A Springtime Strawberry Galette

April 8, 2013July 22, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 7 Comments

Cooking, baking, and really all kitchen activities have become a bit more difficult to take on since bringing Margot home. In fact, as I’m writing this post, she’s napping cozily on my chest, supported by my nifty Boba wrap. Given her expected level of neediness in these early months, taking on difficult recipes is just not really an option — at least until I become more efficient with juggling chores and baby care.

Without considering this reality, Isaac and I over-committed to fresh produce in bulk from Costco, once again, and bought 5 pounds of strawberries. We’ve done a great job of munching on them with yogurt, but I needed to put a big dent in our supply. Sooo, I took on a simple strawberry galette this afternoon.

I love galettes. Once I learned how to construct them, they quickly became a favorite meal around here. I typically throw roasted vegetables and cheese in them to make a savory dinner, which is contrary to their reputation as ‘sweet’, but this time I prepped one that was true to form.

I try to keep store-bought pie crusts around because I really hate having to make my own from scratch; even when I had more time on my hands, I didn’t appreciate the extended process. I have no qualms about calling myself out as lazy on this. If you try out this recipe and want to try a crust from scratch, try this recipe from the Food Network.

Now for the recipe:

Ingredients:

2-3 cups fresh strawberries, depending on size

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup of sliced unsalted almonds, or unsalted chopped nuts of your choice — I used the pre-sliced almonds from the produce section that are made for salads

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to dust

1 store bought pie crust

Ice cream or whipped cream to top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse strawberries, hull and slice thinly.

2. Gently toss the strawberries in the flour and sugar.

3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and unroll pie crust on center of parchment paper.

4. Sprinkle 3/4 of the almonds directly onto pie crust, leaving a 2 inch margin clear around the perimeter of the pie crust.

5. Thinly layer strawberry mixture onto pie crust, again leaving a 2 inch margin clear around the perimeter of the pie crust.

6. Fold edges of pie crust up around the edge of the strawberries, pinching folds of the crust to itself as you rotate the galette. See the image below for reference. This step took some practice for me to get the hang of.

7. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon over the entire galette, then add remaining almonds to garnish.

8. Bake galette for 20-25 minutes, until crust is lightly browned and crispy.

9. Serve warm, topped with ice cream or whipped cream. Try Cookies and Cream ice cream: paired with the strawberries, it’s divine!

If you do decide to whip this up, throw caution to the wind and have it for lunch. I just did, and it’s making my afternoon all the more awesome.

Yes, I ate all the French Bread

October 3, 2012December 9, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 7 Comments

Things are on the up around here — well, mainly the number on the scale. My growing belly and newly fierce appetite is bringing back those 10 lbs I lost during the first trimester when irascible spells of nausea and vomiting had me camping out around the porcelain. Those episodes still creep up once in awhile, but they are certainly less frequent. My husband was lucky he spent the month of September out in field training, or he would have been subject to my whining and pity parties. It wasn’t easy going through that alone, so single preggy ladies, I salute you.

I’m happy to report that I have returned to the kitchen, cooking and eating healthier dishes like the olden days. That doesn’t mean I haven’t given into cravings of the occasional Yoo Hoo and ahem, entire loaf of French Bread. It was over the course of two days, and it came hot from the bakery! It was like, the only thing I ate. OK, it wasn’t but whatever, throw it in the bucket of pregnancy excuses (which is heaping, my friends). It was delicious.

Before long, I’ll have a ton of news to share. Until then, try not to shame me too badly for my lap full of bread crumbs and messy hair . Growing a human is hard work.

Portland[ia]

August 26, 2012December 9, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 8 Comments

Maybe the first trimester of pregnancy wasn’t the best time for me to visit neighbor-city Portland, OR. I thought I was feeling up for exploring Portland’s haunts and eats, and for the most part I was. What I did not bargain for was pod after pod of aromatic food trucks. Normally, you’d find me in a child-like state of giddiness at the prospect of eating any number of international foods from the same parking lot, but not this time around. Anyone who has had first trimester nausea (or the flu) can attest to how the mingling scents of a dozen international foods can make your stomach lurch.

After baby is born, or even as soon as the second trimester, we hope to go back to Portland so we can give the food trucks the chance they deserve. We saw some trucks, safely from our vantage point on the other side of the street, that looked pretty worthy. I feel terrible that my husband had to pass on this essential Portland pastime on my behalf.

We were 100% set on visiting VooDoo Doughnuts on this trip, but the downtown crowds were unrelenting. Instead, we headed over to VooDoo Doughnuts Too, their second store, where we chowed down on Maple Bacon (a favorite of Anthony Bourdain) and VooDoo Donuts. It was rich fun. For some reason, the sweet scent of fresh Doughnuts wafting in the Portland air was invigorating. It seemed to be the only scent that pulled my nose upward and lightened my stride. Pregnancy is weird, lemme tell you.

After an afternoon downtown checking out local shops and street performers, we were ready to head to the outskirts to see how “rich folk” (a term coined by us poor people) lived in the early 20th Century.

At the Pittock Mansion I couldn’t help gasping at the detail of the marble staircases, drooling over the custom puzzle-piece flooring, and gawking at the ornate ceilings that adorn the entire home. It’s also worth noting that in the early 1900s, those affluent enough to afford it had something all of us can covet: breezy sleeping porches. I’ll take a slice of that luxury, any day. But they can definitely keep their ‘card rooms’, scary dolls, and fainting sofas…those are artifacts I have no use for.

If you have the chance to check out the Pittock Mansion in West Portland, you ought to. It’s perched up on an Uptown Hill that offers a beautiful panorama of Downtown Portland.

Plans are in motion for our next two-hour road trip south to good ole Portland. Until then, we’ll catch up on some back episodes of Portlandia…whose stereotypes of Portland hipsters are absolutely spot on.