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Julia Child Lives

Julia Child Lives

Just a note to say that I made a Julia Child recipe for dinner, accompanied by the sides she recommended. A ragout of duck in which the sauc...

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18.35

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

This is my present. Miriam and Alice picked it out for me on a visit to the Smithsonian. I bet they are cooking something for Evelyn this mo...

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04.42

In this week's New York Times travel section is a very wonderful article about the Cathars and the area where they lived in southern France. A number of years ago we visited this area, and I remember the mysterious and beautiful narrow winding roads in the rugged mountains.<br /><br />The author writes about the food of these medieval heretics:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">The historian René Weis records how two Cathar sages called the Authié brothers had a fondness for exotic spices, as well as fish terrines, local cheeses, honeys and “good wine.” One of their hosts, concealing the brothers in his home from the Inquisition, set up to hunt down and purge the remaining Cathars, went forth “in search of a better and more renowned wine than the one he kept in his own residence,” at considerable personal risk.</blockquote>See the entire article here:<br />       <div class="storyHeader"> <h1><a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/travel/09Languedoc.html?ref=travel"> The Besieged and the Beautiful in Languedoc</a></h1> <h6 class="byline"> By TONY PERROTTET                                 </h6> </div> <div class="ledePhoto"> <div class="image"> <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/travel/09Languedoc.html?ref=travel"><img alt="The Châteaux de Lastours, where Cathars fought a church attempt in  the 13th century to  destroy them for heresy." border="0" height="250" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/09/travel/09Languedoc_span-CA0/09Languedoc_CA0-sfSpan.jpg" width="395" /></a> </div> <h6 class="credit">The Châteaux de Lastours, where Cathars fought a  church attempt in the 13th century to  destroy them for heresy.</h6>  </div>

Fascinating Languedoc

In this week's New York Times travel section is a very wonderful article about the Cathars and the area where they lived in southern Fra...

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13.48

I knew by the aroma that it was my mother's blintz recipe

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNE0dYP2E8r6RBjecPRi9ZohE76g9_NN8P5WblNZt-5rQDkuV5tr38bDBt-JKOq3Ih-yXbGhVvN-gmPI0NHOQiZmFgkOk2JNxeYz6BF89vmHTOaeYqI21GaEjOoElqg5CHWFWho59SLI/s1600/mother_blintzes.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468298594698323698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNE0dYP2E8r6RBjecPRi9ZohE76g9_NN8P5WblNZt-5rQDkuV5tr38bDBt-JKOq3Ih-yXbGhVvN-gmPI0NHOQiZmFgkOk2JNxeYz6BF89vmHTOaeYqI21GaEjOoElqg5CHWFWho59SLI/s400/mother_blintzes.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" /></a>I knew by the floury, eggy smell when I whisked the crepe batter that this was really my mother's blintz recipe that I was making. The smooth, bland and very thin mixture was made from just water, flour, and an egg -- as called for in the recipe that you can see at left, in my mother's handwriting. (Click on the picture to see a larger image.)<br /><br />I've had this recipe for many years, but for some reason, I have never tried making blintzes until today; I've watched my sister do it (pictures here: <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2008/12/blintzes.html">Blintzes</a>), but never have made them on my own.<br /><br />On Tuesday, a friend invited me to watch as another friend of hers made a large batch of blintzes in anticipation of the Jewish holiday Shevouth, which is in a couple of weeks. (They planned to freeze the blintzes until that date.) The recipe was different in several ways from my mother's recipe, as the friend uses a French crepe recipe with milk in the batter. When I finished watching (and helping a bit to make the crepes), I decided that I finally had to do it.<br /><br />Today I started at the grocery store, where I was able to buy the only difficult-to-find ingredient: Farmer's Cheese, which is a sort of dry cottage cheese. The other ingredients are mainly pantry/refrigerator staples: flour, eggs, oil, sugar, cream cheese, sour cream.<br /><br />My mother had no electric appliances such as food processors or blenders, so she beat the batter with an egg beater and blended the filling with a wooden spoon. I preserved this tradition, making the batter with a wire whisk, and making the filling with a wooden spoon.<br /><br />My ingredients:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeA6bepLySDaBNhi2Hm7pJFEjVIM7sp_aVXbbZIAA4Pbwh8OQsQeSkDXQ6R33Rr8twFpf_9shYeRG0JRMPBFJMleZCgE6UsAEtkSFbfGurtNBg1-QAH_81TNwwWrCdkOjXE3HU2LX14/s1600/blintzes_mothers1952.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468298264277905538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNeA6bepLySDaBNhi2Hm7pJFEjVIM7sp_aVXbbZIAA4Pbwh8OQsQeSkDXQ6R33Rr8twFpf_9shYeRG0JRMPBFJMleZCgE6UsAEtkSFbfGurtNBg1-QAH_81TNwwWrCdkOjXE3HU2LX14/s400/blintzes_mothers1952.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br />My mother used Crisco for greasing the pan, which in her case was a small, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. I admit that I used a no-stick frying pan greased with a bit of butter to make the crepes. My mother called these very thin skins <span style="font-style: italic;">bletlech</span>, their Yiddish name, which I guess means little leaves. I tried to make thin ones by tilting the pan as I poured in the batter. I think my mother and sister could make them thinner -- I need practice. Usually, you only cook one side, because you fry them again after filling them and folding them "like envelopes" -- says my mother's recipe.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAZZd8ob_GZjhKkD4dleLWl3wDckTWHhs4VgZq-adIjjzzzUe1wnD2i6ZxtWsJ7sYRx-fM4fUMZTlR8ivcyblz83-NtSH8GQO0gDlBWDZAjgUe1MR6poDJrs_zUr7c05J9ZYe0jFxrpE/s1600/blintzes_mothers1950.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468303934817091490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAZZd8ob_GZjhKkD4dleLWl3wDckTWHhs4VgZq-adIjjzzzUe1wnD2i6ZxtWsJ7sYRx-fM4fUMZTlR8ivcyblz83-NtSH8GQO0gDlBWDZAjgUe1MR6poDJrs_zUr7c05J9ZYe0jFxrpE/s400/blintzes_mothers1950.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Here are my <span style="font-style: italic;">bletlech</span>, with a blob of filling, ready to fold:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtrKxQGo_Ukq_ea1nKWXyv0e42Z_B3r4VQoIUiF9hdMDNYf3T_fmogBUJaoFXIAxfJwnJfOfkXBiDzE3snysknvjH0FIGQHGETO92TNY37zToN49n0OcjOO3YUBUM9dg200aShlwQeyA/s1600/blintzes_mothers1953.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468298257841433218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtrKxQGo_Ukq_ea1nKWXyv0e42Z_B3r4VQoIUiF9hdMDNYf3T_fmogBUJaoFXIAxfJwnJfOfkXBiDzE3snysknvjH0FIGQHGETO92TNY37zToN49n0OcjOO3YUBUM9dg200aShlwQeyA/s400/blintzes_mothers1953.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Here are the finished blintzes, after I fried them in more butter:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I1n5ShPfhCvSHxVTUTSyCdFh3AwJks10i7vN2Wb_47pcwscRCXWVGCLzYAilYx0Izy_APo1ME-nE1V8VQaoJG6-FvVTAvxA9deqtU2mePA3UrAfqZ2pNQreQgV1TSzJlmWg3PnkJQVs/s1600/blintzes_mothers1955.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468298246221535442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3I1n5ShPfhCvSHxVTUTSyCdFh3AwJks10i7vN2Wb_47pcwscRCXWVGCLzYAilYx0Izy_APo1ME-nE1V8VQaoJG6-FvVTAvxA9deqtU2mePA3UrAfqZ2pNQreQgV1TSzJlmWg3PnkJQVs/s400/blintzes_mothers1955.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8KYkRqseKA8QZe2yyBw4NbR3QEY2Ziai7HuJAVfCWqci_9ZKVBw8RdPWYbnMlQyIB6P8M2Z9SGfGibxUllJIQgS1A08B2L0BVnNnr8YleYO_2lkL4g2JfaljC2mruyj89Gvs_XCZAIo/s1600/blintzes_mothers1958.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468298236999939170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8KYkRqseKA8QZe2yyBw4NbR3QEY2Ziai7HuJAVfCWqci_9ZKVBw8RdPWYbnMlQyIB6P8M2Z9SGfGibxUllJIQgS1A08B2L0BVnNnr8YleYO_2lkL4g2JfaljC2mruyj89Gvs_XCZAIo/s400/blintzes_mothers1958.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Look good?

I knew by the aroma that it was my mother's blintz recipe

I knew by the floury, eggy smell when I whisked the crepe batter that this was really my mother's blintz recipe that I was making. The s...

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16.41

Garden Radishes

Radishes came up in Miriam and Alice's garden and grew into delicious readiness without anyone doing anything this year. Did they reseed themselves? Overwinter? No one knows. The girls harvested them for lunch on Saturday. They were delicious.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6etDdTG-uCDbz3xv8nYJ8f4-gsN291jv2VYf8vVjPkabt156G66WRjIy5mtPFI5Tp33pJJdZfeUUdiqlkr84Fezxmx35tWyHRLOfNQa9pLHWwuYtU1dwoUEDYLPWbbXYvGYVP2IfA98o/s1600/radish1895.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467211239342480530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6etDdTG-uCDbz3xv8nYJ8f4-gsN291jv2VYf8vVjPkabt156G66WRjIy5mtPFI5Tp33pJJdZfeUUdiqlkr84Fezxmx35tWyHRLOfNQa9pLHWwuYtU1dwoUEDYLPWbbXYvGYVP2IfA98o/s400/radish1895.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 332px;" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACHVqb5E1AsZcCihmEOmNN7MMFiD8DqAWXzr3jLTmXJcomyqgWjxYayglDZTrv7TylZbYyzlz0gxKYBCu4rxLei54W1Ixndl1zwiUnygHqCe4A-MTyShXtbKZtlAiMbEp_z2SlnJ7uYQ/s1600/radish1898.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467211230281509186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACHVqb5E1AsZcCihmEOmNN7MMFiD8DqAWXzr3jLTmXJcomyqgWjxYayglDZTrv7TylZbYyzlz0gxKYBCu4rxLei54W1Ixndl1zwiUnygHqCe4A-MTyShXtbKZtlAiMbEp_z2SlnJ7uYQ/s400/radish1898.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 366px; height: 400px;" /></a>

Garden Radishes

Radishes came up in Miriam and Alice's garden and grew into delicious readiness without anyone doing anything this year. Did they reseed...

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17.52

Dinner at The Wine House

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYxkNmFxuljN51Se2cDRKZp1NH7pAMurC8jdg686FVI74KCvrckf53RUuzUSaFVt87C4hNZ8zg8XggqYswqiX5PX72tbZp2eIfh2tgPu8vB_F_Ph_IRMCm566ZkYUA7mKk-Pw7DOXAOI/s1600/winehouse1884.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467209325189723154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYxkNmFxuljN51Se2cDRKZp1NH7pAMurC8jdg686FVI74KCvrckf53RUuzUSaFVt87C4hNZ8zg8XggqYswqiX5PX72tbZp2eIfh2tgPu8vB_F_Ph_IRMCm566ZkYUA7mKk-Pw7DOXAOI/s400/winehouse1884.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Last Friday we decided to go to dinner in downtown Fairfax. Here's Alice putting her car seat in our new car, and then Alice and Miriam in the back seat.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXi1X6hJys3ki_ijGFzJaoj9Iu2NJz9KvpSpAytJLpCDUisvLt5Jr2oNnp8WD_odRR3K5HDQ1CriepOwypf5v1BfQaqEyEicpE4Y9yhdmnP_983lTD6JGcG0i77_F7G5mmoBU-J1EhKk/s1600/winehouse1886.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467209320633617282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXi1X6hJys3ki_ijGFzJaoj9Iu2NJz9KvpSpAytJLpCDUisvLt5Jr2oNnp8WD_odRR3K5HDQ1CriepOwypf5v1BfQaqEyEicpE4Y9yhdmnP_983lTD6JGcG0i77_F7G5mmoBU-J1EhKk/s400/winehouse1886.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>The Wine House is in a courtyard in a beautifully designed modern building. Several other restaurants offer seating there as well -- and children play while their parents are finishing up. Here's Alice just as we sat down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrNX9p6qUjy9cmOJ2qvykAq4_L_OikMK57UusLo2Vk6mhco4HvVqHMLoUAx2vFSEgQ4K-bjFLyX0AewBm-Uob6kPK3HM5I6fUfRgECwtkoraCf2JdeF7YW-TrJRofx6S1fhnj8iGcH74/s1600/winehouse1887.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467209312393540082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrNX9p6qUjy9cmOJ2qvykAq4_L_OikMK57UusLo2Vk6mhco4HvVqHMLoUAx2vFSEgQ4K-bjFLyX0AewBm-Uob6kPK3HM5I6fUfRgECwtkoraCf2JdeF7YW-TrJRofx6S1fhnj8iGcH74/s400/winehouse1887.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>And Miriam:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiDHAHJq2dpbolB6KgvT5kbt1bhW7S6KhIZNziiprX6jGqqAaihXZAF9w9I8KAW_W03AoBIM1brCb7ntF_HFUJ_1-vIiGLtj3aoMqOMLa9DWFhRFSY8icGja5GOZkh9h6XFg5ZyoL_04/s1600/winehouse1890.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467209304771529410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiDHAHJq2dpbolB6KgvT5kbt1bhW7S6KhIZNziiprX6jGqqAaihXZAF9w9I8KAW_W03AoBIM1brCb7ntF_HFUJ_1-vIiGLtj3aoMqOMLa9DWFhRFSY8icGja5GOZkh9h6XFg5ZyoL_04/s400/winehouse1890.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4SfhxTYrcI-wTvS2LSSLupp99w4S6DUwU3ofPp6YPU6p5Kwpi4e5NzWD32BHW0GXyUMnYC0sK8qnFb7I75QBfUBJhVqgBRMp5cBu2RoYPM7l32o9QphAkzWEMCJPHitWQv6YJcM7SxY/s1600/winehouse1891.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467209302299515378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4SfhxTYrcI-wTvS2LSSLupp99w4S6DUwU3ofPp6YPU6p5Kwpi4e5NzWD32BHW0GXyUMnYC0sK8qnFb7I75QBfUBJhVqgBRMp5cBu2RoYPM7l32o9QphAkzWEMCJPHitWQv6YJcM7SxY/s400/winehouse1891.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>We ordered a variety of items from the menu. I enjoyed the small plate of duck breast with arugula and lentil salad. We had several plates of bread with tapenade (a nice version with dried tomatoes as well as the traditional olives) and cream cheese and also crackers and various hard cheeses. The wine and atmosphere were very pleasant.