Friends in High Places...

...And by high places, I mean trees, more specifically, fruit trees. I don't know if they are necessarily in these trees, but they are definitely picking fruit from them (Although I could see David Seay up in a tree!)

What is all of this mumbling about you may be asking yourself. Well, I just spent the last 8 1/2 hours canning some glorious fruit (8 pints of apples and 3 pints of peaches), so I'm a little loopy.

Anyway, the apples are beautiful green apples from the Seay Tree (also known as the apple tree in David and Karen Seay's yard) and the peaches are lovely white peaches from the Arbre de St. Louis (also known as the peach tree in Summer and Spencer St. Louis's yard). I am ever so grateful for this 'forbidden' fruit (it is only forbidden to eat until at least December or January, so I can enjoy apple pie and peach cobbler featuring fruit from Kansas in the dead of our frigid winter).

I was also able to save a ton of the peach juice that I used to fill the jars, which I will be taking with me to make Bellini's this weekend at the party at Glinn Gardens. OOOOHHHH! I can't wait to share some of my sweet, peachy concoction with my dear friends and their friends (along with a Minted Peach Salsa...I know, I am crazy for peaches right now, but I just can't help it!!!)

Hope you are enjoying your summer! xoxo

What Day is Today?

Today is canning day!

I canned for the first time today, and I have to say it was pretty successful. 4 pints of pickles, 3 pints of peaches and 3 pints of tomatoes (all from the farmer's market).

I really wish I could can every day! I'm hooked. My goal for the next five years is to really grow our pantry in the summer with an abundance of locally grown foods that we can enjoy all year (if I never have to buy canned tomatoes again I will be thrilled!). I also really love doing anything that makes me feel connected with a past way of doing things.

I used this book, The Fresh Girl's Guide to Canning and Preserving as a guide. It was easy to follow and gave great tips and recipes.

I can't wait to make peach cobbler in January with peaches from a tree right here in Kansas!

Sights (and smells) of Summer

I'm about to inundate you with many blogs. I simply have a lot to be happy about this weekend.

This first post is an ode to my local farmer's market (where I have a booth again this summer).

The produce is really starting to flourish: the reds, yellows and purples of tomatoes; gorgeous, juicy peaches; bright orange carrots; golden sweet corn; all accompanied by the sweet smell of summer flowers (starring the Zennia)! Take a look....

The above is produce from Jake's Farm

The Weiche's always have great produce

All of the flowers are from Carnhan Farms (The owner, Erin, is my stall mate)

The market has grown so much this year. There is so much more than produce and baked goods now. Come support local merchants!

Grilled Cherry & Brie Pizza

If you make one recipe from this blog, make it this one.

Holy crow, this was delicious (and easy)!

First the pizza dough...

Combine in a large bowl: 1 c. warm water and 2 1/4 tsp. (or 1 package) yeast

When dissolved add: 1 T. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 T. olive oil and 1 1/4 c. flour.

Beat until smooth. Add: 2 c. additional flour. Knead until elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl & let rise until doubled. Form 2 balls. Pat & stretch to about 9 inch diameters.

Now for the toppings....

Melt 2 T. butter in a skillet and add 1/2 of a whole yellow onion, thinly sliced. Cook on low for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Onions should be a deep brown but not crispy when finished.

Simmer 1/4 c. Balsamic vinegar on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until it has a syrup consistency. Set aside.

You will also need 10 slices of Brie cheese, 3/4 c. shredded mozzarella, 1 c. fresh cherries, pitted, and 1 1/2 T. fresh rosemary

And finally, the cooking...

Turn your grill on low heat, place 2 pizza doughs right on the grill grates and cook one side for 5-10 minutes. Flip dough over when brown and crispy. Layer the cooked side with mozzarella, Brie slices, your caramelized onions, cherries and rosemary. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or until cheeses have melted.

Drizzle with balsamic reduction and serve.

We were lucky enough to have fresh tart cherries from our farmer's market, onions from a friend's garden and rosemary from our own garden. Try to get as many fresh ingredients as possible, trust me it's worth it.

Bon Appetite!

Topping recipe courtesy of Little Yellow Kitchen on www.tastykitchen.com (pizza crust recipe courtesy of Ike's mom)

A very HAPPY week....

It is spring break, so no subbing. A great creative week (but unfortunately, not a paying week).

It may have been a rainy, cool week, but I don't think I've had such a good week in quite awhile. I got to work on a TON of projects that got my creative juices flowing and I found out that two of my photos are going to appear in Kansas! magazine. I couldn't be more excited.

Here are a few things that stood out as making my week extra happy:

Working on my photos

I spent the last few days getting my photographs ready for my April show at Radina's (Aggieville location).

Flowers on a window sill

Last weekend we had a small dinner party, so I went to Dillon's and spent about $14 on 2 bouquets of flowers.

I took the bouquets apart and made my own arrangements in a variety of vases.

They filled about 10 vases, which are now scattered around the house and still going strong!

Signs of Spring!!!!

Blooming redbuds

Dazzling tulips

Bushes of peach flowers

And the hint of the lilacs to come

Being completely caught up on Mad Men!

I am completely addicted! I have always loved the 60's and I feel this is an honest peak into what life was like then (at least on Madison Avenue). I especially love the clothes and decor. I spent the last month watching the first 4 seasons so I could go into the new season knowing what was going on. Ike is baffled at how I can watch so many episodes of one show in such a short time (I usually watched while doing other things around the house.)

Heavy Cream....

I know it is not the most healthy thing, but seriously, adding heavy cream to just about anything, makes it better. It makes me incredibly happy.

Anyway, those are just a few of the things that made my spring break spectacular!

Grilled Eggplant Salad

I have never worked with eggplant before. I've eaten it (and loved it!), but I've never cooked with it. Mostly because it looks like some kind weird Dr. Seuss egg.

Well, a few weeks ago, Ike and I were getting groceries and decided to pick one new piece of produce that we've never really used in a recipe before. So, I decided to face my fears, and picked the eggplant.

These last few weeks have been absolutely gorgeous (especially for 'winter' in Kansas, hello 78 degrees!!!), so grilling seemed appropriate. And this is the wonderful (and incredibly easy, and incredibly healthy, AND incredibly delicious) recipe I found courtesy of the grill master himself, Bobby Flay.

Grilled Eggplant Salad

1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch thick slices

1 large red onion, cut into rounds

Canola oil

1 avocado, halved, pitted and flesh chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped oregano leaves

Honey

Olive Oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, zested

Parsley sprigs, for garnish

Brush the eggplant and red onions with canola oil and arrange on the grill. Cook the eggplant until soft and grill the onions until they have a slight char. Remove from the grill to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Once cool, roughly chop and add them to a serving bowl along with the avocado.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, the Dijon, and oregano. Add honey and olive oil, to taste, and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add dressing to the eggplant mixture and toss. Garnish with lemon zest and parsley sprigs.

See I told you, super easy! And really there isn't much better than grilled onions!

We ate this as our meal and between the two of us, ate it right up. The grilled eggplant had a nice meaty quality, so you won't miss any heartiness. (If you were serving it as a side it could probably serve four people.)

I grilled up some naan bread to go along with it (another grilling favorite).

Looking at the forecast for next week (high 70s and low 80s) it looks like more grilling will be in order! Here comes Spring!!!

Winter Fiesta

Well, after being a lazy bum most of the week I decided to end my doldrums by cooking two new recipes (Mexican stuffed shells and Tomatillo Guacamole) last night for dinner.

And they turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

(found on Pintrest)

4 servings

1 lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

4 oz cream cheese

14-16 jumbo pasta shells

1 1/2 c. salsa

1 c. taco sauce

1 c. cheddar cheese

1 c. Monterey Jack cheese

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Brown ground beef, add taco seasoning and prepare according to the package
• Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted, blend well. Set aside and cool completely. (You may be tempted to eat what's in the pan, but wait, it gets better!)
• Cook pasta shells according to the directions on the package, drain. Set shells out separately so they don't stick together.
• Pour salsa on bottom of 13x9in baking dish. (make sure you have a really good salsa, as a lot of it soaks into the shells. I have yet to find a salsa at the grocery store, or even a recipe for one that I really love. And as much as I HATE corporate dining, Carlos O'Kelly's has the best salsa.)
• Stuff each shell with the meat mixture and place in pan, open side up.
• Cover shells with taco sauce (now, it says taco sauce, but I like enchilada sauce better, so I use that, and it still turned out to be delicious.)
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 min.
• Add cheeses and bake, uncovered 10-15 min
• Top with green onions, black olives, sour cream, more salsa, whatever your heart desires. We didn't top it with anything and it tasted wonderful.

Tomatillo Guacamole

(found in Skinny Dips)

Makes about 3 cups

Vegetarian

4 tamotillos, papery husks removed, halved lengthwise

2 large plum tomatoes, cored, halved lengthwise, and seeded

2 tsp. canola oil

2 large hass avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled

1/2 c. chopped cilantro or coriander leaves

1/4 c. diced red onion

3 serrano chilies, seeds and ribs removed, minced

2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

• Prepare medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill/barbecue, preheat a gas grill/barbecue on medium-high, or place a stovetop ridged grill pan over medium-high heat.
• Brush tomatillos and tomatoes with the oil. Place the tomatillos and tomatoes, cut side down, directly over the fire. Cover the grill and cook, turning once, until dark brown grill marks appear and they are tender, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 1/2in dice. Set aside. (I didn't do any of that. Mostly because I'm lazy. I skipped right to the dicing of the tomato and tomatillos. It still turned out wonderfully, I just thought I would include these directions for the more ambitious ones out there!)
• In a medium bowl, mash the avocados until chunky. Add the grilled (or in my case, raw) tomatillos and tomatoes. Fold in the cilantro/coriander, onion, serrano chiles, lime juice and salt. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately (definitely followed that part!)

Anyway, hope you enjoy. All in all, it only took me about an hour. I made the guac while the shells were cooking.

Hope you have a Merry New Year!!!!

Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la

I love this time of year. And here is a list why:

1. I love that my house smells like a cedar tree (well, because Ike and I hiked 2 hours to find our cute, imperfect tree).

2. I love that it is now acceptable to watch all of my favorite Christmas movies (now for a sub-list of my top 5)

1. White Christmas (I LOVE to watch Vera Ellen dance!)

2. All the claymation movies (especially Rudolph!)

3. Miracle on 34th Street (the one with Maureen O'Hara)

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (mostly because of cousin Eddie)

5. The Family Stone (not a classic, but for some reason I love it! mostly because of Craig T. Nelson and Luke Wilson)

*Alternate: It's a Wonderful Life ( it really can't be left off)

3. I love finding the absolute perfect gift for my friends and family (or making them the perfect gift.)

4. Tis the season for parties!!!

5. There is pumpkin flavored everything! (just made a pumpkin roll Sunday night and it is practically gone!)

6. I can pull out my Bing Crosby Christmas CD.

7. I get to see my wonderful family.

8. Eggnog!

9. The fact that it is my niece, Kennedy's first Christmas!

10. Oh yeah, and this....

He proposed....while I was wearing sweatpants and only one sock and my glasses....he must really love me.

Happy Holidays!

Sunday Dinner Thursday Night

Okay, so I'm back to food....again.

I can't help it. When I cook something delicious and simple, I love to share it. Do any of you use these recipes? I would love to know. Anyway, here is what I cooked for Ike and his dad for dinner tonight...

Steak! Not just steak, jumbo steak! (to all of you vegetarians, ignore this carnivorous part).

Every summer my parents buy a steer at the county fair (with another couple, or maybe two, because that's a lot of meat!). They have it butchered and are stocked with meat for probably the whole year. And It. Is. Good! It could probably stand on it's own, but I marinated it anyway. Here is the recipe for the marinade (thanks to the Pioneer Woman AGAIN).

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Cooking Sherry

3 Tablespoons Honey

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons minced Ginger

3 cloves minced Garlic

1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

You mix it all together. Put your steaks (we used two enormous steaks, and this was plenty) in big zip lock bags, pour the marinade over it, seal and let it set for 3-5 hours (I did it for 2 hours and it was still great).

After you're done you can strain all the garlic, etc out of the marinade, add 1/2 cup of water to it in a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. It made a great dip for the meat.

(Somehow I had cooking sherry and sesame oil in the pantry. Who knows why?!)

Next, the roasted potatoes. Even easier.

I chopped up a bunch of red potatoes, put them in a bowl and tossed them with 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a package of dry ranch dip. I put them on a baking sheet and baked them for 35 minutes at 450 degrees.

And finally....the Peach Cobbler.

Here is a link to the recipe.

This meal reminded me of the dinners my mom cooked for us on Sundays growing up. Complete comfort food. Noticing a pattern?

However, I don't think she had a shot of whisky while she cooked....

Beware the Pear

I have a sweet tooth. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a sweet tooth that borders on obsession. If I see something with sugar in it (lots of sugar!) I have to eat it (or drink it). Even my favorite beer is sweet and full, full, full of sugar (Ace Pear Cider. But that's a whole other post).

So, you can imagine my delight when I got this little baby for my birthday (my whole family had to chip in, and I mean my WHOLE family...mom, dad, brother and sister.)

I originally got it in silver, but as soon as I saw how many colors this mixer comes in, I knew I had to have something with a little more flare. I narrowed it down to Pistachio, Pear and Persimmon. But as you can see, Pear won in the end.

Well, my birthday was about a month and a half ago, and tonight, I finally used this sweet little mixer. And boy, oh boy was it fun! Just look how cute it is!

But do you know what was even more fun? Eating what my lil' pear colored friend helped me make. This pumpkin pie with ginger snap cookie crust.

Okay, okay. I promise my next post won't be about food or anything related to food. But, the one after that is fair game!

Lovely Leftovers

I really love when what you make with your leftovers is better than the original dish.

I grew up on comfort food and lots of leftovers. The closest grocery store was about 20 minutes away from our house, so we had to use up what we had and just make due. This way of living lead to my dad's famous (or infamous) Egg Surprise. Scrambled eggs and whatever we had leftover in the fridge. Not separate. Oh no. Mixed in with the eggs. Yes, we had chili mixed into our scrambled eggs! Better than you would think.

So, a few days ago I made pot roast (I seared the roast on all sides and then added chopped up new potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. I added water and wine [cabernet sauvignon] about 3/4 of the way up the roast. I cooked the roast at 300 degrees for about 4 1/2 hours). It was good, but nothing great. Usually when I make roast it is just so I can use the roast and veggies to make other things. And that is what we (or Ike) did for dinner tonight.

He made what he calls Pinwheels. Very simple. He made homemade biscuit dough and rolled it out, took the cold roast beef and spread it across the dough and then rolled it up, just like you would cinnamon rolls. He cut the dough roll into little discs like so.

He baked them at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

While baking these little discs of deliciousness, he took the beef broth we saved from the roast and made a simple brown gravy. About the time the gravy was ready, Voila! The pinwheels were ready.

We drizzled a little gravy over the pinwheels and a new delicious favorite leftover creation was born (at least to me, Ike's mom used to make them for their family).

Not quite as ground breaking as scrambled eggs and chili, but scrumptious none the less.

Blueberries, Blueberries

I saw a pint of blueberries in our fridge this morning and have since had this beautiful poem by my dear friend, Andrea, and her husband, Bob, stuck in my head (or at least the first line):

"blueberries, blueberries, pickin' blueberries

up in the mountains where the land feels airy.

blueberries, blueberries, pick 'em all day

brought me a friend so I won't mind the stay.

under the pine and the oak in the sun

that's where you'll find the sweet, juicy ones.

blueberries, blueberries, in the summertime

pickin' where I go to clear my mind."

So with Andrea and Bob (and their sweet new addition Orien) on my mind, I decided to make this scrumptious blueberry pie!

Here is the link to the pie crust recipe I use. And here is the link to the full blueberry pie recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman (I use her recipes constantly and have yet to be disappointed!!)

Here are my lovely blueberries coated in sugar, nutmeg and flour.

The pie crust is ready to go.

I decided to use a lattice top crust instead of completely covering the top with another full crust.

And here is how it turned out! De-li-ci-ous!!!

Blueberry Pie...check, Wine...check,Frank Sinatra record...check, Ace Perry Cider...check, hot man to share it all with...check!

Happy Baking! Enjoy the summertime!

Semantics of Semolina

I've recently started making homemade bread....well...at home (and by 'started', I mean twice).

My guy got a book on artisan breads to make at home and I am hooked. Each recipe makes multiple loaves, making it possible to have fresh, homemade bread all week if you choose. The bread I've made this week is Italian Semolina Bread.

I first had this bread at Wheatfields in Lawrence, Kansas and instantly fell for it. So, when I saw the recipe in the artisan bread cookbook, I knew it was the first one I would try (there are also recipes for pizza crust, pita bread and pastries....PERFECTION!) Anyway, the recipe is really long, so if you would like it, please comment or send me a message and I will get it to you.

I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow morning, so I wish all of you much happiness while I'm away! xoxo

Compliments to the Chef....

Do you know what I like more than peanut butter cheesecake? When my ROOMMATE bakes me a peanut butter cheesecake!

I got home from a very long day at work and my dear roommate, Denali, had cooked us chicken noodle soup (sans chicken) and mashed potatoes and the aforementioned cheesecake. This was no ordinary cheesecake, oh no. It was a peanut butter cheesecake with a sugar cookie crust topped with green apples and melted caramels. Let the drooling begin....

Thank goodness I'm wearing a one-piece to the beach this year!