Signs of Spring

We made a really nice risotto recently using our violane nano rice, chardonnay, fresh asparagus and a next of good parma! A great meal during this time in between winter and spring.

More Celery Please

Today I made strawberry macarons filled with grapefruit infused white chocolate ganache, celery curd and fresh blueberries. Possibly one of the best flavor combinations that I've made.

Celery truly is an incredible complement to the coying sweetness that I usually have in my desserts.

A small birthday cake for Martyn (from the Cafe) who is from England. He loves milk chocolate and McVities so I made him a small cake with genoise brushed with honey syrup, layered with milk chocolate ganache, enrobed in milk chocolate mousse, and covered in ganache, dusted with McV crumbs. It was very good.

Bunny bits

This weekend I cranked out five different international Easter pastries with the help from a star pupil - Dustin. Dustin signed up for my baking class this weekend which I had to cancel, but I still needed to bake for church. So we spent about six hours making hundreds of cookies and two really cool sweet breads. Below is an Italian sweet bread with anise. This one was the only full-out failure - it just didn't rise, so we used it as a centerpiece.


Then this is a Greek bread with Mahleb and almonds. I didn't particularly care for any of the desserts we made this weekend and I have thus concluded that international Easter sweets suck. There you go. No need for anyone ever to make any of them ever again. Just stick with the Peeps and we'll all be happy. Blah!

Hey Moe!

Shnecken is not one of the three Stooges, but it is a really great pastry from the Amernick book - brioche filled with crushed pecan, demerera, and raisins.

Recent dinners

Let's start with the quick and easy gnocchi with olive oil sauce, browned garlic and parmesan ribbons.

Then we have Korean BBQ ala Tyler.

And finally parsley pesto pasta.