Berlin's Whimsy

june through july.

My kids' birthdays are six weeks apart. Yet, somehow, that span of time between June and July feels so much shorter. So much so that their Dad & I decided to hold a few "combined" birthday parties for them when they were younger. We promised bigger and better birthday parties; but, no matter how much effort was put into the bigger and better party, one or both kids usually felt slighted. And in the end we were all overwhelmed----- Hmmm, how many of those birthday party nights closed on a 2-year old tantrum fit--- and that wasn't just the kids!

But that was then. 

I recently read this past post about my daughter----who turned 15 over a week ago: In a State of Grace. To this day, my daughter bemoans her name--- the common association of her name, Grace (being graceful---- which, she is not!).

But the name, and my daughter, are so much more than the typical definition of Grace. In fact, when I read through that previous post, I nodded in agreement. And I felt so much appreciation for the grace that she brings to our family's life. 

She might not look like that girl I wrote about four years ago. But as much as things have changed, there are many things that have stayed the same. There were the same friends here for her birthday. She requested the same ice cream cake that's been served on her birthday for seven years.

And really, it is the perfect cake for her----- the lover of ice cream with a birthday in the hottest part of the year.

It's a simple cake and the recipe comes straight out of Cooking Light Magazine. I still have the torn-out page from all those years ago....

 

 

 

Basil Butter Spread for Grilled Corn

This time of year, our grill gets a lot of use and since corn on the cob is plentiful, cheap, and GOOD, we often serve it alongside our other favorites.

Sometimes, though, the usual butter & salt treatment gets a little boring.

I'm fairly certain this way of serving corn on the cob comes from my brother & his soon-to-be wife--- both chefs. It's surprisingly good and very easy, too. Just the right thing on a busy summer evening!

Basil Butter Spread for Corn

This is more of technique than a recipe...

Into a blender, add equal parts melted butter, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves. Throw in a couple peeled garlic cloves & a tsp chili powder. Blend until smooth.

Grill ears of corn over a medium-high grill. For great grilled corn, don't overdo it. You want the kernels to carmelize just a bit (brown) but if they overcook, they will be tough and dry. I always error on the side of less time (even if I'm boiling corn the traditional way--- less is more).

When corn is done, brush with the basil butter and serve. YUM!

Kimchi Fried Rice

A few days of hot weather and it feels like summer is in full swing here. It is.

I have a serious love/hate relationship with summer. Love the summer nights, garden produce, festivals, activities, mountain tops, and evening light (yes, a lot to love!). Hate the heat, the non-stop yardwork, traffic, and BUGS. It's a lesson for me in focusing on the positive because as the heat increases, my level of patience and typical up-beat attitude recede in direct correlation.

So, here I am focusing on the good. Summer produce. Summer herbs. Quick and light suppers. New flavors. Sunny skies!

One of these days, I'll make my own batch of Kimchi. Until then, Trader Joes is now carrying an almost tolerable rendition. I am sure homemade is so much better!

I usually have leftover cooked Jasmine rice somewhere in my refrigerator because if I make rice, I make extra. This time I did not have any extra and had to cook up a batch and cool it very quickly. I spread the freshly cooked rice out on a sheet pan and put it in my freezer for about an hour. I took it out 15 minutes before using it and stirred it.

Kimchi fried rice is all over the internet and fried rice in general doesn't really require a recipe. It's more of a technique. It's also a perfect last-minute dinner! If you have cold rice in your frig, veggies, eggs, and a protein, dinner is ready in minutes. In fact, I feel silly providing a recipe because it's so adaptable to what you have on hand---- but nonetheless, this is the technique I use for fried rice.

Kimchi Fried Rice

4- 5 C. cold, cooked Jasmine Rice

1 pckg firm tofu, drained & cubed

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C. frozen peas, rinsed

2 C. broccoli florets

1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin

1/4 C. thinly sliced green onions

3 eggs

2 T. tamari

2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

2 T. oil for frying (I use coconut)

Siracha Mayonnaise to serve, optional

Method:

Sprinkle the tamari soy sauce and sesame oil over tofu in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Preheat a seasoned wok or cast iron skillet. Add 1 T. oil (I use coconut) and toss in the broccoli and carrots. Add 2 T. water, cover and allow to steam just a bit--- less than five minutes. Remove lid and allow moisture to cook off. Remove carrots and broccoli to platter.

Allow wok to return to heat and add tofu. Stir-fry until browned--- approximately 5 minutes. Remove to platter.

Add 1 T. oil to wok, swirl or brush the surface, and add rice and peas, breaking apart rice clumps with fingers. Stir-fry rice, but also allowing it to brown a bit. Make a well in the center and crack eggs into it. Scramble eggs in this well while slowly mixing in rice from the exterior of the circle. Eventually, the eggs will cook and then stir the cooked eggs throughout the rice, adding the minced garlic at this point. Add Kimchi and stir.

Return previously cooked ingredients to wok and incorporate into entire mixture. Add green onions and serve.

Variations: I imagine adding chopped cilantro to this, a little lime juice, and serving with this peanut sauce for more of a Thai variation. I usually add mushrooms to my fried rice but didn't have any. Also, for those in my family that eat tomatoes, I usually add fresh, diced tomatoes to our fried rice just before serving.

 

 

Pimento Cheese Dip & 17-year olds

It's been a very busy week around here.

This happened.

And he is growing up too quickly. This post was just yesterday, right? And yet, in many ways, he is still that same kid. Now, I'm very much enjoy his developing intellect--- we have interesting discussions (GMO foods, politics, poetry, philosophy). I'm amazed at his thought processes and he's an excellent debater---- kind, and willing to listen to other opinions.

My daughter is growing up fast, too. Chunks of my time are spent wondering how she will cope when my son goes off to college. In the meantime, she is always ready to help me in the kitchen and it's very welcome (including greasing the cake pan--- above. Ha)!

And after 17 years, birthday celebrations are pretty routine around here: the same friends, the same party, the same German Chocolate Cake. It might seem boring, but after all the changes my kids have gone through these past few years, I believe routines are welcome.

One of our snacks was this version of Pimento Cheese Dip. I make it with this homemade Mayo that I always have in the frig. Made with that mayo, this dip is SOOOO good! Tastes much more complex than the ingredient list would make you think! And if you have the mayo already made up, this dip comes together in minutes. It's excellent.

Pimento Cheese Dip

1/2 C. grated extra- sharp cheddar

heaping 1/3 C. green olives stuffed with pimento, coarsely chopped

1/2 C. this Garlicky Mayo

1/8 tsp. paprika

A couple grinds of black pepper

Method:

Into the bowl of a food processor, place all the ingredients. Pulse just a couple times until mixed but still coarse in texture. Refrigerate for an hour to allow flavors to develop. Enjoy!

Herbed Marinade

 

 

It's barbecue season!

So far, the temps haven't climbed up into the realm of making me miserable and running for the A/C… Well, that’s if I had A/C! Anyhow, one of the perks of the warm season is making food outdoors that sizzles.

This marinade is my current favorite for flavoring up whatever we’re in the mood for. I’ve used it on chicken, shrimp, and beef. It’s a little akin to one of my favorite sauces, Argentine Chimichurri sauce.  

The marinade calls for a variety of herbs--- ones that I usually have growing each summer. It’s a great way to use them!

Herbed Marinade for Barbecue

For Marinade:

1 C. packed basil leaves

a few mint leaves

1/4 C. oregano

1 C. cilantro leaves

1 sweet onion

3 T. red wine vinegar

3 garlic cloves

1 T. chili powder

1 T. maple syrup or sweetener of your choice

zest of one lemon

2 T. olive oil

For Barbecue:  

1 lb peeled & deveined shrimp, 3 lbs. chicken thighs, salmon filets, steak, etc...

Method: Place all the marinate ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Place whatever you are barbecuing in a bag and pour the marinade over it. Refrigerate for an hour. When ready to barbecue, heat up your grill over high heat. Brush the barbecue grate with a little oil. Place meat on the grate and immediately reduce heat. Baste while cooking. Cooking times will vary depending on what you are barbecuing.

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Grilled Romaine Addiction.

Grilled Romaine Addiction.

Once I find something I like, I revisit it often. Okay... yes, obsess over it might be a more accurate description. Take this Grilled Romaine Salad. I know, you foodies out there are rolling your eyes and calling me out-of-date. For you, the newness of grilled lettuce has lost its 'a-ha' edge. But for late comers like me, I'm still in the obsession phase.

I'm fairly certain I recall having a spectacular grilled romaine salad many years ago at one of the restaurants my chef brother worked. Why I didn't race right home and make my own that very minute, I'm not sure. Instead, I "rediscovered" it last weekend at a lakeside restaurant. I was amazed, AMAZED, at the intensity of flavor! Given that romaine tends to be my favorite of the lettuces (it must be that crispness) made it that much more spectacular. It's also easy, too. Another plus for dinner after work!

So, grilled romaine was on our home dinner menu a couple nights later. And it was just as good. In fact, even better because of the creamy italian dressing (I use my homemade garlicky mayo and mix in an italian seasoning blend). And then, grilled romaine was on the menu the next night. And the next.... In fact, I might or might not admit to eating a whole plate full for dinner another night. All to myself.

So, for those of you who have not experienced the yumminess of grilling yourself up some lettuce, run right out to your grill and try it! I like mine a little on the browned side (more flavor), but feel free to pull yours off the grill a little earlier if you don't like it as browned.

Grilled Romaine Salad

Ingredients:

3 heads of Romaine

A little olive oil

This Homemade Garlicky Mayo

1 T. Italian Seasoning mixture, mixed in

Method.

Heat your gas grill over medium. This is the time to use one of those grill grates. Preheat that, as well. Slice off the ends of the romaine very thinly so it doesn't not come apart. Slice it in half length-wise. Brush the cut side with a little olive oil. Place the romaine on the grill grate, cut side down. Allow it to brown on that side, checking regularly. You want some browning, but you also want it to remain crisp.

To serve, you can spread a little of the dressing on the plate and lay the romaine on top. For ease, I cut the romaine into chunks, but if you want more of a presentation, you can serve it whole.

Lay the romaine on the dressing or next to it. Additionally, you can sprinkle the romaine with parmesan shavings. Yum!

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Food for the Week Ahead.

Food for the Week Ahead.

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It’s been awhile here. So much has changed in my life. I work in a library. I work full-time. And I still make things. But I’m busy. Very, very busy.

My level of mid-week stress hinges upon my level of completed chores over the weekend. There are the usual chores, such as laundry, vacuuming, and such, but the chores that really affect my stress level are my kitchen chores.

That is, food prep.

It’s not fun coming home at 6 PM on a Wednesday evening with nothing for dinner. Not to mention weekday mornings without lunchbox ingredients. I’m not one to run to the fast-food joint, but I am one to stop by the store and pick up dinner supplies in desperation. And that’s never a good idea for one’s food budget--- heck, for as much as I’ve spent on one of those desperate forays, we could have went out to a fine meal!

So instead, I draw upon my experience working in food establishments and play prep cook.

When I first started this weekly routine, I wrote down a list of items to make for the week ahead. Now, it’s mostly habit and because of that, I’m pretty efficient. I do switch it up a bit with the seasons, but I always have certain items on hand for the week ahead: homemade mayo, boiled eggs, some sort of protein (often, it’s this slow-cooker shredded chicken), fresh veggies washed and prepped, and some par cooked veggies.

I don’t sit down and write up menus for the week. That doesn’t work for us. On any given evening, we might not feel like making the planned dinner. Instead, I have ingredients ready for finishing off, depending on our mood.

A caveat: I enjoy cooking and tooling around the kitchen. While items cook, I browse the internet or work on a sewing project. I have friends that don’t like cooking. At all. The idea of spending a few hours on their weekend cooking for the week ahead fills them with dread, but it also means relying upon packaged and/or fast food during the week. It’s a choice. I prefer to eat healthy and reduce my anxiety, and I’ll gladly invest my time on the weekend for eating better during the week. But again, that’s my prerogative.

So, this week’s prep included:

• Garlic Mayo (made with light olive oil)
• Hard boiled eggs
• Shredded Chicken
• Citrus Pork Carnitas
• 5 lemons, juiced to have fresh lemon juice on hand
• Cumin rubbed Sweet Potato Fries
• Braised Cabbage
• Baked Potatoes
• Lightly braised Green Beans to finish off later
• Shredded Brussels Sprouts
• Cauliflower prepped for making Creamy Smashed Cauliflower
• Lettuce prepped for weekday lunches
• Carrot sticks
• making Tahini (for making hummus later in the week)

I'll write up a list of what’s ready in the refrigerator for my kids--- it also prompts my bad memory, too!  

Later this week, I’ll post some of the ways I used these items!

Tomatillo-Tomato Salsa perfected.

Ah, fall... I've been waiting for you all summer long. With your warm-hued sunsets and crisp time-to-wake-up mornings. I feel I can relax again after an extremely busy and tiring summer.

I'd like to say that I've been away from this space perfecting salsa recipes, but unfortunately, it hasn't been all fun and cooking. School and life were quite hectic and busy this summer. That said, I have spent quite a bit of time making this salsa. Repeatedly.

My garden's tomatillo harvest is robust once again this year and they're finding their way into many of our meals. I've also grown fond of pealing them straight from the garden and eating them right then and there---- they're that good this year. So much better than the store-bought ones.

This has become my favorite salsa this summer. It's like my previous favorite salsa, only better.

It's sweet (from the tomatillos), salty, tangy, and it can be hot if you want to add hot chili peppers. As always, onions aren't welcome in these parts (sigh), so I make up for it with garlic. Go ahead and add onions if that's your pleasure.

 
The ingredients are typical, but do read through the method! I blend up a portion of the salsa to add a sweet-tart background to the chunks and to blend up the garlic so as to avoid any big chunks of raw garlic.

As with many salsas, I don't so much follow a recipe per se, but taste as I go. I encourage you to do the same. Frankly, this salsa is so yummy, I could blend the whole thing and drink it like a smoothie!

 
Tomatillo-Tomato Salsa

10 Tomatillos, husked, washed, and diced small

10 Roma Tomatoes, diced small (or whatever fresh tomatoes you have on hand!)

Handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Juice of 2 limes

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 T. sea salt, or to taste

Optional add-ins: hot chili peppers, diced very small or white onions, diced and rinsed under cold water before adding.

Method: Dice the tomatillos and tomatoes. Stir them together in a big bowl.

 
Into a blender, add the garlic, lime juice, and about 1/4 of the tomato-tomatillo mixture. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture back to the chunky tomatoes and tomatillos and add the finely minced cilantro and salt to taste. Stir thoroughly.

 
Enjoy!

 

Beautiful Summer.

Though beautiful, my summer has been oh so busy and hectic. Hence this short post with all the essentials.

 
I made the Mariposa Dress from Handmade Beginnings last summer. It was too short and it hung in my closet for a year, waiting for a ruffle on the bottom to lengthen it. I learned that I must always lengthen my skirts and dresses. Always! I wore it out to a local brewery for a Friday night beer last weekend. What a fun summer evening that was!

 
And the next day, this fruit pizza went to a potluck. It's from the blog, Oh She Glows. Rather than spreading it with the Avocado Lime Whip, though, I used a Vanilla Nut Cream. I didn't want the avocado to turn brown while sitting on the potluck table. It was wonderfully good and beautiful like the summer. 

I am participating in Heather's 30-Day Vegan Workshop right now and loving it!

 
It's the perfect peaceful end to a hectic summer.

 

Summer Vegan links

This summer (as in summer's past), I'm eating more vegan meals. My pursuit of vegan inspiration has led me to some vegan recipes worth passing along...

 
This buckwheat porridge is amazingly good! Yeah, it looks a little like paste, but it does taste much better than it looks---- I promise! For the non-dairy milk, I used some hemp milk I made yesterday.

 
Do pop over to the blog Oh She Glows for beautiful photos and lots of other great recipes. In fact, her 15-minute Creamy Avocado Pasta is another discovery from her blog that I want to share. I was a little skeptical at first, but it is definitely worth trying. It's done in minutes, making it a great weeknight recipe. 

A few nights this week, we had grilled pizza for dinner. I made the regular fixings for the rest of the family and I made mine vegan. Here's how...

 
Vegan Cheese Sauce...

1 C. raw cashews, soaked

1 head of garlic

1 lemon, juiced

salt to taste

Method: Roast the garlic. Cut the top off and drizzle with olive oil (you might as well roast a few!). Roast in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes. I used my toaster oven to avoid heating up the kitchen! When they're roasted, pop the cloves out of the peels.

In a blender or food processor, blend the ingredients. Taste for seasoning--- it's a little sweet from the roasted garlic. This sauce can be used for not only pizza, but as a pasta sauce or a ravioli filling.

For the Pizza... I slathered the dough with the sauce and for an extra layer of flavor, I chopped up some kalamata olives, some fresh rosemary, and a handful of basil in the food processor and added a thin layer of that, too. It was so yummy, I didn't miss the cheese.

***If you're considering trying more vegan recipes this summer, you might be interested in the 30-Day Vegan Online Workshop at Beauty that Moves. She's offering a 2-for-1 special enrollment and I'd love to find another participant to share the enrollment fee! Let me know if you're interested...