Friday, August 29, 2008

Call me Xerox: (MUSHROOM-ARTICHOKE CHEESECAKE)



Synonyms for original

Sense 1: First (vs. last)
Sense 2: Primary (vs. secondary)
Sense 3: (vs. unoriginal) avant-garde, daring, freehand, freehanded, fresh, new, novel, germinal, originative, innovational, groundbreaking, newfangled, new, underivative


Not me unfortunately. I'm at it again. Not original and making something mine from someone's else's recipe. So to begin, I really enjoyed the Zucchini-Ricotta cheesecake (101 cookbooks) and wanted to make a variation, again. It's not novel, first, or avant-garde but it's mine-ish. I LOVE mushrooms so I wanted to make a Mushroom and Artichoke cheesecake. I needed the proportions (egg and ricotta amounts) so that's why I feel like a poser. I also wanted the goat cheese IN the cheesecake this time to see how that tastes too.

Mushroom Cheescake:

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. real butter
10 oz. sliced button mushrooms (I used Crimini)
1/4 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1/4 cup sliced shallots
1 1/2 cup diced marinated artichokes
1/3 cup chopped roasted red pepper (jarred is great too)
1 tsp. lemon zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 7" Springform pan with oil.
2. In a large frying pan, over medium heat, brown the mushrooms in the olive oil and butter. Cook the mushrooms, stirring constantly, until they are "dry" and aren't juicy in the pan. Let cool.

3. Beat the eggs with the sour cream until fully incorporated. Add the parmesan, ricotta, and goat cheese. Stir well.
4. Add the oregano, mint, garlic, lemon zest, and shallots.
5. Add the artichokes, cooled mushrooms, and red pepper. Stir everything together well.
6. Put mixture in oiled Springform pan and place on a layer of aluminum foil to prevent any possible leaks from the bottom.

7. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes (an eeeensie jiggling in the middle).

8. Allow to cool in pan. Remove sides of Springform pan and slice. Have a glass of Chardonnay.

Jennay's: (LAURA'S S'MORES)

We have a crab feast to go to this weekend. Sigh, I know, another one. Poor me. Once I get started eating crabs I don't stop until I'm bursting. Have to have, yet again, cider vinegar and Old bay for dipping. I just can't stand how I smell after I'm through though. Lasts for hours. I tried lemon but it really doesn't work. Anyway, I'm bringing something S'mores-y and wanted to do something different. My teeny-tiny brain actually chugged out an idea! I haven't made them yet but I'm sure they'll be a snap and I'll post a picture later. I was going to call them Laura's Gourmet S'more's but that sounded a little too arrogant.

Laura's S'more's:

Ingredients:

Chocolate dessert cups (small)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
2 cups Graham Cracker crumbs
1 Tbsp. whipping cream
1/2 to 1 cup small marshmallows
Marshmallow whipped topping (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, boil the sugar, whipping cream, and butter for 10 minutes and then remove from heat.
2. Add in graham cracker crumbs mix well to combine. If too crumbly, add 1Tbsp. cream to combine.
3. Let cookie mixture sit in the saucepan until cool enough cool to handle then drop onto greased waxed paper.
4. Start to shape into small balls (make sure to do this while the mixture is still slightly warm or they will be harder to shape AND taking note of the size of the chocolate cup too) around a small marshmallow; sealing well.
5. Chill in the refrigerator.
6. Place chilled balls in chocolate cups.
7. (Optional) Top with a small spoonful of marshmallow whipped topping.

I got the no-bake cookie idea from, again, Recipezaar so I "borrowed again" (thank you KITTENCAL with recipe #76337 ). I saw the chocolate dessert cups in Chesapeake Gourmet (sorry the link is shitty right now) and thought "what could I do with those cute little things?". I hope they turn out alright and will post a success or failure soon.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

At least once?


I saw this when trolling around on different food blogger websites. Actually I copied this version from http://iliketocook.blogspot.com/ "who found it over at Very Good Taste - the 100 things that Very Good Taste thinks everyone should eat at least once in their life. Here's what you do:"

1). Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions
2). Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3). Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4). Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (I'm not so sure, although Thomas Keller is apeshit over it.)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (sorry, but yuck)
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
t42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (what is that? Sounds a little leezy to me)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (Oh I don't know...maybe afrer a few beers)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (I've had "American-sold" absinthe)
74. Gjetost
75. Roadkill (really?)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum (?)
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Sorry if I'm not really food savvy but eat HORSE? No way pal. Not eating horse. Nor would I eat cat but I've probably had that before, unknowingly (sorry Chinese take out). Now some things I would definately eat more than once like, Eggs Benedict. I'd eat the HELL out of some Eggs Benedict. I need to do that like George Michael needs to get caught "walking in the park" again at three A.M. though.

Speaking of food makes me think of my son. We call him "Hoover" for short. School started Tuesday and now the house is vacant again and there's more food in the fridge now too.


My big guy. Holy shit time has flown. I was talking to a lady at the grocery store the other day (I'll blab to anyone) and she was itching to get off of work to see her grandson after his first day of Kindergarten. What does that do? Set me off on memeory lane and wistful images of my boy starting Kindergarten. So long ago now. Now he's grown and knows everything. I'm not kidding, everything. At least he thinks so.


Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Perfection: (SHRIMP WITH FETA)

I can NOT ever remember Recipezaar letting me down. It is, hands down, my favorite recipe site. I had a two pound bag of frozen shrimp and needed a solution for dinner. I found this and could literally taste the damn thing before I even cooked it just by reading the recipe! Oh, and my guys.....well, my guys LOVED it! Yay! I love it when I hit one out of the park (seriously I'm not really THAT conceited even though I sound it here). I just get tickled when they really like something that I've made for the first time. So without further ado (and heavily borrowed from Recipezaar) here's a real delicious and easy summer dinner for three (if you're piggy like us) but more than likely for four:

Grilled Shrimp With Feta and Tomatoes (Recipezaar # 180223):

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, zest of
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:
3 lbs large shrimp, peeled, deveined, rinsed and patted dry
1 large lemon, juice and zest of
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 head radicchio (I used an Italian blend bag of lettuce instead)
2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces each
8 ounces feta cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup mint leaf, coarsely chopped (DON'T SKIP THIS!!!)


Directions:

Prepare vinaigrette:
1. Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the oil until thickened.
3. Set aside.


Prepare shrimp:
1. Toss together the shrimp, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Let rest for 15 minutes, tossing once.
3. Thread the shrimp on 12 metal skewers.
4. Grill the shrimp over high heat for no more that 2 minutes per side, turning carefully.
5. Remove shrimp to a large bowl.


Prepare salad (final step):
1. If using radicchio: Trim the tough white bottom section off each leaf then add the leaves to the shrimp. *I used spinach which worked REAL well*
2. If using bag lettuce just place into large serving bowl.
3. Add shrimp along with tomatoes, cheese and mint.
4. Toss with vinaigrette.


I made pita chips on the side and this made a great summer meal for the three of us. I've said before Bob and I are big fans of the large one plate meal so this was perfect. I used spinach instead of mixed greens or radicchio (not a fan) and used the full amount of fresh mint that was called for. I INSIST that the mint be used here. What a lovely flavor (and a surprise!). Besides, it gave me great feeling to go out into the garden and use some of the ever-growing mint and harvest my heirloom tomatoes for this. I feel like a complete woman now.....just thinking about it now makes me wish I had a good bottle of wine (ummmm...Bogle Cabernet comes to mind) and a nude beach to eat this on (not with the son of course). I can dream.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Happy days are here again

I haven't done much lately with technology. I didn't turn my computer on for nearly a week. Now that's something. For me. I was out of commission and nothing much was happening for me. Because I am tired of re-hashing my idiocy I will just say that Laura fall down and Laura go boom. Laura busted her ass and she wasn't pretty. Almost ruined the hubby's birthday for which I am embarrassed and mad about.

Since I thought the other picture I took of my ricotta-zucchini cheesecake looked, well, TOO toasty, I snapped another after it cooled and was cut. My guys enjoyed this AND I will make it again. The thing I like about it is it's flexibility. I'm definitely going to put more artichoke in it the next time and will experiment more with the cheese's too.

It's a beautiful windy day here. My chimes are tinkling gently which has lulled me into a pleasant mood. Nice change from last week. As I am prone to doing mid-day, I am contemplating dinner. I went to the grocery store (finally) yesterday and have two things I have no idea why I picked up and bought. All the same, something must've motivated me and now I'm excited about what to do with these items. First, I grabbed tofu. The problem with me is that I read sooooo many great recipes and then certain ingredients stand out. Then I forget which recipes I had been so crazy about but have the ingredient. I KNOW there is something out there to be made with tofu. I just have to remember what it was. Second, I bought a bag of frozen shrimp. They were on sale and "something different" so in the cart they went. My challenge today is to find a grilled shrimp recipe for dinner. I'd prefer to grill since it's so nice outside and the house won't adopt any "seafoody" smells which will RUIN my husband.

I love it when I find a really good recipe so I'll be sure to share what we had this evening. Who knows. Maybe I'll create one all by my little self.

P.S. Oh and I'm eating bread again. It's just too delicious. Screw it.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Life in miniature

Can you believe I finally figured out this morning that if I get the damn tripod out of the closet I may be able to have the camera stand still better when I take a picture. What an ingenious idea! Classic case of procrastination.

I LOVE this mini colander that my sister-in-law, Lisa, gave me. I had these peppers in the garden that were "not thriving", so to speak, and I thought "how CUTE!". My son had to ruin my "artistic time" and question me as to why I had a jar of mustard in the background. Crap, I don't know! Contrast and size. Yea, that's it. Contrast and size. I'm not sure if he bought it. Then I felt like a moron.......

I'm still scratching my head over dinner for tonight. I could have a whole wing of the public library and it STILL wouldn't be able to accommodate all my cookbooks and magazines. The crying shame is that I'm staring at them and nothing is coming out and bonking me on the head for a dinner idea. Dinner through osmosis.

Note: (8-14-08)

I've finally started that wonderful ricotta-zucchini cheesecake. The evening I was going to make it turned into sushi night and I wasn't going to turn that down! Then last evening Bob had to go suddenly out of town and I didn't feel compelled to cook anything. In fact, I hunkered down at Big Owl's and enjoyed happy hour. I did get a purple stain on my boob due to the Cabernet I was drinking but the problem was solved with some soda water which turned the purple to a nice blue that matched my shorts. Problem solved!


I shredded the zucchini which turned out to be approximately two medium-sized zucchini. I salted the shredded zucchini and then wrung it out as best I could. After getting the phone call from the hubby for sushi and drinks, I put the zucchini in a plastic container, covered lightly with lemon juice, and plunked it in the refrigerator.





I chopped up the scallions and garlic and shredded the Parmesan cheese. The garlic and scallion went into the fridge in a zip-lock baggie. In fact I had already mixed the egg and cheese into the ricotta so I just covered the bowl with plastic wrap and plunked that into the fridge as well.

















Two days later I started again.....I added my own zing to the recipe and added 1/2 cup sliced artichokes, 1/2 red pepper (from a jar), and 1 Tbsp. fresh chopped oregano. Yum! I can't tell you how good it smelled in the oven!


The finished product. I browned it under the broiler a bit too long but, in this house, I don't think it will matter. It smells outstanding!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

I think I'm in love with Heidi Swanson: (ZUCCHINI RICOTTA CHEESECAKE)


I used to have a crush on Angelina Jolie (well I still do) but now I have a new one, Heidi Swanson. In fact, I want to be her. Before I sound slightly John Hinkley-ish, I think that I immediately related to her due to the volumes of cookbooks that I own. There's no way I could possibly cook out of all of them. Besides, some of them are in boxes in the attic and I don't like going up there (anyone seen the scene from The Grudge? Crap why does that always pop in my head as soon as I pull the attic ladder down?). Anyway, I'm stuck in cookbook-land and haven't really branched out like she has done. I enjoy her pictures and I LOVE her recipes. That's what I mean about wanting to be her. Just maybe emulate her talents perhaps.

As I've said before I've been farting around with the first phase of the South Beach diet. I was reading my morning blogs and came across this recipe from Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks. I though ah ha! Perfect. I really think this could be compatible with what I'm eating right now. Now I just have to get the zucchini which shouldn't be a problem here in farm stand-land.

ZUCCHINI RICOTTA CHEESECAKE:

To shred the zucchini use a box grater - most micro planes are too fine, you want shredded zucchini, not mush. Feel free to play around with the "add-in" ingredients - for example, use whatever chopped herbs you like. I had dill on hand, and I like how it tastes with summer squash, so dill it was. I suspect anything from chopped olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or chives, to spices, chopped spinach, or corn could work here. Also, when I have the time and inclination I'll drain the ricotta through cheesecloth to get even more moisture out of the cake, but to be honest, most times I won't bother. Lastly, I use a springform pan here, but you could use an equivalent baking dish or deep tart pan as well.

Ingredients:

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled & grated
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
zest of one lemon
2 large eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees, racks the middle. Butter/oil a 7-inch springform pan.
In a strainer, toss the shredded zucchini with the salt and let sit for ten minutes. Now aggressively squeeze and press out as much moisture as you can. Set aside.In the meantime, combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, dill and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs and continue mixing until well combined. Now stir in the shredded zucchini. Fill the springform pan with the ricotta mixture and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for sixty minutes. If there is any moisture left on top of the cake at this point, carefully use a bit of paper towel to dab it off. Now sprinkle with the goat cheese and return to the oven for another 20 -30 minutes or until the goat cheese is melted and the cake barely jiggles in the center (it will set up more as it cools).

At this point, if the cake is baked and set, but the top isn't quite golden, I'll zap it with the broiler (just about a minute) to get a bit more color on top. Remove from the oven and let cool five minutes, then release the cake from its pan. Cool completely, serve at room temperature drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a few sprigs of dill.

Serves 8
The collection of cooking magazines is as enormous as the cookbooks are. I really got to thinking while my pictures downloaded about, perhaps, I need to clean up a bit. Not today though! It's Sunday. Besides it's Birthday bonanza time for the Weeks/Whitten/Luongo clan. Everybody who had preceded us had sex around Thanksgiving and now we're all August babies. It's like Christmas around here. There are literally three birthdays in a row then three more sprinkled in flowing into the first week of September (one more including my step-mom too just to be fair). The gift giving composes, lately, of just having one big bash which includes a crab feast at Daddio and Donna's. This is the only time of the year I usually have crabs (ah hahaha funny I KNOW). So, no cleaning up today. Just eating crabs and figuring out WHERE to put all those prized cookbooks and magazines so that they are not cluttering my kitchen but within reach, just in case.




Saturday, August 9, 2008

WHOLE WHEAT PITA BREAD


This was an adventure for me and I had a blast making these. I got this recipe from Recipezaar and had immediate successful results, well within a few hours anyway. Now that I'm on South Beach for a spell I'll just dream of eating these again in a little over a week. Something to look forward to for sure.

The reader comments alluded to some difficulty with the final baking process but I used a baking stone that I keep in my oven and I was able to put the four pita's on at one time to bake and they turned out wonderful. I used organic whole wheat bread flour, that I found at Chestertown Natural Foods, for the entire recipe and had no difficulty with the rise. In fact, I had never found that type of flour before and was tickled with the results. In step two I added the flour in 1/2 cup increments and wound up noting that I needed a 1/2 cup less flour then what the recipe called for. I also added 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten at the end of this step too just for "insurance".

Whole wheat pita bread (recipe # #308249)

Ingredients:

1 (1/4 ounce) package
active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon honey

1 1/4 cups warm water
(105 115 F)
2 cups bread flour
or hi-gluten flour
, plus additional
bread flour or hi-gluten flour
, for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

cornmeal, for sprinkling baking sheets


Directions:

1. Stir together yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.).

2. While yeast mixture stands, stir together flours in another bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour mixture into yeast mixture until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Stir in oil, salt, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, and remaining 2 1/2 cups flour mixture until a dough forms.

3. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.


4. Punch down dough and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten 1 ball, then roll out into a 6 1/2- to 7-inch round on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer round to 1 of 2 baking sheets lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Make 7 more rounds in same manner, arranging them on baking sheets. Loosely cover pitas with 2 clean kitchen towels (not terry cloth) and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.


5. Set oven rack in lower third of oven and remove other racks. Preheat oven to 500°F.


6. Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, directly onto oven rack.(or on a screen) Bake until just puffed and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. Cool pitas on a cooling rack 2 minutes, then stack and wrap loosely in a kitchen towel to keep pitas warm. Bake remaining 4 pitas in same manner. Serve warm.


7. Cooks' note: Pitas can be baked 1 week ahead and cooled completely, then frozen, wrapped well in foil in a sealed plastic bag. Thaw before reheating, wrapped in foil, 10 to 12 minutes in a 350°F oven.

This is a fun rainy day project. I'm enjoying learning about baking bread and had never made pita before. I will do it again once I'm to be trusted around bread again.

Liquid love: (SUMMER ROMANCE ON A PLATE)



So far this has been what's keeping me going this morning. I really didn't wake up well and it sorta pisses me off but, I made a deal with myself that I quit being angry. I forget sometimes but I keep trying. A lot. The neighbor dog (pick from one of the various selections) was barking before 6am this morning. And, as stated previously, I have been waging a war against high electric bill's and have the house opened up. It really is quite tolerable and pleasant but the side effect is that you can hear everything that goes on outside. I wake up if a flea farts so it wasn't a very pleasant "wake up" for me today. But, I quit being pissed right?

I had a great egg concoction this morning with green peppers from the garden, fresh spinach (not mine), 2% cheese, and crumbled sausage. I know it will wreck havoc later on but DAMN it was good. It made me think of one of my favorite recent dinners with Bob earlier this Summer. Actually, what really is the lowdown is that I saw a couple walking earlier on the Kent Island Cross Island Trail and got a little teary for the better half. Then THAT lead to missing him real bad and then, THAT made me think of the great two weeks we had together in July and then, THAT made me think of the great dinner date we had at home one beautiful evening. Shesh I'm bummed out right now. Okay. Back to my orignal point which was talking about a great dinner Bob and I had one evening with sliced beef and fresh farm stand tomatoes. That evening, I had stopped by Perkins produce outside of town and picked up some yummy tomatoes. Earlier I had procured a London Broil, arugula, and Maytag blue cheese at the grocery store. Bob and I are great fans of the one plate meal that we can just dig our forks into and drink a great glass of wine with. Here's how we pigged out that night (it's real simple):
Summer Romance on a plate
Ingredients:
1 London Broil, grilled med-rare
2 or 3 Fresh farm stand tomatoes, sliced
Arugula
Maytag Blue Cheese
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Fresh cracked pepper
Sea salt (I used my Oak-smoked Chardonnay Sea Salt...YUM)
Bogle cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Directions:
1. Open Bogle to breathe
2. Slice London Broil thin, after resting 20
minutes. Slice tomatoes into thick slices.
3. Sprinkle arugula onto a large platter. Spread the tomato slices on top of arugula and season with cracked pepper and sea salt to taste. Arrange the London Broil on top of the seasoned tomatoes and sprinkle bleu cheese over the beef.
4. Season with balsamic vinegar and olive oil over entire platter to taste. Add more cracked pepper if you prefer.
5. Pour a glass of Bogle for you and your sweetie.
6. Eat and drink like a hedonist. Retire from the porch to the bedroom.

Friday, August 8, 2008

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood: (BLEU EGG SALAD & BACON SANDWICH)

What a gorgeous day here on the Eastern Shore. I have considered it a success against Delmarva Power yet again by opening the house up and shutting off the window units. Yay! In a span of just three months the electric bill went up $100.00. I'd sure like to have that in my checkbook right now. Summer vacation and a sailboat sorta have dwindled the funds. I REALLY use coupons at the grocery store now!

Not too much time to be wasted (no offense) here. It literally feels like April, well, maybe May around here. The garden needs to be watered and I haven't been the best parent sometimes. I didn't water yesterday and now I feel terrible. Everybody out there looks good though and I should get marching soon to water or they might change their minds(being the plants that is) and revolt (meaning: die).

I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast this morning, which is my favorite meal. I wake up starving and if I don't eat I can get cranky. I feel like Nicole Ritchie looks. Hungry. I went to the grocery store this morning and stocked up as much as I could without getting too crazy. Never. I repeat, never go grocery shopping when you're hungry. All of a sudden even Maraschino cherries look good (and I hate cherries...well those kind). So, I brought home two dozen eggs. Two dozen eggs because I'm trying the South Beach diet. That's a lot of eggs you may say but that's the main "go to" food for me right now. No excuses here, but, really, I've had a heck of a time since really quitting smoking with an ever expanding "spare tire". Ugh. And I hate my arms too but that's another time. So anyway, South Beach seemed nicer than Adkins to me. So, I've just boiled six eggs and am looking for a good egg salad recipe. For lunch, now. Crap I'm hungry. Here's what I came up with from Recipezaar:

Bleu Egg Salad and Bacon Sandwich (Recipe #33821)

Ingredients:

6 eggs, hard boiled,cooled and peeled
1/4 cup celery, diced
4 1/2 tablespoons crumbled bacon
1 tablespoon diced scallion
2 fluid ounces bleu cheese salad dressing

Directions:

1. Coarsely chop the eggs and combine them with the celery, bacon, scallion and bleu cheese dressing in a mixing bowl; stir well.
2. Keep chilled until just before serving.
3. Spread the salad evenly, topped with lettuce and tomato, on your choice of rolls or bread.


I won't use bread of course and based on the user's comments I think I'll use an additional tablespoon of real crumbled bleu cheese too. I have reduced fat bleu cheese dressing and I dithered whether to use that (as called for in the recipe) or, maybe, just add two tablespoons of my treasured Hellman's Light mayo instead with the bleu cheese crumbles. Decisions decisions. I bought turkey bacon this morning so I'll use that too in place of real bacon. It's just two weeks of induction people! I can and will survive. Besides, if I'm hungry enough I'll eat just about anything, except maraschino cherries.

Post Script
I tweeked the above recipe and used:

6 hard-boiled eggs
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. onion powder (I had no scallion)
3 turkey bacon strips, crumbled
3 Tbsp. Light mayo (Hellman's)
2 Tbsp. crumbled bleu cheese
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The camera's been emptied



I finally did it. After being home since July 26th from Kitty Hawk I have finally downloaded the vacation pictures. Thus, I could take a recent picture of the garden. I was a bad mommy and let the lettuce go to seed so I yanked all of it out this morning. Much more clean! The pole beans are doing better now that they are sprayed with Neem. The Mexican bean beetle (I'm pretty sure) had it's way with the poor things. I hadn't put any pesticides on the plants at all and was skittish about using anything. The beans screamed for help so I was moved to action. After some research I placed my hope in an organic solution called Neem. It worked! No more beetles.......little bastards.
Here's one of the bean leaves. Poor thing. Those beetles sure are destructive. I'm hoping that I still will be able to coax at least SOME beans out of the ones planted.

It's been a small yield for this garden. Sorta hit or miss with some things. The tomatoes have done alright. The peppers have survived. And that's about it. I let the lettuce go to shit so that's my fault there. I did have a pretty decent lettuce crop when I first planted earlier in the Spring. It's the successive crops afterwords that I sorta screwed up. I'm convinced it's the soil. Actually I'm POSITIVE it's the soil. I didn't do anything to prepare it and now I'm suffering the consequences with my plant yields. In years before I've had my husband get manure and till it into the ground. What a nice garden that year! After that, I just got lazy and didn't even have a garden. I started again last year with high optimism. I started THIS year unprepared. Lesson learned.
With the high costs of vegetables, well, the high cost of everything, I really missed out on an opportunity to have a real cost buster with the back yard garden. I get to be a stay at home wife so I've disappointed myself with that one. Don't tell the hubby!

In the beginning....



My humble offering. This has been my project since early Spring and it has saved me from various situations such as: smoking, (over) drinking, (over) eating, flabbiness, and arguments. When Laura is frustrated about something you may find her here. Or the kitchen. Or having a glass of wine in the kitchen, or, in the garden. Many safe bets. I am in the process of patiently waiting to convert the shed to the right into my dream garden shed. It'll happen. I just don't know when. Probably when it's not sailing season any more which on the Chesapeake Bay may last a little while. The saying around here is that the best sailing on the Chesapeake is in the Spring and Fall which sorta screws me doesn't it? The husband is a stellar guy though so that's why I said earlier I was PATIENTLY waiting. Love you sweetie!

After I download some pictures from Kitty Hawk I can update some new garden pictures. What a change in five weeks. Every day it seems to grow and change. Is it okay that I LOVE my garden? Really love my garden........