Herbal Bounty

Lantana and Miniature Roses in the Herb Garden

Just outside the kitchen door by the carport, I have a 4X8 foot bed for herbs and flowers. I have a miniature rose in it - I've always grown them in my herb gardens. 

Mexican Marigolds and Sweet Potato Plants in Pots

 For color and pest prevention,the pot of sweet potato plants have mexican marigolds growing with them. 

4X8 bed for Florals and Herbs

Herbs don't like a rich soil or a lot of feeding - they have a better flavor when they grow lean. So I keep them out of the vegetable garden, and I don't feed them very often. Just when I transplant them, or add new footings, to get them started. This bed is on the sheltered south-facing side of the house, so the rosemary is perennial - especially with a mild winter like the one we had last year. I can go out of the kitchen door and cut some rosemary or oregano to use fresh in cooking.

Rosemary and Lantana

I just added a small mint plant to the bed, but I double-potted it to keep it from covering the entire bed in mint. It grows aggressively, and will send out runners to spread itself. With one pot inside another pot, and potting mix in between, I hope to keep the mint controlled and where I want it! It's great for cooking and drinks. 

The Double-Potted Mint Plant

Oregano in the Herb Garden

Sweet Balm Leaves

I just bought a dehydrator, and I've been using it to dry my purple and green basil leaves to store them for use later. I plan to dry lots of herbs and vacuum pack them for soups or stews when the cold winds blow in December and January! A little scent of summer saved up.

The New Dehydrator With Basil Leaves Inside

I'm also making dried tomatoes - they're not sun-dried because it's too humid here to do them out in the sun - but they still have a rich, sun-dried flavor. Great for salads. 

Kitchen Plenty

Cajun Bell and Sweet Banana Peppers

If you wonder what I've been doing lately, I've been tending the garden and making good use of its fruits. I almost have enough of the sweet yellow banana peppers to make another batch of sweet pepper relish. I got the recipe from Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening Cookbook, along with the recipe for the bread and butter pickles you see in the jar. I like to add pink peppercorns for the light flavor and the pretty pop of color in the jar.

Bread & Butter Pickles with Pink Peppercorns

Refrigerator Pickled Peppers
2 lbs sweet or hot peppers
12 black peppercorns
6 to 8 tsp coriander seeds
3 or 4 bay leaves
1 small red onion, thinly slices
6 to 8 garlic cloves cut in half
2 1/2 c. vinegar
2 1/2 c. water
1 Tbl. salt
3 Tbl. to 1/3 c. sugar, to taste.
Leave small peppers whole, cutting a small slit near the stem for flavorings to penetrate. Cut large peppers into strips. Remove seeds and ribs. Pack peppers, peppercorns, coriander seeds, bay leaves, onion and garlic into 3 or 4 clean glass  pint jars. Heat the vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a small saucepan; cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the vinegar mixture over the peppers, top with a lid and ring. Refrigerate for at least 1 week before using. The peppers will keep for several months in the refrigerator. Makes 3 to 4 pints.

I like to use mustard seeds and pink peppercorns also - I like the extra flavor they give. And instead of plain white vinegar, I like rice vinegar, for a slightly lighter taste.

Small Loaves of Butter Pound Cake

 Last weekend I baked 3 small loaves of pound cake. There are only 2 here because we ate one already. We used it as a substitute for shortcake with strawberries, to make strawberry shortcake-like breakfast bowls. Instead of topping them with whipped cream, we used some homemade greek yogurt. YUM!

Homemade Sunflower Seed Bread Loaf

I also baked a loaf of french sunflower bread. As soon as it came out of the bread machine, we had to cut into it and add butter and honey for a mid-afternoon Saturday treat. There's nothing like homemade bread with local honey spread all over it. 

We are eating fresh, and homemade wherever possible. Lots of vegetables and salads, batches of green beans from the garden, and home pickled and baked goods. There's nothing like the taste of fresh home grown, baked or pickled foods!

French Treats

I've read on other folks' blogs about the adventure of making french macaron cookies.

It sounded like a lot of work, and yet made me curious about how they might taste, and what the texture would be.

I found a cookbook on making macaron cookies, and I studied it for several days, wondering if I could make it work.

Yesterday, after stocking up on eggs, gel food coloring, butter and almond meal, I decided to give it a try.

If you're like me, once you've heated up the oven and gotten out the mixing stand, you figure you may as well make a bunch of stuff before you put everything away again.

I made a batch of plain, peach colored macaron with cherry filling.

And a batch of lemon flavored, mint colored macaron with lemon buttercream filling.

Not to mention two dozen mini-cupcakes, but that's another post.

I was experimenting, learning how to make them in my oven and my kitchen. I found that the heavier weight baking sheets worked better than my thin, air-filled ones. But they had to be watched on the heavier baking sheets, so they didn't overcook.

French style macaron are supposed to be light and airy, with a smooth round top and little feet on the flat bottom of the cookie where it rises when it's baked.

My first batch of peach-colored macaron didn't have feet. I may not have let them sit long enough after I piped them out of the frosting bag, they are supposed to sit for 30 minutes. And since they were the first batch, I slightly over cooked them.

But if you look at the mint colored ones, they have the pretty little feet and smooth tops. and the bottoms are flat, without sticking to the parchment paper or cracking.

But I promise that, no matter if they have no feet, are cracked or don't have flat bottoms, they are ALL YUMMY when you eat them.

They have a crisp outside, a melty-meringue interior, flavored with the filling.

And .... they're pretty, too.

If you've never made them, try them, they're not really that hard to do. Here's a website with some links, if you want to learn more, and a very PERKY video tutorial.

Cooking Homegrown From Venice

I've been reading a series of books, mysteries by author Donna Leon. Her stories are set in Venice, Italy, although she is an American. 

I learned that she co-authored a cookbook also, titled "Brunetti's Cookbook."

Her books are very evocative of beautiful Venice, and her main character in them is Commissario Guido Brunetti. 

So many of her stories include descriptions of meals, home cooked and at restaurants, and they sound so tasty. There are also coffee, pastries, wine. So I was happy to learn about the cookbook.

Look at all that ripe produce on the cover in the picture of the market. Zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce and lemons, just gorgeous.

Not to mention the beautiful picture of Venice at the top of the book's cover. The light, the water and the colors of the houses. Makes me want to travel and taste in person.

But if I can't do that, maybe I can prepare some recipes from the book using my own home grown produce soon, and get a taste of Venice that way.

If you like mystery stories with a slow pace, and set in idyllic Venice, try her books. Very inspirational.And likely to make you hungry!

Two Bites Are Just Right

On Saturdays I go to the library. It's my weekly treat to myself. And helps keep me from buying lots of books, too.

I got this cupcake cookbook on Saturday, called "Two-Bite Cupcakes" and it's very cute.

I love to make cupcakes. And there are lots of fun new ideas in this book.

It uses the little mini-cupcake pans. And there are savory as well as sweet recipes. 

I've got to try some of these. I have the book for two weeks. How many dozens of tiny cupcakes could I make in that time, I wonder.

If you love cupcakes too, check out this fun book.

Part 2, Not a Uni-Tasker

Here's the cover of the cookbook I got from the library.

I found it at Amazon for less than $9.00. I may have to make it a permanent part of my cookbook library.

You have one of those, don't you? Your special pile of cookbooks that you always turn to, when you want to cook something special, but can't decide what that might be on any given day.

This one is written by someone from Louisiana.

Now, in my book, that makes it extra authentic.

Especially for a cookbook with "jambalaya" on the cover.

The neat thing about the rice cooker is that it has three speeds.

Unplugged - OFF.

Cook.

Warm.

What else do you need? 

Put this together with the bread machine, and the meal's practically on the table all by itself.

Sunday Cooking

I can't remember if I mentioned that I have family coming down from Topeka to visit. So I went to the library and got several cookbooks for local recipes. After all, if you're coming from Kansas to Louisiana, you'll probably want to eat Louisiana food, right?

This is some gumbo on the stove that I made this morning. We tasted it at lunch with rice, and it was good. It has okra, shrimp and cajun sausage in it. It's my first gumbo attempt. I don't like things too spicy, but once it's served up in the bowl you can add Tabasco sauce to put more zing in it. 

This is an oatmeal cake topped with pecan icing. It's a very different kind of cake, moist and almost like a big cookie. I made three of these yesterday. The whole house smelled like a pastry shop! I got the pecans locally, a family member gave me a whole huge bag of freshly cracked shelled pecan halves. They are glorious! Nothing tastes quite like really fresh local pecans.

It's a really old recipe, I baked it in a springform pan to make it easier to get it out of the pan. It's good for dessert, or for a coffee cake first thing in the morning with coffee. And super easy to make.

Oatmeal Cake

9 1/2" Springform pan (a pie or cake pan will work if you don't have one of these) well greased with shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cake:

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats (not the instant kind, the long-cooking variety)

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup evaporated milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts, if you like those better)

Pour boiling water over the oats in a bowl and let stand 20 minutes.

Cream butter with both sugars and add eggs. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together and add to butter mixture. Mix thoroughly, then add the soaked oats. Pour the batter into the greased springform pan and bake for 50 minutes.

For the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add evaporated milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix lightly. Stir in the chopped nuts. Spread over the warm cake while still in the springform pan, and place in the oven under the broiler briefly, until the sugars bubble and caramelize and the top is lightly browned.

Cool thoroughly on a wire rack before removing the sides of the pan. In fact, if it can sit and cool for several hours, it will come out of the pan slick as a whistle!

Enjoy with a cup of coffee, or a big cup of hot chocolate. YUM!

Sunday Baking and Events

In the late 1970's and early 1980s, I lived in Austin. At that time I discovered a little sandwich shop called "Schlotzsky's" that had a wonderful sandwich, I could get two meals out of each one.

There's a Schlotzsky's sandwich shop here in my new home, and on paydays I treat myself to a sandwich as I go through the drive-through of the bank that's nearby.

I have decided to try to duplicate, as closely as I can, their special bread.

Yesterday I made up some yeast dough and made small buns and baked them.

But there's something missing. That Schlotzsky's bread had a unique texture and taste.

I'm going to keep experimenting, while I eat the little rolls I made yesterday. They're great for breakfast, toasted in the toaster with apricot jam and butter.

I also made a four-layer white cake with buttercream icing. I'd show a photo, but we cut into it last night after dinner. Maybe I'll go ahead and show it, you can really see the layers where it was cut.

It's yummy!

Yesterday at noon I drove out into the country and met Katie Nelson at her beading class, here in my neighborhood. I got to meet some other nice beading ladies. Katie is very sweet and friendly, I'm very happy we got a chance to visit. The hostess took a photo of us, as I forgot my camera!

If you know the secret of Schlotzsky's buns, with their holes and soft crust texture - point me in the right direction!

In the Kitchen

This morning I got up early and baked muffins and muffies.
Muffins are full sized, baked in paper cup liners.

Muffies are smaller, they're like just the muffin tops. I have a special muffie tin.
I made chocolate chip and blueberry cheesecake of each.
The muffins are in Dora the Explorer liners, guess who gets those?

Someone special who is two years old.

I also made homemade vanilla ice cream, and a container of homemade lemon sherbet. We still have a few leftover cupcakes from last weekend because I baked so many.

Can you freeze cupcakes? If not, I guess I'll just have to eat them more quickly.

I cooked up three dinners for next week and I'll put those in the refrigerator.

Sometimes on the weekend it's great to stock up.

So you don't have to work hard in the kitchen over a holiday.

And ice cream and cupcakes are always welcome additions to a meal, aren't they? 

Rose is a Rose by Any name

Roses are my birth flower.

My birthday is mid-summer, right before Flag Day.

I like to raise miniature rose bushes, I used to have a pink and a red in the herb garden by the Gulf Coast.

I haven't had any miniature roses for a couple of summers now. Next spring I need to be sure to get at least one. A good time to find them is February near Valentine's day holiday.

This brooch pin has a floral rose on it and the word "ROSE" in the resin charm.

To keep flowers on the mind when the cold weather returns.

It has a beautiful vintage style frame around it with a coppery-bronze patina on it.


It's a lovely oversized brooch pin, but versatile because it can have a chain attached to the two decorative loops on the top to make it a necklace, to wear around the neck.

Or pin to a coat lapel or scarf.

To keep roses in bloom, when the snows start to fly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you ever feel scared, frightened in this economy? I do sometimes. I always do my best at the job, but it's easy to wonder sometimes. I hear stories, I see things that happen to other people.

It's a mental struggle, staying on track. Focused on what needs me.
Questioning myself, decisions made that still have long shadows.

Wondering what's the next chapter in this book of life. You know?

Tuesday Tips and the Ices of Summer

You may have noticed that I pick out things I find that inspire me from Etsy and showcase them on the left sidebar of the blog. I might be poking around and accidently find something wonderful, or I might be looking for something specific. Occasionally I put in a word that's on my mind just to see what fun things might come up in the search under Handmade on Etsy.

There's a clever lady named Lisa at EverydayGourmet, who makes miniature food and beverages that look real and good enough to eat! The photo is of her Lemon Granita Dessert and Limoncello Liqueur. Those are tiny miniature food replicas ... Don't they look luscious!

So for my Tuesday Tip this week I thought I'd include some easy recipes for real, life-sized granita. If you're on a diet and don't want to cool off from the hot summer weather with the real thing, at least tempt yourself with Lisa's miniature versions.


GRANITA or ITALIAN ICES

Don't have an ice cream maker? Love fruit juices and slushy yummy coolers?

How about fruit ices? They're easy to make, you don't need much equipment, and for this time of year when it's hot, and you want something cool and soothing, they're just the thing. With a frozen, grainy and coarse texture, they're different from ice cream or gelato.

Here are a couple of easy recipes.

COFFEE GRANITA
3 C hot brewed espresso or flavored coffee
1/3 C
1/2 C heavy cream, whipped (or store bought whipped cream spray)

Dissolve sugar in bowl using hot brewed coffee, cool to room temperature. (or if you're like me and you make cold brew coffee, use the sweetened concentrate out of the refrigerator)

When cool, transfer to shallow pan that fits in the freezer (test this first, before you try to put a too-large tray full of liquid and find out it won't fit - or make a level space in your chest freezer to do this)

Every 30 min stir using a fork, scraping the sides and bottom so all liquid freezes evenly.
Do this, freezing and breaking up crystals until completely frozen, about 3 hours, keeps in freezer up to 2 days.
Put serving in cooled ice cream bowl and top with whipped cream, either homemade or store bought whipped topping spray


LEMON GRANITA
4-5 large lemons
2 C water
1 C sugar
Take long strips of zest without the rind off the lemons, then cut in half and squeeze to get 1 C juice each (or use store bought bottled lemon juice, undiluted)
Combine water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer and add lemon juice to dissolve sugar.
Add lemon zest and allow to cool to room temperature.

Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and transfer to shallow pan and put in the freezer. (see note above about checking for fit of pan in freezer first)
Stir with a fork, breaking up the ice crystals, every 30 min until completely frozen, about 3 hours, keeps in freezer up to 2 days.

MORE GRANITA TIPS AND HINTS:

You can make the simple syrup with water and sugar and keep it on hand, mixing together with raspberries, peaches, strawberries or other summertime fruits. Even watermelon!

Don't let the ice form heavy blocks or lumps of ice. The texture should be grains and flakes of ice, but not liquid.

The smaller the pan, the longer it takes to freeze, so use the largest shallow metal or glass pan you have, to make it go more quickly.

Don't forget to test for room in your freezer with the shallow metal or glass pan before you fill it with liquid and try to put it inside.

Be sure to scrape and re-mix frequently to get the right texture.

I've heard that substituting Splenda or another sugar-based sweetner for the sugar works also, but I haven't tried that and don't know if it will make the same simple syrup with the fruit - try it if you prefer that and let me know if it works.

If it melts before you get it all eaten, drink it like a slushy lemonade or iced coffee!