French Pastries

I think I've mentioned before, in this household, we LOVE food! I've posted before about Pain au Chocolat but I don't know if I've posted before on the divine satisfaction from the Vanilla Bean Croissant. Well, last week, I just so happened to have fresh yeast on hand that had to be used by Saturday. So, I made a batch of buttery croissant dough, (you can find the recipe here,) and Friday night I rolled my dough to a nice 1/8" thickness and stuffed some of this said dough with bittersweet chocolate batons and the other portion of this said dough I filled with vanilla bean sugar, (a simple concoction of 2 cups sugar, 2 vanilla beans-pods scraped into sugar and bean stored in with sugar at least 3 days,) and rolled cinnamon roll fashion.

Jovie eating up the fact that I'm taking a picture of her! Unless I catch her by surprise, this is the smile and face she gives the camera.

Pear was also in a "posing" mode.

Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissant)

Merry Christmas!

For a family who loves eating, baking, shopping, cooking, presents, decorating, crafts, hot chocolate, lattes, bundling up in the cold, reminiscing old times and gathering with family and friends, could there possibly be a more wonderful time of the year?

To say that we like food is an understatement. We love food! In our spare time, Stephen and I enjoy baking: a decadent chocolate cake with a creamy milk chocolate frosting or vanilla bean croissants (my new favorite) which take 3 days for the entire process. Stephen bakes Danish puff at least once a month and it makes it easier for Pear to go to bed if she knows she gets to partake in Danish puff in the morning. Stephen cooks up good food of all different ethnicities. He has a knack for melding herbs, spices and pairings within a meal. I don't especially enjoy Asian food, so any time I'm gone, that's what he makes for himself and the girls. I prefer to cook Italian, French, Mexican and of course American dishes. Stephen does all of these as well, (and usually better than I do, although he would never admit to it.) The bottom line is- we love food. We love having people over for meals. We love including our girls in the process of making food. We even enjoy watching geeky shows like Iron Chef America! The love for baking doesn't cease in this home. And we see this love for buttery goodness being passed down to the next generation. If you haven't been around Jovie recently- her cheeks do not lie. Her world revolves around food, especially sweet food. The excitement and joy seen on her face as a cookie appears in the room is enough to make everyone in the room stop and watch her enjoy the delectable bite she is about to take. Although Pear ingests half the quantity that Jovie does and is much more picky about the types of food she eats, her sweet tooth is almost as big and her desire to be in the kitchen baking, cooking and cleaning is very evident. It is a very familiar sight to see Pear pushing a chair up to the counter to help wash potatoes, make daddy a latte, mix a batch of cookies, frost a cupcake, salt the meat, smell the herbs, unload the dishwasher or whatever else we may be doing.

It's amazing to me that we've been in Olympia for 1 1/2 years now. Our duplex and the gift of owning a home continues to be a huge blessing, while at times causing us much grief. That may sound worse than it actually is. I guess a better way to put it is this: every time we start a new project or remodel another room, I begin to hear Pear saying words she normally wouldn't say. Words or phrases like: "piece of junk" or "freakin' dane-it". Stephen has done an amazing job remodeling, especially given the fact that he constantly has a little helper or two that he so graciously welcomes. Over the summer, he gutted our bathroom. Let's just say it was disgusting and now it is gorgeous, probably the nicest room in our house! We now have a nice front yard and an entry way with nice pavers. Our kitchen is halfway complete and we hope have it finished by spring. And the list goes on. The life of a homeowner!

Did I mention that Pear is a princess? If I didn't, take note. You may call her Pear or you may call her Princess Pear. If you mistake her for anyone else such as stinker, googly bear, pumpkin, cupcake, monkey, etc., you will get one of two things: a glare and short retort, "I'm not _____ I'm a pwincess!" or a devastated child that cries as if you are trying to shatter her beliefs and tell her that she might not be a princess, "but I thought I was a pwincess." And Pear seems to have it figured out, if she is a princess, Jovie is also a princess. Although we can get away with calling Jovie other endearing names, we will often hear the same remarks if Pear is in her complete princess mode, "but mom, Jovie is a pwincess, not a chunky monkey!"

Either I have been eating far too many doughnuts or I have a baby growing in my tummy! I think the latter to be true for two reasons: One- there isn't a good doughnut shop within a 15 minute radius. And two- I can feel the kicking of little feet right now. We are 18 weeks along and due May 13, 2010. We find out whether we'll have a little boy or a little girl on December 23rd.

Stephen and I are so blessed. We are happily married. We have 2 children (Pear will be 3 in February and Jovie just turned 1) and another on the way. We own a home (the rent from the other unit in our duplex sure does help out with the mortgage!). We upgraded Stephen's junky VW Jetta to a new Toyota van. Stephen has a great job as an Enterprise Technology Architect for DSHS. We have good health. We have wonderful parents, siblings, family and friends. As you may have guessed, having food on the table isn't a problem in this home. We have a God whose grace is sufficient and who sent his son as a baby so that we can be saved. And that same God chose us to be HIS children. Could we ask for anything more? I certainly don't think so but as the years go by the list just gets longer and longer.

Merry Christmas and may you too be blessed in Christ!

Paige, Stephen, Pear, Jovie, and baby.

A note from Stephen:

As I was reading Paige’s letter above, I kept wanting to interject my highlights and thoughts. So instead of mucking about in her sentences, I decided to throw in my notes as an addendum. Paige really did highlight the 3 major areas of our life: kids, food, and our house. Outside of that set, there were several activities that I would like to call attention to. I went on a fantastic backpacking trip in May with 12 good friends. We hiked to Toleak Point and camped on the beach. The weather was sunny in the low eighties with no wind, I had to keep reminding myself that I was sitting on a beach, on the Pacific Ocean, in Washington State, and I wasn’t wearing a parka and mittens or being pelted in the face with sand. It really was a special trip. If you want to see pictures of the trip you can visit my blog http://sbackholm.blogspot.com. Secondly, THE highlight of the year for me was going to Maui for 5 days in November with Paige. We left the kids with Paige’s parents, and did nothing but snorkel and lay on the beach the whole trip. I now see why people go to Hawaii.


Regards,
Stephen



Thanks to Michelle at Candid Reflections for the wonderful photographs.

I wonder what Jovie's been up to...

In case you didn't guess...EATING! Jovie loves food. My day is full by trying to fill this little one's stomach and give her a taste of the joys food can bring. Jovie currently eats 3 meals, 2 snacks and nurses 4 times a day. By the time I fix her food, feed her, clean her up, and nurse her, I have about 10 minutes left in my day! (Just kidding.)

Here, Jovie devoured several strawberries and cottage cheese. She then decided to play in her mess and attempted to color her hair red!

Somehow, Jovie got a chocolate bar out of the cupboard, unwrapped it and began eating it. All within about 5 minutes while I was getting ready for the day.

Her first chocolate chip cookie. Only the best, this was an aged New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Again, if you're going to give kids sugar, you might as well give them the best! A Top Pot Double Trouble doughnut.

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

This recipe has the perfect mix of texture and flavor. The tartness of the raspberry is paired perfectly with the sweetness of the white chocolate.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup raspberries
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl or workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Whisk together or pulse six times.

3. If making by hand, use two knives, a pastry blender, or your fingertips and quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Transfer dough to large bowl.

4. Gently toss raspberries and white chocolate chips into mixture.

5. Stir in heavy cream with rubber spatula until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

6. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and gently knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Slightly flatten dough and cut scones into 8 wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (Baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours.)

7. Bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I have also found that you can freeze these scones for several weeks and pull them out and bake the morning you wish to enjoy it. Simply follow the recipe through step 6 and freeze the scones. Once frozen store in a zip-lock freezer bag. They take a few more minutes to bake when frozen but taste just as good!

a happy Mother's Day...

Since Stephen and I both have such wonderful mothers that we like to honor on Mother's Day, and since I am now a mother, we have decided to celebrate mother's day, and father's day for that matter, the Saturday before the actual "holiday".

Stephen told me that Pear and Jovie were talking and that they wanted to take me to Cafe Besalu Saturday morning. I was thrilled of course! We made it up to Cafe Besalu and had the most delicious pastries. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, if you've not been to Cafe Besalu, you've got to go!

After enjoying the pastries we headed up to Pike Place Market to enjoy the atmosphere and the beautiful tulips. Oh, Pike's Place is gorgeous this time of year! We walked through leisurely and by the time we made it through the market, Jovie was ready to be in the car. I guess she wasn't as fond of the people as they were of her!





That nice walk through the market made us hungry. (Food in this household is the highlight of the day, therefore we eat often.) We found Eats Market in West Seattle to be good fresh food but not extraordinary. Then we browsed the area a little and stopped at Coffee to a Tea which serves Tony's organic coffee and the most delicious cupcakes and cakes. I found the quality of the cupcake to be equal if not superior to my homemade product. It was delicious!





While in the area we figured we might as well get some treats to go from Bakery Nouveau. This bakery is amazing! In a different way than Cafe Besalu. Bakery Nouveau serves fancier pastries and desserts. Their twice baked almond croissant is fantastic!

Homeward bound (with a stop at Ikea)! The girls did great! Pear didn't have any accidents (this was our first day-trip since potty training). And Jovie handled the day well. I had a blessed Mother's Day celebration.

Brunch

I have decided that I love a good weekend brunch! It is most enjoyable when shared with family and friends. There is something divine about sipping on a nice latte while devouring a luscious pain au chocolate or my most recent concoction, the vanilla bean croissant, late in the morning. I also enjoy a good quiche, breakfast sausage and a refreshing fruit salad. Yum!

A whirlwind weekend...

Do you ever feel like your weekend zoomed by at an unfair pace? Well, this weekend was definitely a whirlwind for us. We enjoyed ourselves immensely but simply can't believe it's Monday already.

On Saturday, the girls, Stephen and I started our morning off at Top Pot. I enjoyed a chocolate cake doughnut with maple glaze. Yum, it was absolutely delicious. I took my hot cocoa over and got my hair cut by Jennifer at Salon Bellezza while Stephen took the girls to Bellevue Square mall to play on the new play place (this was a real treat as we normally don't let Pear play in those disease infested areas). Then we ventured off to visit Brook and Joseph and their girls and we ended up getting to visit with Kurtis and Sasha and their girls as well! We all took a leisurely walk to the park and enjoyed visiting.
Sunday we went to Reality in the morning and then headed down to Stephen's family's house to celebrate Doug's birthday. Pear was so excited to participate in a birthday celebration. She was sure to help Doug blow out the candles. We enjoyed a delicious meal which included Stephen's Wicked Shrimp appetizer, Claire's homemade hamburger buns, Therese's blue cheese dressing (which is also spectacular as a condiment for the burgers) and homemade barbecue sauce. There was just about anything you could want for a burger topping! After indulging in a great meal, we had to top it off with a delicious marble cake made by Claire adorned with Harvest moon frosting (a favorite recipe passed down by Grandma Doris) and bittersweet chocolate drizzle. Delish!




After all of this fun, we had to stop by my family's house on our way home to squeeze in a couple of lousy games of Settlers of Catan and Stephen had to see if he could beat my brothers in Call of Duty. We visited and played games for a little while and then headed home to get some rest before the work week appeared much too early this morning.

crunchy and flavorful fried chicken

I don't make fried chicken very often for several reasons: The meal takes a fair bit of time and makes a large mess. The results are rather underwhelming with a less than crispy skin and a lot of chew in the bite. And after eating the fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy and fluffy buttermilk biscuits, I almost feel like a brick! However, I tried a new recipe last night that knocked the socks off of any fried chicken I've ever had before. The recipe is from Thomas Keller, (American chef and restaurateur, owner of The French Laundry and Per Se.) I found the recipe on epicurious. I, unfortunately, skipped the brining process which would have surely made my chicken even better. I also used canola oil rather than peanut oil as I am trying to fix meals on somewhat of a budget and peanut oil is quite expensive. And lastly, of course I didn't make a full batch for Stephen, Pear and myself. The results were exquisite! Crispy buttermilk battered chicken skin with a little kick on the tail end of the bite and moist meat inside. On top of the great flavor, I found this to make little mess and decided to forgo the biscuits and replace them with a delectable salad. I left the meal feeling satisfied after only 1 chicken leg. So, I will be making this again. It will not be on my weekly meal plan as it is still FRIED chicken but it will be a treat every now and then!
Note: I didn't have time to take pictures, between juggling the girls and cooking! Stephen, however, managed to snap a couple before the chicken was devoured.

Dark Chocolate Espresso Trifle

This Thanksgiving, I decided to concoct my own recipe for a luscious dessert. I had made this dessert over a year ago and it was delicious, this time I revamped it a little and I believe it turned out even better.

For the Dark Chocolate Cake Layers:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring thing.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Divide batter into two 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

For the Espresso Pastry Cream Layers:
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup granulated sugar
pinch table salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

1.Heat half-and-half, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
2.Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whisk until sugar has begun to dissolve and mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in cornstarch until combined and mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.
3. When half-and-half mixture reaches full simmer, gradually whisk simmering half-and-half into yolk mixture to temper. Return mixture to saucepan, scraping bowl with rubber spatula; return to simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in butter, vanilla and espresso powder. Transfer mixture to medium bowl and let cool in ice bath, stirring occasionally. (I also poured my pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve to ensure a creamier texture.)

For Sweetened Whipped Cream Layer:
1 pint whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.

For Bittersweet Chocolate curls:
1 bar bittersweet chocolate

Let sit in warm place for 30-60 minutes. With vegetable peeler, slide along the bar lengthwise to make nice chocolate curls.

To Assemble, trim cake to fit your trifle dish. Layer cake, pastry cream, whipped cream and then repeat. Finish by sprinkling Chocolate curls. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

A new take on an Old Fashioned Cupcake

Over the last 9 months, I have been eye-balling any and every dessert imaginable and dreaming of baking it after baby arrived. Well, baby arrived and I have begun my quest of baking. I found this recipe for an Old Fashioned Cupcake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting and it was absolutely delicious! Stephen, Pear and I ate far more than we should have.

Of course, Pear helped me make these wonderful cupcakes. At one point I turned my back and walked to the other room to get Jovie, this is what I came back to: