Kinda financier fail, terrific dinner, Party Tuesday

The financier batter was so lovely and tasty (though not the green that was Eric Kayser's; did he use more pistachios??), but those buggers would NOT release from the pans; yes, I tried two different types: a canoe pan (because traditionally, financiers are rectangular), and a mini-muffin as the recipe suggested (mine from Eric Kayser was round though about 8 times the size of a mini-muffin). I was so dismayed by the terrible aesthetic aftermath that I didn't taste them. Tom came home from work, ignored their bad looks, gobbled one and said, "that's delicious." So, I tried one. And it was good. But it wasn't like that one in NY. Boo. I will try again because now the ante has been upped.

I felt very spirited about Party Tuesday. After I picked the boys up from school, we went to get Ol new sneakers and then headed home to get the celebration started. The boys just did not cotton to the German Chocolate cupcake (I think I've always loved GC) but the strawberry and rice krispie treats were a hit as were the vanilla cupcakes Ol insisted we make this past Sunday. We never bothered to frost them which is frankly all the better because Baked & Wired is not shy re: sugar use. They are outstandingly good cupcakes but I can eat no more than 2/3 of one at a time or I feel like I'm gonna die. So the austere vanilla ones were sort of a nice counterpoint.

Jack and I played Rush Hour, Ol watched some of The Little Mermaid, we cleaned a bit, and I started on dinner: mashed potatoes with kale and buttermilk; roast chicken with thyme-butter and garlic; end-of-summer tomatoes; and some nice Pinot Noir. It was a lovely, comforting, Hello Fall! kinda meal, and T and I had a fun date. Have y'all ever food processed or finely hand-chopped steamed kale and added it to your mashed potatoes? It is delicious! I just threw fresh kale into the boiling potato water near the end, drained it and then put it in my processor with some buttermilk, whizzed it until nicely chopped and stirred it into just-riced potatoes and boiled garlic. White pepper, salt, a pat of butter... et voila! And just look at the skin on my chicken!! He's gorgeous!

Pistachio financiers!!!

Y'all, do you remember the thrill I felt when T brought me those remarkable financiers from Eric Kayser in NY? We were there for the weekend, I refused to leave the room on Sunday morning because I had to read the paper before we boarded the train, and so dear hubs ran out for coffee and breakfast. He came across Maison Eric Kayser, called and asked if I wanted a pistachio or raspberry financier, and I said, "yes, both!" Both were fabulous, but the delectable green cloud has floated through my memory since, and I have been determined to recreate. Research on financiers (a delightful story really; read this bit of history by Dorie Greenspan) taught me much and actually LED ME TO Eric Kayser's recipe. A Saveur columnist was as smitten with them as I and finagled this recipe from EK for publication. Thank you, thank you, all who made this discovery of mine possible.

My batter is resting now and I'll cook these babies this afternoon. The boys and I are having Party Tuesday, so in addition to the cupcakes and rice krispie treat (J really does not like cake or frosting) I bought while at/on (which is it?) a coffee date at Baked & Wired this morning, we will also have tiny, scrumptious, perfect crumb financiers.

Aren't pistachios spectacular? I mean the color alone makes me want to swim in them. They win the Nut Pageant for sure. This picture makes me want to open a split of champagne, turn on Parisian jazz and host a salon. I don't know why; that's how my mind works when in the midst of pretty food and photographs.

DC, dinner

Another shooting. 13 dead. An armed man with "a history of misconduct" (cnn) heads into the Navy Yard and opens fire. Remember all the times the NRA has yelled that if only more people had guns, we'd be so much safer? Well, the Navy does have guns; they're the military for christ sakes. And 12 of their crew are now dead. I find the whole thing depressingly familiar. A place shuts down, people mourn the loss of family members and friends, the President speaks movingly of the tragedy and waste, the media lights up with musings on mental health, possible security break-downs and "what.went.wrong." and still our country will do nothing more than a symbolic wringing of the hands. The gun-rights activists will hunker down and find an argument about we can't possibly do anything but give out more guns; those who work for stricter regulation and more stringent and regular background checks will have to put aside their sadness and disgust about watching yet another shooting spree happen and then resume their work, trying to keep hopelessness about change at bay. Shame on us. ~~~~~~ On a completely different note, we had a wonderful Meatless Monday dinner comprised of three hearty salads: fresh burrata with tomatoes, good olive oil, salt and basil; garlic-oil-rubbed kale with walnuts and cherries (yes, that one; the regular); and grilled fennel and leeks with fresh ricotta (still warm!) and a marjoram-fennel frond-almond pesto.

My friend Bevi makes a marjoram-cashew pesto that sounds out of this world, and I was keen to whip some of that up tonight only to find that I had no cashews. Ok, plan B. I decided to serve the pesto atop the other stuff I mentioned and so threw in the fennel fronds. Almonds seemed like they might pair nicely so they went in too. The marjoram's floralness started to feel out of hand so I tossed in some kale. The floral bouquet kept coming, so I went with it and grated Meyer lemon zest over the top of the finished dish. T asked if I'd accidentally spilled flowery soap into pesto. I liked it. Different strokes for different folks. And it is pretty!