French Baguette Bread Hors d'oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget

French Baguette Bread Hors d’oeuvres Recipes by Ruth Paget 

One of the reasons the French seem so adamant about eating their white bread baguettes is that they can easily turn them into rounds for toast, topping, and microwaving into hors d’oeuvres or dinners depending on how many hors d’oeuvres are eaten. 

Baguettes from a bakery are pretty reasonably price, but if you make your own even for weekend consumption on a regular basis, the savings can be tremendous without sparing flavor or texture. If you are interested in seeing how baguettes can be made at home, I have provided the following link to my daughter Florence Paget’s forays in the kitchen.  The recipe makes 2 to 3 baguettes:

Traditional French Baguette Recipe with Photos and Videos

The seven recipes below require you to cut 12 round slices from one baguette that are about ½-inch wide. Then, the baguette slices are grilled or toasted to make a solid base for your hors d’oeuvres. 

*Baguette slice with melted gruyère cheese rectangle sprinkled with crushed Calabrian red peppercorns. It takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute to melt the cheese in the microwave. You can butter the toast first, if you would like.  

*Baguette slice with melted goat cheese slice studded with halves of black Niçoise olive. It takes about 1 minute to microwave to melt goat cheese. You can drizzle on olive oil on the toast first, if you would like. 

*Baguette slice with shrimp-mayonnaise spread made with Japanese mayonnaise or homemade mayonnaise (1/2 cup) and ¾ to 1 cup cooked shrimp without their shells. Place the mayonnaise and shrimp in a blender and mix to a paste. Spread shrimp paste on baguette rounds and sprinkle with Calabrian crushed red pepper. 

*Baguette slice spread with sour cream with a slice of smoked salmon on top and garnished wit dill. Whipped cream cheese can also be used as a spread. 

*Baguette slice spread with tapenade – a mixture of pitted black olives, capers, crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and parsley. My family does not like tapenade, but this spread is a popular one and is often served with melted goat cheese on top. 

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and walnut spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender.  Other nuts can also be used in a spread this way.

*Baguette slice with a cream cheese and black olive spread that is made by blending the two main ingredients in a blender. 

Suggested Beverages: White wines like pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, and dry Riesling, hard cider like Henry Hot Spurs, and lager beers like Peroni Nastro Azzuro (Official sponsor of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics). 

Suggested Side Salads: Grated carrot salad, lentil salad, and organic greens 

Bon Appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Making Traditional French Baguette Bread with Florence Paget by Ruth Paget

Making French Traditional Baguette Bread with Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

In 1993, the French government decreed that bread that is sold as French traditional baguettes can only contain 4 ingredients in its Décret Pain (93 – 1074): wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. 

My daughter Florence Paget wanted to bake baguettes as a family heritage project, so we bought organic ingredients and she set to work on the following recipe, which I recorded in step-by-step photos and videos below. 

Traditional French Baguette Bread Recipe 

3 ¼ cup flour 

1 ¼ cup warm water 

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast (1 package active dry yeast) 

2 teaspoons sea salt 

Oven temperature: 480 degrees Fahrenheit 

Baking time: 20 minutes 

Florence first sprinkled yeast on the warm water and mixed it up till it was cloudy and beginning to slightly bubble. 

Florence placed all the flour in a mixing bowl and all the water and blended the dough with a mixer while it was liquid. As the water was absorbed by the flour, she then mixed the dough with her hands. This is a sticky operation. 

At this point, she made the dough into a ball and covered it and placed it in a cool oven to rise. The time for rising will vary depending on the temperature in the room. Dough rising can take between 1 and 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, Florence set out her bread baking pan on the stove and pulled the risen dough out from the oven. Florence turned on the oven to preheat to 480 degrees Fahrenheit and placed a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven that would steam the bread as it cooked to make a crunchy crust. Next, she floured the kitchen counter for kneading the risen dough. (Note: We have a well-seasoned pizza stone in our oven which also helps keep the oven warm when baking other items.) 

As you can see from the photo, the dough has doubled in size. Florence carefully peeled the ball of dough out onto the floured counter to avoid crushing air bubbles in the dough. She gently kneaded the dough a few times before shaping it into long loaves by cutting the dough in half, shaping it into a rectangle, and rolling up the rectangles into loaves. Do a minimum of dough handling to avoid popping air bubbles. 

Florence stretched the dough loaves out and placed them in the baking dish. She then scored them with a knife into diagonal shapes on one loaf and down the center of the bread on the other. She then covered the loaves to let them rise again. 

When the stove had preheated and the dough loaves had risen, it was time for them to go in the oven on the rack above the steaming water in the pan on the lower rack. 

The bread should be done baking in 20 minutes. It should have the characteristic round patterned bottom as seen in the photo. The thick crust on the bread keeps it fresher for an extra day it seems when you bake baguettes at home. 

The photos and videos below will walk through the baguette baking process that Florence Paget used:

 

Bon Appétit!

Photos, Videos, and Text By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of Teff: The Global Flour Game

Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper by Ruth Paget

Fundraiser Sandwich Night Supper in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of the traditional Main Street economic motors of the Midwest that I grew up with in the 1970s in Royal Oak, Michigan was food fundraisers by religious organizations, amateur sports teams, and community service clubs. 

Today the remnant of these fundraisers are bake sales and chocolate sales, but once sandwiches, potluck lunches, pancake suppers, and soup suppers used to be the backbone of local fundraising that gave parents a night off from cooking and helped support Main Street supermarkets at the same time. 

All the above is background for my family’s viewing of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in Milan-Cortina, Italy while we ate items from a food fundraiser. 

My daughter Florence Paget bought pastrami and rye bread from a local synagogue as part of their winter fundraising. Pastrami is a tender, salty, sweet, and smoked beef brisket usually that is cut into thin slices as sandwich meat. 

Pastrami was easy to purchase in Detroit (Michigan) where I grew up due to its large Jewish population at the time. I took pastrami sandwiches for granted then, but know now from watching youtube videos that it can easily take more than a week to produce pastrami. 

I appreciate the sandwich more now as an adult and like it that Florence’s support for the fundraiser helps with local youth programs and social hours for seniors like pancake suppers helped at my parents’ Baptist church when I was a child. 

The traditional bread that pastrami is served with is a rye bread. Rye has a bitter flavor due to rye seeds, which can seem oily. I can almost feel harsh, dry weather of a vast windy plain when I eat rye bread.

Rye bread is an acquired taste, but if you like it, you can benefit from its seed-grain combination for what vegetarians call a protein combination based on matching amino acids. The rye bread’s protein adds to what is present in the pastrami. 

Rye bread and pastrami taste especially good with mustard. I used French Maille mustard from Dijon (France) on the sandwich. Mustard contains antioxidants and selenium, making it a good winter condiment when access to fresh fruits and vegetables are often limited in places with cold weather and snow. 

A dill pickle is the traditional accompaniment to the pastrami sandwich on rye. I drank an Italian Peroni beer with the pastrami sandwich since it seems to be an official sponsor of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. 

I enjoyed reliving a bit of my youth in Detroit (Michigan) with this meal. I also like the idea of a multicultural sandwich night as a way for local sports teams, service organizations, and religious organizations to do fundraisers that help working parents and support Main Street markets at the same time in Salinas, California and the surrounding Monterey County region.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorodand Bento War Games

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Cashew Shrimp at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

One of my favorite authentic Chinese-American meals is cashew chicken, which I recently ordered from Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California. 

The shrimp in this dish gets its salty taste and blackish color from being marinated in soy sauce before being stir-fried (about 10 minutes) 

The cashew chicken at Golden Star makes maximum use of the organic produce available in Salinas Valley with vegetable ingredients such as celery (one of Salinas Valley’s top selling crops), green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and onions being put in the stir-fry. 

The aromatics used to flavor the vegetables and shrimp tie it all together. Fresh chopped ginger, minced garlic, and chopped green onion along with sweet mirin cooking wine flavor the sizzling cooking oil (usually peanut oil) that the shrimp and vegetables are stir-fried in. 

Roasted cashews are added in at the end of cooking along with oyster sauce and sesame oil. Golden Star makes sure everything is bite-size to be easily picked up with chopsticks, if using. 

I love vegetables, shrimp, and cashews independently. When they are all put together in this dish with ginger, garlic, green onions, and sesame oil as seasonings, I think the combination pretty terrific tasting and full of vitamins, minerals, and protein. 

Diners who like shrimp and vegetables might also like these ingredients with cashews to try something new at a reasonable price at Golden Star Restaurant in Salinas, California.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget

Californian Salmon Dinner Photo Essay by Ruth Paget 

I use three go-to products from Costco to make dinners during winter in Salinas, California. These products are Morey’s Wild Alaskan Salmon, Bibigo Sticky Rice, and Earth Green Organic Spring Mix baby greens. 

Morey’s Alaskan salmon is kita salmon. Kita salmon are a numerous subspecies of salmon that swim in the Pacific and then fight to swim upstream in fresh water to spawn (reproduce and die).  Salmon tend to spawn during late summer through winter.  Salmon also swim in Northern Californian rivers by the Oregon-California border in the Klamath River and in the Sacramento River. 

Morey’s frozen salmon comes in individually wrapped packages. I place frozen fillets on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for easy clean up when baking is done. 

The fillets bake to a reddish brown and are seasoned with sea salt, garlic, reddish paprika, onion, and red bell pepper. 

When the fish are done baking, I warm up Bibigo Korean Rice in the microwave for 90 seconds and place organic greens next to the rice and salmon. (My plated meal looks like an upscale TV deal, but nutritionists did advise on what to put in TV dinners.) 

I am happy with my protein-carbohydrate-vegetable meal. I also like this meal, because rice grows in the Sacramento area of California and lettuce grows in the Salinas Valley. This meal could be totally sourced in California, if necessary. 

Clean up is easy is easy, if you gather up the parchment by four corners as in the video below. You still have to wipe down and wash the baking tray, but you do not have baked on grease on the tray, if you use parchment paper. 

Note:  You can substitute steamed or microwaved canned green beans for the salad, if you would like.

The photos and short video below show the step-by-step process of making a salmon dinner during winter:

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Bento and Novgorod War Games

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget

Celebrating French Chandeleur with Crêpes Photo and Video Essay by Ruth Paget 

When I lived in France, I learned that all French people seem to observe the Catholic holiday of Chandeleur whether or not they are practicing Catholics or not. 

Chandeleur occurs 40 days after Christmas on February 2nd and celebrates the presentation in the temple of Jesus Christ by his parents Mary and Joseph. The temple referred to is not pagan, but a Jewish synagogue. Jesus was born a Jew to Jewish parents. 

Chandeleur marks the beginning of Christ’s life in society and prepares believers for the celebration of Christian Easter in spring. 

The French celebrate Chandeleur with a pile of crêpes that can last several days if wrapped in plastic and kept in the refrigerator. I love the nutrition in crêpes at an economical price. 

The crêpe recipe my family developed for California uses milk, eggs, flour, water, fleur de sel sea salt from Guérande (Brittany, France), and California olive oil. The recipe follows: 

Paget Family California Crêpes Recipe

When your crêpe batter is made, it should be liquid with no lumps. Heat your crêpe pans with olive oil on high. Pour two ladles of crêpe batter into a hot pan and swirl the batter around till it coats the pan with the batter. 

The batter will begin to set so that you can move the crêpre back and forth gently like in the videos below. Carefully flip the crêpe over. You are working with extremely hot oil so you might want to use spatulas and mitts to turn over the crêpe. 

The flipped crêpe has a golden brown color and dry texture. Let the other side cook for 1 to 2 minutes before placing it on a serving plate. 

The French drink hard cider (alcoholic cider) with crêpes. If you prefer sweet cider try Martinelli’s. It pops open like champagne, but has no alcohol. We drink Henry Hot Spurs Cider from Trader Joe’s. 

According to webMD.com, hard cider retains vitamins like Vitamin C and antioxidants in its production. Apple cider is also considered to be a laxative by WebMD.com . 

The typical French additions to crêpes are butter and grated gruyère cheese. Spreadable Laughing Cow is also liked but not traditional in crêpes. 

Dessert crêpes are usually made with jam. Both kinds of crêpes are rolled up and can be heated in a mircrowave. 

The following photos and videos illustrate the process of preparing a French Chandeleur celebration at home with crêpes, cider, and fillings for this February 2nd holiday.

No-lump batter is necessary.

Fleur de sel is a fine grain sea salt that 
reduces lumps in the batter

American, Swedish, and Crocheted French Kitchen Towel by Laurent's grandmother

The flipped crêpe has a golden cooked sid.

Henry Hot Spurs Hard Cider is similar to apple cider
from Brittany, France

Typical crêpe fillings for a home celebration of Chandeleur.

So easy to eat, but time consuming to prepare.

A little butter and cheese for filling before rolling up the crêpe.

Time to eat!

Bonne Fête de la Chandeleur!!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and Novgorod War Game Developer

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget

Family Fondue Night for a Sustainable, Nutritious Winter Meal by Ruth Paget 

One of our family’s go-to winter meals in Salinas, California is Swiss fondue with cubes of day-old artisanal baguette bread to dunk. We purchase both of these protein-, calcium-, and energy-rich items at Nob Hill in Salinas. 

My husband Laurent cuts half a loaf of baguette per person into cubes for the fondue. He says chopping the baguette into cubes takes about 5 minutes per person to do. Each person gets a bowl of bread cubes to dunk by their plate. 

Once the bread is done, Laurent puts the fondue pot on the stove along with the contents of two Emmi Swiss Knight fondue packages and ½ to 1/3 bottle of Chardonnay wine. (We use Kirkland brand Chardonnay from Costco which tastes like a Kendall Jackson chardonnay. We drink the remainder of the bottle with our meal.) 

You have to constantly stir the fondue cheese sauce and wine till they become smooth. This takes about 20 to 30 minutes. We like Emmi’s Swiss Knight Fondue for several reasons. First, they make the fondue with Swiss cheese and kirsch (Swiss cherry brandy). The packaging is secure and very neat to open. You can also store the fondue at room temperature till you are ready to open it, making it perfect for pantry storage. I think the packaging also discourages insects and rodents, because it is very sturdy. 

I doubly like Emmi, because they have a subsidiary in Stoughton, Wisconsin outside Madison. This location has an all new facility devoted to sustainable product production. Emmi’s headquarters which are in Lucerne, Switzerland set up the Wisconsin location to create sustainable sourcing, production, and distribution. I like buying a brand that promotes a sustainable supply chain. 

These are thoughts that come to you as you stir the fondue. The same is true of ruminations about the fondue set. My family uses a Swiss Cousances fondue set that my in-laws gave Laurent and me for Christmas when we were first married. We have saved money eating fondue throughout winter. If you like cheese, you might consider buying one. 

When Laurent and I came back from living in Germany, we gave our daughter Florence Paget a Cuisinart fondue set, since California is also the number one producer of dairy goods in the US. I told her she would always have dinner, if she eats fondue here. 

Once the fondue becomes liquid and bubbles with steam rising, it is time to move the fondue pot to the table. Fondue sets come with a stand with a hole in the center. This hold is for steno quick flame containers with flammable gel. You have to take off a secure lid and light these with a stove lighter before the fondue comes out. There is a cover with holes that you open to distribute flames underneath the fondue pot. 

Place the fondue pot on top of the stand and dunk your bread in the cheese with forks provided with the set. California is rich in Chardonnay, so you can find it at all price levels. 

The Swiss in Switzerland drink a wine called Fendant du Valais with fondue, which is sometimes listed on Swiss restaurants in the US. 

A salad with creamy dressing and chopped tarragon are a nice finish to a fondue supper. 

 

Fondue Bubbling on a Fondue Stand
We used two packages of Swiss Knight Fondue
You can see bread cubes in a bowl in back

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Museums Dealing with Extinctions book by UChicago Press posted by Ruth Paget

Ghosts Behind Glass by Dolly Jorgensen published by the University of Chicago Press deals with how museums preserve records of extinction in the natural world.

Eco-tourists might enjoy this work with more details below:

 https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/465/#cv/priority/%5Esmartlabel_promo/19c09f4b7659470d

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Lunar New Year at UChicago as part of Year of Games reposted by Ruth Paget

The University of Chicago Year of Games Program invites the university community to come play Chinese mahjong and Korean Yunnan in observance of Lunar New Year on February 17, 2026.

Information about this event follows:

https://events.uchicago.edu/event/259113-lunar-new-year-game-celebration-at-the-library

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Plexus Polaire French Puppetry Company Reposted by Ruth Paget

French Puppetry Company Plexus Polaire to Perform at the Year of Games at the University of Chicago on January 28, 2026.

Information about tickets for this event follows:

https://events.uchicago.edu/event/258228-plexus-polaire-trust-me-for-a-while

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Flavorful Blue Cheese and Steak Salad on Flatbread at Ellis Diner in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Flavorful Blue Cheese and Steak Salad on Flatbread at Ellis Diner in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I tried a new salad at Ellis Diner that is a protein and calcium powerhouse with added vitamins from its salad ingredients. 

The Blue Cheese and Steak Salad on Flatbread hides a lot of protein, calcium, and iron that you need for thick hair, strong bones, and rosy cheeks. The online description of the steak says it is a short steak. But, the shape, flavor, and texture of the steak make me think it is a thin-cut New York Strip Steak. 

The blue cheese as a dairy product has both calcium and calcium. The steak has protein and iron. The bacon in the salad used as a flavoring also has protein. 

The hidden protein in the salad that makes it a protein and calcium powerhouse comes from the golden flatbread that everything sits on. This bread seems to be a calcium- and protein-rich yogurt flatbread. The interior of the bread is creamy white and tastes especially good with the sautéed onions, bacon, and creamy blue cheese in the salad. 

The salad itself is a mixture of blue cheese crumbles, chopped iceberg lettuce, diced bacon, chopped spinach, sweet grilled onions, cherry tomatoes, and pungent onion-flavored chives. 

The dressing comes from the blue cheese mixed with grilled onions. This makes the cheese warm and melting. 

The blue cheese and onions are then mixed with the other salad ingredients to coat them as a dressing. 

This highly seasoned salad with steak and blue cheese appears to be a modern Greek or Armenian diner dish (looks Middle Eastern, but breaks several religious dietary laws of Judaism and Islam).

I enjoyed the flavorful blue cheese and steak salad on flatbread at Ellis Diner in Salinas, California and think diners interested in maintaining or building muscle like athletes would enjoy this dish. 

Blue Cheese and Steak Salad on Flatbread
at Ellis Diner in Salinas, California
Photo by Ruth Paget

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Setting Thermostat at 68 Saves 3% Per Degree Lowered Re: Dept of Energy posted by Ruth Paget

Setting Winter Thermostat at 68 Saves 3% Per Degree Lowered of Your Energy Bill according to Department of Energy posted by Ruth Paget

I looked up energy and money saving tips for winter from the Department of Energy on their website.  Other readers might find useful information too:

https://doee.dc.gov/service/energy-tips-institutional-and-government-buildings

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe reposted by Ruth Paget

I was reading Google News this morning and found a really good recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls that you bake.  

Detroit has a large Polish-American population that makes galupki - stuffed cabbage rolls (halupki in this recipe). 

Galupki are delicious and highly antioxidant.  I ate these once a month I think to keep my frozen limbs working in Detroit’s arctic winters.  (I loved ice skating at Hartt Plaza downtown and did freeze my limbs about 3 days a week.)

I like this chatty recipe for galupki that follows:

https://www.eatingwell.com/halupki-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-11864264

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Information on El Sistema Youth Music Program in USA reposted by Ruth Paget

I read about the Venezuelan Symphony this morning that employs many graduates of its grass roots musical program called el sisters, which works through groups of nucleos throughout the country.  

Note: After playing, the nucleos go to neighborhood restaurants to eat.

This program exists in the US as well in 40 states.  I have reposted information about how this program works in the US below:

https://elsistemausa.org/

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Top 10 Bioenergy Companies reposted by Ruth Paget

Can landfill materials be used for biofuel? Posted by Ruth Paget

Can landfill materials be used as biofuel?

If so, how do you extract material from the landfills and put it to use?

What is the going price to sell landfill materisls?

I am not sure how to do this, but the 10 bioenergy companies listed below might have answers to these questions;

https://energydigital.com/top10/top-10-bioenergy-companies

Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Succulent Shrimp Vegetable Stir-fry at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Succulent Shrimp with Vegetables at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I like the Chinese philosophy that food is medicine, which prompts me to look for Chinese restaurants when I look for places to live. 

Salinas, California where I live now has several Chinese restaurants with Golden Star being closest to my home. They have delicious, reasonably priced food and friendly workers.

On my most recent foray to Golden Star, I tried their stir-fried shrimp with vegetables dish with steamed rice. I loved this dish, because Golden Star used Chinese 5-spice powder as part of the aromatic seasoning mix. 

5-spice powder is made of a powdery crush of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds. 5-spice powder is flavorful and a potent antioxidant at the same time. 

Chinese cooks place 5-spice powder in hot peanut oil in a wok at the beginning of a stir-fry. Cooks then add green onions, garlic, and peeled and minced fresh garlic to the hot oil as a flavoring base in almost all stir-fried dishes. 

When the scent of the garlic rises, cooks add in fresh vegetables to sear in flavor and color. Searing gives the vegetables a tender outside and sturdy interior. Vegetables prepared this way are visually appealing. Cooking the vegetables this way takes about 8 minutes and makes them blazing hot. 

The vegetables that Golden Star uses in its shrimp vegetable dish showcase the organic produce that Monterey County grows: broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and cabbage (Napa cabbage) are among this Monterey mix. 

When the vegetables are steaming hot, cooks add in gray fresh shrimp, which curls into a circle and turns orange in the heat. About 4 minutes will cook the shrimp this way. To finish the shrimp vegetable dish, 

Golden Star uses a classic Chinese sauce made with soy sauce, chicken broth, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and mirin (a sweet Chinese cooking wine). I like the flavor of 5-spice powder in this dish and think the finishing sauce enhances that flavor with salt and some sugar. 

I drank a Peroni Nastro Azzuro beer with the shrimp vegetable stir-fry, because it reminded me of China’s Tsing Tao. A slightly sweet white wine would pair well with this dish as well due to the mirin wine in the sauce, which is slightly sweet. 

Shrimp lovers looking for new flavors would probably enjoy the shrimp vegetable stir-fry with steam rice at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California. 

Shrimp Vegetable Stir-Fry with Rice
at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant
in Salinas, California

Photo and Text by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Power Outage Food: Cereal and UHT Milk and Salad from Costco posted by Ruth Paget

 California is not in the path of the Polar Vortex Storm but we may have power outages if the weather is cold.  Emergency food:

Cereal

UHT Milk - can be stored at room temperature till opening

Caesar Salad

Salad dressing

Fruit Pouches

Cheese goldfish crackers

Water

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Wood Chips from Tree Trimming for Parchment Paper? Posted by Ruth Paget

Wood Chips from Tree Trimming for Parchment Paper and/or Toilet Paper? posted by Ruth Paget 

Can wood chips made from trimming tree branches and clearing forest floors be made into parchment paper or toulet paper? 

 Finding an immediate use for wood chips might help clear unwanted branches faster and provide a useful item (parchment paper) for clean cooking. 

As for toilet paper, every state should have a stockpile for emergencies. Shredded paper could be used for the same purposes. 

Notepaper, sticky notes, and greeting cards could also be probably be made with wood chips and shredded paper, too.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget posted by Ruth Paget

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Steak au Poivre is a charred steak dish served with a heavy cream based sauce made with shallots and a mixed variety of crushed peppercorns. Steak au Poivre is a simple yet elegant dish that is usually paired with a Bordeaux wine. 

Our family ate this dish with a 2021 Château Giscours from the Margaux region of Bordeaux. (Photo below) 

Serves 4 

 

Ingredients: 

 

-2 (1/2 pound) rib eye steaks that will be cut in half 

-3 tablespoons olive oil 

-1 large shallot, peeled and minced 

-3 tablespoons mixed peppercorns, crushed 

-2 ounces cognac (2 shot glasses) 

-2 tablespoons salted butter 

-3/4 cup heavy cream used to make whipping cream 

Steps: 

1-Brown steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side depending on the doneness desired. 

2-Remove steak from the pan and keep warm. Place time on 10 minutes for steak to rest before cutting it in half. 

3-Add minced shallots to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add crushed peppercorns to the pan and sauté for 1 minute. 

4-Add cognac to the pan. Heat cognac for 1 minute. Remove pan from the stove. Ignite cognac and gently swirl till the flames die down. 

5-Place pan back on heat. Add butter and heavy cream. Stir until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (It is ok to hold sauce while the steak is resting for 10 minutes.) 

6-Cut the steak in half and serve the au poivre sauce over them. 

Serving Suggestion: Florence Paget served the steak au poivre with mashed potatoes and homemade Yorkshire pudding. Step-by-step photos follow:

 

Et Voilaà!  Bon Appétit!

Photos and Text by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Yorkshire Pudding Made by Florence Paget Posted by Ruth Paget

Yorkshire Pudding Made by Florence Paget Posted by Ruth Paget 

Florence Paget is connecting with her English ancestors with this recipe for Yorkshire Pudding. We eat ours with steak and mashed potatoes. (Step-by-Step Photos Below) 

For 6 People 

Ingredients:

-1 cup flour 

-3 eggs 

-1 cup milk 

-2 teaspoons iodized salt  

-1 cm of olive oil each for 12-cup cupcake pan (To heat separately from batter) 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Place 12-cup cupcake tray in oven with 1 cm of olive oil in each cup. Heat for 10 - 15 minutes. 

3-Mix flour, eggs, milk, and salt together with a whisk to form a homogenous batter with a nice yellow sheen. 

4-When the 10 - 15 minutes of oil heating are done, take out the tray. Fill each cupcake mold 2/3 full with butter. (Oil will bubble up through the batter.) 

5-Bake the batter for 25 minutes. (The eggs will make the pudding increase to 3 times the size of the batter.)

The photos below illustrate the steps to make this delicious and easy baked good:

 

 

 

The Yorkshire Pudding was airy and perfect for spooning au poivre sauce into as a savory dessert for me.

I almost feel these baked goods are magic for how they poof up with a minimum of ingredients.

Photos and text By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France