Cherry Thumbprint Cookies - Not a Drive By

These cookies are colourful and easy to make. Of course you can use whatever jam you like. I have tried it with apricot and raspberry and it is all good.

Recipe: Cream one cup of butter w/ 1/2 cup of sugar. Add a teaspoon of vanilla and two egg yolks. Then add 2 cups of flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Roll the dough in to walnut sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for a few minutes. Take out the cookie sheet and make an indentation with a tiny spoon - or your thumb - and put a dollop of jam in the center. Then continue to bake until done. They are absolutely delicious!

French Country Crepes

This morning for breakfast I made some crepes. They were better than usual because I made them with rich fresh organic raw milk courtesy of Misty Brook Farm out in Barre. I had to add a little extra water because the batter was so thick. We had them with lemon and sugar and for the second round (I doubled the recipe)we melted some chocolate and spread it on. If you have some fresh fruit around you can cut it up, sprinkle on the sugar and dab with butter. Roll or fold them up and enjoy! They are wholesome and filling. I used to buy them from kiosks in the south of France and where I grew up in Ouchy we had a Creperie down by the Lake where you could get crepes of every variety you could imagine.Yummmmmmmmmmm....

Basic Crepe Recipe

1 cup of flour
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of water
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Mix together by hand or in blender. You can make them in a regular frying pan but if you are going to make them regularly you will find a crepe pan a good investment. Always melt some butter and swirl it around to coat the pan before adding the batter.

Barnyard casualty

The chickens were all huddled in their hutch this morning. The snow is still falling and the wind has picked up. I threw morning hay over the gate for the horses and goaties and Bob of course ( our only rescue sheep ) and suddenly saw our beloved resident rooster - Hawkeye - flat on his back with feet splayed. I heard him crowing all night so I think that he was either kicked or headbutted when the hay came out this morning. As I ran to pick him up he suprised me by righting himself and shaking out a few feathers. He looked pretty confused though and I lifted him over the gate and put him under the hutch with the others. Now we will just have to see...

No eggs, no worries, nothing wrong with shortbread!

Had to have something sweet. But my chickens are not cooperating. I made crepes for breakfast and now I only have one egg left. Then I remembered that shortbread doesn't require eggs! The most important ingredient in a good shortbread is butter. If you use good fresh butter, you will have the best shortbread money can buy.

Cream 1 1/2 sticks of butter with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup cornstarch. Bake until golden. Cut while still hot. About 10 minutes prep and 20 min in a convection oven and there you have it.

The sky is heavy with snow today and it brings back memories of Gstaad in the '60's when there were so many feet of snow that we couldn't open the french doors of our Chalet. My mother and father had rented a half a chalet called Les Trois Ours above the Palace Hotel. The half chalet was so large that we had invited friends from Toronto to join us for the holidays. It comfortably slept 2 families of 4. My mother would trapse down to the village twice a day to pick up warm croissants and pastries. We hiked to the the Wispile and back every day with our skis over our shoulders. Life could not have been more magical. For my birthday we would eat at the Cave at the Olden. Fondue, Raclette w/Grapillon. Does anyone remember Grapillon (the Swiss non-alcoholic grape juice) or know if it is still available?

A world away here in Carlisle my children and I will be having raclette for dinner tonight. It won't taste exactly the same however because Whole Foods carries a variety of the French raclette. It is made with raw milk and although I like the idea of that it doesn't taste quite as robust as the Swiss pasteurized version to me. We have one of the modern raclette machines which are available all over the place now but there is no need to have a machine. You can easily make it in the oven (or believe it or not in the microwave). The old machines are still available and for large parties are alot of fun. I am all for progress but there is nothing like doing things the old fashioned way and I think it important to note after all that the verb racler = to scrape, in french, is what is responsible for the name of the meal!