EVERY BITE IS WHITE – LIGHTS ON BRIGHT

EVERY BITE IS WHITE – LIGHTS ON BRIGHT

This week’s French Fridays recipe choice is Hélène’s All-White Salad, a bunch of crunch created by Dorie’s friend, Hélène Samuel. She has loved this salad since first eating it at Samuel’s cafe, Délicabar Snack Chic, located in Paris’s renown Le Bon Marché department store. Built by Gustave Eiffel in 1852 and now owned by the luxury group LVMH, the store still exists.The cafe does not. Luckily, Dorie asked, Helene shared, and the all-white salad still survives in Around my French Table.

This salad seemed comfy, a thumbs up. I located every ingredient at the tiny Cookie Crockery market in Cambria. The priciest item was organic mushrooms but the rest, celery, Granny Smith apples, Napa cabbage and Greek yogurt, cost less than the gas to drive there.The preparation was simple.The dressing, Yogurt Vinaigrette, parading as a light, low-calorie mayonnaise, went together easily.

Earlier in the day I baked Irish Soda Bread, using a recipe from Dorie’s Baking: From my House to Yours cookbook. My wine was Patelin de Tablas Blanc from Tablas Creek, one of many local vineyards focusing on grapes and blends traditional to France’s Rhone Valley.

Readers, sometimes hits turn into misses. The Vinaigrette was bland. After one glass of vino and half-way through another, still tasteless. I liked the salad ingredients, however, especially the apple/Napa cabbage/celery combo. For lunch the next day, I used the leftover “whites” and made chunky blue cheese dressing for the pour-over. Bingo. Blue is the new White.

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FIGURE IT OUT, MARY

Today’s Post marks three years of turning my lights on bright. Disappointed the salad was not the celebratory recipe I envisioned, the birthday candles went back in the box. Then, an Aha moment. The past three years have been all about hits, misses, thumbs up and never agains. Let me explain.

Irish Soda Bread - It's Almost St. Paddy's

Irish Soda Bread – It’s Almost St. Paddy’s

This blogging adventure began shortly after my husband, Michael, was moved to the Memory Care Unit with Hospice joining the private facility to assist with his care. The good news was my day-to-day caregiving responsibility was no longer needed. The Pros wanted and insisted upon taking over. The bad news was my day-to-day caregiving responsibility was no longer needed. I was undone. “Go out and make a life, Mary,” a nurse insisted.

This was not new advice. I had tried and been spectacularly unsuccessful at the new life-thing. As usual, with each crisis, I ran wailing to my professional counselor, Paige. This woman does not suffer histrionics. She is also maddeningly unemotional. After calming my waters, she asked, “Mary, what are the two things you do best?”

After some thought, I responded, “Writing and being a good grandmother.”

Well,” she answered,  “your granddaughters are nearby and you see them often. Check. That leaves Writing. Go figure it out.”

Visit over. I didn’t even get my hour.

2012 Patelin de Tablas Blanc

2012 Patelin de Tablas Blanc

THE BIRTH OF A BLOGGER

After some months of thought, I decided to blog. WordPress was beyond me so I found a web designer on Craig’s List. He put together the site you are now reading, albeit not without disaster. Within five minutes of my site going up, I totally obliterated it. I blogged about politics and hobbies and caregiving. Nothing worked. An article in Oprah’s magazine introduced me to French Fridays with Dorie. The dye was cast. FFWD created the structure I needed in my life.

Yes, Michael-visits were still unbearable but cooking the book with my fellow Doristas was salvation. Better yet, it framed my week. Here’s how it goes: 1) Read the assigned FFWD recipe; 2) Shop for ingredients; 3) Make the recipe; 4) Photograph, eat and share the food; 5) Write my piece; 6) Post on blog each Friday; 7) Link on thirty or forty of my colleagues‘ blogs to read/ comment on their sites.

You thought the life of a food blogger was easy?

My FFWD virtual friends became reality at the International Food Boggers Conference in Seattle.  Our Dorie was the keynote speaker. Fall, 2013.

My FFWD virtual friends became reality at the International Food Boggers Conference in Seattle. Our Dorie was the keynote speaker. Fall, 2013.

Michael spent two years with round-the-clock care and I launched a new life. When he died, I had a framework in place as I began to build a lifestyle alone. In addition, I had met an entire family of virtual companions who joined with my family and friends to assist me. Now, with 228 Posts under my toque, I think I’ve been spectacularly successful in doing just that.

CAN “LIGHTS” GET BRIGHTER?

Today I completed Melanie Faith’s five-week online food writing class. Her nuts and bolts course was immersion at its finest. Our class waded through a 300-page text, Will Write for Food by Diane Jacob and submitted five in-depth writing assignments. Every morning, w-i-t-h-o-u-t fail, I woke up to an e-mail prompt, our exercise-of-the-day. Writers need editors. I am pleased to have Melanie in my back pocket.

After months of deliberation I just hired a young Denver firm, Peak Solutions Marketing, to completely redesign my site. Sorta excited. Kinda nervous. (No pressure, Zoe & Kenneth) It appears I’m committed to keeping my lights on. The brighter, the better.

The High Priestess of French Fridays, Dorie Greenspan

The High Priestess of French Fridays, Dorie Greenspan

French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s “Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.” If you would like to look at our group link, go here.

MY TOP FIVE LIST: What I Learned & Saw in Seattle – Rice Pudding

MY TOP FIVE LIST: What I Learned & Saw in Seattle – Rice Pudding

More than three-hundred food bloggers converged in Seattle last week to greet, meet, eat, and, learn. The three-day International Food Bloggers Conference was exhilarating and exhausting……the norm, rising at 5am and hoping for sleep at 11pm. Tick. Tock. Leave a wake-up call.

That’s why this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe choice is perfect. Rice Pudding and Caramel Apples, the ultimate comfort food, is nourishment for my weary soul. As a kid, our comfort pudding was tapioca. Mom’s tapioca pudding was like little clouds floating in a bowl. Yummmm. In France, it’s rice pudding. “Little children grow up on it, adults crave it for comfort, and bistros all across the country serve it year-round,”  Dorie explains.

 

Rice Pudding with Caramel Apples topped with Whipped Cream

Rice Pudding with Caramel Apples topped with Whipped Cream

 

As usual Dorie takes some twists and turns to put her own signature to this special dessert. While the recipe is quite explicit here are some tips. Use Arborio rice. It makes a tastier pudding. When the rice is added to the milk and sugar and brought to a boil, be vigilant. As Dorie cautioned, the milk has a tendency to bubble up exuberantly, spilling over the pan. Readers, this is true. Scalded milk and a radiant cooktop are not friends. My clean-up is still an on-going project. Last, cook the pudding only until most of the milk has been absorbed. If you boil away all the moisture, your pudding will be stiff.

I found this pudding, plain, to be creamy and yummy.  Although adding caramelized apples and whipped cream made for a more festive presentation, it took away its simplistic goodness. Try it and find your own flavorful comfort zone. You’ll find Dorie’s recipe here.

 

It's called Mise en Place and it's important. Gather all your supplies and ingredients before you begin a recipe.

It’s called Mise en Place and it’s important. Gather all your supplies and ingredients before you begin a recipe.

 

Now, back to the conference. I will be writing more as I digest the information overload but I want to share five lightbulb moments:

 1) A keynote speaker sets the tone for any convention and the ever-so-gracious Dorie Greenspan, our FFWD leader, was the perfect choice. She did a superb job of uniting Old Media to New Media in a manner which showed strength in the coupling. Unlike many cautionary business leaders who rely on polls, focus groups and the like, Dorie is a Just Say Yes business woman. I like her inspiring style.

 

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Dorie with me prior to her keynote address.

 

2) oDESK  This  is the virtual worldwide site where you can hire a freelancer.  Need help? Web or Software Development, Networking and Information Systems, Writing & Translation, Administrative Support, Design & Multimedia, Customer Service, Sales & Marketing, or Business Services.  Foodista.com founder Barnaby Dorfman pointed us to this valuable resource during a tech seminar. Who knew? Unknown

 

3) In a 90-minute session, we were introduced to 19 different speciality, niche or hard-to-find food brands.  My new bff, best food friend, Manuka Doctor from New Zealand, produces an unbelievably delicious 10+bio active honey. Not especially sure what that means but, honey, it has to be good. I used my bag of SahalesMaple Pecans with Walnuts, Cherries & Cinnamon to flavor this acorn squash from my farmer’s market. You can get these products at Amazon.

 

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 4) Love those friends from faraway places who spice up my life. Two years ago my FFWD colleague, Adriana, gave me a virtual tutorial on Sriracha, a popular Thai hot sauce, which seemed to be a staple in everyone’s pantry but mine. Adriana who lives in Puerto Rico and blogs at greatfood360, joined our French Fridays group in Seattle. Her gift to me?  Sriracha Sea Salt. Just livin‘ on the edge.

 

Adriana, who blogs from her home in  Puerto Rico, brought me  Sriracha Sea Salt. The answer is, "I have no idea.....yet."

Adriana, who blogs from her home in Puerto Rico, brought me Sriracha Sea Salt. The answer is, “I have no idea…..yet.”

 

5) When food bloggers get together, it’s all about, well,  food. Oh, yes, we enjoy fine wine and our cocktails but food is our focus. Toques off to Pastry Smart, an impressive company promoting humane, organic and sustainable food production practices, which put it best. “Seventy-nine million members of the Millenial Generation with a strong value system are coming of age in the United States. They are changing business as usual within the food industry.” 

Our food blogs, this new media, primarily written by our younger generations,  are all about being responsible, shaking up the status quo and writing about food with a keener voice. To visit sites of my FFWD colleagues who each have their own unique voice, go here. French Friday’s with Dorie is a group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s amazing “Around My French Table” cookbook.

 

From virtural friendships to the real deal - gathering with  my French Friday colleagues prior to the opening session.

From virtual friendships to the real deal – gathering with my French Friday colleagues prior to the opening session.