Cooking and Playing with Fire

I love any recipe that involves liquor and fire.

That being said, I had a business meeting at my house tonight and I was to supply the dessert. I hadn't planned anything as of yet, so this afternoon I was mulling about what to serve. I thought about going to the local pastry shop, and living in Easton I have a number of good places to go. If you ever come down here for a show at the Avalon Theater step across the street at intermission to Sweet Nina's for pastry and espresso. While I was thinking about this, I reflected on the crepe pan I have that has served up many fried eggs but nary a crepe.

I started to pull out the Joy of Cooking (always a great resource) but then I decided that for crepes I should really channel Julia Child. (BTW, if you are in the vicinity of the Nation's Capitol you should go to the Museum of American History and see Julia's Kitchen) I was going to stuff them with the strawberries I got yesterday (which are quite good for March) but then I read on about Crepes Suzette. If I was going to go to the trouble of making crepes, why not set them on fire?

The crepes were the easy part. I did not pause at the appropriate part of the recipe though, and let the minced orange peel sit with the sugar for quite some time. When I added it to the softened butter it did not cream, as the sugar had all melted by then. So when I tried to add the orange juice and liquer to the creamed butter and sugar it just made a gloppy, orangey mess. But, in the end the whole damn thing was to be melted so it worked just fine. I added some freshly grated ginger and I think it was very good.

So, since I had to stomach a business meeting on my night off at least I got to prepare my stomach with orange butter crepes.

3 Bachelors

My wife and one of my three sons have been in Florida since Wednesday and they come home tomorrow. Since that time I am and my two older sons have been living the bachelor life. There have been takeout food, basketball and Rugby on television, and probably not enough showers. However, my bachelor skills seem to have slipped, as I managed to wash, dry, and fold six loads of laundry in under 24 hours. A long way from my peak bachelor days, when my skills approached those of my roommate who would buy more underwear rather than do laundry.

So, it's back to the family room, where I can bounce between the NCAA Men's B-Ball tournament and the final weekend of Six Nations Rugby! Go Ireland!

Comments from the Call Room

This past weekend I finished a number of household projects. Must be time to think of something else to do!

I have a few friends whose lives I still (somewhat) understand because of their blogs, and I thought I might add another monkey to the infinite number of keyboards that might one day be and see how far off the mark I am.

Anyone who is searching for juicy, heart-rending personal details just won't find them here. I find that a bit self-serving. If you don't want everyone you know to read what you are writing, don't write it in public! If you need to write it down for therapy or self-preservation or whatever, get two things:

1. Pen
2. Paper

Four aisles to the right of the Telephones in Staples.

One of three deliveries I am expecting today has come and gone, the next will be sometime this evening, and the other will probably be tomorrow. Those of you who know my work life know I am an Obstetrician, and therefore anything I write on this could be discoverable in a court of law! So, I will not divulge any medical or personal information about my patients. If I tell stories, they may be just stories, they may be real, but you will never know!

We had the trial run of the Spring Paella Party on the 11th. I didn't think about it that day but it was a good day to remember Spain. We talk of September 11 here in the USA, but in Spain they talk of 11 Marzo when in Madrid around 200 were killed and around 1,900 wounded on March 11, 2004. I had just the right amount of Chorizo and Shrimp, but I could haver used more vegetables and maybe some shellfish. I needed to add more broth at first but by adding more and more as I went along it ended up very good. I had the last of the leftovers tonight (but none of the fine Rioja that our friend Cindy brought).

Well, this was a trial run, so I'll see how it looks!

Mick