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!

A Wee Green Quiche for St. Patrick's Day!

Asparagus, Spring Onion, & Feta- Hooray for Spring!

This quiche recipe was in the March 2016 issue of Southern Living. As an avid Bruncher, I decided this was a must try.

I made 1 modification- I purchased a frozen deep dish pie crust, rather than using a refrigerated pie crust in a spring form pan. As a result, you might want to lower the amount of mixtures inside as it wasn't quite deep enough to hold all of the ingredients. 

While all of the egg mix couldn't fit in, it did not lack in delicious flavor!

Here's what you need:

Frozen Deep Dish pie crust

2 Tbsp butter

2 cups thinly sliced spring onions

1 bunch fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp kosher salt, divided

3/4 tsp black pepper, divided

1 cup heavy cream

8 large eggs

2 Tbsp thinly sliced chives

2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided

What to do:

Bake frozen pie crust according to package directions.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter over medium-high . Add onions and cook (stirring occasionally) until tender and lightly brown (about 10 mins). Stir in asparagus; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Remove from heat and cool 5 mins.

Whisk together cream, eggs, chives, parsley, nutmeg, and remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Place half of the onion mixture in the pie crust.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup feta.

Spoon half of cream mixture over feta.

Repeat layers once and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup feta.

* (If you are using a 14.1 oz refrigerated pie crust in a spring form pan, this should fit. If you are using a frozen deep dish pie crust like I did, all of this won't fit. Reducing the cream mixture ingredients slightly will help with this. We did, and it still tasted great!)

Bake until set, about 1 hour. Cool on baking rack for 20 minutes before serving.

I highly recommend serving this with a sweet cantaloupe. We did and the flavors were perfect together. The tartness of the asparagus and feta with the sweet, creamy of the melon...it was fantastic!

We have reheated this quiche for another quick breakfast since this brunch and it was just as wonderful as the first tasting.

So- here is a Wee Green Quiche for your St. Patrick's Day celebration!

Also- I found this little video about St. Patrick. It gives a brief history about the real man, and some of the myths surrounding him. 

Enjoy!

Sláinte! = Cheers! (in Irish Gaelic)

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Oscar Night Eats & Treats!

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams!

The menu:
Seared Scallops, Roasted Asparagus, Caviar Tarts & Golden-White Chocolate Strawberries.

Mason and I loved the movies! 

My love for old movies came from my grandfather. At the age of 8, my favorite movie was Gone With the Wind.

Mason and I often went to the movies. She always had to have her diet coke and small popcorn.

One year, she hosted a small Oscars gathering at her home...she made sure that there was popcorn!

In honor of Mason (and my grandfather) I came up with a special Oscars menu.

While I finished preparing our Oscar treats, the Hubs and I snacked on Cajun crab dip.
I found this one at the seafood counter of Publix.

Alton Brown taught me how to sear scallops.

Heat 2 tsp (each) of butter and olive oil over high heat. Make sure that your scallops are very dry and season them with salt and pepper. 

When the butter first begins to release steam place he scallops in the pan. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. 

Perfectly seared scallops!

In the meantime, Ina Garten taught me to roast asparagus. I might never eat asparagus any other way again!

Cover asparagus in olive oil and lay it evenly, and in one layer, on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast for 20 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of your spears) on 400 degrees.

Now for the Caviar Tarts!

Ingredients: Mini fillo shells, boursin- shallot and chives, Black Lumpfish Caviar 

We did not purchase expensive caviar; simple, black lumpfish is inexpensive and still gave us a fancy feel for the occasion.

I softened the boursin and pipped it into the shells. I then topped the cheese with the caviar.

It is a salty, savory treat!

Golden- White Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

White chocolate bakers bark and gold gem candy make these golden goodies!

These are so festive...and so easy to make!

I dipped the strawberries and sprinkled the golden gems on some and drizzled regular chocolate on others. YUM!

Mason loved theming- she would have loved these movie themed plates I found at Party City!

Remy- in his top hat!

It was fun and fancy evening! 

We're sending you Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!