Gratitude, Nature and a Clafoutis ...

Clafoutis in park 2

June 4 Update: Much gratitude to FoodBuzz peeps for featuring my Clafoutis on Top 9!!

Gratitude: First of all, I want to thank you all for your warm wishes on the completion of two years of this blog. I am much gratified and humbled that many of you appreciate the photography on the site so much.

Photography is a fascinating subject and this blog has provided me the perfect learning medium and excuse to practise it. It has been a interesting learning experience for me and I would love to share the journey with you. I will try and include posts on how I shoot my pics and hope that you find it useful.

Also, I appreciate the feedback on content for my site and I will try and cater to your requests and interests. I will also announce the winner of the giveaway soonly!

Cherries in a bowl

Nature: The past weekend was a long one in honor of Memorial Day. Every year, so far, we have travelled out of the city for this weekend. Most always, we kicked off the camping season over these three days and this year, again, we toed the same line.

Since Mr. FSK's cousin is visiting us, this was an even more fun experience! The weather was perfect, temperatures just pleasant to cool, the company warming and location soothing. We camped in a camper cabin near Lake Placid in the Whiteface Mountain region. Three days of bliss and communion with nature, pristine beauty and some rugged white water fun! It was the perfect getaway before hectic summer!!

Back in the hot, sweltering city now, I wish, I could transport myself three days ago! :)

Cherry Clafoutis on table

Cherry Clafoutis: Not all is bad with the city, though! :) The park is blooming green and the weekend before the last, we had a wonderful picnic under shade-giving trees with a healthy spread of roast chicken salad with sundried tomatoes, red onions tossed in a spicy aioli, potato salad and this yummy, simple fresh clafoutis.

This was also another of the tackle-the-French-classics moments! Cherry Clafoutis has been on my list for a long while now. But, I only just managed to make it because cherries are, perhaps, THE favorite of Mr.FSK. Consequentially, I can rarely ever pry a few away from him to cook them into anything! Anyway, this time, I put my foot down; I had things to check off my list!

So, the clafoutis came to be. Subtle, light and perfect for the warm weather. And, since none of us are sugar addicts perfect fruit-sweet balance for us!

Cherry Clafoutis single

Side Note: Don't you just love the background of green in the photos?! That was the park. The photos were styled on a overturned picnic basket. That lovely green is just so inviting. I do wish, I had a backyard. I would take all my photos on a patch of green then!


Cherry Clafoutis
(adapted from Julia Child's recipe)
makes 3 three inch clafouti

1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 eggs
1.5 T granulated white sugar
scant 1/2 cup cream
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 T unsalted melted butter
pinch of teaspoon salt
handful of cherries for each ramekin, not pitted

Sift the dry ingredients together. Whisk together the cream, eggs, extract and butter. Add the wet to the dry and whisk to make a smooth batter.

Place the cherries in shallow ramekins and pour the batter over them not covering them completely. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes or until the clafoutis is puffed, set, and golden brown around the edges. Serve immediately with a dusting of confectioners sugar.

** Do not open the oven door until the end of the baking time or it may collapse. **

Clafoutis in park 4