Grandma's Kitchen Table

Friday's Favorites Fare

 

READING:  Catching up on all the little bits and pieces of reading material around here, mostly American Civil War things, before I start on something new.

 

LISTENING TO:  I found a site where you can listen to American Civil War music, so I am just listening to bits and pieces from 1861-1865 on that site.  I have been listening to about ten compositions a day.  It fit in well with the Tried by War book I was reading.  You can check it out here.  Oh, come on, give it a click...browse around, listen to various things, really, it is most enjoyable. 

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), this week's assignment is Bar à la Normande (Sea Bass with Mushrooms and Cream) on pages 180-181; Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is World Peace Cookies, pages 138-139.  You can cook/bake along, too!

FAV NEW FIND:   How much I appreciate feeling well...it's been awhile...since Thanksgiving really, and today I actually ran the vacuum cleaner as I finally feel my strength returning.  I never before thought of vacuuming as something that would be exhausting.  Thankfully, that's over.

FAV THING TODAY:   Well, you all know how I feel about winter...I was pretty much tired of it the second day and all, BUT it is very pretty outside with everything covered in white, the huge drifts of snow everywhere, and knowing I don't really have to go out in it if I don't want to, so I guess, believe it or not, my favorite thing is snuggling up with my books, a nice fire, a cup of hot cider, and the view of all the white coldness outside the window.   This favoritism won't last long...I'm a summer person these days.   

GOING TO:   Watch Big Ten Basketball, that's always a given this time of year, Hoos play on Saturday in Hooville at 4:00, so that will be nice and maybe Lennies for lunch and the Limestone Grille for dinner; Hawks play Sunday in Champaign right after lunch.  Oh, and BTW, you can all cease and desist with the emails regarding the success, or lack thereof, this year of these two teams.  I still watch.  All. The. Time.  I am not a fair-weather fan at all...you can see improvement in every single game with both these teams and frankly, considering the youth of the teams, they have given this team and that team a run for their money this year already...it's not always readily visible in the W-L column.  Just wait.  Other than just the usual run of doings around here, not much else in the plans. 

PRAYING FOR:   Families in crisis, whatever that might be for each family...in our family, Alex is experiencing a bit of teenage angst, prayers for all families dealing with this, please join me.
PHOTO:  A flock of about a hundred robins got trapped by the snow and nestled in a couple of our trees for several hours...I can't even imagine where they went next. (You can click on the photo to enlarge and see just how plump those robins are...they must have been finding plenty of food someplace, so I hope they were able to return there.)

Dealing With A Foot Of Snow

      The view looking out our living room window...lots of snow! 

      Yep, we got a foot of snow, I kid you not, between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  On Wednesday they canceled everything they could think of, so Mark, Matt and I had a nice day snowed in at home.  Mark tried to make it in to work, but got stuck several times and just figured he would call it a day and work from home.  

      Thursday and Friday have been much better, although the schools are on a two-hour delay (I know, you Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, upstate New York, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire people, not forgetting all my Canadian friends, are all laughing at canceling and two-hour delays for one little round of snow...this is Indiana and we don't get a lot of that around here usually, so people gather themselves in a tizzy quiet quickly when they hear more than one inch of snow is expected). 

      I didn't get Whisk Wednesdays recipe made this week as I sort of waited until the last minute, and could not find any whole trout, so that will come along at another point as I do want to make it...it looked delicious, and being an Iowa girl:  I love trout!  I don't think you can grow up in northeast Iowa without going fishing for trout. 

      Matt's swim meet on Tuesday was canceled as the roads were starting to get bad during the early hours of the afternoon.  He was very disappointed as it was hosted by Ali and Harrison's school and he was really looking forward to swimming with them in the meet.  No reschedule on that as girls high school swim sectionals start next week, so there is no time to get a meet of that caliber rescheduled in a timely manner.  Boys high school swimming sectionals are in two weeks, state is the last Friday and Saturday in February.   And then we gear up for USA senior state in March.   And the best part of all that is that winter is OVER at that point.

 

Tuesdays with Dorie: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

      This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread, can be found on pages 212-213, and was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle.  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Heather's site above and she will have it posted today. 

      I didn't make this week's recipe.  When I mentioned it around here, the vote was that no one was going to probably eat this, so perhaps I might not want to put forth all the effort for something no one was going to eat (remembering the rice pudding and all).  Mark and Matt don't care for gingerbread.  I don't care for chocolate or coffee, and am not all that fond of gingerbread myself, so that pretty much meant this recipe was going nowhere.  I chatted it up with friends and offered to make it for any of them, but received the same comments:  "Chocolate and Gingerbread????  No thanks." 

      This does not mean, however, that this is not a fine recipe...so to be fair, go check it out at Heather's site and determine for yourselves.  See you next week as that recipe is definitely one the guys will embrace!

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Jessica of cookbookbahbit and is World Peace Cookies, which is found on page 138-139. 

      Click here  and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest.  It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen.  See you there!

What a Deal!

       Each year, for countless years, our friends, Katie and Gary, and their three lovely daughters, Sarah, Meredith, and Rebecca (pictured at the left), host an Epiphany party on the first Sunday of the New Year. 

      While swim meets have sometimes prohibited our family's attendance at such, I have not missed more than a couple of the preparation galas that Katie hosts around the kitchen table for The Making/Baking of the Cookies.  My favorite is cutting out and decorating the sugar cookies with all Katie's fun cookie cutters...she has quite the collection and adds to it yearly.   

      There is no end of the fun that we have with the different cutters and decorations...I always see to it that in this Purdue family, the State of Indiana cutter, for instance, is used to cut out a few Cream and Crimson cookies with a cinnamon red hot parked squarely where Bloomington is on the map.      

       We usually just refer to it as their Cookie Party as there are literally hundreds and hundreds of cookies that adorn those trays. They also have lots of other good food, but The Cookies of all kinds, shapes, sizes, flavors, etc. are the real stars of the party.

       Limiting oneself to two cookies is one the greatest tests of willpower.  (And, to give credit fully where credit is due, this year SHELLEY attended the party and did not eat one single cookie...she deserves a prize for that much willpower!  Or maybe we should call the white coat team quick and have her locked up!)   

      Because I missed both the decorating party and the actual cookie party, Katie and Gary decided that they would make up a special tray for our family and deliver it a few weeks ago while I was under the weather (and a couple of quilts). 

      Yes, this is way too many cookies for my two-cookie rule at the party, but I believe the real mission was that, since I was down and out for a bit, they would take pity on my cookie-loving guys here and supply them with proper fodder.  The guys dug right in and never looked back. 

       What a wonderful thing friends are, aren't they?  They know just what is needed when! 

 

So, What's the Deal?

        So, what's the deal with the GCHS swim team this year?  Well, we are, once again, a team of one.  A team of one with two coaches.  Seriously.  Roch is again Matt's main Coach, but due to his travel schedule, MLV has graciously filled in the post of Assistant Coach, filling in where needed.  And, we are oh-so-appreciative of both of them!  We are very very lucky!  

       Last night Matt attended the Flying Tigers Invitational and did very well.  He swam the 200 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, and 50 Freestyle, dropping time in each event...always a great deal!   

      He led most of the way in the 200 Free, losing concentration on the last two turns, allowing Anderson to touch him out for first at the very last moment, so that was a second place finish.   (Photo shows the congratulatory handshake with Anderson, a well-deserved win for him.)   

      In the 100 Free, it was neck and neck literally the entire race between four swimmers, and another touch out at the end, with Matt finishing third.         The 50 Free was another touch out at the end with Matt finishing second. 

      All in all, he was very happy, as was his coach.  All the swimmers that bested him were Seniors.  Matt is a Sophomore, so that means it looks pretty good for going into next year.  All three times qualified him for sectionals. 

      It was nice meet, and The Lovely Tess came by with her father to cheer on The Boy, so it was fun getting to sit with her and hear all about her lacrosse travel team, etc.    

      Last photo of the night:  One Happy Coach and One Happy Swimmer:  On to the next meet where he will swim the 100 Backstroke, and the 200 Freestyle, and hopefully have two more sectional times so he can pick and choose what he wants to swim for a chance to go to State.  

      As always:  We swim.  It's what we do.  So, that's the deal with GCHS swimming this year...pre-season we were ranked 40th in the state.  Not bad for a team of one.  With two coaches. 

      The next meet is Tuesday night at the Nat in Indy for the Brebeuf "Schools Without Pools" Invitational.  This is Ali and Harrison's school/team, so we are really looking forward to swimming in that meet.  If you can't be there to cheer, you can cheer from where you are!

 

Friday's Favorites Fare

   

READING:

Well, I have left the 16th Century, surrendered it to Mark, and am now in the midst of mid-19th Century history via Abe, happy to be in sole possession of a book Mark received for Christmas and has already finished reading:  Tried by War:  Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson.  Much has been made this week of the new President's interest and enjoyment in reading about the 16th President...I would think he and Mark could go days discussing this mutual interest.  I would doubt there is much about Lincoln that Mark does not have readily in mind and at hand.  Anyway, the book seemed a fair salute this year as it is the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.  Did you know Charles Darwin was born on the same day as Lincoln...he was.

LISTENING TO:  Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), this week's assignment is pages 49-50 Trout with Almonds; Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread, found on page 212.  You can cook/bake along, too!

FAV NEW FIND:   Roger Crowley's site:  click here   He has some interesting connects under his News catagory. (Really, just read his books, he is a wonderful writer...The Empires of the Sea was named by the Sunday Times as the best historical book for 2008...several other sources named it as well...it was that good.)

FAV THING TODAY:   Being caught up with my posts for Whisk Wednesdays and Tuesdays with Dorie...I do not like things just hanging over me, so it was a big relief to get those three posts done yesterday.

GOING TO:   Watch Big Ten Basketball, that's always a given this time of year, try to get caught up on some things that have taken a back burner these past couple of weeks, swim meets with Matt for GCHS, nothing really taxing as I am still working on getting back to fully being my usual run-around self.  I cannot even believe I have to miss Anne's big cropping weekend for the first time in about ten years.  I am just not going to think about it.

PRAYING FOR:   The hundreds of students/families we know that are in Washington, D.C. for the March for Life...prayers for their safety and that their message will save lives, please join me.

Whisk Wednesdays: Côtes de Porc Flamande (Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes and Thyme)

        The recipe prepared for this week is from Class 20, Part 3: Côtes de Porc Flamande (Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes and Thyme).  It can be found in the cookbook Le Cordon Bleu At Home on pages 106-107.  

      The photo of this week's plate shows Matt's plate as CC keeps emailing me telling me that these plates I feature have way too little food on them and that certainly I am starving my guys with these "Barbie" portions.  As you can see, Matt's plate shows ample nutrition and amounts of food!   

      This week's recipe was very easy and used only two pans!  We buttered the baking dish, put in a layer of sliced potatoes, placed browned pork chops over the potatoes, layered another round of potatoes, doused it with a little melted butter, salt, pepper, and thyme, and into the oven it went at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  How much easier could it possibly be than this?   

      The guys loved it, definitely a successful recipe.  I liked it okay, but I am not that fond of greasy things, and this was a little greasy if you ate the potatoes from the layer underneath the pork chops, as the pork chop juices dripped onto the potatoes (which is why the guys LOVED them), and made them just a little too fatty for my taste.    The potatoes on the top layer, however, were nice and tasty.   

      The recipe called for portions of 6-8 ounces of pork chop each, so that is what I purchased, with the bone-in.   This amount of pork chop is probably fine for a husband who absolutely loves pork chops and a son who swims 5 hours a day...for all others, one of that size would feed two easily. 

      All in all, a very nice recipe, and since Mark liked it so much, I would probably make it a few times a year for him.  Important (and fun) to keep the man happy, you know!   

      If you would like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there. 

      Next week's assignment is:   

Class 21 Les Poissons – Fish
• Class 21, Part 1 (Post on Wednesday, January 28, 2009):
Truite aux Amandes (Trout with Almonds) pages 49-50

Tuesdays with Dorie: Berry Surprise Cake

      This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Berry Surprise Cake, can be found on pages 273-275, and was chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen.  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Mary Ann's site above and she will have it posted today.

       I wasn't certain if I was going to be up to tackling a genoise with various layers and steps and what I call, "A great deal of fussiness," as I am not a fussy-type baker/cook.  That said, this recipe was quite fun...and fairly simple.  Dorie does a great job precisely describing each step and layer, and before you realize it, the little berry surprise cake is sitting there in all it's glory.   

      I did everything exactly as she said, and it turned out exactly wonderful.  The only change I made was that I used strawberries instead of the raspberries she suggested as Mark does not care for raspberries (I know, I married him anyway figuring it was worth the risk).    

      I sliced the cake top off, hollowed it out, filled it with the filling of creams and berries, and then set it in the frig so that I could frost it all with the whipped cream at another point in the day.   

      The cake is very pretty, inside and out, and the taste is too good...it would be important to have thin guys who eat a lot, or an entire dinner party, present to eat this...one thin slice would suffice as it is very rich and calorie-laden.   

      The guys here were very excited to see the cake waiting for them...each of them being thrilled with cake, berries, and whipped cream, so what's NOT to love...and it helps to be thin, as they all are, so that they could launch in with gusto and a fair amount of let-the-devil-care attitude.  I would love to say that we all sit around an elegant table each week and enjoy the desserts, but the truth is, I serve them up at the kitchen island, they grab a fork and head off to the men's den to enjoy their treats while watching, usually, a ballgame...they have come to EXPECT this routine, so they are just delighted with the whole TWD program!   

      Make this one...and make sure you have exactly in mind how you are going to dispose of it, so that you aren't tempted with more than one thin slice! 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle and is Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread, which is found on page 212. 

     

Click here  and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest.  It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen.  See you there!

Whisk Wednesdays: Poulet en Cocotte Grand-Mère (Braised Chicken Casserole with Bacon, Mushrooms, Potatoes, and Onions):

       The recipe prepared for this week is from Class 20, Part 2:  Poulet en Cocotte Grand-Mère (Braised Chicken Casserole with Bacon, Mushrooms, Potatoes, and Onions).  It can be found in the cookbookLe Cordon Bleu At Home on pages 296-297.  

      Okay, it's basically roast chicken.  Nothing terribly fancy about that, and in fact, this was described as a sort of "grandmotherly one-pot dish" originally. 

      Make no mistake about it, my grandmothers did cook fine roast chickens in their days, but that said, OMW...THIS is my roast chicken recipe from now on.  Seriously.   

      What a great dish...again, it's the layering of the flavors.  It's magical how these recipes take very simple ingredients and bring layers and layers of flavor to a finished dish with the techniques used, making it taste like nothing you have ever tasted before.  It was that good. 

      It got rave reviews around here...when the husband is extremely happy with his dinner, there is no end of good things that result!   Okay, I know you are thinking he was just very appreciative of having homemade food again, and he was, but truly, this is one of those recipes that is very easy, and very tasty...worth getting to know.  We enjoyed it very much...moist, tender, flavorful. 

      The recipe was easy (Shari has it posted on Friday, January 23rd's date), all the ingredients are common, easy to find, and went together quickly.  (Five pans, but I have learned to just tell myself that I enjoy using all my pans/cookware and get over the pan count each week.)    

      The recipe states that in France, grandmothers would put all these things in one pot and cook them.  It goes on to say that now this recipe has all the ingredients being cooked separately and then being brought together in the end for about a 20 minute cooking time of all being in the same pot.  (Photo:  at the end of the cooking, and please excuse the incredibly incompetent trussing as I am not terribly good at that, and it all was coming undone by the end of the cooking time.  I need a whole lot more practice in tying things up properly.)

      It works...all the ingredients taste very much of themselves, and then there is also a sort of blending of flavors.  In most, if not all, my recipes, the one-pot dishes end up with everything in them pretty much tasting the same at the end (I am thinking of a pot roast, carrots, and potatoes, for example).  In this dish, cooking the ingredients separately, i.e. pearl onions, potatoes, and mushrooms, ensures that at the end you can taste the best of the three separate ingredients on their own.  Hard to explain, just try it.  Absolutely wonderful. 

      If you would like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there. 

      Next week's assignment is: 

• Class 20, Part 3:
Côtes de Porc Flamande (Baked Pork Chops with Potatoes and Thyme) pages 106-107

Tuesdays with Dorie: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

   

       This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins, can be found on page 6, and was chosen by Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake.   

     If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Rebecca's site above and she will have it posted today.   (Rebecca is one of my favorite TWD bloggers...not only does she have great looking food/recipes on her site, she is always all about the giggle, so it  is very fun to pop in and see what she is up to over there.)       

      This was an easy recipe, as muffin recipes usually are.  I followed the recipe exactly, no subtractions, no additions, baked it for the time specified, and they turned out perfectly wonderful. 

      Inside the muffin batter were all sorts of good things:  two kinds of peppers, corn kernels, cilantro, and chili powder, which made accompanying the chili I made to go with them, just perfect.  The recipe made a dozen full-size regular muffins.    

      I will definitely be making these again.  And again.   

 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen and is Berry Surprise Cake, which is found on pages 273-275.

        

Click here  and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest.  It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen.  See you there!

 

 

The Deal With The Duck

       I posted the Whisk Wednesdays duck entry last night, for anyone interested.  You can find it on the entry for January 7th. 

     That was one very fine duck.

Friday's Favorites Fare

READING:  Empires of the Sea:  The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World by Roger Crowley.  16th Century history in the Mediterranean world and the struggle for dominance by the Christians and the Ottomans for control of the Mediterranean Sea.  This is not a long book, but I keep getting distracted by all the descriptions of the ships.  When that happens, my fingers start searching for more information on them.  I am learning a lot about the differences between a galley, a carrack, a caravel, quadrireme, a galliot, etc., be still my heart...absolutely wonderful.  Are you SURE you don't want to read this book? 

LISTENING TO:  The Stones 

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), we were on vacation until January 7th when we were to post the roasted duck (ha ha ha on getting that duck post up as I am still trying to roast the darn thing); Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins found on pages 6.

FAV NEW FIND:  Whole Foods (I have resisted it, but I have to tell you...my grocery only stocks so much organic/local/sustainable, so I may need to divide up my shopping a bit as I have figured this year we are going more along those lines.) 

FAV THING TODAY:   Just being home with a nice fire in the fireplace, my lap blanket, and my books.  Still very weak, so the expectations of my days are not running very high here.  Hope this changes VERY SOON.

GOING TO:   Watch Big Ten Basketball, that's always a given, try to get caught up on some things that have taken a back burner these past couple of weeks, maybe do a little cooking for TWD and Whisk next week...wouldn't it be nice if I actually got this week's Whisking done???

PRAYING FOR:   Felix and Laurel and their family, Jim and Debbie and their family...both fathers are educated, wonderful men, whose jobs have been terminated due to closings.  Please join me in praying for them.

PHOTO:  Vash keeping me company as I type and read...he's not too sure what all my lounging around is about, but he is more than happy to help with it.  I even pulled out my favorite afghan for the occasion...my Grandma Ohl made it for me to take to college in 1973 and it is still something I cherish, use, and enjoy remembering her and the day she gave it to me.  This is definitely one of those times.

Ordeal

       Okay, no photos today, just a quick update to let you know that things went fine and Le Canard is on borrowed time...tomorrow he gets roasted up (I know, we try not to eat meat on Fridays, but I am under instructions to eat meat for another few weeks, so we'll just go with that for now). 

      I am home, no worse for the little trip, and maybe actually feeling much better today.  They didn't keep me, so I figure that's a good thing. 

      You Iowa people will enjoy this:  They said, "Who is here with you?  I will let them know that things went fine and you are going to rest for a bit and then be ready to go."  I said, "Well, I drove myself."  "You drove yourself?  Didn't you read that paper that said you should have someone with you as you were not to operate heavy machinery, etc.?"  "Oh, yes, I read that, but I figured Blue Bernice (my car) isn't exactly heavy machinery, we were only jaunting for about two miles with no major intersections, so we would be just fine, I wouldn't waste anyone's time for such a short trip, making them wait around, etc., and if I had to stay, then no one would be needed at all at point."   "Well, operating a car is heavy machinery...are you sure you feel okay to do that?"  Me:  "When I read that, I thought, as any good Northeast Iowa person would think, that "heavy machinery" meant tractors and combines, and I knew I wasn't going to be doing that today, so I figured it would be just fine." 

      And, it was...I made it home with no problem, very happy that I didn't have to stay anywhere else.  Blue Bernice just wants everyone to know that she doesn't particularly enjoy being called "heavy machinery."  Tests back in a few days, but I'm thinking all this looks good, so I thank you most sincerely for all the prayers and good wishes.

      Tomorrow Le Carnard!

Whisk Wednesdays: Canard aux Navets (Roast Duck with Glazed Turnips)

        The recipe prepared for this week is from Class 20 Rotir et Poêler – Roasting and Frying Class 20, Part 1: Canard aux Navets (Roast Duck with Glazed Turnips).   It can be found in the cookbook Le Cordon Bleu At Home on pages 257-258. 

      First of all, I have never cooked a duck before.  Secondly, I have never even eaten duck before.  After today, such is no longer the case.  I always avoided duck as the usual comment when someone brings up duck is, "Oh, duck is so fatty," and that always sounded very unappealing. 

      I have to say, there were copious amount of fat being skimmed off and discarded from beginning to end in the recipe.  I tried to get out as much as possible, and in the end, while I left the skin on when serving, I decided it wasn't going any further than my plate as it looked fairly fatty...and the duck was delicious without it.  Absolutely delicious.   

      Duck is not easy to locate in Indiana outside of holiday seasons, so we were lucky that this fell over Christmas/New Year's so that I could get a duck easily. 

      The veal bones for the veal stock were another matter...you have to do a fair amount of searching to come up with veal bones.  I located them early on and put them in the freezer so that I could make the stock on a day when I was home and able to babysit it...then back in the freezer it went. 

      Veal stock is amazing...I thought it would taste a lot like beef stock, but it does not...it is smooth and mellow and sort of buttery tasting...hard to describe, but very very good. 

      The recipe for the duck is easy...requires a lot of basting and removing of fat, etc., in ten-minute increments during the 70-80 minutes cooking time, but not bad as it is just popping it in and out of the oven while you do other things. 

      The "turned" (French method of cutting/paring...actually codified according to size in France, etc., can you even stand it?) turnips were a riot...I have not done turned turnips before and they are really hard to do.  I am sure in French cooking school one must spend literally months learning how to properly do this...one afternoon isn't going to do it.  That said, I did try...and with any new skill you want to acquire, practice makes perfect...I will work on the practicing and perfecting part because these are actually lovely to look at and fun to cook.  I made both turnips and carrots as I wasn't certain if the guys would eat the turnips cooked this way or not.  Turns out, they loved them.   

      I went to all this work of making this wonderful sauce, following all the steps, etc., and then promptly forgot to drizzle it over my piece of duck breast for the photo...oops...same with sprinkling the parsley over the veggies...oops...my only defense is that I am not exactly operating at peak performance level over here yet.  I drizzled the sauce after the photos, and wow...that sauce is very very good. 

      The whole dish is worth doing again...a big success around here.  Michelle made great use of her leftovers, and we are going to follow her recipe for making those little Chinese duck in plum sauce pancake things, click on her site if you would like the recipe also.  Sounds like a perfect lunch during the Hawk/Wolverine game Sunday, conveniently scheduled over the noon hours.

      If you would like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click

here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there. 

      Next week's assignment is: 

     • Class 20, Part 2 (Post on Wednesday, January 14, 2009):
Poulet en Cocotte Grand-Mère (Braised Chicken Casserole with Bacon, Mushrooms, Potatoes, and Onions) on pages 296-297.

Tuesdays with Dorie: French Pear Tart

       This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, is French Pear Tart, can be found on pages 368-369 (and page 444 for the tart crust recipe), and was chosen by Dorie Greenspan herself!  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Dorie's site above and she will have it posted today.  She also has a question and answer guest post at the TWD site today.  How fun is this that Dorie was excited to pick the recipe this week?   Yep, kinda fun, and very gracious of her to do so.  

      First of all, I don't really think that my entry this week is a great interpretation of Dorie's recipe, actually, not even what I would call "good," but rather something I call "Good Enough for Right Now," as I have been ill and am still not well enough to drive to the store to chose ingredients or even stand upright from the beginning to end of a recipe non-stop yet. 

      My guys are absolutely great about millions of things, and I am very appreciative each and every day of all they do, but let's just say shopping for cooking ingredients would not be high on (or maybe even make) the list. 

      I haven't posted for two weeks due to what I thought was going to be a vacation, but turned out quite differently, so I am skating on thin ice here on the "you must post two out of four of the weeks or be yanked off the list" rule...relying on Matt and Mark was a necessity. 

      I explained very carefully that I needed pears...Dorie's recipe said that canned pears would be fine, and that was actually the preferred ingredient from the originator of the recipe.  I figured I was probably safer asking them to score canned food rather than fresh...that they would absolutely be immobilized staring at more than one color/type/shape of pear at the market. 

      Yep, I specifically said, "Two LARGE cans of PEAR HALVES...." (figuring I would select the nicest and firmest ones to use out of the two cans). It was 50/50...they managed the pear halves part, but they got these really small cans, hence really small pears, tiny, tiny pears, and as you can see...I used about nine of them and they still didn't fill up the tart pan.  Oh, well, they tried, and for that effort alone, we shall just say that they are wonderful wonderful men.   

 

      The taste?  Terrific.  Really...very very nice.  And, I kinda like the little tiny pears in there as the stuff all around them tastes like an almond cookie, and what is not to love about that? 

      This was an easy recipe...I am sure it would go much better had I actually been feeling well, but not a bad recipe to tackle when you aren't.   The photos are way inferior as I didn't have my normal camera...the actual tart looked better than the photos show.  Try the recipe...I think you'll like it!  I will give it another go when I am better and can pick out fresh pears, etc.  All things considered, the tiny tiny pears were really tasty...and you all know how I like little tiny desserts, so this was just right!

 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake and is Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins, which can be found on page 6.   

      Click here  and then click on individual bakers' blogs at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways people interpreted their quest.  It is too late to join the online TWD baking blog, but you can always join us in spirit as the recipes for upcoming weeks are posted on the site and you can bake along in your own kitchen.  See you there!

Friday's Favorites Fare

LISTENING TO:   Georges Bizet's opera Carmen 

READING:  Empires of the Sea:  The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World by Roger Crowley.  16th Century history in the Mediterranean world, picking up where my beloved Byzantine history leaves off (and his book 1453, the traditional year of demise of such)...covers from 1521-1571 and the battles between the Christians and the Islamic world.   Riveting...the Battle of Malta alone is fascinating, don't you think?  Okay, I know, I have no illusions here...you all quit reading when you read the first eight words in the book title, didn't you?  I am prepared to motor alone on these  things. 

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), we are on vacation until January 7th when we post the roasted duck;  Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is French Pear Tart found on pages 368-369.

FAV NEW FIND:  The two new cookbooks which I received for Christmas:  Ina Garten's new Back to Basics and the Food Network Kitchens Cookbook.  The guys here like anything from Ina's cookbooks, and I have cooked and cooked my way through her other four, so I was very happy to receive the newest one.   The other, judging from a slow savor reading through the pages, is also one my guys will enjoy eating from! 

FAV THING TODAY:   Just being home with a nice fire in the fireplace, my lap blanket, and my books.

GOING TO:   Actually let the guys take down the trees and holiday decor before January 6th (Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas and all)...I know, who would have thought, but we are sort of housebound for the next few days, so it seems like a fine thing to do Saturday and Sunday.  HooHawk game is on Saturday at 4:30 ET on BTN, so I plan to be court side by the television for that then.  Did you even seen those Hawks during the EYES game...Hawkeyes and Buckeyes that it...AT OSU, no less...the Hawks had them running and sweating and very very nervous!  Go Todd!  All those three-point shots from the black and gold...I'm just saying....

PRAYING FOR:   The college-bound seniors who are beginning to get their acceptance letters for this coming fall...that they will make wonderful choices and that their college years will be a time of successful ventures on their way to their chosen paths, please join me.

ADDITIONAL NOTE:  I received many emails asking for the name of the movie in the clip from the Auld Lang Syne post.  It is called Waterloo Bridge.  You can actually watch the entire movie on Youtube...11 little clips of roughly 10 minutes each.  I like the setting (released in 1940, I think)...between WWI and WWII, the actors, the scenery, all those wonderful shots of period transportation, and the music (no lyrics, but the background music is lovely with Swan Lake, Auld Lang Syne, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, etc.).  Oh, go watch it...with Kleenex if you must...you can tell by the clip, things don't always go as originally planned.  It's totally Hollywood in the 40's.