La Palette's Tart - A TWD tale

In June, the baking group I belong to, TWD, baked up a tart inspired by a restaurant in Paris. It was one of my absolute favorites that we'd baked so far. Later that week, Dorie blogged about the restaurant and my ears perked up. I decided that hubs and I absolutely had to visit La Palette on our trip to Paris.

It was our last full day in Paris and I was determined to eat lunch at La Palette. I'd found the restaurant the day before while on our bike tour. The group stopped for lunch just a few blocks from La Palette and when we rode by, I screamed "There it is!!" and got a few strange looks from the Parisians standing nearby. I was so stoked to actually eat at the restaurant where this tart was born.

The next day, we headed over to the 6th arrondissement to La Palette. Look how excited I am!

We ordered lunch. I had a croque monsieur (on farmhouse bread) and salad:

Hubs had some other sandwich but I can't remember what it was exactly. I could barely contain my excitement and when the waiter came by and asked if we'd like dessert. I grinned and said "strawberry tart, s'il vous plait." The waiter replied, "We don't have that today." I think I stared open mouthed and shocked for a full minute before he said he had a lovely peach pie instead. I wasn't too happy but I said OK.

But, what he called a peach pie was very similar to the strawberry tart. A crust, graham I believe, with a thin layer of jam, covered in perfectly ripe and delicious peaches with a glaze on them. Oh man, was it ever delish!

At the end of the lunch, I left with a happy tummy and a funny story. It was a great day. I really wish I had that peach pie recipe. It was super super good - just not as good as I bet the strawberry tart would have been. If I ever make it back to Paris, I'll have to try the strawberry, or anything else they serve. It's all yummy to me!

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

This week's TWD recipe was easy peasy and super fun. I actually made these twice over the long weekend.

My brother was in town from Texas helping my stepsister (who lives in San Diego) move back to Big D. She's been out here for a few years and was ready to head back home. All our family is in TX and I don't blame her one bit for wanting to go back. Aren't we cute:

Anyway, back to cookies.

I made these treats for the sibs to eat and they enjoyed them so much that I packed up the leftovers for use as road snacks. I think I scored some awesome-ness points for that.

I also whipped up another batch Monday night to take to work and for hubs to take to his Tuesday night soccer game. I can't help it. I'm a giver.

With regard to the recipe made a couple of changes. I used less nutmeg and I used whatever choc chips I had in my cupboard. So I ended up with some milk, semi, and bitter sweet chips in my cookies. Next time, I may add heath pieces.

Overall, these cookies were super yummy and totally easy. Hubs game 'em A. That's pretty huge.

Thanks to Stephany for choosing this week's recipe. Yummy, chewy, chunky deliciousness. Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and give our other bakers some love.

Next week, it's my turn to choose! Stay tuned. :)

What would you choose?

I am invited to a special breakfast at work for service awards. I am getting my 5 year. I get to choose one of the following- Engraved glass mug, acrylic paper weight, letter opener, gold plated business card case,pen with walnut case, or logo key chain.

I'm leaning towards the mug. I wonder if I can have it engraved with "best employee ever"
What would you choose?
-Rachel

What have I been up to?

Last night I went with a friend to see Les Miserables at the Moonlight Amphitheatre. It was really, really good. If you live in the San Diego area, you should check it out. One cool thing about the show is that hubs and I saw one of Victor Hugo's homes while in Paris. So, that was a cool tie in (picture is below).

Sunday's shower was for the same friend and it went really well. I made raspberry filled scones, spiked punch, and alcohol free sparkling raspberry lemonade. I also organized the games which turned out super cute, if I do say so myself. My two friends who co-hosted oversaw the remaining cooking/baking (mini frittata, mini cheesecakes, salad and cake) and coordinated the decorations. We also had some amazing roasted potatoes that looked as good as they tasted. Everyone seemed to have fun, especially the bride, which I think is the most important part. Plus, she got some awesome loot.

This weekend I am heading to San Francisco for the bachelorette party for the same friend. She actually introduced me to hubs and pretty much all the friends I made in SD, (except my knottie/nestie/foodblog buddies). Anyway, I am really looking forward to the weekend and celebrating her upcoming nuptials.

I've been promising some Europe wrap ups and I have several really good stories to share. I promise I'll get to them soon.

And to my TWD buddies, you'll want to know what happened when I visited one of Dorie's inspirations.

TWD: Grab & Grub.

This week's TWD recipe was granola grabbers chosen by Bad Girl Baking. You can find the recipe on page 82 of Baking. I'm keeping this short and sweet. The cookies were SUPER yum. I substituted craisins for raisins and I will most def make these again. I have no pictures but trust me - mine looked EXACTLY like the ones Dorie made. (You believe me, right?)

Please head over to Tuesdays with Dorie and show my fellow bakers some love.

Thanks!

PS It is almost my turn to pick. What will I choose??

Impressive

OK, so I am seriously impressed by this lady. I wish I could be more like her. However, I would have to draw the line at the toilet paper.

Help with drinks

Help please. Anyone have a good and easy recipe for bridal shower punch that doesn't involve sherbet? I found several online but would love a personal recommendation so I don't make disgustingness by mistake. I need to serve 20 people. Thanks!

If you will it...

All morning, I have been thinking about eating cheese. Then I went to drop off something to another department and the had a cheese tray! AND they offered me some!

Man I think Oprah's "Secret" lady was right. If you will it, it will come.

Yay cheese!
-Rachel

TWD - Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Such a deliciously simple dessert deserves a deliciously simple write up. I give you:

Blueberry Ice Cream Haikus

Tuesday's recipe
has come to call. Thankfully,
it 's easy peasy.

Who can resist the
tasty freshly sweet burst of
delicious berries?

Sweet, yet tart. Creamy.

Tiny berry bits throughout.

Another scoop, please!

Thanks to Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity for this week's selection. Hop on over to Tuesdays with Dorie and show the other members some love!

My addiction to kitchen gadgets is getting ridic.

I really want this.

Do I have room for it? Nope.

Will I use it often? Probably not.

Do I still want it? Yes!

It would go so great with this week's TWD recipe. Delish!

I suppose I should just buy some store bought waffle cones and let it be.

 

A terrible airport experience turned amazing.

After being stuck for a zillion hours at JFK, hubs spotted this celeb and alerted me. I approached with camera. A very dorky exchange took place and the celeb's "smoking hot blond girlfriend" - hub's(accurate) description - took the picture. I figured that even if I was the dorkiest ever, I'd never see them again so I went for it. UM, except they were on our flight, standing next to us at baggage, the GF and I washed hands next to each other in the LAX toilet, etc. I was so embarrassed.



I've had a crush on Luke Wilson since 1997. In my day-dreams, our meeting never occurred at an airport when I had gone 24 hours since showering and brushing my teeth! But, I got the pic and well it was the best 7.5 hour layover ever! Thanks to Luke and his lady friend for being so cool.

CUPCAKE HERO: August

Laurie over at Quirky [Cupcake] is taking a well-deserved vacation from Cupcake Hero for a couple of months. What does that mean? It means that Teri of The 90/10 Rule & I are co-hosting Cupcake Hero for August. Hurray!

Teri and I must have the same cupcake loving brain as we started to discuss our theme ingredient, we BOTH thought of the same thing at the same time. Whoa! August's theme ingredient is:



That's right, people. The Cupcake Hero theme for August is jalapeños! What a better way to say goodbye to the sweet heat of summer with a some sweet heat of our own. :)

How in the name of baking will you incorporate jalapeños in a cupcake? That's exactly what we want to know & we can't wait to see the fiery-sweet goodness you bake up. So here's the deal--

*You must incorporate jalapeños in your entry.
*You may use jalapeños in any form.
*Sweet cupcakes only, no savory. (sorry, Bacon-Cheddar-Jalapeño-Salsa-Cornbread variations)

Email your entries to both of us by August 31 before midnight EST.

Teri -> ninet10 at gmail dot com
Rachel is --> inluv4life at gmail dot com

Please include ALL of the following:

1. Name
2. Link to your Cupcake Hero entry
3. Picture of your jalapeño cupcake creation (250px by 250px is preferred) and/or permission to use the image from your blog.

If you have questions, send an email or leave a comment.

Good luck!

Sorry this post is late! For some reason the drafts I set to automatically post while on vacay didn't happen and are not saved any longer. Ugh. Thanks to Teri and Laurie for being quick on the draw!

Cheers from the road!

Just have a quick moment at an Internet cafe to say hello. Hubs and I are in Dublin tonight and tomorrow before we head out to Paris. We met the loveliest group of Dubliners last night while in Doolin (Coastal County Clare). They were all on vacation from Dublin and had left the kids at home with a grandma while they went out for a few pints. I gave them this website and wanted to give a quick hello and thank you to them. Hubs and I had such a nice time meeting you all. ::waves::

For all my other readers (hi Mom!) I'll be blogging about the travels (and tastes) of our two weeks in Europe when we get home on August 6. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

Longest day

If the clock were moving any slower, it would be going backwards! I am so ready to leave for the day and finish packing for our trip. We leave Sunday!

The ILs are staying in our place while we are gone. Who can blame them for wanting a free summer vacation near the beach? It is a zillion degrees where they live.
-Rachel

Tonight is the night!

The new season of Project Runway starts tonight. I can't wait! Will you be watching?
-Rachel

TWD: Little white rabbit...

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! Stay tuned...I might have a little WWD (Wednesday with Dorie) this week!

YAY!

Question

Hey married folks - when travelling, do you wear your jewelry (eg wedding rings)?
-Rachel

TWD - Double Crust Blueberry Pie

It's been a couple weeks since my last Tuesday's with Dorie post and I am super sad that I missed some good ones. We had back to back weddings and are getting ready for our big trip to Europe in a couple weeks so I've been slacking on baking. :(

But this week, I was able to get the recipe made and man was it delish! Thanks to Amy of South in your Mouth for choosing a winner.

Fiscal issues pushed me to use raspberries and blueberries. Using blueberries alone would have cost me over $15 just for the fruit! So I used about 2/3 raspberries and 1/3 blueberries and it tasted amazing. I think next time I'll cut the sugar down just a bit and add in a touch more flour since the raspberries give off more juice than the little blue guys.

I had some issues with the pie crust. This was my first homemade one! The bottom one was soft and wiggly after being rolled and I could not get it into the pie plate without it crumpling up into a ball. After about 10 attempts, I recruited hubs to help. I rolled the crust on parchment and we four-handed flipped the dough onto the pie plate. SUCCESS! So glad the hubs was around to help. The top crust was fine as it was in the fridge after being rolled and I learned that next time, I'll just chill both crusts post rolling in order to make them behave better.

Oh, one other crust-related issue. I created the most beautiful pinched top crust and it all fell off in the oven. I guess it was too heavy? The part that didn't fall off was burnt to all heaven so I used a sharp knife and cut it off. No one was the wiser. :D

Bottom line: DELISH! Another winner from Dorie.

Banana Pancakes!

While catching up on my Google Reader subscriptions this morning, I found a post by Nicole at Baking Bites about banana pancakes. She says that if you have one overly ripe banana, that's the perfect amount for this recipe. Funny, I had exactly one banana to use. So, I whipped up some banana pancakes per her instructions though mine were larger than hers, yet smaller than regular size. Hubs and I really enjoyed them and this recipe is going in the rotation! I think I might have to add some Nutella next time and see what happens. :D

Thanks, Nicole!