So... non-wedding post here. But still... I promise a bit of fun. I am a crowdtapper -- it's a website that allows you to give feedback to brands and rewards you with points and fun stuff. I am party of the Old Navy Style Council which is probably the best brand on crowdtap.
This time, my "task" was to host a party at Old Navy and bring three friends. In exchange for our time, we were rewarded with a new sweater, pair of pants, and a winter accessory. It took a little while to coordinate a time (my work schedule has been nutty recently) and it took me a bit more asking than I thought it would to get three volunteers.
We met up at the Old Navy at 170 & Ladue here in St. Louis. We were there for well over an hour (who knew it took so long to get just the right outfit?) and enjoyed ourselves. The cords that they had were the clear favorite -- three of us took home cords in a sweetheart cut, a variety of colors. Mine are a dark grey and they feel soooo soft. Really really soft. It's great. We all got very different sweaters and accessories. The nice thing about Old Navy is that they offer a variety of tastes and styles. I had a mixed bag of ladies there. One had not been in Old Navy in years and thought that last time she was there everything was set up for teeny boppers/tweens. Not geared towards adults. I had the opportunity to show her that there was a whole bunch of items that fit into her style. I also brought a friend that has a very unique style and is very expressive. Things that looked strange on me, looked great and perfectly put together on her.
As I mentioned, three of us picked cords... and the fourth picked a pair of jeans. Old Navy jeans come in a variety of cuts, colors, flares, etc. It was nice that she was able to find a pair that worked for her as well. As far as sweaters went, we all picked ones that were very different. I got a lovely sparkley silver sweater. Another one picked out a fuzzy cable knit sweater, a very classic design. My uniquest friend picked what I called the "un-sweater." It was very loosely knit and open, the kind of sweater you need to wear with a tank top or cami underneath. The final sweater was one of those newer open vest type sweaters. It's called a poncho here.
For accessories, we all migrated towards the scarves. I picked a lovely black scarf that has silver ribbons through it. It matches the sweater wonderfully. One girl settled on a simple fleece scarf after they rejected the first one she picked out for her trip to Paris. Another one snagged an infinity style scarf, which looked adorable. And our final member of the party, picked a fidora hat.
All in all, a fun evening and lots of cool stuff to see and look at. We were able to enjoy each others company and pick out outfits for upcoming holiday parties. It's my favorite part of crowdtap -- being able to share the wealth. I've gotten lots of buzz after this one... perhaps I'll have some new friends joining the style council.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Demitasse Dinner
As I mentioned before, I was luck enough to win a delicious dinner out on the town through my witty writing. Woo hoo! I took Timmy (of course) and we got to experience St. Louis' first 'pop up' dining experience Demitasse 665. The idea being that someone takes over a location for a few days, a week ~ more or less ~ and has a specific/themed restaurant. This is an off shoot of the hip underground dining events. It is not just a meal or just about the food, it is an experience.
Timmy arrived first and got to introduce himself before I arrived. The pop up was located in the Dorchester (665 Skinker Blvd) across from Forest Park. The space was previously occupied briefly by Caitlyns Green Eyed Grill and longer ago as The Tavern. Our host and hostess for the evening had decorated the space with items from their home. There was a long table for all of us to sit and dine communally. They also had some comfy chairs, artwork, and lots of pretty candles.
Upon arrival, we received Cava, a sparkling Spanish wine, with a cranberry floating in it. The crowd was small and the space was intimate.
The bottle below is our first course white wine. Yummy!!
Our first course, simply plated, was butternut squash wanton. It was served on a bed of smashed peas with fried sage and toasted walnuts.
After the first course, Timmy told me no more pictures and that I need to just enjoy ourselves. As a bit more luck graced us over dinner, we were closest to the kitchen door and were served first each course. Yippie!! It was a wonderful evening and each course was presented with anticipation. They included two additional red wines to pair with our meals, and not surprisingly both tasted great and seemed to compliment well.
We got to know the folks sitting at the table with us -- directly across the table was a couple that lived in the Dorchester. On the other side of me was the son-in-law of the chef and he is a pilot (but no longer flies commercially) and now is an accountant. The conversation flowed about places visited, the building, favorite foods, wines, hobbies, and jobs. All the things you might bring up with your new friends.
The seven courses were all smaller portions ~~ sort of like ordering a well matched array of tapas plates. The advantage of this is clearly the ability to keep eating and trying new things. You don't have to cry uncle before dessert and you're not allowed to overindulge in an early course so you are able to enjoy all pieces as they come out. We had a tasty and artfully designed beat salad with goat cheese and freshly sliced avocados. The soup was spicy and creamy. It was the type of experience where you're not sure exactly what is coming next.... and while you wait in anticipation, you know it will be good and worth the wait. The palate cleanser was a homemade basil sorbet served in a small sherri glass. We had a course of fancy green beans that were perfect. I do love green beans to begin with, and these ones were garnished with almonds and prosciutto. Our main dish was lamb -- another favorite of mine -- served with potatoes and spinach. After our main dish, we had a splendid dessert that was flavorful, filling, and rich. It was a pumpkin sticky toffee pudding sandwiched with toffee carmel vanilla cream, a carmel drizzle, a dash of sea salt, and candied pumpkin seeds. yum yum yum.
I'm not sure how many more seats are left for this special dinner, however, you can find out more by clicking here. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. It was a memorable dinner with all the little touches that make it unique. They take the time to talk about themselves, why they enjoy their food, and why they picked certain items. Our meal was complicated -- 72 unique items went into the creation of our meal. The mix of company was a blessing as it added to the evening. The exclusive experience was a different way of engaging with your food -- if you're lucky enough to have the opportunity, you most certainly should give it a try. After the Demitasse 665 closes its doors, they still will have unique underground dining opportunities. To find out more, visit here.
yum yum yum... still enjoying it a few days later....
Timmy arrived first and got to introduce himself before I arrived. The pop up was located in the Dorchester (665 Skinker Blvd) across from Forest Park. The space was previously occupied briefly by Caitlyns Green Eyed Grill and longer ago as The Tavern. Our host and hostess for the evening had decorated the space with items from their home. There was a long table for all of us to sit and dine communally. They also had some comfy chairs, artwork, and lots of pretty candles.
Our menu is listed above. Yum yum!!
When Marie deemed it time to start with dinner, we moved into the dining room and all gathered around the table. While we didn't know anyone else there, conversation cropped up quickly and we all got to know one another. To get our evening started, we enjoyed a spanish white wine as they brought out the first course. The table was set beautifully and had a different demitasse at each place. The table was elegant and lovely.
The bottle below is our first course white wine. Yummy!!
Our first course, simply plated, was butternut squash wanton. It was served on a bed of smashed peas with fried sage and toasted walnuts.
We got to know the folks sitting at the table with us -- directly across the table was a couple that lived in the Dorchester. On the other side of me was the son-in-law of the chef and he is a pilot (but no longer flies commercially) and now is an accountant. The conversation flowed about places visited, the building, favorite foods, wines, hobbies, and jobs. All the things you might bring up with your new friends.
The seven courses were all smaller portions ~~ sort of like ordering a well matched array of tapas plates. The advantage of this is clearly the ability to keep eating and trying new things. You don't have to cry uncle before dessert and you're not allowed to overindulge in an early course so you are able to enjoy all pieces as they come out. We had a tasty and artfully designed beat salad with goat cheese and freshly sliced avocados. The soup was spicy and creamy. It was the type of experience where you're not sure exactly what is coming next.... and while you wait in anticipation, you know it will be good and worth the wait. The palate cleanser was a homemade basil sorbet served in a small sherri glass. We had a course of fancy green beans that were perfect. I do love green beans to begin with, and these ones were garnished with almonds and prosciutto. Our main dish was lamb -- another favorite of mine -- served with potatoes and spinach. After our main dish, we had a splendid dessert that was flavorful, filling, and rich. It was a pumpkin sticky toffee pudding sandwiched with toffee carmel vanilla cream, a carmel drizzle, a dash of sea salt, and candied pumpkin seeds. yum yum yum.
I'm not sure how many more seats are left for this special dinner, however, you can find out more by clicking here. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. It was a memorable dinner with all the little touches that make it unique. They take the time to talk about themselves, why they enjoy their food, and why they picked certain items. Our meal was complicated -- 72 unique items went into the creation of our meal. The mix of company was a blessing as it added to the evening. The exclusive experience was a different way of engaging with your food -- if you're lucky enough to have the opportunity, you most certainly should give it a try. After the Demitasse 665 closes its doors, they still will have unique underground dining opportunities. To find out more, visit here.
yum yum yum... still enjoying it a few days later....
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Meatless Monday - Veggie Pot Pie
This week's meatless monday was delicious. We all liked it so much that I just had to share it. I can take credit for finding it, but honestly Timmy made the majority of the dish. I used the epicurious app to find it. You can also find it on their website by clicking here.
Veggie Pot Pie
4 medium potatoes, preferably russet
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soy milk
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
9-inch prepared good-quality pie crust, preferably whole grain
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs
1. Cook or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done. When cool enough to handle, peel. Dice two and mash the other two. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and carrot and sauté over medium heat until golden.
4. Add the broccoli along with a small amount of water. Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender but not overdone, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet, then pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Cook until the liquid thickens a bit, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the diced and mashed potatoes. Heat through gently. Stir in the parsley, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and pat in.
6. Place the bread crumbs in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle with the remaining oil and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Sprinkle evenly over the pie. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie stand for about 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook
May 2009
by Nava Atlas
this is the mix before adding into the pie pan
this is the filling before we topped it with bread crumbs
The finished product!! Delicious!!
Veggie Pot Pie
4 medium potatoes, preferably russet
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk, rice milk, or soy milk
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
9-inch prepared good-quality pie crust, preferably whole grain
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs
1. Cook or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done. When cool enough to handle, peel. Dice two and mash the other two. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and carrot and sauté over medium heat until golden.
4. Add the broccoli along with a small amount of water. Cover and cook until the broccoli is tender but not overdone, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet, then pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Cook until the liquid thickens a bit, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the diced and mashed potatoes. Heat through gently. Stir in the parsley, if using, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and pat in.
6. Place the bread crumbs in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle with the remaining oil and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Sprinkle evenly over the pie. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie stand for about 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.
The Vegetarian Family Cookbook
May 2009
by Nava Atlas
Monday, November 28, 2011
Our Engagement Party
As the wedding planning has been going along well, it's time to start celebrating. We were lucky enough to have my Aunt Colleen host an engagement party for us yesterday afternoon. While my bridesmaids are from around the country, all of Tim's groomsmen are from here. We were able to get all six groomsmen, our usher, and both dad's together.
Aunt Colleen set up everything and had a lovely toast for everyone. She had some bubbly wine for all the adults and sparkling juice for the wee ones. She had gotten lots of cups and everyone was able to give a toast. My dad went first, followed by Rich (Tim's dad), and then Aunt Colleen. Aunt Kathleen chimed in with the last toast which was simple but true. She said that good marriages are created by people that treat each other well again and again (or something like that). Either way, it sounded lovely (for those that could hear) and was very sweet.
My dad made arrangements to get a cake from a guy Virgil who works with him. Virgil does wedding and specialty cakes as a side business. It was a lovely sheet that was decorated with a holiday theme. It had holly as a decoration and green. It was white cake and had a pretty frosting that was certainly made. He also accented it with some of those lil sugary silver decorations. Yummy!! To top it off, dad also got a "small" wedding cake sample. By small, I mean it would have served 25-35 people. This one was chocolate with a minty flavor. I'm not sure exactly if the chocolate cake had mint in it or if it was the peppermint frosting that was strong enough to make it taste perfectly holiday. We had a part of the chocolate cake for dessert, after dinner, which was after the actual party.
Thanks for everyone who came to the party !! I hope to get some pictures up shortly.... but I didn't bring my camera so I will have to wait and see who can get them to us.
Aunt Colleen set up everything and had a lovely toast for everyone. She had some bubbly wine for all the adults and sparkling juice for the wee ones. She had gotten lots of cups and everyone was able to give a toast. My dad went first, followed by Rich (Tim's dad), and then Aunt Colleen. Aunt Kathleen chimed in with the last toast which was simple but true. She said that good marriages are created by people that treat each other well again and again (or something like that). Either way, it sounded lovely (for those that could hear) and was very sweet.
My dad made arrangements to get a cake from a guy Virgil who works with him. Virgil does wedding and specialty cakes as a side business. It was a lovely sheet that was decorated with a holiday theme. It had holly as a decoration and green. It was white cake and had a pretty frosting that was certainly made. He also accented it with some of those lil sugary silver decorations. Yummy!! To top it off, dad also got a "small" wedding cake sample. By small, I mean it would have served 25-35 people. This one was chocolate with a minty flavor. I'm not sure exactly if the chocolate cake had mint in it or if it was the peppermint frosting that was strong enough to make it taste perfectly holiday. We had a part of the chocolate cake for dessert, after dinner, which was after the actual party.
Thanks for everyone who came to the party !! I hope to get some pictures up shortly.... but I didn't bring my camera so I will have to wait and see who can get them to us.
Lucky Monday
It was a competition for a food review around Forest Park and I won which included an invitation to a special dinner at a "pop up" restaurant. What is a pop up restaurant? Well, it's in the line of the new wave of underground restaurants and such. According to St. Louis Magazine:
"a pop-up restaurant is a unique and economical way for a chef to either spread his name/brand or test drive a completely new idea. Such a restaurant has a run of one night to several weeks and is held in a location one might not expect a restaurant to well, pop up: a coffee shop, an unused catering space, an unusual studio or office, even, as will be the case here, a vacant restaurant."
The place we are headed is in the Dorchester, an apartment building right on Skinker. This pop up is called Demitasse Underground. The dinner will be a 7 course meal with wine pairings. It changes every week, which adds to the allure of it. With our meal we will get to sample quite a few yummy sounding items that will be a challenge to the pallet. I can't wait to tell you all about it. To learn more about Demitasse Underground, you can find out what is on the menu through their facebook page. Click here to see it.
Where's the Beef ?
Where's the beef?
In our freezer!! On Sunday we got our first side of beef. The farmer, Mark Nagel, delivered it right to our door. It was $2.75/pound. His farm is further south in MO roughly an hour and a 1/2 from here. We wanted to get a 100% grass fed cow. He said that all of his cows are able to graze and have grass the entire time. Due to the weather, we were able to get a cow that had been "finished" or supplemented with grain. The cow still had grass all the time, but then he has a mix of corn and hay that is available for them to eat. The majority of the diet is still grass.
In terms of scale, I found a "sale" on grass fed ground beef for $4.99/lb. It doesn't even claim to be locally raised. We have not only 20+ pounds of ground beef but we also have a variety of steaks, roast, bones & liver to use ??, cube steak, short ribs, and more cuts of beef that I didn't even really ever pay attention to. We are very excited to try out all the different cuts and try new recipes. I will keep you in the loop.....
In our freezer!! On Sunday we got our first side of beef. The farmer, Mark Nagel, delivered it right to our door. It was $2.75/pound. His farm is further south in MO roughly an hour and a 1/2 from here. We wanted to get a 100% grass fed cow. He said that all of his cows are able to graze and have grass the entire time. Due to the weather, we were able to get a cow that had been "finished" or supplemented with grain. The cow still had grass all the time, but then he has a mix of corn and hay that is available for them to eat. The majority of the diet is still grass.
In terms of scale, I found a "sale" on grass fed ground beef for $4.99/lb. It doesn't even claim to be locally raised. We have not only 20+ pounds of ground beef but we also have a variety of steaks, roast, bones & liver to use ??, cube steak, short ribs, and more cuts of beef that I didn't even really ever pay attention to. We are very excited to try out all the different cuts and try new recipes. I will keep you in the loop.....
cooler full of meat!! :-)
We had it wrapped in paper and it is very nicely labeled as to what cut it is. Yippie!!
Bag of ground beef -- I didn't count, but I know its over 20 lbs. :-D
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Dry Dock Farms.... the end!
We were anticipating the excitement of an end of the year fall festival to go out to the farm and meet our farmers, their friends, the other suppliers. This didn't happen as they had a death in the family. It was a bummer as we (June, Timmy, & myself... perhaps another straggler or two) wanted to see what our farm was all about and hand't been out to Silex, MO.
As the season has concluded, I am going to take a minute to reflect on our experience. I feel strongly we received a full cooler every week but one. I felt like it was top notch produce -- not the "leftovers." I enjoyed our weekly newsletter and our suggestions for how to use and preserve the food. With our season being finished, we still have items down in the freezer ready to microwave and eat. I am planing to participate in a CSA again next year. There is an option to get pick up across from our house at the Buder School for a cooperative. The downside is that all of the produce is not necessarily local. Tim and I are leaning towards using Dry Dock Farms again.... June is leaning towards the co-op that you pick up across the street.
Also, through this experience with the farm we've had the opportunity to get locally raised chicken and pork. It is wonderful. I have a chicken and some pork downstairs in the freezer. We have a grass fed cow 'hanging' for us at the processing plant. The farmer, Mark Nagel, was a guy my dad met up at Kirkwood's farmers market. We have been waiting for our beef for 3 months or so to be ready and it sounds like we are going to have a delivery in the next two weeks. We will start working on some of that frozen stuff down in the freezer to make room.
As the season has concluded, I am going to take a minute to reflect on our experience. I feel strongly we received a full cooler every week but one. I felt like it was top notch produce -- not the "leftovers." I enjoyed our weekly newsletter and our suggestions for how to use and preserve the food. With our season being finished, we still have items down in the freezer ready to microwave and eat. I am planing to participate in a CSA again next year. There is an option to get pick up across from our house at the Buder School for a cooperative. The downside is that all of the produce is not necessarily local. Tim and I are leaning towards using Dry Dock Farms again.... June is leaning towards the co-op that you pick up across the street.
Also, through this experience with the farm we've had the opportunity to get locally raised chicken and pork. It is wonderful. I have a chicken and some pork downstairs in the freezer. We have a grass fed cow 'hanging' for us at the processing plant. The farmer, Mark Nagel, was a guy my dad met up at Kirkwood's farmers market. We have been waiting for our beef for 3 months or so to be ready and it sounds like we are going to have a delivery in the next two weeks. We will start working on some of that frozen stuff down in the freezer to make room.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Old Navy Active Wear
Soooo... in case you haven't heard about crowdtap, it's a website that you join and give market feedback. It's pretty simple but as you accrue more points you get to a higher level and are invited to opportunities. This time I got an opportunity to sample the active wear line with my sister. She was actually wearing an activewear top that she had purchased on a previous trip. I own a runner skirt and a pair of compression pants from Old Navy's activewear line.
Today we tried on several new items and had a blast restocking our closet for the fall. I picked out the 'carbon' women's color block jacket. It is a moisture wicking jacket that also has thumb holes, a full zip, and handy dandy pockets. (I love thumb holes.) I picked out a matching grey pair of ruched compression capris. They also have a handy pocket (can't get enough of those!).
Not only did I get some samples from Old Navy, I had the "obligation" of bringing a friend. She picked out a pair of the full length compression pants with a "purple ivory" (sort of maroonish) strip across the top and a matching hooded running top. Overall, a fun time checking out Old Navy's activewear. I'm looking forward to sporting it around town as I train for my next 1/2 marathon ...
Today we tried on several new items and had a blast restocking our closet for the fall. I picked out the 'carbon' women's color block jacket. It is a moisture wicking jacket that also has thumb holes, a full zip, and handy dandy pockets. (I love thumb holes.) I picked out a matching grey pair of ruched compression capris. They also have a handy pocket (can't get enough of those!).
Not only did I get some samples from Old Navy, I had the "obligation" of bringing a friend. She picked out a pair of the full length compression pants with a "purple ivory" (sort of maroonish) strip across the top and a matching hooded running top. Overall, a fun time checking out Old Navy's activewear. I'm looking forward to sporting it around town as I train for my next 1/2 marathon ...
Monday, October 3, 2011
Meatless Monday
This week for Meatless Monday ~ we were lucky enough to have guest chef Megan Robinson. She treated us to a spicy black bean and quinoa. We got tortillas and made veggie burrito style. We also were treated to a delicious Caperese salad. Lori added fresh sliced avocados with tomatoes, mozzerela cheese, fresh basil, and a homemade balsalmic vingerette. Timmy finished us off with spicy sweat potatoes. Yum yum!!
Ingredients
Directions
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
20th!!
Timmy and I are excited to let you all know that we have finalized a date. We plan to get married on October 20th 2012!! We are going to get married at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church. It is the parish I registered in last year. It's very close to the house. If you know me enough, than you know that we have confirmed our wedding with my cousin Father Tom Molini, who is a pastor out in Kirkwood.
We are planning to keep the wedding festivities close to home. We are looking at venues and things that remind us of home in South City. We are between Hendri's and The Christy. The Christy is bright and has a large room with an even bigger dance floor. They apparently have the hook up on cake with 2 different bakeries. Hendri's is very classic and elegant. It has a black & white tiled floor that looks perfect for a first dance. They have lots of hard wood and gas light look alike lighting. The downside is the room is dark without any windows.
So many more details.... so much more to do!!
We are planning to keep the wedding festivities close to home. We are looking at venues and things that remind us of home in South City. We are between Hendri's and The Christy. The Christy is bright and has a large room with an even bigger dance floor. They apparently have the hook up on cake with 2 different bakeries. Hendri's is very classic and elegant. It has a black & white tiled floor that looks perfect for a first dance. They have lots of hard wood and gas light look alike lighting. The downside is the room is dark without any windows.
So many more details.... so much more to do!!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Catching Up...
So behind on posts!! I hope to have updated pictures from all of our recent and delicious creations.
Tonight, June and Warren worked together to create stuffed squash. June has made many a stuffed pepper and they are always delicious. They scooped out two different types of squash -- acorn and summer. Both are from our CSA so we were able to sample both types. They put some of our already cooked and toasted wheat berries slow cooked with some veggie broth, diced apples, basil, garlic powder, insides of the squash. Then they baked them while we were getting our work outs done for the evening.
It was another delicious meal shared by all of us. Even Warren got in on our supper. We also had a yummy salad provided by Sophie.... I am a bit bummed that we haven't received more salad greens. They did say that with the cooler weather coming in we should see more salad greens. I'm very hopeful.
By the way.... we need to start baking!! We have at least 2 dozen eggs in the fridge and more on the way on Thursday.
Tonight, June and Warren worked together to create stuffed squash. June has made many a stuffed pepper and they are always delicious. They scooped out two different types of squash -- acorn and summer. Both are from our CSA so we were able to sample both types. They put some of our already cooked and toasted wheat berries slow cooked with some veggie broth, diced apples, basil, garlic powder, insides of the squash. Then they baked them while we were getting our work outs done for the evening.
It was another delicious meal shared by all of us. Even Warren got in on our supper. We also had a yummy salad provided by Sophie.... I am a bit bummed that we haven't received more salad greens. They did say that with the cooler weather coming in we should see more salad greens. I'm very hopeful.
By the way.... we need to start baking!! We have at least 2 dozen eggs in the fridge and more on the way on Thursday.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Engaged!!
It's official -- on Sunday, August 7th Timothy Charles Linck asked me to marry him. (I said yes ;)) We are up in Ottertail, MN. It's a very special place to me for several reasons. I have many fun memories of spending my summers on the lake, learning to water ski, fishing, shopping, and cooking. We also planted a special tree over looking the lake in memory of my mother with her ashes at the root of the tree. As a family, we look forward to coming to the lake and remembering my mother's favorite place as well as creating new memories.
Sunday was Tim's 29th birthday. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we all were low-key and relaxing. After I gave Tim his birthday present (some new gym gear for the upcoming Rock and Roll Marathon we are 'running' in October), he asked if we could take a walk across the street because he had something for me.
As we crossed the street, just the two of us, Timmy held my hand tightly and then we shared a quiet but intense moment. Tim retrieved the ring from it's hiding place and told me that the best birthday present that I could give him was to agree to marry him. He told me that I made him the happiest he's ever been and wanted to make a promise of forever. I was overcome with emotion and shed tears of joys.
Excitedly I ran over to the house to show June O'Sullivan, followed by a run down to the dock to show everyone as they came back from tubing out on the boat.
My engagement ring is from Tim's maternal grandmother whom I never met. It is gold and inlaid with diamonds and rubies (my birthstone). It is a 'brilliant' cut or round cut center diamond.
Sunday was Tim's 29th birthday. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we all were low-key and relaxing. After I gave Tim his birthday present (some new gym gear for the upcoming Rock and Roll Marathon we are 'running' in October), he asked if we could take a walk across the street because he had something for me.
As we crossed the street, just the two of us, Timmy held my hand tightly and then we shared a quiet but intense moment. Tim retrieved the ring from it's hiding place and told me that the best birthday present that I could give him was to agree to marry him. He told me that I made him the happiest he's ever been and wanted to make a promise of forever. I was overcome with emotion and shed tears of joys.
Excitedly I ran over to the house to show June O'Sullivan, followed by a run down to the dock to show everyone as they came back from tubing out on the boat.
My engagement ring is from Tim's maternal grandmother whom I never met. It is gold and inlaid with diamonds and rubies (my birthstone). It is a 'brilliant' cut or round cut center diamond.
CSA Week 10
We are on vacation!! This week we took our cooler full of goodies and re-packed most of it to take with us to Lake Ottertail. This week we have, Yellow Squash, Pepper Medley, Red Potatoes, Yellow & Red Sweet Onions, Zucchini, Sweet Corn, Herb-Basil, Peaches and a dozen eggs.
The peaches were devoured quickly and were delicious. The peppers and eggs got left behind in the fridge. We used some of the basil on our meatless monday pizzas, along with the onions, and cooked up the sweet corn for dinner with BBQ chicken on Saturday night. Yum yum yummy!!
Last weekend, in preparation of our departure Timmy and I tackled our mounds of produce and felt it was time to cook & freeze it. We have been acquiring more produce than we have been consuming weekly and have a stockpile in the fridge. Since we knew that all three of us would be on vacation, we dug in and started cooking as much of it off as we could.
June had purchased an additional 5 pounds of wheat berries for a whopping $5. Timmy first roasted it and then slow cooked all of it like you would rice. We parceled it into 13 small containers (see pics). We roasted our potatoes with some of our summer squash and some herbs. I forgot to snap a picture of our roasted beets, but I took those with a bit of garlic and also slow cooked them. We had several peaches (some from our CSA and some that dad gave us via the Kirkwood farmer's market) that we cut into pieces, nicely divided on a cookie sheet, and froze. It will make great smoothies or yummy treats later. We cooked off our large pound of delicious green beans, cleaned and peeled our carrots, and dried our herbs.
For meatless monday last week, Timmy made a fantastic eggplant and zucchini Parisian with our favorite ~ Zia's ~ tomato sauce. The zucchini was from the CSA, dad picked up the eggplant for us at the farmer's market and it was wonderful. Overall, another well done MM with Lori, Sophie, and the three of us. Yum yum.
The peaches were devoured quickly and were delicious. The peppers and eggs got left behind in the fridge. We used some of the basil on our meatless monday pizzas, along with the onions, and cooked up the sweet corn for dinner with BBQ chicken on Saturday night. Yum yum yummy!!
Last weekend, in preparation of our departure Timmy and I tackled our mounds of produce and felt it was time to cook & freeze it. We have been acquiring more produce than we have been consuming weekly and have a stockpile in the fridge. Since we knew that all three of us would be on vacation, we dug in and started cooking as much of it off as we could.
June had purchased an additional 5 pounds of wheat berries for a whopping $5. Timmy first roasted it and then slow cooked all of it like you would rice. We parceled it into 13 small containers (see pics). We roasted our potatoes with some of our summer squash and some herbs. I forgot to snap a picture of our roasted beets, but I took those with a bit of garlic and also slow cooked them. We had several peaches (some from our CSA and some that dad gave us via the Kirkwood farmer's market) that we cut into pieces, nicely divided on a cookie sheet, and froze. It will make great smoothies or yummy treats later. We cooked off our large pound of delicious green beans, cleaned and peeled our carrots, and dried our herbs.
For meatless monday last week, Timmy made a fantastic eggplant and zucchini Parisian with our favorite ~ Zia's ~ tomato sauce. The zucchini was from the CSA, dad picked up the eggplant for us at the farmer's market and it was wonderful. Overall, another well done MM with Lori, Sophie, and the three of us. Yum yum.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Meatless Monday Ottertail Style
This week for Meatless Monday June, Timmy, & I were on vacation in Ottertail, MN. It's been just a lovely week... more on this to come. Today is one of the more fun days of the week ~ meatless Monday. Timmy and I volunteered to cook veggie pizzas for everyone. We were lucky to have the help from some of the youngn's in order to make personal pizzas for everyone.
Timmy had brought some pizza shells from Companion ~~ but only 6! Today there are 16 of us at the lake. June picked up some just add water pizza dough and we got busy in the kitchen preparing delightful and custom pizzas. For toppings, we had fresh parsley, basil (from a farm up the road), onions from our CSA that we brought along, red pepper, blue cheese, mozzerola, or 3 cheese blend.
Our mini chefs first created some additional dough, then rolled out the crust, and added cheese. Our munchkin Eila was the only one that added onions, peppers, basil, & parsley. Then we got a second wave of pizzas going for the rest of our "guests" dining for the evening.
Enjoy the fun pics from the lake!!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Another Week, Another Full Cooler
We find ourselves more than halfway through summer and really enjoying the CSA. I am extremely happy I joined and find it to be a solid investment.
With our extra cabbage, Timmy made some fresh coleslaw which we took to a BBQ. It was different, but I am still not in love with coleslaw.
Sooo... what's in the cooler this week? By far I am most excited about PEACHES!! We have gotten fruit again which we are all excited about. The peaches are juicy and very ripe. We got six of them and I'm sure they won't last too long. We also got some of the "regulars" that we have already received and are enjoying. Small red potatoes, beets, 6 ears of corn, fresh mint, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, white cucumber, sweet candy onion, fresh mint, summer squash, & a dozen eggs.
Through our CSA, as I believe I have mentioned before, we are also able to purchase additional items. This week June got some fresh goats milk mozzarella. She also ordered Apricot jam. The jam I ordered was super delicious, so I can't imagine that this flavor will be any less than exceptional.
This week was a busy week for us and we didn't get to cooking as much at home. June and I did take our fresh cucumbers along with us to our Muny picnic. Wednesday we rocked out to Night Ranger, Foreiner, and Journey at Riverport. Thursday we had a camogie recruitment meeting. We grilled corn and had scrambled eggs along with a salad. Tonight (Friday) for Dinner Timmy and I had the rest of the salad from Thursday, but made it better by adding some yummy blue cheese and red onions from the CSA. Yum yum. We accompanied our salad with green beans, wheat berries, homemade bread crumbs, a smidge of butter, & fancy imported Parmesan cheese. It was delicious and very simply made. We also had 3 cheese tortellini and fabulous gourmet chicken meatballs from Trader Joes. It was a great meal that was polished off with home cooked goodness, a bit of love, and a peach for dessert. Yum yum......
With our extra cabbage, Timmy made some fresh coleslaw which we took to a BBQ. It was different, but I am still not in love with coleslaw.
Sooo... what's in the cooler this week? By far I am most excited about PEACHES!! We have gotten fruit again which we are all excited about. The peaches are juicy and very ripe. We got six of them and I'm sure they won't last too long. We also got some of the "regulars" that we have already received and are enjoying. Small red potatoes, beets, 6 ears of corn, fresh mint, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, white cucumber, sweet candy onion, fresh mint, summer squash, & a dozen eggs.
Through our CSA, as I believe I have mentioned before, we are also able to purchase additional items. This week June got some fresh goats milk mozzarella. She also ordered Apricot jam. The jam I ordered was super delicious, so I can't imagine that this flavor will be any less than exceptional.
This week was a busy week for us and we didn't get to cooking as much at home. June and I did take our fresh cucumbers along with us to our Muny picnic. Wednesday we rocked out to Night Ranger, Foreiner, and Journey at Riverport. Thursday we had a camogie recruitment meeting. We grilled corn and had scrambled eggs along with a salad. Tonight (Friday) for Dinner Timmy and I had the rest of the salad from Thursday, but made it better by adding some yummy blue cheese and red onions from the CSA. Yum yum. We accompanied our salad with green beans, wheat berries, homemade bread crumbs, a smidge of butter, & fancy imported Parmesan cheese. It was delicious and very simply made. We also had 3 cheese tortellini and fabulous gourmet chicken meatballs from Trader Joes. It was a great meal that was polished off with home cooked goodness, a bit of love, and a peach for dessert. Yum yum......
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Dinner with Daddy-o!
Friday we got to try our first farm fresh chicken. We got a whole chicken through our CSA. It was 4 and 1/2 pounds at $3/lb, making it $13.50 for the whole thing. It came frozen and was in my freezer for a bit before we cooked it. I left it to defrost overnight. Timmy added some of my Aunt Maggie & Uncle Dave's Spice Rub to the outside of the chicken and cooked it 'beer can' style.
We also diced up the red potatoes and tossed them with some simple seasoning (salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley). June has a convenient grill basket and what belongs to June is also partially mine. I snagged it and we grilled our taters on the grill.
We also had some sweet corn from the CSA. We didn't get a chance to soak it, so we used the cheater method. Have you ever tried this? We took the silks off the corn, took a wet paper towel, wrap up the corn and then wrap the corn in aluminum foil. It tastes great and helps.
We also diced up the red potatoes and tossed them with some simple seasoning (salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley). June has a convenient grill basket and what belongs to June is also partially mine. I snagged it and we grilled our taters on the grill.
We also had some sweet corn from the CSA. We didn't get a chance to soak it, so we used the cheater method. Have you ever tried this? We took the silks off the corn, took a wet paper towel, wrap up the corn and then wrap the corn in aluminum foil. It tastes great and helps.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
CSA Week 8
Sorry I was behind on some of our drafts. I had meant to upload pictures and had a crazy fun and busy week. So... now that we are catching up ~ I hope you are able to as well.
If I had remembered my camera, I'd insert right here an awesome picture of the U2 concert at Busch stadium last week. It was amazing, and while insanely hot, a worthwhile evening with June, Tim O, & Heather.
What's in the cooler this week? More delicious goodness for sure!! Tim O got to try some of the white cucumber. We always get more eggs -- haven't bought any all summer and that has not been a bad deal at all. We also got more corn, onions/shallots (depending on who you ask), tomatoes, squash, beans, beats, potatoes.
As is typical of most things we pull excitedly out of the cooler each week, the corn tasted delicious! June and I are going to work on something yummy to do with our pile of beets, and Timmy looks forward to trying the white cucumber. :)
If I had remembered my camera, I'd insert right here an awesome picture of the U2 concert at Busch stadium last week. It was amazing, and while insanely hot, a worthwhile evening with June, Tim O, & Heather.
What's in the cooler this week? More delicious goodness for sure!! Tim O got to try some of the white cucumber. We always get more eggs -- haven't bought any all summer and that has not been a bad deal at all. We also got more corn, onions/shallots (depending on who you ask), tomatoes, squash, beans, beats, potatoes.
As is typical of most things we pull excitedly out of the cooler each week, the corn tasted delicious! June and I are going to work on something yummy to do with our pile of beets, and Timmy looks forward to trying the white cucumber. :)
CSA Week 7
This week has been a busy and exciting week! I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday with the family and friends. Our cooler arrived on time and full of goodies on Thursday.
In this week's delivery, we received: Cabbage, Red Potatoes, Sweet red onion; yellow Onions, Bean medley, (purple podded, yellow wax, green beans)Yellow Squash, Beets, Sweet Corn, Herb medley-Purple Basil, Flat leaf Italian Parsley,Sage, and a dozen eggs. According to our email, we were supposed to receive white cucumbers, but we haven't tracked them down yet.
Timmy already took all of our green beans and made some delicious green bean casserole (with wheat berries) for my surprise party on Friday. It was wonderful and I look forward to some leftovers for dinner another night this week.
We still have lots of cabbage and don't like coleslaw. Timmy is helping to brainstorm some ideas for what to do with them. June made some cabbage rolls but with my crazy schedule this week, I didn't try them until SUNDAY. I'm a big fan of the squash, herbs, and potatoes that we've gotten so far. I can't wait to try the corn and let you know what we think. We are planing to serve it for meatless monday.
In this week's delivery, we received: Cabbage, Red Potatoes, Sweet red onion; yellow Onions, Bean medley, (purple podded, yellow wax, green beans)Yellow Squash, Beets, Sweet Corn, Herb medley-Purple Basil, Flat leaf Italian Parsley,Sage, and a dozen eggs. According to our email, we were supposed to receive white cucumbers, but we haven't tracked them down yet.
Timmy already took all of our green beans and made some delicious green bean casserole (with wheat berries) for my surprise party on Friday. It was wonderful and I look forward to some leftovers for dinner another night this week.
We still have lots of cabbage and don't like coleslaw. Timmy is helping to brainstorm some ideas for what to do with them. June made some cabbage rolls but with my crazy schedule this week, I didn't try them until SUNDAY. I'm a big fan of the squash, herbs, and potatoes that we've gotten so far. I can't wait to try the corn and let you know what we think. We are planing to serve it for meatless monday.
Meatless Monday -- Breakfast for Dinner!
Ask Timmy for the recipe! We had delicious whole wheat pancakes with farm fresh eggs, fresh fruit (some from the farm), and Lori brought the ingredients needed for mimosas.
Cabagge, what to do with all our cabbage?
I'll admit that we don't usually have cabbage that often expect yearly on St. Pat's day but on St. Pat's day it's a small amount at best. A few weeks ago we got cabbage 2 weeks in a row, a whole head of course and we weren't sure what do with it. I was interested in trying to make cabbage rolls as I had never done it before and well I thought it would use it up. Plus I think Liz had also searched some recipes for this so we were all on the same page. When I finally got around to making it I utilized some advice from a youtube video Liz had found. If you've never made this type of thing I would highly suggest watching it... anyways I was going to use their recipe however when I found out there was sauerkraut included in all the recipes on that site we were out, as neither my sister or I like kraut at all!! So I searched around a bit more (love the internet, you can find recipes for anything!) and four a recipe that was adapted for cabbage rolls w/o the kraut. Below is listed the recipe as on the website, I'll put at the bottom any adjusts we made.
Ingredients
12 leaves cabbage
1 cup cooked white rice *(I used instant brown rice*)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1 pound extra-lean ground beef (*I mixed hot Italian sausage and ground beef*)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar (*didn't use brown sugar as I was trying to keep it low sugar for my diabetic sister)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Mix the meat up so it's ready to stuff in the cabbage when you're ready...
As shown in the video, I cored out the center of the cabbage and boil the head in water peeling away leaves and stacked them on a plate. I realized that when I went to roll them it was best that the leaves had been boiled a bit as you needed them pliable (if you will)... Once they are rolled I stacked them in the crock pot and poured tomato sauce, lemon juice and worcester sauce over the rolls and let them cook for 8 hours on low. I left the house with it cooking and came home to smell it complete. I will say a few days later we're still trying to get the cabbage stink out of the house (one major downside I would say...) Any suggestions to help get rid of this I would love them. They did taste quite delicious. I have them in the fridge to use in a few days for dinner for our lil crowd on Sutherland. Overall another successful completion of a recipe.
Ingredients
12 leaves cabbage
1 cup cooked white rice *(I used instant brown rice*)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1 pound extra-lean ground beef (*I mixed hot Italian sausage and ground beef*)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar (*didn't use brown sugar as I was trying to keep it low sugar for my diabetic sister)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Mix the meat up so it's ready to stuff in the cabbage when you're ready...
As shown in the video, I cored out the center of the cabbage and boil the head in water peeling away leaves and stacked them on a plate. I realized that when I went to roll them it was best that the leaves had been boiled a bit as you needed them pliable (if you will)... Once they are rolled I stacked them in the crock pot and poured tomato sauce, lemon juice and worcester sauce over the rolls and let them cook for 8 hours on low. I left the house with it cooking and came home to smell it complete. I will say a few days later we're still trying to get the cabbage stink out of the house (one major downside I would say...) Any suggestions to help get rid of this I would love them. They did taste quite delicious. I have them in the fridge to use in a few days for dinner for our lil crowd on Sutherland. Overall another successful completion of a recipe.
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| From CSA, Dinner, Chicken! |
Monday, July 11, 2011
CSA Week 6
Week six brought us a full cooler at our normal time (after 5 pm on Thursday). We delighted when the cooler came upstairs and got distracted from our house guests -- Uncle Warren and Grandma-- as we dove into it. They left and we got started with surveying the exciting items in store for us. I forgot to take off the pictures from last week (week 5) and so thus we have a combined slide show this week showing 5 & 6. 5 is the clearly skimpy week and 6 is a full table of items.
This week we received: Sweet Candy Onion, Red Potatoes, Yellow Squash, Green,Yellow & Purple Beans, Beets, Zucchini, Japanese Turnips, Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, herb-Spearmint and a dozen eggs. I also purchased a whole chicken ~ which came frozen and is hormone and antibiotic free. The chicken that we were able to purchase was $3.50/lb which is not cheap compared to the whole chicken you might pick up at the store for .99/lb.
We are all excited to try the chicken.... but this week we were disappointed to not get any fruit. Most other weeks we have received it and it is one of our favorite parts about the CSA. Last week they had alluded to peaches, which we all love. Hopefully we will get some in the next cooler.
We were very excited to have some different colored green beans. The purple ones look so interesting. However, they supposedly turn the same color green after cooking and don't taste too different. I think the colors would be interesting. I'm a big fan of squash and zucchini and we've been sauteing it with wheat berries and different sauces.
Also exciting -- June has posted a few recipes that we have enjoyed. :-)
This week we received: Sweet Candy Onion, Red Potatoes, Yellow Squash, Green,Yellow & Purple Beans, Beets, Zucchini, Japanese Turnips, Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, herb-Spearmint and a dozen eggs. I also purchased a whole chicken ~ which came frozen and is hormone and antibiotic free. The chicken that we were able to purchase was $3.50/lb which is not cheap compared to the whole chicken you might pick up at the store for .99/lb.
We are all excited to try the chicken.... but this week we were disappointed to not get any fruit. Most other weeks we have received it and it is one of our favorite parts about the CSA. Last week they had alluded to peaches, which we all love. Hopefully we will get some in the next cooler.
We were very excited to have some different colored green beans. The purple ones look so interesting. However, they supposedly turn the same color green after cooking and don't taste too different. I think the colors would be interesting. I'm a big fan of squash and zucchini and we've been sauteing it with wheat berries and different sauces.
Also exciting -- June has posted a few recipes that we have enjoyed. :-)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The promised roasted beet recipe...
After the first few weeks of getting the CSA we had gotten beets. None of us had eaten beets before (well maybe Timmy, but the rest of us hadn't... our mom must've not liked them as we didn't have them as children.) Anyways determined to try beets and like them I searched for a recipe. Luckily I had a cookbook that I had gotten from Andre and Brad as a wedding gift for Newlyweds *by the way it had a lot of great recipes* In paging through it I found a roasted root vegetable recipe that included beets, looked perfect. It was super simple and we cooked it up for father's day. Please find the recipe below.
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lb parnsnips (I ended up using potatoes as parnsnips were out of season, worked just as well)
- 12 oz carrots sliced into 1/2 in diagonal slices (I just try to slice both the beets and potatoes into comparable pieces)*I used baby carrot and sliced in 1/2, I tried to use approximately the same amount
- 12 oz uncooked beets, scrubbed well and cut into 1/2 in diagonal slices
- 1 1/4 c heavy cream
- 1 tbs olive oil
- sea salt and ground black pepper
Cover the dish with foil and cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour 40 min. Remove the foil and add olive oil and cook for an additional 20 min.
I will add it also it was a very pretty looking dish w/ all the colors from the beets, potatoes, and carrots. We've been roasting the beets ever since because we loved them so much.
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lb parnsnips (I ended up using potatoes as parnsnips were out of season, worked just as well)
- 12 oz carrots sliced into 1/2 in diagonal slices (I just try to slice both the beets and potatoes into comparable pieces)*I used baby carrot and sliced in 1/2, I tried to use approximately the same amount
- 12 oz uncooked beets, scrubbed well and cut into 1/2 in diagonal slices
- 1 1/4 c heavy cream
- 1 tbs olive oil
- sea salt and ground black pepper
Cover the dish with foil and cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour 40 min. Remove the foil and add olive oil and cook for an additional 20 min.
I will add it also it was a very pretty looking dish w/ all the colors from the beets, potatoes, and carrots. We've been roasting the beets ever since because we loved them so much.
Friday, July 8, 2011
S'mores bars mmmm...
So it appears we've started to blog about interesting various recipes that we've made. This time we made s'mores bar, I had the supplies to make this for quite sometime but hadn't gotten around to it. Well worth the wait, however it's a little bit addicting like crack so watch out! I got the recipes from a Betty Crocker email I get them weekly. This recipe was super easy, only down side was that we messed up the oven time which caused a bit of a problem. Here's the recipe below:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
3. Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.
Really simple promise to delight a crowd!
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
3. Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.
Really simple promise to delight a crowd!
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| From CSA Week 5 & 6 |
Monday, July 4, 2011
CSA Week 5
We were forgotten! Our shipment did not arrive on Thursday as expected. I don't know why and we didn't get a description either. June called out to Silex and let them know we were missing our order and it did arrive on Friday, but very late in the evening. So late that June and I had already left for the evening. Thankfully, my great brother Warren received it and put it all away for us.
While the items in our cooler was everything as promised in our newsletter, I felt it looked skimpy compared to previous weeks. We received another round of tasty taters (ok, so I'm assuming they are tasty, the last ones were great. I haven't eaten these ones yet), green cabbage, a dozen eggs, green beans, sweet candy onions, summer squash, zucchini, & fresh blueberries. I know June & Timmy are very excited about the blueberries. I've never been much of a blueberry eater myself.... I detest them most of the time. I plan to at least try the local berries to see if I can be swayed.
Right now we have 3 heads of green cabbage and we are on a mission to come up with something tasty and delicious with all this cabbage. June and I are not big fans of coleslaw.... so we are working hard to research something else that will be yummy. Aunt Maggie recommended finding a recipe for stuffed cabbage ~ and that we could freeze it easily.
While the items in our cooler was everything as promised in our newsletter, I felt it looked skimpy compared to previous weeks. We received another round of tasty taters (ok, so I'm assuming they are tasty, the last ones were great. I haven't eaten these ones yet), green cabbage, a dozen eggs, green beans, sweet candy onions, summer squash, zucchini, & fresh blueberries. I know June & Timmy are very excited about the blueberries. I've never been much of a blueberry eater myself.... I detest them most of the time. I plan to at least try the local berries to see if I can be swayed.
Right now we have 3 heads of green cabbage and we are on a mission to come up with something tasty and delicious with all this cabbage. June and I are not big fans of coleslaw.... so we are working hard to research something else that will be yummy. Aunt Maggie recommended finding a recipe for stuffed cabbage ~ and that we could freeze it easily.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Dinner Time!
Right now, it's Friday morning and we have no cooler full of produce. June is supposed to investigate why we didn't get our delivery last evening. I'm very sad/confused -- did I do something wrong? The newsletter e-mail we got was full of yummy good news. Hopefully, we'll get it today??
I wanted to post about 2 yummy and delicious dinners we've made with our CSA produce. This is a longer post... so stay with me!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned Meatless Monday to you? It's one of our favorite and fun evenings of the week. The concept is not new, from what I have read, it started during WWII when due to rationing folks gave up meat on Mondays. We now do it for two reasons: it's healthy to control the amount of meat you are eating (i.e., not eat meat with every meal, every day) and it's better for our environment because the meat production industry creates so much waste. I try to be earth friendly and want to do my part little by little. Right now, I'm too much of a meat lover to go vegetarian but I do see the benefits of reducing my intake and increasing the quality of meat we get (i.e., grass fed beef which is more expensive than regular beef).
Now, back to the dinner. Timmy made a delicious Black Bean & Wheat Berry Chili. It is a high-protein dish and the wheat berries take on the spicy flavor of the chili which was delicious. As a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic, the fiber is great for me. I did add some fritos (not so great) to my chili but hey, it's fun to live a little on the edge. The chili was so good even Warren ate it! (He is notoriously anti-Meatless Monday as he worries what meals can be eaten without meat???! He's a big carnivore-loving guy.) We used wheat berries & green garlic from our CSA to add with some organic stuff I picked up at Trader Joe's -- one of my favorite grocery stores.
2 tablesppons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
2 14-ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 canned chipolte peppers in adobo sauce minced (We used only 1 and it was spicy!)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 cups cooked wheat berries
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, & pepper and cook; stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chipotle to taste, broth, & brown sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, & simmer for 25 minutes.
2. Stir in cooked wheat berries and heat through, about 5 minutes more. (If using frozen wheat berries, cook until thoroughly heated.) Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish each bowl with avocado and cilantro.
Tip: Canned chipotle peppers (smoked jalapenos) in adobo sauce add heat and a smoky flavor. Look for the small cans with other Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in refrigerator or 6 months in freezer.
Timmy took the organic grass fed beef that I picked up at Trader Joe's and made it into sliders with some bread crumbs. We took the extremely delicious parisian herb farmer's cheese (a type of goat cheese) that I got from Dry Dock Farms and topped our sliders with it. Great flavor combination. We polished it off with Companion's Beaucaure Rolls. Yum yum.
I used my new crappy mandolin to slice up zucchini & carrots (tasting so much better than store bought -- bursting with flavor), which we sauteed with teriakyi sauce and some high-fiber wheat berries. I also used the mandolin to shred our fresh radishes and add them to a salad. I got the romaine lettuce from work, but it was a tasty Caesar salad with Asiago cheese & pomegranate seeds.
Timmy took the green beans (also amazingly better than what you get at the store) and cooked them, drained them, and added my favorite -- a little butter, some Parmesan cheese, & bread crumbs.
For our taters (yummy little red ones from the farm), we cut them up and roasted them with some green onions (also extra flavorful from the farm) with some pepper, salt, red pepper, "Italian seasoning", and olive oil. It was hard to control the portion sizing here -- now that I'm diabetic I really need to be careful about how many carbs I'm inhaling. I have also put on 8.5 pounds since discovering I was diabetic in May. This is too much and my clothes are not fitting so well. As a friend of mine joked ~ "well, now we know you're secret!" (To the rapid and easy weight loss, how I was able to consume anything I wanted to eat last year and not put on a pound. That was sort of nice but I should have known that there was something more serious wrong.)
I wanted to post about 2 yummy and delicious dinners we've made with our CSA produce. This is a longer post... so stay with me!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned Meatless Monday to you? It's one of our favorite and fun evenings of the week. The concept is not new, from what I have read, it started during WWII when due to rationing folks gave up meat on Mondays. We now do it for two reasons: it's healthy to control the amount of meat you are eating (i.e., not eat meat with every meal, every day) and it's better for our environment because the meat production industry creates so much waste. I try to be earth friendly and want to do my part little by little. Right now, I'm too much of a meat lover to go vegetarian but I do see the benefits of reducing my intake and increasing the quality of meat we get (i.e., grass fed beef which is more expensive than regular beef).
Now, back to the dinner. Timmy made a delicious Black Bean & Wheat Berry Chili. It is a high-protein dish and the wheat berries take on the spicy flavor of the chili which was delicious. As a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic, the fiber is great for me. I did add some fritos (not so great) to my chili but hey, it's fun to live a little on the edge. The chili was so good even Warren ate it! (He is notoriously anti-Meatless Monday as he worries what meals can be eaten without meat???! He's a big carnivore-loving guy.) We used wheat berries & green garlic from our CSA to add with some organic stuff I picked up at Trader Joe's -- one of my favorite grocery stores.
Recipe:
Ingredients:2 tablesppons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large yellow bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
2 14-ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 canned chipolte peppers in adobo sauce minced (We used only 1 and it was spicy!)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 cups cooked wheat berries
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, & pepper and cook; stirring occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chipotle to taste, broth, & brown sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover, & simmer for 25 minutes.
2. Stir in cooked wheat berries and heat through, about 5 minutes more. (If using frozen wheat berries, cook until thoroughly heated.) Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish each bowl with avocado and cilantro.
Tip: Canned chipotle peppers (smoked jalapenos) in adobo sauce add heat and a smoky flavor. Look for the small cans with other Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in refrigerator or 6 months in freezer.
Dinner on Thursday!!!
Another lovely evening filled with fresh veggies and delicious food. Timmy and I raided the fridge and made an assortment of yummy stuff from our CSA. We have had quite a few items accumulate from the last two weeks. I got spoiled and ate out too much last week.Timmy took the organic grass fed beef that I picked up at Trader Joe's and made it into sliders with some bread crumbs. We took the extremely delicious parisian herb farmer's cheese (a type of goat cheese) that I got from Dry Dock Farms and topped our sliders with it. Great flavor combination. We polished it off with Companion's Beaucaure Rolls. Yum yum.
I used my new crappy mandolin to slice up zucchini & carrots (tasting so much better than store bought -- bursting with flavor), which we sauteed with teriakyi sauce and some high-fiber wheat berries. I also used the mandolin to shred our fresh radishes and add them to a salad. I got the romaine lettuce from work, but it was a tasty Caesar salad with Asiago cheese & pomegranate seeds.
Timmy took the green beans (also amazingly better than what you get at the store) and cooked them, drained them, and added my favorite -- a little butter, some Parmesan cheese, & bread crumbs.
For our taters (yummy little red ones from the farm), we cut them up and roasted them with some green onions (also extra flavorful from the farm) with some pepper, salt, red pepper, "Italian seasoning", and olive oil. It was hard to control the portion sizing here -- now that I'm diabetic I really need to be careful about how many carbs I'm inhaling. I have also put on 8.5 pounds since discovering I was diabetic in May. This is too much and my clothes are not fitting so well. As a friend of mine joked ~ "well, now we know you're secret!" (To the rapid and easy weight loss, how I was able to consume anything I wanted to eat last year and not put on a pound. That was sort of nice but I should have known that there was something more serious wrong.)
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sustainable Gardens Backyard Tour
On Sunday, June 26th Home-Eco (our neighborhood eco-friendly store) partnered with The Gateway Gardner and Native Pollinator to host a sustainable gardens backyard tour. We had four homes that were close enough for us to walk from our house. June and I felt this was fitting to check out the ones in walking distance first. There were some interesting homes that were further away but we just ran out of time and I got sun burnt on my shoulders anyway for forgetting to put on sun block. Darn it! June was on the Home-Eco list and that's how we found out about the houses on the tour.
Four of us set out to tour the neighborhood --my brother in law Tim, June, & Derrick who is a co-worker & friend of Tim's that lives nearby. Each house was a little different and showed the personalities of the owners. Our first stop had a large, sprawling garden with all sorts of veggies growing. The couple has been gardening for a few years now and they also compost. They showed us their worms in the basement and the husband explained that he started with only 2,000 worms and now has 7,000 (I think) and that the container they have them in is open but they have never had them escape. The wife admitted she was not the hugest fan of the worm composting idea at first, but has been really happy with how it's worked out and that the worms have never left their container in the basement. They also had a more traditional compost bin outside which she said they just pitched their scraps into. Super friendly and inspiring us to continue on the tour.
Stop number two had a beautiful house, yard, and garden. He wasn't really there to talk about or showcase his garden, he was showcasing his chickens and beautiful chicken coop. He had 4 chickens (which is the maximum allowed per house in the city of St. Louis) of varying ages and a great looking coop. He told us that he only spends about 1-1 1/2 hours a week with the chickens and that they yield about a dozen eggs/week. He said he fed them scraps (much like you'd use for compost -- potato peels, fruit, etc) for the chicken's diet. He gave me a blueberry -- my favorite fruit ;-) not -- to let the chicken take out of my hand as a snack/treat. The yard was well-manicured and it looked like his garden beds were beautifully maintained. He said that he built his coop himself, that it wasn't too time consuming, and that the chickens really do a great job. He only has to change the water once or twice a week and put his yard clippings in a certain spot so that the chickens can scratch and peck. The chickens were a bit noisy... but June was excited at the potential to get some chickens.
Stop number three was a large garden. The ladies here had clearly been gardening for several years. They had made sun tea and were offering it in those cool compostable plastic cups. They were certainly on board with being earth friendly! She told us about how to get your soil tested and really had transformed most of the backyard into a garden. This idea is very appealing to us because we are not huge fans of mowing the lawn. Thankfully, we have 'lawn boy' Warren right now and he is doing a magnificent job of keeping the lawn in order. The garden at stop number three was large and very orderly. She had neat rows of all different types of veggies in back as well as some flowers around the side. The front yard looked great as you approached -- very manicured and orderly. She had two different compost bins and explained to us that one was new. The first time she had tried composting, she hadn't broken the items into smaller pieces and had not been careful about seeds contaminating the compost. She showed us the newer batch (with a compost bin recently purchased from Home Eco) and explained that she was making it more like soup. Make sure that some water gets in it, the pieces are small, and that you mix it all together. She also told us that we need to look for a community calendar that an organization (now I can't remember the name) offers free classes to help you get started with composting and that you don't have to have a fancy & expensive bin. June and I will be watching for that class and try to make it a priority to be there.
Our last stop on the tour was a very interesting and eclectic couple. They had a sprawling garden, 3 chickens, 2 dogs, & a partially painted hot pink garage. They had a wine barrel on the side, as you approached, that was a cool decoration but didn't appear to have much of a use. They grew all sorts of veggies and had the chickens running around. The wife did let us know that they had a little bit of trouble getting started with the chickens as they had a few of them die but now know what to do. They have a 1/2 built chicken coop outside and currently keep the chickens underneath the house. They had all sorts of veggies and both work in kitchens so I'm confident they know how to use them. They had barrels he was working on setting up to collect rain water for the gardens. The lady let us know that the chickens to peck and scratch all over and that was why the yard didn't look so stellar. She felt like once they finished the coop, they'd mostly be on that side of the garage and that would help to keep the rest of the yard looking better and the vegetables beds from being "under attack." She did say that the chickens aren't afraid to jump in and scratch around anywhere. They were very friendly and very progressive with things that they were trying to do in their yard.
For us... I think there is still time to get a garden going and to investigate getting chickens. We are lucky enough that if we purchase materials, Warren will be able to assist us in building a coop. I am certainly feeling motivated to make some changes and invest in restructuring our yard. I know June and I are ready to get the ball rolling with compost and make a decision about what else we'd like to do in our backyard. Overall, a great experience and we look forward to the next tour to learn even more. A great idea and a great motivation to get us going!
Four of us set out to tour the neighborhood --my brother in law Tim, June, & Derrick who is a co-worker & friend of Tim's that lives nearby. Each house was a little different and showed the personalities of the owners. Our first stop had a large, sprawling garden with all sorts of veggies growing. The couple has been gardening for a few years now and they also compost. They showed us their worms in the basement and the husband explained that he started with only 2,000 worms and now has 7,000 (I think) and that the container they have them in is open but they have never had them escape. The wife admitted she was not the hugest fan of the worm composting idea at first, but has been really happy with how it's worked out and that the worms have never left their container in the basement. They also had a more traditional compost bin outside which she said they just pitched their scraps into. Super friendly and inspiring us to continue on the tour.
Stop number two had a beautiful house, yard, and garden. He wasn't really there to talk about or showcase his garden, he was showcasing his chickens and beautiful chicken coop. He had 4 chickens (which is the maximum allowed per house in the city of St. Louis) of varying ages and a great looking coop. He told us that he only spends about 1-1 1/2 hours a week with the chickens and that they yield about a dozen eggs/week. He said he fed them scraps (much like you'd use for compost -- potato peels, fruit, etc) for the chicken's diet. He gave me a blueberry -- my favorite fruit ;-) not -- to let the chicken take out of my hand as a snack/treat. The yard was well-manicured and it looked like his garden beds were beautifully maintained. He said that he built his coop himself, that it wasn't too time consuming, and that the chickens really do a great job. He only has to change the water once or twice a week and put his yard clippings in a certain spot so that the chickens can scratch and peck. The chickens were a bit noisy... but June was excited at the potential to get some chickens.
Stop number three was a large garden. The ladies here had clearly been gardening for several years. They had made sun tea and were offering it in those cool compostable plastic cups. They were certainly on board with being earth friendly! She told us about how to get your soil tested and really had transformed most of the backyard into a garden. This idea is very appealing to us because we are not huge fans of mowing the lawn. Thankfully, we have 'lawn boy' Warren right now and he is doing a magnificent job of keeping the lawn in order. The garden at stop number three was large and very orderly. She had neat rows of all different types of veggies in back as well as some flowers around the side. The front yard looked great as you approached -- very manicured and orderly. She had two different compost bins and explained to us that one was new. The first time she had tried composting, she hadn't broken the items into smaller pieces and had not been careful about seeds contaminating the compost. She showed us the newer batch (with a compost bin recently purchased from Home Eco) and explained that she was making it more like soup. Make sure that some water gets in it, the pieces are small, and that you mix it all together. She also told us that we need to look for a community calendar that an organization (now I can't remember the name) offers free classes to help you get started with composting and that you don't have to have a fancy & expensive bin. June and I will be watching for that class and try to make it a priority to be there.
Our last stop on the tour was a very interesting and eclectic couple. They had a sprawling garden, 3 chickens, 2 dogs, & a partially painted hot pink garage. They had a wine barrel on the side, as you approached, that was a cool decoration but didn't appear to have much of a use. They grew all sorts of veggies and had the chickens running around. The wife did let us know that they had a little bit of trouble getting started with the chickens as they had a few of them die but now know what to do. They have a 1/2 built chicken coop outside and currently keep the chickens underneath the house. They had all sorts of veggies and both work in kitchens so I'm confident they know how to use them. They had barrels he was working on setting up to collect rain water for the gardens. The lady let us know that the chickens to peck and scratch all over and that was why the yard didn't look so stellar. She felt like once they finished the coop, they'd mostly be on that side of the garage and that would help to keep the rest of the yard looking better and the vegetables beds from being "under attack." She did say that the chickens aren't afraid to jump in and scratch around anywhere. They were very friendly and very progressive with things that they were trying to do in their yard.
For us... I think there is still time to get a garden going and to investigate getting chickens. We are lucky enough that if we purchase materials, Warren will be able to assist us in building a coop. I am certainly feeling motivated to make some changes and invest in restructuring our yard. I know June and I are ready to get the ball rolling with compost and make a decision about what else we'd like to do in our backyard. Overall, a great experience and we look forward to the next tour to learn even more. A great idea and a great motivation to get us going!
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