Better Than Sliced Bread

Has anyone ever had this? It's awesome! Also a really cool story. Check it out. Bread, not bombs!

Bob's Red Mill and Multnomah Falls

Before we left our brief introductory visit to Portland, there was something I had to do.

 

See Bob's Red Mill. Aka a baking pilgrimage of sorts. A paradise of organic bulked goods and health food products for bakers and gluten intolerants.

My one bit of advice before going here, because you simply must someday, is to make a plan! I had no shopping or wish list beforehand, so I was a bit overwhelmed when I got there. This usually leads to 1) shopping with zero restraint whatsoever or 2) becoming paralyzed by indefinite options and buying basically nothing.

I spent a little over $6 and got two dog biscuits, 4 pounds of sea salt, a little over a pound of mixed soup beans, some black Hawaiian sea salt and some snackie sesame sticks. When I got to the car I thought 1) is that all I got? and 2) geez, I am boring.

Next time I will do things differently, include go to the production warehouse for the mill tour and not just the flagship store.

Still, seeing the store was thrilling and had some lovely surprises, like antique flour milling stones and an instant nut butter making machine.

If I see the real Bob playing piano next time, I will have died and gone to heaven. And I will want this to be my tombstone.

After my dad calmed me down from my breakfast sandwich on sprouted wheat and side of grits, we regained our focus and headed back on the road. We had a date with a massive year round waterfall less than 20 miles away.

Welcome to Multnomah Falls, the second highest waterfall in the country after Yosemite Falls.

And this is during the dry season. A picturesque lodge waits at the bottom, greeting hundreds of tourists throughout the day looking straight past it up to the mesmerizing falls.

There is nothing like starting a week with sensory overload.

Save Those Vanilla Pods!

If you buy the real vanilla beans and not just the extract, pat yourself on the back. You're cooking like a pro! But wait, just because they've been scraped clean doesn't mean they're rendered useless.

Rinse them off and let them dry. Then throw them in you sugar jar! Baked goods will have an extra boost with vanilla scented sugar- and the pods last a looooong time.

My friend throws whole vanilla beans in her hot tub, but personally, I'd rather have them flavor my coffee.

Life is Like a Shop of Chocolates

If I hadn't spent some wasted time today drooling over pictures of pastry in Google images, I never would have stumbled upon photos of my old staging spot in France!

Okay, a little more background. Just after culinary school, I went to Europe for 6 months where I worked as a trainee for La Varenne. I applied for the scholarship through Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, which led to being whisked away to lovely Burgundy for two months of recipe testing and kitchen assistance with five other lovely ladies. In exchange, we were granted the opportunity to stage for a month with a real French chef, and voila! Instant fairytale.

It was like a dream. And I didn't want to wake up, so I stayed an extra month before a backpacking extravaganza.

That was back in 2005. Was that really seven years ago? I've done a terrible job of staying in touch (mostly due to my poor written French skills), and after some basic updates over the years, the last I heard was the shop had been quiet in 2008 when I referred a friend there to do a short stint in the kitchen. As of today, I wasn't even sure the shop was still open!

Until I found photos from Adventures in Toulouse (top and bottom), who even linked to the chocolaterie's web site (middle two pics). They have a web site now! I love the internet for eventually closing in on all communication gaps in the world. I'm still in shock, although I shouldn't be, since everyone has a website or facebook page now.

The memories are coming back in full force. I can almost taste the lemon tarts.

The irony being that I have been writing a book about this shop for seven years and am now kicking it into gear to get it to press. Wow, I think that's the first time I've announced the project. This was a real kick in the behind for me to get back in touch and move forward.

And all I needed was an American in France to remind me of that.

Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies

I happened upon these months ago when I was blogging at Craft. They had already been posted on the site, but I bookmarked them to make on a rainy day.

I found them to be especially tempting and fitting in theme today. I broke in my slippers easily after dislocating my elbow. The good news? I'm out of the sling.

The bad news? I woke up yesterday with a head cold/flu and it's taken me down the last two days. Back to the slippies.

Nothing a little recipe surfing eye candy can't fix. Can you believe these are transformed from Nutter Butters? I feel better already.

This is the one of the many amazing creations of Beth from Hungry Happenings. She is especially creative with holiday themes and is a great resource if you're ever in need of a whimsical party dish. Makes me want to get in the kitchen! If I can get out of my jammies.

For the post featured on Craft, click here.

Eclairs and Pot Pie

This weekend I needed a break from taking it easy in the sling. A friend came to the rescue and made me veggie pot pie while we prepped for the Niner playoffs.

Bonus: mustache bottle attachments! As if there's nothing better than a bottle of beer on its own.

The star of the show, with the flakiest crust ever ...

Next we did a recipe test for a pate a choux recipe I had that needed some tweaking. I was a bit nervous, since I haven't made this in years.

 Ooops, I forgot a pastry bag. My quick fix- use a ziplock and snip a hole in the corner. They don't come out as pretty, but it works well in a pinch.

Chocolate eclairs, here we go. The ones on the silpat are prettier, but the ones above without parchment (as advised in the recipe) cooked more evenly. Hmmm.

 We split them open and got them ready to fill.

 Another issue, the one part chocolate to four parts pastry cream ratio came out a little too strong. A little more ganachey than I would have liked, but will scale back the choc next time.

The finished "truffle" version of the eclairs. Delicious, but I'm going to go the extra mile and make the glaze next time for a prettier pastry.

I'll put up the recipe once I work out the kinks!