filoFax - from Zero to Three in a week

Started out searching for a new notebook as the hard or soft cover Moleskines were making it difficult for me to simultaneously write and hold the book close to flat. Peaking in to the apparent abyss that is the filoFax world and next thing you know I've got a mini Chameleon on order from Australia, a pocket patent on it's way from Great Britian via eBay and an A5 Cuban ordered from the filoFaxUSA website. A little bit of googling and it seems that mine is not an unusual story, this happens to people all the time, you do a little 'shopping' and the next thing you are a 'collector'. Next post will include photos of all three once they arrive safely. I will include a thorough review and will try and keep in mind the original reason for the purchase and how suitable these three are.

Oatmeal with dried cherries

Lovely Breakfast this morning Irish Oatmeal with dried Montmorency Cherries, Muscavado Sugar and cinnamon. Only problem with this recipe is remembering to soak the oats overnight. If you forget and want to make this in the morning, just make the oats according to the directions on the can and once ready to eat you are on step 3. For 4 servings, Step 1 Before you go to bed, put 1 cup of steel cut oats in a 3-4 qt saucepan and pour 2 cups of boiling water over them. Leave for about 10 minutes then cover and place in the fridge. Have a nice sleep. Step 2 Take pan out of fridge, add 2 more cups water and heat to boiling, stir a few times. Cover and heat on low for 20 minutes. Step 3 Add 1/4 cup or so of dried cherries to the pot, stir and cover. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Step 4 Serve up the oatmeal with about 1 tablespoon of muscavado brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of cereal cream (half n half) and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Liege Waffles

These sugary waffles were a lot of fun to make and extremely good. The Recipe called for an overnight rest in the fridge but I decided to start them in the morning and see if the dough could work with only a few hours of fridge time. Finding the key ingredient, Pearl Sugar was the hardest part of the recipe. Luckily a local deli, Mediterranean Specialties in Bellingham had both the belgian, and swedish versions. I used the Belgian for this batch but I bought a box of the swedish to try as well.

French Cauliflower Soup Recipe from the Chez Panisse Vegetables Cookbook

1 Large Cauliflower
1 Onion
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
4 Tablespoons Creme Fraiche
Nutmeg
Chervil
Sea Salt

Cut off the stem of the cauliflower and any green leaves. Break up into flowerets. Wash them in cold water. Reserve a handful of small flowerets to garnish the soup.

Peel and slice the onion thin. In a soup pot, stew the onion slices and cauliflower florets in the butter with a little water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, without letting them brown. Add water to cover and cook for 25 minutes, covered, over medium heat. Meanwhile, parboil the reserved flowerets in boiling salted water for 8 minutes or so, keeping them crunchy.

Puree the soup in a blender, add the creme fraiche and season with nutmeg and salt to taste. Reheat gently to just under boiling. Serve the soup very hot, garnished with the whole flowerets and a few sprigs of chervil.

Serves 4 to 6.

Notes on the batch I made; It was heavenly....

I didn't have any creme fraiche so I used some plain jersey yogurt from a local dairy (Silver Springs Creamery, E Hemmi RD Lynden, WA)..very yummy. I also couldn't find any chervil in the stores so I used fresh chives from the herb bed. Funny thing is that when I decided to make a cauliflower soup I thought of chervil then wondered why I wasn't growing any. When I found the recipe in the Chez Panisse Vegetable Cookbook and it called for chervil I was kind of shocked that I'd thought of it..I just bought some seeds to plant!

Sebastian as weight to keep the "Air" from flying off the couch

Goodbye Buddy

One of the coolest cats that ever lived. Sebastian aka " Buddy ".... went to the heavyside layer. We miss you Buddy.

La Marzocco GS3

TIs the season for reflection. Thought I'd post a pic of the GS3, such a great machine!

Powder Puffs of Delight ( Peppermint Meringue Cookies)

New Bike - Workcycles Azor Swan

Here is my new bike. It is wonderful to ride, does great on the bit of gravel I have to go over and it's smooth on the roads. I put a Nantucket style front basket. It's going to be hard but I'm polishing up the Pashley for sale.