www.sabete.org

Some friends from Facebook and I are cooking together on a blog called Strawberry Soufflé - and our first recipe is just that, a yummy strawberry soufflé.

I’ve never made or eaten a soufflé before, so I don’t really have anything to measure it against. But it came out pretty well and was pretty easy to make, thanks to my handy dandy Julia Child cookbook.

I used the following recipe – altered slightly from the one Toni posted on our blog, as I looked up “soufflés” in my cookbook and adjusted accordingly.

Strawberry Soufflé

1 cup strawberries (cleaned, hulled, pureed)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg whites (room temperature)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter ramekins (bottoms and all the way up the sides) then coat with sugar. Tap out excess sugar.

2. Mix strawberries, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Set aside. (I used my little food chopper to just do it all in one step, then poured it into a large bowl.)

3. Beat egg whites until slightly frothy. Add cream of tarter, then turn to high speed and beat until shiny, stiff peak stage.

4. Fold egg whites into strawberry mixture, very gently – take care  not to deflate egg whites. Pour into ramekins. (I filled them at varying heights, as I wasn’t sure how much was too much. None of them sank or spilled over while baking. I think you can fill them about to the top.)

5. Lower heat to 350 degrees and bake ramekins in the center of the oven. Bake until puffed and golden on top and a thin knife inserted in the side comes out clean.

Yummy! They tasted like strawberry air – fluffy and not too sweet. In fact, I think I’d like to try making a few of the other  soufflés in Julia’s cookbook.

From the lips of Zoey – two years old:

“Stop that, Zoey!”
“No guppies, no!” (While slapping her leg and scolding the fishbowl.)
“Hi guppies. My name is Zoey and this is Mimi.” (To the fish.)
“I got a boo boo. Need some medicine.”
“Simply marvelous!”
“I not wear it. I take it off.”
“Wait, Zoey! Wait!”
“It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”
“Don’t be sad.”
“Mimi, fish are hungry.  Feed them. Give them some water.”
“The tree looks simply marvelous.”
“The tree is mine.”
“Tata, Mimi I have to go now.  Mommy is coming.”
“I looovvve my cars.”
“Fruits! I love fruits!”
“Mommy, Mimi dropped the jello.”
“Happy birthday, Mommy!”
“I love you, Mommy.” (Then she blows me a kiss.)

And a video! Happy holidays, everyone!

Happy holidays! from sabete on Vimeo.

Zoey says, “Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays, everyone!” – Dec. 2009.

Happy Halloween! We had a great time trick or treating in our new neighborhood. The place really gets in the spirit – with neighbors barbecuing and setting up haunted houses on their patios. It was a fun night. We were so happy to share it with Anna and the Wongs.

We made an undead day of it! Wayne and I shot lots of zombie ass in “House of the Dead: Overkill” for about two hours this afternoon, then we met Mike and Josie at the theater and saw “Zombieland.” Here’s a memorable moment to share:

Amber Breslin: “Who’s Bill Murray?”

Woody Harrelson: ‘Who’s Bill Murray?! That’s like asking, ‘Who’s Ghandi?’”

Amber Breslin: “Who’s Ghandi?”

Teenager behind us 1: “Who’s Ghandi?”

Teenager behind us 2: “I don’t know.”