Thumbprint Holiday Cookies

Made from a box, but super cute, festive and yummy!!

Happy Holidays!

These owl cupcakes will make you swoon!

We had a Halloween bake contest at work and I got plenty of inspiration from Pinterest, and landed on making these precious little owl cupcakes. I think they turned out great, and they were a huge hit at the party!! They were super easy to make. I used Double Stufd Oreos for the eyes and Reeses Pieces for the iris and beak. And I used a butter knife to create the owl-like tufts with the frosting!

The best rice dish ever

If there is one recipe you MUST try from this blog, this is it!! I adapted my recipe from  Martha Stewart's, One-pot Curried Cauliflower Rice. Cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies, but I hardly eat it because the hubs despises it. One of his favorite foods is rice. Any type of rice, and he'll be happy. The beauty of this recipe is that I get cauliflower and he gets a yummy rice side - all in the same dish! It's easy, fun, and goes with any dinner.

via MarthaStewart.com

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

As much cauliflower as you want

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1/2 of a yellow onion, diced small

1 cup basmati rice (uncooked)

2 teaspoons cumin powder*

1 tsp garlic pepper

1/2 can of chickpeas (or more if you want), rinsed and drained

About 1 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a pot** heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in spots. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tsp oil and onion back to  pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 5 min. Add uncooked rice, cumin, garlic pepper, and chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 2 min. Add broth and cream and bring to a boil. Scatter cauliflower over top (do not stir to combine). Cover and bake until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. 

*The original recipe calls for curry powder, but I didn't have any. If you'd rather use curry seasonings, use instead of the cumin and garlic pepper.

**I used a large oven-safe saute pan, but in the future, I will probably try this recipe in my new Le Creuset dutch oven.

Makes 3-4 servings depending on the amount of cauliflower and chickpeas you use.

Shucking Corn with Ken

A local AG man teaches us how to shuck corn with ease (and quaintness!) And nearly 4 million hits on You Tube - he's famous! How cute is he?! I am definitely going to use this trick next time I buy corn on the cob!

Alien Onion

Look at the size of this onion we picked from our garden! I think we left it in the ground too long because it was oober slimy..ew.

A Growing Garden

When we moved into our house two years ago, the existing garden area was overgrown with weeds, the fence was falling down, and goat heads ruled the dirt. Last year, Steve cleared out the weeds, built a raised bed, and fixed the fencing to keep safe from the deer. This year, we (Steve) expanded the garden to three raised beds with room to grow. Steve has tweaked the garden with better drip systems, beer holders, climbing wires for the cucumbers and canteloupe, and a cute flower bed to add a touch of color. I wanted to share with you Steve's labor of love and how he got our garden to flourish so wonderfully. 

For the record, I do help! I assisted in attaching the climbing racks for the cucumbers (which is very important for space). I shoveled my share of donkey doo for the compost and I save all of the kitchen scraps to add to the compost bin. All of this, combined with store-bought soil makes for the perfect growing dirt. I also weeded the beds a few times in the early stages, and helped tie off rope to the tomato bed to hold up the growing branches (also very important...you want your tomato plants supported as much as possible!) But, best of all, I cook and prepare the veggies! Nom nom nom..

2010 - One lonely bed:

2011:

One bed for tomatos, one for various veggies, and one for cucumber and cantaloupe

BEST. LETTUCE. EVER.

Bell peppers

Proud papa and his tomatos (and beer shelf!)

 

Not your average banana bread

Like I mentioned before, I am always left with a few overripe bananas and looking for new ways to use them. This time, I wanted to do a simple banana bread again and recently came across a new recipe while following various Bachelorettes on Twitter. (See, I knew there was a good reason for my new twitter obsession. I seriously cannot stop reading about what former Bachelors and Bachelorettes are up to...it's sick really.)

Anyway, I am not even going to write out this recipe, because you can find it here: Ashley's World Famous Ball-Bustin' Banana Bread. I followed it exactly and this bread turned out SOO good. Best banana bread so far. It is moist but not oily. The most brilliant part of this recipe is how you separate the banana mash into one lumpy banana mix and one banana cream mix. That way, the banana is infused into the bread but you also get yummy lumps of bananas inside the bread. LOVE this!

Try it. Now. Go on! You won't be disappointed!

I even tweeted Ashley about trying her recipe and got this:

Whoo!

Cucumber Queen

Our cucumbers have gone mad this year. They took over the poor canteloupe, they outgrew the raised bed, and they are multiplying so quickly we can't keep up! There are bent ones, short and fat ones, long skinny ones, and giant ones...basically cucumbers growing on top of cucumbers on top of cucumbers! It's madness.

We've eaten so many cucumbers I am starting to get sick of them! I had to get real creative coming up with ways to serve up these babies and I thought I would share some ideas with you, in case you have a massive cucumber garden too!

Cucumber-Tomato Salad

This has been one of our faves lately. All you do is combine peeled and sliced cucumbers, slices of tomatoes (any kind, but the sweeter the better), a pinch of ground pepper and kosher salt, and your dressing of choice. I've used olive oil with balsamic vinegar, but my favorite is a local dressing/marinade called Carmen's Gorgonzola Thyme. I also crumble feta cheese on top. Steve prefers blue cheese but I say blech to that!

Tuna Salad with Cucumbers

This super simple recipe I found in my trusty cooking magazing, Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Technically the recipe calls for celery, but I left that out and added carrots and radishes.

• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 3 tbls rice vinegar
• 1 tbls sugar
• 2 tbls olive oil
• 2 cucumbers, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch half moons (6 cups)
• 3 celery stalks (if you want them)
• 2 cans of solid white tune in water, drained and flaked
• coarse salt and ground pepper

In a medium bowl, stir together poppy seeds, vinegar, sugar, and oil. Add cucumbers, celery, and tuna. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate covered up to 1 day.

Cucumber and Radish Crostini

The perfect snack or appetizer. Also from Everyday Food.

In a medium bowl, toss together 1 cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced (I used a the horizontal blade on my cheese grater), 5 radishes, also very thinly sliced, 1 tbls fresh lemon juice, and 2 tbls of olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Spoon onto 18 toasted baguette slices and top with shaved parmesan cheese. 

***

For more cucumber recipes, try Martha Stewart's Seasonal Produce Guide.

We also tried pickling cucumbers. We tried three different methods - only one of which worked. Let's just say we have 8 jars of pickles that are not edible. Long story, and deserves a whole separate post on pickling.

Stay tuned!

Bibimbap

When we flew to Japan for our honeymoon on Korean Air, we were served a wonderful Korean dish called Bibimbap. Bibimbap means "mixed meal" which is my favorite kind because it means I can avoid using every pan in the kitchen making cleanup a breeze.

So when I came across a recipe for bibimbap in my favorite Everyday Food mag, I squealed with delight! Not only is this recipe simple, it uses common ingredients and is super quick to make! I hate when I find a new recipe where I have to go to the store and buy a million new spices or sauces, don't you?

If you like Asian cuisine, you will love this dish. It's similar to stir-fry, with a twist!  Don't be scared and just try it!

Serves 4

total time: 45 minutes

• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 5 oz baby spinach (5 cups)
• 2 1/4 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 garlic glove, thinly sliced
• 4 scallions (same as green onions if you aren't sure..I wasn't!), white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
• 3/4 pound of shiitake mushrooms, trimmed, thinly sliced (I guessed that "trimmed" means trimming off the stems??)
• 1 english cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks (I used 1 dwight ranch cucumber because we have a gajillion of them in our garden)
• 2 tbls soy sauce
• 4 large eggs (1 egg per person)
• 4 tsp toasted sesame oil 
• Sriracha sauce, for serving (I skipped this part because I didn't have any, but it's probably good!)

In a medium pot, cook rice according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, bring 2 cups water to a boil over high. Add spinach and cook, stirring constantly until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain. When cool enough to handle, squeeze spinach dry with a paper towel. 

Wipe out skillet and heat 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil over medium-high. Add carrots and cook until crisp-tender, 3 minutes. Add garlic and scallion whites and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook 4 minutes. Add cucumber and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Add spinach and soy sauce and stir to combine. Transfer vegetables to a bowl and wipe out skillet.  (See, so quick!!)

Heat 3/4 teaspoon vegetable oil in skillet over medium-high. Add eggs, reduce heat to medium and cook until whites are set and yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes. (I cooked my eggs a bit longer because I don't really like runny eggs..)

Divide rice among four bowls and top with vegetable mix. Top with fried egg. Drizzle each with sesame oil and sprinkle with scallion greens. Serve with Sriracha.

Iowa Sweet Corn

Most of you who know me, know that I LOVE my veggies! But, my very favorite is corn on the cob. Remember that time my lovey bought me corn on the cob for our anniversary, and I was in high heaven?? Well that's how much I love corn!!!

I don't know about you, but when I think of Iowa, I think of CORN! I've never been to Iowa but I can imagine miles and miles of corn fields, playing hide-and-seek in between the rows, and enjoying crisp sweet corn on a warm summer day sitting on a screened-in porch with some sweet tea! Well, back in May, Steve's Aunt Margo and Uncle Pat took a road trip across the country from Iowa, touring National Parks, and we were lucky enough to have them spend a couple of nights with us! Pat raved about their sweet corn and described it as so tender and sweet that you can pull a cob right off of the stalk and eat it right then and there! Steve doesn't like corn (I know, crazy huh!) but he said the only corn he will eat is Iowa sweet corn. It MUST be good.

Well folks, today on our front porch was a package from Aunt Margo and Uncle Pat...and inside that box was a very special treat. You guessed it! A dozen sweet corn cobs, freshly picked on August 15th, yes TWO DAYS AGO, from Iowa!!! I can hardly contain myself!!!

I immediately de-husked them and oh my, they are gorgeous! I wrapped them in foil and put them on the BBQ for 20 minutes and OH MY GOSH, you wouldn't believe the delightfulness of this corn!!! Best. Corn. Ever.