tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114475372024-03-13T13:20:59.574-04:00The Savory NotebookAlyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.comBlogger940125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-55653264585537450632008-10-29T20:27:00.000-04:002008-10-29T20:27:29.701-04:00Breakfast for DinnerHere comes yet another recipe from <a href="http://www.rachaelray.com/">Rachael Ray's</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Ray-365-Repeats-Deliciously/dp/1400082544/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225325139&sr=8-1">365: No Repeats</a>. But first a little side note. While looking to see if this recipe was already posted online, I found this blog - <a href="http://oneyearproject.com/">One Year Project</a>. This family took on a year-long endeavor to cook every single recipe in the 365 cookbook - and they did it. In order even. Which, as the author writes, included eating mac and cheese four nights in a row because that's the adore they came in the cookbook.<br /><br />I'm not sure if I think they are admirable for taking on such a project and sticking to it or if I think they are crazy! I mean, what about leftovers? A lot of Rachael's recipes SAY they serve 4, but they end up serving 6-8 and out of this family of four, two were small children. And expense! Trying a new recipe every single day for a whole year would probably get pretty costly I imagine. Anyway, it makes for an interesting read and certainly an it's interesting concept.<br /><br />The review on that site wasn't at all favorable to the recipe I'm going to share next. In fact, she called it "ridiculous" and "rubbish" but then again, she also admits to hating eggs, so take that review for what it's worth.<br /><br />We on the other hand, loved this recipe. The only thing I don't like? You guessed it - the name. Eggs-traordinary Stuffed Toasty Baskets. Rachael, I love a lot of your recipes, but these names are killing me! And if she's like this without kids, imagine the cutesy talk once/if the babies come!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2973242622/" title="Egg Cups by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/2973242622_4e7c2b309a.jpg" alt="Egg Cups" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The baskets in this case are pieces of sandwich bread that are rolled thin and tucked into muffin pans. Each bread basket gets a brush of butter, then an egg and then a mixture of bacon, tomatoes, onion and garlic, topped off with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. The bacon-tomato mixture is quite simple but oh-so-good. It was one of the last recipes I was able to use my garden tomatoes in. Sigh. I miss them already.<br /><br />The presentation is different and elegant and it really did work. I'm always skeptical that these things will be far more complicated than they let on - especially the removal from the pan part. But all save for one came out without too much effort though I do recommend buttering up your muffin pan very well even if it is nonstick - the eggs can and do leak a bit, causing a bit of sticking no matter how nonstick the pan.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2985205500/" title="Baked Egg Cups by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2985205500_6971422580.jpg" alt="Baked Egg Cups" width="500" border="0" height="468" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/baked-egg-cups.html">Baked Egg Cups</a><br /></div><br />Mmm....mmmm....I'm craving one of these just writing about it. The bread baskets come out very nicely - almost like a pastry crust - and the eggs cooked up solid without being overdone at the recommended time of 15 minutes. I might bake them for less time to see if I can get a slightly runny egg next time.<br /><br />The One Year Project author also complained that the portions are puny for this meal. I disagree again. When you deconstruct it you have one egg, one piece of bread and one slice of bacon per person. Serve it with a big veggie salad and/or some fresh fruit and it's plenty of food. But then again, I often like our vegetable sides to be more of the main dish anyway with the protein portion playing a smaller role.<br /><br />I see a lot of potential for this recipe - different meats, different cheeses - whatever is on hand. This recipe would also make a very nice brunch presentation and you could bake up a large amount at one time. All it needs is a different name.....hmmm......how about Baked Egg Cups. Kinda boring, but at least it's not cutesy.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-31158432350120921352008-10-29T17:07:00.003-04:002008-10-29T17:14:28.726-04:00Photo TestPlease excuse this random post as I demonstrate how I think photos look better when linked to Flickr versus uploading to Blogger.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczEEu6RnS7nPa6JcxwRPKf5ll8l8fIuj_fADdRcL8p0rxmiRHsKWbYoVRSF8mTCIY80CElWt_uqnJs6f7SZHGMqx7cEb6HxI4A90WLviBzgUJNaPV_pKhmQVfFXfPKt1DWJx91g/s1600-h/177-7765_IMG.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczEEu6RnS7nPa6JcxwRPKf5ll8l8fIuj_fADdRcL8p0rxmiRHsKWbYoVRSF8mTCIY80CElWt_uqnJs6f7SZHGMqx7cEb6HxI4A90WLviBzgUJNaPV_pKhmQVfFXfPKt1DWJx91g/s400/177-7765_IMG.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262686572684949490" border="0" /></a>This one is the Blogger, size large.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2872128753/" title="Spicy Fried Corn by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3198/2872128753_0bf643496f.jpg" alt="Spicy Fried Corn" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br />This one is the Flickr, size medium.<br /><br /><br /></div>Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-21242191472609038152008-10-28T21:31:00.001-04:002008-10-28T21:36:16.188-04:00More uses for stale bread......this time - soup!The <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/10/bread-cheese-and-wine.html">Drunken Cheesy Bread</a> only used up part of my stale-bread-in-the-freezer supply. The rest went to make this easy soup - Pappa al Pomodoro - from <a href="http://www.rachaelray.com/">Rachael Ray</a>. According to many sources, including this article in the NYT by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/dining/12mini.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Mark Bittman</a>, the name of this soup translates loosely to "tomato mush". Hmmm, maybe sometimes it's better not to translate things into English. Most recipes I found included tomatoes, bread, olive oil and basil as the core ingredients.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2982263517/" title="Pappa al Pomodoro by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/2982263517_bb9e092fb0.jpg" alt="Pappa al Pomodoro" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Rachael says that the soup is thick enough when</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">your spoon will stand up in the pot.</span></span><br /><br /></div>In her cookbook, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Ray-365-Repeats-Deliciously/dp/1400082544/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225242969&sr=8-1">365: No Repeats</a>, she explains that she got this particular recipe from a gentleman in Italy who INSISTS that if you're going to make this soup, you MUST make it exactly as written - including the chopped raw onion and the drizzle of olive oil at the end to finish it off. Only the basil is optional. Not wanting to disrespect the originator of this recipe, I did follow the instructions to the "T", only leaving out the optional basil since it's no longer in season. This soup would be a great end-of-summer soup when the garden is loaded with tomatoes and basil, but my basil is long gone and I try not to shell out any money for those pitiful little fresh herb packs at the grocery store, so I skipped it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2973242642/" title="Pappa al Pomodoro by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2973242642_cce18f4c75.jpg" alt="Pappa al Pomodoro" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/pappa-al-pomodoro/article.html">Pappa al Pomodoro</a><br /><br /></div>Certainly it would have been wonderful with the basil, but it was delicious without. I was a little skeptical about the raw onion garnish but we all agreed that the onions did add something, as did the drizzle of EVOO. Easy to make, very hearty and very satisfying. Rachael claims this recipe makes 4 servings but we got at least 6 large servings, maybe more.<br /><br />Now that I've tried it as instructed, I'll feel free to add a few dried herbs in the winter months to add a little herbal zing. Wegmans makes a rosemary olive oil sourdough that would be REALLY good in this soup.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-48645315797189589192008-10-26T08:01:00.002-04:002008-10-26T08:06:43.864-04:00Bread, Cheese and WineReally, that's all you need for a terrific meal: bread, cheese and wine. Here's a supremely simple dish that combines all three into one deliciously satisfying meal.<br /><br />I don't know about you, but I am always tossing leftover hunks of bread into the freezer thinking that I'll find a use for them later. More often than not, I end up throwing them out when they start to look too dried out and freezer burned. While cleaning out the freezer the other day, I found yet another bag of neglected bread pieces - nice chunks of crusty sourdough - and decided I was going to use them, darn it. I ended up using half for this recipe and half for an Italian bread soup from Rachael Ray that I will share with you later.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2973398768/" title="Drunken Cheesy Bread by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/2973398768_bfff6c8c66.jpg" alt="Drunken Cheesy Bread" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1608760">Drunken Cheesy Bread</a><br /></div><br />I started with a shallow 11 x 7-inch casserole dish and laid the bread cubes in a single layer (a slightly crowded single layer, but I tried to squish them all in there). Next comes a bit of thinly sliced onion - be sure to slice as thinly as possible as the onion does not get sauteed first - and ham (I used some sliced deli ham that we happened to have on hand). Unlike egg-based stratas or bread puddings, this one does not require an overnight soak - you just pour the wine over the bread mixture and you're good to go. I used one of those little 4-pack bottles of white wine which are just shy of 1 cup - these little bottles are great to keep on hand for cooking. The dish is topped off with 6 ounces of shredded cheese - I used Fontina and Asiago. Super simple - the hardest part is shredding the cheese.<br /><br />Mmmmm....was this good. We got 4 servings out of this, just barely. It looks like a large amount of food when you're dishing it out, but since it is not dense with egg, it actually ends up being fairly light and I wouldn't have minded a bit more or at least some leftovers. Next time I'll increase the quantities and make a 9 x 13-inch pan. I was happy to see that the onions - if you slice them thinly - bake up quite nicely so sauteeing them first truly is not necessary. My first thought was that a bit of proscuitto would be really nice in this dish and of course, just about any variety of cheeses would do well - the type of dish that you can mold to whatever you have on hand.<br /><br />A big thanks to <a href="http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?referrerid=17575&t=121908">Elisabeth over at the CLBB</a> for bringing this recipe to light! I see various incarnations of this dish becoming part of our regular rotation.......so many possibilities and potential combinations.........Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-32751150738627543572008-10-25T21:14:00.003-04:002008-10-25T21:20:44.639-04:00Excellent Granola BarsIn my efforts to move us away from processed foods (not completely, just where manageable and where feasible) I've been wanting to find a good homemade granola bar recipe. I've tried a few but haven't been wowed by any. And of course I wanted a chewy one - always with the chewy. So I knew I wanted chewy and I always want easy. I also thought that some peanut butter as a bit of added protein and sustenance would be a nice touch, so when I saw this recipe over at <a href="http://desertculinary.blogspot.com/">Culinary in the Country</a>, it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2972411557/" title="Peanut Butter Granola Bars by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/2972411557_0a8e6889c9.jpg" alt="Peanut Butter Granola Bars" width="500" border="0" height="345" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/chewy-peanut-butter-granola-bars.html">Chewy Peanut Butter Granola Bars<br /></a><br /></div>These bars are originally from <a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/peanut_energy_bars.html">Eating Well</a>, but Joe put his own spin on things by using brown rice cereal in place of Rice Krispies, using a variety of dried fruits rather than just raisins and by subbing in brown rice syrup and golden syrup in place of corn syrup. I pretty much followed Joe's recipe but also made a couple of changes - I used yet a different combo of dried fruits and I used puffed brown rice cereal (I didn't see any crisp at the store), and I used a combo of golden syrup and corn syrup. Corn syrup is what I happened to have on hand but once that's gone I will likely switch to a combo of golden syrup (it has such great flavor) and honey - I'd like to try the brown rice syrup, but I'm thinking that honey will turn out to be more economical. For a flavor boost, I toasted the oats at 350<span style="font-style: italic;">º</span> for 5-8 minutes or just until the oats began to brown and become fragrant.<br /><br />These are fantastic. Easy to make and so nicely chewy. I was pleased with how the puffed brown rice worked in these and am thinking the <a href="http://www.kashi.com/products/kashi_puffs_original">puffed Kashi cereal</a> would work well here. I think I'll add the wheat germ back in next time too. I wrapped each bar individually and kept them in the freezer - that way we could just grab them and go and I didn't have to worry about how long they would keep. I've begun experimenting with other combinations and once I have some nailed down, I will be sure to post them here.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-21828274959737686252008-10-22T21:04:00.001-04:002008-10-22T21:12:34.472-04:00In the Garden: Looking toward next year....Hmmm...maybe it's time to try this blogging thing again.............<br /><br />We've had several hard frosts and my garden is finished producing but my time in the garden isn't done yet. It's time to get ready for next year. I took advantage of a gorgeous weekend not too long ago and cleaned it out, but now it's time to build the beds up again. I've got access to plenty of grass as usual, but I've been not-so-patiently waiting for the leaves to fall as my leaf supply has run out.<br /><br />All in all I consider this to have been a successful season. There were problems to be sure, but we did end up with quite a bit of produce out of our two small beds. Along the way, we learned quite a bit. Here's how I'd sum things up:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lasagna gardening</span>: Very successful. I love it and can't imagine that I'll ever garden any other way. When we started out last fall, we had thick beds of leaves, grass, and straw with a bit of manure and peat moss thrown in.<br /><br />As I cleaned out the garden on Saturday, I noticed that most of the matter in the garden was no longer recognizable as straw, leaves or grass - it was just beautiful, dark, rich and crumbly. Just lovely. I was very skeptical that this type of gardening truly would cut down on the number of weeks, but the weeds truly did stay down to a very manageable minimum. If only that were true in the rest of my mulched areas!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Beans</span>: Very successful. I planted <a href="http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=PS14279">Seeds of Change Haricot Vert "Maxibel"</a> and they were quite prolific. Even after I thought they were done for, they still produced enough beans for about one meal per week. It wasn't until sometime this month when we finally got a light frost that they finally gave up. Next year, however, I need to stagger the plantings to keep a more steady supply and avoid an overabundance at one time. I was also very pleased with the flavor and texture of these beans - as long as they were not allowed to get too big, they were tender and delicious.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2848590191/" title="Cantaloupe by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2848590191_68040ef3cb.jpg" alt="Cantaloupe" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The cantaloupe was juicy and it looked great, but<br />it just didn't have any flavor.<br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cantaloupe</span>: Meh. We did actually get a few small cantaloupe and while they were nice and juicy, they were not sweet at all. The vines didn't produce much but I have heard from others that this was just not a good year for cantaloupe. We'll probably try again next year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cucumbers</span>: Quite successful. I planted several from Bonnie and one from a nursery here in town. The Bonnie's did quite well while I did not like the looks of the other variety and we did not end up eating any of them - they grew very large and were yellowed - just not appealing. The only "problem" was that they while we were inundated for a short while, they did not produce for a very long period of time. I'm thinking maybe I could stagger these as well. I also think I needed to be more attentive to watering them during our dry spells.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Basil</span>: This did okay, but I've had better years. It was certainly at least in part my fault - I let them bolt too fast too soon.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomatoes</span>: Overall, pretty successful. There were problems to be sure - first a fungus, then blossom drop and then the fruit ripening very late (and many not at all) but the plants ended up being quite vigorous and healthy and produced a lot of fruit - it just didn't ripen early enough. They were still growing and producing fruit right up until the very end. Normally my vines would be withered and browned by the end of the summer! I believe the late ripening was simply due to our weather - late frost and lots of cool, foggy mornings. I learned that they can indeed survive a fungal infection very nicely so next year I will be diligent about removing any infected leaves right away. And I won't give up hope.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Zucchini</span>: I only planted one plant, but we were still overrun a bit. Just a few days of inattention and we were saddled with squash more suitable for playing baseball than for cutting up and cooking. I'll probably plant it again next year and just be more diligent. Right.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sage</span>: This did quite well. I noticed that it survives a light frost very nicely and I was picking it up until this past week. I plucked some of the leaves and froze them whole (the leaves are sturdy and survive freezing quite nicely) and have been using them in pasta dishes. It really is just like using fresh sage. I'm already wishing I had saved some more. Next year.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Peppers</span>: These did not do terribly well. We got a few, but not many. Next year I'll plant more and not place them near bigger plants like tomatoes as they got completely overshadowed by my runaway tomato plants.<br /><br />I should also add that overall I was very pleased with the <a href="http://bonnieplants.instockrs.com/fap_main.php">Bonnie</a> starter plants I purchased from Lowe's. I love that most of them come in biodegradable pots that you can put right in the ground.<br /><br />So, some plans for next year...........<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lots of staking and caging!</span> I will probably cage just about everything since most everything ended up falling over at one point or other - beans, basil, tomatoes, and peppers all ended up on their sides. The tomatoes will get staked AND caged. They ended up falling over and growing way out of their beds (see photo below). I do have a homemade cage in mind.....hopefully it was execute as nicely as I'm picturing in my head!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2919306725/" title="Tomatoes taking over the yard! by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2919306725_fd223d8088.jpg" 0="" alt="Tomatoes taking over the yard!" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The tomato plants fell over and grew a good 3 feet out from the bed.<br /><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Watering system.</span> I need some sort of drip irrigation system. I'll do some research on that this winter and hopefully put something into place in the spring. I lucked out this year in that there were very few times I actually needed to water, but who knows what next year will bring.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Starting from seed?</span> I plan to look over different catalogs and may try starting from seed. Starting small - maybe just tomatoes and see how things go. Good thing about that is I know I can always schlepp down to Lowe's and pick up plants if things don't work out!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Add one more bed, extend existing beds.</span> We've already started on that - the newspaper is down and I've added a few thin layers. Now that the leaves are falling, I should be able to get the rest done over the next week or two. I will also add grass and leaves to the existing beds to build them up again. The straw that got used as mulch this summer will stay in place and become one of the layers for next year.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2883162413/" title="178-7813_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/2883162413_7577e47bfc.jpg" alt="178-7813_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The third bed goes in and the other two have since<br />been extended.<br /><br /></div>Oh yeah, and next year I will actually try to MAKE compost instead of just throwing stuff in a pile. As you might remember, I was intrigued by the vines growing out of my compost pile so I let them grow and here is the result:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2919306739/" title="Volunteer pumpkins by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/2919306739_aa8d3db8de.jpg" alt="Volunteer pumpkins" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />While it was fun to get a few volunteer plants, next year I want to have a real compost pile.<br /><br />It's been quite odd to have to buy produce from the grocery store again. Fortunately our farmers market is still going strong and they plan to be open until the weekend before Thanksgiving. Looking at the grocery store green beans, I was REALLY missing my beans. Even the ones from the farmers market that I picked up instead just weren't the same..........<br /><br />That pretty much ends it for this year though I'm sure I'll post once or twice about gardening over the winter as I look through catalogs and plan things out. Until next year.......Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-7704285065191045312008-09-21T09:57:00.000-04:002008-09-21T09:57:30.634-04:00The Best of Both WorldsTwo of my favorite sweets are chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Well, imagine the raptures of bliss that waved over me when I stumbled upon a recipe over at <a href="http://eggsonsunday.wordpress.com/">eggs on sunday</a> that combines them both into one delicious-looking double decker bar. Heaven.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2875610412/" title="Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2875610412_5dafb619be.jpg" alt="Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars" width="500" border="0" height="275" /></a><br /></div><br />While it has occurred to me before to combine a chocolate chip cookie bar with a brownie, I've never gotten around to trying it out, but the food porn photos on Amy's blog were just the push I needed. Drool.<br /><br />The recipe is pretty straight forward - you start off with the brownie layer and spread that out into the pan. Next you mix up the chocolate chip cookie dough and gently spread that on top. I found that a little difficult to do because the cookie dough is a bit stiffer than the brownie dough, but I managed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2874762145/" title="Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2874762145_f44731e043.jpg" alt="Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars" width="500" border="0" height="337" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://eggsonsunday.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/chocolate-chip-cookie-topped-brownies-yes-you-read-that-right/">Chocolate Chip Cookie Topped Brownies</a><br /><br /></div>I actually baked these back in July so it's hard for me to remember all the details. That will teach me to get so behind on my blogging! These were quite good but I do remember being struck by a couple of things. In my opinion, the cookie layer - being the stiffer dough - should go in the pan first - it would make for easier spreading. However, as the cookie layer is thinner, for this recipe it makes more sense to put it on top. Which leads me to my next point. As much as I love chocolate, I found myself wanting to taste more of the cookie layer. The subtle but lovely butterscotchy flavors of the cookie dough were overshadowed by the intense chocolate flavor from the brownie. Not necessarily a bad thing, but then you probably might as well just make a plain old brownie. To fix this "problem", I would make the cookie dough thicker and make it the bottom layer, topping it off with a thinner brownie layer.<br /><br />So, it sounds like I have some research to do! Sometime this winter I'll try out my own twist on this recipe and get back to you. I'm sure the family will absolutely HATE having to sample my experiments, but we all do what we have to do.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-77554739964755299752008-09-20T19:37:00.000-04:002008-09-20T19:37:42.702-04:00Fresh CornEnough with the tomatoes for a moment, let's talk about corn.<br /><br />We have been getting some excellent local corn this summer from <a href="http://tebbsfarms.com/index.html">Tebbs Farms</a>. The corn was so sweet, it was almost like candy! I don't remember it being this good last year. Either this year's crop actually IS better or we just did a better job of eating it the same day. I've read that if you let corn sit around, the sugars turn to starch and it's just not as good. Maybe that has made all the difference.<br /><br />We've been mostly eating it straight off the cob since summer is pretty much the only time you can do that, but I could not resist taking some off the cob for this recipe that Bob on the CLBB recently, and kindly, shared with us. Corn, bacon and chipotle - what's not to like?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2872973984/" title="Spicy Fried Corn by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3230/2872973984_d0b903f825.jpg" alt="Spicy Fried Corn" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/spicy-fried-corn-with-bacon-and.html">Spicy Fried Corn with Bacon and Chipotle</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's a very simple dish to prepare and it's as good as it sounds. Although I have now come to appreciate cilantro, I still sub in parsley for my son, but I'll bet the cilantro makes this dish even better. Although great as is, a little voice in my head kept telling me that it would be really good with some onion too, so I'll add that next time. <br /><br />Thanks to Tebbs, I have put some corn - off the cob - in the freezer for winter - 2 dozen ears worth. Next year I'll probably take it a little further and purchase their cheaper 5 dozen bag. <br /></div><br /></div>Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-13579208654770939422008-09-19T23:15:00.000-04:002008-09-19T23:15:32.696-04:00Random NotesThe boys are off at the high school football game tonight so it's just me and the dog. I had all kinds of plans to get a lot of things done today but I ended up in a bit of a mood and got very little done instead. Hmph.<br /><br />What to do when you're in a bad mood? Bake cookies! I find that when I'm cranky, it's best to stick with something easy and/or tried and true so I chose the <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html">Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies</a> that I've posted about before. Yum.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2871052195/" title="Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3067/2871052195_95679c0360.jpg" alt="Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mood Boosters!<br /><br /></div>I did manage to chop up some tomatoes so that I can crank out some more <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/09/tomato-basil-soup.html">tomato soup</a> tomorrow. I've come up with a decent system for using up the abundance of tomatoes. Anything that is cracked or too soft gets tossed in the fridge right away. Normally refrigerating tomatoes is a big no-no but if they are going to be cooked down for a soup or a marinara sauce, texture is not going to be an issue anyway and refrigerating them helps to keep them from rotting too fast and keeps the fruit flies from swarming them. I then chop them when I get time - sometimes making the soup right after chopping or else storing them for a few days longer until I have time. It's nice to be able to take a leisurely approach to using them up.<br /><br />My last random note for the night is about basil. During one of my turns at manning the concession stand, I was talking with the other mom on duty and we started talking about gardening and cooking. She mentioned that she grows basil. Well, at a soccer game the other night she called me over and handed me a clump of basil she had cut out of her garden. It is called Pesto Perpetuo Basil and she said she got it from <a href="http://www.burpee.com/product/herbs/basil/pesto+perpetuo+basil+-+1+order+%283+plants%29.do">Burpee</a> (check the Burpee link for a more detailed photo). It didn't even look like basil! With the variegated leaves, it looked like a shrub!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2871703528/" title="Pesto Perpetuo Basil by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2871703528_b888354bf3.jpg" alt="Pesto Perpetuo Basil" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />When I got home, I looked it up and found some interesting info. Turns out this type of basil does not flower and therefore will not bolt like the popular and widely available sweet basil that I normally grow. That could certainly be a big plus - a basil plant that you don't have to fuss over! I plan to purchase two plants next spring and give this variety a try (along with 2 of the regular sweet basil).<br /><br />I turned her thoughtful offering into pesto yesterday. I did notice that the leaves were perhaps a bit tougher - not tough, just not as delicate as regular sweet basil and so I had a harder time getting them to puree in the food processor. The taste also seemed a bit sharper or more intense than regular basil but it was hard to tell because I had to augment what she gave me with a bit of basil from the garden in order to get a decent-sized batch of pesto. The leaves on the Pesto basil are much smaller and so even though the bunch she gave me looked quite sizable, it didn't amount to much once I sent it through the food processor.<br /><br />In any case, I'm intrigued to try growing the Pesto basil next year. It's actually pretty enough to grow as an accent plant anywhere in your yard!<br /><br />I'd better head off to bed if I plan to get up early for football practice and the farmer's market tomorrow.........Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-57929066032329236312008-09-18T15:22:00.001-04:002008-09-19T19:18:39.381-04:00Tomatoes Continued.......We've been on a quest since just before the 1st of September to keep on top of our tomatoes from the garden so we've been eating tomatoes in some form pretty much every single day, sometimes twice a day. So, my blog may be seeing red for a while longer. Here are two soups we've made with our tomato harvest - one cold and one hot.<br /><br />I've already <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/09/finally-tomatoes.html">blogged about one tomato soup</a> - it's a standby favorite, but I'm always up for trying something new. This soup, a <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/roasted-tomato-soup-recipe/">Tyler Florence recipe</a>, came to me via a recommendation on the <a href="http://community.cookinglight.com/showpost.php?p=1412457&postcount=13">CLBB</a>. It was just enough different from the <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/creamy-tomato-soup.html">Jack Bishop recipe</a> that I adore that I thought it was worth a try. I also like the way Tyler encourages the use of just about any kind of tomato.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2870681425/" title="Roasting tomatoes by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2870681425_a36a739ba5.jpg" alt="Roasting tomatoes" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The tomatoes, onion and garlic are ready to be roasted.<br /><br /></div>One thing I'd like to point out on this recipe is that it does not call for peeling the tomatoes. I tried it without peeling them and then I simply pureed the soup in a blender to see if I could get the skins to blend in. While the skins did blend in for the most part, there were enough left that I felt the need to strain the soup - something I am pretty loathe to do. I do not aspire to perfectly smooth soups - rustic is just fine with me - but I really don't care for things like tomato skins which tend to be hard to chew and are just generally not pleasing. Next time I would remove the skins before (or even after) roasting.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2866237557/" title="Roasted Tomato Soup by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2866237557_4e0d8b6464.jpg" alt="Roasted Tomato Soup" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/roasted-tomato-soup.html">Roasted Tomato Soup</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">While the soup was very good, I still like the Jack Bishop recipe better. I wasn't thrilled with the addition of chicken stock - if I'm going to serve tomato soup, I'd prefer it to be vegetarian and there's just something not quite right about the thought of chicken flavor permeating a nice tomato soup - it's simply unnecessary. Of course it would be simple enough to sub in some vegetable stock, but I wanted to try the recipe as written to see if anything was gained by using chicken stock. I'll stick with Jack for now.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I've talked about this next recipe <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2006/07/cool-summer-meal-and-arf5-day.html">before</a>. It's basically a run of the mill gazpacho but I like the added kick of a bit of hot sauce and sometimes even a dash of Worcestershire sauce. I think I made it for the wrong crowd though - I had to keep the onions and the peppers separate! Gazpacho is always a refreshing - and healthful - no-cook summer treat.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2862825277/" title="Gazpacho by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2862825277_8585711ea0.jpg" alt="Gazpacho" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/09/gazpacho.html">Gazpacho</a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The forecast is calling for patch frost tonight so I am off to pick as many tomatoes as are ready and to cover the rest. It looks like only one night of frosty temps, so I'm going to try to help my garden limp a long a little while longer..........<br /></div></div>Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-53472354648200141912008-09-15T21:28:00.000-04:002008-09-15T21:28:43.504-04:00Treats for the Concession StandIn addition to providing taxi service for my sons' various sports and band activities, there is also the dreaded concession stand duty - taking orders, preparing food and manning the cash register. I joked that working retail on Black Friday was less hectic than the concession stand at the high school football games! Oh, it's not really SO bad, but there are other ways I'd rather spend my time. One thing I did not mind volunteering for though is baking for the concession stand - now that's right up my alley.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2857991376/" title="Triple Decker Krispie Treats by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2857991376_1eb5c45ac2.jpg" alt="Triple Decker Krispie Treats" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />While trying to make up my mind about what to make, I came upon <a href="http://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=1848">this recipe</a> over at Cookie Madness. The recipe is for Triple Decker Rice Krispie treats. These thick, chewy bars take the traditional marshmallow treats and bump them up a few notches with a chocolate layer, a peanut butter layer and the more traditional plain old marshmallow layer.<br /><br />It does take some time to put these together but it's not at all hard and it doesn't require any baking. I used the same bowl over and over again to melt the marshmallows in the microwave - just rinsing and drying between uses. As I pressed the second layer into the pan, I was quite sure that these were not going to fit but I pressed each layer down as firmly as possible and I managed to squeeze them all in.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2857935898/" title="Triple Decker Krispie Treats by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2857935898_420c63818e.jpg" alt="Triple Decker Krispie Treats" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/triple-decker-rice-krispie-treats.html">Triple Decker Rice Krispie Treats</a><br /></div><br />While I loved the plain and peanut butter layers, I thought the chocolate layer had an off taste to it and I think it was the Coco Kripsies. If I made these again, I'd skip the Coco Krispies and use the chocolate chips with maybe a little cocoa powder or I'd just skip it altogether. Oooooh - I just had a rush of inspiration - how about some Nutella??? Now we're talking! Surely it's been done before...I'll have to search around.<br /><br />Funky-tasting Coco Krispies aside, these are a fun and whimsical treat - great for wrapping up for a bake sale. Good thing I didn't keep any at home - I tend to not be able to keep my hands off of Krispie Treats..........Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-48714521595330865602008-09-11T22:20:00.001-04:002008-09-11T22:25:27.657-04:00It's not over 'til it's over. And an excellent dip recipe.A few weeks ago I was cleaning up the garden a bit. I started by pulling up my very sad looking zucchini plant (no tears were shed when this stopped producing) and a few of the cucumber plants. I started to pull out the beans, but then I noticed a bit of new growth and a few new beans and decided to let them be. Since then I've gotten about 2-3 more meals worth of beans and there are still a few more coming in. Not much, but definitely worth keeping around a while longer. What a nice surprise.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2850028520/" title="green beans and basil by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2850028520_d0bb459619.jpg" alt="green beans and basil" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />My basil flowered long ago (I thought it was done for and let it go) but I'm still pulling off a few tender leaves and it's still trying to put out a bit of new growth. Next year I'll try to be more vigilant about pinching back the flowers, even if it looks sad.<br /><br />My pepper plants are looking quite pitiful but even they are still trying. One plant has a few blossoms on it and the other has a few small green peppers. I won't get much more out of them - I'm mostly just waiting to see if the peppers will get any bigger - but it's amazing to see them all fallen over and wasted-looking and yet still trying to produce. As you can see from the photo below, we did finally get a few red peppers. I have to admit that I had gotten tired of waiting for them to turn red and picked a few while they were still green, but even the green peppers tasted great - much tastier than the green peppers at the grocery store.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2849189167/" title="Tomatoes by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/2849189167_257956c9a3.jpg" alt="Tomatoes" width="500" border="0" height="457" /></a><br /></div><br />If nothing else, I've learned to be patient with gardening and just sit back and see what happens because apparently it ain't over 'til it's over!<br /><br />But on to that dip.<br /><br />Today I pulled up another 7 pounds of tomatoes so I'll be scrambling tonight to use up those that are overly ripe, cracked or otherwise not ready for prime time (ie. slicing and eating fresh) by making more soup. The cherry tomatoes in particular are quite prolific and here's a recipe we made with some of the first we picked back in early August.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2849124463/" title="Layered Greek Dip by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2849124463_97d5126074.jpg" alt="Layered Greek Dip" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/layered-greek-dip.html">Layered Greek Dip</a><br /><br /></div>This recipe was posted by <a href="http://therecipegirl.blogspot.com/2008/08/happy-happy-hour-on-beach.html">The Recipe Girl</a> over on <a href="http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?t=120849&highlight=greek+layer">Cooking Light</a>. As soon as I saw it, I knew I would make it and I knew it would be good. It's a Greek twist on the ever popular Mexican layer dip. The bottom layer consists of an herbed cream cheese. On top of that, a layer of hummus. That's what really sold me - I love hummus. Those two creamy layers are topped with a mixture of chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese. The recipe calls for scallions but I was making this for a crowd that included an onion-hater so for added flavor and color interest, I added some chopped pepperoncini. Oh, and you may notice that my dip has no cucumbers. After hauling out 11 cucumbers in one day and giving away 9, I found myself with no garden cucumbers when it came time to make this dip. Feast or famine!<br /><br />This dip was met with lots of oohs and aahs and was gone in minutes. A BIG hit. I can see this becoming my go-to dish for pot lucks and parties. It's easy to put together, delicious and something just a little different. A winner all around.<br /><br />Before I sign off and head to bed, let me just share that tonight I used up a bunch of cherry tomatoes by making a <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/chickpea-and-spinach-curry.html">chickpea and spinach curry</a> that I posted here a while back. All I did was substitute cherry tomatoes for canned, let it simmer for a bit longer than the recipe calls for and it turned out great.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-36714287178498332982008-09-10T22:03:00.001-04:002008-09-10T22:09:52.842-04:00Now that's an ice cream sandwich!Not an ice cream sandwich as in two thin, soft, chocolate wafers with ice cream in the middle, but ice cream sandwich as in two homemade cookies with ice cream in the middle. But what to call it? It's not really an ice cream sandwich in the classic sense, but Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich is kind of clunky and Cookiewich, well, that just makes me think of the not-so-great storebought variety.<br /><br />Whatever you want to call them, this is one treat that I don't make nearly often enough. We love them and they are really quite easy - no harder than baking up a basic batch of cookies, really - but I still never think to make them. Fortunately I did think to make them a few weeks ago and boy were they delicious.<br /><br />I started off with a <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/09/dark-chocolate-cookies-with-sour.html">chocolate cookie dough from Martha Stewart</a> that I made a while back. I thought the cookies would be the right consistency for a ice cream sandwiches and I was not disappointed - they are sturdy, slightly soft with just the right touch of chewy. Though this cookie recipe calls for dried cherries, once again I made them with a combination of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. One of these days I'll actually get around to the cherries.....it sounds delicious that way too!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2847453576/" title="Ice Cream Sandwich by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3061/2847453576_477d7b44e2.jpg" alt="Ice Cream Sandwich" width="500" border="0" height="346" /></a><br /></div><br />Once you have the cookie batter made, you scoop it out by the scant 1/4 cup. The recipe actually calls for making the cookies this large, but I usually use my standard cookie scoop as I tend to like to make smaller cookies - better for snacking. Going by the 1/4 cup, there is just enough dough to make 24 largish cookies or 12 ice cream sandwiches. I baked them for about 12 minutes at 325º.<br /><br />Once the cookies were baked, I allowed them to cool completely and then I froze them overnight. Freezing the cookies first makes them sturdier for assembling the sandwiches. Once the cookies were frozen, it was just a matter of scooping out some ice cream, placing it on one cookie, placing another cookie on top and pressing gently but firmly. I've done a better job at getting the ice cream to come a bit more evenly to the sides of the cookie for a nicer presentation but one, I was in a rush as these were a surprise for DH and I didn't have much time and, two, I didn't really care all that much. So there. I chose a simple vanilla ice cream in this case, but be creative and choose whatever you like - even better, make your own!<br /><br />It does pay to keep things moving - the ice cream tends to soften up pretty quickly. As each sandwich was assembled, I quickly wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer before moving on to the next one. Allow the cookies to freeze for several hours or overnight before serving. The cookies taste better and are easier to eat if they sit out a few minutes before eating them.<br /><br />Hopefully I'll remember how easy these are to make and make them more often. I think it would be fun to make them with regular-sized cookies - these larger cookies make for quite a large ice cream sandwich and I had a hard time finishing a whole one - a smaller one would still be a nice treat without feeling like you were over indulging.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-66027768546062765742008-09-09T22:22:00.004-04:002008-09-09T22:30:54.896-04:00Finally! Tomatoes!So instead of commenting on how long it's been since I last posted and how I hope to get back to it soon, blah, blah, blah, I'm just going to post like I've been doing it regularly, okay?<br /><br />Ahem.<br /><br />Good news from the garden! After all the angst and drama, we're finally getting tomatoes!<br /><br />First there was the heartbreak about the <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/06/garden-update-sigh.html">tomatoes contracting some sort of fungus</a>. But I removed the diseased leaves and hoped for the best. Then the blossoms were dropping without setting fruit. Too hot and dry too fast? I'm not sure.<br /><br />After that, the <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-jungle-out-there.html">plants got quite large</a> and things started looking up again. After that they finally started to set some fruit but then all of them proceeded to fall over on top of each other and sprawl out all over the ground. Not pretty, but they were basically intact, so I just let them be.<br /><br />Then the green fruit just sat and sat and sat, showing no signs whatsoever of ripening. It was a bit maddening. I then began to worry that we'd start getting chilly fall air blowing in and be stuck with tons of green tomatoes sitting on the vines. Fried green tomatoes are quite tasty, but I wasn't much interested in eating pounds and pounds of them, especially thinking about all of that unrealized potential.<br /><br />If the weather was not our tomato-ripening friend during other parts of this summer, it definitely came through for us the past week or two - it's been dry and in the high 80s. While it certainly didn't feel like we were nearing the end of summer, it sure was terrific for spurring along those reluctant tomatoes. So, finally, after much eager and not-so-optimistic anticipation, against all odds, we have started getting tomatoes. Tomatoes generally start coming in in late July or early August, but this year I didn't see much red until closer to the first of September.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2844015365/" title="Tomatoes by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2844015365_8879854220.jpg" alt="Tomatoes" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">From the garden this past Friday (9/5):<br />peppers, green beans, basil and tomatoes.<br /><br /></div>After talking to other gardeners in the area, it seems that we were not the only ones to experience a late tomato harvest. This leads me to think that it was not anything we did or our location, it was just the weather, the luck of the draw. Thinking back to July, we did have a number of unusually cool, foggy, cloudy mornings where we didn't see the sun until mid to late morning. I have a feeling these cool wet mornings are at least partly to blame. That and the late frost around Memorial Day seem to have made for slow going for tomatoes this year. But that's just a beginner's theory.<br /><br />Even with all the problems, I would consider it a pretty successful tomato season. The tomato plants still look like they are going quite strong - normally by now my tomato plants look quite pathetic - all yellow, brown and shriveled. While some of the plants look like they are finally starting to wither a bit, many of them are STILL putting out new growth. Quite amazing, really - I think the lasagna method of gardening really agreed with them. Had a few other things gone our way, I think we'd be drowning in a sea of red by now.<br /><br />As it is, we have dispatched upwards of about 20 pounds of tomatoes with probably close to 10 still sitting on my windowsill/countertops and hopefully more waiting to be plucked from the garden. Temps are supposed to be in the 70s this week with some 40s at night, so the late season ripening will likely slow down quite a bit. Even so, I plan to leave them on the vine until the first threat of frost. Only THEN will I be ready to think about fried green tomatoes.<br /><br />We were getting a bit tired of cucumbers and zucchini and green beans and were definitely ready for a different color! Now it's all about red. We've been eating tomatoes for lunch and/or dinner every day. But whereas I found it hard to find clever ways to use up our plethora of cucumbers, I have no problem finding ways to use up tomatoes. So far we've made a tart, a pasta dish, a couple of salads, salsa and two tomato soups.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2844042521/" title="Tomato-Basil Soup by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/2844042521_051d42933f.jpg" alt="Tomato-Basil Soup" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/09/tomato-basil-soup.html">Tomato-Basil Soup</a><br /><br /></div>This first recipe I'm going to share is an old favorite that I've not made in a while. I've <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/10/new-soup-to-try-and-menu-planning.html">posted</a> it here before, but apparently didn't have much to say (and no photo either). It's a nice, basic tomato soup with the added flavor dimension and splash of color from fresh basil. Adding a bit of creaminess as well as a nice calcium boost is a bit of milk and reduced-fat cream cheese. I made a double batch to put away in the freezer for later this fall/winter when tomato soup and grilled cheese becomes a favorite weeknight staple around here.<br /><br />I won't pretend to make promises about when I'll be back to post more, but hopefully it won't be too long...........I've got quite a backlog of recipes to share..............Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-89355558412574137652008-08-26T21:01:00.002-04:002008-08-26T21:09:48.350-04:00Loving the new Kitchen!Well, as my lack of posting suggests, I haven't had all that much time to cook in my new kitchen, but I am enjoying it when I do get the chance. It will be a crazy fall, so I'm sure my posting will be quite random, but I hope to not be too silent.<br /><br />Before I - hopefully - get back to posting recipes again, I just wanted to finish up posting about the kitchen and the improvements we made.<br /><br />First, the cosmetic changes. No more hunter green!<br /><br />We replaced the hunter green laminate countertops with quartz. I've noticed that the counter tops don't make a huge impact from a distance (they look plain and white), but I love them up close....little flecks of burgundy, brown, gray, etc.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2767073466/" title="175-7501_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2767073466_f3e027c3de.jpg" alt="175-7501_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zodiaq.com/a/en/h/Colors/ColorDetailCappuccino.html">Dupont Zodiaq in Cappuccino</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">That empty space above the microwave where the vent used to show now has a proper cabinet. Speaking of the wall cabinets, we got rid of the oak and replaced them with maple. We also warmed up the yellow wall color with a warmer yellow.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2766226763/" title="175-7595_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2766226763_4e1e23da09.jpg" alt="175-7595_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wall cabinets</span>: Kraftmaid - Hanley door style in Maple with Toffee finish<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Paint</span>: Benjamin Moore - Straw<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And no more vinyl flooring with hunter green accents. We now have porcelain tile. This photo also shows that although we were a bit nervous, we ended up with plenty of room between the island and the sink. We were worried it might be a bit crowded, especially since the island has pull out drawers for my cookware and appliances.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2767077454/" title="176-7601_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/2767077454_f35c048475.jpg" alt="176-7601_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Flooring: <a href="http://www.floridatile.com/ProductStuff/Tivoli.htm">Florida Tile - Tivoli - Beige</a><br />Pulls on wall cabinets: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009F73XI/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance">Amerock Swirlz 3" Spiral Pull - Wrought Iron</a><br />Pulls on island: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0006ADB9G/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=A19NXYPR29N4VV&v=glance">Amerock Swirlz 3" Pull - Weathered Nickel</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">No more fluorescent light box. Now we have recessed lights and 2 pendants over the island.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2766231577/" title="176-7603_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2766231577_dd13ce4b9b.jpg" alt="176-7603_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pendant lights: <a href="http://www.lightinguniverse.com/products/view.aspx?searchTerm=&family=362156">Kichler - Wedgeport - Old Bronze</a><br /></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But we also added a lot of functionality.<br /></div><br />One thing I'm really loving is my huge sink. The installers joked that we could take a bath in it! It's not quite THAT big, but it is large. My large pots and pans and even my cookie sheets fit completely in the sink, no problem. Before, even a small 12-inch skillet would stick out of the sink and clank the sides as we washed it. Add to it the swan neck faucet and there's pretty much nothing we can't wash in our sink now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2767075072/" title="175-7598_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/2767075072_ddd5bd3901.jpg" alt="175-7598_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sink</span>: <a href="http://www.elkayusa.com/cps/rde/xchg/elkay/hs.xsl/kitchensinks-undermount.aspx">Elkay</a> ELU 281610<br />SS, Undermount, Single Bowl<br />16 x 28 and 10 inches deep<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Faucet</span>: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/KOHLER-Revival-Kitchen-Sidespray-K-16109-4-G/dp/B000UO0UEW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1213881856&sr=1-4">Kohler Revival</a>, brushed Chrome<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Another added functionality is pull out drawers in the island. I love that I don't have to reach deep inside my cabinets and bang and upend a bunch of stuff to get out the stuff I need. It's a bit hard to fit in all of the stuff I had before, but I'm moving things I rarely use to my pantry closet which is probably something I should have done a long time ago.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2800906435/" title="175-7520_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2800906435_53847a80cb.jpg" alt="175-7520_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And, of course the breakfast bar. Here's our new island from the front. And yes, I am still missing some hardware. I forgot that we'd be going from single doors to double doors, so I was short a couple of pulls! The cabinet to the far left is the trash drawer. I had to give up cabinet space to fit that in, but I'm really pleased to not have an ugly trash can sitting out.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2766228775/" title="175-7600_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2766228775_7eb9388c83.jpg" alt="175-7600_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Island cabinets: Kraftmaid - Melrose door style - Peppercorn<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />On the other side, a breakfast bar. Again, we were quite relieved to see that even though we added seating, we still had plenty of room to walk past. I also painted the door to the garage. When we first moved in it was the dreaded hunter green but we had it painted white. When I went to paint the door leading out to the deck, I was going to paint it white too but then decided it needed something warmer so I decided to pick up the burgundy/cranberry tones of the countertops and I ended up with this color. Much better than plain old white!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2766230933/" title="176-7602_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2766230933_b96db6b360.jpg" alt="176-7602_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Door paint</span>: Benjamin Moore - Chestnut<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dog</span>: Golden Retriever named Bailey :)<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Anyway, that's probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about our kitchen! I hope to finish it off by adding more colored accents (playing off the plate hanging over the sink) - mainly gold, cranberry, navy, and green. Perhaps a nice fruit bowl here, a colored utensil crock there a valance for the window, etc.<br /><br />I hope to get to a garden update something this week too. I'm FINALLY starting to get some tomatoes. I sure hope it doesn't cool off too much yet - it would make me sad to end the season with so many green tomatoes.....so much unrealized potential!<br /></div></div><br /></div></div></div><br /></div></div></div>Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-54910438876946672352008-08-15T22:22:00.003-04:002008-08-15T22:26:38.294-04:00It's done!The kitchen is officially done! It was actually done this past Monday, but we still had people coming out to finish up a few other projects (trim around garage doors, new shower faucet, etc.), so we are officially done as of today.<br /><br />It's been a busy week trying to get back into the work routine and I'm still not back into the cooking or blogging groove yet and I'm not sure when that will happen as the next couple of weeks don't show any signs of letting up! Tomorrow we are off to DE/Philly to see Spamalot and then on Tuesday we go down to Hershey to see Bruce Springsteen. I'm VERY excited for both, but especially for Bruce - we're both big fans.<br /><br />Anyway, before things get too crazy again, a quick post about the remodel. I'll follow up with more details and photos later. Suffice it to say we're loving it - not only for cosmetic reasons, but it's so much more efficient now too.<br /><br />I posted a lot of before shots on <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/06/toffee-caramel-cappucino-and-peppercorn.html">this thread</a>, but I figured we needed at least one side by side shot, so here's BEFORE:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2584950520/" title="121-2158_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/2584950520_172fa00379.jpg" alt="121-2158_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br />(The wallpaper has been gone for a couple of years, but I just had<br />to include this shot as the before because this is how it looked<br />when we bought the house. The guy to right is our realtor - this is the photo<br />I took when we looked at the house.)<br /></div><br />And here's the AFTER:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2766182467/" title="New Kitchen by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2766182467_23dc00cd1c.jpg" alt="New Kitchen" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Of course we would have loved to get rid of the soffit and the white microwave and put in a fancy backsplash, but considering we started this project only planning to do the island and floor, we're pretty ecstatic with the outcome! I never dreamed I'd have solid surface counter tops and an undermount sink.<br /><br />But it's late and we have to get an early start to get to a matinee show tomorrow.....so it's off to bed.............<br /></div></div>Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-22241739980251335212008-08-10T23:14:00.000-04:002008-08-10T23:14:23.619-04:00Getting back to it with a fruit tart!I can't believe that I let three weeks past since my last post! I thought that with me not cooking any new recipes during the remodel that I'd get a lot of posting done. Obviously THAT didn't happen. Partly I was busy painting and then just too tired and partly I was too preoccupied to sit down and write a post.<br /><br />It's been a long 2 1/2 weeks and we had a fumble or two along the way, but things have gone pretty well overall.<br /><br />It's almost done. I finally got all my appliances back in on Friday and at the 11th hour, the plumber came out and hooked up my dishwasher at Friday night. And good thing too - we had 8 overnight guests stay over last night. Not only did we have overnight guests, but it was also my son's birthday - he turned 11 yesterday. My youngest is 11! Eek!<br /><br />I spent most of the Friday scrubbing appliances and making sure everything was clean as it came into the kitchen, cleaning out my dining room which had been serving as a prep area/mini kitchen and loading the essentials back into the cabinets. There is still a lot of stuff to move up from the basement, but I'm taking my time and taking this opportunity to arrange things more efficiently.<br /><br />Yesterday was spent actually COOKING in my new kitchen. So far I love how much more efficient it really is. But more on the kitchen later. We are still waiting for the pendant lights to go in, outlets on the island, a transition strip on the floor, some ceiling paint and a few other odds and ends. Once that's all done, I'll post some pictures.<br /><br />Since we had JUST gotten our kitchen back into working order, I kept it pretty simple for our guests......hamburgers, hotdogs and brats along with gazpacho and a green bean salad. (Both of those dishes were designed to use up beans and cucumbers from the garden. More on the garden later too!) We topped off dinner with my son's birthday dessert request - a dessert pizza/fruit tart.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2750961338/" title="Dessert Pizza by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2750961338_c49c491dbd.jpg" alt="Dessert Pizza" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">My son had fun decorating his own tart.</span><br /><br /></div>This recipe starts with - gasp - a sugar cookie mix to form the crust. I keep saying that some day I'll figure out the proportions needed and make my own sugar cookie dough (I do have a good recipe, but it's much more than I need for one pizza), but with everything going on this week, it was definitely easier to just follow the recipe as it was written. And I have to admit, even with the mix it turns out quite well.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2750174969/" title="Dessert Pizza by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2750174969_f4a95ffa52.jpg" alt="Dessert Pizza" width="500" border="0" height="413" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The recipe calls for adding finely chopped almonds to the cookie batter - the almonds add a really nice element of interest to the crust. The dough is spread out on a pizza pan and baked in the oven until lightly golden. You top the crust with a mixture of cream cheese and powdered sugar and then finish it off with fresh fruit and let it chill. Very easy. The hardest part is decorating it - it takes some time to arrange all those little blueberries - but it's also a lot of fun!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2750187373/" title="Dessert Pizza by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2750187373_aa1514fca3.jpg" alt="Dessert Pizza" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/08/fruit-tartdessert-pizza.html">Fruit Tart/Dessert Pizza</a><br /><br /></div>Since we had 12 people I made two tarts. I invited DS to decorate one on his own and I took over the other. We now have only one piece left, so I think it was a hit. It really is a fun summer dessert - it's not hard to make and yet it makes a very pretty presentation and I don't think I've run into anyone who didn't enjoy eating it too.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-50893009548463095232008-07-21T21:52:00.002-04:002008-07-21T23:02:10.495-04:00Trying to keep on top of the Garden.But first..........last week I received word that instead of starting my kitchen the 28th, they now want to start the 23rd! That's this Wednesday! Definitely good news, but here I thought I had this whole week to get ready and maybe even start painting. Oh well, the sooner the better I guess! Cabinets arrive on Friday, so they'll start tearing out cabinets and laying the floor on Wednesday and hopefully start putting cabinets in on Monday. But that sounds overly ambitious to me, so we'll see. Lots of work to do tomorrow!<br /><br />Still harvesting cucumbers and zucchinis on a daily basis here. I actually let almost 3 days go past without checking the garden. I knew that probably wasn't a good idea because I noticed that zucchini grow very, very fast but we were busy and it was hot.......excuses, excuses. Sure enough, here's what I found this afternoon..........<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2691217192/" title="Super Zucchini by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2691217192_f42cff873f.jpg" alt="Super Zucchini" width="375" border="0" height="500" /></a><br /></div><br />That zucchini had been closer to the size of the smallest one there just the other day. It is now over 14 inches long. Oi. Now to use it all up. We did the<a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/07/using-up-zucchini.html"> saute</a> the other day, we made <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/07/using-up-zucchini.html">two loaves of zucchini bread</a>, we made zucchini pancakes last week and last night I made a yummy pasta dish.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2691235462/" title="Zucchini Pancakes by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2691235462_379d3d7d5c.jpg" alt="Zucchini Pancakes" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/zucchini-and-corn-pancakes.html">Zucchini and Corn Pancakes</a><br /><br /></div>The zucchini pancakes were based on a recipe from Mark Bittman, <a href="http://community.cookinglight.com/showpost.php?p=1395972&postcount=5">posted on the CLBB</a>. I also threw in some leftover cooked corn. My son thought it sounded gross, but I told him that I was pretty confident he'd like it, just like the zucchini bread. My mixture ended up being quite watery, so I had to keep adding flour and probably ended up with a full 1/2 cup more flour than the recipe called for. I imagine this made them a bit more doughy than intended, but they were still quite good. These were perhaps a tad bland, so I served them with salsa. I would have preferred maybe a curried sour cream - the salsa was a bit overwhelming - but we somehow have 3 open jars of salsa that need to be used up, so salsa it was.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2691313574/" title="Zucchini and Sausage Pasta by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2691313574_da7dd3d4fa.jpg" alt="Zucchini and Sausage Pasta" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/zucchini-and-sausage-pasta-bake.html">Zucchini and Sausage Pasta Bake</a><br /><br /></div>The pasta recipe was based on <a href="http://community.cookinglight.com/showpost.php?p=1245665&postcount=1">this recipe</a> that someone shared on the CLBB, but I didn't follow it very closely. Instead, I used it as a basis for using up things we had around the house. As I was cleaning out the freezer for the remodel, I found 3 separate links of 3 different kinds of chicken sausage - one with spinach and feta, one Italian and a bit of smoked sausage. These are all pre-cooked - not the raw links that the recipes falls for - but I thought it was worth a shot. We had two open boxes of pasta, so instead of penne, we used ziti and farfalle. No Fontina on hand, so I used fresh mozzarella and a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Happily I had some fresh cream from the farmer's market on hand, so I didn't mess with that part of the recipe.<br /><br />Surprisingly, this dish was delicious! I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but everyone gobbled it up and DH and I happily ate the leftovers today for lunch. The only thing that didn't work so well was the fresh mozzarella. The taste was great, but it tended to clump, also causing the sausage to clump as well. Certainly not a light dish, but I was craving a cheesy pasta dish after all of the lighter summer fare of late.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2691219076/" title="Haricot Verts by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2691219076_63ac0639b5.jpg" alt="Haricot Verts" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The green beans are finally producing so that I can actually gather enough for a meal at one time. They are lovely too......nice and thin, just the way I like them. I planted haricot verts beans from <a href="http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/product_details.asp?item_no=PS14279&UID=">Seeds of Change</a> and am very happy with them. They tend to get long, but not thick or tough. I've always wanted to grow green beans because the beans at the store are usually too big and/or too tough - I don't like it when they get so big that there are seeds forming inside the pod. Even the green beans at the farmer's market gave generally been too big for my tastes. But not these - they are perfect. I blanched them for 3-5 minutes and then tossed them with some garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper (heated up just to take the edge off the garlic). Yummy!<br /><br />It's fun to eat stuff out the garden, but I'm either going to have to give a few zucchini away or start shredding and freezing it because we're going to get overloaded pretty shortly here. But I have seen a few recipe for chocolate zucchini bread that I think I must try first...........Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-67455012499986617352008-07-19T19:22:00.000-04:002008-07-19T19:22:46.714-04:00Taco Seasoning: Getting away from pre-made mixes.Whew. It's been a long week. My son's All-Star team played 5 games and had 2 practices in the last 8 days. They played hard and did a great job, but ended up losing the district championship game today. The boys were very disappointed and had their moment of sadness and tears - my son cried in the car and his friend (who came over for a sleepover tonight) confessed to crying in the bathtub, but guess where those two are right now as I type? Yep. Outside playing baseball. It's hard to see them lose, but they've been playing since February and football starts in 2 weeks, so it's not necessarily such a bad thing either. And now maybe my stomach won't be in knots every other day! Anyway, they may still have energy, but I'm wiped out, so I'll be keeping this one simple.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2683002137/" title="Taco Seasoning by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2683002137_a065f98e0d.jpg" alt="Taco Seasoning" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/taco-seasoning.html">Taco Seasoning</a><br /></div><br />Taco seasoning. This is one thing I've been very lazy about - simply out of habit and pure laziness, I repeatedly reach for the pre-made taco seasoning at the store. I've been trying to get away from unwanted added ingredients, so I when I reached for it the other day, I forced myself to turn the package over and look at the ingredient list. Yep, there they were - stuff like MSG and partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Blech. So I put the seasoning back on the shelf. Surely it couldn't be THAT hard to make my own!<br /><br />I did a little surfing and found <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Taco-Seasoning-I/Detail.aspx">this recipe</a> over at AllRecipes. With over 900 reviews and a 5-star rating, I figured it was a pretty safe bet. And it was. Flavorful and with just the right amount of heat for us. This recipe ended up making about 3 tablespoons of seasoning which, for us, seasoned 1 pound of ground beef.<br /><br />Next time I'll make up extra and keep it in the freezer. Very easy to throw together, but still that familiar taco flavoring we know and love. Our tacos were definitely a bit elevated that night.....we made our own seasoning and used grass-fed ground beef from a local farmer. Now if I had made my own taco shells............Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-70835464745532156562008-07-18T09:38:00.000-04:002008-07-18T09:38:44.961-04:00Fennel - A FirstThe recipes and the vegetables are piling up! Baseball and various other things have been keeping me busy, so I'm still falling behind in my posting. I still have a blueberry recipe or two to post, not to mention recipes from earlier this spring! Between the garden and me being a little over zealous in my purchases at the farmer's market last weekend, I'm furiously trying to use everything up so that it won't go bad. And, again, baseball doesn't make that very easy seeing as how we're gone from 3:30-8:30 on game nights.<br /><br />Last weekend I found fennel at one of the farmer's market stands. I do not like black licorice or the other things of a similar flavor profile like anise or fennel, but I've been warming up to fennel seeds in some of my cooking so I decided it might be time to try fresh fennel. I had no idea how to prepare this vegetable and I had no idea what to put with it so I started an internet search (What the heck did I ever do without the internet for recipes??) hoping to find a recipe for fennel and cucumber since we seem to be getting at least one or two cucumbers out of the garden each day.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2679138001/" title="Fennel and Cucumber Salad by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/2679138001_e97a60686e.jpg" alt="Fennel and Cucumber Salad" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/fennel-and-cucumber-salad.html">Fennel and Cucumber Salad</a><br /><br /></div>First I found <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/57692">this recipe</a> that sounded simple and refreshing. But then I realized that I really had no idea how to even cut up a piece of fennel or even what parts to use. Fortunately I found an <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6710330">informative article</a> that told me pretty much all I needed to know. I ended up using mostly just the bulb itself with a bit of the stalks too, tossing the fronds. The fronds didn't appeal to me as a garnish and I didn't think I'd like the flavor of fennel for a soup stock, so in the compost they went. In texture, the bulb of the fennel is a bit like licorice flavored cabbage while the stalks are a bit more like licorice flavored celery.<br /><br />This simple salad combines cucumber, fennel and radishes along with mint, chives, lemon and EVOO. The flavors play well off each other. The mint and fennel give the dish a sort of sweet angle while the radishes give it a bit of bite and some welcome color. The cucumbers play an understated supporting role. It was very nice and refreshing and while we all liked it and enjoyed the change of pace, I don't know that I'd seek out fennel again. I'm learning to tolerate and appreciate some different flavor profiles these days, but I don't know that fennel will ever be a favorite.<br /><br />More baseball tonight..........I'm about ready for baseball to be over - we need a little break (and it will be a very little break) before soccer and football start! We're also counting down to the kitchen remodel which will begin in just over a week. ACK!Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-173551292942846302008-07-17T09:00:00.001-04:002008-07-17T09:16:49.933-04:00Using up the ZucchiniAfter all that garden talk, it's time to share a few recipes showing how we're using our bounty. Okay, so "bounty" is probably overstating things a bit, but it sounds good......<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2676191934/" title="Zucchini and Cucumbers by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2676191934_6a71096447.jpg" alt="Zucchini and Cucumbers" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />So far it's mostly been zucchini and cucumbers coming from the garden. I'm definitely lacking in cucumber recipes (and I'd better find some soon as we're about to be overrun), but there seem to be infinite ways to use zucchini. I only planted one zucchini plant, so I don't think we'll be totally inundated. And that's probably a good thing seeing as how none of us actually love zucchini. So why the heck did I plant it? I guess because everyone always seems to be trying to get rid of their zucchini and it's always super abundant at the farmer's market, so I figured it must be easy to grow. I suppose I just wanted a sure bet.<br /><br />Even though none of us are crazy about zucchini on its own, it's very easy to disguise and or fit (or is it hide?) into other tasty dishes. Like zucchini bread. My son wrinkled up his nose and said "EW!" when I mentioned zucchini bread, but then I reminded him of how tasty carrot cake is and that helped him keep an open mind.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2677155134/" title="Zucchini-Pecan Saute by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2677155134_7dde403e17.jpg" alt="Zucchini-Pecan Saute" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/09/zucchini-pecan-saut.html">Zucchini-Pecan Sauté</a><br /><br /></div>But before I go on to the zucchini bread, the first zucchini I picked I used in one of our favorite savory zucchini dishes - Zucchini-Pecan Sauté. A really simple dish that, for whatever reason, really elevates zucchini from just "meh" to "yum".<br /><br />I'm sure there are lots of great zucchini bread recipes out there, but for some reason I've never strayed from this one from Jane Brody's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Brodys-Good-Food-High-Carbohydrate/dp/0553346180/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216262021&sr=8-2"><span style="font-style: italic;">Good Food Book</span></a> (she calls it "Grate" Zucchini Bread). I like that it uses half whole wheat flour and she tries to keep the oil and sugar to a minimum. Even though it's fairly healthful, it is still quite moist and delicious.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2676114966/" title="Zucchini Bread by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2676114966_a690572b0f.jpg" alt="Zucchini Bread" width="500" border="0" height="438" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/zucchini-bread.html">Zucchini Bread</a><br /><br /></div>My two zucchini were a lot bigger than I thought, so even though I had planned on making two loaves, I still ended up with a lot of grated zucchini left. Stay tuned for some yummy vegetable pancakes I made to use up the rest of the grated zucchini.........<br /><br />If you have some zucchini that you need to use up, check out these other <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/search/label/Squash%20-%20Zucchini">zucchini recipes</a> we've tried.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-25950906756742350652008-07-16T12:10:00.000-04:002008-07-16T12:10:17.265-04:00It's a jungle out there.........Wow. The garden sort of exploded in the last 2 weeks and things are looking up since my last post. The last photos I took were on the <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/06/garden-update-sigh.html">28th</a> of June.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673878145/" title="The garden by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2673878145_430f30016d.jpg" alt="The garden" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The pepper plants are producing, at least a little.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673711183/" title="peppers by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2673711183_35999a3d01.jpg" alt="peppers" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />And you can see what a difference 6 days makes. The photo above was taken on the 10th and this one was taken today.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674572214/" title="Peppers by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2674572214_613ff3e0f9.jpg" alt="Peppers" width="375" border="0" height="500" /></a><br /></div><br />I also have a few sweet Italian peppers.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673730009/" title="Italian sweet peppers by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2673730009_720d4af4e6.jpg" alt="Italian sweet peppers" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The beans have about doubled in size and are beginning to show a few teeny tiny beans.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673720097/" title="green beans by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3116/2673720097_c009fbd950.jpg" alt="green beans" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />Since taking that picture above 6 days ago, I have harvested a small handful of pencil thin beans. Not quite enough for a meal, so I'm holding onto these for a few more days before I cook them.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674556312/" title="First green beans by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/2674556312_3ea2efd6d9.jpg" alt="First green beans" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The cucumbers are all over the place. We have harvested 5 with A LOT more to come.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673742621/" title="Overrun with cucumbers by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2673742621_a54099d2ca.jpg" alt="Overrun with cucumbers" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The basil is still getting chewed on, but I've got plenty. I've churned out one or two batches of pesto already. I just need to buy some more pine nuts to make more. I harvested some sage, but I'm not sure what to do with it. I might chop it and freeze it for use later.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673715205/" title="basil by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2673715205_20a8300976.jpg" alt="basil" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />But the tomatoes. Holy cow! These are definitely the biggest plants I've ever had and they are twice as big as most I see in other gardens around here.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673702985/" title="big tomato plants by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/2673702985_0df74923dc.jpg" alt="big tomato plants" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />After 6 days, they have grown even more! And keep in mind that I have not used one bit of fertilizer. I just plunked them in the lasagna beds and that was it. (And yes, one of them has a toppled branch or two. I tried tying it up, but it didn't work.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673747999/" title="Giant tomato plants by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3220/2673747999_b12b755036.jpg" alt="Giant tomato plants" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />I do see a few green tomatoes showing up here and there. I'm beginning to see more blossoms on the plants, so maybe we'll do okay after all. If these plants had not been ravaged by that fungus (or whatever it was), I can't imagine how many tomatoes we'd have gotten. Apparently tomatoes like lasagna gardening!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674552660/" title="Tomatoes forming by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2674552660_2f01e04421.jpg" alt="Tomatoes forming" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />I did have one entire plant topple over though. I don't want to straighten it for fear of damaging it so I'm just going to let it be and see what happens.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674565870/" title="Toppled tomato plant by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/2674565870_4ddd0a1ea6.jpg" alt="Toppled tomato plant" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />The zucchini blossoms are pretty. We've harvested 3 so far with several more pretty close to being ready. I did lose a few to some sort of deformity or rot.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673734213/" title="zucchini blossom by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2023/2673734213_249d54135c.jpg" alt="zucchini blossom" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />Most exciting of all is the appearance of some cantaloupe! They are far from harvest, of course and anything can happen, but I am very excited about the possibility of getting to eat cantaloupe from the garden! Here's the biggest one......<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2673738069/" title="Baby cantaloupe by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2673738069_b2d89c2d51.jpg" alt="Baby cantaloupe" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />And we have a few smaller ones too.........<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674560548/" title="Wee cantaloupe by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/2674560548_246cd5a308.jpg" alt="Wee cantaloupe" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />I can see that I'll be spacing things out a bit differently next year. Some of my poor pepper plants are getting shut out by the towering cherry tomato plants that are getting much bigger than I expected.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674570816/" title="Overcrowded pepper plants by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2674570816_bf2b52e08c.jpg" alt="Overcrowded pepper plants" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />My sage is also feeling a bit crowded by the beans.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2674538254/" title="sage by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2674538254_ee534729ef.jpg" alt="sage" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />But live and learn, that's what gardening is all about. I'll have an easier time planning it out this winter, based on what I've learned this year. One thing I know for sure - I need more beds and I need to extend the beds I have.<br /><br />Stayed tuned for recipes involving cucumber and zucchini!Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-60153265285622593582008-07-11T09:18:00.000-04:002008-07-11T09:18:30.279-04:00No Fuss Blueberry JamOkay, so I guess I technically cheated - I made freezer jam. But, the point is, it worked.<br /><br />Last Monday, we picked 23 pounds of blueberries and yesterday we were down to our last 6-8 cups and I have to say, they weren't in terrible shape considering it has been over a week. Some were getting a bit too soft, but quite a few were still firm and only one showed any sign of mold. Not bad.<br /><br />However, it was quite apparent that we were reaching a crucial point and really needed to use them up, so I decided to try jam since, compared to most recipes, this would use up the largest amount of blueberries. I have never done any canning before and though I plan to learn, this wasn't the time. After doing a bit of reading, I decided I wanted to try freezer jam and went to the store to get some pectin.<br /><br />Once I was there, it was a bit confusing. They had regular pectin and <a href="http://www.canningpantry.com/ball-freezer-jam-pectin.html">freezer jam pectin</a>. The freezer jam recipe looked incredibly easy - no cooking at all. Then I took a look at the ingredients and noticed that the freezer jam pectin contained several added ingredients, including a preservative: dextrose, fruit pectin, citric acid (assists gel), sodium citrate (controls acidity), potassium sorbate (preservative). I wasn't too keen on using something with a preservative since that's part of the attractiveness of making my own jam in the first place, but then I noticed that with this recipe, you only use 1 1/2 cups of sugar per 4 cups of berries. That's a lot lot less sugar than a cooked jam recipe where the ratio is generally 1:1.<br /><br />Anyway, I ended up grabbing some regular pectin and one package of the freezer jam pectin. Once home, I kept hemming and hawing and finally decided to give the freezer jam pectin a try. It's very easy. You mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar with the package of pectin, add 4 cups of crushed berries, stir for 3 minutes, let it sit for 30 minutes to let it set and you're done. Ridiculously easy!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2657533594/" title="Crushed Blueberries by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2657533594_0cf13a79a2.jpg" alt="Crushed Blueberries" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><br />As I mashed the blueberries, I was looking at the rather gross mush on my plate and having second thoughts. For some reason, squished blueberries make me think of squished bugs - they just look gross! (My photos of the final mashed product didn't come out.....too bad, huh?) Then I started thinking about having to bite into a jam full of blueberry skins. Even if I could get past it, I knew the family would not. And these problems are unique to blueberries - any other kind of berry - no skin, no brown squishy "guts".<br /><br />I finally decided that I simply had to run them through the food processor. Not only would this eliminate the problem of biting into all of those skins, but I knew from making <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/blueberry-ice-cream.html">blueberry ice cream</a>, that it would make the whole mixture turn a much more attractive color of purple instead of the brownish colors you get from just crushing the berries. I had read that you shouldn't use a food processor because it can break down the natural pectin in the berries and prevent your jam from setting (the Ball instructions also say not to process the berries), but I decided to try it anyway. If it didn't work, I figured I could probably find some way to save it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2657724733/" title="Blueberry Jam by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/2657724733_8a480a86c8.jpg" alt="Blueberry Jam" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/blueberry-freezer-jam.html">Blueberry Freezer Jam</a><br /><br /></div>I'm happy to say that it worked just fine. In no time I had a lovely blueberry jam. I suppose I don't have chunks of fruit as you should with a proper jam, but as I said earlier, that might not be such a bad thing when it comes to blueberries. Since pureeing the berries reduced the overall volume when compared to crushing them, I decided to go with 3 1/2 cups of pureed berries versus the 4 cups of crushed berries - I was afraid the jam might not set if I had too much berry puree. This seemed to work great. It's a tad on the sweet side, but very good nonetheless and certainly A LOT less sugar than most recipes.<br /><br />So, my experiment was a success. I now have 6 1-cup containers of blueberry jam in the fridge and freezer, waiting to be enjoyed the rest of the year. I'm still not keen on the preservatives used in this pectin, so next time I'm thinking about trying the freezer jam recipe I found inside the package of regular pectin (which contains dextrose, fruit pectin and citric acid). The drawback there? 5 1/4 cups of sugar for 3 cups of berries. Hmmmm..........Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-17278828797507891932008-07-06T16:00:00.000-04:002008-07-06T16:00:18.436-04:00More Bobby Flay....It's been hard to decide what else to make from Bobby Flay's <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bobby-Flays-Boy-Gets-Grill/dp/0743254813/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215372400&sr=8-1">Boy Gets Grill</a> which I have on loan from the public library, but I settled on a chicken thigh recipe with a peanut sauce.<br /><br />This recipe calls for grilling chicken thighs with a honey glaze. The chicken, along with mint, cilantro and lettuce, is rolled up in a tortilla and served with a peanut dipping sauce.<br /><br />Overall, I liked this recipe but there were a couple of problems or confusions.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2641674749/" title="171-7196_IMG by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2641674749_dddff97aee.jpg" alt="171-7196_IMG" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/soy-ginger-chicken-rolled-in-crisp.html">Soy-Ginger Chicken Rolled in Crisp Lettuce<br />with Peanut Dipping Sauce</a><br /></div><br />First, the title of this recipe is Soy-Ginger Chicken Rolled in Crisp Lettuce with Peanut Dipping Sauce. The introduction to the recipe explains that in Vietnam, "hot food such as grilled beef or fried spring rolls is often rolled up in cool, crisp lettuce leaves with large sprigs of mint and cilantro." So, naturally I thought that the lettuce acted as the wrap, but then the recipes goes on to include tortillas. Not only that, but it calls for 16 6-inch tortillas for 8 chicken thighs in which 2 pieces of chicken go in each tortilla and the recipe says it serves 4. Um, that doesn't quite compute, does it? Must be a typo. Anyway, I decided to try the recipe with tortillas and it's a good thing I did because the lettuce I bought would not have been good for rolling anyway.<br /><br />As far as flavor goes, this recipe was tasty but was unfortunately overpowered by some local wildflower honey I had purchased on a whim. The wildflower flavor was so strong and perfumy, it overwhelmed the other flavors in this dish. It was still good, but a milder honey would have worked out much better here. The peanut sauce was good, but I have other recipes I like better.<br /><br />Although this recipe wasn't the greatest success in the world, we did enjoy it overall and I would like to try the glaze again with a milder honey. And perhaps a different peanut sauce - many sauces I've made call for cooking the sauce first and perhaps that was all that was needed here to kick up the flavors a bit.<br /><br />I've renewed the book for 3 more weeks and am looking forward to looking through it more thoroughly and picking out a few more recipes to try.Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11447537.post-41237094097808246362008-07-05T09:26:00.002-04:002008-07-06T10:12:08.947-04:00It's Blueberry Time Again!Strawberries have pretty much wound down for the season but fortunately that means it's time for blueberries. It's a little bit early in the season around here, but our local blueberry farm was teeming with ripe berries on many of their bushes. The big fat ones were less abundant, but they had plenty of the smaller variety. <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2007/07/in-season-blueberries.html">Last year</a> we picked about 16 pounds in two trips. This year we took DH along and he had a 5 gallon bucket. Apparently he felt he needed to try and fill this 5 gallon bucket - by the time I convinced him that we had enough, we were up to 23 pounds of blueberries!<br /><br />Needless to say, it's been blueberry week at our house. So far we have made a couple of favorites from last year - <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/blueberry-buckle-coffeecake.html">Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake</a> and <a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/blueberry-ice-cream.html">Blueberry Ice Cream</a>. This time the blueberry ice cream was even more luscious since I was able to use local eggs and rich cream from a local dairy farm - yum.<br /><br />We've also tried two new recipes...one for a blueberry banana muffin that I'll share later and one for this fabulous Blueberry Galette. While searching for a recipe, I discovered that there are <a href="http://www.baking911.com/pies_tarts/galette.htm">many incarnations of a galette</a>, some using a puff pastry crust, some using a yeasted dough, but to me, a galette has always been basically a free-form pie. I have always been attracted to the rustic look of a galette - it just seemed much less intimidating and fussy than a more structured pie.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2642382782/" title="Blueberry Galette by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/2642382782_f19b229121.jpg" alt="Blueberry Galette" width="500" border="0" height="375" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The galette is ready to hit the oven</span>.<br /><br /></div>I didn't look too long to find a recipe over at <a href="http://www.ishotthechef.com/2008/03/13/blueberry-galette/">I Shot the Chef</a>. In my internet travels I did notice that more than one recipe called for cornmeal in the crust. I wasn't sure if I'd be pleased with the texture of the cornmeal but I wanted to try it.<br /><br />The crust went together very easily - just a few pulses of all your ingredients in the food processor and then the addition of the cream and ice water until the dough begins to come together and you're done. The dough gets a 2 hour chill (or can be done the day before) before getting rolled out into a 12-inch circle. The dough was quite easy to work with and was not overly sticky.<br /><br />Next, a mixture of blueberries and sugar is piled in the middle of the dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border. The blueberries get topped with bits of butter and then the dough is folded up around them - very, very simple to do. A quick brushing of cream and sprinkling of sugar and it's ready to hit the oven.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68644229@N00/2639042830/" title="Blueberry Galette by lindrusso, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2639042830_00e5a52144.jpg" alt="Blueberry Galette" width="500" border="0" height="393" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://savorynotebook.blogspot.com/2005/08/blueberry-galette.html">Blueberry Galette</a><br /></div><br />The crust ended up being delicious - flaky and slightly sweet, with just a little extra texture from the cornmeal without feeling unpleasantly grainy as I feared might be the case. The sprinkling of sugar also gives an added crunch as well as nice sparkle. The filling only oozed a tiny bit in one spot where the crust must have been rolled a bit too thin and was not at all runny when we cut the galette to serve - unlike many of the berry pies I've tried in the past. We topped the galette off with a bit of homemade whipped cream using luscious, rich cream from a local dairy as an added treat.<br /><br />This is my first time making a galette, but I can assure you it won't be my last. Very simple and unfussy, yet it looks elegant and tastes delicious. What's not to like?Alyshahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06914870543398140819noreply@blogger.com7