We Are What We Eat

It's the day before New Years Eve.  In the next day or so,  I will try try to take a moment, look back and take stock of the year...at work, at home, triumphs, disappointments, promises made and promises kept.  If it's been a good year there will also be recollection of memorable meals shared with friends and family.  This year that includes moments spent at Against the Grain where it seems that food is always on everyone's mind...what's new... "are there sun buns in the back because I don't see any in the case.  Oh no, have they already sold out?"

A few days before Christmas, my daughter, Sofia, who works at the bakery, read to me a passage from a book that she was reading, Toujours, Provence by Peter Mayle...she said the passage reminded her of me.  I told her it was one of the nicest gifts that anyone had ever given me.  On Christmas day she gave me a card.

On the inside, in beautiful lettering was the passage...it reminds me not only of the bakery, but more importantly of the people who come and go, of friends, acquaintances and strangers too who come to take home or eat a piece of what Doug and company make there...so I thought I'd share the passage with you...

"there is something about lunch in France that never fails to overcome any small reserves of will power that I possess.  I can sit down, resolved to be moderate, determined to eat and drink lightly, and be there for hours, nursing my wine and still open to temptation.  I don't think it's greed.  I think it's the atmosphere generated by a roomful of people who are totally intent on eating and drinking.  And while they do it, they talk about it; not about politics or business or sports, but about what is on the plate and in the glass.  Sauces are compared, recipes argued over, past meals remembered and future ones planned.  The world and its problems can be dealt with later on, but for the moment, 'la bouffe' takes priority and contentment hangs in the air.  I find it irresistible."

Happy new year to all of you.

Christmas Day - The Nog Blog Continued

Several times this week I heard from readers of this blog concerning my posting of Trickling Springs Egg Nog sold at "The Bakery."   Some were moved to purchase a bottle and give it a try.  Others told me that it had made them think about their parent's or grandparent's egg nog.  One told me she was going to find the recipe and make her grand mother's.  So...yesterday, Christmas Eve, I decided I'd make my father's egg nog. It been at least 20 years since I made it.  (He got the recipe from his grand father, Don [as in the godfather] Jaime Rivera.)
Yesterday was the last market day for the season in Chestertown and I purchased a dozen organic eggs, and later in the day organic milk, cream and half and half...like my friends at Against the Grain, I too believe that fresh, top quality ingredients are essential, in baking, making furniture or egg nog!
This morning, after we opened gifts and ate breakfast, I set myself to work.  I decided to work in my Aunt Nilda's small kitchen.  She passed away 3 years ago and her small cottage sits empty except for the occasional visitor.  I brought some music over, all the ingredients that I needed and for about three hours, at least in my own mind, I communed with my aunt and my father...a nice way to spend a few hours on Christmas...with two people that I greatly admired, loved and miss.
I made enough to give some to a few friends, and just enough to serve with dinner and a last sip (pictured below) as I wrote this posting.  The recipe is below for those who may be interested...maybe next year we should think about the First Annual Chestertown Egg Nog Cook Off.  That might be a fun event to Celebrate the Holiday, bring some different folks to town and spread the spirit of our departed ancestors to a new generation.

By the way, I tried the Trickling Springs Egg Nog with rum and it was much nicer than with brandy...it was smoother and did not overwhelm the dairy products.

Heating milk and separating the yokes 

  

      Egg Nog ready to add rum and pour into glasses

   

Not much left - a bit to inspire these words that I write...

Ortiz Family Egg Nog Recipe

Ingredients:

12 large egg yokes, 1 quart whole milk, 1 pint half and half, 1 pint heavy cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla,  1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup of water, 1 cup granulated sugar, ground fresh nutmeg, run to taste...(I add 1/3 quart of (amber) dark rum...my father's choice was Bacardi Puerto Rican rum.

- Heat the quart of milk in a pot.  When the milk skins over, turn off the flame, carefully remove the skin and cover the pot.

- In a separate larger pot, separate the yokes from the egg white.  Hold the yokes in your hand, pierce the yoke sack and let the yoke drip into the pot, discard the yoke sack.

- Pour the entire contents of the sweetened condensed milk into the pot with the egg yokes and stir until mixed together.

- Pour the hot milk into the larger pot with the stirred yokes and sweetened condensed milk.

- In a very small pot boil the cup of water and then pour in the cup of sugar, stirring to make a simple syrup.  

- Pour the hot simple syrup into the the hot milk, yokes and condensed milk pot - stir with a rubber spatula making sure you mix anything that is on the bottom or sides of the pot.  

- Take a strainer and pour from the large pot, through the strainer and into an even larger pot the milk, yoke, syrup and condensed milk mixture.  

- Stir in the tablespoon of vanilla, pint of half and half and pint of heavy cream.

- Stir in rum to taste - I use 1/3 quart - my father used to pour in the quart.

- Grate fresh nutmeg into the egg nog, to taste (don't over do it)

Pour into a mason jar, grate a bit more nutmeg on top just before you put on the lid, tie on a ribbon and you're done!  Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or better yet, let it sit around cooling in the refrigerator for a few days.

Yes, there is a lot of cholesterol in this recipe...I know that...I'm not advocating that you drink glasses full...I'm a believer of "all things in moderation" but that very much includes "all things" and for the holidays that includes egg nog!  Bon appetite!  and Merry Christmas to my father and aunt...

The Nog Blog

         To quote a higher authority, "man does not live by bread alone."  So with that in mind let's talk about egg nog.  'Tis the season after all.  No, not the kind you get at your local grocery store...I gave up on that a long time ago and so should you.  But a few weeks ago, while waiting on line to get my morning coffee and croissant, I noticed a new item in the refrigerated case..."Trickling Springs All-Natural Egg Nog"  from Trickling Springs Creamery in Pennsylvania.
           And there it's been for the past few weeks, calling out to me in the morning as I order a small coffee and something small to get the morning off on the right foot...It's been years since I've made my father's home made egg nog recipe (egg yokes, heavy cream, half and half and milk,  simple syrup, sweetened condensed milk, a brandy and rum mixture with a hint of nutmeg.)  At Christmastime I always think of my father making it for his friends when I was a kid.  Then, on Friday, I could not resist any longer... I bought a bottle...

   
           So...I'm here to tell you...this is good stuff.  I've tried it with a bit of brandy and it's very nice.  I hope to try it with some good Puerto Rican rum.  I think this will be a nicer fit as I think that the brandy tended to overwhelm the smoothness of the egg nog...still it was a nice evening treat.  Oh yes, and "un-doctored" - just by itself, it's a nice holiday drink.  I'll post an update (with rum added)  before New Years and lift a glass to those of you who read this...or better yet why don't you try it and post a response to this blog entry!!!
           P.S. thanks to Pam for the title of this posting

Why this Blog

        Several friends have asked me why I'm writing this blog so I thought I'd put those thoughts into a posting.  First of all there is the obvious answer...I grew up a few blocks from "The French Bakery" in NYC and developed a love for French breads and pastries that is equal parts nostalgia, and a love for baguettes, pain au raisin, and plain croissants.  Secondly, I like the challenge of writing this blog...can I write a short entry - can I make it interesting for the reader - make them laugh or at least smile...show them an insight that perhaps they had not considered regarding life at the bakery?
        Perhaps it's the third reason that most interests me...I have been a woodworker/furniture maker for almost 27 years - 25 on my own - www.ortizstudios.com -   I have a great deal of respect for anyone who starts a business.  But this is much more than that.  This is a business, like my own, that manufactures, that makes, that creates what it sells.  This is something special, something that is much rarer than it was a generation or two ago.   And I admire that.  I want to support it...so...this blog.
        It would be enough if it were just about the bread and the pastries...but my sense is that this place is about other things also.  I admire the fact that when I walk in, sometimes, I see Doug or Michael looking through reference books reading up on flours, cakes, recipes.  When I recently saw Doug looking through one I asked what he was reading?  He told me that he is always trying to refine the ingredients of his breads and pastries...trying to make the best products possible.  He was reading up on regional flour makers.
         This place is also, I think, about building community through food...live music gets played here on occasion, baking classes for children, the occasional coffee cupping...Thanksgiving Dinner for friends...photo below.  There's good energy here...besides great breads and pastries...the body is fed but perhaps more importantly, so is the soul.

Good Morning, Chestertown!

   

     There are many things that I enjoy about my morning walk to the bakery.   As I walk the block and a half from my studio I find myself wondering..."who's there this morning?  Will there be 'pain au raisin,' (my favorite - only there on occasion) or will Doug, Michael, Stu or Paul have a new treat to try."
     Just before I get to the corner, if the wind is blowing toward the river, I might be greeted by the sweet aroma of French baguettes in the oven.  I can almost taste the crust.  I walk a few more steps and as I round the corner onto High Street and look to the right...towards the river...if I'm lucky - and if it's late Fall or early Winter - I get to see some beautiful sunrises (pictured above.)  Its just for a moment or two, but on a good day, the whole experience...the walk, the anticipation, the aromas, the sky, entering the bakery and sitting down for 20 minutes to a croissant or pastry and coffee - sometimes with the company of friends or with the morning "paper,"...all this helps me get through the day.
      So here's my best wishes to "the crew" at ATG for the start of a second wonderful year!!!   ...and thank you for being there.