Sunday, June 27, 2010

French Feast

I actually slept Saturday night! Not that I really had any doubt that I would - I'm just so happy that I did! I did however sleep in a bit Sunday morning so we were kinda late for church. We got there in time for the sermon though! After church we had two of Matt's siblings over for lunch to use up some of the groceries I had bought for the shower that I didn't go to. Oh, and we used up all of the bread I made Saturday except for one bread-bum (I coined the term) which I am pleased to say shall be my breakfast today: toasted with a skiff (I didn't coin the term) of margarine and a smear of strawberry jam. Bread-bum toast is the best. Anyway, as soon as I ate lunch I started making my eclairs. I realized about half way through that I was using a different recipe than I normally do and I realized at the end that I much prefer my normal recipe. The one I used yesterday was Martha Stewart's pate a choux recipe. It's very detailed and very good but not as good as my normal one: Better Homes and Gardens 1950 something Eclair recipe. The dough cooks lighter and I like the method better too. After I made the pastry I made a chocolate glaze that was part of Martha Stewart's eclair recipe and it didn't work quite as well as I had hoped. The chocolate and the syrup stayed separated so it looked all chunky. And it never really set. I read the recipe four times over and couldn't see anything that I had done wrong so I blamed it on the stupid heat. The temperature in our house was 27 degrees.
Anyway. We got to my inlaws at 4:30 and I started making the crostini and the escargot right away. People started showing up and the party started! We started with the crostini, escargot and some endive spears our friend made with salmon, dill, garlic and cracked pepper. Oh yes, and we started off with a couple nice wines, too. Then we cleared the table and brought out some really nice steaks. Once those were done we brought out the cheese! Ooh and some amazing wine: a Chateauneuf du Pape. There were a ton of different cheeses: an aged gouda, camembert, brie, a couple blue cheeses, a very soft goats cheese and a semi-soft cheddar. After the cheese was cleared out we had dessert! Creme brulee, almond-pecan meringues and my eclairs. Oh, and an amazing port! Wow! I had never had port before and I was kinda expecting just another red wine... until I smelled it. It smelled so caramelly! And the taste was amazing! I like port :)
Anyway, after dinner a couple people left, which kinda sucked, but then we looked at pictures from their France trip, which rocked.
Anyway, now we're planning for our camping trip for the long weekend! We're going camping with my parents Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It'll be nice to take Cash out on a vacation with us since he didn't get to go to Canmore. Having said all of this, I just checked for campsite reservations and there are absolutely no campsites available in Central Alberta. Great, eh? So maybe we won't be going camping.
Anyway, I've got some errands to run today, including putting together a present for our friends who are going to have a baby any week now!

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)

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