Take Home Delights

Just had to leave a post for Friday, 'cause it's CSA day!

Well, the CSA season is drawing to a close--but once again, we're fans of the wonderful Friday collections!

It was still a good idea that we split a share with another family--that way we get a variety of goodness every other week. We did much better at using all our bounty--but it was still a challenge. So here is just a tiny sample of last week's take home...

 Aren't these purple potatoes a surprise? There's a reason the skin looks so dark...!

 Despite my poor focus, you can still appreciate the color of these great bouquets! A salute to fall...

I Can Read...

Shopping isn't one of my favorite tasks, but I do okay. Pretty good comparison shopper. Usually get a fairly good bang for my buck. Try to get out of my rut, at least sometimes.
One of my least pleasing parts of shopping, though, is getting home & unpacking groceries only to find that I missed a key part of a label.
Am I the only one that happens to?!
I do try to pay attention but a few seconds of letting my mind stray always seems to get me in trouble.
Current case in point as an example:

(the circle on the label is my addition... and sorry
for poor focus; I haven't had my morning cup of Joe...)

 Now I'm a pretty good caffeine-fiend (after all, I live in Puget Sound...). We go through our fair share of coffee--and it's usually what ever is on sale; I'm no brand zealot. I just want my warm cup of 'tastes good' in the am. In summary, I'm in the coffee isle fairly frequently.
So am I the last to know that now there's something in between leaded & decaf? Now I have to worry about 'half', too? Criminy!
And what time of day, with what level of distraction, did I miss the centrally located, fairly obvious disclaimer? *sigh*  So now I'm mixing in small amounts with the 'real' stuff in the coffee jar until the rouge pound is gone; can you hear me muttering? I'm sure this won't be my last example, but it likely won't be coffee next time...

Tasting Summer

 The hint--or tease--of an actual summer continues off and on.  It's been torture.  Wish there was a way we could have one big exchange system with the mid-west;  we'll ship them some drizzle, fog, & coolness--and they can send us some true bright sunny days with heat!
Visitors here, of course, think this is a heavenly break (unless you're here for Race Week sailing in a windless downpour!)--but a steady diet of it is pretty hard to take (at least for us closet sun worshipers...). So let's do summer things anyway--maybe the power of suggestion will make it happen. You know, have the Hawaiian shirt at the ready if the clouds burn off--stuff like that. Our good friends had us down for an indoor barbeque in honor of the summer that almost isn't.

Carol is such an amazing cook.  This time she decided homemade graham crackers would be a good addition to s'mores (OMG! They were great!).

Then came the new generation of marshmallows--have you seen those things?! They're so big!

Finally, add dark chocolate for the chocolate bar pieces & use the gas cooktop--wa-la!!  The best s'mores yet! (but don't we think that every time we have 'em?) 

It feels like summer when you bite into the gooey mix of sugar--just close your eyes! Just need to add campfire stories & you're almost there...

There Are No Calories in Looking...

Late at night when watching Stewart, Colbert, Ferguson, et al (and I'm not already sewing or crashed on the couch, unplanned, with drool sliding out...) I'm usually on the computer catching up with emails, bills, etc.  It's part of the multi-tasking mindset (...must not have idle hands!).
About twice a month I take a quick cruise through the Blogs of Note list; it's fun, insightful, & who knew all the possibilities?! (I'm feeling more like Margaret & Helen all the time--and less app'd, bookfaced, & tweeted every day!! But I digress.)

Anyway, Sweet Adventures of Sugarbell deserves a comment--if for no other reason than the eye candy of the most amazing cookies I've seen in awhile (really, you can do that?!). 

And, by the way, I'm so envious of bloggers that have the greatest photographs of the most amazing things!  They're not out of focus, or with a yellow... or red or green....haze included. Foodies & great photography especially seem to go hand in hand.  *sigh*
I digress again, sorry.
Sugarbell is also kind enough to share recipes & tips in case you might ever want to venture into the land of royal icing yourself. She makes it look so easy, but obviously an art form... albeit, short lived (except for the photos!)
Thanks!

Yummmmm....

Isn't it great how this....

can become this (Rhubarb Stir Cake)!

 I'm still awaiting feedback from our 'tasting team' (portions were spread around the neighborhood) but it smelled so great just out of the oven!  Ah, summer...

Summer Bounty

Summer really has arrived on our little island.  Cool & sometimes foggy overnight but sunny pleasant afternoons. With maybe two day's exception so far, you would not call it hot but the flowers, birds, bugs & bats are out.
One of the great treats we're experiencing this summer is a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from one of our local favorites, Rosehip Farm.

Every other Friday is a little like Christmas when we go to pick up our goodies--freshly picked that morning.  There are some tried-and-trues, but also some new adventures in eating each time.  Our only challenge has been to find ways to use timely and/or store them effectively while we work through the bag-o-goods.  This is a picture of our last pick-up, unpacked & ready for adventure!

Crock Pot Wednesday

OK, here's the next installment in the slow cooking extravaganza! I was half-kidding when I nicknamed it 'Crock Pot Wednesday' but so far it's proving true... The lasagna from last week lasted until Sunday in surprisingly good shape; mellowed, blended with age. That will definitely be a 'do-over' at some point.

Here is the before & after of this week's recipe: Tamale Pie. Pretty easy, fairly good. This recipe uses hamburger but any meat would do--and easily could be only vegetarian. I added corn & chopped jalapenos to both the meat/sauce mix & to the cornbread 'dumplings', added more spice than requested, and less meat & cheese. The cornbread was made with a Jiffy mix base--came out too sweet; I think a made-from-scratch cornbread with additions would be better, as long as not too thick. Thought of Joe's cornbread stuffing after the fact & wonder if that might be a good try as well.

Pros: nice flavor, easy, good idea. Cons: not spicy enough, didn't make as large a pot as expected. Next time (or find a better recipe): double the recipe on most things (more), hot enchilada sauce + more peppers/spice, don't make the cornbread a top layer (mix spoonfuls more into sauce).

And, no, so far we're not expanding balloons of couch-potatoes. Walking a lot and can 'cook-and-forget-it' with some of these recipes. Have a nice portion for dinner & save the rest for lunches or dinners to come, so we can be off to do other things. Like our Saturday morning yoga class. 8-) Or like today: I'm going to spend the day at a friend's long-arm quilting studio; she has a 2nd machine that she 'rents out' for the day. This will be my first adventure into DIY...will let you know how it goes.
Meanwhile, Jim is getting busier now with the Hearts & Hammers projects for this year: work day is first Saturday in May, so they're finalizing the projects that will be included and planning budgets, materials, and work team assignments. This is only year two for the Central group, but they're acting pretty organized! I'm always proud to see the local community step up & lend a hand...we're lucky to live here.
So we'll be eating our leftovers when we manage to return home.

Crock Pot Wednesday

So here was this week's adventure in crock-pot 'new recipe night': slow-cooker lasagna. Actually turned out well--with plenty of left overs to work on for several meals. Only prep was cooking up the meat, garlic & onion with tomatoes & sauce. Then all goes into the pot--including uncooked noodles. So easy! Tasted great..

Someone's In the Kitchen...

OK, so I'm just gonna go with this food roll I'm on.

Not sure what that's all about--except it helps with the years of guilt stored up while Jim cheerfully cooked most meals--and I obviously have the gift of a little more time just now. We both have a tendency--especially now with usually just the two of us--to go towards to 'same-old-simple' when we don't plan ahead. You know (I know you do!): tortillas/quesadillas, popcorn, etc. I'm not eating more (or wanting to), just wanting to enjoy when we do eat.

So I'm trying to get more creative, learn some new recipes (hopfully many of them on the healthy side), not waste food on-hand--oh, and did I say, have some fun with it? The internet definitely puts the fun into food & recipes exploration--can waste a chunk of time there if one isn't careful. I tend to easy prep, healthy, ethnic, etc. True baking--especially sweets, deserts are usually reserved for special occasions, visitors, etc.

So what are your favorite places to go hunting?

Here are some of my favorite locations--or new found surprises that I'm sure will become favorites:

101 Cookbooks (mentioned previously)

Orangette

Savory Sweet Life

Epicurious (which has a linked blog, too)

All Recipes

I'm always open to new suggestions & adventures--so if you have any tips or locations to share, bring 'em on! Bon appetite!

The Crock Pot

I had an opportunity in December to spend more time cooking & baking for a change--which was great while the boys were here. It was fun to pull out some old family favorites for the holidays--as well as try some new recipe adventures. (One of those: the triple ginger cookies were a big hit! The recipe was from one of my favorite blogs: 101 Cookbooks.)

During that time, we acknowledged the demise of our old slow cooker--not something I've used alot, but I've appreciated having one around despite the space it occupies. After New Years, my friend Meg came to work & announced that she had a never-out-of-the-box Crock Pot in need of a home. I quickly raised my hand & offered adoption. It has many nice features--but Jim & I agreed: it looks sort of like Darth Vader sitting there on the counter!

Since then, I've had fun looking up slow cooker recipes that we might like for 'new recipe night' auditions. We also have several roasts, chops, etc. in the freezer that need to be used. So, here was the maiden voyage of the Crock Pot--and the pork roast & veggies result. May not look that great here but was tasty--& will know better 'to do's' next time. We're not big meat eaters, so I've been looking for some veggie, or not-so-much-meat recipes for future trials.

We'll let you know how it goes.