Bouquet Garni

Here we are, ten days out from Christmas Day, and I admit, I’m starting to wear down!  Kerry and I will make 30 gift baskets in the next few days, yesterday I got the last of my packages mailed, and besides the Tree and a few flowers, my house looks like a disastrous mess of stuff in baskets.  This Sunday I will pick up an 18 pound fresh hen turkey and a seven bone prime rib from DaLe Ranch, and we will enjoy several large family meals. Next week.  Let me first get through this one!

I have not wrapped my gifts yet, but I’m relying heavily on Williams Sonoma, lilac double-face satin and a little silver and green.  The green will come in the form of bouquet garni which will be on all my gifts.  Laura asked me to bring her some back from France at the end of this month, but even a French grocery store version is nothing compared to fresh.  Toss into a sauce or soup, tuck inside your Sunday chicken.  I am forever using bouquet garni.

At Chino Ranch last weekend, I picked up the last bunch of bay leaf.  It’s interesting to walk around the ranch because you can see two of the largest bay bushes you have ever seen, with beautiful dark green glossy leaves.  I have my own small bay (aka laurel)  tree in the garden, but it sees enough use, so for Christmas I bought some.  Nothing is priced at Chino, and I was wondering I would be paying $20 for a bunch of bay….the words came out of his mouth very slowly….”two…..dollars for the bunch.” Sold!

The thyme came from my garden~

Wrap a small bunch of thyme in the bay leaf~

I use linen twine to tie my bundles; cotton twine also works well; some people use raffia for looks, but I prefer the cotton or linen twine to throw in a stock or sauce.  I will probably add some other decorative ribbon on top of this~

Bay leaf aids in digestion; the thyme is a source of many vitamins in addition to warding off congestion, cough and flu-like symptoms.  Can never have enough thyme.  Not to mention the wonderful flavor~

Here are my finished bundles which went off yesterday.  Wishing everyone a good end of the week, there’s just one more to go!

I will be in Beaune for New Year’s Eve and I am just starting to get excited…we will be hosting a small party, and I am looking forward to some restful days after the craziness of the holiday season!

Holiday Posies

I love to do big arrangements in our house, but a few smalls tucked here and there are surely wonderful...  This year I am using humble carnations, but grouped into a pin-cushion form; here is the finished product on my coffee table~

Do you remember a short time ago, I told you about the scented candles from Market Candle?  When the candles have burned down, don’t throw away the glass; freeze them to pull the remaining wax out, and clean with Goo-Gone or other produit.  They make great flower vases.  I wrap them in bark; here is how~

We have a tree common here locally which sheds a very soft bark; I will have to figure out the name; but it peels softly in sheets; you could also do this with any fabric, leaves, bark, or pine needles….the options are endless….just look to your garden!  You could also do this with a pillar candle, as a natural alternative to the “faux bark” ones like they now sell at Pottery Barn.  Start with a glass votive and a sheet of bark~

Using a glue gun, run a straight line of glue vertically along the glass and press the bark on to it; roll the glass so that the bark covers the surface and then glue the other end of the bark; overlap the bark slightly so that the entire surface of the glass is covered~

You will end up with a log, like this~

Use scissors to trim the excess, top and bottom~

Fill with water; tie the stems with wire, rubber band or twist-tie~

Set the flowers into the vase~

Try the same idea with baby’s breath; it’s very simple yet refreshing for holiday~

Same idea for construction; I like the “pincushion” look so tie the stems together~

Tuck these little beauties in on your coffee table (mine is as yet a jumble of sparkly things, including the rings for the Karena Giveaway!), food table, powder room; I would love to line a walk or stairs with these pretty bundles; the addition of the bow says “Christmas” to me~

I am in the midst of Christmas décor; more to show you soon~

Five Golden Rings Giveaway

Please visit my dear friend Karena

of Art by Karena Blog

for a holiday giveaway I am sponsoring

as part of her Twelve Days of Christmas~

Five Golden Rings, plus a spare…..

Well, yes, they are actually vintage French curtain rings,

but I use them for napkins~

The lucky winner also receives

a beautiful pair of vintage French linen dishtowels

from our Metis line~

I have a few other matching rings…

…a little dented but still great patina;

I will include those for the winner,

so you will end up with a set of eight or more.

I am opening this to international.

So I hope

someone,

somewhere in the world,

might use these

for their Christmas table??

Stop by Karena’s to enter…

Bonne Chance a Tous!!!

Scrappy Good

This is a post I have wanted to do for some time.  What do you do with your excess pastry, the scraps? Reroll? Toss?  I don’t like to rework any dough very much, but I hate to see it go to waste.  

The most treasured items in my kitchen, above anything French, are the pieces that belonged to my paternal Grandmother, Helen; she was an excellent baker and I use her Cincinnati sifters and here her sugar shaker to dust my pastry scraps just as she showed me how to make them~

The concept is the same for fresh or remnant pastry; I used a pastry wheel here for puff pastry; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon; use a silpat sheet if you can for easy cleanup~

The puff pastry bakes at 400 degrees like this: YUM!

If your family is spoilt you will serve it to them with a fine drizzle of chocolate, as so~

Shortbread, puff, brisee, whatever kind of dough, it all makes good for scraps; bake with sugar and spice and dust with powdered sugar~

Try your fancy Savory Store sugars on these, you will be soooo happy~

holiday recipes to continue…..hope you will try this with your bakery scraps~

Gougères

What is not to love about an appetizer that is warm, cheese-dusted, a little buttery and also French~

In Burgundy, at events such as Armistice Day, we have a parade followed by speeches and the like at the Town Hall. I do not know who makes the gougeres and sets out the wine, but the traditional combination is always there~

the wine is set out with precision, and color coordination~

Gougeres are often served in Burgundy at nice wine tastings or events; you can make them too, for holiday they are really tasty and cut the alcohol if you are serving. I guarantee your guests will love them, and they are not too filling.  Yes, you could eat the whole tray!!

Grate 1 cup Gruyere cheese~

crack four eggs and lightly beat them~

Prepare 1 cup sifted flour~

In a saucepan, melt 8 tablespoons butter and add 1 cup of water and two generous pinches of sea salt; bring just to a boil~ 

The only salt I use is from France and I buy it at our grocery for about $2.  Spoilt, yes, but please use good salt~

Remove from heat and add the 1 cup flour all at once to the butter and water and stir with vigor; I also add a tiny pinch of nutmeg; continue to mix off heat~

it will firm up like this~

turn off the heat and put the pan back on the burner and work the dough a little more, to dry it out~

Transfer the ball of dough to a mixer or bowl; here I use my enormous French copper bowl I got from Guy, but a mixmaster also works well~

Add the beaten eggs and half the cheese~

Mix well; it will be like a thick mayonnaise~

Pipe into rounds; bite size as here is best!

top with the rest of the cheese, you can tap down the tops a little though they will bake down on their own; this is a variation of the classic crème puff recipe, but made with cheese and not filled~

Bake at 400, until browned.  Delish~

Serve hot from the oven if possible; or wrap in a towel to keep warm; these are light and airy and sure to please~

More holiday recettes to follow…..

Best Bougies Parfumées

France celebrates the scented candle or bougie parfumee.  Doesn’t it create a magnificent atmosphere?  The French and their candles deserves several posts, but let’s get to the bottom line: who does not love the scent of a perfumed candle, as hostess or as a gift idea? I gift them each year with a bottle of wine in a basket at Christmas for my sister’s corporate gifts. 

My favorite candles come from Mis en Demeure in Paris, though I also love Diptyque.  But who can get to France and pay $60 for a Diptyque candle? My favorite candle in the US, which also happens to sell at select LA farmers markets, is Robert Ford of Market Candle; order HERE. 

The candles are soy, long-burning, and high fragrance content.  Great alone, in the glass container, but for holiday I gift with a bow~

You saw them on my Thanksgiving table; the simple glass containers are wonderful; I have used them for years~

My favorites are Citrus Leaf and Casablanca Lilly burned at the same time, though I have to say I have tried many of them and they are all very true for fragrance; they come in a simple carton box that you can wrap, ribbon or dress up~

They are also $10.  Ten dollars!  For me in SoCal that means $12 delivered.   You have seen these in previous magazine shoots with me covered in leaves and bows, or salt & sugar for winter; they are so simple as they are but easy to dress up.

Hope you will enjoy for yourself or for gifts~ love Robert’s candles, they rival the best French candles in my opinion; tell him I sent you please though I have no commission arrangement with him….

Ready or Not!

One month until Christmas.  Can it be?  This year, I am on it.  No, I am actually ahead!

The Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful warmup; thank you L for bringing the wine for dinner, and this sweet velveteen heart which I shall keep and put on the tree this year~

I made a trip to Los Angeles today, and decided to surprise Mom on the way home by bringing home the tree.  I get my Noble Fir from Home Depot~

I have told you before how much I love my Prius; it fits a tall tree with ease~

 

My Tree Guys are students at Orange Coast College in Architecture and Computer Science; I said, “you are going to be on the blog, look proud!”  God Bless the U.S. of A. and the work ethic of our college kids~

 

Arriving home, I found that Mom had bought some cedar garland and a few pointsettia; we were both in the Christmas spirit!  I was happy too that Adan my gardener was still at the house, and helped me get this enormous tree in the house; tonight I got the lights done, and added the Nuremberg Angel to the top; this alone makes me very happy to see~

I am going to spend Christmas in Laguna and then a week in Beaune.  New Year’s in Beaune is something we have never done but we will do this year; I can’t wait to do the house up for Reveillon~ the décor, the food, the guests…the decor….will be fantastic.  And so, perhaps, because I am missing that week between Christmas and New Year, I will savor each day in the month of December while I am in Laguna…..