Three Years, 524 Posts and 30,000 Visitors

I just looked at my visitor counter (which I just moved to the top right for easier viewing) and saw that I'm approaching 30,000 visitors to my blog. Actually it's more than that, because the counter wasn't there from the beginning. Then I noticed that I'm also coming up on my blog's three-year anniversary (July 17). I've posted 525 times in those three years.

Let's celebrate! If you are the 30,000th visitor (ding-ding-ding-ding-ding), leave me a message in the comments (and your email, if I don't know how to contact you) and I will send you a copy of Red or Green: New Mexico Cuisine.

Remember to look at the counter. I won't know who wins if you don't tell me!

The Daring Bakers' June Challenge - Pavlova

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard. (Recipe HERE)

According to www.aussie-info.com, “In 1935, the chef of the Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Western Australia, Herbert Sachse, created the pavlova to celebrate the visit of the great Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova.” Since that time, the Pavlova has been adopted by the Aussies as a national dessert.

Pavlovas are made up of a meringue base with pastry cream or mousse mounded on top. They can be dressed up with fruit, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or anything else the chef chooses. I made individual Pavlovas, but the typical Australian Pavlova is made in a cake pan and cut into individual servings.

“So,” you might be wondering, after looking at the photo above, “Where’s the chocolate in these chocolate Pavlovas?”

I honestly did start out following the recipe as assigned in this month's Daring Bakers’ Challenge, but my first attempt, sadly, went straight into the trash. Luckily, I had only made the meringues, so the loss wasn’t great. My chocolate flavored meringues came out as hard as hockey pucks. To bite one was to risk a broken tooth!

So, on my second try I decided to go all vanilla (which Dan and I prefer, anyway). I also adjusted the baking temperature and time for the meringues, and they baked up perfectly – a nice thin, crispy shell on the outside but still soft and "marshmallowy" on the inside.

Next was to cook up the pastry cream, which was so good I could have eaten the entire bowl all by itself. It was eggy and creamy and vanilla-y. I refrigerated the pastry cream until the next day. Then I folded in some whipped cream, which made it even more decadent, and piled dollops of the cream into the meringue shells.

I added fresh raspberries and kiwi, and poured a light apricot glaze over the fruit. To dress it up, I drizzled a raspberry sauce on the plate around the dessert and dusted it all with powdered sugar.


Our neighbors, Dave and Lorraine, happily agreed to help us consume my Pavlovas. They were a hit. Here's Dan enjoying a bite.

Overheard

We were dining at Wendy's a week or so ago. A grandpa and grandma came in with their granddaughter who was about five years old. After getting their food they sat down at a table near us. They had purchased a Kids' Meal for the little girl, and with it came a prize. "What's the prize, Grandpa?" she asked. Grandpa reached into the bag and pulled out a "Motown for Kids" CD. "It's a CD!" he said. "A CD is kind of like a record."

The little girl gave him a brief, blank stare and then said, "Well, anyway Grandpa, can we play the CD in the car when we leave?"

Grandpa Being Silly

You might remember that Clara declared Grandpa "silly" during our latest visit (and isn't that what Grandpas should be?). Last week a Father's Day card arrived from the grandkids. Inside was a picture drawn by Clara for Grandpa.


On the back of the picture Kelsey explained: "This is a picture of Grandpa (being silly) and Clara sitting on the couch. The couch is green, the floor is purple and they both have knees."

Precious!