Jensen

I suspect the houseguest was a Lakers' fan. 'Nuff said. Great article in the Sacbee online about Masque. I'm thinking about dinner there next weekend.

In the meantime, Luke can come and play with Streaka and Dayton. They both have "bald thigh syndrome" to a certain degree (Streaka more than Dayton) and so an "almost bald dog" would fit right in. To give fair warning though, Tighe and Rogie do tend to flaunt their furriness to the others... I'm quite looking forward to peering in on your life in the coming week (especially the yogurt aspects of it ). I think a week at the shore is just what we need after our time in France.

Lucy, Thank you so much for sharing your week with us. To me, at any rate, your blog was about more than just food. It's been an incredible experience to read it. Thank you. Jen

and once you've made the achiote paste, you can make Yucatan-style pork.

That's because you Yanks eat with the fork in the wrong hand. The fork goes in your left hand and the knife goes in your right. And they stay there! None of this putting the knife down and switching hands and nonsense like that!

I'd like to conduct a little informal servey here: * How many people have been leaping out of bed in the morning and running to their computers so that they can see how Lucy's day is going? * How many people have made tartiflette this week? * How many people have investigated the requirements for obtaining a work visa in France? * Who wants to blog after this amazing week is over? (and how many people felt a pang in their chest when they read the words "after this amazing week is over"?)

I've never had, nor have I seen, Greek-style yogurt. What is its consistency?

Oh, I've used that very same recipe. It's not really much different in the end than yogurt quark though. I may have mentioned this already but quark is the reason why I bought my yogurt maker in the first place. I also bought a "yogurt cheese maker". There is a dairy at my local farmer's market that has quark but I found it the same week that my yogurt maker arrived. Also, they only ever had sweetened lemon quark and I only ever want plain or herbed quark. I did notice that this past weekend they had plain quark but then I had a bunch in my fridge, didn't I? I'd bought some at home (Canada) before moving here but I've never seen it in the stores here. Oh wait, the local German deli does have it but, again, only sweetened and fruit flavoured...no plain and no herbed. Yes, quark == good stuff.

How about avgolemeno sauce?

I used my yogurt quark in stuffed pasta tonight and, I'm happy to report, that it cooks just beautifully! I think the end product depends more on the milk (or half and half or cream) used, rather than the starter. That's just my unfounded opinion on the matter...

Tonight was an "inspired by eGullet" meal: * stuffed tortelli (inspired by Moby P's eGCI course) * the tortelli were filled with steamed and chopped arugula mixed with homemade quark, a happy outcome of my yogurt-making at home. I topped the tortelli with sauteed orange bell pepper, red onion, and oyster mushrooms. * fava beans (brought to my attention by The Myth of Fava Beans topic), cooked and then lightly sauteed with some chopped fresh garlic

To be honest, I assumed that FlourPower had understated the number of requests in the "one or two per week" comment. No, I can't see that being enough to warrant Rule #5. If that is the correct number of requests, then maybe the Zoloft should be in the staff room, not on the counter. I like your idea of knives at the service station too. That would be a good solution to the problem.

Ummm, FlourPower never said there were 24 rules. The "24" involved that many hours required for special orders. I thought the list was funny ... "Be nice or leave." I reckon that, if the "no cut" rule made it to the posted rules, then enough people were asking about it to create a problem. (Otherwise it wouldn't be posted, right?) As for making the woman cry, I'd be willing to bet that other stuff was going on in her life and the initial response set her off. It might have been a little harsh; perhaps a better approach would be to say "Well, we tried to phrase that rule in a humourous way; I'm sorry you don't see the humour in it. In truth, there were so many people asking for that service that it did create some workflow problems." You could always do what the restaurants do and charge extra for splitting an order. Of course, then that woman would probably cry because it cost her more to have her scone split in half.

I second that ... and I'd pay a subscription fee to read it too!

Yeah, you're pretty hard core. I just tasted my half and half batch. When I put it in the fridge, it was the consistency of European yogurt so ... a fair bit runnier than American style. I've just now tasted it and it has the consistency of mascarpone cheese. Not only does it have the consistency of mascarpone, it has the taste of mascarpone but just a little bit lighter. Which, if you think about it, is a good thing because eating mascarpone by the spoonful can get to be a little rich. I am in heaven.

Scroll up to see the hand-written recipe.

I've just taken my half-and-half batch out of the incubator after 3.75 hours. It's thickened to just the consistency I like (thinner than American yogurt) and it was just starting to show some whey production. It's not terribly tangy and the higher fat content has made it somewhat sweet. I don't usually mix anything in with my yogurt because I've been eating it on top of fresh fruit. With my batch that I ended up straining, I added garlic and thyme. I reckoned it was quite a bit like quark (which is why I bought the yogurt maker in the first place!). I've been eating it on bagels and toast and crackers and I think I'll finish it off tonight as part of a stuffed pasta filling. I'm very interested in how your freeze-dried starter works out. Yeah...who'da thunk it?

I thought I read somewhere that, in order to be labelled as "yogurt", the product had to have L. Bulgaris and S. whatever-is in it and that L. acidophilus was an "added bonus". I do use the cream top with the Brown Cow and guess what I've got on the go right now, this very minute, as I type????? A batch of yogurt made with half-and-half!!! We'll have to see how that works out!

Well that certainly got my cogs and wheels turning! Lucy, do you have a recipe/method for your vin de noix? I have a tree full of green almonds. We used to joke that we had 600 pounds of almonds in our garden at the beginning of spring and three 200-lb squirrels by the end of it. (In truth, the squirrels are helped by Dayton.) I'd love to be able to actually use the almonds for something. Edited to fix mindless typo and to add final thought.

Why, whatever for? Because I'm in the wrong time zone and I waited oh-so-patiently for the next day's installment of her blog but, by 9:00 pm, I could wait no longer. I was having blog-withdrawal pains and the only solution I could see in that fugue state was to phone her, wake her up, and send her on with her day!

Is it just me or does anyone else think we should phone Lucy and wake her up?

I haven't been to Provence. I'm hoping to get to Europe again next year, although my primary interest is in going to Germany again. Maybe next time I go, I'll travel around a bit more ... Oh, I second the vote for the continued steps in the photos.

* fresh garlic * mint * peas * fava beans * bok choy * arugula * oyster mushrooms * manzanita honey ... the honey vendor asked me what type of honey I liked. When I replied "fireweed honey" (which, as far as I know, is only available in BC), he suggested I try the manzanita honey. Walt, I'm hooked on the Bariani olive oil! Good choice!

I love the lighting. Light is something that is often overlooked by people when they think about different places but it is oh-so-important. In some prefatory comments to a small assortment of my haiku, I had an editor once bring notice to the presence of "light" in my work. He said he thought it was because I was Canadian (but I thought it was because I'm prone to migraines ... ) Seriously though, the lighting in different regions is terribly important. It really struck me when I went to the desert earlier this spring. The light there was so brash. I thought California's Central Valley light was "in your face" but Arizona has it beat hands down. I'm sure this could be related to food somehow ... maybe a tie in with growing seasons, climate, and local produce. Yeah, that's it.

Tourtière!