I was blessed to grow up in a family of wonderful cooks.  My mother was a gifted baker and cook who set a beautiful table and filled it with creative and delicious dishes.  My grandmother, equally adept in the kitchen, was more down to earth, cooked without recipes, and was the person we looked to for everyday soups, stews and roasted meats.  Her schnitzel was so tender and crispy…it almost melted in your mouth.   Unfortunately she never wrote down her recipes and I was young enough when I helped her in the kitchen that I didn’t ask detailed questions about what herbs and spices she used, what ingredients went into which dishes…things like that…so, as often as I tried, I haven’t been able to duplicate some of her recipes that were my favorites.  She made a stuffed breast of veal that was out of this world and, even if I could find that cut of meat today, I wouldn’t have a clue what was in her stuffing or how she roasted it to perfection.  It was what I always asked for on my birthday dinner.  It’s just going to have to stay a wonderful memory.

What initially got me hooked on my friend, Debby’s blog, A FEAST FOR THE EYES,  were her stories about her Mutti and all the wonderful German dishes she made for her family when Debby was growing up.  Her mother owned a Bavarian Delicatessen in the town where they lived and she prepared this salad every morning for her customers.   I remember many of the recipes Debby posts from my own German upbringing and am thrilled to finally have some of the recipes I tried to duplicate in the past.   We love German potato salad and Debby’s recipe is a little different from the one I have used for years so I decided to give it a try.  This is a keeper and will be my recipe from now on.   The red onion and Japanese rice vinegar add so much flavor…so does pouring the cider vinegar over warm potatoes.  Because this salad doesn’t contain any mayonnaise it travels well and is perfect for picnics during summer months.   I halved the recipe for a dinner for 5.

When my own Mutti and I were in Bavaria years ago we were served a lunch of roasted brats, sauerkraut and potato salad on beautiful pewter plates like this one.  I loved the heart shape (and the delicious lunch) and was able to purchase one of the plates to bring home with me.  Every single time I look at it I remember that wonderful time with my mom.  

You're reading Debby’s German Potato Salad by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

I don’t know what it  is about individual servings of almost anything that makes them so appealing to almost everybody.  A big slice of cheesecake is always a treat, but when the same thing is served in a small container  I feel like I have something that was made just for me and its all mine…I don’t have to share with anybody.  I posted this NO-BAKE CHEESECAKE recipe several years ago and wanted to repost it in my new recipe format with new photographs and thought it would be fun to make little cheesecakes in a jar instead of the large cheesecake I usually make.

The cute LITTLE HALF-PINT JARS I used are manufactured by Kerr Glass Co.  They hold approximately 3/4 cup of cheesecake filling.
This recipe  made enough for 10 jars.

I love the unbaked cream cheese filling in this recipe because it has a texture that doesn’t resemble marshmallow fluff or fake whipped cream.  It has substance to it and and a wonderful cream cheesy taste.   This recipe was published in the food section of  The Oregonian newspaper way back in the 1950′s and it was one of my mother’s favorites.  It’s wonderful topped with any berry…especially RASPBERRIES.

You're reading Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

I have a terrible time not buying too much when I go to the farmers’ market on Saturday morning.  All the fruits and vegetables are displayed so artistically and are so fresh that I have the tendency to want to put a little bit of everything into my basket.   New items appear each week and it won’t be long before vine ripened heirloom tomatoes make a showing.  Right now berries are at their peak and we will enjoy them every week until they disappear from sight.  I couldn’t resist a few stalk of rhubarb because I wanted to try to duplicate little rhubarb tarts we found in Paris.   Each afternoon we stopped at a patisserie and selected several sweets for that evening’s dessert. On this particular day we chose a raspberry mille feuille and a rhubarb tart.  We bought just one tart to share and were sorry we didn’t splurge on several more.

A flaky, buttery crust was filled with large pieces of sweetly tart rhubarb in the most delicious filling you could imagine – not a custard and not the almond frangipane filling that I use in several other favorite tart recipes.  I experimented  with several ingredients and finally settled on a mixture of eggs, sour cream and just a little bit of almond flour.

 My tart pans are shallow and it doesn’t take a long time to bake whatever is in them so I poached the rhubarb pieces in a sugar syrup for a couple of minutes to give them a head start.  I brushed the tops of the hot tarts with the leftover rhubarb flavored syrup.

I was very happy with the filling and think it will pair perfectly with our beautiful Northwest fruits as they come into season…apricots, pears, peaches, cherries…so  many wonderful things to choose from.

I had a little extra filling and baked it in small dishes I use for crème brûlée.  It was delicious without the crust too.

You're reading Rhubarb Cream Tarts by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

 I need a little sweet treat to take to an elderly friend this weekend and my cookie jar is empty.  I love having  rolls of ice box cookie dough in the freezer that I can bring out in an emergency such as this.  Ice box cookies are one of my favorite old fashioned cookies and I have shared recipes for them with you in the past.

Cranberry Pistachio Ice Box Cookies

Date Pinwheel Ice Box Cookies

Lemon Pecan Ice Box Cookies

 We had hazelnut (filberts to us Oregonians) on our farm when I was growing up and I can picture myself sitting on the floor in my grandmother’s kitchen with a cutting board and a hammer, busily cracking hazelnuts for whatever she was baking.   This shortbread recipe is handwritten on a  card in my mother’s files.  I know it has been there for years and I don’t have a clue where she got it, but it was one of her favorites and it’s a favorite of mine as well.

The dough goes together in a minute.  It is so good that I urge you to double the recipe so you will have it ready for the next time you want a super delicious batch of homemade cookies.  It isn’t necessary to dip the baked slices in chocolate, but I want them to be a special treat for my friend.

This post is linked to FOODIE FRIDAY at Rattlebridge Farm.  

You're reading Hazelnut Shortbread Ice Box Cookies by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

After a spring of more than average rainfall and warming temperatures the farmers’ market is bursting at the seams with fresh flowers and beautiful fruits and vegetables.  I have written regular posts during market season about my farmers’ market since I started my blog five years ago.   I was a vendor here at the BEAVERTON FARMERS’ MARKET for twelve years and sold roasted nuts, granola and trail mixes.  I retired  at the end of the season last year and now have the chance to visit the market as a customer instead of a vendor.  I enjoy it but still feel very strange being on the other side of the table.  I was part of the market family for a long time and am so happy I can go back and visit whenever I want to.  I will be writing my usual posts about the market this season as a customer instead of a vendor, and I hope you will visit often to find out what’s in season and what is going on at one of the largest, best agricultural-only farmers’ market in the country.

The fresh cut FLOWERS are spectacular this time of year.

A freshly squeezed glass of LEMONADE is a great way to start a shopping day.

If there are STRAWBERRIES…

 RHUBARB can’t be far away.

PACIFIC PIE CO. was featured on Unique Eats on the Cooking Channel recently.
They raved about their wonderful savory hand pies.
Sunday Lamb Roast is my favorite.

If I need a Parisian sweet treat I can find it here.  Just look at those beautiful macarons.

I’m planting my HERBS this weekend.  Fresh basil at last.

I HOPE YOU SUPPORT THE FARMERS’ MARKETS IN YOUR AREA.
WHEN YOU SHOP LOCALLY YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM AND WHO GROWS IT.

You're reading Market Notes: Springtime at the Farmers’ Market by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

Coq au Vin is probably the most famous of all French chicken dishes, and certainly one of the most delicious, with its rich red wine sauce, tender onion and mushroom garniture, and its browned pieces of chicken with their wonderful flavor. Coq Au Vin, rooster in red wine, is a Burgundian dish, and is considered a French comfort food. The traditional recipe for Coq au Vin did not include chicken, but rather a “Coq,” which is a rooster. Originally recipes called for old barnyard fowl, roosters, and old laying hens. The red wine in the recipe was used not to mask flavor, but to allow the acids to help break down the old meat of the rooster.

Julia Child made Coq au Vin famous in her cookbook, MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING.  She frequently prepared it on her TV cooking show, The French Chef, and it was seen as one of her signature dishes. I debated between making Julia’s recipe and one by Ina Garten.  I decided to go with Ina’s because I love her recipes and the photo in her book, BAREFOOT CONTESSA, BACK TO BASICS,  really caught my eye.  I have eaten Coq au Vin several times in the last month, once at The Captain’s Dinner on the cruise ship, and once in a lovely bistro in Paris and neither meal resembled Ina’s version of this classic recipe.   They were delicious but looked like purple chicken with a few vegetables. Ina said she did a lot of experimentation with disappointing results until one of her TV show producers suggested that she adapt her beef bourguignon recipe to chicken…which is what she did…and the results are just what we expect…DELICIOUS!

The chicken I cooked, despite being simmered in red wine for several hours, didn’t take on that characteristic purple color.  I browned it well before liquid was added to the pot and maybe that helped.  Both Julia and Ina used whole chickens, but I bought whole leg pieces (leg and thigh), bone in, skin on, at Whole Foods.  Both my French meals used this part of the chicken and I think dark meat stands up better to a robust red wine.  Several of the recipes I read during my research suggested that the chicken be removed from the bone when served.   I didn’t think the whole legs were as appetizing as they could be when they were cooked so I took this suggestion which I think made an easier to eat and a more appealing presentation.

The great thing about Coq au Vin is that it is so much better the day after it is cooked (just like beef  bourguignon).  I left the chicken intact until I was ready to reheat it just before serving, removed the skin and bones and let the pieces simmer with the vegetables and gravy until they were hot.  I used 4 large leg/thigh pieces and cut the recipe in half for 4 servings.

Just before I left on my trip I received a beautiful set of wine glasses from WINE ENTHUSIAST, an amazing site that can fulfill all your wine related dreams from a  custom wine cellar to an extensive selection of glassware and accessories. I received a set of red wine glasses from their Fusion Whirl Collection and look forward to serving our great Oregon pinot noirs in style. I live right in the middle of Oregon’s wine country and am enjoying learning about all our wonderful local wines.  Many thanks, Wine Enthusiast!

This post is linked to FOODIE FRIDAY at Rattlebridge Farm

You're reading Coq au Vin by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

 Marché aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt, Paris’s most famous flea market, is a grouping of more than a dozen flea markets – a complex of 2,500 to 3,000 open stalls and shops on the northern fringe of the city.  Les Puces, as it is commonly called, is the largest flea market in the world. 

If you love shopping and could spend hours browsing though shops and stalls filled with every imaginable thing you will love the flea markets in Paris. Visiting the “flea’s” as they are called,  has been on my “must do” list since my first trip to the City of Light but I have always put it off because of their distance from the heart of the city, the sheer size of the markets, worries about not speaking French, fear of getting hopelessly lost, etc.  I knew my son and daughter would enjoy a good treasure hunt so this time I turned to my friend, Mimi, at BONJOUR ROMANCE, to plan our outing.  Mimi has a company, PARIS TRAVEL GROUP – PARISIAN BLOGGER GETAWAYS,  that will  plan your own personalized tour of whatever your interests are:  flea markets, cooking classes, neighborhood walks, tours outside the city…whatever you want to see and do.  We arranged a half-day flea market tour that began with Mimi picking us up at 10:00 am at our apartment.  I gave her a list of what we were looking for and she guided us through the maze of shops until each of us found a few treasures to bring home.  She helped us do a little bargaining and, if we had made any large purchases, she would have helped arrange shipping home.  Some of the furniture we saw was so beautiful…and those chandeliers…very tempting.  We had such a good time with Mimi and came away feeling we had a friend we would see whenever we come to Paris.  We were delivered back to our apartment mid-afternoon with a few great buys and memories to last a lifetime.  Thanks, Mimi. 

Beautiful silver flatware ~ This is where I bought my little dessert forks

The flea market is a maze of narrow alleys and streets that goes on forever

I thought about all my dishaholic friends in these shops

If you are looking for a wooden leg…look no farther

Beautiful old maps and prints

The enjoyable French pastime of “window licking”

Hmmmm, I’ll take the one on the right

Crown or tiara?  I can’t decide which would look better with my vintage Chanel dress

This could scare the living daylights out of somebody

Home and garden accessories…thousands of them

The market is filled with beautiful old copper pots and pans.  The old ones are lined with tin…not stainless steel

Good thing this won’t fit into my suitcase

A tour of any good flea market has to end with a skeleton in a box.

If you are planning a trip to Paris and would like help with your itinerary I hope you will contact Mimi at PARIS TRAVEL GROUP.  She will help you make the very most  of your time in one of the world’s great cities.  

This post is linked to OH, THE PLACES I HAVE BEEN at The Tablescaper.

You're reading The Clignancourt Flea Market in Paris by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

My mom was a great baker.  Everyone who knew her said so, and her breads and desserts were eagerly looked forward to at every family gathering.  She had a real sweet tooth…my dad did too…and I can’t remember her ever serving a meal that didn’t have a dessert at the end.   Cookies were a favorite and she had a particular fondness for madeleines, which she made often.   She had a basic recipe that I still use today…it never occurred to me to try another one.

When my children were young I had an ancient set of tin madeleine pans that the cakes always stuck to no matter what I did to them and when they wore out I tossed them and forgot about the recipe that over the years worked its way to the bottom of my recipe file.  Before my recent trip to Paris I asked my daughter what she would like me to bring home for her and to my surprise she said…MADELEINE PANS!  She remembered them from when she was a little girl and wanted to try making them herself.  Well…I couldn’t have been happier with that suggestion because it brought back all kinds of happy memories, and they were easy to pack as well!   The best place to shop for kitchenware in Paris is E. DEHILLERIN.  They carry every possible kitchen tool you could ever want and we knew that was the place to look for pans.  I went back and forth between metal pans with a nonstick surface and silicone molds. The metal pans won out because of their more traditional shape and after making several recipes of madeleines I know I made a great choice.  By the way, I also bought the best crepe pan, one that I have used since my first trip to Paris, that I will be giving away on my blog in the next few weeks.  I hope you will watch for it and enter giveaway.

 Madeleine batter must be handled carefully so it doesn’t deflate and produce a heavy, dry cake. Butter and flour the shells.  I tried using a baking spray to compare results and it didn’t work.  The baked cakes had a crusty surface and a detectable taste that was unpleasant.  Scoop about a tablespoon of chilled batter into the indentations on the buttered, chilled pan and bake until just set and slightly browned around the edges (8-10 minutes depending on the pan size).  I have made the batter with and without baking powder.  Leaving it out produces a little heavier cake, adding it helps creates the hump that develops on the top of the cake.   You will have to experiment with how much batter to use.  One tablespoon, about 1 ounce (25g), fills my pan just right. Don’t try to spread out the dough.  As it bakes it will fill the indentation.

Let the cakes cool for a few minutes in the pan until they are cool enough to handle, then dip the ridged side into the glaze and let dry on a wire rack.  Don’t store them is an air tight bag because the glaze can liquify.  I put them on a plastic wrap covered plate that allows a little air circulation and they stay nice and dry.

 I have always been satisfied with this recipe, but recently I had the opportunity to taste madeleines from several well known patisseries and I would like to find a recipe that produces a lighter, finer textured cake.  There are so many different techniques for making there wonderful little sweets.  Do you have a favorite madeleine recipe that you would share?  I’m going to try chocolate next…yum.

This post is linked to FOODIE FRIDAY at Rattlebridge Farm.
Thank you, Michael Lee, for being the quintessential Hostess with the Mostess.

You're reading Vanilla Bean Madeleines by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

The Viking “Portraits of Southern France” river cruise I recently took was one of the most enjoyable vacation experiences I’ve ever had.  Our plane landed in Marseille and a one and a half hour coach ride took us to Avignon where we boarded our cruise ship. Our eight day cruise took us to Arles, Vivier, Tournon, Vienne, Beaune and Chalon-sur-Soane.  These old cities were built right along the rivers so we were able to easily walk to and explore them.  I have been asked so many questions about this cruise and I have several friends who are taking this same river trip this summer so I thought I would share some of the requested highlights and photos.

Avignon is one of the major cities of Provence and is famous for being the place to which popes fled in the 14th century to get away from the Church’s corruption in Rome.  It is located on the banks of the Rhone River and the Pope’s Palace still stands in the city center.  In Les Halles a group of approximately 40 small family-owned shops sell regional products: cheeses, charcuterie, meat, breads and fish, along with such items as dozens of varieties of tapenades or sea salt perfumed with rose petals.

The market hall was built in the heart of the city at the end of the 19th century.  In the 1970′s shopping malls threatened its existence so new parking facilities were built and the old market demolished and rebuilt. In 2006 the city of Avignon covered the stark market hall façade with a huge and dramatic vegetable garden  designed by the botanist Patrick Blanc, who also created a similar installation at the Musée des Arts Premiers in Paris. We visited many indoor and outdoor food markets on our trip and, if you can believe it, this is the smallest one we explored.  

As you approach the market hall the first thing you will notice is the stunning display of flowers and plants.

Wine, bread and cheese are on everyone’s shopping lists.

What an impressive display of herbs and spices!  I bought an herb blend for fish and a large bottle of herbs de Provence.

This was our first sighting of the large white asparagus that is available for a few weeks in the Spring.

The olive vendor’s booth was one of the most popular spots at the market. Our cruise director (red jacket) was in line to purchase olives for the evening dinner buffet.

The variety of available prepared foods was amazing.  I wanted to try every single item.

It is easy to spend several hours browsing the aisles of a wonderful market like this one.    You can purchase little bits of this and that so you can try foods you aren’t familiar with or have always wants to taste.  Les Halles wasn’t a part of the organized tour but it was easy to walk to on our own.  There are several restaurants inside where you can stop for lunch, or picnic supplies are available to take to the park in the town square.  The market opens early and closes at 1:00 pm.

You're reading Les Halles d’Avignon – A Traditional Food Market in Provence by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!

It’s hard to believe that I have been home from my trip for almost a week.  Slowly, very slowly, I’m returning to Pacific Daylight Time and am now sleeping until 4:00 am instead of 1:30.  I expected to go through this adjustment but I think it gets more difficult as I get older.  Several years ago I came home from France three days before my farmers’  market season opened and I was all ready to go on opening day.  It would be a sad story if I had to do that today.  Travel day was a long one with a 9 hour flight to Washington, D.C. from Paris, followed by a 5 hour flight to Portland.  My flight arrived at PDX at 8:30 pm and by the time I got my luggage and drove the hour home from the airport it was 11:00 when I walked through my front door. 

Our Saturday flight out of Charles de Gaulle airport departed at 12:35 pm so we had a car pick us up at the apartment at 9:30 am.  There was very little traffic so the drive took about 40 minutes.  We immediately got in the line to claim our VAT tax refunds (there were at least 500 people in the line, I swear), then we had to get in line to check our bags (that took forever), and then had to go through security (which took longer than forever). The fun started when the security person wanted to see the two copper pans that were so carefully packed in my suitcase and I had to undo everything to get them out for a show and tell. There was no problem with the pans, but when they saw ten little silver desserts forks that I bought in  the flea market in Paris and said I couldn’t take them through security, honest-to-god I almost started to cry.  After a minute or two of intense discussion the security person motioned for me to put the silver back into my suitcase and move on.  Whew! That was way too much drama for my nerves. It never occurred to me that there would be any problem with those little forks.  I’ll pay more attention next time to what I put into my suitcase.  Everything turned out OK and we eventually got through all the lines, but the whole process took forever and we barely made it to the boarding area in time.  When they say to be there an hour before boarding they mean it!  We thought leaving for the airport 3 hours ahead was enough time…guess not!

If you are wondering why I’m telling you a story about my travel adventure and showing you a picture of  pasta salad it is because when I got home almost at midnight, practically starving to death, I found a sweet note from my daughter, Erin, that welcomed me home and told me that there was a bowl of BLT pasta salad waiting for me in the fridge along with guacamole and chips from our favorite Mexican restaurant and a banana and yogurt.  How completely thoughtful was that!!!!!  My body thought it should be 9:00 in the morning instead of midnight and I was ready for something that tasted like home.  That was the best pasta salad ever and I know you will enjoy it as much as I did.  

My daughter, Erin, is a blogger as well and I hope you will stop by to visit her at Making Memories With Your Kids.  She is quite the baker and is so creative with craft and activity ideas for kids.  She has lots of great ideas for parents and grandparents for summer activities for the family. 

This post is linked to FOODIE FRIDAY at Rattlebridge Farm.

You're reading Ranch BLT Pasta Salad and a Travel Story by Cathy, originally found at Wives with Knives. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Cathy on Facebook or subscribe here!