Spicy Beef Roll-ups

Mornings are my dream time. I usually get up early and by the time I leave for work (when I was leaving for work), I already have a project or two completed and it makes me feel good, so productive. Right now I'm sort of digging having time to cook in the morning, although I do end up eating some strange foods for breakfast, but please, define breakfast food.

 

Today I tackled a recipe that I've had for, oh, at least 15 years. (I know you have some of those too) It was tucked in my 'someday' recipe folder, but never made it out to the menu board. As part of my energetic use your time wisely plan, I'm cleaning out the recipe folder and what that means is I'm having a helluva good time in the kitchen. If I'm going to keep a recipe, it has to be made soon and it gets bonus points if it uses ingredients I already have in the house. I had every item for this one. The adapted recipe is based very heavily on the original, which came from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. (Thank you $100 Winner, Katherine St. Pierre) Here goes.

 

Spicy Beef Roll-Ups

 

1 lb ground sirloin (you don't want this greasy)

4 t cornstarch

4 t soy sauce

1 t sugar

lettuce leaves

2 1/2 T hoisin sauce

2 t ground ginger

1 T rice wine or dry sherry (I used Marsala wine)

2 t sesame oil

1/4 to 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T oil

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 c diced sweet peppers (I used a mix of red, orange and yellow)

1 Mexican onion, slice the greens, dice the bulb (these are just large green onions with a larger bulb)

1 c cooked rice

 

In a bowl combine beef, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar; set aside. In a small bowl combine hoisin sauce, ginger, wine, sesame oil and crushed red pepper.

 

In a large skillet, stir-fry garlic in hot oil just until it gets fragrant. Add beef mixture; stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until done. Stir in hoisin mixture, carrots, sweet peppers and onions. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Add cooked rice and stir to combine. To serve, place some of the meat  & rice mixture into lettuce leaves, fold in sides, roll up and eat immediately.

 

I had to put some in a jar for freezing or I'm afraid I'll eat the whole batch. Good grief!

Skillet Baked Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes

I'm not sure where I got this recipe or if it's been modified, I just know it's delicious, and crazy easy, and suits me just fine since I can't seem to stay out of the kitchen lately.

Skillet Baked Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes

1 T oil

2 pork chops

1 large sweet potato, cubed

1 small onion, sliced into rings

1/4 c fruit juice, apple or orange though I used an orange/mango blend

1 small apple, chopped

3 T maple syrup

3 T raisins

1/4 t cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour oil into cast iron skillet and brown chops on both sides on the stove. Remove chops from pan and set aside for a bit. Add sweet potato and onion; cook just until the onion starts to soften; add juice and bring to a boil. Add apple, syrup, raisins, cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. Place chops on top of potato mixture, cover with foil and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, until chops are finished cooking.

Enjoy!

Oh, my heavenly BS!!!

No, not that BS....Brussel Sprouts! Let me first say that Brussel Sprouts have been my favorite vegetable since I was a kid...it's true. But I've always said the best way to eat them was simply steamed...no butter, no nothing, just steamed and eaten naked (the sprouts, not me). Then, as often happens when you're looking for the one thing on the web, I happened across this website, Cookie and Kate, clicked on the tab for recipes, and while scrolling the list, I saw the recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Barley. "Really," thought I, "interesting combination...," and having just returned from the farmer's market with said sprouts, they begged me to make them in this way. Begged me! 

"Alas, my pretties, you'll have to sit tight 'til the morn because I have things I must do."



Forgive the quality of picture - it was still dark out.

Oh yes, I made them for breakfast, because I'm single, I'm a woman and I can. Ha! Now, for the 'oh, my heavenly BS', I nearly swooned when I took the first bite. The combination of sprouts, cranberries, oh, everything....all of these flavors combined are incredible. It's like a party in your mouth. It's like little bursts of flavor all over your tongue. It's like you should make some right now so you can share in the joy.

By the way, I toasted walnuts instead of pecans because that's what I had in the house. Delicious!

I'm going back for seconds now.

Crispy Bread

Aye, yi, yi! This is ridiculously good!

The recipe is here, but for conversion sake I offer this:

6 Tbls sunflower seeds

6 Tbls pumpkin seeds

6 Tbls flax seeds

6 Tbls sesame seeds

6 Tbls oatmeal

2 tsp salt (I only used 1)

1 tsp baking powder

100 ml olive oil (flip side of glass measuring cup shows ml)

200 ml Water

1 cup + 2 T flour

Here is how it is done:

- Mix all ingredients and stir until it is a sticky mass

- Separate dough into three equally sized portions

- Flatten each portion with a spatula onto parchment paper

- Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into sizes appropriate to crisp bread.

- Place the breads in the oven and bake them for 15 minutes, or until golden, at 400 degrees Fahrenheit

When they are done, let them cool off for a bit before eating, if you can.

The Chemist

I found out how easy it is to make my own lotion. No, really, it's crazy easy.

I love how my skin feels now that I've been using this for a while. Miss M fell in love with it when she stayed over to my house so I sent a small jar home with her. She introduced her Momma to it, but now I think P has absconded with the jar. ~grins~ I'm not surprised as I've just made my third batch. This has a lovely texture and blends in so well.

It's so nice to know exactly what I'm putting on my skin. Have you made your own?

Granola Drops

Have you tried making chewy granola bars only to have them fall apart on you and turn into a big pile of chunky crumbs? Hmmm, well, I have and I had nearly given up on making the bars. I have a couple brands that I purchase that were suiting me well and I couldn't see going through the hassle of trying to duplicate them. There was that cost thing, but I was willing to pay to avoid frustration. Mm hmm, until I ran across these three recipes for granola cookies that don't use any sugar, dairy or flour. Oh my, oh geez, oh, these are delicious. I've been making them in cookie form, but got lazy this morning and made them into bars. Oooh, I can see the potential for changing out the dried fruit, using applesauce or pumpkin in place of the banana, using different seeds, etc. See, the possibilities are endless.

Here's my version:

Granola Drops

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup coconut flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup of mixed raw sesame and sunflower seeds

1 cup Medjool dates, pitted, chopped

1/2 cup chocolate or carob chips

2 large very ripe bananas

1/4 cup coconut oil, softened if solid

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, combine oats, coconut flakes, salt, cinnamon, sesame and sunflower seeds, and dates. I chopped the dates a little more in the dried mix to get them coated, otherwise, they stick together in a clump.

In a smaller bowl, combine bananas, softened coconut oil and vanilla. Mash the bananas until well mixed with oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and drop by tablespoons onto a baking stone.

Bake for about 20 minutes until edges look golden.

Alternately, you can press the dough into a 7 by 11 pan and bake for 35 minutes. Cool and cut into 15 bars.

Perfect trail food! Finally!

Weekending in Michigan

Well, you left and the weather ushered in a decidedly different season. Goodness! I had a color tour paddling trip planned, but Mother Nature decided this was a good weekend for strong winds and gusts over 40 mph. Not exactly good paddling weather. Ah well, there's always this weekend to try again.

This is what the sky looked like for most of the day. It was beautiful while the clouds were whipping by, but you better have held onto your hat or it was gone in an instant.

I joined d-i-l and F.Y.S. at Sir S's football game. That boy is so intense when he plays sports, sort of reminds me of someone else, yes? He misses his dad horribly and is sure no one else 'gets' his football games the same way, but we try. I can't do anything to lessen the pain, but what I can do is help to keep him occupied. Guess he better dust off his hiking shoes. I wonder what his mom will think if I take him winter camping?

See this? It's a J Crew sweater that I picked up at a thrift store for $2, brought it home and promptly tore it apart. It will become felted slippers for me, and I'll need them since I'm bumping down the thermometer another degree this winter. I dunno if Tim can handle it though because his ears and nose are already cold when he puts his head against me. Poor kitty! Anyway, there are a lot of steps before I'm able to use this yarn again for knitting and I'm wondering if it's worth it. I suppose for $2 it is and, what the heck, winter is coming and I have nothing but time on my hands. ~grins~ You'll probably see all the steps in a later post. I know you'll be so thrilled about that.

I finished Appointment in Samarra Friday evening and spent a little time reading more of Justice after the game. I'm liking it, but I see what you mean about Sandel making his point and getting you in line with his thinking, and then switching sides in the next chapter. Liking it is an understatement. I'm really, really liking it is more the truth.

I'm torn on the next two. Do I read The Last Samurai...for the againth time...or do I start on Lightning Rods? Listening to you and Patrick talk, I realized I've forgotten so much of Last Samurai. It's sort of odd because I never understood how people could read more than one book at a time and now I do it all the time. I have two more books in the livingroom that I'm reading as well, but one of those is about nutrition and the other is on homesteading, you know, for when I get that cabin in the woods I'm always talking about.

I forced myself to get up and move in the afternoon. I was feeling a bit under the weather and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day on the couch with a blanket and those books, but my list was calling me. I cleaned the house and switched all my summer clothes for sweaters and long sleeve shirts. Then, just because I could, I went for a very blustery walk. That perked me up and put a big grin on my face. I love this time of year!

I woke up to lots of clouds again on Sunday. I considered trying to clear out the leaves, but they were still too wet from the rains. It's not like they're going anywhere, darn it. Every year, after strong winds like that, I threaten to get myself some snow fencing to put across the driveway and side yard to keep everyone else's leaves from blowing into my yard. I have that one little tree, but leaves get piled up behind the house nearly to the windows. That's a lot of leaves to get rid of and they're not mine. Ha, I was raking earlier in the week and my neighbor said I should just leave them because they'll blow away. Um hmm, and whose leaves are in my back yard? His...<grumble>. Do you think he would notice if I threw them over the fence into his backyard? Do you think he would mind?

Anyway, what with the clouds and cold, it seemed like a good day for soup. And then I made more soup. And then I made some more. All told, I now have 11 pints of soup stashed in the freezer, I had a bowl for lunch and 2 more bowls were set aside for lunches this week. Not bad for a morning's work. As of yesterday, my house still smells d-e-e-licious.

Oh, recipes, in case you decide you want some yummy, easy soups to warm your soul when the rainy season hits for you. I ran all of these through the blender, but you don't have to do that. They're pretty darned good in their chunky form too. I think the recipes are all on my blog in different places, but here they are again.

Carrot Tomato Soup

Savannah Bisque - perfect because it's made with sweet potato and since you're back in the sweet potato...

Cream of Broccoli - I skipped the rice flakes and threw in a couple of potatoes to thicken the soup this time.

Sure would be nice if I could be eating these soups with you...just sayin'.

Apricot Jam

Somehow, someway, I got an idea into my head that I didn't like apricots. All my life I've turned up my nose at apricots as something distasteful, but the truth is, I had never eaten a fresh apricot until one week ago. Having found this jam recipe on Culinate, I needed to try them because the recipe sounded delicious and I thought, "it's jam, how could it taste bad?" I happened to be at the farm market and one of the offerings was fresh picked apricots. I bought two, just to try. Honestly, I still don't like the fuzzy skin, just like I don't like the fuzz on peaches, but once I blanched the fruit and slipped the skin off....oh my, I was wrong. Apricots are a heavenly fruit. Back to the market for more apricots.

And the jam? Yes, just as delicious as I suspected it would be. Do you have other fabulous recipes for apricots? I think I should make good use of these fruits while they're in season.

This basket of kale and basil were put up over the weekend. Basil became pesto which is now residing in my freezer and I froze the kale as well. For two years now I've grown both kale and collard. I feel so earthy when I walk out the back door, grab a few greens and toss them into whatever I'm cooking, so last year it seemed such a shame when I lost all the greens at the first hard frost. I had no idea they could be frozen until I went in search of a way to preserve them and let me tell you, it's crazy simple. Remove the tough stems as far up as possible, tear the leaves into 2" pieces, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes (collard is blanched for 3 minutes), cool in ice water, pat dry, lay out on a cookie sheet so the sides don't touch and put them into the freezer. Once frozen I dumped the batch into a zip-lock bag for use this winter. Come on, how easy is that?

I love the harvest season.

Sangria

I've been making Sangria since I was 20 and a friend of mine served it at her cottage. Cid and her family were amazing cooks and every time I visited their cottage, I was in awe of the delicious food they served. My mother was not the best cook, nor was she creative in her cooking so everything I've learned, I've learned from other people. I have a couple other recipes of Cid's that I continue to make on occasion, but this remains my favorite version of Sangria, except for that time I had it with Tequila, but we're not talking about that one. (kidding)

This photo is just the base. I let it sit all day in the refrigerator and added the wine and soda in the evening.

Sangria

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c hot water

1/2 c brandy

1/4 c Triple Sec

1 orange, thinly sliced

1 lemon, thinly sliced

1 lime, thinly sliced

1.5 liters dry red wine (use cheap, young wine)

1 liter club soda

ice

Dissolve sugar in hot water and pour into a large pitcher. Add Brandy and Triple Sec, orange, lemon and lime slices, give it a good stir and let marinate all day, if possible. Add red wine and club soda, and serve in pretty glasses with lots of ice and a slice of fruit in each glass. Enjoy on the front porch with your feet propped up and a smile on your face.

Really, I love this stuff. Would you please let me know if you make it? I would love to know how you like it.

What do you do...

when the cat decides that 5:54 a.m. is a great time to get up...on a Saturday morning? If you're me, you give up and get up and wander into the kitchen to see what sorts of messes can be made.

I started with this. Okay, I really started by making a pot of coffee because for me there is nothing like coffee on the weekends. I love that I get to keep refilling my cup and I can easily finish a whole pot throughout the day. To me it says 'nesting'. Then I raided the refrigerator and pantry and filled the kitchen counter with ingredients. By 6:30 I was cooking!

By 10 a.m. the squash above had been roasted and put in the freezer. A batch of Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice soup had been made with both fresh mushrooms and dried shitake, and 4 jars were headed to the freezer for upcoming lunches. I even ate a bowl for my breakfast because, well, I could. I know, I've been making lots of different mushroom soups, but the mushrooms were on sale for $1.00 each so I stocked up. I'll share the recipe if you would like it, but it's from a cookbook so I wasn't comfortable posting it here. By the way, this is one cream soup that can be frozen because it's made with soy milk and doesn't separate like cow's milk does. If you aren't familiar with Asian markets, I suggest you go visit one and prowl the aisles. Everything is so cheap there, much cheaper than shopping your local grocery store. The shitake was outrageously expensive at Meijer, but a huge bag was just a couple dollars at A Dong Market. My pantry is full of foods from the Asian and Indian Markets.

I had a whole batch of confetti meatballs ready for the freezer. These are made with ground turkey and a broccoli slaw mix. The recipe comes from the back of the bag.

 

Mann's Confetti Meatballs

 

Number of Servings: 6

Ingredients:12 oz Mann's Broccoli Cole Slaw
12 oz lean ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
5 tsp grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp dry Italian seasoning

2 tsp garlic salt
2 eggs

 

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bag of Mann's Broccoli Cole Slaw in microwave oven. Microwave onhigh for 4 min. (let Broccoli Cole Slaw cool before adding it to other ingredients). In a large bowl add all of the above indredients and mix until well combined. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Use a standrd ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to make 12 meatballs and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and serve. 

Next time I'll use fresh garlic rather than the dried garlic powder it called for, but still, these are delicious. The broccoli slaw was also on sale for $1 and now that I know how to use it in a recipe that's not loaded with calories...

Just after 10, the only thing left on the counter was this cup of coffee. I gave the cat a nice pat on the head and said, "thanks, that was a productive morning." He said, "my pleasure" with a little more smugness and pleasure to his voice than I would have liked, and then rubbed himself all over my legs in that catty, curvy, rubby way that cats do. I actually don't like it that he thinks I should get up so early on the weekend.

See these tools down below? Yeah, they're my favorite kitchen tools that I never want to live without. B gave me the scale about a year ago and I don't how know I lived without one for so long. I use it constantly when I'm cooking. It comes in real handy when weighing vegetables or converting metric to whatever it is we use here in the states. I use the kitchen shears for everything from cutting bones to mincing herbs. This time I used it to cut the broccoli slaw into smaller pieces and to cut up the rehydrated mushrooms so they were bite sized. And then there's the potato masher. I don't have a hand-held blender and with this masher, I don't really need one. It's perfect for mashing up soups and potatoes and squash and...oh, ever so handy.

And that, my friends, was only my Saturday morning. Do you have a favorite kitchen utensil I should know about?

Added: If I didn't exactly follow the recipe, changed amounts, substituted ingredients, etc., does that make the recipe my own and can I post it here? I'll reference the original recipe, but I didn't make it like the book said to.

Mushroom Barley Soup

No picture and I'm real sorry about that. The problem is I'm too busy drooling over this soup while I'm preparing it and then I sort of gobble it up before I remember I should have taken a picture. This soup is thick and very flavorful, cooks up quickly and freezes well. What's not to love about it?

Mushroom Barley Soup

8 oz whole mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

2 bunches green onions, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups Imagine Organic chicken broth

1 cup Chardonnay, use the cheap stuff, it's awesome in soup

2 medium carrots sliced into thin rounds

1/2 cup barley

1/4 teaspoon Savory

1/4 teaspoon Thyme

1/2 teaspoon Basil

olive oil

salt

pepper

Toss mushrooms and green onions in a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine chicken broth and Chardonnay in a saucepan. Add sliced carrots, barley, savory, thyme and basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until mushrooms and onions are roasted. Add these to the soup and continue simmering until carrots are crisp tender and barley is swollen. Oh...my...gosh, enjoy! This has become my new favorite soup.

Note: I roast the mushrooms and onions with lots of root vegetables so I make better use of the oven. I figure I'll eat the root vegetables with another meal.

Just a quick post...

in case you still need something quick to bake. A couple things. First, I happened to stop into Penzey's the other night to browse the herbs and spices. I love Penzey's for their variety and the fact that there are jars of every herb and spice available so you can smell each one. I fell in love with the Vietnamese Cinnamon and had to bring some home to try. It's an amazingly pungent cinnamon, oh my.

Second, I was browsing my holiday recipes last night and I ran across an old favorite for cinnamon nuts. It's a delicious recipe, but the amount of sugar called for always bothered me. I just happened to have a jug of maple syrup sitting on the kitchen counter and since I had just bought a new cinnamon, I thought, "why not?" Why not, indeed. I've already made my second batch.

 

Cinnamon Almonds

2 cups raw almonds (or pecan or walnuts or whatever you have)

1 T maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons Vietnamese cinnamon (2 teaspoons if using regular cinnamon)

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss almonds with maple syrup until coated. Mix cinnamon, clove and nutmeg together and sprinkle over almonds. Mix well. Place nuts on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to prevent burning.

'Tis the holiday season so you must share these...no keeping them all to yourself.  See you back here next week. May you find peace and joy in your holiday.

Mmph, Crunch, Mmmm...

Oh, sorry, I was eating and didn't see you there. Want some? Yes, you do, you really do.



Five easy ingredients, mixed, roasted, cooled, devoured. The love for this is unanimous and it has instantly become the new family favorite.



May I please introduce you to:

Cranberry Crunch
1 c pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 c whole almonds
1/2 c sunflower seeds
3 T maple syrup
1 c dried cranberries

Mix together pepitas, almonds and sunflower seeds. Toss with maple syrup. Bake 300 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Let cool and toss with dried cranberries.

To be fair, I got the original recipe from here and as you will see, I've adapted it just slightly. This is on the list to be given as Christmas gifts this year. Try it. I know you'll love it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some munching to do.

You must be kidding me!

See that....thing....below? Uh, that's a squash. No, it is not a gourd. It is an honest to goodness squash. A Cashew Squash, to be exact. Yeah, and that jug it's leaning on? Yep, that's a gallon jug of baking honey just to give you an idea of how big this beast was. I admit, I was intimidated by this baby and it sat on my kitchen counter, taunting me, mocking me for 3 weeks. I can't tell you the number of times I heard, "what is that?" when people came to visit. I began to refer to it as my nemesis.


But I'm a determined soul, if nothing else, and this weekend, after finally tiring of the relentless mocking, I fetched my biggest knife and chopped her up into pieces (in honor of Halloween?). It wasn't easy because even my biggest knife wasn't really big enough. I think a chain saw would have been in order. It took two loads in the oven to get it all roasted, but now my freezer is chock full of delicious Cashew Squash. It's much milder than I thought it would be, but still delicious. Squash Quinoa Soup anyone?

Squash Quinoa Soup

2-4 cups cooked squash ( like my soup thicker so I add the full 4 c)
3 T olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 c Quinoa, well rinsed
4 c vegetable broth
1/4 t red pepper powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In large pot, saute onion in oil about 5 minutes, until transparent. Add minced garlic and saute for just a moment until you start to smell the garlic. Add Quinoa and squash and saute 2-3 minutes. Add vegetable broth, red pepper powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Notes: You can use any squash you prefer and the monster squash is not necessary, but it was fun. I added the red pepper because this particular squash is very mild, but I think I'll try it this way with butternut squash too.

Apple Crisp

From this:

To this:

in exactly 2 hours and that includes baking time. That's how good it is. I've tried to improve on the recipe over the years, but it all comes down to the same two things. Is it easy, and is it delicious? Yes and yes, so why bother with changes? And you only need look at the pictures to see proof. The littles were over for the evening along with their mom and B. I knew this was a favorite dish and since I had apples in the house...

Apple Crisp

8-10 apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite size chunks
1 T flour
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c white sugar
1 c flour
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 c oatmeal
1/2 c butter, softened (don't melt or your crisp won't be crumbles)

Place apples chunks in 9x13 dish. Mix 1 T flour, cinnamon and white sugar together and sprinkle over apples. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the 1 c flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and softened butter using a pastry blender until it's mixed, but still crumbly. Spread over apples and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Let cool until you can't take it anymore and then devour.

I would love to hear if you make this and how well you liked it.

Oh My Heavenly Goodness!

You know what happens when I'm left alone on a cool drizzly weekend? I end up at the farmers market where suddenly my car is full of delicious treasure and my wallet is empty, like, not one single dollar left. It was time to go home. What heavenly goodness. It certainly filled up my weekend.

1/2 bushel Bartlett Pears - canned. A&P already took 3 quarts and I think Kyle has spoken for 6 pints. Perhaps I should have bought a full bushel?

4 lbs Big Boy Tomatoes - roasted and frozen for Carrot-Tomato Soup this winter. On a side note, I've already got broccoli and asparagus frozen for making this soup over the winter.

Patty Pan Squash - roasted and frozen (okay, some were eaten as soon as they came out of the oven)

Red and Green Peppers - roasted, some were frozen

There was lots of chopping and dicing and slicing while I made Orzo, Feta and Tomato Salad; Tuscan Bread Salad; and Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Garlic. I ate extremely well for the next few days.

Eggplant - sliced, roasted and frozen. Chicken Parmigiana?

Buttercup and Butternut squash - both are stored in the cellar awaiting another cool rainy day, which is always perfect for baking and comfort food

Garlic - lots of it, now stored in the cellar

Nectarines - Most of these were sliced and frozen for smoothies, but I did eat one while emitting euphoric 'mmm-ing' noises because really, is there anything more delicious than fresh ripe nectarines? 

Asian Pears - eaten! These were a complete surprise to find at the market as I've only eaten them in Taiwan with you. Sweet, juicy with a crunch, delicious! I've missed these.

I did some baking. Berry and Buttermilk Cake. Wisely frozen after eating a couple of pieces.

And because I found spelt flour from one of my favorite vendors, I baked a batch of Carrot-Spelt Muffins from Good to the Grain. These are not diet food by any means, but they are the moistest, bestest tasting carrot muffins ever...in the history of the entire world even. That's how good they are. Egads. These too, ended up in the freezer. I think I'm less apt to eat the whole plate if they're frozen.

It feels good to have fresh food put up and stored again. I feel so smug and self-sufficient. These muffins are going to be scrumptious with a cup of hot Taiwan tea while watching the snow flutter down soon. Ahhh...you know I'll be thinking of you.

I was envious/jealous.

I admit it, and it's all YOUR fault. See, I've been following along on the Green Smoothie Challenge while all of you wrote these fabulous posts, showed me delicious looking drinks and posted amazing recipes. Aaand, you were raving about them. Some of my favorite reads, like Beauty That Moves and Shivaya Naturals and Salt and Chocolate, really went all out and made me crave them. You were out there in blogland enjoying something so delicious and I was being left out. Soooo, I finally broke down and made myself one, and you know what? It was horrible, like ick, choke it down and keep it down horrible. Ewww, that couldn't possibly be right. None of you are crazy enough to keep drinking something that awful tasting. It wasn't your recipes. It was me, wanting to be creative and make my own version, but not knowing what I was doing. By the way, I have a cooking rule that I broke and this is exactly the reason I have this rule. Always make a recipe according to the directions the first time so I know what it tastes like before I go making changes. Good rule.

So, I went back and tried some of the posted recipes, and only then did I try my hand at my own recipe, with great success too. Now, may I please present to you (drum roll please), Lily's Half Smoothie. This is one for the books. This one tastes as delicious as it looks. You may notice I borrowed liberally from each of you ladies, but  I don't think you'll mind because I'm just helping to share more of the goodness. It's called the half smoothie because it uses a half cup or a half piece of everything. haha...clever I am!



LILY'S HALF SMOOTHIE
1/2 Cara Orange or 1/2 cup pink grapefruit
1/2 banana
1/2 cup mango
1/2 cup pineapple
2 1/2 cup tightly packed collard greens and/or kale
1 1/2 teas. Agave Syrup
1 cup cold water

Load everything into the blender in the order listed (so you don't burn out the blender) and whirl until it's all blended and bright green. Pour yourself a delicious glass and sip til your heart's content.

Oh my heavenly goodness. Now I know what all the fuss was about. I'm a total convert to Green Smoothies.