The Wedding: The Cake is Key

Do you have any idea how long it took me to make this last weekend?

I'm just teasing, of course. That's a photo of OUR wedding cake, taken as we were cutting into it. (Do you really think I could build something like that? Not a chance.) I will tell you right now, with no apologies, that I have NEVER seen a more beautiful cake than the one we had at our wedding, and I have NEVER tasted one nearly as scrumptious as ours, either, before or since. I'm not kidding. It was literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Imagine the most delectable cake you've ever tasted; it was a hundred times better than that.

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little. My brother-in-law's wedding cake was beautiful and delicious,


and so was my brother's.

Anyway, enough about those; on with the blog post.

A wedding takes careful planning. You've got to set a date, choose a venue, decide who will perform the ceremony, find a place to have your reception, and figure out who will be seated with whom. (What a nightmare THAT is.) Some couples go to marriage preparation classes. The bride has to find a dress and choose bridesmaids and then decide what the bridesmaids will wear. Flowers have to be purchased, the groom needs to pick the groomsmen and figure out what THEY will wear and arrange for rentals (the groom has the easy part, because that's pretty much all he has to do). The couple must decide what kind of music to have, maybe hire a DJ or a band, choose a menu, purchase more flowers, pick out the invitations, send the invitations, decide where to register for gifts, choose china and crystal patterns, register for a gazillion other gifts from towels to pots and pans to throw rugs. Then there are the details of the wedding ceremony to sort out: What will be the songs chosen? Will anyone be singing? Will we have a flower girl and a ring bearer? Oh, and let's not forget to get gifts for all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and put out favors for all of the guests. And what about who to invite and who not to invite? Will there be alcohol served? Rice or birdseed? You have to choose a photographer, and hope and pray that they'll take good pictures without charging you out the wazoo. And whether or not you want to hire a videographer--in our case we asked a dear friend who had done such a good job taking amateur video of another friend's wedding, we asked him to do ours. For payment we gave him the same cheesy monogrammed beer stein that all the groomsmen got. He's still our friend.

My mother has said that the most important thing to consider when planning your wedding is the cake. A cake, she says, can make or break a wedding. You could have the most beautiful ceremony, delicious food, and great music; but if your cake tastes like sawdust it can ruin the whole thing. She says she has been to a number of weddings with cakes that looked absolutely stunning, but have been completely inedible. Personally I've never tasted a wedding cake that was THAT bad, but certainly some cakes are better than others. Mine being the best, of course.

Why am I telling you all this? In Nicholas Sparks' The Wedding, our hero Wilson, his wife Jane, and their daughter, Anna have exactly one week to plan a wedding. I had an entire year. Luckily they already had the perfect place, his father-in-law's stately house that Wilson has been renovating. They know people, too, and are able to pull some strings to find a caterer, a photographer, and they manage to find dresses for the bride and bridesmaids quickly. (Although, if you read the book, you might guess that someone had been planning it for longer than they let on--but I don't want to ruin the surprise ending.)

Nick doesn't mention what type of food is being served at this wedding, but he does say that the cake will be vanilla, two layers, with sour cream frosting.

Well, I thought when I read that, I've just gotta make one of those.

I browsed through all my cookbooks for recipes for vanilla cake and sour cream frosting, found one or two, but decided to turn to the Internet to see what I could find there. This cake from Kaboose.com looked perfect:

SIMPLE VANILLA CAKE

• 2 cups (500 mL) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (250 mL) milk
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable oil
• 2-1/4 teaspoons (11 mL) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans or one 9x13-inch (23 x 33 cm) rectangular baking pan with parchment paper. Grease the paper and the sides of the pan well.

2. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don't overbeat. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).

3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the center of the layer comes out clean. (A single rectangular pan will take longer to bake than two round ones.) Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Let cool completely before covering with frosting, if desired.

Servings: Two 9-inch (23-cm) round layers, or one 9- x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) rectangular cake.

(source)


So far, so good...

AllRecipes.com had a great one for sour cream frosting:

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Stir in confectioners' sugar, and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. (source)

I will say that the next time I make frosting I will probably go with a simple buttercream, because this one tended to melt and run off the cake unless it was refrigerated. I even added extra powdered sugar to thicken it up a bit, and it was still pretty messy. I decided not to ice the sides of the cake; only the top and in between the layers. But it sure was delicious.

I had just brought home a bunch of fresh strawberries from the farmer's market the day before; they told me they were the last of the season and there wouldn't be any more next week. Inspired by the photo on the cake recipe's web page, I decided to decorate the cake with them.

I asked Joe if this tasted like wedding cake. "Should it?" he asked. I suppose not, since it didn't look much like a wedding cake.

Want to know a secret? It did taste good enough to be a wedding cake; I cheated and had a bite. And it was even better the next day; I know because I snuck ANOTHER bite. But not as good as our own wedding cake.

I had a gluten-free cupcake that I had in my freezer, made from Namaste gluten free vanilla cake mix. And a teensy bite of the big cake.

Wilson and Jane, even though they only had a week, tried to plan the perfect wedding for their daughter. They wanted the day to be special, because you see, thirty years ago Jane had wanted a big church wedding with all the trimmings, but Wilson had been an atheist at the time and wasn't interested in putting on a show. (Don't worry, he isn't an atheist anymore.) They had eloped and were married by a justice of the peace instead. Since the wedding was taking place on their own anniversary, it was even more important to make it perfect.

Sixteen years ago (almost), I was thinner, and Joe had more hair than he does now. And Father Joe (yes, Joe is his real name), our priest? He had more hair too.

(I promise I did not edit this photo. Whoever snapped this picture really did cut off our heads.)

Last September we took the boys to the Southern Maryland church where we married, and even took a drive by the hotel where we had our reception. Click here for photos and thoughts from that day.

You might be wondering what's so exciting about a book that seems to be all about planning a wedding. Well, for one thing, there is a little side story about Wilson and his father-in-law, Noah, who likes to go out every day and feed a swan that swims in the creek behind his retirement home; and why he is devastated when one day it doesn't show up for its daily Wonder bread. And of course, Nick always likes to throw a plot twist into every story; in The Wedding, the twist is a happy one. I know some people who have literally thrown certain Nicholas Sparks novels across the room when they finished them; I assure you, when you close this book you'll have a smile on your face.

Coming up, I'll tell you about an easy pasta dinner I prepared one night, inspired by True Believer; I'll also show you my first attempt preparing barbecue North Carolina style; and I'll share the recipe for the egg-free, dairy-free vanilla cake I made for Moe.

The Wedding: Crab Stuffed Flounder with Fresh Asparagus and Homemade Hollandaise Sauce

Throughout most of The Wedding, Wilson Lewis has been helping his wife Jane and his daughter Anna prepare for Anna's wedding, which happens to be planned for Wilson and Jane's thirtieth wedding anniversary. Wilson has been in charge of getting his father-in-law's home ready for the event. (Click here for more about Wilson and Jane.) The night before the wedding, Wilson plans a surprise anniversary dinner for Jane. He arranges for a limo to pick up Jane and bring her to the house where he has dinner and a romantic evening planned. When Jane arrives, not only does she find the house all decked out for a wedding, she also finds a photo album full of pictures of the two of them that Wilson has collected from friends and family members, along with a love note apologizing for not being a good husband and professing his undying love for her. Wilson has prepared a delicious seafood dinner that they will eat by candlelight.

This isn't the first time someone has prepared crab-stuffed sole in one of Nick's books; it's the third. The first time it was in A Bend in the Road, when Miles prepared it for his wife, Missy, shortly before she died tragically after being struck by a car. (Yeah, I know; nauseatingly melodramatic, right? I love that stuff, SO THERE. Anyway, click here for my crab-and-shrimp stuffed halibut I made in honor of that one.) The second time it was Julie who made it for Mike in The Guardian. I decided not to make that meal because I knew this one would be coming up soon; and if you thought A Bend in the Road was dripping with melodrama, wait until you read The Wedding. Besides, Wilson's sole is much more blog-worthy than Julie's.

Here's what I prepared:

CRAB STUFFED SOLE

Ingredients
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs (I used a half cup dry gluten-free rice crumbs)
• 1 cup cooked or canned crabmeat - drained, flaked and cartilage removed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash cayenne pepper
• 4 (4 ounce) sole fillets
• 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine, divided (optional)
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• grated Parmesan cheese
• Sliced almonds

Directions
1. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, crab, onion, egg, salt and cayenne. Spoon onto fillets; roll up and secure with a toothpick. Place in a greased 2-qt. broiler-proof dish; drizzle with 2 tablespoons butter. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees Ffor 25-30 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, place remaining butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Drain liquid from baking dish. Spoon sauce over fillets; sprinkle with cheese and almonds. Broil 5 in. from the heat until cheese is melted and almonds are lightly browned. Discard toothpicks. (Source: AllRecipes.com)

I picked up these lovely flounder filets at a local fish market.

I had a little bit of a dilemma, because the filets had the skin attached, and I didn't want to roll them like the recipe suggested with the skin on. I tried taking the skin off of one of them, but called it quits because I was afraid of tearing the filet to pieces in the process. Instead I opted to lay the filets flat and top them with the stuffing.

I left the cheese off of one of them, since Moe is allergic to dairy. And I forgot to buy almonds, so I had to leave those off. It was unanimously decided that these were much better than the stuffed halibut I had made previously. Definitely worth making again.

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I've only used Hollandaise sauce on Christmas morning, when I make our traditional breakfast of Eggs Benedict; and even then I always make it from a powdered mix. This time I decided to have a go at making it myself. I pulled out my very first cookbook, and my favorite for a long time:

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Melt slowly and keep warm:

1/2 cup butter

Barely heat:

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, dry sherry or tarragon vinegar

Have ready a small saucepan of boiling water and a tablespoon with which to measure it when ready. Place in the top of a double boiler over--not in--hot water:

3 egg yolks

Beat the yolks with a wire whisk until they begin to thicken. Add:

1 tablespoon boiling water

Beat again until the eggs begin to thicken. Repeat this process until you have added:

3 more tablespoons water

Then beat in the warm lemon juice. Remove double boiler from heat. Beat the sauce well with a wire whisk. Continue to beat while slowly adding the melted butter and:

1/4 teaspoon salt

a few grains of cayenne

Beat until the sauce is thick. Serve at once.

(From the 1995 edition of The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker, p.358)

Except for having a little too much lemon juice, the sauce turned out well and was surprisingly easy to make. Except for one thing--when it got too cold I decided to warm it up in the microwave. Big mistake: it curdled. It still tasted good, though, especially drizzled over the fresh local asparagus I had picked up at the farmer's market the day before. Curly even enjoyed some on his fish.

I decided to pull out our WEDDING dishes and our WEDDING crystal for the champagne (I had one two-serving bottle left over from New Years' and decided to crack it open since it was part of Wilson and Jane's dinner, too.) I only wished I had brought out a nice tablecloth instead of these horribly ugly placemats.

How did Wilson and Jane like their dinner, you ask? Well, Jane was so overwhelmed with love after reading Wilson's gushy letter and seeing his thoughtful gift, and Wilson was so overcome with desire seeing her in the slinky dress he had bought for the occasion, that they spent the rest of the evening upstairs in one of the bedrooms. They never ate the meal, and Wilson threw it out the next day. Needless to say, their rocky marriage was mended that night.

Up next, the final WEDDING post: Cake!

The Wedding: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Wilson Lewis loves to cook. That's why, when his wife Jane comes home exhausted after another long day of helping their daughter, Anna, plan her upcoming wedding, Wilson has a delicious dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu waiting for her. (Read more about their story here.)

Now, I'm about seventy-five per cent sure that it was Chicken Cordon Bleu that was served at our own wedding nearly sixteen years ago. (I know it was a delicious chicken dish, anyway.) I realized that in the fifteen-plus years that Joe and I have been married, I have NEVER made Chicken Cordon Bleu. Why? I have no idea. Maybe I figured it would be too difficult and complex. Boy was I wrong about that! I perused the many cookbooks on my shelf for a recipe, but guess what? None of them have a recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu. Maybe that's why I never tried to make it.

After browsing the Internet for one, I finally chose a recipe from Food Network's Tyler Florence:

Ingredients

4 double chicken breasts (about 7-ounces each), skinless and boneless
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 thin slices deli ham
16 thin slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup flour
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons water

(My gluten-free and egg-free supplies...)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Take care not to pound too hard because the meat may tear or create holes. Lay 2 slices of cheese on each breast, followed by 2 slices of ham, and 2 more of cheese; leaving a 1/2-inch margin on all sides to help seal the roll. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll. Squeeze the log gently to seal.

Season the flour with salt and pepper; spread out on waxed paper or in a flat dish. Mix the breadcrumbs with thyme, kosher salt, pepper, and oil. The oil will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and water, the mixture should be fluid. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Gently coat in the bread crumbs. Carefully transfer the roulades to a baking pan and bake for 20 minutes until browned and cooked through. Cut into pinwheels before serving.

(Source: Food Netowrk)

(I even made a few for Moe without cheese--can you spot them?)

When the family sat down at the table, Joe observed that there was no sauce with it, because isn't Chicken Cordon Bleu supposed to be served with sauce? Some of the recipes I found did have a sauce, but some didn't. After his first bite, he decided it didn't need a sauce. And I concluded that it's really and truly possible to make a gluten-free version of a gluten-rich dish, and it will taste just as good.

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Wilson sauteed some unspecified vegetables to go with the chicken (as I observed in my last post, that's a very common side dish in Nick's books) so I grabbed some green beans and zucchini at Our Favorite Supermarket and cooked them in olive oil with some salt, pepper, and some of the fresh thyme left over from the chicken.

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Speaking of gluten-free foods that taste good, I picked up a cake mix that my G-Free friend Wendy recommended, and whipped together a quick spice cake for dessert. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted! It was a little dry around the edges; next time I'll either reduce the cooking time or make cupcakes instead. (Plus I had to throw a lot of it away after a few days because, as I'm finding out, Gluten-free baked goods tend to get stale very quickly. If I make cupcakes I can throw them in the freezer.)

I can't wait to try the chocolate and vanilla cake versions. We ARE cooking The Wedding, after all; what's a wedding without a cake?

Next Up: Crab-Stuffed Sole, Round Two. Nick's characters seem to make this a lot (Julie made it for Mike in The Guardian, but I skipped that one), and I hope the next one will be even better than the stuffed halibut I made. Stay tuned!

The Wedding: Pork Medallions in Marsala Sauce, vegetables sauteed with orange and balsamic, and a stuffed mushroom appetizer

Background: Wilson Lewis has been married to his wife Jane for thirty years. Jane's father, Noah Calhoun, (yes, the same Noah Calhoun from The Notebook) lives in a nursing home. His beloved wife, Allie, has passed away after many years with Alzheimer's. Wilson is close to his father-in-law, and visits Noah often. Jane and Wilson's marriage is on the verge of collapse, and Wilson is determined to win back Jane's heart. He often turns to Noah for wisdom and advice.

One day, Wilson and Jane's daughter, Anna, comes home and announces that she and her boyfriend are planning to marry. Next week. On the day of Wilson and Jane's wedding anniversary. This could pose quite a problem, because last year Wilson forgot their anniversary, and Jane still hasn't forgiven him for that. Jane and Wilson were hoping to celebrate their anniversary this year properly, and hopefully rekindle their marriage. The rest of the story centers around the last-minute planning of the wedding. While Jane and Anna spend their days shopping for dresses, shoes, flowers, and caterers, Wilson visits Noah and oversees the preparations being done at the Calhoun family home by the river. The one Noah had fixed up so many years ago, and where he and Allie shared a romantic dinner of freshly-caught crabs. The house has fallen into disrepair over the years since Noah and Allie moved into the nursing home, and Wilson has hired someone to fix it up again and beautify the gardens outside. Wilson, Jane, and Anna decide that the newly-renovated Calhoun place would be the perfect backdrop for the wedding.

Every night when Jane comes home after a long day of wedding preparations, Wilson and Jane have dinner together and talk about how the plans are going. Most nights, Wilson cooks (except for the one or two nights they order in). The first evening, Wilson prepares mushrooms stuffed with sausage and cream cheese for an appetizer, and as he and Jane are enjoying those and winding down with a glass of wine, he finishes cooking dinner: veal marsala with sauteed vegetables and a salad.

We're not big fans of veal. (Here is where I could easily go off on a tangent about how squeamish we are about buying meat that's raised in less-than ideal conditions, and how I found veal once at Whole Foods labeled "free-range" but we don't have a Whole Foods near us and I couldn't find veal with that label anywhere around here, and how hypocritical I am about that whole meat-buying issue because the sausage I bought for the mushrooms was almost surely raised on a factory farm, and Joe doesn't like veal anyway because it doesn't taste all that great, and that on the gazillion-to-one chance Nick might read this, I want to be clear that I absolutely positively don't want to pass judgment on anyone who eats veal or any other meat that isn't raised on some idyllic, spacious organic farm, 'cuz, geez, I cringe every time I see a cut of free-range local organic meat that costs two or three times as much as the one I can get at the grocery store, and how many times have I decided to buy the cheaper one? If you like veal, please don't think I want you to stop eating it on account of me. But if you really want to know how veal is raised, click here. And you can get free-range veal at Whole Foods.) Whew! Glad I got that outta the way. I was going to opt for chicken marsala, until I found a recipe for pork medallions in Marsala sauce. (I couldn't get local free-range pork yet because the farmers' market still hadn't opened for the season, but I found a "humanely-raised" tenderloin at our local butcher. Whatever that means.)

But first, the appetizer:

STUFFED MUSHROOMS WITH CREAM CHEESE AND SAUSAGE

2 (12 ounce) packages white button mushrooms, cap size doesn't really matter

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 (8 ounce) package sausage

1/4 cup butter (melted, quite optional!)

Directions: (Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 1/4 hr)

1 Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

2 Separate caps and stems while cleaning the mushrooms.

3 If cleaning with water, let them drain for a bit.

4 Start cooking the sausage in frying pan, at a medium to medium/high temperature.

5 While the sausage is cooking, put the cream cheese into a mixing bowl so it can soften and mince the stem pieces.

6 Spice the sausage to taste. Garlic is a good addition.

7 Just before the sausage is done, add the stem pieces and finish cooking.

8 Drain off the excess grease and add the sausage/stem mixture into the cream cheese.

9 Mix together well using a wooden spoon or your hands. Be careful, as it will be rather hot.

10 Set the caps into a 13x9 pan (or larger) with sides.

11 Optional! Melt enough butter to just put a little in the bottom of each cap or just brush some over the top of each after they're filled. You can put any extra butter in the bottom of the pan.

12 Fill the caps with the cream cheese/sausage/stem mix.

13 Add a small amount of water to the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the bottom.

14 Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the tops are crusty and the mushrooms have turned dark.

15 Scoop them out of the pan with a slotted spoon and arrange them on a plate.

16 Serve warm. They reheat well, so you can make them ahead of time.

17 *VARIATION 1: Add dried bread crumbs to the mix to make a larger batch without adding more cream cheese or sausage. Onions are also another popular addition.

18 *VARIATION 2: Use one 8oz. box of cream cheese to two 8oz. pkgs of sausage. It makes for a larger batch that is less rich and tastes just as good.

19 *FUN HINTS: The cream cheese mix is also very good on bread or crackers! This comes in handy if you you think there might be someone who doesn't like mushrooms - save some of the mix to the side for them to dip with.

(Source: Food.com)

These were a HUGE hit!! It was hard not to eat too many and run out of room for dinner. I even made a few without cream cheese for Moe.

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I was searching the Internet for a good Chicken Marsala recipe, when I came across this one, and when I saw it came from Fine Cooking, I couldn't resist trying it.

SEARED PORK MEDALLIONS IN MARSALA MUSHROOM SAUCE

1-1/2 lb. pork tenderloin (1 large or 2 small), trimmed of fat and cut on the diagonal into 1-1/2-inch rounds (about 8)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

1 large shallot, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)

1-1/2 cups (1 oz.) dried mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped, plus 3/4 cup soaking liquid (I used some assorted sliced fresh mushrooms I found)

1/3 cup dry Marsala wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Sprinkle the pork with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper. Put the flour in a small bowl, and then dredge the pork in the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat 1 Tbs. oil and the butter in a large (12-inch) heavy-duty skillet over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the pork and cook, without touching, until it starts to brown nicely and easily releases from the pan, about 4 minutes. Flip and cook the other sides in the same manner until the pork is cooked through and then transfer to a large serving platter. Cover loosely with foil.

To make the sauce, add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil and shallot to the pan, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt, and cook, stirring, until the shallot softens and becomes translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the Marsala, raise the heat to high, and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, until the liquid has almost completely reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in the mushroom soaking liquid (Since I didn't have this, I added a little chicken broth) and cook until it reduces by about half, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the cream and bring to a boil. Take the sauce off the heat and spoon it over the pork. Serve sprinkled with parsley. Serving Suggestions Serve the pork and sauce over egg noodles or with an herb risotto on the side. (Source: FineCooking.com)

That looks like more than 8 1-1/2 inch rounds. Good thing; that wouldn't have been enough for my growing boys.

I found this mix to use as a substitute for the flour. It's also egg- and dairy-free, so it's safe for Moe as well.

I didn't really want to buy Marsala wine. I didn't quite know what it was until I did some research and discovered it's a sweet, fortified wine kind of like Port, which we don't really like. Fortunately there are substitutes you can use, and I opted for a mixture of 1 teaspoon brandy to 1/4 cup dry white wine; both of which I happened to have on hand. (Click here for more ideas)

Wilson served bowtie pasta with his veal marsala; of course I had to do the same.

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I'm finding that Nick's characters like to have sautee'd vegetables with their meals, and for this one I wanted to try something unique. I found this recipe in a recent issue of my favorite magazine, Fine Cooking:

VEGETABLE SAUTE' WITH ORANGE AND BALSAMIC

1/2 lb haricots verts (What the...??) or thin green beans, trimmed

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 medium shallots, halved and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1 medium yellow bell pepper, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick

3 Tbs. fresh orange juice

1/2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. finely grated orange zest

3 cups lightly packed fresh baby spinach leaves

Sea salt (I use Kosher salt) and freshly ground black pepper

In a pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil. Put the haricots verts in the steamer basket, cover, and steam until bright green and just beginning to soften, 2 minutes. Transfer the haricots verts to a bowl and set aside.

Ok, let me pause here for just a minute. I love Fine Cooking magazine. I've found over the years that the recipes, no matter how fancy they seem, are often easier to prepare than I expect. The same can be said for this one. But let me just say that I have never heard of haricots verts, and to be honest I didn't even bother trying to find out what they were, or how to pronounce them even. (I keep thinking of "varicose veins.") My guess is they're some variety of green bean. And since I'm a person who likes to make things as simple as possible, I put the BEANS in a dish with a little water and microwaved them for a couple of minutes rather than fooling with a steamer and boiling water and all that nonsense. This meal was time-consuming enough as it was.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and rosemary and cook, stirring, until the shallots begin to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the haricots verts (*cough,* beans) and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until the pepper begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and orange zest. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, until just wilted, about 20 seconds. Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve. (From the April/May 2011 issue of Fine Cooking, p. 37)

It looked almost like the one in the photo!

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The salad was just an improvisation--some assorted little tomatoes I found at Our Favorite Grocery Store (the one that, since it opened less than two years ago, the other grocery stores in our area have been dropping like flies because nobody shops at them anymore. I kinda feel bad for them, but...) tossed with some cucumber, basil, and fresh mozzarella balls I found on the olive bar at Our Favorite Grocery Store.

Here's my plate, with gluten-free rice rotini instead of bowtie pasta. It's almost as good. It is a rare evening--even on a weekend--that I decide to make an appetizer AND a main dish AND a side dish AND a salad, all from scratch; but that's what I love about writing this blog--it makes me go outside of my comfort zone and try things I might not normally do. (Case in point--my near-fiasco with a hunk of deer meat.) Thank you to all who are taking this journey with me through Nick's books and all the yummy adventures that go with them. I hope you'll have enough patience to stick with me--and if you like what we're doing, invite others to come along! Even my family, who are not Nicholas Sparks fans, love this blog because they get to eat all this great food I'm preparing for them. Until next time, then!

Next Up: Chicken Cordon Bleu. A great one for this book since it's what was served at OUR wedding!