New Year's Eve, Snow,, Music,

Google's Doodle for tonight

When this blog publishes I will just about be in bed having enjoyed a glass of bubbly whilst watching the balls drop in New York and Buffalo. I gather they do a lot of different things around the States, learned that in Jeopardy, including one city drops a genuine apple at midnight. Another place drops some kind of bouquet.

It wasn't snowing at midnight when I went to bed on Monday night but when I got up on NY Eve everywhere was white and snow was still coming down. Wasn't sure if my cleaner would make it and I was considering getting the delivery company to pick up my groceries. However, by 11 when the cleaner came it had stopped snowing and I went to get the groceries myself. The roads were slippery but I drove carefully, of course the main roads were almost clear. Funny season, 3 days of fog over Christmas and now it snows.

Ne Year's Eve, Matt is listening to Steven Sondheim Music. So far we have heard Into the Woods and the Assassins. Neither of which appealed to me one bit. Especially the idea of celebrating the Presidential assassins since John Wilkes Booth. I decided to learn my Spanish and found I had to shut the door. Matt is thoroughly enjoying this concert. I'd buy him a CD but I couldn't stand it LOL. Oh, now they are singing Auld Lang Syne so maybe the concert is over, hurrah. They then changed to the Army Air Force Band playing Glen Miller tunes with singers and dancers. More my kind of thing. I was wondering how many young people of today even know who Glen Miller was.

This recipe appealed to me. As ladydog said, you can't go wrong with capers which I agree with, I would also add smoked salmon to that statement. I wonder, sometimes how these chefs come up with some of these ideas.

Rye and Crème Fraîche Strata with Smoked Salmon

In this playful riff on a bagel with cream cheese and lox, Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple makes a

custardy rye bread pudding with capers, then tops it with smoked salmon and red onion. It’s warm, comforting and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser

8 oz crème fraîche
6 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp pepper
1 lb rustic rye bread with crust, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1,4  cups drained capers, plus more for garnish
Thinly sliced smoked salmon and sliced red onion, for serving

1. In a large bowl, whisk the crème fraîche with the eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper. Add the bread, scallions and the 1/4 cup of capers and mix well. Scrape into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and let soak for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°. Bake the strata for 45 to 50 minutes, until puffed and the top

3. is golden. Let stand for 10 minutes. Scatter some salmon

4. on top and garnish with red onion and capers. Serve, passing more salmon at the table.

Yield: 6 to 8

Author: Justin Chapple
Source: Food and Wine

Author Notes
The unbaked strata can be covered and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking.

Have a great day