Work for it – Key lime pie

Posted on March 30, 2012 by petitedecadence

I’ve always been exceedingly good at procrastination. Really, nothing gets done better than when you leave it for 20 minutes before it’s deadline. Particularly if its something you don’t actually want to do, like balance your account or cleaning out your closet. But I don’t stop at that…oh no. It can take me quite a while to start even on the things that I love doing, and that, I can tell you, is a terrible habit, because if one of those things happens to involve oven and chilling times and quite possibly an exact time to be served….well, really…you shouldn’t postpone getting started. Because you might just end up running around the kitchen with sticky meringue hands looking for the torch and leaving sugary fingerprints all over your house, encouraging your creamy tart filling to set with only 5 minutes time of fridge rest, and ruining your pajamas with flour and syrup because you also put off taking a shower before starting.
Which is so not what happened to me as I made these pies. So not. Really. Ok, it totally was. But in my defense, I did make two of them, and in spite of all the rushing, they turned out absolutely delicious (can key lime pie ever not be?) and gorgeous looking. I used Deb’s at Smitten Kitchen version of the filling, with my own shell recipe and a regular italian meringue topping. You can find both links after the jump.

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Simple pleasures – Rustic mini baguettes

Posted on March 12, 2012 by petitedecadence

Those who enjoy life know that the true spirit of it is found in simple pleasures; waking up to birds and trees outside your window, having a good talk over coffee with a close friend, sunny afternoons on a terrace, silly jokes that make your stomach hurt from laughing, ceviche on hot days, feeling the sea breeze on sunset, going out for a walk after its rained, flowering bushes…you name it. It’s the simple things that keep us content and give meaning to our day to day lives. And one of those excruciatingly delicious simple pleasures is bread. I think very few people can deny it, unless you’re allergic or on a diet…bread, particularly when warm from the oven, will never fail to give you a satisfied smile, even if its just from smelling it and thinking…yuuuum, that looks delicious, and then letting your mind wander with all the possibilities of toppings or accompanying goodness that can go with it. At least I can’t deny it. And for me one of the simplest, but most enjoyable of breads, is rustic bread. There’s just something about the soft and perfect butter-absorbing interior, full of flour flavors and smells, and the crunchy crust combination. There’s no way to eat it that’s not delicious. With butter. With butter and jam. With butter and ham. With mustard. With soup. With nutella. With cheese. With sugar. With olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And the sandwich-ing possibilities are endless..there are no ingredients that can taste bad in between two slices of it right? And if you happen to have a roast turkey breast laying around (because that’s what normal people do) then your life might almost be complete. (Read more for the recipe)

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Roast turkey breast or – I’m a chicken –

Posted on March 1, 2012 by petitedecadence

Things change. Plans change. Life changes. Most of the time, we resist it, but fortunately, there’s no escaping it; because change is good, even if endings are hard and letting go is a unimaginable task. But sometimes you’re stuck in a period of nonchange. A period of stagnant, boring, incredibly defeating, un-motivating, seemingly neverending, nonchange. And that, THAT, is when I feel the need to do something drastic, to get out of bed and get in the car and drive until gas runs out, to paint my bedroom walls a crazy neon color, to tell everyone around me about that time when they said something I didn’t like and was hurt, to chop my hair off…anything. But since I am me, and behaving properly always ends up winning and I never do any of those crazy, apparently liberating things, I’ve roasted. I’ve roasted a turkey breast in my need to do something big and exciting. I know…most people would say I’m not even slightly walking out of the boundaries of the nonchange box, and they would be right, I am not. But I’ve had three hours of therapeutic smells coming from the frying pan, the oven, and the delicious platter that comes out of it. So in my opinion, this turkey roast is great, even if it’s not neon-colored. And there’s nothing like soft, warm potatoes roasted in turkey juices and served with a dollop of cream to make you forget about that ugly, stinky box.

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