Paris food pics Day 2

On Day 2 we did a marathon of a day. We did too much really! We did the "Paris in 1 Day" in our guidebook, figuring we'd have all the big things out of the way (and they were forecasting rain the rest of the week). We did the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champ Elysses, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower all in one day. yikes! It was too much. I also forgot to take food pictures at the wonderful place we had lunch at Les Bouquinistes, one of Guy Savoy’s five Parisian restaurants. Guy Savoy is a 3 Michelin star French chef who also has a restaurant in Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas.

It was a wonderful lunch. We got to sit in the front room that overlooks the Seine. I had the three course lunch that came with wine. The first was a type of salad that had French ham, and a poached egg over the top of it. Not a lettuce -type salad that we are used to. It was wonderful. Then I had the swordfish with a side of vegetables. The swordfish was sliced and fanned beautifully across the plate. The chef was very into foam, because there actually was foam on all three of my courses. I had a chocolate type cake for dessert. The restaurant was very clean and bright, with minimal decorating, which made it seem comfortable, yet modern. I would love to go back! A great place to have lunch there during the day, and afterward you can walk along the road which is filled with Booksellers, which is what the restaurant takes it's name after.
The only picture I have of that day, is of me with my very first crepe in Paris. We ate a Chestnut Crepe as we walked the Champ Elysses. It was a beautiful afternoon!

Paris food pics Day 1

Here are some pics of the yummy food and places we ate on Day 1 while in Paris!! I'll be up and running writing some of our recent family recipes again on here now too, but I thought I'd catch up on this. It's good to be back! Some of these are at the market we went to. Some at a cafe. The one with strawberries is just stuff we bought at the market and store and had in our room for breakfast. I miss the amazing yogurt. There is NOTHING like it here. *sniff*

I'm back! / Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Hello friends - I am back. And I don't mean I have set my feet back in the United of States. I mean, actually feel like I'm back at it. We recovered from jetlag in time to receive company from CA (miss you already Young family!), and now have recovered from company. I have one child with a cold, but at this point, I'm going to take it.

I am done with my babysitting job, and am enjoying my family. I know there are some new adventures around the corner, with some possibilities already in the hat (ballroom dance teacher? summer work at an Organic Farm?) but I'm content to wait on those and leave them at God's feet for now. I think I FINALLY found a drum instructor I'm going to go with here in CO. So life is good, and I'm seeing some happy endings, and new beginnings.

I really am, I swear, going to catch you all up on Paris. I plan to post pics of the food. Those are coming soon. But remember that child with the cold? Yes, mmhmm. So I'm going on two nights of fragmented sleep, and am not up to it today.

However, today we did make some wonderful cupcakes, and I will share that recipe with you. I plan to catch up and post some other recipes soon of things I've made this past month.

To save time chopping, I bought bittersweet chocolate chips.

Gooey Chocolate and Hazelnut Cupcakes

from Indulgent Cupcakes by Susannah Blake

makes 12

ingredients

cupcakes

2 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

6 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

3 tablespoons blanched*, hazelnuts, ground (I just finely chopped them)

3/4 cup self-rising flour (I used Whole Wheat Pastry)

1/2 cup chocolate and hazelnut spread, such as Nutella

to decorate

3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup heavy cream ( I used organic)

2 tablespoons chocolate and hazelnut spread, such as Nutella

about 3 tablespoons blanched* hazelnuts, toasted and cut into large pieces

a 12 cup muffin pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then line the muffin pan with paper liners.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water or in the microwave, then set aside to cool.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the ground hazelnuts, then sift the flour into the mixture and fold in. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Drop 1/2 tablespoonful of the mixture into each muffin cup, then flatten and make an indentation in the center of each dollop of mixture using the back of a teaspoon. Drop a generous dollop of chocolate spread into the center of each one, then top with the remaining cake mixture. Bake for about 18 minutes (mine took longer, not sure if it's the WW flour, altitude or both, but it took about 24 min.) until risen and the tops spring back when gently pressed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until almost boiling, then pour over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and creamy, then stir in the chocolate spread. Let cool for about 30 minutes until thick and glossy.

Spread frosting over the cupcakes and arrange a cluster of nuts in the center of each one.

* To blanche the hazelnuts, put them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. When they are cool enough to touch, simply rub between your fingers to get the skin off.

Dinner this week

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post again before we leave. My sister-in-law arrives Friday, and my husband and I will be leaving Saturday to go to France for 6 days! I can't wait. We will be staying in Paris, and be taking one day trip to the Champagne region while we are there. We plan to do a mix of sightseeing and relaxing. I have been dreaming, and dreaming, and dreaming of the food! I can't wait to share all the yummy details with you all when I get back!

This week dinner has been very random so far, but the rest of the week looks to be more organzied. I am going to try out two recipes from the Epicurious' Dinner Rush, and see how they are. My only complaint about these menus, is that they are not on a budget like the Whole Foods weekly planners are, so you have to be careful. One meal I just bought two small lamb chops to try for the family, and I'll make an extra 2 vegetable dishes to go with the meal instead. Meat two nights in a row! Can you believe it. The boys have been asking for more protein though, so there it is. I tend to pile my plate with the veggies, and any vegetarian leftovers in the fridge. So this is what's on the menu for tonight and tomorrow night.

Green Bean and Roasted Tomato Salad
Gourmet April 1997


yield: Makes 2 Servings
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.


5 plum tomatoes, each cut lengthwise into 4 slices
1/4 pound haricots verts (thin French green beans) or small green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
a heaping 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 cup mixed baby salad greens

Preheat oven to 450° F. and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Arrange tomatoes in one layer on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, and cool.
While tomatoes are roasting cook beans in salted boiling water 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender. In a colander drain beans and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain beans and pat dry.
In a bowl whisk together juices, zest, mustard, oil, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange tomatoes, overlapping them, on 2 plates and mound mixed baby salad greens and beans on top. Drizzle salads with vinaigrette. Serves 2 as a first course or side dish.



Light Mediterranean Salad with Lamb Chops
Parade April 2008

Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki
Gourmet March 2009

Instead of serving the Gyros with the salad with Papaya Dressing that they recommend (I couldn't find a papaya at the store), I just bought a Orange and Cranberry salad dressing that looks yummy. Better for a quick weeknight dinner anyway, because you guys, I've got to PACK! :)

Mom's Apple Crisp, Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

While I was letting the ice cream sit in the refrigerator yesterday, I knew I needed to make something to go with it. I dug around the house and pondered a bit what I had on hand that I could use to make something, as we were snowed it. I realized I had everything to make my mom's Apple Crisp recipe. I changed it up a bit, by using Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, and Spenda's version of Brown Sugar. It was wonderful!

Also, I just got my hands on the Agave Nectar Cookbook, as it came up on my queue at the library. WOW! (Thanks Sarah for telling me about it!:) This author is a woman after my own heart! All the recipes are using Agave Nectar instead of sugar, AND she uses Whole Wheat pastry flour! I was so thrilled. It seems like everything else I've found either has white flour, or fake sugar, and is just only half of the deal. She is the real deal. I want to meet this woman and shake her hand. Check it out if you can get your hands on one. I plan to buy it and use it for all my recipes in the future. Foodies... she has Apple Pie, Lemon Bars, cupcakes, muffins, coffee cakes, maragarita pie.....from all the simple things, to more interesting recipes like Whole Wheat Crepes, anf French Pear Frangipane Tarte. If you haven't discovered Agave Nectar yet, put on your shoes and hop in the car, and drive over to your local health food store. It's a revelation for anyone that wants to cut down on, or cut out refined sugar, but also doesn't feel comfortable with all the sugar substitutes out there. It does not raise your insulin levels when you consume it, so it's even safe for diabetics. What's it made out of? It's a clean, natural sugar. It's organic, Kosher, and plant-based. It's made from the agave plant (yes, the same one used to make Tequila). What does it look like? Honey. It comes in a container like honey, and you can get it light or dark colored. (see my picture above) I am thrilled to be able to support a local company that makes it right here in CO, called Madhava.

SO I for one, am going to be happy to have to stop experimenting with it, and have some actual recipes that I know will work. Not everything is easy for me though people, I still have to convert these to High Altitude! *sigh*. Now if someone would just make a High Altitude Agave Nectar Whole Wheat cookbook......

It's funny because the day before this book came in, I took an old chocolate chip cookie recipe, and just randomly tried it with Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and Agave Nectar, and it worked well. They were pretty fluffy, but yummy. I like my chocolate dark and bitter, and was not going for traditional choc chip cookie flavor, so they are really different. It evolved into sort of an original recipe as I ended up changing some other things too. I used 60 percent Ghiradelli choc chips, unsweetened coconut, and because I like it raw, raw cacao nibs! A very different taste, but the kids loved them. They said they'd be happy if I always made these instead.

Mom's Apple Crisp

1 cup sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch
2 cups water
1 cup oatmeal
2 cups flour (I recommend Whole Wheat Pastry)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used Spenda's Brown Sugar sub. with no problems)
3/4 cup shortening/margerine
1/2 tsp salt
6-7 apples peeled and sliced (can use more, I did 8)
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13 inch pan. Set water to bowl on stove in a small saucepan.

In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar and cornstarch, and add to boiling water. Stir until thickens. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool. (can put in fridge)

In another bowl, mix together oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, shortening/margerine, and salt with a pastry blender. (can use two knives if you don't have one, criss crossing them to cut).

Put one half of crumbly mixture on the bottom of the pan. Put apples on top, and pour the thick liquid mixture over all of it. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Put the rest of the crumbly mixture on the top, and sprinkle with cinnamon again.

If it's filled with lots of apples, put foil underneath it in case it bubbles over. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. If you have leftovers, store in the refrigerator. Freezes well, if you want to double it and make one to throw in the freezer for later.

Top with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream from previous post, of course!! :)

For Those Who Like It Dark.....my recipe for

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

1 stick of butter or margerine, softened
1/2 cup Agave Nectar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup 60 percent Ghiradelli's Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup finely grated unsweetened organic coconut
Optional: (aquired taste) 2 TBSP of Scharffen Berger Raw Cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl beat butter, egg, and Agave Nectar until fluffy. Add vanilla, flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in chocolate, coconut, and nibs. Spoon onto a buttered cookie sheet and bake about 11-12 minutes. (keep an eye on, at different altitudes)

yummy!! enjoy :)

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

If you have an ice cream maker, then you are on to something good. IF that is, you use it. Do you use it? If not, you should. At least once every two months or something, just so you don't forget what truly amazing freshly made ice cream tastes like. I find this is actually better for the waistline (just as I have forever been ruined to eat any other criossant or pastry than those that come from the French Bakery) because I don't eat ice cream hardly ever now. Even if we are out and people are eating it, oh I am strong. I am so strong. I do not eat it, because I KNOW it is inferior.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, just keep an eye out for one on Craigslist like I did. You can usually find someone cleaning out their cupboards, ready to part with one for about $35. Or, send an email out to all your friends, and see if anyone has one they got as a wedding gift X many years ago, and it's collecting dust. They might be happy to pass it on. Reduce Reuse Recycle! :)

I was blessed to get mine free on Craiglist, and I'm sure I posted about this amazing day earlier at some point. Someone tried to sell their $200 6 quart awesome wood ice cream maker at their garage sale with no takers, and gave it to me free afterwards. sweet!

I have found what has become my favorite Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe. It's amazing. Truly, it's amazing. And not just because I like to read through the writer's directions and laugh my butt off. You have to appreciate someone who would quote Paradise Lost when beginning to blog about Ice Cream! Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. I'm hoping to make some this week with the kiddos, to celebrate the beginning of Spring.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I needed to bring something in to my son's school, for the teachers to munch on during conferences. I would normally make something more adult-like, (once I made Mocha Cupcakes) but I was babysitting this Tuesday, and it was BEAUTIFUL 70 degrees outside, and I didn't have the heart to turn the oven on! So I came across this recipe, and it was great fun with the kids. If your child has a peanut allergy, feel free to substitute a almond, cashew or other nut butter. I used organic ingredients for pretty much everything, except the vanilla, and used Ghiradelli cocoa.

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Yields about 30 cookies
recipe by Kathie Lee Joel for www.delish.com

2 c. sugar
8T (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. milk
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
2 1/2 to 3 c. rolled oats

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, cocoa, milk, and vanilla. Bring to a slow boil, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. (Give it a taste to make sure). Stir in the peanut butter. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 1/2 c oats. The mixture should be thick. Add the remaining 1/2 c oats is necessary.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop the mixture by the heaping tablespoons onto the parchment. Allow the cookies to firm up at room temperature, about one hour. (My note: it took mine about 2 hours)

Enjoy! :)