Market Day in Paris

We're standing in the Fresh Food Market at Bastille and can't believe what we are seeing. Rows and rows of amazing edibles. The fruits,greens, herbs, fresh meat,vegetables and fresh fish are unbelievable. The Parisians are quite relaxed about it, as this is usual for them. We have markets in Edmonton, with good food, but this abundance is unbelievable! I was caught touching a bunch of radishes, and the stall owner told me "ne touche pas". I forgot that they pick and bag your items for you. He did smile though, and was not uncivil about it. We walked through the market once and then went back and made our purchases. A magnificent pork roast, fresh herbs, cherie potatoes, a marvellous french melon, green beans.......we will have a feast tonight!

Snow Day

Why on earth would anyone make granola bars? I have made some pretty silly things in my day from individual yogurts, creme fraiche, sausages........but granola bars? My son asked for granola bars for lunches this week. I said sure, I'll run out to the store and get you some. I looked out the window, and I was taken back to when I was home with my kids when they were babies, and quite housebound. If a blizzard was blowin' we weren't goin' ! I said to my husband that I was not going outside. Granola bars musn't be too difficult to make. I checked the pantry.

Rolled oats

Flaked Coconut

Natural Bran

3 kinds of nuts

Dried Blueberries

Honey

I found a recipe on a site called Mother Earth News. Doesn't that sound granola? I changed the recipe a bit to match my pantry ingredients. I made sure to press them firmly into the pan and then cut them warm. I thought they wouldn't stay together, but they did. They turned out great. My 2 very large boys said they were "awesome". The snow day turned out some great results. Granola Bars, Fruit Yeast Bread, Hazlenut and Apricot Tea Loaf, Beef Stock, Chicken Stock.....and then supper. Recipe Follows:

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 1/4 cup nuts any variety, chopped
1/2 cup bran
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1 cup dried cranberries, currants or raisins
2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Preheat oven to 300
2 Mix together the oats, coconut, chopped nuts and bran. Spread out on a bakesheet and toast in the oven until golden (about 20 minutes)
3 Mix together the honey, butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan. Heat on the stove until just bubbling. Add the vanilla extract at the end.
4 Mix together the toasted ingredients with the honey mixture.
5 Add in the dried fruits.
6 Press into a greased 9 X 13 cake pan. Press down very firmly.
7 Place back into the oven for another 20 minutes.
8 Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Then cut into granola bar shapes. Let cool completely in the pan. Wrap separately and store

Servings: 15

Yield: 1 X 3 inch bars

Oven Temperature: 300°F

A Snowy Blustery Day!

Wood Fired Pizza

After 4 years of planning and building, we have almost finished our wood fired pizza oven in our back yard. We have finishing work, like plastering and tiling, as well as a chimney cap left to do. We could not resist trying out the oven this weekend. Friday night we did our first pizzas. On Saturday, we tried roast chicken and vegetables, foccacia bread and cinnamon buns. We also roasted off been bones for a beef stock.

Cooking in an oven that is 42 inches in width, and has very variable heat is sure a challenge. We will have to learn what cooks with the fire in.......what cooks with embers.......what cooks with no embers and the door closed......SHEESH!!!!! Why would we bother? Well, when cooking food is a hobby or entertainment, the doing is not such a chore! The clean up....now that's another story.

Here are more dishes and delights.

Foccacia Bread

Roast Chicken with Potatoes & Carrots

Three Day Cook Off

On Monday, the forecast said that the rest of the week would be nice and hot. It has not been a nice summer, with a fair amount of rain, and some days that the temperature did not creep above 15 degrees. I decided that this week, the last week of my vacation, I would pull out all stops and have people over as many times as my energy level would allow.

Wednesday was "girls" day and we had a nice lunch on the patio, followed by a "Mama Mia" matinee. We had Green Pea & Mint Chilled Soup, and a nice salad (picture above) and then some fresh "brother-in-law" raspberries encased in a lovely vanilla scented red wine jelly.

Thursday had colleagues from work, and some appetizers and snacks outside. We tried sitting in the gazebo for a while, but had to move to the patio on the north side when the heat became unbearable. We had a nice Bruschetta with an Herb Salad on top, and Grilled Egg Plant and Feta Rolls. I had saved some of the soup and dessert from the day before and had them in shooter glasses (soup) and raspberries in espresso glasses. Another great day outside...........

Day three, Friday, and I am still cooking. The plan is for a Bocce game, and then a roasted lamb leg with some salads. We'll see how the day goes on.