Once again the branches of the plum-tree a few doors down from us is hanging heavy with ripe fruit. Birds swoop and bite into these sunripened  beauties all during the day leaving half-eaten fruit lying on the ground underneath the tree. As I pick some of these red & purple from the limbs the birds never stop their feast. Back home, I am happy with my  bounty. I will make a “Plum Clafoutis” with a “twist”.

I learned to make clafoutis a number of years ago from some Danish neighbors who were both great cooks. My first was made with dark red cherries, which is the classic version. I love saying “clafoutis”…it is one of those great little words with much rhythm and mystique. Say it softly a few times and you will understand.

Here is my Southerner’s adaptation of this easy French classic.

“CLAFOUTIS WITH RIPE PLUMS AND CORNMEAL”

Ingredients:

12 firm, but ripe, rinsed &  pitted plums, cut into quarters

2 tbsp softened butter

3/4  cup raw sugar, divided

5 large eggs

dash of salt

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp yellow cornmeal

6 tbsp all-purpose flour

powdered sugar

maple syrup (optional indulgence)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Butter a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe dish). Cut pitted plums into pieces.

4. Toss plums into bottom of skillet & sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the raw sugar.

5. Using a blender mix together the 1/2 cup raw sugar, eggs, salt, yogurt, milk, vanilla, cornmeal & flour. Blend until well mixed with no lumps.  Pour batter over plums.

6. Bake for about 35 minutes or until center is “set” but still a bit “jiggly”. Remove from oven to cool for at least 30 minutes.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Clafoutis are great warm or cold. For breakfast or brunch with a drizzle of maple syrup it is a sublime treat.

The addition of the cornmeal creates a surprise crust on the bottom. Blended with the other ingredients, the cornmeal being heavier, it sinks to the bottom of the skillet during the baking process. A smooth, sweet eggy custard with ripe plums and a tiny crunch on the bottom of each bite.

Clafoutis (French pronunciation: [klafuti]; Occitan: clafotís [klafuˈtis]), sometimes in Anglophone countries spelled clafouti, is a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm.

Bon Appetit with your local fruits & vegetables all summer long.

Hey, all you sons and daughters…email, call, text, Skype, carrier pigeon a message to your Mother, or someone else’s Mother to tell them how much you appreciate them..It may be a so-called “Hallmark Holiday” but it’s the only one dedicated to all us Mothers…no cards necessary.

Postcard #2 “Hiding Behind Julia”

Imagine you are one of the folks who hid behind Julia on the set of her show… handing up the ingredients for a cassoulet, steak Diane or chunks of dark chocolate..who are you? How did you come to be in that place at that time in history? What was your next career move? Are you still out there basking in the light? Did you realize she would be  the “Mother of TV Cooking” when you were there?

Postcard #3 “Beer Friday”

Some weeks are like that…long, hard, fun and frenzied…then it’s Friday..Beer Friday. How do you punctuate the end of your work week?

Postcard #4 “There Is No Way I Am Cooking-No Cooking Required, Garden Salad”

These are wax beans from our little garden…I had been testing a watermelon-cucumber salad for a photo shoot…I steamed the beans, picked a few more vegetables from the garden, added them to my “shoot” salad…no cooking required. Do you have some simple go-to, no-cook summer recipes that you love?

“Watermelon, Cucumber Garden Salad”

Ingredients: Ripe Watermelon cut into chunks

English Cucumber, seeded & sliced

Fresh mint leaves

Juice of one lime

sea salt & cracked black pepper

2 small golden beets thinly sliced

a handful of fresh wax beans, shelled

3 young fresh carrots, thinly sliced

1 mango peeled & cut into chunks

Instructions:

1. Mix everything in a large salad bowl, chill and eat.

Postcard #5 “A Mother-load of Pretty Saucers”

I  pondered these pretty saucers for while before choosing just the right one for a slice of pie I was styling for a cookbook. I love these random designs that I pick up from flea markets & yard sales, don’t you?

Postcard #6  ”Working & Strolling Chicago Tulips”

After work stroll along Michigan Avenue…window shopping. Tulips seems to be a recurring theme in my life..much like my Buddhas. Have you noticed how your life can be full of “themes” you might not even be aware of?

Postcard #7  ”A Kitchen Clean”

If I remember correctly our kitchen was clean for a while this week…otherwise it was covered with recipe pages, measuring cups, dirty dishes, food on the floor and in bowls…my work life is very messy so when my kitchen finally looks like this I feel very “zen”. What are some ordinary, homey things that make you feel serene?

Postcard #8  ”Any Sunday Morning”

My perfect Sunday morning is coffee in bed (compliments of Wouter), newspaper, book, phone (for texting only) and a few hours to ruminate about everything. This is my weekly gift to myself, my ritual. It is necessary for starting a new week sedately. Do you “treat” yourself with some simple rituals to keep your life balanced? I hope so.

Hold on! Help is on its way…there is more than one way to overcome your fear, your trepidation, your absolute mind block about “canning”…come, I will share with you my fool-proof method to overcome your suffering as part of my E.A.T. (easy as that) series.

“E.A.T. #3  Fresh Picked Strawberries – Put Up”

My Grandmother, on my Father’s side of the family, Kenny Mae,  called it “putting up”…as in “we are going to put up some strawberries this morning” or “it’s about time to put up some beans”. So let’s forget the word “canning” for a bit…but we will come back to that a bit later this summer…for now I will share with you my “easy as that” method to “put up” fresh picked strawberries that will calm the fearful,  instill confidence in those who doubt, and give the uncertain certainty.

This April has given us an early bumper crop of Strawberries here in middle Tennessee. We are lucky in that the weather has smiled on us, but the moment will be fleeting as the days get hotter and drier.

At our house at this time Wouter & I  eat fresh strawberries every day. We go to the Farmer’s Markets and try berries from different counties around us. We eat them rinsed just out of the container, we eat them on crusty toasted bread with butter…(Wouter says that is the classic Dutch way to eat Spring strawberries)…we put them in all of our dinner salads, on granola for breakfast and in drinks.

Here is how to “put-up” strawberries to enjoy later in the year.

What you will need:

4 quarts of fresh picked strawberries, rinsed & drained

Turbinado or Raw Sugar, 3/4 cup

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or other interesting fruity vinegar

Glass jars & lids that have been washed in soapy water, rinsed & air-dried

What to do?…it’s e.a.t. !

1. Cap berries. That means take off the green tops & discard. If strawberries are large then cut in half, if small then leave whole. Put all capped berries in a large bowl. Every so often sprinkle a layer of the berries with a few tablespoons of the sugar. Repeat until all berries are capped & sprinkled with sugar. Allow berries to sit for at least 15 minutes.

2. Using a fork smash berries to release juices. Don’t try to smash all the berries, just about half of them.

3. Stir in 2 tablespoons of balsamic or other fruity vinegar.

4. Fill glass jars with strawberries &  juice, leaving about 3/4 of an inch of each jar unfilled. (We are going to put the jars in the freezer. Freezing will make the mixture expand.)

5. Put lids on jars snuggly. Place in freezer until you are ready to use for some fabulous treat.

There…now that wasn’t so hard was it? Berries “put up” using this method is the first step to getting over your “fear of canning”. It is a baby step in the world of canning, but a big step for someone like me who just started canning about 2 years ago. This is how I got started. I don’t have a very large freezer so I have to mix this method with the more traditional (water bath) method for some of my goodies.  Freezing berries keeps their wonderful color and flavor. They will still be savory enough for salad dressing, yet sweet enough for desserts.

Let me know if you have questions…My little email hotline is open. Just get in touch:

teresablackburn1@mac.com

I am here for you. Start out with just a few jars…jump in, don’t be afraid.

A little gallery of how we eat fresh berries & use some of our frozen berries:

Fresh strawberries, no sugar on toasted bread with Kerrygold butter for breakfast.

More fresh berries with turbinado smashed on more toast with butter for lunch.

Nestled in salad greens from our garden & fresh Mozzarella from Lazzaroli’s in Nashville.

I folded some berries into a pint of vanilla ice cream…to make “faux” Strawberry Ice Cream.

Eaten natural.

Strawberry Aqua Fresca..partially frozen berries, fresh lime juice, honey & water blended.

It’s a Soup! No, No….wait…..

It’s a Cocktail!

It is not often that I concoct a recipe that is a “soup” for one event and a “cocktail” for another. In fact this is the first time ever and  I must confess it gave me a little culinary thrill. It was a coup without intention..a “culinary coup” if you will.

We received an invitation to a neighborhood “Soup Supper” party a few weeks ago. It is usually cold or cool when this yearly event happens. Not this year. The day of the supper party (a pot luck soup supper) it was around 80 degrees here in Nashville. Not exactly hot soup weather. I was hot, I was thirsty, perhaps I would make a cold, thick,  drinkable soup with a splash of rum…I rummaged around in the freezer and found a lovely packet of frozen blackberries from last summer that I had put away and some frozen mango chunks from a few weeks ago. A good base for a cold soup.

Ingredients needed for 2 quarts of  Blackberry-Mango Soup & Cocktail Base:

1 quart of whole frozen Blackberries

1 pint of fresh or frozen Mango chunks

2 cups of Corsair Spiced Rum, Nashville, TN  (or any good Spiced Rum)

2 cups Hibiscus-Orange Flower Ginger Syrup from “The Bang Candy Company”, Nashville, TN (or any other dark fruity syrup)

1 cup simple syrup – homemade or bottled (found at most liquor stores)

Juice of one whole lime & one whole orange

To  Make the Base:

1. Process Blackberries in a food processor until pureed. Strain out seeds over a large bowl. Use a rubber spatula to press and separate pulp from seeds. Discard seeds.

2. Puree Mango chunks until smooth. Do not strain & add to  blackberries in bowl. Stir together until well mixed.

3. To the bowl of Blackberry-Mango puree, add Corsair Spiced Rum, Fruity Syrup, Simple Syrup, lime & orange juices. Mix together. Taste & adjust if necessary.

4. Pour half of the mixture into a glass quart jar, leaving a bit of headroom and freeze until ready to use.

5. Decant the other half into a bottle. This half will be thick but drinkable…a perfect appetizer soup on a hot day.  Serve cold soup with small glasses and berries to garnish.

“Historic Germantown Soup Supper”

As you who follow my blog probably have already figured out, every 3rd Thursday of each month for the past 3 years two friends of mine have hosted “Third Thursday Pot Luck” dinner parties here in Nashville. Nancy Vienneau & Gigi Gaskins have generously opened their homes for this gathering of friends to share & enjoy good food, conversation, drink and lots of laughs. The food is alway plentiful, beautiful, seasonal so I usually make a cocktail for before dinner…time to put the frozen quart of Blackberry-Mango Soup to work!

To create a cocktail from one quart of thawed blackberry-mango mixture:

1. To thawed puree add 1 additional cup of Corsair Spiced Rum & 1/2 cup simple syrup. Stir to combine. Taste & adjust flavors to suit…more rum, more syrups, more lime juice? Decant into a decorative bottle or pitcher. Chill until ready to serve.

To Serve:

1. Serve poured over ice filling glass half full. Top with Ginger Ale and a freshly squeezed orange or mandarin slice.

“April 2012 Third Thursday”

Lil and with my 1st born, Whitney

Sweet Catherine & Wouter

Leah, Wouter & lots of other guests enjoying the beautiful evening.

Blackberry-Mango Cocktail seems to be a hit!

Bill always makes the ladies laugh!

Nancy busily makes sure there is room for every dish.

There are always fresh flowers.

Dusk arrives as we gather around to fill our plates.

It was a “soup”, it was a “cocktail”…..both lovely libations for whatever ails you!

“A Coconut Cake for Margaret”

Years ago, while thumbing through an old box of family photos, I ran across some photos of my mother, Margaret, when she was a small girl. One particular photo stuck in my head. It is of my mother on her 5th birthday holding a doll, standing by a toy stove set out in a field with a white, iced cake sitting on top. It was her birthday photograph…she is slightly bent to the side with a finger just grazing the icing.

Mother died a few years ago, but this photo is indelibly stamped in my mind. It shows a very young girl, an only child who lived in a farm-house in rural West Tennessee, the child of older parents, parents who never expected to have a beautiful little girl in their midst. From this photo and others in the box it is obvious my mother was well-loved and doted on and for this I am happy. She had lovely aunts who came to stay with the family, Aunt Layla and Aunt Fannie, a dog named “Pal”, her own pony. It makes me feel good to look at these images and know that at this particular time in her life she was adored.

Thinking of her on her birthday I made this little cake. She loved white cakes with white icing especially if it had coconut added. This is my Happy Birthday Cake for Margaret.

 I had a box of King Arthur Cake Flour left over from a photo shoot. I used the cake recipe printed on the back cutting the recipe by half with a few substitutions & additions. Not a fancy cake recipe, just a simply delicious one layer white cake that is moist and light.

Ingredients for Cake:

1.5 cups King Arthur Cake Flour

1/2 TBSP baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cups Caster Sugar (or any sugar will do)

6 TBSP butter softened

1 whole egg + 2 egg whites

1/2 cup whole fat plain Greek-style yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut extract

1 tsp almond extract

1. Mix dry ingredients together using a stand mixer on low-speed. Add softened butter & mix for 1 minute.

2. Add whole egg & egg whites, beating after each addition until well blended. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl when necessary.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt with the extracts. Add this mixture, in thirds, to the mixing bowl beating well after each addition until batter is airy and fluffy.

4. Scrape batter into a greased & floured or parchment paper lined 9″ cake pan.

5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until done in the center of the cake. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

 Ingredients for Frosting:

12 TBSP butter softened

3 cups powdered sugar

4 ozs softened cream cheese

a few tablespoons whole milk or cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flaked coconut – sweetened or unsweetened

1. Using a stand mixer cream together the butter & cream cheese. Slowly add powdered sugar by half cups. Scrape down sides when necessary. Add vanilla extract & drizzle in milk or cream until you have a fluffy frosting. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in half the flaked coconut.

2. Place cake layer on a decorative cake stand or plate. Generously frost the cake and sprinkle the top with the second half of the coconut.

This is a sweet little cake for a birthday…just add a few candles.

Serve cut into slices. This cake doesn’t need anything else.

Happy Birthday Margaret.

A Little “Margaret” Gallery

#2 E.A.T. Spicy Mexican-style Cocoa Mix

This is #2 in my E.A.T (Easy as That) series on how to make lots of delectables at home that are much tastier, less expensive & better quality that buying pre-packaged from high-end groceries & specialty  markets.

Hot, spicy cocoa mixes…..You might know the ones I am talking about…they are packaged in beautifully printed boxes that reflect fabrics from whatever country’s spice profile is represented? Mexico, Peru,  India….I really love these very peppery hot cocoa mixes & their beautiful little decorative boxes that unfortunately contain just a few tablespoons inside for over $8.00! I received a box as a gift last year & was hooked, but quickly realized that my palate, my pocketbook  & my psyche were miles apart.

 I am one of those coffee drinkers who love a cup of strong black coffee laced with a generous dollop of hot milk and a tablespoonful of a spicy hot cocoa mix. To the coffee purists among you this is probably just too much gilding the lily, but it is the most comforting of hot drinks on still chilly early Spring mornings. The aroma is both earthy & ethereal.

Ingredients:

8 ounces good quality cocoa

1-2 cups raw sugar

1/4 cup espresso powder

5-6 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate (I used 2 Olive & Sinclair Mexican Style Stone Ground bars)chopped into small pieces

1 generous tsp each freshly ground black pepper & sea salt

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cardamom pod

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper (I used almost 2, but I like it hot)

Instructions:

1. Place all  ingredients in a food processor. Process until chocolate pieces are ground finely with other ingredients. Remove lid, taste, adjust to your taste. Add more sugar or cayenne, espresso powder? Whatever you like.

2. Store “Spicy Mexican-style Cocoa Mix” in jars with air-tight lids. This makes a fine gift for a fellow hot cocoa lover.

3. To make a hot cup of “Spicy Mexican -style Cocoa Mix” I heat 1 to 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk in a pan over medium heat. When milk just begins to bubble around the edges of the pan I stir in 1 generous tablespoon of the mix. Stir until dissolved in the hot milk. Serve in your favorite cup or mug.

“It’s as easy as that!”

I don’t know about you but this was an important food milestone in my world. Oreos have been a constant in my life. Many, many…too many to even count…things have come & gone & changed. On tearful evenings of regret, cold heartless winters, summers so hot I cursed the sun, when changes occurred in my life that tore my heart apart, whenever I needed just a little lonely comfort the sweet little Oreo has been there for me. When my girls were small we would joyfully eat little piles of Oreos in the only way there is to eat them….twisting them apart, eating the white filling, then the cookie. There are nights I remove a couple of Oreos from the package quietly & stand looking out the kitchen window into the dark savoring every comforting bite. When this sweet little comfort cookie turned 100 this week, for me, it was something to celebrate.

“A Simple Chocolate Tart with an Oreo-Almond Crust”

Ingredients for Crust : (this recipe is for 2 crusts, freeze one for later)

12 Oreo Cookies

1 lb Almond Meal (very finely ground almonds)

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

8 ozs. good butter, cold, cut into pieces

Ingredients for Filling:

8 ozs. good quality  semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup whole milk mixed with 3/4 cup heavy cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

How to make the crust:

1. Process 12 Oreos in a food processor until finely crushed. Add in almond meal & sugar. Process until well blended. Add pieces of butter to processor. Pulse until well mixed. Drizzle in a bit of cold water if needed until a dough forms.

2. Remove dough from processor bowl. Form mixture into two equal size dough balls. Flatten each slightly, wrap in plastic wrap. Put one in the freezer for later use & the other in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 325 degrees.

 3. When dough is chilled using fingers press into bottom  & up side of a springform pan about 1 inch high all around. Dough will be thick, but this is how it is supposed to be. Butter one side of a sheet of foil & fit butter side down into uncooked crust. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust for 15 minutes. Remove foil with weights. Bake another 10 minutes. Remove baked crust from oven.

How to Make Chocolate Filling (which can be made while crust is baking):

1. Chop 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate into small pieces. Place in a mixing bowl.

2.   Heat milk-cream mixture over medium high heat just until it starts to bubble around edges. Pour over chopped chocolate in the bowl. Let sit for a few minutes  & then whisk together well until all pieces of chocolate are totally melted. Let chocolate mixture cool for about 10-12 minutes. Whisking vigorously add beaten egg to chocolate mixture until well blended. Pour into baked Oreo-Almond pie crust.

3. Bake tart for 25 minutes at 325 degrees. Edges will be set, but center will still be jiggly. Remove from oven to cool for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour on a wire rack. This tart is delicious eaten still warm with the center somewhat pudding-like. The soft filling is a perfect foil for the somewhat crisp Oreo-Almond crust.

Serving Suggestion:  

A dusting of powdered sugar.

Our very special, long-time friends, John and Liz Shenk, invited us for a quiet Saturday evening dinner at their house. In so many ways when we get together it is a celebration. A celebration of good food, wine, conversation, stories, and long-time friendship. This “Happy 100th Birthday Sweet Little Oreo” Tart was just part of a special evening.

A Little Gallery of Liz’s Pretty Dinner Table:

Beautiful flowers and glowing light.

Papparadelle, Shrimp cooked in coconut milk...a salad of mango, blood oranges & spinach.

There are always a few good apps before dinner.

Oreo, Oreo, O-re-o.

How do you eat Oreos? Do you have another method?

Have you ever used Oreos as an ingredient? How would you use them?

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Is it possible to fall in love with an orange. I think so…it happened to me. I had a short love affair with a few blood oranges yesterday. Obsessed, I posed & photographed 7 little blood oranges for a good part of my day. Whole, cut, peeled, the peel itself, juiced, all together, separately…from the front, from the back, overhead, sideways.

Don’t you just love that color….a crimson red, a sexy red, a not-a-red-flannel nightgown red. This color takes my breath away…I am gobsmacked…I am enchanted. The colors of the planet Mars via National Geographic!

I couldn’t stop at posing these beautiful orbs…I needed to turn them into delicious drinkables for later & edibles for right now. So six of my blood oranges are presently becoming “Blood Orange-cello” and Jam…..more about those at a later date, and one very special little “red planet” was turned into four tartlets.

An easy & simple recipe for “Bloody Sweet Orange Tartlets”

Ingredients:

Enough pie dough for 4 small tart pans

Raw or Turbinado sugar

4 ozs softened cream cheese

1 large egg

1 Blood Orange, peeled, pith removed & thinly sliced

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll pie dough out into 4 thin circles & loosely fit into tart pans. Sprinkle each with 1 tsp of sugar. Place tart pans on a sheet pan & bake for about 6 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven.

2. In a small mixing bowl whisk together the softened cream cheese, 2 tbsp sugar & egg until smooth. Evenly divide filling between the 4 tart pans.

3.  Place one slice of the blood orange on top of each filled tart & sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown & puffy.

4. Eat warm from the oven if you can, but these little tarts are great the next day.

A Little Blood Orange Gallery:

Just in case you are interested:

 Blood oranges’ red pigment, anthocyanin, is an antioxidant. The pigments begin accumulating in the vesicles at the edges of the segments and at the blossom end of the fruit, and will continue accumulating in cold storage after harvest. Due to its pigments the blood orange contain greater amounts of antioxidants than other oranges. Blood oranges have a unique flavor profile compared to other oranges, being distinctly raspberry-like in addition to the usual citrus notes.

Blood oranges are a source of vitamin C like all citrus fruits. A medium-sized (154g) orange also provides 28% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber. Oranges can also be a valuable source of folate, calcium, and thiamine.

Bon Appetit, Goodbye February and Hello March.

This is the beginning of a series of “how-tos” for foods that, made at home, are tastier & healthier than any store-bought version regardless of price.  I am calling this series “E.A.T.” which means “easy-as-that”…which is how I feel each time I whip up a batch of, among many other delectables, my most divine Granola.  E.A.T.s are for lazy Sunday afternoons, Saturday morning ramblings in the kitchen or any time when it is simply more pleasing to “create” than go shopping.

There will be other subjects in this series such as creamy homemade Ricotta, aromatic & flavored Sugars, fabulous & simple Syrups and savory herbed butters. Over the next few months I will share these easy-as-that recipes, but remember these are all my personal favorite flavor profiles so you might have to adjust recipes to suit your own palate and that is what e.a.t. is all about!

#1. E.A.T. GRANOLA

Ingredients:

2 cups whole almonds

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup dried blueberries

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup molasses or sorghum

1 1/2 Tbsp orange marmalade

1 1/2 Tbsp fig spread

2 Tbsp water

1 to 2 tsp sea or kosher salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients.

2. In a microwave safe container combine the molasses, marmalade, fig spread & water. Heat until hot, but not bubbly & stir well to mix.

3. Pour molasses mixture over dry ingredients in bowl and toss to coat. Make sure all dry ingredients are well coated.

4. Spread mixture out on a rimmed sheet pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until mixture turns a deep golden brown & caramelized.

6.  Turn oven off & allow granola to completely cool in oven. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt or kosher salt.

7.Spoon this perfectly crunchy granola in glass jars with tight-fitting lids.

Divine granola is perfect sprinkled over yogurt & fresh fruit, added to a morning muffin mix or eaten as a healthy low-sugar snack.

It’s as easy-as-that!

 “Grilled Nutella Sandwich”

It’s funny what sticks in your head when it comes to food. I was talking to my daughter & business partner, Whitney, a few days ago about our recent trip to Chicago to work on a photo shoot. As well as work time, we also had some time to play. Eating was a big part of our play time. We had some fantastic food, some a bit fancy, some very ethnic, some homemade…but the most memorable of our edibles for both of us was a little grilled Nutella sandwich. It came as a dessert after a perfect light meal of little plates at a restaurant we wandered into on a snowy night called “Quartino”…it is often the little things that linger.

I admit I have been thinking about that buttery grilled Nutella since I ate it that snowy night  over a week ago. Vivid food moments from the past. The warm cheese burgers I ate as a child with a homegrown tomato spread thickly with mayonnaise, the croissant & cafe au lait in Venice at dawn about 25 years ago, freshly caught fish ceviche eaten on a boat in the Caribbean minutes after the fish was caught last year.  Taste recall isn’t so much about the food, but the moments around the food, where I was, who I was with, what I was doing. I am sure you agree?

Not being able to recreate the moment, I was able to recreate that little Nutella treat to perfection this week. A hot steamy cup of milky coffee alongside turned this into very nice moment in the middle of a busy day.

 3 Ingredient list:

Butter room temperature, Crusty Bread,  Nutella

Instructions:

1. Smear one side of each slice of bread with softened butter.

2. Slather a generous portion of Nutella on the non-buttered side of each slice.

3. Place a heavy skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Or use a Panini grill if you have one.

4. Make sandwiches with the Nutella on the inside, buttered side out.

5. Grill sandwiches in hot skillet until golden brown on both sides just like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. If you grill them in a Panini grill they will be flat sandwiches, but either way they are delicious.

6. Cut sandwiches in half or quarters and eat warm.

Stack of little Panini grilled Nutella sandwiches.

Now, how easy is that?

A little food for thought:

One other little thing that is very easy to do would be to donate  just one meal’s worth of your hard-earned money to Planned Parenthood. This is one of the little things we can all do…just one meal’s worth to a good cause. Just go to www.plannedparenthood.org to donate. Thank you.

A Little Chicago Image Gallery:

It snowed!

Cobra Lounge.

Sushi.

Ruby roll.

Michigan Avenue.

Monument.

Atzec hot cocoa, XOCO

Outside of studio.

Museum fragment.

Subway Entrance.

Octopus Salad, Cafe Spiaggia.

Museum fragment #2.

Cotton.

Outside studio window snowing.

A Little Bit About Nutella:

Today is “World Nutella Day”!

It is a spread made up of roasted hazelnuts, sugar, skim milk & cocoa & has not artificial colors or preservatives according to the label.

Nutella was created by Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker & founder of the Ferrero company in the Piedmont region of Italy. During the 1940′s there was a cocoa shortage due to World War II rationing and as hazelnuts were plentiful Nutella spread was developed.

Nutella can be stored at room temperature.

It’s all the little things. No?