Birthday at the Beach, Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

We were invited to a picnic at the beach to celebrate our nephew Benjamin's 11th birthday.  I made this fruit plate to take along. Fruit plates are my absolute favorite dish to bring to parties. Simple. Healthy. Beautiful. Easy.

I think this one turned out very pretty, if I do so say myself. And it was very easy. Cantaloupe, kiwi, and red grapes. That's it. When I do a fruit plate, I think about 3 things. First, how the flavors will complement one another. Second, how the colors will go together. Third...arrangement.
I like to use melons or pineapples because they make such a nice center for the arrangement. As you can see, I just halved the melon and scooped out the fruit. (Slice off a bit of the bottom of the melon so it will sit nicely on the plate without rocking.) Then I filled the hollowed melon with fruit, using slices of kiwi as 'petals' around the edge. The lines on kiwi remind me of flower stamens, so it was perfect for this flowery looking arrangement. Then I sliced the other half of the melon and laid them on the edge of the platter like petals. Fill in with grapes and kiwi and there you have it! So pretty!

 

Love the mellow colors. They remind me of autumn; my favorite season. Which is almost here...hooray!

 

Here's our birthday boy, chuckling at his birthday cards. We love this guy. He's kind, funny, and incredibly smart. Expecting great things from this young man!

Ben is a wonderful big brother to Katherine and Ellie.

 

 

Katherine and Ellie were selling seashells by the seashore. 50 cents apiece!

 

 

Auntie Pam and I went beach walking with Ellie and Katherine. Looking for treasures. There is always something wonderful to see on the beach. And the cool, ocean breezes were a welcome relief to the muggy heat at our house.

 

 

Their mamma stole a few quiet moments to chat with her friend.

 

Make a wish!

 

May all of your fondest wishes come true, nephew!

***

When life hands you lemons; make rosemary lemon spray

3 mornings in a row I woke with bites on my legs. Yikes! I tore the bed apart looking for bedbugs. No evidence. Whew! I washed all of my bed linens in hot water with bleach, vacuumed every nook and cranny, dusted and wiped down the baseboards...it's clean as a whistle in there. The same day  I visited my naturopath for another issue. She looked at the bites and said, "Got pets?"
 "Yep."
"Do they sleep in your room."
"Yep."
"Do they go outside?"
"Yep."
"Have you toxified them with noxious flea preparations?"
"Nope. The don't seem to be scratching so I've been holding off."
"What you've got here are flea bites."

Sooo, I went home and looked Baron and Posie over real good. They don't have fleas. But I'll concede that one or two fleas could've hitched a ride into the house on them.
just in case,  I made up this batch of natural flea repellent to spray on them.

ROSEMARY-LEMON SPRAY

• 1 lemon, thinly sliced.
• 1 big sprig of rosemary, chopped to release essential oils.
• 1 quart of boiling water. 
•  Put the lemon and rosemary into a jar and pour the hot water over them.
•  Let it steep overnight.
•  Strain the lemon and rosemary leaves out, and pour the liquid into a spray bottle. 

Spray the dog. Chase the cat and try to spray her.
Careful not to get it into their eyes or  the lemon will sting and they'll be traumatized at the sight of spray bottles for the rest of their lives. If you like, you could soak a bandanna in it, let it dry, and tie it about fido's neck.
Note: This stuff is not supposed to get rid of infestations...just repel fleas that are thinking about hopping on them. Unlike humans, bugs think that rosemary stinks. They avoid it.

But wait, here's the very best part. This spray smells just divine. I've been spraying it on myself, on the counters, all over the bathroom fixtures. It's just lovely! I love it so much that I went back to the market and bought more lemons so that I can keep this spray on hand all of the time. That's just how much I love it! (Another note here...When you spray yourself, the scent doesn't hang around long. :/
That said, remember that fido's sense of smell is 1000 times stronger than yours...and hopefully that goes for Mr. Flea also. So don't overdo things just because the smell has dissipated a bit. What I'm trying to say here is, don't drench the poor dog or cat in this. Be sensible.)

The moral of the story of course is: When life hands you lemons (or flea bites); make rosemary lemon spray!

:)

 





 

Berry Nice...Sugar Free Jam

If you're anything like me, you love to make jam; but when it comes time to dump a bucket-load of sugar all over your beautiful, already sweet berries, you feel guilty. Like you just drew a mustache on the Mona Lisa. It's just wrong. So this year I searched around and found, what I think is the perfect answer to the problem. Pomona Pectin. Now, I'll admit, I haven't actually tried the stuff yet; but I rushed out and bought the last remaining box at our local health food co-op. I've checked their site and their reviews out pretty carefully. This stuff looks like the real deal! Not like that 'reduced' sugar pectin where you only have to dump half a bucket into the pot. And oh my goodness, their site has the tastiest recipes for jams. I will definitely be making Blueberry-Lavender jam this year! Here's the link; http://www.pomonapectin.com/. And here's the link to the aforementioned jam recipe http://www.pomonapectin.com/recipes/blueberry-lavender-jam/

Speaking of berries...last Saturday my friend Demetree and I headed out to Deborah Lubbe's organic farm to pick some strawberries. Her berries are the sweetest thing this side of heaven.

I learned something about strawberries from Deborah. She has 3 varieties of berries on her property. The orangey-red variety was by far the sweetest. The red-red ones were tangier. And the deep ruby-red ones were juiciest, but less sweet. So you can't judge your berries by color. Deborah's Nooksack Valley farm is nestled in the foothills. It's a down-home, earthy place with roosters wandering about, a Shetland pony pastured nearby, and field-flowers growing amid the grasses. A place to breathe.

Demetree

You're never too young to go berry pickin!

Taste testers

Talkin' organic, berries, and farmin'

Deborah Lubbe is as organic as her berries

 

 

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Curried Chicken & Broccoli Bake

I love, love, love soups and casseroles. The more stuff you can throw into a pot or baking dish, the more delicious it is...right? And then there's that added perk of fewer dishes to wash which after a long day at work is soooo nice! So here's my all-time favorite casserole. (Actually it may be my second favorite casserole; I love the old layered hamburger and tater tot casserole but haven't made it for years because it's just not that nutritious.) Even though this recipe has a bit of fat from the cheese and the soup mixture; it's loaded with broccoli which just has to be better than tater tots! Plus I've noted some ways to further reduce fat and sodium.

Curried Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

 

1 16 ounce bag of frozen broccoli florets (I usually use more. And fresh broccoli is even better, if you have it.)

8-10 chicken tenders, cooked and diced

1can of cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz.)

1 can of cream of celery soup (10 3/4 oz)

1 cup of mayonnaise 

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. curry powder

3/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Cook broccoli as directed or until tender if you are using fresh. Drain. Place the cooked broccoli in the bottom of baking dish. Put cooked chicken on top of the broccoli.

 

 

In a medium bowl, mix together soups, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder. Blend well. Pour this mixture over the broccoli and chicken and spread evenly. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with bread crumbs.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or so.

Toasted bread crumbs, melted cheese, spicy curry with chicken and broccoli = scrumptious!

 

 

NOTE: Healthy Substitutions

 

You may substitute 6 oz of plain non-fat yogurt mixed with 1/4 c. mayo instead of the full cup of mayo.

The quantity of cheese may be reduced, or use low-fat cheese.

If you are watching sodium intake, be sure to buy reduced-salt soups.

I can't say it's more healthy, but I substituted some Mrs. Cubbison's cornbread stuffing for the bread crumbs; it was fantastic!
***

Refrigerator Pickles; Easy peasy!

I planted cukes, pumpkins and nasturtiums all in the same row. Now I have a jungle of green leaves with bright orange and yellow blossoms everywhere. Quite charming! A day or so ago I decided to peek beneath the leaves and see what was happening down there. To my surprise there were 10 chubby little cucumbers lying there in the shade! Hmmm, what to do with 10 cukes? I gave a few away, but that left me with 6. Too few for a batch of pickles. Too many for hubby and I to eat. Then it came to me...surely there must be recipes for pickles that you don't can...that you just make and refrigerate. A little search of the web, and sure enough; refrigerator pickles! I made a couple of jars today...it was as easy as pie! I'm thinking that I'll probably keep making little batches as long as I can get cukes that are fresh and small enough. Why not? Have you seen what they charge for pickles in the stores these days? Highway robbery! Last time I checked they wanted about $7 for a large jar of pickles in my local market. That's crazy. What does your store charge for dill pickles these days?

The recipe is from a nice blog called 'A Couple Cooks.' I liked it because it is simple, straightforward, and a small batch. Refrigerator dills last a month. I mean, realistically, how many pickles can an empty nester couple eat in a month. Two jars is probably fine.

Here's the link:  http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/06/quick-refrigerator-dill-pickles/.

I checked out their list of recipes, and I'm going back for more. These folks cook my kind of food! 

Voila, finished result! Took maybe 20 minutes or so. 

A little advice about this recipe;  Two widemouth pint jars will hold about four sliced cukes. That is, four small to medium-ish sized ones. You don't want them too long or they won't fit into the jar. (You could slice them crosswise, but I prefer larger, crunchier chunks.) I bought a dozen jars with the intent of using the rest for freezer jam. Widemouth is the way to go for freezing jam in jars. Expansion during the freezing process can cause the curved narrow mouth jars to break--not good!
I got my coriander seeds and peppercorns in the bulk section of the store. Much cheaper for a little batch. And since my garden cilantro aka coriander is going to seed anyway, I'll for sure be collecting the seeds and drying them for future recipes. Why not? Red peppers look pretty in the jar, but they don't agree with me, so I didn't include them. But wouldn't these jars be gorgeous with some yellow and red pepper slices in them? What a nice gift they'd make!

***

My Favorite Warm-Weather Recipe

It's 2:00 pm and I'm busy, busy, busy getting ready for a little camping trip we've planned for later this week. In addition to all of the chores I still need to finish, I have my last photography class tonight at 6:30. I won't be home for dinner with hubby, so I fixed something quick and easy that he can assemble when he gets home. This is my favorite warm-weather recipe (even if the warm weather has been MIA.) And it's healthy! It's from a wonderful cookbook called "Herbs in the Kitchen...a celebration of flavor." If you love cooking with herbs or are thinking of learning about cooking with herbs, this is a fantastic reference. Pretty pictures too!

Pasta with Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce

1 1/4 lb firm ripe tomatoes (I use 3 nice round ones for the two of us.)

2 or 3 garlic cloves...live dangerously, go with 3

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

pinch of red peppers, optional

3-4 large basil sprigs (if you don't have fresh, use dried basil to taste)

1/2 lb pasta--rotelle or other shaped pasta is nice to catch the sauce

Rinse tomatoes, core them and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Mince garlic. Mix tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

Cook pasta. When pasta is nearly done, tear basil and add to the sauce. When the pasta is just done, drain it and mix with the sauce. Serve immediately.

This recipe is so nice with Parmesan cheese and a loaf of crusty bread, if you have it.

***

Spinach-Apple Salad...Coleus...Staying in the Moment

This is a wonderful salad for empty nesters. Just throw together what you have and Ta-Daaa...a healthy salad for two! (I think we've covered all the food groups with this one.)

My Spinach-Apple Salad for Two

Place in salad bowl...

A bunch of fresh spinach, washed and torn into bite size pieces

1 apple, sliced and quartered, mine was a Jonagold (don't use Grannys--too tart!)

Two or three slices of cheddar cheese, broken into pieces

Handful of sunflower seeds

Toss in dressing; however much suits your taste

Dressing

1 T. Good Seasons Zesty Italian Dressing

1/4 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 T. Red Wine Vinegar

3 T. Apple Juice.

Bought some coleus for the outdoor planters, but they were so beautiful that I kept them inside! Coleus are such opulent looking plants. They make me think of musty Victorian rooms with red velvet settees and heavily draped windows with filtered light and  fancy carpets from exotic places.
I'm finding these plants to be very thirsty indoors, they get droopy easily, so if you get one, keep the watering can handy.





Baron and I took a lovely walk this morning; through the park and all over town.  Walking Baron is necessary...he get's pretty antsy if he doesn't burn that lab-puppy energy. Actually, he's become my own personal fitness coach...spurring me on when I'm feeling lazy! Today I had so many things to do that it was difficult to make myself get out with him. But you know, his health and mine are just as important as spading up the flowerbeds. So I decided to leave my watch at home and just enjoy our time, no matter how long or where our walk took us. We arrived home an hour later; refreshed and ready to take on the day. Stay in the moment, friends...it's the key to happiness.

Of Dads and doggies-- and a recipe

I took Kelly out for breakfast yesterday for Father's Day. Today was a rather quiet day. We went to church; they had a lovely tribute to dads. We've only attended this church for a few months and it feels so nice to have finally found the 'right' place to worship.

After church we visited our dads' graves. It's bittersweet...going to the cemetery on holidays. We spent some time sharing our favorite memories of our fathers. Kelly's dad once helped him carve a little wooden race car for Boy Scouts. They had a big race with the cars--Kelly and his Dad won the race. My favorite memory is of sitting on the riverbank on warm summer days, sipping orange soda and just watching the river run by. Dad put a bell on the end of my pole so that when I got a nibble, it would ring. When I wasn't looking he'd jerk the pole, causing my bell to jingle, then chuckle as I excitedly reeled my line in. Sweet, sweet memories.

I took the opportunity to stroll about the cemetery and take some photographs...

Then we took Baron to Sunset Pond for a swim. Oh my, how he enjoys swimming! It's so gratifying to see him do what he was born to do...swim and retrieve.

Things are all a-bloom around the pond.

 

Funny Baron! He looks like he's running with a stick of dynomite! (It's his new retrieving float toy.)

We ended our quiet day with a plate of home-made spaghetti and a slice of sourdough. (I got the marinara recipe off the internet and it is seriously the best sauce I've ever made! Recipe is below.) Baron is snoring away on his bed after his big day of swimming. Kelly is watching the US Open and I am all curled up in the easy chair. What a nice day!

***

Recipe for Old World Spaghetti Sauce

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree

2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 1/2 cups water

Directions:

In a large stockpot on low-med heat add your olive oil and saute your onions for about 4 minutes,then add your crushed garlic,cook for 2 minutes longer. Then add your water,and tomato products. Be sure to mix everything very well.Add in your spices,and cheese. cook for 2 1/2 hours covered.Then add in your wine, and cook 30 minutes longer. Sauce will be thin on first day.Also if you use meat it will alter thickness.The second day this turns into a nice thick sauce.

***

"Guess we'll have to eat beans..."




Powder-monkey crew in the Olympic National Forest...OSU Archives

 Mom and Dad got married during the Great Depression. They were as poor as church-mice. Mom was a farmgirl and Dad was working up in the woods as a cook in the CCC Camp. When the CCC bosses got wind that dad had secretly married, he was fired. The Civilian Conservation Corp was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. They hired young unmarried men to do unskilled manual labor for $30 a month; of which $25 was sent home to their parents. You'll never convince me that this workforce was unskilled! Every time I travel the Mount Baker Highway, snaking it's way up some 3500 feet above sea level to Mount Baker, I think of my Dad...and I am proud. The road was hewn into the side of steep mountains with tunnels blasted through granite rock, and it's bridges traverse deep-cut canyons with the wild Nooksack River tumbling over boulders below. This backbreaking work was not for the weak or the timid. It involved dynamite, cutting down old growth stands of fir trees with cross-blade-saws, and working on dizzying precipices in the harshest winter blasts.

After Dad was let go, my parents did many things to try and eke out a living during those lean Depression years. Dad worked in lumbercamps, picked apples, and even did some prize-fighting. Mom took in ironing, was a housekeeper for rich folks (even cleaned a mortuary), and worked in canneries preserving fish and fruit. (And that's only a few of the jobs they did!) Back then there was no negotiating for better pay or for medical benefits or for vacation time. If you were lucky enough to find work...you did it for whatever they offered; and you were grateful. You worked hard. Real hard. We have no idea.

Anyway, by the time I came along in the fifties, the folks were doing better. Mom had a good job at the County Court House and Dad was grading lumber at Bloedel-Donovan's lumbermill on the shores of Lake Whatcom. We weren't rich by any means, but compared to those early years; things were pretty good. We still however, lived paycheck to paycheck; and as you know if you've ever lived paycheck to paycheck...the slightest hiccup in your budget can upset the whole darned apple cart! So when our car broke down or the pump for our water well broke down (as it often did) Dad would grin at Mom and say, "Guess we'll have to eat beans!" My folks knew how to live cheap.

Now to my parents...eating beans meant that you were broke. Not that they didn't like beans...it was just that if we had to eat beans, it was because we couldn't afford meat. So from time to time...we ate beans. But most of the time, Mom managed to find the cash to buy a ham-bone or a slab of bacon to throw into the pot.

These days, eating beans is fashionable. They call them 'legumes' and praise the benefits of eating low-fat and high in protein while saving the planet by reducing our carbon footprint by eating vegan. (As though this generation were the first to have cooked and eaten a bowl of beans! How narcissistic!) Now I do believe in living healthy...low fat and reducing my carbon footprint...I really do! But I have to smile when I think of what Dad would say if I invited him over for a bowl of my bean soup. I'm sure he'd look across the table at me with a wry grin and say,
"Broke? Guess we'll have to eat beans!"

Bean with Bacon Soup

1 lb. great northern beans, soaked in water overnight--you could buy canned beans, but we're talking economy and home cooking here...so don't be such a pansy...use the real stuff!

1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, chopped
2 cans vegetable broth--or make your own broth. I'm sure chicken or beef broth would be tasty in this soup!
3 cups of water, or enough to cover beans
1 8-oz pkg Trader Joe's uncured turkey bacon, fried and crumbled into pieces-or live dangerously and toss in a hambone or a slab of real fried bacon! If you're broke or vegan, omit the meat.
Salt and Pepper to taste
A few shakes of Old Bay Seasoning--this is my new favorite seasoning. I dunno what's in it, but I've been adding it to almost everything I cook lately, and it's fantastic.



Wash and soak the beans overnight, then rinse. Chop the veggies, mince the garlic. Put the beans into a large pot and add enough broth and water to cover the beans. Add fried bacon, veggies, garlic, and seasoning.  Bring to a rolling boil, skimming off any foam. Reduce heat and simmer for a couple of hours...until the beans are soft and the broth has thickened. (The thicker the better, I always say. It's hard to tell whether my soup is soup, or just beans and meat. I like it that way.) Salt and pepper to taste.

Cornbread with lots of butter is the best accompaniment to this meal.

***

Mom's Spanish Rice with Hamburger

My Sis and I were reminiscing about Mom's home cooking the other day. Our Mother could make a meal from just about anything she found in the pantry, and it was always tasty and so wholesome! Her Spanish Rice was the best! I've never been able to make it just as she did--and of course she never wrote down her 'everyday' recipes. She was much to practical for that. I think she assumed that anybody with any cooking sense at all could throw together some rice, tomatoes, and spices that would result in a filling, tasty meal. But not me! My Spanish Rice was always soupy or mushy. I've been craving this dish for about 2 weeks now, so I decided to look on line for a good recipe. I found some basic ones and tried to jog my brain to think about just what my mom might have added to hers. One thing's for sure...there'd be no meatless rice in her home unless were were dead broke! So I knew I'd need to add some ground beef. And since she never considered herself a 'gourmet', the spices would be inexpensive and common. Armed with that, and some basic recipes, I set out to make Mom's Spanish Rice...and I think I've come close! She wouldn't necessarily be proud of me for this accomplishment...more likely surprised that it took me this long to figure it out!

Mom's Spanish Rice with Hamburger

(as best as I can figure)

1 lb. ground beef

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups brown basmati rice (she wouldn't have used basmati, buy I love it!)

1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper

Brown ground beef. Drain and set aside.

Place oil in a large pot. Saute onion, peppers, garlic, and rice in it. Make sure that the rice turns a nice golden brown.

Add the tomatoes, meat, and spices.

Cover and cook over a low to medium heat until the rice is flaky...about 40 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

I think this meal is best serve simply...all by itself,

but if you're wanting a little dessert, a chunk of dark chocolate with a cup of coffee would be the perfect contrast.

***