Cooking lull

It is rather sad that I have not posted anything on this blog since February.  That reflects the state of my kitchen endeavors in the last months.  A little sad.  A bit boring.  Humdrum.  Repetitive.  Uninspired. You get the picture.

I am looking forward to summer cooking and farmer's market meals and cucs and basil from the garden and all that summer food goodness to reinvigorate my culinary pursuits and hopefully, give you a little encouragement and inspiration....

....when I get back.  Til then, take a look at these wonderful vegetarian supper posts from my friend, Tonia, and be inspired!

Here's another salad...

...I can't wait to try.  I love portobellos and I love anything roasted.  This salad combination sounds amazing.

I keep on eating the kale salad.  I vary it with things like grapefruit sections, pecans, and raspberry vinegar.  "Massaging" the kale really is an important part of this recipe.  Just roll up your sleeves and stick your hands right down into that kaley, olive oily goodness and gently squeeze it around a bit.  It doesn't just make the salad better.  It's good for your skin, too.  And be sure and use good salt.  It does make a difference.

Here's the promised salad picture with a side of homemade whole wheat bread...

This salad...

...is very, very good.  Try it.  Eat it.  Frequently.  That's what I'm planning to do.

I made this the other night tweaking the recipe by adding a handful of raw almonds, a handful of dried cranberries, and a can of mandarin oranges.  We all loved it. 


I have always said that I cook by color.  If I have several colors on my plate, I know the meal is healthy.  According to that theory, all I need to eat is this salad.  

Sorry I don't have a picture to show you.  I'll try and get one the next time I make it (tomorrow) before it all disappears!

Sunday dinner

Family style...

Red beans with corn and tomatoes over rice
Chili lemon chicken over veggies
Collard greens
Garlic mashed potatoes - reheated
Rosemary bread and Whole wheat/polenta/sunflower molasses bread
Apple grape salad with coconut and pecans
The rest of the raspberry cobbler

and for supper...

Popcorn!

New Year's Food

As per Southern tradition...

Black eyed peas over rice with salsa or relish

Collard greens

Corn bread

Yum!

And today, leftover turkey soup with full of tomatoes and veggies and made quite flavorful with red wine and basil served with chillaquillas - an original Laurel's Kitchen recipe I had long forgotten.  Thanks to Laura, my sister-in-law, for calling and asking for the recipe and reminding me of an old, old favorite. 

A cookbook I want to check out soon, The New Laurel's Kitchen.

Oh, how I love marmalade!

I only had one Meyer lemon on my tree this year.  The marmalade I made from it was like liquid gold.  I was feeling sad that my tree hadn't been more prolific and then....Trader Joe's came to the rescue.  They sell Meyer lemons!!!!  Oh, thank you, thank you, Trader Joe's.  I take back the negative things I've said about you not having bulk goods.  You've more than made up for it by having Meyer lemons.

Soooo, once I had my lemons, I wanted to make more of that liquid gold.  About that same time, my nephew and niece came through on their way home from Florida and left me with a bag of the best red grapefruits ever.  With those grapefruits and the Meyer lemons, my two favorite citruses, citri, citrus fruits, I made what I do believe to be the best marmalade ever!

Here's how to do it...

Chop the lemons and grapefruits into sort of small pieces.  You use the peel, too, so you don't want huge chunks in your finished marmalade.  It will look like this...

.

Measure your fruit and add the same amount of water to it.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer on lower heat for 5 minutes.  Pour the fruit/water mixture into a bowl you can cover and set in a cool place for 24 hours.

Next day....

Measure out your fruit/water mixture and add an equal amount of sugar to it.  Bring to a boil and stir constantly.

Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring, til a candy thermometer reads 220 degrees (F).  The mixture will gel a little but will still be pretty liquid.  It will thicken a bit as it cools.

Pour into sterilized jars.  At this point, I simply put on the lids and refrigerate.  I've only made batches big enough to get three pint sized jars so they don't stay around long.  I give them away and use them up!  Like I said, liquid gold.

*****

Thanks to Carla at recipezaar for this easy, easy recipe.  I modified it by changing up the fruit but otherwise followed her recipe.

My all time favorite cookie

These are my favorite cookies to make, give away as gifts, and eat!  They are a bit like a ginger snap but the espresso adds a special kick and the brown sugar frosting is perfect.  One cookie with a cup of tea or coffee is a real treat.  I have some dough chilling in the fridge tonight and maybe after I bake and assemble them tomorrow, I'll add a picture or two, but for those of you who have been asking here's the recipe:

Espresso Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookies

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

3 TBSP. instant espresso powder

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

¼ cup molasses

In a medium bowl, combine flour, espresso powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Gradually add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, beating on low speed until combined.  Beat in the egg and molasses until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour mixture.  Cover and chill dough for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1 ½ inch balls.  Roll ball in turbinado sugar (optional).  Place about 2 ½ inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten balls slightly.  Bake in a 350 oven for 12 -15 minutes or til edges are set.  (My note:  I do them the shorter time because I like them chewy and soft, be sure not to overcook them!).  Transfer to wire rack and let cool.  Frost bottoms of half the cookies with a generous 1 tablespoon of brown sugar frosting.  Place remaining cookies atop the iced sides of cookies to create sandwich cookies

Brown Sugar Frosting

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup butter

¼ cup half and half

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

In a heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and half and jalf.  Cook and stire over medium heat to a full boil;  boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.  Let cool until of spreading consistency; which occasionally.  Use to frost cookies.

(I believe this recipe was from Real Simple magazine, but I don't know what issue - I cut the recipe out and slipped it into a plastic sleeve in my recipe notebook)