and in the summer we are fruitivores

I think I've mentioned before

how much I love being able to get Bountiful Baskets!

I appreciate how it pushes me to try new vegetables

(grilled eggplant, or sauteed kale anyone?),

but my favorite is the variety of fruit we receive.

Here are a couple o fun fruity things I have made recently.

Taste the rainbow--nutritiously.

Top to bottom:

Strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple,

honeydew, blueberries, and plums.

(Yes, I know that there is an indigo stripe in there too.

But tell me what kind of fruit is indigo.)

It really was a big hit

even though they look less than enthusiastic. :)

And of course there have been more popsicles.

left to right:

tropical smoothie

(banana, mango, pineapple, coconut milk)

red, white, and blueberry

(strawberry puree, vanilla yogurt, whole blueberries)

melon-berry

(honeydew and cantaloupe with whole blueberries)

left to right:

mango peach

kiwi slice and whole blueberries in apple juice

apple plum

This week we also enjoyed

 skewers of deliciously sweet frozen grapes,

but those disappeared too quickly for photos.

mocha floats

that's

1/2 cup of espresso

(orI'll bet strong, cold brewed coffee would work too)

1 cup of milk

2 scoops of chocolate ice cream

caramel syrup to taste

all combined in a tall glass

try it.

it's good.

recipe reviews

Oh, boy. This post has been photos-only in draft form for a long time. Let's see if I remember these recipe experiments well enough to talk about them.

The recipe: Easy Flan Recipe. When I lived in Brazil as a child, flan (called pudim in Brazil) was my very favorite dessert. I decided to try to recreate this childhood memory in celebration of my half birthday (I was so busy on my actual birthday that I didn't get a cake) last April.
The mods: Instead of baking several small flans in remekins, I cooked one big flan in my bundt pan. I increased the cooking time, and it was just fine.
My impression: This recipe was just as easy as its name promised, and it had all of the delicious rich, creamy, caramelly glory that I remembered so fondly. If you need an easy, make-ahead recipe that will wow anyone who eats it, this is your recipe.

The recipe: Ratatouille's Ratatouille over pink rice
The mods: As I recall, I followed this recipe fairly closely except that I didn't serve it with goat cheese, and I think the fresh herb I had was marjoram and not thyme.
My impression: Eggplant makes my mouth and throat tingle painfully. I don't know why I keep trying to eat it. Still, I truly enjoyed this recipe and may even make it again. Next time I think I'll use a small pasta instead of rice.

The recipe: Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes
The mods: I used three five-ounce cans of the salmon that is more like tuna instead of the single 14 ounce can that has skin and bones in it as well. I'm also not a mayo fan, so I skipped making the mayo.
My impression: I really wanted to like this recipe, but I was disappointed. My kids did not like these at all, and I ate them because I was hungry but didn't love them. They were a little dry (which was probably my fault for not making the mayo), and I didn't find the sweet fish taste amazing. Next time I'll probably stick to my normal salmon patty recipe and serve sweet potatoes on the side.

it's finally getting warm in Montana

I've been refilling our popsicle molds almost every sunny day.

They're quick and easy, frosty-refreshing,

the kids are convinced they're a magnificent treat,

and since I use 100% fruit, they're nutirtious too!

What's not to love?

[Apple Cherry, Mellon Blackberry, and Mango]

I just fill the molds with whatever fruit juice I have on hand

or blend up a little bit of fresh fruit with my stick blender.

And sometimes I'll add a few frozen berries for variety.

recipe reviews

It's been ages since I've done any recipe reviews!

I feel rusty.

The recipe: Lemon-Zucchini Loaf with Lemon Glaze. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided that it would be the perfect way to use some of the zucchini and lemons from our Bountiful Basket.
The mods: (Because I can never seem to just make the recipe likes it's written). I peeled my zucchini (I was making it for Little Man's preschool class and didn't want any of the kids to freak out about the green flecks in their "cupcakes."). I also used plain yogurt instead of buttermilk and tripled the recipe. (I had a lot of zucchini!)
My impression: I ate more than half a loaf all by myself. Do I need to say anymore? : )  You should try it. Really. However, I do recommend sticking to the loaf version instead of trying to make muffins. The bread was moist with a texture reminiscent of pound cake, while the muffins were just crumbly.

The recipe: Alfajores are apparently a South American treat. Having lived in Brazil, I'm pretty much crazy about anything that contains Sweetened Condensed Milk. (I love that intensely sweet, subtly complex, smooth flavor gliding over my tongue. Sometimes I just eat it with a spoon. True story.)

The mods: I used a can of Dulce de Leche that I bought at the store instead of making my own. Why complicate things? I also used brown sugar instead of the sanding sugar and halved the recipe.

My impression: Um. Wow. I'm definitely making these again. And I definitely need to do a better job sharing when I do. These are the most-nearly-perfect cookies I have tasted in a loooooong time.

orange marmalade

In a recent Bountiful Basket order,

we received a bag of Seville oranges,

which it turns out,

are sour and seedy

and not good to just eat.

They are, however,

excellent for making orange marmalade

due to the high pectin content in their many seeds

and the usual high sugar content in the marmalade.

I don't particularly like orange marmalade,

but it's a great favorite with my mum and my Little Man.

So I set out on a work of love: making orange marmalade for them.

I used a clear and helpful recipe I found online

and experienced lovely results.

(I've never made jam without a box of pectin before!)

I even ate a little of it,

though most of it has been reserved

for the true orange marmalade fans.

pineapple-peach smoothie

Don't be fooled by its pale appearance, this smoothie is packed full of flavor.  Really, it's more like soft serve sorbet. Mmmm...delicious!  Also, I tend to just dump and blend when I make smoothies, so this is merely my best guess for the amounts that I put in. If you try it and the proportions are off, go ahead and tweak it to your taste.

Put into the blender:

3/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks

3/4 cup frozen peach slices

1/2-2/3 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

(my very favorite is Tillamook)

Blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

s'more topped brownies

A couple of weeks ago I had dessert duty for our final home group meeting of the year. We were supposed to have a cook-out, enjoy the springy weather, and make s'mores. The unpredictable weather, however, forced us to change our plan. Here is the super-easy oh-so-yummy solution I came up with:

S'more Topped Brownies

1 box brownie mix

1/2 container marshmallow cream

2-3 graham crackers

chocolate chips to taste

~Prepare brownie batter according to instructions on box.

~Bake the batter in a 9"x13" pan also according to instructions on box.

~Take the brownies out of the oven on the doughy side of done-ness.

~Cool the brownies in the pan.

~Spoon dollops of marshmallow cream evenly over the top of the brownies.

~Break graham crackers into bite-sized pieces and distribute them evenly over the top of the brownies too.

~Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top of the brownies. (Benjamin thinks that it would be better with no chocolate chips at all.)

~Broil on high for about 3 minutes until the marshmallow creme is golden. (Watch it very closely, though, each oven is different and it can overcook so quickly.)

~Cool again.

~Cut into squares and enjoy!

~Sprinkle chocolate chips to taste over

bridal shower-the yummy food

Not only did Blogger's problems last week delay my posting plans, they also actually caused me to lose a post and several sweet comments on other posts. Losing the post and not being able to keep on my little schedule was very discouraging, so I just didn't post for a few days, leaving me even more behind. Sigh. Not to worry, though, I'm eager to make up for lost time today. : )

I'll begin by writing about the yummy food my mom and I made for my friend's bridal shower almost two weeks ago. The food just might be the most important part aside from the gifts, and I was determined to make it good. I had fun trying to stick to the color scheme of blues, pinks, and greens that I was aiming for. In addition to the coffee, pink lemonade, and vegetable tray with dip all of which I did not photograph, we had:

a cheese ball and crackers

(recipe coming soonish)

Mexican wedding cake cookies

(they were humorously appropriate for a bridal shower

that happened to be on Cinco de Mayo)

I got the recipe from The Joy of Cooking.

chocolate-mint brownies

(I tinted the white frosting green.)

strawberry cake balls

Since three of the four recipes I made were new to me, I was relieved that everything turned out beautifully as well as deliciously! There was an abundance of goodies so that I'm pretty sure no one left unsatisfied. I'd definitely call the treat part of the party a success!

Little Man's culinary creation

I am proud to present to you Little Man's very first culinary creation! He made up the recipe and then helped me implement it.

Applesauce-crowned Gingerbread

Ingredients:

~1 batch of your favorite gingerbread (We used The Joy of Cooking's Applesauce Gingerbread recipe. We also like their Old Fashioned Gingerbread recipe.)

~applesauce

~syrup

Cut cooled gingerbread into squares. Spoon applesauce to taste over each square. Drizzle with syrup. Enjoy!

recipe reviews

Today I finished sewing together my log cabin quilt top, ironed it, pieced the backing, and ironed it. If you think that's not very impressive, you've never tried ironing a 113 inch by 98 inch rectangle of fabric before. It's a very worthwhile pain. I'm so pleased to have that part of it done! It was incredibly satisfying to fold up the quilt and backing and bundle them up to go to the quilter.

In celebration, I decided to write recipe reviews! Yes, it's a little random, but it I find that if I over-focus on one project it becomes stale, and what better way is there to distract myself than by thinking about yummy food? : ) No, not really. But food is delightful, and I've enjoyed trying a couple of new recipes lately.

. Enter the Cream Cheese Brownies:

The recipe: I have never had good success with making brownies from scratch. I have even managed to make brownie brittle (it was just like chocolatey peanut brittle without the peanuts!) while I thought I was following a brownie recipe. That being the case, I generally stick to making the cheater box kind of brownies. A few days ago, however, box brownies were just not going to cut it, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Enter Cream Cheese Brownies.

The mods: For once I didn't mess with the recipe (guess I was too scared of another brownie brittle incident) other than to half it for fear of making a little brownie piggy out of myself. ; ) I think I may also have not swirled the top two layers as much as I was supposed to.

My impression: They turned out! And they were everything I dreamed they would be...sigh...salivate...sigh...

The recipe: The other recipe I tried recently was Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar (sorry I have no photos for this one). We have been buying a lot of asparagus when it has been on sale lately, and I was getting tired of my usual steamed asparagus.

The mods: I added a grating of fresh Parmesan which was just lovely.

My impression: Yum! Roasted asparagus has a nice texture as well as more flavor than steamed asparagus, and the balsamic vinegar added the perfect, simple extra touch that was needed to finish it off. I'll definitely be making this again!

apple-ginger glazed carrots

My grandparents' good southern upbringings and their love of grits, sugary veggies, and bacon grease in [almost] everything, did not rub off on me. (I do, however, have a healthy appreciation for sweet tea... Ahem, I digress.) I am not a candied vegetables kind of girl. Most the time a little salt and the occasional dash of pepper or rare pat of butter is good enough for me. Every once in a while, though, I begin to long for syrupy carrots. When the longing becomes un-ignorable, I turn to this super-easy and tasty recipe.

Combine in a pot:

2/3 cup apple juice

1/8 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon powdered ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger)

2 cups sliced carrots

pinch of salt

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the mixture begins to simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid and cook for 15-20 more minutes, until the syrup is reduced and carrots are tender. Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable Soup

When my parents' neighbors gave us a generous number of carrots, potatoes, and parsnips from their large and beautiful garden, I knew instantly what I would make with them: roasted vegetable soup. It's the perfect autumn dish: warm and flavorful and satisfying.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash or scrub and slice:

3 carrots

2 leeks

1 parsnip

2 potatoes

Toss sliced vegetables with:

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Spread on a cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with:

salt and pepper to taste

Bake for 20-30 minutes

until the vegetables are soft

and have golden edges.

Combine in a pot:

tomato soup and chicken broth

(in your preferred proportions)

to make 3-4 cups of broth

(depending on how brothy you like your soups).

Add roasted vegetables to broth and bring to a boil.

Sample and adjust seasonings as desired.

Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese

and serve with crackers or fresh bread.

Enjoy!

This time I sliced and roasted about quadruple the amount of vegetables and froze the surplus for use in future soups. I hope it works as well as I think it will because this soup is one of my favorites!

P.S. If you haven't entered my two-year blogiversary giveaway yet, please do!

cupcake heaven

this cake

(modified slightly

by substituting

Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa

for the plain cocoa

and by putting the batter into lined muffin cups

and baking for only 20 minutes)

combined with

this frosting

makes

delicious and lovely cupcakes.

You should try it.

Recipe Reviews

I've been trying quite a few new recipes lately. Here are the photos, links, and reviews for the four most recent ones.

The recipe: In my search for new grilled foods to make, I came across the recipe for these Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops which happily coincided with my search for new pork chop recipes. I was excited to try it.

The mods: The only change I made this time was adding a sprinkling of crushed red pepper to the sauce in an attempt to increase the flavor after I sampled it.

My impression: This was a reasonably good recipe. It was not inedible; in fact, we even enjoyed it while we were eating it. However, the sauce was much more bland than I would have imagined. I don't anticipate making this again, but if I do, I would omit the oil in the sauce (it just sat slimy-ly on top and never incorporated into the sauce), use more and fresh ginger, and use all apple juice instead of half apple juice, half water.

The recipe: I was intrigued when I found this recipe for Tomato Cucumber Salad with Mint and even bought a cucumber for it because I was too impatient to wait to try it until garden cucumbers are in season.

The mods: The first modification I made was to use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. The velvety richness of the balsamic instead of the more acidic bite of the red wine vinegar appealed to me and more than made up for the less pretty color it imparted to the cucumbers. The second change I made was to use about one tablespoon of crumbled dry mint instead of the fresh mint. The last change was omitting the onion; I simply wasn't in an oniony mood the day I made this.

My impression: I liked it. I'm a fan of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint and thought the combination of the three was a refreshing and delightful new experience. The boys and my dad also seemed to like it quite well. A friend who tried it made polite but not enthusiastic remarks, while neither his wife nor my Benjamin were inclined to try it at all. My conclusion: this recipe is one that totally depends on individual taste.

The recipe: When I found this recipe for Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Orzo, I thought it sounded like a perfect summer dish.

The mods: I substituted plain sun dried tomatoes for the oil packed ones after reading a couple of reviews stating that the oil-packed tomatoes combined with the oil in the recipe made for a too-oily dish. I also substituted some dried basil for the fresh basil since 1/2 cup of fresh basil leaves was more than I could expect from my puny little basil plants.

My impression: This was a delicious recipe! Everyone who ate it enjoyed it. I will definitely be making this one again. Next time I hope I can use the fresh basil (I really think it would add a lot to the dish). I'll also plan on adding just a little bit more salt.

The recipe: Another recipe found in my search for new grilled foods, Grilled Lemon Chicken, looked like a simple, delicious alternative to plain grilled chicken.

The mods: The only thing I changed in this recipe was that I did not add bell peppers to the marinade. I don't care for them, and I didn't want to buy any, so their fate of being left out of this recipe was sealed.

My impression: This recipe, while not earth-shattering, was tasty. As I anticipated, it added a slightly different spin to plain grilled chicken which was refreshing but not overwhelming. I may not use this exact recipe again, but I will be planning on experimenting with these marinade ingredients some more; they have fantastic potential!

Hard Shell Tacos

This is more of a technique than a recipe, but I still thought it was good enough to share. Seriously, this way of making hard shell tacos is the best I know of. The shells don't shatter and the meat and beans are warm . Without further ado, here's how I make hard shell tacos:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Decide how many tacos you want to make

and spread a layer of refried beans

into all of the taco shells

with a butter knife.

Line up the bean filled taco shells in a baking dish.

Spoon a layer of cooked, seasoned meat into the bean filled shells.

You can use shredded chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, ground game meat,

whatever you want!

Top the meat with some shredded cheese.

(My favorite is cheddar.)

Put the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 7-10 minutes

until the cheese is melted and the meat and beans

are warmed through.

While the tacos are baking, prepare whatever other toppings you want.

Hot sauce, sliced olives, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and shredded lettuce

are pictured here.

Take the bean, meat, and cheese filled taco shells out of the oven.

Fill them the rest of the way with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Yum.

Apple Pancakes

On Tuesday I was mixing up a half-batch of pancake batter for dinner when I suddenly had a bright flash-back memory of my dad making apple pancakes, and I wanted some! I'm sure my mom made apple pancakes too, but this time my memory highlighted my dad slicing perfectly even, thin apple slices, arranging them on the moist pancake circles on the griddle, and flipping the apple pancake over.

So on Tuesday I made some of my own apple pancakes and took photos, planning on sharing the delicious idea with you. Here's what you do:

~Mix up a batch of your favorite pancake recipe. (I like the basic pancake recipe in The Joy of Cooking with the addition of a couple of tablespoons of milk for thinner pancakes.)

~Peel, core, and thinly slice an apple of your choice. (I used a Fuji apple this time, it was perfectly tart-sweet and lightly crispy when cooked.)

~Pour pancake circles onto your preferred pancake cooker. (I used my electric skillet.)

~While the first side of the pancake is cooking, quickly arrange apple slices on the doughy pancake circle tops. (I like to crowd in as many apple slices as I can without overlapping the edges.)

~Flip the pancakes and finish cooking just like you would with a normal pancake.

~Serve with your preferred pancake toppings and enjoy! (I had last autumn's apple butter with mine, Benjamin and Little Man preferred syrup, and Brother had his plain. We all enjoyed them!)

recipe reviews

Before our trip I tried two new recipes. I'm finally getting around to reviewing them and posting photos.

The recipe: I like potatoes. I really, really like potatoes, so when I stumbled on this easy recipe for Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes, I just knew I had to bookmark it and make it someday.

The mods: I made several very small changes to this recipe: 1. I one-quartered the recipe, and the potatoes I used were a little large, I think. 2. I did not use parchment paper on top of the aluminum foil when I baked the potatoes, I simple put the potatoes on top of the aluminum foil layer. 3. I didn't cool the boiled potatoes completely before popping them into the oven. 4. My potatoes didn't seem to hold together when smashed quite as well as theirs did (perhaps because they were too large), so I didn't turn them over part of the way through cooking. 5. I finished them with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese just after they came out of the oven.

My impression: I loved them just as much as I thought I would! I ate up more than my fair share and could have eaten more if I hadn't been too full. I'm definitely keeping this recipe in my archives for future use.

The recipe: This recipe for Ginger-Lime Stir Fry looked intriguing, so I thought I'd give it a try.

The mods: Honestly, I tweaked this recipe so much, and so many things have happened between when I made it and now that I couldn't tell you all that I did to change it. The main changes, though, are that I used rice instead of noodles and lemon instead of lime. I think it is one of those good, recipes that are perfect for being played with and changed around every time it is made.

My impression: I used two tablespoons of fresh ginger when I made this, and it was very, very gingery. While we liked it very much (there were no leftovers), I think that next time I make it I will try decreasing the ginger a bit. We really enjoyed the flavor combination in this meal, and the number of vegetables it induces us to eat is excellent. I'm sure I'll be making it again.

Recipe Reviews

I tried two new recipes last week. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos for the first one and only a somewhat unsatisfactory photo for the second. Not to worry, though, if you click on the link, you'll find excellent photos on which to feast your eyes.

The recipe: I purchased the lemon for Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares quite a while ago, and last Friday was finally the perfect time to make it. We shared these delightful treats with my parents who had asked us over for dinner.

The mods: Benjamin isn't wild about the bitterness imparted by copious amounts of lemon zest, so I reduced the amount of zest to about 3/4 of a lemon's worth.

My impression: These cookies are wonderful! They are a perfect balance of crumbly and soft while still holding together beautifully, and the lemony richness is sweet but not cloying. Plus they are quite easy to mix up. Even Benjamin (who in general doesn't care for bar cookies or things with lemon zest in them) pronounced them tasty, and those of us who like lemon and bar cookies were thrilled.

The recipe: The other recipe I tried recently was Chocolate Cobbler. I made it to share with our home group friends last week, and there wasn't even a teeny tiny little bit left afterward!

The mods: I used 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder in the battery section because, well, 4 tablespoons are easier to measure than 3 tablespoons. Plus you can't go wrong by adding a little more chocolate. In addition, I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar and served it with whipped cream instead of ice cream.

My impression: This recipe was so quick and easy and so delicious that I'm sure it will be one I come back to again and again. The balance of sweetness and chocolatiness was perfect, and the addition of whipped cream just made it better. I got nothing but rave reviews from everyone who tried it.

The only comment I have about it is that the estimated 10 servings might make the servings just a little skimpy unless you are serving to a crowd with small appetites. Of course, the addition of ice cream would have made it stretch further, so perhaps I can't complain after all. : )

more recipe reviews

Last Saturday I had the privilege of helping one of my friends with a little retreat focusing on relationship with God and personal purity for girls in our community. The last item on the agenda was a fancy tea party, and that's where my help came in. I got to bake some goodies for the girls to enjoy as well as helping decorate and set the tables and serve the treats. I very much enjoyed being able to help.

The tea party gave me the opportunity to try a couple of new recipes. Here are the recipes I tried, the adjustments I made to them, and my impressions of the finished results.

The first recipe I made was Coffee Toffee Bars. This recipe is most definitely a keeper! It is quick and easy to make, and I loved the way the finished cookies tasted. Almost everyone who tried them who expressed an opinion to me also loved them. Benjamin was the only one who didn't really care for them. He likes neither bar cookies nor cookies with chocolate chips in them in general, though. As far as changes to the recipe, I used the optional two tablespoons of instant coffee and one-and-a-half cups of chocolate chips for the top. Also, I used vanilla extract instead of almond extract because I don't like almond extract. I will certainly be making these again; however, I'll make sure that I'm making them at a time when I can share because the combination of my love for them and Benjamin's disinterest in them could be bad. : )

Since the friend planning the tea party requested scones to go with the tea, the second recipe I tried was Petite Vanilla Bean Scones. I changed this recipe around quite a bit, though. I didn't have vanilla beans, so instead I flavored the scones with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. I left the vanilla completely out of the glaze. I also substituted milk for the cream in the scones. The finished results, while delicious, didn't resemble the picture on the original recipe. The scones were not exactly petite and seemed to have a much looser crumb. They were, in short, more like lightly sweet, delightfully puffy biscuits. I'm certainly not disappointed with how they turned out and might even plan to make the recipe the altered way again.