In My Kitchen- July 2012

In my kitchen…

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there is pork fried rice.  The chops we bought were very thick- so after we

grilled them I cut off the reddish meat from around the bone and marinated

it in sesame oil and soy sauce and cooked it up with vegetables, eggs and rice.

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So very good!

In my kitchen…

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is a pair of hungry eaters- Grandma camp is fun!

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Big Monkey Loves plastic Mac and cheese!

In my kitchen…

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Gourmet goodies from my latest package from Australia!

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I opened this for my birthday meal- spooned the Brandy syrup over cornbread

and ate the fig for dessert.  YUM!

057And I love the sweet/sour flavor of passionfruit!

059I’m looking for just the right recipe to try this Orange blossom

                                                                                           fairy floss (sugar).  Any suggestions?

060These are a new favorite at my house (Thanks to Brydie for

introducing me to them and Meredith for supplying my habit!)

In my kitchen…

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are the remains of my chocolate cake with pink icing birthday cake from last week!

Thank you, Willow and Aidan!

In my kitchen…

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is one final bloom from the Serbian bellflowers that I have

in the front bed at my house.  They are so pretty that I love to

gather them up into bouquets!

This is part of a series started by Celia at Fig jam and Lime cordial.

Go and take a look at all the bloggers involved- lots of peeks into kitchen

around the world.

doors and windows, entries and exits

 I haven’t written much lately.

I had my grandson visiting for a week.

AND we were very BUSY!

Then we came down to Chincoteague Island in Virginia and met

up with my daughter in law and other grandson.

So- I’ve been preoccupied.

But part of what has kept me so busy is this-

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The fence and gates and pergola in front of the house were run down by a young

man who was drinking and texting and speeding at 2 AM a couple of weeks ago.

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It had looked like this.

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I love this doorway- we changed the handle now and it looks even better-

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Or at least I think so.  It sure is easier to unlock!

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And I love this window.  It is an odd shape- but the Navy seal fit perfectly in the

center and since the owner of this house is a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy-

it is just right!

Tomorrow we are going to give one of the bedrooms a make over!

The grandsons are going home- so  it is back to work!

Gardening– or maybe just the garden contained.

I do not have good soil- I’ve been putting in bags of peat and loads

of manure for years now and I STILL don’t have good soil.  I should

have dug up the entire garden and filled it with compost and peat

and top soil- but we (as in my husband) decided that would be overkill

and so we have a heavy clay soil that is dominant and patches of peat

enhanced heavy clay soil.  It is not good for growing.

So most of the time I put plants in containers.

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Containers are good for flowers- especially geraniums.

And they are pretty good for lettuce…

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Yesterday-

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Last week… it is growing pretty well- I thinned it out some

yesterday and made a great fresh lettuce salad for dinner.

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And tomatoes seem to do pretty well in containers, too.

This tomato shows a weeks growth- and the other plants

are putting on buds and small little tomatoes.

 

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The peppers are doing all right in the containers, too.

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Even the cheddar cauliflower is growing in its pot.

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Which is very good, since the rabbits have eaten all the leaves

off of the ones I planted in the ground.

I think I am more of a container-pot gardener than a bounteous

bed gardener.  Maybe  I just don’t have green fingers- but with

the pots doing so well- I’m blaming the soil.

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So- How does your garden grow?

Rhubarb-cake and custard pie!

Rhubarb custard pie-

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with a lattice top crust and sprinkled with sugar- beautiful and

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the recipe is here.  Delicious!

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And Country Rhubarb cake with whiskey cream topping.  Oh my- what

a treasure!  I really don’t remember exactly where this recipe came from-

although I think it may have been a Gourmet magazine from many years

ago. 

Recipe:

1 pound fresh rhubarb- 3 cups of 1” slices

1 cup light brown sugar

2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup + 2 TBS granulated sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2” cubes (4 oz)

1/3 cup whole milk

2 large eggs- 1 separated- save white for topping glaze

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Toss rhubarb with brown sugar- set aside.

Whisk together cake ingredients, blend in butter with pastry blender or

fingers until it resembles coarse meal.  Whisk together eggs and milk, make

well in dry ingredients and stir to make soft sticky dough.  Pat half of dough

into the bottom and sides of a 10”ceramic pie plate with floured hands.

Cover with rhubarb and sugar mix- make sure you get out all the juices.

Spoon last of dough on top- brush with egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes- keep an eye on top- reduce heat for last 10 minutes or so that

the top doesn’t get too brown.

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Whiskey cream topping-

1 cup heavy cream

2 TBS powdered (10x) sugar

1 TBS whiskey

1/2 tsp vanilla

Put cold cream into a chilled bowl- add rest of ingredients and beat until

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Serve warm with a cloud of cream topping on top!

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Enjoy!

In My Kitchen-June 2012

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In my kitchen… I have one of these.

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Which when filled with cupcakes becomes a

tower of delight!

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In my kitchen…

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I have fresh baked sourdough French bread and rolls.

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A sunshine pierced texture shot.  for Joanna.

In my kitchen…

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there is candied orange peel and currant Irish soda bread.

In my kitchen…

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there is Pineapple citrus juice with just a hint of honey.

In my kitchen…

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is a lovely bouquet of coral bells, bearded Iris and mint.

In my kitchen…

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is this wonderful teapot lamp I got as a gift from my son and

daughter in law- I love it because my kitchen is VERY well lit-

and first thing in the morning all the lights stab me in the eyes.

This lamp adds a wonderful ambience around 6 AM!

In my kitchen…

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is this spice box that my sister Robin and her husband, John

made me many years ago.  It is lovely- has hung on my wall

for quite a long time- and may be haunted.   It hangs sturdily on

the wall, and mysteriously swings open from time to time.

007 The latch doesn’t open easily, but

the door slowly opens sometimes when I am sitting with a cup of tea.

And finally – in my kitchen…

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are these woven pieces.  The tea towel is made of flax/linen and is over a hundred

years old.  I had one very similar – or my mother did- that my grandmother made-

this one is from a dear friend whose mother wove it in Yugoslavia.

The green table runner-013 I wove

when I was visiting my brother.  He had his loom set up for me to try.  It took

me several days to get it to any considerable length.  And I discovered that he was

fixing my crooked (scalloped?) edges when I went to my hotel each night.  I finally

convinced him that I wanted it to be done by me- warts, ripples, crooked edges and all-

so he left me to it!

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I’m a weaver!

The two winners of last month’s give away are Glenda@ Passion Fruit Garden and

Liz, who made the following comment-

Liz says:

Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 1:56 am

What a lovely bouquet of flowers, columbines and bleeding hearts don’t grow well in my garden. I couldn’t live–well bake–without my scales. It’s especially good when working with recipes in weights and changing the size of the batch. I’ve never seen the lily pad covers before, so cute.

If you will leave your address on my email #  – heidiannie-gmail.com – I will send you the lily pad cover! .

Thanks for stopping by- go to Celia’s blog to see some more IMK posts- http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/06/01/in-my-kitchen-june-2012/

Strawberry Rich!

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I learned the difference between having money and being rich when I was a little girl.

My mother had sent my little sister, Robin and I  with our older siblings to the Ohio State Fair.

She had given them the money to pay for our admission.  She had given us $2 each for spending

money.  Two dollars didn’t seem like much to spend at the fair even back then.

There was so much to look at- so much to consider- and Robin had been talking about the

food at the fair all the way to Columbus.  Many years later they made a movie out of “Charlotte’s

Web”, and Robin had sounded a lot like Templeton the rat in his rhapsody over fair food.

‘>Here it is on youtube!

But when we got to the fair- not far from the entrance was a wagon- a dainty Victorian wagon,

painted in lavender and white stripes and with lavender awnings- filled- absolutely FILLED with

lavender.  The fragrance was so potent that the air seemed to shimmer about the wagon-

and the sign on front said Lavender-$1.00 a cup.  I spent both of my dollars within the first ten

minutes as the fair.  I had two cups of lavender in my bag and I was rich beyond compare.

And – aside from the fact that it was unbearably hot and humid- that is all I remember about the

fair.  I’m sure someone took pity on me and got me a drink and maybe something to eat.  But I had that

bag- 2 whole cups of lavender for years afterward- and I knew that I had spent my money wisely.

I was RICH in lavender!

Richness for me means having plenty- enough to use and share.

So, when Allyson brought me a basket FULL of strawberries I became a rich woman!

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I washed them, cleaned them and graded them.

Strawberries for pie.

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Strawberries for jelly.

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And strawberries for snacking.

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Firm, ripe juicy, sweet Ohio strawberries- ready for whatever I wanted to do with them!

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I made jelly- Freezer jam, actually.

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and pie- enough to enjoy- and share!

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I love being rich in strawberries, and family and friends and love- and lavender! Winking smile

Sourdough flapjacks with Blue berry syrup

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I made breakfast this morning.

Usually my husband makes the coffee, tea and toast that we have each morning.

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But yesterday, when I was feeding my sourdough starter, I realized

I had too much starter to fit into my container jar.

Much too much- and so I poured two cups into a

cup and determined to make sourdough pancakes this morning.

The recipe is quite simple.

Feed two cups of starter with one cup of bread or AP flour and one cup of water the night

before and cover.  The next morning add the following ingredients.

1 beaten egg

2 TBS oil

2 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp salt

And enough flour to make a batter

(I used about 3/4 cup)

Mix well together – until smooth- heat griddle until quite hot

(so that water sizzles when spattered into pan)

And at the last minute, mix 1/2 tsp baking soda with 1 TBS warm water

and stir into batter.  Do not stir again.  Pour batter onto griddle

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and turn when many bubbles form on top.

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The flapjacks are very light and delicious-

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especially when you top them with homemade blueberry syrup and butter.

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Taking good care of sourdough starter means that sometimes you have to sacrifice

and throw away some of the starter- OR- have sourdough flapjacks in the morning

instead of toast.  YUM- I like the second option!

My favorite food-

is finger food- especially tea time finger food.

I love preparing food for tea- love garnishing and presenting it-

and most of all I LOVE eating it.

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We had an afternoon tea for my niece and her family today.

I used an ice cream scoop and made watermelon balls that I served in a water pitcher.

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Then cleaned a pineapple and cut it into spears which I placed in the empty

melon – with the pineapple crown on top with coconut slices and mint leaves

to garnish.

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Chocolate meringues,using Celia’s recipe!

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Cranberry and almond Welsh scones-you can find the basic recipe here- just substitute craisins and sliced almonds for the lavender.

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Apple spice babycakes (I was kind of in a French state of mind, hence the flags!)

 

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Bacon and sundried tomato mini quiches- yum!

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Basmati rice and pine nut and mint meatballs with Hawaiian barbeque sauce!

 

Served with hot Darjeeling tea and ginger and lemon iced tea- it was a great

menu- a wonderful visit- and we had a great time visiting and snacking.

I really wish I could sit down with all my blog friends and share a cup of tea

and a plateful of goodies.  My niece, Martha, blogs at The Weinhardts , and I

haven’t seen her in over a year, so it was like sitting down with a blogger

friend and sharing recipes (she brought me a pretzel roll that she promises

to put up the recipe for on her blog soon!)

So – I was thinking about all of you, my internet friends, as I was preparing this

food- and if we could I’d love to have you all over to tea!

(Although we actually met at my sister Cynthia’s house! LOL!  I was so tired and

my house is cluttered with all the stuff we brought back from Chincoteague last

week that I couldn’t clean my house and cook for the same event.  Cynthia did the

cleaning and I did the cooking/baking.  We make a good team! Open-mouthed smile

Up close and personal

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Have you ever noticed how things get blown out of shape when you mess with them too much?

I tend to keep going at a project or a subject until someone says- “enough!”.

I’ve always been a fan of the Oscar Wilde quote, “Nothing succeeds like excess.”

There always seems to be one more morsel, one more tweak, one more item that will make the

package, product, gift, dish –whatever- complete.

But I’m starting to grow more fond of simplicity.  Of stepping back and taking a look at the big

picture instead of going in for a closer shot at the detail.

My oldest son and his wife let me do a lot of the detail in their wedding (almost 13 years ago- May 22)

I helped decorate the wedding cake, made favors, arranged the flowers and the bridal bouquets, made

bread and soup and salad for the reception,catered the rehearsal dinner, helped make the invitations-

I participated in a foot washing ceremony at the wedding and well- I could go on- but you get the idea.

I loved helping- and these were all areas of strength in my abilities.  But at one point, Willow said- “stop”.

And it was good- it was a relief.  I love my daughter in law- she is a loving, talented, wonderful woman-

and I appreciate her boundaries and her understanding of my nature.  I think back to that “stop.” a lot.

It is a blessing- to have someone say enough- no more- this is done.

And so, after a week or cleaning, digging, planting, polishing , refurbishing, fixing and scrubbing it is nice

to say done.  My husband and I spent an entire week getting the house in  Chincoteague  ready for

guests this season.  We literally worked all week just on the house and grounds.  We never even got to the

beach- did not go into any of the local shops- did not stop until we left on Sunday morning.

I went up onto the 3rd floor deck to take some pictures the morning we left.  I try to take lots of pictures

of what we are doing to send to my niece in Australia.  It is her house- and I like to keep her up to date on

the changes.  So as I looked at these pictures this morning I realized how close to the subject, how very focused

we had become on our tasks for the week.  Like the bee on the lavender in that first picture.  All we could see

was the job in front of us- and then the next job and then the next.

We got a lot done.

And finally, our time ran out, we needed to come home.

But my husband was not done.  He still had plans- details to finish up- ideas to fix one more area-

and I found myself in the position to say, ENOUGH!

He wanted to paint one more ceiling, change one more handle.put up one more towel rack.

But we had done enough.

And he didn’t say it, but I think he was relieved.

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And quite frankly, so was I!

Enhanced water

I’m passing on a tip that I think I got from Martha Stewart.

Note this- because it will probably never happen again.

I don’t like Martha, much. 

I think she does share some good things-

but I think she got them from someone else and doesn’t

give them credit for their ideas.

This one, however, I have been using for years, so Martha

is actually ancient history.

So here it is.

When you buy a whole pineapple-imagine picture here-

(I have picture but I just spent 40 minutes looking for it)

 

Clean off the rind, cut out the spots and slice the pineapple in half

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Then cut out the center of the pineapple- the hard core- and put them

into a pitcher of water.

 

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Leave for several hours – and the core will flavor the water with a very

light pineapple flavor and aroma.

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The water is very refreshing on ice or will work well in making a punch for

the base flavor.