I had to place my other dog Zabu in today's post kissing her sister Queen and two younger brothers. I'm attempting to organize a tasting group to try out the recipes I want to include in the ANGEL KISS. I have 4 woman coming over at 4 tomorrow for my first little get together. I'll have a beverage, a ginger carrot soup, a turkey sausage appetizer, mini potato pancakes with smoked salmon, and a bit of the spiced peaches and carrot confiture I made this weekend. I'll provide a list of the foods and encourage critiques on flavor, texture, and presentation. If it's successful, I may begin bi-weekly events.
Today's recipe is a HERBED SALT that I've been preparing for years, often give as a gift and everyone loves it. No testing required.
Ingredients:
sea salt
kosher salt
garlic
herbs
lemon zest
Take equal amounts of your favorite salts and mix in a bowl. Iodized salt may be substituted for the sea or the kosher, or just add a bit if your iodine level is diminished. Finely mince 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and stir in. Take any fresh herbs - I like sage, thyme and rosemary. Chop super fine until you have a couple of tablespoons and add to the bowl. Then add the zest of one small lemon. Mix well and let cure - I leave it on the counter for a few days, giving it  a stir every now and then just to amalgamate the flavors. I use this salt for everything. I never use a shaker anymore - I keep some in a bowl and grab a pinch whenever I'm cooking. And we use salt cellars on the table. Store the rest in a jar.
Feel free to add any herb you like - oregano, dill, marjoram, parsley...whatever is available. And orange or lime zest can be substituted, too.

Day 4

After a whirlwind roadtrip with Bentley and Zabu out to Joshua Tree and Palm Desert (or is it dessert?), I'm back and spent yesterday in the kitchen trying out some new yummies. I played around with an unusual French carrot confiture and  English spiced peaches. I artfully put them in jars, covered the lids with a square on black and white gingham, and tied on a festive ribbon with a round label of the contents. Then placed two of the jars and a sweet little pine needle filled sachet into a green and yellow basket (tisket tasket) and brought it to my hostess as a gift for last night's dinner. The couple are to try the new samples and give me feedback before we can include them on this blog. I'm planning on having a few of the Girls over on Tuesday to try out a few new recipes.

Day 3

Part of the appeal of the cookbook was the words of wisdom and inspiration written in a column on the side of the page. Here is what appeared on the PUFF PANCAKE page:

Be at peace, beloved child, relax those tense nerves...relax for just five minutes, and concentrate on the presence of the High One. Imagine you can see Him in his golden glory. Feel His love flowing to you. Trust Him, for good, and only good is coming to you: but do not stop it's coming by being worried and anxious.
White Eagle.

How would the person I'd like to be do the things I'm about to do?

Happiness is like those places in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.
Alexandre Dumas

Focus on the nobler side, the one you really admire.

I'm fulfilled in what I do...I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes - the finer things in life - would make me happy. My concept of happiness is to be fulfilled in a spiritual sense.
Coretta Scott King

I love being me!

Day 2

I wanted to start today with the artwork of the original purposed cover for the Angel's Kiss, but it seems the scanner has a headache. And instead of continuing with more narrative, let's get started with the first recipe:

Puff Pancake. The very first thing I prepared for my new husband. He said his mom used to make a delicious pancake and unfortunately, she left this Earth when he was 40.  Maybe you'll like this, too, I suggested.....It was exactly the same as his mother's recipe.  My friend, Magi Durham Ziff, was the most magnificent Englishwoman, born in a pub, and introduced me to wonderful food as a teenager. Normally, it was close to impossible to find beef wellington and spinach salad in the boonies of Massachusetts in the early 70s. She shared this with me when I first moved to New York.

And look, here's the cover!

PUFF PANCAKE

3/4 cup of flour

3/4 cup of milk

3 eggs

Whisk together.

Melt butter in a 12 inch cast iron skillet.

Pour in batter, let cook a minute.

Place into 400 degree oven for 15 plus minutes.

It will get very puffy and golden.

It will deflate quite rapidly - but it's a beauty those first few moments!

I serve with lots of butter and powdered sugar.  Maybe a squeeze of lemon juice.

Maple syrup is always yummy.

Nutmeg or vanilla or cinnamon can also be added to the batter.

You may even sauté apples in the pan before you pour in the batter.

Just learned of this from the Huffington Post- Jan 25th:

Indulgent & Comforting Breakfast Recipes.

This recipe comes from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and appeared in the Times in 1966. Forty years later, readers are still making the pancake with no less bliss. What keeps cooks faithful to one recipe is often some confluence of ease and surprise. A batter of flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg is blended together, then poured into a hot skillet filled with butter and baked. Anyone confused? I didn't think so. The surprise comes at the end, when you open the oven door to find a poufy, toasted, utterly delectable-looking pancake. It soon collapses as you shower it with confectioners' sugar and lemon juice, slice it up and devour it. It's sweet and tart, not quite a pancake and not quite a crepe. But lovable all the same. Cooking Notes: Don't over mix the batter, or the pancake will be tough - a few lumps are fine. This is the moment to call your well-seasoned iron skillet into service.

Serves 2 to 4

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons (one half stick) of unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• Juice of half a lemon

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the flour, milk, eggs, and nutmeg in a bowl. Beat lightly. Leave the batter a little lumpy.
2. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet with a heatproof handle. When it is very hot, pour in the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pancake is golden brown.
3. Sprinkle with the sugar and return briefly to the oven. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve with jelly, jam, or marmalade.

I tried this…. But my recipe is richer, puffs higher and tastes better.

The ANGEL'S KISS

Once upon a time, far, far, away, I started a cookbook. It was to heal myself from a nasty divorce. And it worked! Now I'm married to Mr. Good Looking Sexy Fabulous, living in the Dream Home with ocean view, 2 children and 2 dogs, designer clothes, fancy cars, beautiful jewelry, travel, have the housekeeper, the gardener,  the pool guy,  a personal trainer, tennis pro, golf instructor, but above and beyond all these things....happiness. Pure and simple. And you can have it, too. I never published the cookbook. I did send it off to 3 or 4 dozen publishers. But Yummy Husband and romance and marriage and step kids and remodeling happened. You know how it is...., life took over. So I'm going to present it now: almost in it's entirety. A few embellishments, a couple of omissions. And let it grow and evolve as I have over these past few wonderful, enriching, magical years.
Welcome to the ANGEL'S KISS. Kiss is an acronym for keep it simple stupid or the sweeter version, silly. But I'm a bit older and wiser, and maybe not as sweet....I'm hanging onto stupid! Now that I've left the many years of intense urban dwelling on both coasts behind, and find myself in this beautiful utopia of suburbia - I've discovered most people really are stupid. Or slow. Or mentally challenged. Or arrogantly entitled by who knows who. It's ridiculous. Alas, I try  to see the humor in all things. And I am laughing a lot.
So enough of this rambling introduction. Tomorrow, I will start with the real thing. So as they say in France, a demain.