Recipe: Chocolate Souffle

Souffles can be difficult to make and you need to be precise in the timing and measurement of ingredients.

What you need:
2 large ramekins (that hold 1.5 cups) or 4 small ramekins (.5 cup)
2 ounces of 60% bittersweet chocolate baking bars
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter (not melted)
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar plus 2 teaspoons - divided
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of 1% milk
1 egg yolk
2 egg whites

Prepare the ramekins first by rubbing butter along the sides of the ramekins and coat with 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, add water to a small pan and place a bowl on top of the water. Set the water to medium so it heats. Add the chocolate, milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar in the bowl. Mix until the chocolate is melted. Set the chocolate aside for 5 minutes and mix in the egg yolk.

In a large bowl, with the mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks start to form. Add the 2 teaspoons of sugar and beat until stiff. With a spatula, fold one fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mix. Do not mix, just fold. Fold another fourth, then the remainder. Divide into the ramekins.

Bake for 20 minutes if large ramekins; if small ramekins, bake for 15. Do not open the oven! if you open, your souffle will lose it's poof. Remove from the oven and add whatever topping you want. If you aren't ready to cook your souffle yet, you can refrigerate the ramekins in the refrigrator prior to cooking. You can keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours but no longer. If you keep longer, the egg whites will harden or sometimes, depending on your whites, they may liquify too much to souffle.

If you refrigerate your souffle before cooking, add another 3 minutes to the cooking time and remember *not* to open the oven until the time is up.

Serve warm and enjoy!

The Chieftains

Paul and I have always enjoyed listening to the Chieftains and were fortunate to see them when they came to Seattle this spring at Benaroya Hall. Paddy Moloney was great and lots of classic Chieftain music was played along with some flares from their Santiago album. This was a fun concert (check out the video below). Glad we had the opporunity to see and I hope they come back to Seattle in the next few years to play again. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest), I would rate the concert at a 4. The music was great but it was obvious that Seattle was the first stop on the tour and the group were still working through some of the nuances.

Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

For those of you with dogs on raw, natural or diets aimed to keep your dog in great shape and off a mostly corn commercial diet, I am posting my natural dog liver treats. A sure favorite in this house with our greyhounds, this recipe will make about 5-7lbs of cookies and last 5 days refrigerated.

What you will need:

1 large cookie sheet

canola oil spray

extra large bowl

Ingredients

1lb of cup up chicken liver (you can also you 1lb of low fat hamburger or other non-cooked meat)

7 heaping tablespoons of smoth peanut butter

1 whole banana

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 cup of water

1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce

6 cups of whole wheat flour

5 cups of traditional oatmeal

1 tablespoon of baking powder

2 finely cut apples

4 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all the dry ingredients well
3. Add apples, applesauce, bananas, molasses, peanut butter, oil by hand and knead for 3-5 minutes until well mixed together
4. Add chicken liver
5. Add water
6. Once well mixed, push down evenly on cookie sheet
7. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes
8. Once out of the over, take left over peanut butter and spread it across the top so it melts over your cookies
9. Wait 30 minutes and cut into squares
10. Refrigerate and keep for 5-7 days

Our Seattle Craftsman

In 2006, we moved to Seattle and bought a 1925 craftsman home. The home is in the Mt Baker area of Seattle which was designed by the Olmsted Brothers at the turn of the 20th century.

We've been able to trace much of ths history of the house prior to us by researching the local archives. In 1906, the land was purchased for the home by the (Almaquo Timber) Tract Company. In 1927, the house was purcahsed by Millard M May, a prominent Vice President and Tresurer of the US Bond and Mortgage Company. Millard worked from the home and the phone number for the home then was 0880. Millard and his wife Alice came up north from their home state of Kentucky and had a son Thomas a year before moving into the house. Along with Millard, Alice and Thomas lived Nellie Bailey, a private servant from Illinois who helped manage the home.



There is little information about how long the family stayed but in 1935, the home was purchased by Julius C and Mattie Cohn. Julius' profession, per the 1939 Polk directory was salesman. The couple stayed in the house until 1940 when the home was purchased by Ralph and Gretchen Cade. Ralph's father, had been a steamboat captain in Washington and Ralph was an oiler and subsequently a shipfitter when he and Gretchen started their family in Seattle.





The Cades stayed in the home until the early 1940s when the Victor and Sarah Behar purchased the house and raised three daughters. The Cades stayed in the home until they were in their 80's. Victor passed away in 1985 and Sarah 1989. The house was sold to Heather Salling in 1985 and subsequently to Robert Mintz and Beth Arman in 1995. Rob and Beth stayed in the home until 2006, when we moved from Boston and purchased the home.




We continue to research the history of the families who lived in the home prior to us. Along the way, we have found some interesting artifacts in the home fin the many families who have lived here. It turns out that the chimney had not been cleaned since 1925 and that the families, at least until midcentury, would dump their trash/broken dishes in the backyard. So below are some of the more interesting pieces that we have found. Perhaps the most shocking piece that we found while reconstructing the front yard is an old pistol that looks likt it may have been a Colt.



See below some of the artifacts dated from 1929 on.

Rug Hooking Project....

The earliest forms of hooked rugs appeared at the beginning of the 1800's in England and subsequently brought to New England and the Canadian Maritime through the 1850s. In the 1830's, floor coverings weaved by machine and industrialized for mass production became fashionable. For those families who could not afford such luxuries, hooked rugs were often made by women in the home. Hooked rugs were considered the craft and hobby of the poor because of the materials used and primitive nature of the designs.

Hooked rugs are created on burlap (linen and other materials are now an option as well). During the 19th centure, grain and feed burlap bags were free. Because of the availability of the burlap, this material became the backing for the rug. Burlap is a sturdy material that is also pliable, necessary for the hooking process. For hooking, yarn was too difficult to come by and used for weaving ( a more proper girl's hobby than rug hooking ). In the absence of using one's best materials, left over pieces of fabric from clothes and mended blankets were utilized. In the 1930s, Pearl McGown introduced using wool strips in place of fabric setting guidelines and formally teaching the craft. Many speculate that without McGown's work in this craft, it would not exist today. There is an annual exhibit dedicated in her name that features the creations of rug hookers worlwide.

Today, the themes of hooked rugs varies from traditional to primitive and modern themes. For my personal tastes, I prefer to hook late 19th century - early 20th century themes and for friends, make primitive, original patterns for their homes.

The process of rug hooking is very simple:

1. create your pattern on burlap (linen is also used today)
2. determing the colors for your rug and gather your fabrics
3. cut your fabrics to 9 inch lengths and the width needed for the desired style
4. use a hook to pull the fabric or yarn through the burlap to create your design

This is a piece that I created a few years back in the primitive style with a crow. This is made on burlap backing with wool strips and is a 9x12 piece.














The second piece is a design by Deanne Fitzpatrick called "Willow and Saltbox" on 20x35 burlap with wool strips that I am in the process of creating with still several months before completion. This is the more traditional style of pattern that I enjoy working with.