Monday, December 28, 2015

CCC December


I took a much longer than expected break from blogging, but I missed this cookbook and this group, so here I am.  I'm more behind than I thought I was (I have draft posts from May and June that I never finished!), but I thought I'd just jump in where I am and maybe I'll catch up later.  On a similar note, instead of my ambitious attempts to make all of the recipes every month, my new goal is to make one recipe a month with the group for the rest of the time.

Our second daughter was born on Halloween, and I'm still struggling to figure out how to make dinner with two kids around.  I selected the Blue Cheese and Chive Tart to make this month because it sounded so quick and easy.  It was.  I love this technique.  I defrosted some frozen puff pastry (I actually think I made it myself, embarrassingly I can't remember when) in the afternoon, and in the evening I was able to prep the rest of the recipe in the time it took the oven to heat.  I even had time to steam string beans and feed Miriam while the tart baked.  In the spirit of being seasonal (and maybe inspired by my laziness) I skipped buying tomatoes and replaced them with some roasted red peppers that I made and froze this fall.  The tart was delicious.  Paul and I loved it.

(Amusing side note:  I didn't think Charlotte would like the red peppers, so I left them off of one corner of the tart and just put blue cheese, which I know Charlotte likes.  She tasted the tart and liked it--she definitely lets us know when she doesn't like something--but for some reason after two bites only wanted to eat green beans for the rest of her dinner.  Paul and I were sitting there begging her to eat some puff pastry as well, and laughing about how most kids would happily eat the puff pastry while their parents begged them to eat green beans.)

UPDATE:  Andrea was nice enough to ask for a photo of Miriam.  (Who doesn't love being asked about their kids?)  Here's one of Miriam and another one of both girls.



7 comments:

  1. Jora, I'm so happy to "see" you! Belated congratulations on Miriam's arrival! Your pepper and blue cheese tart looks great! And I think your approach of just doing ONE recipe each month is great, especially if it means seeing what you're doing in the kitchen once a month. Happy New Year to you and your family!!!

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  2. What happy news! Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. I'm glad to see you back with CCC (and your tart looks delicious with the roasted peppers). Happy New Year!

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  3. Jora, Congratulations on your newest little one, Miriam! A beautiful name. It is wonderful to see you and very much enjoyed your update story,and got a chuckle on Charlotte and the green beans! Happy New Year to you and all of the family!

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  4. Dear Jora, congratulations on the birth of your second daughter!!! What a beautiful name!!! I would LOVE to see a picture or two please (if you have a minute, of course). And it makes me extremely happy to see you with the CCC again!!! Love the look of your tart, it is one of my favorite recipes from the book, no matter what kind of cheese I put on it...
    Please let me know if I can send you anything for the baby, perhaps one of those wooden toys that we all love so much around here...or perhaps something else...
    Sending big fat hugs for the girls and all the very best all of you and congratulations, again!
    Thank you for taking the time to join us for the CCC in the busy month of December!
    Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year and all the very best!
    Andrea

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  5. Zora! Congratulations on the new addition to your family!! I enjoyed the blue cheese tart too!

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  6. So nice to have you back! Congratulations on the new addition to your family. Both girls are so cute! I love that green beans are more attractive to Charlotte than puff pastry - she'll grow up to be a well-rounded, healthy eater.

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  7. I was wondering about you and I hopped on over to your site and there you are!
    Congratulations on your beautiful new addition and it just doesn't seem possible that Charlotte is such a young lady now.

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