Molasses Crinkles and Easter Lamb dinner

Mix 3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
in a decent size bowl because you are going to add this to it
Mix together
2 1/4 cup flour
2 t soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cloves
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger

Stir them together and add to the above ingredients. Chill dough.
Roll into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip top in sugar. Place sugar size up 3 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with 2 or 3 drops of water to produce a cracked surface.

Bake until soft, not hard at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.


We had a glorious Easter dinner with the Gros family. Patrice is French, an organic farmer, and his wife Karen is a personal chef and amazing cook and woman.
There were 4 families present and all of us self employed. The evening started off Euro style with exquisite champagne and the kids had an egg hunt.
We talked and helped in the kitchen for awhile.



Then we were seated and had our meal of Farm fresh raised lamb



Farm Fresh Swiss Chard Tarts



Easter Bread




Roasted Veggies
I made this-you clean your produce and dry. Cut into bite size peices of quarters.
I used-red cabbage, beets,cauliflower, broccoli,green beans all tossed ina bowl with extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, spike, nutritional yeast and kale.
Baked at 350 for about 45 minutes, with foil on top, then uncovered about 15 at 450 to get things brown. Added Fried onions in there too.



Dessert

Plenty of wine and champagne.

A little song Manon Sang of Edith Piaf which now makes me want to rent Avignon Rose.



Here are the children



I answered the phone once and on the other line was a French woman:) So I handed the phone to Karen who speaks fluently

It was a wonderful time for all of our family!
And a special blessing because Friday kicked off another local gathering at my friend Michelle's. Ray was feeling under the weather so he stayed home with Liv.
The boys shot fireworks all night which is such a thrill for any young lad:)
The food and atmopshere was lively and joyful and it was good to visit with Michelle whom I had not really talked to in a very long time.
I am so blessed to see how they are progressing in their dream of land, animal ownership and gatherings. Here are the boys showing thier body paintings from that party.



What a beautiful weekend! The best is yet to come~

Oui Oui..but no recipe

A day assisting Cuisine Karen
Cuisine Karen
Well darnit I left the recipes at her house...hopefully I can still get them when we see her next week when I might present you with our Easter meal pictures. (we are spending Easter with the Gros family)
The meal was amazing. The pictures dont do any justice. The flavors were light and beautiful. It was a special treat to be part of the class.
Karen had a cooking class this month with:
Blue cheese tartlets
Tartelets aux Roquefort

Roast rabbit with Dijon mustard sauce, carrots & olives
Lapin à la moutarde aux olives et carottes

Now, I wasn't sure I would like rabbit all that much, but it was very good. I also thought the blue cheese tartlets would be wierd, but whoa...amazing.
The first cuttings of Patrice's greens were also served with homemade vingarette.
So this is my special food blog Monday for you (posting early because tommarrow I need to get started on my tax paperwork)





This is the marinated rabbit in a white wine marinade.

Dredged rabbit is now browned to be roasted in the oven.

Tartlets being ready to bake


The supper once completed and honestly this picture does not do justice at all!

And since I have no recipes for you, I will share a pic we took today. Ben and I made our Milk Chocolate truffles.
2 oz unsweetened chocolate..melt and allow to cool to room temp
4 TBSP butter room temp
Once both are about the same temperature, mix together. Add 4 TBSP cream, a dash of stevia and a good squeeze agave nectar (or whatever you like to sweeten your foods with)
Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and mix again.

We spread out onto parchment paper, added pecan halves and let set up. Cut into chunks and put into a plastic bag in the freezer. This is a great sweet tooth releiver for our family.

Winter Walk Day 14

Tommarrow is our anniversary and on a fluke we ended up with our Special friends in Eureka Springs. O HOW WE NEEDED some time with friends.
This is Patrice and Karen Gros family. Patrice runs http://www.foundationfarm.com which is an organic farm that serves the community in 100 mile radius.
Ray and I aprectice there plast year and plan to this year. I say "apprentice" because the definition fits, however a true Foundation Farm apprentice does more days and has the opportunity to stay there in a cabin type dwelling and earn some money. That is a pretty nice deal! If I did not have a family I would do that.
I AM an apprentice tho in my own mind because I am learning from a passionate master of organic gardening and I treasure not only the friendship but the teacher/student relationship. I need the guidance, and as a woman desiring to dive deeper into herbalism, this is something I want to incorporate into my dream of an herb center on a larger scale.
Karen, is a french gourmet cook and does all sort of neat things with cooking and classes. I may be her apprentice one day too. I plan on attending classes. And really Karen can probably master anything she prepares, but her spread on french cuisine is really amazing. Look at her Valentines Soiree'

Menu “Saint Valentin” 2008


APÉRITIF & HORS D'ŒUVRE

Homemade duck foie gras on rye crostini
sprinkled with coarse sea salt
Foie gras de canard au pain de seigle et du gros sel

Savory cheese & parsley profiteroles
Profiteroles au fromage et persil


APPETIZER

Celeriac velouté with roast beet garnish
served with horseradish butter on crostini
Velouté de céleri rave à la bette rave et croûte beurre de raifort


ENTRÉE

Duck confit and sausage pastry ramekins with light cream sauce
served with assorted vegetables
Bouchée a la reine au confit de canard et saucisse crème léger
servi aux légumes variées
(Vegetarian option available)


CHEESE & SALAD

Assorted classic cheese board & salad with walnut vinaigrette
Plateau de fromage et la salade vinaigrette à la noix


DESSERT

Traditional Brittany crêpes
Choice of sauce chocolat or sauce caramel au beurre salé
with freshly whipped cream & vanilla ice cream
Served with cider, as is tradition in Brittany
Crêpes au choix sauce chocolat ou sauce caramel au beurre salé
servi à la chantilly et glace vanille


COFFEE

French coffee served with a dark chocolate truffle


$100 per person

Price is all-inclusive & covers: 5-course menu, freshly-baked bread, champagne or wine with each course, cider, coffee, service, taxes & tip.

You can see Karens Work at http://www.cuisinekaren.com

So today I feel refreshed in having had some wine and conversation with 2 special people we know and love in Eureka Springs.