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     Last week, when I didn't post Friday Faves, my plan had been to celebrate Bastille Day which is always on the 14th of July.  I guess it is just as well that I ran out of time because it was hard to limit our love of French culture and products to just a few things.  After all, we all studied French, my husband served a french speaking mission in Tahiti, Lindsey served one in France, plus did a semester of law school there, My son Jacob is currently serving a french speaking mission in the Ivory Coast!  That is a lot of french influence in our lives!  The language is beautiful, the country has so much rich history, the cuisine is amazing, France has been the center of fashion for ages, there is just so much to enjoy.  
     So, Instead of trying to get everyone to focus on a favorite, I decided that this week I would share a french dish that I learned from Panna Cooking for a delicious Brown Butter Tart to give a nod to a favorite place of ours, France.  

      This tart recipe is currently being offered for free on Panna. If you love watching cooking shows like I do, you know that it can be frustrating to try to reproduce the recipes you see on TV and get a good result.  The videos on Panna and step by step written instructions make it so easy to follow and make their recipes yourself. Blueberries have been priced fairly reasonably lately, so when I saw this Browned Butter Tart with Berries, I knew I had to give this recipe a try. You can click on the link and give it a try as well.   The chef that teaches this class is Nancy Silverton. I am referring you to her class for this recipe, but I will share some of the tips she gave and some adaptations that I made for my purposes.  
     At first I thought that this recipe was going to be too much for me to do as I babysat my granddaughter, but as it turned out, each step was fairly quick to do and then it would have to chill awhile.  When the baby went down for her nap, I could do the next step or I would put her in her high chair to watch me for a bit.  It was a breeze!  Then, one of the best things about this recipe is that it makes enough crust and custard for 2 tarts and the extra dough and custard keeps in the fridge for a good amount of time.  In the middle of the week, I made the blueberry tart, and then on the weekend, I made a peach tart!  The peach one was super fast to do since the dough and custard were already made.  

My Take-Aways From Nancy Silverton:

• When working this dough for the crust, be very careful to not overwork it! Try to keep it cool by using your fingertips and not the palms of your hands.
• After the dough is refrigerated, begin by pounding it out with your rolling pin rather than rolling it.  (You have to watch her do it! It is so cool!  Also, when you do it yourself, it is very therapeutic).
• Use a simple syrup to make the blueberries shine! 
• When browning butter, use your ears and your nose to tell when it is ready.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar like you mean it, but also let some of the fruit show.

A Couple of Adaptations:

• I pretty much followed Nancy's recipe spot on, but one thing that she used that I don't have is a Flan Ring to form her tart. I had never heard of one, but here is the link to one.  

• I used a spring form pan instead.  I just fit the crust only halfway up the side of the pan and trimmed it to make it somewhat even.  It worked pretty well. Here is a pan like the one I have.

• When I made the peach tart, I sliced the peaches and laid them decoratively on the custard.  Then, after the tart was baked, I used chopped peaches on top.  I didn't coat them with simple syrup because they were already shiny.  Click the pictures below for descriptions. 

     If you try this recipe, let me know how yours turns out!  And, consider signing up for the Panna 7 day free trial and get access to many more cooking classes and recipes with master chefs!
     Also, if you enjoyed this post about Browned Butter Tarts, you may enjoy some of our other posts that are about cooking with Panna!

• Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon
• Pan Roasting Chicken
• Chicken  Cacciatore - Crock Pot Version

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.​​​​

     With Mother's Day just a few days away, we thought some last minute gift faves may be in order. it isn't too late to do something really thoughtful and memorable for the special mothers in your life. 

     Last year, we posted about Budget Friendly Mother's Day Gifts.  Some of the items on there are still doable, so check out that post! One of the things mentioned on that post is...

Printables:

• I love the printable that I mentioned in the above link.  There are a lot of choices on Etsy. If you want to know how to use printables as a gift and frame them, check out this article.  (And don't forget to check out our shop here!)
• I have a lot of good memories of Mother's Day Breakfasts in Bed from my children.  The Dating Divas have a printable kit that help to make Breakfast in Bed for Mom even more memorable and beautiful! Find it here! 

Subscriptions:

     I sometimes consider signing up for some of those subscription boxes that are so popular now, but I usually chicken out, unable to commit! But, if someone were to give me one as a gift, I would be thrilled! There are different types of subscriptions to fit all budgets, styles and tastes. Here are a few that tempt me:

• Did you know that Target does Beauty Boxes? They aren't really a subscription, you have to order each one that you might want.  They put out different ones monthly for only $7.00.  They seem to go fast, so check for them quickly each month. These are perfect for any mom who would love a little pampering anytime of the year.
• Walmart does a Beauty Box subscription for only $5.00! It only comes quarterly, so you can give it as a gift for only $20! I think that I am even brave enough to sign up for that one! Go to that link and find out all about it.  The nice thing is that when you order it as a gift, you get to send a personalized message to your mom's email so she knows it will be coming to her from you. 
• A subscription to Audible would be an awesome gift for anyone who loves to read and/or listen to books while driving or exercising or who has trouble seeing fine print.  

• The gift of Amazon Prime is the perfect gift for anyone who doesn't already have it.  It is such a money saver and time saver! 

• One company that I have used is Panna! If you have a mom to buy a gift for who loves to cook, a subscription to Panna would be a great gift.  You can see a couple of my experiences with them here and here.

     
  The wonder of the Internet makes last minute gift shopping so easy! When time and confusion make gift shopping difficult, we now have the luxury of doing some online shopping and computer pizzazz to end up with a great gift.  
     My last gift suggestion is the gift of time.  Give the mothers in your life quality time with you and quality time for herself.  There is nothing I love more than to just sit and laugh and talk with my children and husband without any pressure to be anywhere else. 
     Have a wonderful Mother's Day everyone! I'll let you know all about mine next week! 
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Alicia here with another ancestry food post. This year my family is choosing a different country from our ancestry and making one meal a week at home from that country. We choose the countries based on our family trees, and also our DNA results. We had our DNA tested with Ancestry and got the results back. There were some things we expected but also some surprises! It's been really fun doing this experiment and getting to know our ancestors through food. If you'd like to do this same experiment, Ancestry has the kits on sale right now! It's so easy (though slightly gross), all it requires is spitting in a tube and mailing it back to the company.

This month's country is France. So far we have made Gratin Dauphinois, Piperade, & Flammekueche. This week we are making a classic dish that's been around since medieval times, Boeuf Bourguignon. 

First made by peasants, this beef stew is a dish I'm sure my ancestors have tried.

Traditionally made with Burgundy wine, has a much deeper flavor than your regular beef stew. I have made this before and my husband loved it, so when we decided to do France this month he requested it again. 

Last time I used cooking wine, but I couldn't find any in stores this time. I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of wine because I don't have many dishes I would use it in, so I substituted grape juice, red wine vinegar, and beef stock for my recipe. So if you are cooking for some one who has liver problems or is sensitive to alcohol, this would be a great recipe for you. If you do use wine, use one less cup of stock and omit the grape juice and red wine vinegar, using the wine to deglaze the pan.

I also used baby carrots because it's fast and easy. I also love the look they give to the stew and the fact that they get soft without being mushy.

I love this stew, the first time I made it, it was very labor intensive. But with the crockpot it was so easy. We are adding this to our menu meals. I would wager that my stew is much closer to what the peasants of medieval times made than the bourgeois that made it later. But it's still so delicious, it's no wonder this meal has been around so long! If you don't have a crockpot, what are you waiting for? It's my favorite thing in my kitchen. It makes me so happy to know dinner is slowly cooking away while I'm attending to other things. Especially because my kids are more fussy and needy in the evenings when I'm trying to make dinner. In the morning while they are happily playing I can get dinner started by just tossing everything in the slow cooker. I lovemine.

Crockpot Boeuf Bourguignon

Let me know if you give it a try! It's pretty easy and so good. If you want to make more French meals check out Panna. They have a master class taught by Daniel Boulud. He is an award-winning, French chef who's received 4 star reviews by the New York Times at his restaurants. So this is a class you will want to check out! He teaches how to make coq au vin, ratatouille, and even his own personal family recipes. Yum! If French food isn't your thing, they have all different kinds of classes on Panna that will help up your game in the kitchen.