|
My sister Francie hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. She made enough food for 20, even though there were only five of us present. Of course, four of us left with myriad bags of leftovers to last the long weekend (and possibly beyond...).
It was (as it always is at Francie's) a fabulous feast, starting with the appetizers on the living room table. One of the offerings was Breadness Crostini and Crab Rangoon Dip (almost a meal in itself!).
One bite of this crispy crostini topped with a dollop of the exquisite rangoon, and I just had to ask my sister how she made it. She rattled off both recipes, but of course, I was interested in how she did the crostini so I could share that with you! She revealed the simplicity of it:
It starts with Breadness Artisan Sourdough Bread, sliced about 3/8" thick. It can be fresh or several days old, or previously frozen. Once sliced, cut into smaller pieces as shown above. Arrange in a shallow baking pan and lightly drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the pieces. Then fresh-crack some Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning over the pieces. Place on the middle rack in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes. Check the bread for crispiness; take out of oven if crispy; leave in for a couple more minutes if still soft. When just right, place pan on counter and let cool. Can be served any time after that, or, once cooled, bag the pieces for later use. Can be frozen and thawed in the bag at any time.
And Francie's Breadness Sourdough Stuffing was also a highlight of the feast...
What a Week and a Half!
I know yesterday was Black Friday and it was supposed to kick off the frenzy that is holiday shopping. But I prefer to call it Brown Friday as the breads we sell are various shades of brown. After our amazing week last weekend, this week started off even more amazing as we saw all of the 60 artisan country loaves we baked on Wednesday (so folks could have our bread at the peak of flavor on Thanksgiving Day) disappear (mostly by 3 p.m.!). Then, Rhys and Alex came in early on Thursday to work the dough so we could bake 48 more for Friday (most of which also disappeared throughout the day). I've got 48 more to bake today and that will be all for Saturday and Sunday (plus we're down to ten Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan loaves [which were baked last week] in the freezer).
All of our tall Ojai Olive Oil bottles were purchased by customers looking for healthy gifts that also make an artistic statement. As a result, we placed our largest order yet for more of these organic beauties and we should have the shelves restocked by next weekend.
Our Beyond the Olive Tapenades were also flying off the shelf and we've since gotten a new shipment of these popular chopped-olive based items which you can snag for the savory savorers on your gift list.
And we're fully stocked with Laura Ann's Jamazing Jams, including her special holiday seasonal flavors. We're happy to give you samples of everything we've got in the bakery so come on in and sample away!
GUESS WHICH ONE IS LAURA ANN, THE JAM LADY...
|
