Remember when I received all that dill in my Bountiful Basket? I posted these deviled ham eggs and then I posted the Flounder Olympia (which you need to try if you haven’t yet). But that’s not all baby! I made this fantabulous quiche also. Actually I made quite a bit more but didn’t photograph it all.
After dosing ourselves in dill I realized that I never really used it enough in my cooking. Fresh dill was always paired with fish, or some creamy dressing/dip and used, of course, for pickling. Honestly I use more dried dill than fresh. But that wrong has been righted by the insane amount that I received and a new found appreciation and love for fresh dill.
I so enjoyed the flavor that I will be planting at least 4 dill plants, maybe more? I’m also planting a bunch of Boston pickling cucumbers. A good pair is a good pair.
Speaking of a good pair; asparagus and dill! Why have I never done this before? I know asparagus gets pickled (they’ve been known to show up in my Bloody Mary’s and Caesar’s); logically this thought should have occurred to me before! I am mourning the missed opportunities I could have had with dill and asparagus… Continue reading “Asparagus Dill Quiche with a Potato Crust” »
Would you believe that I’m sitting outside, drinking coffee and typing this post? To me this feels so luxurious. This is how, in my little mind, I imagine a writer’s life. The perfect writer’s life, where you could put pen to paper (or type) anywhere when inspiration hits.
I have always thought writers to have a glamorous job where they dictate their hours and only panic near deadlines. Sipping coffee while the words flow or enjoying wine and thinking that you do your best writing then. Staying up late, sleeping in or vice versa.
I think that probably Hollywood had some influence on this image that I have. The outsider looking in only sees what they see. The garbage men just drove down my alley, they looked over at me sitting al fresco, hacking away on my laptop and I know their thoughts “it must be nice…wish I could do that…but someone has to actually get up and go to work”.
I know that’s their thoughts; before I started freelancing if I saw someone doing something I wanted to do or perceived as “the life” I was a bit envious, I had those very same thoughts. Usually our image, or if I may say, the cover of the book, isn’t necessarily what’s going on inside. Continue reading “Pavlova with Strawberries and Mint” »
Have you ever heard the term “so ugly, it’s cute”? Typically this refers to animals and babies, not to food. And it shouldn’t. Actually I’ve never seen anything so ugly that it became cute. Cats with no hair…ugly! Smashed up face dogs with ubers of wrinkles…ugly. Your newborn baby…sorry moms…ugly (but not forever of course). Croc shoes…ugly! But oh so comfortable. Just because something is ugly doesn’t mean that it’s not likable, lovable or delicious for that matter. Continue reading “Uniq Citrus and Cucumber Salad” »
Recently I came into an obscene amount of dill! I mentioned in my last post (Deviled Ham Stuffed Eggs) that I had been preparing so many dishes with dill that I thought that perhaps McGyver and I might end up being pickled. I even tried my hand at pickling some radishes and carrots (we’ll have to wait to see how that one plays out).
With so much dill on hand and my irrational fear of wasting anything, I posted on my Facebook page a call for dill recipe ideas. Someone immediately chirped up and boy am I glad! Michelle suggested a dish called Halibut Olympia, she recommended using lots of shallots and mix a bunch of dill with a mayonnaise sour cream mix.
As fate would have it, I did not have lots of shallots, nor did I have halibut, nor did I have sour cream. Which meant the recipe was perfect. You know how us bloggers roll, we would change everything any ways. I did have flounder, and I had red onion and plain Greek yogurt, all no brainer substitutes.
I did a quick search on the internet for Halibut Olympia to get some portion and cooking time frames, I found this blog post which inspired me to use a panko topping and saute the onions. In my organic basket there was also a bunch of Swiss Chard which I thought would make a nice bed for my flounder (plus healthify it). I halved the amount of yogurt mayonnaise mix because flounder is not a thick hearty fish like halibut. I cooked up some new red potatoes and tossed them with butter and dill, then added a salad with a dill vinaigrette which completed the meal. Continue reading “Flounder Olympia with a Panko Crust” »
It may be winter outside but it’s spring in my house. My garden last summer was a total disaster, I obviously had no clue what I was doing and while I was gone for 5 months, let’s just say that McGyver and Thing 2 didn’t give it much attention. I yielded a couple of radishes and some Thai red peppers, that’s it.
Disappointing to say the least. But then there is Pinterest to help out. As in, this is so easy just stick some cloves of garlic in water, sprout them and eat their green tops. Continue reading “Meyer Lemon and Sprouted Pesto” »
In my post on Monday, I shared that I really wanted to Jen’s Chile Relleno’s for SRC, but it was a guest post on someone else’s blog so I went with her “Dad’s Homemade Pizza Crust”. My reason for wanting to make the rellenos are that it’s McGyver’s all time favorite Mexican food.
Chile Rellenos is the dish by which my husband judges a Mexican restaurant by. According to him, there is nothing better than a good chile rellenos. Personally I am was indifferent to them. We’ve been together 12 years and I am just now making his favorite Mexican dish (despite the fact that I do quite a bit of Tex-Mex cooking).
You must be wondering why? First off, they aren’t weren’t that impressive to me, secondly, they seemed a bit intimidating to make. You know, hard to make, like more work than their worth. I changed my mind a few weeks ago when McGyver and I went to a local Mexican-ish restaurant that we haven’t tried before.
Of course the hubby ordered his fav chile rellenos. When it arrived all snuggled between the beans and taco, it was rather, errr, umm, phallic looking. We giggled, but funny looking food is not one to stop us. Then he tried it, then I tried it. It lacked any semblance of flavor, it was coldish and greasy. McGyver declared it the worst chile rellenos that he’s ever had in his life, and considering how many he’s had, that’s saying something. Continue reading “Chile Rellenos” »
This is the longest hiatus between posts that I’ve ever taken. As a matter of fact the last time I posted, was during Secret Recipe Club Reveal last month. At my last posting I was hot and heavy into finals for Part 1 of my school. I then took a one week break and visited family in Washington State. The next three weeks were filled with professional specific studies. I took Stock Photography, The Modern Studio and the class of my dreams Food and Product.
On to my SRC assignment, it’s Debbie, our illustrous leader of group C and of Debbie Does Dinner…Healthy & Low Calorie. What’s so great about Debbie’s site is that she has mostly healthy food (she throws in some other tempting dessert recipe that aren’t so healthy ). Debbie gives the calorie count and if it’s a side dish she gives you serving suggestions to keep your meal at about 500 calories, awesome!
A month ago when I said I was participating in the next month’s Secret Recipe Club, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I simply looked at the date and thought, hmm, right during break, perfect. Posting is right during break, but picking out the recipe and cooking and photographing meant that it fell right into the hot and heavy portion of my final days of part 1 of photography school. Will I not be able to have the time????
I felt especially lucky to be assigned Julie’s Eats and Treats, because Julie’s site is full of mouth watering recipes…with plenty of simple ones; which meant that I could easily stake out a little time to whip up one of her dishes, whew. A little about Julie: Julie started blogging because so many people asked for her recipes. And she’s super fortunate to have a hubby, Jason who helps out, Julie also has an adorable baby girl Miss Kenzie Marie (a name that I adore, especially the middle name because my daughter Leah shares the same middle name.
Back to the recipe…I often thought of orzo as the risotto pasta. It’s so similar in shape that I think people often get this pasta and rice confused, normally I would say that is the only they have in common. But when I stumbled across this recipe, it definitely had risotto (of which I am especially fond of) written all over it. I kept the heart of the recipe although I did make several modifications.Continue reading “Romano Orzo-SRC reveal” »
In the immortal words of Popeye “I can’t stands it no more!” Sometimes you just have to have something and you’ll go to the ends of the earth to get it, well almost. And that’s how it was for me and cheesy bread sticks. I saw a post Colleen (The Smart Cookie Cook) did on Cheesy Garlic Bread Dunkers and I couldn’t get cheesy bread out of my mind!
Her recipe called for some purchased ready made pizza dough, okay, no problem, I went to the store and well, they didn’t sell any. So I went to another, and another and another…I even went to Papa Murphy’s and tried to talk them into selling me their dough, but it was a no go. By this time I could have grown my own wheat, harvested and ground it and made my own dough. Also by this time, It was getting late and I had zero patience’s left.
I think this is my first food post since Secret Recipe Club last month! I’m delighted to say that this recipe is a great one to come back with. If you haven’t heard me talk about SRC before, it’s a bloggers club that works a lot like a Secret Santa. Each member is assigned another blog and cooks one recipe from that blog…secretly. Then on our group’s assigned day, we reveal the recipe that we chose.
Today is Group C’s reveal day and my assignment was….drum roll please….Cooking with Stilettos…applause…. Can you believe Aly had me last month? She Shepherdized my Shepherd’s Stuffed Green Peppers. So I’m super pleased to have her this month! Anywho, every blog I’ve ever been assigned too, I always find more than one recipe that I’d like to prepare, but I find myself making (more often then not) an old family recipe. Family recipes are not only tried and true and hold the test of time, they’re also laden with memories, making the dish all that more special.
So, once again it’s no surprise that I was drawn to Aly’s Bampa’s (her grandpa’s) recipes. I giggled when I read the recipe for Bampa’s Corn Fritters, one of the ingredients was Bisquick and not too long ago I posted on how Bisquick was a staple in our house while growing up. I felt a connection with Bampa right away and knew that this was the recipe for me.
). Debbie gives the calorie count and if it’s a side dish she gives you serving suggestions to keep your meal at about 
