Guess what? Bonus post from me. Motorcycles and recipes in the same day, wow. Why? Sadly one of our Group D Secret Recipe Club members was orphaned. Is that not the saddest word? Images of poor Oliver Twist come to my mind “more please”. It breaks my heart. No one should be orphaned!
I was almost orphaned myself last week but CookLisaCook came to my rescue, now it’s my turn to be the heroine. When Amanda’s call came out, it was right at lunch time…perfect! I quickly scanned Dishing the Divine to see what Paula had to offer for a great lunch time recipe and one that I would have the ingredients for (I am completely out of eggs…).
I spied the Pear Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing and remembered that I had one lonely pear in my fridge. It’s a little worse for the wear but it would do. I didn’t have any of the recommended cheeses but I had some feta, bingo!
Paula has a lovely site with some amazing photos…I’m envious. In her ‘About Me’ section she mentioned that she would have to ask her mom, are we having real or plastic noodles (read: homemade versus purchased). How cute is that? Paula was lucky to have an excellent cook for her mom, influencing her cooking now.
Paula originally got this recipe from allrecipes.com (such a great source for recipes). Paula, you are no longer orphaned and I’m happy to be a part of your family now. I’m so glad you threw your hat into the food blogging world!
several cups of mixed salad greens
1 pear, thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and thinly sliced (or use candied oranges) 2 ounces crumbly cheese (gorgonzola, blue cheese, white cheddar, etc….FETA in my case)
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
Place the baby greens in a large, flat bowl. Top with pear slices, oranges, and cheese.
In a skillet over medium heat, stir 1/4 cup of sugar together with the pecans. Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and caramelized the pecans. Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper. Allow to cool and break into pieces. Sprinkle over the salad.
For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, mustard, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and pass additional dressing at the table.
Source: Allrecipes and Dishing the Divine.
Make sure and check out all the other divine recipes:
After SRC last Monday, I’m back to posting the journal I kept while McGyver and I traveled 11 countries in 10 days on the Superglide (my other baby). It’s day 6 and it’s a big day, so I’m dividing it into two posts. If you haven’t been following along you can catch on our prep days here and here, and days one, two and three, four, and day five by following the links. Today is the big concert day that we’ve been waiting for…
Day 6 (part 1) June 29, 2003
The morning started out pretty rough for me. I was hanging from the night before, waking up at 9:00 am was just too damn early for me. Of course McGyver is usually up at the butt crack of dawn so it seemed late to him and he didn’t want to miss breakfast.
I was slow getting ready but after a shower I felt a little better, I though after breakfast and coffee I’d be good to go but it was still a no go for me. I went back to bed and McGyver finally washed the bike and gathered all the dirty duds together. He roused me out of bed at 11:15 and we headed to the campsite to use the laundry mat and visit friends.
When we got there the crew was gone – off to the rally. We couldn’t find the laundry soap that we bought a couple of days prior so we begged some off the neighbors. In Spain everything closes 1 – 1:30 pm for siesta. They gave us directions to the wash area and told us the cost.
There were only four washers and two dryers but we were in luck – or so we thought – one washer was open. I put in a coin and slide it in but it wouldn’t take it – it wouldn’t take any of our coins. We decided that one was open because it was broken. Well we were in Spain, so when in Spain… We decided to wash our clothes by hand in the wash sinks, just what we had planned for our honeymoon!
Just as we were finishing our wash, a dryer came free – we were on that like flies on shit. Again the damn machine wouldn’t take our coins. Now we knew this thing worked so what the hell was the trick? I started looking at the coin slot and I realized that it was a funny shape. The f-ing thing took tokens.
Off McGyver went to find out where to buy tokens. He finally returns with tokens and we are on our way to clean dry clothes. We wore our swimsuits so we could wash everything. While the clothes went round and round we hit the nearby beach.
This is when I decided to go European and give my new hubby a thrill and go topless. Yup, its definitely the way to go as long as you have good sunscreen.
(I can’t figure out why McGyver isn’t looking at the camera and why he is smiling?)
After two tokens of drying, our clothes were still damp – but we were out of time. We were meeting Dave and Val at 4:00 pm to pick up our tickets for the Rolling Stones. At the hotel we strung our clothes all over the balcony – very ghetto – but not caring, we needed dry clothes.
A quick shower and we slipped into our damp clothes and we were ready to see some good rock-n-roll. Besides we knew the clothes would dry during the ride, especially since the temps were in the high 90s.
I made the Harvest Chili with ground turkey and decided to do the same for my egg rolls…carrying the inspiration through. I loaded the egg roll with some Napa cabbage and carrots, then ruined all the healthiness by deep frying them.
If egg rolls have intimidated you in the past, they shouldn’t. They are much easier than they look (if you purchase the wrappers). All the stuffing ingredients are cooked in one pan, placed in a wrapper and rolled up burrito style.
I like to use my cheap-o Presto Deep Fryer/All-purpose pot to cook my egg rolls but they can be fried in a deep frying pan on the stove. They can be baked in the oven; just spray them with some cooking spray and bake at 400°F until they are a nice golden brown (approximately 20 minutes), flipping them half way through for even browning.
You can also freeze them before or after cooking. I prefer to cook mine first, let them cool and lay them on a lined cookie and put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen I bag and label them. They can be reheated in the microwave or oven (I use a toaster oven).
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan, cook onions, garlic and carrots until carrots are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. Add ground turkey and continue to cook until meat is no longer pink. Stir occasionally, use a wooden spoon to break up meat.
Drain the meat mixture if necessary, add the 5-spice and soy sauce and cook until most of the soy sauce has cooked off. Turn the heat off and stir in the cabbage. Place 1/4 cup of the mixture onto the center of the egg roll wrapper (see photo), bring the bottom corner of the wrapper up, fold the sides towards the center. Using your finger, moisten the edges of the top corner and fold towards the center to seal the egg roll. Repeat until all the wrappers and filling is used.
Deep fry at 375°F for 2 to 3 minutes, drain on paper towels.. Note: Only fry a few at a time, too many at once and the temperature of the oil will drop. you may end up with soggy egg rolls.
This year I made a goal to work on my photography, this year I made a goal to learn a little bit about Photoshop. This year I’ve actually kept (a couple) of my goals that I made for myself.
In keeping with my goals of working on my photography, I am participating in Black and White Wednesdays, the brain child of The Well Seasoned Cook. In Susan’s post on July 6th, she commented
“Black and white food photos just don’t get any respect in my opinion. Everyone is so gung-ho about color, and while I cannot argue against the naturally sensuous and appetizing default qualities of color (after all, food is in color), there is something to be said about the unique tonality of monochrome photography, the sublime textures which can pop when a color-to-B/W conversion is finessed in your processing software”
The only rules are that the photos must be culinary oriented (prep, restaurants, dishes, kitchens, food, etc.), the photos must be black and white, grey scale/monotone, cyanotype or sepia. Which gives me plenty of more things to learn, like what the heck is cyanotype?
Black and White Wednesday’s are all about me, selfish, selfish girl! I really love black and white photos, it’s amazing how a lack of vibrant colors sets a different mood. Maybe I love them so much because I can still remember watching black and white T.V.?
Mostly I believe that it is important to challenge yourself and set goals. I’m working on my goals how about you? Did you set some goals for yourself this year? Did you reach them or were there too many obstacles? I’d love to hear about it.
I’ll leave you with some of my favorite quotes about goals.
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
Zig Ziglar
“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” Earl Nightingale
“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” Karen Ravn
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” Aristotle
I was catching up on Facebook when I spotted these cookies from Whole Foods. They immediately spoke to me, I tried to ignore it but I failed.
I thought about them for hours and hours. I finally gave in, I drove to the grocery store and bought the ingredients I was missing and whipped up a batch. Just like that. This was not my plan for the day. Plus I had a cookie jar still half full and 3/4 of a cake.
Sometimes you just have to say “what the hell” and act on impulse. No regrets.
My changes are in red (I didn’t have any whole wheat pastry flour).
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons), softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin purée
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Method
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, and then fold in cranberries.
Drop cookies by heaping tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets and gently press with fingers to flatten into discs (note that cookies will not spread while baking). Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until lightly browned. If baking two sheets at a time, rotate sheets half way through baking. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Per serving (1 cookie): 100 calories (35 from fat), 4g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 20mg cholesterol, 45mg sodium, 14g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 8g sugar), 2g protein
This is my third month participating in Secret Recipe Club and I got the fantastic blog The Yummy Life for my assignment. I’m not exaggerating about the blog being fantastic! Monica has a lovely blog, it’s very easy to find whatever you are searching for: recipes, gifts and household/decorating tips. Evidently her son ‘T-Man’ is the web designer. Very convenient, hint hint to any of my children who might be looking for a new career….
After reading a little bit about Monica, I could tell that she has a great sense of humor and enjoys life along with the Rams and the Cards. I know exactly what kind of passion there is for the Rams and Cards after living 5 years in the St. Louis area. Just Monica’s mention of gooey cake and Ted Drewes made me yearn to go back (if only they could take the humidity away).
Typically you hear from all the SRC participants that it was so hard to pick a recipe. Nope, not for me. I stumbled across Monica’s 2C+sweet+%26+salty+recipe">Green Popcorn and Pretzel Mix recipe and knew right away that it was what I wanted to do. Not that Monica doesn’t have a zillion great recipes, she does. It’s just that my mind has been on Christmas.
I know, I know it’s not even Halloween yet. Normally my thoughts don’t wander to Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I’ve never been the super plan ahead type. However, this year’s a little different. I’ve decided to make gifts, particularly foodie gifts. Naturally when I saw that The Yummy Life had a tab just for gifts, I honed right onto it.
The Green Popcorn and Pretzel mix was originally for St. Patrick’s Day but I thought with an addition of some red components it could easily be converted to a Christmas Popcorn Mix. I noticed that Monica was able to purchase just green M&Ms; the benefits of a big city. Alas, that is not an option here in little ol’ Great Falls. So I bought a big bag of regular M&Ms and sorted them. There is obviously a big disparity between the amount of red versus the green. The good news, is that between the two I got a half cup of M&Ms.
As most of you know, since I first started participating in SRC, the Baby boy has been involved. This time was no different. How could he resist when it involved candy, popcorn and pretzels?
Did you notice the Baby boy has white chocolate on his fingers? Boys!
I followed her recipe almost to a “T” (other than adding red). I did run into one problem that had absolutely nothing to do with the recipe. Since I didn’t have the recommended type of coloring, I purchased a boxed set of frosting colors. The boxed colors were “Duff” brand (from Ace of Cakes). I followed the instructions and melted the white chocolate chips, oil and color. Unfortunately, the color cooked and then it wouldn’t blend. On top of that the chocolate seized. So I started over, making sure that my measurements were exact (just in case I made a mistake before), omitting the color then melting the white chocolate and oil per the instructions. As soon as I stirred the color in, it seized again. I added a little more oil and recovered it to a usable consistency. In the future I would not use that brand of coloring.
The only other thing I did different was cook my popcorn in my Whirly Pop and omit the dye. I thought the red, white, green combination would have a nice Christmas look.
In the spirit of The Yummy Life, I also decided to make my own gift containers. I’m not super crafty, but I’m not un-crafty either, it’s just not my normal gig. After reading The Yummy Life, how could I not be inspired. I didn’t just make one, nope I made three gift containers…go Giggles, go Giggles! I’m doing my crafty cool dance (try not to picture it for your own sake).
I purchased a plain white box and used craft paper and scrap booking items to decorate the lid for a family sized gift.
I also put some in a purchased Chinese take out container and simply added a bow. The translucent container showed off the pretty mix inside and didn’t need much more adornment. I thought it would be the perfect size for a couple to share.
Lastly, for individual gifts, I wrapped a standard used and washed can in craft paper, put a ribbon and bow around it then added a small sticker. The popcorn is in a cellophane treat bag. This one ended up being my favorite (and cheapest). I loved that I recycled an ordinary can and turned it into a fun container.
Monica, thanks for great gift idea, I’ll definitely be checking out The Yummy Life for more gift ideas and recipes!
1 cup white chocolate or vanilla baking chips, divided
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
Red and green food coloring*, optional (oil based preferred over water based)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
decorating sprinkles (green and red coarse sugar, green/red/white nonpareils, or similar)
Melt 1/2 cup white chips with 1/2 tablespoon oil in microwave; stir after 40 seconds, continue cooking and stirring at 20 second intervals just until last chips melt in when stirred. Dip half of each pretzel in the melted chocolate and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper. While still wet, sprinkle with colored sugar or other decorative sprinkles. Set aside to harden.
Spread popcorn on another large baking sheet that has been lined with parchment or waxed paper. Sprinkle peanuts and M&Ms evenly over top. Combine chocolate chips with 1/2 tablespoon oil and melt in microwave (see melting chocolate at The Yummy Life). With spoon, drizzle evenly over popcorn mixture. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Add food coloring and 1/2 tablespoon oil to 1/2 cup white chips, melt, and drizzle over popcorn mixture. Sprinkle with decorating green sugar and nonpareils. After melted drizzle harden, break into pieces, add pretzels, and store in airtight container or sealed plastic bags.
*Food coloring can be omitted entirely–use plain white melted chocolate and rely on M&Ms and sprinkles to add color to the mix.
Can’t get enough of Secret Recipe Club? Hop on over to these sites:
Have you ever had an idea just randomly pop into your head, and then wonder “why didn’t I ever think about that before”? It started with the purchase of rainbow colored peppers that I planned on dehydrating for up at the cabin this winter. They were so beautiful, that I changed my plans for them. I decided only to dehydrate half of them (they aren’t nearly as pretty once they are dehydrated) and do something else with the other half.
One of the best ways to showcase peppers is stuffing them. I recently purchased a whole lamb from a local rancher (A Land of Grass) and the Baby boy has been begging for Shepherd’s Pie. That’s when it hit me, make Shepherd’s pie, stuff it into a pepper and top them with the mashed potatoes. Really, why didn’t I think of that before?
The idea was so novel to me that I refused to Google it and discover I wasn’t the only one. (Which I’m sure I’m not, and please don’t tell me otherwise. Let me live in my fantasy world of being the brilliant one who thought of it first).
I imagined a rainbow of peppers topped with fluffy mashed potatoes and filled with savory lamb mince. I wasn’t disappointed in the taste, the peppers were the perfect vehicle for the Shepherd’s Pie.
I was disappointed in my rainbow. Having never cooked purple peppers before, I had no idea that their color would change for a deep royal purple to a greenish grey color. The color, although disappointing only to me, seemed to have any factor on the consumption of the dish. Even the Baby boy (whom for a moment thought I might have ruined Shepherd’s Pie) loved all of it, even the pepper part.
The idea is mine, I based the Shepherd’s pie portion from Gordon Ramsey’s recipe.
Preheat oven to 350°F . Cut tops of the bell peppers and remover the seeds, wash and set upside down to drain. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Cook lamb, onion, garlic and carrots all at once over medium high heat until lamb is browned and cooked through. Season with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Add chicken broth and red wine. cook over medium low until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile bring potatoes to a boil in a large pan covered in salted water. Once the potatoes come to a boil, turn the heat down to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and put through a potato ricer or food mill. Melt butter and warm half & half in a small saucepan. Pour the warmed milk and butter slowly into the beaten eggs (not to fast or the eggs will cook). Add the milk, butter, egg mixture to the potatoes, stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
Grease a casserole of pan small enough so that you can arrange the peppers snugly to keep them standing up. If your pan is too large, you can trim the bottom of the peppers slightly to even them out. Fill the peppers with the lamb mixture and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the mashed potatoes turn a light golden color. Serve immediately.
I remember when I was a child, my mom would always put out a bowl of ripe olives during the holidays. I would take the olives and place one on each of my fingers and for you smarty pants, my thumbs too. Then I’d eat them one at a time. My fingers were the perfect skewers! I still like to put olives on my fingers and eat them. Of course, I have gone from medium size to colossal ones to fit on my fingers.
I took the love of eating olives off my fingers and turned them into something just as fun to eat, but a little more grown up and socially acceptable.
I simply stuffed the olives with Boursin spreadable cheese and stuck them on skewers. That’s two ingredients plus a stick for delicious fun. I made some fall themed containers to hold the olives to add to the fun.
However, after putting it all together, I thought the olives had more of an eyeball Halloween look and wished I had decorated my containers in a more ghoulish theme, I’ll remember for next time.
I think the poor California ripe olive has fallen out of general favor, now-a- days we have access to olive bars and more exotic choices, which I adore, but I still love ripe olives. The olives are mild flavored and briny, a nice match with the garlicky creamy cheese.
The containers were also easy to make, I used some olive cans (how apropos), washed and dried them, wrapped them in some craft paper and ta da, pretty containers. A little dry foam in the bottom of the containers help hold the skewers, then I topped it off with some basket stuffing material. I think this would work really well with cake pops and any other foods on a stick.
Drain olives thoroughly. Let Boursin cheese sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Put cheese in a large zipper lock bag or pastry bag. Trim the tip of the bag so the opening is slightly smaller than the opening of the olives. Squeeze the cheese into the opening of the olive until the olive is full. Place on a skewer if desired.
My latest journal entry covered days four and five, I got a little caught up in the fun and had to combine a couple of days. Last week I covered day four, today we are at Day 5. If you are just now joining the journey, you can catch up on our prep days here and here, and days one, two and three by following the links.
Saturday June 28, 2003
A much easier day onSaturday. After breakfast we rode back out to the rally, McGyver wanted the Open Road Tour pins with “wings” (they ran out the day prior) and we picked up a shirt for his Dad who’s been riding Harley’s for 57 years and still going.
We headed back to the hotel to find a place to eat lunch. We found a great little place that served good beer and seafood. We ordered giant prawns and a lobster – sparing no expenses – after all it’s our honeymoon. The waiter brings out the live lobster for our approval – it must have been about 3 pounds, delicioso.
After lunch it was beach time, you can’t come to the coast of Spain and not hit the beach, especially the topless beach which was only a block away. There was only enough time to stay at the beach for an hour, besides I had to limit McGyver’s titty watching to a minimum.
We met Dave and Val shortly after 7:00 pm. Val said that the last train ended at 1200. We knew we would be closing the rally so all decided on a Taxi instead. It came to 6 Euro per person – not too bad. McGyver forgot to take his Leatherman off his belt and with no scooter to store it in, we left it with Juan who promised to keep it safe till we left. We pretty much figured McGyver had lost his Leatherman since they wouldn’t give us a receipt for it.
We had a great time that evening – other than long lines for beer – McGyver and Dave R. talked mechanics of the bikes and all the tricks to increase horsepower (Dave is a mechanical engineer) and Val and I talked usual girl stuff.
The Pretenders put on a good show – Chrissy Hynde still has a great voice and rocked the place!
Getting a Taxi to the rally was easy – getting one back took numerous phone calls and finally I just chased one down.
We decided that we would take the Bikes to the Stones concert – much easier than a taxi.Back at the hotel we decided we having too much fun to turn in for the night so we hit the bar. Many, many Bacardi and colas later and meeting some great folks from Poland, Belgium and Switzerland we headed off to our room around 3:30 am.
Next Monday is Secret Recipe Reveal, but come back for Day 6: hang over, laundry, topless tanning and a Stones concert.
