Good Morning Darlings!
Hope you all had a fine Valentine’s Day – no matter who you spent it with. Ours was swell. Lets recap the menu:
Crab Cakes
Creamy Pasta
Fresh Green Salad
Lemon Souffle
It was all so good. The souffle was delicious, but needs some work. I thought it was pretty good for a first try. An oven thermometer would probably help to make sure it’s calibrated correctly.
Some photos?
Crab Cakes and Creamy Pasta
Eric whipped up the cream sauce with the most spectacular oregano and gorgeous Greek olive oil by Frixa, that was just sent by lovely Miss Leigh in St. Simons Island. The Chryssaidis family owns a restaurant, Athena, in St. Augustine, where they go through 20 liters of this elixir each day. Can you imagine? And you can buy both the olive oil and oregano online. Yum.
The sauce goes like this (thanks, Honey!): Melt 2 tbsp butter and add 2 tsp Frixa oregano, infuse with low heat while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is al dente, strain and quickly beat together 2 eggs, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 cup parmesan with a little pasta water. Dress the pasta in the sauce and drizzle with the butter to serve. (cooks note: boom done).
Eric’s crab cakes were essentially crab, a bit of mayo to bind and panko for coating. Perfect.
I dressed the table with three large pillar candles, red beaded placemats from Mexico, silver napkin holders, hammered silver flatware and red champagne flutes. Although I believe I forgot to shoot the table because I was so excited about dinner. Sorry, Darlings.
Here’s a peek at the souffle.
Fresh from the oven and dusted with powdered sugar.
To our plates.
And into our bellies! Nom nom nom. And having an excuse to practice my souffle skills is a delicious reason for dessert, yes?
But, Eric and I both agreed, the really special treat came this morning inside the delicate confines of four very fresh eggs, gifted to us by our oh-so-sweet friends Stephanie and Reeves, who raise chickens just a few blocks away from us. They taste nothing like what you buy from the grocery store. No, these are much more piquant, with a richness that betrays its supermarket brethren, and puts them to shame. And look, Stephanie puts the date each one, so you know exactly what day it was gathered.
Gathered 2 days ago! And more cooking in the background. In Beka!
We didn’t say too much during breakfast – we were too busy trying to savor every bite of those pristine eggs. Thanks Stephanie and Reeves!
Aren't they lovely?
Oh, and my Sweeties – I am giving away two tickets for The Wedding Experience tomorrow. You just need to comment here on this blog post. You don’t have to be a bride, you might have a friend who is getting married and could benefit from this – so get your comments in!
xoxo, Patti
Today blogging to Nat King Cole – Love
Nothing like fresh farm eggs!
Even if you don’t have a chicken-raising neighbor, we’re lucky that we have so many farmers markets where we can pic them up.
Lisa – so true! But so cool to have met the chickens that laid the eggs just a few nights before. xxox, P
I have a gaggle of chicks I pet sit. They’re lovely, loved, happy & get bologna/crackers every night for a treat! I get to keep the eggs when I’m watching them. Yummmy! I will never buy store eggs again. When one of our dogs was dying from kidney failure last year, their eggs scrambled was all I could get her to eat.
Looks so good. I so wish that I knew how to make a souffle.