5 Year Blog Anniversary and Give-Away

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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,

French Pinks ~ Part 3

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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,

Scotch Eggs and the Rose & Crown

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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,

Pickled Ramps

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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,

Mamah's Potato Salad

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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,