There – that’s better – a shot outside my kitchen door this morning! Big difference from yesterday!
One of my favorite plants of Spring is the bearded iris. I think of them as delicate yet regal. When I was young, my Dad admired them too and he kept them in our yard in a range of shades of lavender/lilac/violet. He really focused on vegetable gardening and the design of the garden as opposed to flower gardens, per se. I do remember that he would rim one garden – mostly lettuces and beans, with a lovely line of hostas (no deer). Today, we use boxwood as a deterrent for “the nibblers” and, where I live, fences with underground coverage for “the burrowers”. Anyway, in addition to the color selection, I love the delicate fragrance of iris and their intricate form. Yesterday, I saw a sizeable border planted just with Iris and I made a mental note to find a place to do this. I have a small collection of iris here – some deeper purple and some yellow (above), which just came out this week. The Iris is a short-lived and fleeting pleasure, not liking rainy or hot weather. But, I enjoy them while I can.
Well, I did make an impromtu visit to the Balthazar Bakery facility in Englewood, NJ yesterday morning. I have been there before, but I hoped to get a feel for what it was like on a sub-par weather day. In a sense I was observing my hypothesis from yesterday about the heart and soul of a baker. The facility is great and the front of the house a tempting display of many beautiful items. Make no mistake, this is first class baking! I took my time, looking over everything carefully, finally made a selection to sample (have done this at Levain also), picked up some things as a gift and headed out – but not before I secured info on how to schedule a tour of the bakery and take some pictures. I plan to communicate with them and schedule this very soon. I have to tell you, visiting there made me homesick for the commercial kitchen – you can see most of the staff from the shop space – everyone was intent in their work – lots of dough being kneaded, shaped, cut and filled!
This is a selection on a damp day! I think they are beautiful!
I walked through the door with about 6 or 7 firefighters from the city of Englewood. They appeared to be just stopping by the pick up some snacks. Lucky ducks! Anyway, I made my purchase, adding a bag of their cherry almond granola, a small ciabatta and an almond croissant at the very last minute. I picked up their Mother’s Day orders menu on the way out the door: Gateau Fraiser, Charlotte aux Fruits, Bee Sting Cake, Rhubarb Galette, and Lemon-Ricotta Torte. Ok, yum – you get the picture! I only bought some small things, not loaves of bread (except the Ciabatta which I gave away) and larger tarts so as to not torture myself – especially later in the day when my willpower wanes.
I was lucky enough to have Chef Sim Cass as my bread instructor last year at ICE. That “mod’ of my program was an awesome combination of top-drawer bread instruction, tough coaching and his singular style and wit in the kitchen. Chef Sim was one of the founding bakers of Balthazar Bakery and his bio is very impressive. I consider myself very lucky to have studied with him, albeit for a short time.
Well, having exhausted my stay without appearing odd or some lingering lurker, I ate the almond croissant in the car upon pulling away. (this is the only thing I ate such as to prevent me from being expelled from my yoga class later yesterday afternoon). In spite of being a little damp, which is totally unavoidable on a day like yesterday, the first bite of that croissant told it all in terms of flavor and texture. I really expected it to be a filled croissant – with frangipane or an almond custard or cheese, but there was no filling. This was a pleasant surprise. The entire croissant was infused, and not in a bad way, with the most delicate essence of almond flavor – had great loft and was heavenly, light, satisfying, comforting. Yikes, I can’t decide if I wish I worked there or am glad I live so far away. I am sure I would have a non-existent waist line if I were around there in any capacity on an ongoing basis. Such is the torturous life when in love with this vocation. Ugh. Why aren’t I 5’11” and skinny?
This was a fun trip – to enjoy the “view” and what you can purchase there never fails to disappoint. If you have not been there, it is definitely worth a visit. Below is their “small” ciabatta.
Ok, so the sky finally cleared this morning – it feels like cause for celebration! Those bananas sitting there were calling my name. I didn’t want to make a cake although I adore the Dorie Greenspan Banana Bundt Cake. Remember, I like to add 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon and the zest of one orange. Either way, this is worth trying. So, I went off to try an experiment with Banana-Pineapple Scones.
There they are – I am not 100 percent happy with the texture as adding 2 very wet fruits – overripe bananas and fresh pineapple throw off the ratios a bit. I will work on this again tomorrow and post the recipe when I feel it is “a-ok”. Today is going to be one of those days when I could do a dozen different things. One thing’s for certain, though, it’s a great day for baking and I am going to take advantage of the sun!