of this tablecloth and asked her if I could borrow it for a Harlequin table. She graciously agreed and I brought it home with me then. Now I am so excited to see how my favourite art deco dishes look with it.

Doesn't the tablecloth have the greatest deco jazz design? I love the musicians, cocktails, etc.

Harlequin was introduced by Homer Laughlin in 1937 as a less expensive counterpart to Fiesta and it was sold through Woolworths. Originally there were four glaze colours: maroon, Harlequin blue, Harlequin yellow, and spruce. Today I am using two of those colours - maroon and Harlequin blue. And as I have used Harlequin blue several times lately, this time the main colour is maroon. I'm also using a few pieces of ivory Fiesta and Riviera as accents.

While Fiesta has iconic rings, Harlequin has this iconic cone shape.

Sugar bowl and novelty creamer on a Fiesta utility tray. The regular creamer is cone-shaped, but the novelty creamer is a round ball like the service water pitcher.

The Harlequin ball jug, aka service water pitcher. This particular one is the first one I ever purchased. My Mom and I found it at a flea market in Louisiana many years ago and I remember us both being so excited! (She collects Harlequin, also.)

The butter dish that was used with Harlequin was the Jade shape. Ivory is not a standard Harlequin colour, but several of these ivory glazed butter dishes are around. Many have decals, but as this one was just the plain glaze I picked it up when I saw it. It holds two sticks (one-half pound) of butter.

Nut dishes were copied from a Japanese piece and glazed in Harlequin colours. I like to use them for salt cellars or soy sauce. The original Japanese dishes had a floral design embossed in the clay, but when the bowl was reproduced for Harlequin, they only kept the basketweave pattern.

To me the Deauville flatware is just perfect to use with Harlequin.

My wedding crystal: Eternal by Lenox. Lenox no longer makes this original Eternal pattern. The current one is called Eternal Gold. The stems on the original were hand cut and production costs became prohibitive. It rings beautifully.

Thanks to all for stopping by. I am linking this to Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "X" - X is for "X-tra Special" and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

On today's table:
Harlequin: Harlequin blue plates, deep plates and nut dishes; Maroon plates, deep plates, nut dishes, ball jug, novelty creamer, sugar, shakers, platter and oval vegetable bowl; ivory half pound butter dish
Fiesta: ivory utility tray
Riviera: Harlequin blue handled mugs, ivory handled mugs
Flatware: Deauville silverplate by Oneida
Ivory napkins have been around a long time and I don't remember from whence they came.
Silverplate napkin rings
Goblets - Eternal by Lenox (no longer produced)

namasté,

Vernal Equinox - 20 March 2011

2011-03-20T17:00:00.002-05:00

Yea for today! The days are getting longer and this evening it will officially be SPRING. We've had a beautiful week and for the last few days the temps have been in the 80s.

An equinox happens twice each year, in the spring and in the fall. On an equinox the tilt of the earth's axis is neither toward, nor away from the sun. The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, the night and day are approximately equally long.

In spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the equinox typically happens on 20 or 21 March. Also, the equinox is not a whole day, it is a specific point in time. It happens when the centre of sun can be observed directly over the earth's equator. For those of us in the Central Time Zone of the US, that will happen at at 6:21pm CDT today.

HAPPY SPRING!!!

namasté,

Super Perigee Full Moon - 19 March 2011

2011-03-20T06:22:00.006-05:00

Last night we had what NASA called "a full Moon of rare size and beauty". It was what is known as a "super perigee moon"--and it was the biggest one we have seen in almost 20 years. March of 1993 was the last time this occurred. Full moons appear to change in size because of the oval shape of the moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee). Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than moons on the apogee side of the orbit. Last night's full moon occurred less than one hour away from perigee--a near-perfect viewing coincidence.

The Guy and I were out at the farm yesterday and stayed late so that we could observe this momentous event. It was absolutely gorgeous! I was trying out my new little Nikon Coolpix P9000, so there is not a lot of detail in the moon face, but here are a few photos.

Happy skywatching!
namasté,

Warm weather and Hawaiian Daisy

2011-03-18T14:00:00.004-05:00

The last couple of days have been very spring-like. Daffodils, flowering trees and bushes have been showing their blooms everywhere around here. And the fragrance is amazing! Many of the flowers are pink and I debated whether or not to use some of those photos for joining Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound, but 80° makes me think warmer than spring. I decided to post this tablescape that was photographed last summer, right after I was lucky enough to find the pink tablecloth on Etsy.

Hawaiian 12 Point Daisy is one of the two Fiesta Casuals that Homer Laughlin produced in the 1960s. That is not an official name from HLC. The moniker was given by collectors. Originally 12 Point was in the name because each daisy has 12 petals. Most collectors now simply call the pattern Hawaiian Daisy. Not every shape was made with the daisy design. Turquoise Fiesta pieces were sold to fill out the sets.

I have loved this pattern for years, but had a hard time finding a tablecloth that I liked with it. Finally I ran across this pink daisy tablecloth and the Hawaiian Daisy was the first thing that crossed my mind.

In addition to using some vintage turquoise Fiesta, I also used vintage turquoise Harlequin, Riviera and Franciscan.

Riviera butter dish (very HTF in turquoise), Harlequin marmalade, Franciscan tumbler made into mug with art deco chrome holder, original straight-sided Fiesta utility tray.

Harlequin novelty creamer and Fraciscan promotional teapot made for Sperry Flour.

Fiesta sweets comport, Fiesta syrup pitcher, Harlequin 36s oatmeal bowls.

In addition to the featured pottery the table is set with:
Pink Daisy tablecloth, maker unknown
Cityscape flatware by Oneida
Post-86 Fiesta go-along turquoise napkins
White napkin rings I have had forever.

namasté,

Wilendur Lobsters and the Divas

2011-03-17T23:00:00.006-05:00

My Diva pals are featuring tablesettings using the Wilendur lobster tablecloths and asked if I had blogged about mine. Although I did post photos last year on our dish board when I first got back into tablescaping after the transplant, I realized I had not done a blog post. Better late than never!

The Wilendur Lobster cloth is one of the Holy Grails of tablecloth collecting. Although the Wilendur Company made table linens for over 60 years, this cloth is hard to find and is treasured whenever someone runs across one. There are matching napkins, but I have not found those yet. I have particulary liked doing tablescapes with the Divas as I love seeing how we all interpret them differently.

This table was done last summer and some of the photos were made in the morning light and some were later in the day.

Flatware detail

Lobster double serving dish

I fell in love with this salad bowl the first time I saw it. Isn't it just perfect for the Lobster cloth?

And what better to use for servers than these wooden ones with ceramic lobster handles?

Wine goblets (not lobster-ish at all, but they pick up the green of the parsley).

Pottery accessories

Decorating the lovely lobster tablecloth:
1. Pearl grey, scarlet and black Post-86 Fiesta dinnerware. The white shakers with the red stripe are from the original Holiday pattern. At the time I wished they had added the holly decal that is on the larger shapes, but have since decided I really like them with just the red stripe as I can use them with many different tables. And I love the way the pearl grey really goes with this cloth.
2. Black hotel napkins I have had forever.
3. Red painted wooden napkin rings that I have also had forever.
4. Goblets from Tuesday Morning.
5. The salad bowl is vintage and was made by Weiss of Brasil.
6. A California pottery made the divided lobster server.
7. Black and white jam pot is vintage Stangl.
8. Flatware is vintage mid-century with acrylic handles.
9. The lobster claw salad set was sold to me as Brad Keeler, but I haven't checked to be sure. I like it regardless of the maker because it is another perfect accessory for this tablecloth.
10. Lobster claw crackers were a gift from my brother.

Be sure to check out lobster tablescapes by the Divas:
Candy @ The Little Round Table
Daphne @ Tabletop Time
Elaine @ Dishing with Carafaye
These ladies are all fabulous and inspire me daily. Notice that Candy's tablecloth has turquoise parsley, while mine, Elaine and Daphne's all have green parsley. That is the only difference we have noticed in the colourway, and I am not sure if it is a deliberate colour change or just a difference in the dye lot. A puzzle yet to be solved. I'd love to hear from any of you who have this cloth about your exact colours. And if you have done a tablescape with this cloth, please post a link in comments and I will add it to this post. Thanks so much!

Slightly late, but because the parties are still open, I am linking this to Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "W" - W is for "Wilendur (lobster)" and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

namasté,

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

2011-03-16T19:44:00.009-05:00

St. Patrick's Day. Many people I know become Irish on 17 March. I am fortunate enough to have an Irish branch of my family. My ancestor from Ireland came to the US back in the early 1800's and settled in Louisiana. At some point there was a marriage between one of the Irish and a lady of French descent (one of the Lafittes, as a matter of fact). Later an Englishman was added to the bunch. And that was just on my Mom's side of the family. I love being part of the melting pot with such a varied heritage.
So on St. Patrick's Day, I truly am Irish.

This year I decided to set up my green holiday table using vintage Harlequin in medium green and light green.

I got a lovely tablecloth from one of my friends in the Vintage Tablecloth Lover's Club. It is a perfect foil for the dishes. I love the way it incorporates a Celtic cross in with shamrocks for the design.

Harlequin is my all-time favourite dinnerware and medium green Harlequin is even more difficult to find than medium green Fiesta. It has taken me many years to assemble my collection. I just love the angular art deco lines of Harlequin. The triangular handles and cone shaped hollowware set it apart from Fiesta.

creamer, sugar, casserole

teapot

shakers

There are some shapes (e.g. candleholders) that were discontinued before the introduction of medium green. The light green colour blends nicely with the other dishes.

Also in light green is this vase that came from the Potter's Exhibit at the 1940 New York World's Fair.

These green Depression Glass sherbets by Federal Glass echo Harlequin's cone shape.

Wine goblets were in a gift basket I won as a door prize at a conference the Guy and I attended back in November.

White napkins and green glass napkin rings came from Pier One. The flatware is a vintage art deco silverplate pattern: Deauville by Oneida. The chevron design on the flatware makes it a perfect accompaniment for Harlequin.

This year's menu:
Collins Clan Irish Soda Bread
Mustard Glazed Irish Boiling Bacon
Sautéed Green Cabbage
Irish Potato Farls

Bailey's Irish Cream Ice Cream

And today may you all have
The Luck of the Irish!

This week I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

namasté,

It's the Mardi Gras Mambo...

2011-03-05T00:01:00.005-06:00

...down in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is Tuesday, 8 March 2011.

Carnival began on Twelfth Night and culminates with the Mardi Gras. This weekend is one huge party in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday with lots of partying, parades and good food. One of the things I missed most when I moved away from Louisiana was being able to buy King Cake. But not to fear. I learned to make them on my own. Click for recipe.

Even though we moved away from Louisiana, we still celebrate Mardi Gras at our house each year. And I can't begin to count all the King Cakes I have made for school, jobs, and us. Mardi Gras loosely translates into Fat Tuesday. It's a day to feast before the Lenten fast begins on Ash Wednesday. Our menu:

That Community coffee just might get made into Café Brulot before the evening ends.

The colours of the Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. Purple is for justice, gold for power and green for faith. During Carnival you should always wear the Mardi Gras colours when you are not in costume.

I love setting my table for Mardi Gras.

The dishes I use each year are a striped Post-86 Fiesta known as Retired Bands. The colours of the stripes are sapphire, lilac, chartreuse and juniper. I supplemented the striped dishes with chartreuse and lilac Fiesta and Manhattan depression glass.

To add a little gold, I used my great-grandmother's tea glasses.

Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen, gets her own jewellery.

And a bag of gris-gris.

"Trow me sumpin mista!" ("Throw me something, mister!") is the chant heard when the floats roll by. Several of these throws are from my grandparents' first trip back to Mardi Gras (1964) after their house burned. Others are from the 1970s when I was in college and graduate school.

There is a whole series of children's books about Gaston, the green nosed alligator. One of them is Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras.

We have our own Gaston, who stands guard over an early 70s vintage Zulu coconut.

When the HLCCA had their annual conference in New Orleans, the centrepieces included these white Fiesta tool crocks with a New Orleans decal.

They also made a few commemorative brass doubloons.

Fleur de lis napkin rings admonish, "laissez les bons temps rouler" ("let the good times roll").

That's certainly the motto during "Carnival Time".

There's that coconut again, along with a Fiesta lilac pyramid candleholder.

Zulu Coconuts, aka Gold Nuggets, are the most highly prized throws from all the parades. All year the Zulu Krewe works on painting the coconuts. Most are gold with a black face, though other colours are sometimes used. Back in 1987, due to a few people filing lawsuits saying they had been hurt by the coconuts, the Krewe of Zulu was denied insurance. So that year, the honoured tradition of Zulu Coconuts was suspended. After much lobbying, the Louisiana Legislature passed SB188, aptly dubbed the "Coconut Bill," which excluded the coconut from liability for alleged injuries arising from the coconuts handed from the floats. On July 8, 1988,the bill was signed into law. Gold Nuggets could fly again. My Zulu Coconut is from 1973.

The original "Gold Nuggets" were walnuts that had been painted gold. Sometime in the early 1900s the switch was made to coconuts.

On the table:
Post-86 Fiesta in chartruese, lilac, Retired Bands and the HLCCA New Orleans tool crock.
My great-grandmother's tea glasses.
The original P-86 Fiesta flatware.
Napkins I got in St. Thomas.
Fleur de lis napkin rings were a gift.
The tablecloth is one that I've had for 15 years or so.
Our Gaston was purchased years ago during a trip home to Louisiana from a now defunct filling station.
Throws from various New Orleans Mardi Gras parades.
Voodoo dolls from a voodoo shop in le Vieux Carré (the French Quarter).
Menu Crown is a reproduction of the Krewe of Rex Ball Invitation from 2008.

If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend you "Go to the Mardi Gras".

I will be joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, Marty at A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday, and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

namasté,

Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Honey Glaze

2011-02-27T18:14:00.009-06:00

I am so excited that I was able to do some cooking the last couple of days. It's been several weeks since my blood counts have been high enough for me to not have to worry about using knives and to have the energy to stand in the kitchen. It's amazing what a few blood transfusions will do for you!

Now I don't do a lot of cooking of meat, but I was going through the freezer yesterday and found a package of pork tenderloin. It seemed that it would be nice to do something different with it, so I started looking through my files. There I came across a recipe that was originally on Sara Moulton's show, Sara's Secrets. It seemed like just the thing.

Not too many ingredients:

The glaze calls for 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar. I decided to try some O Port Balsamic that I had gotten a while back. It was quite good. Also used Sciabica's Fall Harvest Manzilla Olive Oil. The rosemary came from my container garden.

As the directions said to cook to 140°F, I finally got a chance to use my super-duper, really nifty Thermapen instant read thermometer.

If you don't have one of these, I can't recommend it enough. It is fabulous! Comes in other colours besides pink.

My package of tenderloins weighed exactly 2 pounds.

Here they are sliced into medallions.

Searing in my cast iron chicken fryer.

They fit just perfectly into a Fiesta rectangular baker.

Glaze is poured over and they are ready to go in the oven.

140° exactly! (Well almost. I think we can round down the 0.1.)

Roasted and resting:

Served on scarlet Fiesta with egg noodles, roasted heirloom tomatoes and roasted haricots verts with onion.

This was some of the most moist and tender pork I have ever eaten. The rest of the family thought it was delicious and gave it two thumbs up. I'd also like to try this glaze with chicken, as it is very tasty.

Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Honey Glaze
adapted from Sara's Secrets

For the balsamic-honey glaze:
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
½ cup balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp local honey
2 Tbsp good olive oil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard (I like the country style)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the pork:
1¾ to 2 lb pork tenderloin
vegetable oil, for searing

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the glaze: Put garlic and chopped rosemary in a small bowl. Add the vinegar, honey, olive oil, mustard, and salt and pepper, to taste, and whisk to combine.

For the pork: Slice the tenderloin into 1" thick medallions (rounds).

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with a little vegetable oil and heat over medium-high until hot. Add the pork medallions in 1 layer, season with salt and pepper, and sear for 1 minute. Turn and sear for 1 more minute, until lightly browned. Transfer the slices to a shallow baking dish, making sure there is only one layer. Pour the glaze over the pork and turn to coat.

Roast for 10 minutes or until a thermometer inserted reaches 140°F for medium. Remove from the oven and keep warm, loosely covered until ready to serve.

To serve place pork medallions on a platter and spoon the balsamic-honey glaze over them.

I'm linking this recipe to Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out. Click on the logo to check it out and join in the fun.

namasté,

Stuff - the makings of tablescapes

2011-02-14T13:46:00.013-06:00

I'm going to be joining Marty at A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday and Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "S" - S is for "Stuff". Check out these wonderful blogs to see who else is playing along.

This past weekend the Guy and I made a final trip over to Louisiana to meet with the realtor and arrange for the sale of his mother's house. My MIL loved dishes and collected them all her married life. She also liked accessories to go along with the dishes. Today my tabletop is just an assortment of things I brought home from her house that will make their way into future tablescapes here at RMoaDL.

This is just an overview picture.

In the back are a pair of matching Christmas tablecloths. I brought those home so that each of my girls will have one. There is also a Victorian fishbowl vase. That thing is going to hold a LOT of flowers!

The black and white dishes are Ebonette, by Knowles. These are the dishes that the Guy ate off of while growing up. They are very mid-century modern. We have a service for 12 of these. The birdcage planter is older - from the 1940s. My MIL had that before she ever got married. The lace tablecloth belonged to the Guy's grandmother.

While my MIL had a little bit of depression glass, she mostly had American pressed glass. I just brought home a few pieces.

She also liked apothecary jars. These are from the 1960s and most of them came with decorative soap, bath salts, etc. in them.

There are some other vases, candleholders, cruets, and a milk glass comport in this photo, also.

Little pixies/elves were very popular in the 1940s and 50s. This pair sat on the curved shelves on either side of my MIL's sink since they built their house in 1950. (I'm thinking they will go nicely on a St. Patrick's Day table.)

That one on the left looks to be full of mischief!

The Guy's family often had canaries and parakeets when he was little. This was their first canary cage from the 1950s.

And to go along with the cage, here are a pair of canary salt and pepper shakers.

These dishes are Homer Laughlin Eggshell Georgian made in 1948. We only found 8 cups, saucers and berry bowls. No one seems to know where my MIL got these, though they do think they were inherited.

Now I am not sure exactly when or how these different things will be used, but they all called out to me to bring them home. How do you collect your "stuff" for tablescaping?

namasté,

Happy Valentine's Day with Heart-Shaped Candy Boxes

2011-02-14T00:01:00.019-06:00

Valentine's Day is when we all take the time to show our loves how much they are appreciated. Some of the tokens given today will be Valentine cards, boxes of candy, flowers, jewellery, etc. Last week I mentioned how my Papa always gave my Mama a heart-shaped Valentine box of candy. The heart-shaped candy boxes reached their heyday in the 1950s and 60s. While they are still given today, these pretty boxes share the stage with other gifts.

My Mom always saved the boxes and hung them up in her closet above the built-in drawers. I just loved to play with them when I was a little girl and thought they were beautiful. In 1969 we moved from one side of Louisiana to the other, and I never remember seeing my Mom's boxes after that. Don't know if they got lost in the move, packed away, or what.

Last fall my MIL crossed over at age 84. The Guy and I (and his siblings and their spouses) have been going through her house and getting it ready to sell. When we got to her closet, we found that she had also saved some of the heart-shaped candy boxes my FIL had given her. Some of the boxes are simply red with an impression of hearts, flowers, etc.,

but others are more elaborate with lace, silk flowers, etc.

The boxes were made by numerous candy companies all over the country. The ones I mainly remember are Whitman's, Russell Stover's , and Pangburn's. The candy companies would have varied by region, as there were few national brands that specialized in Valentine chocolates. But Russell Stover is the company that originated heart-shaped boxes in the first place.

As time has passed, Russell Stover has purchased both Whitman's and Pangburn's brands. (As an aside, Pangburn's originated in Texas and is the candy company that invented Millionaires way back in 1914. Millionaires are now the only candy from Pangburn's that Russell Stover still sells and one of the few chocolate candies that I never turn down.) In honour of the day, I'd like to share some photos of beautiful vintage Valentine heart candy boxes with you.

At our house we had been talking about the Valentine candy boxes and the Guy knew I had brought his mother's boxes home with us. I was thinking I could use them somehow for doing some Valentine decorating.

The Guy always gives me flowers for Valentines - beautiful potted flowers that I can plant after the holiday and enjoy forever. I used to be a florist and totally subscribe to "hyacinths for the soul" you know. The flowers he has given me at Valentines have always been pink or red - either tulips or miniature roses, mostly tulips. I just love these flowers and continue to enjoy them each year when they bloom. We were out at the farm yesterday and I noticed quite a few of the tulips beginning to come up.

Well, this past Thursday the Guy came home with a surprise. He had been to the drug store to pick up some of my prescriptions and it occurred to him that I had never had a Valentine heart-shaped box of candy of my own. So what did he do? He bought the biggest, prettiest heart-shaped box of Russell Stover candy they had. Not really for the candy as I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but so that I would have a heart box of my very own. This is one of the reasons I love The Guy. He truly understands that I would love to have a box and not worry about the candy. This is it!

Hearts are always associated with love. I am very lucky to have had grandparents, parents and in-laws who loved each other during long and happy marriages. My Papa crossed when my parents had only been married for 30 years, but my in-laws were together 62 years before my FIL crossed. Once, when she was in her 70s, my MIL sat down to talk with me and explained that love just kept getting better and better the older you got.

I'm leaving you with one last photo because it is part of the love story. This necklace is the gift that my father-in-law gave my mother-in-law to celebrate their 20th Wedding Anniversary back in 1966 (45 years ago now).

It's not very large - only about an inch in diameter. The Guy was in high school and taking French I at the time. He was there when the gift was opened. As his mother didn't speak or read French, he translated it for her. Because of the sentiment, this was one of her most treasured possessions. She wore it to church nearly every Sunday and on other special occasions.

"I love you more than yesterday less than tomorrow."

That is how the Guy and I feel about one another. Happy Valentine's Day, my friends. I hope you all enjoy your celebration of love today. And while you are out and about, check out Smiling Sally for Blue Monday and The Little Round Table for The Colours of Love: Coast to Coast & Shore to Shore.

namasté,

Rosemaling Valentine Table

2011-02-12T00:01:00.009-06:00

I'm linking this up at Seasonal Sunday with The Tablescaper. Check it out to see other great posts related to the season. Also, The Colours of Love: Coast to Coast & Shore to Shore is still open, so please join us there, if you haven't already.

Rosemaling is Norwegian Rose Painting. It is a form of Folk Art that has been around at least since the 1700s. Each Rosemaled piece is one-of-a kind, being painted individually. When Abbey was a baby and I was decorating her room, I was able to find several pieces of rosemaling (candleholders, boxes, etc.) to use. The red and white with roses and hearts was a neat look for a little girl.

Fast forward many years. I found this set of rosemaled napkin rings and thought they would be great to use on a Valentine table. Not that I had anything else to go with them for tablescaping. As I didn't want to leave them behind they found their way home with me. They even came on their own stand, so storage was not a problem.

Then one day I was looking at tablecloths on eBay and Etsy and ran across one where the design was just perfect to go with rosemaling.

Now I had the basis for my table. There are plenty of dishes from which to choose some that will look seasonal for Valentines. I went with turquoise, rose and scarlet.

Place settings are turquoise, rose and scarlet Post-86 Fiesta.

The centrepiece is a vintage Bauer turquoise cake stand and a Farberware chrome nude bud vase.

These ladies are highly collectible. They are known as cubic nudes, weeping nudes or bashful nudes because of the design and position of the figure.

The ladies can be found both standing and kneeling. And they are on a number of different styles of decorative accessories (e.g. shot glass trays, coffee dispenser, candy dishes, candleholders, bud vases, and bridge tokens, etc.)

I also used some vintage turquoise Harlequin and Fiesta on the table.

Fiesta carafe

Harlequin marmelade

Fiesta sweets comport

Fiesta tripod candleholders

Goblets are from Pier One.

The flatware is Treble Clef by Gourmet Settings.

And no proper deco tablesetting would be complete without a dinner bell or gong. Chase made several different designs. This is the Ming Bell.

Napkins are the same ones I used in the L'amour est Bleu table: cutwork embroidered cotton that I brought back from St. Thomas. And I just love the way the napkin rings echo the design on the tablecloth.

namasté,

The Colours of Love: Coast to Coast & Shore to Shore

2011-02-09T07:00:00.040-06:00

Today I am being part of a tablescaping event - The Colours of Love: Coast to Coast & Shore to Shore. This began among some far flung dish friends who also love vintage tablecloths and beautiful accessories. The group has become known as the Dish Divas or Tablecloth Fairies as we share a mutual love for Homer Laughlin dinnerware, both contemporary and vintage table linens, and we've been known to bestow unexpected gifts upon our fellow collectors.

Divas participating in today's event:
Candy @ The Little Round Table, who is actually hosting our linky party
Daphne @ Tabletop Time
Elaine @ Dishing with CaraFaye
Becky @ Random musings of deco lady

Please add your table of to our linky party as we all celebrate. The Linky Party is up now! And here's wishing everyone the happiest of Valentine Days from
Coast-To-Coast and Shore-To-Shore around the world!

We are also joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday, and I will be linking up with Beverly's Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound and Smiling Sally for Blue Monday.

L'amour est Bleu
aka
Love is Blue

This song has been recorded by numerous artists, but the most famous is the version by French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat. His instrumental back in 1969 remains the only number-one hit by a French artist on the Billboard 100 in the US.

In the original French, the song describes the pleasure and pain of love in terms of colours and natural elements, while the English lyrics focus on colours only, using them to describe elements of lost love. However, if you translate the original it's not really about lost love. It's a haunting celebration of love that ends with "Blue, blue, love is blue, Love is blue when I am yours, Love is blue when I am yours".

With our theme: The Colours of Love, this song kept running through my mind every time I thought of what to do for my table. And given that I have already done two red Valentine tables this year, what's a girl to do? Get out her BLEU dishes, of course! Today's table is set for two so the Guy and I can have a romantic celebration. And because there is a bit of rose pink in the tablecloth, I used some pink in the dishes and flowers to tie it all together.

I started out with my bluebird tablecloth because of the symbolism of "the bluebird of happiness".

And when it comes to blue dishes, Harlequin blue Harlequin are my favourites. The colour is called Harlequin blue because it was developed especially for the Harlequin line of dinnerware at Homer Laughlin. And although I have a lot of Fiesta, Harlequin is my first and best passion in dinnerware. I love its angular and conical lines. Some of the very finest of art deco design.

Harlequin high-lip creamer and marmalade on a vintage Fiesta turquoise figure 8 tray that was made as a promotional piece. The tray is scarce in this colour and both pieces of Harlequin are difficult to find.

Harlequin sauceboat, Post-86 peacock Fiesta platter and Deauville ladle:

This is a marriage. As Harlequin relish bases only come in turquoise I chose to use a Fiesta cobalt base. Rose is not a standard Harlequin relish insert colour, so I was thrilled to find these two. I paired them with Harlequin blue inserts and a couple of Deauville pickle forks. Also in this shot are a cobalt Fiesta relish centre and an art deco chrome and cobalt glass hors d'œuvre ball.

RoyalChrome condiment holder with Fiesta cobalt mustard and Harlequin blue Harlequin shakers:

For the place settings I chose P-86 Fiesta in sapphire, rose and peacock. The flatware is Deauville, except for the strawberry forks. I'm also using Chase heart chrome and bakelite servers as butter plates paired with Deauville butter spreaders.

Strawberry forks are a whimsy that came about in Victorian times and by the art deco period they had dropped out of favour. However, some were still being made during the arts and crafts era and those are not as elaborate as their Victorian counterparts. I have managed to find five of the arts and crafts style so far. They all have a pierced design in the handle.

There are some other blue dishes in use today. Riviera turquoise 1/4 lb butter dish. It's interesting that they are the perfect size for the west coast style butter sticks, but don't fit the ones from east of the Rockies. Beside the butter dish is the Deauville master butter knife.

The blue berry bowl and underplate are handcrafted by an artist I found on Etsy.

The pyramid candleholders were not officially produced in sapphire, but a friend gave me this pair as a birthday gift.

I just adore cobalt glass and it was quite popular during art deco times. Several pieces help round out the blues in today's table. First is a water/lemonade set. The design reminds me of the Michelin Man.

This tray is part of the Russel Wright pancake set by Chase. With it is the Deauville jelly/tomato server.

I have worked in stained glass for many years and several years ago decided to take a glass fusing class. My pièce de résistance is this face that I have always called Goddess of Love. She had to be part of our Colours of Love celebration.

It wouldn't be a proper Valentine's Day without flowers.

The two nude vases are quintessential art deco. Nude nymphs are in integral part of many art deco figural accessories. I have this vase in a number of different glaze colours and treatments. While these two are not marked, one of the ones in my collection is marked "Hoskinson Usona".

This combination vase/candleholder is something I picked up in a thrift shop. I have no idea of the maker or age.

When Frederick Rhead was Art Director of Homer Laughlin (1926-1942), he periodically held ceramics classes. This vase was made by a lady who went to one of those classes and is glazed in Fiesta turquoise and cobalt. That would put its date of origin between 1937-42.

Champagne glasses: We prefer flutes to coupe-shaped champagnes. These particular ones are favourites of mine as the stem is open all the way down to the base. Watching the bubbles originate at the bottom and make their way to the top is beautiful.

On the table:
1. tablecloth: vintage bluebird and floral
2. flatware: art deco silverplate, Deauville by Oneida/Community Plate and assorted arts and crafts era strawberry forks
3. napkins: white cutwork embroidered cotton I brought home from St. Thomas
4. napkin rings: Sur la Table
5. place settings: sapphire, rose and peacock Post-86 Fiesta
6. other dishes: vintage Harlequin (Harlequin blue and rose), vintage Fiesta (cobalt and turquoise), vintage Riviera (turquoise), P-86 Fiesta (peacock and sapphire), handthrown strawberry bowl and underplate from an Etsy artist
7. glassware: champagne flutes that I've had just about forever, art deco cobalt glass water/lemonade pitcher and glasses, Chase Russel Wright pancake set tray, art glass Love Goddess, art deco chrome/glass cocktail ball (unknown maker)
8. other: art deco nude vases, Rhead art class vase, RoyalChrome condiment holder, Chase art deco chrome and bakelite heart servers, unmarked cobalt candleholder/vase, art deco chrome standing champagne bucket, and a bottle of Dom Perignon (because what champagne is more romantic?)

Original lyrics translated into English:

Love is Blue

Sweet, sweet, love is sweet
Sweet is my life, my life in your arms
Sweet, sweet, love is sweet
Sweet is my life, my life close to you

Blue, blue, love is blue
Cradle my heart, my loving heart
Blue, blue, love is blue
Blue like the sky which play in your eyes

Like the water, like the running water
Me, my heart runs after your love

Grey, grey, love is grey
My heart weeps since you went away
Grey, grey, the sky is grey
The rain falls when you're not there anymore

The wind, the wind moans
The wind weeps since you went away
The wind, the cursed wind
My heart weeps when you're not there anymore

Like the water, like the running water
Me, my heart runs after your love

Blue, blue, love is blue
The sky is blue when you return
Blue, blue, love is blue
Love is blue when you take my hand

Mad, mad, love is mad
Mad like you and mad like me
Blue, blue, love is blue
Love is blue when I am yours

Love is blue when I am yours

And if you are fluent in French:

L'amour est Bleu
Doux, doux, l'amour est doux
Douce est ma vie, ma vie dans tes bras
Doux, doux, l'amour est doux
Douce est ma vie, ma vie près de toi

Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu
Berce mon cœur, mon cœur amoureux
Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu
Bleu comme le ciel qui joue dans tes yeux

Comme l'eau, comme l'eau qui court
Moi, mon cœur court après ton amour

Gris, gris, l'amour est gris
Pleure mon cœur lorsque tu t'en vas
Gris, gris, le ciel est gris
Tombe la pluie quand tu n'es plus là

Le vent, le vent gémit
Pleure le vent lorsque tu t'en vas
Le vent, le vent maudit
Pleure mon cœur quand tu n'es plus là

Comme l'eau, comme l'eau qui court
water Moi, mon cœur court après ton amour

Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu
Le ciel est bleu lorsque tu reviens
Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu
L'amour est bleu quand tu prends ma main

Fou, fou, l'amour est fou
Fou comme toi et fou comme moi
Bleu, bleu, l'amour est bleu
L'amour est bleu quand je suis à toi

L'amour est bleu quand je suis à toi

.Be My Valentine and enjoy your own Colours of Love!
Je vous adore, mes amis!

namasté,

Red is the Colour of...

2011-02-07T07:00:00.027-06:00

And boy, do I RED!!! I will be joining MaryT/TheTeach over at Work of the Poet for Ruby Tuesday, Marty at A Stroll Through Life for TableTop Tuesday and Jenny @ off on my tanget for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "R" - R is for "RED". Check out these wonderful blogs to see who else is playing along.

I elected to go with the traditional red and white for a Valentine's Day table for three reasons. First, from my youth I remember my Papa always bringing my Mama a beautiful Valentine's box of candy each year and the heart shaped box was almost always red. Mama saved the empty boxes and hung them up above the built-in drawers in her closet. As a child I used to those boxes and occasionally Mama would take one down for me to hold and look at more closely (read, play with VERY carefully). Red hearts and Valentine's Day are inseparable in my mind.

Second, a friend of mine from the VTLC (Vintage Tablecloth Lover's Club) sold me a wonderful red and white tablecloth with a bow and floral pattern and I haven't had a chance to use it before now.

The bow tablecloth was just crying out to be used with a round Fiesta platter I have that also has a red and white bow.

The platter/tray was sold by JC Penney for the Christmas 2007 season, but it works equally well with this February holiday. The rest of the table was designed around the bow tablecloth and platter.

The final reason I chose to use red is that it gives me an excuse to use one of my most treasured pair of candleholders.

The Tripod Candleholders have always been my very favourite Fiesta shape. I remember my grandmother having a vintage pair before their house burned down in 1963. They sat on the dresser in the room where I always stayed. When Fiesta was reintroduced in 1986 the tripods were renamed Pyramid Candleholders. While not understanding the name change, I loved that I would be able to get this fabulous Art Deco shape in more colours!

Because the pyramid shape is difficult to produce, Homer Laughlin had discontinued my favourite candleholders shortly after the introduction of the shamrock glaze in 2002. Many of us had been dreaming of a true red glaze for Fiesta and when Scarlet was introduced in 2004 we were ecstatic! But scarlet had come along too late for pyramid candleholders.

Each year the East Liverpool High School Alumni Association sponsors a charity auction in June to benefit education and students in East Liverpool, OH. Highlights of the auction are the pieces donated by the local potteries. Lo and behold, a dream come true! Homer Laughlin's contribution to the ELHSAA auction in 2005 were Scarlet Pyramid Candleholders. The auction takes absentee bidders and I was thrilled to find out I was one of the lucky winners. They have graced my Valentine table each year since they arrived at my house. I red.

While I don't collect the vintage figural Avon bottles, I have never gotten rid of the ones I bought back in the day. Other than some of the Christmas bottles, today's table is the first time I have found a use for any of the others. This is a tiny bottle and it looks especially lovely when the sun shines through the ruby glass.

The original holly pattern that Homer Laughlin put on Fiesta was only used for one year. Several of the accessory pieces (e.g. shakers, bud vases) do not have the holly decal, only a red line. This gives them versatility to be used at other times of the year, too.

Hardanger work is so beautiful and, like blackwork, is one of the needle arts that is not practiced so much today. One of my very dearest friends made this about 20 years ago and sent it to me as a gift.

The Franciscan relish dish is a useful piece on many tables.

This art deco era Chase piece was originally sold as a powder box, but when it is found with it's glass liner it works quite well to hold condiments at the table. The box comes in a number of different enamel colour combinations, as well as in both chrome and brass.

Back in the 1990s, Target sold a line of dishes called Cantinaware. Homer Laughlin filed suit for copyright infringement on their Fiesta dishes. HLC won and Target discontinued their line. This is a Cantinaware butter dish.

Valentine's Day is a huge holiday at our house. I have always joked that my Mom might forget to send us birthday cards or Christmas cards, but she never, ever forgets to send us a Valentine. And it's true. I continued the importance of Valentine's Day once I had children. Every year the girls would make beautiful hand-crafted Valentines to take to their friends at school. Occasionally they would need some help, but we always had a wonderful time sitting around the kitchen table making Valentines. And of course, their Papa and I would get one, too. These anthropomorphic heart suit Valentines are some of my favourites.

We made the heart suit Valentines twice - once for each daughter at around 2nd or 3rd grade. The Guy got the King and I got the Jack both times. The Queen went to their respective teachers.

1. Fiesta on the table: scarlet & white polka dots (an HLCCA exclusive), scarlet heart bowls, white salad plates, scarlet & white bow design tray, scarlet pyramid candleholders, white with red stripe bud vases and shakers, scarlet disc pitcher, and a white bread tray and sugar bowl.
2. Other dishes: a white Franciscan tidbit tray, white Cantinaware butter dish.
3. Heart suit Valentines made by my daughters when they were in lower elementary school.
4. Completing the table toppings: red flatware I got some years ago in Italy, tiny glass vintage strawberry perfume bottles, contemporary red napkins, white napkin rings that I've had since graduate school, hardanger hearts, goblets from Pier One, and a chrome and enamelled Chase dish.
5. All of this is set on the lovely red and white vintage tablecloth with the bow design.

Be My Valentine!

namasté,

Creamy Radish Dip

2011-02-04T11:34:00.013-06:00

I like radishes! There, I said it. When I was growing up, my grandfather always grew radishes in his garden. While he grew little round red ones, his favourites were the long white icicles that he grew in both hot and mild varieties. Radishes were normally served raw either in salad or with a salt cellar to dip them. Or sometimes radish roses were used for garnish. And in the spring radishes are a major component of one of our favourite meals: Wilted Lettuce Salad.

I too grow radishes in my garden and I like to experiment with different varieties every year. But as I'm not able to garden right now, I am relying on my CSA for wonderful radishes. And they have been wonderful. Purple plum, icicle, Easter egg and other varieties have been gracing us this winter. This week I got purple plum, icicle and red.

For awhile now I have been looking for recipes that use radishes. A few weeks ago I saw Laura Calder do a side dish of English peas and radishes that is on my list to try. Going through my files, I came across this dip recipe that I had found on Chowhound a few years ago. Since this is Super Bowl Weekend and everyone is making dips of one kind or another, I decided to give this one a try - even though we won't be watching the game here.

Ingredients are simple - radishes, garlic, cream cheese and salt:

Put it all in the food processor, pulse, and voilà! We have dip to serve with assorted veggies and or crackers for dipping. Because Valentines is next week, I'm serving the dip in white heart shaped Fiesta bowls on lilac plates. And I garnished the dip with baby red-veined sorrel leaves from my container garden.

I am so glad I decided to give this dip a try. It is really good and a bit different from many of the dips out there now. And it is the most gorgeous pink colour! My photos don't do it justice. The original recipe called for two cloves of garlic, but I used one small one and I feel that one is plenty. Raw garlic can be overpowering sometimes. Another nice benefit is that with all the radishes and using low-fat cream cheese, this dip is a somewhat more healthy choice.

Creamy Radish Dip

2 cups coarsely chopped radishes
1 to 2 cloves garlic
8 oz cream cheese (I use low-fat), softened
Salt to taste
herb leaves, for garnish
Assorted veggies and/or crackers for dipping or crostini for spreading

Pulse radishes and garlic in food processor until until radishes are finely chopped. Add cream cheese and salt. Pulse until dip is desired texture. You don't want it completely pureed. Taste and adjust seasonings. This is when you would add a second clove of garlic, if desired. If adding more garlic, pulse again to get it finely chopped and distributed through the dip. Serve with desired dippers or spread on crostini.

Notes:
1. This dip may weep if it sits in the fridge a day or two - just pour off the liquid and restir.

I'm linking this recipe to Kim's Saturday Swap @ Quit Eating Out and Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound. Click on the logos to check them out and join in the fun.

namasté,

The Queen of Hearts

2011-02-02T07:00:00.006-06:00

She made some tarts, All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts, He stole those tarts, And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts Called for the tarts, And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts Brought back the tarts, And vowed he'd steal no more.

I know what you think comes next.

The Queen was a might upset about the thievery, but she wasn't that unreasonable all the time. When all the drama was done, there was a lovely table of cards, polka dots and hearts for Valentine's Day. The Queen played cards with her guests and then they all had a delightful meal.

For the Queen of Hearts card table I used polka dot Fiesta plates (an exclusive to the HLCCA), a white Fiesta hostess bowl, art deco chrome and enamel bridge place markers, midcentury modern flatware, striped glassware from Target, red wooden napkin rings that I've had for several years, and a vintage hearts suit tea tin. All of this is set on a card suit tablecloth with matching napkins.

This week I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and Jenny Matlock for Alphabe-Thursday where Today's Letter is "Q" - Q is for "Queen of Hearts". Please stop by their blogs and see who all else is playing along.

This Tablescape won 1st place in the Vintage Tablecloth Lover's Club Valentine Table Contest.

namasté,

Potato Boats with Egg and Cheddar

2011-01-29T11:35:00.003-06:00

Earlier this month I saw a recipe for Baked Potatoes filled with Egg, Cheese and Ham posted by my friend Ann @ Thibeault's Table. Then my friend Cathy @ Wives with Knives made it, where it was seen by Pam @ For the Love of Cooking, who adapted it as Baked Potato with Egg, Extra Sharp Cheddar, and Canadian Bacon. As these are all ladies that I highly respect and treasure their recipes, I decided I needed to make this myself. There was one large leftover baked potato in the fridge, so this morning I adapted the recipe in a vegetarian version for the Guy and I to have for breakfast.

Let's get the ingredients in place:

When we were up in Knoxville on Tuesday, I saw little signs (looked kind of like realtor signs) saying Cheese Sale. We followed them through the Agricultural College at UT until we found the Food Sciences Building. The Food Sciences Club sells cheese as a fundraiser. Up until 15 years or so ago they actually made the cheese at the University of Tennessee, but their creamery is now closed. The club gets their cheese from a creamery in Kentucky that works with them to have some really good cheeses to sell.
It's a fundraiser for students. It's cheese. How could we not get some? LOL. We came home with a pound of sharp cheddar, half a pound of pepper Jack and half a pound of medium cheddar. My potatoes are made with the sharp cheddar.

Hollowed out potato shells:

Potato boats ready to go in the oven:

I used sunflower and lemongrass Fiesta individual bakers. They were just the right size to hold the potato halves. And check out the yolks on the eggs. That beautiful deep orange colour is because they are free-range eggs from my CSA.

Baked:

Dressed for serving:

The Guy wanted a huevos rancheros version, so he got salsa added to his.

I wanted to try mine sans salsa.

These are so good! I can't imagine why I never tried baking eggs in potatoes before. And today they were super easy and quick because I already had a potato baked. DD#2 tried some with salsa and sour cream. Her verdict was two thumbs up. We all really liked the cheese from UT in this, too. Cathy suggested adding some spinach and I may try that next time. I've got a good bit of spinach that I put in the freezer last spring that came in the veggie box and this would be a great flavour to add.

Potato Boats with Egg and Cheddar
Serves 2

1 large baked potato
Hawaiian red salt
Freshly ground pepper
Sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
Salsa, optional
Green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Slice potato in half lengthwise. Scoop out some of the centres, leaving a 1/2" shell.

Season the potato shells with salt and pepper and add cheese to each. Crack eggs and gently slide one into each half. Put on a pan in the oven and bake until egg is set. This should take about 15 minutes, or so and the yolk will be soft. For a firmer yolk, cook longer.

Remove from oven, top with a little more cheese, salsa and green onions. Serve immediately.

Note:
1. I put the leftover potato from the boats into my soup container in the freezer.
2. Here we always have Hawaiian red salt on hand, but if you don't just use kosher, sea or whatever salt you prefer.

I'm linking this recipe to Kim's Saturday Swap over at Quit Eating Out. Click on the logo to check it out and join in the fun.

namasté,

Plate Flipping

2011-01-29T06:30:00.007-06:00

Are you a Plate Flipper? I am. As a matter of fact, I am a card carrying member of the Homer Laughlin China Plate Flippers Association. You may be wondering, what the heck is a Plate Flipper? Catherine over at Small Town, Great Life has this explanation:

If you're from East Liverpool, you're allowed to flip plates (or bowls or mugs) no matter where you are, even in the company of nobility. In fact, it's kind of expected. That's because we East Liverpudlians look for backstamps no matter where we go, and we delight in finding backstamps familiar to us.

Backstamps--for the uninitiated--are a pottery's mark, usually placed on the base of a ceramic piece to let you know who designed or manufactured it. Backstamps date a piece, and place it geographically, and taking a gander at a backstamp is virtually the first thing any of us do when we're out to eat, in a friend's home, and so on. It might seem rude when other people do it, but when an East Liverpudlian exhibits plate-flipper tendencies, it's just pride in our hometown and in our industry.

I really like that part about "even in the company of nobility", but actually plate flipping goes beyond her description. It encompasses many people who are not from and have never been to East Liverpool, Ohio. The Homer Laughlin China Company began in East Liverpool, but moved across the river to Newell, WV right after the turn of the 20th century. However, they are still considered local to EL,O. After all, in 1905 they built the bridge across the Ohio River to connect the two towns.

I am a member of the Homer Laughlin China Collector's Association. Collectors are a funny bunch. We are passionate about our dishes, and we too, look at backstamps everywhere we go. Every year the HLCCA has a conference and various people from Homer Laughlin China are often in attendance. One of those people is Dave Conley, Director of Retail Sales and Marketing. Dave noticed we were somewhat obsessed with dishes and some years ago brought Homer Laughlin China Plate Flipper Association cards to one of the conferences. As we were all plate flipping anyway, he thought he would make it official. And if waitstaff at a restaurant look at you askance when you are checking out the dishes, you can just pull out your card.

Now why the heck am I writing about plate flipping? Well, something happened this week that warmed this dish loving mama's heart. When the Guy and I picked up DD#2 from her Honours Program interview from UT-Chattanooga on Monday, she started telling us about her experience. Just in the course of things she mentioned that the dishes in the Faculty Club at UTC are Homer Laughlin.

Back when she was in elementary school I noticed that she would flip plates right along with me when we were out and about. The first time I saw her do it, I e-mailed Dave and he promptly sent DD her own Plate Flipper card. She was about 8 years old at the time and was so excited to have a card of her own. While I don't know if she still carries her card with her, I was happy to know that she is still noticing who makes the dishes that are put in front of her.

A few backstamps:

Happy dish flipping!

namasté,

Updates: Medical and Wedding

2011-01-28T06:30:00.011-06:00

Well, let's get the unpleasant stuff out of the way. All of my counts have dropped a lot. Hopefully this is killing off the dysplasia that was trying to rear its head, and my DONOR CELLS, which are nice and HEALTHY, will rebound and start producing more blood cells to get my counts back up where they belong. The main thing I am noticing is that I run out of breath and am weaker than I want to be due to the low red count. I'm being careful not to cut or bruise myself and am being a hermit to avoid sick people.

There was a lot of back and forth about when to do the next chemo treatment. They started me out slowly at first: three days at 75% dose. For the second round I will have five days at 75% dose.

Looking at the calendar, the Guy, DD#2 and I have a trip to France coming up in March. In order to give me more than a week to get my counts up after the next round, it was decided that I will start the second set of Vidaza infusions on Monday 7 February. And by skipping next week, my counts will get a little more chance to come back up before being knocked down again. I will have the picc line removed on Friday 11 February. Yea! Don't want to wear that to France. It wouldn't go with my travel wardrobe at all!

Now that we have that out of the way, on to the fun stuff: WEDDING PLANNING. For those of you who don't know - my daughter, Abbey, and her fiancé, Donnie, are getting married at DisneyWorld in June. The ceremony will take place in the Wedding Pavillion on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon and the reception dinner will be at the Grand Floridian.

This has to be one of the most fun things I have ever done. I love spending time with Abbey and DD#2 working out all the details. One huge thing is done: I got the Fiesta favours ordered.

At least ten years ago I met Judi Noble and Dave Conley at an HLCCA Conference. Judi is Art Director and Dave is Director of Retail Sales and Marketing at Homer Laughlin China. Now I know that HLC does various advertising things on dishes for different companies and it occurred to me that something wedding-ish on Fiesta would make a wonderful favour for the guests at Abbey's wedding. At the HLCCA conference this past July I talked with Judi and Dave about having a piece of Fiesta to be said favours. Then I actually set things in motion late in the fall. The artwork is wonderful. Abbey looked at the renderings and said, "Perfect!" So I finally got everything together and placed the order on Friday. The dishes will be here in plenty of time. I for sure will have to get photos of the boxes sitting on the front porch. (Sorry, you may have to be one of my dish buddies to get the humour of that.)

When we were at DisneyWorld for Christmas we spent one afternoon meeting with the wedding planner and floral coordinator, tasting wedding cakes and fillings, choosing the cake design, and in general going over everything to do with a perfect wedding. Today we got the initial plan back from Disney with all those details in writing. It is pages long, but very detailed. I love that. Nothing is left to chance or question. Everything is spelled out so we are all on the same sheet of music. This truly is going to be a fairytale wedding.

This afternoon we worked on seating arrangements at the reception dinner and clarifying the time and date of the Magic Kingdom photo shoot. The bridal portraits and some of the wedding portraits will be made at Cinderella's Castle before the park opens.

We also went over the menu for the reception cocktail hour and dinner - just thing a food oriented person likes to do. There were many choices and Abbey and I are both really pleased with the final menu. After the fact, I will post it, along with lots of photos.

Next big thing on my agenda is going shopping for my MOB dress. Just have to get my blood counts high enough so that I can go out in public again. Thinking positively!!!

namasté,

Swim said the mama fishy...

2011-01-26T10:00:00.006-06:00

Swim if you're able
And they swam and they swam all over my table.

This week I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

My tablescape was inspired by my friends Candy, Daphne, Elaine and Rebecca, who did Coast-to-Coast: Two Fish, Four Fish, New Fish, More Fish last week for Tablescape Thursday. They chose to use the same fish tablecloth in four different colourways and posted them on Tabletop Time: East Coast and The Little Round Table: West Coast. If you did not see their beautiful settings last week please check them out before continuing.

When I saw their tables I remembered that I had that same tablecloth in at least one colourway. Since Abbey had helped me organize all my tablecloths a few weeks ago, I had a pretty good idea of where to look for it. Sure enough, I have the same fishy tablecloth that Elaine used - the colourway with the gold fish, turquoise coral, and pink seaweed.

And I remembered thinking when we put it away that this cloth would look fabulous with marigold Fiesta.

Marigold is the colour celebrating Fiesta's 75th Anniversary. While a few special shapes in this glaze have been released the last few years, the remainder of the line will come out this year for the anniversary. I am anxious to be able to get place settings to use with this tablecloth, but in the meanwhile, I decided to see what I could do using some of the shapes that are already out. And of course, I would need some other colours to go with it in order to set the table.

Today's table is set with the gold fish tablecloth, post-86 Fiesta in marigold, rose and turquoise, vintage Metlox spiral candleholders in rose and turquoise, vintage Chicken of the Sea tuna bakers and shakers in the standard colours as well as some unusual colours, pale gold glassware that belonged to my great-grandmother (tea came in these from the grocery store in the early 1900s), bamboo flatware from Cambridge, post-86 Fiesta go-along turquoise napkins and yellow napkin rings that I got several years ago from Sur la Table. My breakfast room faces east so when the morning sun comes in I get lots of lovely natural light. Sometimes that makes tablesetting pieces be backlit, so I also made some photos of the table after dark with the room lights.

One of my great-grandmother's glasses:

The glass is so thin and delicate in these. They fit perfectly in your hand and I treasure them.

Besides Homer Laughlin dishes, I have also collected promotional pottery from a number of different potteries. The Chicken of the Sea tuna pieces and associated ephemera (1940-41) are some of my favourites. And I've been lucky enough to find pieces in some odd colours to go along with the standard ones that were sold in the promotion. Standard glazes were yellow, maroon (called dusky rose in ads), green and turquoise and all were glossy. I also have matte coral, glossy coral, cobalt, delph blue and matte turquoise in my collection.

Marigold large Fiesta platter holding bakers in turquoise blue, dusky rose, delph blue and sea green:

The other standard colour for the bakers was canary yellow.

Now this is an odd baker.

What makes it odd is that it's considerably smaller than all the other bakers, it's coral, it's trimmed in gold, and there is no mark on the bottom. It almost appears to be an amateur piece, but I have never seen any others in this size or decorated with the gold.

Officially the bakers are called Tuna Bakers and Salad Servers. The chrome stands are to protect your table from the hot dish. I have the recipe pamphlet that came with them, but I have never been brave enough to put them in the oven. I have used them to serve tuna salad though.

Check out Candy's blog for pics of some of the ephemera for the premium pieces. Lots of times people sell the Chicken of the Sea pottery as Bauer, but the glaze colours are not the same and there is no proof that Bauer ever made them. A lot of us have been researching and we believe that several different potteries made the fish. The bakers come in at least two different shapes with different markings and the lids are not interchangeable.

Many of the shakers have been found in original mailing boxes and all of those were postmarked Hollydale, CA. Hollydale Pottery was located there, so it is likely they were one of the producers. Also there are anecdotal stories from the families of Hollydale workers who say they made the fish. Here is a shot of two of the mailing boxes that shipped with pairs of the shakers.

In the boxes were notes saying that corks did not come with the shakers and to use tape to cover the openings in the bottom. I have always wondered why they did that.

Normal colours for the shakers are turquoise blue for salt (the one with two holes) and canary yellow for pepper (three holes). I've also found them in coral, cobalt and delph blue.

This is one of the most interesting pairs of shakers in my collection:

Notice how they are stuck together? When they were put in the kiln to fire, they were placed too close together and the glaze on the two pieces fused. This can happen when making pottery, but normally when the pieces are removed from the kiln they come apart and the glaze will be damaged where they touched This pair is forever joined together with a kiln kiss.

The Metlox candleholders:

Every time I use these I am amazed at how they were manufactured and how well they have survived. The spiral candleholders also came in the radioactive red glaze, ivory, coral, green and yellow.

There is another fish tablecloth that goes wonderfully vintage Harlequin in its original four colours. Several years ago I did a tablesetting using those, the Chicken of the Sea pieces, and a Trenton pottery vase that is also in my favourite blue glaze. As a little bit of lagniappe, here are a few shots from that table:

Happy Fishing!

namasté,