Killer Beef Bourguignon

The other night, with a great package of stewing beef and an extra large bottle of French wine for inspiration, we created THE MOST AMAZING Beef Bourguignon. Daniel took lead on this, but actually in all fairness I think it was more like the lead, the duration and the crossing of the finish-line that he needs to be credited with! I did make the decision that we should have Beef Bourguignon and also gathered up all the ingredients, if that counts for something. Oh, I also enjoyed the remainder of the red wine from marinating the stew. After all, someone needs to fill these key kitchen roles, and I was happy to oblige.

Dan half “wung it” (do you know the origin of this phrase by the way?) and half used this adapted Julia Child recipe to create our masterful dinner. Seriously, it was killer! I licked up my bowlful with a huge grin.

Thanksgiving 101: Apple Pies

Yesterday, my sister came over for some pie making adventures. She’d asked me a couple of weeks ago if we could make some pies together and work on the nuances of pastry. Well, here are some pics of the hefty apple pies we created for our family thanksgiving gatherings.

We experimented with two pastry recipes, one that I’d learned in France and one more traditional, North American, double crust pie recipe. Stay tuned for the verdict after next weekend’s tasting review of the pies!

Fieldstone Vintage Market

Passionate vintage shoppers and appreciators of all things handmade & local came together at last Saturday’s outdoor European-style market. Together, the Bakerview EcoDairy and Birch and Bird Vintage Home Interiors put on this spectacular Fieldstone Vintage Market complete with picnic options, BBQ, petting zoo, amazing ice cream, live music and a line up of vendors not to be missed.

Now, our macarons are not vintage (thank goodness!), but they did make a successful appearance in all of their natural, handcrafted and local glory. It was truly our pleasure to be there and meet so many other incredible vendors & shoppers. Thanks for inviting us to join this year’s market Lily & Rachel of Birch and Bird! It must be said that the location itself was breathtaking. The EcoDairy is “the first demonstration farm of its kind in Canada” with focuses on green energy, experiential learning, education and agri-technology. To read more, check out their website.

It was 6:30am when we began set-up, so as you can imagine it was a foggy start all around! I enjoyed wandering around doing my own window-less shopping, taking photos and socializing just as much as I loved sharing my macarons with anyone who stopped by surprised that there was an edible treat amongst the flowers, stationary and furniture. We heard “I thought these were soaps” several times before the sweet cookie and butter cream of our macarons changed any notions of finding cleaning products at our table! Another funny from that day was the few shoppers who tried to purchase my display of old books. Sorry to disappoint, but those are my personal collection. I’ll share the macarons but not the library.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and to all of you who asked where you could find our macarons in Abbotsford, the Nutrifoods Market at the EcoDairy will be carrying them shortly. As soon as they’re available there, we’ll update our webpage so stay tuned! Enjoy the rest of the pics and get ready to come out next year if you missed the market this time around.