Lucky

Anna: What’s luck, Mama?

Me: Umm…

Anna: It’s like when you get chocolate cake with strawberries.

Me: Exactly.

Subscriptions and RSS and Feeds, oh my!

Believe it or not, I am a bit of a technophobe. I hate having to upgrade software, and the real reason I manage to do as much as I do online is because I married a geek programmer.

As I'm learning more about this land of blog, however, I'm beginning to understand the appeal of subscribing. Instead of wondering if Redneck Mommy or Angry Chicken has updated recently (and having to go to my browser and hit refresh endlessly to find out), I can subscribe and simply get notified whenever they've got a fresh post.

Tsh, of SimpleMom has written a great post explaining all about RSS and subscribing here. She goes into just the right amount of detail without overwhelming you with geek speak.

Of course, I still cheat. By putting my favorite links over in the right side of my blog, I can easily see who has updated whenever I log in (and so can you!). But still, subscribe. It'll save you time and help you to keep up with your blog fix. And that will leave you with more time for wine and chocolate, and other of life's most important things!

The all-chocolate dinner party

A few days ago, I posted about my new chocolate addiction, courtesy of our trip to France. I was curious about an all-chocolate dinner party and decided to attempt one for my birthday dinner this week.

The idea began with this recipe for molé, from David Lebovitz. A few weeks later, he posted a recipe for this chocolate cake, and the decision was made. I had the main and the dessert, now I just had to round out the menu with some sides and an appetizer.

Browsing at Powell’s, I found this book from Scharffenberger, which is filled with amazing recipes and information for the chocolate-obsessed. I decided on a goat-cheese and cacao nib spread, with homemade lavash from the previously mentioned Artisan Bread in 5-minutes a Day (a second plug for that book: the more I use it the more I love it.) I added an aged gouda and some quince paste to the plate to round it out. I also had little chocolate disks (74% cacao, Dominican Republic), some salted almonds, and some nibs by themselves. I hadn’t eaten nibs before, but apparently they are quite good for you (no sugar, high in antioxidants and fiber).

Following the apps, which were served with Prosecco, we moved on the the molé, which I served with roasted butternut squash (from our garden) dressed with an olive oil/balsamic/shallot/cacao nib dressing (all these recipes are from the Scharffenberger book). Both the molé and the squash were amazing! We paired these with a Russian Hill syrah, which held up really well to the spices of the molé. This course was followed by a salad of baby spinach, pears, toasted walnuts, and more cacao nibs. More syrah, hilarious conversation, and a brief pause to recover before moving on to the dessert followed.

For dessert, I served the chocolate cake (which is almost like a dense mousse) with fresh raspberries, a little whipped cream, and a tawny port. Yum.

I have to say, the menu was exactly what I wanted it to be. I was able to incorporate chocolate into every single dish, but without anything being overly sweet or rich. Portions are definitely a part of that (we kept them reasonable) as was the use of good, dark chocolate. Even the cake has only a couple tablespoons of added sugar. So, as my gift to you, I present the cake recipe, in English, and with step-by-step directions (which you don’t get when reading David Lebovitz’s scrawled note off the bathroom wall at Racines, although it makes for a great story!) Enjoy!

Gateau Zoë

• 8oz salted butter (although I unintentionally used half that-8 tablespoons-and it turned out fine)
• 1/4 c strong espresso
• 2-3T superfine sugar
• 6 eggs, separated
• 8-11 oz good, dark chocolate (we used 11, bien sur!)

1. beat yolks with sugar
2. beat whites until stiff
3. melt chocolate and butter, add espresso
4. mix in yolks
5. fold in whites

Put the mixture in a buttered, floured, 9-inch cake pan (we used cocoa powder instead of flour). Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. The center will be molten, but the sides should be firm.

Note: we had a hell of a time getting it out of the pan, and basically it just fell apart. I suggest a spring-form pan if you’ve got one. If not, embrace the mess and pretend it’s mousse!

One last note: for my birthday present, David bought me a fancy crepe pan to further my francophile tendencies. I can only assume that a crepe post will follow soon!

Chocolate

I’ve never been a chocolate person. As a child I was partial to strawberry, and my preference for fruit-based ice creams and other desserts has remained pretty consistent. I’ll always choose the lemon tart over the chocolate cake.

In the past year or so I’ve watched my daughter discover chocolate, and I drew the conclusion that one was either a chocolate person (like my daughter) or wasn’t (like me).

And then we went to France. I’m not sure how it happened, except to say that a small amount of good, dark chocolate accompanies many things in France. Without realizing it, I developed a habit.

Since returning to Portland, my new-found love of chocolate has become obvious. First I made these outrageous dulche de leche brownies. Then, our good friends (confirmed chocoholics) introduced us to these candies, imported from France.

And then yesterday I had the pleasure of discovering Cacao. Located inside the Heathman Hotel, the tiny boutique chocolaterie sells “drinking chocolate” as well as coffee-based drinks (I had the dark chocolate mocha — divine) and imported chocolates from all over the world. I am especially excited to try the dark chocolate Grey Salt Caramels. Just in time for Valentine’s Day (hint hint)!

Beautiful Things

A few of the reasons I love France. This is just what the world looks like here—there is so much design and beauty in the presentation of everything. A feast for the eyes.

BTW, that buddha—all chocolate.

Here

After what feels like a tremendously long buildup, we are here! Exhausted and twitchy with jet-lag, but here nonetheless. The trip itself went remarkably well. European airlines know how to do it — complementary, frequent drinks (cognac, anyone?), plenty of good chocolate, relatively comfortable seats, really nothing to complain about. And the best part was they were at about 30% capacity, which meant Anna could stretch out across two seats and actually sleep, albeit for only 5-6 hours instead of the usual 11 or so. But despite the lack of sleep and the fact that both computer batteries died early in the trip (meaning she only got to watch 30 minutes of movies for the entire 20-hour-schlep), she did great. 

My voyage was made particularly entertaining by the man I sat with part of the time who either a) is crazy or b) is actually about to be made king of Hungary, owns many castles to which we have an open invitation, is some world-pioneer in the field of Autism, is an archduke of somewhere, and who offered me Ambien, heroin, and pixie dust at various times during our conversation. Oh, and he said he had diplomatic immunity (you know, being about to be named king and all) and was therefore packing heat on the plane. Ah, fun times!

Getting to the hotel was an easy taxi ride, we have a lovely, simple room with comfy beds and wi-fi. We’re across the street from a lovely area with many markets, restaurants and shops. In the next day or two I’ll begin posting some of the photos David and I have already taken.

Tomorrow we’re off to Rouen to meet the Fabulets, the folks with whom we’re doing our swap. They’ll show us around and introduce us to some of the neighbors, etc., before heading off to our house in Portland the following day. Now I’m planning on a good night’s sleep for all of us followed by a yummy French breakfast with jam made by our hosts here at the Hotel Valedon.

A bientôt.