I'm telling Esme about another one of the family recipes that I want to make and show her how to make - and every other recipe I've been finding for it uses white wine in it for reduction in the sauce. And I had to think, ah.. yes, my mother never cooked with that (cooking alcohol) at all, so of course the 'family recipe' that I know doesn't have it, so.. do I try to do it 'correctly' according to the books or do I cook what I know so I don't 'mess it up'? I'm choosing option two, and then maybe we can learn how to make the 'actual French recipe version' later. Apparently there is a 'boil the onions in white wine' step that I've never done in my life.. and am not sure I want to.
This is usually served with chicken breast, but can also be served with eggs. We didn't have fresh garden tarragon, but I was inspired to make this by the dried tarragon packet I got in our spice sampler. Tarragon goes bad quickly, much quicker than many spices - and the reason I haven't made it in many years is that it is hard to find it, and then when you do, a little disappointing to throw much of it away later. I used finely diced zucchini instead of the real chopped tarragon plants that were in a recipe I found - I think maybe it was made with canned green beans at times in our household, my mom canned a lot of green beans every summer.
We decided to make it with eggs. It is not an easy dish to make with three burners by yourself - will need to practice again, as one of the burners was an omelette to go with it and that got a bit messy in between - started pasta, then melted butter in a big pan and added finely diced zucchini and sliced sweet onions, cooking them until the onions were translucent, then added a bit more water to make sure there was enough liquid - added a few tablespoons of flour until it began to form a paste with the butter, added some grated cheese (used the last of the gruyere block we had, about 3 by 2 inches) to that to finish making it a full paste (roux), then began to reliquify with half-and-half, then whole milk, until the sauce and melted cheese came to the right consistency, added dried tarragon and lots of black pepper (should have added more salt, I had hoped the butter and cheese was salty enough) and removed from heat as the omelette was getting done to put on the plates and drained the pasta, stirred it into the tarragon cream sauce and added more black pepper and shredded cheese on top of each plate after serving. It's been years, maybe a decade, since I made this dish, but I thought I'd give it a go again to show Esme.
Madeleine cookies / cakes with ebony carrot powder in them
mullein plant, biennial, first year rosette
We are down to 13 chickens, including our two roosters. We lost another one of our Olive Eggers to old age this morning. I was confused though, because I was pretty sure we were at 15 with the roosters before losing this one - and Esme and I counted again and again, and only came up with thirteen. I might have not counted the last one that we lost - although I remember her - or maybe something happened to another one of the Cinnamon queen types and we haven't found any evidence of it yet. We looked all around in the pen - and didn't see anything. The one that was gone this morning was just fallen over and right out in the open with no injuries - although she had been getting slower and walking a little hunched for the past few weeks.
I got some spice samples from a company the other day and I have been trying them out. Tried some tarragon in our eggs - I always have that go bad before I've used very much of it. Today, I tried some of the ebony carrot powder, which is a very bright magenta color, in a batch of madeleines - and the purple powder made the dough sort of purplish-grey and the actual cakes a bit of a greenish color.
Got the first strawberries today :) Chopped them up in some sugar and put some in yogurt and a bit on pancakes.
Studying mostly French with some Portuguese. Been dreaming more in French or pseudo-French, at least.
Been working through the dental plate issues and cooking my own dinners more so I don't have as much problem with things that Mark and Esme can eat but I have trouble with - because when it was already inflamed trying to eat something harder and having it rock was causing more issues... and I am trying hard (very hard) not to sleep on that side for more than an hour or so here and there at night - can't only sleep on the other side, my hips and shoulders won't let me do that, either.
Charlotte dog still has to watch - she had to be calmed down a little because she got very very excited and was beginning to whine. Esme petted her ears and then we told her it was time for her to go in the main house. She has been out there a few times, when we have, to check on them.
Melody goat and Minion cat
This morning I put some new garden soil in one of the raised beds, and checked on different things. The strawberries are beginning to have berries on them. Melody goat and Minion cat were sunning themselves on the edge of the fenced yard - and I interrupted them. I have kale and beans and beets (growing for the greens) and sweet peas coming up, and have transplanted my summer squash plants out to the bed where a few more and some cucumbers were finally germinating. I want to get some marigold plants and then some tomatoes and peppers.
We went through all of our spices today - there were one or two that I had been holding on to that weren't any good. I threw the tarragon out months ago after it had sat untouched for most of a year - and the starter for cleaning out the rest today was that I had ordered some samples of a place's spices that included tarragon and a few other things. Out of everything there is now one box of things I rarely use but don't feel need to be thrown away, a box that only I use but not often, a box of things that are mostly only used by me but are used commonly, and a small section of shelf of what Mark and I both use on a regular basis.
And I got to show Esme how to prepare them - she says it is interesting to see the process and then how they are cooked. Of course, then I also show her what vitamins are in them and tell her what foods and/or spices it goes well with. I've told her that cutting up vegetables seems to be one of my favorite hobbies, which goes well with but does seem to live in a space all of its own beside the gardening and the cooking. I also said that even though the produce wasn't perfect and the rest of what was on the shelf with it was bordering on sad - I would have been proud of that bunch if I had grown it myself.
Here are the bottoms, scrubbed but not peeled, then sliced somewhat thin, put a bit of water in the bowl so that the pieces were not sitting directly on the bottom, sprinkled olive oil over the top, added spices, and then drizzled some honey over the top. Covered, in a 400 degree oven for probably a bit over a half hour. We ate it with mandarin oranges, and she had about five slices on her plate. I had twice that - and the leftovers in a small quart jar to use up tomorrow. Mark made hamburgers for her and for himself, and I used up a bit of the sausage and egg rice I had made last night and added curry, ginger paste and green onions to it.
I will add the frozen beet greens to other fried rice and soup type meals just like I do kale and dandelion greens.
Even though Esme has graduated high school, or very close to soon, I asked her to dye a few eggs with me. Our eggs are already 'Easter Egg' colors, from having Americana chickens, but that just made it a science experiment which brown, green and blue eggs would change what colors.
The yellow one was nearly purple-brown to start with, and the pink one was a pale green egg. The left-most green egg was naturally green, and the one on the far right was brown to start with.
I've done a little work in the garden, mostly checking on things, some sorrel and kale planted, seen beans that are coming up finally again after that freeze killed the other ones etc. There are some cucumbers and squash plants and I planted another few seeds of zucchini.
Planning on making Esme something we haven't tried before - artichoke hearts, with a little bit of gruyere cheese baked on top - with egg omelets and Mark is making a bit of beef that be bought at the store. So, waiting for that time to arrive to start making things. We brought Grandma some chocolate for Easter but we weren't planning on making a full big holiday meal, just sort of a hodgepodge experimental type meal.
The artichoke hearts : 1 can of artichoke hearts, drained, and then put in a glass bread pan with olive oil sprinkled over the top, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, oregano, and then cooked in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the very edges begin to brown - sprinkle with shredded Gruyere cheese and bake longer until the cheese melts well. Serve with omelet and Italian bread.
I've been playing some more Minetest and working in the research mode to earn a few of the materials as 'creative' or free play items. I'm sure you can see I've gotten this wood as one finally, and also the colors of stone that the houses are made of, sand and glass. I've mostly stayed playing this world because the mining distribution has impressed me - and I've even been finding some things like fire opal and pink tourmaline that I have not found before in the years I was playing it.
Studying French mostly, and French from the Spanish interface on the other platform.
Not a bad little village to hang out in, catch fish, rotate the crops etc etc.
