Cook. Craft. Enjoy.

Food Blogging

My first online experience was in 1982 when I was a young teen.  I had a Commodore 64 and was so excited to get a 300 bps modem.  Connecting through the phone line I found a whole world I didn't know existed (and honestly I would say 99% of people didn't know existed).  I got myself a CompuServe account and fell in love with the online experience.  It's been so much a part of my life now I can't imagine my world without it.  (In fact, I just recently got rid of my CompuServe account -- more from nostalgia than anything else I kept it -- for those of you "in the know", my account was 5 digits and then 2 more after the comma so it was unusual.)

From there I watched the online community grow.  I knew people all over the United States from CompuServe (even meeting several of them when they passed through Vegas) and did socializing on local BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) being amazed as the speeds of the modem shot up to 1200 bps and even 2400 bps.  Yes, I still had a "normal" life too.  But this was just as "normal" to me then as it is to everyone else now.

When I was pregnant with Travis I discovered newsgroups.  While they've been around a long, long time, my main focus of online time had been more of chatting and socializing.  I loved gathering all the recipes that were posted to rec.food.cooking and rec.food.recipes.  I still have files upon files of those recipes that I go through every once in a while.  It was great to read people's comments on food and how they cook.  From there I got involved with another newsgroup, rec.crafts.scrapbooks and met the most wonderful people I could ever have imagined.  They are counted now as my dearest friends and I only wish we all lived closer to each other so we could see each other much more often.

Fast forward to about a year ago and I discovered another new (to me) phenomenon:  food blogs.  I'm not quite sure what took me so long to discover them except perhaps my focus computer-wise had been more of gaming than what was online.  But once I discovered them I was hooked.  I debated about starting my own food blog and if I would have anything interesting to say.  I knew it would be a great way to keep my mom in touch with us (they live in Costa Rica) and it would also allow me to share the things that I love.

As is usual, I never imagined how diverse the world of food blogs are.  I love the challenges and weekly food events that people are hosting.  I was at first hesitant about taking part in any of them (who would want to read what I have to say?), but after jumping in with a submission over at Sweetnick's, I was hooked.  Right now my only weekly submissions are for Sweetnick's and Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast but I hope since school is getting out I'll have more time to devote to cooking and blogging.

Where the heck is this post going you ask?  Well, I was reading Once Upon a Feast this morning and came across her post about the Foodie Blogroll.  It's a great way to get your food blog publicized and make new blogging friends.  I joined this morning and wanted to share with you that you too can join the list for your food blog.  This is the brainchild of The Left Over Queen and you can find more information about it here. 

While the Internet has it's bad sides, one of the most amazing aspects of it is getting to meet and know people you otherwise wouldn't have.  I'm blessed to have met and know such wonderful people all because of cyberspace.  I hope the list of people just keeps on growing.

PPN: Farfalle with Herbs

I'm so excited that we only have 5 1/2 school days left before the kids are out for summer.  I'm hoping to have some fun activities planned for us but it will really be nice to just be home with them.  Travis is being a nut this summer and spending 3 weeks taking PE in summer school (so he can take an extra elective next year -- he wants Japanese and Computer Science II and Business II).  The nutty part of it will be 3 weeks of 9 hours of PE a day.  The first session is from 7:30am - 12:15pm and the second session is from 4:00pm - 8:45pm.  He's going to be one tired teenager.

Tonight's dinner is my submission to Ruth's Presto Pasta Night over at Once Upon a Feast.  I love that even though she's sticking with her South Beach Diet she's still taking the round-up for all our yummy pasta dishes.  Go over there on Friday and check out the submissions.  Yum!

This recipe is so, so easy.  It was slightly modified from The Little Big Book Quick Meals (I picked it up on the reduced rack at Borders in California) and was ready in just as long as it took to cook the pasta.  I've really been enjoying some of the olive oil-based sauces for pasta I've made out of the book.  I'm not a big fan of pasta in general but these have been delicious.

Farfalle with Herbs

• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound farfalle

1. Cook the farfalle in boiling water according to package directions.
2. Mix the basil, rosemary and breadcrumbs in a small bowl.
3. Saute the scallions, garlic, capers and olives in the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat for 3 minutes.
4. Add the chopped herb mixture and saute for 2 more minutes, or until the garlic is pale gold.
5. When the pasta is done, drain and add to the pan with the herbs.
6. Saute for 1 minute over medium heat.

A Quiet Memorial Day

The majority of our day today was spent relaxing.  Adrienne and Liam took some time to blow up some new inflatables and spend about an hour and a half in the pool.  I'm still waiting for the pool temperature to hit 90 before I go in but I'm a wimp.  :-)

We also spent some of the day discussing houses again.  I'm getting frustrated at the "do nothing" stage we're at and have decided that until we get an offer on this house I'm not going to think about it anymore.  Probably make me a little easier to live with anyway.

As usual, I was the first one up this morning.  I always find it relaxing when I'm the only one up on a weekend to bake something yummy.   This past week I had purchased a large bag of cherries and figured I really should do something with them (other than eat them plain) before they go bad.  (Cherries are yet another thing in this house that I'm the only one that will eat.)  What to do about it?  Bake with them of course!

My first thought was to make some waffles.  That's something I haven't had in a while and sounded good.  But then I thought scones.  Yum.  I did some searching for a fresh cherry scone recipe but couldn't find one.  I ended up modifying this recipe and it turned out perfectly.  I'm hoping to have some cherries left after the rest of the scones are gone so I can make some more.

The other great thing is that if I bake with them, everyone else in the house would have a chance of eating them -- and they are so good for you.  Perfect for my submission for this week's ARF/5-a-Day over at Sweetnick's.

Fresh Cherry Scones

• 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and cut into 8ths
• 2 cups flour, plus more for forming
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture is granular in appearance.
3. Mix the sour cream and egg yolk together.  Make a depression in the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture and the cherries.  Stir together gently until moistened taking care to handle the dough as little as possible.
4. Dust your work surface with some flour and turn the dough out.  Pat into a 12 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.  Place the wedges onto a baking sheet with a little room around for expansion.  Sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.
6. Drizzle with a glaze made of 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and milk (enough for desired consistency for drizzling).

House Hunting and Turkey Burgers

We've had our house up for sale now for 3 weeks.  This is all in hopes of selling it before school starts up again and getting us moved to a newer house (with a better floor plan).  The last several weekends we've spent at least one day looking at model homes and not really finding what we're looking for.  There are several houses we've found that we liked parts of but none that says "THAT'S IT".  This one is my current favorite.  One of the pluses of this plan is their lot sizes are considerably larger than "normal" but the downside of that is the price is really higher than we want to spend.  It's also the only single story home we've looked at (it's a little over 3000 square feet).  (Our other favorite is a 3-story plan so go figure.)

Also on our agenda today was a trip to Williams-Sonoma.  Adrienne's birthday party is in 2 weeks and I wanted to pick up one of their beehive cake pans.  They are so cute!  They also had a pan that makes cupcake sized bugs so I picked that one up too.  Should make for a good presentation. 

Dinner tonight had to be pretty simple -- it was really hot today and doing all that running around just made everyone want to be lazy when we got home.  Luckily I had seen this recipe in this month's Everyday Food magazine for Mini Turkey Burgers and made those.  Delicious!  They were the best sliders I've had.  (And I love they weren't too greasy.)

Now I'm off to go finish watching the marathon of Man Vs. Wild.  Anyone else watch that show?  Not that I ever expect to find myself lost in the jungle of Costa Rica (if I go I'm staying at my mom's house!), or parachuting into the Sierra Nevada mountains, but it's interesting to see how he survives and gets himself back to civilization.

Mini Turkey Burgers
(courtesy of Everyday Food magazine)

• 2 slices white sandwich bread (about 1 ounce each)
• 1 pound (93 percent lean) ground turkey
• 2 ounces cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1/2 cup) (I used pepper jack)
• 1/2 small onion, coarsely grated
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 12 party-size potato rolls (I used Hawaiian rolls)
• Lettuce, sliced tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard, for serving (optional)

1. In a food processor, pulse bread until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl; add turkey, cheese, and onion. Season with salt and pepper, and mix gently just until combined. Form twelve 2-inch patties (about 3 tablespoons each).
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium. Cook patties until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Serve on rolls with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard, if desired.

Cucumbers and Onions

I think we had a pretty good day today ... I took the kids to see Shrek the Third (cute movie), the kids got to go swimming, and I got some stamping done for a package that has to go out on Tuesday.  Dinner was made this morning in the form of a crockpot meal:  Sesame Ribs.  Click on the name to go to the recipe if you'd like -- it wasn't good enough for me to reprint here.  I used country style bone-in pork ribs and they gave off way too much fat and had very little flavor.  I did end up taking the meat off what wasn't eaten and I think mixed with some BBQ sauce tomorrow it would make a good sandwich.

My "good" recipe tonight is one from my childhood -- cucumbers and red onions.  Love, love, love this stuff.  I'm not sure why I don't make it more often ... I really need to remember to keep a supply of cucumber in the house.  This week I found some awesome Persian cucumbers at Trader Joe's so that's what I used.  Yum!

Cucumbers and Red Onions

Slice 2 cucumbers and 1 red onion thinly.  In a measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup white vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Pour over cucumbers and onions.  Let site for several hours stirring every so often.

Almost Scrapbooking

Do you scrapbook?

Scrapbooking used to be such a huge part of my life.  I've made the most wonderful friends because of it.  It was always something I wanted to do.  That is until about 3 1/2 years ago when we moved back to Vegas.  We didn't want to move back but Don's job closed their office and gave everyone a choice:  either move or quit.  We opted for the safer "keep the job" option.  It's been incredibly hard for me to really find my peace here but I think in the last few months I'm finally getting there.

This means I think I'm finally ready to get back into scrapbooking.  Get out all the photos I had a hard time looking at before and do something with them.  But my goodness things have changed over the last 3 1/2 years.  Have you been to a scrapbook store lately?  Have you seen the price of of things now?  Holy cow.

It's lucky that I know some of the basics from "way back when" and don't feel the need to buy the latest and greatest (though some of the tools available now are pretty cool...).  In getting back into things I wanted to join some swaps.  (If you don't know what swaps are, it's where you join up with 6, 8, 10, however many people and agree to do one embellishment that many times.  You then send your items to a hostess and they "swap" everyone's items and you get back one of everyone else's items including your own so you have a complete set.)  I started out with a great group of swappers -- and their theme is Disney (perfect since I have a ton of Disney photos!)

Anyway, I wanted to share with you the items I've done so far.  I joined 5 swaps (nothing like jumping right in, right?) and have 3 of them done.  The first one is a title/topper for the ride Storybook Land.  (Yes, all the letters and paper pieces were cut out by hand.)

The next two are photo mats for Alice in Wonderland and California Screamin'.  I'll share my other 2 with you when I'm done.

PPN: Pasta with Mizithra

Are you going to go see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight?  I bought 2 tickets for the 9:30 show and am debating whether Don or I will take Travis.  I think he (Travis) wants to be the cool kid at school that got to see it opening night so I obliged.  Hope it's a good one.

I wish I could say I have fond memories of eating this pasta at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  I wish I could say I remember so-and-so always ordering this and how wonderful it is.  Alas, none of those things can come from my lips because, well, I've never even been there before. 

In searching for a recipe for Presto Pasta Night over at Ruth's wonderful blog Once Upon a Feast, I remembered my friend saying this was one of her son's favorite dishes and how sad they are that the remaining Old Spaghetti Factory here in Vegas is no longer in business.  A few clicks later and ding, my entry was born.  I could not believe how many variations on this there are and how many stories that go along with it.  I picked one that looked good (I didn't want to make browned butter) and tried it out tonight.  The verdict?  Hmm... nothing exciting I'm afraid.  I did add some red pepper flakes to it at the table and that zipped it up a bit.  I will say that it would make a great side dish with some oven roasted chicken.  (And maybe next time I'll try the browned butter version.)

Pasta with Mizithra
(courtesy of RecipeSource)

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves chopped fine
• 1 pound dry pasta
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Mizithra cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup parsley for garnish

Bring the water for the pasta to boil and prepare everything else.  It's important to never overcook pasta.  Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and add the chopped garlic.  Saute for just a moment and set aside.  Boil the pasta until just barely tender.  Drain and toss with all ingredients.  Serve as a side dish in the place of another starch.

Crockpot Swiss Steak

Tonight was tennis so I tried a new crockpot recipe.  The ones that everyone likes are few and far between but I'm happy to report this was a hit.  Quick, easy and tasty.  What more could you ask for?

Swiss Steak

• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 pounds round steak, cut into 6 pieces
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 carrots, peeled and quartered

1. Place the onions in the bottom of a crockpot.
2. Mix together the flour and Cajun seasoning.  Dredge the steak in the flour mixture.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the pieces.
4. Remove the steak to crockpot.  Add any remaining flour to the skillet and stir to coat with the oil.  Add the water and stir.  Pour the water mixture over the steak/onion mixture in the slow cooker.
5. Place the carrots vertically along the inside of the crockpot.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Brats and Pasta

Tonight I'm lucky enough to go out to dinner with my dear friend I rarely get to see (she's busy, I'm busy and we live half a city away from each other) so everyone else around here is getting leftovers.  Or, as the kids lovingly refer to it, an "anything" night.

One of our leftovers is a meal I made on Sunday -- Sausage with Peppers, Onions and Beer.  It's one I've made before but usually I have Italian sausage in the house.  This week I tried it with bratwurst.  The result?  Not as good as the Italian sausage, but decent.  A little strange as well since I served it with pasta and every bite you expected that Italian flavor. 

Best Ever Sausage with Peppers, Onions, and Beer
(courtesy of All Recipes)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds Italian sausage links
• 3 red bell peppers, sliced
• 2 green bell peppers, sliced
• 2 large red onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 (12 fluid ounce) bottles beer
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Cook sausage until browned on all sides. Remove sausage from pan, and set aside. Pour in 1 bottle of beer to deglaze the pan, scraping up any blackened bits from the bottom. Place the red peppers, green peppers, onions and garlic in the pan. Stir in the remaining beer and the tomato paste. Season with oregano, cilantro, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer until onions and peppers are tender. Slice the sausages into bite size pieces, and add to the peppers. Cover, and simmer until sausage is cooked through.

Polar Bears, Salsa, and Quesadillas

Travis's school trip this past April was to San Diego to coincide with a study on animals in biology.  They went to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World and by all accounts had a great time.  His final project was to create an exhibit of one of those animals and he chose polarbears.  This past weekend I helped him complete it and he turned it in today.  I think it turned out pretty well ... what do you think?

Liam missed school again today for being sick so he was on again, off again with his moods.  After not getting much sleep again last night (I think this makes 6 days in a row now), I wanted something quick and easy to throw together.  I had purchased all the things to make this salsa this past weekend and threw it together this morning -- that way no prep work on that tonight.  I was surprised how delicious it was.  A little on the sweet side but it did balance the habaneros well.  This is my submission to Sweetnick's ARF/5-a-day Tuesdays -- with good for you fruit and veggies, it's a winner on the nutritional scale (just stay away from those tortilla chips!)  Head over there tomorrow to see what other good for you food everyone has come up with.

As for the quesadillas, I again used an already roasted chicken as the base.  It's amazing how tasty and reasonable they are.  This time I chopped the breast meat (throwing away the skin), mixed it with BBQ sauce, placed it on half a large tortilla, added sliced red onion, and asadero cheese.  Folded it over and lightly fried it in a small amount of canola oil until both sides were golden brown. See, delicious and simple!

Mango-Habanero Salsa
Tejas Grill and Cantina
Yield: 3 1/2 cups

2 ripe mangoes
2 to 3 fresh habanero peppers (see note)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium red onion, minced
4 tomatillos
1/4 cup honey (see note)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/4 cup hot sauce (Tejas uses Frank's Red Hot brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste

Cut mango fruit from pit; scoop fruit from peel and dice. Place in a large bowl. Mince peppers and onion; add to bowl. Discard papery outer leaves from tomatillos; rinse tomatillos, dice and add to bowl. Add honey, vinegar, hot sauce, salt and black pepper; toss to mix well.

Serve with tortilla chips or as a garnish for grilled fish. Salsa may also be used as a marinade or sauce for grilled chicken.

Per ( 1/4-cup) serving: 48 calories; no fat (no calories from fat); no saturated fat; no cholesterol; 0.5g protein; 11.5g carbohydrate; 10g sugar; 1g fiber; 361mg sodium; 6mg calcium; 112mg potassium.

Note: Use gloves when handling habanero peppers. Honey is used to balance the flavor of the salsa, but can be omitted if hotter salsa is desired. Store salsa in a nonreactive container, such as glass or ceramic.