Miss D.C.? I ask her.
Well yes – the weather. But not the politics and the terror alerts, and not dumping the contents of my purse every time I go to a museum.
What I did not ask is this: so what do you love about this town? Because she did profess love for it – if only through her dislike of the alternative.
Here’s my Sunday in Madison – right there for you to consider. Love it or leave it?
In the morning, I drive over to Madison Sourdough bakery. I am not as nuts about sourdough as so many out there, but I am nuts about a good bread and the website said they had Parisian baguettes.
No Parisian baguettes. Dated website. But very excellent sourdough, if you like sourdough. But I am like the lover who cannot fake it. No love. Just like.
Next on the list? An orchard, to restock apples. Nice drive. Past longhorn cattle licking each other in total Midwestern cattle bliss.
My occasional traveling companion Ed asks - you can eat that? They’re in love.
And I answer – my dietary preferences are what lead them to be born in the first place. Were I in the wild, I’d fully expect the beasts out there to devour me. Such is the food chain of life.
But in fact I could not eat this particular piece of beef. Though I long for meat in the same way that I long for pastry. Deprivation plays dangerous games with one’s senses.
The orchard is closed this Sunday. We are appleless. Should we pick and leave money? What if they shoot at us for trespassing? Is it permissible? You need a permit to burn leaves on your property in Fitchburg. Do you need a permit to shoot intruders?
We leave without apples.
In the evening I go to a condo potluck. I bake dozens of gougeres, relying on the l’Etoile Restaurant way of baking gougeres. A recipe that I used in my years there. Is that permissible? Is it stealing to use knowledge procured elsewhere for your subsequent wellbeing?
We eat.
Good neighbors. Musical neighbors.
Back home now. Outside, it’s dark. Midwest dark. Post-daylight savings time dark. I check the thermostat to make sure it still is as warm as I set it to be. It is. On paper.
I put on Stacey Kent and listen: Let’s you and me go away to the ice hotel…
Is it true that only Europeans like Stacey Kent?
Hard frost coming for the first time this week. Gotta love it, right?
Jan and I just returned from six weeks in Glacier National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Monument Valley. Incredible trip.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I was born in Canada, I have lived in the US since I was two years old and am a naturalized American citizen -- so at least one American likes Stacey Kent. I believe Stacey Kent is the greatest jazz singer since Ella Fitzgerald. Her recordings of the Great American Songbook are simply marlevous. Jan and I have had the pleasure of hearing her sing live in New York several times.
In my opinion, skills learned through good honest labor are a part of what the apprentice earns in payment for the labor. At least that is how I think of the knowledge my apprentices learn from their work with me. An artist is still an artist no matter whether the tools used are a paintbrush, a camera -- or a wisk. If you are still reluctant to use “knowledge procured elsewhere” while working, you are most welcome to the Gougeres recipe I learned as a boy from my maternal grandmother, and have used ever since. (The only update I’ve added is the use of a food processor.)
Grandmother Boutette’s Gougeres
(Makes about 30 Gougeres)
Ingredients --
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese (Emmenthaler or Gruyere)
Coarse salt (fleur de sel or kosher salt) -- o sprinkle on top to add crunch and bring out the flavor of the cheese
Directions --
Bring the milk, butter, salt, and cayenne to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the flour all at once, and mix vigorously with a wooden spatula until the mixture forms a ball. Return the pan to the heat and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute to dry the mixture a bit. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor, let cool for 5 minutes, then process for about 5 seconds.
Add the eggs and paprika to the processor bowl, and process for 10 to 15 seconds, until well mixed. Transfer the choux paste to a mixing bowl, and let cool for 10 minutes. (Grandmother used to add one egg at a time and beat them with some effort until they were incorporated. Yea for food processors!)
Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a cookie sheet with a reusable nonstick baking mat or parchment paper. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the grated Parmesan cheese, then add the remainder and all the Swiss cheese to the choux paste. Stir just enough to incorporate. Using a tablespoon, scoop out a level tablespoon of the gougère dough, and push it off the spoon onto the cooking mat. Continue making individual gougeres, spacing them about 2-inches apart on the sheet. Sprinkle a few grains of coarse salt and a little of the reserved Parmesan cheese on each gougère. Bake on your oven’s center rack for about 30 minutes, until nicely browned and crisp. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm with almost any wine.
welcome back, dande! And thank you, as always, for your tips, thoughts and comments.
ReplyDeleteWish you had a blog with words and photos from your travels...
"What if they shoot at us for trespassing? Is it permissible? . . . Do you need a permit to shoot intruders?"
ReplyDelete. . . and my very first thought was a case. A case I studied in Torts. Last year. Bird v. Holbrook. Scary. But true.
In that case, defendant protected his valuable tulips with a spring gun. The Court held using a spring gun to deter trespassers is contrary to common law when done without notice and between sunset and sundown. Although individuals have the right to protect their property, they may not endanger human life while doing so.
So there you go, my take on the question . . .
I miss law school. 'nother question - pick me pick me.. :)