13 March 2011

2 French dishes, 3 skirts, and 4 pies

This past week was my spring break and I was quite productive. Well, productive for everything but schoolwork. But that's what breaks are for, right? I had missed the previous week's French Friday with Dorie  since I get migraines from aged cheeses and my mom was in town. I decided this week to double up the recipes so I made the Beggar's Linguine that was assigned as well as Marie-Helene's Apple Cake that the group completed before I was a member.

The Beggar's Linguine was an interesting combination of flavors between the savory pistachios and almonds and the sweet figs and raisins. It was a very easy dish to make and took only about ten minutes total. While the linguine finishes cooking, you heat the nuts and fruit in a pan with lots of butter and then toss the cooked linguine in with it. Easy peasy. I probably wouldn't use quite so much butter next time. My only complaint was that it was difficult to get the noodles and the goodies in one bite, so I was either eating a bunch of veeeery buttery noodles or a few pistachios and figs. But if that's the worst thing, then it's not so bad.

Beggar's Linguine

Marie-Helene's Apple Cake was also quite lovely. It was surprisingly chilly and rainy out compared to the weather we'd been having, so one last wintery dessert seemed fitting. I didn't have any rum, so I substituted brandy, which seemed to have worked well. The cake developed a custardy consistency, but wasn't very heavy or dense. I think next time I might try it in a six-inch pan so it is even denser. It also reminded me of the gobs of Apfelkuchen I ate in Germany.

Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

Since it was break, I also got some sewing done. I started with this tutorial with some Anna Maria Horner Little Folks voile that I'd gotten on sale. I don't love the fit since it's a little too voluminous, so I might go back and tailor it later.

Skirt 2

I made some adjustments and wished that I'd started with the Kona cotton that I used for the next and saved the voile for when I had a better sense of what I was doing. Oh well. I liked the way this one turned out. The fabric isn't extraordinary quality, but it's comfortable and lightweight.

Skirt 3

Finally I made this one using some Amy Butler fabric I'd squirreled away last spring. I made a happy accident with my measurements and had to use two panels for the main skirt instead of one and I think it was quite fortunate that I did. The skirt is a teeny bit shorter than I'm comfortable with, but it's growing on me (figuratively).

Skirt 1

Since tomorrow is Pi Day, I've been in the kitchen all evening making four strawberry rhubarb pies. It's still too early for rhubarb, so I used frozen, but the strawberries were delicious and on extraordinary sale. Pictures of those later. Huzzah spring!

Blossom

2 comments:

  1. Wow - sounds like you have been very busy (and productive). pretty impressive
    Marie's apple cake definitely benefits from a smaller pan for sure.

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  2. You are a rockstar! I just adore that Marie Helen's apple cake! And yours looks so good I might have to make it again today! Love your cherry blossom photos. I haven't been able to get a decent one yet this year!

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