Yankee-Belle Cafe

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and with a repeat from May 2014. I've always loved lavender, as a scent, as an herb, and as a flavoring. So, this lavender flan has made quite a few appearances on our table, especially when we have guests that I know will appreciate the flavor!
But first, a peek at the pies I made the other day: fresh picked rhubarb and strawberry is my favorite.
 Good thing it takes so much time because I'd love a fresh, hot pie every day!
We love these flowers that grow in our garden. I'm not sure what they are (I keep forgetting to look them up) but they're a lovely precursor to the veggies.
Now, going back in time to 2014!
 A friend of mine rescued a batch of abandoned kittens. This meant getting kitten replacement milk from the vet. (It actually came in a little pop top can. Hilarious.)
 (My friend Lili took this picture of one of her own cats investigating the newcomers. This kitten's viciousness had me howling with laughter. "Easy there, tiger!")
She fed them through the night, every few hours. Come morning, she was realizing... who is going to watch these sweet babies while she's at work?
 So, she calls the stay at home mom and her six home schooled kids.... but we were on the way to Pendleton (about 45 minutes away) for our yearly state testing! I told her we would LOVE to foster the babies, right after we took 3 hours of state academic tests.
 And it worked out! She brought them over as soon as we got back. We fed them with little eye droppers and then took them out for exercise.
 Here's our puppy trying to figure out what they are. The hissing and back arching was pretty hilarious.
 We put the dog back in the house so the kitties could play without having to show off their Ninja skillz. When the day was over, we gave them back. My friend found someone to take them on full time until they were old enough to find forever homes. But we loved being foster parents for the day!
                                        
 Sammy learns to feed the babies...
                                                       
 My friend Barbara brought over a picnic lunch. Deviled eggs, shredded chicken salad, fried deli chicken, mint chocolate chip ice cream, fresh fruit. YUMMY. And we welcomed her with... kittens. Here she is, helping the little guys feed one of the calicos.
 OK, now on to the recipe. You'll need fresh, organic lavender. Organic because we're going to put it in our food. No pesticides, please! I've had lavender flan before, but wasn't sure exactly how to make it. I decided to take an easy flan recipe and just infuse the lavender into the milk during the cooking. Here goes!
 Now, you'll need 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 TBS sugar
    4 cups whole milk
ten stems lavender
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
fresh fruit for topping (I was going to use blackberries but my youngest ATE THEM ALL when I wasn't looking)
 Preheat oven to 325F. Combine 1/2 cup and 2 TBS water in saucepan and heat until darkened. This will be the caramel on the bottom. It takes about ten minutes and then remove it from the heat, let it cool, and ladle into the bottom of 6 ramekins.
 Boil the milk with 3 TBS sugar and lavender. Boil for 15 minutes. Let cool. Strain out the lavender. It should smell GOOOD.
 Here's the caramel in the ramekins. It wasn't as dark as I wanted, but I didn't want to cook it too long.
 Hm. Smells good, anyway.
Apparently I missed a step with the pictures!
Beat the eggs and the vanilla together in a small bowl. Don't over beat. Add in the cooled milk and then pour over the caramel.
Since someone ate all the blackberries, I thought a pear might be a good match for the lavender. Mmmm. Not sure the variety, but it's delicious!
 Now's the hard part... let them cool in the fridge for eight hours or overnight. The next day, carefully turn the flan out onto a dish, letting the caramel fill the dish.
The little guys loved it because it was tasty, the middle kids loved it because it had "weeds" from the garden in it, and the older kids loved it because of the unique lavender flavor. Very delicate and sweet! For such an easy recipe, I would give this a two thumbs-up for presentation and as a conversation-starter!

Be sure to drop by my author page at Mary Jane Hathaway, or my other author page at Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last! All my newest book news and musings is there, including anything else that strikes my fancy!

One of our favorite restaurants in a nearby town, One Blue Duck, serves an amazing salad with shaved beets (usually golden) and some sort of bleu chese (gorgonzola, I think). And to top it off, it has this amazing lavender dressing made with lavender they grow out back. So I decided to try to make my own copy at home.

First, I did a search for dressings. I found this recipe that sounded similar at a blog called The Kitchen is My Playground. My photos can't compare to her gorgeous ones, so be sure to drop by to see it. Here's a link to the original dressing recipe (click here).

I made a few small adjustments. Here's my version…

6 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar (will try white balsamic next time)
2 T honey
1 T lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed (I used jarred minced)
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried lavender flowers

First, I took the advice from several of you to go to Penzey's Spices because I needed a trustworthy source of dried lavender.



Once that arrived, I was able to make my dressing.

I used my small, portable Hamilton-Beach smoothie blender. Put all ingredients inside and then blend.



Then I put it in the refrigerator to chill and got to work on the fresh beets.



Wash and peel one small beet. Then either slice thinly and chop into small pieces. Or shave it with a vegetable peeler. I think the shaving is probably better but I didn't think of it until later.

Place greens on the plate. Top with beets and other vegetables as desired. Add crumbled bleu cheese (I didn't have any). Then, after shaking well, drizzle on the chilled dressing.



It makes a beautiful salad!

P.S. My daughter doesn't really like the smell of lavender, so she didn't really care for this dressing. Just a warning. :)

ADDENDUM!

I forgot to do the promised RWA Part 2 post. But I'll post the cowboy photo I mentioned. Mary Curry will kill me for sharing it with her eyes half closed. :)




www.missytippens.com

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a super fun recipe for you. But first... KITTENS.
 A friend of mine rescued a batch of abandoned kittens. This meant getting kitten replacement milk from the vet. (It actually came in a little pop top can. Hilarious.)
 (My friend Lili took this picture of one of her own cats investigating the newcomers. This kitten's viciousness had me howling with laughter. "Easy there, tiger!")
She fed them through the night, every few hours. Come morning, she was realizing... who is going to watch these sweet babies while she's at work?
 So, she calls the stay at home mom and her six home schooled kids.... but we were on the way to Pendleton (about 45 minutes away) for our yearly state testing! I told her we would LOVE to foster the babies, right after we took 3 hours of state academic tests.
 And it worked out! She brought them over as soon as we got back. We fed them with little eye droppers and then took them out for exercise.
 Here's our puppy trying to figure out what they are. The hissing and back arching was pretty hilarious.
 We put the dog back in the house so the kitties could play without having to show off their Ninja skillz. When the day was over, we gave them back. My friend found someone to take them on full time until they were old enough to find forever homes. But we loved being foster parents for the day!
                                        
 Sammy learns to feed the babies...
                                                       
 My friend Barbara brought over a pick nick lunch. Deviled eggs, shredded chicken salad, fried deli chicken, mint chocolate chip ice cream, fresh fruit. YUMMY. And we welcomed her with... kittens. Here she is, helping the little guys feed one of the calicos.
 OK, now on to the recipe. You'll need fresh, organic lavender. Organic because we're going to put it in our food. No pesticides, please! I've had lavender flan before, but wasn't sure exactly how to make it. I decided to take an easy flan recipe and just infuse the lavender into the milk during the cooking. Here goes!
 Now, you'll need 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 TBS sugar
    4 cups whole milk
ten stems lavender
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
fresh fruit for topping (I was going to use blackberries but my youngest ATE THEM ALL when I wasn't looking)
 Preheat oven to 325F. Combine 1/2 cup and 2 TBS water in saucepan and heat until darkened. This will be the caramel on the bottom. It takes about ten minutes and then remove it from the heat, let it cool, and ladle into the bottom of 6 ramekins.
 Boil the milk with 3 TBS sugar and lavender. Boil for 15 minutes. Let cool. Strain out the lavender. It should smell GOOOD.
 Here's the caramel in the ramekins. It wasn't as dark as I wanted, but I didn't want to cook it too long.
 Hm. Smells good, anyway.
Apparently I missed a step with the pictures!
Beat the eggs and the vanilla together in a small bowl. Don't over beat. Add in the cooled milk and then pour over the caramel.
Since someone ate all the blackberries, I thought a pear might be a good match for the lavender. Mmmm. Not sure the variety, but it's delicious!
 Now's the hard part... let them cool in the fridge for eight hours or overnight. The next day, carefully turn the flan out onto a dish, letting the caramel fill the dish.
 All in all, I really thought this recipe was a hit. The little guys loved it because it was tasty, the middle kids loved it because it had "weeds" from the garden in it, and the older kids loved it because of the unique lavender flavor. Very delicate and sweet! For such an easy recipe, I would give this a two thumbs-up for presentation and as a conversation-starter!
 Last week was also my FORTIETH BIRTHDAY. Ugh.... Is it really possible? I feel so young! (Ok, that was a lie.) I was so incredible spoiled. Like these teal, vintage milk glass Pyrex from my friend Christalee. I almost swooned! So cute!
 And my friends Gail and Laurie sent Austen goodies! (Yes, we have been playing with the Jane Austen figure!)
 Google celebrated my big day, too! I felt so loved... When i waved the mouse over the doodle, it said, "Happy Birthday, Virginia!" LOL
My friend Stacey stole me for a movie. I almost never go out, and I realized this called for something special. THE RED CONVERSE.