Canning

Heather, If I was your neighbor I would sneak over your fence and steel your beautiful tomatoes!! I love roasted/melted tomatoes and that recipes looks fabulous.

Also thank you for the microplane -You did not have to do that but it was so thoughtful.

Anyway I took my first stab at canning. I don't know why it had me so intimidated, I know millions of cooks everywhere do it but for some reason I have always been scared to try. So after I read the directions about 100 times I was surprised at how simple it really was. Also surprised at how much sugar it took (yikes 7 cups!) But I was afraid to veer from the recipe so I made apricot jam and strawberry jam and I am very happy with the results. In fact I've had PB and J for breakfast and my late night snack 2 days in a row. Baby must like sugar because it's making my mouth water as I type. This next weekend I want to tackle pickles and jalapenos! 

Last night we made spaghetti and Meatballs - but Tony's meatballs were more like mis-shapen meat patties. I don't know if you ladies do this, but I never use breadcrumbs in my meatballs/meatloaf. I take bread and soak it in milk. It acts like a binder but gives the meat a light silky texture that I really like. Stolen from Stellas meatball recipe, other than that its basic - onion, garlic, grated cheese, egg, seasonings. I fry them until dark golden and then simmer in a slightly sweet tomato sauce to cook through. Served with too much grated pecorino.

And then finally at work this morning I made a Bleu Cheese and Scallion Biscuit - I called this second breakfast (after my pbj and banana breakfast). A basic butter biscuit recipe with 1 1/2 c. of blue cheese crumbles and sliced scallions. They were really tender with the salty cheese and bite of the green onion.

I also made some risotto which was good, kind of heavy for a late July afternoon, but my real plan is to make arancici with it. Shape the leftover risotto into balls and stuffed with fresh mozzarella and pancetta and then fried until crisp.

Canning

Heather, If I was your neighbor I would sneak over and steal your tomatoes!! I love roasted or melted tomatoes and that recipe looks fabulous.

Also thank you for the microplane -Very thoughtful!

Anyway I took my fist stab at canning I'm not sure why I know millions of cooks everywhere do it but it has always intimidated me. So after I read the directions like 100 times it was actually easier than I thought. I made apricot jam and strawberry jam and I am happy with how they both came out. It seemed like a lot of sugar (7 cups) but I was afraid to veer from the recipe. Anywa,  I think this weekend I will do a little more, I saw plums on sale and I love plum jam and then I want to try pickles and jalapenos

Tomatoes...The Summer Fruits of My Labor I mean Flavor

Melted Tomatoes with Green Onion Chicken (Aug BHG)

I told you I'd cook. Let me explain the "Fruits of My Labor"- every day I come home and pick about a doz ripe cherry tomatoes from my stash and add it to my collection, then I water said plants for about 20 minutes a night, then I have to decided what to do with these perfect little poppers besides the obvious so I've pickled some, chopped some, and ate many.

What's for Dinner Sister? Melted Tomatoes not sure how different they are from Roasted Tomatoes hmm...but you slice your medium size tomatoes (fresh, but a little under-ripe, from the Farmers Stand on the Corner) and layer evenly in 3 qt baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, fresh basil, and S&P then bake at 300 for 1.5-2hrs (I did the latter) you want them slightly dried and soft. Then cool about 10 min before serving - I could have eaten the entire pan and called it a night. They were bursting with Flavor so sweet so perfect. Tomatoes, when ripe, fall under my top ten perfect foods.

As for the chicken, the recipe calls for it to marinate 8 hrs to overnight and I wish I had to really let the flavor of the onion kick in, but i got greedy and did them last minute so they "soaked" for 6 hrs. I used 2 whole chicken legs and a drum which I skinned, covered in olive oil and S&P both sides, then added a 1/2 cup chopped green onions (white and green parts) wrapped and refrigerated. The recipe calls for the chicken to be done on a charcoal grill (Husband, I really want one) but we used our gas grill and cooked about 45 minutes. Plate the final product with the tomatoes and serve with lemon wedges. Take a bite and you get the flavorful burst of the sweet tomato in combination with the acid from the lemon and the subtleness of the green onion "cooked" into the chicken. I served with a Garden Salad with Beets, my Cherry Tomatoes, and Blue Cheese, Garlic Bread and White Wine of course. Cheers to Summer Dining!

Red, White, and Full

4th of July BLOWOUT!

Who needs fireworks when you have Fried Tacos, Brisket, Biscuits and Gravy, Pickled Shrimp, a Crab Boil, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Pudding, Savory French Toast and TONS of FUN!?!?

I'm still recuperating from all that good food. Thanks again Ladies and let's try to not make it a once a year thing - we belong in the kitchen together.

Not much cooking going on here - spending my evenings watering my yard and garden. Got my first Cucumber and can't wait to get a couple of more to make pickles. Mom was in town and we had Pho, Thai, and Pei Wei hmm think someone should open an Asian restaurant in E-Town. Going to try and make something this weekend so will keep you posted.

Recovered

Ok, first I stole the tagline from Heathers first post because I too loved it. I had such a great time seeing everyone but especially you guys. So much more fun to be in the kitchen with ya'll. Jon is still talking about the pickled shrimp. (I dont think he believes I could recreate it)

But I have to admit it took a full week to recover from our visit. I literally felt hungover on Tuesday and we did not do anything. I of course blamed the pregnancy... Anyway I really didn't do any cooking the following week, I made a batch of carbonara but most we ate the leftovers and sandwiches. But we got back to it yesterday. I got a small turkey last Thanksgiving and we never cooked it, so I defrosted it, brined it, and then smeared a garlic herb butter under the skin. Jon smoked it for about 3 1/2 hours basing it with the butter drippings. We ate it with a salad and some fresh broccoli. It was  pretty yummy, Jon is really getting great with the smoker. Tonight I have some nice ribeyes I want to grill. I'm thinking smeared with some leftover garlic herb butter.

Back to Reality

So let me start by saying that I LOVED seeing you both!! I am not sure now what I have to look forward to. October seems so far away and forget about Thanksgiving! I had the best weekend cooking and learning from you both. Heather, the pickled shrimp was outstanding!! As was the pineapple cake and the chocolate pudding. (All of which we need to talk about) And Steph, the crab boil was so much fun and yummy.

So back in Colorado tonight I made tortellini with pesto, peas, and spinach. The pesto was a gift from a friend at work so putting it all together was pretty easy. I hate when you go to a restaurant and when you get something with pesto you can hardly taste it. Not my pasta, it was so good. I also made chicken thighs on the grill. Now I know that for you two grill masters this is nothing exciting, but I have never successfully executed chicken on the grill. When Steph was here for a visit she gave me a couple of tips. I got the grill hot, then turned one side to low, seared my chicken and closed the lid. I just sort of turned, moved, let it cook for about 35 min. The skin was crispy and not burned, the chicken was juicy. You guys must have been a good influence. I would have posted pictures, but the lighting was crummy and the pictures did not look appetizing.

For dessert we are having the last of the fudgecicles which I will find the recipe and post about later. I really am going to try and be better about posting.

Finally...Whoever put the tagline at the top of the blog I LOVE IT! So true.