french

a year of bakes-august

kdavis Leave a comment

i don’t know how this month’s bake came to mind but ended up deciding on chocolate eclairs. i was drawn to them because (1) i’ve never made choux pastry (2) there were multiple components and i felt up for the challenge and (3) i felt like it would be a good test of my baking skills.

oh, and this bake was doubly fun because mom was in town! now, she worked in food service her entire career, so she could smoke just about anyone in the kitchen (myself especially) but she was patient as i got all the ingredients organized, equipment laid out, and oven preheated. using this recipe from food & wine magazine, we got right to work on the choux pastry. i’ve seen chefs make it countless times on baking competition shows and was excited and nervous to see if it would work out for us. and despite the handful of negative reviews on the website, we powered forward. after boiling our water/butter mixture, i diligently removed the pot from the heat and vigorously stirred in the flour. much to our amazement and relief, the dough started to come together from the sides and leave the trademark film on the bottom of the pot! it was a baking miracle, i tell you! we were on top of the world.

we threw it in the mixer to cool off, added the eggs one at a time, and piped those bad boys out on a baking sheet. they might not look like much now, but just you wait. 🙂

while the oven was hard at work, we fixed up the pastry cream (blessedly easy and dangerously delicious), washed our dishes, and let the anticipation rise. i think i am a capable enough baker to have completed this one on my own without issue, but it was a much more enjoyable experience with mom by my side. love ya, mom!

about 40 minutes later, we pulled open the oven door and grinned from ear to ear. the eclair shells were golden but not burned and had a nice hollow sound when you tapped the bottoms. we’re on a roll! nothing can stop us now.

once those little shells cooled on the baking racks, it all came together pretty quickly. we split them horizontally, dunked the tops in a melted chocolate-butter mixture (YUM), and spooned in generous heaps of the pastry cream.

even though dinner was right around the corner, we immediately indulged. these eclairs are extremely decadent without being overly sweet, and we each scarfed ours down in just a matter of bites. as we say in our household, this recipe is a “keeper” for sure, and i look forward to a special occasion (or, you know, just another random monday) when i can make them again.

seattle – day 1

kdavis Leave a comment

our first full day in seattle was packed with adventure and started with a proper french breakfast at le pichet. this spot had been highly recommended by several coworkers and was a delightful way to begin our morning. the space is narrow and cozy with tables close together. they have quite a spirits selection and proper espresso equipment, so i had the cutest cappuccino, and aunt cindy had a pretty and delicious latte.

our waitress mentioned the chef had a few buns left, so we ordered the last of them for the table. don’t these look food magazine worthy! they were slightly sweet and melt-in-your-mouth tender. so far so good!

we knew we’d need more than a little bread to hold us over for our upcoming excursion, so mom ordered the yogurt (a small serving but tasty, she said), aunt cindy enjoyed the oeufs plats jambon et fromage (i was grateful she offered me a bite!), and i ate the salad de tomates avec fruits a noyau, chevre et vinaigrette au jambon. all that produce was so fresh, and as fancy chefs say, a bite of it all at once just made everything “sing.”

with fuel in the car and our bellies, we drove east to tour snoqualmie falls. aunt cindy had heard of it and always wanted to visit, so visit we did! the fall colors were just starting to show off, and we lucked out with a warm (albeit windy) afternoon.

aside from the mighty power of these falls, my favorite element were these words all about the grounds. they were so playful and inspiring and very unique.

the clouds and rain eventually arrived, so we moseyed over to downtown snoqualmie and took refuge in snoqualmie falls brewery. i would have liked to belly up to the charming covered bar, but the weather just was not in the mood to cooperate. oh well, you can still drink beer and eat snacks inside! between sips of this and bites of that, we talked all about the latest in each others’ lives. it’s so interesting and fun getting to still be a daughter and niece to these ladies but having adult conversations. times change, life forms and reforms. i feel lucky to have this pair in my circle.

evening approached, and it was slow going back to seattle. by the time we shrugged off our coats and untied our boots, we were tuckered out and in no mood at all to head back into the city. cue doordash! since it had grown cold, we concluded big bowls of steamy ramen would hit the spot, and they sure did! we tried ramen-ya teinei, and our order was accurate and on time. while mom spooned up dinner, i worked my tech magic to get dancing with the stars streaming on the tv. the host didn’t have regular cable, so after logging into aunt cindy’s directv account and then airplaying her ipad to the tv, we were in business! hot ramen and reality tv. what more could we have wanted?