What Ricotta Taught

It might sound strange that learning how to make cheese taught me something about being a woman. In fact, I think the culinary arts are an excellent touchpoint for any of us - women and men - seeking to honour the feminine within. This is the part of us that knows -  that responds to time like the liquid thing it is - with intuition and with reverence. The pursuit of a quick result often happens at the expense of honouring the process, and we miss out on the magic that occurs in the meantime. In my kitchen boudoir, I find myself learning about this sacred approach to time and recently I have made a sincere and conscious decision to let what happens in this space, this organic unfolding, seep into the rest of my world view and infuse my approach to living.

Yesterday's Panettone, Today's Bread Pudding & Tomorrow's Curves

My holiday house guests brought over a beast of a Panettone to celebrate New Year’s morning. Grateful to sleep in and not have to cook breakfast thanks to said Panettone, I was perhaps less so when we ate but a corner of it and the remainder sat on my kitchen counter like a carbohydrate coquette after my house guests left. I live alone, and carbs speak to me. Actually, they whisper huskily to me from the cupboards and I fall prey to their floury advances. The panettone purred: Mangiame, signorina. Sai che tu me desiderà! in a voice that sounded remarkably like Sophia Loren. Her having sat out on the counter for a few days, I did not care to partake, but hesitated to throw her away.

Then a solution struck me that pleased my thrifty nature and rather titillated Sophia. I looked at this panettone and said: You, my dear, would make an excellent bread pudding.

Si, she said.

To (S)tart.

To acquaint myself with blogging practice, and while I wait to get home to have access to more recent photos and posts, I wanted to upload and share some pictures of a tart I made this summer. Consider this a dry (but actually quite moist and very delicious) run!

I made this recipe from one of my go-to cookbooks, The Silver Palate Cookbook.

The recipe asks for a pastry cream - something I had never attempted before. Milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, whisked on a double boiler until deliciously thick and creamy.