Tales From The Labyrinth

Gingerbread Houses

One of my favorite holiday traditions
is to make gingerbread houses...

Owner-Chef Duskie   Estes, of Zazu and Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County, along with her two girls, puts on three consecutive Sundays of wonderful gingerbread making afternoons at the Bovolo restaurant in Healdsburg, CA. We went yesterday and there are two more Sundays (Dec 9 & 16) of house making coming up if you want to make a reservation!

I took my two faerie-god-daughters and their mom and my friend Lynnette (who changed out of her garden designing duds) to spend the afternoon in frosting, every candy imaginable, all shapes and sizes of cereal and cookies, cinnamon sticks, and hot cider (mochas for us "older-kids") and hot-delicious, slices of Bovolo's famous pizza...

At the end of our time together...
we had four houses to bring home to our homes,
bringing cheer to the long nights ahead!!!

Here is a link I found on line with instructions for making your own gingerbread house!
But one of the great things about joining Duskie and her girls is that she has everything all ready for you!!! And... it is a time of coming together as a community of kids and grownups and sharing inspiration and ideas and a whole lot of fun...

Gingerbread House Recipe

Le Competition

Are you ready for a feast???

In the spirit of friendship inspired by Writers Island this week, I thought I would tell you all about the grand competition that took place while I was visiting with my friend Corey in the South of France...

Along with being an amazing cook and master of setting a table and home with beauty... one of Corey's gifts is of the art of matchmaking...

With vintage paper, Corey created place names for each of us, giving us an air of mystery...

Attending le competition was... Madame House, Monsieur Land, Madame Macaroon, Madame Velvet, Monsieur Chair, Monsieur Beau, Mademoiselle Belle de Noir, and... 

yours truly... Madame Pathway...

The table was set...

and the guests arrived!

Here we have lovely Mélanie and her beautiful mother...

And we started the evening
with one of the best guacamoles I've ever had!!!!

This was made by Mélanie's mother, and I have to say that I consider myself a connoisseur of guacamole, having grown up in California... and this one was sooooooo yummy, and quite a surprise to taste in France!!!

Just look at what occurred in not much time at all!!!

Then it was my turn... I was delighted to serve the Amusé Bouche... I made grapes stuffed with blue-cheese, toasted walnuts, then drizzled with honey from the region and a sprinkle of thyme from the garden and served in antique silver soup spoons...

followed by cucumber soup
in these lovely antique demitasse cups...

Wine flowed from the hand of Monsieur Beau...

and Monsieur Land served up his feast of mussels...

and the mandalas of feasting began...

salmon and shrimp by Madame Macaroon...

Simmered tomatoes
and red peppers by Mademoiselle Belle de Noir...

a lovely grain dish by Madame Velvet...

all together on one plate...

and more wine and conversations flowed...

Then Madame House served her cheese course... cheese stuffed with garlic then baked, sauteed mushrooms, and sorrel lightly dressed in oil, vinegar, and herbs of Provence...

And then... last but not least...
the famous cheesecake of Madame Macaroon...

and you ask... what was the competition for??? Why to win the hand of Monsieur Beau and a trip to Turkey the following morning!!! But wait, most of us are married... and... I think we all won??? And as far as I know... Monsieur Beau took off with suitcase in hand... little did he know that we were all stowed inside... and he wondered why that suitcase was sooooooo heavy...

Oh this magical evening will forever sing a song in my heart of friends gathered together, laughing, feasting, and sharing the beauty of friendship...

Summer Tomatoes

This is for my Massachusetts dear friend, Jane of Joy of Voice. Jane, you asked for one of my favorite hot summer dishes and this is one of them!

I LOVE summer tomatoes...

There is NOTHING like vine ripened summer tomatoes... I eat cherry tomatoes like candy... and these big ones... I put them in everything...

It's one of those dishes where there are no proportions, I make this like I paint, pulling together whatever is on hand... tasting as I go, just using intuition and what I like...

Summer Tomatoes

Ripe tomatoes, diced, or sliced
Mozzarella cheese packed in water (chop into small pieces)
Fresh Basil (chopped or torn)
Olive oil (I used Meyer Lemon Olive Oil)
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

and don't forget the sweet red onion!!!

Mix the chopped tomatoes, cheese, onion, and basil leaves together...

Drizzle with olive oil, stir... sprinkle in sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste,stir... and place in a beautiful dish to serve...

Enjoy as a summer side dish with large chunks of crusty french bread for dipping into the juices, to which you can also add some balsamic vinegar... yum... or you can top a large green salad with these tomatoes...

or as a main course by adding hot pasta! This melts the cheese as you stir it all together... it is so yummy, melting in your mouth with bursts of flavor and texture... we had this last tonight for dinner!!! Serve the pasta with a large green salad and your favorite red wine (Murphy-Goode is always a good choice!!!) or a tall glass of your favorite iced sun-tea and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!

A little bit about my favorite sea salt. This was first given to me by my dear Kimberly Saward, Californian turned Brit... It comes from Malden near where Kimberly lives in England (you can find this in specialty stores) and it is my favorite salt to cook with...

Not only can I taste the difference in the flavor of the salt... but I believe the crystal configuration is really important to cooking and my health... and beautiful...

Aren't these crystals amazing and beautiful!!!! For like my painting and art-making, cooking to me is all about exchanges of energy and putting combinations together that are beautiful to you... that way... you feed the aesthetic palate as well as creating nourishment for body and soul...

Cobbler

This is my favorite summer desert...

The recipe is actually known as "Mrs. Murphy's Peach Cobbler..." given to me by a very special woman of my heart many years and life times ago...

You can use any summer fruit (or in a combination of your liking), such as peaches, pears, plums, apricots, or any berry, like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries... or apples in the summer or winter!

These proportions fill a 9 x 9 inch baking pan...

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Fruit of your choice (enough slices to fill your baking pan)
1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
6 tablespoons of melted butter (and a little extra butter to rub over the bottom of your baking pan)

Rub the bottom and sides of your baking dish with a little soft butter...
Slice enough fruit to fill your baking pan. I used six medium size pears.

In a separate bowl, whisk your egg and add the flour, sugar, and salt... hand or spoon mix into a very loose crumble... sprinkle over the fruit mixture...

Then drizzle the melted butter as evenly as possible over the crumble mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the top is bubbling and has begun to turn a crisp brown...

You can serve your cobbler all by itself... or with a dollop of french vanilla ice cream, or mascarpone, or even whipped cream... Other variations are to add a little nutmeg to the fruit or crumble, you can cut back on the sugar, or exchange half of the flour with oatmeal. I always come back though... to this pure essence of the recipe and it never, ever fails me... yum... Enjoy!