Three Little Apples

Holiday Recipe Cards

2011-11-29T06:00:00.007-06:00

Have you noticed a lack of holiday cards out there? Similar to my lack of blog posts, yes.

I made up some cards for the holiday for my aunts to sell in at a local Christmas Tree farm back in Wisconsin. I printed them out on colored stock paper and cut them out. Would be nice for a cookie recipe exchange or for holiday recipes.

Feel free to save them and print them off for your own personal use. Rights reserved ;-)

Happy Holidays!

Santa

Mrs Claus

Reindeer

Smoked Motz

2011-07-06T19:56:00.002-05:00

After taking our cheese class we took a break from making it homemade. But a new smoker purchase revived our desire when we saw smoked mozzarella on FoodNetwork's Best Thing I Ever Ate.

While it might look like a big 'ol marshmallow, it's the end result of a half gallon batch of whole milk mozzarella smoked low and slow for about 40 - 60 min.
The recipe for the cheese comes from Ricki Carroll's 'Home Cheese Making' book, which I would highly recommend if you are interested in soft to hard cheeses as a beginner. Very easy instructions and loads of information!

We had the sliced mozzerella in a crusty bread sandwitch with some pesto spread. It was also wonderful in a BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza which also came from our smoker. Mike's getting a lot of practice on the smoker and our dishes are getting better and better each time!

It got us so excited that we ordered a cheese press so we can start making hard cheeses. Hope to report back in a few months once they've matured!

Summer Sealife

2011-06-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

I try to decorate some with the seasons, but I was feeling a little weak for Summer. I had some nautical themed things, some antique ocean babbles and shells, but not enough to center a room one.
Flipping through an old magazine for Pottery Barn, I saw some of their Sealife pillows. They were stiched in beige and really pretty with Seahorses, an Octopus, and other fish. I thought they would also look nice as hand painted items.

I got together some art paints, a color scheme, some samples and started. First I sewed the pillow together from some cheap fabric remnants. Learned a good lesson about zippers, always get a larger size, you can make it shorter, but you can't extend it.

After that I sketched the octopus out onto the linen and began to paint the base color with acrylics.

I did some highlighting and shading after the base dried. Finished it off with a sealant spray. I found some matching pillows in the same oranges and corals on sale at Pottery Barn and finally have my summer sea room.

Shipping up to Boston

2011-06-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Back in April I had the chance to travel to Boston for work. I was there almost the whole work week and then Mike came out for the weekend to save ticket prices on my return flight.

I stayed out in Cambridge, but got a chance to visit Harvard a couple times, Newbury St, Prudential Building (Top of the Hub restaurant had a wonderful view of the city!)

(Stonework on the Longfellow Bridge)

(Cemetery in Harvard)

(Statue in Boston Common Park)

It mostly rained while I was there, but then the weekend warmed up a bit and we were able to go on the 'Freedom Trail' seeing the historical sites of Paul Revere. We saw the Aquarium out on the warf where we stayed, which was very nice. An octopus woke up during the last 10 minutes of operation and it was mezmorizing!

We got to eat a lot of great seafood and tour some of the older pubs. As we sat in the restaurants and wondered around, we continued to see people with little pastry boxes from a 'Mike's Pastry' shop. So after a quick google map, we decided to go see what all the fuss was about.

The fuss was actually the best Cannoli we have ever had (sorry Chicago). It also happend to be across from the restuarant we visited twice, for their seafood and every day there were lines of people streaming out of the pastry shop. Simply the best stuff!

The restaurant that brought us back a second time was called the 'Daily Catch'. We were told they specialized in Squid Ink Pasta. We found the small eatery, which was no larger than 9 or 10 two person tables, with the kitchen right in the room. (This picture is from the front door and you can see the kitchen in the back)

It was more than well worth the wait. The octopus squid ink pasta was so so amazing! In fact I found an accidental peice of glass in mine and continued to eat it and never even said anything it was so so good and they were working so hard. We had to come back the next day for another pasta dish and pastry for dessert.

Cheese Making

2011-04-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Last year, in 2010, Mr. Mike and I took a Cheese Making class from our local guru here in Minneapolis, Jodi Ohlsen Read, from Shepherds Way Farms. With just a few ingredients we learned that you can make ricotta or paneer from fresh milk. You just fill a large pot with 1 gallon of whole milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Heat slowly to a soft boil right around the time that a light foam starts to form, stirring slowly. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Set the pot aside and let the mixture separate into whey and the cheese (about 1/2 hr - 45 min) Scoop out the cheese into a strainer lined with cheese cloth and drain softly. Mix with herbs and salt for a fresh taste. We saved off the whey, which is still good when mixed with a shake. It has lots of good protein and elements in it. Also dogs, chickens, and pigs really like it mixed with food. Just a little bit though. After our first successful ricotta we tried paneer (press the ricotta till it is thick, cool, slice, and grill) we also bought some specialized cheese products to make mozzarella. Next would be a farm house cheddar. After that we'll have to invest in a cheese press and heat/humidifier to make some of the more high end cheeses. It's a process!

Celtic Trip (Day 9) - Edinburgh

2011-03-11T07:05:00.001-06:00

Our last day in Scotland we decided to climb the extinct volcano that makes up the large park areas in the middle of the city.

There were two ways we could go up the mountain (we found out later) the easy paved road way, or the hiking trail with stone steps cut and built straight into the side of the walls.

Yeah we choose the second option. It was a really beautiful hike. So much of the city to see and very few people to meet.

View from the top of the extinct volcano.
Lunch was Haggis and Scottish pies at 'Auld Jock's Pie Shop'.

For our last dinner we ate at 'The Mussel Inn' where we got local raw Scottish Oysters with red wine vinegar and onions. Possibly the best ones I've ever had.
I got a pot of mussels in roasted red peppers and for dessert we had a Sticky Date Pudding soaked in Toffee with what seemed to be a Ground Cherry on top. We asked what it was, but the waitress didn't know, it tasted super sweet for looking like it's american twin.

Great vacation :)

Celtic Trip (Day 8) - Edinburgh

2011-03-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

The city of Edinburgh was amazing. It very much exceeded our expectations going in. There are so many old and beautiful stone buildings. Our hotel was located right off of Prince Street, across from the castle that we visited the first day.

The day was pretty overcast and the coldest that we had, but it was a good day for seeing the Art Muesum with a Vermeer exhibit and shopping a bit. Still no rain so we were happy!

We climbed up the 287 spiral stairs in a black tower right in the heart of the city, much like the one in the above picture. The sight was very beautiful, but very very high up!
Lunch was Pork Belly and Haggis stuffed Chicken at some random restaurant after we got pretty much lost trying to find Peter's Yard in the middle of a Marathon that was starting.

For dinner we went to Oloroso on a recommendation from family friends. They served the most amazing Haggis and Tatties there (minced lamb and seasonings with potatoes and veggie puree)

Celtic Trip (Day 6 & 7) - Dublin

2011-03-11T06:30:00.000-06:00

View of Ha Penny Bridge

Trinity College

We had attempted to get lunch a a restaurant across from Trinity College called 'The Pigs Ear' the previous day, but it's such a small place that they didn't have room for us without reservations, so the next day we had a wonderful meal with Salmon and Pork Patte dishes. So so yummy! Exactly the Irish-modern fusion meal I was looking for.

Afterwards we headed to a wonderful dessert shop called 'The Queen of Tarts', they've won a lot of awards, and it's not hard to see why. We ate the Plum and Pear tarts.

The evening of our Musical Pub Tour came and we had a (generally) wonderful time. I say generally because there was a group of three extreamly rude New Yorkers who spent most of the night with our group talking over the music and crabbing to the wait staff. Wonderful representation of the states ;-)

But regaurdless the music was wonderful and the musicians very knowledgeable and helpful in teaching us more about traditional Irish music 'sets' (ie just regular people who come to the pubs to play and drink beer, not sell thier CDs or gain tips)

We were lucky enough to see one of these sets at the last bar we went to that night. I group of three younger guys were in the bar, just playing and drinking. They didn't take requests, they didn't have a tip jar, and after an hour or two of playing they just packed up their stuff and left.

The last day was pretty quite, we finished up some shopping and stopped at a local Cheese Monger store (The Cheddar is SO amazing over there, and I can say that coming from Wisconsin)
The remainder of the day we saw the Book of Kells, some more of the college, the Castle, and went out for some 'pour your own Guiness'

On to Scotland!

Celtic Trip (Day 5) - Dublin

2011-03-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

(Sausage and Egg Sandwiches for breakfast)

When we first landed in Dublin, 4 days prior to this, we took a taxi to our rental car. The cab driver asked us where we were from and when we said 'the states', the first thing he said in a very rich irish accent was "Oh yeah are? Have ya ever bin on that show 'Judge Judy'"?

I balked a bit and said, "No, no I've never needed to be on that show, I don't even know where they film that!" ....and "That is a very poor representation of the US"

Funny what other cultures associate America with. At the same time, I thought Dublin was going to be covered in pubs and stone walls, where in fact, it's a fairly new city. Historically it was a smaller villiage that was never in high demand for occupency (since the Irish chrished farm land more than sea sides) So when other contries invaded, the Irish willingly gave it up. So over the years it has been inhabited by different groups, but not as a 'proper' castle city.

Now it's a very bustling college city, with some beautiful gothic style churches and a strange conglomeration of a castle.

The family owned bar (called the Ha Penny Inn) told us that the Temple Bar area has only become 'popular' and touristy in the last 10 or so years. The first day we walked through the area, knowing that we had a Musical Pub Tour coming the next evening.

That night we had dinner with a co-worker of Mike's and soaked up some Guiness later on. So much better over there, I'm not sure what they do to it, but it's much more smoother and fresher tasting than what they serve here!

Celtic Trip (Day 4) - Cliffs of Moher

2011-03-10T06:00:00.002-06:00

Our last morning in Killarney was a bit overcast as we headed north to the Cliffs of Moher. We were both hoping that the sun would be able to shine through the clouds soon enough.

There were many small towns up the coast with brightly colored houses. We stopped in one just south to get some Fish and Chips for lunch. Thankfully by the time we got to the cliffs the sun was shining.

It made for a beautiful misty day, great for pictures

Then a long ride into Dublin to drop off the car and get to our hotel.

Celtic Trip (Day 3) - Blarney, Cork, and Dingle

2011-03-09T17:44:00.004-06:00

On day 3 we decided to be aggressive.... b.. b.. aggressive.

We drove down to Blarney and then to Cork, trying to have enough time to make it back up to Killarney and then further north to the Dingle Peninsula.

Blarney Castle was very quite when we arrived that morning. We climbed up the turrets and made it to the top part where we were alone (expect for the stone helpers)

Nice not to have to wait for lines of people kissing the stone. I handed the camera to Mike and went first, being head-over hung down to kiss the Blarney Stone. I got up and Mike took his turn while I took his picture. We started to walk away and he said to me "Kel, I didn't have time to take your picture." AH! I can't come all the way to Ireland and not have a picture kissing the stone!!!! So we walked back and asked if I could do it again.

"Why sure! what ever will make you happy", the guy says to me. So I got my picture and kissed the stone twice! :)

Afterwards we walked around the wooded areas and saw a really beautiful clearing that you could totally understand why the culture is based on fairies and other wood spirits. Sunlight beat in and a little mist came up from the green green plants.

There were waterfalls and lots of areas to explore.... but we had to get moving onto Cork!

The reason I wanted to go to Cork was to visit the Old English Market. A large historical market with local produce and vendors.

We got some sausages....

Saw the different cuts of meat.....

And had some of the best Oragnge covered chocolate peices I have ever had... yum!

After we sped up to Dingle. Seeing lots of more sheep along the way (they are everywhere! Grandpa you were totally right!)

(Oh and that sheep in the lower left corner is staring at me so hard because there is a dog barking at me in the background. All the sheep turned and ran away from me right after this)

More beautiful landscapes next to the sea.

And the iconic green squares of pastureland.
So much to to see :)
We went out for some more traditional pub food and returned to the same bar to hear a live band playing. The bartender even drew a shamrock in Mike's Guiness as he poured it.... you'll have to tilt your computer screen to see it ;-)

Celtic Trip (Day 2) - Killarney

2011-03-09T06:05:00.000-06:00

We woke up bright and early the second day to explore more of Killarney National Park. We got a quick breakfast at the hotel and set off towards Moll’s Gap (Kenmare in the south, I’ll use the above map to try and give you an idea)

Stopping off at the Muckross Friary, we walked along the lower lake and up to the House. Everything was so green, even this early in the spring.

The lake has a beatuiful view and the sun was just starting to get really bright.

We didn’t go into Muckross House, but it has really nice gardens and surrounding areas.

We walked south along Muckross Lake to the Torc Waterfall and up the Mountain a bit.

By then my feet were getting really sore as I hadn’t expected this to be a hike, so we took a carriage back to the Friary. There were only 3 horses working that day, but our driver said in the summer there are more than 30 that just run the Muckross roads (not including downtown Killarney)

Continuing our drive up the main road towards the Kenmare exit we stopped at Ladies’ View and another viewpoint.

I finally saw some sheep upclose!

And then it just got rediculous. Up until this point we really hadn’t seen too many sheep pastures close to the roads. So I didn’t understand why people were warning me about having to watch out for the fluffy animals. Then we got into the mountains. There are sheep everywhere. Literally just walking up the roads. We were told they were ‘street smart’ so they would get out of the way. But still unnerving.

Gorgeous views in the hills (can you spot Mike in this pic?)

In Kenmare we got some Fish and Chips and a Fish Pie. Both were very yummy and filling. Afterwards we walked around a bit. There weren’t many shops open so we decided to take the bar tenders advice and try to drive down into the Black Valley and through the Gap of Dunloe, since we didn’t have 5 hours to drive the Ring of Kerry.

We got some bad directions and missed the turn twice (also due to the fact there were no signs) Finally, we made it into the valley. This drive was the most fun, single dirt road with tons of twists, so you had to go slow and if you met anyone you basically played chicken to see who would pull over first to allow the other car to pass. I don’t know how tour buses did it. Thankfully we only met 3 or 4 cars.

More loose sheep going up and over the hills and cute thatched roof houses. The view from the top of the Gap of Dunloe was so amazing. These pictures don’t do it justice.

Celtic Trip (Day 1) - Killarney, Ireland

2011-03-09T06:00:00.003-06:00

Last year Mike and I travelled to Greece for our vacation. We chose that destination because he has some Greek in him and the prices looked really good for the off-peak time of year we were looking at.
Similarly, I have Irish in my background and for the end of Feb, beginning of March, the prices were fantastic.
We were a little worried about the time of year, because even during the best months it can rain every day or be very overcast. The luck of the Irish must have been with us, because we didn’t experience any rain! (ok, maybe a sprinkle but nothing I would count as rain)
Here’s how our trip went…..

On Feb 26th, a Saturday, we left Minneapolis to land in Dublin (via Atlanta). The flight went fine, albeit I had a kid directly behind me who kicked my seat a lot and I didn’t get any sleep. We landed in Dublin on Sunday morning, local time 6am. The plan was to rent a car and drive 3 hrs south/west to Killarney where we would be staying for 3 days.

I was a little worried about driving on the left hand side of the road…. and I heard sheep were a big problem. The teeny tiny rental car we got was stuffed with our suitcases and we started the drive. I made the first right hand turn fine and navigated the roundabouts (Europe’s way of controlling traffic instead of stop lights) The motorway down was fine. We really didn’t see too many sheep and were beginning to think we had just been fooled. Then our GPS system took us on a stop to Cashel.

“I see an Old Thing!” we cried as we rounded a smaller road and saw the abbey in the distance.

The Rock of Cashel is a castle converted to a chapel in the south of Tipperary Co. It was a very good introduction to the history in Ireland. There were lots of carvings and the high seat on top of the hill gave you a beautiful view of the town (pretty windy and loads of crows though!)

We stopped for brunch at a restaurant called Ryan’s Daughter. They had a wonderful Irish Breakfast, with sausage, beans, eggs, ham, toast, and black and white puddings! Wow, are those puddings good! If you ever have the chance to have them, do. Don’t ask what’s in it. If you don’t like it, then it doesn’t matter what’s it’s made of and if you do like it, then it doesn’t either :)

On the remainder of the trip to Killarney the roads started getting smaller. Only two lanes and on either side there was a rock wall right to the side of the two foot shoulder. I was getting pretty jet lagged at this point, so I honestly don’t remember much except that we were going fast, Mike was a little scared and I didn’t hit anything.

The town of Killarney is much bigger than I had pictured. Lots of tall squished looking buildings. We had originally booked at the Arbutus Hotel, but due to a death in the family, we were re-booked to the Killarney Royal Hotel. It was very nice, the staff helpful and a great location.

Driving in we saw a big rain cloud passing our destination. We parked the car with a light drizzle drifting down. By the time we checked the parking the clouds had past and bright sun came out. In the car park we got stuck a bit because some angry local couldn’t get the parking meter to work. He started pounding on it and yelling to get his change back out. One of the funniest things ever.

The town sits next to Killarney National Park, which is 26,000 acres of land and water. So after we got settled in the hotel we put on some walking shoes and checked it out.

There are tons of beautiful streams, fields, lakes, and trails in the area. All accessible from the down town area.

We walked out towards Ross Castle and passed some deer which were looking a little haggard from the winter. I seriously thought this one guy (with the single horn) was going to charge me.

We made it out of the woods just fine and saw the castle. Very pretty with the setting sun.

Walking back, the green mossy woods were still and silent. Later that night we got some pub food and of course, beers. Pictures to follow later…. Still getting through the 400ish photos on the 3 cameras we had :)

Edit: some extra photos from the meal of Fish Pie and Steak Stew:

Out in downtown Killarney

2011-02-06T13:49:00.006-06:00

Making caramels and hard candies has been something I was never good at. Until we got a candy thermometer. It makes it much easier to watch the temp and get the perfect consistency.

I tried it with these caramels and they turned out so yummy! I love the combination of the sugar and the salt. I used pink peppercorns, lemon flavored sea salt, and Himalayan pink salt.

Pink peppercorns have an almost citrus flavor, you need a bit more of it to taste than the salt. My personal fav is the himalayan rock salt.

Salt and Pepper Caramels

1 C. butter

2 1/4 C. brown sugar

2 C. cream

1 C. light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

rock salt or crushed pepper (2 tbsp of each)

Line an 8x8 baking pan with buttered tin foil so the edges hang over. In a heavy sauce pan, melt butter, add sugar, cream, and syrup. Mix well.

Stir mixture over heat until it is a boil. Lower heat to medium. With a candy thermometer boil mixture at a steady rate until the heat reads 248 degrees (about 40-50 minutes)

Remove pan from heat. Stir in vanilla. Quickly pour caramels into pan. Cool and cut into squares (place in refrigerator to speed up cooling and make for easier cutting, after it comes to room temp)

Press squares into rock salt or crushed pepper until the tops are coated. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Store up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Makes 64 small squares or 30 large.

Dolmades

2011-02-01T06:09:00.000-06:00

I used the Grape Leaves!

Back in July, on my parents farm, we harvested (prolly the last growth) of grape leaves from my mom's vines. While this was a little late in the season for the picking, they still looked really nice and I was very excited to have them in the winter to use with the large amounts of hamburger we tend to have in our freezer.

I rinsed the leaves in plenty of water to remove any salt from the canning (very gently!) I'd say 80% turned out with no rips or tears. The larger leaves work the best, so next year we'll have to make sure to pick the big ones!

To make dolmades you simply mix ground beef (or lamp or pork or a mixture!) with uncooked rice and spices. Wrap the mixture in the grape leaves, like you would an egg roll or burrito, it's about a table spoon per large leaf, don't overfill.

Then placing any ripped leaves on the bottom of a dutch oven, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and place the wraps on top. Cover with about an inch of water, and then cover again with a bowl or large plate. You want the rice to cook and the beef to steam, but not in to large of an area, ideally with some weight on them. This worked for me with the dutch oven and a glass plate, but you could also use a small sauce pan with a tight lid I would think.

After about 30 minutes the water will have evaporated and the dolmades will be cooked.

I didn't add enough spices to the meat mixture, so make sure you make it very flavorful, with oregano, mint, dill or another green herb. Lots of things could be used as a spice.

The leaves were so tender and just fell apart with a fork. Can't wait to try these again!

Knitting

2011-01-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

I jumped on the knitting track again (after about 10 years) this Christmas to make my sister some fingerless gloves and a scarf.

I made two pairs of gloves as a intro back into knitting, watching a lot of videos from KnittingHelp.com

I came up with a pattern based on cording and dropped stiches to make it look a little looser and more crochet-like.

I really like the color of green of this yarn. Hopefully it goes well with a lot of her things!

I followed Posie's advice on water blocking to stretch the scarf out. For a ironing board and saftey pins, it worked about as well as it could have! :) I can really see where a dedicated board would work nicely.

Not sure I could get the best pictures of it, some of the cording is lost in this photo, but you can see in the blocking how the pattern looks :)

Memories

2011-01-19T06:00:00.007-06:00

I went through some old photos last year to make Christmas presents for my family. I used MyPublisher.com to make a photo book from pictures on both sides of my parents, going back 2 generations and up till their wedding.

Some of the photos came from my parents, some from my late grandmother, and others from my paternal grandma's mother's (my great grandma) photo albums. Those photos were so old and falling apart that you had to scan each page individually, since the pictures were glued to the pages.

The books turned out really nice, the site is so easy to use and I would highly recommend it for your next project.

Here are some of the photos of me, which I did not include in the gifts, but I loved and had to scan anyway. I have no idea what me and my mom are making in the above photo. Any guesses? What ever it is, there is a lot of it!

Here's my dad and I working on something. Again, not really sure what it was. Maybe a bird house or a crayon box... He's so fashionable in his pearls, don't you think?

This last photo is from Northern Wisconsin where I grew up. This was my first attempt at a business. We lived too far out for a Lemonade stand to be productive, so instead my mom helped me grow Status flowers and other dryable items. We would bunch them together or weave them into flower crowns and sell them at a local town on weekends.
My sister, brother, and I were all homeschooled for parts of our childhood. I learned so much during that time. A lot of lessons I could only know through personal growth and inner retrospection.

Poem on the Poster: From my Garden, Soft and Bright, I picked these Flowers for your Delight, In the Sun that the Flowers Love, I hope you like these flowers of fun.

Apparently poetry was not my strong suit…. Sorry mom.

Get that Latin Feeling...

2011-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

I work with a wonderful woman named Amalia as a fun side job. I met her through my volunteering at the local Arb classes. Her site has some really wonderful Latin dishes that you can print right off.

Over the past year I've made some of those yummy Latin dishes with her. My favorite is this very simple Black Bean tortilla side dish. It goes with anything and is great for leftovers.

Mix mashed black beans with Queso Blanco cheese till just together. Heat small corn tortillas on a medium heat, then fill with the mixture and grill at a higher heat with olive oil till just browning. (Heating them first makes them less brittle)

The first picture is from a Chili Rellenos that I made with a beef filling and spicy cheese. I'll try to put that recipe up at some point. It was really really yummy also.

Enjoy the last snows of winter! (Hopefully) The husband and I are on a countdown to a vacation to Ireland and Scotland this spring.... 39 days and counting!

Tomato Bread

2010-12-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

We are a little snowed in here in Minnesota. The above pic is my sister who visited from Tenn last week when we got a bit of snow. The piles are at least 3x as high now. We got 17 inches over the weekend and are still digging out. Ish.

So over the weekend we stayed inside, wrapped christmas presents, watched some movies, and generally tried to stay warm.

We have a lot of left overs and freezer items this time of year. One of those things is frozen pesto and tomato sauce.

A good, simple recipe that I made a few months ago was this tomato bread. You just make (or buy) bread dough, cover it with pesto sauce, slice it into strips, roll it up and place ontop of sliced tomatoes. As it bakes the tomatoes roast into the bread.

Turn it over and serve :)

Ice Chest

2010-11-19T06:00:00.001-06:00

Over the Veteran's Day weekend we took a trip up to my parents cabin in Northern Wisconsin. We try to get up atleast once a season and this was our last chance before the snow set in.... or so we thought.

Thursday was sunny and windy. Friday was filled with Antiquing and clouds. We had decided to take the plunge and get the beautiful Antique turn of the century Ice Chest we had seen in Hayward area (a 30 min drive north) on our last trip to the cabin. We would get up early, walk the dog, drive up and *hopefully* it would still be there, purchase it if we could get the right price, and make it back in time for the Iowa Football game.... or so we thought.

Saturday morning it snowed.

A big snow storm that left us wondering if making the slippery trip north, which would take us much more than 30 minutes, was worth it.

I have to say I think it was :) I'm super excited to have my Ice Chest! Yes the roads were slippery, we almost went off a few times. Yeah, we missed some of the Iowa game, but they were horrible this week and ESPN went out because of the snow anyway.

But we now have this!

The chest was built in Eau Clarie, WI some time before 1910. It has the original hardware, kick board on the bottom, inserts, and was refinished by the Antique dealer we bought it from after he purchased it in an auction in Northern Wisconsin. He said he drug it out of an old basement where it had been sitting for who knows how long.

It's in our 4 seasons porch right now. I'm planning on storing serving platters and other kitchen items in it after I finish cleaning the inside and airing it out a bit.

I read that coffee will help remove any of the musyness from the wood. Hopefully it helps a little bit. I think it must have sat in that basement for awhile!

Indian Yum!

2010-11-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

We've been eating more and more Indian dishes in our house. The spices are so wonderful; heat, sweetness, savory, spicey, tart, salty.... it just goes on and on with layered flavors.

Layers are a big peice to an indian dish called Biryani.

A biryani is a dish where rice and meat (or veggies) are cooked separately with spices and then brought together in a dish by layering and given one final bake. The final baking gives the rice a rich aroma of flavor, while still maintaining it's consistency and flavor.

I've fallen in love with the below mixtures, especially served with the cooling spinach and yogert or the heat of spicey fried bread. I'm hoping to try this for my family the night before thanksgiving as a really different meal going into a week where there will be tons of gravy, turkey, and potatoes :)

Biryani: Beef, rice, spices (cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin seeds, tumeric, cardamom), golden rasins, cashews

Spinach Yogert: Heat 1 tbsp mustard seeds and 2 thai chillies in olive oil till brown. Mix in 2 cups chopped spinach till wilted. Mix into 1 cup of Greek Yogert and 1 tsp salt. Serve room temp.

Spicey Grilled Bread: Mix together red onions, cilantro, garlic, tumeric, thai chilli peppers, flour, water, salt.

Grill in Olive Oil, butter mixture till fried. Serve warm.

Beef, rice, phyllo covered Biryani w/spinach yogert

Squash-a-roo Part II

2010-11-16T22:14:00.004-06:00

I know it is a little late coming, but here are some pictures of the squash from the previous post.

Homemade crust, par-baked.

Melty cheese and tart ginger :)

Leaf cutouts are from Williams Sonoma a few years back.

YUM!

Squash-aroo

2010-09-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

We headed a bit south to the Farmers Market last week and bought up some of the yummy butternut squash that are out. Ofcourse we made up some of our Roasted Squash Soup for the season.
Much against the FDAs recommendations (ek!) I do can my soup for the winter. I roast the squash, heat it again with the veggies, puree it, water down the soup, reheat it, and then can it under 10 lbs of pressure for 30-40 minutes. I've been doing this for 3 years now and never had a single can go bad. That being said, be careful when canning thick veggies like squash and pumpkins, it is only recommended that you can them in cube form, not puree. I might try some of that with the last butternut squash I have sitting in my cabinet....

Until then we used the other squash up in a wonderful tart recipe that I have. It's really great for left overs and is amazingly sweet and refreshing.

Ginger Squash Tart

1 Par-baked crust

4 c. peeled, seeded, cubed squash (~1 large or 2 small)

4 tbsp butter

1 onion sliced thinly

4 inches ginger, minced

4 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. gruyere cheese
salt/pepper

Partially bake a pie crust in a pie pan until slightly browning and cooked (about 15 minutes or according to your recipe) Let cool slightly.

In a large saute pan heat butter. Add squash and salt/pepper to coat. Heat for about 20 minutes or until soft. Remove to a large bowl. Let cool and mash till a smooth (or slightly chunky) texture is made.

In same saute pan heat onion and ginger till clear, about 5 minutes. Add to squash mixture, adjust salt/pepper to taste. Whip milk and eggs together, fold into squash mixture with cheese.

Add filling to the crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until firm (like a cheese cake)

Let cool slightly and enjoy.

Tour de Farms

2010-09-19T20:36:00.004-05:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Tour de Farms this past weekend at the Oliver Kelly Farm.

Chef Mike Phillips (formally of the Craftsman here in the Twin Cities) was the featured pork proveer. Luckily I had worked with him the week before and he was able to sneak us on the list. He'll be starting a new venture into the small circle of pork products with a company called Green Ox, selling locally to the Irish Pubs in the cities starting this fall and in the spring of 2011. I can only imagine how amazing the dishes at The Local, Kieran's, and the Liffy will be after he gets his products in!

The locally grown food was amazing, pairing deliciously with the beer and wine. Clouds blew away for the afternoon and the sun shone out for the picnic blankets to be spread out in the feild.
The farm was really pretty and the event so much fun. If you live in the area you should really check it out!

Califlower Curry

2010-09-13T19:46:00.003-05:00

Jen this ones for you.

We've started making our fall soups for the year. Going to farmers markets and stocking up on veggies.

When we went this Sunday we didn't expect to find $1.00/head califlower, but when we did, we couldn't pass up the chance to try out a batch and can the extras.

This recipe is from my inlaws and gets better and better as it sits. Try out a batch before the summer is over!

Califlower Curry Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 Califlower head, washed
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
4 celery stalks
24 oz chicken stock (4 cans)
1 - 2 tsp tumeric
1 tbsp oregano (fresh is best)
1 tbsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup honey

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Saute onion, celery and garlic till translucent, about 5 mintes on medium. Add califlower, oregano, and thyme cooking till slightly browned. Add tumeric until it coats the veggies.

Add stock, bringing to a boil and cook 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low for 5 more minutes. Turn heat off and add honey, salt, and pepper. Using a stick blender puree till just smooth (can keep texture if you like that)

Reheat to desired temperature. Serve warm. Store for 2-3 days in fridge, freeze or can.

Drying out

2010-09-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

We've gotten a lot of peppers (jalapeno, bell, etc) from our CSA share at this point in the season. So last week I dehydrated some peppers in strips to store for the winter.

It's a very simple process: Clean and slice the peppers in to strips or chunks, dehydrate for about 3-4 hours until completely dry and slightly brittle, store in an airtight container.

This could also be done in the oven at the lowest setting (150-200 degrees) for 1-2 hours.

I know I used up all of my peppers from last year before the snow melted and it was so nice to just grab a pinch of dried spicy-ness for pizzas or risotto or breakfast eggs rather than pick up over priced and bland peppers during the winter.

Weekend Retreat

2010-09-06T22:04:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend at the cabin in Wisconsin. Grilling, antiquing, boating. Lots of strange fall mushrooms.

A couple of catch and release fishes.

Some walks in the woods to see turkeys and deer.

Veggies along the roadside. Who can beat a bag of red potatoes for $1.80?

So pretty on the lake.

Day at the Fair

2010-08-29T21:30:00.005-05:00

Ah the Minnesota State Fair! We start out every year with the Tejas breakfast burrito.

so yummy and amazing!

Then it's off to the animal barns.

Sheeps cuddling

Massive bunnies

Uh oh! Some one accidentally entered a puppy into the rabbit competition.... or wait....

Mini cart pull

Blog-On-a-Stick

2010-08-26T05:00:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again, time for the Great Minnesota Get Together!

Where Butter Princesses rule, food is served on-a-stick, and animals wear pajamas. Can't wait!

We decided to start a new game this year.... The Giant Pumpkin Challenge. We each get to guess the weight of the giant pumpkin, price-is-right style (closest without going over). The winner gets to tell the loser to eat any food item that the fair might have. Anything from a Deep Fried Snickers bar, to Ghost Wings. I think I have this one won, hope to post pictures after the weekend...

Update: We both lost! The giant pumpkin was 1,036 lbs this year!

Ant Work

2010-08-22T20:41:00.005-05:00

This weekend was scheduled for canning.

Every year we take a weekend (or multiple) and can tomatoes for the winter months. We visit the Farmers Market / CSA stands and stock up on peppers, basil, onions, and tomatoes. It takes a full weekend to processes everything using my pressure canner, but it's so worth it!

Two full boxes of fresh tomatoes

Assorted left overs from our plant and the CSA

Roast them in olive oil, salt, and pepper

Wonderful with peppers and garlic

Blanching station for de-skining

The final products: Roasted Pepper Sauce, Stewed Tomatoes, Tomato Basil Soup, Tomato Sauce

Fresh from the Vine

2010-07-26T20:25:00.005-05:00

Back in May when we went on our Greece trip, we had dolomades (stuffed grape leaves).
They were so amazing! we decided to try out some of our own from my mom's vines on the Wisconsin farm.

Here's the arbor view of them growing.

I read that the best time for grape leave picking is early spring (May - July) when the leaves a smaller, green, and fresh. So I went for those even though it was late summer....

We washed them, blanched them in hot water, wrapped them into packets of 25-30 (for one pound of meat), filled them in a acid (4 c water, 1/4 c kosher salt, 3 tsp citric acid) bath and then hot water canned them using a large pot (not pressure cooking) for 20 minutes at a boil.

They sure looked nice and I can't wait to use them!!!!

Rare sighting

2010-07-26T20:09:00.002-05:00

Back on the farm we saw a really great sight. Two Luna moths were found by my dad on the light pole by our house.

Luna moths are very rare to be seen since they only are in their final moth stage for 7 days to breed.

See more on Luna moths here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actias_luna

My Grandpa O, a farmer of many years, said that he heard most people are lucky to see one moth their entire life. We got to see two!

I remember when I was younger I collected moths that were around our house in Northern Wisconsin. I had one Luna, a couple Emperor, and some other smaller Hawk moths.

I didn't realize how little time they had.... I feel bad for collecting that one now. Hahaha, at least we didn't take these ones.... although my Grandpa really wanted to!

...and we're back!

2010-07-13T17:12:00.005-05:00

Yay! The internet is back up, the sun is beating down on my garden, the CSA veggie shares are filling up my fridge, and we've so many wonderful weddings to attend that the summer is just flying by!

The beautiful foxgolves that I got from my mom are doing wonderful. I am just obessed with foxglove. Even the name is awesome. Foxy foxglove.

The rock path going back into the mulch area is made from flat rocks pulled out of Long Lake, Wisconsin. We're hoping to get back up there before the trees start to turn. Until then I'll just have to enjoy the weather here while it lasts.

Internet Signing off

2010-07-08T05:00:00.001-05:00

...well the router at our house decided to shut off permanently after 3 years of good service. Which means no more uploads until we get it fixed.

We had a wonderful 4th of July (insert pictures here)
*** Finally got some pictures up.

*** Here's the Red Velvet Cake I made and Grandpa O. with his festive 4th of July cape!

Are having a busy busy summer filled with delish CSA veggie and cheese shares (insert pictures here)

Warm wishes to everyone out there!

Greece Trip (Day 9 & 10) - Athens, then home

2010-05-25T21:46:00.012-05:00

Church in the Square

Our last day in Athens was spent wandering around more of the shops. It was a sunday there and many of the stores were closed for the observed family day and church services. So we sat outside this church, listening to the singing of the service, and had some coffee and spinach pies.

Spinach Pies (Phyllo, Spinach, Feta, Dill, Olive Oil)

We then found a bakery we came back to later that had really amazing cookies and cakes. There was also this open market store that sold tons of nuts and fruit and treats. When we got in it was packed with locals all yelling and pushing through the small isles.

Market

We wondered around for a bit more. Looked through an antique map and picture store. Went to the Cine Paris, which is a roof top movie theater, and bought an old 007 movie poster labled in Greek.

Stopping into a market we got our Greek nessecities; Olive Oil, Ouzo, Honey, and Mastic. By luck we found an old street called Hill that I remembered was supposed to have a nice home style Greek restaurant. We wound up and around the kind of sketchy looking corner to find a huge building packed with locals and tourists. They served family style, bringing out a huge platter for you to pick 6 different items from. We choose the Greens, Meatballs, Fried Zucchini, Pork in Red Sauce, Dolomades stuffed with beef, and one other dish I can't remember.

INSERT RESTAURANT PIC HERE

It was a great way to spend our last night. We got up early the next morning, flew to Paris, were carted around CDG airport forever (it really is as bad as everyone says), were delayed a couple hours on the plane because of a medical emergency, finally making it back into the US.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ευχαριστώ!

Greece Trip (Day 8) - Parthenon

2010-05-25T20:43:00.006-05:00

The ferry over from Santorini to Athens was much better than the one over from Crete. There was much less rocking and no one got sick thankfully. On our way down to the port we over heard someone talking about the strike that went on the day before. We didn't even know there was a strike!
Later we heard that the people waiting for the ferry the day before waited a full 3 hours before even finding out that there was a strike and the ship was not going to be coming. What they say is true, if you are on an island you won't even know there was a strike or a riot going on.

Which was a good thing in the end, because our hotel, the Grand Bretagne, is directly across from the Parlament.

But it also had an amazing view of the Parthenon and the Acropolis from the roof top dining room.
We toured the Acropolis, Historical Museum, Parthenon, Palace of Zeus, Ancient Agora, and the National Gardens.

We found a great Gyro place and had a mixed pork and beef dish, with really great dolomades (stuffed grape leaves)

Now I just need to figure out how to convince my mom to start growing grape leaves for me to make these....

Greece Trip (Day 7) - Red Beach and Fira

2010-05-25T20:21:00.004-05:00

On our final full day in Santorini we took the public bus from Oia to Fira to the Red Beach near Akrotiri. It was a really pretty beach, but the walk down was a bit treacherous. No gaurdrails, no stairs, barely a trail. Just over the hill, along the cliff and down to the beach.

On Santorini, because of the volcano, there are many different types of sand and rock. There is a red, black, and white beach.

We only made it to the one beach, but it was still fun. Not too many people that early in the morning and lots of pretty smooth stones along the beach.

We took the bus back to Fira where we walked around and shopped a bit more. The cruise ship people were out in full force, so we took refuge from the throngs of people in a restaurant.

We ordered a really fantastic meal and enjoyed the view down to the port.

Stuffed Eggplant with Feta

Baked Lamb with Potatoes and Gyuere cheese

Pastichio

Greece Trip (Day 6) - Volcano

2010-05-25T08:00:00.007-05:00

Map of Santorini

Our first full day in Santorini we decided to take the trip we were most excited for. The volcano! We've been to the volcano on the big island of Hawaii and were interested to see how different this one was.

We took a bus down to the small sea harbor just below Oia and waited for the motorized pirate (yes i said pirate) ship.

We sailed past the harbor, past Fira (Phira) and onto the volcano.

Hiking up the volcano was really fun. It was surprising to see how many silly girls wore sandles and thongs instead of tennis shoes. Silly people :)

The view from the top of the volcano ridge was amazing. You could see the whole island of Santorini and the little islands around it. The island was once a whole stretch, but an earthquake/erruption split the island over time and now it is in little sections.

We really enjoyed the volcano and then afterwards they tooks us to a sulfur spring which flowed into the ocean and you could swim in. Then we went to the island of Therasia. We got a seafood mix which was nice and freash.

They grilled everything right there on the porch next to the ocean.

Very yummy!

We hiked up the steap 160 steps to the top of the island. Where there was a beautiful view of the bay. The stairs were pretty difficult to navigate up and the donkeys that were walking up and down did not make it any easier :)

Taking the pirate ship back to Oia we walked up the 260 stairs there and were finally back. Time for a nap.

And then some more picture taking.

And the prettiest sunset we had all week.

Greece Trip (Day 5) - Oia

2010-05-25T07:00:00.004-05:00

The next day we woke up in Crete and got on a catamaran to go to Santorini. I won't say much about that trip. It was really really windy on the ocean and the boat rocked so so much. A lot of people got sick and we were very close. We met a couple who were also traveling to the town of Oia (pronounced EE-ah) so we asked to split a cab with them. Which was a very good thing because the port was crazy and we would have been there for a long time trying to figure out a ride.

We drove from the port, through the town of Fira and then on to Oia. Took about 30 min max. It was very cliffy, and mostly rock with a few feilds down below. We drove into Oia on the back side (since there is only one or two roads for cars) I was honestly getting a little nervous because we couldn't really see any of the white houses that you see on post cards or the volcano caldera. I was begining to think I'd made a big mistake.

Then we got to our hotel, tramped up the stairs and were led to the most beautiful view I could have asked for. This was our room right under the windmill at Golden Sunset Hotels. The sunests were so amazing. The bright yellows fading into pinks and ending in bright purples. We didn't even think about getting a different seat with the surrounding crowd that comes in to see the sunsets.

Everynight we went and bought a bottle of wine (Nico was our fav) and watched the sun go down from our hotel balcony. Then we'd get dressed go out to dinner and finish up at the bar down the street with Yani our bartender. He had some great stories and gave us tons of lemon juice marinaded carrot slices with our ouzo and Alfa beer.

The only down side to taking the ferry was that it was so windy that the waves washed up on our boat and soaked our suitcases. Mike's got the worst of it. He barely had anything dry for that first day. We laid everything out in our cavernous room and crossed our fingers that it would dry.

We had some decent meals and some really good dishes in Oia. This is a very big tourist destination so a lot of things were over priced, but we found some nice non-sunset view places later on that were pretty darn delicious.

Stuffed tomatoes
Mousaka, amazingly light and fluffy! We went back here on our last day and both ordered it as our meal because it was so good!

Yellow Fava bean spread

One thing I've been forgetting to mention about Greece is that there are dogs and cats every where! Not stray, but with collars and very friendly. The funniest part is that the owners just let them run around, so there is constently a poochie snoozing on a shops doorstep or flat out dead asleep in the middle of the pedestrian street. They must be so used to people because not much would wake them up. The only time I saw a dog wake up was when a scooter would shoot by or this one time that a guy actually tripped over a dog that was in the middle of the street sleeping.

Greece Trip (Day 4) - Rethymnon

2010-05-25T06:00:00.004-05:00

Castelvecchio Cafe in Rethymnon

After a late night out at the Taverns, we selpt in and finally woke up to catch the public bus to Rethymnon to the West of us. The bus systems there are pretty easy to use, as long as you are on time. They have a lot of stops, but whenever the bus shows up and the last person gets on or off they go, no waiting for anyone else. So, needless to say we were never late for any of our bus trips.
We arrived in Rethymnon (pronounced Reth-em-no) and walked along the ocean sidewalk to the Fortress. It was a very pretty veiw and the sea was such a blue color. All over Greece we saw graffiti, from the little towns to the big city, much of it related to the symbol Theta 7. We later asked our waiter in Santorini if it was because of people saying something about politics or the banks. Nope, just the soccer fans. Soccer is really big in Greece too. A lot of the government owned banks did have graffiti we saw later on in our trip.

The Fortress is built right up against the cliff walls. There's not too much for building structures left, but the view to the city is very nice.

Outside of the Fortress

View of the city from the Fortress

After seeing the Fortress we walked down into city and to look around and do some shopping. On our way down the hill we saw a menu on a side street restaurant that looked really nice so we decided to stay in town longer and take the late bus back since it didn't open until 6pm.

In the town there is a really well known ice cream shop right by some fountains that people come to see. They had flavors like pistachio, ameretto, hazelnut, and nutella. We walked around for a bit, got some local Diktamos (Dittany) tea which is a mountain flower that grows on Crete. It looks like a fuzzy little purplish bud and I'm interested to see what it tastes like. We wandered around the town a bit more. I got some sandles and a purse. They have the most amazing leather products on Crete. So nice, but you have to watch out for fakes and buy what you like.

We settled down for a Mythos beer at a family run Tavern down the hill from the restaurant we had picked out. We watched tourist go by and the children of the family who owns the two taverns on that street tease each other till the mothers came out and scolded them.

Finally at the stroke of 6pm we headed up the street with high hopes and a beatiful view. We sat down, being the only people there at the time and found some of the most amazing food we had on our trip. It was a family owned place, the father came out in his apron after grilling our food, the son was our waiter, and the mom was the baker. The son's little girl was reading a Dora book to herself and her mom was setting up the tables. It was so quaint and had a wonderful 'home' feeling to it.

We ordered the Aubergine dip which was so simple and so so so delish. It's a smooth dip with roasted aubergine (type of eggplant), mayo, gruyere cheese, olive oil, walnuts, and parsley. We will be trying to make this soon :) We ordered a really good bottle of wine there also, a Chateu Nico Lazaridi. The wine comes from the Drama region and is a really nice light blend.

Other pictures of the meal are below. My personal fav story is how the son brought out the cake with the check (we were so full we didn't even think about desert at this time) and said "here here, you must have some of this cake, my mamma made it this morning." And what could we say? We had to eat it, even though we were stuffed. It was that good and we felt like that much more a part of the family. The Greeks really do have hospitality down.

(From Top) Sun Dried Tomato, Olive Oil, Feta with Fennel, Aubergine Dip

Grilled Swordfish with eggplant and baked potatoes

Foil wrapped Pork with Feta, Tomatoes, and Potato Fries

Mama's Walnut Honey Cake

Greece Trip (Day 3) - Palace of Knossos

2010-05-24T19:18:00.000-05:00

Palace of Knossos, Crete

After getting in off the Ferry, really the begining of our trip, and finding some food, we wandered around the market area of Heraklion. Many of the shops were tourist traps, but they had nice churches and the cool 'Lions" Fountain that stands in the middle of the square.

The Lions fountain

Directly behind it and to the right we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, getting fried zuchini and eggplant combo. The waiters were very loud and friendly, often giving out free ouzo shots and would respond to almost everything with a long "allriiight." One waiter in particular could have been the brother of the comic who does the "and did you know" skits on late night TV (Maggie and Mom, you would have died with laughter). He was very excited that we were from Minnesota and would yell after us, "Timbur-volves! Timbur-volves!" (basketball is big in Greece I guess)

Palace of Knossos

After fully exploring the town, we hoped on a bus and headed out to the Palace of Knossos, where the legendary Minotaur and Labyrinth were said to have been. The ruins were very very old compared to what we have seen on other travels.

Much of the site has been excavated and the artifacts brought back to the local museum in town, which we stopped at next. They had some really cool statues and vases.

Artifacts from Knossos

After the museum we took a walk down to the pier. We thought there was just a little ways out to go, but the pier had been built so big to shelter the cruise ships at Port that the 'little' walk turned into more of a death march. That day was extreamly windy and we later found out that many of the inter-island ferries had been cancelled or delayed. This was not the first time we were lucky with the weather.

Because our march to the end of the peir had worked up an appetite, we decided to take the recommendation of the hotel and visit a Tavern that served fresh seafood and traditional Greek dishes. It was one of the best meals we had on the trip.

Pita, Feta, Tomato sandwitches

Shadowed under the shade of trees (as all the traditional restaurants were) we sat out on the street patio and had amazing dishes with homemade wine.

Kalimaraki (version of squid)

Grilled Octopus (so good we ordered a second plate)

Loukoumades (Honey coated donuts) These were so so amazing.

They were very nice, giving us free dessert and ouzo, as we found that all the 'small' family owned places did. We were a little confused when they presented us with a menu in Spanish though. Since there are so many cultures that vacation in Greece, taverns frequently have menus made up in different languages. I guess that night we looked like we were from Spain... We also recognized and said hello to a French tour guide who we had ridden over on the Ferry from Athens with. I guess even foreign islands are smaller than you think.

Later we went back to The Lions square for drinks with our waiter friends, George and Mike. We found out exactly how much ouzo you can have without getting a headache the next morning.

Greece Trip (Day 1-2) - Traveling

2010-05-24T18:22:00.004-05:00

Heraklion, Crete

On May 14th, Mike and I set out from Minneapolis for a 10 day trip to Greece. We planned everything out ourselves, no need for a travel agent with the ease of the internet these days. We were still concern about the strikes going on and the schelduling for the ferries, but we figured if we had to get stuck an extra couple of days, there would be worse places than Greece.

Mike on the Ferry

Our flight got us into Athens, after a loooong layover in Paris (the airport for that leg of the trip did not seem as bad as everyone had told us, on our return trip we found out why everyone says CDG airport is the worst...) We had walked quickly from our plane to the Sky Club room in Paris and played cards, mostly in a delirious state from the 8 hr time change.

Once in Athens we got on the public bus and headed to the Port where we would be taking the overnight Ferry to the island of Crete. The bus system was easy, but the ports were another matter. They jut out into the sea and are numbered based on the island you are going to. One confusing thing about Greece is that they often refer to the destinations by only the port name, not the island and then sometimes it is the Greek name for the port, not the common English name.

Restaurant at the Port

After we walked around, dragging our suitecases after us, we found the right Ferry and bought our tickets. We were so hungry that we jumped into the first place that looked like it served food we could find. It was a little restaurant across from our dock with a small menu and country music playing on the radio. The hostess and the cook were constantly yelling at each other in Greek, but the food was amazing. I had the Pork special and Mike had Beef with red sauce. Both were so comforting and juicy, the Pork winning out in the end. They were both served with the most amazing Greek potatoes we have ever (and even after our full trip) had. Sorry, but we were too tired and hungry for pictures that day. You can see the restaurant with the blue shutters in the photo above.

Lato Hotel in Crete

We slept on the ferry through the night, which turned out to be a wonderful way to get into the time change quickly. Arriving in Heraklion, the capital of Crete, we discovered that everything was a lot closer than we anticipated, so we were able to walk to our hotel, the Lato Boutique. It was a really nice place, with a roof top dinning area, lifts you had to pull doors open into, and THE smallest bathroom I have ever seen. One had to sit sideways on the toilet because of the limited leg room. Very quaint.

And so began our third day, with coffee and an apple tart....

Self Proclaimed Tiramisu Snobs

2010-04-30T06:00:00.003-05:00

In Iowa City, where Mike and I went to college there was a restaurant called the Brown Bottle. It was a dimly light Italian place, with ok food and too high of prices for college kids. But the Tiramisu was amazing.

We'd go out to dinner at different places and then run over to The Brown Bottle for desert. They served the deep chocolate and espresso flavored treat in a large clear wine goblet, pressed up against the sides so you could tell it was individually made. Ever since then we've ooooh-d and ahhhh-d over every desert menu that we see it on, remembering the yummy dish. But it's never been the same. We get all hyped up to taste it and then it turns out in a perfectly layered (undoubtedly frozen) slice, tasting of cream cheese and bad coffee.

So I was really nervous to try making it myself. I'd found some good looking Lady Finger cookies at a local grocery store and figured I'd give it a try. Almost a year later they were still sitting in my cupboard.
We'd just had an amazing dinner with friends who made wonderful Bread Pudding and give us that recipe and one for Tiramisu.
Turns out it's pretty complicated to make from scratch, makes a lot of dishes, and is time consuming. Perfect! Honestly my kind of dish. I figure if it takes a long time to prep and make, it's gotta taste that much better than store bought.
I'm on the lookout for a better serving dish though. This repurposed flower vase just doesn't quite have the effect I'm looking for...

Tiramisu

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese*
1 3/4 cup heavy cream
2 packages dry lady fingers (3oz each)
½ cup coffee liqueur**
Cocoa powder or shaved chocolate curls

Beat egg yolks and sugar until lemony colored (1-2 minutes), place in top of double boiler a cook 8-10 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Whip 1 ¾ cup of the cream until stiff. Fold in the egg mix. Line bowl with layer of lady fingers and pour the liqueur over them, soaking slightly. Avoid getting the liqueur on the eggs mixture (it soaks into lady fingers well). Cover with eggs mix (1/3) dust with cocoa and repeat layers. Top with sweetened whip cream and garnish with dusting of cocoa or shaved chocolate. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

*Mascarpone cheese substitute: 8 oz cream cheese, 2 Tbls. cream and ¼ cup sour cream blended until smooth.

**Coffee liqueur: Espresso with brandy or Kaluha/Tia Maria.

Sweetened whipped cream: ¾ cup cream, 2 Tbls. powdered sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla whipped but not too stiff.

Spring has finally sprung!

2010-04-27T18:54:00.003-05:00

Here in Minnesota we are used to snow in April, but this year we have been blessed with some of the warmest weather I can remember in the spring. The 'evil' snow pile that Mike and I had to shovel off the flowers finally melted. The bulbs I planted last year decided to bloom. I've even see some butterflies.

The best part about spring in our neighborhood is the lilacs. The whole road is lined with them and when the breeze blows south the whole house fills with the sent. It's one of my favorite smells.

Talking Guac

2010-03-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

We were invited over to dinner last weekend by a couple who I work with at the Areboretum. They had an absolutly wonderful meal planned, much of it was done ahead of time, allowing them more time to talk with us than bustle around the kitchen.

I've often done the work upfront for dinner parties that we have. Something you can make a day (or even two) ahead of time will save hours of stress and planning the day of.

Some things, however, can not be rushed.

Simple dishes like guacamole, where there are very few ingredients, are always best when served right away.

Another dinner evening with friends brought out and equally wonderful meal, but with more of it prepared at the table. As quickly eaten as it was made. They served a guac side dish that was so yummy! Plus it was in a super cute pig morter bowl. I really need to get one of those....

Simple Guacamole

2 avacados, soft to the touch

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 cup red onions, chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

salt/pepper

Stir together until just mixed. Keep in refrigerator, covered in plastic till ready to serve. Always best when prepared right before ready to be eaten. Serve with blue corn chips.

Missing Spring

2010-03-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

My spring yard is here somewhere....

There are little signs of desparate plants, trying to push up through the still feet of snow that buried them in the winter. They are trying.

The other day I took a shovel that pile, attempting to help them out. All I got was a few blisters and further frustration at our plow service. I think I'll have to wait this one out...

I diagramed (I know, nerd alert) my yard out last year. It only took me 3 years of living in our town house to finally plant some real flowers. There are many houses around us with wonderful, continually blooming gardens, wonderful in both spring and summer. Color coordinated and height planned to show the maximum number of blooms.

Once the snow melts we'll see how it turns out. I have mini iris, tulips and daffodils.

I hope the bunnies stay away from them....

Irish Cream Cheesecake

2010-03-14T16:15:00.002-05:00

Again, March rolls in filled with baseketball, Corned Beef, and teasing warm weekends. Here in Minnesota we still have piles of snow and I watch with envy as other parts of the country start into spring.

Well I can control the color of some things. Most notably the green cheesecake we made for the upcoming St.Patrick's Day week.

The cheesecake recipe is a simple one, adapted from my sister who made the best cheesecakes growing up in Wisconsin. I added some Irish Cream flavoring and green food coloring in different layers to make a cake which resembles Irish Coffee. I may have to try adding some instant cappachino next year....

Basic Cheesecake
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup hazelnuts, crushed

2 packages cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp Irish Cream flavoring (or other extract)
2 eggs

Melt butter in a bowl and add sugar, graham crackers and hazelnuts. Make sure there is enough butter to be slightly sticky and press into a spring foam pan.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and flavoring until smooth in a blender. Add eggs one at a time until well mixed. Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until slightly browning at edges and still a little jiggly in the middle. Let cool on counter and chill for atleast 4 hours. Slice and serve.

* I double the cheese mixture and time to bake for a thicker slice.

2010 CSA

2010-02-25T06:00:00.002-06:00

We are very excited to be signed up for the CSA again this year.

Last year we tried out Harmony Valley which was a really wonderful introduction to the local CSA programs here in the city. They have an amazing Cheese Share which we signed up for again this year, that comes out of Wisconsin.

For the Veggies we decided to try Driftless Organics in 2010. This farm is in the same region in Wisconsin, my childhood home, as Harmony Valley is. And to bring it even closer to home, I went to middle and high school with the founders, Josh and Noah.

From the site:
"Driftless Organics came into being fifteen years ago under the name Rainbow Potatoes. It was started by Josh and Noah Engel, ages eleven and nine respectively, and as the name suggests they grew a colorful spectrum of potatoes; more than twenty varieties in all. As they themselves grew, so did their ambition and the number of crops they planted. What began as a quarter acre field of potatoes on their parents’ organic dairy farm has now expanded to over one hundred acres of vegetables, fruits, small grains and sunflowers; all grown in the driftless region of local Southwest Wisconsin. Noah and Josh have been joined in recent years by Mike Lind and his small herd of grass fed beef cattle, further diversifying the operation. The three of them work together to provide sustainably grown organic food at an affordable price to people like you."

I can't wait to share what wonderful things we get in 2010!

Faux Cookies

2010-02-02T19:48:00.005-06:00

No these are not chocolate chip cookies. I know. They look like it. These little cuties are Orange Currant Polenta Cookies and while that combination may not sound delicious, let me tell you.... it is.

I have firsthand knowledge that both kids and adults will enjoy a handful (or two). They are light, with a little bit of tangy-crunchy-chewiness that suites new years resolutionists with healthy vitamin C and Iron. Make them into bite sizes and enjoy! I won't take responsibility for chocolate lovers dissapointment though.

Ingredients
2 cups dried currants
1/4 tsp orange extract
1/4 cup water
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons coarse polenta (cornmeal)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, add the currants and water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the liquid. Set currents aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and sugar and beat to combine. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until incorporated together. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix again on low speed until a dough forms.

Once a dough forms add the currants and polenta. Mix together until thoroughly combined. Roll into small 1-inch balls, and arrange on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until slightly golden, 8-12 minutes, at 350 degrees on a non-stick pan. Cool and serve.

Recycling Hearts

2010-02-02T19:04:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we took a great weekend trip to visit my sister in Murfreesboro, TN. And although it snowed 3 inches, shutting down most of the southern, well everything… we were still able to go a nice bit of antiquing.

Among the new items were a cast iron frying pan, two German steins, Christmas tree skirt, and a hand-stitched quilt.

Unfortunately it doesn’t match anything in our house. So I decided to make up a new Valentine’s Day decoration to bring in some of the orangey yellows and bright blues.

I recycled a cheap drycleaner clothes hanger and some old fabric scrapes from hemming I had done earlier in the year. By cutting up the fabric into long strips and tying them onto the wire heart shape, a new pattern of colors emerged. The knotting mirrored the quilting and the colors are starting to warm up the house already.

Any left over fabric pieces could be used like this, in any color combinations. A little love for the earth, as Valentine’s Day gets closer.

OM - absolute, ultimate state of peace

2010-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

OM -

I was fortunate to work with the now Head Chef of OM, Jaime, during an Arboretum class taught by Raghavan Iyer.

His teacher, Raghavan, credentials straight from the OM website read: "Raghavan Iyer is an internationally awarded cookbook author and culinary educator. He is a two-time James Beard Award finalist and a Julia Child Award winner for Cooking Teacher of the Year. His most recent cookbook, 660 Curries, has been shortlisted among the top cookbooks by National Public Radio, The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Food and Wine Magazine."

Raghavan is of the best teachers; particular yet creative, harsh but forgiving, talkative and reserved. I've been very pleased to work with him and hear the stories of his tours to spice plantations in India.

Raghavan introduced Jaime as the chef for the upcoming opening of OM, a new modern Indian restaurant opening downtown. During the class we worked to prepare the meal for the always huge number of attendees. I quickly told Jaime my story of the first time I worked with Raghavan where I mistakenly de-seeded the Thai chili peppers from the recipe. You never de-seed for his recipes. Never.

Finally months after the opening my husband and I were able to get to OM and try out some of the flavors that I have been using from 660 Curries. We weren't disappointed. The Naan was amazing, all the Tandor items perfectly seasoned, and after the waiter found out I knew Jaime we were able to go back into the kitchen and talk to him. Man is it hot back there! Must be all the chili seeds....

I highly recommend trying this restaurant out if you are in the Minneapolis area!

Earthquake in Haiti

2010-01-18T09:43:00.004-06:00

Photos: Earthquake in Haiti

Almost a week since the tragic earthquake hit Haiti and reports are still coming in from the devastation. If you have the means to donate, even a little, look at this website for a start: Charity Navigator

This site lists all the valid funds and rates them on performance, service, and expenses. Give with confidence and assurance that your help will be received by those who need it.

Posted using ShareThis

Happy (21 Point Buck) Birthday!

2010-01-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

My baby brother turned 21! And what else does every young buck need than a deer cake. With 21 antlers ofcourse...

I used the same application for the paint as I did with the Thomas the Train cake, thick food coloring with alcohol for faster evaporation.

When I first made the devil's chocolate cake I forgot to flour the pan, so my not-so-non-stick pans made a destruction of that boxed delight. The second attempt was much better :)

I molded out the fondant and painted on the deer head. I had initially wanted to do 21 antlers, but I couldn't figure out how the heck they would look, so I just did 13. First thing the birthday boy does when he sees the cake is start counting the points. Now that's a true Wisconsinite! So after an explaination of where the A1 antler would go and at which level the D4 (whatever) would start, we got 21 points on there.

Thank goodness, cause it didn't last long.....

I am willing

2010-01-12T07:49:00.002-06:00

"If my eyes and heart are opened to receive new impressions, each day will be a new adventure. Even in the monotony of my life, no two days are ever the same and the differences will reveal to me a succession of fresh delights -- if I am willing."

2009-12-30T20:17:00.003-06:00

I have been making scalloped potatoes wrong my entire life.

Until now.

So I decided in case there was any one reading this blog who is also making the same mistakes, that I would share my new found love.

I am already obsessed with potatoes. I don't know if it comes from my Irish background or just because I love hearty filling carbs, but its there. Until now my favorite has been twice baked. I think that was only because they actually turned out delicious and smooth.

Not like my scalloped, which have always been overcooked and runny. I would boil the tots, cut them as thin as I could with a knife by hand, and mix them with cheese and cream. Eatable but not that great.

I tried slicing them thicker. Mixing the cheese with egg whites. Making them from raw potatoes. Nothing worked!

Flipping through the new edition of Cooking Light I saw an Au Gratin article listing all the different types you could make. They had the regular potato, squash, sweet potato, carrot, and some others. But what caught me was how they prepared them.

The key, I have found, is pre-baking in the liquid. Of course! We have some wonderful cheese from the CSA and it goes perfect with the potatoes from my mom's garden. The simple recipe is just this:

2-3 medium potatoes, washed and sliced thin (I use a mandolin)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup milk (1% in our house)
1 tbsp flour
1/2 c cheese (gruyere or a flavorful cheddar mix)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tbsp butter
salt/pepper

Heat potatoes, onion, garlic, milk, and flour over heat until partially cooked through and mixture thickens, not too fast or milk will curdle. Flavor with salt and pepper.
Spread butter over dish. Pour potatoes into dish, coat with shredded cheeses.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until top is brown and bubbly. Let cool slightly.

Malomakarona - Greek Chrismas Cookies

2009-12-15T17:06:00.005-06:00

Melomakarona - Greek Christmas Cookies

My new favorite little cookies.

Cookie Dough - makes 50 to 60 cookies
2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup Sugar

2 eggs
1 cup Orange Juice

1 tsp lemon juice

4 cups Plain Flour
2 cups semolima flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Mix wet ingredients together well. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated. Knead with more flour until moldable. Shape into rectangle-like cookies. Place on a non-stick surface and bake at 350 degree for about 20 minutes or until just golden.

Remove and let cool COMPLETLY.

Syrup

2 cups sugar

1.5 cups water

1.5 cups honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

8 cloves

Heat all together on a stove until bubbly, about 10 minutes. Remove cloves. Pour over cooled cookies in a pan. Flip cookes and let liquid soak in, for about 30 minutes.

Remove and coat in topping. Let dry.

Topping
8 cloves, from syrup
1 cup walnuts
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Grind together and toast till dry.

This recipe does make a lot. But you can store them in an air tight container up to two months... if they last that long.

Seasons Greetings

2009-12-07T19:57:00.003-06:00

This year I decided to decorate our Christmas tree with some handcut paper snowflakes.

Each one is a little different and unique. They were a challenge starting out, I haven't done them since I was in middle school, but after a few ugly square ones I got the hang of it. Here's a quick sequence to make a pretty circle shaped one...

First fold a square peice of paper over into a triangle, then fold again. Fold into thirds, over each other and cut off the end to a straight section. Either cut shapes into it from here or follow this pattern to get a cute little swedish style snowflake:

Pumpkin Popcorn

2009-10-23T19:52:00.003-05:00

With the turning of the leaves comes the mounds of squash. The are wonderful in soups, roasted, whipped or for decoration. But what about the pumpkins? Oh the pumpkins.

You get them for the carving, but the filling is rarely used. This year, from a tip (thanks mom!) we decided to try roasting them.

Mixed with butter, olive oil, thyme, sage, salt and pepper they were roasted on a pan in the oven till golden, similar to how I roast seasoned nuts. They popped just like corn kernels and tasted amazingly the same! We can't wait to try out different flavors with the next few halloweens to come.

Peachy

2009-09-24T12:43:00.004-05:00

Yes it's fall. But I'm still hanging onto the last of summer here in Minnesota. It seems we've gotten the warmest months right here at the end.
Hot, blustery days (yes that's a word) followed by storms and oppresive humidity. Lovely.
So with all this warm weather, it doesn't quite 'feel' like fall yet. When my in-laws came into town last weekend, I just couldn't bring myself to make my normal Apple Pie. Too fall too soon. I'll hang onto summer.

Peaches. mummm.... there were some beautiful peaches in the store which I thought would go well with the raspberries we got in our CSA cache that week.
My mom said she'd been going through a bunch and canning them into pie filling by blanching them. So I tried that. OMG she was right! The skins just slide right off and they are so easy to slice up.
Just boil the peaches in water for about 5 minutes and then dump into ice water to let cool.

They turn out just right, baked slightly without falling apart.

Slice them up, mix with tapioca filling, sugar and a little lemon juice, then stuff them in a pie. Sprinkle some raspberries on top and cover with your favorite pie recipe.

And hold onto summer.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

2009-09-03T11:58:00.007-05:00

It's that time of the year again. When the weather starts cooling down, the friers start heating up, and you get excited to find out what the newest "on-a-stick" item is.... It's the Minnesota State Fair!
We have our own little traditions for yummy greasy salty sugary things to eat, animal barns and art expos to visit, various beer gardens to relax at. But the big question is... how large will the giant pumpkin be this year?

Mini donuts hot off the frier. Cheese on a stick? why not.

Pretty rides and Grandstands.

Blue ribbon winners and isles filled with honey. The giant pumpkin was 1186 lbs this year, a new record for the sizes we've seen!

Visit the Butter Princesses in the Dairy Barn. Ah! to have your face carved out of a block of butter. Congrats Princess Kay of the Milkyway, you have arrived.

Horse, Cow, and Fowl barns. It was getting late at this time so the sheep had on their jammies. Sheep in pajamas. A new State Fair tradition.

And the midway. Nothing like the night time sounds of rides and walkers in the cooling air. So much more to see. Day #2 here we come!

Happy (Thomas the Train) Birthday!

2009-08-24T10:39:00.017-05:00

The scene: A dappled sun filled park with pavilion, playground, fields, and a pond.
The players: One happy four year boy, one excited younger brother, one beautiful baby princess, a dozen friends and their various guardians.
The plot: A Thomas the Train birthday party.

Me: "Can I make the birthday cake?!?!?"
B: "OMG, are you nuts? I would so rather have you make something than buy something from a store!"
Me: "Consider it done."

The plan: A sculpted Thomas the Train with three additional box cars, or tenders as I have learned. That equals four cars, numbered 1-4, for four year old Ethan's b-day. Place on a liquorish/pretzel track with graham cracker and coconut landscaping.

Four weeks before the party I made a test cake; it was a fish with a Canadian flag, made for the hubby's work trip to said Can-aid-ia. It was my first try at fondant. I figured if I watched enough 'Ace of Cakes' I'd get the general idea. I learned a lot about what not to do. Don't let it dry out. Don't add too much milk. Don't roll it out too thin. Don't use too much frosting. Don't rush. Do not use liquid coloring for red, it turns out pink. I highly recommend doing a small practice cake with sculpting if you are planning on trying this.

Two days before the big party I started prepping the butter cream frosting. I made a double batch, guessing on the amount based on mr. fish. The day before I got all my cakes baked, carved, butter creamed, and covered with the mass amounts of fondant I also made that day. I made way too much! Better more, than not enough. I started with the easiest shape first, the boxcar, and worked my way up to the more difficult pieces. Painting the face on Thomas was my favorite part. Just add a smidge of vodka to coloring gel to make a paint consistency; don't worry the alcohol will evaporate, 'Ace of Cakes' said so.

The morning of, I literally had to drag myself out of bed from a Saturday night GNO and start doing the final decorations. A little detail here, a little frosting piping there. Opps! missed the 'h' in birthday. Redo.

Carefully transferred the cakes onto the large decorated tag board with crushed graham crakers and green colored coconut for grass. Nervously drove to the park. Why are there so many bumps and turns in the road? I've never even noticed how many potholes and hills there are. Worst case disasters are going through my head at this point. All the cars piled up in a cakey-messy heap in the back seat. Thomas' face fallen and smashed on the tracks. No fix if that happens.

After a slight miscommunication in location we made it to the park. The party was great! Kids running around in semi-organized fun, a nice spread of pasta salads, sandwiches, and chips, an absolutely perfect sunny day. The cake was a big hit. When it came time to dish it out (after a impromptu game of hide-and-go-seek with the birthday boy) all the kids screamed for Thomas. They wanted a piece of that train. Poor Thomas, he never saw it coming. At one point I looked over to see Ethan devouring the face with help from dad, so happy.

The end.

How to make a Thomas the Train Birthday Cake

(estimating 2 days prior for proper drying and setup steps)

Day1 - Bake cakes, let cool. Make frosting. Carve cakes and frost. Let chill overnight.

Day2 - Make fondant and roll out to cover cakes. Let chill overnight. Prep all the serving decorations. Make Thomas face.

Day3 (day of party) - Place onto final serving tray. Decorate with frosting and candy within 2 hrs of the party.

Cake Instructions:
Use box cakes, do not make your own. There is a science to this and they have it down.
Cook to instructions and let cool completely. For box cars and Thomas cut in half and reattach layers with medium consistency icing (this way the inside will have frosting too) I used one bread pan for each of the cars and two for Thomas to have enough height and extra pieces for carving.

Square off sides with serrated knife (bread knife) or carve to correct shape for Thomas. (In the coal car I also made an indent on the top which later was filled with smashed oreo cookies for coal)
Cover final shape with frosting and let sit in refrigerator for at least 2 hrs to chill or overnight. Roll out colored fondant and cover shapes, taking care to not rip the fondant (just past back together with water if you do) Layer any colors, attaching with water to stick. Cut out shapes and place for more decorating with a sharp knife. Let chill again for at least 2 hrs or overnight.

Place onto final serving tray. With thin consistency frosting, decorate the cars and fill in any breaks. Be sure to do this as your last step and either keep in a cool location or serve within the next couple of hours as the frosting will dry out or things may melt if the weather is too warm (just like any cake :) )

Thomas Face Instructions:
Roll out a sheet of white fondant and cut into a round shape, the size that you will need to fill in your sculpted cake (make sure to measure) Using coloring gel, water down with some Vodka (it will evaporate, don't worry) paint the circle to resemble Thomas' face. Let dry out over night, may need to help it along by placing in a 200 degree oven to dry out. Do this slowly, allowing for a lot of time because it will crack if you go too face or still be wet if you don't let it dry out completely. I suggest cutting out a back up just in case and practicing on paper before you paint if you are not comfortable.
Alternitive is to scan out edible paper and attach to the cake or non edible attached to cardboard and just don't let anyone eat it.

Fondant Instructions:
(most can be found at a grocery store or in the cake specialist isle at a craft store like Michael's)

1 Tbsp of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup of cold water
1 tsp of almond extract
1/2 cup of light corn syrup (If a corn syrup is not available, you can substitute it with a sugar syrup made with 1-1/4 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water, boiled together until syrupy)
1 Tbsp of glycerin (some recipes say it’s optional, believe me, it’s a must)
2 lbs confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp of white vegetable shortening

Directions:
Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and let it rest for 2 minutes to soften
Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves
Add the Almond extract

Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl
Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it
Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky
Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take
Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass
Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant
Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out
If the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life
TIP: use coloring Gel, not drops and the color will be truer (especially for red and black) To make white add 1/4 tsp of Cream of Tartar

Butter Cream Icing Instructions:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk
Makes: About 3 cups of icing.
I used a triple batch with different colors and some left over. Make a large batch and color as needed.

(Medium Consistency)
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla.
Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.
For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

Corn Dressing

2009-08-21T09:55:00.001-05:00

It's been raining for a good 3 days straight. Cloudy and dark clouds are constantly blowing across the sky, threatening to burst open at any moment. The poochie does not like this weather. It means no long walks, no laying on the grass, and no yummy smells coming from the grill.

Like I've said before, during the summer if we're not grilling it's because it's raining. So instead I've been doing a lot of salads. The lettuce out there is amazing right now. So many great varieties and veggies to throw in. Back in January I posted about some easy homemade dressings, it's a great time to use up all that grilled corn that ends up as leftovers.

Our CSA share has the most amazing cheeses with it also. Experimenting with cheeses and nuts on salads is our new favorite cuisine thing to do. It's a great way to use up all those packages of frozen nuts which we all have at the bottom of the freezer door. That and roasting in butter and honey for a chewing snack, but that's for the dessert pictures I have to upload....

Summer Cool Down

2009-08-13T15:49:00.007-05:00

Hot summer days require many cool salads. And it's been h-o-t (hot!) here. I started making this salad for Indian dishes that called for more than 5 chili peppers (with seeds, cause in Indian cooking you never remove the seeds, that's just blasphemy) It goes really well with warm menus and after just a couple spice substitutions I've made, it can be worked into any cuisine.

There's nothing better than a cool, watery side dish to go with a 97+ degree Minnesota night. Well either that or ice cream. But I like grilled fruit or simmered berries on my ice cream and sometimes that's just too warm.

Speaking of berries.... the blueberry bushes are doing well. Despite all the efforts of the bunnies and Japanese beetles to destroy everything else in my yard, the new bushes are holding in there. I should be getting some additional bulbs to put in for Autumn and spring. I'm still walking around the neighborhood and looking at all the gardens, filled with constant flowers and growing hedges. Why did it take me over 3 years to finally plant something (besides those stupid blackberry lilies) that will come back each year? It baffles me. I baffle myself. Self-baffling, never a good thing.

Cabbage and Cucumber Salad

(bund gobhi kakadi nu salade - Raghavan Iyer)

1 small head of cabbage

1 cucumber

1/4 cup peanuts

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp crushed mustard seeds

2 tbsp shredded coconut

1/4 tsp cumin

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lime juice

Wash cabbage head and slice into small ribbons. Set aside in a large bowl. Peel cucumber, halve, remove seeds with a spoon, and slice into small cresents.

In a pan on medium heat, toast peanuts until just brown. Let cool and crush up. Add to cabbage mixture.

Add salt, pepper, sugar, mustard seeds, and coconut to the cabbage, mixing well. Drizzle olive oil and lime juice on top, mix. Let cool in fridge until ready to serve.

Can add fennel fronds or black sesame seeds for detail.

Backyard Grocery Store

2009-08-12T06:00:00.004-05:00

A trip home to my parents recently involved some berry picking. My mom has a wonderful garden set up this summer. There is everything from raspberries and blueberries, to red onions and pole beans. She has pumpkins and grapes, herbs and hot peppers. It's like having a grocery store in your own backyard! So jealous... you can see the greenhouse and beds here in the late winter before any work has been done...

...and then here in early spring when the lettuce is just coming up. The berry patch is in the upper right corner.

But the raspberries needed to be cut back my grandpa said. And the blueberries where full on drooping with purple bunches. So I decided to try out a Clafoutis I'd seen online. Eventhough I can't pronouce this French dessert, for my first try it turned out pretty yummy. It's a nice eggy flavor and I just love raspberries!

Since the weekend also involved a bluberry bush adventure, (basically searching all over the Coulee region for some onsale) I might be able to make my own.

Some day I'll have a grocery store in my backyard. We'll start with the dessert section for now.

Raspberry and Blueberry Clafoutis
*addapted from the post by Posie Gets Cozy

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup raspberries
1/2 cup bluberries Confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10 by 3 by 1 1⁄2-inch round baking dish and sprinkle the bottom and sides with 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar.

Beat the eggs and the 1⁄3 cup of granulated sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly mix in the flour, cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash and dry the berries. Pour berries into the bottom of the dish, spreading out evenly. Pour the batter over the berries and bake until the top is golden brown and the custard is firm, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Pollenators

2009-08-06T08:33:00.004-05:00

So I've had a bout of bad luck with bees lately. Seems I can get stung by just walking out the front door. I don't mind the Honeybees, but the wasps are out to get me this year.

If all flowers could be pollenated by butterflies my life would be easier :) This pretty blue guy was helping my already overgrown Blackberry Lillies propegate even further.

On a visit to my parents over the weekend, I picked up some blueberry bushes. I'm excited to see how they do over the winter. They are a Northern variety, so I would hope the snow and frost won't do too much damage. We'll see in the spring....

Smells like Florida

2009-07-23T13:44:00.006-05:00

"It smells like Florida." Words spoken often by my younger brother whenever the summer heat and humidity reminded him of our yearly trips to Casey Key, FL. Growing up we would take off a couple weeks in March and fly down to spend the 1/2 month in a time share on the beach. The first day usually was filled with grocery shopping, claiming the best room in the house, and breaking in your beach feet by walking up and down looking for sharks teeth. Over the years we must have brought back hundreds of sharks teeth. They fill jars and bottles in my parents house and there is still a conch filled lamp in my old bedroom.

I think we started going to Florida for the space shuttle launches. My parents went to high school with Mark Lee, a then astronaut who was able to get us access to view the launches from the nearest point allowed. We'd drive out to a sandy peninsula, park alongside the road, and pull out the lawn chairs. Surrounded by water and signs that said "No swimming allowed, crocodile infested waters" we'd wait for the countdown with the other special access observers. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.... We have lift off! The ground would shake with the force of the shuttle bursting upwards, trailed by fluffy white clouds. Even after we stopped going to the launches, we still travelled to Florida in March. It was a great event to look forward to in the spring semester when wet sloppy snow and cold mornings were the daily forecast.

There are many memories from those trips.
The little wood stilt shack on the beach that leaned more to the left every year.
Surviving the small off shore hurricane where they evacuated us from the peninsula, dad grabbing at flying deck chairs trying to get them into the garage, me being semi-delusional from a weird illness I was sure was Red Tide.
All the crazy animals washed up on the beach after the storm. Those gross black snakes that would slither along the white house and freak my mom out. The Doberman Pincher guard dogs that chased my brother and sister after they got too close to the Mob neighbor's mansion. Charlie the Crane (who I'm sure was a different Crane every year) walking on the deck. Picking up free old loaves of bread from the store and throwing the crumbs into the air for the seagulls to dive and catch.
Mud pies and sand castles. Lobster dinners and the time our uncle visited and was red as a Lobster from falling asleep in the sun. Orange groves and fresh squeezed juice.
But I never remember any key limes.

Key Lime Filling

4 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 cup key lime juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together and pour over pre-baked crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested.

Graham Cracker Crust

8 graham crackers

4 tbsp butter

Crush crackers up and mix with melted butter. Press into pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes until slightly brown.

Pesto Donuts

2009-07-23T13:20:00.007-05:00

I know. It sounds amazing.

I got this recipe out of my bread book and thought it sounded nice with some meatballs the other night. Our basil plant is on it's last leg. We've needed to harvest the leaves and make a big batch of pesto for about a month now.... hopefully the bunnies won't get to it first.

While the picture in the cook book made the muffins look thick and crumbly, mine turned out hollow and more donut-like in texture. I think our homemade pesto sauce has a bit more oil than cheese and caused the semi-frying of the muffins.

You can see the olive oil getting hot and bubbling out the tops of the muffins. It continued to pour over slowly and turned the muffins into little fried pop-overs with a pesto center. The dough was thick and soft, with buttery hints of basil. A big hit for the night!

Pesto Donut-Muffins

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1/4 cup pesto sauce

Combine dry ingredients together. In a large bowl mix egg and milk. Add in flour mixture and stir together until just combined.

In a non-stick or sprayed muffin tin, fill 1/3 way using half the batter. Spoon in peso sauce in the middle of the battered muffin tin. Cover with remaining batter mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until tops are golden. Remove, let cool slightly.

Pesto Sauce

20 fresh basil leaves

10-15 pine nuts

1/4 parmesean cheese

1/4 olive oil

pepper and salt to taste

Mix basil, nuts, and cheese in a blender. Slowly add oil. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Fall is Coming

2009-07-20T07:58:00.003-05:00

It's turning into Fall here, I swear! The weather has turned from sweltering 100+ degree heat to balmy high 60's days. And even though Fall is my favorite season I'm missing summer already.

We've been on a bit of a dessert kick lately. Thinking ahead to the apple season has me wishing it was already here. I'll usually make a bunch of pies up from the apple orchard we visit. My mom has a nice trick of using Tapioca grains to make the filling thick without being starchy. It's a great thickener to have on hand.

Apple Pie Filling
6 large apples, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp Tapioca

Mix all together in a bowl and add to premade pie crust. Bake to instructions. Top with caramel.

Baby Blogger

2009-07-14T10:08:00.005-05:00

My generation is in a baby boom. I have so many friends who are planning on or have just had kids, it's amazing! Congrats to them all!

Mr. Mike and I were asked to be godparents for one such amazing family this spring. I've been meaning to post on that for awhile now.

We are so thankful to them for their friendship and wonderful support for us over the years. I don't know what I'd do without you Halls!

For almost the entire time I've known B she's been preggers. Two wonderful boys and one beautiful girl... it's seems like a lifetime ago when we moved up here to the cities and she carted us around trying to find the 'perfect' house. Thanks for all your patience!!! I don't know how you stand us sometimes!

Now the hubbies play regular golf, the girls have nights out, and we've gotten to experience a multitude of first childhood memories with their family. I can't wait till birthday #4 when I'll be attempting to make a Thomas the Train cake.... thanks again for your faith and support B!

These little guys were watercolor drawings I put together for no particular reason, I just thought the kiddos might like them since they love that zoo so much. Enoy!

Stars and Stripes

2009-07-08T08:33:00.003-05:00

For the America's Birthday this year we traveled north to the cabin in Wisconsin. The lake was amazingly low traffic and the boaters who were out were in full "4th" mode. I wish I had pictures of all the pontoons decorated with flags and streamers and ribbons. So much stuff that's it's surprise they had room for a beer cooler on the boats!

Every time we leave for the cabin I feel that we are packing for 3 weeks instead of three days. We have a cooler full of food, two smallish suitcases, bikes, games, the dog and all her toys, the new Duck Dog bed for the cabin, golf clubs, more food... *sigh* it's an adventure.

Mr. Mike had picked up a huge bag of cherries in our food preparation the week before. You have to prepare for the trip, because you never know what will be left up at the cabin. With three of our families trading weekends there's never a reliable stock (sorry guys but I used the last of the flour!)

So I made some 'stars and stripes' cherry turnovers...
And then a Cherry Pie...
There are still cherries left....

But there was more than baking with cherries this weekend. There was a lot of time spent on the deck playing yhatzee, cribbage, backgammon, cards, and bags.

There was a lot of time snoozing by the dog on her new cabin bed.

There was golf. There were trees, water hazards, and sand traps.

There was a bike ride.

And with all of our bike rides there was a pony. There's always a pony when we go out for a ride. I have no idea why.

Pink cake, red drinks

2009-06-22T19:23:00.010-05:00

Through our CSA we've gotten a lot of rhubarb. I've always been a fan of the classic crumble that almost everyone has a recipe for. But I didn't want that! I wanted something different. Something not the norm. Something like, oh I don't know, cheese cake....

My sister has a great recipe for cheesecake. Over the years it's been a classic staple at the hubby's birthday. Nothing says I love you and happy birthday like a peanut-butter chocolate cheesecake.

On the Whipped blog I visit there was a post about summer drinks, which reminded me of the Mexico vacation we went on this spring. It was filled with Mojiotos, Sol, and Sangria. I've always wanted to try making a batch of Sangria, so that's what I did this weekend along with the cheesecake.

The tartness of the rhubarb is a smooth match to the rich sweetness of the cheesecake filling. It was hard for me to eat just one slice.
And Sangria is my new favorite summer drink! So refreshing on the hot days we've been having, without leaving you feeling like you've had one too many beers in the sun. I would recommend it for any wine or non-wine drinker.

Rhubarb Cheesecake
2-3 cups crushed graham crackers
3 tbsp melted butter
2 pkgs cream cheese, room temp
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 1 tsp sugar
1 cup rhubarb, chopped
1 clove, crushed
2 tbsp water

For crust: Mix crackers and butter together until sticky. Press into the bottom of a spring form or other tall pie dish. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove and let cool slightly.

In a sauce pan heat rhubarb, clove, 1 tsp sugar, and water until rhubarb has broken down and is soft, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

In a mixer combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cream cheese till blended. Add eggs one at a time mixing slowly.

Pour over crust leaving about 1/4 cup back. Beat saved portion with the rhubarb. Spoon over other filling in dollops, using a knife to swirl into bottom filling. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Center should be slightly giggly and edges just browning. Let cool at room temp then place in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

Sangria

4 cups red wine

2 cups citrus soda (sprite, sun drop, 7up)

2 cups water

sliced fruit (lemon, lime, orange)

ice

Mix liquids together. Slice fruit into rounds, until desired ammount. Sqeeze leftover juice into mixture. Add ice, sitr, and let cool.

Upside Down

2009-06-22T18:53:00.004-05:00

Summer time is great for cool drinks and fruity desserts. I had a jar of canned currents left over from a cooking class and a pineapple that we never grilled up over the week. So I guess it was kind of enevitable. They were canned with sugar, cloves, and a bit of vinager to make them sweet and tangy.

The carmalized pineapple is a favorite of ours to make either sliced on the grill and served as a side to steaks or brushed with sugar and used as a topping on ice cream. Of course everything on the grill is a favorite. In the summer if we aren't grilling it's because it's raining out.

Some cool rain wouldn't be bad right now. It's in the 90's in Minnesota, full into the humid summers that contrast to the freezing winters. Maddie has gotten better about the heat. We used to wrap ice in a towl and lay it on the floor for her to sleep on. She was also a fan of snoozing directly over the vents behind the couches. Now she tolerates the walks and runs outside, but still has trouble with the really hot days. Her fur coat is made for the winter and she loves season, oh boy does she love it!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
1 pineapple, sliced into hollowed circles
maraschino cherries or tart currents
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk

Heat butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan till slightly carmalized. Add pineapples and heat through. Remove from heat, let cool, place in a pan and pour remaining carmalized sugar over top. Fill the hollow of the pineapple with cherries or currents.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and beat 1 minute. Pour batter over pineapples. Bake at 350°F for 20-40 min depending on pan size until a toothpick tested in the center is clean.

Let cool. Slice the top of the cake flat and flip over so that the pineapple is on top.

Creamy Crème

2009-06-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ah! here's that smooth texture I was looking for when I tried out Crème Carmel! This has all the thickness and decadence of ice cream, but adds some wonderful crunchy texture.

The ingredients can take on a mixture of different flavors. I've done regular vanilla, espresso, lavender, anise, and toffee. Each is a little different and can compliment a wide range of main dishes.

I've never made this dish by baking in the oven, my sister always taught me to do on the stove top. It's a little more work, but interactive and a fun way to insure you get the right consistency in the custard.... which I'm still working on.

I think a flame torch is a must for this dish, but I've heard you can use your oven on a broil setting for similar results. Just make sure to account time for setting up in the fridge and remember that there is no such thing as too thick when it comes to Brulee, only not setup!

Crème Brulee
6 egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
powdered sugar, for topping

In a double boiler heat cream until small bubbles form on the sides, but not boiling. Slice vanilla bean and add to cream. After some time remove the bean, run a knife down to loosen the seeds, and add both the bean and the seeds back into the cream.

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened. Add sugar and mix until dissolved. Temper the egg mixture by adding a little of the cream into the eggs and stir. Slowly pour the eggs into the cream, whisking constantly.

Continue to stir the mixture on a high heat. After 15-20 minutes the custard will begin to thicken. It should coat the back of a spoon.

With a strainer, pour into ramekins, removing the vanilla bean and any thick pieces. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 4 days, covered with plastic wrap.

When serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar and torch until caramelized on top.

Weekend farming

2009-06-15T08:17:00.003-05:00

Our weekend was busy. Between golfing, yoga, gardening, bread baking, and dinner with friends we tried to find time to hit the Minneapolis Farmer's Market on saturday morning.

It's an interesting mix of food, flowers, crafts, and the odd/hopefully interesting items people try to sell.

Set below the skyline of the city, next to the police impound station are rows of stands that are filled each morning with local farmers. There are a lot of not-so-local farmers also. Many are Organic or CSA that travel up from southern minnesota or over from wisconsin.

It's a little confusing at first. There isn't really a rhymn or reason the the setup. There is a craft market at the beginging where you can find pottery and garden ornaments. The whole atmosphere kinda sucks you in and pulls you along with the other gawkers who are just there for the sights and smells.

Once you smell the fresh roasted cinnamon almonds you are almost in the heart of the stands.

There were many new vendors this visit. Home-made pasta, dog treats, many new salsa stands, and a fresh honey station where a flat of bees were keeping eveyone interested.

It was a nice saturday morning....

Bubble Bread

2009-05-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

Don't they just look like little soliders all lined up for their marching orders? Into the oven with you! :)

I have a new Bread Book I'm trying out with a fresh batch of yeast. It's amazing what good yeast will yeild vs year old-sitting-in-your-cubbard-forever yeast.

This recipe is really easy to make and the individual rounds can be frozen and saved for a later date. I've done some twists that worked out really great too. Just make sure they have enough time to rise if they are frozen!

Bubble Bread

3 - 3 1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1.25 oz yeast (1 pkg)
1/4 c warm water
1 c milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
2 tbsp Parmesan
1/3 c melted butter
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme

Lightly grease a large bread pan or deep round casserole dish. In a large bowl combine sugar, warm water, and yeast till frothy. Add in 1 c flour and salt. In a small bowl mix milk, oil, cheese, and egg together. Add to yeast / flour mixture.

With mixer or by hand beat on a low speed, 3 min. With wooden spoon stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, until dough has doubled.

Punch down dough and break off golf ball sized rounds of dough and dip in melted butter mixed with herbs. Place in prepared dish forming layers.

Cover and let rise again until bubbles have risen to almost the top of the dish, about 30 - 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F. Bake 25-30 minutes or until tapping the top sounds hollow. Let cool, serve warm.

Weekenders

2009-05-27T13:39:00.003-05:00

For Memorial Day weekend we headed up to my parents cabin in northern Wisconsin for a long weekend full of boating, fishing, biking, hicking, golfing, grilling, and everything else we could fit in.

We'd spent the previous week building a new 'Bags' set for the cabin. We tried to follow ACA standards and build the boards to a specific hight and weight the bags to an exact weight. While the boards worked out great, the bags done on my little house wife sewing machine burst after a few throws and I spent the rest of the weekend hand stiching the squares up before all the beans came flying out.

I will be ordering an industrial proof set this week.

We went on many walks with Maddie around the cabin and of course had to drive into Spooner and stop at the Bakery Shop and swing by the Natural Spring to fill up or water bottles before our bike trip. We had to search around for a place to ride but finally found a trail going behind some fields and into a woods that was peaceful and exciting to ride on.

Many of the spring flowers are opening up there. The woods are covered in white spots of Trillium flowers and there are some other little hidden flowers like wild violets and these forget-me-nots we fould on our walks...

It takes so little to amuse the puppers though. One floating log was all she cared about during our fishing trips (and about the only thing 'swimming' we saw)

Veggie Shells

2009-05-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Spaghetti Squash! Round three! ding, ding ding

I finally used up all of the Spaghetti Squash in this dish and also used some left over veggies. We are still making headway on our CSA box and try to add something extra to each dish.

Since we're also big meat eaters, I just had to add something besides veggies, but substitute immitation bacon for a veggitarian meal or just leave it out.

I enjoy using my homemade stock in recipes like this, where a thicker liquid helps the sauce and overall taste of the dish. The shells are very light on dairy, I'm guessing you could even cut the cheese and milk out completely and still retain the smoothness that comes from the mashed squash.

Squash Stuffed Shells with Asparagus
1 pkg large pasta shells
2 cups squash, cooked and mashed
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped Canadian bacon
2 tbsp cup white wine
1/4 cup stock (veggie or bird)
2 tbsp cream or milk
10-15 stalks Asparagus, washed and cut into 2” pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot of water with salt, boil the pasta shells to directions until al dente (slightly undercooked). Drain and let cool.

In a medium sauce pan heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic with a little salt through until soft and translucent. Separate 1/2 of the onion mixture into a large bowl with the squash, both cheeses, and pepper; mix well.
Stuff the cooled shells with the mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the remaining onion mixture with the bacon. Add wine and cook down. Add stock and milk heating through. Stir in the asparagus to heat it slightly until it turns a bright green color. Pour over the shells. Add a bit more stock to the bottom of the dish if it appears ‘dry’.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the asparagus is fork tender and the shell mixture is warmed through.

Cookies with a Twist Ending....

2009-05-18T08:54:00.012-05:00

The island of Crete was the center of the Minoan civilization and culture from 2600-1400 BC. It is the oldest recorded Greek civilization. The Minoan’s may have taken their name from king Minos, who was said to rule over the island with a labyrinth which housed the Minotaur in Greek myth.

One variation of the myth states that after a war Athens was required to send human sacrificial offerings every year, as surrendering terms to be given to the half-man half-bull monster. One year a young man named Theseus volunteered to be part of the offering, in hopes of slaying the Minotaur. On arrival to the island, the king’s daughter Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him sword to fight the bull and ball of string to find his way out of the Labyrinth.

Ariadne is thought to be the true fertility goddess of Crete, depicted as a Snake Goddess, reduced to legend and myth. The Minoans worshiped the snake for its healing powers. A traditional Greek cookie called Koulourakia (koo loo rahk yah) is often shaped into spirals like small snakes.

I made a batch of these up for the first time this weekend and I must say they are deceivingly addicting. They look almost like pretzels, with the egg glaze and sesame seeds, but taste like a light sugar cookie. The hint of vanilla slowly grows on you makes it difficult to eat only one…

Koulourakia
3 1/2c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3c softened butter
3/4c sugar
3 egg yolks
Reserved egg whites
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp dark spiced rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon zest or juice
Sesame seeds

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, one at a time beating between additions. Stir in yogurt, rum, vanila and lemon.

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients gradually, kneading until you have a dough-like substance. Do not over knead or the dough will become too dry. Add some water if needed.

Break off chunks about the size of a golf ball and roll into 3 inch ropes and shape. Brush on reserved egg whites, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake on a sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Spaghetti Squash - freak or fantasy?

2009-05-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

My mind is still not made up.
If you’ve never heard of a Spaghetti Squash before, don’t be fooled by its name. While some people will tell you it can be substituted for the true pasta, I found it too tender to hold up to the sauces.
But the flavors are much more robust than some people say. I thought that it was a nice light butternut squash-like flavor with a smoother consistency.

After halving the squash (a sharp knife and a little patience is needed) I scooped out the pumpkin-esc seeds, coated it in extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and an oregano/thyme mixture. Baking it in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 yielded a fun stringy squash that I was excited to try out. Like I said, it just didn’t stand up. The flavor was there, but the texture was lacking. It looked like thin Angel Hair pasta which had gotten cut up into small bits.

Now here we are with a 1/2 cooked squash and no ideas….. hum…. I decided to try frying it with Polenta I had picked up that week.

Another mishap, but this time with the Polenta. Again, the flavors were amazing (the sweetness from the fried corn was incredible) but they just kinda fell apart during the frying. I’ve read that letting the Polenta rest in the fridge for awhile will cause it to harden up and then you can cut it and fry it. I think that will be my next effort.

For interested readers, the mixture I used for the Fritters was: cooked Polenta, mashed Spaghetti Squash, a splash of milk, salt, pepper, oregano. I would recommend cooking the Polenta with less water and longer than recommended, mixing with the remaining ingredients, cooling in a small bread pan or some other shape, and then cutting and frying.

The Beginning of the Trend

2009-05-15T13:01:00.004-05:00

The CSA season has arrived! I picked up my first CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) box from out farm, Harmony Valley last evening.

The family hosting the pickup site lives just on my way home, so it will be very convenient. We signed up for the ‘every other’ week with another family for veggies and a ‘once a month’ for a cheese share for ourselves. We received a wonderful looking Blue Cheese, a tasty Mozzarella, and a Mild Cheddar this week.

The veggies looked great! Especially the Spinach. So green and leafy looking. There are some varieties of vegetables that I am interested to try out. I’ve never worked with Black Radishes before. It sounds like they have a taste similar to Horseradish. I’m thinking of mixing a sauce up for some of the huge Asparagus that came with.

The packaging is so professional and informative. I was very surprise to see how put-together the boxes were and how smoothly the pick up site was run. Here’s to a great summer CSA start and a new veggie trend on the blog!

What's in the box?

Salad Mix

Willow or Dogwood - Decoration

Using Veggies - Asparagus Risotto

2009-05-14T09:00:00.003-05:00

Today is the day we pick up our first CSA share. We are splitting the share with another couple, and we are all so excited to see what will come in the boxes every other week. I think the biggest challenge will be thinking of new ways to use the veggies. While sautéing or steaming has its purposes and is great for quick preparations, it is not always the most interesting thing at every meal.

One bunch of Asparagus magically made it through three meals this week. First it was sautéed in an olive oil, white wine, stone ground mustard mixture. Then it was steamed and mixed with fresh risotto. Finally it was broiled with squash stuffed shells.

Each preparation tasted and looked a little different, keeping the meal interesting and delicious. With all the veggies we should be receiving, keeping it interesting will be the theme of the summer!

Asparagus Risotto
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh Oregano
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/4 white wine
2 cups stock (veggie, chicken, or bird)
2 tbsp milk
8-10 stalks Asparagus, washed and cut into 2” pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large skillet heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic with a little salt cooking till soft and translucent. Add the oregano and some fresh ground pepper. Increase the heat and add the rice. Let the rice mix with the oil and cook about 5 minutes, do not let the rice brown however.

Slowly add the wine and cook down till. Continue to add stock to the rice, about 1/4 cup at a time, cooking the rice until almost all the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Stir every once in awhile; do not over mix during the later parts of the cooking time or the rice will become mushy. Should take about 10-15 minutes for the stock to absorb.

Meanwhile in a sauté pan heat 2 tbsp of water. Add the asparagus and cover, letting the pieces steam. Set to the side once they are fork tender.

Stir in the steamed asparagus with any remaining liquid from the steaming. Add the milk to the rice and a little more water if the mixture is too sticky or if the rice is not cooked through. Adjust the salt and pepper. Serve immediately while warm.

Chix Salad

2009-05-13T09:00:00.010-05:00

One of our most favorite things to grill in the summer is Greek Chicken. I tasty blend of lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper get mixed into a marinade for all types of chicken pieces.

While this in its self is an amazing dish, even better are the leftovers which get turned into the most amazing Chicken Salad you will ever whip up!

I will even write down the secret to this recipe…. Consistent sized pieces. The trick is to cut up the chicken, celery, and onions into very small sized bits. It blends together so much nicer and almost melts in your mouth. We also tend to eat ours a bit dry, ie not lathered in mayo. The longer it sits, the better it gets. Generally that’s not more than a day in our house though….

Chicken Salad
-Makes 4-6 servings-

2 cooked chicken breasts
3 stalks celery, washed
1/2 small onion
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup mayo
1 tbsp mustard, Dijon
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup Almonds, sliced and crushed
Salt/pepper to taste

Chop up the chicken and celery into equal small sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Dice the onion and garlic up, add to chicken mixture. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well to taste. Store in refrigerator overnight for a blended flavor. Serve on salad or for sandwiches.

Hut Hut!

2009-05-12T07:46:00.008-05:00

As any experienced mushroom hunter knows, “Hut Hut!” is the cry of victory yelled through the woods when you find Morel Mushrooms.

This variety of mushroom is one of the most sought after species in the fungi family. And while buying them from the Farmers Market would cost you the current going rate on Rolling Stones tickets, finding them in the wild is oh so much more enjoyable.

Maybe it’s because forced cultivation has not been perfected, maybe it’s just the hunt, but every family of mushroom hunters waits for the spring with anticipation and dreams of garbage bags full of little brown, yellow, or grey honeycombed caps. Each family also has their secrets.

It might be the time of year: Only when the apple blossoms are in full bloom.
It might be the location: Under a dead Elm tree.
It might be a guarded located: With just the right amount of dew and sunlight.

But whenever or where ever you find your stash it becomes a treasured and defended plot of land. If you’re lucky the secret gets passed down within the family.

In our house growing up, we always had a mushroom season where the five of us would go out and scurry the valley side. My parents still find tons every year. Yes dad, I am jealous, but thanks for the pictures. My mom will clean the extra morels in water and a little salt and then freeze them in water for the winter season. It’s a wonderful treat!

While the classic French preparation puts morels in the same league as Truffles and Caviar, my favorite use is sautéed in butter with salt and pepper, served with a nice steak….

*Pictures by D.Welch*

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

2009-04-21T12:34:00.005-05:00

Arboretum Cooking Classes

For the past year or two I've been lucky enough to volunteer at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum as a sous-'chef' for the culinary classes.

They have a wonderful selection of Ethnic courses including Indian, Chinese, Latin, Irish, Italian, and more. No matter which class I work it is always a new menu and involves new techniques.

There's generally a flurry of activity before the class starts where we set up the tables, prep any food, and precook any dishes that we can. Once the attendees arrive (usually 10-30 people) we begin the instructional class. The chef will demo to the group how to make the dish and then myself, along with any other helpers, well make the dish again in a larger quantity for serving. Everything is done where people can see you, so mess ups are a big problem ;-) Thankfully I haven't had any of those yet! *crosses fingers*

The Arb is also heavily invested in the local growning community and sponsoring fresh healthy food choices.

We found our own CSA contact through a class I worked and are so excited to get our first share this coming May. I can't wait to see what interesting and new veggies will show up in our basket!

The photographs are from the St. Patrick's Day Class taught by Beth Dooley.
Pictures by: Craig Eiler

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-15T15:27:00.006-05:00

What's that? A dinosaur egg? An experiment gone bad?

Those are 'Stain-glass Eggs'! Taken from the Chinese Tea Eggs preperation where you stain eggs using black tea. I've done this before where you hard boil eggs and then roll the egg around to crack the shell. Placing the egg in a container filled with black tea overnight allows the eggs to infuse with the color.

So ofcourse my sister and I had to try this for a Deviled Egg Easter Surprise when we went home to Wisconsin the past weekend with food coloring! And while they may not have turned out perfect, once you make these into Deviled Eggs they taste just as delicious....

Deviled Eggs

10 hard boiled eggs, shelled

1/2 cup mayo

2-3 tbsp stone ground mustard

1 tbsp hot sauce

salt & pepper to taste

Cut the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks to a large bowl, placing the whites on a tray. Mix the remaining ingredients with the yolks until as creamy as you like.

Using a small spoon scoop the yolk mixture back into the whites. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

March Madness

2009-03-19T17:52:00.004-05:00

No I'm not talking about all the basketball on television, although my bracket does rock.... I'm talking about all the corned beef leftovers that we have!

While a fresh roast is amazing, nothing quite beats a Ruben sandwich. The tangy thousand island dressing, the earthy rye bread, the sweet freshness of Swiss cheese. It makes you wish the grocery stores stocked corned beef all year round.

Rubin Sandwich
Rye Bread
Corned Beef, cooked and sliced
Sourkraut
Swiss cheese, sliced
Thousand Island Dressing
Butter

Stack beef, sourkraut, cheese, and dressing on bread. Butter outsides of the bread slices. Cook in a Panini maker or in a hot pan till toasted. Let sit till cheese has cooled slightly, slice and serve warm.

Thousand Island Dressing
3 small pickles
1 hard boiled egg
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp onion, grated
4 tbsp catsup
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp Worsteshire sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Chop pickles, egg, celery, and garlic fine. Add to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Place in the refrigerator till cold.

St Patty's Green

2009-03-16T07:00:00.008-05:00

Up the airy mountain,

Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-hunting

For fear of little men;

Wee folk, good folk,

Trooping all together;

Green jacket, red cap,

And white owl's feather!

My mother used to sign me an Irish song as a child which must have been adapted from "The Leprechaun" by Roger Dwyer Joyce. It was quite a different lullaby then most children might have gotten, but it made me proud to be part Irish and developed my love for everything green.

This year for St.Patty’s well be making soda bread, corned beef, and what else? Potatoes! Another way to incorporate a little Leprechaun green into your meal would be Spinach Pasta. Just add a little to a regular fresh pasta recipe and you’ll be speaking in a Gaelic drawl in no time :)

Spinach Pasta

1/2 lbs spinach, washed
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 egg
3 1/2 cup flour

De-stem spinach and cut into very very small pieces. Sauté ina pan with olive oil and salt. When the leaves have wilted and the water evaporated strain out spinach. You can simmer the strained liquid down until it is thick and add it back in with the spinach to retain the nutrients.

Knead all ingredients together on a flour dusted surface for 5 minutes until they form a ball which is not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let sit in refrigerator for another 1/2 hr. Using a pasta attachment or other tool roll out to 1/4 of an inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut into long strips or use fettuccini attachment. Because the spinach is ‘stringy’ you may need to manually pull the noodles apart from each other. Let dry on a rack for 1/2 hr.

Boil in salted water for 1-2 minutes or until the noodles float on the surface.

In a shady nook one moonlit night,
A leprahaun I spied.
In a cap of red and a coat of green,
A cruiskeen by his side,
'Twas tick, tack, tick, his hammer went,
Upon a weeny shoe,
And I laughed to think of his pot of gold,
But the wee man was laughing too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.

With tip-toe step and beating heart,
Quite softly I drew nigh.
There was laughter in his merry face,
A twinkle in his eye;
He hammered and sang with tiny voice,
And drank his mountain dew;
And I laughed to think of his pot of gold,
But the wee man was laughing, too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.

As quick as a wink I caught the old man,
"Your pot of gold," I cried,
"My gold?" said he, "'tis in her hand,
That lady by your side."
I turned to look, the wee man was off,
Awk! what was I to do?
And I laughed to think what a fool I'd been,
But, the wee man was laughing, too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.

A Tale of Two Custards

2009-03-12T11:30:00.002-05:00

My sister makes the most delicious Crème Brulee, it’s always a family treat and we love to have it on special / not-so-special occasions. She taught me the secretes to stirring and chilling a few years back, so since then I’ve made vanilla, cappuccino, lavender, and toffee renditions. But while Brulee is decadent and smooth it also fills your waist line. So in the spirit of healthy living I thought I would try making Crème Caramel, the less sultry and definitely easier cousin of Brulee.

I’m not sure if I succeeded. The Caramel was sweet, but not smooth as Brulee. The almonds added a nice texture difference but something was just missing… maybe it’s the 3 cups of cream I’m used to….

Crème Caramel
1/3 c. sugar
4 tbsp water

3 egg yolks, beaten2 eggs, beaten1/3 c. sugar1 2/3 c. milk1/2 tsp. vanilla
3-4 almonds, chopped

Set up 8-10 ramekin bowls or other small bake proof dishes in a 9x12 pan (like a lasagna pan).

In a medium non-stick pot melt sugar and water together on high heat until it just starts to brown becoming caramel, about 8-10 minutes. Pour hot caramel into the dishes, coating the bottom. Caramel will cool quickly so reheat if needed. Once the caramel has cooled sprinkle the chopped almonds on top.

In a large double boiler or non-stick pot, heat milk and sugar to a low boil; when small bubbles form around the sides. Slowly stir in eggs (temper by stirring in a tbsp of the milk into the eggs first). Add vanilla and heat through stirring for 5 minutes.

Pour into the dishes, straining if the eggs have formed up slightly.

Fill the pan with water up 2/3 the side of the ramekins. Bake for 40-60 minutes in a 300 degree oven or until thickened and a knife comes out clean. Let cool and place in refrigerator overnight, up to 2 days or at least 4 hours to set. Run a knife around the edges of the dish and invert onto a plate, letting the caramel run over the sides.

Something to look forward to

2009-03-10T19:08:00.005-05:00

We recently made a fun little purchase from Bed, Bath, and Beyond… a dehydrator. It’s a noisy little bugger but it works just as well as my oven and frees up space. The first thing we tried was apples and banana chips.

I wasn’t quite sure how thick to cut everything, but hey, it’s a learning process! The apples while a little large, are delicately sweet and have a really nice balance being crispy without tasting too dry. I'm looking forward to the fall when I can stock up on small apple varieties and make a batch large enough to share with friends. They make a nice little dessert without being too filling and are yummy on cereal or even in salads.

I added a coating to the apples, but left the bananas raw. I was surprised how long the drying process for fruit actually took. I did venison jerky just the other day and it took much less time, so if you are trying out a dehydrator for the first time I would recommend accounting time for the longest setting your machine recommends. Just so you’re not getting up at 4am like someone I know….

Harvest Apple Chips
Apples, semi peeled and sliced into circles
Lemon juice
Cinnamon
Nutmeg, freshly grated

Combine lemon juice and spices to coat apples with to keep them from browning. Place in dehydrator and bake to your own machine specifications. Turn once during the drying process.
Let cool and store in an air tight container.

Winter Clam Bake

2009-03-09T11:31:00.007-05:00

For Valentine's Day this year we made a fresh seafood pasta which I have been lazy to post. Although the flavors were amazing, the effort to get the crab meat out is something we won't be repeating. I'd recommend using preshelled crab or a mock for easier eating :)

The heat from the red pepper oil is a really nice background to the strong sauce and shellfish.

Sage Seafood Pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup cream
1/2 batch fresh linguine pasta
2 tbsp Asiago cheese, grated
2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
Salt/pepper to taste, about 1/4 tsp each

2 rock crab claws, washed
8-10 fresh mussels, washed
8-10 clams, washed
8-10 shrimp, deveined and washed

Prepare the fresh pasta and let dry. Start a large pot of water heating with salt.

In a 375 degree oven place the crab claws in seasoned water covered to 1/2 their height. Bake until done (about 20 minutes) or to other package specifications.

In a large pan heat oil with red pepper. Add onions, salt, and pepper; sauté till soft. Slowly add in wine and let evaporate. Add mussels and cover to let steam. Once the shells have opened strain from liquid and place in a warm location. Add clams to the remaining broth and cover till open. Remove and set aside with mussels.
Add cream to the broth and simmer on low. Cook the pasta in the preheated water for 2-3 minutes until it floats on top. Strain and add to the cream mixture. Add all the shell fish back in and cover letting the shrimp cook and other shells warm.

Top with Asiago and sage.

When the moon hits your eye

2009-02-27T11:15:00.010-06:00

...like a big pizza pie that's amore...

Did you know that song was played in the credits of the award winning Moonstruck in 1987 staring Cher? Well neither did I until a Trivia night with some great friends in the city of pizza, Chicago.

While I'll never be able to toss a crust or slice a deep dish like those pros, I still love to make homemade pizza. In the winter or summer or anytime of the year they just seem to hit the spot. It's a meal my husband and I can have fun planning and making together. Every pie tastes different and each makes great cold leftovers!

Rustic Sausage and Red Onion Pizza

Herb Crust – prep time: 1 hr
1 packet (2 1/4 tbsp) yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp diced sage

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a large bowl and let sit until the mixture has turned foamy, about 8-10 minutes. Add olive oil, salt, and herbs. Slowly mix in flour until it forms a ball, you may not need to use all of it. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes on a floured surface or until it is no longer sticky. Place in an olive oil lined bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm location and let rise for at least 20 minutes.

On a floured surface roll out or hand toss the dough to a large pizza sized circle. When hand tossing it is easier to work slow and work from the inside out to stretch the dough. Place on a pizza stone or tray and fold edges over to create the crust. Let rise another 20-30 minutes.

Pizza
1 lbs ground sausage or other meat
1 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 lbs spinach, washed and de-stemmed
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup provolone cheese (about 4 slices)

In a pan cook sausage until done, set aside in a large bowl. Slice red onion thinly and place in pan heating till soft with olive oil.

Cut pepper into bite sized squares and heat with onions. Once veggies are slightly soft remove and let sit with sausage.

Cut the spinach up and heat till wilted with a little salt.

Heat tomato sauce till warm in a small pot. Spread the sauce around the pizza crust. Layer sausage, peppers, onions, mozzarella, spinach, and provolone.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is melted. Let sit 5 minutes and slice.