construction

so thats not really what it looks like.  its not even the actual location.  but our (second not so) little bake shop is under construction.  coming at you in the next few months.  first of may.  (we can call it first of june.)

pot of sunshine

meyer lemon marmalade.  meyer lemons, sugar, and a few vanilla beans.  bright, happy, warm tasting, and delicious.  portable sunshine.  portable love.

secret santa

what happens when the staff drinks too much swiss miss spiked with peppermint schnapps and is faced with glitter pens, stockings, and pipe cleaners?  glitter glue everywhere.  thats what.

happy new year.

orphan tart

all my little ducks in a row, actually layered into a tart.  leftover croissant dough, armagnac soaked pruned cooked with cream, seckel pears, lemon zest, and almonds.  odds and ends from the fridge and counter.  the end to a big, long meal that was on christmas but was not for christmas.

also

there were roosters and chickens everywhere.

from the deck

this is what we could see just before sunset.  moorea is beautiful at all times of the day.

i miss being outside all day and not being cold.  i miss the quiet and the sound of the ocean.

i know i could never live land-locked, but i am quite certain i would be happy living water-locked.  i just need to find the right island…

i need more cabinet space

crab apple jelly, tea series: lavender white tea, oolong, gyokuro, and ceylon.  i tell you what.  a case of fruit makes a metric ton of jelly.

i may also have made a bosc pear jam with lavender and vanilla beans and a small batch of cranberry jelly the day after.  and its not even citrus season yet.

two words

kouign.  amann.

this could be a dangerous slippery slope of butter, sugar, and flour that has been sleeping in the back of my head for a long time.  probably not dangerous to me, just to the people around me.  iterative baking is one of my habits.

but first. i have to deal with a case of crab apples.

nickel city iron chef

i am not a competitive type.  you know this.  if you dont, you should.  that being said, E asked me to come in the spring (yes.  last spring.  im running behind.  leave me alone.) to b-lo to be her sous in the local pastry iron chef competition.  three courses, three judges, one ingredient.  of course i said yes.  because i love her.  so off i shuffled.

the mystery ingredient would be either strawberries or brown sugar.  we banked on the fact that local strawberries at that time of year would be awful and planned for brown sugar with a moderate backup plan for strawberries.  it was kind of surprising how long it took us to nail down a menu.  (i love brown sugar but it isnt exactly a shining star, especially for three dessert courses that in the end broke down into seven sugar containing components.)  also, we spent a good amount of time making fun of recipes because let me just tell you, the interwebs can be a scaryscary place when you are looking for recipes/ ideas.  also, we may or may not have spent a good amount of time making fun of the competition because we are assholes.  whatever.

i arrived just before midnight on friday, helped prep at the restaurant (did i mention E and her husband have a restaurant?) saturday, we did a run through after service that evening, prepped for brunch sunday morning and then off to the competition.

this is what we made and i would have taken a picture but i was too busy doing a shot of bourbon or two when we finished because it was a long sleepless (but fun!) weekend.

brown sugar waffles, brown sugar bacon fat icream, bourbon-ed local sour cherries

brown sugar pot de creme, brown sugar orange glazed madeleine

‘carnival plate’: brown sugar churros with aleppo chocolate dipping sauce, caramel popcorn peanut balls, caramel apple dipped in marcona almonds

im not telling you what the other guy made because it was a train wreck and honestly i dont remember the details.

o.  and yes.  we won.

View high resolution

i cant seem to stop making jam.  this was one of the first this fall.  sour plum with vanilla bean.  it remains one of my favourite.  others have followed: spiced pear, concord grape, white peach, yellow peach, crabby thyme, and crabby ginger.