Butternut and Red Lentil Soup

Sometimes the best recipes in the world are the results of improvisation.  This soup is just that.  We are concentrating on getting ready for Thanksgiving, which means a lot of things.  I can't help but think about what I am thankful for.  In a way, it's too much.  I don't want to even say.  But Thanksgiving day sums up so much of it.  I love being around family and friends.  I love just hanging around, I love the cooking too.

Back to the soup.  It's a combination of broth from turkey soup we made a while back and froze.  The butternut squash I got, just because I wanted it, and baked it.  Like a lot of things Kirsty makes,  it's a bit of winging it, so the recipe won't be precise.

This is an image of the baked squash.  It's pretty much a gorgeous saturated orange color.

Ingredients:
1 whole butternut squash
     halved, seeded and baked 1 hour at 350 degrees in 1/4 inch of water on a cookie sheet
1 quart turkey broth (unfrozen)
1/2 large onion chopped
1 leek white and light green parts chopped
2 Tbsp curry powdered
1 Tbsp ginger powdered
1 Tbsp garam marsala powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 pound dried red lentils

Saute onions and leek in butter and olive oil to a nice caramelized color.  Add the red wine to get all the goodness from the pan.  Reduce red wine.  Add to turkey and squash in a large pot.   Mix with the immersion mixer.  If you don't have one, either try the Cuisinart or blender.   Add spices and simmer.  We realized it was thinner than we wanted, so next came the red lentils.  I haven't seen these at the regular store.  We were at the Afgan market is where I found these.  They're tiny, relatively speaking, and a fairly bright (for beans) kind of orangish red.  They were about twice the price of the regular lentils, for what that's worth.  These lentils only took about 15-20 minutes to soften, and it's ready.  Salt and pepper to taste.  We garnished with spicy pumpkin and butternut squash seeds.

Jib Jab with Tim
This soup is one of those moments where everything just works.  It was so frigging good, especially the aftertaste, which was sweet and rich, I think the key is the combination of the lentils and squash.  I'm kind of excited about the butternut squash too.  It's a beautiful color, and a really sweet and delicious flavor, including the seeds, which we toasted, spicy seeds.

 Mom just had her birthday last week.  I'm not sure if she would mind me saying, she's 78 now.  Yep, she's still working.  I think she's talked about retiring about every year for the last 10 or 12 years.  She's a school nurse in an impacted school.  She still travels around the world, and out to San Francisco, where she's reading about a guy named Steve Jobs, pronounced Jobes. 
    "It's Jobs, mom. "
    "Oh, is it? Okay.  I wonder how Jobes got along with anyone?" 
    "I think some people had a hard time with Jobs, mom."

 

These are the spicy sweet pumpkin and butternut seeds.  I've toasted them in the oven, but these were done in a pan, and actually, now I think this is the way to do it.  Essentially, nothing in the pan, just the seeds.  Then add the seeds to the oil and spices.  That's it!

What's next? 
Yes, there are those peppers.  I've got a huge number of them.  I've been eying a bunch of recipes, and what I'm looking at is either exactly a recipe my sister-in-law shared for hot pepper sauce, or something with some oil.  The vinegar version I've made, thank you Jackie, and it turned out so good, and so easy.  I've got a couple jars in the fridge, one for Jackie.

The fridge is getting a little cleaned out, maybe to be refilled with Thanksgiving leftovers.  What a wonderful cycle.

What else? 
My cousin's twin boys.  Are they my cousins?  Or nephews?  I have no idea.  My cousin in Marquette, Michigan has twin sons, William and Daniel, or Bill and Dan.  They're going to join us for Thanksgiving!  I'm pretty excited about it.  They live in San Francisco, both fascinating and handsome and nice young men.  Their grandmother, my aunt Kallie was such a special person, and an important part of my life.  It's a special thing to connect, and have Dan and Bill for Thanksgiving.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

I've been thinking about Thanksgiving for a few days, and even picked up a few things, like a couple pumpkins for pumpkin pie and butternut squash which Kirsty made awesome butternut squash and lentil soup.

My sister made these spiced seeds based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine.  The problem with the Cooking Light recipe is exactly that, they were too light, so she doubled the spices, and added the paprika and Santa Fe chipotle chili powder.

Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Hungarian smoked paprika
1 tsp Santa Fe chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp canola oil

Instructions:

Put seeds in a saute pan on medium for about 4 minutes, just till they show a hint of browning.  They'll actually pop a little.  Mix up the spices then add the oil and seeds.  Cool seeds on a paper towel, single layer deep.

Jib Jab with Tim
I was wondering if the butternut squash seeds would be any good roasted, and they are.  Actually, we liked them better than the pumpkin seeds, which were really good too.   The butternut are fatter, and the hulls less-so.  All in all, these do have a bit of sweet, and mostly spicy, and altogether delicious.

Kirsty made some exceptional soup today.  So delicious, using our homemade turkey broth, the butternut squash and then she wanted to thicken in up, so we talked about adding potatoes, black beans, cannelloni beans, but we settled on some really good red lentils.  I'm going to do that recipe next.

Italian Zucchini and Summer Squash

The harvest is coming in.  I haven't been around much so things got away from me.  I've been catching up, including cooking huge batches of white and red Chard and all the squash.  Love summer mmmm. 
Jib jab
Note Italian zucchini is so much better than the dark green we are used to. Its got a mild nutty flavor.  Great small and even huge. You can identify it by the variegated green skin and it is ribbed

Meyer Lemon and Mineola Orange Marmalade

I'm pretty excited about this marmalade for a couple reasons.  Why?

• It's an awesome combination of sweet and bitter
• We've got an abundance of Meyer lemons
• Sarah made this before, and this time, Kirsty and I did it on our own
• I learned how to extract the pectin from the fruit

 I looked at a bunch of recipes, and found some helpful tips on a few of them.  Most of the recipes were looking for a much lighter amount of fruit.  Somehow, it just didn't seem right, so I went above and beyond.  When Sarah made this recipe, she added a couple Clementine oranges, which added some complexity to the flavor, and I really like how it offsets the color of the lemon.  I just got some organic Mineola Oranges from our CSA.  They've got a thicker skin, a very dark orange rind, giving it a stronger bitter bite, and the deep color contrast.

What's good about this marmalade over others?

•  We used a lot of fruit.  About twice most other recipes.  It's rich.
• We combined lemon and orange, adding flavor and color.

I've been intrigued with the idea of canning, or making jams.  We've made a few berry jams, with berries from the farmer's market, so this was kinda cool, essentially the ingredients came from our harvest, and of course, the sugar.  We even extracted the pectin from the fruit, which is doubly cool.

You really don't need anything special to make this recipe, although a couple tools are handy.

• Cheescloth
• Candy or instant thermometer
• Jar funnel
• A couple large pots, 1 for sterilizing, 1 for cooking
• 7-8 canning jars with 2 part lids (8 oz jars)
• Tongs - there are special jar tongs.  I don't use them, but might be nice to have.

Ingredients

3 pounds Meyer lemons

2 each Mineola oranges

4 cups sugar

5 cups water
1 cup meyer lemon juice

Sterilize

Sterilize the jars and lids in a large pot full of water, enough to cover the jars.  I put both parts of the lid in the pot to boil.  I've noticed some say it's hard on the rubber seal.  I haven't had a problem, but I haven't made that many batches.  Boil about 10 minutes, then dry on a clean towel.  Use tongs so you don't get anything on the sterile jars and lids.

Chop the Lemons

While the jars are boiling, start cutting up the fruit.  For the marmalade, we cut 1/8-1/4 inch slices, then cut out the membrane from the center, and cut into wedges.  We also cut off both ends of the lemon, and removed all the seeds. Keep all the trimmings, especially the seeds in a pile on the cheesecloth.  

Lemons boiling on left.  Sterilized jars, lids and holders on towel.

Boil

Combine the fruit, juice and water in a big pot.  Tie up the seeds and membrane in the cheesecloth, like a teabag.  Add to the water.  Bring to a boil and cook until the rinds are soft, and not chewy.  About 20 minutes.  Keep stirring.  If it seems like it's sticking to the bottom, add another cup of water.  I had to.  In fact, I didn't stir enough and had some rinds burn or at least brown on the bottom of the pan.  Oops.  

Boiling the fruit and 'teabag'.  Keep stirring!

Remove the 'teabag' of seeds and so on.  Let it cool.  That's got your pectin you'll squeeze back into the pot, once it's cool enough to handle.

Wrip up the seeds and membranes to make the pectin "teabag".

Add sugar

Add the sugar and return to a boil.  Once the teabag is cool, squeeze the cheesecloth bag into the boil.  I got about 2-3 Tbsp of really thick white juice from the bag.  You want to keep boiling until the temperature increases by 8 degrees (F).  If you don't have a thermometer, there are other ways you can tell if you're done.  One cool method I read about and used, put a plate in the freezer.  Drip some sauce on it.  If it gels enough to see it hold up when you push your finger in it, it's done.  If it just drips, it's not done.  Keep stirring the whole time with a wooden spoon.

Pour into jars

Use a ladle, and fill jars wthin a 1/4 of the top.  I got 7 jars from my batch.  Make sure the rims are clean, as well as the jar threads.  Put the lid on, then screw the lid holder down.  If you still have the other pot full of hot water, put the filled jars in the hot water, and return to a boil for 10 minutes.  This kills any bacteria.  Let cool and store in the fridge or in a cool dark place.  It should store for a year, I've heard.

Enjoy, especially on toast.

Kohlrabi Fritters

This is an extra big one, because I wanted to finish off the batter.  You can see, I am still using up my dill on these.  It's a much better combination here, than with the mashers I made.  Anyways, these turned out great.  The recipe is adapted from something I found on another blog, A Hungry Bear.  Is it impolite if I don't hyperlink that? hungry bear.  Okay, I feel better now.  Essentially, the recipe is grated kohlrabi, and onions, then egg and breadcrumbs plus spices, so here we go.

Serves 4.

3 small kohlrabi peeled and grated
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 eggs
3-4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Fresh dill
 greek yogurt and applesauce (optional)

Topping options
Kirsty topped hers with a dollop of Greek yogurt and applesauce.  It looked good!

Drain the kohlrabi.  Use a paper towel.  I grated mine a couple days before, so they were pretty excess- water free.You want it fairly dry so your fritters hold together.  Combine with the onion.  Beat the eggs.  Add the panko to the eggs and mix.  Add to the veggies.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the dill and mix.
Heat a pretty good amount of oil in a pan, say 3 Tbsp.  Drop a heaping tablespoon into pan and flatten into fritter.  Brown on each side.  I added a bit more oil, each batch.  The final batch was about 2-3 frittters worth, into one.  :-)

Jib Jab
These are really tasty!!  Do not skimp on the oil, the crispy edge tastes really good.  Get the oil hot to start, to give it that crispy edge of deliciousness.

Mashed Kohlrabi and Carrots

I made this recipe before, or something like it and it was delicious.  The kohlrabi has a really full flavor, and the carrots add a sweetness to the whole thing.  In this recipe I used fresh dill because I had it.  In hindsight, I think I would go with a sweeter herb next time.  Other than the dill, which is tasty, it's pretty sweet tasting!  To be honest, I really didn't want to cook, but I had already peeled and diced the kohlrabi a couple days ago. I didn't want them to not get used, so, I boiled them in water, and threw in some carrots, about 4 small ones diced.  Did you notice the background?  It was getting later and I wanted natural light, so I took the picture on my ipe river...so I call it.  It's my patio with a wood river/bridge.  Anyway, here's the recipe.

Makes about 6 servings

6 small kohlrabi, peeled and diced (I used organic, from my CSA, not sure what others taste like.)
4 small carrots, cleaned and diced (I used organic.  Makes a huge difference.)
4 Tbsp butter
Dill, fresh, chopped, or maybe try cardamom or nutmeg or something (I used dill, but next time I am going the sweet direction)
Salt and Pepper

I boiled the veggies for 14 minutes, drained, then added the butter, and mashed.  You don't have to mash all the way.  I sprinkled the dill in, and then garnished on top.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Jib Jab
So, I had a huge amount of kohlrabis, turns out it filled a whole large yogurt container, I think that's a quart, for your reference.  It's probably about 3 to 1 kohlrabi to carrots.  Anyway, I also made a kohlrabi fritter, which was really good.  Another kind of inspired and seat of the pants recipe.

Cardamom Rice Pudding

Cardamom Rice Pudding

This is my first guest post!  It's not a full-blown guest post.  Kirsty made this last night, wanting to replicate something we've had at Kabul's, our local Afghan restaurant.  It's basically our family restaurant, meaning we go there for family celebrations, birthdays, graduations, and in general, special days.  This is a standard when we go.  The other one is Chala or something like that.  Sarah, remind me what it's called.  It's like a pumpkin custard, not exactly.  Anyway, back to the Cardamom Pudding.

This recipe came from Alton Brown, of the famed Food Network.    He calls it Indian Pudding.

1 cup cooked long grain rice (Kirsty used Jasmine)  Alton uses Basmati

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom - Kirsty added extra, even double it
1 1/2 ounces golden raisins, approximately 1/3 cup (Kirsty skipped this)
1 1/2 ounces chopped unsalted pistachios, approximately 1/3 cup - Kirsty toasted, which brings a really nice crunch and roasted flavor

1/3 cup coconut flakes - small angel hair flakes - Kirsty's addition, which added a nice flavor and texture

Makes about 4 servings, but Kirsty tripled it, thinking, breakfast for sure, and then some.

In a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, combine the cooked rice and milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil. Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, coconut flakes and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping. Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the pistachios (and raisins if you use it). Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Jib Jab
This is a really rich and delicious dessert, and turns out it's really good warm, or cold for breakfast.  Thanks Kirsty, for being my first guest poster!

Chana Masala

See the steam rising?  Chana Masala

This is last night's dinner I've been wanting to make for a couple days. Kirsty, Kathy and I made Chana Masala, Indian Rice Pudding, and you can see the chard, rice and avocados. We also had delicious huge artichokes too, that we ate with meyer lemon juice and mayonnaise dip, and a horseradish mayo dip.

The recipe is from Molly Wizenberg, A Homemade Life.  She's also the author of a food blog, Orangette.  I started looking at her blog, but still need to spend time on it to comment.  I like the book though, the recipes in general are simple and the ones I've tried are tasty.  I like her writing style too.  It's a bit more sophisticated than mine I would say, but gives that personal closeness feeling.

Let's get right to the recipe, and our little adaptations.

1/4 cup olive oil (I used less, but more than I would have used intuitively.)
1 medium onion, chopped (I had a huge onion, and used half, next time, I would use it all)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced (I was out, so skipped this, yes, add next time)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (I used 1 tsp cumin powder, then added 1 tsp cumin seeds when I found we had some, and it was not too much)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (Didn't have, so didn't add.  I think more spices would be better, next time, add)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I think I used 1/2 tsp)
1 teaspoon garam masala, plus more for serving (really, this is what got me going on the whole recipe)
3 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed under the side of a knife (I used powder, which is a big compromise.  Cardamom is expensive, but I want to try it whole, next time.  My sister said they would just snack on it in Honduras.)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Water
One 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon cilantro, coarsely chopped, and more for serving (I used fresh Italian parsley, it's what I had in the garden, and it tasted great.  I think, use what you have)
Pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes, or more to taste - I did a pinch of cayenne, which was too subtle.  I would add a big pinch next time
Two 15 ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 to 1/2 cup plain yogurt (not low fat or no fat, and it's optional) 
A few lemon wedges (optional for serving, but I would say it was a great addition) 

Serves 4

Pour the olive oil into a pan or dutch oven and warm over medium heat.  Add onions.  Molly makes a big deal about cooking down the on onions, to get them to caramelize.  Mine seemed to brown, more than anything, but I got them pretty brown, and agree, it would add a really nice sweet flavor.

Reduce heat, add garlic, cumin seeds, coriander, ginger, garam masala, cardamom, and salt.  Stir constantly until fragrant and toasty, about 30 seconds.  Molly says add 1/4 cup of water to get all the brown bits from the bottom.  I had so much oil from the beginning, I added some water, but just for the process.  Cook until the water is evaporated completely.  Pour in the juice from the can of tomatoes.  She says, just break the tomatoes with your hands.  We blended in the mixer.  I think either are fine.

Raise the heat to medium, and bring to a gentle boil, then turn it down to a simmer.  Add the cilantro and cayenne, and cook down about 5 minutes.  Finally, add the chickpeas and cook another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add 2 tablespoons of water, and cook for another 5 minutes more.  Molly mentions the process of adding water and cooking down, concentrates the flavor and makes the chickpeas more tender (and toothsome?!?)

Finally, serve with a dollop of yogurt, or add in.  You can also skip the yogurt and squeeze lemon on top.  I did both, add yogurt and then added lemon.  Sprinkle with the garam masala and chopped cilantro.

Jib Jab
My sister is allergic to onions and garlic, so we made two batches actually.  The one in the top of the picture is with onions, and the closer one below, is without.  Essentially, the lower one, we started by cooking the spices in the olive oil.  Pretty much everything else is the same.  You can also see the chard down in front, and we served with white rice, up top.

Sorry, sissy, with onions does taste better.  I think somehow we cooked it down more too, with the adding water, reduce cycles.  I think that actually somehow sweetened the tomatoes.  Regardless, the dish is so delicious, and as much as it sounds complicated, it isn't.  Pretty much start to finish is about 45 minutes.  Give or take.

I read Molly's book, A Homemade Life, da da da, and by the end, I really enjoyed it.  The recipes start from fairly mundane, potato salad, to the last one, a chocolate cake, specifically the recipe she made for her wedding cake, 27 times or something like that, for her wedding party.  She calls it Winning Hearts and Minds Cake and its kind of how I feel about food.  It really doesn't stand alone.  To me, it's all about sharing it, who you celebrated with, who you cooked with, who you ate with, the whole experience. Where you got the recipe, the ingredients, everything. Just hanging out.  Cooking.  Brewing.  Steeping.  Simmering.  It's food, but moreso, people, friends.  Family.

My sister, gave me the book to read, because of my blog.  The Chana Masala recipe stuck out in my mind, because of the garam masala spice.  I had never heard of it, so I was curious.  I think I mentioned it to Kath, and she had some, and brought it over, so we could make it. 

Back to the Masala.  This is a great recipe to make, and have in the fridge for the next few days.  Molly says it gets even better the second day.  I can imagine.

This was my plate, with onions.  Also, I squeezed lemon on everything.

Last bit of Jib Jab
You'll likely see more use of meyer lemons in the near future.  Our tree is full, and to be honest, there's not too much I use the lemons for today, but my daughter, mom and my sis especially love them and seem to use them all the time.  So, anyways, I am on the lookout for more meyer lemon recipes.  If you have a keeper, and want to share, send it along.

100 posts later... 2,500 unique visits, 24 followers Thank You!

Moira is 18!

It's all part of life's rich pageant. 
On a whim, I wanted to see what was entailed in creating a blog, so, I went ahead and made one. 
We were doing the garden, so it's the san carlos garden.  I made a few posts, and said, okay, that's what it is.  I stopped until Sarah came home for the holidays, and we started cooking, and baking.  Sarah got me going with recipes on blogs, and we really had fun with it, laughing and giggling about all the comments, especially those along the lines of "This is the best recipe ever!  I just used milk for cream, and almonds for walnuts, doubled the cinnamon, and nutmeg, and cut the butter with sour cream... but I loved this recipe!"  I'm laughing just thinking about it, partly because it's funny, partly because that's what we were doing!  So, I started blogging on that.  And, I started noticing formats, styles, and so on.  It's really cool!

Steel cut oatmeal, roasted hazelnuts, pears and sliced banana with milk and brown sugar

So, all the fun online, led to more cooking, and more photos of food.  More posts led to more visits and more visits inspired more posts.

Sculpture granite and ceramic by Tony Stanzione decorated for Christmas Greenwood Village, Colorado

The metrics
And then there are the metrics.  How many visitors, repeat, and unique, and where they are from, city, state, country, continent.  And which posts got the traffic?  It's all really cool, and exciting and interesting and motivating, and just plain fun.

The comments
Okay, it's really all about the comments.  It's really fun to get feedback.  You never know how something impacts someone, so hearing a little bit, it's such a charge to hear from you.  So, if you ever wonder, add a comment.  You'll make my day.

Sarah and Lauren at Nan's

Thank You!
So, I know.  What? Why?  How do you have time?  I don't get it?  I know. I know.  It really is about connecting with you.  I get so much energy from others.  Which is selfish.  It's true, and, I know how much I enjoy other people's writing, so thanks for sharing back. 

So, I'm looking for topics, improving my photography, my writing, and growing our community.  We just crossed 24 followers, which is awesome.  I also crossed 2,500 unique visitors.  And all the countries of visitors!  US of course, a big band of cities from West to East coast.  There's my family, on both coasts, and Denver.  Sarah at school gives me comments, which I love...and Kirsty, who keeps up too... thanks Goose and Kirsty and then breaking out to others, like my buddy Jennie in Seattle, another who does comments... Thanks Jennie.  And then new friends in Germany and France, Australia, and on and on and on.  I've been writing about swimming lately, and got a comment from a friend who said she was inspired to start swimming again, and another friend sharing my recipes with his family... it's all good.

So thanks to all of you.  You inspire me.  Let me know your thoughts and ideas.

Tim, Dad, Dan golfing Dec 27th, Denver

Happy New Year Lentil, Leek and Spinach Soup

 

I made this recipe a couple weeks ago, after all the parties settled down.  We had momentous milestones; Sarah's 21st, Moira turned 18, and I turned 39 (just kidding- 39+), not to mention Christmas and New Years.  Lentils came to mind today, because I made lentils again, and instead of spinach, I used some fresh chard I sauted with the veggie broth, oh, and I added some super hot peppers I chopped up fine, also from the garden from this summer and a little splash of balsamic vinegar.

This a a perfect go-to recipe for after the holidays.  It helped me clear out the fridge, and it's comfort food and seems like it's good for you, after all the rich holiday food.  I particularly like this picture, highlighting my new pottery Sarah made at school, and the Christmas lights dazzling in the window.

See that red pepper?  It was from the garden, amazingly, from this summer.  I think I harvested it at the end of November.  The cheese crusted bread adds a bit of specialness to the dish, making it a nice light dinner.

Serves 4-6
Great for leftovers too.
45-60 minutes start to finish

Lentil leek and spinach soup

1 pound dry lentils
1 onion, diced
2 leeks sliced and diced thin, the white parts
1 red pepper
2 carrots, diced small cubes
1 quart vegetable broth
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 bunches cleaned spinach

Cheesy bread

1 baguette sliced thin pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Rinse the lentils a few times, then bring the water to boil, about 6 cups of water.  Turn it down to simmer for another 20-30 minutes until the beans are just starting to soften, but not all the way cooked.  Drain out most of the water, and add the vegetable broth and bring to just boiling and turn it down.

While the lentils are cooking saute the onions, leeks, and carrots in the olive oil.  I like to start with the onions, and get them to caramelizing, then the leeks, just until they start to soften, and same with the carrots and peppers. 

Add the sauteed veggies and spinach to the lentils with broth.  In about 1-2 minutes the spinach will wilt and be perfect.

Cheesy Bread
spread baguette slices on a jelly roll pan
drizzle oil lightly over bread
salt and pepper bread
sprinkle with cheese
Broil for about 5-7 minutes until cheese starts to melt.
Serve with the soup.

Cranberry Noels, Cherry Chocolate Chunk, revisited

Cranberry Noels, candy cane and Christmas tree cookies

We made these last year, and the year before, and the year before.  The recipe is here.

Cherry Chocolate Chunk cookies

These cookies are so delicious.  Huge chunks of chocolate and bing cherries.  These are also a recipe from previous Christmas cookie cooking sprees.  The recipe is here.

Jib Jab with Tim
It was really fun making these cookies.  It's really helped me get into the holiday spirit.  These are some of the best holiday cookies I've ever had.  My sister-in-law introduced us to them several years ago.

Cranberry Noels
These are incredible cookies.  Such an awesome combination of butter, sugar, cranberries, coconut and pecans.  There are a couple techniques and tricks to keep in mind. First, when you roll them out, make the dough thin.  Also, you are going to tend toward browning them.  DONT.  These are best if you don't brown them.  It's really a balancing act, between thin and making sure you don't brown em.  In the end, these go in the premium cookie section.  They are a step above the traditional chocolate chip or sugar or snickerdoodle cookie.

One more note.  I used sweetened coconut from the grocery store.  Later, I was at Whole Foods, and they have a much better selection of coconut in the bulk section.  It looks a lot fresher and it's less expensive.  The more I shop at Whole Foods, the more I think it's not only better food, and better choices, but often less expensive. 

Cherry Chocolate Chunk

Another totally premium cookie.  Bring these out for your special family and friends.  :-)  If you have had them, you know who I am talking about.  If not, ask for them.  They are a special treat.  These are a combination of intense cocoa, sour cherry, and big chunks of bittersweet chocolate chunks.

Trader Joe's has the dried cherries and the huge bittersweet bars.  They do a 500 gram bar, which is a bit over 16oz.  It's bittersweet with almonds.  I crushed the chocolate into really large chunks, which is tasty, just messy if they are still warm.

All said, these are going to make a nice gift for our neighbors, if the rain breaks long enough to deliver...

Irish Soda Bread

Okay, credit to allrecipes.com - I am wondering if I should just link to this one, because I think I used this recipe directly, without changes.  If you want to see the original, it's called Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread.

So, 2 things.  Yes, it's amazingly easy, and yes, it's amazingly delicious.  Okay, and the best comments EVER on this one.  Gotta love those comments.

Ingredients:
4 C white flour (you can substitute some wheat in there, but it makes it heavier, so not too too much)
4 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 C) butter, softened (okay, I changed to butter from margarine)
1 C buttermilk
1 egg

Glaze
1/4 C butter, melted
1/4 C buttermilk

Preheat oven at 450 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add butter, and mix in well.  I used my hands.  You can use a pastry cutter or fork too.  Then add the buttermilk and egg.  Mix well.  Make into a ball, and put out on lightly floured counter.  Kneed a couple times.  Put the dough on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Slice an X across the top with a knife.  Glaze with the butter mixture.  Bake until pretty brown at 450, about 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on it.  Lower to 350 to finish.  Check with a toothpick, to see if it comes out clean.  About 45 minutes plus or minus 10.

Jib Jab
This was so delicious.  Perfect crusty outside, soft inside and so tasty.  I could/should have doubled it.  Not one big loaf, but 2.

Irish Colcannon

Credit to Food Network again, for the basis for this recipe.  I love this FN recipe, because of all the comments!! It's a 5-star, but I always love everyone's comments.  Definitely the best part.

Above maybe all else, the Irish are known for their potatoes.   They don't eat as many as they used to, but still, about 300 pounds per person per year today.

The American traditional St Patrick's meal is corned beef and cabbage.  Well, we used to do this, and I used to look forward to it, and then about two years in a row, I tasted it, and thought...geez this is gross.   So fatty, so salty, and just, yuck.  I am sure the plastic-sealed corned beef probably was not the best, and if i remember, boiling huge chunks of cabbage and carrots and potatoes together...yeah.  Anyways, not my favorite.

On the other hand...this recipe rocks!  From what I hear, a common theme in Irish recipes is potatoes, cabbage and meat.  I think most colcannon recipes are that way.  I will look around to see.

Alright then.  Got off on a little Jib Jab, even before we got to business.

Ingredients:
4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used red and yukon, but russets are fine too)
2 sticks butter (1/2 pound)  (in the end, I didn't use it all)
1 1/4 C hot milk (just use the microwave - keeps your 'tates warm while mashing)
fresh ground black pepper
1 large head cabbage - cored and finely shredded into strips
12 oz bacon strips (the Irish would probably use a chunk of ham or bacon, boiled) fry the bacon, not too crisp, chop finely.  remove as much fat as possible with paper towels.
4 scallions, finely chopped (I omitted, due to dietary restrictions of a guest/sister)
chopped fresh parsley for garnish - use a lot

Boil potatoes for about 20-30 minutes, until tender.  Pour out the water, and start adding the butter and slowly add in the milk while mashing.  Add some ground pepper to taste.  Set aside.

Steam cabbage strips in a tiny bit of water, until they darken.  Just a couple minutes or so.  Add two Tbsp butter, and cover for 2 minutes. Drain if there is too much liquid. Remove from pan, and chop it up small.  Add to mashed potatoes.

Add chopped bacon and scallions to mashed potatoes.  If needed, and it may not, add salt/pepper to taste.
Serve a dollop on each plate, with a big divot/crater in the top, which you can add a pat of butter, followed by lots of fresh chopped parsley for garnish.

Final Jib Jab
At first, I hesitated on this recipe, which seemed too complicated, and would take too long.  In the end, it has a few steps, but each step is easy, and I simplified the meat by using sliced bacon.  I should have doubled this recipe.  It really went over well.  Better than I thought.  I made a vegetarian version for the girls, and skipped the scallions for my sis, and everybody loved it, and there were no left overs!  I didn't add the dollop of butter on everyone's, but did on a couple.  It's tasty, and not necessary....

Roasted Vegetable Irish Lamb Stew

First, credit to the Food Network Kitchen, for your recipe.  I leveraged it heavily below.  I had an idea of what I wanted to do, like using leeks and turnips, and this recipe added a bonus twist, which looked really good.  Roasting the vegetables. 

So, here we go.  I think I had enough for about 12 or maybe a couple more people.  I served 8 and I would say I had about a third left when we were finished....mmmm leftovers...

4 Tbsp Olive oil (I always use generously, so not sure how much I used)
1 boneless leg of lamb (5.5#-ish)  I diced it up myself, about 1 inch cubes
salt, pepper to taste
2 leeks chopped somewhat fine.  Just the white part.
1 onion, chopped
1/2 C flour
1 stick (1/4 #) butter
1 can Guinness (mine was a pint)
4 C beef stock
2 C of tomatoes - I used canned.  Just use a whole small can
1 pound parsnips, peeled and diced, about 1 inch cubes
1 pound carrots, peeled and diced, as above
3 pounds red and yukon potatoes, peeled and diced as above
7 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs rosemary, plus 2 Tbsp chopped ( I forgot the chopped!  Add it.)
2 C peas (I skipped this.  I might try this next time, and would use frozen, myself)
1 bunch parsley (chopped and use whole for garnish)

Preheat Oven 400 degrees.
Heat 2 Tbsp Olive oil in large pot.  Add lamb cubes and brown.  Remove browned lamb and set aside.  Add a touch more oil onion and leeks. Saute until soft.  Add the butter and flour to make roux.  Cook low to brown, about 15 minutes (I made the roux in another pan so I could use it in two recipes, one without leeks).  Add Guinness, stock, tomatoes and browned lamb.  Simmer for 90 minutes.

Roasted Vegetables
In a baking dish or sheet ( I used 2  9x13 inch dishes to spread the veggies out), mix together carrots, parsnips, potatoes, garlic, rosemary sprigs.  Salt and pepper to taste, then drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat vegetables.  Roast for 45 minutes, or until starting to brown, stirring every 15-20 minutes.  Remove rosemary sprigs.

Final
Add roasted vegetables, peas (if you are using), chopped rosemary to stew.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve.  Garnish with chopped parsley.

St Paddy's Day - the day after

Everything turned out great.  We had 5 fewer guests than I expected, and we didn't make the Guinness Chocolate cake.  That said, it didn't seem to get in the way of us having a great time.  It was a big day, on a few fronts.  So, first, I think we made 6 dishes.  Probably an all-time high!  Okay, maybe not, but still, it was a lot.  I will post all the recipes as soon as I can.  I am nursing a super sore neck/shoulder, maybe some sort of repetitive stress, maybe from swimming or using the laptop..or maybe both or something else all together.  Anyways, getting an appointment for the doctor today.  Such a bummer!

St Patrick's day recipes:
- lamb stew without garlic, onions, or leeks - omit leek, onion, garlic
(because i love my sister, who is allergic)
- vegetarian mushroom and barley stew (i love you, mo!)
- roasted veggies irish lamb stew - i chopped up a whole leg of lamb, turnips, leeks, and roasted all the veggies before going in the stew
- colcannon (even my sisters didn't know colcannon is mashed potatoes and cabbage and ham)
- irish soda bread (dang, this was good!)

- guinness chocolate cake (okay, we got all the ingredients, but haven't made it yet.  i'm putting up the recipe anyways...)

Jib Jab
Just a few notes on the whole thing.  As usual, I scoured the Internet for recipes, and basically went to the store with ingredient lists for several versions of the above, so yes, I got a few too many things.  Extras include:  large turnip, stuff for chocolate cake.  extra 8 pack of Guinness, plus i think a couple in the first 8 pack.  I guess I was the only one dying for the Guinness.  A bunch of extra potatoes.

More Jib Jab
Cutting up the leg of lamb took a lot longer than I was planning.  Basically, about an hour.  I cut it up into small pieces, because I like it that way.  It's kind of hard to eat those big chunks, straight up.  After getting that ready, I browned it, and then split it into two pots, one for the onion-less version and the other for the rest of us.  Then I got the leeks and onions in there to saute.  Then it's major peeling and chopping veggies.  Thanks for chopping, Moira!  Carrots, 2 kinds of potatoes, parsnips - was that it?  So, cover in olive oil, add rosemary sprigs.  Roast in oven.  In the meantime, make a roux.  Add broth and tomatoes, split between two lamb stews.

While the others are roasting and simmering, get veggie stew going.  Onions, leeks and so on.  Then carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes, I forget what else.  Saute in olive oil.  Add broth, barley simmer.

While that's simmering, Moira is making vegan cupcakes for school, trying to use the oven at the same time.  Oh, and then making pesto... tons of fun!  For her no-meat club, they are serving vegan cupcakes and pesto pasta to non-converts, to show vegan is healthy, and delicious.  Go Mo and Sarira!

And then, do we still have time?  We have to!  Okay, Mark, you be in charge of the soda bread, and Kathy, will you do the colcannon? (while i micro-manage!)...  We pretty much ran out of pots and burners.  We were boiling potatoes, while steaming the cabbage, and cooking the bacon, with the other 3 stews going...and the vegetables in the oven.  yeah, it was a bit of a shuffle, and at the same time on 4 burners, pretty dang fun getting it all going...  Thanks Mark and Kathy!

The soda bread is so crazy easy (especially when you can tell someone else to do it :-)).  Basically, you mix all the dry ingredients, then cut in a stick of butter,
and shape into the loaf, slice a cross in it, and I had Mark glaze the top with a butter,/buttermilk mix to get it to brown nicely.  I did another thing, to speed things along, and I kinda remember seeing it somewhere - I threw it in the oven at 450 degrees, instead of 350 or something like that.  It took about 30 minutes to brown up, glazing it every 15 minutes or so.  Then after 30 min, I turned it down to 350 to cook the inside.  It turned out so perfect.  I have pictures, but I am not optimistic on how the pics turned out.

The colcannon was easy too, really.  Once I figured out what the recipes were saying.  Essentially, you make potatoes like mashers.  Peel, dice, boil, smash with butter and milk...little trick, heat the milk, then your 'tatos don't get cold.  The recipes call for ham or bacon slab or chunk or something like that.  I decided to go with bacon, american style bacon...hate to admit it, but oscar myer.  I know....but hey, it worked.  So, I just fried the bacon, tried to go not too crunchy, but not under done...so get all the grease off with paper towels, then dice, pretty finely.  I didn't want big chunks of meat in there...and actually I went way light on the quantity, because I was looking for just a hint of meat flavor.  The cabbage, just slice real thin, throw in pot, steam, add butter, once it goes darker green, then out, dice, and into the potatoes, with the bacon.  Done!!  Oh, and of course, a big pat of butter on every serving...and parsley chopped on top, as garnish.

Pog, thanks for bringing in the folding tables and chairs, and finding a table cloth and all that jazz.

So, there you have it!  We also had some nice Irish cheese.  I forget what kind, with crackers, and of course Guinness, and wine, and Coors.  We had the Collins' over.  Jim is Irish, and even has Irish citizenship, and so do their kids, Christian and Jillian.   Even with that said, they brought over their stout, which they only know me, who likes it...Jim is a Coors drinker...(which I like too!).

Everyone really liked their dinner.  Even Mark, who quietly brought baked chicken because he didn't think he liked lamb...  He was wrong.  :-)  The girls liked the vegetarian mushroom barley stew, and even Patrick and Bryce liked the lamb stew, potatoes and bread.   Dang, that was fun.  Finished off with an Irish cream liquor...nummm.

St Paddy's Day plans

Today is another Jib Jab first.  I'm actually planning a post, before I've cooked it.  I am feeling a bit under the weather, so I am thinking about St Paddy's day.  I am thinking lamb stew, Irish soda bread, and not sure from there.  Yes, of course some Guinness.  And I haven't figured out the potato and cabbage recipes yet.  I am watching a Bobby Flay show on the food channel as we speak - he's full blooded Irish, and the show is on the food history of Ireland...let's see what we come up with. 

So, 92% of beer in Ireland is consumed in the Pubs.  Pub food is only 25 years old!- since the 70s... wait, the math seems to be not too robust there... Ireland is more relaxed than America.  Guinness has 70% of the beer market in Ireland.  The largest brewery in Europe. Irish Literature; Yates, Joyce, Beckett - drinkers with writing problems... gotta understand the pub culture...  Sir Walter Raleigh brought potatoes to Ireland in the 1600s, from America.  Then, they ate 10-12 pounds of potato per person per day before the blight.    Potatoes col-cannon.  Today, 300 pounds per person per year.  Red rooster potatoes are Irish.  Rice the potatoes.  York cabbage....deep fried potato bacon cabbage...brown bread...smoked salmon...the salt goes on the fillet to kill any bacteria, and draw the moisture to the surface before smoking...smoking takes a day or two or three.    Dorina Allen, Ballyboe Irish house cooking.  Bacon and cabbage is the Irish national food.  sliced cabbage, butter, cook with herbs.  scallion champ?  bacon, cabbage.    Ester Barron, Baron's bakery.  Waterford county.  Crystal.  Tea.  Jameson.  Irish are more like Mediterraneans than Europeans.  10,000 pubs are in Ireland. Tullamore Dew, Ireland. 

One last note.  What's the difference between Scotch and Irish whiskey?  A couple things.  Some I remember:  Irish uses some non-malted barley, and Scotch is all malted.  Irish malted barley is dried in kilns, whereas scotch is malted over peat bog fires.  Also, scotch is typically distilled twice.  Irish whiskey 3 times minimum.  So, to the single malt story.  There is no such version of Irish whiskey.  By definition, it has different types of barley used.  Malted barley, and raw.

I am thinking about Ireland again, from my mutt ancestry, I am mostly Irish, from my dad's side and 25% on mom's side.  My dad has a bit of a secret family history, which he really hasn't shared much of (hence the secrets).  There is definitely some severe mental illness involved, and probably other secret things as well.   I have heard bits and pieces.  It brings up strong emotions, and in general, has been dealt with by ignoring it, or at least not talking about it.   Well, my dad doesn't talk much all together.  Not sure if that's all part of the plan or just him.  All that said, I am curious about my Irish heritage.  I would love to go there, some day soon.

Okay, just thinking out loud on the menu, grocery store wise-
lamb - safeway or a better butcher
do i need oatmeal, wheat flour for the bread?
potatoes, carrots, ruddebeggas, turnips, barley, parsley for the stew, beef stock
potatoes and cabbage for the potatoes and cabbage
leeks?
lamb chop appetizers?
Anyways, that's it for now.

It was a totally beautifully sunny warm day, and I was gonna go riding, but felt too achy, headache, bla bla bla.  Oh well, hopefully I will be better soon.

Asparagas Leek Soup

Okay, just a quick post.  Things to do, soon.  We had a great trip to Lake Tahoe.  Excellent time, skiing, snowboarding, being with family and friends.  Pog is a boarder now....more on that later.

The basis for this recipe is from Epicurious.  We had a bunch of asparagus leftover from our trip, and I was thinking soup, so here's what we came up with.  Epicurious says 5 pounds of asparagus, of which I think I had about half that, so I kind of halved the recipe.

2 bunches of asparagus chopped into 2 inchers
2 leeks chopped (just the good parts)
2-3 Tbsp Olive oil
5 C vegetable stock (I used Trader's, do NOT use hearty)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 tsp finely grated lemon peel (I used Meyer lemons from my tree)
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon finely chopped (I didn't use this, only because I didn't have any)
1 garlic clove, minced (I didn't use this, because I didn't want to)

Heat oven to 350 deg F.  (Don't use 425, like Epicurious says)
Mix the asparagus, leeks and oil in a bowl.  Salt and pepper and put on 2 cookie sheets.  We have
the high-edge kind, which was handy for this recipe.  Roast in oven until lightly browned.  About 45 mins.  Stir occasionally, as needed, about twice is what I did.

Blender
Once it's cooked, load one cookie sheet worth in the blender, and half the broth.  Blend until smooth.
Poor into large soup pan.  Repeat with remaining cooked vegetables.  Warm soup.  Add more stock if you like it thinner.  I used about 5 C total.  You could maybe get away with a quart box of stock.

Garnish
The remaining ingredients make the garnish, called Gremolata, which is a classic Italian garnish, and it adds a really nice flavor.  Yes, add the tarragon.  I wish I had some.  Just finely chop the Italian parsley, minced garlic, tarragon, and grated lemon peel together, and liberally garnish on top of the reheated soup.  Maybe next time I will add the garlic too.

Jib Jab
The soup was good, and super easy to make.  Yes, turn down the heat.  I used 425 and it went way too fast, and a little too brown on the leeks.  I think it would have been sweeter, at a lower temp.  The garnish is awesome.  I need to get the tarragon next time.  Picture to follow.

Yes, you can double this one.  I want to make it again at this size to perfect it, first.  Every now and then, it had a tiny-too-bitter flavor.  I think it could have been roasted too dark, and possibly the asparagas itself, even though we broke off the woody part, before cooking.  Maybe just a little more salt would have helped too.

Roasted Mushroom Soup

I set out to make this yesterday, and had a couple mishaps along the way.  In the end, it turned out to be really tasty, albeit, a day later.  I borrowed from a couple recipes mostly, and then I read a couple more that I probably assimilated and went into the plan.

The two main ones were Closet Cooking Blog and Epicurious.  Okay, now that I look at it, from the Epicurious Mushroom Soup recipe, the only thing I got was to use sherry, which I didn't even use, I ended up using port.  Well, the other thing was, no dairy, which I was really trying to avoid....not for religious or any reason, other than I didn't want it.  Closet Cooking has it down.  Okay, so his recipe has a cup of cream, but pretty much everything else I liked, and I more or less, I used his instructions.

8 oz of button mushrooms
8 oz of crimini mushrooms
(you can use oyster, and others too.  this is what I got, and where I started.  I can imagine going more exotic, for example, I ended up using some dried mushroom broth.)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 red medium to small onions, chopped
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1/4 c Port
truffle oil (optional - i will try it next time)
4 c vegetable stock (or 1/2 and 1/2 with mushroom stock)
toasted cheese bread
    (slice baguette, drizzle with olive oil, add salt/pepper and grated hard cheese, bake 400 5-6 mins till brown)

So, Closet says, broil/bake the mushrooms.  It brings out the flavor.  Holy smoke, it does, big time.
This is where I messed up yesterday.  He says 30-40 mins at 400 deg F.  Today I did 400, but only about 12 minutes.  I think I should have went another 5 minutes though.  So, let's get started.

1- Clean (not with water, just brush) the mushrooms and slice.
2- Oil the slices, in a bowl, add thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
3- Spread out on abcookie sheet and bake 400 deg F for 15-20 minutes.
4- Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil.  Add the thyme and sage in the last minute
5- Add roasted mushrooms to it, add vegetable stock, simmer for 10-20 minutes.
6- I added about a cup or so of very cold water, before putting half the mix in the blender
7- Blend, and serve with a few sprigs of thyme, which really tasted so good on top.
8- serve with toasted cheese bread
9- I garnished with thyme sprigs, which actually tasted really good on top.  I bet some radish sprouts would be good too...just thinking...anyways, Moira and Kirsty really loved it, and I did too.  I think next time, I could make this in about 45 minutes.  And, you know what?  Vegetarian is so frigging easy to clean up, and by the way, keeps so much better too.  Next time, double this bad boy.

Persimmon Bread

This is adventure bread. Lisa, let me know when you read this. You kept saying, come over for some persimmons, so I did. We tried to meet up, but kept missing each other, so I waited for a while...in your front yard, and admiring your huge gorgeous persimmon tree with lots of perfect fruit on it...and then, well, I let myself in the backyard, and noticed, hmmm, a step ladder and a branch trimmer...hmmm....what if I ... just cut down a couple...okay 4 or 6...um, geez, what if that's not enough? Fine, 10-12 persimmons.... So, here's the persimmon bread. It was really tasty. Thanks for the recipe, Lisa! The persimmon adds a light deliciousness to it. I will add the recipe soon.

Okay, soon is a relative term... Thanks Lisa Barto!

...and here is the bread I make!  The persimmons need to be super-ripe...they'll feel like water balloons when ready.
Enjoy!!

This simple quick bread uses sweet and spicy persimmon puree. We liked the slightly tart flavor from the golden raisins, but omit them if your prefer.

Yield: 2 loaves, 12 servings each (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 3  cups  all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
• 2  teaspoons  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  cup  ripe Hachiya persimmon puree (about 2 fruits; see "Persimmon Puree Pointers," below)
• 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 1/3  cup  butter, melted
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 2  large eggs
• 1/3  cup  chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1/3  cup  golden raisins
• Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.
Combine sugar and next 5 ingredients (through eggs) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Add persimmon mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Stir in walnuts and golden raisins. Spoon batter into 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool the loaves completely on wire rack.
Persimmon Puree Pointers. Ripe Hachiya puree is easy to make by following these tips:
To speed the ripening process, freeze the fruit overnight or until solid. Thaw the persimmon; when soft, it will be sweeter and less astringent.
Cut the ripe fruit in half. Scoop the pulp out with a spoon.
To achieve an even consistency, place the flesh in a mini-chopper and process until smooth. This ensures the persimmon puree will incorporate evenly into batters.

Creamy Dressing Caesar Salad

Okay, this is another recipe that exemplifies where I am headed with this blog. It's all about friends and family and the connectedness through food (and recipes). So, Sarah and I have sort of a little special bonding around making food. She gets so
excited and driven when she gets going, I love getting caught up in the wave with her. Okay, so she has these other blogs she follows, food and fashion blogs. One in particular she has shared with me, and I have perused, is the Closet Cooking (or something like that)...he has incredible recipes, and what is super impressive is his incredible photos of his creations...

So, here's the recipe. We leveraged a couple things, including the closet cooking and somewhere else... Basically, a little this, a little that...whatever's in the fridge... Pog is not a huge vegggie fan, so this was a perfect deal for tonight, since Pog was at Rugby practice.

Dressing:
1/3 c plain (good) yogurt
2 Tbsp Meyer lemon juice
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 minced garlic clove (ok, that was a big clove, but dang...so much garlic)

Combine everything in a bowl with a whisk.

Salad:
Romaine lettuce head, shredded
Broccoli florets
Avocado - cut up
Cabbage - sliced up fairly thin.
pine nuts and croutons to taste
Parmesan cheese grated to taste

Okay, that was a lot of salad, but none left for tomorrow....and holy smoke,
crazy too much garlic I will be tasting for a while. Sarah loved it.