This Past Weekend at the River

This is the new spot we found to chill… down by the river in the mountains. It was so fun to wade in the water and picnis. We are already planning to go back!

Quick Dill Pickles

I just recently got this recipe from one of my cookbooks and I wanted to share it because it makes the most delicious quick pickles that will stay good in the fridge for weeks! They are crispy and good like a Clausen pickle! I have tried canning them and will report back later on how they turn out, but I make them in the jars even if I don’t can them because it is easiest.

4-6 pickling Cucumbers
1 cup white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (I only use 2 Tbsp. because I don’t like them as sweet)
3 Tbsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. dill seed (I also add fresh dill to the container and a few peppercorns)
2 crushed & peeled garlic cloves
2 cups water

Quarter cucumbers lengthwise, then place in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve; pour mixture over cucumbers.

Use a small plate to submerge cucumbers in liquid. Refrigerate until cool, at least 2 hours. Pickles can be refrigerated in a airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Makes 1 quart.

Yesterday’s Produce

These were the goodies that I got from our garden yesterday (sorry for the horrible picture from my phone). I also picked our first two little red cherry tomatoes, so tomato season for us is almost here! While I was out there, I spied a baby spaghetti squash so I am tickled about that! And the eggplants are coming too!

I went ahead and tried a recipe for dill pickle spears from the “Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast” cookbook and they were actually pretty tasty for a 2-hour pickle! It’s a good thing because my pickling cukes are coming with fury! I am going to have to learn to can these suckers quickly. Here is the quick pickle recipe:
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Quick Dill Pickle Spears

4-6 pickling Cucumbers
1 cup white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. dill seed
2 crushed & peeled garlic cloves
2 cups water

Quarter cucumbers lengthwise, then place in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve; pour mixture over cucumbers.

Use a small plate to submerge cucumbers in liquid. Refrigerate until cool, at least 2 hours. Pickles can be refrigerated in a airtight container up to 2 weeks.
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On a sad note, I think our broccoli and peas are petering out. It is to be expected as it gets hotter, but we have really enjoyed throwing these little goodies into stir fries and such.

My Little Raw Adventure

Lately I have been intrigued by the idea of going raw, eating a lot of uncooked food. I think this started after visiting our CSA and they talked about a class they had last year that demoed a raw lasagna that tasted just as good as the real thing (or so they said). I’ve been fascinated and finally got a few uncook books: Ani’s Raw Food Essentials, Everyday Raw, and RAWvolution. I also took the plunge and got this food processor (b/c I didn’t have one) and a Spirooli Vegetable Slicer to make vegetable pasta (so excited!).

So the photo above is my first attempt at a raw recipe for tacos from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials. The recipe was really tasty, although I’m not sure I would go as far as to say it tastes like tacos… but then again, I never liked tacos so this is a step up for me! The part I love most is the raw cheeze… so delish! I had a version of raw cheese at a raw demo I went to a while back and I have been wanting to make some… and now I have! It’s so good that I enjoy it with sliced apples, which happened to be my lunch today.

These are a few of the recipes I am already excited to try that I found on the web:

• Zucchini Spaghetti with Pesto Ricotta Sauce (already have the stuff!!!)
• Raw Lasagna (the reason I started this journey)
• Congo Bars (if I can find all the ingredients – thank goodness for my health food store)

For the dishes that I took pictures of, the recipes are in the description of my photos over on FlickR. Just click on the image to be taken there.

Caprese Salad with Cherry Maters

It’s getting to be that time of year again… mater season! It’s still a little early for my garden (although some are starting to have that red glean to them), but the tomatoes in the market are starting to get a fantastic flavor and sweetness, especially the cherry tomatoes. This, of course, always causes us to run for the basil in the garden and fresh mozzarella… which, by the way, is the Mozzarella that we made ourselves from this kit: 30-Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit.

So this is super easy to make, but here are some basic directions:

Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella
8 Fresh Basil Leaves
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt or Seasoning Salt to taste

Slice cherry tomatoes in half and place into a bowl. Salt the tomatoes to taste. Chop up some fresh Mozzarella and add it to the tomatoes. Chiffonade the basil and add it to the bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil and mix everything well.

Enjoy! I know I am right now!

Cucumber Guac Cups

This is what I made for lunch today and it was so yummy and refreshing! I cheated and used some Wholly Guacamole inside the scooped out cucumber cups and topped them with a fresh cherry mater… SO YUMMY!

The New Garden is GROWING!

So far the growing season has been fantastic for us this year. This is the new garden we made in the beginning of April (and you can see the new herb garden behind it which needs a few more bricks on the back). In this one, we’ve already got baby squash and pickling cukes (too bad I don’t know how to can). We also planted pole beans, bush beans, regular cukes, spaghetti squash, ichiban eggplant, stevia, and dill.

In the other two smaller gardens, we’ve already harvested lettuce, broccoli, peas, and basil and I think the kale and beets may be ready. The green onions are still a bit small, but still chop up nicely like chives. I also spied some little hot peppers and baby green tomatoes! The only thing that didn’t do anything was the spinach… will have to try planting it earlier next year.

The garden has us so excited this year that I am already thinking about where else i can put more veggies… hmmm. I really want an asparagus bed and a strawberry bed. I’m also wondering if I can move the squash along my fence where I get lots of sun and make more room in these ones. Oh, the decisions!

Loving the CSA, the Garden, and Cheese

I haven’t updated at all on our CSA adventure and thought it was about time that I should! We just picked up our fresh veggies from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for the second time this past Wednesday. We only purchased a half share, so we get our goodies every other week. And for us, it’s plenty!

Week One we picked up: Eggs, Collard Greens, Strawberries, Arugula, Red Russian Kale, Turnip Greens (we think), Endive (?), Spinach, Radishes, and Rosemary. And we made Strawberry Shortcake, stir-fried collards, stir-fried kale, a spinach and cheese quiche with rosemary, sauteed shrimp with Arugala, tomatoes and feta cheese, and Orange and Radish Salad with Arugula (a recipe that our CSA provided from Cook’s Illustrated). This salad left David and I with serious doubts, but I have to tell you… it was delicious! And if David will eat it, you know it’s good. The only items that ended up in the compost pile from week 1 were a couple of radishes and what we think was the endive… we weren’t sure because the CSA had our email wrong and we missed the email that explained (and I don’t know what endive looks like).

Week Two we picked up: Flash Collard Greens, Arcadia Broccoli, Hakurei Turnips, either Beet Greens or Bright Lights Swiss Chard (not sure which), Dinosaur Kale, Easter Egg Radishes (which looked bad when we got them), Mesculin Mix, Savoy Cabbage, Rosemary, and Lovage. So far we’ve made stir-fried collards with white rice, turnip soup using this weeks turnips and last week’s turnip greens (a dapted from the recipe “A Rough and Ready Turnip Potage” by Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors), and Moo Shu Pork from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast using the cabbage (pictured below). The recipe the CSA provided (that we have yet to try) is Chicken, Lentil & Chard soup. I hope my Chard makes it until I can try this recipe because it has been looking rather lousy. I’ve soaked it in water for a full day and it’s looking a little better, but if I don’t cook it tomorrow, it may end up in the compost.

Needless to say, we are pretty happy lately with all the fresh veg. It has been so rewarding to try new veggies and put them to good work. We have enjoyed everything we’ve tasted so far (EVEN DAVID!). PLUS, we have also been harvesting our own veggies from the garden!

We made Jaime Oliver’s Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry yesterday using our own broccoli and peas from the garden, and I sprouted my own bean sprouts. We already have a squash that’s almost ready, as well as some hot peppers and baby green maters… so it won’t be long now! Our garden has been so rewarding this year… probably due to the fact that I paid attention to when things grow this time. It was about this time last year that I put in my garden (way too late) and we only had tomatoes and basil (no wonder… duh?!).

One other note of interest: WE MADE OUR OWN MOZZ CHEESE! That’s right… fresh and tasty mozzarella cheese from this kit: 30-Minute Mozzarella (which comes with enough to make over 30 batches). It was fun, rewarding and we plan to continue making it. Even David loved it, and he had his doubts. He couldn’t stop talking about how we made our own cheese… LOL! But of course, I didn’t get any pictures of any of this to show you… sorry (next time).

Our First Gourmet Club Dinner – Mexican

My Aunt Kris and I both wanted to start a Gourmet Club, like the one that my Nana is in… so I started us off with an “Ocho de Mayo” Mexican Fiesta this past Saturday! It was so much fun and already I cannot wait for the next one. Here’s the dishes that everyone brought (I linked to their recipes online if I could find them). And if you mouse over the pictures, you’ll see what other fun we enjoyed:

Erin & David – Chevy’s Mesquite-Grilled Fajitas (steak & chicken), Chipotle Lime Shrimp, Pico de Gallo, & Margaritas with a Pineapple Splash

Kris – Tortilla Soup & Sangria

Beverly – Avocado-Bean Salad

Melanie – Bean & Corn Salad and a Yellow Rice

William – Refried Bean Dip

Chris & Julie – Chile Chocolate Torte with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Terri – she didn’t have time to make anything, but stopped and got a Mexican Pizza and Nachos to share.

Happy Birthday Brenner

Two years ago today we brought home the smooch pooch from our local animal rescue, and we couldn’t be happier. After work we will probably take him to the dog park, and maybe Canine Cafe for “yappy hour” for a doggie cake or cookie. We also have the dog bar where the dogs run wild and humans can have a drink.

We love our pooch and we’re so glad we chose to adopt him. We hope he enjoys today.