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Looking at the ingredients in the recipe convinced me to make this dish. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, paprika...I basically already had all the ingredients on hand. Those are all staples in my kitchen. Add in the egg and a baguette, and it looked like a great meal! I especially liked that it was something relatively easy and inexpensive. I only needed to buy the baguette, and I could have made it myself if I wanted to save even more.

The colors of the vegetables represent the colors of the Basque region red, green, and yellow. The paprika added a really nice smokiness to the Pipérade as well as strengthening the red color.

You may remember that my sister served an LDS mission in France and she told me she had Pipérade while there. (Members of the church help to feed the missionaries all over the world). She had it with duck, and that it was delicious. In my research I found that adding game bird or egg to Pipérade is very common. I chose to go with egg because it just looked so delicious to me.

Unfortunately, I overcooked my yolks. I was so sad about this because I was really looking forward to the runny yolk with the Pipérade and baguette. I know what I did wrong too. Traditionally you cook the Pipérade on the stovetop and then you put the egg into the Pipérade and bake it for a few minutes. I don't have a pan that transfers to the oven, so I thought I would try to do it on the stove. But this was not successful. I put the lid on and it cooked much faster than I thought it would. Fortunately, I read somewhere that one person had grown up having scrambled eggs with Pipérade, so I just broke up my eggs and mixed it in. Next time I think I will transfer the Pipérade to a casserole dish and bake it that way. 

So for these reasons I don't have my recipe ready to share with you yet. I'm sorry! But I will share this recipe by Nic from Cured by Bacon. He uses canned veggies, but his recipe is the one that inspired me to make Pipérade. 

And please don't misunderstand, this was absolutely delicious, I just want to perfect my recipe before sharing it. So please give Pipérade a try and tell me how you like it. I think it's best eaten right away, using your baguette as a spoon. And definitely toast your baguette with a bit of olive oil. It was so good! Don't skip the baguette! 

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support.

       Did you know that bottle cap crafts are a thing?  I didn't know until recently when I received an amazing gift! 

     My friend, who is my Son-in-law's mom, Joanne, was able to serve as a missionary with her husband in Uganda.  She loved it there.  Recently she was able to go back for a visit.  When she came back she brought me a gift!  She is so sweet that way.  She brought me this beautiful trivet, or hot pad, that the women in Uganda make as a business enterprise. 

    If I were over in Uganda, I would definitely support their businesses! But, I also looked at this craft and decided that I wanted to try it for myself! I think that these would make such great gifts for my sisters and daughters or for wedding or shower gifts.  And, don't forget that Mother's Day is coming along!   
     The first trick was to find the bottle caps!  We don't drink very many drinks that come with metal bottle caps.  I saved a few, but I soon realized that the saving used caps method was going to take me a long time! Also, many of the caps once used would be misshapen and need to be re-flattened.  Then, someone told me that they carry new, unused bottle caps at Hobby Lobby!  Well, they do, but they are expensive! Luckily I had my 40% off coupon because the price is around $10 for a bag of 24 caps. I bought some, but if I am going to make very many of these, I need a better source and I have found one! Amazon has them by the gross for $6.00! 

     While I love the vibrant colors of the original trivet from Uganda, I looked through my fabric stash and decided on some more subtle gray tones for mine.  It took some experimenting to decide how large of a circle of fabric it would take to cover the bottle cap.  I finally settled on a wide mouth canning jar as my template. 

     The first thing I did was cover all of my caps.  Since I was using four different fabrics, I cut out each color as follows:

• Decide which print will be the center and cut out 7 circles from that print.
• Cut 5 of 2 of the other prints
• Cut 6 of the final print

     Next, you must gather around the outside of each circle.  You could do this on the sewing machine, but I found it relaxing to just do it by hand with a needle and thread while watching TV sitting on the couch.  It really goes fairly quickly. Click on the pictures below to read the details of how I put this trivet together. 

    Using only 23 bottle caps, my trivet came out much smaller than the original African one, but it will work nicely for a smaller hot bowl or casserole dish.  I can hardly wait for my order of new bottle caps to come in so that I can make more in many sizes! It will be fun to pick out more fabric combinations to match the kitchens of the people I want to give them to! 

    I hope you give this craft a try! It is easy and useful, the best outcome! 
​    Do you make anything with bottle caps?  Let me know about it, because I may want to try it! 

     Did you realize that this past week was National Library Week?  Living in the electronic age, have libraries become obsolete?  Are they less used than they once were.  But, as I peruse the library website that services Phoenix, I can see that libraries are still current and are keeping up with the times.  They have so many online services and extra benefits for patrons to use, all for the price of $0! So, in honor of National Library Week, and because we are all book lovers who have been library users from our youth, today's Friday Fave #57 is all about libraries! 

     When I was a child, my mother used to take me to the Clovis, CA Carnegie Library.  (You can see it and read about it here). It was constructed in 1915, so it was old and musty smelling even when I was a child.  I remember the steps up to the double doors that seemed much steeper back then and the creaky wooden floors.  The children's section was in the basement. My mom would let me go and peruse the books to my hearts content and choose the books that I wanted to read.  She would make her own choices upstairs and then come down and give me some suggestions.  I remember checking out Dr. Doolittle and the Complete Adventures of Winnie the Pooh , among many others. There weren't a lot of extra programs at the library that I can recall, but it was a magical place to me all the same. It no longer serves as the town's library, but the building still stands as a landmark of former days and houses the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. 
     When my own children were young, I would take them to the Phoenix library, especially during the summer, when school was out.  During the school year they could use the school library, and I didn't want to mix up which books went to which library. Of course, if they needed something special that the school didn't have, we would go to the city library.  But, during the summer, it was always great to keep the kids reading and to participate in our library's summer reading program.  They won little prizes until finally at the end they could win Diamondback Baseball Game tickets after reading a certain number of books! Once, I took them to hear a cowboy tell stories at the library and he actually brought in his real horse wearing a diaper! My children were fascinated! 
     So, given these experiences over the years with my kids, I polled my girls to find out what they love and remember about the library:

Alicia: I am starting with Alicia because she actually worked in the Provo Library when she was in college.  Here is what she says about the library:  "I loved working at the library. It was the best job!
 I love when libraries are partnered with Libby and I can check out audio books from home
I also enjoy aimlessly wandering the aisles and finding books I've never heard of, to read." 
    If you haven't heard of Libby, it is a free app that lets you check out audio books onto your phone or mobile device for free! Here is the link to find out about it.
     Alicia also says it is awesome to be able to check out movies from the library.  We used to do that a lot in the summer when my kids were young.  It was a great way to stay indoors and be cool in our hot AZ summers! Alicia remembers, "​That’s how I watched the Ramona movies!"

Madalynn uses the library a lot! She says, "I like checking out movies and CDs from the library. And how you can get museum and zoo passes from the library. And the seed library. And the classes and activities they have for kids. Libraries are just a great resource for low budget families to experience things."  She continues with the CDs, "When I was in middle school I would go choose CDs I thought had cool covers and that was how I discovered music."  (She means how she found her taste in music.  Of course she knew there was music, ha ha.)
     I was amazed about the seed library when Madalynn told me about it.  I am excited to check that out! I just learned that our library (Cholla Branch)  has a craft night that is totally free on Tuesday Nights! There are e-classes offered and special speakers. 
     The culture passes Maddy spoke of are an awesome way to get free passes to museums and other attractions around the city.  You have to be quick though, because they go fast! 

Lindsey says, "I like library nooks where you can sit and read. It is so quiet and peaceful." About the movies that you can check out she says, " That's how I watched a lot of movies in high school!  I think that's how we saw the BBC Chronicals of Narnia when we were kids." Now that she is a mom, she is looking forward to the story times for kids and looking into the free classes that are offered.  Speaking of being a mom, one great class being offered at our library branch is a Kindergarten Bootcamp class for children starting school in the fall of 2018! It is just one hour a week for 7 weeks, it is totally free, including supplies!  It is amazing to see the number of free classes that are available online from the library! Here are the ones available from Phoenix! 
​

     So, if you haven't checked out your local library lately, now is a great time to do it!  Don't forget the books! I've listed favorites that I want to read this year on this post, and the library is a great place to find them. (Then, if you love them you can buy them! The only thing I don't love about the library is that you have to give back the books that you fall in love with.)  Summer reading programs will be starting soon! The City of Phoenix is even doing a program that encourages everyone in the city to read a book together this summer! They are taking votes on which book it will be now! They are calling it, One Book, One Phoenix. If you live in Phoenix, go and vote now.  I voted for Albuquerque by Rodolfo Anaya.  Which one would you vote for? 
​      We will leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein. 
​

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support

So today, in our French ancestors honor we made Gratin Dauphinois (French scalloped potatoes) and roasted chicken.

Usually when I think of scalloped potatoes I think of cheese and potatoes. But to make true Gratin Dauphinois, you DON'T USE CHEESE! I know! I was skeptical at first, but really this turned out so delicious! You still get a crispy brown top from the starch in the potatoes. 

Some tips for make Gratin Dauphinois

• The nutmeg in this recipe was divine. I really loved it. It complimented the subtle flavors of the cream and potatoes so well. I did not miss the cheese at all. So don't skimp on the nutmeg. I added it to the top of my potatoes in the saucepan and gave it a good dusting. I then mixed it in. 
• Some recipes that I saw used leeks or chives. I decided chives were good enough for me.
• I used myfood processor to slice my potatoes. It made it so fast and easy. A mandoline slicer would be useful here as well.

Just look at that beauty. Gratin Dauphinois was so wonderful! And the leftovers are great too. And it was really easy to make. If you con't have cream on hand, I saw some recipes where it could be made with just milk. So if you're craving scalloped potatoes, try Gratin Dauphinois, you won't regret it.

Gratin Dauphinois

To go with the Gratin Dauphinois, I thought a roasted chicken would be delicious. I was just going to buy a rotisserie chicken from the store but then thought it would be fun to try my hand at roasting a chicken. It was so good too!

I did look up how the French roast chickens but I didn't have time nor ingredients for Julia Child's recipe. So I'll just say the flavors are French inspired though not classically French at all.

I don't have a recipe for you, but I rubbed my chicken with butter, and sprinkled it with thyme, salt, and pepper. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some extra pats of butter finished up the outside of the bird. I rubbed up under the breast skin with butter and stuck some cloves of garlic up there. Inside I stuffed it with lemon, garlic, and bay leaves. I meant to grab some rosemary from the plant outside but I forgot. I tied the legs together with some baker's twine. Then roasted it at 400F for 20 minutes. After that I reduced the temperature to 375F for another 90 minutes. I had a 5 pound bird that came out with nice crispy skin and beautifully moist meat. It was so delicious.

With the leftovers we made chicken tacos the next night.That's the great thing about this chicken the flavors are subtle enough that the leftovers can easily be transformed.

So I hope you give those Gratin Dauphinois a try. They're so delicious! Best scalloped potatoes I've ever had. If you do let us know in the comments how you liked it!