Summer Simplicity — Blackberry Galette

After savoring my first Blackberry Galette at The Breadboard Bakery, I went online to see if I could find a recipe.  I found this article and recipe on savour-fare.com and can't wait to give it a try.

SUMMER SIMPLICITY — BLACKBERRY GALETTE


I’m not much of a summer cook. I like to cook the foods of cooler weather — spicy gingerbreads, hearty stews, root vegetables that stick to your ribs. Summer, at least in Los Angeles, is really to hot to do this type of cooking, and those foods are literally the last food on earth you feel like eating. It doesn’t help that in the summertime I can live on Bacon and Tomato sandwiches and corn on the cob, which, while providing an entirely balanced diet (what? That’s what I’ve had for dinner for the past 4 nights in a row!), is not so much the stuff of food blogs.

The problem, of course, is that summertime is when my local farmer’s market offers its greatest bounty. I am confronted with weekly heaps of Gaviota strawberries, Blenheim apricots, Elephant Heart plums, and the biggest, fattest blackberries you’ve ever seen. And while I do LOVE fruit (and my love cannot hold a candle to that of my husband and my child) sometimes I am compelled to buy more fresh fruit than even our family can eat. And so I am forced to cook, even in the summer.




This blackberry galette is unfussy enough to suit even my summer doldrums, however. The crust is across between a crust and a shortbread, with some sturdiness that helps contain the juice (galettes do not lend themselves well to the world’s most flaky piecrust — more on that later). Furthermore, it’s easy to roll out, and can be rolled directly on the (parchment lined) cookie sheet. Just plop in your blackberries, fold up the sides, brush the whole thing with cream and sprinkle with sugar and bake.




The result may even be worth turning the oven on.

Recipe
Blackberry Galette
4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz flour
1 oz sugar
1 pint blackberries
1/3 c. cream
1/4 c. turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cream cheese, flour and sugar until thoroughly combined, form into a ball, and roll out directly onto a parchment lined cookie sheet until slightly less than 1/4 inch thick.

Place blackberries in center of crust, fold up edges. Brush entire tart with cream and sprinkle with

Combine all ingredients, form into a ball, and roll into a thin crust directly onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place blackberries in center of crust, fold up edges of crust. Brush entire tart with cream and sprinkle with turbinado. Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.



Read more: http://savour-fare.com/2009/07/24/summer-simplicity-blackberry-galette/#ixzz0y6oqmB8Y

Accidental eats?

Saturday morning, there was just one thing I was determined to get done.  It was time to take the bottles and cans into Roth's to get reimbursed for that extra cash we pay at the register.  Pop and beer used to be a rarity at our home--when the girls were growing up.  Not true anymore!  All three of us make an effort to keep beverages rotating in our little outdoor fridge.

Our bottle and can organization system consists of :
1) The cardboard cases the beer comes home from the store in.
 2) A plastic receptacle, manufactured to be a diaper pail.
3) A 30 gallon , plastic garbage can with a lid.

The bottles, once emptied, go back into the cardboard box, and pop cans are tossed into the diaper pail.  When the pail is full, the cans are transferred to the garbage can.  Once the garbage can is full,  we know it's time to take the empties back to the store.

Wow, that didn't take long to transform aluminum and glass into paper receipts!  Our reward?  A drive to Falls City to check out The Breadboard Bakery.  I've been a fan of their bread since I first tried it at Salem Saturday Market.  (No favorites. I like Cascade's, too)  Falls City is situated to the west of both Monmouth and Dallas.  It has the feeling of a place that people live in to escape the intimacy of life on a small city lot.  No one to scold you for collecting too many derelict vehicles or growing dandelions around your house.  Plus, there are no traffic lights or even lines painted down the center of the city streets to tell you when and where to go. Yeah, I can see the attraction.  It's how I spent the first 20 years of my life.

It wasn't hard to find The Breadboard Bakery.  Especially since I'd checked out Nate Rafn's Living Culture video (embedded below) and the bakery's website.  The town is small, and once you know what the building looks like there's no doubt.  We decided on a loaf of Apple/Cranberry Ciabatta and shared a ham and cheese on a baguette.  But the best part?  We also shared a blackberry galette with whipped cream--flaky crust and berries with just enough sugar to really taste those berries.  Delicious!
Eating outside at one of their tables was nice, too.

My Wonderful Life

I do have it pretty good, but the title refers to a website, not me personally.
I don't remember how I stumbled upon the site, but once I did I signed up and began planning.  F was less than thrilled.
"Hey!  I'm doing it with YOU in mind!", I explained.
Didn't help.  Not at all.
{sigh}
You may be wondering--what is this site?
A funeral planning website (you know you want to click here for link).
As odd as it may sound to others, ever since I heard Pat Humphries sing, "Swimming to the Other Side", on NPR in 2002, I knew I wanted to share it with others at my funeral.  So stirring, so universal, I love it.
And that's why I was happy to find "My Wonderful Life", to make an attempt to make it happen.
Because nothing is for sure.

Almost time

Yup, almost time for the big change.
The schedule change, the brain change . . .
. . . stop!  You're killing me!
No, not really.  I'm ready this year.  Probably for the first time in all these years.  It's not that I WANT to go back.  I'm just ready--not remorseful or sad.

I have to admit, there are things I'll miss:
leisurely lunches
sleeping in
taking my time doing chores
all day to think and prep for dinner
being able to check Twitter and email whenever I want
running errands in the morning
{sigh}
Almost there . . .

Random musings . . .

Yup, that's pretty random (the guinea pig, silly).  It's amazing what you can find with Google images.  :)

Things I've discovered lately:
1)  It can be more fun to write a negative review than a positive one and now I must resist the urge to begin dragging N to places I know are iffy.

2)  Reading the instructions for the proper use of your electric toothbrush can give you better results.  Only took me 12 years or so and a new toothbrush to discover that one.

3)  I can be pretty compulsive when I find a book I enjoy.  I went to Reader's Guide and bought 3 more books by Chris Bohjalian and I haven't even finished the current book.


How do I brush with a power toothbrush?

Step One:  Guide the brushhead slowly from tooth to tooth, following the curve of the gum and the shape of each tooth.
Hold the brushhead in place for a few seconds before moving on to the next tooth.
Step Two:  Don't forget to reach all areas, including the inner and chewing surfaces, and behind your back teeth.
Step Three:  Direct the brushhead along the gumline. It isn't necessary to press hard or scrub. Simply let the brush do all the work