Nice Onion

I made french onion soup for dinner tonight, 

seemed like the right thing to do.

I worked all morning, 

then was running around the rest of the day

 gathering props for next weeks shoot 

plus it was so cold I wanted some comfort food but 

I am so sick of making heavy stews and such. 

No desire to make Beef Carbonnade?

No Short ribs? 

No Chicken Pot Pie? 

No Shepherd's Pie?

Can this alone be a sign that spring is on it's way?  

I am ready to lose the hibernation padding for sure.

Anyhooo

not my point. 

My point was that as Jeff was on his third bowl of onion soup

(sans cheese and bread on 2 & 3)

he asked me if onions were good for you.

I assumed so but looked on line and this is what I found:

Onion and Garlic Protective against Many Cancers

Making onion and garlic a staple in your healthy way of eating may greatly lower your risk of several common cancers, suggests a large data set of case-control studies from Southern European populations (Galeone C, Pelucchi C et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).

Study participants consuming the most onions showed an 84% reduced risk for cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, 88% reduced risk for esophageal cancer, 56% reduced risk for colorectal cancer, 83% reduced risk for laryngeal cancer, 25% reduced risk for breast cancer, 73% reduced risk for ovarian cancer, 71% reduced risk for prostate cancer, and 38% reduced risk for renal cell cancer, compared to those eating the least onions. Similarly, those eating the most garlic had a 39% reduced risk for cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, 57% reduced risk for esophageal cancer, 26% reduced risk for colorectal cancer, 44% reduced risk for laryngeal cancer, 10% reduced risk for breast cancer, 22% reduced risk for ovarian cancer, 19% reduced risk for prostate cancer, and 31% reduced risk for renal cell cancer, compared to those eating the least garlic.

That being said:

Shouldn't you be making onion soup sometime soon?

Answer, probably yes.

It's easy, 

affordable

and 

good for you!

Here are two of my favorite recipes.

in video form

or

in recipe form with video

Ham on It

Occasionally I will bake a ham, just for left-overs.

I love to broil thin pieces of ham to serve with low and slow scrambled eggs, sliced avocado and english muffins.

Split pea soup with ham was my father's favorite - I like to make that when I am missing him more than usual.

Extra delicious with homemade croutons.

Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches/paninis on rye....obvious choice.

I'd love to know some of your favorite leftover ideas....

So Perfect

I suspect many of the pieces I treasure the most never make it to the sales floor at The Goodwill, would bet that the sales people find them too 'used' because have a bit of rust on them.

I found two of these PERFECT tart pans not that long ago and can't wait to use them in a cookbook or on a show. Thankfully they didn't make it to a landfill.

The love these old pans have seen!

I'm not one to purposely cook in rusty pans, but if you ingest a bit...no worries of tetanus, that's an old wives tale.

To get rid of rust just scrub with a paste made from some kosher salt and olive oil. Scrub with a steel pad, wash with hot soap and water, dry and rub down with some mineral oil.

Works like a charm.

Well, back to the hunt!

Hope I find another perfect prop today!

shallots of love

Cook Book Illustrations

I am obsessed with all things cookbook these days.

We just wrapped up a few days shooting some beautiful photographs at our house for Claire Robinson's first cookbook due out this fall. 

All I can say is that the recipes are delicious (not one of them has more than 5 ingredients) and she is really nice and genuine. Most importantly for me is that she is a real chef, the real deal, it's been refreshing in every way. Plus the commute could not be better.

Anyhoooo.... I was checking out her blog and came across this post about a unique shop in NYC that carries antique and vintage cookbooks. JoanneHendrickscookbooks.com Not only do I want to go there, I want to live there. That is the kind of dwelling I am thinking about when Jeff and I talk about retiring to NYC but I digress. Some women swoon over shoes, I go crazy for cookbooks. Especially the vintage ones, when they didn't have glossy photos but instead project the 'flavor' of the book with delightful illustrations. Hmmm.. maybe I can do some illustrations for Claire's book...that would be fun, all my favorite things wrapped in one.

prop du jour

Here is my new favorite prop. 

Found this at a cool little antique shop in the Berkshires.

I can only image the life this handcarved knife has had:

1. carved with love, probably over in Germany or England in the mid 1800s.

2. used to cut a million and one loaves of homemade bread baked with love.

3. sold with contents of estate

4. landed on a shelf in Sheffield

5. in my grubby little hands for a half a second before we fell in love.

6. found a new home at Boalder Lodge

7. cut my best friend Emily's heritage wheat bread for dinner (this picture)

8. shot for a new cookbook with said bread (much better photo shot by Stephen Murello, you'll have to wait for the book to see that one)

9. home sweet home until it is sold at my estate sale, which I assume will be an auction of all my props with proceeds to go to hospice and Operation Santa.

Do you have a favored new/old item that speaks to you? 

That has a history? 

Making one of it's own?

Faith Train

This may have been my longest period between posts.

Hello Again my Friend!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy New Years!

We were in Zermatt, Switzerland for Christmas, it certainly is beautiful there. 

Felt like I had fallen right in to a fairytale.

The cog railway "Glacier Express" (hello Polar Express!) brings you up the mountain clinkity clink clink... you pass places like St. Nicholas (come on!) and little wineries and farms perched impossibly on the steep hillside...there are goats and gnomes and gorgeous little alpine cottages and barns all over the place. Not kidding. Gnomes. At one point I actually felt like I may have died and gone to heaven, like this immaculate red train with huge floor to ceiling windows, big comfortable seats and beautiful, friendly conductors was taking me to heaven. Would have been nice to spend Christmas with my parents again but alas that was not the case. Perhaps you thought I died, I've never gone two weeks without a post, well here I am, two weeks later alive and well. 

We were in this picture book alpine church on Christmas Eve to sing carols, it was packed, I mean packed, I had some french family literally sitting on my lap ~ they are that small. The exuberant British minister had us all laughing as he portrayed the innkeeper telling his side of the story. The story of Christ's birth. That's why we were all there anyway wasn't it? There was a woman behind us, from the UK I believe, who had the most beautiful soprano voice and she was belting it out. Reminded me so much of my sweet mother that when she started singing Silent Night (my mom's and my fave) I just started balling. Out of nowhere. Jeff was wonderful and held me tight as he sang his heart out. Jeff does not sing, I think that was the first time I have heard him give it his all. He has a great voice! Who knew?! That was the best Christmas memory for me this year. The best.

Anyhoo...What I miss most about my parents, aside from my mom's perfect pitch, is that they had such faith and unyielding generosity. I am not talking just about giving to trusts and foundations, having university libraries named after you, although that is nice. I am talking about giving of your time, your spirit, yourself. The older I get the more I realize how special they were and how much I missed out on not being able to spend my adult years with them. This new year my plan is to live my life as my parents did and would have wished for me. 

Hey it's not a bad credo.

Help those less fortunate. 

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. 

Small minds talk about people, big minds talk about ideas.

Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold. 

Kill 'em with kindness.

Have faith that you are in the right place at the right time.

Do onto others....

and my mother's last words, literally, before she took that faith train up to heaven.... 

Love and respect one another.

I wish you a very happy, healthy and safe new year filled with LOVE.