Three Simple Apple Recipes

Lucky for us, the apples have been mighty abundant this year!

First up, I made Julie Knights delicious apple bar recipe.

Julie Knight's Apple Bars

Julie Knight's Apple Bars

2 1\2 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 c shortening
1 egg yolk(save white for later)
2/3 cup Milk

FILLING:
6-7 lg apples,peeled an sliced
1 1\2 C white sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon

GLAZE:
1 C powdered sugar
3 tsp HOT h2o
1\2 tsp almond extract

Mix flour,salt,sugar;add shortening an mix. Beat egg yolk in a measuring cup and add milk. Add liquid to flour mixture. Take 1\2 of dough an roll out to fit a jelly roll pan.
Spread apples over crust. Sprinkle with flour,cinn and sugar. Roll out second half of dough an place over top of apples. Beat egg white until frothy an brush over top crust.
Bake @ 375 for 40 min or until brown.

My Great Aunt Helen is a famous cook, quite literally.  She started the Norske Nook and has a few cookbooks and has been on the Letterman show.  For my wedding shower, she gave me a recipe for this delicious and easy Apple Pie.

Pecan Caramel Apple Pie

 

Pecan Caramel Apple Pie

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pecan halves

5 cups of apples

2 T flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup sugar

Pie crust for double pie

 

Pat melted butter in bottom of pie tine.  Sprinkle brown sugar over bottom and sides and then pecans.  Roll pie crust and lay on top of this.  Place apples, sugar, cinnamon and flour over apples.  Place pie crust on top, flute edges and bake at 350 for 1 hour till done.

 

Last but not least I made this delicious, moist apple bread sent to me by my sister-in-law Tracy.

Apple Bread - Greta in her Halloween Costume

Moist Apple Bread
3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups diced apples
1 cup walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325. Grease two 9x5x3" loaf pans, set aside. In medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda & salt, set aside. In mixing bowl beat the eggs, oil, sugar & vanilla together, mixing well. stir in flour mixture until just mixed. Fold in apples and walnuts and spoon into prepared loaf pans.
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of mixture (or make a crumb mixture to sprinkle on top).
Bake for 1 hr 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into middle of bread.

I spent the past day and half canning tomatoes and sauce with my friends Sooz and Kristi...details to come soon!

Thanks for reading my blog and I appreciate all your feedback, ideas, and inspiration.

Thanks,

Kristin 

The Prize Recipe

After numerous requests for the prize-winning Zucchini Chocolate Chip cookie recipe, I felt compelled to share it again!  So, here it is:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 egg
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey or agave nector
1 T vanilla
COMBINE
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat four
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 T flax seed
COMBINE

MIX BOTH TOGETHER ALONG WITH:
12 ounces of chocolate chips
1 cup finely grated zucchini

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes!  Yum!!

The basic recipe came from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - the book that literally changed my life. 

Thanks for reading,

Kristin :)   

Red Cabbage and Jalapeno Peppers

What a LUCKY weekend I've had!!  I'd fill you in on my winnings over the last 3 days, but I don't want to jinx myself.
Here's some of my loot (note, I just finished a hilly 1/2 marathon so I look rough):

Feeling LUCKY (and looking rough)

I planted many red cabbages in my garden this year, and I found some ways to cook them up.  The first recipe, Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage, is out-of-this-world-good.  Lick the bowl good.  Oooooooh, how I love this recipe.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

Here's the recipe:  Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

And, then I made Rachel Ray's Sauteed Red Cabbage, which was not as good.  Not even close.

Cabbage

Red Cabbage

I had LOTS of fun playing with the rest of our jalapeno peppers.  First I sliced up a bunch of peppers and baked them at 300 for one hour along with garlic and olive oil.  My plan is to freeze them yet today and then pull them out to add to chili and soups, as needed.

Baked Jalapeno

Then I made some vegetarian chili with jalapenos for lunch.    I love having the peppers separate so I can add them to my own chili (the kids aren't fans yet).

VEGETARIAN CHILI

Saute in olive oil:  1 carrot, 1 onion, and 1 celery stalk
ADD:
1/3 cup ketchup
1 cup salsa
4 cups veggie broth
4 cans mixed beans (I like black and chili beans)
3 cans tomatoes
1 package chili seasoning
1 TBSP worchestire
1 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP cumin
1/2 TBSP paprika
2 cups of corn

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

I love this chili, and I make a side of ground beef and add it for those that want it.

Next I made jalapeno hummus.  Hummus is a staple in our house, and it's so easy to make!

Jalapeno Hummus

Yes, it was pretty spicy, but it was also fantastic.   Here's the recipe:  Jalapeno Hummus

Last but not least, I made Jalapeno Jelly.  And how crazy is this, I made my own pectin.  But, first - the jelly.  Yum, yum.

Jalapeno Jelly

Here's the recipe:  Jalapeno Jelly


And yes, I made my own liquid pectin because I received some more apples and we did not have any Sure-Jel in the house and I was not planning a trip to the store.

Apple Pectin

To make pectin, you add 12 chopped apples into a pot (core and all), add water just barely covering the apples and boil until the apples turn to liquid.  Strain the mixture and the leftover liquid is pectin.  Easy, right? 

Finally, we picked our first jack-o-latern this morning.

Gus with our first pumpkin

I'm feeling so blessed today for a million different reasons, LIFE IS GOOD:)  Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Kristin

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Thanks to a little inspiration, I decided to put myself out on a limb and enter a bake-off today and I won with this zucchini chocolate chip cookie recipe!   Thanks to my cousin Erinn for reminding me of this fabulous recipe from the book that literally changed my life, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. 

Zucchini Cookies

Awesome Zucchini Cookies!!


I LOVE pumpkin bread, and I always use the pulp from pie pumpkins.  More on that in a later blog, but today I made a great, moist, pumpkin bread. 

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

Last but not least, I learned that I am NO cake decorator.  Graham had to bring a 3D plant cell diagram so I thought it would be great to make a "plant cell cake."  Or not.

He did get an A minus, and Graham said his friends LOVED it, so I guess that's what counts!

Here's a look at the competition at the Fall Bake-Off.  No one was looking so I HAD to take some pics.

The competition

Wowser!  I wish I could claim that as my own!

Up next, CABBAGE!  I just had a great sweet and sour cabbage dish that I can't wait to share.

Red Cabbage

Here's a picture of a red cabbage right out of my garden today!!!  I have 3 more cabbages still in my garden, so I welcome any ideas.

Tomorrow I'm running my first trail 1/2 marathon.  Eeeek, I'm nervous!!  

Happy Cooking,

Kristin

Zucchini Recipes - The Best Yet!!

We had a hard freeze in the Northwoods this week, so I went to my garden to start prepping it for winter and I found a few zucchini's that had been hiding beneath their massive leaves, so I got busy with some more zucchini recipes.  Three of these recipes are the best to date, and I had one epic failure (happens, right?).

This morning I went on a great rainy 6 or 7 mile run with my friend Patrice and Carolyn.  Afterwards we saunaed (heaven) and then she shared 2 quarts of goats milk from her goat Myrtle.   Since it was cold, and I had zucchini, carrots and potatoes to use up, I decided to make Zucchini, Potato, Corn Chowder.  Even my kids LOVED it!

Myrtle's Zucchini, Potato Corn Chowder

Zucchini, Corn, Potato Chowder

2 tbsp. butter
1 cup of zucchini
3 potatoes cubed
1 onion
1 cup of carrots
2 cups of corn
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup of whole milk (I used Myrtles goat milk)
Salt, pepper and parsley

Saute zucchini, onion,  and carrots for 5 minutes.  Add broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Add corn and milk - done when the corn is warm.  Delish!!

The kids and I went to barn dance and party at the McKinney's in Cable last night.  The kids enjoyed the zip line, gunny sack races, and dancing in the barn.   I have some great video of Gus and Greta shaking their booty without a care in the world and here's a video of Greta on the zip line.

For the barn potluck I made Pumpkin Zucchini Bread and Zucchini Brownies.  The brownies were gone almost instantly from the potluck, and they were the moistest, most delicious brownies on the planet.  I can't wait to make them again.  In fact, I might enter them into the Cable Fall Fest Bake-Off.

Here's both recipes: 

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread and Zucchini Brownies

I used up some pumpkin from last year (more on pie pumpkins in a later blog) and for the brownies I used my Grandma Lundberg's brownie frosting recipe.  I do not like brownies unless they have good frosting, so I had to use my Grandma's recipe.   

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread and Yummy Zucchini Brownies Photgraphed in my Grandma's Dishes

Well, I had three great recipes and one failure.  I found a crock pot recipe for vegetable strata calling for all of the veggies I needed to use up.  Too bad it made the vegetables mushy and grey...yuck.   I like my vegetables with a little crunch and color.  At least the tomato slice and bread were good!

Grey Mush

 

Gus insists that I include a video of him walking into a hay trap.  He's such a good actor....lol.

Thanks to the McKinney's for making our weekend grand.  When I tucked Gus in last night he said, "this was the best night of my life....well, next to the Packer game."

Happy Cooking,

Kristin

Splendid Squash Dishes

“Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.”

William Cullen Bryant

As the air gets crisp and the leaves start to change, I love warm, comfort food like squash.  Nothin' like soup to warm you up and make you feel good.  Here's an awesome Butternut Squash Soup:

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

My favorite recipe of all time is Squash Risotto.  It's one of those "lick the bowl and mourn because it's done" kind of a dish.  This time I tried Ino Burton's (Food Network) Squash Risotto (thanks Kerry). 

Squash Risotto

Squash Risotto

Well, it may not look very appetizing in this picture, I can assure you that it is DIVINE heaven in your mouth:)

Then I made Stuffed Squash, recipe courtesy of the Berlage's:

Stuffed Squash

The New Moosewood Cookbook

Stuffed Winter Squash

From

2 medium-sized winter squash, baked as directed below

2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup minced onions

1/2 pound mushrooms, minced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Lots of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon thyme

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup minced walnuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raisings (optional)

2 cups good bread crumbs (from good bread)

6 to 8 dried apricots

1 cup (packed) grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Cut squashes in half, scooping out seeds. Invert into a

glass baking pan with 1/2 inch of water and bake in a

350 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drain. Melt

butter in large skillet. Add onions and sauté over medium

heat for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

Add mushrooms, garlic, celery, and seasonings, and

sauté 10 minutes until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients

and mix well. Bake at 350, covered, 20-30 minutes.

Last but not least, I steamed up some squash (350 in the oven in 1/2 inch of water for one hour).  After it was cooked I scooped it up and added a little brown sugar, butter, and salt and pepper.  Simple, yet delicious. 

Steamed Squash

The Boys Bird Hunting

My boys are out hunting for birds this morning and Greta and I are cooking up a few things for a barn dance potluck we are attending.  I've had a vegetable strata in the crock pot since 8 a.m., but I can't take it out until 2.  Oh, it smells so good,...I can't wait.   Greta and I are also making zucchini brownies and pumpkin zucchini bread to bring to the family barn dance. 


And finally, I found this quote that I can totally relate to:

You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else.
Mario Batali
Happy Fall Cooking,

Kristin

Cooking with Carrots!!

I've discovered some amazing carrot recipes that I must share!  The carrots in my garden weren't as successful as I would've liked, but I did get plenty from the CSA (Berlage's) and the Cable Farmer's Market. 
I have a soup, salad, bread and cake recipe ALL equally fantastic. But, like someone famous once said, "Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first."   So, I start with cake!

Grandma Scheffer's Carrot Cake in my Grandma;s dishes

My sister-in-law Tracy shared her Grandma Scheffer's famous carrot cake recipe, so I had to give it a try.  Yes, it's a pain to shred carrots, but if you are going to be eating carrot cake it's o.k. to burn a few calories making it, right?


Grandma Scheffer's Carrot Cake
1 1/4 cup cooking oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 8oz can crushed pineapple
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup nutmeats (optional)
1/2 cup steamed raisins (optional)
Combine cooking oil, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla & salt. Blend well. Add eggs, beat well. Add flour, baking soda & pineapple - blend well. Fold in carrots, coconut, nutmeats & raisins - blend well. Bake in 9x13" pan @ 350 for 50-60 minutes.
Frosting:
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter (melted)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Blend well together, frost cooled cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Oh, sooooooooooo delicious!!!!!!

Next I made THE BEST bread ever if I do say so myself.  I made it after work, football, soccer, (you get the idea) because I planned on bringing it to a staff meeting in Hayward in the morning.  Well, guess what....it was literally gone in 15 minutes.  Yes, it's that good!

OMG Carrot Banana Bread - on my Grandma's dishes

I'm not too proud of the picture, but the kids were salivating around me, so I was feeling quite rushed.
Here's the link:  OMG - Carrot Banana Bread

Next up, I made a carrot salad that I thought was divine.  I cut the recipe in 1/2 so I was the only one that actually ate the salad (I wasn't sure if anyone else would appreciate it), but I will make it again next year when I have access to more garden fresh carrots.  Thanks to the Berlage's for the recipe.  Yum!!

Carrot Yogurt Salad

I bought a new pepper grinder, and I went a little nuts but since I LOVE pepper and knew I was the only one eating the salad, it was all well and good.

Combine and chill!

Last but not least, I made Carrot Ginger Soup.  Usually, I eat the organic Pacific Carrot Ginger Soup, but I thought I should give it a shot with the carrots from the Farmer's Market.  It was SUPER good:)

Here's the recipe:  Carrot Ginger Soup

Carrot Ginger Soup

Between moving back in to our living space, football, soccer, horse-riding lessons, confirmation, boy scouts, and gymnastics I'm not sure if I'm coming or going.  But, I'm still finding time to crank out a recipe or two (thank goodness) and the kids have been crashing around 8 p.m. which frees up some of my time.
Up next:  squash!!  If you have any great squash recipes I'd love to hear from you!

Kristin

Berlage's Carrot-Yogurt Salad

1 pound carrots, scrubbed or peeled and coarsely grated

2 medium-sized apples, grated

1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1-2 Tablespoons honey

A pinch of celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

Apple Time

My sister-in-law Tracy sent me TONS of the best apples from her parents farm in Fairchild.  We've been eating as many as possible in their raw form, but there's a limit so I've been trying a recipe or two.

On Monday I made this simple, quick, apple crumble.  Here's the recipe:  Apple Crumble

Apple Crumble

These are my grandmother's "bubble dishes" and this is the vase she received from her grandparents way back when.  She had the vase in her hutch, but I've actually been using it.  We planted some sunflowers this year, and this vase is perfect for a sunflower or two.

The next day I made a delicious, fast apple cake:  Apple Cake

Apple Cake - sorry for the bad picture.  It's been a busy week.

It was pretty good, but most importantly it was super-quick!

Wednesday, I had book club on my friend Jeanine's pontoon on Round Lake, so I whipped up an apple crisp:  Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp

Friday brought me to my favorite Apple Pie.  This is the easiest recipe and also probably the best (I LOVE any sort of pie...the carb lover in me).  Greta had her first sleepover, so here's Greta and Riley enjoying pie and tea in my Grandma Evelyn's special tea dishes.  I always admired these dishes in her hutch in Osseo, I wonder what she would think about us actually using them!

Greta and Riley enjoy apple pie in my Grandma's tea dishes

I always buy the crusts pre-made.  Someday I will take the time to learn how to make my own crusts, but I find the store-bought crusts pretty tasty.  

Apple Pie:

Ingredients:

Pastry for 2 crusts
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs.  (Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon milk

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.
3. Fill pastry lined 9 inch pie pan with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
4. Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork or by hand.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and milk. Brush mixture over top crust.
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

As you can tell, we've had our fair share of apple treats this week, so on Friday I made a Waldorf Apple Salad.  What a refreshing treat!!  It's so good, that I'm already looking forward to the leftovers for tomorrows lunch.

Waldorf Salad

Waldorf Apple Salad

Cut 2 cups of apples
Cut 1 cup of celery
Add 1/2 cup of walnuts
In a separate bowl, mix 1/3 cup mayo, 2 teaspoons sugar, juice of one lemon, dash of Allspice.

Combine and enjoy!!

On Saturday, I made 3 quarts of my Grandma's Applesauce.  My kids LOVED her applesauce.  Mainly because it tasted like a super sugary treat.  Here's my Grandma Evelyn's recipe:

1 quart of apples to 1/2 cup sugar
Cut and peel apples and add to a pot.  Fill with water until the apples are just covered.  Simmer until the apples are the consistency of applesauce.  Add sugar and cook until dissolved.  Yum, it turned out great!!

Gus is my applesauce kid! 

Last but not least, I made apple bread as a treat after an awesome Sunday morning run on a perfect morning. 

Here's the recipe:  Apple Bread

Apple Bread

The bread was a little dry, so I'm looking for a better recipe.

All of our apples have been cooked up or have been added to my freezer full of produce.  I feel like a squirrel putting away nuts for the winter months.

I had better get back to putting our house back together.  It's so nice to have our house back!!

Kristin

Crazy for Corn

Picking sweet corn has become a fun-filled tradition for the kids and me.  The kids LOVE picking corn more than berries, probably because you can fill up a bag pretty quickly and it's not a whole lot of work.  Bonnie and Jeff Schultz let me bring the kids to their hobby farm by Stone Lake and we picked about 30 dozen cobs of corn in about 20 minutes.  The Schultz's are amazing gardeners (wow!) and they let us pick for free.  Thanks again Schultz's!!

Here we are on corn picking day!!

Me and Gus picking corn

Gus and Greta in Schult's corn field

After we picked the corn, we went to my friend Debi's and husked it all, boiled it outside for a few minutes in the turkey broiler, dunked it in cold water, and then brought it in to cut, package, and freeze.  Here we are husking corn:

Debi and Me husking LOTS of corn

My cousin Erinn recommended this next salad.   I made two batches of it in 3 days and it's all gone.  It's one of the best salads I've ever, ever had.  Thanks again Erinn - it was delish!!!!

Best Ever Corn Salad

Here's the recipe:  The Best Corn Salad Ever

Kerry Rothgeb shared this recipe for this awesome Corn Salsa.  I'm a sucker for any sort of salsa but this one is exceptional!!

Corn Salsa

Smoky Grilled Corn Salsa

6 plum tomatoes, halved
4 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed
2 medium yellow sweet peppers, halved
2 medium green peppers, halved
3 jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup minced cilantro
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Grill the tomatoes, corn, peppers, and onion, covered, over medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Allow vegetables to cool slightly. Remove corn from cobs; transfer to a large bowl. Chop the remaining vegetables and add to corn.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the cilantro,oil, vinegar,garlic,salt,sugar, and pepper. Pour over vegetables; toss to coat. Serve warm or cold.

The most famous Lundberg recipe of all is Sue Lundberg's Scallopped Corn.  Now, I don't dare reveal her secret recipe on the eve of her daughter's wedding (my cousin Karla), but this is the closest one I could find.  This is usually what I bring to the Frane's for Thanksgiving. 

Sue Lundberg's Corn Recipe

Sue Lundberg's Scallopped Corn

We are CORNED out in this household.  Luckily we have a freezer FULL of corn so in a few months we will still be eating the freshest, sweetest corn ever. 

Our house repair is pretty much complete, so we have started moving back into our living space.  I found my Grandma's every day silverware that I inherited, so I cleaned out our old stuff and started new.  I love having a clean, organized drawer.  I hope to get to ALL of them.  Being displaced has forced us to to through everything and to be organized again, and that's a good thing.

Up next, I will be blogging about apples. My sister-in-law Tracy sent me TONS of apples from her parents farm so we've been busy eating and cooking with apples. 


Happy corn picking!

Kristin





Watermelon!!

You can always find a watermelon on our counter when they are in season - we LOVE 'em!!  They do not grow well in the colder-Hayward-climate, so I buy them from Barronett Bob's or from Wheatfield Organics who truck the produce from Barronnet and the Menomonie area.

To start with , I made a refreshing Mint, Watermelon, Feta Cheese salad.  My running friend Sue shared some of her mint, so I whipped up this delicious salad.

Watermelon Mint Feta Salad

Watermelon Mint Feta Salad  Click on the blue link for Paula Dean's recipe.

This recipe is sooooooo fantastic that it's worth mentioning again.  This is from my running friend Stacey Raymond.  Delish!!

Stacey's Watermelon Blueberry Salad

Stacey's Watermelon Blueberry Salad

Bring 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Remove from heat, add 3 mint sprigs and steep for 10 minutes.

Discard mint and add zest and juice from 1 lemon and a pinch of salt.

Toss with 3 cups of cubed watermelon and 2 cups of blueberries.

Let stand 15 minutes. Top with chopped mint.

Hmmm, Hmmm, good!

I also made this great Watermelon Salsa again.  It sounds weird, but it tastes GREAT!!!  Oh, and it's soooo easy to cut little V's into the watermelon to make a decorative bowl.   The bowl looks impressive and when you are done you can throw it away.

Watermelon Salsa

Next up, I made this great, refreshing Watermelon Gazpacho.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Watermelon Gazpacho - click on the link for this great recipe.


My parents came up yesterday for my birthday, so we took a shopping trip to Cable then went to the cooking store and candy store in Hayward.  They also took us out to one of my favorite restaurants, The Angry Minnow.

From left to right:  Dad, Mom, Me, Greta and Gus

My tip of the day:

Keep your mint, cilantro, parsley or any other type of herb wrapped in paper towel and then add to a Ziploc bag.  My cilantro keeps for 3 weeks this way, but will go bad in 3 days if I don't wrap it in paper towel.  I then take a sharpie and mark the bag so I remember what I have wrapped up.  Works like a charm!!!

I'm starting to freeze some tomatoes and apples today (thanks Tracy Lundberg for the apples).  If the rain stops, the kids and are going to try to pick the rest of the blackberries (I think the skeets are better).  Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to picking corn for the winter months with Debi and the kids.

Here's my little ones at Tremblay's Candy Store in Hayward.  If you ever visit Hayward, you must visit this place.  They also have free samples of peanut brittle and peanut butter fudge - so yummy!

Gus and Greta at Tremblay's

Until next time,

Kristin

My Birthday Meal: In Season Delights

I had a really great birthday!!  Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, cards, and presents.   I was able to be the guest coach at Ski and Tea, and we had a great morning workout on the Makwa trail.  My friend Stacey brought me cupcakes and also a free entry into the Birkie Trail 1/2 Marathon (I have been training but have been slow to sign up).  I had a few minutes at home for lunch before the next "mom taxi pick-up service", so I whipped up some kale chips, heated up some leftover corn-on-the-cob, and made a grilled cheese sandwich with a tomato on top.  PERFECT!!

My Refreshing Birthday Lunch

Everyone knows how to make grilled cheese and corn, but to make the kale chips, you de-stem, cut in small pieces, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and bake for 30 minutes until crisp.  This is a good and easy way to use up your kale from the garden.

I've worked with Tom Sweeney for about 10 years, and he and his wife always give me yummy treats for my birthday.  This year, he gave me his home-made maple syrup (that's like gold in our house), wine (yummo), and pickled garlic.  Chad and I ate up the garlic almost immediately, so I dug some garlic out of my garden and made some more....delish!!!




Pickled Garlic

 For supper, I made one of my all-time favorite meals with my patty pan squash.  This risotto is so good that I usually want to lick the bowl. 




Patty Pan Squash Risotto
Ingredients: 
4 T Parmesan Cheese
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 oz. wine
2 tsp. olive oil
.25 tsp nutmeg
1 cup of squash
.75 arborio rice

Heat 4 cups of veggie broth and keep on low heat.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss and peel cubed squash with olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic and roast at 400 for 20 minutes.

Add wine to dry rice until rice has absorbed it and add broth one cup at a time until absorbed.  Stir in the squash and mix in the nutmeg and Parmesan cheese.  Yummy!!



Thank goodness Stacey sent home leftover cupcakes!

Stacey's Birthday Cupcakes

The kids wanted to add LOTS of candles. It was late, and I was exhausted (can you tell?), but it was very sweet of them to want to remember mom.

I plan on having more of my birthday in-season favorites coming up in a few days.  On Monday the kids and I (along with my friend Debi) are going to pick our corn, process and freeze for the winter months. 

Here's a couple of nature photographs I took in the last 2 weeks that I think are pretty cool.

Duck on Lake Owen

Dragonfly on Alder Lake - landed on my mom's book



Happy Cooking,

Kristin