You may not share my approach to living. I’m most happy and feel terribly rich when there’s a big pot of something luscious bubbling on the stove–especially on a snowy day.
Enough to feed 12 is about right. And maybe there’s a bottle of wine airing on the table with glasses perched just within reach. A fresh baguette wafting its bouquet throughout the kitchen. Salted butter, of course. Paris Café music on the Bose, as we’re just back from France:
There’s no place like home!! I’m feeling a little Dorothy-ish today. Let me click my red heels together…
The blog, Dave, and I are going on vacation for the rest of September. If I can, I’ll post photos, but I’m concentrating on tasting and walking France – YES YES YES- and will catch you up after we return. See you later!
photo courtesy Beaune tourism
My friend Sara brought me figs the other day. A little giftie–much appreciated. Not much better to give a woman like me. Since it wasn’t time for figgy pudding, I opted to eat them fresh as they’re pretty rare in Colorado.
If you’re lucky enough to have leftover steak, you’re lucky enough. At our house, red meat is well-loved, but kept in its healthy place. So we invest in a good quality product and eat it usually only once a week. If there’s a little left, and it’s steak, there’s usually a next day steak sandwich for my husband, Dave. Occasionally, though, there’s more than a little left and I make a steak salad or tacos for us both. Maybe steak and eggs if we’ve been really good. A tiny bite for the pups could be forthcoming, too.
Cobblers are often thought to take the place of pies--if you don’t know how or don’t want to bake a pie. I beg to differ. Cobblers, along with crisps, buckles, fools, and pandowdies, etc., are their very own lovely desserts…or breakfasts. True, they’re a bit quicker or easier to both make and bake as they have only one layer of some sort of crust, but they differ in many other ways. (Fools have no crust at all!) For me, the filling of a cobbler, in particular, isn’t nearly as sweet and surely isn’t as caloric as that of a pie with two crusts. Instead of pie pastry or pâte brisée, there is–for cobbler– a soft, billowy-pillowy biscuit topping with a crunchy edge that merely sets off the great big bite of fruit. And, while others might disagree, I’d typically only make a cobbler when the fruit was at its peak. Mid-winter apple cobbler might be the exception. Yes, it’s hot to bake right now and yes, it’s perfectly luscious, too.
Out of all the things folks say to me about making dinner, the most common might be, “I never know what to fix.” It occurs to me that while those are the words coming out of their mouths, the problem might not be that exactly. It might be a question of, “I know how to make tacos, but not enchiladas, so I buy the ingredients and cook tacos. A lot. I don’t have the time to learn enchiladas. Other days I make grilled boneless chicken breasts, salad, chili, mac and cheese, and hamburgers because I don’t need a recipe.” Or…could be they didn’t plan a week’s meals and shop for the plan. We’ve all been there.
On August 8 of each year, American cooks and gardeners celebrate …
photo courtesy national calendar day dot com
