Ile Flottante

School has started and I feel like a crazy person. I am driving kids to school, waiting for yellow buses and hauling an almost 30 pound baby every where I go. There is not a day that I don't have a mild back-ache from it all.

Since this new routine began, I have placed high expectations on myself to get my house in order too. So, with schedules and self-imposed chores I have had a lot to do. But, I am finding ways to procrastinate!

Each day that my husband comes home lately he is astonished at what I have been up to in the kitchen. In one day I cooked chili from scratch, marinara from scratch and a quiche all using veggies form the farm. I baked banana bread and chicken and dumplings all before mid-week. I think I am trying to avoid all those chores and instead have a little fun.

My latest adventure was a dessert called Ile Flottante, or floating islands. I knew it consisted of three things: crème anglaise, meringues and caramel. I knew how to make the crème anglaise from a cooking class I took a few years back. It is my husband's favorite thing! And, luckily, since this sauce requires egg yolks I had plenty of egg whites to whip up some meringues. Then, it got tricky. I had seen my mother-in-law poach the meringues so that they came out very light and soft. This is something I had not done before. So, I simmered some water, put the meringues gently in by the spoonful and let them cook about 10 minutes. Voila! I had the islands. Last, I boiled a cup of sugar and a cup of water together until I had a caramel sauce. I assembled my floating islands in a large bowl and waited for everything to cool. (when it was warm there was too much of an eggy taste)

The result was delicious! Everyone in my family gobbled up this dessert with its vanilla and caramel flavors, soft pillows of egg white and creamy sauce.

The Farm

This Summer we eagerly joined a local farm with a CSA program. It is called Honey Brook Organic Farm and it is located in the same town that we live in. Each Tuesday, since May, I have traveled to the beautiful farm, set against wooded hills, to pick up my produce. Spring harvest brought us lots of lettuce and greens. Summer brought tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplants and squash. We also get herbs, some fruit and can pick flowers! Visit the farm's site to see all the produce and the harvest calendar.

Besides having a bounty of vegetables in the house I got to learn new recipes. I made sure to use up my produce each week, so I was determined to find ways to cook or use it. I learned how to make homemade tomato sauce and used that for pasta, eggplant Parmesan and even made chili with it. I finally made gazpacho which is a cold, Summer soup that my husband adores. I learned how to make a middle eastern dip called babaganoush with all of my eggplants. And, I made ratatouille. I also took a cooking class at Chamber's Walk and the chef highlighted recipes with the local, farm produce!

I am sure that all of the farm's gifts have kept us healthier this Summer. I know at the beginning of the season I was eating salads four times a week! We will be sure to join next season and have encouraged friends to do the same!

If friends are interested in joining I would recommend choosing the same picking days because going to the farm is truly an activity that could take the whole morning if you wish. There is not only the farm stand with veggies to pick up, but large fields of "pick your own." Some kids' toys and picnic tables are by the farm stand, so a picnic and play is also included.

We get to visit Honey Brook through the Fall until the frost. Then, we will hurry to join and eagerly await the Spring season again.

Barefoot Contessa Project

My friend, Aly, and I were discussing a Barefoot Contessa Project. We love all of Ina's cookbooks, and thought it would be fun to cook each recipe of hers from all of her books. We even thought that we could spread the joy of cooking by sharing our finished products with friends. I am looking into the possibilities now!

Traditions II

Another Christmas tradition I am working on is making a roast duck for the holiday dinner. I stick to my duck a l'orange recipe that I have tested 6-7 times and love. The best part of the recipe is the delicious orange gravy. It involves making a caramel, adding orange juice and duck drippings. It is really delicious with a sweet and sour component. My family does not mind this recipe being tested again and again at all!

Christmas Traditions

I am a mom of young children and have been living away from my extended family for a year and a half. This helps me explore the holiday traditions I would like to set for my family. Since my husband is French there is an influence and a culture that I also like to honor. For the past two Christmases I have made a Buche de Noel. (or Christmas log) This is a pretty easy recipe to follow and the cake is very tasty. This year, I got fancy by making the white chocolate holly leaves. I simply melted the chocolate, added green food coloring and then played with painting the chocolate onto parchment paper. I painted a tear drop shape of chocolate and then added details with the tip of a knife. Finally, red M&Ms finished it off. I hope my Buche skills continue to improve with time. It is hard to make a log look too beautiful, but my details helped it out.

Bacon Drippings

Bacon is a wonderful ingredient. I use it in several recipes, especially soups! Recently, I made a homemade split pea soup and bacon was my first ingredient. However, when I cook bacon sometimes there is too much fat rendered to leave in the soup. I wouldn't want greasy peas! Whenever this happens I pour the excess fat into my Cuisinart and use it for a salad dressing. I also add a garlic clove, some Dijon mustard, some mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey and a little pepper. This dressing is fantastic on lettuce and spinach. It also tastes great with a wilted, warm spinach salad or my warm cabbage salad. Maybe it is fattening, but the flavor is amazing and I am not wasting lovely bacon drippings!

Steak for my birthday

I went to the local Amish Market to inquire about where their beef and pork came from. After seeing Food Inc. I am a little more careful about buying meat. The woman at the counter assured me that they were selling grass-fed animals from Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. So, I bought a few things including some nice looking New York Strip Steaks.

I made a nice marinade a couple of hours before cooking them. It included red wine, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and thyme. When I cooked the steaks I let the marinade cook in a separate sauce pan to reduce by half. I removed it from the heat when the steaks were done and added a couple of pats of butter. It was flavorful and delicious! As were the steaks.