Pocket Mouse

homemade liqueurs

Homemade liqueurs in various stages of aging.

From left to right: white peach, pear, and plum.

Last weekend

Finally, an update on last weekend, which was spent at the lovely L'Auberge Provençale Bed and Breakfast in White Post, Virginia.  The place was amazing, the innkeepers were amazing, and the food was AMAZING. I ate so much.  Seriously, listen to all the things I ate:

Dinner on Friday Night: First they brought out olives and baby radishes with herb butter.  Then bread.  Then the first course, which for me, was Orchard Vanilla Poached Asian Pear with Baby Lettuce, Warm Goat Cheese and a House Red Wine Vinaigrette.  My second course was Provencale Baby Potato Salad with Wisteria Gardens Red Oak Lettuce, Soft Poached Egg, followed by apple sorbet.  My third course was Savory Polenta with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Wild Mushrooms, Garden Vegetables, Black Summer Truffles and Sunny Side Up Quail Egg.  Dessert was an apple souffle.  Then they brought a tray of pastries.  Wow!

Breakfast on Saturday Morning: To start, we had yogurt with honey, fruit, and homemade granola.  Croissants and cheese biscuits.  The entree was an egg, potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes with rosemary.  Dessert was bread pudding in a homemade caramel sauce.

Gourmet Picnic Basket on Saturday: Veggie and cheese sandwich, a tray of cheese, bread, and figs. Two kinds of salad, butternut squash risotto, two desserts, fruit.  It was pouring, so we had the picnic on the floor of our room. 

Breakfast on Sunday Morning:  Yogurt with honey, fruit, and homemade granola.  Croissants and muffins. The entree was a zucchini boat with ratatouille, saffron potatoes, and an onion tartlet topped with an egg.  Dessert was cantaloupe and watermelon in some sort of syrup.

Other wonderful things about L'Auberge Provençale: apple cider and cookies in front of the fire in the cozy main house on a rainy afternoon, exploring the gardens and their tiny little orchard (with quince trees!), the aromatherapy steam shower, food cooked with herbs and vegetables right from their garden and local farmers, the softest sheets in the world.

Some photos from around the inn:

On Sunday, we went to Stribling Orchard in Markham to go apple-picking, which was lots of fun.  Here are some pictures:

After that, we headed home and almost immediately got to work on some homemade roasted applesauce.  Here's the Martha recipe we used:

Roasted Applesauce

Ingredients (we doubled everything):

Makes eight 1/2-cup servings

• 1/4 cup water
• 6 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 3 pounds small assorted apples, such as Gala, McIntosh, or Fuji (about 10)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine water, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
2. Scatter butter pieces over mixture, and top with apples. Roast until apples are very soft, 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Working in batches, pass apple mixture through the medium disk of a food mill and into a bowl. Stir in spices. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Applesauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

And while I'm posting recipes, here's the recipe for the delicious Maple Cupcakes with Maple-Butter Frosting that I took to work yesterday:

Maple Cupcakes

Ingredients:

This makes 18 cupcakes, but I did 24.

2.5 cup(s) all purpose flour
2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
.5 teaspoon(s) salt
.75 teaspoon(s) ground ginger
1 stick(s) unsalted butter, softened
.5 cup(s) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1.25 cup(s) maple syrup
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
.5 cup(s) buttermilk
.5 cup(s) walnuts or pecans, finely chopped

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together using a mixer set on medium speed in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, syrup, and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture by thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Stir in nuts. Fill 18 lined muffin cups and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. Ice with Maple Butter Frosting.

Maple-Butter Frosting:

1 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
3 ounce(s) cream cheese, softened
.667 cup(s) dark-brown sugar
.25 teaspoon(s) salt
.75 cup(s) maple syrup
.75 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 cup(s) confectioners' sugar Directions: Beat the butter, cream cheese, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl with a mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Continue beating, and add the maple syrup and vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Chill for 1 hour before using.  For extra maple flavor, create a dimple in the frosting and fill with maple syrup.

I think I succeeded in doing every Fall-themed thing I wanted to do this month.  I went apple-picking, made my own applesauce, had countless cups of cider, grew a (successful!) pumpkin patch, saw a ghost-y play, played in a corn maze, organized a fall celebration at work with great decorations, planted mums, ate many yummy fall dishes, saw beautiful foliage on the drive home from Virginia, participated in a pumpkin decorating contest at work, watched The Great Pumpkin. I am ready for November, which begins the period of trying to fit in every holiday-themed thing humanly possible.  Hooray!

oops.

(Again, I forget to post a draft.  This is from two weeks ago!  Update from last weekend coming soon.)

- Tried Great Sage, an organic vegetarian restaurant in Clarksville.  I had yummy apple cider, artichoke spinach crostini, Indian vegetable cakes, and a big piece of carrot cake.  I also discovered the little row of shops known as Conscious Corner, which consists of Great Sage, Nest Natural Home, Bark!, and Roots Market. 

- Saw "Watch, A Haunting" at a new little theater on Charles Street called The Strand, followed by crepes at Sofi's (banana, peanut butter, honey, and granola!). 

I'm happy to see that the Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey program is starting again!  Last year, I adopted Juniper.  This year my turkey is...

Faye!

Salad!

As promised, here are some pictures of my very first homegrown meal:

It had dried cranberries, dried cherries, granny smith apples, sliced toffee-flavored almonds, and creamy maple dressing.  Here's the recipe I used for the dressing:

Creamy Maple Dressing

1/4 cup regular or reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl until well combined.  Let stand 15 minutes before using.

Paula Deen, you are an evil woman.

A co-worker brought this in today:

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding 
(Recipe courtesy Paula Deen)

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.  In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

white chocolate cocoa

Can anyone recommend a good white chocolate cocoa?  I am going to try the one above, a Belgian white cocoa, from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  It sounds yummy, but it's the only one I can find and I'd like to try other kinds too.  I've had Vosges' Bianca Couture Cocoa; it's very good but a bit too lemony for me. There are some recipes online, including this one from the Food Network, but I'm lazy.

Also, completely unrelated, but this picture of a walrus (?) smooching a beluga whale on Cute Overload is adorable.  I want to hug that beluga guy.

summer skies

I didn't know that Moon & Stars Watermelon existed...but it's beautiful, like constellations.

Violet Jelly

I've wanted to make this ever since Marie posted it as a Sampler how-to a long time ago, but I still haven't done it yet.  The recipe is from Prairieland Herbs.  It looks beautiful and it would be a great Spring-y activity.  Prairieland Herbs also has a recipe for Dandelion Jelly as well as some other yummy-sounding recipes like Lavender Rhubarb Lemonade and Tangerine Rosemary Marmalade.

I'm really interested in learning more about cooking and baking with wild foods like flowers, roots and leaves.  We carry a book called Wild Foods For Every Table (published by The Essential Herbal) in the Sleepy Records shop and I had to buy one for myself because everything sounds so yummy.  I'm eager to try out those recipes and the Prairieland ones too.