I had a three-day weekend from work, and it has been exactly what I needed. Yesterday I did little else than sleep in, read, and run errands. Last night, both Sebastien and I met up after we worked out (alright - confession: my gym was closed when I got there, and his class was cancelled, so neither of us actually did work out, but we had every intention). We went out for a drink and then dinner at a nice Thai restaurant, and then watched a cheesy movie with our good friend, Ramneet. We got home far too late (1:am), but it was great fun.
This morning, I slept in a little again, and read for a bit in bed (I am reading the Life of Pi - if you haven't read it, please do). My friend from work, Tamara, came over with her 3-year son Jamie so we could dye eggs. I loved it! He is very sweet. He got a kick out of making the eggs striped, but had a hard time controlling his compulsion to keep pulling the egg out of the dye to look at it! It was really cute. I wish I had pictures from the dyeing session, but here are some of the eggs we made.
I honestly spent most of the day in the kitchen, my favorite place to be if I have the time. I made some Finnish pulla (a cardamon coffee bread - every Finnish household has it on hand in case guests stop by), and some lemon curd. It was my first time making lemon curd. It tastes like summer, and that makes me happy. The recipe follows, and it was much easier than I would imagine.
Lemon Curd (Nigel Slater's recipe)
Need:
2 small jam jars (sterilized)
Zest and juice of 4 unwaxed lemons
200g sugar
100g butter (cubed)
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk (mixed lightly with a fork)
Do:
1. Combine lemon juice, zest, sugar and butter in a heatproof bowl.
2. Set over pan of boiling water (medium-high heat), but don't let bowl touch the water below - it would get too hot too fast).
3. Stir with whisk until butter melts.
4. Add eggs to lemon mixture, and continue to stir over the water.
5. Cook curd until it is getting thick (+/-10 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and continue to stir every once in a while until it cools down a bit (I put mine over a bowl of ice water, but I am impatient).
7. Pour into sterilized jars, and enjoy!
It should keep (in the refrigerator) for a couple of weeks.
When Sebastien got home from running more errands, we made granola with cranberries and almonds.
We have a packed day tomorrow, but I am looking forward to having pulla with lemon curd slathered on it, some granola with pears and yogurt, a nice cappuccino, and a hard-boiled egg. Here is a picture of the table, set for breakfast (of course I am not going to leave the eggs out until then, but they'll be out tomorrow! Can you tell I am excited?
Right now, I'm off to an Easter Vigil service, and am doing a reading. Until tomorrow then....!
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5 comments:
I know I can just look this up on the good ole internets, and is pathetically unsophisticated of me... but what do you do with lemon curd? What do you eat it with? I've been trying all kinds of new recipes lately so you've got me inspired.
Hopey, if you haven't mailed our l.o.m.s yet... ahem... i would LOVE LOVE LOVE some of your homemade pulla bread. It is SO YUMMY. Even if it is just the last piece of what you just made... that'll be for me cuz i asked for it. BTW, Seb should know that anytime we talk about pie or making pie or eating pie he says, "Sebastien and i made cranberry pie at Thanksgiving." REMEMBER!??! ;-)
... oh yeah.. and also... what is all this paranoia about REFRIDGERATING boiled eggs? I could SWEAR that we would decorate/dye eggs and leave them out in the Easter baskets for days, if not weeks, and THEN EAT THEM, no problem. Is that nuts?
Jessica - I like lemon curd on toast. It really does taste like summer, in my mouth. It is also really good between layers of a cake, or mixed in with yogurt for breakfast. It does great things for tarts too - either as a topper for a custard, or as a shallow tart (in a crust) by itself. I have also heard that it is really nice to mix lemon curd into whipped cream, and eat it with berries for a fresh dessert. I haven't tried it, but I am definitely going to!
Chris - I will do my best on sending some pulla. I am getting close on the monsters (unnamed as of yet) for the boys, so I will have to push ahead and get them finished so I can send non-stale bread! ;)
I am not sure about the egg thing.... I know I left them out longer as a kid than I would now, but I don't know how good my sense of time was as a kid. I do know that they are a great food to take hiking because they will definitely do well for a few hours. Interestingly, I have heard that when you boil them, some of the egg's protective coating is washed away, and they become more susceptible to bacteria, etc. Growing up, we would eat eggs at Raili's house, and there were feathers (and so on) on the outsides, and she would never wash them, because she claimed they went bad faster. She was right!
Your lemon curd is divine on toast. The freshness of it... the lemony yellowness of it... the texture... the everything! YUM!
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