Zucchini Bread Revisited

Over the past few weeks, I have received 3 zucchini bread recipes from helpful readers and I am so excited to try them out! The ingredients are all similar, but with varying amounts of spices added. Since I am a spice person, I am posting below the recipe sent from Liz in Vermont which includes all the fun fall spices, with a blending of Colin's recipe from England of added walnuts and honey substitution for the sugar:


Liz's Zucchini Bread with Colin's advice:


3 cups of flour
3 cups of shredded zucchini
1.5 cups of honey
1 cup of oil (I use grapeseed oil for everything, but canola or veggie oil should work too)
3 eggs
1.5 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. of baking powder
2 tsp. of cinnamon
0.5 tsp. of cloves
0.5 tsp. of nutmeg
4 tsp. of vanilla
1 cup of chopped walnuts

Liz says to go on and throw everything in together and mix well with an electric mixer. She also suggests squeezing out excess water of the fresh zucchini. Bake in 2 loves or 3 small loves at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Zucchini Abundance Solved!

There are a few solutions to not wasting the overabundant zucchini you may gather from a few plants in your backyard (see previous post). I have 4 zucchini plants and there are more than enough zucchinis to go around from just these few. The zucchini are the big-leaved plants in the foreground in this pic. Here were my solutions:

1) Snuck over to my neighbor Olivia's house and left a few zucchinis the size of baseball bats on her welcome mat (evil chuckle).

2) Steam them and puree for Bryan's babyfood dinners for the next 5 months (joking, but only half). He should have enough zucchini puree frozen in the freezer to last for some time.

3) Made zucchini bread which was a hit with husband, although I'm still looking for a better recipe.

4) Made zucchini pasta sauce which can be frozen for future use. The key thing with this trick is that it's tasty and also uses 2 lbs of zucchini for a single batch which is enough for Paul and I to have dinner with it and then leftovers for lunch tomorrow (so not a huge batch that feeds an army). So you figure: double or triple it and you use up 4 or 6 lbs of zucchini and have some good sauce frozen for those nights you don't want to "cook." Recipe is as follows:

2 lbs. of zucchini thinly sliced (use a mandoline or food processor if you have one - goes a lot faster)
1/2 cup of chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic with skin removed
2 tsp. of herb de Provence (I don't have this but it consists of many herbs. I used the ones I had but didn't have all of them on hand (missing savory). I used a combo of these herbs: rosemary, basil (heavy on this one), marjoram, fennel seeds, oregano, and thyme to add up to about 2 tsp.)
olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup vegetable broth

Saute the veggies and herbs and seasoning for about 3 minutes in a few Tbsp. of olive oil. Use a LARGE wok or saucepan or you will get zucchini everywhere. Add the vegetable broth and simmer for 7 minutes. Blend/puree in blender/Vitamix with a few more Tbs. of oil to make a sauce of desired consistency. Serve over pasta and enjoy! Now just a warning: the appearance isn't fabulous- husband thought it looked gross, but he loved the taste. I had to agree that the green slop didn't look so appetizing.

Another Man in the Kitchen

Last week I got to escape the office for half a day to drive down to Camden, SC to do a safety audit on one of our groundwater monitoring teams. These are fun to do because the team gets an advance warning, we all are audited each week in the field by each other (so it's not stressful) and it gives an office person a chance to get out in the great outdoors for a few hours. It's been super hot and humid here, though, so it's not the ideal conditions for anyone to be outdoors.

I arrived on site just in time to get the last of a passing thunderstorm which made the mugginess more muggy and brought all the bugs out of the woodwork. I put on my steel toe boots and safety glasses and stepped out of the car into the meadow where the guys were working. Instantly I could not see because my glasses steamed up. But luckily, Ken was ingenious and had bought an industrial fan and matching industrial-strength power inverter for the car so that they had torrent of wind blowing across the tailgate and camp chairs they had set up by the well. Since every well was taking several hours to stabilize, they decided that they should take the time to set up as comfortably as possible at each location. Being pregnant, I was given "top fan position" with the cushiest chair. What gentlemen!

A good part of any decent safety audit is getting caught up on chit chat, finding out the woes of the field work, the adventure, the tales, and I likewise act as informant on office news, deadlines and other unpleasantries. Although I work with Ken all the time because we are in the same office, I don't see Woody very often because he's out of our Alabama office. So it was fun to see him. A highlight of the safety audit was the recipe that Woody described to me in detail. He hails from Tennessee and told me about this famous Tomato Pie recipe that he made that weekend. By the end of his impromptu cooking show (hand motions to demonstrate, colorful descriptors and passion), my mouth was watering with the thought of bacon and tomatoes. On the drive home I even stopped at a convenience store (no grocery stores en route for the whole hour drive) to buy the necessary cheese. What a pie it turned out to be!! I will share with you this secret:

Woody's Tomato Pie (this is probably not on the Weight Watchers menu)

Three large tomatoes (or so), chopped and well drained of juice (or you get soggy crust)
one baked pie crust (you can do 2 parts whole wheat flour to one part all purpose for more fiber)
one large onion
handful of fresh basil chopped or equivalent dried basil
about 6 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
1 cup of light mayonnaise (I used the olive oil mayo- turned out good)
1 cup of cheese (I used a combo pack of mozzarella, asiago, cheddar and provolone)
salt and pepper

Prepare and bake your pie crust at 350 for about 15 minutes. meanwhile chop and drain the tomatoes and onions, pick your basil and wash and chop and get the bacon cooking and drained. Chop bacon into small pieces. Once the crust is done, spread a layer of tomatoes, a layer of onion and sprinkle with bacon and basil. Repeat until all veggies/bacon have been placed in the crust. Season with salt and pepper and spread the mayo over the top of the pie like frosting. Then top with cheese and bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour. Serve with a fresh salad. This refrigerates well and tastes even better the next day!

Paul's Pork Chops

You read that right! Paul made dinner tonight to give me a break and he decided to make pork chops, like we often have, but with a flare. He made a sauce for the chops that to me was out of this world! It's a very simple sauce that he served over the chops, wild rice and broccoli.

3/4 of an apple, chopped
1/4 cup of Vermont maple syrup (yum)
2 Tbs. of chopped walnuts (thanks to Clementine willing to share)

We actually used my jarred apples that I jarred last October, which made it super easy, but if no jarred apples are handy, used fresh apples and cook in a saucepan for about 10 minutes to soften. Add the syrup and walnuts and cook for another 3-4 minutes. If you are using jarred apples, add all ingredients together and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Morning Glory Muffins

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and they are SUPER!! I did 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour as opposed to what's listed below, but I think I'd need to add an additional 1/4 tsp. baking soda next time to help the heavy wheat rise more. Plus I am thinking next time of using 1 cup of honey instead of 1 1/4 cups of sugar (that's a lot of sugar and they were more than sweet enough).



Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 apple - peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 cup raisins
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup mango chutney (or use 1/2 cup total of apple butter instead)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil 18 muffin cups, or coat with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, apple butter, oil and vanilla.
In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in carrots, apples and raisins. Stir in apple butter mixture until just moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
In a small bowl, combine walnuts and wheat germ; sprinkle over the muffin tops.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed.

Home Projects Galore!

The weather is cool and inspiring here right now so we have been busy bees doing our respective projects. Since I covered Paul's major project last time, I am only including one picture here of him working on the same project. Now he is sanding and painting, hoping to complete this weekend.
I have been doing field work the last two weeks in Kinston, NC. So I stopped by my favorite antique store: Some Like it Old. I bought the cute blue table, coffee pot and oil lamp shown below.

And also the table behind the couch here..

And a piano bench and lamp. The deals were too good to pass up.

But yesterday, we had the most unique, impulsive experience. A furniture distributor showed up on our street with his 18 wheeler, selling boxed furniture right out of his truck. They had cabinets, coffee tables, dressers, couches and these beautiful grandfather clocks which excited me very much (I love clocks and old pocket watches). Well, we bought one, and I didn't even have to plead with Paul too much. The guy brought it in, got it started and gave us some operating instructions and we were proud new clock owners in about 15 minutes from start to finish.

Another exciting thing that has happened is that I finally finished the bedroom curtains. I have been working on them each weekend, doing only one curtain each week, and only portions at a time. For example, I did the side seems on one curtain each week until that was finished. Then I added the heading tape (which I had to buy online from England because I couldn't find it here) to one curtain each week. And lastly, I hand sewed the hems, one curtain each week. Finally a few months later, they are done!

Yesterday, I started painting the basic outline of my tree design on the dining room ceiling. I have been designing and contemplating this for a long time, and with the curtains finished upstairs, it was time to get started. I had drawn out the basic forms on graph paper to the scale of the ceiling and so it was pretty easy to get everything sketched on (last weekend) and then painted. I decided to do a rough outline in dark brown first, and then next available weekend I will do a blue wash of the sky with clouds. I'm hoping the brown trees will show through so then I can pick back up with the trees once the background is in. I didn't think it would work to do the sky and then try to sketch the trees over the paint.

Yesterday, after painting, I went to pick up a bushel of apples from a lady I know through church. She had taken orders from anyone that wanted some and was taking a trip up to an apple orchard to bring back everyone's apples (out of the kindness of her heart). So, being that this would be a big event, I also borrowed Shauna's steamer again and apple peeler/slicer/corer. Paul helped me with the peeler contraption and together we canned 14 quarts of apple slices for apple pie. The blueberry pies have turned out so well from our spring blueberry-picking extravaganza, we decided to give the apples a shot.
Earlier yesterday I put all the jars and lids in the dishwasher. Once I brought home the apples, Paul peeled, cored and sliced.

Then I had to blanch the apples for 3 minutes, one batch at a time, in hot sugar water to stop discoloration and preserve flavor.

The next step was to pour the water used for blanching into the jars.

Then, the lids that had been simmering in water had to be placed on the jars with the rings tightened finger tight. 7 quarts at a time were placed in the steamer and steamed for 20 minutes. The jars were removed and the rings were tightened all the way. Lastly, the jars were flipped upside-down on a towel, as per Marie's secret advice. She says this is the trick to making sure that none "pop" overnight (or become unsealed).

The last project that has been ongoing for a few weeks, is I'm spinning my very first 5-ply yarn. The yarn is a blend I've created on my drum carder from Merino wool, opossum down, yak down and soy silk. Each batch I've blended on the carder consists of 3 grams of the Merino/opossum blend, 1 gram of soy silk and 2 grams of yak down. I bought all of these from The Woolery online. I've spun a very fine yarn and wound onto 5 toilet paper rolls. I learned from my online research that to keep the yarn strands separate you need to use a template with 5 holes or a spice jar lid with the holes. I was excited about this because who doesn't have one of those in their kitchen? So, I have mine placed between my fingers on the right below (you can't really see it), and I'm gradually spinning the strands together while keeping a firm grip on the strands to keep them from tangling.

A few weeks ago I had fun time volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte. My company was provided half the labor of volunteers and a local bank was providing the rest of the volunteers.
I was assigned to help with the roofing crew- very scary. The floor of the roof wasn't up yet, just the trusses. So my job was to partner with Joe to put the plywood flooring onto the trusses.

Joe was a banker and so none too experienced in roofing either. So we had some good laughs.
Actually, I was the only one from my company that was able to make it that day so everyone except me was a banker. But once Joe and I got the first row of the roof down, the rest was much more comfortable. The rest of the day was just swinging a hammer to get the rest of the kajillion nails in. I was moaning and groaning all the next day since I hadn't been this sore since I ran a half marathon in 1998ish.

Here I am above, and here is the house we were working on. The future home-owner was also there working on the house.
Oh my goodness, I forgot about these pictures. Well, this is one of our new dinner combos: Yorkshire Pudding by Paul and Zucchini cakes with tomato sauce by Yours Truly, compliments of the internet for the recipe. I had some zucchinis that weren't going to last long and Paul was wanting some Yorkshires something fierce, so we comboed the two into a surprisingly tasty dinner! As I've been blogging for a fair bit of time, I'm not going to post the recipe now, but I'll try to remember for next time.


An embroidery project that I'm working on for Darla. I'm making a sweatshirt with cheerleaders and football players for her dad for Christmas and this was a practice run of a few of the characters to figure out where the problems might be. I'm learning heaps on this project!

Potato Leek Soup

Ah I fell in love with this soup all over again this weekend. It's been awhile since I made it and now that I found a new sausage that makes everything taste good, this is a winter day recipe that's hard to beat.

1 package of Gautney 40% lower fat sausage meat without the casings
3-4 leeks sliced without the green tops (first time I made this I didn't know you weren't supposed to use the dark green tops of leeks)
4 potatoes, thickly chopped
1 onion chopped
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. ground thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 quart of chicken stock
a few cups of milk to make the soup creamy
2-3 Tbs. flour

Brown the sausage in a frying pan and drain the fat. Add to the ol' Crock-pot with all the rest of the ingredients except the milk and flour. Cook for abut5-6 hours on low or until the potatoes are tender. Turn the Crock Pot to high. In a small bowl combine the flour with a few Tbs. of the soup liquid, adding a Tbs. at a time until the mixture forms a paste. Then add to the rest of the soup, blending until smooth. Add the milk and heat until ready to serve.

I used this recipe, the promise of some bread and butter pudding and a hot bath with story time to lure Paul to go on a run with me on Sunday afternoon. It worked, and he was amazing- completing a half hour of running with me with hardly a complaint once I got him out the door. And it was freezing outside. I carried out my promises too, but forgot to make the bread and butter pudding as we got saddled into helping a neighbor bring her treadmill in from the garage.

Sunday was a perfect day as I took the day off after church from studying (back to getting ready for the Professional Geologist exam on March 6th), had some good quality time with Paul and it was really relaxing. Today I'm back into Hendersonville for some groundwater sampling and although the work is tough, it's good to see the familiar faces.

Ham Loaf

My mom would be gasping in shock to see that I am posting a meat loaf recipe (I am not a fan of meat loaf), but I have had ham loaf once a long time ago and I liked it. So, back to my good ol' 1966 New York Times Cookbook for the next idea of what to do with ham.

Ham Loaf

1 pound of ground ham (in food processor)
1/2 pound of ground pork (I used 40% less fat pork sausage meat, not in the casings)
1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix meats together. In a separate bowl beat egg and milk and sage together and add meats and bread crumbs mixing until uniform. Form into a loaf and bake for 45 minutes (or I did it in the crock pot, for 5-6 hours to keep it moist). Top with Orange Glaze and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until nice and golden, basting frequently.

Orange Glaze

1.5 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbs. orange zest

Mix ingredients together.

There was so much extra glaze that I used it on the sweet potatoes I was serving- yum! I served the ham loaf and sweet potatoes with orange slices from the one used for zesting, a small side salad tossed in honey mustard and cooked cabbage with butter. It was nice to have something so different and very, very delicious. The orange glaze was what did it.

We only have a few slices of ham left, and the bone I'm using in the crock pot today to make split pea soup!

Ham, Ham and more Ham

You may be in the same blessed predicament as us to have more ham than you can think of what to do with after Christmas. Paul came home with a Honey Baked ham last Tuesday - a gift from his company, and we have to finish it in a week (or so the instructions say) before it spoils. I love Honey Baked ham, but because ham is so salty, I get tired after a few days of ham with green beans, ham with carrots, ham with broccoli, and on and on.



The solution for me was to go to my favorite book of all cookbooks, one that I found years ago at a used bookstore: The New York Times Menu Cookbook, published in 1966. The fun thing is that this huge book of recipes was written pre-carbs and fat days so the recipes are based purely on taste rather than health - a bad thing most of the time, but occasionally it must be done! It also has a fantastic index. I looked up "ham" and came up with dozens of recipes including ham. This is what I chose, and it was a wonderfully delicious choice that tasted like a cross between a creamy Italian pasta primavera dish and a vegetable medley/pot pie (don't let the simple, innocent name deceive you):



Ham and Vegetable Casserole



4 Tbs. of butter
1 small chopped onion
1.5 Tbs. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup of diced potatoes
1 cup of diced carrots
1 cup of chopped green beans
2 cups of diced cooked ham
1 cup of fresh bread crumbs (put a few slices in a food processor or vitamix and you have crumbs)
Few slices of bacon



Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
1. I chopped all veggies (onions separately) in a food processor to cut down on time.
2. Melt butter in saucepan and add onion, cooking until transparent.
3. Bring milk to a boil.
4. Meanwhile blend flour in with onions and start the bacon cooking in a frying pan (you will need the drippings so don't microwave).
5. bring some water to a boil and cook the chopped veggies for only a few minutes ~2-3.
6. Add the boiled milk slowly in with the onions/flour/butter mixture, mixing until it thickens.
7. Add cooked veggies and season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Place mixture into a 1.5 quart casserole dish.
9. Dice up the cooked bacon and sprinkle on top.
10. Add bread crumbs to the bacon drippings and sprinkle on top of everything.
11. Bake the casserole for thirty minutes or until mixture is hot and the bread crumbs are brown.


Note: this is supposed to serve 6 but really in today's serving sizes, especially if you are serving no side dishes, serves 3 to 4. Even that looks like a small amount, but it is surprisingly filling - really packs a punch. We had enough for the two of us to have dinner last night and leftovers for lunch.

Crockpot Fajitas

I found a crockpot fajita recipe to try and it was muy bueno! Here it is with my modifications:

1 pound of beef flank steak
1 onion cut into strips
1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 orange bell pepper cut into strips
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
flour tortillas
cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa as garnish if desired

Combine onion, Rotel, chili powder, cilantro, steak (I put the steak in whole and shredded in the pot after cooking), and cumin in Crockpot. Cook on low for about 4 hours. Add bell peppers and garlic and cook an additional hour on low. Serve with tortillas and any accompaniments.

Paul gave this recipe two thumbs up, even though we didn't even have the garnish items, and we ran out of tortillas!

Crock-pot Pork with Sweet Potatoes

One dinner with a lot of potential that I tried in the crockpot last week, and that we are still having for leftovers in our lunches, is a pork roast with granny smith apples and sweet potatoes. Here's the recipe:

~2 lb pork roast
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 sweet potatoes cut into large chunks
~ 1/2 cup or so of brown sugar
~1/2-1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
sprinkles of ground cloves

Add the meat, apples and potatoes to crockpot, sprinkle with the sugar and spices and set the crockpot onto low and cook for 6~8 hours. Actually, I set mine on before leaving for work at 7:00 and then it goes onto warm mode after the set cooking time. I get home around 6:00 so by the time I get home it's been in there a long time. I think the meat turned out a tad dry (overcooked) , and the apples disintegrated into applesauce (although the juice added a lot of flavor). On a day when I'm home, I will try again and check and see if maybe 6-7 hours cooking time would be more appropriate. Give it a try though! The taste was excellent and only took about 10 minutes to prepare.

Crock Pot Chicken a Success

Wow this Kitchen Aid crock pot is super deluxe. The chicken was set to cook for 10 hours and then the crockpot automatically switched the temperature over to "warm" to keep the dinner hot for when we came home from work and were ready to eat. The vegetables had more texture to them than when I cook in my older crockpot, and nothing got burned.

The chicken recipe required that just before serving you take 1 1/2 cups of lite sour cream and blend with 1/4 cup of flour. Then mix in some juices from the crockpot and then add the whole mix to the crockpot vegetables. While that is thickening in the crockpot, I worked on deboning the chicken which was not too tough since all the meat pretty much fell off the bone. There was a lot less meat wastage cooking the chicken this way since it was so easy to separate the meat from the bones. I pulled everything out onto a cutting board to do this so we didn't get little bones falling off into the vegetables while I was sorting.

This is supposed to be a low fat recipe IF you skin the chicken before cooking. "Heck no" is what I said, since the skin adds a lot of flavor. I removed it after cooking, though.

Exciting Times -- New Crock Pot

Back in April my mom and dad gave me a gift certificate to Bed, Bath and Beyond for my birthday. I've been saving it for something special-- one choice was new sheets as we are going to upgrade to a king size mattress sometime this year (for now, our queen mattress is on our new king bedframe so we keep bumping our shins getting in and out of bed). Another choice was curtain rods and tackle. But, I recently decided I really wanted the 7 qt. Kitchen Aid "Slow Cooker" (I will always call them crock pots, even though that is a brand name) that has great reviews.

My crock pot that I've had for years is a ~3 qt. cooker and I use it often to do chili and soups but it is not large enough to make a big batch for leftovers, and it isn't large enough to do roasts and chickens. Now that I am Miss Study for the Test, I thought it would be a good time to make the jump to the jumbo size and get dinner ready in the morning since I'm already up at the crack o' dawn anyway to get Paul off to work. This way I'll have more study time in the evening.

So this weekend we went and got the cooker and this morning I have a whole chicken in it with new potatos, carrots and onions with garlic and chicken broth, salt and pepper and various herbs. I'll let you know how our chicken turns out tonight. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the birthday present!!

Vegetable Pasta Recipe

Trader Joe's has this great pesto tortellini pasta in their fridge section that you boil for 6 minutes and it's done. One of our favorite summer dishes is this pasta topped with fresh vegetables. Here's what we do: (serves 3)

Start boiling a big pot of water with a dash of salt. Meanwhile chop up a head of broccoli, a couple carrots, 5 or 6 mushrooms and a small onion. When the water reaches boiling, add the carrots. Let the carrots cook for about 2 minutes while adding 2 Tbs. of grapeseed oil to a frying pan and heat up. Begin sauteing the onions in the frying pan. Add the broccoli and Trader Joe's pesto tortellini pasta to the boiling water with carrots. When the onions are soft, add the mushrooms and continue sauteing. while things are cooking, chop up a few green onions and a few small tomatoes. Grate some parmesan cheese or cheat like us and use Trader Joe's pre-grated parm.

Everything should finish about the same time in about 6 or 7 minutes (theoretically). Drain the water from the pasta, broccoli and carrots and serve. Top with sauteed mushrooms and onions and chopped tomato and green onion. Toss with a Tbs. of grapeseed oil and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Delicious, light and refreshing!

We also sometimes add frozen corn to the boiling pot of water, or frozen green beans if we are running low on fresh veggies. Zucchini would also be good-oh yeah!

Maple Orange Pork Chop Glaze

Not much new to report as I have been a fiber-blending fiend the last several days since getting home from Virginia on Thursday. It's what I did the majority of Saturday and Sunday with the exception of house-cleaning and going to church and going to the pool with Paul on Sunday afternoon. We have had some afternoon thunderstorms the last few days which is fun, but the humidity has been high before it rains so the pool felt fabulous. I will post pictures in a day or two of the fiber blending progress, as it is taking over the house.

Last night I decided to try another one of Rachel Ray's recipes and we LOVED it.

Pork Chops with Maple Glaze

1-2 Tbs. of grapeseed oil (the healthiest oil you can cook with besides coconut oil)
1 cup of chicken broth
Sprinkle of dry thyme (about 1/4 tsp.) Rachel calls for 5 fresh sprigs which I didn't have
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1Tbs. of lemon juice (Rachel calls for the juice of one lemon)
1/4 tsp. of orange zest (Rachel calls for the zest of one lemon)

Heat the oil in a frying pan until it ripples, add pork chops and sear both sides, cooking for 5-6 minutes until done. Remove from pan and wrap in foil to keep warm. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and simmer until the glaze thickens a little. Return pork chops to the frying pan, coat and serve. Pour remaining glaze over the chops.

If you have a rotisserie, try your chops in the basket attachment and start the glaze during the last 10 minutes of cooking the chops. When the chops are done, add to the pan with the glaze and coat. The sauce won't thicken until you add the chops for some reason. The benefit is that if you have thick chops the rotisserie seems to cook the meat inside and out without overcooking the exterior- turns out very juicy and tender!

Berry Pie Recipe

This is a recipe I love because it is the only fruit pie that I really like. Blueberries and blackberries were on sale this week and so planned on making a pie this weekend. I've blended two recipes together to get this one, one recipe for blueberry pie and one for blackberry pie, but I also sometimes make it with a Trader Joe's frozen fancy berry blend that also has raspberries. In my opinion the frozen blend tastes just as good as fresh berries, but when they are in season I always use fresh.


Berry Pie Recipe


4 cups of mixed berries in any ratio of blueberry, blackberry and raspberries
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar (taste as you add, because depends on how sweet the berries are)
1/2 tsp. of ground cinnamon
3 Tbs. of tapioca
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 cup of thinly sliced granny smith apples
Unbaked pie crust for a two crust pie (my favorite version below)


In a large bowl, mix the sugar, tapioca, cinnamon and salt. Add the berries and apples, mixing to coat. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour mixture into pie crust. Slice remaining pie crust into strips and weave a lattice on top of pie for decorative appeal, or if you are having a lazy day, just leave the pie crust whole and lay on top of pie, poking holes to vent. Bake for about 50 minutes.


Pie Crust for a two-crust pie


2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup of butter, chilled
3-4 Tbs. of ice water

In your Kitchen Aid mixer or by hand mix the flour and salt. Slice the butter into slices and add to the bowl mixing with the mixer (or by hand using a pastry blender) until the mixtures looks like coarse crumbs. Slowly add the water 1 Tbs. at a time and don't add any more once the mixture starts holding together in clumps the size of marbles and there is no more loose flour at the bottom. Pat into two balls, one about 2/3 larger than the other, and roll out on a floured surface to a thickness about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Line the pie dish with the larger crust and save the other for the top.

Potato and Leek Soup Recipe

Paul had his wisdom tooth pulled last week due to an infection that had started beneath the tooth. Soup and smoothies have been the foundation of his/our diet all week and so we needed a bit of variety: Split Pea (check out my recipe link for the recipe), which is so simple and good, and Potato and Leek, one of Paul's favorites.

Potato and Leek Soup

2 leeks
1 medium onion
1 Tbs. grape seed oil (or olive oil)
~ 6-8 potatoes
4 cups of water
1 qt. of chicken broth or 1/2 cup rotisserie chicken drippings in 1 qt of water (even better)
1.5 tsp. Italian seasoning (thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil, rosemary, parsley)
~ 2 cups of milk
chunks of chicken (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat while chopping onions and leeks. Saute onions and leeks until soft. Add the water, chicken broth and potatoes, and bring to a boil. When potatoes are soft, turn off heat and add the soup in batches to a food processor or smoothie maker and puree. Return to the pot, add seasoning and chicken (optional) and simmer over low heat to blend flavors ( I let it simmer for an hour or so if time, but not necessary). Just before serving add milk and heat to desired temperature, but do not let it boil once milk is added.

Chicken with Spanish Rice Recipe

Last night I wanted a quick fix for dinner because I had more important things to do: finish the second curtain panel for the bathroom and work on spinning the last 2 balls of wool for Trish with Tanglewood Fiber Creations. The spinning batch was at this same stage 2 weeks ago, as I was trying to finish before the move, but once the move began, all extra projects came to a halt.

I found the dinner recipe on the back of the Calrose rice bag and it was quick, easy and delicious!

I think they called it something Verde Rice, but it was like a spicy Spanish rice dinner by the time I finished with it. Only serves 2.

2 chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 can of Rotel (recipe called for can of green chilies, but I like Rotel's diced chili and tomato mix-- adds more flavor and spice. If you don't like spicy, Rotel makes a mild version)
1 vegetable bouillion cube (recipe calls for chicken, but my veggie cubes don't have MSG and taste just as good in my opinion).
1 1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4 cup or rice
oil (I use grapeseed because it's less fattening than veg. oil and doesn't break down at high temps. like olive oil).
1 can of pinto beans

Dissolve boullion in water and set aside.

Coat a large saucepan, or deep frying pan with a lid, with the oil and heat to high temperature. Add chicken and brown on each side, cooking about 6 minutes. Remove chicken breasts and saute onion and garlic for about 30 seconds in same pan. Add the boullion water, can of rotel, oregano, rice, and add the chicken on top. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering for 20-25 mintues. Serve with pinto beans on the side.

Happily, I had time to finish the curtains while dinner was simmering, and one ball of wool was completed after dinner. Trish, it'll be on your way to Oregon before you know it!

Rachel's Sliced Steak with Warm Dijon Potato Salad

This made a nice, somewhat dressy, birthday dinner, and we both thought it had a good blend of flavors.

4 strip steaks 1-inch thick

2 pounds baby red-skin potatoes, halved

4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

3 shallots

3 Tbs. white wine vinegar

6 Tbs. grainy Dijon mustard

Parsely to taste

Black pepper or grill seasoning blend for steak

3/4 lb. cremini mushrooms, quartered

1 bunch of green onions, white and green parts chopped separately

1/2 cup approx. of white wine

2 Tbs. butter cut into pieces

Remove steaks from fridge to rest at room temp.

Bring water to boil for potatoes and season water with salt. cook potatoes until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and return to hot pot to evaporate excess water.

Preheat grill pan over high heat for steaks.

While potatoes are cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat, add 2 Tbs. olive oil and the bacon. cook until almost crisp and add shallots, lowering heat. Cook for 6-7 minutes until tender. Add vinegar and deglaze pan, then wisk in Dijon mustard. Add potatoes and parsely to skillet and turn to coat evenly, allowing potatoes to absorb dressing.

While the shallots are cooking, drizzle steaks with olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper or seasoning blend. Place steaks on preheated grill pan and cook 7 to 8 minutes for rare or 12 minutes for medium-well, turning once. Let the meat rest 5 minutes before slicing.

While the steaks cook, heat the remaining olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat and add mushrooms and white part of green onions and cook until mushrooms are dark and tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Add wine and reduce for 1 minute. add butter in small pieces and turn off heat. Slice steaks against grain and top with mushrooms, then scatter the parsely and green onion greens across the top. Serve with warm Dijon potato salad alongside.

The Baking Tournament Results

My apologies for taking so long and keeping you in suspense with the results of the Baking Tournament held here in our home over the Christmas vacation. At long last....

"Mighty Mom" scored 3 points in the tasty category and 4 points in the traditions category, 3 points for texture and 4 points for appearance for her Southern Boiled Custard.

"Mighty Mom" and "Kare The Bear" worked together to make Jill Cooper's gingerbread cookies with some additional ingredients for added spice. We scored 5 points for texture, 2 points for tradition, 2 points for appearance and would have scored more points for taste, but accidentally put too much salt which gave us only 2 points for taste in the end.

"Burbee The Baker" scored a whopping 5 points for taste (first plate to be cleared), 5 points for tradition (being the shortbread cookie recipe of our great-grandmother, Nanna), 3 points for appearrance and 4 for texture.

"Gary The Pot-Stirrer Man" scored 4 points for taste (second plate to be cleared), 2 points for texture (the chocolate kept melting and re-solidifying), 3 points for tradition and and 4 points for appearance. Gary had two assistants.

"Kare The Bear's" cinnamon rolls scored 3 points for taste, 3 points for tradition, 4 points for texture, and 4 points for appearance.

"Paulie 'The Mincer' Pie" scored 5 points for tradition (English tradition), 5 points for appearance, 3 points for taste, and 4 points for texture with his Mince Pies.

So here are the results you've been waiting for:

First place: Tied between "Burbee The Baker" and "Paulie 'The Mincer' Pie" with 17 points

Second place: Tied between "Mighty Mom" and "Kare The Bear" with 14 points

Third place: "Gary The Pot-Stirrer Man" with 13 points

Fourth place: The "Mighty Mom" and "Kare The Bear" team with 11 points

Let me know by comment or email if you want any of these recipes posted!