My Birthday Present - A Day Off

Today is my birthday, so I am taking the day off! That doesn't mean that I won't be thinking about you. I will be "celebrating" my birthday with a 16 hour, 1,000 mile road trip! How's that for a birthday present! 

I will definitely feel a year older by the time I arrive home! Maybe even two years older!

Ritzy Cookies and Cake

I have had such a great time pouring through very special recipes that are in ring binders, not printed in a traditional cookbook. There are lots of French words that I don't understand, so I'm glad that they are translated into English. There are so many recipes that look and sound so amazing that it is hard to decide which ones to post. I chose these two recipes because they use basic ingredients that most of us usually have on any given day. I am happy that I have the opportunity to share  two more special "Ritzy" recipes. These recipes make four servings and they aren't complicated, even though they are very Ritzy recipes.

This recipe for Pound Cake caught my eye because it is made with a few basic ingredients.

Enjoy!

Dining in Style at The Farm

We had the most delicious meal at The Farm this past week and of course, I want to share it with you. I had thought that we would have a low key evening, due to all of the work, cooking, etc. that had been done the previous days. I pictured bringing in a pizza so that no one would need to cook. 

Wow, was I surprised when I walked into the main dining room and saw what had been planned and executed beautifully! The sterling silver was gleaming! The floral display was beautiful! This was not going to be a pizza night after all!

 Beautiful table

 Another view of the table

  Our first course was Halibut in a Tarragon Caper Cream Sauce

 Sterling and mother of pearl flat wear

 Individual silver containers with honey

 Individual salt bowls and individual pepper shakers

 Silver goblets

 Beautiful fresh flowers

 More beautiful flowers

 Beautiful silver centerpiece

 Vintage name tag holders

 Melt in your mouth Spaghetti Squash, Special Potatoes and Peppered Steak

Blackberry plum reduction for our peppered steak

 Vanilla Ice  Cream,  Chopped Pistachios and Milk Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce for dessert

We all left the table very full after savoring every wonderful bite! That was the most special and delicious meal that I have eaten in a long, long, time. The Hot Fudge was so good, I wanted to tip that pitcher back and let it pour into my mouth, and save some to take a bath in later!! 

Many thanks to Matt who makes everything look and taste amazing! We will enjoy the memories for a long time!

Ritzy Quiche Lorraine

This recipe was given to me by the best chef I have ever had the pleasure to meet and get to know personally. I have enjoyed his amazing cooking skills on many occasions and everything he makes, cooks, bakes, etc., is not only amazing, but out of this world amazing! And, I don't think that only because I love him and am very biased; I know it because everyone that has ever had the priviledge to eat anything that he has created, feels just the same way!!

This very special chef has traveled around the world and just happened to land in Paris and attended a famous "Blue" chef school. He shall remain nameless here, but he knows who he is and so will many of the people who read this blog!

These two very "special" recipes have been adapted especially for this blog.

  

Thank you, Matt!! I love you!!

Enjoy!

Out at the Farm

We are enjoying some time at the farm. No traffic, no helicopters, no freeways, no smog, no neighbors, no noise.

The original farmhouse, circa 1900. Half of the house was destroyed by a large cedar tree during the Columbus Day storm in October, 1962. They closed the house in and lived in the area that survived the storm.

 Grandpa working in the garden 

Fennel and Bronze Fennel

 Perennial Herb Plants and Flower Garden

 

Lemon Balm, Daisy, Silver Dollar 

 

Natural Seeding Wild Flower Mix

 Leeks

 Possibly Italian Parsley

Grandpa still working!

Walking Path

100 Foot Grape Vine- 4 Varieties

Day Lilies, Irises, Peonies

Landscaping Foliage

Royal Anne Cherry Trees

Ever-bearing Strawberries

 

Grandpa still working! 88 years young!

Coming to a Drive-Thru Near You!!

We had a "first" recently and so I decided to share the experience with you too!

From this view, this looks like a regular, innocent reciept from "Burgerville." You might not be familiar with "Burgerville," if you don't live on the west coast. Burgerville is a very popular drive-thru. It is to the Northwest, what In-n-Out is to Southern California. We hadn't been to Burgerville for several years and recently had the opportunity to indulge. I might have enjoyed my burger a little more if I hadn't taken out my glasses to see what all the columns were about. This is was that innocent looking receipt turned into.

 A reality check on what I was about to eat! My double cheeseburger was going to cost me 449 calories! Wow! Talk about a Buzz Kill!!! I'm glad it has been several years since I had one!

But, back to the important part of this post! It won't be long before most of our dining experiences will contain this very important information. It will help us make better choices in what we eat. Sure, it's ok to enjoy something less healthy every now and then, but it shows how devastating to health and girth to eat like this very often!

I did eat my cheeseburger and enjoyed it very much in spite of that reality check I received right before I indulged.

Fortunately, there was a little good news on the back of the receipt!

It made me feel so much better about my decision, knowing that Burgerville recycles used vegetable oil, turning it into cleaner burning diesel fuel!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I found this recipe in an All You magazine several years ago. I liked the idea of baking blondies in a muffin pan and adding chocolate chips. It eliminates the cutting involved with typical blondies. The chocolate chips were an added bonus. They are basically a chocolate chip cookie muffin.

Prep time is about 15 minutes. Next time, I will melt the butter in the microwave rather than a saucepan like the original recipe stated. The mixture and the saucepan stayed too hot, even after letting it sit for a few minutes. The chocolate chips melted immediately when I added them. Using a scoop is usually helpful in keeping them uniform in size, but as you can see, that didn't work for the ones pictured.

This as a basic, flexible recipe that you can change and add any of your favorite flavor combinations.

 

Enjoy!