Love

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Fleur De Sel Caramels

This is a good little dessert or a nice piece of candy when you are craving sweets.  It’s key ingredient is salt.  Salt is very popular today.  I’m not talking about table salt (i.e., the Morton’s kind), but more the designer salts that have been on the market for quite a while, but have only now seemed to pick up in popularity.  You know, salts like sea salt, smoked salts, imported salts.  If you are a unique type of salt these days, chances are you are in some glamorous recipe.  Which brings me to our caramels.  These caramels are made with fleur de sel.  Fleur de sel (“Flower of salt” in French) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans.  Traditional French fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany, most notably in the towns of Guérande, Noirmoutier and Camargue.  Due to its relative scarcity, fleur de sel is one of the more expensive salts.  Fleur de sel is often slightly grey due to the sand collected in the process of harvesting the salt from the pans.  Fleur de sel also contains more mineral complexity than table salt.

Its presence in these caramels makes for a delicious taste, mixing the sweet and buttery taste of the caramels with the salty and savory taste of the fleur de sel.  It’s the right balance that seems to keep people asking for more.  I have them on strict rations here on Glen Road, otherwise we would eat the entire pan in a few hours.  Trust me, they are addictive.

Ingredients:

  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over the sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.

In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat.

Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown.  Don’t stir-just swirl the pan.  Be careful, when the sugar mixture begins to turn brown, it can quickly go from brown to burnt.  Once it turns warm golden brown, immediately take it off the heat.

In the meantime, in a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture.  Be careful as it will bubble up violently.  Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.

Very carefully (remember that it’s hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.

When the caramel is cold, loosen the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the caramel into several 1-2″ lengths and then cut into pieces.  Sprinkle each piece with fleur de sel.  Remember that it’s easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil.

Cut glassine or parchment paper into 4-by-5-inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends. You can also place the slices directly onto a plate or serving platter.  Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels slightly chilled.

We like to serve these caramels on a plate after dinner as a dessert.  If it is a large dinner party, we like to place them out with the other desserts for anyone that wants just a little bite of something sweet.  Most times, however, we just like to make them and eat them when we need a little candy.  Trust me, they don’t usually last too long however you decide to serve them.  Get into the designer salt craze and give these fleur de sel caramels a try.  They are so good, you can’t quit eating them.  Your teeth will be stuck together until the last one is gone…trust us!  Do you have any recipes you can share on Acorns On Glen that contain designer salt in them?

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Friday Dance Party – Workin’ 9 to 5 with Dolly

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for living another week.  We give thanks for making it through another stretch of the journey we call life and for being able to celebrate this fact.  People celebrate in all different sorts of ways.  How do we celebrate another week of living here on Acorns On Glen?  We dance.  Are you alive this Friday?  Did you give thanks for that fact?

Good, now let’s dance.

This was a tough week in terms of work.  We were so busy with projects and deadlines at work that it was hard to enjoy the nice Spring weather that has come our way and the fact that all known Mothers are accounted for and present on Glen Road for their big day this Sunday.  We got our wish this week in terms of the weather being mostly sunny with one day of good rain for our plants and our newly seeded front lawn.  Both Mothers are here in Connecticut for us to enjoy Mother’s Day with them.  So life is good!  When we have crazy work weeks like we had this week, we need to remember to take some time to stop every so often, inhale deeply and look around and give thanks for all that’s around us.  It is so easy to get caught up in work and forget to fully live life in the moment and to be happy for the life that we have.  If you don’t stop every once in a while to look around and give thanks for all of your blessings, you can quickly move into a negative state of mind that is not good for you or anyone around you.  So given that it was a tough work week, we thought we’d dance this week to our favorite ode to working.  Yes, it’s the Dolly classic ‘9 to 5’.  Come on, how can you not dance when you see Dolly perform?  So get out your cowboy boots and turn your computer speakers up.  You’ve made it through another week and it’s time to get your dance on today.  Have a great Mother’s Day weekend from all of here at Acorns On Glen!  How do you stay grounded and positive when work presents a tough week for you? 

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News From The Garden

This is a garden update.  Just a little update on all the planting that we’ve done over the last few months or so, both outside and inside.  First off, the raised bed gardens are doing well.  Above, you can see the rows of seeds that are beginning to pop out of the ground.  From the lower right, the first four rows are the spinach rows that we planted on Thanksgiving 2010.  Two flat leaf rows and two savoy leaf rows.  Next is a row of round radishes, followed by a row of French radishes.  They are the long variety of radish.  Next is a row of arugula and then two rows of lettuce mix.  Starting now through the end of the month, we will continue to plant more seeds and plants into the garden.  Our last planting will be tomato plants given that they need to be put into the ground after the chance of frost has past.

Our tuberous begonias have shown their faces from the bulbs we planted.  ‘Picotee’ is a little less bashful than ‘John Smith’.  Remember him, the tuberous begonia with scent?

Here are the dwarf citrus trees.  They are blooming so let’s hope that this means fruit is on the way.  That is the Calamondin orange on the top and the Meyer Lemon on the bottom.

Flowers are popping out all over the yard.  Here are some shots of our Tulips, our Rhododendron bushes and some Muscari armeniacum.  All so pretty.  We wish they would last longer.

Lots of plants are also showing progress in the garden as well.  Here is a Hosta getting ready to spread its wings and the slow-growing Stewartia pseudocamellia timidly saying hello.

What is most interesting to us is how quickly plants that we’ve put into the ground for only a few weeks are already growing.  Remember the Rhubarb and our princess tree rose ‘Grace Kelly’?  They are already growing and budding.

The best sign that Spring is here is the Weeping Cherry trees that we have here on Glen Road.  When the blooms come out in full force, you know that the winter is most likely over.  Hurray!!  Here is a little glimpse of the blooms.  We should hold our own Cherry Blossom Festival here on Glen Road.

So we hoped you enjoyed our little garden stroll and update.  Things seem to be doing well.  We are back outside now to keep things growing on schedule.  From here on out, there will always be weeding, pruning, snipping, planting and picking to do to keep everything in order.  How is your Spring garden growing?

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Friday Dance Party – Shania Is Here

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for living another week. We give thanks for making it through one more week and for being able to celebrate the fact.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  Are you alive this Friday?  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

Spring is in full force here.  We woke up this morning and watched the beautiful wedding of the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  How wonderful was that?  They were glowing.  After going outside, we were thrilled that today is pushing 70 degrees, with bright sun and no one walking down the street with a coat on.  This is a first for us in quite a long time.  We are in New York City today and everywhere you look, there are blooming tulips, daffodils and other bright-colored blooms.  The trees are budding and you can help but smile.  You have to love it….and if you don’t, you’re out of here.  So with that being said, it is only fitting that we bring in Shania Twain for our dance party to sing one of her first big hits.  I love this song and like this very modern take on a country song.  So turn your speakers up and get your groove going.  This is a fun one.  Go ahead and dance and if you can do it with some bright sunshine beaming onto your shoulders, even better.  Is it a warm and sunny Spring day where you live?   

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When Rhubarb And Strawberries Unite

 This pie always reminds me of Spring.  It is a rhubarb and strawberry pie with a lattice top crust.  Making a pie is always intimidating to me.  It’s the crust.  Either I have a problem rolling it out or I have a problem getting it into the pie pan.  A lot of people tell me they have the same issues, but I keep trying to perfect the art of pie making here on Glen Road.  This pie was a surprise in that for the first time in a long time I didn’t have any issues.  I even put a lattice top on it without making myself nuts.  It must have been the deep breaths and the frequent praying.  The idea of rhubarb and strawberries mixed together in this pie was so perfect for Spring.  I couldn’t wait to get a piece.  We’ve talked about rhubarb and strawberries a lot here on Acorns On Glen.  Spring just seemed the perfect time to mix them together for everyone to enjoy.  Let’s get baking!

 Ingredients:

For crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Up to 10 tablespoons ice water
For filling:
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices of trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled and halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions:

Make crust:  Combine flour, sugar and salt into a food processor.  Using the pulse button, cut in shortening and butter into the flour mixture until coarse meal forms.  Blend in enough ice water (2 tablespoons at a time) to form moist clumps.  Gather dough into a ball; cut in half.  Flatten each half into a disk.  Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour (can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling).

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F.  Combine first 7 ingredients into a large bowl.  Toss gently to blend.

Assemble pie:  Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface into a 13-inch round.  Transfer to a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish.  Trim excess dough, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang.  Place into refrigerator so the crust can continue to chill after being worked with in this step.  Chilled pie dough bakes the best.

Roll out second dough disk on a lightly floured surface into another 13-inch round.  Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips.  Spoon filling into crust.  Arrange 7 dough strips on top of filling, spacing evenly.  Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction on top of filling.  Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust.  Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal.  Crimp edges decoratively.  Brush glaze over crust.  Place pie back into refrigerator so that it can chill again for several minutes.  Chilled pie dough bakes the best.

Transfer pie to baking sheet.  Bake 25 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.   Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 30-35 minutes.  Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

During cooking, it is important to keep an eye on the pie and keep baking until the sauce in the pie gets thick (versus watery in form).  This may mean you will need to cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or a crust cover to prevent it from burning.  Once the sauce is thick, you know the pie is ready to take out of the oven.  The sauce will continue to thicken during the cooling process.  You can eat this pie plain or with a scoop of ice cream on top.  Eating something fresh and in season is the eighth wonder of the world.  This pie is the right pick for Spring.  I hope you like it.  What other Spring recipes are you cooking in your home?

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Easter Bunny Martini

This is a martini recipe to help you celebrate Easter.  It also helps calm your nerves if you are cooking for a large group or if you are around family members that are annoying you.  Don’t let the look of the martini fool you.  While it looks like a creamy chocolate milkshake, there is enough vodka in it to make any Easter (or any day) a good one.  It was made by Jeff the Bartender at Toscana Restaurant in Ridgefield, CT, http://www.toscanaridgefield.com.  If you live in the area, go there for some great Italian food.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  •  1/3 combination of Absolut vodka and Absolut vanilla vodka
  • 1/3 Godiva chocolate liqueur
  • 1/3 dark creme de cacao
  • 1 small chocolate bunny (for garnish)

Directions:

Place ingredients into a martini shaker with ice.  Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.  Using a small knife, make a slice upwards under the ribs of the chocolate bunny.  (Attention animal lovers:  this will not hurt the bunny).  Hook on the rim of the martini glass and drink.

Enjoy your bunny martini and have a Happy Easter…..if you can remember it after drinking this martini.  What holiday themed drinks do you make for your family and friends?

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Friday Dance Party – Fergie Time

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being able to celebrate this fact.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  First off, Happy Earth Day, Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all of you.  We hope this important week in religion and with our planet finds you and your families safe and sound.  So, are you alive this Friday?  Are you and your family safe and sound?  Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

I have been wondering how to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of Kate and William over in England.  Do I send them a blender or a food processor?  You know, a kitchen appliance wrapped up in a big box with a big, blue bow on it is every newly married couple’s dream gift.  Probably not, right?  How about I DVR the wedding and send over a DVD copy of the day to them so they always have it at their fingertips in case they want to watch?  Maybe.   How about Fergie singing ‘London Bridge’ to them in celebration of their wedding and their hometown?  Sounds perfect to me…that’s what I would want.  So here you go Kate and William, a tribute from Fergie.  I hope all of you will shake it to this tune for getting through another week.  I bet that in some back corner of Buckingham Palace, Kate and William are shaking it too.  Are you excited about the upcoming royal wedding? 

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Cardinal Love Is A Battlefield

This is how we woke up this morning.  Through closed windows and with light rain falling, we woke up to the sound of super loud bird noises.  First, it was loud beautiful singing.  Next, shrill one-note warbles.  Then back to loud beautiful singing.  Where we live, you never know what you are going to find when you pull back the curtains to take a peek.  Today it was the sight of two male Cardinals fighting for the love of one female.  I thought the fight looked pretty intense so I crept outside to take some pictures.  I’m sure the Cardinals were also quite amazed at the sight of me running around in the rain in a t-shirt, pajama bottoms and no shoes trying to capture some pictures of their Spring love ritual.  This ritual consisted of the female enjoying front row seats and sitting there watching the mayhem.  All morning, one male would fly at the second male.  There would be an in-air or on-branch fight consisting of a flurry of wings and loud warbles.  Then one or the other male would fly off a few hundred feet away and rest and plot the next attack.  First, meet the female.  The object of their affection:

Here is the first male.  Notice how he is a little larger than the other male.  This helped him because, if I was the fight judge, this guy would have won.

Here’s the second male.  Slightly smaller, but he sure is scrappy.

As we left for work this morning, the fight was still raging.  I started to wonder what would happen to the loser.  Does he finish the summer a bachelor or does he go and find another female to marry?  While I think the larger male will win the love of the female, there was also a little piece of me that was rooting for the smaller guy.  I’ve always had a soft spot for an underdog.  While we don’t know the ultimate winner yet, I did find some interesting reading on Cardinal mating on the internet. 

Here is a piece from http://www.birdhouses101.com:

The early spring is the mating season for Cardinals.  These songbirds are known as “socially monogamous” but there are times when they copulate with the others.  There was even one study which found that nine to 35 percent of Cardinal nestlings came from extra-pair copulations.

The mating season begins with pair formation that includes different physical displays of cardinals.  The males show off to attract a female.  They also do the courtship and mate feeding.  Females choose their mates based on the male’s ornamentation such as the size of his black face mask as well as the color of his plumage and bill.  Studies have found that the ornaments of male and female Cardinals provide information on the bird’s condition.  For instance, females with a big face mask shows that they are good defenders of nests but for males, this means that they are not highly successful in reproduction.

Mate feeding occurs when the male Cardinal picks up a seed, hops near the female and the two touch beaks so the female can take the food.  Mate feeding will go on until the female lays eggs and incubates them.  Normally, pairs of Cardinals stay together throughout the year and may breed for several seasons.  This bird lives an average of one year although there have been records of longer life spans.

Did you know that Cardinals sing their best during the love season?  They sing with great emphasis as evident in the swelling of their throat, spreading of their tail, drooping of wings and leaning from side to side as if performing on stage with much gusto.  They repeat these melodies over and over again resting only for a short time to breathe.

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Who knew we would use words like ‘copulate’ and ‘extra-pair copulation’ here on Acorns On Glen?  All in all, the Cardinal love story was and probably will keep being a great show here on Glen Road.  Nature always proves to be a great theatre if you pay attention to it.  I’m glad we have Cardinals in our backyard and that we took the time to notice them.  What other strange Spring mating rituals are going on in your neck of the woods?