As I wrote in my blog last month, the heroine in my newest release, CHRISTIANA, is a pastry chef, a skill she learned in France, which compelled my visit to a French patisserie. For research, you know. Ha! Inside, the chef (named Ed) offered amazing pastries that you would not find in a fried donut shop, let me tell you.
I promised a few more pictures:
A fruit tart – oh, my goodness. The crust was made from vanilla wafers ground so perfectly fine, they were almost like a powder. On Ed’s only day off, he goes to select food markets to buy his fruits, taking the time to smell each one before buying. This tart was filled with a vanilla and orange zest custard.
Mille feuille- means “thousand sheets” in French and is composed of three layers of puff pastry filled with creamy vanilla cream and topped with chocolate and vanilla icing. The high-quality dark chocolate is hand-swirled with a toothpick. This pastry is comparable to a “Napolean.”
Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons which are made of coconut). They were so beautiful in color, I had to buy one of each! The first thing I noticed (and didn’t expect) was that there was no crunch of the lemon macaron I chose. That’s because of the absence of sugar. What I got was a soft, chewy cookie that burst with the flavor of the lemon. Fantastic!
The perfection and skill required to make these French pastries not only made me suspect that some things never change (as in how they were made in the 19th century when CHRISTIANA was set) but also made me curious what other kind of utensils cooks and bakers used in the past.
I found some unusual ones. Try to guess what they are used for!
Number One
Number Two
Number Three
Number Four
Number Five
Number Six
Number Seven
Guess all seven correctly, and I’ll give away an ebook copy of CHRISTIANA. If there are multiple winners, I’ll draw one winner from the pool of those who guessed them all correctly.
Watch for my post tonight!
Sweet Historical Western Romance (Love Train Series Book 1)
When her mother is taken to jail, Christiana Turcotte loses the happiness of her childhood. By the time she’s a grown woman, she’s determined to escape the scandals in her past and live a respectable life. First, though, she must return for the diamond ring she’d hidden that terrible day.
As a rifleman for Union Pacific, Holt Maddock’s job is to protect the train from outlaws. But he’s been riding the rails too long, and it’s time to settle down. Only one thing stands in his way. The elusive beauty traveling on his train and the diamond ring she’s determined to keep.
Holt’s plans for the reward money threatens to destroy her dreams. Will stolen diamonds destroy their love, too?
Sweet Romance.
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Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com
Sifter or dough cutter
Press
Dough roller
Chocolate grater or vegetable peeler
Whisk
Cherry pitter
Dough cutter for cutting fat (butter or lard) into flour
Some are right, some are complete guesses
Thanks for the guesses, Denise. You’re going to be surprised on a few of them. Ha!
I loved this blog. I love antique’s especially kitchen items. I remembered when I read Christiana, I was so hungry with all your delish descriptions. I loved your book and I know everyone else will too, Pam.
Thank you for your kind words, Tonya. I knew you loved antiques. They’re fun to see and wonder at the stories they can tell!
How fun to read your blog today Pam. I love baking, cooking, trying new recipes, etc. Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate you, Kathy. I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets because I love to cook and bake, too!
Good morning! A game I actually will be good at. We played antique kitchen tool games when I was a Pampered Chef consultant
1 pan sifter to pour out oil or fresh I wish I had one
2 cookie mold
3 potato cutter for French fries my Nanny had one just like it
4 Pampered Chef had one of these and I never could picture how to properly use it but it’s a cookie dropper
5 Cake Cutter
6 ice shaver when I was in Elementary school my bff had an elderly babysitter sitter that had one
7 a spice mill/grinder this was as one of the tools on a pampered chef game we played
Oh, I didn’t realize you weren’t a PC consultant anymore, Steph! You definitely have an advantage here. Ha!
Pam, I loved that you made Christiana a pastry chef and that she taught the cook on the train how to make fancy desserts. I have no idea what some of the utensils are for but I find it very interesting. Good luck and much success. Love you, Filly sister.
Thank you, Linda! The research was fun. I have a sweet tooth that never quits. Love you back!
I have no clue what any of them are, except one looks like a mixer. I’m sure that’s wrong, but this was great blog! All of the research that goes into a book!! And then, what you have to leave out from what you learned!
Yes, Trudy! That’s the thing about writing historicals – the research has to go a little deeper for the realism, and you’re so right! We only use a fraction of what we learn, otherwise the book sounds like a history textbook and not a romance. Ha!
Thanks for stopping by!
All I can do is guess. Your article was very interesting, it will be fun to find out what all of them really are!
Be sure to stop back later this evening, Connie. I’ll reveal the mystery!! LOL.
Pam, my mouth is watering over the pictures of those pastries! I love macarons and indulge once in a great while. There is a woman who makes and sells them locally. Very dangerous LOL.
The macarons not only taste good, they are so beautiful to look at, too. Yes, dangerous!!!
I love all the research you guys do. So interesting. Here are my answers….some I know are right and others not so sure.
1 Pot strainer
2 Pizzelle iron
3 French Fry Cutter- Hey, did you take mine? Looks identical! lol
4 Cherry pitter
5 Icing Comb
6 Cheese grater/slicer
7 Food Chopper
Oh-oh. I think sejoc1968 has some competition. LOL.
Be sure to stop back this evening to see how you did, mits!!
I have an idea for some of them. But that is it. So cool that you got to go and do research there. That must have been so fun and educational, not to mention sweet
Yep, Lori! All those things. LOL
The only one I know is number 3 and my mother had one of those French fry cutters.
Hi, Quilt Lady! Now that’s the one I thought no one would guess!! I had no idea what that was when I first saw it. Good for you.
pot strainer
waffle maker
tortilla press
tongs
combing veggie spirals
spiralizer
cake scraper
Thanks for entering, bn100! I’ll be posting the answers very soon!
Sorry I missed it. The only one I didn’t know was the cookie scoop. I have all of these except the scoop. It helps that I got some from my grandmothers and my aunt. Thank you for a trip sown memory lane. Now I want to get the French fry maker out and cook some fresh ones.
I am looking forward to reading this series.