Palmabella's Passions

We began the evening with Mango Martinis (basically a lemon drop with a float of mango nectar)

Dinner was stuffed veal chops, baked pumpkin polenta, and stuffed acorn squash.

Acorn Squash with Sausage-Cornbread Stuffing:
(Tweaked from the original recipe from: Better Homes and Gardens Our Best Holiday Menus 2007)

To serve 4:
Two acorn squash cut in half and scopped out
1 mini-loaf of cornbread (make from a mix, or buy some cornbread)
2 chichen-apple sausages removed from casing
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 c. chopped dried apricots
4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1/3 c. chicken broth
1 T. butter, melted

1. Make or buy cornbread. I bought a mini-loaf from Bristol Farms.
2. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Cut acorn squash, scoop out seeds, season with salt and pepper, and bake (flat sides down) at 350 for 30 min.
3. In a skillet, cook sausage, onion, and celery until sausage is browned. Drain off fat. Stir in sage and dried apricots. Cube the cornbread, and toss with sausage mixture.
Drizzle with chicken broth and melted butter.
4. Fill squash centers with stuffing. Cover and bake later, or bake now at 350 for 30 min. If you make and stuff squash ahead, cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge, but take out 30 min. before final baking, so squash is at room temp.

From: Better Homes and Gardens Our Best Holiday Menus 2007

2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 t. salt
3/4 c. butter
4 oz. grated cheddar (one cup grated)
3/4 c. cold water
2 1/2 lbs. apples, cored and cut into slices (I used 6 Granny Smith)
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T. suagr, or sanding sugar
less than 1/4 c. apple jelly (I used a heaping spoon of pomegranite jelly), melted

Pastry:
1. In a large bowl, stir together 2 2/3 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until pieces are pea-sized. Stir in cheese. A tablespoon at a time, stir in ice water, moistening a section of the flour mixture with a fork. Push moistened pastry to side of bowl. Keep repeating until all the flour mixture is moistened. Form pastry into a ball, then flatten into a large disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate at least an hour or overnight. Let pastry sit at room temp a few minutes before rolling it.

2. Preheat oven to 350. On a slightly floured surface, roll pastry to about a 15-16 inch circle. Carefully transfer pastry to either a 10-11 " oven-proof skillet, or a 9-10" deep dish pie pan. (I used a quiche pan.)

3. For filling, in a large bowl, toss apples with 1/4 c. sugar, lemon jiuce, 2 T. flour, and cinnamon, until combined.

4. Mound filling into crust, and bring up edges of pastry toward center, pleating dough as necessary to keep it flat against the filling. Brush top of pastry with a egg, and sprinkle with sanding sugar (or regular sugar). Cover filling that is showing with foil, and bake for 30 min. Remove foil, and bake 30-35 minutes more, until crust is golden.

5. In a small saucepan, melt jelly over medium-low heat (I melted it in the microwave), and brush over filling. Cool slightly, and serve warm or at room temp. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

We attended a birthday cocktail party last night, where I was to bring an appetizer. I wanted to try a new recipe. (From The Best of Fine Cooking: Appetizers Holiday 2007)

Make a big pot of polenta. (8 c. water, 3 c. polenta 1 t. salt. Cook 30 min.)

Divide polenta into three equal size bowls.

Cover a jelly roll pan with plastic wrap.

In first bowl, add 6-8 oz. pesto. Stir well, and spread in pan.

In second bowl, add 2 T. butter, and 1/4 c. grated parmigiano cheese. Stir well, and spread over green layer.

In third bowl, and a jar of roasted red peppers (pureed) OR a jar (drained) of pimentos that you pureed. Stir well, and spread over plain polenta layer.

Cover with plastic wrap, and chill overnight. (Do this the day before you want to serve the appetizers.)

Cut appetizers into any shape with a cookie cutter that is deep enough to go through all three layers. Place cutouts on a clean cookie sheet, and sprinkle with grated parmigiano. Broil until cheese begins to brown (2-3 min.) Garnish, and place on serving platter. I used grape tomatoes and Italian parsley leaves. You could use olive slices, green chilies, sour cream, pimento, red pepper cut out, marinara sauce, etc.

Tomorrow...step-by-step apricot roses to garnish platter!

This VERY simple garnish, takes less than 5 minutes, can be done ahead, and lasts for days! Here is the step-by-step:

It takes about 6-7 dried apricots for each rose. Choose plump ones for best results.

1. Cut each apricot in half down the side, with a small sharp knife.

2. Lay apricots halves on a sheet of waxed paper (or parchment paper). Fold paper over to cover, and roll flat with a rolling pin.

The halves will become the "petals" of the rose. The cut side is the "stickier side".

3. Take the smallest "petal" and make the center of the rose. Hold it tightly with one hand.

4. Add a petal at a time, using "sticky" side to overlap around the center of the rose.

5. When rose is the size you want, stick a toothpick through the bottom (where your fingers were holding it together) and set it in the freezer for 30 min (or up to 3 days) on a paper plate. I think they look nice in a cluster of three. I add lemon leaves, and use them to garnish a platter or plate.

Enjoy the "Ohhhs and Ahhhs"!

This might be a new favorite! The balance of flavors is wonderful, and I have TONS of rosemary growing like weeds in my yard. Cindy Ruth posted this recipe (from epicurious.com) on the "Cookie Swap" recipe thread on Slow Talk. I kept the ingredients the same, but simplified the technique. It is a keeper!

ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 sticks(3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons mild honey
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Garnish: rosemary sprigs

Preheat overn to 300 degrees F.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and rosemary in a bowl.
Mix together butter, honey, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed, then add flour mixture and mix until dough is smooth. (My butter was really soft.) Gather dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly floured surface, adding a little flour if necessary. Knead slightly if necessary. (My dough did not need kneading, so I skipped the floured surface, and went straight to the pan.)

Press into two 9" UNgreased cake pans (or one larger one). Score dough into design by making "lines" with a fork. Repeat in opposite direction. Press rosemary sprigs lightly into dough if desired for garnish. I used 25 tiny sprigs per pan. Sprinkle with tablespoon of sugar. Bake 20 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 5-10 minutes, then cut into squares with a sharp knife, and remove from baking pan(s).

Enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, or prosecco!

This is a wonderful holiday recipe: (Adapted from Taste of the South: Christmas Cooking Southern Style Special Issue 2007)

3 1/2 c. half and half
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 T. soft butter
3 T. Grand Marnier (or orange juice)
1 1/2 T orange zest
1/2 c. dried cranberries
10 1/2 c. bread cubes (I used 2/3 a loaf of French bread mixed with 4 croissants)

Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease (I used butter flavored cooking spray) a 9x13 baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, blend all ingredients except bread and dried cranberries. Beat on medium speed until well-blended. Put bread cubes in baking dish, and pour liquid mixture evenly over top. Sprinkle with dried cranberries, and press down with your hands, so all the bread is coated. Cover with foil.

Bake for 1 hour. Turn oven up to 400, and remove foil. Bake an additional 10-15 min.
Let cool for 15 min. Drizzle with Orange Glaze.

Orange Glaze:
2 c. confectioner's sugar
2 T. Grand Marnier
2-3 T. milk

Stir together until smooth. I poured the glaze into a small zip-lock bag, sealing the zipper. Cut off a tiny corner of the bag, and drizzle glaze onto cooled bread pudding.

Every fall, I take out these favorite vases. In November, as "season" begins, and all the snowbirds return to the desert until spring, flowers are planted eveywhere in mass. The roses are in full bloom, along with gazillions of pansies, geraniums, snapdragons, impatients, Asian poppies, and the bouganvilla is quite happy! New lawns are at their greenest, and the palm trees flutter in the breeze. No fall color here. It looks a lot like spring. For those beautiful fall hues check out Mary's gorgeous photos on her blog from Umbria. These are the fall scenes I dream of:

Autumn colors in Umbria

I cut roses every day, and love to put a single flower in my "eggplant". One bloom works in the "pattypan squash", with Asian poppies that look like tissue paper in the "zucchini". Pansies look like little smiling faces in the yellow "crookneck". Yes, it is still 80 degrees here. I'm looking forward to some cool fall San Francisco weather for Thanksgiving!

Shannon posted a recipe for Cheddar-Date Biscuits on Slow Talk. I am not a big fan of dates (even though they are grown and sold everywhere here in the desert). I of course thought...FIGS!

Cheese Date Biscuits!

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 c. packed)
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. milk
1 8 oz. package whole pitted dates

Preheat oven to 375F. With a mixer beat together butter and cheese. Mix in flour, cayenne and salt. Add milk and stir until stiff dough forms. Wrap 1 tablespoon dough around each date, completely incasing date and forming small cylinder. Place on ungreased baking sheet (can be made ahead and refridgerated.) Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

I had cheddar, some blue cheese, and I ALWAYS have figs, so I decided to do a little taste test. I made half a batch using cheddar dough, and half a batch using blue cheese dough.

*In the blue cheese biscuits, I reduced the salt by half, and replaced the cayenne with ground black pepper. I also had half a cup of half&half (leftover from the bread pudding), and used this instead of milk, as I hate to use the skim milk for my coffee in baking.

Brad and I had the results for dinner with our butternut squash soup from Jerry's blog. (WHAT did I used to cook before Slow Talk recipes and food blogs?)
Butternut Squash Soup with Apple, Sage and Bacon

Results: Brad and I both LOVED the blue cheese-fig taste combination the best. I will use the rest of the blue cheese dough to make and freeze these tomorrow. The cheddar dough is wonderful, but I wouldn't combine it with figs. I'm thinking I'll use the cheddar dough with something else as the "surprise" in the center...a slice of apple? A piece of rolled up prosciutto? We shall see.

Yesterday I brought Cookie Turkeys to the staff of the agency where I supervise. Since I am not cooking for Thanksgiving, I had an urge to make SOMETHING.
That's an oreo (taken apart), spread with chocolate frosting, a peanut butter cup, malt ball, and the "feathers" are candy corn. They make cute place card holders, or treats for kids who don't appreciate pumpkin pie or other adult desserts.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I needed to plan a quick meal...! Hmmm. I had mozzarella, I had mushrooms, I grabbed a "Boboli" at the store, and we had a very yummy, garlicy, and fast pizza dinner! Marta's photo inspired me. Brad didn't seem to notice there was no meat on his plate!

We are off to Oakland this morning for Thanksgiving out with friends. Tonight we will check in to our San Francisco hotel for three days of shopping, eating, lights, holiday decorations, and a Slow Travel GTG on Saturday.

I "salvaged" this ancient Thanksgiving centerpiece last week from my GARAGE SALE boxes we have been sorting. I thought it was pretty good, that after emptying a whole 10x10' storage unit into our garage, two years ago, that I only brought three items back into the house.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

We landed in Oakland at 2:05 on Thanksgiving Day. By 3:15, I was sipping a lovely lemon drop with a splash of Chambord (the house cocktail), at Garibaldi's.

It was wonderful to see our old friends, Roxanne, Charlotte and Cindy, as well as Cindy's extended family! Lots of laughter, wine, and good food...the theme for the weekend!

Brad started with a yummy crab bisque, and I had a simple endive salad with blue cheese and pomegranites. Our entrees were lovely (no turkey at THIS table!).
Here is my ribeye, smothered with mushrooms, cipolini onions, and pancetta.

Brad really enjoyed his squash ravioli with truffles on a bed of chard!

Dessert was a simple choice. Brad had "chocolate budino" (espresso gelato drenched with caramel sauce and topped with tons of assorted nuts), and I had panna cotta with cranberries.

It was a GREAT SHopping Day!

Brad and I caffinated at 7:00, and I was crossing Market Street shortly after 7:30. No crowds yet at Nordstrom. I had purchased two pair of shoes, a FABULOUS half-price Furla bag, and four gifts by 9:00. Brad met me then, and we hopped down to Bristol Farms until it was time to meet Joy at 10:00. We spent another hour in Nordstrom, and I bought another four gifts, five ornaments for my "shopping tree", and helped Brad choose some clothes for himself.

After a latte break, Joy and I headed to Chicos and Bloomies, while Brad carted shopping bags back to the hotel. Next, we went to Crate and Barrel, while he hit Virgin Records. Another tradition: we met ANOTHER sorority sister, Kim, and daughter, Haley at the bar in Kuleto's for a wine break. We were also joined by my desert neighbor, Jan, and Roxanne.

Neiman Marcus, more ornaments, and 5:00. It was time for another latte on Maiden Lane, before walking to Gumps. I found two Italy ornaments, AND my favorite scent from Santa Maria Novella. I bought both lotion, and room spray in "Casablanca" . It smells just like Italy to me.

We had a drink at the hotel, and grabbed a taxi to the Marina, where Charlotte and Cindy joined us for dinner at Izzy's. Oh, what a happy day!

Saturday morning after coffee in our room, we walked to the Clift Hotel to meet our friends, Jan and Les. When I was a child, my parents used to stay at this beautiful property. As a young adult, I remember the treat of going to the stunning Redwood Room for a drink.

The Clift had apparently undergone some major re-decoration! What was once quiet, tasteful glamour, is now a combination of ultra-modern, "humorous touches", asian accents, and some art deco stuff that is lost on me. I don't "get it". The rooms are painted grey with lavender accents and orange lucite cubes as end tables. The Redwood room still has a gorgeous lit glass bar, but is otherwise dark and depressing, as is the whole lobby. Check out the photo gallery here: Clift Hotel
Here are Les and Brad standing by the HUGE chair in the lobby.

I did love the roses on the registration desk...all 96 of them in this perfectly twisted arrangement. (They lock these up at night, so no one pulls out one rose and messes up the whole twist thing.)

We grabbed a taxi to the Ferry Building and walked through the outdoor market, then hit my favorite indoor shops for cheese, chocolates and Sur La Table. We settled in at the Wine Merchant for the next several hours. For lunch, we had fresh bread with triple creme cheese, and an assortment of soprasotta, salami, brasola and olives. A variety of wines were tasted, but I stuck to a lovely sparkling rose. Roxanne joined us at noon (more wine), and Shannon joined us at 1:00 (more wine). We left about 2:30 and had time for an afternoon nap before leaving for the GTG.

We walked from our hotel, three blocks to The Grand Cafe, and ordered a glass of wine in the bar. Soon Sharon, Shannon and Colleen arrived and joined us. At 5:30, we found the rest of our group, Judy and Bill, Eden, and the newest Judy, already seated at our table. Wendy and Rob arrived, and our party was complete.

The conversations, as always, revolved around recent travel, future travel, holiday plans, food, family, and just catching up with old friends! We ordered wine and food, and the time flew by.

DInner was very good, and everyone enjoyed their entrees. Eleven of us managed to try ten different choices from the menu! My Beef Bourguignon was truly the BEST shortribs I have ever had!

Here is the happy group:

We all enjoyed our surprise party favors from Sharon. After dinner, shared dessert, and coffee, each person made a toast to the group. Everyone shared their heartfelt joy of having found this special community, and wonderful group of friends. It was quite a lovefest! Later, some of us sat in the bar for a while. We didn't seem to want the evening to end. Seven cups of coffee later, Brad and I walked back to our hotel, full, happy, and delighted because of the special group who had gathered to complete our holiday weekend. We are thankful for our Slow Travel peeps!

Christmas came early when the Fed Ex man arrived with two large boxes! The Rampini ceramics I purchased in August arrived! They said it would be 3-4 months, and I was hoping to have them for the Desert GTG, but they are here now! Woo hoo! As they match my yellow chargers, I bought 8 plates, 8 salad plates, 8 pasta/cereal bowls, a platter, and a pasta serving bowl.

How cute are these bowls in my glass door cabinets?

The platter is so much fun, I might need to leave it on display all the time!

Last year, of course I tried the 14 hour rising "bread that ate the internet" recipe, and ended up with a lovely green Le Cruset dutch oven (that I could hardly lift into the oven). Now, with this new, quick, lasts in the fridge for two weeks dough, we can have fresh bread, pizza, foccacia, etc. ANYTIME!

Here's the first crusty warm loaf:

The texture and taste were great!

For those of you who are not Slow Travel Premium Members (and why AREN'T you, I might ask???), or who may be "Google challenged", here is the recipe:

Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)
Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours’ resting and rising

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting
Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).
2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

Each year, I usually find some now way to entertain myself, and that also works into holiday gift giving for friends. Last year I bought 30 Christmas ceramic loaf pans, and baked an assortment of breakfast breads to fill them.

This year, I went to Home Depot I bought 20 clean, empty gallon paint cans. I washed them again. I went to my scrapbook paper "file" and pulled out sheets of Christmas paper, made a simple pattern (two sheets of 12x12 paper, trimmed, with cutouts for the handle), and my circle cutter (or trace a lid) for the paint can lids. (Wrapping paper could also be used.) One can of spray adhesive, some old newspaper on the patio table, and I was in business.

Now for the fun part. DECORATING the cans. Since I scrapbook, I also had a supply of holiday decorations, trims and accents. I have tons of Christmas ribbons and trims, so I raided those as well. Last year's holiday cards, flat ornaments, or digital photos could also be used!

Here are a few of the finished cans:

PRETTY ones:

HOLLY ones:

SNOWY ones:

More tomorrow!