TheMorsel

Repost: Spicy Tortellini Soup

2011-11-19T10:38:00.001-07:00

Oh my, this soup makes me happy. It's so fast and the spice from the Colosimo's sausage is just perfect.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 links of Colosimo's or other Italian sausage (spicy if you like)
1 lb frozen or fresh cheese tortellini
1 bag washed baby spinach leaves or 1 box frozen spinach
dash of nutmeg and black
grated parmesan to top

Coursely chop spinach and set aside. Using a large pot, squeeze sausage to remove it from its skin, then brown, breaking it into small pieces (like browning hamburger). Add broth and heat to boiling. Add your pasta and continue to boil until tortellini is cooked. Add your nutmeg and pepper, then throw in spinach. Cook just 2 to 3 minutes more and serve with parmesan. You can turn this into a vegan dish by using vegetable broth, vegan ravioli or tortellini and non-dairy parmesan.

Repost: Orange Tortilla Soup

2011-11-16T12:11:00.001-07:00

I have decided to re-post some soups! It's getting cold and I'm hungry! Hope you will try some of them out. This one is my daughter's favorite.

Ingredients:
1 Medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
4 Celery stalks sliced
3 Tbs vegetable oil
2-1/2 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
1-1/2 Cups orange juice
1-1/2 Cups tomato sauce (14 oz can is fine)
1 Cup water
1 (4 oz) Can green chilies chopped
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
3 - 4 Carrots sliced
3 or 4 Chicken breasts
Pepper Jack cheese grated
Tortilla chips

Chop your celery and onions. Mince garlic and slice carrots. Do yourself a favor and buy pre chopped chiles. I bought the whole so I had to chop.

Saute onion, garlic and celery in 3 Tbs of vegetable oil.

Stir in broth, OJ, tomato sauce, chilies, cilantro and carrots. Simmer until carrots are tender.

In the meantime, cook your chicken. I prefer to cook chicken breast in a non-stick pan. I heat 2 TB of oil on med-high heat, salt and pepper the breast, cook on each side about 5 min on that higher heat, then turn the heat to med-low. Do not cover!!! Big mistake. You end up with boiled chicken. I leave the lid off until almost done - you can tell you've overcooked chicken breast when it doesn't give anymore when you press with the back of your fork. I prefer to a point where it might still be a bit underdone and then take off heat and let it sit for another 10 minutes or so. Its usually perfect. Clear as mud? Sorry.

Cut or shred your chicken into bite size chunks and add to your soup. Cook another 5 minutes or so and its ready. Just make sure your carrots are tender.

Serve by placing tortilla chips (crunched or not) at the bottom of your soup bowl, ladle soup over and top with shredded jack cheese.

Corn Chowder

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

I created this recipe after tasting a great corn chowder at a restaurant. Enjoy!

Ingredients
8 baking potatoes semi peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
8 sliced bacon cooked til crisp and chopped, reserve grease
3/4 cup onion or one medium, chopped
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
2 (14 oz) cans creamed corn
2 cups whole milk
butter
salt and pepper

Cook potatoes in salted water. Drain off most of the water but reserve to thin soup later.

In separate pan, sautee onions in 2 Tbsp butter. Add to potatoes in pot after you have drained off most of water. Add two cans cream corn, plus chopped bacon and 3 Tblsp of reserved bacon grease. Add broth and about 2 cups potatoe water, more if you want yours soup thinner. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to slow boil and simmer 10 minutes.

Angel Biscuits

2011-11-09T14:13:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share a great biscuit recipe. They aren't really dinner rolls or biscuits but a cross between the two. I thought they were much better after they had cooled and set out for a few hours. when they first came out of the oven they were a bit too soft and tore when I tried to butter. I think next time I would bake just 5 minutes longer and a bit browner.

Angel Biscuits

1 Cup Buttermilk

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp active dry yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 Cup warm water (100-100F)

3 to 3-1/4 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup shortening (I use Crisco)

1. Mix buttermilk and baking soda together. Let sit.

2. Mix yeast, sugar, salt and water together. Let stand until foamy.

3. Combine flour and shortening, cutting it in untill well blended. I use one of these thingy's or you can use a fork or food processor.

Mix in buttermilk mixture and yeast mixture (dough will be wet) rather quickly, then cover loosely with towel and let rise in warm place (not too warm or you will kill the yeast) until about double, took mine about 45 min.

4. Pat out dough to 1/2 inch thickness on heavily floured surface. Cut biscuits with a 2" cutter and place on lightly greased pan or use a parchment. Put them very close together so they will rise higher. Let sit about 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 while you wait.

5. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them. Again, bake until brownish or they will fall apart. They are very moist.

I served mine with eggs and ham but these would be great for Thanksgiving dinner too.

Gazpacho and Corn Salad

2011-07-31T16:45:00.001-06:00

This was dinner last night. Very good and no heat was used! That means a lot because I would be very crabby if I had to turn on the stove. Gazpacho is a cold tomato based soup with a variety of fresh chopped ingredients, which sounds awful, but its sour and refreshing at the same time. I was very surprised how good it was. And the corn, wow, cut the kernels off the cob, leave them raw and add lemon juice, canola oil, sunflower seeds and sugar and a little ground red pepper. Google either and you'll find some great recipes! Or email me and I'll send it to you.

Salad of the Day

2011-07-27T14:57:00.000-06:00

Spinach, arugula, strawberries, blue cheese, candied walnuts, with strawberry vinaigrette.

Fruity Vinaigrettes

2011-07-25T06:35:00.003-06:00

I am on a mission to eat more greens! There is a book called Eat to Live by Joel Furhman (no relation to Mark Furhman of OJ fame, but there is OJ in one of these recipes :)) and Joel talks about how we as humans really need to eat more greens. That we were intended to eat much, much more than we now eat, even having greens for breakfast. He suggests Bibb or Boston lettuce, that softer, sweet lettuce, with vinaigrette and some light cheese to start your morning. I've tried it actually, and its not bad. Refreshing. He also claims that if you will increase your greens, you will lose weight. So this week, I am all about salads.

To get us started, we need to make some dressings. You can use any type of fruity sauce, jam, or even juice concentrate. I made a Jalapeno-Razz, Apricot Pomegranite, Pine-Orange-Strawberry, and Limeaid vinaigrettes this weekend.

Basic Recipe:

-2 Tblsp of your favorite fruit jam, concentrate or syrup (slightly warmed in microwave if its thick)

-1/4 Cup vinegar (I used Pomegranite for red fruits and white wine vinegar for orange, peach, lime)

-1/3 to 1/2 Cup Oil (I used Canola oil as Olive oil has too green of a taste for me)

Start with 1/3 cp oil and taste. If its a little too vinegary, add a bit more.

That's it! I'll share some salads with you tomorrow.

Raz-pepper jelly, slightly warmed in microwave and I used pomegranite vinegar.

A variety of jams, syrups, homemade jellys or frozen concentrates will work.

Fun Finds at the 'Markets'

2011-07-23T16:34:00.001-06:00

I LOVE SUMMER! I can finally wear flip flops, eat snowies, and hit the markets! If you have never been to the Downtown Farmer's Market or the Park Silly Market, you are missing out. Great booths, food, gourmet goodies to take home. And its very accessible, easy to park, just get there early!

So here are a couple cool items you can find at the markets.

an antique watch turned into a necklace, only at Park Silly Market

this soap smells so good, I buy a couple bars each summer, she is only at the Park Silly Market

found these at SLC, $10

love this, at a booth at SLC, crimped in lasts 6 weeks, shampooable $20

switch plates, all different styles, SLC market $5

glass blown necklace, $10, henna tattoo, $10 SLC

beaded bracelet, crazy color combos, all real stones, $35+ both SLC and PSM

fresh flower bunches, $10 SLC

Feast before the Famine

2011-07-20T22:50:00.002-06:00

My son came to visit last week and we had such a great time together. We both love movies and good food. We saw Buck, a great documentary about the real Horse Whisperer, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, a strange documentary about his anger at NBC and his subsequent creation of his live show, Harry Potter 7.2 which was cool (I am not that huge a Harry Potter fan but I can appreciate how one could be) and Horrible Bosses, which was the most hilarious movie I've seen in a while (although very off color), the dialogue was superb.

I have to say that we made some great food choices too, plus he finally had his first shaved ice! My Chicago readers aren't gonna have a clue what shaved ice is. Think of hard packed snow, covered in sugary syrup, then topped with cream. Not like the snow cones we grew up with, icey balls that nearly break your teeth. These are seriously good, really. And I have SUCH a hard time deciding on what flavor to get. They offer 30 or so and you can mix as many as you want. I tried to get Doug to step outside the box with me and choose something really wild. What about Tiger's Blood and Godzilla and Grape? or how about Wedding Cake and Root Beer and Licorice? He stepped right up to the window and chose, Mango, Raspberry and Peach. How boring. I know there are some snowie connoisseurs out there. What's your favorite shaved ice combo? I need help deciding!

We had some GREAT food at Vinto (approx 200 S. 400 E.) and Wild Grape Bistro (approx 600 E. S.Temple). I highly recommend both of them for lunch and dinner. Vinto has small gourmet pizza, very creative combos and each night there is a specialty pizza, like the Marinated Flank Steak w Cherry Tomatoes (see picture below). And if you've never tried a food truck, check out Chow Truck and Torta Truck's schedules. They are both superb for a walk up and grab a gourmet meal. We found them at Gallivan Plaza where there is a food truck fair every Thursday between 11a and 2p. And last, but not least, is a local chain, Cafe Zupas which has awesome sandwiches, soups and salads. I love, love, love the Vermont Maple Blueberry salad!

Anyway, after all this binging, its time to get on track. So for the next few weeks, I will be making salads, lots and lots of salads and some wonderful dressings. Make sure to stop back!

Strawberry Salad at Wild Grape.
Very good and very re-creatable. Spinach, arugula, strawberries, feta, candied cashews and strawberry vinaigrette.

Wild Grape's Lobster Risotto. VERY good even though its presentation is a little boring.

Cranberry Rhubarb Tart at Wild Grape Bistro. Sour. Perfect.

Flank Steak Pizza from Vinto

I love this! The Gelato Sampler from Vinto.

Vinto specials.

Tacos and root chips from the Chow Truck.

And Zupas! Always good choices even for a chain restaurant. Their summertime special, Chicken Pesto sandwich, is delish.

Summer Treat

2011-07-05T17:10:00.001-06:00

Freeze grapes for 15 minutes or so for a refreshing and healthy treat.

Ten Great Places to take Visitors

2011-07-02T13:37:00.012-06:00

Last week we entertained out-of-town guests and it helped me remember what super things there are to do in Salt Lake and Park City in the summer. I thought I would give you a peek at my Top 10 great places to take family and friends:

1. Downtown Farmer's Market in Salt Lake at 300 S. 300 W. 8am to 1pm every Saturday (check website for dates) and always hoppin'. Get there early and here's a secret parking tip. On the south end of the market on 400 South, Western Nut Company charges $3 for one of their parking spaces and very few people use it. It puts you so close, its SO worth it. Food? So much it's hard to pick. Try the open face pesto - veggie sandwich for $5 (can't remember the name of the vendor but she's halfway down the main food aisle) or the mid-east plate with shishkabob, rice, falafel and salad, all for about $8. There are samples galore: cookies from RubySnap, bread from Great Harvest, hummus from Happy Monkey, as well as gelato, cheese, salsa, bratwurst and fresh produce samples from the myriad of vendors.

2. Park Silly Market in Park City on Main Street runs from 10am to 5pm every Sunday, usually through September. Try the Mexican Hot Dog or the Mahi Mahi Tacos. We found a cute jewelry booth with 2 for $5 costume jewelry and they had a great selection of Owl and Butterfly necklaces. Other fun items: glitter dog collars, henna and air brush tattoos, purses, soap, lotion, pillows, and rugs.

3. Silver Fork Lodge Restaurant in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Patio seating gives great views, good breakfast (I recommend the huevos rancheros or the homemade corned beef hash with eggs) and the hummingbird feeders are always busy. Weekday mornings are best because Sat/Sun is always crowded and getting seated on the deck is near impossible. Lunch and dinner are good too but are much pricier than breakfast. As long as you are that far up Big Cottonwood Canyon, I recommend a walk around 4. Silver Lake at the Brighton Resort. It's boardwalked part of the way and then continues through the woods on a dirt trail. Many times we have been able to see a moose lounging in the grassy meadow in the center. If you are fit, try the walk up to the rock slide on the trail leading to Twin Lakes. Stand quietly right above the slide and you may see a Pica gathering grass for the winter. Both Silver Fork Lodge and Silver Lake Trail are outstanding between September 20 and October 5, while the Aspens are in full golden glow.

View from Deer Valley Sterling Express Lift

5. Deer Valley has a great scenic lift ride to their wonderful dining at the Royal Street Cafe. EVERYTHING is delicious - a very creative menu. If you have time, ride the second lift up to see the views off into Heber Valley. Spectacular. Of course, staying for a Deer Valley Concert is the icing on the cake.

Wildflowers at Albion Basin

6. The wildflowers are blooming in late July/ early August. You can combine a beautiful drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon with a small walk among the wildflowers at Albion Basin. Shuttles are provided up to the parking lot at Catherine Pass Trailhead to minimize your walk, or you can choose to hike through the lower parts of Alta Ski Resort to reach the spectacular fields of pink, blue, yellow, purple and white. On your way back down the canyon stop at Snowbird for lunch or just a refreshing drink on the patio, where the Cool Air Concert Series plays free at 6pm every Saturday.

7. Sundance Ski Resort is another beautiful location to take a scenic lift ride. Sundance has less crowds during the week and you can get a great lunch on the patio at the Foundry Grill or buy a sandwich at the deli in their General Store (highly recommend the Turkey/Bacon/Avocado) and eat on the porch or at the top of the mountain. Be sure to check out the jewelry items on sale in the Art Shack behind the resort. The stained glass necklace was a steal at $15 and the soap stack was $6.

8. Sugar House Shopping District offers some of the usual large chain stores like Old Navy, The Loft, Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods, but it also offers some not so common shopping like Pib's Exchange (a great resale clothing shop) Central Book Exchange (resale books), Sugar House Coffee, Sundance Outlet Store (where I found $2 wool sweaters in the little, obscure room at the back), Piper's Quilts and Yarn, plus there is now a Sugar House Farmer's Market on Friday evenings. Also check out the NEW Sugar House DI Thrift Store, which is heralded as the best of the DI's in the valley, great bargains on clothes, books, and household goods. If you are in to old LP album covers, this is the place!

9. Check out the downtown restaurant/shopping districts, i.e: 3rd and 3rd (where you will find Caputo's Market (check out the chocolate aisle!), Aquarius Fish Market, Bruge's Waffles & Frites , and Carlucci's Bakery; then there is 9th and 9th where you will find cute shops, Dolcetti Gelato (the Coconut Sticky Rice is to die for), Mazza middle eastern food (love, love the Chicken & Cauliflower Kabseh), Coffee Garden and great independent films at Tower Theatre; another great corner is 15th and 15th where you will find the book store King's English, The Blue Cockatoo Gallery and Fresco Italian Cafe as well as a Starbuck's Coffee House. While you are downtown, try out the two best Sushi spots, Sapa and Takashi. I have become quite picky about my sushi and both are excellent. Sapa has happy hour priciing on many of their sushi rolls from 5 to 6 pm, Monday through Thursday.

10. And finally, Antelope Island State Park is the place I take visitors to catch glimpses of vast bird populations, bison, pronghorn antelope and sometimes a wolf or two. You can get a bison burger at the snack shack but really, this is about the quiet beauty of the Great Salt Lake and the enormous views of the Wasatch range. There is a nice museum with videos of the bison round up that happens each October and displays about the wildlife on the island. This is a destination for people who appreciate things being left as they are. Click on the photos for larger views. Enjoy.

Summer!

2011-06-30T16:20:00.001-06:00

Hey! Welcome back and welcome to all things summertime. Hope you like the new blog style and I plan to switch it up. I am now a bit more mobile with the ability to post from my phone.

You can follow me on www.Twitter.com/LizatTheMorsel where today I tweeted about the Truck Food Faire. So my first post from the road, check out the lobster grilled cheese and fresh melon spritzer from Torta Truck.

It was excellent, lot's of lobster chunks, great flavor combo. Julie is at Gallivan Plaza every Thursday from 11:30 to 2:00. Get there early, the special of the day was gone when I arrived at 1:45, which today was Lobster Gnocchi. Sorry I missed that!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T22:48:00.003-07:00

I made Tres Leches Cake for Christmas Eve. Very easy to make and so good. Three kinds of milk are poured over a sponge style cake. Then velvety whipped cream is spread over the top. Wet cake may not sound appealing, but trust me, its heavenly.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

A Christmas Mouse

2010-12-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Aren't these adorable?

http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/appetizers-snacks/christmas-mice/

Jar Cakes My Oh My

2010-01-01T15:00:00.005-07:00

I had all my baking done on the 21st. Or so I thought. Then an email with a link to these popped into my inbox from my friend. GASP. JAR CAKES. Pretty, little jar cakes!
I still had shopping, wrapping and packing for my trip to Chicago, but I had to fit these in. MY OH MY OH MY. They are cute!
They made perfect little gifts for the girls at the office and for my kiddos' stockings.

But before I get to the cakes, remember I promised you a picture of me in feline glasses??? This was taken MANY Yuletides ago. Sometime before the first lunar landing. For you rugrats under 30, you probably have no idea when that was, do you? Hmmm?

I think I was eight years old here. I was very popular due to my cool specs. My brother, he wasn't so cool, due to the scab on the side of his nose. And the way he tried to attack me with an exacto knife while my mom was at the hairdresser getting her hair french twisted. . Or maybe that's leftover breakfast on his face. He was kind of a messy kid. Love ya, Anson.

Christmas of '65, peeps. (Did you get Peeps in your stocking? I did. Personally, I think moose Peeps are sacrilegious.) I know that it was 1965 because my little sister was born December of '64 (oops just spilled the beans on her age - happy 45th kiddo!) and she's still suckin' on a bottle here (and sharing my room, by the way. Shouldn't that be against the law? My mom making me share my 'Crib'with a one year old whose still in her crib?? The injustice, really.) and soon to be stealing all my Barbies, I'm sure.

Sorry. On to the jar cakes :-)

Lisa found these cakes on Angry Chicken. Isn't that just a great name for a blog? Especially considering my affection for chickens. She used Pumpkin Spice cake but I decided to try a different recipe posted here at Eggplant. WARNING: If you are allergic to red dye, don't eat this. Holy crap. There's enough red dye to touch up Lucy's roots, even if she is dead. Really, it called for TWO TABLESPOONS of red food coloring. I used two teaspoons and it was plenty.
I tried both jar prep methods: greasing and flouring and just greasing. Both worked fine and if you plan to eat them in the jar, then no need to worry about sliding them out. Neither stuck.

You can see in the finished product that the greased and floured remains with the white dusting. It looks fine either way. Because its winter, it actually looked snowy with the flour dusting left around the sides. I filled the jars about 1/3 to 1/2 full. It leaves enough headroom for frosting that way.
If you are not going to frost, you can fill 2/3 full, then you can just put the lids on after they come out of the oven to let the moisture build up from the heat inside. You get a moist layer on top which would be wonderful with any chocolate cake recipe. You can use boxed cakes for this too. If you do plan to frost then let cool completely. Frost and then close up. These don't have a shelf life like canning. You must eat these like any other cake. A few days on the counter is fine but then they should go in fridge. It is cream cheese frosting after all.

Aren't they beautiful? And the Red Velvet Cake is so yummy. Red Velvet has cocoa and buttermilk in it and the flavor is very comforting. Like a nice cup of cocoa. Not a heavy chocolate flavor. I used regular unbleached flour but in the future I may use cake flour. These were very dense but held up well to frosting. Be sure to bake at about 325. No higher than 350.

Happy New Year!!

Hawaiian Angel Cake

2009-12-26T05:05:00.003-07:00

Happy Boxing Day! I think today deserves a lighter dish.

Fred's new LOVE.

One box of Angel Food cake mix.
One can crushed pineapple (approx 2 cups)

Mix together and put in 9 x 13 glass pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
DO NOT GREASE PAN. Don't worry, it won't stick.

Serve with LOADS of fresh whipped cream. (I add 1/4 cup powdered sugar to each 1/2 pint of whipping cream, plus 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, Beat on high until stiff.)

WARNING: Do not decide that the batter looks so minimal you could really bake it in a 9 x 9 pan. Your oven will never be the same.

7 Layer Cookie Bars

2009-12-23T07:00:00.005-07:00

Cookies can be so nostalgic. We hand down recipes to new generations and hope like heck they will still make them after we've long since checked in to the Golden Oldies Rest Home. Will someone remember to make Grandma's Double Chocolate Drops or Mom's Pecan Tassies? Will they even know what the heck a Pizzelle is? Will Grandma Berquist's Swedish Christmas Bread be forgotten? I hope not.

I started a recipe journal when I was first married in 1981. I carefully hand wrote the dozen or so special family recipes that my mother, my grandmother and my step-mother cooked for me over the years - the ones that are our family favorites. My mom's meatloaf, my grandmother's 'cut out' cookie dough, my step-mom's blueberry cobbler. That poor little journal still has only those original 12 recipes in the handwriting of my youth. I've moved on to recipe boxes, manilla folders, and BigOven.com to house my hundreds of recipes. But I can't bear to toss that original journal. It turns out that some of those recipes aren't originals. Some are just nostalgic but in my mind they ARE our family recipes (even though you can probably find the same recipes on the backs of various products on the store shelves).

7 Layer Cookie Bars (actually it's more like a candy bar) have been around for years. You can find a similar recipe on the Carnation or Eagle brand condensed milk cans. I've heard these referred to as Magic Cookie Bars and one neighbor said she knows them as Hello Dollies. They are chewy, a little gooey, with a hint of coconut and lots of chocolate and butterscotch flavor. I served them during a rousing Hand and Foot tournament on Friday night.

Well actually Rodney served them. He couldn't wait any longer.

7 Layer Cookies

1 stick of butter melted
1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used the Keebler ready made crumbs, same price and less hassle than making your own)
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces butterscotch chips
6 ounces pecan chips
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 can Eagle or Carnation brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Melt the butter in your 9 x 11 pan. Sprinke crumbs over the butter then mix into butter with fork, making sure its well distributed. Pat down evenly over the bottom of the pan. Sprinke coconut evenly.

Now sprinkle chocolate and butterscotch chips, followed by pecan chips.

Open condensed milk and drizzle a fine stream evenly over it all. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Let cool completely, even refrigerate for cleaner cutting. Cut in squares and then hide them before sweet, little, Rodney figures out where you live.

Italian Pizzelles

2009-12-22T06:03:00.012-07:00

It's that time of year. Time to drive myself crazy looking for the perfect neighbor gift for 12 or so families. It's a Utah tradition, Neighbor Gifts. Most everyone does it. And there is stiff competition afoot. One family dropped off warm bread wrapped in a dish towel and a jar of Lingonberry Jam. Yum! Another brought Hot Cocoa and another Roasted Tomato Soup.

The fun part is trying to think up a cute saying for the tag. Since my gift includes a small bar of artisan soap, our tag reads "We 'Soap' your Christmas is Clean and Bright!" Not too shabby for an amateur.

Okay, on to the cookies.

When I was in my early 20's, I worked at a hair salon doing acrylic nails. Most of the girls that did hair were Italian and I was treated to many tasty dishes from their momma's kitchens. I wanted to be Italian so badly. I loved all their large families, big Christmas eve dinners, with Braciole, pasta and gravy, and delicate pastries and cookies.

One of the cookies I fell in love with were these crispy, licorice tasting cookies called Pizzelles (Pit-zel) made with an iron.

I have two Pizzelle irons. One the traditional waffle style and the other is the beautiful Christmas iron that imprints an image on one side and Merry Christmas in other languages on the other side of the cookie. I try to make these each Christmas and share them with friends and family. The irons are available on Amazon and at Caputo's in downtown SLC. Oh no! Amazon has one that makes Cannoli size waffles. I'm doomed. I'm never gonna get off my Freshman Fifteen. Or my Ben and Jerry's summer binge of 1995. Don't ask.

Hey, if you want to try out a Pizzelle iron before buying, feel free to borrow one of mine. But only if you live close enough to pick it up yourself. I'm done with shipping. I've seen enough Brown Shirts to last until next year's Figgy Pudding.

Remember all the beautiful spices from The Spice House? I used this perty little bottle of Anise Extract in my Pizzelles and they turned out beautifully. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by and have a taste. Buon Natale!

Pizzelles

6 Eggs

2 Sticks Margarine melted (don't use butter or the cookies won't be crisp)

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 Tblsp of Anise or Vanilla Extract

3-1/2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

Beat eggs and sugar until well incorporated. Add cooled, melted margarine and anise or vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Mix flour and baking powder well then mix into egg mixture. The dough will be very sticky like thick cake batter. Heat iron and place 1 to 2 tablespoons of mixture on back half of iron. As you close iron the batter will spread forward. Experiment with cooking times but mine takes about 30 to 60 seconds per pizzelle.

Snowy Meltaways

2009-12-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

This recipe was in my recipe box labeled "Corn Starch Cookies". Not very appetizing, huh? I've renamed them in honor of the TWO FEET of snow that dumped on the east coast this weekend. Stay warm y'all.

Snowy Meltaways

1 Cup Butter (two sticks) don't use margerine
3/4 Cup unsifted Corn Starch
1/3 Cup unsifted Powdered Sugar
1 Cup unsifted unbleached Flour

Using beaters, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add corn starch and powdered sugar. Stir in flour. Chill 4 hours. Roll into 24 balls and press thumb very lightly in top to make small indentation. Bake 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees. Might be less depending on your oven. Make sure they are not browned.

Frosting

3 oz Cream Cheese softened
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Food coloring as desired (I split mine in half after mixing, then 1 drop of green in half and 1 drop red in the other)

Cream and together then frost cooled cookies. Just spread a small dollop on each then refrigerate to set.

Southern Corn Pudding

2009-12-20T17:02:00.001-07:00

Today I have this overwhelming urge to dye my hair blonde, develop a Memphis accent and adopt a 300 pound kid from the projects. Wow. If you haven't seen Blindside with Sandra Bullock, please go. It is the feel good movie of this Christmas season.

Corn Pudding is likely on every Thanksgiving and Christmas table throughout the South. Midwesterners hardly ever heard of it and I've met NO Utahns who've tasted it until I began bringing it with me on Thanksgiving. But everyone seems to love it. Its a great side dish, very moist and buttery with just a touch of sweet.

You make the whole thing in one pan, pop it in the oven for an hour and LAWSY, LAWSY, you have the best dang side dish in all of Tennesee. Did I ever tell you I am half Swedish and half down in the holler, corn mash Tennessean? My Daddy was born in a teeny tiny town called White Bluff. Only one stop light y'all and one gas station, run by Junior Bibb. When my father returned to White Bluff after 20 years, after making his career living up north with all those damn yankees in Chicago, he stopped in Junior Bibb's service station to fill up on gas. After filling the tank, Junior walked over to the car and said, 'No need to pay Mr. Anson, I'll just put that on your account.' He'd been gone for 20 years and his account was still open.

Corn Pudding

1 Box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix (you know, those little blue boxes?)
1 Can Creamed Corn (14 oz)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (14 oz) - DRAINED
1 Stick melted butter
2 Eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 Tblsp sugar (can be omitted)

Melt butter in 9 x 9 pan. Add rest of ingredients. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees until brown.

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I am also including a recipe to make it from scratch (this is a bit larger so use 9 x 13 pan), still 350 degrees for 1 hour.

2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Cornmeal
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
3 Tsp Baking Powder

Mix dry ingredients then add to:

2 stick melted butter
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Note: I will be posting a recipe each day this week. Y'all come back now, ya hear!!

Spooky Spiders

2009-11-23T14:11:00.017-07:00

How to UNINTENTIONALLY Scare the

Heck Out of Your 25 Year-old Son

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Mom

Subject: package

To: Doug

Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 11:33 PM

Doug, I forgot to tell you today that there is a small package coming tomorrow for you. Be careful of the spider and the toothpicks - that's all I'm gonna say about that. LOL.

Enjoy.

From: Doug
Subject: Re: package

To: Mom

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 1:30 AM

MOM, I'm just gonna throw out the box. I don't want a spider to jump in my face. You better not have mailed me a spider. I will freak! - Doug

From: Doug
Subject: Re: package
To: Mom
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 3:14 PM

Hi Mom. I got the package. Thank you for the krispie eyeballs and spider. They will be delicious. You should've seen me try to open the box. I was scared you actually put a real spider in the box. I slowly opened each flap of the box and I had a can of Raid next to me. Good job on creeping me out Mom.

- dougie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, you know your kid is watching too many late-night scary movies when he assumes his own mother is sending him spiders via UPS.

Was he imagining I had impaled them alive on toothpicks and mounted them to foam boards? Then wrung my hands in glee just before I sealed the box and handed it off to the hunky driver wearing brown? Arachnophobia anyone? (In all fairness, he did have a scary encounter with a pretty good sized spider in my family room.)

I was telling my co-worker about Doug's assumption of what I sent him as a Halloween treat. She owns two Tarantulas and thought it was a MARVELOUS idea to send Doug the shell from her little baby the next time it molts.

That's awful. I could NEVER do that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Doug,

Don't watch this movie after 9pm.

Signed,

Your Mother

Apples, Grapes and Paint

2009-11-21T11:02:00.011-07:00

What do 3 gallons of paint, 80 pounds of apples, and 4 bushels of grapes have in common? They are just the latest in a long list of projects that stem from an obsessive/compulsive personality disorder I've been living with since buying my first issue of Martha Stewart.

WHY do I feel a need to start horrendous projects that cover every surface in my kitchen and cause Fred to hide in the garage playing with ropes? Seriously, isn't one gallon of applesauce enough? Five gallons of grape juice? OF COURSE NOT. There are apples and grapes rotting on trees and vines within a 10 mile radius of my kitchen. They must not be wasted. Save me.

This is how sick I am. Even though I couldn't stand bottling one more half gallon of grape juice, those blasted grapes hanging on the vine over in 'lil old Margaret Beecher's yard were only going to be good for another week. And then they'd be gone. Until next year. And OH MY HECK I may not have canned enough. So I picked 'em. Then I de-stemmed 'em. And I FROZE them, cause you never know if maybe we'll need another SEVENTY gallons of grape juice during the long, hard, Utah winter.

Speaking of winter. It's been a long, LONG, disputed goal of Fred's to put in new windows. Disputed, my friends, because my very illogical, female, reasoning says that the $5000 spent on new windows (that will save, oh, maybe $200 per winter) translates into 25 YEARS before we break even. But, hey, whatever stills the waters.

Turns out, that in order to put in new windows, we had to rip off all the exterior window trim. This turned into weeks and weeks of trying to find someone who was creative enough to put it back. To save a little money, I volunteered to paint all the new wood trim. I JUST LOVE to paint. No, really. And I have nothing else to do.

Uhh, but it turns out you can't paint when the temperature is below 50. Well that's a problem since all our delaying to find the right carpenter put us into early November. We lucked out, though, with TWO, count 'em, TWO days to get 200 feet of window trim painted. No problem. I'm the queen of bite off more than I can chew.

But I did it! It's beautiful and the best part? I got to paint the front door orange!! (You can send your condolences to Fred Schubert, Sandy, Utah.)

Oh, and in an effort not to be idle for a spare minute, I ALSO decided that I needed to make these adorable Rice Krispie spiders for my niece and nephew for Halloween. There's a great story that goes with this particular project. I'll save that for my next post. In the meantime, if you are ever plagued with 80 pounds of apples, here's how you can turn it into 10 gallons of applesauce:

Gatorgirl's Southern Applesauce

(thanks to Lynne W., my personal librarian)

Use enough apples to fill a large non-stick pot.

Jonathon, Gala, Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious or a combo of any sweet apples.

Wash, core and quarter. Leave skins on for flavor.

As you cut them, drop them in 2 quarts of water with 2 Tblsp of lemon juice.

This will keep them from turning brown.

Once all are cored and cut, drain off water.

Put them in pot, with 1/4 cup of sugar on top plus two or three cinnamon sticks (if you like cinnamon)

Turn heat on med-high and cover. Leave the sugar on top of apples so it doesn't scorch on bottom. Once the lid is too hot to touch (about 15 min) turn heat down to med-low, stir apples, and let cook for 45 min. Stir occasionally.

Turn pot off, leaving lid on. Let cool. Mash the apples down and hand pick out the peels. Makes great chunky applesauce!

Maultaschen (Mouth Pockets)

2009-11-14T12:26:00.020-07:00

(A happy American dumpling)

80 pounds of apples

30 pounds of grapes

3 gallons of paint

Those are my excuses

But I'm back

It is snowing and it's cold.

I am staying inside today but Fred is going hiking. In the snow. Brrr.

I'm SO not ready for winter. It was just 70 degrees on Wednesday. But it IS a great day to try out Grandma Schubert's Maultaschen recipe. It's Schwabish you know. So Fred has Schwabian blood in his veins? That explains many, many things.

Fred has very fond memories of visiting his grandmother in Poughkeepsie (puh-kip-see), New York. He watched her make Maultaschen as well as Spaetzle, German-style potato salad, and Sauerbraten. Fred's been anticipating eating Maultaschen ever since the recipe arrived from his Dad. It was a bit hard to decipher but I think I got it right. I love that this was typed by Frieda and has her handwriting in the margins. You can almost hear her accent. Although her recipe calls for making her own dough, I decided to try a short cut to save some time. Fred says its passable but we will be making this another time and rolling the dough ourselves. I will add the dough recipe at the end of my post if you have the time to make it. NOTE: We rolled our own dough on Sunday. Make the effort. It make a big difference in the taste.

1 box frozen spinach thawed

1 large yellow onion

3 Tblsp butter

7 slices old bread
3 lbs good ground beef

2 eggs

salt and pepper

2 packages wonton wrappers

(makes enough to feed a Schwabian platoon AND the Shoell Family - cut in half for a normal family)

Chop the spinach and onion in a food processor.

Pulse until just chopped, NOT creamy.

Melt the butter in med hot pan. Saute the spinach and onion for 5 minutes. Put two slices of semi stale bread in processor and pulse. Soak the remaining 5 slices of bread in water. Actually just run it under the faucet quickly then squeeze the water out as best you can.

Put the spinach mixture, chopped bread and wet bread in a bowl. Add the burger, eggs, salt and pepper. I used 2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp pepper. Then I used my hands to mix it well. Really get everything squished together.

Instead of making my own dough this time, I decided to use wonton wrappers. Lay out the wrappers on a dry board, then put about 1 tablespoon of the mixture in the center and spread a bit but don't get close to the edges or it won't seal well. Use a brush or your finger to spread a little water around the edges then cover with another wrapper and press edges together. They seal easily.

I boiled about 6 cups of water for 25 or so dumplings. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to water. Once at a good boil, add dumplings and bring temp down so its at a simmer (don't want to tear the dumplings up in a rolling boil.) Cook for 15 minutes, ladle out dumplings with some of the broth and salt to taste. I would recommend adding a bit of beef bouillon in place of one of the tsp of salt for more flavor, but salt and pepper to taste.

Nudel Dow (Noodle Dough)

(cut in half if you halved the filling recipe)

8 cups flour through sieve

8 eggs

2 Tblsp salt

Enough water to hold together (start with 4 Tblsp and add as you need)

Keep hands floured while mixing (yes with your hands). This is a stiff dough, you will need to work it for about 30 minutes. Keep flouring your hands so it doesnt stick.

I suggest rolling this out with a pasta machine working up to the number 6 setting. If not, roll out portions until it is very, very thin. Cut strips 5 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. Put a tablespoon of mixture in center of one end, spread a bit with a fork, then fold over and seal.

Gute Nacht - Mahlzeit!

Lone Star FISH Tacos

2009-09-02T20:36:00.007-06:00

I can just bet that most of my Midwestern friends are covering their eyes and sticking their fingers in their ears screaming, CRIPES SAKE, why would you put fish in a taco?! EH DERE, what's wrong with hamburger and Lawry's taco seasoning?

When I first moved to Utah, someone mentioned that the best fish tacos were served at a crazy looking joint on Fort Union, called Lone Star. I gasped. Why would anyone think it was a good idea to put fish in a taco. It was the most foreign concept I'd heard. Well Frog Eye Salad probably tops fish tacos but I'll leave that recipe for another day. A very distant day. Shudder. Sorry Utah.

But I continued to hear about fish tacos everywhere they served Mexican food, so I asked around. How did Utahns come to put fish in their tacos? The answer is simple really. Being on the left coast of the country, the Mexicans who migrated up North were mostly from the coastline of Mexico, not from the central area that fed immigrants into the Midwest. And being on the coast, naturally they used a lot of fish in their dishes.

So I made my first trip to Lone Star and fell in love with the limey, smokey tacos covered with coleslaw and a touch of lime dressing, served in a white corn tortilla. Light and refreshing. And their 'taco stand' is very cool including a broken down station wagon and old cowboy boots nailed to the fence posts.

The fish tacos were not difficult to recreate. I came up with a very simple version of their dressing, added a bit of jalapeno jack cheese, some tomatoes from my garden and hey, muy bueno, mi amigos. I think I could even talk some Wisconsites into trying one.

Chipotle Lime Dressing

1/4 cup Green Goddess Dressing
1 Tbsp fresh Lime Juice
A couple dashes of Spice House Chipotle Pepper (or ground red pepper
1/8 Tsp Spice House Sweet Ancho Chile (your store brand of chile powder

Taco Ingredients

Salmon (or other grilled fish) -marinated for 15 min in 2 Tbs veg oil and 2 Tbs lime juice and rubbed with Spice House Sweet Ancho Chile powder
White Corn Tortillas
Diced Tomatoes
Jack or Jalepeno cheese, shredded
Shredded cabbage (I bought a bag of cole slaw cabbage, already shredded)

To put together the tacos, you can brush a small about of oil on the tortillas and quickly heat them in a hot skillet, or microwave them for 15 seconds which will warm them nicely without the oil.

Load them with just a small handful of cabbage, then add a few small pieces of fish, tomatoes, cheese and drizzle with the Chipotle Lime Dressing. When it comes to tacos its always better to load less ingredients than to have everything fall out on the first bite.

Tuna with Grilled Watermelon

2009-08-18T18:16:00.003-06:00

The lazy days of summer are here. I can't get motivated to do much more than the minimal cooking - rather, we've been grabbing bagged salads and adding tomatoes from my garden and sometimes resorting to cold cereal for dinner.

In fact this meal was from two weekends ago when I still had some gas in my motor. That's how little I've cooked lately.

Yawn. Stretch. Sigh. Is it Autumn yet?

So, a simple meal: Buy a couple tuna steaks, marinade them for 10 minutes in a mixture of 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 3 tablespoons olive oil (never marinate seafood longer than 20 minutes or the vinegar part of your marinade will precook it). Then sear them on a very hot grill for 3 minutes on each side (more if you don't like raw, less if you do).

Cut some thick slices of watermelon, spray or brush with olive oil, then grill for 2 min on each side and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. That vinegar is a beautiful accent to the sweetness of the watermelon.

Make a small salad with your favorite vinegarette and enjoy a warm summer evening before they are a memory.

A Trio of Pesto

2009-07-31T13:30:00.008-06:00

Fred is headed south this weekend to hike through miles and miles of watery canyons in the Subway (click on the link for photos) at Zion National Park. Fourteen miles of fantastic scenery and pruney skin. FUN.

While he's gone, I'm headed to the Uinta Mountains to hike the Wall Lake Trail with some friends. Then, I will kick back the rest of the weekend and enjoy my time alone and eat pesto. Pesto is my new favorite topping for EVERYTHING. I like it on bread. I like it on pasta. I like it on veggies and pita and salad. I like it in the house. I like it with a mouse. I like it here, there and everywhere. I would even like it on green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am. Well maybe not on green eggs and ham. The colors could be overwhelming.

Nevermind.

Anyway, remember the pesto recipes I promised to re-create? I think I've done it. Lemon Artichoke, Pistachio Basil, and Sun Dried Tomato. All three are mouth-watering. Note: they all taste better after being in the fridge overnight. But let them warm up a bit before serving. Nothing worse than ice cold pesto.

Artichoke Lemon Pesto with Parmesan

2 Cans Artichokes (14 oz cans packed in water) drain well
1/2 Cup raw Pine Nuts
2 to 3 Tblsp Lemon juice (start with 2, add the other if you REALLY like lemon)
1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 Tsp sea salt or to taste
A dash or two of Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

In a food processor, pulse the artichokes (drained!!) with the pine nuts until well chopped. About 15 to 30 seconds. Add Parmesan, lemon, oil and salt. Pulse a few more seconds. Don't over process!! Remove from processor and mix in the dash or two of cayenne. Vegans can skip the cheese and it will not affect the recipe. If your pesto seems too thick, add a small amount of oil until it loosens up.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

1 Jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes packed in oil (julienned, whole, or chopped is fine)
1/2 Cup cooked carrots (you can used canned)
1 Small yellow onion, coarsely chopped and sauteed in 2 Tblsp oil until they are turning clear, then cooled
2 Large garlic cloves (or 3 if you really like garlic)
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tblsp Lemon juice
1/3 Cup basil packed down or 1 cup loose (basically a handfull)
1/4 Tsp sea salt
2 small Roma or plum tomatoes, cut in quarters
Dash of Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

Saute the onion until slightly soft. Don't cook down too much. Let cool slightly. In a food processor, pulse the sun dried tomatoes (including oil in jar), carrots, onions, basil and garlic for about 15 seconds. Add oil and lemon. Pulse a few more seconds until combine but not over processed. Cut the stem end off your plum tomatoes, cut in quarters and add to the processor. Pulse just 2 or 3 seconds until the tomatoes break up. Again, don't over process. Remove and mix in salt and your dash of red pepper. (makes about 2 cups)

Pistachio Basil Pesto

1/3 Cup roasted pistachios (shelled)
3 Large garlic cloves (or more!)
8 Cups loose basil (rinsed)
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Add salt to taste if pistachios are unsalted

In a food processor, pulse the pistachio nuts and garlic about 10 seconds. Add basil leaves 2 cups at a time and pulse about 5 seconds after each batch. Then scrape sides and grind some more. You want the basil to be chopped very fine but DO NOT add any liquid yet. Once you feel the basil is fine enough, remove this mixture and hand mix in the oil, lemon and parmesan. You may need to add more oil if the consistency is too stiff. You want the oil to seep away from the basil a bit at room temperature. This is supposed to be oily! Add salt to taste. Again, Vegans can skip the cheese. The recipe will be fine without it.

A Fish Story

2009-07-22T22:27:00.009-06:00

Lauren and I had our 2nd Annual Mother/Daughter Lunch in the mountains above Deer Valley Ski Resort. It's our new tradition and a real treat. The area is beautiful and the 10 minute lift ride up to the restaurant is relaxing with great views of Park City and the surrounding mountains. Relaxing if you don't think about the fact that you're hanging from a wire 100 feet off the ground.

The Royal Street Cafe has a beautiful, shady porch and award winning cuisine with items such as Sauteed Prawns with Basil Pappardelle and Shrimp and Lobster Margarita. The temperature there is usually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than in the valley where we live. On this day it was 80, while the valley was roaring up to 95 degrees. We were certainly glad to escape the heat.

We asked for a table on the porch which gave us great views of the mountains as well as the mountain bikers descending after riding the lift even higher with their bikes in tow.

As we were waiting for our table, I saw a plate pass by that looked wonderful. It appeared to have avocado and maybe something pink, like shrimp or crab with sauces drizzled on the side. So I stopped a waiter to inquire. He told me it was the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare. Hmm. Well, tartare usually implies the tuna would be raw. But I didn't see anything that looked very raw on that plate. Maybe, like sushi, the raw part was small and not that noticeable amongst all the other ingredients.

So we sat and ordered refreshments. Fresh Cherry Lemonade for me and Arnold Palmer fruit tea for Lauren.

Our waiter came around and I ordered the Tuna Tartare and Lauren ordered a salad with her favorite side dish, Parmesan Fries. A must-have when you are dining at an award winning restaurant on the top of a mountain.

Our plates arrived and my waiter said "Here's your tuna."

Huh?

I said, "Noooo, no, no that's not the Tuna Tartar." My waiter said, "Yes Ma'am, that's the tuna." Hmmm. "Well what's that pretty dish over there with all the avocado and tomato? That's what I thought I was ordering."

"Oh, well, that's the Dungeness Crab Tower."

Uh oh.

I'm a pretty adventurous eater but I have to tell you that all that wiggling, jiggling, raw fish flesh about did me in. It was mixed with small amounts of chopped egg, beets, cucumber, onion and lemon. It was served with herbed toasts points drizzled with lime-caper aioli. But that didn't help. It was still a large wiggly mass of raw fish.

I wasn't sure what to do. My waiter offered to take it back and replace it with the Crab Tower but I felt really wasteful doing that. And besides, Demi Moore eats fish raw.

So I got brave. I would take one bite and if it was awful, I'd send it back. After all, I've eaten sushi. I surely could force myself to choke down at least one mouthful. So I held my breath and took a bite.

OH MY GOODNESS. What a surprise. It was awesome. My brain was completely confused. My eyes were sending one message while my taste buds were sending another. It was so lemony and limey and just plain good. Even the French Fry Lady tried some and liked it. VERY, VERY, good.

So look for a really great recipe with RAW TUNA coming to this blog soon. Yep.

We finished our meal with the dessert special of the day. Green Tea and Cherry Ice Cream on Shortbread. Ah, something safe! It was wonderful.

I ate every bite, even the Orchid flower. Next year it will be a very hard choice between the tuna and crab. Maybe I should just go with something safe like the Eel Tacos.

Sauteed Mushrooms with Sea Green Beans PLUS Farmer's Market Finds

2009-07-15T23:12:00.007-06:00

My daughter goes back to Chicago this week after a beautiful six days of lunching, shopping and restyling my hair which was desperately needed.

Two little known facts about me - I hate shopping and I hate letting anyone cut my hair. Too many traumatic 'doos' in the past, I guess. Shopping is also torture, with two exceptions.

1. The Downtown Farmers Market and
2. Shopping with Lauren

Combine the two and I spend WAY too much money. Lauren is the Queen of Glam. She's REALLY good at the 'girlie' stuff (I'm not). So our Farmer's Market trip sort of ended up in a load of girlie purchases as she kept pointing out all these great bargains that I've overlooked in the past.

This is Lauren's idea of a great trip to the Farmer's Market.

This is mine! Onions, chard, pesto, honey.

I have to admit, this was a really cute bracelet at a bargain price of $10 - made by a really cute couple from Hawaii.

Aren't these great! Love the red and bone together. Fred has nicknamed them the 'poker chip' earrings. Also a $10 steal.

This beautiful bouquet came from a flower vendor. Also $10. Fabulous.

There was a little old man at the market selling his honeycomb. I didn't really need this but I kind of felt sorry for him. Any ideas of what I can do with this?

The pestos available at the market are wonderful! I am working on recipes to recreate these so you can make them at home.

We bought some crusty bread and topped with all three of these beautiful pestos for our lunch when we arrived home.

I also bought 1/2 pound of Shitake mushrooms and some NY strip for dinner. The mushroom man threw in some of these Sea Green Beans which add great flavor to salad or other veggie dishes.

I sauteed the mushrooms in a small amount of butter, about 2 Tbls, adding the sea beans. No salt needed. The sea beans do the trick. I served this with some grass fed NY strip and potatoes au gratin.

And finally, thanks to Lauren for my new 'doo'. She's finishing cosmetology school this fall and she showed enormous patience while I worried myself silly with each snip snip of the shears. I'm gonna miss my fashion coordinator and hair stylist something awful.

Tuscan Polenta

2009-07-08T20:10:00.004-06:00

Fred has been exercising like a fiend lately. He hiked to the top of Pheifferhorn on Saturday (which to his delight included using his ice axe). The hike took 9 hours to complete and included sliding down a snow field in his shorts. Wednesday he rode his bike many miles UP the 9% grade Little Cottonwood Canyon and then last night he climbed ropes for 4 hours on the granite cliffs near our home. Let's just say his appetite is hearty! This Tuscan Polenta recipe is one of his favorites and even though its more of a cold weather dish I thought I'd make it for him this week.

I start by browning one pound of Harmon's sweet Italian sausage with one medium chopped onion. We have tried a few different sausages in this dish and Harmon's is THE BEST. It may be that they have left out the stronger fennel taste or maybe the red pepper but all I know is we won't use anything else. But I am sure you will be happy with your favorite sausage in this recipe.

I then add one can cannellini beans and one can diced tomatoes. Be sure to rinse the beans. I like the SW brand tomatoes because there is less liquid than other brands I've tried. If you open your tomatoes and it looks too watery, just pour a little out. You will need some though to create a saucy consistency. Heat this all up on medium heat, cooking without a cover until you get a good consistency. Not too watery, not too dry. Is that too vague? (BTW, Fred and I like more beans and tomato so we add an extra can of each. But I drain off the liquid from the second can of tomato)

Next is the polenta. This recipe uses tube polenta. You may have to shop around a bit for this but should be available in the larger grocery stores near the other Italian foods. Split the wrapper down the middle and take off. Cut your slices about 1/3 inch thick (I get 12 to 15 slices), spray or brush olive oil or Pam on each side and grill for 5 minutes on each side.

Place 4 to 6 polenta rounds on each plate and top with your sausage mixture. I add a bit of fresh basil, basil oil or pesto on the side for flavor. Or you can mix it straight in to the sauce. Top wtih shredded parmesan.

Tuscan Polenta

1 pound Italian Sausage
1 Medium yellow onion, chopped
1 -14 oz can Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
1- 14 oz can dice tomatoes
(salt to taste)

1 tube Polenta
Olive oil
Shredded Parmesan

Brown sausage and onions until sausage is slightly pink. Add tomatoe and beans, making sure to rinse off beans. Cook about 10 minutes on medium high heat or until sausage is done and sauce is
reduced a bit.

Slice polenta in 1/3 inch rounds and spray or brush with olive oil. Grill for 5 min on each side. Place polenta slices on plate and ladle sausage mixture on top. Top with basil or a bit of pesto if you have it as well as parmesan.

A Spicy Contest

2009-07-08T09:30:00.006-06:00

Well, we did it the old fashioned way. I had my daughter pull the winners from a hat!

And the winners are: Peggy and Stephanie - Congrats!! I will be in contact with the details on your certificate.

In honor of my daughter, Lauren, arriving to spend a week with me and because it's really heating up in SLC this week, I am THRILLED to announce my very first contest on TheMorsel.

After posting the Spice House entry on Monday, I sent an email to Patty and Tom Erd, who own The Spice House, letting them know I featured them. I received a wonderful response and the offer of two (2) $30 gift certificates to give away to my readers! Here's a little excerpt from The Spice House site about Patty and Tom.

Owners of The Spice House, Tom and Patty Erd, are second generation spice merchants. Their business was founded by Patty's parents, Ruth and Bill Penzey, Sr. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1957. Patty grew up working in the shop. (To Patty, as a child, it seemed a pretty torturous way to earn an allowance but Patty's perception has vastly changed about the business since she became an owner!) The Penzeys sold the business to their firstborn child and son-in-law in 1992 as they looked toward retirement. The credit for the creation of The Spice House, its principals, and its dedication to quality goes wholeheartedly to Bill and Ruth Penzey. As is normal in the next generation taking over, Patty and Tom wanted to take the company a bit further, honor the dedication to its principles, but put some of their mark on the company.

Patty and Tom opened the second Spice House in Evanston, Illinois in 1997, close enough to home and parental business consulting to be comfortable, yet far enough to feel it was their own adventure. The opening of the shop in Evanston had really nice coverage by both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times. Wonderful things happened in this new venture, culminating with the Evanston Small Business of the Year award in the year 2000 and a really nice morning segment on FOX news. The business continued to grow. Patty and Tom became members of wonderful organizations involved in the culinary arts, and participated in many programs combining restaurateurs and chefs with educational spice programs. They spoke for the Culinary Historians of Chicago, Slow Food, Les Dames d’Escoffier, and were selected by the American Institute of Food and Wine as participants in the Best of the Midwest Festival. They were on the circuit tour as educators for the AIWF, although their daily duties as shopkeepers limited them to mostly events in the Midwest. They lectured regularly at Kendall Culinary College in Evanston. Alton Brown taped a segment in the Evanston shop, he began at 7am and was dragged out by his cameramen at 7pm only because they were from Atlanta and their baseball team was playing in the World Series that night. The “fruitcake” episode on Alton Brown’s Good Eats show has now aired five years in a row at Christmas time.

The real Chicago store that Patty and Tom had dreamed about for many years while they operated only the Milwaukee shop opened in 2001. More wonderful things continued to happen. Now they fell into Mayor Daley’s “made in Chicago” category. (The mayor LOVES things made in Chicago) The Ethnic Chicago line of seasonings they created to reflect the background and favorite flavors of various immigrant groups brought from the homeland as they joined the “melting pot” of Chicago received a little more attention. (These were developed in Evanston, but Chicago does not count Evanston in the “made in Chicago” category) Tom and Patty were invited to speak at a fancy surprise birthday party for Hizzoner where some of the most famous Chicago chefs prepared food with these same ethnic blends. The special guest that dropped by at the end of the meal was none other than then President Bill Clinton who shook all of our hands at the chef table.

In 2002, Tom and Patty won the prestigious Good Eating award from The Chicago Tribune food section. Patty and Tom continue to have wonderful educational lecturing opportunities including the Newberry Library, the DePaul Geographical Society and the now nearby Cordon Bleu affiliated culinary college CHIC. They had radio interviews with WGN’s Dean Richards and Rick Kogan. They did several really nice interviews with Michele Norris on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Patty was featured as the spice expert on the new PBS show, Real Simple. Patty also served as a spice expert at the most recent IACP conference in Chicago. She sat on a panel with Madhur Jaffrey, Jill Norman and Nina Simmonds, some of the top spice experts in the world! Tom was on Channel 2's Table for Two this November as a salt expert.

Thank you so much, Patty and Tom. And without further adieu, today I will be giving away two $30 gift certificates. All you need to do is go to The Spice House site, look at the variety of spices and leave a comment on TheMorsel telling me which spice(s) you would love to try and what you would create. Deadline for entries will be 7pm Mountain time (8pm Central) today, Wednesday July 8th. To make this fair, I will randomly draw two names and announce the winners tomorrow morning. Each winner will receive one $30 gift certificate.

Thanks for reading! Good Luck!

The Spice House

2009-07-06T06:50:00.002-06:00

Remember that little box that arrived on my front porch a few days ago? Remember I told you it held some tastes of Chicago? Remember my chicken obsession? It may be over. For now.

(Not really)

I was looking for a recipe to jazz up some salmon and halibut and happened upon a site called The Spice House that sort of flipped my switch. The more I read the more I wanted. I was all settled on just buying a few jars to replace some very old spice jars in my cabinet. But then it turned out shipping started at $12. It made no sense whatsoever to buy $12 worth of spices and then pay $12 for shipping. So I said to myself, well hey, I might as well get everything I was planning to buy over the next year in one fell swoop. So TA DA! Wow! And they are beautiful, sleek and so Chicago-esque. And, hey, those of you in Chicago and Milwaukee can actually drive to one of their four stores. How cool is that?

So let's take a tour. I love the name of this one and the color. I'll be using Lake Shore Drive to make Halibut or Lake Shore Drive Grilled Potatoes.

I am really excited about this one. Gateway To The North Maple Sugar Seasoning. Isn't that an awesome name? This is great for salmon or homemade bbq sauce. The Spice House has a recipe for Northern Nuts. That would make a great neighbor gift. It could be a great seasoning for fish or pork as well.

Salmon Seasoning stands up to the stronger taste of Salmon. Ingredients are salt, sesame seeds, dill seed, black, white, and green pepper, garlic, lemon peel, mustard seed, onion, caraway, rosemary, dill weed, and cayenne.

Smoked Spanish Paprika can be used as a marinade for grilled salmon. I can use this for Paprikash too.

And this, this is true cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is lighter, more delicate than the cinnamon we know called Cassia. I am so excited to try this in rice pudding, and blended in whipped cream as a topping for pie.

I bought two kinds of cocoa. One is dutched and one is natural. The natural is used in baking, is stronger flavored. The dutched is processed and takes some of the bitterness out and is used for dusting on whipped cream and to make hot cocoa. Coming soon, a lucious chocolate cake recipe. There is also The Spice House's Freedom From Tranquility Hot Cocoa recipe.

This Chicago Old Town Spiced Sugar is also used for sprinkling on toast or in coffee and tea. It would make a great topping for sugar cookies.

Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract, Anise and Almond Extracts. I will use these in my Italian Pizzelle and Swedish cookie recipes. I've got to make this Almond Milk recipe.

Thanks for taking the tour!

4th of July Trifle

2009-06-30T22:28:00.001-06:00

Note: The recipe follows after a really long chicken discussion (grin).

Ha. Fred thinks he’s so clever. The Urban Chicken discussion is not over! Our neighbor Karen was walking her cute little Bichon, Penny, in our circle on Sunday afternoon, so we popped out of the house to chat for a few minutes. I was busy Sunday afternoon creating this lovely trifle and Fred was tying his 185th Prusik knot of the day (Fred’s new hobby is hanging off granite cliffs in Little Cottonwood Canyon.)

So anyway, I was standing on the sidewalk telling Karen about my blog when Fred pipes up from the cement stoop. ‘Tell her about your crazy idea to have chickens in the backyard!’

I cringed. Karen was probably the last person I wanted to know I was entertaining the idea of chickens in the backyard. After all, she seems so chic and sophisticated. And we live in a nice country club neighborhood. But, most important? HER HUSBAND IS THE FORMER MAYOR. I'm sure chickens in this neighborhood would violate several dozen ordinances.

Karen looks at me, looks at Fred, looks back at me, takes a deep breathe and yells ‘DO IT!!!’

Fred turned every shade of purple, pointed his finger at her and said 'HEY, YOU'RE NOT HELPING! I looked at her dumbfounded. She said 'Yes, do it. There's another woman just down the street who has chickens. It's a great idea!' .... Oh, really? NICE.

Fred immediately threw her off our land, warning her to never darken our doorstep again. Ha, ha, ha. Check. One more vote for the crazy Chicken Lady.

Karen and Penny went home but I decided that it would be a GREAT idea to invite her and Steve over to try the trifle later that night. I was dying to ask more questions about the woman down the street. Five minutes after they walked through the door Karen says 'Hey, Honey, Liz wants to have chickens. Isn't that a great idea?' He didn't bat an eye. He told me 'Yes, you can do that. We passed that ordinance 15 years ago.' BINGO!!

Poor Fred. He's doomed. I think I better hide all the ropes.

---------------------------------------------------------------

4th of July Trifle

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 store-bought pound cake (12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
1 bar (8 ounces) Neufatel cheese, room temperature (or light cream cheese)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream (the unwhipped liquid in the case near half n half)
3 cups fresh blueberries (three 1/2-pint containers), rinsed and dried (I didn't have fresh so used frozen, thawed and drain juice)
3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced and tossed in 3 Tbs sugar

In a small saucepan, bring 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool completely, then brush over both sides of cake slices. Quarter each slice. Try to use up all the liquid. The pound cake can take it. It helps with the overall flavor of the final product.

With an electric mixer, beat the Neufatel with remaining 1/3 cup sugar on high speed until lightened. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add heavy cream in a steady stream; continue beating until mixture is light and airy (mixture will be like a very soft whipped cream).

Arrange half the cake pieces in the bottom of a 2-quart serving dish. Spoon half the cream-cheese mixture over cake in dollops; spread to sides of dish. Scatter the blueberries on top. Repeat layering with remaining cake, cream-cheese mixture, and strawberries on top. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Dreaming of Chicken (Coops)

2009-06-28T11:55:00.012-06:00

It's been an exhausting week. I have so much to tell you. Thanks for hanging in there while I was off galavanting. I'm planning some delicious fare this week that includes the use of my new grill, beautiful berries and lucious chocolate. Please stay tuned, but right now I need your help. I've fallen in love. Goofy in love. With chickens. Or with the idea of having chickens. Rhode Island Reds. Cochins, Brahmas, Ameraucanas, Crested Polish, I love them all!

I attended a seminar last week which has kindled my inner farmer and now I can't think of anything but chickens. And eggs. Blue, tan, ivory, white, and green eggs. It was a fantastic course explaining all the things you need to know to have 3 or 4 or 20 chickens in your back yard. I sat there with an ear to ear grin. Hey, I only want 3 - that shouldn't cause too much of a stir in the neighborhood, should it?

But here's where I need your help. When I called Fred after the seminar, he answered the phone like this: 'Hi Hun, if you bring home any chickens, I'm going to divorce you.'

Well. Gee. There goes my little dream of collecting fresh eggs every morning. Chicken lovers unite! Call Fred right now and cast your vote.

I also met up with my friend Lacey at the Downtown Farmers Market. But, uh oh, what's that a photo of? I guess I'll be saying goodbye to an old friend in my cup cabinet. Fred's rules about my little obsession till applies.

There are all sorts of wonderful vendors at the market. Dolcetti Gelato is one of my favorites. Lacey hadn't tried it before. We shared a cup, choosing pistachio and fresh banana. Wow. Really, really good choices. She's hooked. On the gelato and the farmers market. Sorry Jeff. I'll return her at the end of the summer.

We also shared a delish pesto, veggie sandwich. I bought a jar of this fresh pesto so I can make this for Fred at home. A grilled piece of whole wheat breaded spread with pesto, then covered with sauteed zucchini and onions, fresh roma tomatoes and sprouts. Heeeaaalllthy!

And finally, I can't wait to share this with you. What's in this box? A little taste of Chicago!

Stay tuned.

Summer Corn Saute

2009-06-18T23:12:00.009-06:00

Oh my heck. (Janai, put your hands over your ears) I've fallen off the wagon twice this week. Steak last night and filet mignon at Grand America for lunch today. What is wrong with me?

I AM A VEGETARIAN. Really.

Oh, all right, let's just go with it. So what goes better with steak than corn! The perfect summer duet.

This recipe really belongs to Martha but we won't tell her. The ideal side dish for your summer dinner and extremely easy. Who needs to fuss with all that boiling water and messy butter anyway.

Corn and Zucchini Saute

4 thin green or yellow zucchini squash, halved and then sliced thin
4 - 5 ears of yellow or white corn, raw, cut off the cob
3 Tbs olive oil
coarse salt and pepper to taste
Several large leaves of fresh basil
1 Tbs of white wine vinegar

Heat oil in large skillet, add squash and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add corn, coarse salt and pepper and continue to saute for another 3 minutes or until corn is getting tender. Take off heat, add wine vinegar and torn basil leaves, then stir. Done. Simple. Easy. Corn. Yum.

Orange Tortilla Soup

2009-06-10T13:20:00.001-06:00

It still refuses to warm up here in Northern Utah. Normally, we hit the mid 90's by this time, but the last week has been rainy and grey with lows of 50. Reminds me of Chicago. In October. And November. And March. And almost every other month of the year. Our guests, Ron and Elaine, actually said it was warmer here than back home. They must be lying. This gloom was actually welcome for a few days, but I'm done now. Rain, rain, go away.

To warm up our bones, I made the ever popular Orange Tortilla Soup for our guests on Sunday. This recipe comes from our ever popular neighbor Laura M. Hopefully, I'm still popular with her after I share her recipe with the internet. Love ya, Laura~

Ingredients:

1 Medium yellow onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
4 Celery stalks sliced
3 Tbs vegetable oil
2-1/2 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
1-1/2 Cups orange juice
1-1/2 Cups tomato sauce (14 oz can is fine)
1 Cup water
1 (4 oz) Can green chilies chopped
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
3 - 4 Carrots sliced
3 or 4 Chicken breasts
Pepper Jack cheese grated
Tortilla chips

Chop your celery and onions. Mince garlic and slice carrots. Do yourself a favor and buy pre chopped chiles. I bought the whole so I had to chop.

Saute onion, garlic and celery in 3 Tbs of vegetable oil.

Stir in broth, OJ, tomato sauce, chilies, cilantro and carrots. Simmer until carrots are tender.

Cut or shred your chicken into bite size chunks and add to your soup. Cook another 5 minutes or so and its ready. Just make sure your carrots are tender.

Serve by placing tortilla chips (crunched or not) at the bottom of your soup bowl, ladle soup over and top with shredded jack cheese.

Huevos Rancheros Mi Amigos

2009-06-06T14:51:00.004-06:00

My second cousin, 27 times removed, and his wife are in town this weekend. Besides driving them crazy with my incessant worries about them getting lost in their rental car, I let them buy me breakfast at my favorite breakfast spot. Located 10 miles up a beautiful canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, Silver Fork Lodge has beautiful views, loads of hummingbirds and great food. Ron ordered the famous oatmeal; Elaine and I split Huevos Rancheros and a beautiful fruit platter. Strawberries, kiwi, canteloupe, blueberries and grapes.

Since Fred didn't go with us, I decided to make my own Rancheros last night for dinner! I pan toasted a flour tortilla, topped it with warm, black beans, eggs over easy, salsa, sour cream and cheddar cheese. I also browned up some hash browns to go with it. The trick to getting your hash browns brown and not too greasy? Use about 3 Tbs oil for 2 cups potatoes, get your oil hot to begin with, but after the potatoes are in, turn the heat on low, flatten them down with a spatula and cook for at least 15 min on each side. I add 2 Tbls butter, cut in small bits, all around the side of the pan and let that melt down into the potatoes. Add salt and black pepper. Adding the butter after you turn the heat down adds flavor and keeps it from burning. Make sure to flatten them again on the second side. Hash browns can't be rushed!!

We chose to sit inside for our breakfast yesteday, the wind was a little much. But the views were fantastic as you can see through that big window!

After breakfast, I took them for a walk around a mountain lake that is just a few miles up the road. We stopped to chat with a fisherman. He was casting for perch.

It was a little grey but so nice. We had a wonderful walk and I look forward to cooking for them tomorrow. They may be treated to Orange Tortilla Soup. Adios!

Crab Asparagus Au Gratin

2009-06-01T17:15:00.002-06:00

Let me just tell you this. This dish is RIDICULOUS. It's so close to heaven, I can't even see my house anymore. Fred fell out of his chair and into the dog dish. Seriously, the man is SO in love.

Last week I had a wonderful dinner at a new restaurant in Salt Lake called The Wild Grape. Their menu is marvelous. I sat through dinner trying to figure out how I could weasel my way back again the next night. I couldn't stop thinking about the Crab Au Gratin OR the Cheddar Grits OR the Spicy Shrimp, skewered and doing a great balancing act on the very tip top. Drool.

So here's my version (serves 2 to 3):

(BTW, this was a bit tricky to time. I would cook the grits first, leaving a little loose and finish cooking just before serving the au gratin. You will cook your shrimp immediately before plating.)

Ingredients List:

Crab/Asparagus Au gratin

1 lb - Asparagus, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces

1 lb - Finger or New Potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces, then boiled in salted water for 7 min or until just tender to a fork.

3/4 cup - Crab, claw meat worked well (see image below)

Roux

2 TB Butter

2 TB White Flour

1 Cup whole milk or you can use less fat but will take longer to get creamy consistency

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper or to taste

1/3 Cup grated parmesan

Shrimp and Marinade

I used large shrimp but I might switch next time to jumbo. Less chance of over cooking.

12 Shrimp - peeled and marinaded in

2 TB - Olive Oil

4 TB - Lemon Juice

2 tsp - Chili Powder

--Mix these 3 together then toss with shrimp. Only needs to marinate 15 to 30 min.

Cheddar Grits

White Hominy Grits - Make according to package instructions, enough for 2 cups of cooked grits.

1/3 to 1/2 cup of Cheddar Cheese finely grated.

Wash and cut asparagus on an angle into 1-1/2 inch pieces. Heat oil in non stick pan then add asparagus and stir fry about 7 minutes, making sure not to overcook. The asparagus should stay slightly crisp and bright green.

Add pre-cooked, 1 inch pieces of new potatoes (I like the finger potatoes from Whole Foods) but you can use small red or gold new potatoes (the ones with thin skin). Let the potatoes golden up a bit on the bottom of the pan. Turn off burner but leave on heat to stay warm.

Measure out 3/4 cup (about 1/3 of a 12 oz can) of crab meat, depending on how much you like crab. Set aside.

Next, create a basic roux sauce. To do this, melt butter in your small skillet on medium heat, add flour and cook until it turns a golden color (about 1 minute), then slowly add your milk or cream until your sauce is the consistency of melted Velveeta. If it starts to get too thick just add a little more milk. Add salt, pepper and 1/3 cup grated parmesan. Now add your crab. Again, you may need to add a bit more milk to keep it creamy.

Next, pour the sauce and crab over the asparagus and potatoes and FOLD. Do not stir or you will have a mess. A few folds and you should be done! Put a lid over this to keep warm. Now finish your grits throw in the cheddar and add a bit more milk if its getting to thick. You really want the grits to be soft, not set up into a gelatinous glob.

Cook your marinated shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes on each side on a high heat. Be sure NOT to overcook.

Ladle out a generous portion of the creamy yellow grits, top with your au gratin and settle those perfect shrimp on top. Sigh.

A Slight Obsession

2009-05-26T18:16:00.009-06:00

I've a got a teensy, little problem. I buy TOO many coffee mugs. Well, actually, its just the right number by me. But my husband cries everytime he opens the cabinet and looks for his one favorite Utah mug he found at Walmart in the souvenier aisle. (He's so demitasse challenged.)

In fact, Fred has made a new rule. If I bring a new one home, I must give an old one away. Very, very, sad. Especially considering that every time I walk into a local coffee shop, every cup on the shelf starts singing The Coffee Song. If that wasn't bad enough, now there are several local vendors who show up at our downtown farmers market with tempting little vessels. Like the one above. I love the honey and brown tones, and the white fingertips where the potter held onto the cup while dipping it in the glaze. Loverly.

Or this one, with glazed petraglyphs, dripping black and tan.

Reminds me of my coffee as I love just a touch of golden honey and milk.

I found these little beauties at YOU KNOW WHERE. No handles but shaped with nice little finger indentations. These are still currently available BTW.

I like the ridges left behind on this one by the sculptor. I just can't get enough of that brown glaze.

Isn't this as beautiful as a Robin's egg? Or maybe a blue Snowy Plover egg. Snowy Plover's nest near the Great Salt Lake, you know.

I snatched up the last three of these from my farmers market favorite. I BEGGED him to recreate this in dinner dishes. No dice. Each of these cups is a slightly different size. You can so tell they are hand thrown.

And I've figured out a way to derail by husband in his sinister plot to rid me of my 37,000 coffee mugs. I will take them to a secret location where I can see them every day, touch their silky handles and sip liquid gold from their rims.

They can always use more mugs at the office.

Mardi Gras Stuffed Peppers

2009-05-12T13:00:00.003-06:00

Aren't the colors fantastic? What's that produce slogan? Eat Your Colors? Well, my, my, you must certainly fulfill a good portion of your daily requirements with this dish. My Mardi Gras Stuffed Peppers are filled with wheat berries, brown rice, onion, garlic and Italian cheeses. I add chopped Roma tomatoes on top with lemon juice and a little drizzle of olive oil, then bake. This recipe got rave reviews at home. Add a healthy dollop of your favorite marinara on top and you get your lycopene too!

When prepping for this recipe, you have a choice of using Bulgur or Wheat Berries. Maybe they are the same thing but all the research I did told me that Bulgur can just be soaked in hot water and its ready to serve. Wheat Berries, on the other hand, must be cooked ahead. Follow the package instructions or boil about 45 -55 minutes or until they are not crunchy, just firm, then drain. Make extra and throw them in salads or soup.

I bought a variety of bell peppers. Cut the tops off (about 1/2 below rim) and clean out. Remove the stem from the top and chop the leftover pieces into 1/4 inch pieces.

You will also chop one medium onion (or 1/2 if you don't like alot of onion) and chop your mushrooms into the same size pieces as the onion and peppers.

Heat 2 TB olive oil then add your chopped bell peppers, onion and mushrooms. Stir until the onions are clear. Be careful not to burn.

In a large bowl mix your wheat berries, rice, hot vegetables and cheese. Add salt and pepper. Be sure to mix the hot veggies with the rice and wheat before mixing in cheese. It will keep the cheese from clumping all together from the heat of the vegetables. Stuff your peppers, top with chopped Roma tomatoes, drizzle with oil and lemon, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on how soft you live the bell peppers. We removed ours at 40 minutes because Fred was just too darn hungry to wait any longer! They were still crunchy but hot inside. Top with marinara.

Mardi Gras Stuffed Peppers

1 Cup wheat berries or bulgur (prepared as directed on packaging)

6 Bell peppers

4 Cups mushrooms, chopped

1 Onion, medium chopped

2 Cloves garlic minced

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp black pepper

1 Cup Italian blend cheese, shredded (usually includes Mozarella, Parmesan, Asiago, Romano)

2 Tbs lemon juice

3 Plum tomatoes, slice in half, take out seeds and wet pulp, then chop

2 Cups marinara of your choice

Bake 45 to 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Silver Fork Oatmeal

2009-05-10T13:01:00.006-06:00

Silver Fork Lodge is one of my favorite places to take visitors for breakfast in summer. The views from the deck are beautiful and they have some great food. They are famous for their sourdough starter, used for pancakes and waffles. They have fresh mountain perch and eggs, plus homemade cornbeef hash that has generous chunks of corn beef (not ground like the canned variety). I love their oatmeal. Its made from whole oats and they serve it with brown sugar, wild blueberries (you have to ask for these - an extra $1 but worth it), pecans, raisins, milk and butter.

Fred recreated this wonderful oatmeal for Mother's Day brunch. He bought granola with raisins as an extra crunchy topping. The blueberries were thawed from frozen and added a little extra blueberry juice to the mix which tasted delish. I toasted the pecans and chopped. Crunch crunch.

Silver Fork Oatmeal

Prepare your favorite rolled oats (regular, not instant or quick variety)
Serve with:

2 TB Pecans, toasted in a hot pan, then chopped
2 TB Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Wild Blueberries
2 TB Raisins or a favorite granola
Butter, milk and honey to taste.

Spencer's Greek Feta Salad

2009-04-28T12:30:00.001-06:00

This recipe didn't actually come from Spencer's kitchen. I've had it in my recipe box for awhile. But as the word Greek was running through my head I thought of Spencer, a distant hero, someone who took the time to create something beautiful in honor of my Uncle Chris. Spencer lives in Chicago; Uncle Chris in Peoria, 150 miles apart. I have never met Spencer but ended up spending some time on the phone with him when my Uncle Chris passed away suddenly last Spring from a massive heart attack at age 56.

(I am on the left, with Eva, Chris and Edie on the right.)

Spencer and Chris called each other every Friday for the last 20 years. Throughout the years, Spencer, an English Professor, tried to get Uncle Chris to publish his many short stories and poems. Chris didn't have the confidence in his own writing to do this. So out of love for his best friend, Spencer asked if he could have Chris' writings after he passed. I gathered up what I could from the garage in Peoria, dragged them back to Chicago and passed them along to Spencer. Eight months later, he published the book,

A Time In The Country And Other Stories.

So in honor of Spencer's selflessness, I name this salad after him.

Spencer's Greek Feta Salad

1 Head of Fresh Broccoli
1 Small container of Grape Tomatoes (approximate 1 cup but you can be generous)
8 oz of Feta Cheese crumbled
1/2 Red Onion sliced thin
2 Tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar, its what was in the pantry)
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Cut broccoli into florets, Peel and cut broccoli stems into 1/4 inch thick slices. Steam broccoli about 2 minutes or until bright green. More if you like it more tender. Drain broccoli and plunge in ice water to stop cooking and capture the bright green color. Drain and set aside. Slice tomatoes in half and slice onion thin.

In large bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Add brocolli, feta, tomatoes and onions; toss to coat. Serve.

German Potato Salad

2009-04-26T09:15:00.009-06:00

I met Fred about nine years ago and each time his mother visits us from Philadelphia, he requests she make this German Potato Salad along with her Philly Style Mac and Cheese. At first, as a good Mid-Western girl, I was appalled that this didn't have any mayo in it. But over the years I've learned more about what's really healthy and this salad has won a place in my favorites. I love the simplicity of olive oil, vinegar, salt and onions. Very easy. This salad sits out on the counter overnight to develop the flavor and truly it only tastes its best at room temperature where the oil stays golden.

Eleanor's German Potato Salad

5 lbs of Large Baking Potatoes

1 Medium Yellow Onion minced fine

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 Cup Cider Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Boil potatoes with skin on in a large pot of water. Start checking them for doneness at about 10 minutes. You want the potatoes to give to the tines of a fork but not be so soft that pieces break off. Pull the potatoes out of the water and set on a rack or towel to cool a bit. When you can handle them without burning yourself, peel away the skins. Slice the potatoes while still very warm into a large glass or ceramic bowl (do not use metal or wood, as they affect the taste).

Add your minced onion to the warm potatoes, then pour the oil over the potatoes and the vinegar on around the outside of the potatoes so it pools to the bottom. Fold all this gently, so the oil, vinegar and onion are distributed evenly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Depending on the amount of potatoes, you may need to increase your oil and vinegar. This salad is meant to be wet. Keep your oil 1/3 more than your vinegar (so if you add 3 Tblsp of oil, then add 2 Tblsp vinegar). Cover and leave out overnight so the oil and vinegar soak into the potatoes. Refrigerate if you must but before serving, let it sit to room temperature. You can also add chopped bacon.

Thai Coconut Rice

2009-04-21T23:02:00.001-06:00

I love coconut! I've searched high and low for this box of rice! I read someone's review on Amazon and it sounded so great. Basil with garlic and coconut and throw in some lime at the end and its excellent! I found it at our Smith's grocer on 400 S. 600 E.

I decided to serve it with Grandma Schubert's 'Salat' which is just iceberg lettuce cut in small pieces, add equal amounts olive oil and cider vinegar, then sprinkle with garlic salt. Make sure its fairly oiled/wet. Nothing worse than dry iceberg.

I finished this off with a side of black beans (I used canned organic).

Sidetracked

2009-04-19T23:36:00.002-06:00

I'm behind on posting. I've been side tracked by a pet illness.

Feel free to follow her journey on Sydney's Song.

Pizza Simplicity

2009-04-10T22:40:00.000-06:00

I miss great pizza! I found this great little crust at Whole Foods which had a nice recipe for veggie topped pizza on the back. I brushed this soft, wheat crust with my favorite pasta sauce, layered mozzarella, then sauteed onions (both yellow and red) with olive and salt, added that on top, then added a pit more mozzarella and a little fresh parmesan. (All in all, I probably used 1/2 block or 5 oz of mozz.)Just before baking I drizzles a few tsps over the top. Bake at 400 degrees in the upper third of the oven.

The Best Pistachio Ice Cream

2009-04-07T22:04:00.007-06:00

Tonight we stopped at O'Falafel for a quick dinner before heading to Westminster University for a talk on Great Salt Lake migratory birds. I indulged in the most intense pistachio ice cream I've ever tasted. There were so many ground pistachios, the texture was more like crunchy peanut butter. There was a generous portion of pistachios sprinkled on top as well. I even detected a slight crunch that reminded me of those sprinkles on DQ cones. The girl at the counter offered somewhat of a trade secret; that a powder was used in the making. Fred offered an ingenius guess; possibly they used pistachio pudding mix? I will be working on re-creating this delight in my home ice cream machine. Oh My. I may sneak by for this treat on my way home from work and forget to tell Fred. (Hats off to O' for serving this delight in an ICE COLD porcelain dish.)

Hunger Building (sort of like body building)

2009-04-06T07:30:00.002-06:00

I hiked two hours on Saturday with Fred and the dogs. The views were stunning after three days of snow. Then, Sunday we cross country skied nine miles up Millcreek Canyon where I was rewarded with a Caribou Coffee granola bar. Heaven. But left me tell you, today, Monday, I could eat the refrigerator. Stay tuned for: FRENCH TOAST, PIZZA, ORZO and POLENTA. Yes, I am yelling. I am that hungry. Send cake!

Story, our greyhound, about 1 mile to go to the top. I was complaining BIG TIME due to a blister on my heel. I was determined to make it all the way, though. The trip took 4 hours round trip.

After four and a half miles uphill, I finally arrived at the Yurt. I'd love to stay overnight here sometime but the thought of the trip up with all the gear and food strapped to my back is horrifying.

The Best Veggie Sandwich

2009-03-30T18:38:00.002-06:00

Last summer I found this cute little downtown market that makes a fantastic veggie sandwich. It's one of the last non-chain convenience markets I've seen and the ladies who run it are so sweet. The sandwiches are made by Jan and they've coined them the 'Jan-wiches'. (The Neighbors Market is located at 44 N. State St, Salt Lake City, 801-355-8061)

This veggie sandwich is just the right combo of tomatoe, pickle, onion, mayo, mustard and lettuce on a really great wheat bread that has millet or some other crunchy seed that makes it SO, SO enjoyable. They make meat and cheese sandwiches too, but since I had been trying to cut calories and move toward a more vegetarian diet, this was a real find, especially so close to my office.

I wanted to recreate it for Fred, so I gathered up the ingredients as follows:

Birdseed bread (Whole Foods 365 brand)
Vine ripened tomatoe
Red onion sliced VERY thin
Green leaf lettuce
Dill pickles sliced for sandwiches (flat)
Veganaise (non-dairy sandwich spread) or favorite Mayo
Yellow Mustard
Vegan or regular cheese

You can put this together anyway you'd like but I find that keeping the wet ingredients, like tomato, pickle, mayo and mustard away from the cheese is best.

Orange Quinoa with Cranberries

2009-03-25T21:15:00.009-06:00

This dish turned out to be a nice surprise! Crunchy and nutty, with the essence of orange and the tang of cranberries. It was fairly quick to make and provides loads of protein. Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH) contains more high quality protein than any other grain. This recipe originally called for turkey breast cooked with Asian marinade. Since I've given up meat and most dairy, I decided to used Tempeh in place of the turkey. Tempeh is also high in protein. This package contained 36 grams; combined with the quinoa and pecans, this dish contained 63 grams of protein.

This particular Tempeh is a soybean, millet, brown rice and barley loaf that's slightly crunchy and gives this dish a great texture. The cranberries, pecans and orange juice add wonderful flavor variations. Yum, yum, yum, this is my new favorite.

Orange Quinoa with Cranberries and Pecans

1-3/4 Cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup orange juice
1 Cup quinoa
1/4 Cup dried cranberries
1/3 Cup unsalted pecans, chopped
1/4 Cup parsley, chopped
1 package Tempe (about 1-1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Soy sauce

In a large saucepan, bring broth and salt to a boil. Add juice and quinoa, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

While the quinoa is simmering, cut your Tempeh into 3/4 inch chunks, then saute in hot oil until brown.

Flip and brown on other side. Shake 1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce onto the inside of the pan and tilt to coat all the Tempeh. Cook until all is absorbed. Take pan off burner and set aside.

Soak cranberries in 1 cup hot tap water until softened then squeeze out excess liquid, chop and set aside. Toast your chopped pecans for five minutes in a small skillet on medium low heat until fragrant and golden, being careful not to burn them.

Check your quinoa to make sure its done (should look translucent), fluff with a fork, add the cranberries, pecans, tempeh (or turkey) and parsley, toss and serve. Lovely!

Oatmeal Nuggets

2009-03-25T18:00:00.000-06:00

I am dieting - always. And I've been pretty good about it the last few weeks, but the cravings got to me yesterday. This recipe seemed a little less fattening that the traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, so I gave it a try last night. No sugar, just bananas to sweeten (well except for the sugar in the chocolate!), no butter, just coconut oil, and no white flour, just rolled oats and oat flour. I was worried they would completely flatten when they cooked but, lo and behold, they kept their shape perfectly, as you can see above. Chewy and a bit crisp. Delightful little nugget.

Oatmeal Chip Nuggets

1-1/2 cups well mashed, very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed so its not solid (or another veg oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal (or oat flour works well too)
1/3 cup coconut, unsweetened, shredded
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
6 oz carob or chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mash the banana then add vanilla and coconut oil. In separate bowl mix the dry ingredients, then add all to the banana mixture.

Combine, then fold in chips.

Scoop out bite sized drops (about the size of golf ball) onto a parchment or other non stick baking surface. Bake 15 minutes, then check. I actually let mine go 18 to 20 minutes so they would be brown on bottom and getting crunchy on the outside. They are so moist inside that if you take them out too early, they don't have a nice mixture of crunch and softness.

Dirt Cheap Laundry Soap

2009-03-22T21:30:00.006-06:00

An article appeared in our local paper last fall with instructions to make your own laundry soap for a lot less than the name brands. Wow! I know I'm a little weird but that really appealed to me.

(I secretly wish I could raise goats and chickens, build a worm composter in my garage and have bee hives. But that would mean I'd be living by myself; Fred would be gone!)

I like the idea that it costs pennies a load, plus you can reuse your containers. Plastic is one of my pet peeves. I hate how much plastic we recycle. So if you want to try this out, save some of your plastic laundry containers or large mouth juice bottles . (Milk jugs don't work well because the openings are so narrow.) You can find most of these ingredients at your local grocer. The washing soda and Borax are in the detergent aisle. The Boraxo usually shows up in the hand soap area, next to the Lava. If you can't find Boraxo, you can grate your own handsoap. Just make sure its grated to powder; a food processor will do the trick.

Laundry Soap Recipe:

2 Cups Borax

2 Cups Washing Soda

2 Cups powdered hand soap (I use Boraxo. You can also FINELY grate any natural hand soap)

1 Quart water in 2 qt saucepan

10 Quarts (2-1/2 gallons) boiling water

Combine the 1 quart water, Borax, washing soda and Boraxo in your pot and bring to just below boil, mixing until all ingredients seem dissolved and foamy. Using a 5 gallon bucket (or any large plastic continer, like a small kitchen trash can) pour in heated soap mixture. Then add your 10 quarts boiling water( very hot tap water will work as well). Mix again until all soap seems dissolved. Let sit 24 hours

The next day you'll need to mix it again. Notice that the top layer has congealed overnight.

After you mix, start filling your containers. I use a funnel to fill mine. Or push the bottles down under the surface and let gravity do the work. Then seal and rinse well before storing. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of finished detergent per load depending on how dirty and how large your laundry loads are.

Blueberry Cobbler

2009-03-20T06:37:00.010-06:00

This recipe comes from my step-Mother's kitchen. She taught me how to cook during the three years I made her life miserable in the early 1970's. I was a pretty sulky 15-year old who most of the time would rather be cruising around with my latest boyfriend than paint the arbor or pull weeds from her 787,000 quadrillion foot vegetable garden.

But part of who I am today is due to living with that overall-wearing, 'Mother Earth News', taskmaster from South Carolina. I painted fences, canned tomatoes, pickled cucumbers, sprayed fruit trees, grew asparagus, learned to drive a manual transmission, and layed timbers for flowerbeds. I hated every minute of it. (Do you blame me?) That's her. And that's my little brother riding on that barrow full of produce that was produced from my toil and sweat.

Maybe I'm still a little sulky. Who me? Nah.

Today I love, love, love to work in the garden, paint fences and I am so proud of the things I learned from her. And I treasure some of the recipes she's passed along to me. Wait til you try her Hollandaise sauce. You'll never be the same! Her Blueberry Cobbler doesn't look fancy but it's so buttery and the cake turns slightly chewy and carmelized. Just perfect with a dollop of your favorite vanilla ice cream, or in my case, soy.

Nancy Smith's Blueberry Cobbler

Bake time: 40 to 45 minutes

Use a 2 or 2-1/2 qt casserole dish

Ingredients:

4 Cups frozen blueberries
3/4 cp sugar (I sometimes cut this to 1/3 cp and its turns out great, Fred likes it less sweet)
1 Stick butter
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Cup half & half or evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 400. Heat blueberries and 3/4 cp sugar on medium heat in saucepan, stirring often. Boil for 7 to 10 min. Don't worry, this is supposed to turn the blueberries very liquid. Set aside.

Put one stick of butter in 2 qt cassserole dish and melt either in the oven for 5 minutes or in the microwave. Don't burn the butter!

Mix the 1 cp sugar, 1 cp flour, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt with the half n half or evaporated milk. No special way to do this, just mix together. The dough is supposed to be very thick. It help hold up to the amount liquid in the blueberries.

Spoon dough over hot butter (right in the casserole dish you used to melt the butter) then spoon blueberries and juice over that. Its going to look like too much blueberry juice, but trust me, it's fine. Bake for 35 minutes, then test the cake with a toothpick. Everytime I've made this, its exactly 40 minutes. I'm telling you, it needs to be brown!

(See, this isn't quite done. This was at about 20 minutes. Back in for another 15.)

You will be tempted to pull it out at about 25 but don't! Use a toothpick to check that the cake is done at about 35 minutes. Although, it looks too brown when its done, the inside is perfect and that crust will be buttery and carmelized - oh so good!

Happy Anniversary

2009-03-18T07:15:00.006-06:00

Wow, it's been four years already. Thank you, Fred, for all the love, friendship and adventure you've brought into my life!

We celebrated our anniversary in our usual, non-traditional fashion; hiking two hours to see a nice mountain waterfall and then testing out Fred's new avalanche beacon at Snowbird's training grounds. We also stopped to try a new restaurant in Sugar House called O'Falafel Etc.

Fred and I really miss our little neighborhood Pita House back in Chicago. They had great food and low, low prices. I was so happy to see this little place was opening in SLC.

We had an appetizer plate of Baba Ghanouj, Tabbouleh, Falafel and Jerusalem Salad.

Fred chose lamb kabobs.

I tried Yakni Khudra (carrots, zucchini, squash, onions in a tomato based sauce and rice). I was pretty happy with their food, although their entree prices for a counter-order joint, were a little high. Fred's kabobs were $13.95 and my dish was $10. Mazza is even better, at almost the same pricing.

On Sunday, we continued the Middle Eastern theme with hummus and pita. Buying tip: Costco has THE best hummus for 1/2 the price per pound as the brands in the grocery store. This container is 30oz for $4.99 and the consistency is so much better than some grocery store brands that have the texture of wall paste.

I spread the hummus thinly on large plates, drizzled EVOO in the middle, added fresh lemon juice and sprinkled with paprika. The pita bread is best warmed slightly (if you are doing it in the microwave, 10 seconds at a time so you don't turn it into rubber AND leave it in the plastic bag while warming to trap the moisture).

Here's a picture of me after I successfully prodded my first avalanche 'victim' at the training center. Hopefully we never have to experience a real rescue.

Risotto with Carrot

2009-03-12T07:18:00.001-06:00

This makes a hearty sidedish or maybe even a main dish for a vegan/vegetarian diet. I used short grain brown rice to make it a bit healthier than white rice but I've tried it both ways and it truly comes out better with white rice. So you pick. If you make this with brown rice, you can plan on your cooking time doubling, or about an hour. You can choose vegetable broth and non-dairy parmesan to keep it truly vegan, or skip the cheese altogether.

Ingredients

14 oz chicken or veg broth
2 TB olive oil
1 med red onion finely chopped
6 med carrots grated
1-1/2 cups short grain brown or long grain white rice
1/2 dry white wine (I used apple juice instead)
1/4 cp grated parmesan (substitute or omit for vegan)
salt and pepper to taste

First, heat the broth to boiling, then turn down to very low simmer. Clean and grate the carrots. The first time I made this, I hand-grated the carrots. Yikes, what a chore. So this time I pulled out my food processor from the depths of my cabinet. Ahh, much easier.

Heat your oil in a large pot on med-high and add carrots. They should sizzle when they hit the oil! Saute, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then add onion. Season with salt and pepper (1/2 tsp each salt and pepper). Continue to cook for 5 minutes.

Add your rice and 1/2 cp apple juice (or wine). This should be really boiling, you want evaporation taking place, but not too hot to burn. Cook another 2 minutes until juice is absorbed. Now you are going to continue adding liquid (the hot broth) about 1 cup at a time, continuing to stir until all that liquid is absorbed. As you near the end of the broth, the rice should be thickening up and getting very sticky.

If you are using brown rice, you want it to cook another 30 minutes or more after you are done, so you will leave it somewhat liquid and turn the burner to low and cover. If you are using white rice, you will test for tenderness after all the liquid is absorbed. If you find the rice is still not done, add a 1/2 cp juice or water and continue to cook until done. Remove from heat and add parmesan. You brown-rice folks need to keep checking for doneness and add more liquid as necessary, continuing to simmer until done and all liquid absorbed.

Spicy Tortellini Soup

2009-03-09T21:21:00.006-06:00

Oh my, this soup makes me happy. It's so fast and the spice from the Colosimo's sausage is just perfect. Colosimo's is a local sausage maker who has come up with some sophomoric billboard ads that are pretty funny.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 links of Colosimo's or other Italian sausage (spicy if you like)
1 lb frozen or fresh cheese tortellini
1 bag washed baby spinach leaves or 1 box frozen spinach
dash of nutmeg and black
grated parmesan to top

Cute Little Couscous Soup

2009-03-08T08:41:00.011-06:00

I found this beautiful, EASY, soup recipe on 101cookbooks.com. I changed it slightly so that I could use ingredients from my local Reams (2 blocks away, how fast is that?) and didn't have to do the extra chopping in the original recipe.

Ingredients:

8 cups vegetable or chicken broth (the Better Than Bouillon vegetable turned the broth a lovely red color)
a couple shakes of the red pepper flakes (less if you don't like spice)
1/2 jar oil packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped (I buy the julienned version so I don't have to chop) (reserve some of the oil from the jar, maybe 2 - 3 Tbs)
3 cups of cauliflower/broccoli blend (if you like more veggies, throw in the whole 16 oz bag)
1 cp couscous (you can add more if you like your soup thick)

Bring the broth to boil, then add red pepper, sun dried tomatoes/oil and veggies. Simmer 5 min (10 if you like your veggies soft). Add couscous and stir. Simmer another 5 to 10 minutes until couscous plumps up. Serve with sliced green onions. (I add my onions during the simmer since I don't like the strong taste raw.) Take off heat and serve immediately or couscous can get overcooked. I serve this with a small salad or crunchy bread.

Thai Tonight

2009-03-01T18:13:00.012-07:00

My brother, Anson, Twittered me this afternoon.

@TheMorsel For dinner?

I thought that was so cute. Short and to the point. Since I have a cold and don't feel like making much, I opted for an easy dinner. I've been testing Thai recipes lately and this cute little box caught my attention when I was shopping at Whole Foods on Friday. This doesn't make quite enough for both of us (Fred snow shoed to the top of Tuscarora yesterday and did another long snow shoe today, so he's famished!) but I added a salad to bulk it up tonight.

The instructions call for chicken, shrimp, vegies or tofu plus a 1/2 cup of fresh bean sprouts. I'm going for the tofu and I also added a bit of shredded carrot and some crushed peanuts.

Boil 3 cups of water, then soak the noodles for 3 - 5 minutes. (I set my timer for 3 and I wouldn't go longer than that. They were perfect.)
Immediately drain and rinse the noodles in cold water to stop them cooking.

Heat up a little oil in a frying pan or wok, then add chicken, shrimp, veggies (in my case carrots and sprouts), or tofu. If using chicken, make sure its cut into fairly small pieces. You don't want your veggies overcooking waiting for the chicken to be done. In fact, I wouldn't add the sprouts until all that is cooked.
Once that's done, add noodles and the seasoning packet into the pan. If there is no liquid left, add a couple tablespoons of water so the seasoning can absorb into the noodles. Be careful to turn down the heat at this point so things don't start sticking to the pan.

That's it. About 10 minutes total time. You can garnish with some chopped peanuts and a little lime if you like.

Greek Lemon Soup

2009-02-26T08:18:00.001-07:00

Update: I used a jarred chicken paste to make the broth and the flavor was too strong. I'd either used boxed (Swanson's) or a light veggie broth.

I love soup and collect recipes wherever I can. I will be posting some wonderful Vegan ones in the next week. But sorry, this ain't one of 'em!

This Greek Lemon soup is a beautiful color. Looks great in my brown and black bowls, don't you think? If you like Hollandaise sauce, you'll love this soup.

-Janai, can you figure out how to make this Vegan?

(The height of laziness; posting this in photos instead of a nicely typed recipe.)