Sunday, July 21, 2013

Tornados and Day lilies

What a week!
Lots of weather.
Hot and humid.
Downpours.
And threats of tornados.
But we survived it all and are still enjoying our garden on Herriott Street
 




Butterfly Weed --- even the bees like it

White Echinacea



Green Bush Beans



Purple Bean Flower

Pumpkin Flower



Gooseneck Loosestrife





Hosta Flower



New Front Garden of Hostas



Garage Window Box



Fresh Beans for Supper


It is a perfect day today.
No humidity and 24.
The windows are wide open and my girls are enjoying travelling window to window.
A chicken is roasting in the oven.
Baby potatoes ready to pop in and the above mentioned beans to be sautéed with thyme and butter.
Peanut butter brownies for dessert.
Almost time for a leisurely cocktail on the deck.
Happy Sunday!
 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Madeleine and Proust

Many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray, save what was comprised in the theatre and the drama of my going to bed there, had any existence for me, when one day in winter, on my return home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell. And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.

Marcel Proust  Remembrance of Things Past  "The Cookie"


Every summer when my lavender is blooming I am required to make something lavendery.
This year lemon lavender Madeleines.



 





  • 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, to grease the pans, plus 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Confectioners' sugar, optional

  • Directions

    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly butter and flour the madeleine pans.
    In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light yellow and fluffy. Add 1/4 pound of butter and mix. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and stir into the batter with a rubber spatula.
    With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full. Bake the madeleines for 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed. Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired




     


    They must be magical little cakes if they can put a cheery thought to the mind of Marcel Proust.

    I have also infused a tub of sugar with lavender blooms for later baking :-)

    Tuesday, July 9, 2013

    Thursday, July 4, 2013

    A Little Visitor



    I finally found the little frog that has been making ALL that noise!
    He/She like to sit in the corner of one of our fences.
    If you want to hear his call click on the link below
     

    Happy 4th of July