Lenten Bread

Making a gluten free bread for our little church's Communion Eucharist is something that I have wanted to do for my congregation for a long while. I have tried three different gluten-free bread recipes, but none have a nice loft and a flavour that non-gluten intolerant folks will accept. I have finally found a couple ready made flour blends made by Bob's Red Mill that are very good ... Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix and Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix. The key is to eat these breads when they're very fresh ... so I am making bread this afternoon for this evening's Lenten service.

Spring Day Poking Around ... and Carrot Soup

SB and I have had our noses poked in the seed catalogues and gardening books this past week and we've been thinking about vegetable gardens and berries and Springtime yard pursuits! Isn't the change of seasons a motivating time? Yesterday, it was absolutely glorious outside all day. SB raked and I baked. I poked around a bit looking for daffodils and crocus popping through the soil. Then we sat around on the back terrace and caught the first mosquito of the season and laughed over that little bugger. It was a lazy day at the grey cottage.

Come evening, I used some leftover carrots (from the little church's Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner event) and made SB and I a delightful pot of Cream of Carrot Soup. This was a simple uncomplicated affair - onions and garlic sautéed, boiled potatoes, and cooked carrots, a flour and butter roux, and a session in the blender to make a smooth as silk purée. The lot was put back in the pan with some low-fat evaporated milk, chicken broth, white pepper and a bit of smoked paprika. Whisked to a steaming simmer, it was a perfect easy supper. We had some leftover yeast rolls all warm and steamy to dip in the soup ... and I had my cold glass of Sauvignon blanc. Life is good.

Left Over Guinness ... Another Beautiful Cake

So ... what did you do with your leftover Guinness stout after toasting the Emerald Isle, knoshing your corned beef and cabbage, blathering on about past St Patrick's Day escapades, and listening to the rowdy leprechauns partying next door?

What no parties in your vicinity? Well, there were a few in Sprout Sara's Boston neighborhood! After a walking tour of Back Bay and a jaunt up through the Public Gardens and Boston Common, we ambled back to her apartment where the corned beef was smellin' up the place in a good way! Beers, Irish Cheddar and Yancey's Fancy Horseradish Cheddar with crackers and music ... listening to crowds of rowdy leprechauns sing their way up one side of Beacon Hill and down the other, and lounging around chatting and laughing until the potatoes and cabbage were perfect ... yup. That was our St Paddy's Day! When that corned beef was perfect we fell on it like ravenous wolves! Oh what a decadent party!

Sara asked me, at one point, where the Guinness Cake was and I had to admit that I ran out of time on Saturday morning. I'd spent all day Friday and part of Saturday baking Irish Soda Breads and Yeast Rolls for the little church's Corned Beef Supper fundraiser. I got out of it with one loaf of Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Drambuie for us, dropping the rest at the church ... then it was time to leave for Boston!

Top o' the Mornin' !

Whole Wheat Irish Herb Bread smells heavenly while baking ... like a combination of cake and Thanksgiving dressing. It has a bit of sweeteness from light brown sugar, basil, thyme, and marjoram for that herby flavour, and currants for a nice sweet chew. Plop it on a pretty bread board. Serve it up warm with some soft butter for smearing and a cup of strong tea. You'll swear you're back in Ireland ... all you need is a peat fire and some back music!

Saturday Snapshot - Everything in its Place

I gave this jigsaw to my husband for Christmas. We have long winters in New Hampshire and just about the time that the snow and cold or the sleet and muck make for uncomfortable outdoor work, SB likes to pull out the card table and work on a puzzle ... it keeps him busy and out of my hair. It occurred to me as I looked at this picture that we are pretty set in our ways ... married for an unGodly amount of time and still good friends and partners in crime ... we fit together like these puzzle pieces.

Glad I hooked myself up with the right person. I'd hate to be that puzzle with one missing piece ... just sayin'.

Saturday Snapshot is an exercise in pure fun ... a blogshare with Alyce @ at home with books .
Check out everyone else's Saturday Snapshots ... and pick out one of your own, add a little story or caption, and link it up at Alyce's hub! A picture's worth a thousand words, you know ...

Warm French Lentils ... and Sausages

This week, Ina Garten is the 39th star of the 50 Woman Game Changers blog posts.  You can bet there will be a bunch of fun recipes! Ina Garten has become a fixture of the Food Network's star chef line up. Long before that, though, she established herself as a talented cook who had a knack for throwing a great dinner party and later, a purveyor of excellent gourmet foods at her shop Barefoot Contessa on the outer end of Long Island ... in The Hamptons. Her business savvy and easy way of presenting simple, delicious, basic foods in a tastefully elegant manner made her an attractive mark for the summer folk and entertaining crowd. The attention she got from her successful storefront brought her to the attention of the television foodie show production people and the rest is history. The storefront is gone at this point, but Ina has moved on to bigger and better things.

She's intelligent and likeable, makes foods that are not so unhealthy that we shake our heads, has an incredibly clean and crisp sense of style, produces cookbooks that are pleasing to the eye with recipes that are easily accomplished. Plus, she has not become so ever present in the stores and magazines that we gag when her name is mentioned.

She's Ina ... she has a beautiful smile and a friendly manner. She has mapped out an excellent business strategy for sharing her culinary style while maintaining her personal lifestyle and family privacy. I personally adore her.

Onion and Gruyère Tarts

These little tarts are perfect as a first course or an accompaniment to a soup and salad supper. They're easy to make if you have a box of ready made puff pastry sheets. You simply roll the sheets a bit thinner and cut them into rectangles, top with the cheese mixture and finish with crispy onions and black olives. Cut the squares smaller and you have a nice tray of cocktail tidbits.  They have a very crispy flaky crust, a soft cheesy center and very crispy onions topping them off. The addition of the black olives give the tarts a hit of salty tang. Delicious with a glass of crisp white wine!

I came upon this recipe somewhere on the Internet a few years ago. Of course, at the time, I never imagined that I'd be blogging so I didn't take note of its exact location. I wish I could give credit where it's due, but alas ... at any rate, it's simple and yet, sophisticated. I've made the tarts to start a schmancy meal and as an easy alternative to biscuits or bread with soup. Last evening, they sat beside a lovely cream of mushroom soup. A versatile little recipe ...

Instruments of "Eeeew!"

I have always been the girl that has the butcher do the work for her ... but I was recently on YouTube and found an instructional vid on "how to splatch cock a chicken". Being clueless, and highly curious, I clicked in and after plugging my ears when the kitchen shears and boning knife came out, I watched the procedure. After the videographer got through with the snip and crunch, he cleaned up the little bird, and flipped it over to show just what a beautifully butterflied chicken looks like. I was sold. I kept telling myself that I could do this, do this, do this ...

Okay ... you can stop laughing if you are one of those that whacks away with nary a squeamish thought. This was a HUGE accomplishment for me. I've committed to one measly chicken and I feel great! I just want to know how all those farm wives EVER got over killing and plucking, and chopping up their sweet little chickens ... day after day! We won't even talk about Babe the pig or Bossie the cow!