Orange-Walnut Pancakes & Portabella Baked Eggs

This was a beautiful and easy brunch!

I loved the pancakes, but the mushroom was something really special!

I think if you had a brunch for a crowd these mushrooms would be ideal.

Portabella with baked egg, Orange-Walnut Pancakes and a Bloody Mary.

For the Pancakes...Here's what you need:

1 1/4 cup flour (sifted)

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

3 Tbsp melted butter (plus a bit more for frying)

handful of chopped walnuts

1 Tbsp orange zest

2 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Here's what you do...

Mix flour, powder, sugar, egg yolk, milk vanilla, salt, butter, orange zest and juice together until well combined, but still has lumps.

Beat egg white until stiff peaks form. 

Fold egg white into pancake batter

Let the mix rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Now add the walnuts. 

Heat your pan or griddle and cook scant 1/4 cup batter (per pancake) for about 2 minutes (until bubbles appear) on one side and another 30 sec to 1 minute on the other until set.

These have a very light orange flavor with the hearty walnuts in each bite- YUM!

Now to the Mushrooms!

Here's what you need:

Large Portabella Mushroom caps

garlic powder

salt

pepper

eggs

Parmesan Cheese

parsley

Here's what you do:

Preheat broiler to high.

Spray mushrooms with either olive oil or butter flavored cooking spray. Sprinkler garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.

Broil mushrooms until tender- about 5 minutes on each side.

Oh my the delightful smell...

Remove mushrooms from oven. Switch oven to Bake and set at 400 degrees. 

Break one egg into each mushroom and sprinkle with desired amount of Parmesan Cheese. 

Return to oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until egg is set and whites are cooked.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle with parsley for a fresh, pretty plate.

This is so pretty and delicious!

Happy Brunching Everyone!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Happy 2nd Birthday La Bonne Vie!

So I guess I took a sabbatical. I traveled a bit, cooked a little, tried a lot of different foods, wines and cocktails. It was good. I needed some time to rest and reflect.

I love that today is La Bonne Vie 2nd Birthday...and that this is the first blog back from a short break.

Today, I just want to take time to remember.
I want to remember Mason. I want to remember why I began cooking and logging it all into this diary in the first place. I want to remember my favorite pictures and foods. 

And I want to celebrate it!

Mason & How It All began...

Mason...

I lost my dear friend, Linda H. Mason in May 2014. You will see me refer to her throughout this blog as Mason. 

The loss is tremendous.

And Thus It Began...

So what did I do...I began to cook! 

Mason and I loved food! Mason had a few standby recipes...a cheese ball, cornbread...oh- and a fudge recipe that was out of this world!!! Other than that, she really didn't enjoy cooking. But we loved eating what I cooked. I thought: I should begin cooking, creating, and exploring as a way to heal through the loss of my friend.

She always encouraged me in my writing too. I would often take my work to her home and read my manuscripts to her.
Why not combine these two things...the cooking and the writing?

Mason also loved anything French. I love French food. One of my favorite movies is Ratatouille- a movie (set in France) about a rat who becomes a chef. (I named my cat after the main character, "Remy"!)

It was coming together: Mason lived "the good life"- "la bonne vie". She had many friendships, cooked, ate, enjoyed the company of others...enjoyed French stuff...

Yes- that's what I would do! I would begin a blog to diary recipes, tastes, smells, and adventures that remind me that:

life is good. 

It doesn't have to be stuffy food, or expensive food, or require super-skills in the kitchen...just easy, creative, fun, "catching up over a good meal" kinds of dishes. We humans often connect over a good meal. Mason and I always did our best "catching up" over a lunch or dinner.

So join me, won't you? Join me on an eating, drinking, cooking journey to explore the good life...the way Mason would- over a good meal!

Favorite Pictures and Food...

One of my first pics and one of my first food blogs!

The famous fig tarts from Christmas! Also the cover of my Facebook page.

You know I love Halloween!!! This one was especially fun!!!

Probably my most favorite blog I have ever written, and it had almost nothing to do with food.
If you haven't read it, it is called We Are Stewards. This picture was featured in that blog post.

Awesome Asparagus Tart!

Loved my Kitchen Decor this past Christmas.

Naughty Nog with Peppermint Rim.

Food and Wine Festival in Disney World this year!

Merry Mice!

Dennis' favorite meal from this year: Pumpkin Risotto!!!

Savory pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream.

The most adorable Turkey Cheese Ball Ever!!!

It's been a good year! 

As I look back and remember, I'm filled with joy all over again.

I remember the verse that has given me so much hope:  "What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!" 

Ps. 27:13 AMP

So now, I invite you to celebrate with me! What goodness have you seen in your life over the past year? 

Now- Celebrate it!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!