Cauliflower Bacon Gratin

Cauliflower gratin and Tricia's creme brulee.  What more could you ask for over the holidays ?  Perhaps Dorie's delicious duck that Nana prepared for Christmas dinner......not to mention a specialty cheesecake from the local "Nuns of New Skete".  An adventure for sure ~



Per Tricia:

While many Doristas have browsed the French Fridays Cookbook

and made dishes in addition to the "selectees", I have barely

been able to make the ones selected each week and have not

strayed. Except for the cauliflower recipe, which I spied when we did

 the potato gratin and promptly made.  Over and over again. 

 It is a family favorite and perfect for the holidays anywhere,

 but especially in Vermont where it has been snowing just enough

 to add the perfect atmosphere

 (in lieu of providing enough to ski......). 

We enjoyed our "Feast of 7 Fishes" for Christmas Eve dinner, 

 but Nana decided to make the lovely duck recipe from FFWD

 for Christmas dinner.  It was delicious !

I also played catch up and made the creme brulee after picking up my

ordered creme brulee dishes at the JK Adams Kitchen Store. 

 I snapped a few photos of the outside after the fact as I forgot to take

 a camera inside when I picked up the dishes.  The store is a real

treat and if anyone ever makes it to south west Vermont, I

would definitely suggest a visit.  www.jkadams.com 

 The first time we visited the area we drove past this industrial building

on the side of the road that surprisingly had a sign indicating there was

 a "kitchen store" in there somewhere. I got immediately excited- even

though I did not recognize that label, I could "tell it was interesting".

They have lovely goods, amazing gourmet food supplies and an

observation booth where you can look out over the manufacturing

floor in the back of the headquarters.  I since found their products as

I travel all over and have come to have a ridiculous amount of  pride

(which I am not technically not supposed to have) when doing so. 

Last note on the creme brulee -the taste was amazing and the

 boys got to do the torch.  I was hesitant and they were over the moon

 to see such a gadget.  I will be hiding it when we return to PA...... 

  

And now, the cheesecake. 

The nuns of New Skete are located in Cambridge, NY.

The monks have a monastery nearby.

It is about 45 from where we were in Vermont and somehow I have

 not gotten over there before.  But this time was different.

It was an adventure and did not disappoint. 

The cakes have been written up in the Rachel Ray

 magazine and other places. They also offer fruitcakes but holidays

 or not, we were not going there. The nearby monks of New Skete

 are the ones famous for their work with dogs and German Shepherds

in particular. It is funny because I bought their hardcover book years

ago in my local Costco, "How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend",

and it felt surreal to be standing at the actual monastery.

 The nuns ship the cheesecake but the real adventure
is showing up (if you can) as they have an honor system
after hours. We were lucky enough to visit when it was open

 so we could buy other goodies as well. 

http://www.newskete.org/cheesecakes.html

 The "deluxe" cheesecake is plain and it was delicious, though  I have

not met a cheesecake that I did  not like. It is a sweeter version with

a very thin crust which more closely resembles a sugar cookie than a

graham cracker.  Hope everyone enjoyed their own holiday goodies. 

 Happy New Year from Nana and I !!