Friday, April 9, 2010

Punitions - My Punishment


I've discovered baking. I haven't baked many items but slowly and surely I am getting the hang of it and becoming comfortable.

Today was a busy early day and I decided to make a simple treat. I watched Sunday Morning, one of my favorite shows, a few weeks ago and the were talking about a bakery in France (the famous Poilâne bakery). I am a fan of ALL things sweet so I decided to try these.

I pulled out the workhorse KA food processor and began. The softened butter, the half a cup of sugar, the all purpose flour and the egg. I marveled...no vanilla, no lemon, no NOTHING? I divided the dough and put one half in our fridge and decided to try the other half right then. It rolls out well and it is one delicate dough.

The cookies are light, delicate and crisp. The punition has no color and I marveled. At first I thought I made a mistake. I was initially disappointed in these cookies. I did not see the hype. I took a bite of the cookie and was not particularly impressed. I thought it lacked flavor. I said to myself "no vanilla, no lemon...no nothing" I shared the cookies with my partner and before we knew it...the batch was gone.

I beg to differ...the punishment is not in the waiting but the fact that they go so fast.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Easter Brunch

Historically, we have an Easter Brunch and we pull out all the stops. This year, with my partner's impending surgery, we have scaled back. My Mother is the only attendee and we are keeping it simple.

Our menu consists of:

hash brown casserole
green bean casserole
white chocolate pound cake
Macerated strawberries with sugar and balsamic vinegar
roasted turkey
biscuits
eggs the way you like them
pressed coffee
Mimosas





I served this white chocolate pound cake with the macerated strawberries and offered a choice between riesling sorbet or a delicious gelato from whole foods.