The Le Cruset Stoneware Baking Pan

I bought this pan over the weekend at Sur La Table in Berkeley. The Le Cruset Stoneware Baking Pan is so beautiful.

I bought it because I heard Stoneware is very good in the microwave and you can make a quick meal. So, today I got a recipe from my friend Helen and tried to make Chipotle Chili Cornbread Bake. The recipe came from Pampered Chef. It was delicious!

It's very similar to Tamale pie. I tried Trader Joe's taco seasoning instead of the Chipotle rub specified in the recipe (because I didn't have any. It was all so good - I am so looking forward to lunch tomorrow!

If you're interested in the pan, here is a link to it from Sur Le Table Le Cruset Stoneware Baking Pan. You can see that the pan is a mess. However, it was so easy to wash. I think I could have just wiped it out with a paper towel, the food came off that easily.

The Taquero

Today we attended the wedding of our friends. They had a Taquero. I had never head of a Taquero before but I will never forget the Taquero from today. It was wonderful!

He had a large stainless steel pan set on top of a 55 gallon drum equipped with a propane burner. On top was a customized stainless steel pot. It had a kind of "moat" built around the sides with a dome in the center. The meat (carnitas, chicken, and tripas) was marinated and was cooked in liquid around the dome. The Taquero would take tortillas, dip them slightly in the cooking liquid and place several of them on top of the dome part to warm the tortillas.

He would ask what kind of meat you wanted and how many, take the meat out of the boiling liquid and chop it with a cleaver on a cutting board with his bare (and hopefully very callused) hands. The cutting board had a deep well in the center that has obviously seen a lot of use. With a single motion, he would chop and place the meat on the tortilla.

He would place onions and cilantro on top. There was a very large container of what looked to be homemade salsa. I want a Taquero at my next large gathering.

The Fritatta Pan

Lately, I've been in a Fritatta mood.

Up until about a month ago, I had never heard of fritatta. I knew it was made with eggs, and that's about it. But then, I received a Williams-Sonoma catalog, and there was a picture of a delicious looking fritatta and two pans that fit together, like a clam shell and both sides had a non-stick coating. On the Williams-Sonoma website, there was also a video that offered instruction as to making a fritatta. The pan was about $99.00 for the 8" pan. The fritatta looked so good, and the recipe said you could also use a cast iron skillet, I pulled out my cast iron skillet with a huge "8" on the bottom. My first attempt at fritatta making was very good - except for the fact it did not come out of the skillet easily. I could see I was scraping the seasoning from the pan as I tried to plate the fritatta. John, who takes such good care of my cast iron, had a difficult time of cleaning the pan. I think I made 3 fritatta in one week, with each one becoming more and more difficult to remove from the cast iron skillet. So I bought the 8" pan. I think it lasted about 2 days here with me thinking about how tiny it was. It said it would feed 4 to 6. I don't think they meant adults. I think they meant it would feed 4 to 6 children under the age of 4. Sadly, I took it back. I happen to love Williams-Sonoma very much.

On the way home, I stopped by Target. The fritatta pan of my dreams lived there...

I found this pan - Calphalon, non-stick 12" skillet with cover. $39.99. And a 20 Year Warranty. I'm thinking the pan may outlast me!

I took it home and washed it and then used it.

I cut up some nice applewood smoked bacon and fried it. It smelled like bacon does when you're camping outdoors. After it was cooked, I set it aside.

While it was cooking, I chopped up some zucchini and onions. After the bacon was cooked, I sautéed the zucchini and onion in the bacon dripping. I had some spinach so I added that too. Next time I will leave it out.

Then, I added the bacon back in...

I poured the eggs over the top. Then I added 2 kinds of cheese. In copious amounts.

I baked it in the oven at 350° for about 18 minutes. It just slid out from the pan so nicely. Thank you!

Let me tell you, there is nothing better on a Sunday morning when you're rushing out the door to get to church on time for a sound check!

Making Sweet Pickles in the Microwave

This year my cucumbers, in spite of the extremely cool weather, are doing well.

So, I thought I might make sweet pickles in the microwave. They're sweet, spicy, crunchy, and easy to make (especially if you have a food processor with a 2 mm slicing attachment).

This is what you'll need...

3 or 4 pickling cucumbers, unpeeled and sliced thinly.

1 or 2 small onions, sliced thinly (or in this case, I used 1/4 large onion)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2 apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

 

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the onion and cucumber. Mix the salt, turmeric, celery seeds, vinegar and sugar in a separate bowl and pour over the cucumber/onion mixture.

Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Stir and microwave 5 minutes more. Cool.

This is what they look like when they're taken out of the microwave after 10 minutes...

Place in a jar or container and refrigerate. The pickles are ready to eat and will stay fresh in the refrigerator for many weeks. I have chopped these up and used them in potato salad, tuna salad and on sandwiches.

Lunch in the City

Well, Helen and I left our good jobs and went to the city (As opposed to leaving a good job in the city, working for the man...I think that's another story). We called it Copier Due Diligence but it was a good reason to have lunch. We went to Yank Sing at the Rincon Annex in San Francisco. It's a nondescript building from the outside, but - walk inside and it's a very beautiful place! Fresco's abound with a beautiful rain fountain in the center. You can't really see the rain from this photo, but that's what's falling behind me into the large circle.

The Rain Fountain

Before we left the office, Helen pulled up the website for Yank Sing. Trust me - you'll want to take a look before you go! I'm so glad she did.















The food was amazing! I had never had real Deem Sum (Some places call it Dim Sum) except at a place in Pinole that is not worth mentioning at all (ok, I will mention it just so you don't go there - King Valley Tea House). After having been to Yank Sing, it was no comparison!

Helen ordered the Sticky Rice. It came wrapped in a leaf and tasted like there was either chicken or pork steamed inside the center of the rice. It was very tasty!

Hot and steaming from the cart came the Shanghai Dumpling. "A Yank Sing signature dish of minced Kurobuta Pork, scallion and ginger wrapped and steamed in its own aromatic broth." It is served with a special vinegar and ginger sauce.

Next came the Stuffed Crab Claw. This was a fluffy crab and shrimp mousse that encased an entire snow crab claw and then deep fried. Crunchy and very tasty with hot mustard.

We thought we had a feast, but there was more to come.

Good chopstick technique, Helen!

The tea was excellent, and deserves a mention. You can see the tea pot in the photo below.

Personally, I really like the lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang's and I think they're the BEST, but these were good also. They're prepared table side - a nice touch.

This is the Chicken & Lotus root cake. Helen really enjoyed these!

Last, but not least were the Goldfish Dumpling. They were so cute. Shrimp, bamboo shoot and cilantro in a beautiful dumpling wrap.

We felt so happy to be there!

The Aebleskiver Pan

After having watched Julie & Julia I wanted to find a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So we went to the local Salvation Army store. They didn't have a copy, so we tried Thrift Town, across the street. They didn't have it either, but we did look in both places for cast iron cookware. And this is what we found...

This is called an Aebleskiver or Ebelskiver pan. It's very heavy and cost me $4.99. I'm very happy because I've checked eBay and they're selling for as much as $80.00. I did scrub it with a little steel wool because it was a little sticky.

Of course, I had to try it out so after a quick search on the internet, I found a simple recipe.

I filled up the wells and then watched them cook like a pancake. They had to get kind of bubbly on the top and then I flipped them over with chopsticks.

This is what they looked like after I flipped them. Not bad for the first try!

These were very nice dusted with powdered sugar.

The Birds and the Bees - Literally! Part 2

The ladies arrived quite early today - at about 6:00 AM. They showed up with a hive, gloves, and a protective hood and jacket. They had the smoke can there too but since it was so early and cold, they didn't think they would need it.

They got John to help carry the super (I think that's what it's called) out to where the bees were.

The goats had to watch to see what was going on and to supervise. Here's Oreo telling them how to put on the hood.

Blondie is checking in with Roger making sure the Christine is doing it right.

So, this was the plan...since there was only one hood and Christine had a bad knee, Jen had to put on the hood and shake the bees into the box. John and I would stay far away.

Amazingly, the plan worked! The bees fell right on top of the box. I think Jen was stung but not badly.

The largest clump of bees was on top of the box but there were many other smaller clumps on the ground. I can't even guess how many bees there were. Christine and Jen were pretty sure they got the Queen onto the box and it would be just a matter of time before they all found their way into the hive.

Later in the day, after church we came back to check on the bees and they had all made their way into the hive.

At about 5:30 I went out to check on the bees - it smells so sweet, just like honey when you get near the super! I think I would like to become a beekeeper!

See the video of how they removed the bees.  Bee Swarm Removal

Visit the link for the Mount Diablo Beekeepers Association

The Birds and the Bees - Literally!

Today was such a beautiful day after all the rain we've had recently. Yesterday we had noticed some larger birds near the bird feeder and I took some pictures of them. They were called Golden-crested Sparrows. They're bigger than regular Sparrows. Of course, while I was looking out the window, an Oriole flew into the Bottle Brush bush, but I couldn't get the camera out fast enough! I took lots of photos of the Golden-crested Sparrow and this is the one I like best.

As I mentioned before, today was such a beautiful day that I asked John to bring the grill out onto the patio. As I was wiping the grill down I could hear a very distinct hum of insects. As I walked into the back yard, I noticed the sound seemed to be coming from the goat yard. As I neared the gate, the hum was quite loud and I looked up and saw the swarm of bees!

I quickly ran back into the house to tell John - (of course, I used as few words as possible so as to communicate in the most efficient manner!) and I also ran to put on more protective clothing. John, being the protector that he is (and I appreciate him for it) told me to stay in the house with the dog while he investigated. He came back to tell me there was a football sized hive of bees. I just couldn't stay away! I just had to get some pictures.

John told me to be very careful and to walk up the back steps. We were so cautious, but I had the 70-300 mm lens and we didn't have to get very close.

There were so many bees! The swarm was about the size of a basketball.

Later in the evening I went outside to get more pictures because the light was better (or worse!) and took a photo with the 18-55 mm lens just so I could get a picture of the size of the entire swarm. It was about the size of a heart shaped mylar balloon.

Oddly, as I was looking through the photos I noticed my camera caught the bee-hind of a bee flying into the swarm.

I've posted all these pictures to my Facebook page and John told me to tag the bee's behind (get-it?). That made me laugh so much.

Here's another good photo of the bees.

It was quite an amazing day.

After posting the pictures, my sister-in-law, Melanie told me there were some Bee Society members at the Gardens where she works. They had a website that listed volunteer beekeepers that will come to get your swarm of bees. They're coming tomorrow morning, early, to pick them up. More photos to follow!

The Wedding of Mark and Terry

We attended a funeral and a wedding - all on the same day. The common thread were our good friends, Rob & Jean. Rob's 104 year old grandmother passed away and the service was held at St. Jerome's in El Cerrito.

Later that day, we attended the Wedding of Mark and Terry. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the dog of the bride was also in attendance. I had never been to a wedding that also included a dog. Cute!

So, I found it very interesting to see the differences in husband and wife - namely John and myself. Can you guess whose plate is whose?

Rob and Jean did manage to make it to the wedding so we got to spend more time with them.

Here's a picture of us, too!

We had a really good time! John is truly the love of my life!