Garden

Finally, after hours of hard labor... (what are boyfriends for?) soil is turned and fertilized, Everything is planted, all I have to do is remember to water! carrots, radishes, beets, tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, lettuce, mint, and onions. I'm really excited for the 'black Krim' tomatoes. Jon and I went to Lockhart seeds in Stockton, a really old-timey place complete with catalogue drawers on the walls for seed. This place has been here since 1935 supplying the farmers in the area and home gardeners. There are hundreds of different seeds and the owners are always willing to give advice. I bought 'Black Krim' tomatoes and Bee-balm mint and jon bought whatever he wanted, he's so serious about these things. "Gardens aren't supposed to be cool" was the answer to any "different" seeds I picked up. He's such an old man...

french macaron at home

wish me luck I'm set to make french macarons today! These delicious meringue and almond flour cookies are one of the most difficult cookies to master. to be a perfect macaron it must have; a beautiful smooth slightly domed top that is slightly crisp that melts into a chewy interior with trademark "feet" all of these qualities are easy to screw up... today I shall bake the meringues and tomorrow I shall make the ganaches to make the traditional although fairly recently created sandwich cookie. Wish me luck!

baking on another rainy day

Some day soon the weather will be warm, my garden will be in bloom and the farmer's markets will be alive with fresh, new produce to create some wild new desserts. If only it would come sooner...

Today it is not sunny and there is really no inspiring fresh produce to work with. It is that time of year when Pastry chefs are using culinary staples available year-round such as; nuts, chocolate, vanilla, coconut, and the precious few fresh fruits (mostly citrus) in season, to create their desserts. To use produce out of season in any decent establishment is considered culinary blasphemy. Although it can be a bleak time of year, there is hope! Re-thinking uses of common ingredients and exploring new flavor combinations can create some amazing desserts. This is actually a time to be extraordinarily creative by A; Creating new tastes and textures with familiar ingredients. B; showcasing technique by creating technically difficult creations without being bogged down by the need to incorporate all the fresh fruits in season, as there aren't many. One of the most important ingredients to check into are spices. Not the old standards like cinnamon and nutmeg, but the rarely used and unexplored ones like my new interests; grains of paradise, anise, cardamom, and hyssop.