A Simmering Pot and a Mom

Dutch Oven Popcorn

2012-02-24T10:25:00.002-08:00

For Christmas my husband bought me a couple of cast iron skillets and a dutch oven. I have quickly come to realize that there isn't much that can't be cooked given these two basic items (why do I own thirteen other pots and pans??). I have now cooked everything from chicken and potatoes, to beef bourgignon, to popcorn in my dutch oven. For those who think dutch oven = outdoor cooking over a campfire, think again! Although I am excited about someday using it to cook over the campfire, so far I have used it exclusively indoors on the stove and in the oven. The recipe that follows would actually be really fun over the campfire, but is equally accessible indoors any day of the week.

Popcorn. Snack staple of America. This seemingly harmless food when prepared the way most Americans cook it (in the microwaveable baggies from the store) actually has a slew of harmful chemicals in it. Here I've been buying my children the "natural" popcorn without the butter flavor and thinking we were safe from artificial flavors (diacetyl) and never even realizing that the mechanism that makes those bags pop the corn has been exposing us and our popcorn to a multitude of other harmful substances that I hadn't even thought of! From the blog The Healthy Apron: "According the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the steam from microwave popcorn contains nearly four dozen chemicals." Read a very informative post on the subject here and here.

For information about diacetyl and how most major popcorn manufacturers have now removed this harmful substance from their products (thank goodness) click here.

So how do we avoid being assaulted by PFCAs, PFOA, C8, and a number of other unnatural substances? Well, a start would be popping corn the old fashioned way, which is both fun and VERY easy.

Dutch Oven Popcorn:

What you need:

* A dutch oven
* Popcorn kernels
* Olive oil
* Sea Salt (optional)
* Butter (optional)

Cover the bottom of your dutch oven with olive oil and place over medium heat. Throw in a couple kernels of corn and wait. When the corn pops you know the oil is hot enough. Be careful when checking for popping-I stuck my nose in the pot and one kernel popped right in my face splashing me with hot oil! Remove popped kernels and replace with about 2/3 cup of un-popped corn (to cover the bottom of your dutch oven). Vent a tiny bit to allow steam to escape (if you vent too much you will have popping corn hopping out of your dutch oven and all over your kitchen!). Listen (and sneak a peek every now and then) to your popping corn. After about 5-10 minutes your dutch oven will be full of fluffy popcorn, the popping will slow down, and you will know to take it off the heat. Carefully transfer popped corn to a bowl, drizzle with melted butter, and sprinkle with sea salt.

Before you pop your corn in canola.....I will be writing a future post on why I no longer cook in canola oil or vegetable oil but instead prefer butter, olive oil, or tropical plant oils. But in the meantime I highly recommend the book Nourishing Traditions: the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats by Sally Fallon.

Must have microwaveable corn? A friend of mine microwaves her popcorn by placing un-popped kernels in a brown paper lunch sack with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt, staples it shut with a single staple (this is so little metal that it won't cause problems with the microwave) and pops it as you would store-bought popcorn.

Hello World! The homebirth of our 3rd baby

2012-02-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

Clearly, I haven't blogged in a while! I've been on a little 'maternity leave' since the birth of our 3rd baby, a little boy, at the end of November. His birth was my second successful VBAC. He was born into my hands, at home, in the water, with his dad and both of his siblings by my side. I believe that women, and the world, need more joyful stories of natural childbirth (instead of the hollywood horror versions). If you would like to read a detailed account of my son's birth I have decided to share it, along with a few photos (not graphic), here.

Chicken Burgers Packed with Hidden Veggies!

2011-08-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

These were a HUGE hit today with my kids and the kids I nanny for. The best part is they are packed with hidden veggies. My husband was home for lunch this afternoon and also thought they were delicious. :)

Adapted from Superfood for Babies & Children by: Annabel Karmel

BURGERS:

1/2 cup washed and finely chopped white and light green parts of a leek

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 large zucchini, grated

1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast tenders, chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated

1 chicken stock cube, finely crumbled

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

COATING:

All purpose flour

2 eggs lightly beaten

Bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Meunster cheese slices

buns

Saute leek, carrots, and zucchini in the 1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix with remaining raw ingredients. Process in a food processor in batches. Form into burgers (makes about 10 4-5" burgers) using flour coated hands. Coat in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Saute in vegetable oil until golden and cooked through about 4-5 minutes per side. Top with muenster cheese and put on a bun. Serve with fries, some fresh fruit, or a small side salad.

Happy Free-ranging Hens

2011-08-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted the happy news about how dog-chicken relations have improved at our house! Last time I posted about our dogs and our chickens it was my 'Time to Lock the Nesting Box' post about our dog, Max, wedging himself through the nesting box and ending up inside the chicken coop. A couple of months ago our dogs suddenly decided that the chickens were no longer fun and interesting and everyone has been able to peacefully co-exist in the yard since. I snapped this picture of our happy free-ranging hens from my kitchen window the other night while cooking dinner. I call them my 'mobile flowers.' They are loving getting full access to the bugs, dirt, grass, and plants in our backyard and our vegetable garden. We need to strategically place some nesting bins around the yard for them because right now we are finding eggs all over the place!

Blueberry Pecan Streusel Muffins

2011-08-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

My neighbor made me these AMAZING muffins and I had to steal the recipe from her. I'll have to update this post later with the name of the book this recipe came from, something along the lines of '100 Best Muffin Recipes.' These are, hands down, the best blueberry muffins I have ever had!

MUFFINS:
1 1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter (softened)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

STREUSEL TOPPING:
2 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 Cup. Chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugar together in stand mixer bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries.

Mix together streusel topping ingredients in separate bowl.

Line or grease muffin pan. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Top each with approx. 1 tsp. streusel topping. Bake 20 minutes.

Crafting for Health: Stringing Hazelwood & Amber Necklaces with Kids

2011-08-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

My hazelwood and amber beads arrived last night! Exciting! The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed making "magic necklaces" out of hazelwood, amber, semi-precious stones, and Czech glass beads. The "magic" part is that hazelwood and amber have numerous health benefits and are great for kids and adults alike. You may have seen this type of necklace being sold as a "teething" necklace for infants but the benefits of hazelwood and amber reach far beyond infancy. Out of one strand of 3mm baltic amber beads and 50 hazelwood pieces we strung necklaces for all the kids last night, including the one in-utero, and two bracelets.

Here's what you need:

Hazelwood beads (www.clubbeadplus.com)

Baltic Amber beads (www.firemountaingems.com)

Other accent beads (glass or semi-precious stones)

Sterling Silver clasps

Crimp beads (optional)

Crimping tool (optional)

100% Natural Silk beading cord

Stringing the necklace: Place a crimp bead on your silk cord, then place one end of your clasp, loop the free end through the clasp and crimp bead and crimp shut to secure. Or, just tie your clasp onto the end of your silk cord and trim the excess. String your beads in whatever pattern you like and repeat the process either crimping or tying to secure the second half of your clasp on the opposite end. For children's necklaces make them approximately 12.5-13.5 inches long. For infant's 11.5-12.5 inches.

BENEFITS OF HAZELWOOD & AMBER:

The branches of the hazelwood tree are known to neutralize acidity in the body when worn next to the skin. This is especially useful in alleviating symptoms of teething, digestive upsets, and eczema in infants and children. These wonderful beads can also aid in neutralizing a host of ailments related to acid imbalance in adults and children alike. Including:

Skin problems (from acne to eczema)
Arthritis
Acid reflux
Digestive problems
Respiratory problems and infections
Ear Infections
Headaches
Muscular and nerve pains
Fatigue
Depression
Insomnia
Nervous disorders

Baltic Amber contains high concentrations of succinic acid, which naturally occurs in the body and has many health benefits. It is a natural analgesic and has anti-inflammatory properties. Well known as a teething aid for babies, amber also helps sooth other inflammatory-related health problems including:

Allergies
Arthritis
Digestive problems
Heart disease
Type 2 Diabetes
Cancer
Lupus
Multiple Sclerosis
Alzheimer’s Disease
and more...

Peter's Pickled Peppers

2011-08-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, my husband's name is Peter, and Peter has been obsessed with growing peppers this summer. Every kind of pepper known to man, we have in our garden. Of course there have been numerous jokes about Peter picking and pickling peppers throughout this process. Well he did pick these, but I pickled them. These are Peperoncini/Pepperoncini/Banana Peppers (usually yellow when jarred but ours ended up fully mature before I could pickle them and they still taste great!) and roasted red peppers.

This was my first experience canning/jarring and it was so easy! We don't have a pressure canner yet. I think I want to get one for tomato sauces and things like that but since I was just pickling these I thought water bath canning would be adequate.

The whole process was SO easy and I felt so proud of my little jars when I was done! When all was said and done I think I had about 10 jars of peppers and it only took a few hours of my afternoon. We've given a few jars away as gifts and so far the feedback has been great!

Here's the process:

Pickled Peperoncini:

You will need:
Peppers
Canning jars/mason jars
A big pot-think spaghetti
Water
Distilled White Vinegar
Kosher Salt
Bulb of garlic

Instructions:

Harvest a whole bunch of peperoncini (or purchase at your farmer's market!)

Slice them into rings and either de-seed or leave some or all seeds depending on how much heat your want

Boil your jars (I was using 1/2 pint jars) and lids in a pot full of water for about 15 minutes to sanitize

Remove jars and lids with tongs and set aside

Empty pot and fill with 1 part water and 3 parts distilled white vinegar, heat to boiling

Fill jars with peppers and add 1 large peeled clove garlic to each jar and a good sprinkling of kosher salt

Pour over hot vinegar mixture

Run a knife down the sides of the jar to release air bubbles

Secure lids tightly

Fill your pot with water again, enough to cover the jars

Gently lower filled jars into the water bath and bring to a boil

Process in boiling water for 15 minutes

Remove carefully and you're done!

Roasted Red Peppers:

You will need:

Peppers
Canning jars/mason jars
Some kind of vinegar (white vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar can all be used)
Olive oil
Kosher Salt
Large Pot
Plastic or paper bag

Instructions:

Boil jars and lids for 15 minutes to sanitize
Remove jars and lids and set aside
Clean and dry your peppers
Place on a baking sheet and put under your broiler at 500 degrees F (or roast on an open flame)
Roast and rotate them until they are puffed up and BLACK all over-seriously
Place inside a plastic or paper bag and seal. They now need to steam for awhile, at least an hour.
Once your peppers are done steaming (this will make removing the skins easier) take then out of the bag and carefully remove/peel skins over the sink and de-seed. Try not to rinse them because it takes their flavor away. Just rinse your hands frequently.
Place peppers into a clean bowl as you clean and de-seed them
Pour vinegar over the peppers in the bowl and toss them around
Salt with kosher salt and toss some more, salt again and toss again
Now pour a little vinegar into each jar
Add peppers and remaining pepper juice and vinegar from your bowl to the jars
Top jars off with olive oil and seal with lids
Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes
Finito!

Pouring Your Own Beeswax Candles

2011-08-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

I'm totally into making candles right now, it is so simple and fulfilling! I love the idea that I am creating something from basic, natural materials that will bring light and warmth into our home. Pure beeswax candles are quite expensive, so if that is what you are used to buying then you will probably save significantly by making them yourself. The raw materials, however, are not cheap. So, if you've been buying cheap candles made from synthetic materials then you might be spending more to make your own beeswax candles, but perhaps it will inspire you to know how beautiful, clean-burning, and sweet-smelling beeswax is.

Beeswax is a beautiful, natural material for candle-making it has it's own unique honey-like scent and color. You can buy natural (yellow) beeswax or white beeswax. The white beeswax may say that it is "bleached" but don't let this put you off. The process for bleaching beeswax simply involves exposing thin sheets of wax to air, moisture, and sunlight. I find it easiest to melt and use for candles and beauty products when bought in the pastille form.

You can mix white and yellow beeswax to achieve different shades of yellow or cream. You can also add pure essential oils to lightly scent your candles, naturally.

Here's what you will need:

Beeswax Pastilles
Double Boiler
100% Cotton Wicks (Square braided are designed for beeswax candles, it's extra easy if you buy wicks that are already waxed and in holders)
Glass jar or container
Essential Oils (optional)

Fill a pot with a few inches of water and fit your double boiler into it. Place over medium heat. Add your beeswax pastilles. If I need 1/2 cup of liquid to fill the container I want my candle in, then I find I need about 1 cup of pastilles in order to fill the container once melted. Now sit at your kitchen table and read a book or magazine and be patient while your wax melts.

Once melted you can add essential oils if so desired. Pour a little wax into your container. Place your wick in your container with the metal tab resting on the bottom of the container and allow the wax to set enough to hold your wick in place. Wrap excess wicking around a pencil and lay the pencil across the top of your container to make sure your wick stays centered.

Pour the rest of your wax into your container to fill it to about 1/2 or 1/4 inch from the top.

Now just let your candle harden/cool/cure on your counter and then clip your wick and you're all set! If you want to turn your candle into a gift print up a pretty little tag and tie it with a bit of twine or hemp.

Sources for beeswax, wicks, essential oils, and containers:

www.brambleberry.com
www.mountainroseherbs.com

If you're ready for more of a challenge I'll be posting again soon about making hand-dipped beeswax candles.

Hello, it's been awhile...

2011-08-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I have posted here! So long in fact that there is nothing on the blog announcing the fact that we are expecting the arrival of bundle-of-sunshine #3 this fall. We have been busily preparing for baby, beginning our homeschool curriculum, surviving the outrageous heat wave (105-ish for weeks on end), and harvesting gobs of peppers and tomatoes and learning to can them. I am still doing my birth doula work through the end of this month, as well as photography (www.life-in-bloom.com), graphic design projects, teaching childbirth education and VBAC classes, midwifery school, and this week I get to start nannying two other sweet little girls during the daytime.

Sometime soon I will be posting pictures of some of our canned (jarred) vegetables as well as a bit about my hubby's new passion-barbeque and smoking all sorts of tasty things. I am also working on sewing diapers for baby #3 and hope to get some pics and maybe even some tutorials up in the coming weeks.

Fresh from the Garden: Sunshine Quiche

2011-06-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

I concocted this quiche recipe in order to make a meal entirely from fresh produce and eggs from our garden. Yay! It makes a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Pie Crust : 1 store-bought pie crust or use the crisco pie crust recipe here

Filling:
6 eggs
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp milk
4 small/medium potatoes, shredded
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
handful of fresh spinach
2 Tbsp fresh basil
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
2 Tbsp fresh pineapple sage
salt and pepper to taste

Press pie crust into 9" pie plate. Beat eggs together with flour and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Shred potatoes (you can peel them if they have thick skins). Fold in shredded potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, and fresh herbs. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Mozzarella Stuffed Burgers with Heirloom Tomatoes, Avacado, and Roasted Red Peppers on a Kaiser Bun

2011-03-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

I need a little break from cleaning, sewing, and my graphic design work right now so I thought I would share what we made last Saturday for my husband's birthday dinner. He requested "gourmet burgers" for his birthday so we took a trip to our favorite grocery store and got a whole bunch of goodies that we could really get creative with. We grilled out, enjoyed these amazing burgers, and then roasted marshmallows with the kids in front of the chiminea and camped out in a tent in our living room! By the way, the kids wanted to "take daddy camping" for his birthday. :)

For the patties:
1.5 lbs. ground premium sirloin
2 Eggs
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
Splash of Worchestershire Sauce
1/2-1 tsp. dried Mediterranean Basil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 ball FRESH mozzarella

Toppings:
6 Kaiser rolls
1 large avacado
1-2 heirloom tomatoes
1 jar roasted red peppers
1 head fresh lettuce (we used red leaf lettuce)
Your favorite condiments

Mix ground sirloin, eggs, shallot, and garlic in a large bowl. Add Worchestershire sauce, basil, salt and pepper to taste and combine well. Shape into twelve 4" patties. Slice fresh mozzarella ball into 6 slices. Top six patties with slices of mozzarella, then top with another patty. Gently pinch together sides of burger to seal in the mozzarella.

Slice kaiser buns in half. Slice avacado and tomatoes. Clean enough lettuce leaves to top your burgers. Arrange toppings on a plate.

Grill burgers over a hot charcoal grill and serve with toppings and condiments. Allow everyone to build their own burger!

My husband upon biting into his burger: "This is the best burger I've ever tasted, this is exactly what I wanted for my birthday."

Happy 30th honey!

Ah...spring.

2011-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm calling it. Weather is beautiful in North Carolina, chickens are laying daily, herbs and some veggies have appeared in the garden center. We're still a month away from spring equinox, but I think spring has sprung a little early here. :)

Time to Lock the Nesting Box

2011-02-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

We have been keeping chickens now for about two years. You can read about our initiation into the world of backyard chickens here. We had a few problems early on in our chicken keeping venture with chickens escaping the coop or run while the dogs were outside. We subsequently developed fortifications for the coop and run to make sure chickens couldn't get out and dogs couldn't tear the wire.

As time went on the dogs became accustomed to the presence of the chickens and have more or less ignored them for months. Our small dogs are actually great with the chickens and can share the yard with them, but our big dogs still have to be kenneled if the chickens are going to roam freely in the yard because they have a hard time controlling their hunting instincts.

As I said before, I haven't seen the dogs so much as look at the chickens for the entire winter. This afternoon I'm sitting in my kitchen and I keep hearing this banging sound. I have a fleeting thought that it sounds like the kids opening and closing the nesting box, but both kids are inside. I decide the neighbors must be up to something, I can hear that their kids are playing outside, and that must be where the noise is coming from.

I wish that had been true. The chickens were making some noise and I thought they must be hungry, so I go out to feed them and collect eggs. To my horror, I find all 70 pounds of my dog, Max, inside the chicken coop. Actually, by this time he is in the run and several curious chickens are poking their heads out the coop door and staring at him. He had managed to lift the nesting box lid and wedge his body through an opening approximately 12x12 inches (there are two nesting boxes, each this size, divided by a barrier). When I discovered him he had gone through the coop and was in the run, hanging his head in shame. There was one fatality. Of course, though he was smart enough to figure out his way into the coop, he had not figured out a way out (that or he did not want to go back the way he came and deal with the 11 nervous chickens that were now all inside the hen house).

Max (left) and his brother Sammy

My first thought is to put a latch on the nesting box lid, but I actually wouldn't be surprised if he figured out the latch, so I think we are going to have to lock our nesting box! This is the kind of nonsense that warrants the construction of a dog run area. I have been suggesting this to my husband for months but he thinks the dogs need more room to run. I think it would benefit us greatly to construct a large run area for them on one side of the yard, which would free up the rest of the yard for chickens to roam safely, reduce the area that we have to patrol for doggy poop, and we can expand the growing area for edibles without having to fence everything in. Honestly, the dogs almost never actually run around the yard, they just sun-bathe, and the dog area would still be big enough for them to run the length of the fence if they wanted to. My husband will just need to take them running in the evenings, it would be good for them all!

In happier chicken-related news, we have officially had our first dozen eggs of 2011 from our girls!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Starting Seeds Indoors

2011-02-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Last year we had a lot of success starting seeds indoors (I was a little too eager when I transplanted, but that is another story). You can read a short post about my seeds last year here. This year we have started a number of seeds in our dining room already. Instead of using fancy trays from the garden center like I did last year we opted for inexpensive and sturdy 9"x13" disposable casserole dishes with plastic lids. These are a handy size as far as portability, they are also lightweight, sturdy, and deep, plus the plastic lids make a perfect little green house for seed germination!

1. Fill trays with seed starting mix about 2"-2 1/2" deep.

2. Moisten soil.

3. Poke holes in soil with the eraser end of a pencil. For small seeds plant 2 or 3 per hole, 1 per hole for larger seeds about 1" apart (you can also refer to package directions for spacing).

4. Sprinkle 1/2" of soil on top when you've planted all your seeds and gently firm the soil with a flat, heavy object or the palm of your hand so that the surface is covered and even.

5. Place lid on and keep in a warm place that gets plenty of sunlight (between 70 and 75F degrees for germination and 60-70F degrees after germination).

6. Once your seeds have sprouted you can remove the lid.

7. Poke holes in the bottom of the trays with a small, sharp, pointed object and then place the lid beneath the trays so that you can bottom-water as needed.

8. The first leaves on your seedlings are seed leaves, which are food storage cells. Once your seedlings develop true leaves you can begin fertilizing.

9. When you water mix in a diluted amount of natural fertilizer (1/4 strength). We are using sea kelp to fertilize out seedlings, but some other alternatives would be fish emulsion or vermicompost tea.

I will be posting follow-ups about transplanting to peat-pots, "hardening off", and finally moving to the garden, so stay tuned!

What I Made for Dinner Last Night

2011-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Presenting...what I made for dinner last night. I really didn't know what to title this recipe. It has a decidedly Thai flavor to it because of the broth and coconut milk but there really isn't anything traditionally Thai about it (at least if there is it was completely accidental). What happened is that I had this box of Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth made by College Inn. They started carrying this at our Commissary and although I am usually stubbornly committed to USDA organic chicken, beef, and vegetable stocks, if I'm buying boxed stock, I picked it up a couple weeks ago and it was amazing.

So I had this box of stock and I had a can of coconut milk and I thought, what can I make? Soup. It's winter, so I wanted something hearty (also I feed a Marine at my dinner table, so if I'm going to make a soup I better make soup, if ya' know what I mean). I had potatoes and after that I threw in almost every leftover vegetable I had in the fridge and some cubed ham to keep the Marine happy (I think this would have been great with chopped, cooked chicken breasts or leftover, shredded rotisserie chicken as well but I didn't have any of those meat options. It would also be fine meatless!)

My husband and I have head colds this week so I thought this soup would be perfect since it is packed full of antioxidant-rich, vitamin laden veggies, as well as having chicken stock (would be a better immune-system booster if made from scratch), and coconut milk. Coconuts have so many amazing health benefits, one of which is that they boost the immune system! You can read more here and here. Coconut oil is also amazing, especially for beauty products.

Now, back to the soup. It was really easy to whip together in 30 minutes and really yummy.

2 Tbsp.butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 leek, dark green leaves removed, cleaned and sliced thinly
Approx. 1 cup matchstick carrots
Approx. 1 cup broccoli florets (chopped into bit-size pieces)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-1 inch cubes
1 8oz. ham steak, rind removed, cubed (or chopped, cooked chicken breast, or leftover shredded rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 box College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth
1 can Coconut Milk
Dash whole cream (you can omit if you don't want dairy)
Salt to taste

*This is quite mild, with the only spices being the ones already in the broth, you could spice it up with a dash of cayenne pepper if that suits your taste.

Melt butter and olive oil in heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add leek and saute approx. 3-5 minutes. Add carrots, broccoli, and potatoes. Saute until vegetables begin to soften. Add flour and stir for 1 minutes until vegetables are evenly coated. Add ham and stir to combine. Slowly add broth, stirring constantly. Bring soup to a boil over medium heat, stirring, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover (venting the lid a little). Let simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add coconut milk, drizzle in a little whole cream, and salt to taste.

Serve with freshly-baked bread, we ate it with Ciabatta bread and it was sooooo good soaking the broth up with the warm Ciabatta.

I hope you enjoy this hearty, healthy, Thai-inspired winter soup!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Hello 2011!

2011-01-31T15:25:00.000-08:00

Wow. A total of 5 blog posts since my husband came home in August. It will be a miracle if anyone is still reading. :) There's really no excuse for that, but of course I'm going to make some! Between hubby coming home from deployment, getting my birth doula certification, opening my photography business, and taking TWO lengthy car journeys over the holidays (NC to TX and three weeks later NC to Disney World, FL) I have been running low on time and energy! Have I been faithfully photographing all of our meals? Absolutely. Do I remember how the heck I made them? Not so much.

Hopefully I will have a lot of posts to share in the coming months as winter melts away. Yesterday we got our first egg of the season from one of our Easter Egger hens. A large, blue beauty, and that means Spring is nigh!

On our way back from our whirlwind Disney weekend we stopped at a Florida citrus stand and picked up three itty-bitty citrus trees (orange, lemon, and lime). These little cuties are gracing my kitchen table in 6" pots until they grow up. I wanted to do something a little fun with them, especially since I am in the process of envisioning/realizing a kitchen re-design. I painted the terracotta pots with blackboard paint so I could label the pots with chalk. I think they turned out pretty darn cute and it only took all of 15 minutes!

If you've read this entire rant then you deserve a recipe, how about Fish Tacos with Tempura Battered Mahi-Mahi and Curried Yogurt in Warm Home-made Naan Bread? Or a less length description would be: crazy delicious.

For the Naan Bread (from ManjulasKitchen.com):
2 cups of All Purpose flour (Plain flour or maida)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of baking soda
2 tablespoons of oil
2 1/2 tablespoons yogurt (curd or dahi)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon of clear butter or ghee to butter the Naan
1/4 cup All Purpose flour for rolling

Dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy. Add sugar, salt and baking soda to the flour and mix well. Add the oil and yogurt mix, this will become crumbly dough. Add the water/yeast mixture and make into soft dough. Note: after dough rise will become little softer. Knead until the dough is smooth. Cover the dough and keep in a warm place for 3-4 hours. The dough should almost be double in volume.

Heat the oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone for at least thirty minutes so stone is hot. Using a pizza stone will help to give naan close to same kind of heat as clay tandoor.

Next turn the oven to high broil. Knead the dough for about two to three minutes and divide the dough into six equal parts. Take each piece of dough, one at a time, and roll into 8-inch oval shape. Dust lightly with dry flour to help with the rolling. Before putting the Naan in oven, lightly wet your hands and take the rolled Naan, and flipp them between your palms and place onto your baking/pizza stone into the oven. You can place about 2 Naan on the baking/pizza stone at a time.

The Naan will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook, depending upon your oven. After the Naan is baked(Naan should be golden brown color on top). Take naan out of the oven and brush lightly with clear butter or ghee. wait 2 to 3 minutes before baking the next batch of naan, it gives oven the chance to get heated again to max.

For the Mahi-Mahi:
4 Mahi-Mahi filets cut into "sticks"
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup ice-cold carbonated water (fizzy)
Oil for frying

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a frying pan. While the oil heats mix flour and cornstarch together. Slowly blend in the iced carbonated water until batter is the consistency of heavy cream (will be lumpy).

Salt your Mahi-Mahi sticks and dip in batter. Fry until batter is golden on all sides, turning once, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

For the Curried Yogurt Sauce:
Whisk together:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
Pinch salt
(You can adjust the seasonings in this to your taste, more chipotle chili powder=spicier, etc.)

To assemble the Fish Tacos:
Place Tempura-battered Mahi-Mahi in the center of warm Naan bread. Top with shredded lettuce or cabbage, chopped tomatoes, and drizzle with curried yogurt sauce. Roll and devour.

Other ideas: Add corn kernels, red onion, cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime juice.

iheartfaces Photo Challenge-Orange

2010-11-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took a couple weeks ago of my little man. I love the color in this photo and I feel it captured him and the season so well. I am entering it in this week's photo contest on iheartfaces. The theme this week is "orange." Click the link below to head over to iheartfaces and see more!

Saturday 11/13/10: I wanted to amend this post today to include the original, unedited version of the above photo. My husband likes the unedited picture better and I like them both. I like the dramatic effect of the edit, but I also like the softer features and colors of the original. The photo below is SOOC. :)

Grilled To Perfection

2010-10-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hail storm last week aside, it is still in the mid-70's and mid-80's here, which means it's still grilling weather. This weekend my husband and I have plans to co-create some gourmet burgers, but until then I thought I'd go ahead and share some of the recipes off the grill that I promised back in August!

To the left is a succulent rib-eye steak with accompanying skewered shrimp and grilled asparagus. Below, tasty lamb riblets with Panko-breaded Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. The key to both of the meat portions of these meals (aside from my husband's grill-master skills) is my mom's famous Teriyaki Marinade. I honestly pondered whether I should even share this amazing family secret or just horde it all to myself. Heck, maybe I could bottle the stuff and become a millionaire someday (I'd give you a cut mom :)) But here goes:

Mom's Teriyaki Marinade:

Olive Oil
Soy Sauce
Ketchup
Garlic
Worchestershire Sauce
Pepper
Fresh Rosemary (optional)

I do not know the measurements for these ingredients, so you'll have to figure that one out on your own! I use approximately equal parts olive oil and soy sauce, a nice amount of fresh chopped or minced garlic, or garlic powder in a pinch. Enough ketchup to get the right consistency and maybe a couple tablespoons of Worchestershire Sauce. I just keep adding things until it smells right to me. :)

This marinade is excellent on steaks, ribs, lamb, shrimp, pork...pretty much anything.

For the sides:

Asparagus was simply oiled, salted, peppered and grilled.

Brussels sprouts I shake up in a bag with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Panko bread crumbs. Then I throw them on a baking sheet and toss them with chopped bacon. I roast these in the over at 425 until they are starting to brown and the bacon is crispy.

When I make mashed potatoes I always leave the skins on-I know this is freaky for some people but all the nutrients are in the skin! Plus I think it adds that homemade charm, so do a few lumps so I never go to as much trouble as to put potatoes through a ricer or anything like that. I do add a lot of not-so-healthy fatty goodness to my taters, but everyone needs a little fat in their diet!

Halve 6-8 red potatoes. Add to pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Boil approximately 20 minutes or until soft. Add 2 tbsp. cream cheese, 2 tbsp. butter, 1/4 cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, and a couple tablespoons of milk (enough to get the right consistency). Whip together in your stand mixer, done!

With garlic: If I have time I will roast a bulb of garlic in the oven and squeeze the roasted cloves into the mixer with the potatoes. If I'm in a pinch for time a little garlic powder will do the trick as well (though not as yummy or fancy as the roasted garlic)!

Smoky Chipotle Cheeseburgers with Avacado and Tomatillo

2010-10-01T12:37:00.000-07:00

Another Gourmet Magazine recipe winner: Smoky Chipotle Pork Cheeseburgers with Avacado and Tomatillo....yum. I have to admit, I'm a newbie to ground pork. A few weeks ago a friend's husband shared a delicious ground pork/turkey combination burger with me and I said "Ground pork? Really? Where did you find that?" Honestly, I'd never even looked for it before. Then I came across this recipe in Gourmet and I found that ground pork is surprisingly easy to find, wouldn't ya' know, tastes amazing, and has plenty of nutritional value (although ground pork is admittedly fattier than a lot of other lean cuts, but what the hay).

Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground pork (not lean)
2 teaspoons minced chipotle in adobo plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (Oops! Forgot this at the store! used ground chipotle chili pepper instead)
2 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
4 slices Muenster cheese
4 hamburger buns, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large tomatillo (1/4 lb), husked and rinsed, then sliced
1/2 small avocado, sliced
1/2 cup cilantro sprigs (we omitted because hubby doesn't like but kinda wished I'd bought some just for myself!)

We grilled these babies over charcoal on our Weber Performer, melted the Muenster on top and served on a whole wheat bun spread with mayo and topped with avocado slices and tomatillo. This was also our first experience with tomatillos and we gave them the thumbs up all around (including the kids).

Wild North Carolina Shrimp with Capellini & Creamy Tomato Sauce

2010-09-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

I have a confession...I have never peeled or de-veined shrimp...until now. I know, it's crazy, but I always buy shrimp that has already been prepped for me. However, this week on a trip to the Fresh Market in Wilmington, some wild North Carolina shrimp caught my eye and I decided it was time to learn the art of preparing shrimp myself. No, they didn't have their heads still attached so I don't feel like I really got my hands dirty enough, but here's what I learned:

Place to shrimp in an ice bath to keep them fresh while you peel them. Grab the legs and detach the shell, it comes off quite easily. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in the top of the shrimp, locate the larger vein (which is actually the intestinal tract of the shrimp) and gently pull, it should come right out. There is a smaller, more visible vein on the underside, which also pops out pretty easy with a little help from your knife.

The recipe that I purchased these shrimp for was from this month's Gourmet Magazine. I made a few adjustments of my own....

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb peeled large shrimp
3 large garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup sweet (red) vermouth (I substituted Sherry for Vermouth)
1 (14- to 15-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained (I used crushed San Marzano tomatoes, see my footnotes for why you should try to find jarred tomatoes instead of tinned tomatoes!)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (I forgot to buy a lemon, but it was still good without!!)
1/2 lb capellini (angel-hair pasta)

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Saute, turning once, for about 2 minutes. Stir in sherry and crushed tomatoes. Add cream and simmer 1 minute. This is where you are supposed to add the lemon juice that I didn't have, so add it if you do! Remove from heat so you don't overcook your shrimp.
Add Capellini to boiling water and cook 6 minutes until "al dente."
Serve pasta topped with shrimp and sauce
For our salad we grilled cremini mushrooms and tossed them with arugula and shaved pecorino romano, the dressing and marinade for the mushrooms was: red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, and chopped shallots.

another Gourmet Mag recipe

Back in the Saddle

2010-09-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, that was over a 2 month hiatus from blog posting! I guess that is what happens when your hubby returns (finally) from a 7 month long deployment! Yay! For those who don't know, my husband flies the CH-53E for the USMC and has been deployed this past year with the 24th MEU. We are so happy to have him back and have really been enjoying being a family again. On the food front, I have been cooking up a storm, it is so exciting to have someone to cook for that is over the age of 4! I have many new recipes to post in the coming weeks, so here's a little preview of what is to come:

Rotini with Bacon, Zucchini, Corn, and Pesto


Lamb Riblets with Panko Breaded Brussels Sprouts & Mashed Potatoes

Charcoal-grilled Ribeye & Shrimp with 'Mom's Teriyaki Marinade' and Asparagus

Grilled Fish Tacos in Warm Homemade Tortillas

Phyllo Wrapped Tilapia Fillets with Lemon Shallot Sauce

Slow-cooker Pulled Pork BBQ with Homemade Burger Buns and Broccoli Slaw

Can you tell we've been grilling A LOT? Summer ain't over yet!

Posted on: www.asimmeringpotandamom.com

Lentil Curry (Dal)

2010-07-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

First let me begin by saying that my mom makes an excellent chicken curry, which my husband requests all the time and I will get around to posting one of these days! Today, however, I am going to share my recipe for lentil curry or Dal. It was a college roommate of mine that first introduced me to lentil curry. Lentils are a great non-meat protein source and they also contain fiber, folate, and vitamin B1, yum! In college I shared a house with five of my friends and I seem to remember everyone in the house loving this dish. Of course I lost the original recipe at some point, but it's a fairly simple dish so here is my re-creation:

Enough for Two (main dishes)-multiply as needed:

1 Cup Dry Lentils (+3 cups water)
1 Small Vidalia Onion-finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Ghee or Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. Ground Cardamom
1/4 tsp. Turmeric
1/4 tsp. Ground Coriander Seed
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1.5-2 tbsp. Curry Powder
1 tsp. Tamarind Paste
2 tbsp. Whole Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

(Serve with Basmati Rice)

Sort and rinse lentils. Boil 3 cups salted water, add lentils and simmer 20 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached. This would also be a good time to put on the rice!

While rice and lentils boil melt ghee or olive oil in a small saucepan, add chopped onion and saute over med-low heat for 5 minutes or until onions are softening. Add cardamom, turmeric, cumin, coriander and curry powder. Cook until onions are soft and spices are fragrant. Add tamarind paste.

Drain any excess liquid from lentils. Stir onions and spices into lentils and add whole cream. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice with a dollop of sour cream.

The fun part about this recipe is that you can play around with it, adjusting the spices to your taste, trying different kinds of lentils, or maybe adding a dash of tomato sauce? If you don't have access to things like Ghee or Tamarind paste, don't fret! I wouldn't have them either save for my mother-in-law and the new Indian market down the road from her! You can try substituting olive oil, sesame oil, or regular butter for the ghee or a teaspoon or two of brown sugar and a squeeze of lime juice instead of tamarind paste (although tamarind is a very unique flavor and I do suggest trying it if you can get your hands on it. A side note: it can also be used to make homemade Worchestershire sauce!)

**Also, thought I'd add that research points to numerous health benefits of curry powder and turmeric (which is also in curry powder), including anti-inflammatory properties, reducing arthritis symptoms, improving brain function and potentially guarding against Alzheimer's, and preventing the onset of, and fighting, several cancers including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and skin cancer.

www.asimmeringpotandamom.com

Neapolitan Pizza Dough & White Pizza Recipe

2010-07-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

One of the things I miss most about living in Italy is pizza. They make the best pizza dough there, thin but chewy. I know there are pizzerias in the States that make this kind of dough but I don't seem to ever live near any of them. The mainstream delivery places make "thin crust" pizzas now but they are crispy and all wrong! This recipe is the nearest thing I have found to traditional Neapolitan pizza dough. Thin, but still soft and flexible. And an added bonus, no waiting for the dough to rise!

3 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
3/4 cup of lukewarm water
1 3/4 cups of unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Place lukewarm water in stand mixer bowl and add sugar. Sprinkle over yeast and let sit for 5-10 minutes until frothy. Add salt and flour. Knead on speed 2 for about 3 minutes. Turn dough out onto floured pizza stone and stretch by hand into a 12" circle. Top with your favorite toppings (white pizza recipe below) and bake in a preheated oven at 450-500 F for 8-12 minutes. Put toppings on THINLY, if you put a lot of toppings or sauce on then cook longer at the lower temp or the dough won't cook all the way through. If you are lucky enough to have a wood fired oven in your backyard this would be even more amazing and authentic (husband are you reading?).

We love pizza with all kinds of toppings but the one pictures above is a white pizza and here's how you make it:

In lieu of a red tomato-based pizza sauce make a garlic butter sauce as follows:

Melt half a stick of butter in the microwave or on your stovetop. Add 2 cloves crushed, chopped fresh garlic. Do not cook the garlic just allow it to flavor the butter.

Spread garlic butter on pizza crust.

Top with:

*Slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
*Dollops of ricotta cheese
*Shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
*Chopped fresh basil
*Fresh ground black pepper

(Also great with goat cheese!...and pine nuts...and roasted garlic cloves...the possibilities are endless)

www.asimmeringpotandamom.com

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Things that Inspire and Make Me Happy

2010-06-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

My dear friend over at Lovely Bud gave me a Happy 101 Award a couple weeks ago, how fun! Here's my list:

10 Things that Make me Happy

*Being married to my best friend
*My two darling blond-haired little monsters
*My vegetable garden
*Creating things from scratch, whether it be with pen and paper, fabric, my laptop, words, or food
*A good bottle of wine ('nuff said)
*My four-legged furries and two-legged featheries
*Traveling to new places and old
*Girl's nights
*Getting stuck in a really good book that I can't put down
*Cheese (what would the world be without it?)

I am passing this award on to a few other bloggers who inspire me:

Girl in an Apron
2 Acre Farm
Creatively Domestic
Passionate Homemaking
My Kitchen Cafe
Little House in the Suburbs
Farmgirl Fare
Everyday Chaos
Print & Pattern

For those who have received the award, if you would like to participate you can:

Copy and paste the award on your blog. Link to the blogger who gave you the award. List 10 things that make you happy. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award!

Homegrown Party Fare

2010-05-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Time to finish up blogging about my little guy's birthday menu. :) So, for his party on the weekend I was sticking to a pretty strict budget and I thought, why fill everyone up on chips and processed food (the usual party fare) if I can use of my baking skills and the eggs provided by my chickens! I still had to hit up the grocery store because we aren't harvesting nearly enough strawberries for the fruit salad I made or any other fruits or vegetables in a decent quantity just yet.

Menu:

Old-fashioned Lemonade
Homemade whole wheat toast with:
Egg Salad & Chicken Salad
Summer fruit and berry salad with Vanilla Yogurt
Soft Pretzel Bites with Whipped Cream Cheese

Recipes:

Old-fashioned Lemonade

10 organic lemons
2.5 cups sugar
2.5 quarts water

Peel lemons and set aside. Place lemon peels in large bowl and toss with sugar. Cover and let stand one hour so the sugar absorbs the oils from the peels.

Bring 2.5 quarts water to a boil. Pour over lemon peels and sugar. Let stand 20 minutes.

Squeeze juice from lemons and put in pitcher. Strain out lemon peels while pouring sugar water into pitcher with lemon juice. Stir to combine and refrigerate. Serve over ice.

Honey Wheat Toast

Here's the post with the honey wheat bread recipe. I made this one freestyle instead of in a loaf pan and sliced it into oval slices. I toasted it under the broiler for a few minutes and served with egg salad and chicken salad.

Egg Salad

12 eggs
2:1 ratio horseradish mustard to mayonaise
paprika (for color)
Flat leaf parsley (snipped/chopped)
sea salt and fresh grated black pepper

Place eggs in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute then remove from burner, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Place eggs in an ice water bath and then peel when cool. Mash eggs with two forks and stir in 2 parts mustard to 1 part mayo. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with paprika and snipped flat-leaf parsley.

Chicken Salad

2 large cans shredded chicken breast in water
1 cup halved red grapes
1 cup chopped gala apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
mayonaise
salt and pepper

Combine shredded chicken, grapes, apples, and walnuts in a bowl. Add mayo to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Summer Fruit Salad with Vanilla Yogurt

1 Gala Apple
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 cup red grapes
1 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries
1 cup Organic Vanilla Yogurt

(double for a crowd)

Combine all ingredients except yogurt. Serve yogurt as a dressing/dipping sauce on the side.

This is also great with sugared walnuts (also good with brown sugar).

Soft Pretzel Bites with Whipped Cream Cheese

Simple! Just make up this soft pretzel recipe detailed in a past post of mine. Chop into bit size pieces and serve with whipped cream cheese!

Apple Banana "Cupcakes" with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-05-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week! My son turned four and we had three separate celebrations. One on his actual birthday, one at his school, and then a big party with family friends on the weekend (followed the next day by MY birthday)! It's been exhausting! I have several food-related posts and recipes I want to share from his birthday celebrations and I'm going to kick this off with these delicious Apple Banana Cupcakes. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com (here's the link), I seem to be finding a lot of good recipes there lately! These are kind of like a cupcake/muffin hybrid. I think it's really the frosting that makes them cupcakes, and the frosting is to die for! My inspiration for the frosting came from this recipe and you can find my version below.

Apple Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup shortening (I used butter)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I omitted this because I didn't have it on hand)
1/4 cup buttermilk (I used powdered buttermilk during the mixing of the dry ingredients and an extra 1/4 cup milk later on)
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
2 apples - peeled, cored and shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour 24 muffin cups, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and buttermilk. Beat in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in the mashed bananas and shredded apples. Fill each muffin cup half full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2-4 tablespoons powdered sugar (to desired sweetness)
- Dash milk if needed for desired consistency
Directions
1. Melt butter and allow to cool.
2. In your stand mixer bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar. Beat at speed 4-6. When mixture starts to stiffen, stop mixer and add honey.
3. Continue to beat and add powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until light and fluffy.
4. Spoon into ziploc bag with your spatula and cut the corner off bag. Pipe onto cupcakes. If you have pastry bags available of course that would work too!

Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread

2010-05-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

My new go-to recipe for sandwich bread. My little guy has been taking P&J's to preschool made with this delicious bread and he loves it! We've also enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches on this bread and eggs on toast, yum. Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

3 tsp. dried yeast
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour

Pour warm water over brown sugar in mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over the top and allow to sit 10 minutes until frothy. Turn mixer to stir speed and pour in evaporated milk, water, melted butter, and honey. DO NOT ADD SALT YET!! (Details in a minute). Add whole wheat flour and all purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time on stir speed. Once combined turn to speed 2 and knead 8 minutes. Cover mixing bowl with a tea towel and let the dough rise for 15 minutes.

Here's the part about the salt: My latest bread trick! I recently read this post on the Farmgirl Fare blog and the best thing I took away from it was the bit about adding salt after the autolyse. The autolyse is a resting period given to dough during the kneading stage. As explained on Farmgirl Fare, salt inhibits gluten development and causes it to tighten. For this reason the bread should be allowed 15-20 minutes to rest and allow the gluten to develop before the salt is added.

After the 15 minute resting period add kosher salt and knead another 2 minutes on speed 2. Grease the mixing bowl with butter and turn dough to coat. Cover mixing bowl with tea towel again and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and divide into two loaves. Place in buttered, floured bread pans, sprinkle with flour and allow to rise under tea towels for 30 minutes more.

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Place risen loaves in oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Gingerbread Pancakes

2010-05-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning my kids requested pancakes for breakfast. I was mixing together ingredients and decided I wanted to do something a little special with our pancake batter. So I threw in some ginger and cinnamon and...yum! Gingerbread pancakes! The kids loved them.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. powdered buttermilk

1 tbsp. sugar or honey

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. bakind soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup milk

1 egg slightly beaten

2 tbsp. melted butter

Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Pour by the 1/4 cup onto 350 degree griddle. Flip and serve.

These got Izzy's seal of approval!

Wordless Wednesday-Baking With Mom

2010-04-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Chicken Tetrazzini with Cremini and Pancetta

2010-04-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here's an easy weeknight meal you can make with roast chicken leftovers. Also wonderful with petite sweet peas, I didn't have any the day I photographed this but it is very good with them.

Ingredients:
1 lb Linguine
4 oz. Pancetta or Bacon
1 cup leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken chopped/shredded
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1/3 cup whole cream
1 cup shredded pecorino romano cheese (also good with parmesan, mild cheddar, monterey jack, etc., I like a lot of cheese as you can tell, you can adjust to your taste)
2/3 cup peas

Bring a pot of salted water with 1 tbsp. olive oil to a boil over high heat. Add linguine, reduce heat and boil as directed on package.

Meanwhile saute pancetta or bacon over medium heat. Add shredded chicken and continue to cook until bacon is crisping. Add cremini and saute 2 minutes until mushrooms start to lose their water. Add white wine and stir to scrape any browned bits off bottom of pan. Sprinkle over flour and stir for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and add milk and cream slowly, stirring constantly until there is a thickened, creamy sauce. Add peas and cheese. Stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Cloth Diapers-Save More than One Kind of Green

2010-04-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

In honor of Earth Day I'm posting today about something near and dear to my heart. :) Cloth diapering. When I was pregnant with my first baby, my husband and I knew right from the start that we would cloth diaper. It just made sense to us. Our mothers had used cloth diapers on us and we were convinced they would be more comfortable and healthier for our baby. That was number one. High on my list was the fact that we would be sparing landfills a whopping 1 ton of trash by the time our son potty trained. High on my (very frugal) husband's list was that we would be saving ourselves over $3000 in those 3 short years. How can you ignore something like that?

By the time we were bringing our son home from the hospital we knew all about the world of "modern diapering." Everyone we knew was envisioning old fashioned pre-fold diapers (which I still think are pretty cool and we even used them on our daughter for her first few weeks), pins, and plastic pants. Well if that is what you're thinking too, you are in for a surprise! Modern cloth diapers are nothing like the ones our mothers and grandmothers used. In fact they are really as easy to use as disposable diapers, often having an All-In-One or All-In-Two design. You can find them in loads of colors, styles, fabrics and even designer prints!

I was so inspired by cloth diapering that I began designing and sewing diapers for my son. This turned into a small business, now known as Urban Fluff. We're not so "urban" anymore, but I think my city roots are still there! That's the really wonderful thing about cloth diapering though. It doesn't matter where you live, or what you do, cloth diapering truly has a benefit for everyone. Modern diapers make it easy enough that even people who live in cities or moms who work outside the home can comfortably use cloth. It's just a matter of throwing in an extra load of laundry every day or two. It continues to astound me how people become more and more aware of cloth diapering every year. When we first started using cloth I would say to my husband, "If people just knew how easy it was, disposable diapers would rarely be used. If people just knew the cloth diapering options that are out there..." When I started using cloth I was the only person (in my social circle) who had seemingly ever heard of it. Now, almost everyone I know uses cloth. I worried that my husband might think it was fussy, but the times we have used disposables he absolutely detests disposable diapers! Once you use cloth there's no going back! I've posted some pictures of my daughter in the iCandy Diapering System by Urban Fluff. You can purchase enough diapers to go from birth to potty for only $300.

Here are some things I learned from The Real Diaper Association:

*Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste than cloth.

*Disposable diapers use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.

*No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years under optimal circumstances, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.

*Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposable make up 50% of household waste.

*Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.

*Throwaway diapers use twice as much water as cotton diapers, mostly in the manufacturing process.

*One ton of garbage is created for each baby who uses disposable diapers.

*In 1955, before modern disposable diapers were sold and consumed, it was estimated that 7% of babies and toddlers had diaper rash. In 1991, long after plastic disposable diapers dominated the market, the number jumped to 78%.

*Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paperbleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. In small quantities, dioxin causes birth defects, immune system suppression, skin and liver diseases, and genetic damage in lab animals. It is banned in most countries, but not the U.S.

*Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) a toxic pollutant know to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.

*Disposable diapers contain Sodium Polyacrylate, a type of super absorbant polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet. This chemical can cause skin irritations and severe allergic reactions including vomiting, staph infections, and fever.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Peaches, Wine, and Art

2010-04-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

I returned from my trip at the beginning of this month to find our little peach trees in full bloom with beautiful pink blossoms. I regret not getting pictures when the trees looked that way, but the flowering seems to happen pretty quickly. At least judging my apple trees, which bloomed the following week but had lost all their blooms within a few days (didn't get photos of those either!). I have my suspicions that the apple blossoms dropped early due to an encounter with my 3 year old and our garden hose, but that is another story!

I can't see any apples forming on the apple trees but I was pleasantly surprised to find tiny, fuzzy, peach buds left behind when the petals fell off our peach trees. Our trees are small but very sturdy and it looks like we'll be getting quite a few peaches from them this year! I'm so excited to try homegrown peaches, and hopefully there will be enough surplus for some jam and pies.

The only things I regularly make with peaches in them are fruit salad and Peach Bellinis (yum!).

So here are the recipes for those:

Simple Summer Fruit Salad:

Fresh Sliced Peaches
Fresh Blueberries
Fresh Sliced Strawberries

Serve with Vanilla Yogurt on the side. Optionally add sliced banana, apples, or whole seedless grapes.

Peach Bellini's:

The best Bellini I ever had was in Venice. But that is probably because the drink was invented there, so if you are ever there be sure to try one! It was invented by a bartender in the 1940's who named the drink for the color of a saint's robe in a Giovanni Bellini painting! See the fun things you learn in art school?

There is nothing difficult about making a true peach bellini at all. All you need is fresh peach puree and prosecco (sparkling Italian wine). I think it is best just with those two ingredients, but it is certainly versatile so try different kinds of sparkling wine or add other fun fruits like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries. In fact, I just had a great idea! Just puree your fruit salad (above) and add the wine to that!!

Since I haven't done a lot of cooking with peaches, I've been hunting around and saving some recipes that I want to try once we harvest ours. Here are some of the peach recipes I've saved in my "recipe box" on Allrecipes.com:

Grilled Peaches & Cream

Peach-A-Berry Pie

Southern Peach Cobbler

Apricot & Peach Fried Pies

Spicy Peach Chutney

Georgia Spiced Peaches

Let the Transplanting Begin!

2010-04-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

So, starting seedlings indoors turned out to be a smashing success. I started 216 plants on my kitchen counter top and they pretty much did the work themselves! I now have 4 varieties of tomatoes, sweet onions, red bell peppers, rosemary, thyme, and lavender ready to be transplanted to the garden. My only problem now is space! We may expand beyond the 25' x 25' confines of the vegetable garden this year. My days have been so full and busy lately that I am having to take it slow. I got one tray of tomato seedlings in the dirt this afternoon and the goal is to have the second one done tomorrow and the third tray the next day. Then I start finding homes for all the seeds I bought in a moment of over enthusiasm...I got a little carried away when the first seed packets appeared in stores this winter but I'm determined not to let them go to waste!

Easter Eggs

2010-04-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last year we put quite a lot of money and time into building a chicken coop. Knowing basically nothing about chickens we ventured out to a place we found on Craigslist and got ourselves some hens. They were young but the guy who owned the place assured us they were all female and that they would be laying in a few weeks.

The summer waned and so did the daylight. No eggs at all. We figured they weren't getting enough light but didn't want to force them to lay by putting them on lights over the winter. The fall was here and we were determined to get a few eggs for breakfast before winter. I went to another place and bought 3 hens that I was told were already, currently, laying eggs. Nothing. One morning I woke up to a "Cock-a-doodle-do!" Turns out one of our "hens" was a rooster. In the end it turned out four of them were roosters. A few succumbed to some strange changes in weather over the winter and what I thought must have been a respiratory ailment.

The lack of eggs was seriously upsetting to my omelet-loving husband, so he was tearing his hair out when a friend of our's chickens started laying in the dead of winter, no lights, nothing. He made a half hearted attempt at putting a leftover bit of rope lighting in the hen house, but I don't think it was bright enough. Kind of made the coop festive looking though! One night we ordered in Chinese food and my husband, who had just been bemoaning the lack of eggs, opened his fortune cookie to read "A hen today is better than an egg tomorrow." I hung his mis-fortune on the fridge.

Finally spring arrived. Friday morning I was going about my outdoor chores. I cleaned the rabbit cages, and fed, watered and exercised our three netherland dwarf rabbits. I brought out some lettuce and green waste to scatter in the chicken run and let the chickens graze in the yard a bit while the dogs were kenneled. I assessed the vegetable garden and what I needed to get started fixing up our soil so my seedlings can be transplanted. Finally, I put the chickens back in the coop, turned and started towards the house. But something stopped me and I thought, what the heck, I'll take a peek in the nest box and maybe today will be the day. At the very least I can make sure they have fresh bedding. I opened the lid and my heart stopped. There was a huge, brown egg. It was perfect. I ran into the house for my camera and yelled to the kids that we had an egg! We all marveled at the perfect egg laying on the straw and took about a hundred photos. I immediately posted our announcement on Facebook and emailed my husband. It was a monumental day for us, we were not failures at keeping chickens after all!

I was completely in love with my chickens again! The next morning I practically ran to the coop, took a deep breath, lifted the lid of the nesting box, YES, another egg! Now I was feeling more confident.

I sold the last rooster and went out to get a few more young, but laying, hens. Having had this experience and being disappointed before I was crossing my fingers that firstly, these actually were hens and not roosters, and secondly, that they actually were laying. Once they were all happily introduced into their new home I left them overnight. This morning I fed and watered them and took the kids to a friend's house for Easter lunch.

Upon returning from lunch I discovered, not one, but FIVE beautiful eggs in the nest box. WOW. In three days we went from no eggs to seven eggs! Now we're talking! We now have the following chicken breeds in our coop: 1 black sex-link (so called because unlike most chicks these can be sexed at birth), 2 black Australorps, 2 Barred Rocks, and one Silver Laced Wyandotte (pictured). The Wyandotte is one of the neatest looking hens I have ever seen, and will be real fun to take photos of in the yard! The Wyandotte is an American heritage breed of chicken so I'm also feeling pretty dang patriotic as well! Can you tell she's my favorite? I still want to raise Ameracaunas someday (when we own our dream farm) and sell blue eggs, but I'm thinking we should also raise Silver Laced Wyandottes. Both of those breeds are so interesting to look at and are good layers. I think we could easily sell them and get people excited about having backyard chickens!

I don't know why more people don't own chickens actually, I mean I love my dogs but they don't make me breakfast!

Basic Italian Loaf

2010-04-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

I spent almost my entire holiday in Seattle perfecting this recipe! Now I want to bake it every day!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 and 1/3 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 and 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Fit stand mixer with dough hook. Pour warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees) over brown sugar in mixing bowl of stand mixer. Allow to sit 10 minutes until yeast is activated and frothy. Turn mixer to stir speed and add salt and olive oil. Begin adding flour 1 cup at a time. Turn mixer to speed 2 and let it do the work kneading for you for 10 minutes. Remove dough from hook and oil mixing bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a tea towel and let rise 1 hour.

Flour counter and large baking sheet. Turn dough out onto floured countertop and shape into an oblong loaf. Move to the baking sheet. Re-cover with tea towel and let rise 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For a crispier, darker, glossy crust mix 1 egg yolk and half of the egg white with 2 tbsp. water. Brush bread with egg mixture and sprinkle with sea salt. For a softer, lighter crust brush with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh rosemary and sea salt. Bake 35 minutes.

My New Favorite Shirt

2010-03-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome tee I purchased from Happy Family (happyfamily.etsy.com). I've been wearing it proudly and looking forward to growing all our own produce this year!

I also love the "Avant-Gardener" tee at Black Sheep Heap (jpharris.etsy.com).

Oat Bread

2010-03-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I felt like trying out a new bread recipe. I jumped on Allrecipes.com and just searched for "bread", scanning down the page I came across this Oat Bread recipe that had good reviews. Only problem with Allrecipes.com is that almost all their bread recipes are for bread machines. I like to do things a little more traditionally, although I do let my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer do the kneading for me! I've baked enough bread that I figured I could work with the list of ingredients alone, so here's what I did:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dissolve brown sugar in warm water (between 105-115 degrees F) in stand mixer bowl fitted with dough hook. Pour over packet of dry yeast and let sit 10 minutes until yeast is foamy. Add melted margerine and salt on stir speed. Add oats and flour, one cup at a time, scraping down sides when necessary until incoporated. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 10 minutes. Remove dough from bowl and butter bowl. Replace dough in bowl and turn to coat with butter. Let rise 1 hour. Punch dough down, cut into 3 sections and form into balls, place dough balls in buttered bread pan and let rise another hour. Beat egg yolk with a couple tablespoons of water and brush bread with wash, sprinkle with oats and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. If you want a softer crust on the top I think a milk wash would be nice with this as well.

This bread turned out great! We ate almost the whole loaf at dinner with our minestrone soup. YUM!

Posted on: www.asimmeringpotandamom.blogspot.com

Let the Spring Planting Begin!

2010-03-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

I'm out of town for the month of March but that didn't stop me from getting my seeds started! Thanks to my wonderful friend who is house-sitting and keeping my seeds watered.

So with a few trays, a bag of organic growing medium, and a handful of seeds I am currently germinating:

Organic: Tomatoes: San Marzano
Organic: Tomatoes: Roma
Heirloom: Tomatoes: Yellow Pear
Heirloom: Tomatoes: Polish Linguisa
Heirloom: Sweet Peppers: Chinese Giant
Organic: Onions: Walla Walla Sweet
Rosemary: Romero
Thyme: Common
True Lavender

These are just a handful of the seeds we'll be planting this year. Ones that I could confidently start indoors and will be ready to transplant when I return from my trip in April. The rest of our seeds will be sewn outdoors.

Only time will tell how the germinating will go but the planting was very easy. It was $8 for 3 flats at Lowes, they came with trays and plastic tops, and hold a total of 216 plants. The bag of growing medium was another $8 and saved me time mixing my own. Each packet of seeds was between $1-2 and I still have plenty leftover seeds to sew in the garden when I return.

Starting seeds is a simple matter of filling the trays with growing medium and dampening. Planting your seeds according the the packet instructions, usually 1/4 inch deep in the soil, and covering with the plastic top or damp newspapers. Set the seeds in a warm spot to germinate and that's it! A couple days after the seeds have germinated you can remove the plastic covering and let your seedlings get some fresh air and sunlight. The trays underneath will be handy for watering from the bottom and the seedlings will be ready in 4-8 weeks. I know that by the time I return the chance of frost will be past so I will harden mine off and transplant them early. Blogging updates on our seedlings to follow!

Here are the other seeds we will be planting this year:

Heirloom Sweet Corn: Golden Cross Bantam
Heirloom Cucumber: Lemon
Spinach: Matador
Organic: Carrots: Scarlet Nantes
Organic: Peas: Oregon Sugar Pod
Organic: Garden Bean: Provider
Organic: Cantalope: Hearts of Gold
Organic: Onion: Evergreen Long White Bunching
Organic: Summer Squash: Early Prolific Straightneck
Organic: Summer Squash: Burpee's Fordhook Zucchini
Organic: Summer Squash: Early Summer Crookneck
Organic: Okra: Clemson Spineless
Organic: Watermelon: Moon & Stars
Fennel: Zefo Fino
Green Beans: Santa Anna Pole
Brussel Sprouts: Catskill

Organic: Chives, Garlic: Allium Tuberosum
Organic: Sweet Basil: Ocimum Basilicum
Organic: Cilantro: Coriandrum Sativum
Organic: Parsley: Single Italian Plain leaf
Organic: Genovese Basil
Organic: Gourmet Lettuce Blend
Chamomile: German
Oregano: Mediterranean
Stevia: Honeylead
Dill: Dukat
Basil: Siam Queen
Sage: Broad Leaf

Posted on: www.asimmeringpotandamom.blogspot.com

Mom's Cannelloni

2010-03-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

Warm, hearty, and filling. Don't be daunted by the long list of ingredients or the part about making the crepes. I was a little the first time I made it but it was sooo easy! It now takes me (almost) no time to whip this up. And if I don't have the time to make the crepes sometimes I make a "Mom's Cannelloni Casserole" (recipe to follow).

MOM'S CANNELLONI

My mother-in-law makes this amazing cannelloni, which is my husband's FAVORITE meal. Last time he deployed this is what he requested as his homecoming meal. My mother-in-law got this recipe from a friend and has been making it since 1977. The "noodles" are actually crepes! (Don't run out to the store and buy a fancy crepe pan, any small non-stick pan will do!)

CREPE BATTER:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups milk

1 tbsp. oil

FILLING:

1 lb. ground beef (I make it with ground turkey breast)

1 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

1, 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I make it with chopped, cooked fresh spinach)

3 Oz liver pate (sometimes this is hard to find, recently I've been using cream cheese instead, which obviously tastes nothing like liver pate but it has a similar consistency and binds everything together)

1/2 C parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

nutmeg, oregano, salt and pepper to taste

CREAM SAUCE:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

3 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1/4 c. grated Swiss cheese

dash nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

8oz tomato sauce (I've been using tinned crushed San Marzano tomatoes, I like the fresh and less salty taste)

grated parmesan cheese

Prepare crepes by blending all ingredients in bowl: Pour scant 1/4 cup of batter into crepe pan-turn out onto clean dish towel to cool. Makes 12 crepes

Brown ground beef or turkey. Drain if necessary. Add remaining filling ingredients. Place scant 1/4 cup in each crepe. Roll and place in lightly greased baking dishes (13 x 9).

Cream sauce: Prepare as basic bechamel sauce, adding wine and cheese last. Pour over crepes to cover well---this makes a lot of sauce and you may not need it all.

Top with a wide ribbon of tomato sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake 350 or 25-30 minutes until bubbly.

MOM'S CANNELLONI CASSEROLE

Sometimes I crave the cannelloni but don't have time to make the crepes. I just boil up a package of Rotini or Penne pasta. Combine it with the ground beef or turkey "filling." Pour into a buttered baking dish and top with bechamel sauce, the ribbon of tomato sauce, parmesan and bake!

Posted on: www.asimmeringpotandamom.blogspot.com

Back to Bloggin'-Cooking up more than just dinner...

2010-02-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

I was on a blogging hiatus for awhile, so I'll have a lot of catching up to do. Before I dive into all the food stuffs we've made over the winter I thought I'd blog some recipes for things other than food.

I've been dabbling in making our own toiletries and cosmetics, things like shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, deoderant, and even toothpaste.

I still have a lot of experimenting I want to do but here are some of the basics that have been working for us thus far...

Homemade Anti-bacterial Hand Soap/Body Wash/Shampoo:

1/4 cup vegan castile soap (like Dr. Bronners-I've used Peppermint and Baby Mild but they come in a lot of "flavors")

1/4 cup vegetable glycerin (skin protectant, used for soap-like consistency/thickening)

2 tbsp. witch hazel (astringent, anti-bacterial, can fight even MRSA bacteria in concentrations of 10% and is comprable to treatments with antibiotic ointments such as mupirocen)

2 droppers comfrey root extract or comfrey oil (optional, soothes and heals dry skin)

6-12 drops tea tree oil (anti-bacterial, anti-fungal)

Other oils that are great to add to your soap/bodywash/shampoo:

Calendula Oil (heals the skin)
Grape seed oil (moisturizing and mild antiseptic)
Jojoba seed oil (moisturizing and a fungicide)
Chamomile extract or tea (calming)
Peppermint tea (invigorating, nourishes skin)
Orange essential oil (skin soothing increases blood flow)
Neroli oil (soothing to the nervous system, increases circulation, nice scent)
Lavender Essential Oil (calming, nice scent)

Homemade Hand Creme/Diaper Rash Salve:

2 parts coconut oil
1 part olive oil or calendula oil
2-4 droppers comfrey root extract or comfrey oil
2-4 drops tea tree oil

(other oils listed above can also be added)

Homemade Conditioner

I have been using just plain old organic apple cider vinegar as a conditioning rinse. It leaves your hair soft, and strips it of build up. My husband was shocked at how much it lightened/brightened my naturally blond hair just by removing build up.

A friend of mine uses a mixture of brown sugar, honey, and water as a conditioner-I haven't tried this yet but it sounds nice!

This winter I started having some problems with dry skin patches on my face. I think it was also aggravated by the tea tree oil in my shampoo. As a simple moisturizing mask I started putting plain yogurt on my face, letting it dry, and then rinsing off with warm water. This is working better than any of the many moisturizers I have tried!

Homemade Toothpaste Recipe

Mix together coconut oil and baking soda with about 2 tbsp. Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. Add enough peppermint extract to your liking to make it taste better. Add water until the consistency of toothpaste and put in a pump container for easy use!

Homemade Deoderant
(I didn't measure for this one)

Coconut oil
Baking soda (optional)
Cornstarch

It's right when it is a consistency where it can be molded into a deoderant bar container, which you can purchase or re-use an old one. Or just put it in a tin and apply it with your fingers.

Another friend of mine has the following book, which I also intend to buy. It has great recipes for homemade cosmetics and herbal health remedies.

Another blog that I read inspired many of my creations:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

Homesteading Webloggers

Afternoon Harvest

2009-10-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of the harvest from the other day. In these photos: Kale, Butter Lettuce, Red Leaf Lettuce, Parsley, and Cinnamon Basil.

I harvest Kale, Basil, and Parsley almost every day for the rabbits, but this was our first time harvesting the lettuce and so far it's been salads every night for a week! It is amazing eating out of your own garden! Already looking forward to planting again in the spring!

Next week I'll be picking lettuces again and zucchini (had a gorgeous zucchini ready this week, but the dogs snuck into the veggie garden and snatched it. At least someone got to eat it...) and perhaps a pumpkin will be ready before it freezes...

We have tons of broccoli plants that are huge-I've been feeding leaves to the rabbits, but no florets are forming??? I need to do a little more google research on that one.

The Month-long Saga of our Chicken Coop

2009-09-04T17:16:00.001-07:00

Chillin' with my Peeps

(one of our Easter Egger hens pictured above)

This photo album chronicles the month-long project of building our chicken coop and filling it with chickens! 95% of the coop was done in a weekend, but it took us another 4 weeks to put the finishing touches on it and finally get our birds!

We didn't have any plans or blueprints going into this so we were winging it (no pun intended) the whole way. I think we learned some lessons along the way for next time, but overall it turned out pretty good!

Organic eggs here we come!

Hubby with the floor frame

Yup, our chickens get vinyl floors, it's like a deluxe chicken condominium :)

Taking measurements for the window and door

The frame!
All built out of plywood and 2x4's

Putting together the nesting box

Max-the chicken stalker

The finished product! Minus the barn stars I bought for the doors that the kids keep taking down...

One of our Zinnias blooming under a Sunflower

A couple of our Plymouth Rocks and our White Leghorn (daddy was a Rhode Island Red, so she has some red highlights)

Kids feeding the chickens pasta

Happy hens gobbling up the treats in their run!

Homemade Wine-Fun to make and fun to drink!

2009-08-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

This post has been a long time coming. For Christmas last year, I got Pete a winemaking "kit", which is basically the grape juice concentrate-pre-squeezed-and some essential additives, yeast, etc. that make the whole process work. I also bought all the equipment we would need to turn it into wine! I figured this would be an easy way for us to start out and experiment with making different varietals and learning about the additives, and then maybe eventually we would squeeze our own grapes, or even grow them!

This was my wine-making bible during the process: www.grapestompers.com

Their info was a lot better than the directions the grape juice came with and we were able to compare notes between the instructions and the website and make sure we were doing everything the right way for the type of wine we were making.

The grape juice concentrate that I got was a Rioja varietal-it's Pete's favorite and it is named after La Rioja, a region in Spain, that totals 75 miles and has 14,000 vineyards. Since Pete lived in Spain and I lived in Italy, I think we'll try a Chianti next. :)

Here's how it went down:

Christmas morning-what could that be?

Our equipment is sterilized and ready to go-now it's time to mix the must! In goes the bentonite, water, and grape juice concentrate-now stir til' your arm falls off.

Now take a sample of the must and measure the Specific Gravity (SG) using a hydrometer.

Add the oak chips and make sure the temp is between 70-80F before adding the yeast. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. Snap the lid onto the primary fermenter, fill your airlock half way with water and attach your airlock and bung for a airtight seal.

In 2-3 days it should be fermenting away!

After 7 days test the SG again and record it. Continue to test every day until it reaches the point where primary fermentation has finished (differs by kit).

After primary fermentation has concluded, rack the wine into your carboy, leaving behind the sediment. Let simmer for another week and test the SG again. If it is below 0.998 proceed to the next stage-stabilizing and clearing.

It's really important the sterilize the equipment every step of the way.

Rack wine back into primary fermenter and add sulfites, potassium sorbate, and Isinglass. Stir. Wait. Stir. Rack from fermenter into a clean, secondary carboy. Top off carboy with water or a similar wine until it is full to 2" below the bung. Stir twice a day for 3 days-in about a week the wine will clear.

(are you allowed to make wine in your flight suit Pete?)

Rack it again, leaving the sediment. Depending on the kit it will take 1-3 weeks to clear.

It's ok to rack and wait, rack and wait. The more patient you are the clearer the wine. It doesn't clear after you bottle it, so if you get anxious and bottle cloudy wine, you're stuck with it!

Pour it in a glass-if it's clear and the color is good, it's time to bottle! Siphon into wine bottles-we saved up and recycled wine bottles for this.

Cork it!

Now let it rest. 4 weeks at a bare minimum-3-6 months is better.

We've just gotten to the 6 month mark with ours and it definitely has improved with age. So far, it has gotten pretty good reviews from the few people who have gotten a taste of it. I think we can safely send more samples out but these come with a warning-we have an inkling that the alcohol content is actually higher than originally predicted! It's not going to make you blind or anything, but it does make my husband act pretty silly.

The Vegetable Garden Expands...

2009-08-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

We finally got all the pots of vegetables off our deck! We fenced off a corner of the yard and built a number of raised beds, with a central bed and walkway. We still need to add some finishing touches, like an arbor around the gate, but at least we got our seeds in the ground in time for fall harvest!

We spent the extra $$ to get really good dirt for the garden with compost and turkey manure already mixed in. Now we just need to get our own composting system set up and we'll be good to go next year!

Here's a little photo album of the project:

The kids love to help out in the new garden...

We just have to keep Izzy from picking all the tomatoes!

Heirloom Winter Squash sprouts only a day after we planted them!

Several thousand pounds of topsoil was dumped in our driveway at 7pm, needless to say we worked into the night to haul it all, poor hubby!

Sowing our seeds

Checking out the handiwork

Laying down newspaper to deter weeds

More Soft Pretzels!

2009-08-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

So, I love soft pretzels, and my new favorite recipe I got off of foodnetwork.com-these taste just like the Auntie Anne's pretzels in the mall! But you can make them less-greasy. :)

From foodnetwork.com:

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons coarse salt

Directions

Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a wire rack to let excess butter drip off.

Life's just a....

2009-06-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

No recipe required!

Fun Plates for the Kiddos

2009-06-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

I got these cute little divided plates at Target the other day. They have pictures of animals inside the different compartments, like a frog and an octopus, etc. The kids really think it is funny to eat up their lunch and then exclaim, "Look, a monkey!"

Hominy Grill's Shrimp & Grits

2009-06-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

This recipe was from the May 2009 issue of Southern Living Magazine. It was very good and we paired it with a simple salad. I think next time I make it though I might add a few "me" touches. I would probably not use tabasco sauce next time because I don't really fancy it. For a little spice I would prefer some crushed red pepper or a sprinkle of cayenne. Also not a huge fan of the green onions in this recipe, maybe chives instead? The grits could be made with cheddar, gouda, peccorino Romano, Parmesan, Asiago...pretty much anything! I think I like gouda grits best.

So here's the recipe, straight out of the magazine:

Hominy Grill's Shrimp & Grits

Ingredients

* 2 pounds unpeeled, medium-size raw shrimp (31/40 count)

* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

* 5 bacon slices, chopped

* 1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms

* 3 garlic cloves, minced

* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

* 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

* 2 teaspoons hot sauce

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* Creamy Cheddar Cheese Grits

Preparation

1. Peel shrimp; devein, if desired. Toss shrimp with flour until lightly coated, shaking to remove excess.

2. Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving drippings in skillet.

3. Sauté mushrooms in hot drippings 4 minutes or just until mushrooms begin to release their liquid. Add shrimp, and sauté 3 to 3 1/2 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute (do not brown garlic). Add lemon juice and next 3 ingredients; serve immediately over Creamy Cheddar Cheese Grits. Sprinkle with bacon.

Creamy Cheddar Cheese Grits

Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons butter

* 5 cups milk

* 2 teaspoons salt

* 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

* 1 garlic clove, pressed

* 1 1/2 cups uncooked stone-ground white grits

* 1 (10-oz.) block sharp white Cheddar cheese, grated

Preparation

1. Bring 2 Tbsp. butter, next 4 ingredients, and 5 cups water to a boil in a medium-size Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually whisk in grits, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours or until thickened. Stir in cheese and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter until melted. Serve immediately.

Quick-Cooking Creamy Cheddar Cheese Grits: Substitute 2 cups uncooked quick-cooking grits for stone-ground grits. Decrease water and milk to 4 1/2 cups each. Prepare recipe as directed, cooking grits 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened.

Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese, Dates, and Prosciutto & Whole Roast Lemon Basil Chicken

2009-06-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

This delicious salad was made with fresh organic red and green leaf lettuce from a friend's garden and topped with crumbled goat cheese, chopped dates, and prosciutto. Yummy. I can't actually remember what we dressed it with, I think it was a balsamic vinaigrette, yes, that sounds about right.

The chicken is nothing fancy, but the trick is to cook it breast-side down, so that the breast

absorbs all the juices. It's amazing because when you take it out of the over there will literally be no juices left in the pan and the meat is really juicy and tender. As a testament to how delicious this chicken is, when my 3-year-old saw me preparing the chicken he said "Mama, I need to eat that chicken" and I told him we still had to cook it in the oven and he said "No! I need to eat that chicken NOW!"

Whole Roast Lemon Chicken with Basil:

1 Whole Chicken-giblets and neck removed and reserved for future use (homemade broth anyone?) and excess fat cut away from the cavity.

1 Whole Lemon

1 Bunch Fresh Basil

1 Stick Butter

Sea Salt & Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Salt and Pepper chicken all over. Place breast-down in roasting pan. Pierce lemon all over with a fork. Stuff lemon in the cavity. Melt butter in a saucepan and pour over and inside chicken. Sprinkle all over with basil. Pop in the oven for a few hours. Remove when chicken is puffed up, brown, and delicious-smelling. :) Transfer to a platter and garnish (I used "salad confetti" in the photo made from radicchio and broccoli), but you could also throw a few more sprigs of fresh basil around.

Cooking time for chicken: I believe the standard for a whole chicken is 1 hour per pound at 350 plus 20 minutes. But I like to cook them at a higher temp, 425-450 for roasting. So I usually eyeball it, but I think it would be about 3 hours for a 5 lb bird. I just take it out when it looks right and stick a knife in it and check that the meat is white and juices are running clear.

We rounded this meal our with wild rice, green beans, and a glass of Pinot Noir.

Catching Up and Our Veggie/Herb Garden!

2009-06-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am playing major blogging catch-up here! I've been saving all these photos and recipes and tid-bits here and there and just haven't had any time to sit down and blog them. It's been a bit hectic around here (as usual) juggling raising 2 kids, 4 dogs, planting the vegetable garden, digging flower beds, trying to feed everyone, and running 2 businesses!

First, here are some shots of our modest beginnings of a vegetable/herb garden. Currently housed in pots on our porch, but we tilled out the big veggie garden area in the corner of the yard last weekend. We just need to get some good soil and compost in there and put up a fence, arbor, and gate to keep out our 2-legged and 4-legged children. :) We've been adding week by week and we now have:

Rutgers Heirloom Tomatoes

Yellow Pear Heirloom Tomatoes

Roma Grape Tomatoes

Eggplant

Japanese Eggplant

Red and Yellow Sweet Peppers

Okra

Crookneck Squash

Cucumbers

Sweet Basil

Cinnamon Basil

Italian Flatleaf Parsley

German Thyme

Lavendar

Lemon Tree

2 Peach Trees

3 Apple Trees (Golden Delicious and Granny Smith)

and soon hoping to add Zucchini, Sage, Cilantro, Chives, Oregano, Broccoli, lettuces and Green Beans to the mix!

None of the veggies have ripened yet, but the herbs have been used A LOT in my cooking lately. The husband is completely sick of basil, so I am not allowed to put it on his food anymore!

Braided Egg Bread

2008-12-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Alright, here's the egg bread recipe! Doesn't it look tasty? I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com and I made it without the poppy seeds sprinkled on top. Also, I kept the kneading times the same but let my stand mixer do all the work on speed 2. This recipe got 5 stars from everyone in our family!

INGREDIENTS

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
TOPPING:
1 egg
1 teaspoon water
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a saucepan, heat water and oil to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients along with eggs. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Set a third of the dough aside. Divide remaining dough into three pieces. Shape each into a 13-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Divide reserved dough into three equal pieces; shape each into a 14-in. rope. Braid ropes. Center 14-in. braid on top of the shorter braid. Pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Beat egg and water; brush over dough. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cover with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

2008-12-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

I really felt like soup for lunch today and since the kids' favorite veggie is broccoli and they love cheese.....

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken stock
2-2.5 cups baby broccoli florets
1 cup half & half
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in deep saucepan over med-low heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add flour and whisk or stir for 1 minute until flour has cooked. Remove from heat and slowly add chicken stock, whisking or stirring until incorporated. Return to medium heat and bring to a simmer stirring frequently. Add broccoli (if you want smaller pieces of broccoli in your soup just chop them smaller!) and simmer about 8 minutes or until tender. Add half & half, stir to combine. Add cheese, stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The kids loved this soup and so did I! We ate it with leftover braided egg bread that I made for dinner last night, I'll be posting the recipe for that soon!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Warm Whole-wheat Tortilla Wedges

2008-11-15T14:27:00.001-08:00

Here's a fun snack or even an easy appetizer for a party!

The spinach and artichoke dip is an Alton Brown recipe from Food Network. It is a cheater recipe and you don't actually have to cook anything, just microwave to warm! It tastes just as good as any complicated spinach and artichoke recipe that I've ever tried and I didn't have to chop or saute a thing. Well, I did chop the artichokes a bit, but still!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
11/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and serve hot.

Warm Whole-wheat Tortilla Wedges:

1 package whole wheat tortillas (soft taco size, not the huge ones!)
4 tbsp. olive or canola oil for brushing
coarse sea salt

Cut tortillas into wedges. Brush with oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, checking frequently to prevent burning.

Spinach and Artichoke Pizza with Mushrooms, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Vinegar

2008-11-15T14:15:00.001-08:00

It sounds fancy, but trust me, your whole family, even your kids, will love it!

For the Pizza:
Make your own pizza dough
(Here's the recipe from a previous post)

or

Buy a store-bought dough or crust

For the toppings:
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp. goat cheese
2 artichoke hearts chopped (from a jar or can)
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms (from approx. 3 mushrooms)
1/3 cup chopped fresh spinach
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Top pizza dough with marinara sauce (either homemade or jarred). Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Dot with artichoke hearts and mushrooms. Sprinkle with fresh spinach. Crumble goat cheese over top and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Bake according to pizza crust package (usually 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees) or 15 minutes at 425 degrees if using homemade dough.

Enjoy!

Back to Blogging

2008-11-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile! I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to post any new recipes for some time. Now it is fall and there are all kinds of yummy fall dishes to make, so it's back to blogging for me!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to make good chocolate chip cookies. I always think my cookies turn out too crispy but with a little experimentation I think I got it right this time. I hope I can duplicate this in the future. Sorry Pete, these came out much better than the ones I sent with you!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Beat together butter and sugars in your stand mixer on high speed. Lower speed to medium, and add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Lower mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture a little at a time until incorperated. Turn mixer off and fold in chocolate chips with a spatula.
Drop cookies onto parchment paper by the rounded tablespoonful. I use a large mellon baller. The dough balls are about 1 1/2" wide on the cookie sheets and I space them 2-3 inches apart.

Bake 16 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Banana Bread

2008-09-13T16:15:00.001-07:00

This is an Emeril recipe that I tried today, it turned out good! Great if you serve it warm with butter!

10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.

Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor. (I just wisk them together in a bowl and mash the bananas with my whisk)

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the remaining 10 tablespoons butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in the nuts.

Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Fabulous Mac n' Cheese

2008-09-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

An American classic. Some say the macaroni and cheese dish was invented by Thomas Jefferson, who served it in the White House in 1802. Others claim it was not invented by Jefferson but he did bring back a macaroni mold to the US from Paris. One thing is certain, the macaroni and cheese dinner was catapulted to fame in 1932 with the release of the Kraft Dinner. Kraft now sells over 1 million boxes of macaroni and cheese each DAY. But if you're looking for something a little more home-made, here is an indulgent version of my favorite comfort food.

Ingredients:
10 oz. macaroni or ditalini
2 oz. velveeta
2 oz. cream cheese
2 oz. sour cream
2 oz. shredded cheddar
2 oz. shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup milk
3 strips bacon, chopped, cooked until slightly crisp, drained
1/2 cup petite sweet peas (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 tbsp. bread crumbs
2-3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 and put a medium pot of water on to boil.

Place velveeta, cream cheese, sour cream and milk in a saucepan over med-low heat. Whisk cheeses until melted. Add shredded cheddar, shredded mozzarella, bacon, peas (if using), salt, and pepper. Whisk until cheese have melted. Remove from heat.

Cook pasta according to directions until al dente.

Combine pasta and sauce in a medium casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

My Favorite Butter Biscuits

2008-09-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

I love these biscuits because they are no-rolling-pin-required!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 stick butter cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients in stand mixer with paddle attachments. Add butter cubes and mix until butter is pea-sized. Add buttermilk and mix until combined, do not over mix!

Turn batter out onto a floured surface. Turn it over so it is coated in flour and pat it into a flattened ball. Press with your hands until it is 1/2" thick. Use a 2.5" cookie cutter and cut out 8 biscuits. You can re-knead/shape the remaining dough and get out 2 more biscuits, they just won't be quite as light and fluffy as the others.

Bake at 350 for 16 minutes. Serve with butter and honey or jam.

A Girl's Lunch

2008-09-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

It has been awhile. I got stuck into a new book series and now I have to play catch up! Last Saturday I had some girlfriends over for lunch. I made a panini bar, which is a simple matter of slicing up fresh cheese, tomatoes, herbs, meats and letting everyone build their own sandwich and throw it on the press. I also made stuffed artichokes and honey, walnut and gorgonzola crostini-both Giada De Laurentiis recipes. I love her! Her cookbook Giada's Family Meals is great. So without further ado, here are the recipes!

Panini Bar:
1-2 balls sliced, fresh Mozzarella (Fior di'latte or Mozzarella di Bufala)
2-3 sliced vine-ripened tomatoes
Prosciutto or other deli meats of your choice
bunch of fresh basil
1 loaf crusty Italian bread sliced into 1" thick pieces
olive oil for oiling the outside of the bread before putting it on the press
salt and pepper to taste

Stuffed Artichokes:
1 lemon halved
2 whole garlic cloves
3 large artichokes
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
3 tbsp. chopped, fresh, falt-leaf parsley
2 tbsp. chopped, fresh basil
2 tbsp. chopped, fresh mint
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1.25 lb plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp. drained capers
3 oz. italian bread, crust trimmed, cut into 1/2" cubes

Squeeze juice from the lemon halves into a large pot of cold water. Add the squeezed halves and whole garlic cloves. Cut off the top 1/3 of each artichoke and discard. Trim off the stems. Clip the tops of the outer leaves. Cut artichokes in half and using a small, sharp knife cut out the fibrous choke and the small purple-tipped leaves. Submerge in the lemon water. Boil until just tender, about 30-45 minutes. Drain the artichokes and set them aside while you make the filling.

In a medium bowl whisk together lemon juice, parsley, basil, mint, minced garlic, and lemon peel. Gradually whisk in oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss 1/3 cup of the dressing with the tomtoes and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Place artichoke halves cut side up on serving platter. Drizzle 1 tbsp of the dressing around each artichoke and spoon tomato mixture into the center of each artichoke half.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Crostini with Gorgonzola, Honey, and Walnuts

2 tbsp. olive oil
24 1/3" thick diagonal baguette slices
6 oz. creamy gorgonzola cheese, coarsely crumbled
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp. honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Brush lightly with oil. Toast in the oven until baguette slices are golden, about 8 minutes. Toss the Gorgonzola with the walnuts in a small bowl. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the baguette slices and press lightly to adhere. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, about 8 minutes. Arrange on a platter and drizzle with honey. Serve warm.

Blueberry Pancakes

2008-08-22T09:58:00.001-07:00

My 2-year-old son comes downstairs every morning lately and says "cook mama, cook cakes." He wants pancakes ALL the time. So this morning when I was making up the batter I mixed up extra quantities of the dry ingredients and stored them in an airtight container so that on future mornings I will already have my pancake mix ready and will just need to add the wet ingredients. Here's how to mix up your own pancake mix:

Put in a large, airtight container:
8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp baking powder
4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Shake it up real good. With the lid on.

When it comes time to make your pancakes. Mix 2 cups mix, 1/2 stick melted butter, 2 eggs, and enough milk to get the consistency of heavy cream in a large bowl. This will make 10 pancakes.

Pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake. Drop 6 blueberries onto each cake on the griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to surface then flip and cook another minute or so.

Perfect blueberry pancakes!

Our First Tomato!

2008-08-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

The tomato plant has produced its first fruit! We have a tiny, green tomato growing on one of our plants only 12 days after I first planted them. Actually it is the plant that my son snapped. I was nervous about the wiggly part of the stem. I tried propping it up with a dowel but that didn't seem to be working, so today I dug that plant up and buried it on its side up to the break. My mother-in-law told me that you could do this with tomato plants, I had no idea! Apparently many people plant them on their sides and the shoots will grow up off the stalk like that. Amazing!

Little Ranch Chicken Dippers with Roasted New Potato "Fries" and Broccoli

2008-08-19T17:48:00.001-07:00

This dinner is a big hit with my kids, and I enjoy eating it as well! Feeding this to my kids makes me happy because it is very healthy. This meal is packed with B vitamins, protein, vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, and even Potassium! BUT-your kids will think they are eating really delicious chicken nuggets and french fries! Why feed them frozen nuggets and fries when you can whip up this delicious, healthy, kid-friendly meal in half an hour?

Little Ranch Chicken Dippers:
1 lb. chicken breasts (approx. 3)
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Chop chicken into nugget-sized chunks. Place ranch dressing in one bowl and bread crumbs in another. Coat chicken with ranch and then with breadcrumbs. Place coated chicken on a baking sheet.

Roasted New Potato "Fries":

8-12 red new potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly grated black pepper

Clean/rinse potatoes (keep the skins on!). Slice potatoes into sticks-or just quarter them. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toss to coat with olive oil. Season with sea salt and freshly grated black pepper. These are amazing with rosemary sprinkled on top as well!

Pop the potatoes and the chicken in the oven for 20 minutes.

Broccoli:
1 head fresh broccoli
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloved garlic, chopped
sea salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste
A squeeze of lemon juice

For the broccoli, cut a fresh head of broccoli into florets. Boil for 3 minutes until just fork tender. Drain. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a saucepan. Add 2 cloved roughly chopped garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and toss to coat. Saute for approximately 2 minutes. Season with sea salt and freshly grated black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Clean plate, messy hands!

Dress it up-For a grown-up version of the the little ranch chicken dippers you can prepare an entire breast this way, slice it up and lay it on top of a salad or wrap it up in a tortilla with lettuce, shredded cheddar, and a dolop of ranch dressing. A quick and simple lunch!

Baby Tip!-If you have a little one who is eating pureed foods you can bake a couple chunks of chicken plain and puree them in a food processor with a few broccoli florets, a couple potatoes, and a little chicken stock.

Buttermilk "Fah-fahs" and Strawberry Syrup

2008-08-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

My son calls waffles "fah-fahs", so we've sort of adopted that name. He calls pancakes "hot cake", which is pretty much right on the money!

I keep tweaking this recipe, trying to make it easier to remember.

I always get the syrup going before I start on the waffles because it takes about 15 minutes.

For the syrup:
1 lb. frozen strawberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice

Combine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar breaks down and you have a nice syrup.

For the waffles:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 stick melted butter
2 cups buttermilk

Pre-heat waffle iron. Combine dry ingredients. Beat egg in a separate bowl. Whisk egg and melted butter into dry ingredients. Whisk buttermilk in slowly until the consistency is slightly thicker than heavy cream.

Pour approx. 1/3 cup batter onto waffle iron. Cook until golden. Serve with strawberry syrup and powdered sugar.

Don't forget the juice!

Picollini Farfalle alla Carbonara

2008-08-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

Can pasta be adorable? Because Barilla's new Picollini series are the most adorable pasta I've ever seen. Check your local grocery store for these miniature versions of popular pasta shapes that are sure to delight children and adults alike.

Tonight I made picollini farfalle (little butterflies) alla carbonara. Carbonara is a Roman dish that is traditionally made with guanciale (pig's cheek), but since I'm pretty sure you won't find guanciale anywhere in the US, use pancetta, which comes from the pigs belly and is somewhat like bacon, but MUCH tastier.

When I lived in Rome a chef there told me it was an abomination to make a carbonara sauce with whole cream. The sauce is usually made with guanciale or pancetta, eggs, and a bit of pecorino romano. I guess it's the indulgent American in me, but I still make carbonara with whole cream and, brace yourself, and entire 2/3 cup of cheese (pecorino romano, parmesan, asiago, mozzarella, and provolone tonight but just romano and mozzarella will do). A true abomination.

Here's what you will need (this serves 2 adults and 2 toddlers, you can double it for bigger appetites):

1/2 lb. pasta Toddler Tip! Picollini farfalle or other small pasta shapes are great for kids, spaghetti or bucatini is the traditional pasta shape but the small pasta is easier for little hands.
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup shredded pecorino romano (you can sub parmesan or a mix)
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/3 cup whole cream
2 oz. pancetta, chopped
bunch of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
black pepper

Put on a big pot of salted water to boil. Add a little olive oil to the pot so your pasta doesn't stick together.

In the meantime chop the pancetta. Pancetta is like a dry, cured, thinly sliced bacon usually seasoned with pepper corns and sometimes with other seasonings. It is salt-cured and hung to dry for several months so although it looks like raw bacon it is completely edible as-is and is very delicious eaten raw. Be brave and try it! I think it is better raw than cooked, but it is also much better cooked than American-style bacon. Salty, peppery, amazing. Dress it up-If you're having guests you can serve it on an antipasto plate with salami and prosciutto accompanied by another plate of Italian cheeses and grissini (breadsticks). I lived in Sicily as a young teen, and I never really came around on all the cured meats, it wasn't my thing. It wasn't until I went back and lived in Rome for several months as an adult that I found a love for Italian cured meats. One of my favorites in Rome was speck, which is made from the thighs of the pig, it is simply amazing. We just don't get that many varieties of Italian cured meats in the US, probably because of FDA regs. The home-grown varieties I've tried are good (the pancetta I used tonight was made in Rhode Island), but a pig from Rhode Island just doesn't compare to one from Latium.

I just got off on a tangent there, but seriously, try the pancetta "raw".

Back to our recipe. Pan fry the chopped pancetta in a little olive oil. It cooks fast so it really only needs a couple of minutes. Then set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together egg yolks, cream, cheeses, and parsley. Stir in the cooled pancetta.

When the pasta is "al dente", which literally translates to "to the tooth", describing the perfect level of done-ness, when the pasta is tender but with a bite. Drain and immediately add to the bowl with the egg and pancetta mixture. Stir, allowing the heat of the pasta to cook the egg and thicken the sauce. The sauce should be smooth and creamy, it should not look like scrambled eggs!

Enjoy!

Personal Pizzas with Chicken, Prosciutto, Tomatoes, and Cipolline

2008-08-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today we made pizza. Sometimes I make a big pizza, but it's more fun for the little ones if you make personal-sized pizzas and let the kids help top them with all the goodies. I think they enjoy their dinner more when they had a hand in making it. :) I have a couple of good pizza dough recipes. Tyler Florence (foodnetwork.com) has a good one that I have altered slightly to suit my taste ( I use sea salt instead of kosher salt and add a tsp of sugar to balance out the extra saltiness).

For the dough:
1 pkg dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp
2.75 cups flour

Put the water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast and sugar. Stir and let sit 5 minutes while the yeast activates and gets foamy. Add salt and 2 tbsp olive oil and mix on low speed. Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix on speed 2 to combine. Continue to mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes until a nice dough forms and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl.

Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a tea towel or cling wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour.

In the meantime.....

For the toppings I used chicken, prosciutto, tomatoes, and cipolline (delicious little, flat, sweet Italian onions). You will also want a jar of your favorite marinara sauce-for pizza I like something simple like the Bertolli Organic Tomato & Basil, and I just use bagged, shredded mozzarella and provolone.

Chop the chicken into chunks, season with salt and pepper, and saute in olive oil until cooked through. Set aside in small bowl.

Tear prosciutto into pieces and set aside in another bowl.

Slice tomatoes and place them in a bowl.

Peel and slice cipolline and place them in a fourth bowl.

Put a little marinara sauce in a 5th bowl and a handful of shredded mozza & prova in a final bowl.

Arrange all the bowls on a countertop dusted with flour so that when your dough has risen you can turn it out on your floured surface and then let your little sous chefs create pizza masterpieces!

Ok, so now the dough has risen. Separate it into 3 or 4 equally sized pieces. Pat and stretch each piece into a pizza shape, make them thinner in the center and a little thicker near the edges so there is a collar to hold all the toppings in.

Brush pizzas with olive oil and top with sauce, cheese, and toppings as desired.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Yum.

Saturday Soft Pretzels

2008-08-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Saturdays are my favorite day for baking because there's no pressure or commitments to keep at certain times. One of my favorite things to bake are soft pretzels. I am a pretzel fiend. I don't know anyone else who has made soft pretzels at home, but that is probably because they don't know how easy it is to make them and how much better the home-made variety taste than the mall kiosk variety. I've tried a number of different recipes and come up with a variation of my own:

Ingredients:
1.5 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 packet dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 stick (4oz.) melted butter
2 tsp sea salt
4.25 cups flour
vegetable oil
1 egg
sea salt for sprinkling
shredded parmesan or mixed Italian cheeses
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the warm water into your stand mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook. Add the yeast. Give it about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy. Add sugar, melted butter, and salt and mix on low speed. Add flour or let a little helper add flour 1/4 cup at a time until a nice dough forms and pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it into a nice ball. Place in an oiled bowl and turn over to cover with oil. Cover with a damp dish towel or cling wrap and allow to rise in a draft-free place for 50 minutes. I usually stick the bowl in my oven-no drafts in there!

50 minutes later.....

Pre-heat oven to 425. Make sure the bowl with the dough is out of there first! Turn dough out onto oiled surface. Divide into 8 equal parts. Bring 3 quarts water with 3/4 cup baking soda to a boil. In the meantime roll each piece of dough out into a long 24" rope and form into pretzel shape by taking each end and crossing them over each other. Press ends and center to hold together. Lay each pretzel into the boiling water mix for 30 seconds. Remove with a spatula to parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush with egg, sprinkle with sea salt and shredded parmesan (I like to use a parm/romano/asiago blend). Pop in the oven for 16 minutes and....

Voila! Soft pretzels.

Eat as is or dip in cream cheese.

Toddler tip! You can make the pretzel rope and then just chop it into 2" bits before boiling. What you will end up with are baby/kid friendly little pretzel balls. Yum!

When life gives you leftovers...These are really only good the first day, so if you have leftovers you can chop them into bite-sized chunks the following day and toast them in the oven, for crunchy pretzel bites!

The Farmer's Market

2008-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the kids and I ventured out to the local Farmer's Market. It is small, but we still found plenty of goodies there. Perfectly ripe watermelon, deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes, local honey.....I also bought a couple of small tomato plants from a local farmer. I have never grown tomatoes before so I am going to blog about this little experience. We will see if we can get some fruit out of these before the season ends. It is already August, but it will be hot here in North Carolina well into the fall. My biggest challenge has been keeping my 2-year-old out of the plant pot. Yes, we have re-planted the tomatoes upwards of 6 times now. It's a good thing I bought an extra bag of potting soil.....

The Beginning

2008-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

I am writing this blog for two reasons, first because every time I come up with a new recipe I scribble it down on some scrap paper or the back of an envelope and promptly lose it. And second, because I'm hoping to share some of my food adventures with friends, family, and anyone else who cares to read!

Peter and Isabelle (13 months and 27 months) and my husband, also Peter, are my taste-testers as well as any willing friends who come by. I love to feed people and I want my children to have a love of food and an appreciation of cooking. I try to cook foods that are kid friendly but that I wouldn't be embarrased to serve to guests. I plan on writing notes to accompany many of the recipes that will tell you how to make "grown-up" versions and many will also have notes on how to make pureed baby-food versions.

I hope you have fun reading the blog and cooking for the kids (and big-kids) in your life!