Franciscan Apple Earthenware & A Fruit Nut Oatmeal Loaf

Franciscan Apple Earthenware

🍎 🌱🍎 Franciscan Apple Earthenware 🍎🌱🍎
A Fruit Nut Oatmeal Loaf
And Mother’s Day

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I’ve been reminiscing about my mom’s delicious home-cooked meals, which she served on these dishes for well over half a century. This Franciscan Apple Earthenware has proven to be very durable, a few pieces are chipped, but overall a fine collection in great condition. And now that I am the keeper of the entire collection, I will cherish it forever. Thank you for all the meals and memories, Love You Ma! ❤️

Franciscan Apple is one of the most popular raised-relief hand-painted patterns from Gladding, McBean & Co., which began production of Franciscan dinnerware in 1934 at their plant in Glendale, California. This pattern first appeared in 1940. My father received this set as a gift almost 80 years ago.

The name Franciscan is an allusion to Franciscan Friars and reflected the simple, informal style of Mexican folk pottery. The Franciscan Apple pattern has become a darling of collectors with its branches, beautiful green leaves and red harvest apples painted on cream-colored porcelain reminiscent of days gone by.

Franciscan Apple Earthenware, Fruit Nut Granola Loaf

American production of Franciscan Ware ceased in 1984, following the announcement to relocate all Franciscan production to England.

Franciscan Apple Earthenware

The endearing retro design includes one of a kind hand-painting; teacup handles shaped like apple tree branches; little apple knobs atop the butter dish, sugar bowl, and casserole dishes; and my favorite, apple-shaped tea bag holders. It continues to be a treasure for collectors of vintage dinnerware, like me.

Franciscan Apple Earthenware, Fruit Nut Granola LoafMy oatmeal cookies are always a big hit, and this oatmeal loaf is also a big winner. It’s a dense bread chock-full of nuts and seeds and fruit – toasted almonds and walnuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds, dried apricots, cherries and raisins. It’s heavenly sliced and heated in the toaster oven, served nice and toasty, spread with butter or a piece of brie cheese.

This oatmeal loaf is perfect to serve to house guests as a simple light breakfast along with coffee or tea, or as an addition to a (Mother’s Day) brunch buffet. It’s even more delightful when served on vintage china…

Fruit Nut Oatmeal Loaf Recipe

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Basque Matcha Cheesecake

Basque Matcha Cheesecake

Basque Matcha Cheesecake

With the addition of one single component, Japanese Matcha Green Tea Powder, the now-famous cheesecake has morphed into something completely different. Here, the cake has a gorgeous striking green color, and the flavor has also changed dramatically. The recipe brings together ingredients from Basque and Japanese cultures for a novel fusion dessert.

We’ve made Basque BURNT Cheesecake several times, and it is always a big hit. With no fruit topping, no crust and five simple ingredients – cream cheese, sugar, salt, eggs, and cream – it is astonishing how absolutely fabulous the original cheesecake actually is…it is baked in a very hot oven so the top and bottom caramelize where the insides remain soft and luxurious.

The cheesecake recipe was originally developed by Santiago Rivera, Chef of La Viña in San Sebastian, Spain. The Chef says, “Its popularity amongst our clients have become La Viña Restaurant’s Cheese Cream Cake a great classic of the San Sebastian cuisine.”

Matcha Green Tea has an intense and complex flavor profile with vegetal grassy flavors, a unique sweet nuttiness, and savory umami notes.

The vibrant green hue is due to the high concentration of chlorophyll in the leaves, a result of the bushes being covered up in shade for about 3 weeks before harvesting. The whole leaves are steamed, dried, and then finally stone ground to a fine powder.

Basque Matcha Cheesecake

Basque Matcha Cheesecake Recipe

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Beet, Lentil, Strawberry Salad

Beet, Lentil, Strawberry Salad

Happy Valentine’s Day
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Beet, Lentil, Strawberry Salad
With Yogurt, Hazelnuts, and Radicchio

The inspiration for this Valentine’s Day salad came from our lunch at Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas where we thoroughly enjoyed a salad course of roasted golden beets over Greek yogurt with kumquats (fruit), pistachios (nuts), and a white balsamic vinaigrette.

Here, red beets are also served over Greek yogurt with beluga lentils, freeze dried strawberries (fruit), toasted hazelnuts (nuts), radicchio and Gordon Ramsay’s beet dressing.

The vibrant red salad is perfect for Valentine’s (or any other day for that matter) with sweet, savory, earthy, bitter, nutty, and creamy notes. It’s a symphony of color, flavor, texture, and crunch.

Beet, Lentil, Strawberry Salad

❤️ Valentine’s Day Salad ❤️

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Crème de Tomates en Croûte

Cream of Tomato Soup in Puff Pastry

Crème de Tomates en Croûte
🍅 🍅 🍅
Cream of Tomato Soup in Puff Pastry

Crème de Tomates en Croûte is a jaunty soup inspired by Bistro Jeanty, a charming French restaurant in Yountville, CA. Warm spices and smoky chiles elevate my humble tomato soup recipe. Crowned with a golden dome of  buttery-flaky puff pastry…this is an elegant, yet easy first course for a dinner party or perhaps even Valentine’s Day?

Recette de Crème de Tomates en Croûte

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Jacques Pépin’s Salade à la Crème and Limited Edition Signed Print

Jacques Pépin's Salade à la Crème and Limited Edition Signed Print

Jacques Pépin’s Salade à la Crème
and
His Limited-Edition Signed Print Called
“Roses”

In another one of his ever-charming Facebook videos taped in the kitchen of his Connecticut home, Jacques Pépin prepares a simple salad in the style of his maman, using cream instead of oil for the dressing. In it he makes the point that many are alarmed by using cream, but he notes that oil is actually much higher in calories… It reminded me of a hilarious and now famous quote by his meilleure amie, Julia Child, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”

The salad is delightful in an old-fashioned French way, and since the dressing is very simple, I like to serve interesting salad greens with it. These were Radicchio, Petite Red Oak, Green Tango, Green and Red Little Gem.

Jacques began painting in the 1960s when he moved to New York City to work in the restaurant business. He enrolled at Columbia University to improve his language skills and also signed up for an elective in painting.

On The Artistry of Jacques Pépin, he offers some of his original artwork and signed, fine-art prints for sale. A portion of sales go to support culinary education and sustainability.

Inspired by the Chef/Artist, I decided to photograph the salad in the style of a still life painting with roses, including one of his pieces from my growing collection.

Jacques Pépin's Salade à la Crème and Limited Edition Signed Print

Jacques’s Salade à la Crème Recipe

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