Eat Your Veggies part 1

I love cauliflower. Fresh cauliflower only. Keep that water-logged junk found on the freeze aisle away from me. I don't believe anyone likes it. Did you know cauliflower is really good for you? That is not why I love it but I'm happy to report to anyone who wants to know that I do indeed love veggies, if they're prepared in a delicious way. Cauliflower can slow the growth of cancer cells but boiling it just 5 minutes reduces its benefits 20-30%.

Roasted is one of the ways I like it best. Tossed with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper then into a hot oven. It begins to brown and smell toasty. Too bad all things that are so yummy aren't also good for you.

Cauliflower grows purple, green. yellow, orange and white. I'll post some pictures when I find all the colors. Now go eat some veggies.

 

Sad (as in strange) Eatings

I know a lot of kids leaving home and off to live on college campus's all over this country. I've already heard of some interesting food consumptions going on. When I went to college, a very long time ago, I didn't live in a dorm. I lived in an apartment so I had to cook for myself from the get go. My mom put dozens of little baggies with strange and familiar herbs and spices with twist ties in my bare kitchen cupboards. I think they cleaned out the camper of all the cooking stuff and gave it to me. Not quality stuff but what did I know? Not much. I remember one of those baggies was marked "Marjoram." Mar what?

Channeling my inner college student I've stooped to a new culinary low. Worse than Top Raman, worse than boxed Mac and cheese. Popcorn tossed with a can of anchovies. You read that correctly. I'm in Northern California helping my mom move to Southern California. When I arrived the refrigerator was already gone. There was some fish in a cooler but I wasn't feeling super great about the amount of time it may have been on ice or in cool ice-chest water. For dinner I had a hard boiled an egg, a piece of toasted white sandwich bread, salt and pepper. By bedtime I was h-u-n-g-r-y. What to eat, what to eat? Looking in cupboards; Found 1/2 jar full of salsa in the pantry area. Hum? No. Flour that any good elementary science teacher would be envious of. No. Microwave popcorn. (I do not like popcorn) Ok, popcorn with cheese sounds promising. No cheese. Then I see it, the can of anchovies. I think savory, salty and protein. Those are the things that help me sleep best. So what if I put the two together? I mashed the anchovies into a paste and tossed it into my hot popcorn. Actually not too bad. The ratio of grain to fish could have been better but that's a lesson learned I suppose.

This morning I was hungry again. "Oh no," you might be thinking. I was thinking that too so I borrowed mom's stuffed to the windows car and headed to the grocery store. What I wanted was a bagel but I don't know if they have a bagel shop in this town. Because we're in farm country the abundance of produce greets you in giant bins outside the store doors. In a subconscious effort to redeem last night I instinctively reached for a giant naval orange and an equally sized peach. Then I saw rows of bagels hanging on pegs inside a case. I learn they all cost .99 ea. and they have a toaster in their coffee bar area AND they throw in cream cheese for free. Jackpot! Bagels weren't marked but they're big and smell good. Several look to have cheese so I naturally know my choice will be one of these. Last time I had a jalapeño cheese bagel it was so spicy I couldn't enjoy it so that's out. In my greed I make my decision based on size. The first bite reveals I've chosen a pizza bagel. Ug. Whatever. For lunch I ate 2 chili cheese dogs. I think the old saying, "Going to hell in a hand basket" must have been directed at marginal food. I need to get out of food hell. Have a desperate food story? I'd love to hear it. Please, it will make me feel better about my strange late night choice.

 

Garden Tomatoes

I LOVE HOME GROWN TOMATOES. I want to shout it from on high. There is nothing like them. When I was a kid we would visit my grandparents on Ohio where they had a killer "garden." I wish I could remember everything they grew but I remember green beans because we had to snap their ends and pull their stings and I didn't really want to do that. I didn't like green beans. That was until grandma cooked them with smoked pork. The reality is I only liked and really still only like grandma's green beans. They grew corn. Not a lot but enough for us to spend lots of time husking ears on the back porch. Too bad I didn't pay attention to how she cooked them to make them so sweet. Now I'm sure it wasn't the cooking method but the fact it grew in their backyard where my grandpa lovingly tended to every plant. But the thing that stands out most of all were the tomatoes. Oh those tomatoes. Grandma would walk us out to the plot of soil all lined up with different plants and tell us how to look for tomato worms. Then she'd try to get us to pluck them off the branches and squish them underfoot. I wanted to do this but I couldn't stand the green juicy stuff they squirted on my fingers. Instead I would pop tomatoes in my mouth. They were warm from the sun and so sweet. Grandma had a salt shaker in the pocket of her apron for her tomatoes but I was a purest. These days I enjoy a little sprinkling of salt on my vine ripened tomatoes. I better understand how our taste buds work and how they begin to diminish with age so I fully get that shaker in the apron. (She always wore an apron.)
You couldn't call where my tomatoes much of a plot but I've got tomatoes. Lots of sun ripened fruit, warm waiting for me to eat them. I go out several times a day and just pick a few and pop them in my mouth right there in the yard. I wipe them a little on my night gown first of course. Wanting to use my tomatoes in a creative way I've found a recipe I'm excited to try. Tomato Tart with Mascarpone. Everyone knows I like cheese and that I like to make cheese. Mascarpone is the first cheese I ever made. It's easy. Did you read that? It is easy. It's probably cheater cheese or make-believe mascarpone but it is cheese to me and I'm the one eating it. This recipe has a tart crust baked then topped with mascarpone mixed with lemon juice with sliced tomatoes on top and drizzled with a basil oil atop that. The hard part now is waiting form my mascarpone to be ready tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on how delicious this tart will be.

 

Apricot Oat Bars

I record quite a few cooking shows. Because the DVR tends to fill up I have to consistently watch shows and delete them. Since Prince Charming is traveling this week I've had a bit more time to catch up. I am not normally attracted to sweets or desserts but there was something about Giada's bar recipe that made me take note and anytime I have all the ingredients for a recipe and can make it right away I usually do. This makes a big 9x13 pan of gooey Apricot Oat Bars. I did nothing but follow her instructions and the results were perfect. These got rave review from everyone who tried them. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/apricot-oat-bars-recipe/index.html

You gotta try 'em.

 

 

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

4 mint leaves, optional, more for garnish

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 64 mint leaves

Handful hulled strawberries

Sparkling water

 

Heat sugar and water in pan until sugar dissolves.

Tear mint leaves in half and add to simple syrup while it cools.

Hull strawberries then purée. (cut off the tops)

Combine lemon juice and purée. Add about 1/2 cup simple syrup and taste to your sweet tooth remembering that flavors will be stronger until water is added. Add more syrup as desired.

In a tall glass add ice then add approx. 1/4 cup strawberry lemon mixture. Top with well chilled sparkling water. Add more simple syrup if sweeter drink is desired.

Garnish with mint leaves and a strawberry.

Serves about 5

 

Cooking: Alone or in Groups?

I've decided there are very few things that are best done alone. Ok maybe not a very few but mostly things are better when done with someone else. For me and food that is completely true. Food is to be shared. The experience is enhanced when you can talk about it, share over it and enjoy every bite with someone.

 Today I got to do a few of my favorite things. I cooked with friends. Pounds of tomatoes inspired all this cooking. A friend posted pictures of all her tomato abundance and a few of us commented on what to do with them. That quickly spurred us to making a giant batch of pasta sauce. A special recipe handed down to my friend. After a tasty lunch and silly girl chatting we began the fun of chopping and dicing vegetables to stew with peeled tomatoes. Good thing we weren't in a hurry 'cause we were on cruise mode and IT WAS AWESOME. We talked about food, kids, husbands, herbs, kids, fire pits, empty nests, food and did I mention kids? We also took pictures. Isn't it funny how we take pictures of everything these days? I remember when....never mind.

Until I get permission to post the recipe I'll tell you this much. It has fresh peeled tomatoes, chopped, diced bell pepper, fresh diced onion and garlic, evoo, sugar, s&p, fresh basil, oregano, thyme, and red pepper. Slow cooked down and tasted repeatedly.

You should cook with people you love, like and want to eat with. It will make your life richer. I promise.

Go forth and cook.

(There is one food thing I like to do alone but I'm not inclined to share that with you if you don't already know about it.)

Birthdays & Books

This past weekend we had our first of several family summer birthday get togethers at the B and SIL's house. There is one thing you can know for sure when we go to their house. We will eat delicious food. This time was no exception. The food is always great because they like great food, like to make good food and SIL's mom is a cutting edge foodie to the highest degree. I get so excited when I know I'm going to spend some time with her: we are going to talk about food. I know I talk about food a lot but you need to know I am always holding back. I want to talk about it more than I do. I can't help it. To feed my passion for all things food and to keep me from driving those around me crazy talking about it 24/7 I read about food. SIL's mom gets me. She gave me the most wonderful unexpected gift. She gave me 2 cookbooks. Not your ordinary books, not the kind most of my friends would have or even read but someone needs to know about, "Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal." It has a picture of a pigs head in a skillet. The other book, "The Art of Charcuterie." Charcuterie is the art of preserving meat. You probably eat charcuterie. Salami, sausage, bacon, prosciutto, paté, pancetta, hot dogs and the like. We've got charcuterie going on in our garage right now. Salami, bacon and pancetta are curing in Prince Charming's converted garage refrigerator.

My contribution to the celebration of birthday foods was a puff pastry with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Like almost everything I make it was several ideas pulled into one. I keep puff pastry on hand along with sun-dried tomatoes at all times. It's not uncommon to have goat cheese but we always have a large variety of cheeses in our fridge so this recipe could be made with another cheese. Something crumbly would probably be best like blue cheese, Feta, ricotta. Today I made these again to use up the second sheet of pastry only today I added diced bacon just to see if it made them better. It was good but they are just as good without the bacon making them excellent vegetarian snacks. You could take these to a gathering or serve them as part of a meal. You can be sure you will want to eat more than one. Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Bites.

Decadence

Somethings I eat I know are pure decadence. Over the top. When you look up the word in the dictionary it does not have a good connotation however my use of it here is a good thing, a really good thing. The thing about decadence is you don't do it everyday or very often and in fact if you do you probably go from decadent to glutton. Last night I made smooth silky creamy decadence. Creme Fraiche. It's...um...well...it's a French sour cream? For purest I've probably made them very mad or revealed my utter ignorance. Either way it is so yummy. You can use it any way you would use fresh sour cream. Only it's better.

This morning I put a dollop on top light and fluffy scrambled eggs topped with fresh chives. It was a beautiful way to begin the day. Every once in a while we should indulge in decadence.

Crispy Potato Chips

I'm nearly 50 and I've been reading cookbooks and recipes and food magazines and the Internet for a very long time and I've never seen a recipe for Crispy Potato Chips from the microwave. I've learned over the years not all recipes are trust worthy. They don't all work out, they taste bland or yucky or somehow do not live up to my expectations. I know that some of those failures are my fault but not all of them.

I've come to trust some web sites and cookbooks more than others so when I read a recipe on one of my favorite reliable sites yesterday I didn't hesitate to try their potato chip on this site. I was not disappointed.

Crispy thin and lightly salty chips. Anyone can make these, anyone with a mandolin* that is. Could you cut these thin enough with a knife? Someone could but not me and I'm pretty good with a knife so I would recommend using the dusty slicer or mandolin in your cupboard or borrowing your foodie neighbors. A true "foodie" would be so excited to loan it and show you how to use it. If she's like me she'll use it for you because she is so excited someone else likes food as much as she does, at least for the moment.

Because I had a sweet potato in the cupboard I tried one of those too. The results were as good as I hoped. Since it only makes a plateful at a time I suggest making only one kind cause they will get eaten by you or others as fast as you can get them off the plate.

I can see so many ways to experiment with these I can hardly sleep.

Try them. Your family won't believe you made them and there is great joy in that for some reason.

*Don't have access to a mandolin? Check the note at the end of the recipe for a trick to make these without it.

Girlfriend, Beer and Crackers

The son has a girlfriend. We like the girlfriend. I've like girlfriend longer than he has but that's another story. We love to home make stuff. Always have. Before Prince Charming and I were married we made our first built-in bookcase in my condo.

How are these things connected you ask? The girlfriend likes to make stuff too. Yesterday the two of them made beer in our kitchen. I walked into the familiar smell of mash, cooked grain. In the oven was a tray of spent grains drying. Drying grains for another use. The ultimate in "green" or "recycling" I suppose. I need no excuse to find a way to reuse something. They had already planned to do something with some of it but since they left the house leaving it on my pan in my oven using my energy I figured some of it was now mine. That's how it works around here.

Fast forward to this afternoon: we have Spent Grain Cheese Crackers smelling yummy in our house. They taste yummy too I might add.

This is not an easy recipe but if it's all easy it gets boring and you don't learn anything. For those of you who are looking for a medium challenge with a great pay off you should try this if you can get your hands on some spent grains.

Banh Mi and other easy eats

   I'm not really sure where to begin telling you about yesterday's food adventures. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen and washed a lot of dishes. I washed my food processor 3 times! Ok, only twice since Prince Charming washed it once or was that the mandolin he washed. Either way there were dishes and food every where.

   The day began with Eggs Benedict again. (I told you I'm hooked on it) The vinegar water soak before cooking worked perfectly again for my egg. If you want to learn that trick check out my Easy Eggs Benedict post from July 5, 2012. 

   Banh Mi was on my mind and once I get something in my head it's hard to get it out. Banh Mi are Vietnamese Sandwiches and my family loves them. (Banh Mi: Warm baguette filled with a variety of meats, most often pâté, spread with mayonnaise and garnished with whole sprigs of cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon, flavored with fish sauce (nuoc mam) or dipping sauce (nuoc cham).

   Now I know the name and maybe the description could scare you off but stick with me here. Not only are these easy they are very versatile. Please don't be dissuaded by the length of the recipe as I've used lots of words to make it as clear as possible for my non-foodie friends who should try this recipe and you know who you are. 

   I'll leave the other 2 things I created for another post but I will tell you this. One is easy and I don't know one person who can eat only one. The other is for the more sophisticated palate and I'll admit many people don't like it (or at least think they don't like it). The son was brave enough to try it but he did wipe his tongue with a napkin after spitting it out and promptly ate a chocolate cupcake with an Oreo baked in. Oh well, more for PC and I.

Easy Eggs Benedict

   I love Eggs Benedict. In my opinion it's the only reason to go out to breakfast. If it's not on the menu I don't want to go to that restaurant or I just don't want to go. I know, I'm a snob. What's a snob to do? That's right make it yourself and I do pretty regularly. I know you are supposed to make Hollandaise and use it straight away but who wants to go to all the trouble day after day? Don't tell anyone French but I have been known to store it in the fridge and use it for several days. Sometimes it breaks, separates and looks yucky but I still eat it. 

Last week while hunting for new cheeses at Trader Joes I came across Hollandaise sauce in a tub. WHAT? That's right refrigerated and ready to go. Out of the container cold it reminds me of buttery mascarpone with a touch of lemon. Atop the perfectly poached egg and English muffin I made it's smooth, creamy and really tasty. There is a slight after taste that reminds you it's not homemade and has "extra" stuff in it but will work as a fresh stand in. Next time I'll stir in a little minced chipotle for some smoky heat. 

   I may have come across the easy way to make the perfect poached egg. In my hours of reading about food last week I read somewhere about putting a raw egg in a bowl with water and white vinegar and letting it sit before cooking. Don't know where I read it so I can't give credit to anyone and I can't remember measurements but that never stopped me from trying something. I put about 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup white vinegar in a small bowl. Crack egg into the bowl and allow to sit while a pan of water with another 1/4 of vinegar heats to just below boiling. The egg held tightly together in its water/vinegar soak. I swirled the hot water then added the contents of the bowl keeping the water moving. I turned the heat up a little to maintain the temp and allowed to cook for about 4 minutes. I lifted it with a large slotted spoon to make sure the white were firm. Just touch it with your finger. Blotted it on a paper towel and laid that beauty on a buttered English muffin. The egg was so perfect that there were no wispy edges. Warmed Hollandaise spooned over and garnished with fresh chives. The only meat we have on hand is shredded chicken and pork belly so I opted for the meatless version of Eggs Benedict today. If you like Eggs Benedict you should try Trader Joes Hollandaise and certainly if you like poached eggs try the trick above and see if you can get the perfect egg too.

Vacation Dinner

Cooking away from home is not easy. I know it's mostly because I'm spoiled with my kitchen set up and equipment. It has taken me years to get it the way I like it. In our 21 years of marriage we've slowly accumulated just the right things to make cooking and creating a breeze. We've been careful not to have too many gadgets that only serve one purpose. There are some things we try to never run out of. Perhaps I should begin a list of some of those things. I will give this list to my mom. I'm not sure if we had all the right stuff in the kitchen when I was a kid but I do know that my mom still has that stuff. Some of it good and useful, some of it old and in need of replacement. All of it bringing back childhood memories.

This last week while visiting and going through every drawer at moms I came across the old aluminum scoops that used to live inside our sugar and flour canisters. They are very cool. I asked my mom to give them to me when she is ready to part with them. They don't have duel purpose but I really like them. Even the teenage daughter thought they were special.

Anyway back to cooking away from home. It can get really hot where my mom lives so I'm always thinking of ways to cook that don't heat the house or put me in front of a 500 degree grill. One of my sisters would be there with her 3 kids so there would be 10 of us for dinner when you add in my favorite cousin and aunt. So I needed a meal to serve a lot that satisfies, everyone likes, supports left-overs, doesn't use complicated equipment and doesn't heat the whole house. BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches to the rescue! Easy, fast and mostly hands off.

I seasoned boneless pork ribs with seasoned salt and pepper and put them in a crock pot. Poured a bottle of BBQ source over, put the lid on and set it on low for about 9 hours. Musclely son carried the whole thing out to the sun room where is was out of the way and not heating up the kitchen. At dinner time I carefully removed the super tender meat (this is where a good pair of tongs would be handy) to a dish and with 2 forks pulled it apart. There wasn't really much pulling since the meat was falling apart. I wanted more sauce to dress the sandwiches with but had used the whole bottle in the preparation so I ladled sauce from the crock pot into a cup and allowed the fat to raise to the top. I then took the fat off with a spoon and put what remained into a small sauce pan and over medium heat reduced it to thicken. Once I finished with the meat I poured the thickened sauce over. This did two things: moistened and heated the meat just before serving.

Served on buns with cole slaw and fruit salad and everyone was happy. Note in photo below all 6 grandkids are happy.

Posted with Blogsy

Easy Dinner Recipe

   Sometimes I'm in the mood to plan something challenging for dinner. Sometimes I don't want to plan or even cook for that matter but most often I want to do what I want to do and still have a yummy home cooked dinner. Being that it's summer and I live where people come to vacation I wanted one of those "do what I want days at the beach with friends but not have to scramble off the sand early to get dinner ready" days. That's where the trusty old crock pot comes in to play. Ok my crock pot isn't really that old. I had an old one with a High, Low and Off switch. It was harvest gold with a removable brown crock. It worked great. But then I started hearing the buzz about new crock pots, ones with auto shut off, warming temp, bright shiny and white. I looked at them when I was at the store and read the stats on the side of the box. I did this for probably a year. How could I justify a new one when the old one worked just fine? I even bought a dial lamp timer to plug mine into so that it could come on while I wasn't home or turn off while I was still out playing. That worked pretty well although I did have angst about it over cooking my food or just over heating. In the end I gave into all the bells and whistles of something new to replace something that still worked. It was a good decision. For one thing my new one is bigger. It has 4 different time settings and automatically switches to warm once the time is up. Crock pot liner bags are another great improvement in crock pot cooking. You still have to wash the crock but it makes clean up way faster and easier.

   Let me tell you what I made in my crock pot last week that was a big hit. This is one of those easy dinner recipes you'll go to again and again. Green chili pork. I should come up with a better name but this is what it is. Country style pork strips were on sale for $1.79/lb when I was at the store. Whenever I see these on sale I get excited, kind of. There always seems to be a great ratio of meat to price and then I'm suspicious. Why aren't people buying this stuff up? What's wrong with it? Nothing that I can see. I once knew a Sicilian grandmother who cooked them all day in a tomato sauce to serve over pasta. It was to die for but I knew I'd probably never stand over the stove all day and stir sauce. Mine wouldn't have an Italian flare but a nod to south of the border. I prepped the crock pot with the liner, added seasoned meat, covered it with green sauce, chilies, added some spice, set it for 8 hours and went to the beach. I know I take this to the next level and most people don't want to and you don't have to and still have a great dinner. But, if you are looking for an amazing over the top dinner make your own tortillas. It's easy I promise and you will never eat tastier tortillas than fresh homemade. Try my Green Chili Pork and if you are adventuresome enough, make Homemade Corn Tortillas. Do it. And for those who don't know when to say when, make cheese.  Make your own Queso Blanco. It's a fresh white cheese that is crumbly and creamy with just the right amount of saltiness and goes best with this kind of food. It only has 3 ingredients and you can make it in about an hour. If you make any or all of these I wanna know. Make one thing and buy the rest then the next time make something else. If you never try it you'll never know if you can. If nothing else you can say you tried. Nothing was ever accomplished without trying and most things tried probably had an early failure. Without failure there is no trying and without trying we have nothing. 

Cheese Before Church

Finished Cheese

   We normally go to the first service at church. It's less crowded, our day seems longer and it's "our service." We have our seats and we see our friends. Hum...seems like we've made church too much about us. Ok, attitude adjustment coming. Today we're going to second service since the church will be recognizing our graduating students and we have one of those. Because we push 50 over here our bodies are used to getting up at a certain time and today is no different. So what to do with all this extra morning time? Make cheese of course. Simple tasty cheese. Queso Blanco to be exact. It's a whole milk fresh cheese. No aging required and only 3 ingredients. Whole milk, vinegar and salt. The hard work takes about 30 minutes, stirring. That's it. Stirring hot milk until it gets to 195 degrees then add vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes then pour it through cheese cloth to drain off the whey. Toss in the salt and let it hang out in the cheese cloth for a while longer. Consume. I'm almost embarrassed to say it's that easy. People are always so impressed when I say I make cheese. I don't expect most people will make their own cheese, I don't know why however. I'll work hard to stay focused in church this morning knowing fresh cheese is waiting at home for me. What do you do before church?

Queso Blanco 

Eating Out

   I really don't eat out that much but if you only read my post from this week you'd think otherwise. It's been an unusual week. Wednesday evening I met a couple friends from work for dinner before they went to a movie. I was invited to the movie but if you know me you know I don't really like to go to the theater. I don't like paying for something that I have no control over. People talk, their cell phone might ring, kids get up and down and squirm around, I can't pause the movie while I get a snack or ask my hubby a question about what's going on or just get up because I'm uncomfortable. I go to the movies about 2 times a year. We ate at a place I've only been to one other time and had an enjoyable time. We got there early enough to order off the "Happy Hour" menu. It was a great deal and somehow that can make food more delicious. I ordered the Seared Ahi over Potato Cakes with asparagus and wasabi sauce and soy ginger sauce and the Shrimp and Chips, popcorn shrimp and seasoned fries. It was a lot of food and I took shrimp and chips home which were promptly consumed by the son. Left-overs never go to waste at our house.

Respect for The King

   It looks as if I've not posted since Tuesday but that's not really true. I've been busy posting recipes from Tuesday's brunch and adding some pictures. I like to see what things should/could look like when complete so I like to take pictures. It's also a good reminder of something I might do differently next time. I don't claim to take awesome pictures of food and lots of time I'm disappointed in how my food looks in photos. Most things taste way better than they look but you'll just have to trust me on that one. All that being said you should check out the recipes under my "Brunch" post and look at the recipes and pictures. Be inspired to make one of them. You won't be sorry.

Diver Scallops, Sweet Pea Succotash, Maple Jus

   I have eaten some very yummy food this week. On Wednesday I had lunch with the girls from my Bible study at one of my favorite restaurants. The only option is to sit outside on the beautiful plant covered patio with herbs growing in mini pots as center pieces. They provide lap blankets for cool mornings or as cushions for those of us who need that extra padding. When the train begins to leave the adjacent station conversation stops while the train whistle blows. The place was bustling with couples and tables of people celebrating what looked like a birthday. People were talking and enjoying themselves but when our table of 10 stopped to pray before we ate, the whole patio went quiet as if to respect our moment before the King. I thought that was cool. But I digress. Diver scallops, sweet pea succotash with maple jus. Look at that picture. Oh heavens. Scallops cooked perfectly. This is one of those things I don't make a home much so I'm prone to order in a restaurant. I can hardly stand to go to a place that has something I make for dinner on the menu. I'm paying $ for something I can't or don't want to make and that list keeps getting shorter. I know, I'm doing that to my self. Oh well.

Brunch

   Today I had friends over for brunch. This is my annual get together with some of the girls I work with and we celebrate that school is out and that we get to "do summer" like our kids do. They always appreciate whatever I make them and it makes me wish I could cook for them more. I experimented on them. I do that often with company. I know some people have their old stand-byes they make when someone comes over but I do that for dinner most nights. I throw out the caveat that these are all new recipes and if they don't work I'm sorry. Usually things work out, sometimes not. Today everything was great!

Here's the menu: (pictures too)

Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Cups

Croque Madame French Toast Cups

Garlic Squished Potatoes w/ Sour Cream Dill Sauce

Mixed Fruit Salad with Vanilla Sugar

Pastries

Ginger Lemonade

   I bought the pastries since I don't really like to bake and the reality is I don't really like sweets so I'm not compelled to make something I don't like. There was nothing special about the mixed fruit except that I tossed the fresh strawberries with vanilla sugar the night before. It begins to break down the strawberries which makes them a little soft but the flavor is so good. I'll tell you about Vanilla Sugar in a minute. I mixed the berries with cantaloupe, green grapes and blue berries. Simple but screams summertime.

   I wanted to do small things. I guess that's all the rage. Shot glasses of soup, mini desserts. You get the picture. While the 2 main dishes have similarities they were different from one another. The Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Cups has no cheese or bread but obviously has meat. The Croque Madame French Toast Cups have bread and cheese and ham. I made some with whole eggs with runny yolks, some with beaten eggs, scrambled style and some with only egg whites for my friends who are watching what they eat. Not much of it is low calorie but they are small so it's easy to have portion control if you practice that kind of thing.

   So, the Vanilla Sugar. I've had mine so long I forget that I have it. I started the jar when my now 25 year old son was little, like 4 or 5. (Wow! That makes it 20 years old. Some things just should not be pondered.) This "old" sugar lives in a glass jar with a metal hinge and rubber gasket. You know the type. It probably holds about 2 1/2 cups. Whenever I use a vanilla bean I put the spent bean in the sugar. It just stays there. For years. I add to it any time I can. We use the sugar for French toast, in coffee, in cremé brulée. I add sugar to the jar to keep it topped off. It just sits there waiting for us to find a good reason to crack it open and take a big whiff. It's delightful and every home should have one.

   Have people over. It does several things for you and others. It makes people feel special and it gives you an excuse to try new recipes and you get the house in a little bit better order than you probably would have other wise. Is it stressful? Yes a little but it's the good stress, the kind that gets your heart beating and mind thinking and with good planning you get to enjoy good food and good friends and when they go home your house is clean (except the kitchen) and you can take a nap. 
  
  

Korean Pickled Vegetables

Korean pickled vegetables. I tasted this the other day at the Korean market that has a mini food court inside. It was a side to my Bulgogi noodle soup. It was so good that after walking through the produce section of said market I went back and asked the 2 guys working there what it was. Well, actually I pointed at it and gave them my best "?" face. The younger of the two told me what it was. The older asked me if I liked it. I inquired if it could be purchased in the store and after selling me a Styrofoam cup full for $2 he told me how to make it. Equal parts vinegar and soy sauce and half as much sugar. Sweet, I'll make my own. Back to the produce department for daikon (giant radish), cucumber and onion. Now the vinegar. Asian markets always have a larger selection to choose from compared to the mainstream stores in my area and vinegar was no exception. Shelves and shelves, bottles and bottles. Clear, golden to amber. Which to choose? The only English word on the bottles and shelves is "vinegar." Not too helpful so I pick a middle of the road one. Middle of the road as in just under $2. Once home I tasted the vinegar straight. Holy schnikies it was sour! I had planned to compare it the variety I keep on hand. So strong and astringent I went right to the distilled white vinegar, 5%. Normal stuff. I'm guessing what I bought was 10%. Oh well I thought, using it any way. I peeled my 18" long daikon, 1 large white onion and cut the ends off my cucumber. I combined 18 oz of vinegar with 18 oz of soy sauce and heaping cup of sugar. Mixing it to make sure the sugar dissolved then everything into a giant zip top bag. Seems like more stuff would fit so I dig around in the fridge and pull out 4 carrots and 4 small sweet peppers and add them to the mix. If I had jalapeno I would have added that too. Onto a sheet pan and into the refrigerator over night. After church today we pulled it out to do a comparison of my purchased pickled veg and homemade because hubby is always in the mood to do a food or drink taste test. Theirs is sweeter and less astringent. Mine has a bite that grabs your throat but is so tasty you keep going back to it. The addition of carrots and peppers were a good move. Next time I'll tone down the vinegar a little but in the meantime I'll be adding the 6 hard boiled and peeled eggs that have been waiting around while I figure out their purpose. I'll let you know how those turn out. Stand by.