Crostata or Galette or Croustade?

I love fruit desserts

Cobblers or crumbles

But my favorite is

 An Italian Crostata (if spaghetti is the entree)

or

a French Galette (if onion soup grantinee is the entree)

They're easy

Made even easier if you use the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust

And no pie pan to wash!

Last week I made a blueberry peach one

Tons of fresh blueberries, some really ripe peaches

piled in the middle

The edges brought up and over

And the whole baked 

Best served with whipped cream

(spiked with a little Cassis)

or ice cream

(to melt over the warm dessert)

I have company for lunch

So three portions please

(which leaves three more portions for us for dinner dessert!)

LINDERHOF CROSTATA OR GALETTE

(depending on whether I'm cooking Italian or French!)

2 cups blueberries

2 cups peeled and sliced peached

1/4 c. light brown sugar

2 T. flour

1/4 t. cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 large egg, beaten

2 T. demerara sugar

1 pie crust of your choice rolled into a round

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, toss the peaches and blueberries with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

Lightly flour a large work surface and roll out the dough to a 12 to 13 inch round.    Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicone mat.   

Arrange the fruit in the center of the dough, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space around the perimeter of the dough empty.    Fold the outside edge of the dough over the fruit, making occasionally pleats.   Brush the crust with the egg.    Sprinkle the demara sugar evenly over the dough and fruit.

Bake the pastry until the crust turns a light brown and the filling bubbles, about 50 minutes.    Let cool for 10 minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar, then cut into wedges and serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

You can make the galette or crostata with any seasonal fruit following the above recipe.    Just make sure to adjust sugar to the sweetness or tartness of the fruit.

It's Friday and I'm joining Michael at Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday.

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Lunch for Three

The Lunch Bunch comes once a month

or they did until this Spring and Summer

Between doctors visits and grandkids visiting and traveling . . .

Well, we've not been together since February!

And July was no exception

One of the Bunch had an out of town guest

I issued an invitation to join us . . .

But it was "talk shop" lunch and so she declined.

But the other two came and we had a good time

Even though I had just gotten home the night before from a week long trip

to Minneapolis

(the grand's first birthday bash!)

So with what my mother called 

"a lick and a promise"

I tidied the downstairs

Set the table with the best china and silver

Made a "from scratch" lunch

And was ready to greet my guests at noon

The lilies are blooming in the garden

But not these -- from the market

But had I had that many lilies in the garden,

they would have been on  the table!

Since it's just three

(and the garden was weedy and needy

So, alas, we were not lunching in the breakfast room

For the many "garden sins" were obvious!)

I set up in the dining room on one half of the dining room table.

With one of my Italian cloths,

The Aynsley Pembroke plates

And Grandmother Scott's silver

Italian napkins in silver napkin rings

And, of course, a menu for each place

With yellow lilies on them as well!

It was an easy lunch

A quick run to the store and some Farmer's market produce I brought home

We started with

What I call an "Italian" salad

Like so many we had in Italy 

Romaine, sliced tomatoes and topped with a mound of shredded carrots

All tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper

(And I used my "good" balsamic -- the really old balsamic!)

Fresh pasta sauce over angel hair pasta

Farmer's market cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic

And a goodly shower of freshly grated Parmesan

Rolls from the mark down bin, rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with fresh rosemary

And sea salt and then warmed in the oven

Summer is fruit and so a croustade

blueberry and peach

With a mound of cassis spiked whipped cream

They were amazed that I was able to have them for lunch the day after the trip

And were astounded at the meal.

"Takeout" said one, "is what I would have done!"

While the other nodded that only I could pull that off!

(And not only lunch but I also managed to wash, dry, fold and put away, the laundry we brought home from the trip!)

It's Thursday and I'm sharing my Lunch Bunch table with Susan at Between Naps On the Porch

Naked Ladies Are Seen Cavorting in the Gardens at Linderhof . . .

Oh, my, is that scandalous or what?

But the gardens seem to be full of naked ladies!

Do you think anyone notices as they drive past?

In the Spring, this foliage comes

about the time of the daffodils and tulips and hyacinths

But nothing blooms

And then it goes away

And you forget about it!

And then one day in late July or early August

You see this in the garden

Called naked lady because there is no foliage

(And I think because they are pink --

like real naked ladies!)

Another name for them is "Surprise" Lily

(but I like Naked Lady better)

for all of a sudden

SURPRISE

There is a flower and no leaves to let you know there should be a flower!

They are a pretty pink lily

From the amaryllis family

(Can't you tell?)

They look somewhat like amaryllis blooms!

Other names these lilies go by are
Resurrection Lily
(because they grow, die, and rise again)
Magic Lily
(because they "magically appear)
I, however, favor naked ladies
Because that's what my mother called them
And it seems just a little bit edgy --
to say that you have naked ladies in the garden!

And our town cannot be more scandalous

With naked ladies in the garden

And "Painted Ladies" along the sidewalks

One of our pretty Victorians in town

With the multiple paint colors on trim

That style of house painting is called

painted lady

Rose Haven

Just down the street from Linderhof

home to dear friend and antiquing buddy, Sally

And out in the garden

in all this heat

and no rain for the last week

Is this little guy

blooming it's heart out

Not stressed at all

And looking much better

than the petunias I spent good money on

for some of the pots!

And I've left it

to grow and to bloom

To outshow it's pedigreed brothers!

Turning One -- The Celebration!

It takes quite a celebration

When a person turns one!

First, there is the real birthday --

the day that you entered the world

Which, usually, for that first year isn't on a weekend

And so you celebrate

With the immediate family

(parents and both sets of grands)

And a cake --

And a candle . . .

And cards

But on the weekend . . . 

parents will pull out all stops

Sarah's table on her deck reminds me of a Pottery Barn ad

For a party for family and friends!

Bright colors and bouquets of garden hydrangeas

And party favors

for dinner will be served buffet style

Vegetables and dips, Lucy's Birthday Tomato Zucchini Pasta Salad, Smokestack Baked Beans (Sarah's version), and son-in-law Andy's fabulous smoked brisket

Pink lemonade for the little ones . . .

Adult beverages for the big ones!

Friends (big and small) filled the deck

And grand girl Lucy enjoyed being the center of attention!

Dessert . . .

Cookies, baked and decorated by her mother and both her grands

And, of course,

A cake

(for their has to be cake and ice cream at a birthday party!)

And just this once . . . 

A wee cake just for Lucy . . . 

Known as a "smash cake", because . . . 

Well, you smash it!

Not so all those years ago when Daughter Sarah turned one!

But what's a little cake and frosting on your face

When it is your birthday?

Because . . . 

It is fun being the center of attention!

And of course, the "gift"

The toy trunk

Which, hopefully, she'll pass on to her daughter

and tell her the stories of the dogs and cats painted on the chest

And stories of the Nana who painted it

All those years ago!

It's Thursday and I'm sharing Lucy's birthday party with Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Maple and Bacon -- Together Again

Aren't they two of the food groups?

Bacon

Maple

Together again in a wonderful breakfast muffin

Even though there is just the two of us

You need more than two muffins on a plate

(or perhaps in a tummy!)

In the breakfast room

With the Johnson Brothers Indies

(for it's the set that has a coffee pot)

And a bouquet of sunflowers

(for we are, after all, in Kansas)

A maple bacon muffin

A cup of coffee

Makes for a perfect breakfast

MAPLE BACON MUFFINS

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract (or 1/2 t. maple flavor)

2 2/3 c. flour

1 cup milk

Topping:

6 slices bacon, cooked, cooled and snipped into squares

3 to 4 T. real maple syrup

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

pinch of salt

about 1/4 c. maple syrup, enough to make a spreadable frosting

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, vegetable oil and sugars till smooth.    Add eggs, beating to combine.

Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla or maple flavor.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Scoop the batter into lightly greased or paper lined muffin pans.

Top with bacon and drizzle with syrup (about 1 t. per muffin), being sure to keep the bacon mounded in the center (it will distribute during baking).

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.    Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.    When they’re nearly cool, spread with the glaze.

To Make The Glaze:

Stir together the powdered sugar, salt and enough maple syrup to make a spreadable glaze.   Spread the glaze over the muffins.      Serve warm or at room temperature.

They Say It's Your Birthday . . . .

They Say It's Your Birthday . . . They Say It's Your Birthday . . . 

A year ago

we were in Minnesota

for a very special event . . . 

And today is Her Birthday

Grand Girl Lucy turns one!

A tradition started when

Daughter Sarah turned one . . . 

A hand painted toy trunk

Painted in the style of Holly Hobby

Popular when she was small

It's lived the test of time and Daughter Sarah took it to college with her

And on all of the moves after

And she still treasures it.

For Grand Girl Lucy

a joint gift from her parents and her grands

the chest a gift from her parents

the painting a gift from me

A new trunk
(for old trunks have lids that don't stay up and metal edges can hurt fingers)

Painted in the style of Tasha Tudor

of prairie girls at Daughter Sarah's request

Besides the girls and the gardens,

Sarah's cat on the left

Dog Doogie on the right

And on the side, our two corgis

Dolly on the left 

Our dear Ollie on the right

And Sarah's (and Lucy's) cat, Rome on this side

And the top is filled with flowers

and some surprises --

a robin, two chickadees, four leaf clovers, a squirrel and two butterflies

It will be fun for Lucy to find them

Lucy and her trunk

On her birthday

An Icy Tea

I still drink hot tea in the morning in the summer

But often afternoon tea is served over ice

The Brits would never understand

how their beloved elixir could be served

"over ice"!

But it is a refreshing beverage

especially if one has been working

in the garden

If I'm alone, I'll get my current book

And a nosh, of course

lemon raisin cookies

A favorite

The book is usually a mystery

This is the first in a series set in Wales

by author, Elizabeth Duncan

I liked it

And am now on my third book

about Penny Brannigan, a manicurist in a small village

in Wales

Most of my books come from the library

But, alas, they had none of the others in these series

And so I turned to Amazon and my kindle!

A pleasant afternoon, this

inside in the air-conditioning

with a glass of icy tea,

a couple of great cookies

And a good book.

It's Tuesday and I'm joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea Time Tuesday and Bernideen for Tea in the Garden.

Glad . . .

I'm glad

for glads!

One of the vendors at our Farmers Market today gifted me with

this lovely bouquet

Looks pretty smashing, me thinks

on the table by the wing chair . . .

It picks up the flower colors in the needlepoint pillow.

National Blueberry Muffin Day

So what was for breakfast today

at 

Linderhof?

It's Blueberry Muffin Cake

and I found it at

One Perfect Bite

Mary and I have been friends for a long time

And I think she's a spectacular cook

and always has some great recipes.

It's a great cake

Easy to put together . . . 

Two bowls, no mixer, one wooden spoon

And blueberries are in season, too

I did let it sit a while but it was still warm for breakfast

With a cup of coffee

Obviously, with just the two of us, there were leftovers.

The leftover, me thinks, will be great for a cup of tea this afternoon.

BLUEBERRY MUFFIN CAKE

(From One Perfect Bite)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly; more for the pan

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups fresh blueberries

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

 Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. 

In a small bowl, whisk butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla. 

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in berries. Scrape the batter into prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Tap pan on counter once or twice to break any air bubbles.

Bake until golden-brown and a tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes (if the top gets too brown, tent with aluminum foil).

 Cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Run a paring knife around edge of the cake and remove ring. Transfer cake to a serving plate and serve warm or at room temperature, with confectioners’ sugar sifted over top, if you like. Yield: 8 servings.

It's Friday, National Blueberry Day, and I'm joining Michael at Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday.