Sunday, June 5, 2011

poof!

It's the magical disappearing bl*g!

Ta-da! We're back!

Sorry for that. I'd planned in this post to make excuses for GFD's absence, but let's just put it this way: Life is complicated. And sometimes when life is especially complicated, one wants to disappear. One also wants to refer to herself in the third person, and one wants to sit in the dark on a bright, sunny day and watch TV. One wonders why she didn't buy light-blocking shades for her living room and, after nine months of cursing the darkness, one curses the sunlight.


Suffice it to say, I thought about you constantly in between episodes, and I have so many things to tell you. First, the shows Downton Abbey and The Killing are perfect for watching in not-nearly-dark-enough rooms in the middle of the day. One is a British soap opera/period drama, the other will more accurately reflect your mood.

Even more importantly, I discovered during my disappearance that making a soufflé is not some culinary trick that can be mastered only by people who are from or have traveled to France. It turns out that making a soufflé is easy as pie. Much easier than pie, actually, the making of which is a culinary trick that can only be mastered by people who are grandmothers.


And not only is soufflé easy, it's total comfort food (eggy and airy and savory) while also being the epitome of fine dining (c. 1972 maybe, but I'm predicting a comeback; you read it here first). But perhaps the best, and most surprising, thing about soufflé is that YOU CAN REHEAT IT AND EAT IT FOR BREAKFAST. And then you can walk directly to the couch and start watching TV.

This recipe is delicious, although the newspaper in which it was published doesn't appear to use a proofreader, who surely would have noticed that the writer lists egg yolks in the ingredients but never explains what to do with them. So this recipe will be useful for figuring out what to do with yolks, unless you are from or have traveled to France, in which case you already know.

I missed you, bitches.

16 comments:

  1. THANK GOD!!! I was having a total meltdown about you snatching GFD away from us. Glad you are back and the next time you are wigging out, just call me and we will eat too much food, drink too much pink wine and watch too much garbage tv. Love you though!

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  2. Whew! I was having withdrawal symptoms and eating far too much asparagus salad, the last recipe you posted. Now I can switch to comfort food souffle. Welcome back.

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  3. Oh, I have a great recipe for days such as these. It calls for potato chips, brie, dark chocolate, and Beam. It throws together quickly, and definitely has room for artistic variation depending on personal taste and state of emotion. Please feel free to call if you don't have this one in your files.

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  4. Oh thank god. I was getting worried and confused, even as I sat in my own darkened room, afraid to go out for fear that it might still be raining...

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  5. Incidentally, we're always a little behind up here, so a souffle is fine dining circa 1979 up here. I first learned to make one from Julia Child's book, that year, and it was so instruction intensive that my own discovery that it was actually easy didn't come until later, when it turned out the Joy of Cooking could do it too, pretty much the same way, in eleven fewer paragraphs. I've been dying for one lately.

    C'est la vie, bon appetit, all that.

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  6. Thank God. It was a wasteland out there.

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  7. Whew! I was checking every day and hit the panic button (which I do very well) thinking that you were off the grid. Glad to have you back!

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  8. About 11:35 p.m. last night I couldn't sleep (having just watched The Killing) and was strangely drawn to my computer and your blog....I think you'd just posted it....whew! I'm so glad you're back. All that loud clapping of hands I've been doing since you disappeared obviously paid off.
    Like DED, I learned the art of souffles from JC .used to make you one in a little white ramekin, all of your own. They are comforting...especially while watching that scandanavian noir (but don't you just love it?)....makes our weather and lives look workable.

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  9. I second Tonto. You left a gap in my routine of hitting my GFD Bookmark after FB, People.com, and gmail. I'm a walking billboard for Gen-Y, what can I say? Glad you're back.

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  10. I'm so happy to have you back that I don't have the energy to yell at you for leaving.

    That, and I'm hungry which means that I don't have the energy to do anything.

    Welcome back, gfd. I missed you big time.
    xo

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  11. Hooray. I can finally make that soufflé I've been dreaming about.

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  12. All hail the return of the blog mistress!

    Hooray for jshu's emergence from anonymity!

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  13. What they said!
    Welcome back and thank heavens.

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  14. LL, if you are considering a meltdown, please consider tomato soup, grilled American cheese on white bread, and faux Oreos as an alternative. Not that I know about anything like that...

    WW, is there any such thing as too much asparagus salad? If so, there's this (which I assume you've already read): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/dining/asparagus-and-eggs-take-center-stage-a-good-appetite.html?ref=dining

    I have that one in my files, Challah, but the missing ingredient is you.

    DED, I assume the torrential rain downeast is now interspersed with tropical temperatures, for which I, personally, am not sorry. But it's not souffle-making weather. Why the H did JC make these fluffy, eggy delights so complicated when they are not? WHY?!?

    Creek Road, it's never a wasteland as long as you're there.

    I'm glad to be back, Tonto. And I know a thing or two about that panic button -- I have one of my own!

    Please keep clapping your hands, Anonymous, and I'll also take my own little souffle, too, if you don't mind.

    I was feeling all Gen X, Face, when I graduated from TMZ to People...

    Don't go hungry, LMC; being light deprived is enough. I stuck my head into your office the other day, but you weren't there, and then I just felt awkward in front of your coworkers. Or maybe it was just my natural awkwardness. Anyway, wish you were there.

    Yes, jshu, the souffle you've been dreaming about.

    I love you, J Quizzle.

    Sidekick, can you please cheer me with descriptions of your gardens? Are they thriving or drowning in this rain?

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  15. Hi GFD --
    The gardens are doing great with the exception of the vegetable one which is a f*#king desert for some reason.
    Old fashioned lilacs just finishing, French lilacs coming along, lupines popping up everywhere, iris in deep purple, violet and yellow are going to be there for a couple weeks and the magenta plate size tree peony flowers blew past in 2 warm days -- but they were magnificent!
    We had our last asparagus this week I think. Now it will grow into the fence around the - alleged - veggie garden. Sorrel needs to be cut back so we can enjoy some more in a few weeks.
    Thanks for asking.
    God, I love summer in Maine.

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  16. If you enjoyed Downtown Abbey,and feel like staying indoors and indulging in more fads of the late 1970's, I heartily recommend checking out Upstairs Downstairs - 22 discs - I can hook you up if you're looking for a BBC connection ;)

    BTW, Mr. Palminter thought this might be up your alley - http://www.zazzle.com/namaste_bitches_bumpersticker-128708264832131875

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