The Sweet Life

Prairie Fruits Farms Dinner , August 7, 2010 It’s now the end of the summer.  Though not officially Fall, I can feel a change in the atmosphere signaling it's quick arrival.  My blog has been untouched for a while.  It’s not that I haven’t been busy, on the contrary.  In between 8- and 10-day weeks, I’ve squeezed in a few projects and many sleepless nights.  It’s just now that I’ve really been able to catch up on rest.  Last week I took the ServSafe test, and to my surprise got a 3-day weekend (as a reward?), and after two days of social obligations and light housework I took Saturday as my "Me Time" day.  That's right, 24 hours of bad tv-Lifetime had a marathon titled You Can't Handle the Youth -staying in bed, and eating whatever I found in the fridge. Roasted Peach Chevre Tart with Cornmeal Crust The August dinner at Prairie Fruits Farms was a success and a blast!  I hardly remember much of it since the Saturday prior I had a...

This is something that I made spur-of-the-moment for dinner, after working all day Saturday. I'd made the frozen nougat before, based on Johnny Iuzzini's recipe in his book Dessert Fourplay , for The Candy Bar . S. met me at my place, and initially, I'd planned on just making a salad since I'd found some really good Pear Vinaigrette at Trader Joe's while shopping with K after work. But then, I got to thinking that it would be nice to have something light and cool for dessert. Needless to say, I was very busy, making the nougat, piping it into flexi-molds, freezing them, throwing together a nice almond sponge cake and cutting honey oranges into supremes, all the while trying to think of a sauce. Oh yeah, and putting together a salad of mixed greens (I cheated), shaved fennel, pear, and my new dressing. It came together nicely, so today I finishing a plating and took photos. What would I change? I'd make a little loop out of pulled sugar and garnish the no...