We woke up to a mantle of white and a balmy 24 degrees. It was too slippery for Cindy to run so we took a bit of a walk and when we were cold enough, came back for a warm breakfast. Most of the morning we just played catch-up with things we were supposed to talk about but never had the time. Mostly we laid out plans for various options regarding Cindy’s February vacation. She has to be in San Francisco from the 9th to the 13th and is scheduled to return on the 14th. Her vacation starts on the 19th, but AAS policy is that you can’t take any personal days before or after a vacation so she has to come all the way back to Moscow. We had hoped to be able to stay in the USA for the vacation but it looks like we’ll now go somewhere warm in Europe. I tried to convince here that we should go to Bahrain for the vacation since it will be warm, but she just won’t listen. (Yeah, right – how I miss Bahrain!)
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| Potato Pancake with Salmon and Cranberries |
Yesterday I spent a lot of time cooking. I made a great big ratatouille, this time with some potatoes and lots of spice in addition to all the other normal veggies. I let it cook for about four hours so as to soften the veggies and blend all the flavors. As an appetizer I made four lovely little potato pancakes. When they were hot and browned I placed one on each dish, covered the pancake with sliced smoked salmon, added crème fraiche and then repeated one more time. I topped it with some tarragon and served it with cranberry sauce on the side. My goodness was it delicious and the cranberries, if I say so myself, were a stroke of genius. The ratatouille was also really wonderful and a great counter to the rich salmon dish.
As a weekend surprise I also made a dessert, which I seldom do. I went to the store and got some great green apples and made an apple crisp. I plumped some raisins with a teaspoon of cognac and a quarter cup of boiling water. While they macerated I cut up the apples and stirred together the sugar, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, and ginger. I then rubbed the baking dish with butter and floured it to help the juices thicken up. I mixed the apples with the sugar and spices, added the drained raisins, and let it sit a bit while making the ‘crisp’ part of the apple crisp. I incorporated some butter with some muesli and then added some crushed wheat flake cereal, for the crunch. I transferred the apples to the baking dish, sprinkled the top with flour and dotted that with butter, added a touch of maple syrup and then patted the ‘crisp’ on top and shot it into a 375-degree oven for about forty minutes. The apartment smelled divine and it was the first thing that Cindy noticed when she came home. I served it with yogurt to help cut the sweetness and then we had it again for breakfast. Pure bliss.
Cindy’s been practicing for the big party tomorrow where she’ll play arrival music for all the guests. Sounds pretty good to me and it will be better tomorrow when the other three play their parts. Should be a fun afternoon, as was today.
Ciao, Cindy and Wm
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