Wild mushrooms picking

Wild mushrooms picking is a tradition that my parents passed on upon me. Growing up in France, my parents would take me along to pick up wild mushrooms: "cêpes, chanterelles, morilles..." Of course, lets not lie, when the weather outside was cold and rainy, I did not enjoy the experience. Though, I admit in truth, picking up wild mushrooms was fun too. In my mind, I would see it as a sort of treasure hunt. Plus, I wanted to prove myself to my father, an avid mushrooms picker. I still remember how I was so proud to wear my own "fishing basket" where I would store my wild mushrooms. I would even make it a competition, I wanted to prove myself as a wild mushrooms picker and demonstrate to my dad that I was his daughter. I was set on making him proud. Not to sound arrogant, though I was rumored to have the sight. Anyhow this passion for wild mushrooms picking certainly originates from my childhood. Since I landed in the United States, not only did I miss my "food" and my mushrooms picking days. Hence, besides my father encouraging me to go out and find the USA's wild mushrooms after I would lament to him how much I missed joining him and my family for our wild mushrooms picking expeditions, I attempted my chance. Late last summer, I found chanterelles and porcini mushrooms. This spring I thought I would attempt my luck at morels. Here is the result, after figuring out where legally I could pick up wild mushrooms near me, I entered the woods and lucky me, filled up partially my basket with morels.

Fresh herbs

I enjoy adding herbs into my dishes when cooking. This led me to start my own herbs garden this year. I planted cilantro, dill, thyme, rosemary, basil and recently added 4 plants of Heirloom Cherokee tomatoes. So far, I am very satisfied with the results. I enjoy using fresh rosemary and basil. My cilantro due to the heat and season has grown tall and started blooming and transforming itself into yielding coriander seeds (which I look forward to collect).

What can I do with Maple syrup?

A friend from Montréal gave me a can of pure maple syrup. Since I don't care much for pancakes, this inspired me to attempt making a cake out of maple syrup. Though I didn't know how it would taste (never once heard of a maple syrup cake), I was pretty pleased with the result.

Ingredients:

For the cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tsp salt

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 Tbsp non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening at room temperature (or lard, I personally use bacon fat)

2 cups pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)

3 egg yolks

1 egg

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 cup walnuts

For the frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)

A few walnut haves (for garnish)

Note: One suggested ingredient for the cake batter is shortening (like Crisco), though in truth I don't ever cook nor bake with shortening. Instead, I chose to substitute it with bacon fat. Now it may sound like "yuck" it may give it a meat flavor, well it does not. I buy hormones free smoked bacon all natural (it is pricey), when ready to cook/fry it, I cut the extra fat and collect it. I then cook separately the fat and let it cool down before storing it into a glass jar (Bonne Maman empty jam jar) into the fridge. Let's keep an open mind, I am not telling you to use lard or bacon fat, I am simply sharing how I substitute shortening. You could also use butter otherwise. This is simply a matter of preference. 

Instructions:

Preheat oven at 325 F. Butter two 8-inch diameter cake pans (2 inch high sides). Line bottom of pans with parchment paper then butter parchment. Dust pans with flour and tap out excess. 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and lard (or shortening) until light and fluffy, add gradually the maple syrup and beat until mixture is smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the egg yolks and the egg, one at a time, beating after each addition until well blended. Add the flour mixture gradually then the milk, while beating with each addition. Fold in walnuts.

When batter is ready, divide as best you can equally among both pans, smooth the tops. Then place pans in oven and bake until toothpick or knife inserted into center comes out clean. (Baking time can vary  around 40-55min). Let the cakes cool completely. (I suggest running a knife along the sides to loosen cakes)

For the frosting: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter into smooth. Add powdered sugar and maple syrup and keep beating until smooth but still somehow thick (you do not want frosting to be too soft and runny).

If you wish to trim off the domed top of each cake layer, I suggest using a serrated knife, as to create a flat surface. Then spoon about a cup of frosting over top of one cake and spread evenly then top cake with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of both cakes. For garnish, arrange the walnut halves around top edge of the cake or play with them as to arrange them as you'd like. I personally enjoy walnuts, hence I wouldn't mind covering the whole top with them. I also suggest refrigerating cake (and cover it with cake dome) so frosting can set better. Once ready to be enjoyed, I suggest removing cake a hour or less before serving so can be at room temperature. 

Enjoy! Though on a personal note, I personally found this cake to be too sweet for my taste. So, I do think this is a recipe that may only appeal to some. 

Morels

Growing up, my parents would take us kids to the forests to pick up wild mushrooms. Little, I didn't always enjoy it as it was sometimes cold and rainy out on these excursions, though I always enjoyed the hunt. My parents enjoyed it and "trained" me well. My dad gave me my own fishing basket to store these finds, I was so proud and couldn't wait to fill it up as to say: "Look at me, I can do it too". I wanted to make my parents and more so my dad proud. In many ways, I did. Not to brag though like my sister just reminded me, I certainly was good. I was rumored to have the sight. I would often find the one when no one could. I enjoyed it. Still to this day, I enjoy mushrooms hunting. My friend and I went about it at several instances. Last year, I found chanterelles, this spring I found morels.

Cooking

Growing up, I enjoyed fabulous and very tasty meals. Homemade meals from my mother and grandmother. My mom is known as a great cook. My paternal grandmother being from Périgord can cook. Anyhow, I always found myself intimidated with the idea of cooking. I didn't know where to begin. This past year, I jumped in. I truly enjoy good food. Cooking became easy as I realized I just needed to give it a try. In truth, I enjoy cooking, find it rewarding and relaxing. I find it pleasant to plan meals, select ingredients for a specific recipe, plan my next meal. Cooking has helped me discover things about myself. Hope you'll give it a try too.

Quiche

In truth, I never liked quiches. Perhaps, because I never cared for eggs. However, my friend enjoys quiche and as a result requested that I make him one a while ago. I had no idea where to begin. In the end, I mastered the art of the quiche and I even discovered that a quiche can be quite tasty. 

I make the dough for the crust from scratch. I don't care much for meat in it though I made this quiche at times with bacon and ham sliced into bits. 

For the pastry:

1 1/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

8 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter (1 stick) cut into cubes

2 Tbsp. chilled water

For the filling:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

3 eggs

2 cups guyère cheese shredded or cut in pieces

1-2 cups spinach

1 cup sliced mushrooms

Note: I leave it up to your taste buds for seasoning.

To make the crust, in a bowl, stir together the flour, butter and water. As the mixture starts to hold together, form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap or if you are me and are inpatient, roll the dough into a disk onto a floured work surface. Fit dough into a quiche mold. (I use a French fluted quiche mold), then prick the dough with a fork before placing dough in oven at 375 degree F for 10-12 min. You can also refrigerate the dough before rolling. 

To make the filling, in a bowl, mix the milk, heavy cream and eggs together. Add your shredded cheese. In the meantime, sauté your spinach and mushrooms as to make them sweat their excess water. Arrange the spinach and mushrooms atop the crust then top over with liquid mixture. 

Bake at 375 degree F for 25-35 min. Remove from oven and let stand to cool for several minutes before serving. 

Enjoy the smell in the kitchen, then go ahead enjoy your homemade quiche. 

Treasure Hunt

Growing up, my parents took us hunting at flea markets, auctions and antique stores. While, I confess back then, I didn't care much for it, I came to love these hunts. One of my favorites is going to a used books store with my father and hunt for great books. Today, I enjoy going to flea markets and antique stores to hunt for great finds. I enjoy decorating my home piece by piece. Though, I enjoy well made furniture, I am not a huge fan of the prices out there. As a result, I found an alternative, I hunt for gently used furniture on craigslist. I really like some of the Pottery Barn looks, though I am a bargain lover hence, craigslist offers me the possibility of both. I can buy at a discounted price an older Pottery Barn piece of furniture. Looking and searching through the ads reminds me of a treasure hunt. I never know what I will find and if I will acquire "it".

Another hobby of mine is doing things by myself. I take great pleasure in bringing something older back to life. I might buy something that needs some attention such as a new coat of varnish. 

Another perk for me is knowing I acquired the pieces for a good price. Not to sound proud though I find satisfying knowing I didn't spend all of my money on just a nice piece of furniture. 

Reminding myself that life is a journey

I realize these past few days that I tend like most of us, I'd like to think I am not alone, to either feel good or bad simply based on the fact of what I did or didn't do. In other words, I seem to base my identity on my successes or failures. Though, thinking about it, I realize I am setting myself up for disaster. In truth, I am far from perfect and while I'd like to do everything perfectly and avoid making mistakes, I am simply human.

I tend like most of us to be harsh on myself. I am quick to criticize myself. This does not seem to help  our self esteem. Hence, why don't we look at it from a different angle. The mistakes we make don't they help us improve ourselves? I might be quick to criticize myself though I generally make a note of what I don't like. Well, if I don't like my behavior or the outcome of my poor behavior, I tend to seek solutions as to avoid feeling poorly again. So perhaps, we need to take a moment to tell ourselves that we are as we are: perfect in our way of being imperfect. Also, we should embrace the opportunities that our so-called mistakes offer us: a chance to improve.

For instance, I tend to overcommit myself, leaving me feeling used and frustrated with myself for not taking better care of my own time. Well, this is something I can turn around. To avoid feeling frustrated, I need to make changes to my behavior. Why I'd love to say yes to everyone, I can't. I need to say NO. I need to realize I am the one in control of my time. I don't need to feel guilty if I don't have the time to help someone.

So, I will work at improving that aspect in my life. I am choosing to learn from my past "mistakes" and grow along the way. Our experiences do shape us. We can learn from them.

Croissant making: a trial and error process

For the past few weeks, I have attempted 3 times to be exact to make croissants. I am happy to share that it seems to have paid off. I searched recipes all over, I will admit I changed a few things. Though in the end, I believe croissants are easy once you familiarize yourself with the process. There is no doubt in my mind that croissant making requires trials and errors in the process.

Croissant

Growing up in Paris, I enjoyed croissants weekly. I used to look forward to the weekend, if my father was in town, he would get us croissant or pain au chocolat or pavé au chocolat or chouquettes. Generally, I would ask for a pain au chocolat while my sister would ask for chouquettes, which I could care less about. Other time, I would ask for a rich pavé au chocolat. My dad would always get himself a croissant. Anyhow, each time I go home to visit, I make sure to hit my local bakery for those tasty viennoiseries. Today, I am more of a croissant lover. Hence, I thought I would attempt making some. I attempted making some in the past, but with little success. I can roll them into their shape, problem is the dough never came out flaky as I wished and hoped for. Anyway, instead of being discourage, I decided to attempt once more to bake these so scrumptious bake goods.

Best basic tart dough

As any sweets lover, I enjoy baking. I have been asked by friends and my boyfriend to bake often one of my specialties: the Italian Almond Tart. However, I often bake rustic tarts according to what fruits are in season. While I'll admit I bake once every other week that Italian Almond Tart for my boyfriend. Hence, I have tried various basic tart dough and will admit this one is my favorite.

I comprehend you can make dough using a stand mixer, a food processor though I always go with the old fashion way that my French grandmother taught me: by hand.

Basic Tart Dough (for one 24 cm (9 1/2") tart)

Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp ice water (more if needed)
1/3 cup sugar (90g)
1 1/4 cups all purpose unbleached flour (200g)
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (125g) (cut into small pieces

In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk, ice cold water and vanilla (set aside). In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, then add the butter cut into pieces. Using your hands, mix the dry ingredients with the butter until the texture resembles coarse meals (like small peas). Then add the wet ingredients mixture. Using your hands, mix the dough together and add more water if needed until dough pulls together.

Tips: you can use dough right away or chill dough for easier rolling.

A little inspiration from my trip home to Paris: le goûter

In January, I went to France for 3 weeks. First, I stopped home in Paris to visit with my family then I went to Auvergne to meet my boyfriend's family and friends. As I, my boyfriend loves good food. Not only did we go on a quest for the best macarons, (which still today are in my opinion, Rose flavored at Pierre Hermé and coffee, chocolate, raspberry and pistachio at Ladurée) but we visited "les caves du Roquefort" where one of my favorite cheese is made: blue cheese. This was a trip for the palates, I stuffed myself on all my favorite sweets and cheeses including "Rocamadour", "bleu d'auvergne", "roquefort", "cabécou", "comté" and of course ate traditional delicious traditional french dishes such as "Petit salé" and "Confit de canard".... I could go on as it was so tasty.

I will admit, this inspired me to cook more traditional French meals. Hence, I will attempt each month to share one French recipe with you.

In the meantime, I will share a classic in my repertoire for a simple but typical French snack for "votre quatre heure" (4pm is our typical snack time: "le goûter"). Growing up in the latin quarter in Paris, and with a grandmother from Périgord, good food was a staple though simple traditional snacks too. One thing I will carry on from growing up in Paris and being French is my need for good bread. Each day, I was in charge to go to our local bakery and bring home the baguette for our dinner. But bread was not simply used for cheese at the end of our meal preceding desserts, it was also used for one of my favorite snack. While many of you might be familiar with "croissants" and or even "pains au chocolat", this snack is a typical twist to our traditional "pain au chocolat" (a croissant with 2 chocolate bars inside).

For anyone who wants to know what it is to grow up as a child in Paris (and in France), here is one of the most familiar but delicious snack known to almost all French children: "Bread with chocolate".

"Bread with chocolate"

Ingredients:

• French-style bread such as a baguette to your taste (I like a crusty crust)
• Chocolate (dark in my opinion, though my sister swears by milk chocolate)

Cut a piece of bread or as I do, tear it. Then remove "la mie", you can slice it on one of its side then remove the inside (white dough), insert a few pieces of chocolate to fit roughly the same length of your bread. Then "voilà" it is ready to be devoured: eat!

While, I am going to be soon 30 years old this year, this snack is my go to when I need a little something to pick me up. Yum...

Another variation of our traditional snack (pour notre goûter) is bread with "Nutella", our chocolate-hazelnut spread (which is our equivalent to your peanut butter). 

"Bread with nutella"

Ingredients: 

• French-style bread such as baguette or even country style bread (I enjoy "Pane Turano Italian Bread", a plus is it is already sliced)
• Nutella

Cut a piece of bread or take a slice and spread on it some nutella. Voilà, enjoy. 

Last, as some of you may know if you are francophiles, the French enjoy their "tartines". Hence, another popular snack is "la tartine au beurre" ou bien "la tartine au beurre et confiture".

"Tartine"

Ingredients:

• French-style bread such as baguette or any bread you enjoy though would not suggest a salty version such as rosemary and olive bread or even onion bread (which I don't like).
• Butter
• Jam of any fruit (I personally enjoy strawberry jam by Bonne Maman, my boyfriend enjoys Apricot as well as Raspberry jams (also available by Bonne Maman). If you wish to make it more British like, Marmelade jam is also very tasty (also Bonne Maman for me)).

Cut a piece of bread, slice it as two have two slices or as we call them "tartines", spread some butter on them, then follow with some jam. "Voilà! enjoy". 

What is the fine line?

This past year, I often pondered over the following sayings: "who rescued who", "we anthropomorphize dogs", "my dogs are my family", "my dogs are my kids".

In retrospection, I would be the first one to say it: my dogs rescued me, they are my family, I do think of them as "my boys" hence I suppose as my kids. Though, I wonder am I crossing a fine line? 

According to the Merriam-Webster, the definition of "anthropomorphize" is: "to attribute human form or personality to things non human". Do we ascribe attributes to our pets, which facilitates justifying our behavior at times in my case I would say "obsessive", "overly protective" toward them. Other definition for anthropomorphize is "to ascribe human form or attributes to an animal", is it something we do that can affect our beloved pets?

In college, I had to write a research paper to write throughout the semester for an Anthropology course, my subject was highly influenced by my obsession of the moment: dogs. I was, at the time, fostering a dog. Surprisingly, my professor approved as the dog was the first domesticated animal by us (humans). My point is the dog is truly the first animal we domesticated. I am no expert, but in my opinion, there are many reasons. One in particular is that the dog has the particularity to return our eye contact. In other words, dogs seem to pay us attention. I believe any dog proprietor would agree. Even in the field of science, dogs have been recognized as wanting to please us, seeking to comprehend us, they follow our cues, listen and process with our commands (trained dogs)...

Surprisingly, I wonder do we do them injustice by treating them like family? I can't help but think to myself, "dog is man best friend", which in my mind justifies why I treat mine like my kind. They are my friends hence my kind. Though am I wrong for placing my dogs above other humans. They certainly have a place in my family though should they be seen as my kids? Perhaps, I am wrong, they are not my kids. Why do I tend to think so? Is it because like many other dog owners, I feel the responsibility associated with the fact that I "ADOPTED" them. Do we adopt our pets like others adopt their kids? I am certain this comment would infuriate many, though why do so many of us think of our pets as our kids?