French Florentines

This recipe is my #1 requested recipe at Christmas. It would be good any time of year with a cup of tea. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Florentines
from Simple French Desserts by Jill O'Connor
2/3 cup sugar
1/ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup diced candied orange peel (optional)
1 cup cake flour, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1. In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Stir constantly over medium heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and combined.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the almonds and candied orange peel, if using. Add the flour and salt to the batter and stir until smooth. Transfer the batter to a cool metal bowl to speed up the cooling time. Let the batter chill for at least 1 hour. At this point the batter can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week. The will be very stiff. (Note: works to return to room temperature)
3. Place an oven rack on the middle shelf of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a Silpat sheet.
4. Roll level tablespoonfuls of batter between your palms into small balls (Note: I sometimes do smaller for teas) Place them on the prepared pan at least 2-3 inches apart.
5. Bake the florentines for 7-10 minutes, until they are flat, lacy, and a deep golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the florentines to cool completely on the pan on a wire rack.
6. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring constantly, or in a microwave oven. (Note: I don't always do the chocolate, as they are also good plain)
7. Use a metal spatula to remove a cooled florentine from the baking sheet. Spread 1 or 2 teaspoons melted chocolate over the bottom of each florentine. Give the florentine a decorative flourish by tracing a wavy pattern of lines across the soft chocolate, using the tines of a fork. Alternatively, you can sandwich 2 florentines together with melted chocolate in the middle.
8. Store florentines in a tightly covered container for up to 2 to 3 days.

French Macaroons & Tea continued

Update: The French Macaroons came from www.pixpatisserie.com They have two shops in Portland at: 3901 N. Williams and 3402 S.E. Division.

French Macaroons & Tea

Morning tea today was a lovely Yunnan black tea, given to me by a tea friend, accompanied by two French Macaroons. The flavors were Cassis for the purple one and Fleur de Sel for the speckled one. These are two of my favorite things and bring great joy.

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Henri Mariage, founder of Mariage Freres, a wonderful french tea business, said:

The fragrance of adventure and poetry endlessly pervades each cup of tea.

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This morning my tea adventure was to France. Can you picture yourself sitting along a sidewalk cafe sipping tea, eating a french macaroon, and reading poetry or better yet sharing with a special friend?

Are you an Artist?

Photo: Art on a pillar found in the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon

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Earlier this month I received a card in the mail inviting me to an art show of 10 women artists. I went with anticipation and found handmade candles, cards, soaps, purses, jewelry, and more similar things. I left thinking these women are not artist, just craft people. Arriving home I decided to read my reading for the day. Can you believe the title of the reading was "You Are an Artist". In the reading it said, "An artist is someone with good listening skills who accesses the creative energy of the Universe to bring forth something on the material plane that wasn't here before." It is coming into each new day with an attitude of anticipation and listening, then creating a life most joyful and maybe even a little daring. Is it just picking out something out of the ordinary to fix for dinner, wearing something you weren't brave enough to wear in the past, painting a picture, singing a song, making a candle, rearranging a room in your home, or just writing a creative thought that came to your mind? Today let's do something you haven't done before. Trust your instincts, play, create, and grow. This is the true artistry of life. We are all artists in creating the life we have.

Fat Tuesday

Join me at the table for a few of my favorite sweets on this Fat Tuesday.
Pavlova with thick whip cream, sliced strawberries and bananas, drizzled with chocolate.

Or maybe you would rather have a French Macaroon or two.

Very good with a cup of tea and a time of reflection.

What is your indulgence on this day as we prepare for lent?

Quilts and the Underground Railroad

Quilts played a big role in the Underground Railroad. The book Hidden in Plain View, by Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond g. Dobard, Ph.D., tells the history of quilts during this time.
There were secret symbols in the quilts which were used to communicate messages to escaping slaves. It has become the Underground Railroad Quilt Code. The quilts would hang outside the homes along the way to convey a message. The message may be to get ready, which direction to go, or whether the house was a safe house to hide. Harriet Tubman, known as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, was a quilter and made quilts for the slaves to keep them warm during the nights of hiding in the woods. Many different churches participated, such as the Quakers, by fighting the war against injustice. The stories for many years were passed on through families as a verbal history. This book takes the opportunity to put the verbal history of Ozella McDaniel Williams into written words.
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Quilt Patterns that told a story:
Dresden Plate - go to Dresden, Ohio or Dresden, Ontario
Bear's Paw - follow bear's tracks through the mountains
Drunkard's Path - follow a zigzag path
Flying Geese - indicate which direction to go
Monkey Wrench - get tools and belongings together and ready to escape
Stars or North Star - to follow the stars north
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There were many more codes including knots stitched into the quilts.
There is a rich history in quilts for African Americans, but also for many different ethnic groups and families.

Flowers in the Midst of Chaos

Here is a picture of my kitchen this week. I love my 1950's kitchen, but dear husband hates linoleum. He has hated it in every kitchen we have ever had; so he decided to put oak hardwood flooring in our kitchen this week. What a mess! There is no access to the kitchen, no stove, no microwave, and no refrigerator. We do have an extra refrigerator in the garage. Yesterday I decided I needed a break; so off to the nursery I went for a touch of springtime.

Now I feel better. I am inspired to plant some flowers and enjoy.

All the seed packets are so tempting. I came home with some primroses, forget-me-knots, and packets of seeds.

Did you enjoy this little escape into springtime with me? Springtime makes my heart sing with joy! Now if I could only have my kitchen back.