pigs in a blanket--all grown up
The other night Will and I somehow got talking about pigs in the blanket and he came up with the genius idea of giving the piggies an update, a little more sophistication (just another reason to love the guy): black pepper biscuits and tasty Colisimo's chicken and fennel sausage (a local company). Believe me this was an improvement from the vienna sausages and Pillsbury biscuits of my childhood.
(um, just ignore the messy kitchen table in the background)
The dinner was sort of for Will's b-day, but we've been celebrating since Friday. I am already a firm believer in Birthday Week (best to make the fun last a while) and since my birthday is a week after Will's, I can now justify a full two weeks of birthday celebrations. Soon I might be able to figure out a way to get a month! The birthday fortnight started off with a deliciously dense chocolate cake from our new favorite bakery, Les Madeleines. Les Madeleines makes the best vanilla cupcakes I have ever tasted and with every cup of coffee they give you a tiny orange madeleine. The bakery is also located in a place you'd never expect to find delicate pastries: a street dominated by bars and pawn shops. Will's parents order him a cake every year, so this year he suggested Les Madeleines (who knew it would cost $60?!). The cake was heavy and dense, covered in a thick ganache and decorated with chocolate covered crisped rice. The trick to this cake is eating it in very small pieces. But we're doing pretty well--nearly half way finished.
(um, just ignore the messy kitchen table in the background)The dinner was sort of for Will's b-day, but we've been celebrating since Friday. I am already a firm believer in Birthday Week (best to make the fun last a while) and since my birthday is a week after Will's, I can now justify a full two weeks of birthday celebrations. Soon I might be able to figure out a way to get a month! The birthday fortnight started off with a deliciously dense chocolate cake from our new favorite bakery, Les Madeleines. Les Madeleines makes the best vanilla cupcakes I have ever tasted and with every cup of coffee they give you a tiny orange madeleine. The bakery is also located in a place you'd never expect to find delicate pastries: a street dominated by bars and pawn shops. Will's parents order him a cake every year, so this year he suggested Les Madeleines (who knew it would cost $60?!). The cake was heavy and dense, covered in a thick ganache and decorated with chocolate covered crisped rice. The trick to this cake is eating it in very small pieces. But we're doing pretty well--nearly half way finished.
posted by lis at 6:20 PM
5 Comments:
Oh my goodness, that cake looks so good! When I was growing up, my mom always made a big deal about birthdays - when I turned 17 I had 7 cakes! I am trying to do the same with my boyfriend and I, but it's hard because he had the opposite growing up. Birthday week is a great idea!
Mmmm, madeleines. I'm thinking about buying the molds to make them. Their shell shape is so charming and inviting!
I love the idea of chocolate crisped rice on the cake! Once I added Rice Krispies to fudge hoping to capture that same feeling...they quickly got soggy and my family shook their heads as if to say "We told you so. Cereal in fudge is a regrettable idea." But now, hope is renewed!
Happy upcoming birthday, by the way. Do you get a cake from this bakery too?
There is so much to comment on in this post! (a) happy birthday to will and to you. (b) Birthday week rocks! (c) a $60 birthday cake! (d) but covered with chocolate covered crisped rice! genius! (e) mmmmmm, sausage. (also (f) vanilla cupcakes)
I used to love pigs in a blanket. In a related item, my mother used to wrap a frankfurter in bacon, affix said bacon with toothpicks (wait! the frankfurter was slit and had slices of good cheese inserted before it was wrapped in bacon), and then broiled the whole thing, which probably sounds disgusting, but was deeee-licious. As a mostly-vegetarian, I haven't had a hot dog in years (pause to wipe a tear), but I have had bites of Colosimo sausages (just bites! not a whole sausage, so it's okay!) and sausage belongs to the category of meats that I really really realllly miss (category also includes bacon, natch).
Oh! lisa b. has sparked my memory for my childhood's equivalent of a sausage-bread dish: my mom used to cook and crumble sausage and spread it over a rectangle of refrigerated crescent roll dough (not separating the triangles), then roll the dough up and slice it into rounds. These sausage roll-ups were my brother's and my favorite breakfast as kids!
The pigs-in-blankets exemplify my cooking strategy: Take one part childhood memory and add the refinements that come with age and experience.
The cake on the other hand defies all appetites. Maybe by next week we will have got through half of it...
-w
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