16 May 2010

Anything you can do, I can do better!

Anything you can do, I can do better.  Anything you can do, I can do better than you!  LOL!  So, I went to my Pacesetter's Luncheon, and we had a yummy lunch.  Anytime I have a yummy lunch I always look at it and try to figure out how to make it.

So, that's just what I did.  While out on my hunt for the best May strawberries I found some leeks and fresh looking oyster mushrooms. Have you ever seen better looking leeks?  Look at all that white stem!


This dish also made me move out of my comfort zone to make buerre blanc.  Butter whipped into submission with shallots etc.  So, my buerre blanc which was colored with the slight pink of the shallots on the bottom.  Then chicken breast stuffed with leeks, mushrooms and in this case Parmesan cheese (because that's what I had), rolled in bread crumbs and baked for an hour. I finished it off with mashed potatoes and freshly cut chives.  It was delicious.  It's a recipe to remember - that's for sure!

Strawberry Jam!!!


Well, I hit some of the Farmer's Markets in the Bay Area to find the best strawberries.  I think we found them and that only means one thing to me....It's jam time!

 

It doesn't take to long to make the Fresh Frozen Strawberry Jam - I think from start to finish it took an hour.
And then you end up with containers filled with deeply jeweled ruby deliciousness.

09 May 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  It's been a great day here in the Seguritan home!  Here's the story :)  Paul was supposed to make me breakfast this morning, steak and eggs.  But last night I had this dream - it was a dream about a hash brown omelet, lol! So we decided to split the jobs.

*Side note - a while back Paul said something to me that has stuck with me forever (at least 2 months - and that feels like forever :)).  He said, "Caroline" it's rare that he actually says my name it's how I know he's serious, anyways, "Caroline, you need to stop living in theory and start living in reality."  So, since I dreamed this "recipe" I had to put it into reality. Although, this is not what he was talking about.


So, the first mistake I made led to a frittata. LOL!  Next time I try this out (next Saturday) I will cook the eggs separately.


I had to flip this behemoth, luckily I'm relatively good at this.  Then I added the cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions and bell peppers.  I didn't have any tomatoes - which by the way, if anyone is growing any and needs to rid of them - please let me know, I'll take them off your hands - especially if they're heirloom :)


So, this is what they ended up as.  Next time I will cook the eggs separately and slide them gently over the crisply browned hash browns, then the cheese and other fillings and I prefer the French three fold to the American half fold.  Anyways, it was still a great breakfast, it just wasn't what I had dreamed of. (That's what Paul had meant about reality - enjoying life even though it doesn't live up to my theories).