happy weekend

I don’t know who is more excited for their birthday party this weekend, me or the boys. All of us are counting down the sleeps.

You can be sure I will give you a full report post party but I wanted to share a few things with you before the big day.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I can. not. believe my baby is 5 and then a mere two weeks later my other baby turns 3. Not to mention the melt down I had when I realized sister baby is 8 months. Can you believe it?!

You may also remember me proclaiming my adoration for navy, mustard (deep golden yellow), and gray. Well yes, they are coming to the party too.

These numbers were made with hundreds of small tissue paper squares that were wrapped around the eraser of a pencil until they looked like a small flower blossom. They were then glued to a cardboard frame.

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These handsome boys will be atop chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that are filled with caramel pudding and topped with vanilla bean buttercream.

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My husband is to thank for these adorable flags. He designed it in photoshop then printed the boys onto adhesive label paper. I then carefully wrapped them around lollipop sticks. With plenty of extra stickers you can be sure there will be these sweet faces all over the party.

Speaking of cupcakes …

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… these are their hats.

Fondant circles in white with fondant legos. I’m doing some mini cupcakes as well.

Their friends will be going home with these beauties …

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… boxes of treasure …

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… loaded with a pirate finger puppet, coins, tattoos, stamps, an x-ray gummy fish, and candy necklace.

I wanted the party to be reflective of what my boys are excited about these days. Legos and pirates appear throughout. I already anticipate the joy we’ll feel as we stumble upon the images from the party years later. We’ll remember the days of pirates and legos and the uninhibited excitement from the little things like juice boxes and giant gumballs. As I said, we are all really excited.

And she wanted to say hello too.

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Have a wonderful weekend!!

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tarte flambée

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For a time I have let the San Marazano tomatoes remain in the cupboard. Their bright acidic tang blended with the soft heat of garlic and the subtle touch of dried oregano has served our pizza night’s well, but now I turn to creme fraiche.

It began with a nudge from a friend who encouraged me to make Tarte Flambee for our Alsatian themed dinner party. Having never heard of this dish before I had visions of me bringing a large dish of sorts to the table filled with dinner guests who eagerly looked to me as I set the food aflame.

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Pleased to find out that I would not be creating any sort of fire hazard I quickly realized, with the help of Google, that Tarte Flambée is simply a thin crusted pizza with fromage blanc or creme fraiche as the base. Crispy bacon and onions are scattered on top as well as a light dusting of freshly ground nutmeg. Which to me is the reason why this pizza is uncommonly good.

Since that night I have made this pizza numerous times. So often in fact, my husband is probably ready for the return of a simply tomato sauced and mozzerella topped pizza. Not yet, dear.

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I assure you there will be no longings for cheese as you bite into this rich pizza. The creme fraiche melts into the crust and intensifies leaving an impossibly creamy base for the sweet and smokey layer of bacon and onions.

I implore you to use freshly grated nutmeg. There is no replacement. Although, don’t go running to the fancy kitchen shop to get a nutmeg house/grater. I simply use one of my favorite kitchen tools, the microplane. (I also use this for garlic, Parmesean, citrus zests, ginger, and even grating fresh fruit and vegetables to use for baby food).

While there will not be any showy flames emanating from this dish there will be plenty of very pleased diners.

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continue for the recipes…

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Tarte Flambé

Pizza Dough makes enough for 3 or 4 pizzas 4 cups all purpose flour (1 lb 4 oz.) 1 T salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon instant yeast 2 cups water, room temperature Additional flour, for dusting. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups of room temperature water, then mix on low speed using dough hook until dough binds, about 1 minute, adding more water as necessary. Let rest for 5 minutes. Knead on second-lowest setting for 5 to 7 minutes, until dough pulls away from the bowl and forms a smooth ball. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead and form into a ball, then let rest in a bowl for 3 to 4 hours. By this point the dough should have doubled in size. Punch down and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight. It is possible to use this dough the same day with great results although the long rest in the fridge improves the texture and becomes much easier to stretch, so we do highly recommend it. Take it out of the fridge two hours before you want to eat dinner and let rest on counter.  After approximately 90 minutes, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and cut into 4 8-ounce pieces.  Fold and knead each three or four times until it forms a smooth ball.  Let rest/rise for 30 minutes.   Tarte Flambée makes plenty for 1 12” pizza ½ cup creme fraiche (try making your own!) salt and pepper ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg 1 small garlic clove, minced 4 slices bacon, cut into ¼” strips ½ medium onion, julienned 1 tbl fresh chopped chives Combine the creme fraiche with salt, pepper, nutmeg and garlic.  In a skillet over medium heat cook the bacon until crisp.   Add the onions and cook until gently caramelized, about 10 minutes. Preheat your oven for at least 45 minutes with pizza stone inside, to 485 – 550 degrees. Create 12” round using your dough.  Place on semolina dusted pizza peel.  Spread with creme fraiche mixture and top with bacon and caramelized onion.  Slide onto pizza stone and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Sprinkle with a nice finishing salt over top, such as Maldon or Fleur de Sel. Garnish with fresh chives then slice and serve immediately.

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