Monday, July 14, 2014

Making Mayo




After I got home from the grocery yesterday, I realized that I forgot to buy mayonnaise. Normally not a big deal but I was planning to make potato salad. 

Easy solution. Make mayo. It's so simple and so much better than store bought. I love the beautiful yellow from using organic cage free eggs. 

This recipe is basically a recipe from Julia Child. It works great for salads or you can add herbs to it for a great sauce for Chicken.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
3 Egg Yolks 
1 1/2 to 2 Cups Canola or Olive Oil
1/2 tsp.Vinegar or Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp. Salt 
White Pepper
1/4 tsp. Dry or Prepared Mustard 


Equipment Needed
Mixing Bowl
Whisk or Electric Mixer


Beat the egg yolks for about a minute on a fairly high setting on your mixer. If mixing by hand, you are going to get a good workout. The yolks should get sticky and a bit heavy. Make sure your bowl is not cold.

Then add the vinegar or lemon juice, dry mustard and salt. Beat for another minute. 

Slowly begin adding drops of oil to the mixture while beating. The mixture should start to thicken and become creamy. Keep beating so the sauce doesn't curdle or separate. 

Continue adding the oil one Tablespoon at a time with a maximum amount of 2 - 2 1/4 cups of oil. 

Once the sauce has the texture and taste that you want, you are done.

You can adjust the amounts of lemon juice or vinegar and spices to your taste. 

Hints
I used canola oil mainly because it is less expensive than using my high quality Olive Oils. 
You do want to use high quality eggs. I use organic/cage free brown eggs.
I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer to do all of the hard work. 


Sunday, July 6, 2014

Family Photo Fabulous


As a family historian, I am the keeper of many old family photographs and other memorabilia. 

During my visit to Napa Valley, I loved that Trinchero Winery had family history displayed throughout it. There were so many ideas that I could bring back to Ohio to incorporate into my house. 

The winery told the story of the Trinchero family. Italian immigrants who came to America via New York and took the huge risk of moving to California to begin the wine business through the decor.

These photographs of Mario and Maria Trinchero are displayed in a room designed like a living room but we had a private tasting there. I think it's a fabulous idea to enlarge the photographs so they really make a statement and honor our ancestors.  It's an affordable way to make a very personal statement in your home. 


Coping During Trying Times

How is everyone doing out there?  It's been a long time since I have posted but you know how it goes. Life sometimes detours and goe...