Last Hurrah for Summer

You hear it all the time. As you get older you say it more and more... Time is flying by!! The summer has simply flown by! While it seems like it in retrospect, I can say I eeked a lot out of my summer. It started in a most unconventional way, for me at least, as I was laid off in May. 

I kept pretty busy those first few weeks preparing for my Gatsby Lawn Party (in a previous Post). 

Then, when June was still in its early days, I told a friend I wasn't enjoying summer, I was too disgruntled about my job being taken out from under me and having to face the oh so daunting task of finding new employment. Well, shortly after the words left my mouth I knew that was silly. Life doesn't wait for things to be going perfectly. Its up to us to take our pleasures and wrest them from the hours as they 'Fly' by. So I took my summer back. 

Don't get me wrong, I was actively job hunting, but in this technological world of 2013, that means trolling the internet and submitting lots of resumes online. I could spend 4 hours a morning doing that, and be done by 11am. After a light lunch, I was off to Honeymoon Island. I finally made it all the way to the north tip of Honeymoon, 5 miles round trip.

Or, some times, I would meet a friend for lunch. 

Some days were spent just planning a more involved recipe to try, now that I had all afternoon. 

I remember growing up, if I stayed home from school, watching my mother start dinner in the middle of the afternoon. I did that this summer. And even for someone who enjoys cooking as much as I do, it was so much more enjoyable to slowly tackle each and every preparation with a relaxed pace. And sure, we ate a little earlier in the evening than we do when I am working full time but with the whole long summer evening a head of us, we would find our way to the local craft breweries to enjoy a pint while the sun was settling. 

We took a few days to enjoy Anna Maria Island, our favorite summer destination. Swimming in the pool, trying new restaurants and even a little boating.

And then I was lucky enough to find gainful employment by the beginning of August. Very lucky and most grateful. 

Yes, the summer flew by. But not before I took my share of its sun kisses, and its joyful spirit that we only get for a few months, if we are smart enough to embrace it. 

And I was determined to try this stuffed zucchini before the season has completely faded. 

Been wanting to for weeks. Its super easy for weeknight cooking, even after a full day at work. :)

Feel free to futz around with the seasoning, and the cheese. Heck, mix it up however you want, but promise me you will enjoy!!

Zucchini 4 or 6

Turkey Sausage crumbles (about 1/2 C)

Parmesan cheese (1/4 C)

Fresh Thyme (1 T)

Sweet onions (1/4 C) Pre cooked or not. Either way. You pick.

Optional:

Bread Crumbs (1/4 C)

Monterey Jack Cheese

Smoked Turkey Sausage (Small Dice)

Cut the Zucchini lengthwise. Scoop it out and dice up the insides. 

Mix with the remaining ingredients of your choice, and Salt & Pepper. 

Cook in 400º oven for 25 mins. (give or take, until its as brown as you like it) 

I then topped mine with some flash cooked tomatoes. Here is a pic of the outcome, along with some pictures of my summer. Happy Fall!!

Grandmothers

I'd like to do a series of posts dedicated to my grandmothers. I'm starting with my Paternal Grandmother, because I have so much of her with me. So, here we have No. 1 in a series, this is my Grandma Fischler. We called her that always. My mom tried to tell us we could just say 'Grandma' because she knew who she was, but its the only way I ever thought of her. It wasn't Granny (as my cousins used) or just Grandma or any number of other names kids come up with. To me, she was Grandma Fischler. Born Rachel Frye in about 1900, in Brooklyn, they all knew her as Ray.  In fact, it was only a month or two ago that I learned her name was actually Rachel. It was on the back of a photo. She had a big family and lots of people around. Married Harry in 1924. Had their first daughter, my Aunt Audrey in 1925. My dad in 1926 and then two more, Joan and Steven in the next ten years. 

Harry, we called him Poppy, decided to move the family to Pensacola in the 30's. He was going to be a mechanic on one of the naval bases and work on planes. 

When I was a kid we would go to Pensacola to visit. She was always so full of delight in seeing us kids. And her Matty, of course. But us kids she would pinch both our cheeks and take our faces in her hands and just kiss us. Pure sweetness. I was talking with my cousin Bruce recently (Audrey's boy). I never felt so jealous as when he was telling me how he would ride his bike to her house after school everyday. It really drove home to me that so many kids have these great, familiar relationships with their grandparents. Not just summer visits. Im sorry I didn't spend more time with her. She played MahJongg, which I came to love on my own. She called her husband Christopher Columbus because he always took a circuitous route when going anywhere. And frequently got lost for a bit. This is a trait that went to my father and directly to me. Every chance I get I will take the path less travelled and try to find new ways to get where I need to go. My Aunt was kind enough to hand down her wedding ring to me. A beautiful eternity ring with diamonds that were smuggled out of Russia by Poppy's uncles.

When David proposed to me, he didn't do it with a ring, he did it with an invitation to our wedding that he had completely arranged. This was perfect in my eyes. He said the only thing he didn't have was the ring. I didn't hesitate to say "I already have one"! And I used Grandma Fischler's ring, until I broke it twice. Now I save it for special occasions.

Here is Grandma Fischler, with her mother Mamie Frye, my Aunt Audrey and my Dad. He is just kicked back enjoying himself.

This is my Dad and Poppy. Dad never did like horses. 

I wanted to change up the art in my dining room. There were a couple of framed posters that the woman we bought our house from had left here. I really wanted to repurpose the frames and make something in tribute to my grandma to hang in there, so, here is what I did...

I distress the gold frame and pulled out a lot of paper and ephemera and spread it out all over the kitchen!!

Then I got my beeswax pan. This is amazing stuff. It melts beautifully at a low temp and I keep it on a very low burner while I work. It give the whole project an antique luster with a waxy dullish surface that is just what I like. 

It's best to have an old iron just for this use, and on a low temp, iron over it and it smooths the wax into a pretty smooth and seamless over all appearance.

 Below is the finished piece with the distressed frame. I will say, I'd like to more layering. I always think its done too soon but I don't know for sure until its framed. And then I don't want to undo it!

But the final piece I do like hanging in the dining room. I also hung a pic of my Aunt Nettie's wedding picture. (she married Harry's brother, Joe)

 Next time: Holly Hall, my maternal grandmother.
Have you hugged or spoken to your grandma today? You should. Ask her tons of questions about her life before its too late.

Continuing a theme...

Last night I made Potstickers with my wonton wrappers. Because I had so many wrappers left over, (too be honest I didn't know I had an unopened pack and bought another, so there are loads!) I decided to make cheater ravioli. I say cheater because I didn't make my own pasta. The wrappers are much lighter than standard pasta which I prefer. That way I can eat more of the filling and not feel so weighted down after.
I wanted to try a few different fillings because I like spinach and my husband doesn't. So, I started with a basic filling of ricotta and mixed in minced garlic, basil and parmesan. Certainly I used s&p, but I prefer kosher salt. It seems it should be an unspoken rule that you don't have to write salt and pepper, because it goes in EVERYTHING!!. So, from now on, that's my new rule.
From this basic mix, I created 3 different fillings.
In one bowl I had some fresh cooked, chopped spinach.
In the second bowl I had some ground chicken that I had cooked with garlic and onions.
the third bowl contained some roasted zucchini I had made the night before, and I chopped it up. To each of these I added the ricotta mix. No measurements tonight, sorry, just mix it up to taste.

So I laid out the wontons, added about 1 1/2 teaspoon of filling and folded them and sealed with a bit of water.
I brought a very large pan of water to a boil, then reduced it to a simmer and slid in the little gems. It only takes a few minutes. They started half floating at the top and then I pull them out.
Its good to sprinkle them with a bit of oil or they will stick together.

 I like to make my own marinara. I slow cook about 6 diced tomatoes with garlic in a skillet. When close to done I add a half a handful of chopped onion. I like the onion to be present. Then at the end I stir in about 1/4c of butter. I laid this on a plate and piled the ravioli on top.

I topped it with additional parmesan because I could. 

I don't typically make recipes from the Italian side of the spectrum. My husband doesn't favor it and speaking specifically of pasta, it just seems too heavy. This was a hearty, satisfying meal, that even on a sultry summer evening, was light and fresh. 

My husband is really starting to come around to my way of eating too, he liked it more than I expected!

Its only taken me 18 yrs, patience pays off, my friends. 

Sunday Dim Sum, Monday Potstickers

Yesterday, I had a chance to go to my first Dim Sum experience. The kind of Chinese brunch where they roll up with carts full of little tasty treats. Little metal canisters full of all kinds of dumplings and rolls and steamed buns. There were fresh vegetables and there were sweets and soup. You let the server know what sounds good off each cart, then they pull that container and put it on large lazy susans on the table. Everyone spins the food around and enjoys. It was so good, I was only sorry I forgot to get any pictures! After enjoying all these different dumplings, I had a real taste for potstickers. I just had to find a good potsticker recipe!
Ever since our first trip to San Francisco when we walked through the doors at Brandy Ho's, (http://www.brandyhos.com) we have been obsessed with Potstickers. Little dumplings filled with ground meats and veggies and then pan fried and steamed. Brandy Ho's, which sits right at the edge of China Town and on the verge of the Italian district, has been one of our favorite spots in a town where we have sooo many favorite spots. We make sure to go for dinner at least once each trip out to SF. This is kind of funny when you consider my husband is not a fan of Chinese food. But he will walk miles, literally, to get to Brandy's.
Most of the time the taste of the dumpling itself is only have as important as the dipping sauce. We sure do like them.
I have tried an occasional recipe but until tonight I wasn't satisfied.
Tonight, ohhh tonight! I found a recipe on "Feast on the Cheap" which really cut the mustard!
'FotC' is a blog/website that will price out a recipe and provide delicious budget friendly meals. Well thought out meals, not the kind where you buy a bunch of processed foods and pour them into a casserole. So when I saw the Curried Pork Potstickers, (which includes another one of our go to flavors, curry) I was ready to give it a go. Happily, due to my 'well stocked pantry', I only needed to buy some ground pork and a piece of fresh ginger root.
The bonus was there was also a dipping sauce recipe to accompany the potstickers. This WILL BE my go to dipping sauce. A perfect YUM as chef Jet Tila would say. A balance of salty (soy) and sweet (sugar) with  big garlic and ginger rounding it out.

I followed this recipe pretty close, I wanted to give it the best odds for success. It was really delicious. It was exactly like I want potstickers to taste.
I was also very happy with the texture.
I like to use wonton wrappers and I usually have them on hand. But they are raw dough. The way this recipe instructs you to cook them in a little bit of oil to brown and crisp in the beginning, allows them to hold up nicely to a 3 minute steam. The result is a good firm wrapper and the solid, fully cooked, pork  center. I did get a bit frustrated when a few stuck to the bottom of the pan, but I corrected on the second batch. Be sure though, once you have filled the dumplings, before you put them in the hot pan, try to flatten them as much as you can (without blowing them out) so more of the surface makes contact with the heat. My husband was very happy with the results.
Recipe says it will make about 30 dumplings. We did not need that many. Trust me, we would have eaten every one. Instead I have some extra pork filling and tomorrow I will serve it with lettuce leaves as pork roll ups.

Curried Pork Potstickers adapted from Feast on the Cheap. (its nice and short, too.)
Check out this great site: http://feastonthecheap.net

Ingredients for the Potstickers:
12oz ground pork – $3.50
½-cup thinly sliced red cabbage, chopped finely – $0.99
2 green onions, chopped into thin rounds – $1.29
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger – $0.15
1 teaspoon Mirin – stock
½ teaspoon sesame oil – stock
¼ teaspoon curry powder – stock
½ teaspoon salt – stock
Pinch of black pepper – stock
25-30 wonton or potsticker wrappers (find them in your grocer’s produce section) – $3.29
Canola oil for pan-frying – stock
Water for pressing/crimping the wonton wrappers
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $8.23
Cost per potsticker: $0.27

Ingredients for the Dipping Sauce:
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced – stock
1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger – $0.30
1 Tablespoon sesame oil – stock
1/3-cup low sodium soy sauce – stock
¼-cup rice vinegar – stock
¼-teaspoon black pepper – stock
2 Tablespoons sugar – stock
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $0.30

Directions for the Potstickers:
1. Combine the pork, cabbage, green onions, ginger, mirin, sesame oil, curry, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Mix well incorporating all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes, assemble the potstickers. Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling on the center of the wonton wrapper. Dip your finger into a small bowl of water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. Press the edges of the dough to seal and crimp with the tines of a fork.

3. Once all potstickers are assembled, heat 1 Tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and place as many potstickers in the pan as you can without overcrowding (you’ll have to cook in batches). Brown the potstickers on both sides until golden and crispy – this happens rather quickly. Keep the flame on med-high, then add just enough water to coat the bottom of the skillet and cover with a lid. Steam the potstickers for 3-5 minutes or until the water has evaporated. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat until all potstickers are cooked.

Directions for the Dipping Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over a low flame until sugar has dissolved. Serve with potstickers.

TTFN!

Avocado Delight

You remember when your parents told you  you weren't old enough for some foods? 

It's true, very true. It took me years to fully appreciate Avocados. I have always enjoyed guacamole, but the actual fruit itself, I was not a fan. The flavor didn't seem worth the mushiness and just so slight sliminess.

But now, NOW! The avocado has become a daily treat. I have it with my eggs, with potatoes, with tomatoes in salads. 

I came across a recipe yesterday as I was trying to find a crab dip recipe. It mixes lump crab with guacamole! Perfect!

this is an Emeril recipe, for 'Kicked Up' guacamole. I have adapted it somewhat, because it seems there is never enough seasoning for me. Which is the easiest thing in the world to fix. 

This was really good with tortilla chips. I bake my own from corn tortillas  I buy at the grocery store. I usually get 6 wedges from a small tortilla, and bake them at 350 for 12 mins. 

I feel better about eating them than I do the bags of chips. Mostly because of my Weight Watcher's habits.

So here is the adapted recipe from Emeril on Foodnetwork.com:

3 large, ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/3 cup minced cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup minced red onions
1/2 cup finely chopped seeded tomatoes
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over to remove shells and cartilage
Tortilla chips, for dipping

I added: Cholula Hot Sauce, ground coriander, and extra cumin and jalapeño.

The way he directs you to make this, seems a little unnecessary. I don't propose to question Emeril, I just didn't get this particular direction. So, here are my directions:

I simply took a 1 avocado and the crab meat and set it aside. Everything else got mashed up together. Then I took the remaining avocado and chunked it up and stirred in the crab meat.

It was very good and well received by the poolside group I made it for. Even one friend who normally doesn't care for crab was eating and enjoying it and was surprised that it was the crab that added that sweet extra dimension. 

Lump Crabmeat has a sweetness and richness to it, which is why so many recipes call for it. 

If anyone reading this is local to the Palm Harbor/ Oldsmar area, the Lobster Shak on Hillsborough gets 1 lb containers of shelled lump crab about once a week. I used it once before to make crab tacos. Its a great deal and the flavor is wonderful. 

Green (Paper) Thumb

I love flowers. LOVE the variety and look and the way they each grow with the most amazing detail. Flowers make people happy. They are beauty personified. When you get one with a pretty scent, its even more pleasurable to have them around.
The problem with flowers is they can be very expensive. I would have bouquets around the house all day, but they don't last long enough and I tend to put my disposable income into other craft supplies, like paper. I as strongly about paper just about as much as I do flowers. So what could be better than flowers made out of the most beautiful papers?? Even using the printed pages of a book, turns that most basic fonts into a work of beauty. I recently came upon a site with a template for paper flowers and I immediately set to work.
My niece is a librarian. She is also planning to be married. I wanted to try to make some flowers for her out of the pages of books.
I started with an old book I bought specifically for scrap booking. It has a great shape to it and the subject matter is the civil war. There are brilliant illustrations, which might make you ask, why cut it up?? Well, because it has such great illustrations and the pages are big is why I will cut it up.
You can see in these first two pages, the template. I printed it on plain paper and then on the page from the book. The one downside to the pages from this book, is the text stops short of the whole page, leaving predominately white petals on the two pieces.

But the first attempt didn't suffer much from the white side of the paper. 

 This second attempt, though, is really so much more interesting. I went with the illustrated side of the page instead of the texted side. I really love the way that came out.

Now, obviously, beautifully colored paper would provide slightly more realistic results. But I intend to keep experimenting with various patterned pages. Just for fun. 

Maybe even mix different prints in one flower, creating a quilted flower effect. Hmmmm, I'll keep you posted. 

The link for the template page is: 

http://www.elli.com/blog/freebie-friday-diy-paper-rose-templates/

If you try it out, send me pics, I'd like to see how you do. 

First Friday!

Its the first Friday of June, 2013. And to me, that also seems like the first Friday of summer. Most kids are out of school by now so Friday isn't the same in the summer. But it will always and eternally be the jumping off point to the weekend.
Even being unemployed, Friday means two days that I don't have to worry about job hunting and my husband is not working so we can relax.
I try to keep busy these day and stay active. Not get in a rut or feel down because I'm not in the 9-5. And not sit and watch endless movies either, which can be tempting. Not TV though. Daytime TV does nothing for me. It kind of numbs the mind. Which is fine if you're sick, then it doesn't matter whats on, the drone will help you sleep.
Today I did more straightening up around the house. I admit to being very slow cleaning after a big party. So I'm still getting the Gatsby feel out of the house.
But I also wanted to do some food stuff as my sister has recently been in hospital and is home now so I want to do something to help her relax.
So I decided to smoke some chicken. We have a digital smoker and it feels like a waste of smoke and effort to do small bits. It seemed like a good time to cook some chicken for us and for my other sister. I fired up the smoker and got to work on the chicken. My latest rub, which I may have mentioned, is ground fennel and I threw in some coriander. And salt and pepper. I rub that in with some coconut oil and slide it in. Smoking NOW!
While that was going, I boiled off some eggs for deviling and got to work on some muffins. I made banana muffins and some Lemon poppy bread.
When I was pouring the banana muffins I was thinking I would do an oatmeal and brown sugar crumble to top it with. Along with that I went a little wild and added some of my ground fennel. GREAT flavor perk. Just enough to make you wonder what that amazing extra flavor was that went flying past your tongue.
That was all for Friday cooking, but Saturday, I got up and made biscuits to add to the meal and finished deviling the eggs. Now I know these days there as many devilled egg recipes as there are bloggers in the universe. Mine is simple and full of flavor. I simply use mayo (Fat Free) and Old Bay seasoning. That's just the right amount of flavored ingredients and still all in one sprinkle.
I like to top them with a French's Fried Onion for a texture boost.
So this was my first Friday.
It will be interesting to see what the summer holds for the Croy house.

I'm looking forward to...
My niece getting married in August and I am helping my sister with a homespun reception. I'll keep you posted as we go.
Poolside Cabanas with friends.
July 4th celebration at my brothers.

Here we go, Summertime, bring it on!