Take Out the Pans

When I'm feeling a little blue, as I am today, I pull out the pans and make something to eat.  In this case, there is plenty of inspiration:

a) It's almost Christmas
b) I have two new cookbooks
c) I have at least two grateful recipients

Duchess is a fabulous French bakery in Edmonton.  If you are ever in the area, a visit is highly recommended.  The Paris Brest and the Lemon Tart are personal favourites.  Anyway, this fall, they put out a cookbook which I purchased ten days ago after we drove T. our boy to the airport where he flew back to Chicago in time for his rotation in infectious diseases.  (This is called a run on sentence I think but it matches my état d'âme so on and on I go).

Baking is not my favourite kind of cooking but beautiful cookbooks make me want to pull out my mom's wedding gift mixing bowls and my mother-in-law's vintage loaf pans.  And so I did.

My boys love banana bread so I made two small Hummingbird loaves which will be adorned with cream cheese icing tomorrow.

While waiting for the loaves to bake, I took out my new aquisition.  It is a special desserts cookbook written by the contesse of the Château Vaux le Vicomte.  A couple of years ago, my friend Rose showed me her copy and I didn't so much fall for the recipes as I did the setting where the photos of decadent desserts were styled and shot.  I found it on Abe Books for a song (less than 10$ US shipped, it's original price 45$). 

I admire the pluck of the Countess for putting out this book.  She makes me think that I can do it too...

But first, I'll try her Dulce de leche recipe which is laughably easy.  Open a can of condensed milk, put it in a bain marie and heat it on low for three hours until the milk turns caramel in color. Then eat it by the silver spoonful.

I will never make candied croissants but I love how this picture looks.  The sparkle of the crystal is set off by the buttery puffiness of the croissant.

There, that made me feel better.

Love,

Stella