I have failed you all horribly. My absence was due completely out of laziness and a general lack of creativity. I should have forced myself to blog, to fill you in on all the exciting and not so exciting things that I have been cooking and baking and melting and reforming and well you get the idea. I should have cobbled together some meager words for you.
I have not forgotten you. How could I? I know most of you and have seen many of you in the past month, perhaps because my readers thus far are comprised of people I know and have witnessed some of the things I have made lately (and eaten) I don't feel like I have to document it. But I do! And I should. And I will. Prepare yourself for a deluge of posts, or at least a light sprinkling. As I am rededicating myself to you and to me. This all seems like a good first step to a rather healthy blogging relationship, doesn't it?
Now to make the first step (because after all that lovely little paragraph is all good and well, but not very informative). I am going to tell you a little more about me. This has been an issue I have struggled with because for me I am already letting you know so much of me and the internet can be a little... well you know. But after a debate with my mother in the car about how much to tell and how to handle things I figure that anyone who reads this and knows me will be able to figure it all out quite easily and I am trying to censor myself as little as possible these days, so more information about me is what you shall get.
You may not have noticed that I mentioned Seattle in my last post and that is where I live most of the time for school. In fact I am back in Seattle this very minute. My sister is in New York City (most of the time), so I may blog from there on occasion. And one of my brothers is in Portland, OR. So you will hear from me there too. However, if I'm not in Seattle there is a good chance I am home with my parents in a small town in Northern California.
One of my favorite things about NorCal and California as a whole are the farms. I love driving down to SoCal and passing Gilroy and getting the instant hit of Garlic. I grew up with agriculture land around me- tomatoes, rice, corn, sunflowers, orchards, almonds, strawberries, etc. And we have one of the best farmers' markets in California, this may just be my opinion but it is fantastic.
When I was home a while ago there were two newer additions that are now my new favorite booths at the market. First is Flour Chylde . My mom and I were wandering through, not planning on stopping at this new booth but then the man said, "Want a free sample of chocolate cake?" It was like a siren call and my mom and I couldn't resist the sample. Sample would become the word of the day.
My mom and I deliberated for a while and we settled on these three. We asked for the Chocolate, Vanilla, and Lemon Coconut. We did not get those though. When we got home we discovered that we received the chocolate, a vanilla caked with strawberry preserves and a lemon cake. (Just so you know these are "individual" cakes, not whole giant cakes.)
I was disappointed at first, but the vanilla cake is amazing. It is how I aspire to bake. They use the best ingredients and leave the cakes simply pure and rustic. Some people compensate their desserts with glazes, flowers, pulled sugar, little sprigs of whatever, shavings of this, stencils of that, tuiles and sugar cages that are unnecessary. These all have their places, I suppose, but I like rustic and simple and if you put a pansy on top of a slice of cake sitting in a puddle of raspberry caramel dribble with shards of hot pink sugar glass and dragees embedded in it like a war torn country I will hate the dessert. It could be life changing but I will hate it. Pick one. (As a side note I thought the plating of the desserts in No Reservations was as complicated as it could get, there is so much to be said for the elegance of simplicity. And yes they even used a sugar cage.)
Back to the dessert. The vanilla cake is flecked with vanilla bean and given a fantastic texture due to almond flour/meal. It was fantastic and I must learn it's secrets (the man told me his wife would kill him if he gave away the recipe...)
One last look at the cakes before I move on. From left to right: Chocolate Torte, Vanilla with Strawberries, and Lemon.
The next booth we went to was heaven in booth form. It was a booth of Bolanis and sauces (spreads mostly and pestos). The Bolani Man gave me sample after sample. "Lasagna" (basil pesto, sun dried tomato pesto, mint and garlic cheese). His old favorite. His new favorite. This spread with that spread. The other spread with this spread. That spread plain. That spread with the other two spreads. Or perhaps this combination. I had at least a dozen samples. I am not exaggerating too, as some women are prone to do. If anything I am not doing my abundance of samples justice. It was amazing. And I learned something important about myself, if you feed me you will have my devotion forever, or until next week's farmers' market and a whole new batch of samples.
Mmm blurry bolanis. A Bolani is a flat bread and in this case it is filled with spinach. It is absolutely amazing and compact. It tastes richer than it claims to be and is an amazing snack. And if I had even an ounce of bolani patience then they would probably also be amazing toasted. Maybe next time.
And with that m'dears I hope this has made up for some of my absence.
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