A happy, indulgent spring

So many happy, cheerful things to enjoy this spring. Good friends, way too much delicious food, bright little bunches of flowers, perfect weather(a little too summery for my taste, but I can't complain).

Here are a few of those fun things.

My pretty little tulips. 

Using my jelly jar lemonade sipper as a vase with a frog to hold the daffodils in place. It worked fairly well and was just such a darling presentation. The lid on my sipper is actually designed to hold a straw in place but it works equally well on skinny little flower stems. 

Matthew and I have been eating so little meat of late. This roasted pork belly from urban solace was divine, but it was almost overwhelming in it meaty richness. 

This was urban solace's version of key lime pie. When the waiter warned me that their version is a little different than a normal key lime pie, I assured him that my first attempt at key lime pie produced a pie that was very different than a normal one and I doubted their's would disappoint, since My first key lime pie was basically a soup, after all. But it was when I promised him not to burst not tears at having to eat it with a spoon that he chuckled and must have really thought I was a tad bit kooky. Anyway, I did think about bursting into tears of happiness because this was so delicious, but instead I just enjoyed each creamy bite.

Well, my lighting for this photo wasn't very good, but I just had to post the best photo I could get of my poached pears with toffee sauce and clotted cream. This was so very tasty and I wanted to include a basic recipe in this post.

Poached pear with toffee sauce and clotted cream

4 pears, partially peeled

4 cups water or 3 cups water and 1 cup white wine

1 vanilla bean, split

1-1 1/2 cups sugar

Cinnamon stick

Piece of fresh, frozen or crystallized ginger

Combine all ingredients. Simmer pears till soft. I had to remove some that were done and continue simmering the others until they were all done. Serve immediately or store in fridge overnight and serve the next day at room temperature with warmed toffee sauce and clotted cream.

Toffee sauce

1/4 cup each of butter, heavy cream, brown sugar

Pinch of salt

Heat on low till melted together. Boil until thickened, approx 4-5 minutes. Can be made ahead and refrigerated, but must be heated and reincorporated before serving. 

Clotted cream

Buy a jar of clotted cream.

If you don't like to buy such ridiculous and expensive things, then simply serve this dish with unsweetened whipped cream. 

My thanksgiving contribution

So, every year I go to a good friend's fabulous thanksgiving meal and this year was no different. And I have to admit that every year I feel the ever so slightest bit of competitive feeling regarding who brings the best dish to share. It isn't really a competition, and thank goodness it isn't because I deeply dislike any outright, verbally verified competition, but this year, if there had been a competition for cutest contribution, my friend Cat and I would have won. We copied a recipe off of Pinterest for rice Krispy hedgehogs. These were outrageously easy and just crazily cute. I would totally make these again.

These little cuties are made  by shaping classic rice Krispy treats into tear drop shapes and then spooning melted chocolate over the top, leaving the small point of the tear drop clean for the face. Chocolate jimmies give the prickly look of a hedge hog and the face is just black and red gel frosting. 

The little flower was a last minute emergency situation. The original directions call for fondant flowers. I, personally, hate fondant and never use it for anything. Besides, this was supposed to be fun and easy, not annoying and frustrating, so I just went to the local candy store, bought some brightly colored, fruit flavored licorice and sliced them into pieces. It was perfect and made the project extra adorable without any extra work, like hand shaping fondant flowers would have done. Blech. No fondant for me! :)

 

The month of canning

 So, I realize that it has been over a month since I last posted on my blog, but once you see all the delicious treats I've been making this past month, you'll realize just why I haven't had time to post!

I've gone on a little bit of a food preserving rampage. I have, of course, made some normal jams and such, but I also tried my hand at some less common (for me, at least) products: tomato ketchup, peach ketchup, mustard, jasmine peach pickles and pickled grapes.

I didn't actually photograph the pickled red grapes because they do look a little bit frightening, floating around their jar like tiny monster's eye balls, but they really are delicious! I love them with any cheese. I used this recipe, and would happily make them again and again, any time I'm stuck with more grapes than I care to eat up fresh (this happens more often then you would imagine and is part of the reason that I so rarely buy grapes).

I did manage to photograph everything else that I made, and I will say that I was delighted with how everything turned out. It's all delicious! And, while I'm still figuring out how to use the new stuff, it's kind of exciting to have things like homemade mustard and ketchup that I made all on my own and didn't have to buy from a store. This isn't to say that my versions are better than store bought, or that I would only ever use my homemade versions in the future(I absolutely won't), but it's always a nice feeling to be able to make something that is usually always store bought, in our modern age.

Blueberry jam made with Liquid pectin.

Pluot Jam- I only made three jars of this. It's delicious! I didn't use any pectin for this recipe.

This is actually new to me, I've never actually made pepper jelly before but thought it would be fun to help a friend who has never canned before. This turned out great. We used Liquid pectin for this jam/jelly.

This plum butter turned out pretty good. I made it in the crock pot(a first for me) and I actually think it needed a little more sugar and a little more time on the heat. I took it off too early because I was getting impatient, but also because it started to stick.

Nectarines in Syrup- growing up, we made canned peaches every summer, and last year I made a single jar of peaches, but this year I thought I'd try canning nectarines because they are so easy. I think I like canned peaches better =)

This is the only really strange item that I made recently. These are from a really innovative chef, Edward Lee, and while I love this concept, the peppers he called for in the recipe give the peaches an odd, vegetal taste. Still, these are lots of fun!

The most unusual and most delicious item I made, this peach ketchup goes splendidly with cheese, especially brie, but any cheese will do =) it's really, really good.

I used David Lebovitz's recipe for Mustard. I've been wanting to make mustard for years and finally decided to make some this month, since I've been on a "making weird foods" roll.

The tomato ketchup. This was pretty good. I ate some with roasted potatoes last night for dinner and I really think it would be tasty on a hamburger. Hopefully I'll have some left the next time I get around to making hamburgers. I doubt that I'll make this very often since it took a lot of cooking down to get it to the correct consistency. But it was fun to try homemade ketchup. I used a mix of different recipes for this and hope to find the perfect, easy recipe some day =)

Easy plum cake and my happy new kitchen cutie

Today, I needed to use up a couple of ripe plums and plum cake sounded good to me. Never mind the fact that I've only ever heard tell of plum cake and have yet to experience the delicious flavors of plums baked into a soft, moist cake. I spent the five minutes required to put it together, baked it up and now it's cooling on my new little kitchen butcher's block cart.

On Tuesday, I had to exchange an item at Ikea and whilst wandering around the As Is section of the store, I happened upon a lonely looking little item that just looked up at me and asked to be taken home. It was too cute to resist and, ended up being just the right size for my teeny, tiny, pint-sized kitchen. Anyway, it turns out that this sweet little butcher's block cart is the perfect size for just about everything, including holding a cooling plum cake.

Prickly pear vs cotton yarn pear

So many different types of pears and neither of the ones featured in this post are actual, real live pears!

I've recently conducted a comparison of the prickly pear which is the fruit of an edible cactus and the little cotton pear that I recently crocheted. So far the prickly pear wins for tastiness and the little crocheted pear wins for cuteness :)

So, obviously I am not actually comparing these "pears" but it sure was cute to set them next to each other for a photo. This was, in fact, my very first experience with buying, prepping and eating prickly pears. 

When I saw them at my favorite grocery store, I just knew I had to try them. I love buying new, to me, fruit and this was about as unusual as I've ever had.

Turns out they are just the loveliest color ever(my favorite color) and they taste a little bit like pomegranate, because of the earthy, seedy taste. Basically, I blended the flesh of the fruit and then strained it to mix with sugar and water for a light syrup. This syrup went into margaritas and bubbly water. I only used this to make a few delicious beverages because the other things people tend to make with prickly pear(jelly, candy) require many more prickly pears than I had purchased. 

Maybe prickly pear jelly can be a "someday project" which I will make if I ever have more prickly pear fruits than I know what to do with, until then, I think it's fun to enjoy their contribution to making fun and unusual beverages.

A Valentine's Day Tea

So, it may be fairly apparent that life has pretty much had me struggling to stay afloat for the past two months, considering that I haven't even posted an I'm-sorry-I-haven't-posted-recently post. I will say, though, that I am looking forward to unflummoxing my life in February now, rather than in January, like I had originally planned. And, I think this past Sunday's incredibly lovely (and ridiculously filling) tea party was the start of that new plan.



Our lovely Valentine's Day tea party forced me to sit down for four hours straight (something that rarely happens) and just enjoy munching on treats and chatting with friends. It was really delightful. Perhaps, I won't log quite as many hours jogging or as many laboriously healthful meals in February as I did in January, but I will have eaten more cake and celebrated the best holiday of the year(who can possibly hate a holiday that celebrates eating candy, is decorated with my favorite color and promotes the best possible feeling, that of love).



For the tea party, I made a Strawberry Mousse recipe from one of Donna Hay's magazines. It was absolutely fluffy and delightful; such a treat. Also, I tried to make petits fours and felt it to be quite a failure but, to be honest, I hadn't worked out the recipe before hand, which I knew was a mistake. Some of the components that I had been planning to use for the petits fours were either not usable or not ideal, but that's what happens when one doesn't take the time to plan ahead! =)



Over all, I just adored everything we ate; the table setting was just stunning, and the day couldn't have been more perfect for a tea party.

(I should mention that all photos were "borrowed" from Cat's Facebook page =) I totally forgot to take any photos!! Pretty crazy, considering all the work that went into this tea party. But, thank goodness for friends who take photos of absolutely everything they ever eat ;))

a handful of blueberries makes all the difference

I'm am posting two different jams here today. The little jar in the photo contains my strawberry blueberry jam and the large jar contains my plain strawberry jam.



The two berry jam actually only contains a quarter part blueberry, the other three parts are strawberry, but that handful of blueberries makes the entire jam taste of crunch berries. It is completely delicious!

The plain strawberry is very good as well, but it has a much cleaner, more simple flavor. The color of the strawberry only jam is nicer though, and I love the brighter red color; it really has that classic "jam" look.

I have gone overboard stocking my cupboard with more jam than I need this year. A week ago or so, I made some figgy jam(much like last year's) and though I didn't do a water bath for it, I did turn the jars over for a quick seal to help it stay fresh for a little bit longer in the fridge. And, just a few hours ago I made some grape jelly out of my favorite Kyoho grapes from the Japanese Market. The grapes are a little bit expensive but have such an amazing flavor and sweetness. I added just half a cup of sugar to the entire 4 cup batch. I am worried about it's consistency though and may not post on the jelly if it didn't turn out.

All in all, a very jam filled autumn. I think I may need to start giving some jam away. Hopefully all of my friends don't mind jam made with either less sugar or even just honey. I simply love the extra fruitiness of jam that doesn't contain more sugar than fruit. It really tastes more flavorful.

fall colors, summer flavors

 This September has been abnormally hot for San Diego which isn't really a problem and I certainly won't complain about it here, but I will admit that it has set off the game of tug of war that is happening in my brain. A part of my brain keeps thinking about the start of fall and the beautiful colors that come with the start of that season, while the reality is that the weather is very warm and my taste buds want the fresh, summer flavors that are still perfectly appropriate(according to the temperature gauge).

Grated carrot and couscous salad with fresh radish sprouts from my hanging planter

Cream of tomato soup made with fresh tomatoes and basil

 

So, this month I've been making dishes that have summer flavors but in autumnal colors to remind me that it won't be long until my favorite season arrives....

Breakfast: bright and fresh

Taking a clue from my favorite, fancy coffee shop, Bassam's Coffee House and Tea Room, I decided to make granola and yogurt parfaits for breakfast yesterday morning. I enjoy their parfaits so much that I thought I might try my hand at making one and, while it wasn't nearly as good as their version, it turns out I can make a decently beautiful and tasty parfait. Such a refreshing breakfast!

The glass frosted up instantly because of the high humidity but you can get an idea of all the tasty layers

On Sunday, I knew I would need granola for the parfait so I whipped up more of a "kitchen sink style" of granola than I usually make. I usually follow the recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, but I knew I didn't have any coconut so I just mixed a little honey, a drizzle of oil, a couple spoonfuls of maple sugar and various flavorings (a pinch of cinnamon and allspice, a splash each of vanilla and lemon extract) until it smelled good enough to eat. I stirred in a few scoops of oats and even a half scoop of rolled barley along with whatever nuts I could find in the freezer. After the grains were well coated with the "dressing" I baked the granola for a half hour or so, really just until it looked crispy and delicious.

I love improvising with recipes because sometimes it leads to delicious discoveries; with this particular recipe experimentation, since I wasn't trying to follow a recipe exactly, I felt comfortable adding a little rolled barley to the granola. Turns out, rolled barley is extra crunchy and delicious in granola. I love it!

See the different grains? the cute little barley sticking up in the middle?

 You can see in the close up of the granola a difference between the grains. The rolled oats are wider in diameter but rolled to a thinner depth. The barley is narrower in diameter but thicker in depth. I think the compactness of the barley is what makes it crunchier. Whatever the reason, it's a happy discovery! so, remember to experiment with your cooking!

totally normal girl canning

The subject of this post is actually a total lie! I still feel like such a super talented amazing grown up with my recent spat of big girl canning projects. Perhaps with a few more canning projects under my belt I'll finally feel as though using a proper water bath and sealing up jars is "totally normal girl canning" but until then I'll continue to revel in my feeling of happy, superior success!

This week I very successfully canned four pints of tomatoes. I got a pretty good deal on some locally grown tomatoes so I went ahead and bought enough of them that I felt an intense urgency to do something with them before they all went bad.

 I don't really know what I'm going to make with these home canned tomatoes that I couldn't make with store bought canned tomatoes, but while canning I recalled a memory of my grandfather insisting that he simply could not make his favorite goulash without a quart of home canned tomatoes. He said that store bought canned tomatoes did not give his favorite dish the proper flavor. That memory has always instilled in me the idea that home canned tomatoes are naturally far better than any other canned tomatoes. Whether that is true or not, who knows! I guess I'll find out this fall when I use these happy little jars of tomatoes.

Big Girl Canning

Today, for the first time in many, many years, I used an actual hot water bath to seal up my home made peach jam. It has been two years since my last attempt to seal up a sad little batch of Limequat curd and we all remember how that went!

Naturally, I used my new, itty bitty jars.

I felt very grown up doing things properly with sanitation and nice lids and using pectin, all the things I've avidly avoided in my jam making since moving to the most miniature apartment in the world (perhaps a slight exaggeration since mice tend to find it very roomy). Fortunately, all my jars sealed properly and the jam has set nicely; I guess I haven't completely forgotten everything I know about canning.

This jam was made with honey, instead of sugar, and so it has a slightly richer flavor than if I had made it with sugar. I also added about a tablespoon of vanilla extract to the jam to give it a slightly more complex flavor. Yum!

favorite summer soup

The Garden Zucchini Soup recipe from The City Gardener's Cook Book has long been my favorite summer soup. I realize that "summer soup" sounds a little crazy, so I should probably clarify that this can be served hot or cold. I actually prefer it as a chilled soup.

I started making this as a way to use up zucchini from the garden, back in the days when I was living at home and my Mother would plant a half acre garden. Of course, long gone are those days of picking everything fresh and complaining about having too much fresh zucchini and heirloom tomatoes. Still, I did create my own mini zucchini crisis last week by purchasing too much fresh summer squash at the market and have spent the last week trying to figure out ways to use it up. I have to admit, that feeling of zucchini overload really went a long way to making it feel like summer around here, well, that and the crazy heat wave we've had this past week in San Diego (what? you say 85 isn't a heat wave?).

So, once again, because this book is no longer in print and is, in fact, almost impossible to find I'm going to go ahead and post the recipe to this blog.



Garden Zucchini Soup
6 cups sliced zucchini
1 onion, chopped(naturally, I use shallots)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups broth
1-2 Tbsp curry powder
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper

cook veggies in olive oil in a sauce pan for 10 minutes. Add curry powder and salt to pan, cook a further 1-2 minutes, add broth and heat until veggies are soft. Using stick blender, blend soup to smooth consistency. Add lemon juice and pepper to taste.

I love to eat this soup when it is hot but I prefer it even more after it has chilled and the flavors meld in the fridge. I am finding that the easiest way to store soups in the fridge is in a large canning jar. I used to try to stuff the whole sauce pan into my, usually, very crammed fridge but when I was back home the last time I noticed my mother keeps her leftover soup in a half or full gallon sized canning jar, which she has done for as long as I can remember. It is only now that I realize how perfectly this solution works. Vertical storage!!

Cheery little thank you tarts

 I suppose it goes without saying that I've been just a little bit busy this past month. Like this blog post, these tarts were long over due in the making.

Way back in December, I had, on a whim, purchased a jar of sour cherries from the Jewish Restaurant/Deli in town and then promptly stuffed them into the back of my fridge. (Yes, I know, I'm supposed to stop saving food just because it is too special for every day consuption! I'm working on it!!) Just a couple of weeks ago, on my way to emptying out the refrigerator in anticipation of being gone for a week to Oregon, I found the lost, forlorn little jar looking up at me from the now empty shelves. I gave it a quick promise to make something truly grand with those bright little darlings when I returned from Oregon, and today I managed to keep that promise.

The reason behind making the tarts was not just to use up the cherries that I had been saving, but instead, my primary goal was to make something really cheerful and tasty as a thank you for one of my neighbors. Because of the fact that eating a full sized cherry pie is nearly impossible for a single person, or even for a couple, I made tiny tarts that could be slowly consumed over the course of a few days without getting too soggy(I hope!!).

I baked the tart shells on up turned muffin tins

Please do not mind the appalling state of the undersides of my muffin tins. I firmly believe in allowing my baking ware to get as crusty as possible, if only to save on elbow grease(it surely isn't laziness on my part). After all, I don't want my elbows getting rusty!!  

The little, unfilled cups looked brown and toasty. I wanted to eat one just plain!

I love the rustic edges of these tarts(I have to like them, otherwise I'd be disappointed)