City Home/Country Home

Miss Congeniality

2012-02-01T01:00:00.003-07:00

This shredded pork is not the most photogenic entry at the pageant, but it's more like Miss Congeniality, and everyone loves it. It's versatile and easy to work with, and although it's a bit "plain-Jane", you can dress it up with some guacamole or a bit of pico de gallo or some sauce and it takes on a new life.

So... let's talk pulled pork; some of the "best you've ever smacked-a-lip-over", to quote a friend of mine from Texas. It's spicy, sweet, and just plain good. Not fancy but versatile. Serve it in tortillas with taco fixins', on a bun, or just mound it on a plate with some sides. This recipe calls for with soda (I used Dr. Pepper) and chipotle adobo sauce. If you don't like it spicy (and it has a bit of heat), cut the chipotle sauce in half.

Here's the ugly part of the post (Ok, the color's pretty, but that's where it ends my friends). This lump of fat went straight into the garbage bag.

Yuccckkkkkkk!!!!!!!!

This is the greasy fat (after chilling) that was rendered out of the pork shoulder (sometimes called pork butt, a less-appetizing name, for sure). I shudder to think of all that pork fat headed for my arteries (I prefer to fill mine with butter, given the choice), so to control that large amount of saturated fat, I like to roast the meat, shred it, and pour the liquid into a bowl. Let it chill in the fridge for a few hours, then peel back the congealed fat and discard it, leaving the jelled broth in the bowl. Next, melt the broth and add it back to the shredded meat.

The meat will soak the broth in, taking back moisture and flavor.

This freezes well and some of this shredded pork will be going into freezer bags for a quick meal at a later date. Now that's what I consider pretty!

Spicy Pulled Pork

7-8 pound pork shoulder roast (sometimes called pork butt)

24 ounces of Dr. Pepper (you can use Coke)

14-ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used half a can)

1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered

Pre-heat the oven to 300º F.

Scatter the onion pieces in the bottom of a roasting pan or Dutch oven. Sprinkle salt and pepper liberally over your pork roast. Set the pork on top of the onion and pour the chipotle sauce over the pork. Pour the Dr. Pepper around the roast and cover the meat with a lid.

Roast the meat for 5-6 hours, turning the roast four times, intermittently. When the meat shreds easily and falls apart, it's done. Remove the pork to a platter. Pour the broth into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly, then cover and put it in the fridge for several hours to let the fat harden.

In the meantime, shred the pork roast with your fingers or using two forks. Discard any fat left on the roast. Put the shredded meat into a bowl and refrigerate.

When the fat has congealed, remove it and heat the jelled broth. Pour it back over the shredded meat.

Reheat the shredded pork and serve with tortillas, or on buns.

Retreating...My Week in Photos

2012-01-29T23:11:00.002-07:00

First I went to beautiful Bear Lake to take in the clouds and the sunrise. There was rumored to have been some major quilting, rug braiding, and knitting accomplished too. And did I mention that those quilters can really cook?

View of the Lake from the deck

Then it was on to the Homestead where we watched the wildlife, stalked migratory Bald and Golden eagles, and marveled at the scenery.

Deer in the neighbor's yard

Bald Eagle taking flight;

Another one at rest

Saturday's sunset over our neighbor's house

Looking toward Mount Nebo from the West Fields

Looking past the church to The Homestead in the trees

Toasty Toe Warmers

2012-01-24T01:00:00.032-07:00

I know these are not a new idea. They are just like a bean bag (but without the beans). I love them for cold weather.

These little bags can be tucked between the covers of your bed, inside your coat pocket, even into your boots before you put them on. Once, when we were at the Homestead, our daughter had an earache and there was not a hot water bottle to be found. I whipped one of these up with a cotton dish towel I had and some rice from the pantry. Instant comfort.

I filled these pink bags with hard winter wheat from my storage, some broken cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Just spritz them with a little water before heating to keep the wheat or rice from drying out and pop them in the microwave for 2 minutes on high . The spices will heat up and emit a pleasant smell. I think the cocoa bean hulls that are packaged as garden mulch would be terrific inside of these.

*Just a note if you are using wheat, make sure that your hand and machine stitches are small. You wouldn't want the filling to escape from the bag.

Supplies:

Two 10 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch pieces of fabric (or do as I did and cut one 20 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch piece of fabric and fold it in half. The folded side will not need to be seamed, saving time)
Sewing machine
Hand sewing needle with matching thread to stitch the opening closed
Approximately 1 1/4 cup of rice or wheat kernels for filling
A small amount of whole spices or lavender (optional) to add to the filling
Straight sewing pins

Lay (or fold) your fabric with the right sides together. Pin on each side so that the fabric doesn't slide around. With a small stitch length (I set my Pfaff stitch length to 2), machine stitch around the fabric, leaving a small opening large enough to pour the filling into the bag. I back stitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitching.

Diagonally clip the corners and turn the bag right side out. Press the bag, as well as pressing open the seam where you left the opening (this will make an even edge to hand stitch).

Fill the bag,

pin the opening closed and hand stitch the opening with tight, small stitches.

AGAIN, make sure your stitches are small enough that the filling won't escape the bag.

You're done. Heat the bags for 2 minutes in your microwave and put them anywhere you need warmth.
They make great gifts, too.

Big Snow

2012-01-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Stick with this video clip for a bit. It is a bit slow but once the sliding gets going it's incredible and creepy at the same time. I hope no one was seriously injured.

This is what the storm did in our area yesterday. Today there is a bit of sun but yesterday it was miserable.

Woo HOO!!!!!

2012-01-21T19:54:00.001-07:00

It's snowing...hard. The steady snow is more like a drizzle and you can't see it in this photo; no big, fluffy flakes here. I took this out the back window earlier but now we have about 5 inches on the ground and it's still coming down. There is a lot of heavy water in this storm, and we need it badly.

The Sundance Film Festival started this weekend and the canyon is closed to all traffic. There are some disappointed visitors and locals alike I'm afraid. But the Outdoor Retail Convention is here for their annual show so they are probably thrilled.

We had a rather treacherous commute back to the city this afternoon on snow packed, unplowed, mountain and canyon roads. Thanks goodness Mr. CH had new tires put on the car last weekend. It was indeed a blessing to arrive home safely. I don't mind the snow when it's cozy and warm inside. I think I'll get out my knitting.

Off the needles on my feet.

2012-01-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

They're done. So warm and cushy. I wish I had more of this wonderful yarn.

It's finally snowing and one sock is done!!

2012-01-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

We need snow badly. This week there are some storms lined up and today this is the view outside the front door.

When the temperature drops here and it snows, a person needs some seriously warm winter wool socks and luckily I cast off one such sock this morning. It looks wrinkly and funny above but it looks much better on a foot. I love this artisan yarn I purchased in Durango, CO.

This pattern is Wendy Johnson's Toe Up Trilobite socks and I cast it off the needles using Jeny's amazingly stretchy bind off technique. A stretchy bind off is so important when knitting toe up socks if you want to be able to pull the socks over your calves and I made these socks quite long for warmth. This is the best stretchy bind off I've found.

I'm casting on for sock number two today.

Chicken Pot Pie

2012-01-13T01:00:00.064-07:00

I was going through the freezer and refrigerator, seeing what I needed to use up. When the girls are home, it seems like we stock up and don't use everything. Let's see....there are plenty of vegetables; carrots, mushrooms, celery. In the freezer I have more vegetables...2 bags of frozen peas. And a frozen pie crust leftover from Thanksgiving. That needs to be used up but I don't need one more sweet dessert right now. Wait....there is a bag of frozen cooked chicken in broth. OK!!! Chicken Pot Pie it is.

In my husband words, "Wow this is good. This is soooo good. Can I have more?"

Bonnie’s Chicken Pot Pie

½ cup of butter

½ cup of all-purpose flour

½ yellow onion, chopped

¾ teaspoon of kosher salt

½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

2 cups of chicken broth

2/3 cup of milk

2 cups of cut up cooked chicken

8 ounces of peas (may be frozen)

3 carrots, peeled, diced, and steamed (may use 8 ounces of frozen)

1 rib of celery, diced and steamed

6 ounces of button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

One recipe of pie crust (recipe below)

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the salt, pepper, mushrooms, celery and onion and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the flour, stir to mix well and cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Do not brown. Make a roux by adding the milk and chicken broth to the flour mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. When mixture has thickened,

add the remaining vegetables and the chicken. Set aside.

Make the Pie Crust:

This recipe makes a double crust for a 9-inch pie.

2 ½ cups of all–purpose flour

½ teaspoon of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of celery seed (optional)

3 Tablespoons of sour cream

½ cup of butter (4 ounces), ice cold and cut into 1-inch pieces

½ cup of butter-flavored shortening (4 ounces), ice cold and cut into 1-inch pieces

5 to 6 Tablespoons of ice water

Place the flour, salt, sugar and celery seed (if using) in a bowl. Whisk to blend. Add the butter and shortening and cut in with a pastry blender or fork until the fat resembles large peas in size.

Add the sour cream and toss to blend. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork as you add. Do not over mix. When the dough is moist, gather it into a loose ball. You should be able to see chunks of fat pieces in the dough. Divide it into two pieces and put each piece onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap the balls tightly and form into two discs by pressing down on the plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before rolling out.

*You could also make this crust in a food processor, pulsing gently so as not to overwork.

Assembly and Baking:

Preheat the oven to 425 º F.

Flour a counter or pastry board. Roll the dough into a circle and cut out circles to fit into ramekins or roll one large square piece of dough to fit a 9 x 9-inch square pan.

Gently lay the dough into your chosen vessel and trim if necessary to fit.

Spoon the chicken filling into the dough. Add a top piece of pastry and crimp. You can also just fold the sides of the pastry over without trimming

or you can use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place them decoratively over the filling. If you chose to add a top crust that encloses the filling, be sure to cut a vent into the top with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.

Place into a hot oven and bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Let pie rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Ranch Rolls

2012-01-11T01:00:00.006-07:00

My Dad is turning 80 this week and the extended family is going to Maddox Ranch House to celebrate. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you; this is not a birthday cake. It is a roll, specifically a roll like the ones they make at Maddox Ranch House, a Utah icon.

My Mom and Dad married in September on my maternal Grandfather's birthday and we always celebrated both occasions at Maddox, which was located halfway between our homes. Mr. Maddox raised beef in a pasture out back and ran a butcher shop off to the side of the restaurant. When our family visited for Grandpa's birthday, Wilma Maddox (the hostess) alerted Irv in the butcher shop that Orval had arrived. Just as we were finishing up dinner, Irv would come out in his whites (minus the butcher apron) with Wilma, bearing one perfect slice of house-made fresh peach pie from local peaches, whereupon a chorus of wait-staff would sing "Happy Birthday". Grandpa and Irv were old friends from way back and Grandpa and Grandma would never think of going anywhere else for a special occasion.

The restaurant is still run by younger generations of the Maddox family and still serves steaks (now purchased from a local rancher), fried chicken, and house made pies and rolls. The food is not upscale or gourmet; it's stick-to-your-ribs country fare and the menu hasn't changed much in 70 years. When Wilma and Irv opened Maddox in this out of the way spot, they built a small log cabin on skids, just in case they had to move it into town. It still stands in the same spot 70 or so years later, the original cabin being added onto many, many times.

The food is good (especially the steaks), but it's the rolls that that my family loves. The wait staff brings them out in baskets and they just keep coming, and coming, as long as you want more. Light and fluffy; just look at the crumb. Slather them with honey or raspberry butter like they serve at Maddox.

If you can't get to Maddox Ranch House, these rolls are the next best thing to being there.

Maddox Ranch House Rolls

2 Tablespoons of yeast (not rapid rise)

1/2 cup of warm water

1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup (or 4 ounces) of butter

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

3 large eggs

5 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the milk and salt. Scald but do not boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a measuring cup, mix the yeast and warm water. Add a pinch of sugar from the 1/2 cup measure and stir. Let the yeast sit and proof for a few minutes (to be sure your yeast is active. Mine WAS VERY ACTIVE).

In a large bowl, mix the yeast mixture, eggs, sugar, and flour just until blended and no lumps of flour remain. Do not overmix. The dough will be sticky and very loose.

Let the batter/dough raise until double (about 90 minutes). Mine took only 50 minutes to double in size; I live at high altitude so my dough raises quickly.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spoon it into greased muffin tins and let it raise again until doubled in size.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve with honey or raspberry butter.

This recipe makes about 30 dinner sized rolls.

Linked to Friday Potluck

So glad I watered.

2012-01-09T01:00:00.119-07:00

We have been without measurable snow for quite awhile and none was forecast for the near future. The new plants we put in last fall were sorely in need of water, so B. dragged the hose from the garage and hooked it up to the house. I put out the set sprinkler on and let it run for an hour or so, moving it and letting the water soak in thoroughly, then left the hose in the west bed in case I needed to water again. Off we went for the weekend, hoping the snow situation was better down south.

It wasn't.

Saturday it started to hail, and continued for about 15 minutes; then the snow started.

And then it quit. B.'s brother arrived for breakfast bearing flowers and some sock knitting was done.

A lot of rug braiding was done as well; I am going to get this rug finished if it kills me! It's going on year 2 and a complete revolution takes much longer now, so why does it seem like the bedroom floor area is increasing and the rug never seems to get any larger in spite of how many rows I add? B. pointed out that it fit quite well in the hallway. I think he was subtley hinting at a way for me to be done, bless his heart. It will be nice when I can move on to dressing beds. You can see we are in need of a bed skirt.

This awaited us back in the city.

Really Mother Nature!?! I don't mean to sound ungrateful as I do appreciate the moisture, but it would have been helpful if it had come before I watered. Apparently we had quite the snowstorm while we were gone, even though some of it melted by the time we got home. At least we didn't have to shovel.

Quiviut

2012-01-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Ann, new to our social knitting group at the Wool Cabin, was knitting this beautiful scarf on Thursday.

The fiber was deceptively soft and lush and had the most beautiful gradation's of color. This is the natural color of the fiber.

"What is that wonderful wool?", I asked.
Ann: "It's not wool. It's quiviut. My son, a biologist who lives and works in Alaska, gathered it off of trees and sent it to me. I hired someone to clean and spin it."

Me: "Wow"!!!
I'd heard of quiviut but certainly never had the opportunity to see or feel it in person. Are you familiar with this fiber?
Qiviut (pronounced "kiv-ee-ute"), the downy-soft underwool from the Arctic musk ox, is shed naturally each year during the spring months. Eight times warmer than wool and extraordinarily lightweight, Qiviut is one of the finest natural fibers known to man.

I can tell you Ann has knit a soft, air-y, fluffy, refined, lightweight and lovely scarf. Who would have thought hair from these beasts could end up like that?

Happy Birthday to the Third Child!

2012-01-06T01:00:00.002-07:00

22 years ago ago today, our third daughter came into the world. I should tell you that I gave birth to 3 daughters in 3 1/2 years and she is the middle of the youngest three. She rightfully points out that she has very few baby photos, but in our defense, our hands were a little full and we were somewhat pre-occupied.

R in the middle (AKA "The Third Child" as she calls herself)

She may have gotten less attention but she turned out OK (actually more than OK). And for a very shy child, she sure came out of her shell.

Every day is a party when she's around.

We are so proud of her and blessed to have her in our family.

(In fairness to The Third Child, I must disclose that these are OLD PHOTOS.) She is so very grow-up and mature now that you would never find her "mugging" for a photo these days. ;)

Happy Birthday R!

Spreading their wings.

2012-01-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

We just put our baby on a plane headed across a continent and over an ocean to another country, where she will live for the next 5 months. A wonderful opportunity for adventure and learning.

Just yesterday she looked like this.

Today, she is a beautiful young woman, going off into the world to make a place for herself (just wearing considerably less and more tastfully applied makeup).

We have sent daughters off into all corners of the world in the past and I'm sure it won't be the last time we drop a daughter at an airport, but it doesn't get any easier with practice. I am grateful she will be in a civilized safe country, and she is smart and cautious but I still worry. I am a mother.

Just last week the house was full of laughter and noise. Today the house is silent.

This week their rooms look like this.

Beds made; their down pillows gone...across the state, the country, and now the world. There are no more backpacks on the dining room table, tennis rackets or bags in the hallway, skis drying off on at the side door, swimming suits drying over the shower head, or hair pins left on the bathroom counter. I miss it and them, and their friends; even the noise of the late night movies in the family room beneath our bed.
We raise and love our children and hope and pray that we will prepare them to be kind, smart, capable adults when they leave the nest. And then that time comes, and they are ready and prepared but I am not ready; not ready at all.

And I don't like it; not one bit.

Soup for a winter day.

2012-01-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Guess what We did today. We took down the Christmas tree and other decorations. Thankfully, I had a lot of help. My husband and my daughters worked right along side me until all was stored in the basement closet for another year.

The house always looks a bit bare after the holidays but this year it looked down-right empty. The tree usually sits behind the leather chair in the corner. Well....Oops! I forgot to get the accessories out of the cupboards and back on the mantles and tabletops. Got to do that. It is a joy to have willing workers and the fast clean-up left me time to clean out the refrigerator, go grocery shopping, fold the laundry for the girls to take to London and back to University, and now soup is simmering on the stove.

After the holiday treats that left our kitchen this year, savory food is very appealing.

Split Pea Soup (a favorite at our house) is a great way to use up the leftover Christmas ham shank and there will be plenty to send back to school for busy weeknight suppers. Now I'm off to get the bread dough made.

If you think you don't like Split Pea Soup, try this recipe. You won't be sorry. It's delicious.

Ham and Split Pea Soup

2 cups of chopped yellow onions (about 2 onions)

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic (4 cloves)

¼ cup of good olive oil

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

2 cups of red boiling potatoes (6 small), unpeeled and diced

2 lbs. dried split green peas (picked for stones and washed)

¼ lb. smoked ham, diced (or use bacon or kielbasa)

1 leftover ham bone
1 cup of celery, diced

4 cups of carrots (6 to 8 carrots), diced

16 cups of water

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper until the onions are translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the ham, carrots, potatoes, the leftover ham bone, 1 ½ pounds of split peas, and the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Skim off the foam while cooking. Add the remaining split peas and continue to simmer for another 40 minutes, or until all the peas are soft. Stir frequently to keep the solids from burning on the bottom. Remove the ham bone. Pick off any remaining meat and return it to the pot. Discard the bone.
Taste for salt and pepper and adjust if necessary.
Serve hot.

Serves 10 to 12 and may be frozen.

Resolutions?

2011-12-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. In the past I have made them, but rarely am I able to keep them. So now I just make a few goals... I feel less pressure having goals. They are more flexible, aren't they? And by-the-way, where did 2011 go!?! Do you feel like it came and went too quickly?

Every year I have a goal to become healthier. I made a goal (again) to finish Abby's petit point Christmas stocking. Hers is the last one of our daughter's still unstitched. I just might finish it this year. Yesterday I cast on for a new pair of knitted socks and prepared strips for the braided rug for the upstairs bedroom, and I have one more closet to clean out. That's all I can manage for now.

New Years is a time of new beginnings. In our family, One is on the other side of the country this new year; Two and Three are an hour away still; but Four is moving to London for a semester. I really feel like an empty nester now. (Not sure I really like New Beginnings) but 2012 is here, whether I like it or not.
So here's to goals and new beginnings. 2011 was a good year. I feel blessed and look forward to 2012.

Do you make New Year resolutions?

Tamale Night and a flood. In order of importance.

2011-12-21T08:44:00.001-07:00

Rachel went down to the freezer last night and discovered a stream of hot water shooting through the wall from the furnace room into the storage room. Hallelujah! Yes, hallelujah because she found it early. That was the blessing. It could have been so much worse. So even though there is storage stuff everywhere today, with drying storage boxes. We were able to get to the treasures before any permanent damage was done. A Small, welcome miracle.

Instead of showing you photos of the flooded basement, I'm posting Tamale party photos taken at the Crowley's house. We do this every year at Christmas, usually the same 5 families.

This year there were 8 other families included so it was great fun. After the crowd went home, we sang carols around the piano. Such a great way to celebrate with traditions and good friends that we love.

Merry Christmas from the Tamale Party Children (who I am noticing are not so much children anymore).
The moms used to have to assemble, now the kids can too. Where has the time gone?

Yes Brenda, there is a nut recipe.

2011-12-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Brenda asked if I might be sharing the nut recipe from the previous post. Thank you for asking Brenda.....I intended too. OOOPS. I had to go to the post and see if I had actually done something so stupid as forgetting to upload the recipe. And YES, I DID FORGET, so thank you Brenda for so kindly and tactfully pointing that out in such a gracious manner. I am claiming that the holidays are catching up to me. So here it is, hopefully in time for any of you who might wish to whip some up for the holidays; and I absolutely recommend that you do whip some up........now that you actually have the recipe. Thanks for bearing with my shortcomings.

Candied Roasted Nuts

½ cup of water

1 cup of granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp of kosher salt

2 cups of peanuts (see * below)

Preheat the oven to 325º F.

Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone sheet. This will prevent the nuts from sticking to the pan as they cool. Don't skip this step or believe me you will be sorry. Set the prepared pan aside.

In a 2 quart saucepan, combine all of the ingredients. Stir constantly over medium heat until the sugar syrup starts to granulate (this will take a while, don't give up). When it does, immediately pour the sugared nuts onto the baking sheet. If you don’t get the nuts out of the pan right away they will harden onto the pan and you will have to soak them in water to remove from the pan. Spread them evenly on the pan in a single layer.

Bake the nuts for 20 minutes to dry them out. They will begin turn a bit darker.

* If you use salted nuts you probably won’t need to add salt, but if you used raw unsalted Spanish peanuts, you may want to salt them as they cool. Spray the hot nuts with a bit of water and sprinkle kosher salt on them, toss, and let dry.

Let them completely cool and package.

Candied Roasted Nuts

2011-12-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been on the street at Christmas time and smelled the sweet, nutty flavor of roasting nuts and cinnamon wafting through the air? If you follow your nose you might find a vendor cart selling candied nuts, wrapped in paper cones. They are a bit pricey purchased from a vendor. You'll keep on eating and eating and eating until someone takes them away....probably by force.

Now you can eat as many as you want, because you can make them at home and they are quite economical., easy and fast. My friend Linda shared a delicious recipe with me for plain sugared nuts. I thought, "Why not add some cinnamon and maybe some vanilla. So I tweaked her recipe just a bit (even though it didn't need a thing). I just happen to like some cinnamon and some salt. You might want to add a pinch of cayenne or some savory herbs. These would be great at a cocktail party.
The nuts on the left are plain sugar and the ones on the right have cinnamon. Wrap these in paper cones or do as I did; packaged them in a cellophane bag tied them with some twine. They are destined for my neighbors. They would also be excellent tossed into a green salad with a sweet vinaigrette.

I'm waiting for the phone to ring with recipe requests.

The Coat

2011-12-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

This story needs no words. Thanks for sharing this with me Rachel.

I'm sharing this with A Childlike Christmas Wednesday.

The Christmas Fairy

2011-12-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, we had magical Christmases. There wasn't much money, and we had a lot of homemade decorations but my parents made the season magical for us. Many of the activities we did focused on opportunities for service, but we always went to the Christmas village in our town and there were many excursions to see holiday lights and Nativity scenes and certainly our share of Christmas parties. We made or crafted many of our gifts back then. We delighted in making or choosing "just the right gift". Things were so much simpler then. I think of those long ago Christmases when I look at this box. The beautiful child-angel does more than promote soap, she promises magic. And we all need more magic in our lives. I look forward to a wonderful holiday season this year, with the opportunity to focus on Christ and his love, and to to take the opportunity to share our bounty with others. We should never lose the child-like anticipation for this beautiful holiday. I am making time to celebrate the real meaning of the Christmas season.

A month ago, we bought this vintage pine store display box from one of our favorite antique shops. It has sustained some major water damage but we loved the graphic on the inside of the lid. She is in sad condition but there is something magical about the child angel (She doesn't look like a fairy to me). Bruce oiled the box well and we've decided to leave the pine unstained. I'm off to get some supplies to refurbish the inside and to stabilize the angel on the underside of the lid.

We thought to store the Christmas ornaments in it but we love it so much that we'll find a way to display it during the holidays too.

Linked to A Child-like Christmas.

Get ready...here comes December!

2011-11-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

We're gearing up for Christmas and winter, but before we leave November behind we had a few things to wrap up.

We celebrated a birthday. We're so proud of the woman you've become, Abby. We love you.

Some of us chased an historic steam train.

We grilled a bit before it snows.

The Christmas Amaryllis was potted,

and we decorated the house.

You'll notice that stockings are not "hung by the chimney with care". That's because I couldn't find the rest of the stocking hangers; I'll keep looking.
Shirley, a friend and fellow quilt group member, lost her battle with cancer last summer.

We made Friendship blocks for her when she was sick. Now they'are being made into a quilt to be donated in her name to a charity benefit and auction next year. Jeanne asked me to applique a little something onto a partially finished block. Shirley will be missed.

It's Time!!!

2011-11-28T02:00:00.005-07:00

The pie's are eaten. The pumpkins are off the porch. It's finally time to decorate for Christmas. Here is this years' Grandpa-carved ornament; a fat Santa holding Rudolph.

He gets a spot front and center with his friends on the mantel display this year.
We like to decorate our tree the day after Thanksgiving, and as you can see we have a traditional tree with glass ornaments collected over the years. Husband/father says we have enough. Is he kidding?!!!

You can never have enough ornaments.

We collect ornaments that reflect our likes; apparantly we really, really, really like food.

We like shoes of all kinds.

And dresses too.

Hobbies are well represented,

As are places we've traveled.

We have traditional Christmas ornaments too.

We have birds

of all kinds that hang and clip on the branches. We have balls and bells, garlands and toys; more snowmen and Santas than you can count.

Our Christmas Tree is the history of our family. It says who we are and what we value.

Enough ornaments?
Never
Enough
Ornaments.

What's on your Christmas Tree?

Linked to Pom's A Childlike Christmas.

Tis the Season.

2011-11-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Out with the old.
In with the new.

Time to get some Mannheim Steamroller on.

Masaman Curry Recipe

2011-11-25T15:37:00.002-07:00

At Thanksgiving dinner, my sister-in-law asked my how to get the recipe for the Masaman Curry. Oops!!!

Here it is:

Masaman (Muslim) Curry

2 Tablespoons of canola oil

3 Tablespoons of red curry paste (Asian store)

3 Tablespoons of Masaman curry Paste (Asian store)

2-19 oz. (the large ones) of coconut milk (Asian store)

1 ¾ cups of water

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons of lite soy sauce (6 Tablespoons)

7 Tablespoons of granulated sugar

¼ cup of Tamarind paste (Asian store)

1 lb. of cooked meat of your choice (pork, beef, chicken, or can use tofu)

1 cup of chopped carrots
1 green or red bell pepper, chopped

2 cups of red or white potatoes, chopped with skin left on

½ cup of chopped nuts for garnish (I use cashews)

Jasmine rice, steamed as an accompaniment

Heat the oil and add the curry pastes. Stir and let cook for 2 minutes to release the oils in the paste. Add the coconut milk and stir to blend. Let simmer for another 2 minutes.

Add all other ingredients except the nuts and simmer over medium heat for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.

Serve over Jasmine rice and garnish with chopped nuts.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

My basket is filled. While I give thanks to my Heavenly Father every day for my abundance of blessings, I love this dedicated day that we have to ponder, and be grateful. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We gather together with family and loved ones to celebrate all that we have, whatever our circumstances. I have been richly blessed with a wonderful family who loves me, with the necessities of life, with good health, and good friends. What more could I ask for?

I wish you blessings as well and hope you have joy in your life this week. I hope you have a safe, warm, place, among friends or relatives as we celebrate the joy and blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pear and Walnut Tart

2011-11-22T02:00:00.006-07:00

Nick Malgieri's Pear and Walnut Tart is nothing if not beautiful. I made it for a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation charity auction. My friend Alta supplied me with a charger and wrapped it in a lovely cellophane container and put it into a basket that she filled with Nick's cookbook, and some cooking tools needed to make it. And then she donated the whole thing to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

I am not a fan of walnuts, so I made one tart with almonds for the auction and one for us with pecans. You could use any nut that you like. This is a great do-ahead recipe. First, I made the sweet pastry tart dough and refrigerated it several days ahead of time.

Then, I poached some pears, and refrigerated them covered in the poaching liquid 2 days ahead of time. I also chopped and mixed the dry ingredients and stored them in bags. All I had to do was roll out the sweet pastry dough and assemble, bake and glaze the tart.

It was easy and I loved the quick "day-of" assembly. This seems like a complicated dessert but it was so easy when done in components. The recipe in it's entirety is below just in case you missed the previous posts.

Poaching fruit is easy and you can use this same poaching technique for any fruit. Put the fruit on a tart as I have done or core the fruit from the bottom with the stem on and stand it up on a plate. Drizzle it with chocolate or raspberry sauce,and set it in a pool of silky Creme Anglaise. There are so many ways to use poached fruit.

Pear Walnut Tart

Makes one 10-inch tart

Poached Pears:

Very cold water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

5 ripe Bartlett pears, about 2 pounds

½ cup of granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean

1 cinnamon stick

Walnut Filling:

1 cup of walnut pieces

½ cup of light brown sugar, firmly packed

¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon of baking powder

½ cup of walnut pieces, finely chopped

Apricot Glaze: ¾ cup of apricot preserves

2 tablespoons of water

One 10-inch tart crust made from Sweet Pastry Dough

Confectioner’s sugar for finishing

Poach the pears:

Fill a 4-quart saucepan with water and add the lemon juice. Peel, stem, and core the pears (I used a melon ball tool). Cut them in half lengthwise and set them in the acidulated water. When all the pears are cut, remove the water until the pears are covered by 1 inch. Add the sugar, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick and stir gently. Cut a round of parchment paper the same diameter as the sauce pan and cut 8-1 inch holes to vent the steam. Place the parchment over the pears and push it down to submerge it until it is wet. This will keep the pears from rising out of the poaching water. Bring the water to a full boil. Cover the pan with a lid and remove from the heat. Allow the pears to sit in the liquid until they are completely cooled. When cooled, use a slotted spoon to lift them into a plastic container. Pour the poaching liquid over them, and add the vanilla bean. Cover and refrigerate until needed (up to 5 days ahead).

Preheat the oven to 350º F. and move a rack to the lowest oven position.

Filling: Combine 1 cup of nuts, sugar, cinnamon, flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Scrape the bowl well, and add the butter and eggs and pulse until the eggs absorb into the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl and pulse 3 more times. Scrape the filling into the tart shell and smooth. Evenly scatter the ½ cup of nuts on top.

Drain the pears on a paper towel and arrange them in a circle onto the filling with the widest ends out. (I trimmed the middle pear to a round shape). Bake the tart until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the filling looks set, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Glaze: Stir the preserves and water together and heat to a boil, over low heat. Strain into a bowl and return the strained glaze to the pot. Reduce it slightly.

Dust the tart well sifted confectioners’ sugar and wait until it melts on the pears. Blot the sugar off the pears with a paper towel and brush the glaze over each individual pear. Unmold and slide the tart to a platter.

Cover and store leftovers at room temperature.

Sweet Pastry Dough

Makes two 10-inch tarts or one bottom and top crust of pie

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/3 cup of sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (cut into 8 pieces)
2 large eggs

Mix the dough by hand:
Whisk the dry ingredients together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is powdery. Add the eggs and use a fork to break them up. Toss them into the four until the dough is almost completely mixed. Invert the dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead it into a mass.

Mix the dough in a food processor:
Combine the dry ingredients and the butter in the bowl and pulse it a few times. Add the butter and pulse again until the dough forms ball.

Invert the mixed dough onto a floured work surface. Divide the dough in half, and then flatten each half into a disc. Use immediately or wrap in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. May also be frozen.

"Cook's Notes"

I live in an arid/dry high desert area and almost always have to add a bit of water to my pie dough. Add extra water just 1 tablespoon at a time if needed until your tart dough just comes together.

Linked to Friday Potluck, Turning the Table Tuesday

Poaching Pears

2011-11-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Part 2: Pear/Nut Tart

Poaching fruit is easy. Use this technique for poaching any fruit. Put the fruit on a tart as I am doing or leave the fruit whole with the stem in and stand it up on a plate, drizzled with chocolate or raspberry sauce. Set it on top of a pool of luscious Creme Anglaise. There are so many ways to use poached fruit.

Poached Pears
Very cold water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 ripe Bartlett pears, about 2 pounds
½ cup of granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick

Fill a 4-quart saucepan with water and add the lemon juice. Peel, stem, and core the pears (I used a melon baller). Cut them in half lengthwise and set them in the acidulated water. When all the pears are cut, remove enough water so the pears are covered by 1 inch. Add the sugar, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick and stir gently.

Cut a round of parchment paper the same diameter as the sauce pan and cut 8-1 inch holes to vent the steam. Place the parchment over the pears and push it down to submerge it until it is wet. This will keep the pears from rising out of the poaching water. Bring the water to a full boil.

Cover the pan with a lid and remove from the heat. Allow the pears to sit in the liquid until they are completely cooled. When cooled, use a slotted spoon to lift them into a plastic container. Pour the poaching liquid over them, and add the vanilla bean. Cover and refrigerate until needed (up to 5 days ahead).

Sweet Pastry Dough

2011-11-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

I make the pies for our extended family Thanksgiving dinner. How many I make varies from year to year but let's just say I make a lot of pies. Breaking the work down into separate components is how I get so many pies done in a short amount of time. And who doesn't need a little extra time when they are making a whole Thanksgiving dinner? I posted a basic pie crust recipe a while ago. You can find it here. Today I am posting a wonderful little Sweet Dough Pastry that tastes a bit like a shortbread cookie. I am making a pear and nut (your choice of nut) tart this year and this is the crust. You can use it in regular pie pans as well. This is part one of the Pear and Nut Tart recipe.

Make your crust a few days early and put the pastry in the refrigerator. Sometimes I roll them out and put the whole pan in the fridge or freezer. If you have the room, it will save you from having to roll crusts out Thanksgiving day. All you have to do the day you need it is fill and bake. Now that a time-saver.

Sweet Pastry Dough

Makes two 10-inch tarts or one bottom and top crust of pie

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

¼ teaspoon of salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (cut into 8 pieces)

2 large eggs

To mix the dough by hand:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is powdery. Add the eggs and use a fork to break them up. Toss them into the four until the dough is almost completely mixed. Invert the dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead it into a mass.

To mix the dough in a food processor:

Combine the dry ingredients and the butter in the bowl and pulse it a few times. Add the butter and pulse again until the dough forms ball. Invert it onto a floured work surface.

Divide the dough in half, and then flatten each half into a disc. Roll them out immediately or wrap them in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days. This dough may also be frozen.

Pear and Nut Tart recipe coming. I'll be posting part 2 so stay tuned.

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

2011-11-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Do you have these in your pantry? If not, you should. They are red lentils and they are packed with nutrients.

My friend Alta showed me a red lentil soup recipe from Melissa Clark. It sounded good to her and as she knew how much I liked lentils, she thought I might like to try it. She was right. It's delicious! It's also fast and easy, and with the exception of the red lentils, I had all of the ingredients in the pantry. I made a few changes to the original recipe, including using a beef /chicken broth blend. This hearty soup has with a bit of a kick. It also freezes well and will be just the thing to pull out of the freezer some busy cold winter day in December. My version of Melissas' recipe is below.

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne

2 quarts chicken or 1 ½ quarts chicken and ½ quart beef broth

2 cups water

2 cups red lentils

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat until oil shimmers. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until golden, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes more.

Add the broth, water, lentils, and the carrots. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover the pot and turn the heat to medium-low. Simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

If you wish to, you may blend or mash ½ of the soup. (I like mine chunky and opted not to blend it).

Reheat the soup; then stir in the lemon juice and herbs. Serve the soup drizzled with a good finishing olive oil and dust lightly with chili powder if desired.

The Most Succulent Moist Oven Pot Roast Ever

2011-11-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like coming home, opening the front door, and being hit in the face by... POT ROAST? What? That's right Pot Roast. Nothing says Sunday Dinner quite like it. If you're part of my generation you probably were weaned on pot roast. It's the ubiquitous Sunday dinner. This one has Coke (you won't recognize it in the roast but it will tenderize your meat), carrots/your choice of veggies, and a little bit of beef broth for flavor. It's the perfect one pot meal. Next week is for Turkey; let's eat beef.

Pull out your pan, some pantry items and you're on your way to a relaxing Sunday dinner. Go on; put your feet up, enjoy your family, and wait until dinner is ready. Then dig in.

I have a tip for you that you won't believe... until you try it, that is.

Plastic wrapped Pyrex pan after cooking in a 350 degree oven.

Did you know that you can put plastic wrap in the oven? I know someone who once cooked a frozen pizza in their oven, still wrapped in the plastic-covered cardboard box. Guess what? It started on fire.

This is not the same thing. This works!!! I've done it many, many times. I think I first got the idea from America's Test Kitchen many years ago.

My Dad's home-grown purple carrots

Here's what you do: Put your ingredients in a Pyrex pan. Add a bit of liquid in the bottom to provide steam. Tightly cover the pan with Cling/plastic wrap about 1/2-inch from the top of the pan. Now cover the plastic wrap tightly with aluminum foil. Make sure all of the plastic wrap is covered by foil. You can now bake up to about 375 degrees F. This method seals in juices like you wouldn't believe. Your roasts will be pull-apart tender. Try it....it works.

Perfect Pot Roast

Large (3-4 lb.) chuck roast or any cut of pot roast, trimmed of fat

2 tablespoons of oil

1 12-oz. can of Coca-Cola

8-oz. of beef broth

Handful of carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces (if you happen to have some of your father's purple home-grown carrots, even better. Aren't they pretty?)

Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks about the same size as your carrots

1 medium yellow onion, quartered and separated into chunks

3 cloves of garlic, slightly smashed and peeled

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Salt and pepper your roast.

In a dutch oven or cast iron pan, heat the oil until it shimmers and is hot. Over medium-high heat, brown the roast on all sides. Remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Add the onions to the pan and cook them down until they are caramelized, scraping up any browned bits of meat (fond) from the bottom of the pan. Remove the onions and set them aside. Add the broth to the pan and reduce the broth slightly.

In most pot roast recipes this is the point that you put all of the ingredients back in the cast iron pan. Don't do it.

Put your roast and it's reserved juices into a 9 by 13-inch Pyrex pan. Spoon the onions and the whole garlic cloves over the meat. Pour the heated broth and the Coke around the roast. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, stopping about 1-inch below the rim. Completely cover the plastic wrap with aluminum foil. Crimp it tightly around the pan, making sure that no wrap is showing.

Put the roast into the hot oven and roast for 3 hours. Remove the pan from the oven. Carefully peel back the foil and even more carefully remove the plastic wrap from the hot pan. It will come right off if you have covered it completely with the foil. Add the carrots, potatoes, and any other veggies you might like around the roast. Cover the pan again with more foil. Put the roast back into the oven for one more hour, or until the vegetables are browned and tender. Add water if necessary to keep the juices from burning and baste the roast with the pan juices occasionally during the last hour.

Pull the roast apart with two forks and serve the juices and veggies on the side.

Sprouts On The Side.

2011-11-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

We have an open table for Thanksgiving dinner. This means that anyone who needs somewhere to go is always welcome. We get a lot of University students who are far from home. One year a girl attended our dinner and sent a lovely Thank You card, but later told our daughter, "I loved the food...but I was surprised by the Brussels sprouts. Who eats those at Thanksgiving? I'm sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to try them!"

Really? I thought they were sort of a Thanksgiving staple. It's not as if we didn't serve the candied yams, mashed potatoes, and corn, but we happen to LIKE sprouts. I do acknowledge that not everyone feels this way. I didn't always like them, but I wanted my children to eat them. They are so darn nutritious and I wanted to be a good Mom. And they're cute, like little miniature cabbages. And then....I roasted a batch and I loved them!!! So sweet and nutty.

Here is a recipe I adapted from the Voltaggio Brothers. They are not roasted; they 're just a little dressed up for the holidays. And who doesn't like bacon, apples, and onions? Even if you are not a member of the Brussels Sprouts fan club, you might like these. And after all, there is still that "cute factor".

Holiday Brussels Sprouts

2 pounds of fresh Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed

8-ounces of smoked bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

1 Tablespoon of unsalted butter

2 green apples, sliced and peeled

Freshly Ground black pepper

Salt, to taste

Vinaigrette

5-ounces of canola oil

3–ounces of extra-virgin olive oil

2-ounces of apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. Add 1 Tablespoon of salt. Create an ice bath by filling a pan with ice and water in equal amounts; make sure that the pan will hold the cooked sprouts. I usually put the ice bowl in the clean sink, just in case it overflows.

Trim and wash the sprouts. Cut an X into the stem end to aid cooking. Add the sprouts to the boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes or until the sprouts are tender. Do not overcook or they will lose their bright green color. Remove them with a slotted spoon to the ice bath to stop the cooking. Let them sit in the bath for about 10 minutes or until they are cool. Cut them in half and set them aside.

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add the bacon and cook until all the fat is rendered and the pieces are crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the 1 Tablespoon of butter to the bacon fat in the pan and add the onions. Let them sauté until they are translucent and then add the apples to the pan. Continue to cook the mixture until the apples are cooked through and the onions are brown. Add the sprouts and toss to coat with the onions and apples. Add salt and pepper as desired, and cook until the sprouts are golden brown and heated through, another 6-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ½ of the vinaigrette to the pan and toss. Adjust the salt and pepper if necessary.

Remove the vegetables to a platter, sprinkle the bacon pieces on top, and serve the remaining vinaigrette on the side in a saucier.

To make the vinaigrette:

Put all ingredients except the oils in a blender or food processor. Pulse. Pour the oil slowly into the blender and emulsify.

'Tis the Season

2011-11-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

'Tis the Season, the fall season. My leaves are still turning and there is still clean-up to do in the yard. Don't rush me. Fall is not over yet, though it will be soon enough.

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. I love comtemplating, and I enjoy a month of counting my blessings. I am grateful for health; our own and that of my extended family. I am grateful for a comfortable living, and for having enough to share (no small blessing these days). I have a family who loves me unconditionally. I have so much to be grateful for that I want the month, the entire month, to celebrate and reflect on that...I don't want Christmas and Holiday decorations up now. It's not the time. After Thanksgiving we will carefully unwrap my father's carvings and place them on the mantel. We will bake, and decorate, and sing carols, and wrap gifts. But for now, I will be grateful and savor the beauty of this season and God's blessings and bounties.

Masaman (Muslim) Curry

2011-11-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

It's cold today and that calls for heartier dinner fare. Thai food is warm in temperature and warm in spice and fits the bill perfectly. I've been wanting to try my hand at making Masaman Curry. While spicy, it's not as spicy as some Thai dishes, and if you're making it you can adjust the heat level to your taste. I used yellow curry paste instead of red, because we like it but traditionally most recipes call for red paste. Serve it over rice; almost like a Thai stew.

Purchase your ingredients at an Asian Market. They are much less expensive there and you will have more selection than in a supermarket. A tub of curry paste will make many recipes so the initial investment in ingredients goes a long way. Add any meat that you like, or use tofu for a vegetarian dish.

This dish is fast to prepare. A bit of chopping and then everything simmers in the pot for a while; much faster than most of the soups I make. Steam some Jasmine rice and you're good to go. I wish I had some green garnish. It would have looker so much better. Believe me, it tastes great.

Just In Time.

2011-11-05T12:19:00.000-06:00

The Koigu wool socks are finished.

Just in time.

Part 3, Adding Trim

2011-10-31T02:00:00.001-06:00

When the fabric sections are completely dry, you can add the trim.

Supplies:

1/2" inch bias tape (video tutorials for making bias tape are at the end of the post)

Drapery Trim of your choice

The amount will vary depending on the size of your lamp.
Remember the tape pieces I removed from the ribs and top and bottom of my lamp? I measured those to get an estimate for the trim amount. I added about 8-inches more to that measure so that I plenty.

First cut the longest piece of trim which will be the bottom ring piece. Then cut the next longest piece for the top ring. Last, cut enough pieces of trim to cover each rib in your shade. (I needed 6 vertical pieces as my shade had 6 sections).

Start with the vertical rib pieces.

Put a glue line down the rib on the fabric shade.
Lay your trim (or bias tape in my case) upside down and run a glue line along the back. I made two lines of glue along the back of both of my tape edges.
Starting at the top, lay the trim carefully over the fabric and the rib line. When you are sure you have it positioned evenly, press down on the trim and smooth any bubbles. Wipe away any excess glue.
Repeat for the remaining ribs and let them dry for about 1/2 hour or 30 minutes.
Run a glue line along the top ring. Put glue on the back of the trim as you did for the ribs. Starting at the back of the shade, press the trim evenly just over the hem and smooth around the ring. When you get to the end, turn the end under and form a hem (finished edge). Press this over the beginning of the trim, covering the starting raw edge.
Let dry. Clip with a wooden clothespin or bull-dog clamp if needed while it dries.
Repeat with the bottom edge, gluing, smoothing, and turning the end under as you did the top ring.

As always, remove any oozing glue with a damp cloth.
Let thoroughly dry before using.
I purchased a crystal finial to top the shade off. I am pleased with the result. It's a little whimsical; just like the lamp. Not too bad for the price.
This lamp is not staying here on the dining room sideboard (it's going in one of the country bedrooms) but it is giving me some inspiration. I have a few more dark corners.

Tips and Techniques:

Pull the bias tape a bit as you go around the bottom and top edges of the shade for a flatter, smoother curve line. The main reason to use bias tape is that it goes around curves well.
Wipe away any glue that seeps out from under the fabric and trim before it dries.

Be patient and don't be afraid to lift and/or reposition your fabric and trim until you get it straight and flat. Your finished shade will look so much better for it.

Here are two different methods for making bias tape. There are other methods as well so us any method that you like or are comfortable with.

Covering Your Shade, Part 2

2011-10-27T02:00:00.001-06:00

It's time to cover the shade with your fashion fabric.
Supplies:

Tacky Glue or any fabric glue (can use Elmers)
Wooden Toothpicks
Damp cloth or paper towel

Cover your work space to protect it.

Put one fabric section upside down. Spread a thin bead of glue along the bottom curved edge. Turn a 1/4-inch hem and glue the hem to the wrong side.
Place a thin bead of glue along the bottom shade edge of just the section you are working on.
Align the bottom hem of your fashion fabric (just hemmed) along the edge of the shade, covering the bead of glue on the shade. Have the left side of the fabric just 1/4" over the left rib. Press to secure along the bottom edge and let it dry for a minute. Wipe any oozing glue before it dries.

Run a bead of glue along the right rib of the shade in the section you are covering, stoppin about 2-inches from the top rim of the shade. Smooth the fabric upward along the right rib, pressing and smoothing over the middle of the section as you go. Let dry for a few minutes.
Repeat with the glue bead along the left rib stopping about 2" from the top. smooth the fabric tautly up along the rib and in the middle of the section and press along the ribs.
Trim the fabric at the top so that you have about 1/4" above the ring. Run a glue bead along the top ring of the section and turn the top of the fabric under about 1/4" making a hem as you did on the bottom of the fabric, glueing the cut edge down and to the inside, against the lining fabric.
Repeat every other section and let all sections dry. Now repeat this process with the remaining sections and let the entire shade dry.

The top and bottom edges will be turned under so there is no raw edge but the sides of the sections will not be turned under. Their edges will be raw fabric edges. You will be covering all of the edges with trim later.

Tips and Tricks:

I dry-fitted (without glue) each piece of fashion fabric on top of the section to be covered before applying any glue. I found that all sections were not exactly the same size. I purposefully allowed extra fabric when drafting the pattern piece so I was able to trim each section perfectly to fit before applying the glue bead.
I trimmed the fashion fabric again on the opposite side (before glueing it down) if needed after applying the fabric to the first rib. This way I got less glue on my scissors.
I used Tacky glue instead of a hot glue gun specifically because Tacky glue allows you to pick up the fabric and smooth it out for a little while before the glue dries. Hot glue dries immediately which does not allow for adjusment of your fabric once it is glued down.
Be sure to wipe any oozing glue from the seams. It will dry clear but your shade will look much nicer if you remove glue any before it dries.

Up next: Part 3, Adding Trim To Your Shade.

Custom Lampshade Tutorial- Part One.

2011-10-24T18:04:00.003-06:00

Remember this? I bought this sad little porcelain lamp at a yard sale. It had a hideous (and I am being kind) shade and it was painted in awful colors. The harp on the lamp was way too tall and the shade was horribly out of porportion for the height of the base. The base got a new red coat and now I am giving it a new hat. I promised a tutorial on a custom lampshade and here it is. I finally found a shade and the fabric that I liked to go with the base. The lamp base is a little whimsical, don't you think? My shade is tapered, with 6 sections and that is what the following tutorial will demonstrate...a tapered, sectioned custom shade using your choice of fabric.
You'll need some supplies.

Lined lamp shade (new or used) to fit your lamp. I bought mine at a big box store.
Wooden clothespins or bull-dog clips (office supply store).
Scissors.
Scrap of light colored light-weight fabric or waxed/tissue paper to make a pattern.
Pencil.

Before buying your fashion fabric you will need to make a pattern. Get a plain piece of muslin or white fabric that is not too heavy in weight and is light in color so that you can see through it (I used an off-white muslin scrap piece that I had on hand). If the fabric pattern is sheer enough you can see through it to center a motif from the fabric, if you wish to have the same pattern showing on all of your sections. An old cotton sheet will work well or you can use lightweight tissue paper. Fabric works best because it drapes better than paper which makes for a more accurate pattern.

Let's get started.

Carefully remove the horizontal trim from around the top and bottom of your shade. Next, remove the vertical trim that covers each metal rib.

Set aside and reserve these trim pieces. You will need to measure them to determine the total amount of trim that you will either purchase or make to cover the fabric joins. Drape and pin the muslin fabric over one section of your shade and secure it to both rims with several clothespins or bull-dog clips.

Very carefully make small cuts crosswise into the scrap fabric only (see black arrows). These clips into the sides of the pattern allow it to bend and form a truer line along the curve. You will get a more accurate pattern by clipping. Do not slip and cut your shade lining. Holding the sides of the scrap fabric with one hand, locate where the metal ribs are by feel and carefully draw a pencil line onto your pattern fabric directly over the metal rib on the left side of one section. Repeat for the right side rib. Now draw along the top and bottom rings of the shade onto your pattern fabric. Remove the clothespins and fabric pattern from the shade form.

Your pattern should look something like this (you will only have drawn the solid lines at this point in time).

Lay the fabric pattern flat and carefully draw broken lines 1/2 inch outside both of the solid lines that you traced along the vertical metal ribs. These broken lines are your cutting lines. Cut along the broken lines (at pink arrows) on the sides.
Cut directly on the solid pencil lines along the top and bottom (at blue arrows). You will not need extra fabric for the top and bottom only the sides. This will be the pattern for your shade sections.

Fabric has 3 grain lines; crosswise, lengthwise and bias.

The bias grain line is the diagonal grain line of the fabric and has the most stretch, so you want to place your pattern diagonally on your fabric so that it will better mold to the metal shade frame.

Determine how many sections of fashion fabric you need to cut depending upon your shade frame. Take the pattern along with you to buy your fashion fabric. Lay it out on the chosen fabric at the store to determine how much fabric yardage you will need to buy, that way you don't end up with too much (or too little).

After you have purchased and ironed your fashion fabric you are ready for the next tutorial in this series.

Stay tuned for: Part 2, Covering Your Shade.

And the winner's are....

2011-10-23T18:08:00.000-06:00

All of us; because we were able to take a little weekend trip to beautiful Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border. Wahweap Resort was the site of the Powell 3 Triathlon (open water swim, road biking, and running competition) which was our reason for being there. Rachel trained with 3 friends and entered her first triathlon sprint. The course was challenging (including the very steep 3-mile uphill incline that was a part of the 12-mile bicycle leg). I would have drowned on the open water swim! Here she is the night before the race with her younger sister Abby, who came along for support.

And here she is after the race. That's a happy smile. Doesn't she look good for having just finished a grueling competition?

Rachel of course was the real winner! She worked hard and accomplished something she had never done before. Her friend Lindsay placed 2nd and Rachel, 3rd in their age division. Can you say Proud Parent? It was inspiring to see entrants of all ages, sizes, and abilities entering and finishing this race. Rachel said she was most impressed by the encouragement the racers gave to each other as the competition went along. As she neared the finish line and was tired and dragging, an older woman near her said, "Just run along with me. You can do anything for four minutes." In a dog-eat-dog world, it's nice to hear of caring people offering encouragement to each other.

It was a good weekend. Hope yours was great as well.

Halloween Mantel

2011-10-19T20:11:00.007-06:00

Here it is. Just in time for Halloween.

This is next door on the front lawn. Now that's downright creepy!

Linked to Halloween Mantel Party.

Mousse Au Chocolat

2011-10-19T19:33:00.001-06:00

I was asked to make dinner for a "Favorite Things" function, where the guests were surveyed ahead of time about what they wanted to eat. Not surprisingly, almost half chose "something chocolate" as their favorite ending to a meal.

Mousse is not your Grandmother's chocolate pudding; it's so much more. Smooth and rich; impressive enough for special occasions. Chocolate Mousse is a staple on restaurant menus. Maybe you are hosting a dinner party in your home and want a special ending to your meal. This recipe is for you.Mousse isn't difficult to make so don't let the length of these instructions fool you. I have been very specific for cooks who might not have made mousse before; if you are an expert, just bear with me. For the rest of you, read the instructions completely before beginning the recipe to ensure success.

*This recipe contains egg yolks. Do not skip the heating step for the eggs, especially if you are serving this to elderly people, pregnant women and young children (that covers a big majority). It's worth the little bit of extra time it takes to guarantee the safety of your guests. And don't "skimp" on the chocolate. It's the star of the show so use a high quality one. I used a dark chocolate and you can also add coffee or a bit of liqueur when you melt the chocolate for another added flavor. Me... I like my mousse plain; no adornment needed...well, maybe a little whipped cream garnish...and maybe some chocolate shavings. We are going formal after all.

Mousse Au Chocolat

8 ounces of semi-sweet or dark chocolate (best quality) chopped

½ cup of water, divided

2 Tablespoons of butter

3 large egg yolks

2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar

1 ¼ cups of heavy whipping cream

Melt the chocolate, ¼ cup of water, and butter together. Use a double boiler or melt in the microwave on 30% power. *Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Chocolate may be hot but will still hold its shape so stir it occasionally and then heat it longer if it does not smooth down. Heat it a little, stir it a little. Stir all the ingredients until the mixture is very smooth without any lumps. Let the chocolate cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, water, and sugar. *Put the pan over very low heat and stirring constantly, heat the eggs to 160º F. Make sure the heat is LOW and that you whisk constantly. Check the temperature frequently with a thermometer. This will take about 2 minutes. If you get a bit of curdling, immediately pull it from the heat source and strain the mixture through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. You do not want scrambled eggs here so be vigilant and patient. Cool the egg mixture for about 10 minutes. It needs to be at room temperature or slightly warmer (not hot). Add to the chocolate mixture.

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Gently stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. This will make incorporating the rest of the cream easier.

When the cream is almost incorporated, fold ½ of the remaining cream in lightly until just a few white streaks remain. Repeat with the rest of the cream, folding until almost all of the streaks disappear. *Use a gentle folding technique here and do not over mix or the mousse will deflate.

Spoon into dessert dishes and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. The mousse will set as it cools. You may wish to slightly chill the mousse and then pipe it into the dishes for a more elegant presentation.

Garnish each serving with a swirl of whipped cream and then top with chocolate shavings or raspberries.

*For a more intense chocolate flavor, substitute brewed coffee or espresso for the water called for or you may add some liqueur or other flavoring to the chocolate as it melts.

Serves 8

Honey Caramel Corn

2011-10-17T03:00:00.001-06:00

Maybe it's the beehive inside our rock wall...still buzzing (even after the exterminator) that makes me think of honey lately. Or maybe it's the golden deliciousness of this locally made jar

that I keep on the counter because it's so pretty to look at, but Abby and I made some honey caramel popcorn this weekend. And then we all watched her University win their game on ESPN.

Do you have some honey in your cupboard or on your counter? Make this, but be warned...it's a tiny bit addicting. You know how you eat a little and it's just so good that you keep eating...and eating...and eating until you realize you really, really, REALLY should have stopped eating while back? That's this popcorn.
P.S. It makes wonderful popcorn balls too.

Honey Caramel Corn

1 cube of butter (1/2 C. or 8 Tab.), melted

1 cup of dark brown sugar

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of honey

1 can-14 oz. Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk

¼ teaspoon of baking soda

6 quarts of popped popcorn (remove un-popped kernels)

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Do not brown. Add sugars, milk, and honey and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook to soft ball stage. Use a candy thermometer or test in a cup of very cold water by drizzling a stream of candy into the cup and pushing it together with your finger until it forms and stays in the shape of a soft ball. Add the baking soda and stir (the mixture will froth).

Immediately pour over 6 quarts of popped corn and stir until it is covered evenly.

Pour onto a piece of waxed paper to dry slightly or make immediately into popcorn balls and wrap when cool.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2011-10-13T18:57:00.000-06:00

Stuffed bell peppers are comfort food; plain and simple. Nothing gourmet about them.

This is my variation on a recipe from the old Betty Crocker cookbook that I was given for my birthday wayyyy.... back when I was in high school. Betty Crocker's was only cookbook my mother ever owned while we were growning up. And while I own hundreds of cookbooks now (once my wooden bookcase which housed them collapsed because they were so heavy) this particular recipe remains a favorite with my family. They can smell this dish baking and the peppers get soft and sweet, the tomato sauce is tangy, and the cheese gets all ooey-gooey and melty. They're not fancy, but served with a crusty loaf of bread or a simple green salad they are just the ticket on a cool fall evening. I discard the stem of the peppers and chop the tops and put them in the freezer for other uses but you could bake the tops and set them on top of the cheese for a pretty presentation.

The smell of these baking will have your family asking over and over again, "When do we eat?"
*They are a great make-ahead or freezer recipe too. I keep a pan there for dinner emergencies.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

6 large green peppers, cleaned with the tops cut off and membrane and seeds removed

1 pound of ground beef

¼ cup of chopped yellow onion

½ teaspoon of kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon of garlic salt

1 cup of steamed rice, brown or white

15 ounces of tomato sauce

¾ cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Slightly cook the peppers by steaming or microwaving for 5 minutes (for either method). Set aside.

Brown the onions and ground beef until the beef is cooked through. Drain the fat and put the mixture in a large bowl. Stir in the rice, ¼ cup of grated cheese, salts, and 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Stir to mix. Heat the mixture either in the microwave or in the pan you used to brown the beef.

Stuff each pepper shell with the beef mixture and stand upright in an ungreased baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the peppers. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top of the peppers and return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Do-Ahead Tip:

Reserve 1/3 cup of the tomato sauce and remaining cheese and pour the rest of the sauce over the stuffed peppers. Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Let cool and refrigerate the peppers, reserved tomato sauce and grated cheese no longer than 24 hours ahead of time (or freeze for 3 months). When ready to serve; remove from the refrigerator or freezer and put in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. and cook uncovered for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake just until the cheese is melted.

Sock Weather

2011-10-11T02:00:00.002-06:00

When summer wanes (we briefly had snow last week here) my thoughts turn to warm fires and warm feet. I start thinking about wool socks; soft, warm wool socks; hand-knit of course. My motto used to be, "Why knit socks, when Nordstrom sells such fine ones?" And then I made myself a pair... and another pair. I admire those knitters who knit a pair per month. I am not one of those knitters. But I brought home some indigo Koigu sock yarn from Imaginknit in San Francisco (as you can tell from the previous post, I don't buy normal souvenirs) and have been itching to cast on for a pair winter socks.

I used Judy's magic cast on for the first time and I am in love. I like the toe-up sock method and this cast on is just perfect. I'm halfway through the first sock, Wendy Johnson's toe-up Mock Cable sock pattern. Let's hope the second sock isn't far behind because we have sun and warmer weather this week but I'm afraid it won't last.

Heritage Beans and Vinegar (Best Souvenirs Ever!)

2011-10-10T14:26:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we took a little jaunt through Colorado and New Mexico. Of course I bought souvenirs. Not the usual, expected ones. Ummm...You guessed it, I bought food, but not just any food. Some of it was ANTIQUE.

We finally got to visit Acoma, a 10th century Pueblo (village) on a high hilltop. In fact, Acoma translated means "Sky City" and the setting was majestic, as you can see.

Pueblos or villages were built by the Pueblo Indians (tribes of Native Americans) long ago. Acoma has been continually inhabited since it was built about 1150 AD. The owners just continue to build and repair. Now there are about 13 families who live there full-time but the houses are passed down maternally and descendants come for festivals and religious ceremonies throughout the year. There is no electricity or plumbing and drinking water is brought in. If you are interested in visiting, guided tours are given throughout the year.
Anasazi people were the ancient ancestors of these Indian tribes and they planted beans, corn, and squash at the bottom of the mesas.

I couldn't resist buying a 10-lb. bag of Anasazi beans and these other beautiful heirloom beans as well. Dove Creek, Colorado near the 4 corners area produces them. We bought them right at the processing plant.

Of course Santa Fe is a lovely town, full of hand made silver and turquoise jewelry, Navajo rugs, and painted traditional formed pots; so I bought artisan Balsamic vinegar...and specialty salt... and vinegar. I have my priorities straight :)
Oleaceae is a small shop near the town plaza, right on the Old Santa Fe trail that sells custom made olive oils, salts and vinegars. They import the oil and vinegar from all over the world and add their own flavors. Big silver vats are all around the store with small tasting cups for sampling, and sample we did. I was like a kid in a candy store. After much sipping, we came home with two bottles of balsamic; Georgia Peach and Cranberry Pear, our favorites. The base was an 18-year old white balsamic from Italy. I also bought a lime-flavored sea salt. I can't wait to use all of these products. Stay tuned to see what I make.

Here are the links in case you are interested:
http://www.oleaceaeoliveoil.com/
http://www.anasazibeans.com/
http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/southwest-region/acoma-sky-city.html?gclid=CMnc1IX43qsCFRdlgwodaGiFSg

Fall Harvest Beef Soup

2011-10-05T19:50:00.002-06:00

I should be making something "Halloween-ish". But I didn't. I made this instead.
Just a few weeks ago the landscape looked like this...

Last weekend it looked like this...

And

today it is raining and the high daytime temperature is 48 degrees F.

So I made soup.

Not just any soup but Harvest Soup. It's full of root vegetables, beef, tomatoes, squash, and the secret ingredient...wait for it...an apple. You heard me right; an apple. Don't be tempted to leave it out because it lends just a bit of tartness. You can't see it or isolate the flavor in the soup but it's so good.

You can use leftover beef or use one of the preparations for it below. This sou[ is even better the next day, which is a good thing for us because the forecast is for even colder weather tomorrow.

Fall Harvest Beef Soup

3 medium potatoes, cubed

3 carrots, sliced

1 sweet pepper, cubed

1 medium yellow, onion cubed

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1 small sweet potato, cubed

¼ lb. of brown mushrooms (porcini), sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

¼ head of green cabbage, sliced

1 small apple, cubed

1 ½ cups of green peas (or 1-14 oz. can, drained)

1 ½ cups of corn kernels (or 1-14 oz. can, drained)

64 oz. of tomato juice or vegetable juice

4 cups of water or 4 cups of beef broth (in addition to the meat drippings)

1 ½ lbs. of chuck roast, cut into 2 inch cubes with fat removed (*May use leftover roast beef as well. Just increase the beef broth in the soup by 1 cup.)

1 Tablespoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt (may add more of less to taste)

Cook roast with the onion and 1 cup of beef broth either in the oven for a few hours or in a pressure cooker. If using a pressure cooker, follow instructions on the cooker. For roast, braise at 350º F. for 2 hours. Save broth from either method to add to the soup. Remove any fat still on the meat after cooking and discard. Set the beef aside.

Put all ingredients except the beef and drippings into a stock pot and simmer for 1 hour. Add the beef/drippings and simmer for 30 minutes more. Adjust the seasoning.

Serves 14-16 people.

*You may add any vegetables that you have in your garden or refrigerator. This is a great recipe for odds and ends. You may add fresh tomatoes in with the tomato juice.

Linked to Turning the Table Thursday

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

2011-10-03T02:00:00.003-06:00

Pumpkin...Love it and this is the season of the harvest. Nothing says fall like Pumpkin (unless it's zucchini and I know that you gardeners still have some of that). Instead of sneaking zucchini into your friends' cars when they happen to leave them unlocked, make this bread. No one will know you "snuck" the zucchini in here instead. The three younger daughters were home for the weekend and we made 4 batches...some to freeze, some to eat, and some to share with friends.

We made 4 batches of mostly mini loaves. Then we put them in cellophane bags with some of that great Bell'Occhio twine. They also freeze well wrapped in aluminum foil and freezer bags.
You will get two large loaves from this recipe as written or 8 mini loaves.

Zucchini Pumpkin Bread

2 cups finely grated zucchini

3 large eggs, beaten

½ cup of melted butter

½ cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of pureed pumpkin

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 teaspoons of baking soda

½ teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

¾ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 cup of nuts, chopped (optional)

Butter two 8-4 inch loaf pans generously and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Combine the zucchini, eggs, butter, oil, pumpkin and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend together until there are no lumps of flour.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until well combined. Fold in the nuts if using. Do not over mix.

Scoop the batter into the pans and bake for 50-60 minutes until the bread is golden brown and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from the pans to a wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 2 loaves

High altitude changes:

Add 2 to 3 Tabs. more liquid (I used the juice from the pineapple can).

Decrease sugar to 1¾ cups.

Decrease baking powder to a scant ½ teaspoon.

Decrease baking soda to 1 ½ teaspoon.

Linked to Friday Potluck.

If using small baking pans, bake for about 35 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Plum Cake

2011-09-29T02:00:00.035-06:00

I was reading some one's blog the other day and saw this Marion Burros plum torte (cake). I'll be darned if I can remember whos' blog I was reading. If it's yours, slip me a note and I'll credit it. I made Marion's cake years and years ago and had all but forgotten about this recipe. Thankfully I was reminded, since I have buckets of wild plums that we picked last weekend sitting around, needing to be made into something. So..... I made a couple of cakes (remember; lots of plums). It's fast, easy, and you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry. No plums (I'm so sorry)? Substitute any stone fruit.

I serve this cake a'la'mode; top it with a really good vanilla bean ice cream. The plums are tart, the cake is so slightly sweet, and the sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on the top warms the cake up. It's the perfect fall dessert; homey and comforting, served warm or cold.

I made two and froze them. I might have to make a few more if the plums hold out.

Marian Burros Original Plum Torte

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup unbleached flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

24 halves pitted purple plums

Sugar and cinnamon for topping.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs, and beat well.

3. Spoon the batter into a spring form of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, or to taste.

4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired (but first, double-wrap the tortes in foil, place in a plastic bag, and seal). Or cool to lukewarm, and serve.

5. To serve a torte that has been frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.

Yield: 8 servings.

The Sun Sets on Summer

2011-09-26T14:49:00.001-06:00

Summer's gone, Fall's here...And so is the produce!!!

I have zucchini EVERYWHERE. I have given it away to friends (and anyone else who'll take some off my hands). It's on the floors, tables, in bags for children to take home, in bread, sautee'd, steamed, "caked", and in the freezer.

We have pumpkins, squash, pears, apples, peaches, and plums. Time to get busy. I've addressed the basil and made 7 batches of pesto this week. The zucchini has been shredded, frozen, and/or made into bread. Apple butter has been made. Tomato soup is on the agenda for this afternoon. That leaves little time for the rest. I think I'll be juicing the wild plums for some jelly making later. The pears and apples will be made into more butter and some dehydrated fruit. "Something in this photo is not like the others". Who left the basket of tennis balls on the porch?

I'm tired already. But I do love Fall and I'm glad it's here. I am posting the tomato soup recipe that I'm making as I write.

It's just that good. Try it.

Cream of Tomato Soup

12 ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut up

1 cup of chicken stock or water

1cup of chopped celery

½ cup of onion, diced

¼ cup of minced fresh Italian parsley

3 Tab. of cornstarch

3 Tab. of butter, melted

2 Tab. of brown sugar

2 tsp. of salt

2 cups of light cream

1 egg yolk, beaten

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Simmer tomatoes, water, celery, onion, and parsley for 30 minutes. Puree and strain.

Mix together butter and cornstarch. Stir into soup and let simmer over medium heat until thickened slightly.

Add brown sugar, salt and pepper. (Freeze, if desired, at this point.)

When you are ready to serve, stir the cream and egg into the hot soup.

Makes about 2 quarts.

A Gift to Ourselves

2011-09-20T12:28:00.000-06:00

We bought ourselves an anniversary present (how else do you get exactly what you want?) so we did some re-arranging last weekend to make some room for our new continuous-arm Windsor settee.

The hall after

The hall before

This nook at the end of the second floor hall used to hold a hand made/chip-carved antique desk made from an Arbuckle coffee box. The desk fit the space, but we never ever used it. But just maybe the nook would be a good spot to curl up with a quilt and read a book. But, you ask (pretend that you did), "Is the setee comfortable enough to curl up in?" The answer is, "Why yes, yes it is!" These Windsor chairs are extremely comfortable. Every part is turned, carved, and steamed by hand using traditional techniques by our friend and artist Jock Jones (who also happens to be our neighbor).

Before

After: New Headboard over the bed that still needs to be dressed.

We rearranged a bit more in one second floor bedroom and had room to bring the Comb Back Windsor chair up. By moving this rooster screen made my our friend Lothar (we live in a town full of artists), we got a "two-for-one"; a new headboard and room for a another reading spot.

New Reading Corner

We also have a third chair of Jock's, a Nantucket Windsor, in the Granary. Can you tell we love them? If you'd like a closer look at this amazing artist and his chairs, go to his website, Jock'swindsors.com.

Zucchini Pancakes

2011-09-18T02:00:00.001-06:00

Our neighbors Lothar and Anita grow the most beautiful garden. Every summer Lothar tells me about his wife Anita's zucchini pancakes. I don't know what Anita puts in hers but I decided to try making my own version. I had some pepper jack and Parmesan cheeses in the fridge, some Panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 of a cut onion.

I grated my zucchini on my hand grater for this small amount so why not just grate the onion along with it. Saves time and mess. Be sure to squeeze most of the liquid from the grated veggies or your cakes will fall apart when it cooks. I just grab it in my IMPECCABLY clean hands and squeeze the life out of it.

Use white bread crumbs instead of Panko; substitute chives for the onions. Change up the cheese and add your choice of fresh herbs or garlic. I left them out this time because of the pepper jack cheese. I also had an open jar of my homemade tomato sauce open in the fridge to sauce these with but you could top this with lots of other things. Use what you have. That's what this recipe is all about. AND WAS IT EVER GOOD!!! I wouldn't lie to you about that. I ate three (I know!, but they were little).

Zucchini Cakes

2 cups of grated zucchini, squeezed dry

2 eggs, beaten

¼ cup of grated yellow onion, squeezed dry

½ cup of Panko bread crumbs

½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup of grated Pepper Jack cheese

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1 ½ tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of butter

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs (optional)

1/4 cup of fresh tomato sauce for dipping the cakes into

Heat the oil and butter in a non-stick skillet until it shimmers. Set the pan over medium heat.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir just until blended. Form into patties and carefully drop them into the skillet. Shake once to dislodge them from sticking. Let them cook for several minutes on each side until the cakes are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Serve hot with fresh tomato sauce, applesauce, ranch dressing, sour cream, pico de gallo or some pesto.

Gold Rush Bread (Not the Same Old Zucchini Bread)

2011-09-16T02:00:00.008-06:00

Do you grow zucchini in your garden? If you answered yes, then you surely have gone out one morning and found a baseball bat-sized zucchini. What to do with it? Scrape out the spongy center, grate it up, and make this bread.

This is not the same old same old zucchini bread. It's pure gold. I grow Gold Rush variety zucchini in my garden, so I thought, "Why not add some pineapple too kick the yellow color up a notch?" Of course you could use green zucchini.

Gold Rush Bread

2 cups finely grated gold or green zucchini

3 large eggs

½ cup of melted butter

½ cup of vegetable oil

10 ounces of crushed pineapple, drained but not dry

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 teaspoons of baking soda

½ teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

¾ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 cup of nuts, chopped (optional)

Butter two 8-4 inch loaf pans generously and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Combine the zucchini, eggs, butter, oil, pineapple and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend together without lumps.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until well combined. Fold in the nuts if using. Do not over mix.

Yield: 2 loaves

Do It Yourself (if you don't, who will?)

2011-09-14T10:10:00.000-06:00

I have been doing some DIY projects lately. Today I rewired the lamp and changed the harp size because it was 12 inches high. All the shades I tried dwarfed the lamp. After changing the harp, I finally found a shade in the right proportions for this funky little re-do at Lowes. Now I just need to recover the shade. I didn't realize how easy it is to rewire a lamp. The one on my nightstand has been shorting out for a while and I fixed it. Who knew??? I feel empowered.

A few weekends ago I painted my grandparents 1930's bed which I inherited. It was dark wood veneer but the finish was in terrible shape so I sanded, primed, and painted it this bird's egg blue color. I like it and I can't wait to get it "dressed". The beaded footboard is so interesting ... too bad it's tucked under the eaves.

I'm off to make a shade pattern.

Back to School Supplies at Bell'Occhio

2011-09-13T02:00:00.004-06:00

I bought myself some back-school-supplies. Technically, I don't qualify for back-to-school since I'm not a teacher or a student, but we took The Daughters back-to-school shopping in San Francisco (it's a yearly tradition in August) so I bought myself some supplies.

If you haven't been to Bell'Occhio you should. It's in an old store front and is a little bit French/American/British/ European ECLECTIC. The merchandise rotates so if you see something you really like you should buy it because it might not be there next time you visit. Just in case you're not in San Francisco (although I highly recommend going) you can visit them here.

The store owner wrapped my towel purchase smartly in brown paper. Don't you just love Bell'Occhio's logo on the sticker? I rolled up the red twine and saved it; just in case I run out of the black twine on the cone ;)

Weekend in Review

2011-09-12T02:00:00.003-06:00

Remember this? I put it on the floor to measure it because it was getting so big and I would really hate to make it too big. That would just be bad; if it didn't fit. Ha!!! Right.

Turns out it isn't even close to being big enough for the space. I'm quite sure that the room is growing. I can hardly lift it but I have A LONG LONG WAY to go. (Please excuse the sheet hanging on the bed below the comforter. I store my antique quilts on this bed covered with a large cotton sheet and it seems as if the sheet was showing).

We took a little side trip to Topaz, a Japanese internment camp a few hours away. It's long gone but there was a great little museum in a nearby town. It just made me sad. I know WWII was a scary time for Americans but to say it was a horrible injustice to imprison Japanese-American citizens is somehow inadequate.

Our town had a Plen Air Arts Festival, contest and studio tour, and I bought this beautiful local honey at my friend Vickie's farmers market.

I made some cupcakes to eat at the monthly extended-family dinner and two of The Daughters came home. It was a good weekend.

I hope yours was good too.

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 box of chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker)

1 small box (4 oz.) of chocolate instant pudding mix

¾ cup of canola oil

¾ cup of milk

4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl mix the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix for 2 minutes until blended. Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 14-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Let cool and frost with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

*For high altitudes: add 1 more egg and ¼ cup of all-purpose flour to the dry mix.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces of softened cream cheese

4 ounces of softened butter

2 cups of powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

½ cup of cocoa powder

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients until light and fluffy.

Linked to Friday Potluck.

Tomato Zucchini Salad with Vinaigrette

2011-09-09T02:00:00.002-06:00

This is a delicious and versatile salad. It's dressed with a simple vinaigrette. I made it with items I had in my pantry and garden. You can adapt it to whatever you have growing in abundance; change up the herbs,or substitute the squash. Go crazy. You don't like basil? Leave it out. Do you have another herb growing that you love. Substitute that instead.

I'm taking this to a barbecue. Hope there's some left when I go through the line. This will be a standby in my house, as long as the produce keeps growing.

Tomato Zucchini Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing

Mixture of heirloom tomatoes (about 6 cups)

4 small zucchini, yellow and green

1 ¼ cup of good extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup of white wine or champagne vinegar

½ cup any combination of chives, scallions, or shallots, chopped

¼ cup of minced Italian parsley

3 Tablespoons of herbs, your choice, chopped (I used marjoram, basil, oregano and lemon balm)

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

3 teaspoons of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

Wash and dry the tomatoes and zucchini. Seed the tomatoes and chop into bite-size pieces. Slice the zucchini into thin ribbons (I used a mandoline). Put tomatoes and zucchini ribbons in a large bowl that will allow you to toss the salad. Set aside.

Make the vinaigrette dressing:

Put the vinegar, onions (whatever kind you use), herbs, garlic, salt and peppers into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Mix well by pulsing. Add the olive oil through the feed tube slowly and blend just until emulsified.

Pour the marinade over the salad and gently toss to cover.

Let the salad marinate at room temperature for 2 hours.

Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Arrange in a bowl and garnish with whole herbs and a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.

Linked to These Chicks Cooked.

Brier Patch to Preserves

2011-09-07T16:49:00.001-06:00

Do you have a U-Pick farm near you? We found this one and Mr. McBride was friendly, generous, and so kind. We'll definitely go back. We left with two buckets of blackberries and a bouquet of zinnias. I enjoyed them the whole weekend in the kitchen.

There is a long row of zinnias and sunflowers as you leave the patch and a sign that says, "Pick a bouquet as you leave." They even had scissors at the end of the row. How great is that? The McBride's Brier Patch is nestled just under the mountain and there are rows and rows of raspberries and blackberries to pick from.

Because blackberries have large seeds, I juiced the them and made jelly. Our two buckets (about 12 lbs. of berries) yielded 24 half pints of jelly. I used the this recipe from a box of pectin and water-bath canned the jars. To 12 of the jars I added minced jalapeno pepper. The pepper jelly is so good in sauces for meat dishes, or served with cheese and crackers.

I had a lone cup of blackberry juice left, so I added some frozen raspberries from our backyard patch and some fresh blueberries from the fridge. I strained most of the raspberry seeds but left a few. I was out of pectin after making 4 batches of jelly so I just added lemon juice, and sugar and cooked the jam down until set. The flavor was bright and tart and that batch made 3 pints and plus a half jar for the fridge. I tried it on bread (didn't even need butter) as it cooled. MMMMMmmmmmm!!!

Tomorrow I tackle the garden zucchini and tomatoes. Today I'm tired.

*By the way, can you tell the difference between black raspberries and blackberries? The stem stays in the blackberry when you pick it but with all raspberries, black or red, the stem stays on the cane. Can you believe how big Mr. McBride's blackberries are?

A Nice Surprise

2011-09-01T11:05:00.000-06:00

This came in the mail today. It was a nice surprise.

About a year ago a very nice man stopped by our house. He had a book in progress about country homes from all across America, though only a few are from the Western US. He and his wife came back and took some really nice pictures of our house and our outbuildings.

It's a lovely book and if you are interested you might want to take a look here.... All of the photos I have uploaded are of our home with the exception of the snow scene below. I love this house. It's just "up the road" to the North of us and the snow is so beautiful in this photo. Doesn't the light in the windows look so welcoming? It's like the house is saying, "Please come in and warm yourself by my fire".

We are pleased and flattered to be included in Tim's book. These homes are absolutely beautiful, and to me this book is pure eye candy. But then you are talking to a woman who never gets tired of looking at country properties. I am still actively mourning the loss of Country Home magazine. Anyone else sad that it's gone?

There are always "works in progress" at the Homestead. We still have many unfinished decorating projects and particularly some bare walls to fill with treasures, but it's fun to look back on these photos and see how much we have done in the last little while. The bed wall in our Granary Guest house below has changed so much in the last year. Unfortunately, I'm still hand quilting the grain sack quilt.

I'm off to work on some weekend projects. Hopefully I'll have something to show you next week. Have a nice weekend!

Rain and Bees.

2011-08-30T20:18:00.000-06:00

We are here at the homestead mid-week because we had a ~~small~~ problem in our walls. There is a beehive...in the walls of the house. We called several beekeepers, hoping that someone knew of a way to remove the bees. They all wanted them; honey bees apparently cost about $85.00 a colony. The problem is that we have 24-inch thick limestone walls; two courses with rubble in the middle. To remove the hive you have to be able to get to it. We can't.

One beekeeper asked if we might consider ripping out the roof and soffitt. NO!...Thank you. Pretty sure that would cost WAY MORE than $85.00. One wanted to do some more research, and called me with the same information from the same web site that I had already googled; the bees can't be relocated. So today the exterminator (I really hate that word) came and sprayed. He will most likely need to come back again before we can re-mortar the hole below the soffit that the bees entered in. Cross your fingers. I like bees and honey....just not in my walls.

The sky is a beautiful dusky pink, just beginning to darken and the rain has stopped. It smells divine and there is a cool breeze ruffling the curtains. I'll be back tomorrow from the city with a post and photos. Our modem crashed but Jody the computer guy is coming tomorrow to get us back up and running. We've been working on a new project. I think you'll like it.

Lemon Meringue Cake

2011-08-25T04:00:00.016-06:00

Every year our church throws a lawn party and invites the entire neighborhood. It's a great way to get to know our neighbors and it's one BIG PARTY. There is a greased pole with money attached, and other activities like face painting, fish ponds, games, a bounce house, pony rides, music (this year it's a banjo player), popcorn and snow cone machines, a cake walk and dinner of course. The party goes on until dark. The cake walk is popular but the kids tend to eat their cake by the fistfuls and many cakes never made it home. This year they decided to give out sugar cookies for prizes at the cake walk and to draw names for the cakes instead. What a great idea!

I was asked to bring a "county fair-like cake that displayed well". And I thought it might be even better if the cake tasted great and this cake does. It's similar to a pound cake so don't be alarmed by the weight of it; it's supposed to be heavy. The buttermilk makes for a tender moist crumb and the coconut cream is subtle. And I can't even begin to describe how amazingly good the lemon filling is. It's my favorite part of the cake.

The tart lemon curd is a nice contrast to the sweet icing. The shredded coconut adds a nice textural element. This cake is one of our favorites and was my contribution to the cake table. I altered the batter recipe from Foster's Market Cookbook. The rest of the cake is a "play" on a lemon meringue pie. And as always, you'll want to adjust the cake for your individual altitude (it's easy; I always adjust for my high altitude), as this recipe is written for sea level.

I made 8-inch cakes instead of the 9-inch cakes as per the recipe so I had extra batter and made a small loaf cake as well. I cut the loaf into two halves and sliced those into 2 layers. If you freeze the layers for 1 hour before cutting they won't crumble and break; it will make the slicing so much easier. One recipe of batter made two miniature two-layer cakes and one 8-inch four-layer cake.

Here...I cut you a piece from one of the small cakes. Have you got a fork at the ready? (OK, so WE ate the small one before the dinner, I'll admit it). SOMEONE (not naming any names) wasn't very happy that the cake was going to a new home. In fact he asked how he could win it in the raffle and was happy when I pulled a very small cake from the refrigerator for us.

Lemon Meringue Cake

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

½ teaspoons of baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

12 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1 ¼ cup of granulated sugar

6 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups of buttermilk

¼ cup of *canned coconut cream (such as Coco Lopez)

1 cup of Lemon Curd (recipe follows)

1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut to garnish the sides of the cake

1 recipe of Seven-Minute Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and stir to mix. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl with an electric mixer. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir by hand to mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and coconut cream. Stir just until all the dry ingredients are moist and blended. Do not over mix.

With an electric mixer whip the egg whites in a separate bowl for 2-3 minutes, until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake 40 - 45 minutes until the cakes are golden brown and no crumbs stick to a test wooden skewer or pick after you insert one into the middle of the cakes.. Cool the cakes 10 – 15 minutes and remove from the pans. Cool and slice each layer in two.

Place the first layer onto a serving plate and spread with 1/3 of the lemon curd. Repeat with the remaining three layers. Spread the Frosting on the top and sides. Carefully press the shredded coconut on the sides of the cake. I like to torch the top of the meringue as well, but you don't need to. It's still pretty.

*Canned coconut cream is often found in the market aisle with the drink mixers or possibly in the Latin section of your supermarket.

Bonnie’s Pucker-Up Lemon Curd:

2 cups of granulated sugar
12 large egg yolks
1 cup of lemon juice

2 Tablespoons of lemon zest, yellow part only

4 ounces (1 stick or ½ cup) of butter, cut into pieces
½ tsp. of pure vanilla extract

Wash and zest the lemons. Juice them. In a heavy-bottomed, non-aluminum pan mix the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisk in the lemon juice. Cook the mixture on medium-low heat until it coats the back of a spoon.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter cubes. Strain. Add the lemon zest and mix well. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

This curd can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or frozen for 3 months. The texture will be slightly softer after defrosting.

Seven-Minute Frosting:

2 large egg whites

1 ½ cups of granulated sugar

¼ cup of cold water

1 Tablespoon of Light Corn Syrup (Karo)

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Combine the egg whites, sugar, water, and corn syrup in a double boiler set over simmering water over low heat. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer 3 - 4 minutes

on low speed. Increase speed to high and mix 3 - 4 minutes longer, until icing is shiny and forms soft peaks.

Remove from heat, add the vanilla, and beat on high until the mixture becomes thick.

This cake is best served the day it is made as the icing will form a "crust" the next day but the cake is still fabulous. I've never had anyone turn down a day-old piece.

*Cook's Note: If you decorate your cake with flowers/herbs, make sure that they they are impeccably clean and have not been treated with any kind of pesticide, even if they are not intended to be eaten.

Quilts, Quilts, and more Quilts

2011-08-21T17:27:00.000-06:00

We've been traveling this summer and I've been photographing some great quilts in museums. I thought you might like to see them too.

Kettle Corn

2011-08-18T02:00:00.000-06:00

Missouri Road trip 1999:

Lured by the smell of fresh popcorn we pull over at a small roadside store. A glance out the back door reveals a man leaning over a HUGE cast iron kettle over an open wood-burning flame, stirring popping corn with a shovel. It dances and floats over the kettle, then falls back down as he stirs the pot. It smells divine. We buy not 1, but 2 large bags and eat them both before we hit Kansas City. The next day we buy 2 more bags at the farmer's market and devour them as well.

How have we not heard of this amazing Kettle corn (click on the link to read about it's origins)? It's salty and sweet at the same time.

Fast forward 2 years to another vacation 2001:

On a Cody, Wyoming street corner we see Original Kettle Korn being made and sold from a propane-sourced commercial kettle. We find out that the company making the commercial machines (they pioneered the modern day ones) also makes a home popper and just so happens to be headquartered in Cody. Our plans change. We stay overnight until the warehouse opens and we become the ~~happy~~ ectastic owners of this popper. Now we could make kettle corn whenever we wanted.

Kettle corn finally reached our part of the country and has been sold at fairs, rodeos, and farmers markets for years. There are several different brands of this kind of popper, but it must have a stirring arm in the bottom. They are inexpensive and worth every penny. And you cannot make kettle corn without one. You can try but it won't be pretty.

Kettle corn is a big hit with everyone we know and has become a staple at the girls' parties. We always serve it because if it isn't on the table we have ~~demands~~ requests for it from guests. The best part......it's inexpensive and makes up quickly so it's great for a crowd. It's also fairly low in calories

So you can eat it and not feel quilty.

Which is a good thing

Because you will

Eat
A lot.

Kettle Corn

2 Tablespoons of canola oil

¼ cup of granulated sugar

2/3 cup of unpopped popcorn

Kosher salt to taste

Heat oil in kettle corn popper just until the oil shimmers but is not smoking (about medium heat). Pull off the heat.

Add the sugar, stir, just until the sugar is slightly melted but not browned. Put the kettle back on the stovetop.

Add the popcorn kernels and put on the lid. Set heat to medium low. Stir continually until kernels stop popping. Do not let the corn burn.

Immediately turn out into bowl and season to taste with kosher salt.

*Note: I use Orville Redenbacher's Gournet Popcorn which pops larger so I only use 1/2 cup of unpopped corn instead of the called for 2/3 cup but if you are using regular popping corn you will need the larger amount.

They're late, but they're growing.

2011-08-16T02:00:00.015-06:00

Green zucchini

Black Krim heirloom Tomatoes

Sweet 100's cherry tomatoes

Sungold cherry tomatoes

Italian Basil

Black truffle Heirloom tomatoes

Rouge Vif d'Etampes
or Cinderella pumpkin

It's been a strange,wet, cold garden year and everything is behind. Better late than never I guess. Now hurry up and grow, darn it!!!!

Linked to Garden Tuesday

Good food....and bad

2011-08-09T14:50:00.000-06:00

How can you tell if you are a family member of a food blogger?

Answer: a photo shoot precedes Grace. Got to get a shot before digging in.

Looks pretty good, right? It wasn't. I definitely won't post the recipe for this wild Asian salmon. Awful. I did have some amazingly wonderful food on a recent trip to New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and upstate New York. No recipes but lovely photos. Perhaps you'll be inspired.

The amazing lobster roll from a road-side sandwich place in New Hampshire (can't even remember the name of the nondescript place). Best surprise of the trip.

This was my second favorite meal; the fresh local striped sea bass from Jasper White's Summer Shack in Boston.

Summer Shack was the hippest, trendiest restaurant we went to. I loved the lobster tank and the big open kitchen. And the food was terrific, which is the most important thing.

I saved my favorite meal for last. The photo doesn't begin to do justice to the sweet, fresh, grilled local scallops at Finz on the waterfront in Salem, Massachusetts. I could eat this meal every day (I loved it that much).

We had a lot of good food. These were the highlights for me. I tried to remember these meals last night as I chucked the salmon

into the garbage can.

4th Annual Spring City Bluegrass Festival

2011-08-07T20:59:00.000-06:00

Our friends and neighbors, Mark and Vickie from the Spring City Inn (hardest-working people we know, by the way) put on a great Bluegrass festival this weekend in their backyard. They built a great stage from old supplies. Here's Vickie in the sound tent (left of Mark's River Road Band member).

Tennessee and Kim served Dutch oven cooked meals for a very small price, and

Dean gave free wagon rides around town. Bruce just happened to get a shot of him as he passed our house.

Plenty of bands to listen too but one of my favorite acts was Rebeka and Jake Workman (he's the winner of the 2010 Texas flat pickin' contest). Talk about flying fingers (both of them). They are part of a band from Kansas called Driven. This video was from a few months ago. Jake and Rebekah are the bookends.

Mark is a multi-talented guy; a great musician. Vickie says his dream has always been to have a venue to showcase other people's talent and foster newcomers. With Vickie's help, we think he did pretty darn well. Tents for shade, your own chairs or blankets, or sit on their covered hay bales, you choose. Even though there must have been around 800 people throughout the day there was more than enough room to spread out and get comfortable. The Allens put together a great event and our community is lucky to have them. $5.00; how can you beat a whole day of great music and fun for that price?

This is Mark's band River Road ; they were the closing act. Their vocals were hauntingly beautiful.

If you're in the neighborhood of the Spring City Bluegrass Festival next year, you'll want to join Mark and Vickie. Check out next year's dates and mark your calendars.

Coming and going.

2011-08-04T17:15:00.000-06:00

Half of our family traveled to the beautiful state of Vermont in July to attend the graduation of our oldest daughter, who just graduated with an MFA in creative writing.

She is moving Washington DC to begin another chapter in her life. She is gifted, talented, kind, and beautiful inside and out. We will miss her.

Daughter #3 is moving home from Washington DC where she has been working as a press intern for our state senator for the last 4 months. She is gifted, talented, kind, and beautiful inside and out. We are happy she is returning home even if it is only for a month until she returns to University.

Daughter #2 recently returned from 2 years in Puerto Rico where she was serving a mission for our church. We were ecstatic to have her home safe.

We will have 3 of our 4 daughters close by with the return of Daughter #2 this spring. We are so glad they are here until leaving again for University in the fall.

While I am happy for the success and growth of my children, I sometimes (just once in a while) wish for the old days when I packed them a lunch and sent them out the door to school. Now they board an airplane.

They are all grown up, sometimes.....(sigh).

Pink Poppies

2011-08-02T13:06:00.000-06:00

It was glorious while it was in the garden. My favorite garden hue.

It's gone now. Until next year.

Linked to Garden Tuesday.

What cost Memories ? (or how much is that gooseberry pie?)

2011-08-01T02:00:00.003-06:00

Spring 2010

Mr. City Home: “We should plant some gooseberry bushes. I remember my grandfather having one in his yard and once in a while my mother would make a pie.”

Me: “We'll plant one bush. If it does well we can plant more.”

July 2011

The gooseberry bush grew very“well” and today I picked our first crop; for hours, and hours I picked.

The bush has thorns; lots of them. Gooseberries are small and difficult to pick. They also need to be cleaned before eating, and they have a stem and a blossom that need to be pinched off.

After 2 hours...several hundred gooseberries cleaned and only 4 5 6 thousand more to clean.

Cost of gooseberry bush: $30.00
Cost of labor to pick and clean the gooseberries for pie: 7 hours@ $8.00/hr (that’s about minimum wage, although I think my time is worth more); $56.00
Cost of pie ingredients: $3.00
Cost of labor to make pie: 1 hr @ $8.00/hr; $8.00 *(refer to number 2 above)
Total cost of gooseberry pie: $97.00
Memories of childhood gooseberry pie: Priceless (according to my husband); please note that he is not the one responsible for making said pie.

I'm not sure this pie was as good as B remembered. It was tart!!! Must be an acquired taste. The crust was good. And just in case you are wondering; we are not planting any more gooseberry bushes.

French Toast with Raspberries

2011-07-28T02:00:00.001-06:00

Mr. City Home made french toast while I was in the garden. You'll never guess what he topped it with.

I picked another 5 pans of berries, but I gave up before I got through the patch. I was tired, so I went in and made myself some french toast. I deserved a reward.

French Toast

Day-old or slightly stale ciabatta bread (or any bread you have on hand), sliced

Large eggs

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

milk or cream

(The amount of eggs and milk you need vary depending on the amount of bread slices you have. I guess.)

In a flat bowl big enough to fit the bread slices, whisk the egg, salt, and cinnamon until the yolk and white is smooth and combined. Add a bit of milk to thin the egg. (We are not making toast coated with a scrambled egg so do thin the egg a little bit).

Lay the bread slices in the egg mixture for about 15 seconds per side or until the bread absorbs some of the egg mixture. Let the excess egg drip off.

Butter or spray a skillet, griddle or pan and let it pre-heat slightly. Lay the bread slices in the skillet and cook on Medium heat until the bread is golden brown and slightly dried out. Flip and cook the other side.

Serve warm with butter, pure maple syrup and fresh fruit...we used raspberries, of course.

You could also top this with bananas, or any other fresh fruit you happen to have around; maybe even a dollop of sour cream.

Another Lamp

2011-07-26T02:00:00.001-06:00

So just before I painted that lamp red, I painted this one black.

We have a granary/guest house that really needs a table lamp.

The thing is, the original ceiling is open and tall so we needed something bulky and large. The granary has the original beams and lot's of pine. and the bare lamp just blended in and faded away. After looking and looking at flea markets and second hand stores and striking out, we finally found this at Pottery Barn. Hmmm, the scale is perfect. The bare wood? Not so perfect. The plain wood lamp just blended in and faded away.
The answer?

Black latex paint and a fairly dry brush.

Now it's perfect.

Stay tuned for a two lamp shade makeover tutorials coming soon to this blog.

Stalagtites, stalagmites, and more

2011-07-23T02:00:00.000-06:00

A few weekends ago we went to Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park. They were amazing. If you are anywhere near them (I say that knowing that most of you aren't, because they are in the middle of nowhere) you should stop in. In fact, if you are near Las Vegas you might even want to make a trip just to see them. There is no hiking or incline. They are very child and older person friendly.

I also loved these old pioneer charcoal ovens on the side of the highway.

Berry Picking Bucket

2011-07-20T02:00:00.001-06:00

You know I pick a lot of berries. I got tired of trying to put them into a bowl and constantly having to unload it into something bigger; plus I was doing quite a bit of bending to get to the bowl on the ground.

Here's my solution. I took an empty galloon milk container, cut off the spout and continued cutting about halfway down the jug. You don't want to pile too many berries on top of each other of they will get smashed. I just thread a belt through the handle and put it around my waist.

Now I have two free hands and don't have to go far to drop the berries into the bucket.

Plus it's cheap. I wash it out at the end of the picking and re-use it until the berry season is over. I recycle it and next year I make a new one.

The Best Pie Crust Ever

2011-07-18T02:00:00.001-06:00

When my raspberry patch was overflowing with berries I made tarts and used Cristie's pie crust recipe.
It's so good. She gave me permission to post her recipe and believe me when I say you'll want to mark this one. Your pies will thank you and so will your dinner guests.

Cristie has modified this recipe from Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook.

Buttery Pastry Dough

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of granulated sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 of cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1/2 cup of butter-flavored shortening, chilled and cut into pieces

3 tablespoons of sour cream

4 to 5 tablespoons or COLD water (ice water is best)

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl and whisk to blend. Add the butter, shortening, and sour cream and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles small peas. Sprinkle 3 tablespoon of ice water over, one tablespoon at a time, tossing to blend. Press down with a rubber spatula until it dough starts to stick together. Add the additional water, one tablespoon at at time as needed to get the dough come together. You may need more or less water depending on the humidity (I live in the desert and had to add 6 tablespoons of water). Do not overwork the dough. It will be a bit shaggy and loose. This is how you achieve flaky crust. You want to see separate pieces of fat in the dough. Shape the dough into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and let them rest in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. This allows the flour to absorb the water and gives the gluten sufficient time to relax. This makes all the difference when you roll out your dough; it also helps to have the dough chilled.

Lightly flour your rolling surface and rolling pin. Sprinkle one disc with flour and roll it two-inches larger then the pie or tart pan you are using. Put the dough in the pan. Now you can either fill the crust and put the other disc on top and crimp or you can blind bake the un-filled crusts for a cold filling.

Most pies come with instructions for baking. This dough does best with a high heat (400 degrees) for 10 minutes; lower the heat (350 degrees) for the remaining time called for in your recipe.

If the crimped edge is browning quicker than the bottom crust, put a ring of aluminum foil around the edge to keep it from browning so quickly. This is easier to do before putting the pie in the oven. You can remove the foil toward the end of the baking time to get proper browning on the crimped edge. *It's hard to put foil on an already hot pie tin.

*Bonnie blind baked her tart crusts by filling them with foil and pie weights and baking for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. She removed the weights and foil and baked at 375 degrees F. for another 10 minutes or so until the crusts were golden brown.

Linked to These Chicks Cook