Kitchen Bouquet

You Can't Fool Mother Nature...or Can you?

2012-01-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

We've had some crazy cold snowy and rainy weather lately. So when we had a couple of sunny days I was feeling a little cooped up watching it from my office window, so I decided to use my lunch break to maximize the sunshine. It was still pretty chilly and as you can see from the trees still very much winter.

So I decided to go somewhere I knew it would feel and look just like summer. The Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma is a beautiful Victorian structure built in 1908 and luckily its not very far from downtown where I work

It's really an oasis in winter. Even the palm tree gives an illusion of semi tropicalness

As you step in the front door you are hit with a wonderful smell from the many orchids and a floral scene that currently screams spring.

Potted azaleas

And spring bulbs give me hope for whats to come in the next couple of months.

Aren't you ready for daffodils?

I loved this bulb too...not sure what kind it is. Maybe some kind of crinum?

The foliage in the conservatory is so lush and a perfect backdrop to all of the gorgeous orchids

There are many different varieties..I love this one

And this beauty

This begonia is pretty happy in the warm humid air

And this clivia is so pretty. I have one like this in my house, but it hasn't bloomed for us.

There are so really unique things in the conservatory including spanish moss..reminds me of home in Louisiana

Or how about these cool pitcher plants

At the end of the "path"

is a bench to rest a bit and take it all in

From this spot I admired this enormous fiddly fig

And these pretty yellow orchids...check out the scary tiger lurking in the background

After a little rest I headed back up the path into the main domed room

to see the fishies and waterfall

And to admire the cute little mushrooms

Amazingly in all of this lushness they have also created a little mini arid zone

Check out this papyrus

There is a great gift shop to visit before you leave. I love those tiny little Adirondack chairs right in front of the counter. I bought a cute plant for my desk at work and a pretty little enamel heart box.

Loved these drawings on the door to the shop

The kids are as inspired as I am! This spot in particular makes me wish I was an artist

With my lunch time coming to a close I figured it was time to head out but took the time to be jealous of the gorgeous Ponderosa lemons

Back out into the sunny but 40ish temps

Love the outside of the building too though especially up against that blue sky.

Some day I'll take you on a walk around the park itself. There are some great old trees - its great in fall. Today the Monkey Puzzle tree caught my eye...do you know it?

I think its supposed to look like a bunch of monkey tails

So......if maybe you can fool mother nature at least part of the time I wonder if you can fool a cinnamon roll lover ? This is my quickie version of cinnamon rolls. They are really cinnamon biscuits and super quick, but fun to make. I used to make these with my sister on Saturday mornings. And by the way...my cinnamon roll lover may not have been fooled but he went back for seconds :-)

Cinnamon Biscuits

1 can biscuits - the cheapest brand you can find work just fine, but something like Grands works even better
1/2 stick margarine or butter, melted
1 cup Sugar
cinnamon ( a couple of teaspoons or more depending on how cinnamony you like it)

Coat each biscuit with melted butter. Dip and roll each biscuit in cinnamon sugar. Place in a round cake pan. Drizzle tops with extra butter and cinnamon. Cook at 350° for about 15 mins or until cinnamon begins to get browner and forms a little crust. You just want to make sure the biscuits are cooked through.

Now give it a try and see if you can fool them too!

Joining in for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House & Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

Happy New Year and Hello 2012!

2012-01-01T21:10:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! We spent Christmas in Louisiana with my family

Loved every minute of it!

We flew back to Washington in time to see in the New Year - quietly! I seem to have caught a cold back home in the *warm* south so didn't really feel like going all out for a big New Years day meal. But I still had to get in the required New Years day staples - black eyed peas and greens for luck and money! So I decided to just dump it all in a pot and see what happened. The result was pretty tasty and worthy of a repeat so I thought I would write it out and share.

New Years Day Black Eyed Pea "Gumbo"

2 Tablespoons bacon grease (or vegetable oil)
2 heaping Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 large onion, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped small
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch greens (I used Kale, but any would do)
2 cans black eyed peas
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (Rotel)
Smoked Sausage or smoky ham or smoky bacon (smoke is the theme - for flavor). Whatever you have on hand. I used 3 links of good smoked Louisiana sausage that I have in my freezer courtesy of my parents.
3 cups chicken broth
Spices/seasoning to taste - I used Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning & garlic salt.
2/3 cup uncooked rice

Heat grease or oil in a skillet until hot. Add flour and stir continuously (heat medium-high) until you have a roux that is light reddish brown - you could go darker, but I didn't want to have a strong roux taste. Add onions, bell peppers, celery & garlic and cook down until vegetables are tender. Add greens, peas, tomatoes, sausage, broth and seasoning. Bring to a boil. Add rice. Cook until rice is tender (about 30 minutes). Serve with cornbread.

Wishing you a very prosperous, healthy and happy 2012! Thanks for taking the time this past year to check out my blog and what I have going on. Your comments have been much appreciated!

Joining in for Mosaic Monday this week over at Little Red House

A Winner and A Surprise!

2011-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Drum Roll please......The winner of the Cookiepedia giveaway is Debbie at Mountain Breaths! I know you will enjoy it Debbie! The book will be coming straight from Quirk Books so be on the lookout. For those of you that didn't win this time...thank you for playing and maybe you can check the book out at Amazon or your local bookstore.

Click Here

This past weekend I did a little Holiday baking with a friend and her cute little girl Allie. We each decorated a little mini gingerbread house. Randy declared Allie's A Frame the winner...that's it front and center. Isn't that window mosaic pretty cool?

We made a few goodies including cake balls (crumbled baked cake, mushed with canned icing, rolled into balls then dipped in chocolate bark and sprinkled) and Chocolate Surprise Cookies

The surprise in the chocolate cookies is the ooey gooey marshmallow inside. They were really soft and yummy.

Surprise Cookies
Courtesy of Martha Stewart

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
Chocolate frosting - see recipe below

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.
Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begin to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.

For Chocolate Frosting:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.

The Cookiepedia: A Book Review and Give Away

2011-12-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

The nice people at Quirk Books recently asked me to review a new cookbook and of course I jumped at the chance.

I love cookbooks...and I love cookies, so why would I not want to take a sneak peek of a publication called the Cookiepedia! They also are giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader. Stick around to the end to find out how to enter!

The book is filled with the author's favorite cookies and I think that's a good sign. I like cookbooks that contains recipes that you feel like someone has actually tried! The cookies are grouped in categories that remind me of the way I class cookies - nutty, chocolately, fancy!

Another major plus of this book is that there is at least one picture of each and every cookie. I tell you what...it makes it hard to choose which one to bake!

I really love the chatty descriptions of each cookie and this one in particular gives you the flavor and theme of this whole book. Although the title suggest an encyclopedia of cookies, it is more like browsing through a personal diary of the author's cookie memories. I think after reading her lead in to these Pistachio Butter Cookies I might like to start a little history of my own with them!

I had a really hard time narrowing down one particular cookie to try for this review, so I didn't! I tried three :-)

The first one I attempted was from the Chocolately Chapter. Mint Thins are Thin Mint wannabes and were supposed to be dipped in chocolate per the recipe. I ended up kind of flubbing (totally my fault) the dipping chocolate and ended up with more of a mint ganache filling. So I "made do" and did sandwich cookies instead. Even with my boo boo these were wonderful.

Mint Thins
Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon peppermint flavor

1. Cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar and continue mixing,
stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as
needed. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
Add the flour mixture by halves, beating to
incorporate after each addition.

2. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface
and form it into a disk with your hands. Split
the disk in half and place them in the fridge
to firm up for 1 hour.

3.Preheat oven to 350°F. Working on a floured
surface (you’ll need a decent amount, since the dough is sticky),
roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thick. Shape the cookies using
a 1-1/2-inch round cutter and place them on a
parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for
10 to 12 minutes, then let cool completely.

4. Break up the chocolate into a bowl and set it
over a small pot of simmering water (make sure
the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Add the butter
and the peppermint flavor and stir the mixture
steadily until it’s fully melted and looks glossy and
smooth. Remove the bowl and let the chocolate
cool slightly.

5. One by one, drop the cookies in the chocolate,
then scoop them out with a fork to let the excess
drip off. (Tap the cookies against the side of the
bowl to help drain the extra chocolate.) Move
them carefully to a wire rack or parchment-paperlined
baking sheet. When they’re all coated, move
the sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to set.

The next cookie I tried because I absolutely love them and decided this was the perfect excuse to whip up a batch. I've had my own long history with this cookie, the French Macaron. The recipe was easy to follow and not as fussy as some I've seen. I ate each and every one of them myself since Randy isn't too crazy about the overwhelming almondness of them. Only one thing I can say was a little off about this recipe..it made way more than it said it would..total bonus. Stacy offers several variations, but I chose to do the standard variety.

French Macarons
Shells:
1 cup almond meal or finely ground blanched almonds
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cups sugar 3 egg whites

Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons almond meal or ground, blanched almonds

1. First make the shells: Grind the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor until superfine. Sift the mixture, tossing out any big pieces left behind.

2. Whip the egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy. Bump up the speed to medium and slowly stream in the sugar, pausing to let it incorporate, until the egg whites form soft to medium peaks. You can test this by pulling a spoon through the egg whites-the peak should stick almost straight up, but then droop downward at the end. Remove the bowl and gently fold in the almond meal mixture a little at a time.

3. Fit a pastry bag with a large, plain tip. Fill the bag about halfway with the macaron batter. Working on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, pipe small disks (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches( about 2 inches apart. don't worry if the dough seems difficult to pipe at first-it will soften as you go. Set the piped creations aside for 30 minutes for the tops to set slightly. When you've got a few minutes to go, preheat oven to 375°.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, turning the oven down to 300° for the last 5 minutes. The cookies will taste delicious now, but if you plan to fill them, wait until they've cooled.

5. To make the filling: Beat the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and almond meal and mix until they're combined. Pair up the cooled macarons, matching by similar size. Spread a thin layer of filling (about 1/8 inch thick) onto one flat side of pair. Create a sandwich with the other macaron.

And finally, my third try..a very simple but very tasty cookie - Italian Biscuits or S cookies! I especially like this one because its my initial. Absolutely perfect for coffee or tea. Its really sturdy. Aren't they the cutest little Sssss?

Italian Biscuits
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups plus
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set it aside.

2. With a mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed for a minute. Add the sugar in a slow, steady stream, continuing to mix on medium until they're combined. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the cooled butter and vanilla.

3. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together.

4. Scoop out tablespoon-sized balls of dough and roll them between your fingers into ropes about 5 inches long. Gently form the ropes into S shapes. Place cookies on sheets about 2 inches from one another. Let them sit for 15 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. Bake cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, until they're golden brown and delicious.

I loved reviewing this little book and I think it would make a great addition to anyone's cookbook collection. With Christmas only weeks away this would be great in someone's stocking! It's available at Amazon and other fine book stores.

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky reader may also get a free copy. Nothing tricky...just leave a comment below with a way for me to contact you by Sunday, December 11th at 12pm PST and I will randomly pick a winner to be announced later the same day.

Good Luck!

Participating this week in:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Flashback Friday ~Farmers Market Season in Review

2011-10-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

This week's flashback is a look back at this season's Broadway Farmers Market in Tacoma. This was my last week to be able to visit it since I'll be gone next Thursday on the finale. Here's what it looked like in the Spring! Just look at those fresh green leaves :-)

Rhubarb, onions and greens were mostly all that was available veggie wise.

My favorite Crepe stand, Paprika was back! Love the crepes and the lady that runs it is so friendly and cheeful. She does catering too!

Dr. Terry was there with his pies

This may have been the day I brought Randy a piece of rhubarb

And the flowers...well they were very springy too!

As spring moved into summer I discovered the Bacon Forever booth with all of their goodies

Starring none other than...BACON! My favorite was this. Do not turn your nose up at this ladies and gentlemen. This is a seriously good apple pie...

Leaves were definitely in full summer swing

It was a busy summer so I apparently didn't have time to take many at the market! But I made a point of taking a few at yesterdays market to round out the season.

The bouquets had definitely taken on a fall flavor

How cute are these pumpkin arrangements. All you Martha Stewarts out there get hoppin' and make one of these.

Still tons of gorgeous dahlias

Veggie stands were decked on in fall gear - also known as dried corn stalks.

Sweet potatoes, concord grapes and fresh apples....mmmmm

I love to see all of the furry friends that come to the market each week.

I enjoyed my lunch (Indian shishkabobs) in this little park. I love the trompe l'oeil at the far end.

I'll miss the market in the winter months but it does give me something to look forward to! I'm so lucky to have this market just a long block from my office.

If anyone has a flashback they'd like to share please add it here.

Flashback Friday! I'm baaaack

2011-10-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

I took a little extended blogging break, but I'm back and wanted to quickly flashback over the past couple of months to get you back up to speed! There may be more to come, but this is the (blog) readers digest version :-)

I spent some quality time with my best childhood and lifelong bud Allison!

We took a tour on a duck with Captain Tenille (I kid you not)

Saw the market at night

Took at steam engine ride on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad

Saw a beautiful reflection

Felt the love at the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park

Braved the rain at Forks

To hang out with some vampires and giant wolves

Spent the night at a brothel - the Miss Kitty room at The Palace hotel was verrry nice

Took a boat ride to the San Juan islands

To eat some fish tacos

And see some whale tails!

Saw the Seattle skyline from a different perspective

We finished our week watching the lady elk show off for their man at Northwest Trek

Then my sister came to visit and we at some cheesey ice cream at a Taste of Port Orchard

Found some spawning salmon

Took in some mountain flowers at Tipsoo Lake

Went on the Savor of Seattle gourmet tour - yummmmy

Then I headed to Kansas City for work for a week and met up with one of my internet buddies, Cynthia (and her hubby John). Here she is eating up a big ole plate of gizzards at a neat place called Strouds.

Headed back home just in time to catch the end of the Western Washington state fair in Puyallup

More recently I was able to spend some quality time with my parents. Here is my Mom checking out the test dahlias at the Point Defiance Dahlia Trial Garden. Isn't she cute sporting her post cataract surgery glasses?? Love you Momma!

And finally we sought out an internet legend - have any of you seen a photo of this house in your email? I've gotten it a few times. Its really a piece of work! So many plants to water :-) It's right here in Tacoma!

Well maybe you can see why I had to take a little break! Its been a whirlwind around here, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

If you have a flashback to share please add your link here!

Flashback Friday ~Late Summer

2011-08-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is fluttering away

The daylilies are nearly finished

And the raspberries are nearing their end

I did really enjoy them this year though. I had an abundance so of course I was looking for recipes. I came across this one for Raspberry Bread Pudding that is to die for. I think Kneaders is a restaurant. If I made it again I would skip the cream sauce although it was really good. I think the pudding was awesome on its own.

Kneaders Raspberry Bread Pudding

Cream Mix

1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread

1 quart heavy cream

3 cups sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

In large bowl combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 1/2″ cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely.

Fruit Filling
5 cups frozen or fresh raspberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

Combine raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Layer a 9×13 dark baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour fruit filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread. Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm. Top with vanilla sauce.

Vanilla Sauce (Totally optional - it was almost overkill)
1 1/3 cup butter

5 tablespoons flour

3 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

Over medium heat melt butter, and add flour stir 10 minutes until it has a nutty aroma, do not brown. Add cream and sugar and boil till mixture is thick, remove from heat adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.

My flashback today is a pic of my friend Allison and me being silly at the beach in Biloxi circa 1980 right before we started junior high. It's not the best picture and you can't really make out our faces but it makes me smile!

We met when we were both in 4th grade and have been close ever since. She is coming to visit me tomorrow for a week and I'm so excited. Kitchen Bouquet will be on vacation as well from now until after Labor Day. I may send some postcards in the interim, but will definitely have some fun things to share when Kitchen Bouquet is back in business.

If you have a Flashback you'd like to share add your link below.

Joining in for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and
Flaunt your Flowers at Tootsie Time

Flashback Friday ~Happy Birthday to my Sissy

2011-08-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

Its my sister Cindy's birthday today! So I'm flashing back to her visit to see me a couple of years ago. She will be coming back in September! Yay!!! Here she is by the Tuttle River on our way up to Mt. St. Helen's

Here we are from the viewing area. That's our "adopted" sister Cathy.

Cindy and Cathy on the Space Needle!

Here she is at beach near Forks.

And with me, my Mom and Cathy on a giant Douglas Fir - the biggest!

And another giant tree! Western Cedar - also the biggest :-)

Coming down the path at Olympic National Forest

Here she is all smiles on our whale watching tour

It was a fun trip and I'd like to do it all over again. Looking forward to the September visit too! Happy Birthday Cindy! Love you! I know you love daisies - here is a neat African Daisy for you :-)

If you have a flashback you'd like to share please add your post below.

Fava Beans!

2011-07-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

Do you know Fava Beans? If you are like my husband you may only know them from an infamous line in the Silence of the Lambs. But they are very nice beans! Really! And one of the oldest foods in cultivation. Its been around for several thousand years. You may have also heard them called broad beans. I decided to grow a few in garden this year. Couldn't have been easier - you should try some.

I'll have to plant more plants next year to get a bigger yield. As you can see they look fat, but inside is full of fluffy fiberfill.

But I grew enough for a nice little pasta dish. I made about a third of the recipe below.

Capri Lemon Pasta
Adapted from Maria Elia's "The Modern Vegetarian"

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed, cut into bite size pieces
1 pound fresh fava beans, shelled (or 5 1/2 ounces frozen fava beans or shelled edamame)
1 pound sugar snap peas
14-ounce pasta like fettucini
4 tablespoons mascarpone or fromage blanc
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium-low combine the cream and lemon zest. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

Once the water has boiled, add the green beans, fava beans, pasta and peas. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta and produce.

Pour the warmed cream and lemon zest into the pasta cooking pot. Add the lemon juice, mascarpone or fromage blanc and reserved pasta cooking water. Return to a boil, then add the pasta and vegetables.

Add the Parmesan, salt and pepper. Toss well.

Makes 4 servings.

This is the local cheese I used

The few favas I grew had me wanting more, so I got some in my weekly veggie box - 5 pound this time. Its a labor intensive food - peeling the pod, blanching, then peeling the waxy coating off,

Then you can finally cook! This weekend I tried another great recipe. Made a great lunch - kind of a warm salad.

Warm Fresh Fava Bean Salad

adapted from this recipe at Tasty Trix blog - great photo tutorial showing how to shell favas

3-5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-4 plum tomatoes, quartered
6-8 ounces Greek feta, cubed
5 lbs fava beans, prepared in the manner described above
2 Tablespoons chopped black olives or olive salad
Shaved Parmesan to top
Salt & pepper, to taste

Combine the garlic and olive oil on very low heat in a deep skillet and allow the garlic to infuse the oil. Once fragrant, toss in the tomatoes and fava beans increase heat to medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat, season and add feta & olives. Very filling!

Sharing a few summer images taken on 4th of July at Browns Point in Tacoma. Better late than never!

Joining in for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House this week.

Flashback Friday ~Sloppy Joes

2011-07-28T21:48:00.001-07:00

This week for Flashback Friday I'm featuring a recipe that I've never posted before, but have been making for several years. Sloppy Joes! If you're looking for a fine gourmet recipe..this may not be the post for you. I would venture to say many of you already have a recipe in your head for this or at least have a store bought shortcut product that helps you put this on the table.

I always used one of those handy dandy mix packets but when I had a request for Sloppy Joes on night and found myself without my trusty packet I turned to a Ground Beef Cookbook put out by Taste of Home a few years back and tried their recipe. Over the years I've tweaked it slightly to our taste, but I can say this - I've never seen the need for the packet again!

My Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 pound groud beef
2-3 celebery ribs, sliced (optional or use celery salt)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup water
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's Seasoning or other cajun spice mix (or salt/pepper to taste)
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
6 to 8 hamburger buns

In a large saucepan, cook the beef, celery, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the next 12 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Spoon onto buns.

In my last post I showed some flowers that I had lost this past winter. How about a few shots of whats left :-)

Daylilies are taking over at the moment. I just adore this one. No idea what it's name is.

This is pretty sweet too

Even the old fashioned orange is pretty right about now
]

This red one is a very nice color

And a few here in the border

A cute little potentilla poking up above the blue hardy geranium.

This lychnis is out of control this year.

Etoile Violette clematis is one that blooms like crazy too.

The tall phlox is just starting to bloom.

I've got a lily or two

This veronica was tiny last year and I thought it was a low growing variety but it grew up!

One of my pots on the driveway. Love the geranium leaves!

Last year I had barely 10 tiny apples on my tree. This year *BANGO*. I'm sure I'm supposed to thin these or something but I don't have the heart for that.

Its Raspberry time!

Things are filling in around the pineapple fountain

My angel corner is getting really over grown. Who knew these plants would get so giant???

This is kind of cheating - I just bought it this past weekend, but lets just call it a fill in for some that I lost. Couldn't resist this pretty frilly coneflower.

Nasturtiums that live in my veggie garden

Red Bee Balm standing tall

This hydrangea is particularly blue! I love this stage...the yellow reminds me of the color of butter.

Hope you enjoyed the midsummer tour!

If you have a flashback of any kind that you'd like to add put your link below.

Joining in this week for:
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time

Flashback Friday ~Missing In Action!

2011-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

For this week's Flashback Friday I am showing a few things from my flower gardens that have decided to go A.W.O.L this year! We had a strange winter - late spring frosts that I think did a few things in. At least I have pictures to remember them by! I keep hoping some of these are hiding somewhere and will resurface later than normal..still have my fingers crossed. More than a couple roses bit the dust including this beautiful pink one whose name has been lost to me.

My cute little shaggy daisy is missing as well. Sniff Sniff

Bee balm borders on being a weed but I lost two different varieties. A pink and this purple

Another near weed but one I love - rose campion. I have a lighter pink but the neon pink one is gone.

To be honest I have no clue what got this clematis but I had to replant something else in its place.

Cone flowers are a tough one for me to begin with because I just don't have enough sunny prairie like spots in my yard!

And finally - the one that makes me the most sad. My little Hot Lips Salvia that I bragged on for several years as being hardy enough for my zone 7-8ish garden. This is definitely one I will try again! I had actually tempted fate and moved it to a less protected spot so I will be seeking out a tad more cozy spot next time around.

All is not lost though! I have plenty of beautiful plants blooming at the moment. Next post I'll take you on a tour of what IS still around :-)

If you have had a chance to check out the recipes shared at the Ice Cream Social last weekend take a few minutes to check some of the links out. There were some wonderful things blogged about! Click on the cones below to bring you to the Ice Cream Social post. Its actually not to late to add your link - the Social is open til the end of the month!

If you have a Flashback of any kind you'd like to share please add your link below.

I'm joining in for
Flaunt your Flowers Friday at Tootsie Time
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

~Welcome to the Ice Cream Social 2011~

2011-07-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Ice Cream Social at Kitchen Bouquet! I look forward to this all year and can't believe the time has finally come to have y'all come into the parlor and share all your ice cream creations & posts.

I can't think of a better way to spend time with friends and family than to eat ice cream together! It's hard to not be happy and have a smile on your face when you are enjoying such a cool treat :-)

Hope you all enjoy the social as much as I know Iwill!

With so many wonderful things "Ice Cream" out there in the world its hard for me to narrow down my choices when it comes to choosing something to share for the social. This year I decided to recreate a couple of favorite store bought or Ice Cream Truck treats.

There are so many goodies now days in the freezer case!

But there are just some classics that stand the test of time

If you really want a challenge try your hand at this Frozen Treats ID Quiz at Slashfood. I failed miserably, but did get a few correct! If nothing else it will give you a few blasts from the past.
TAKE THE QUIZ

The history of ice cream treats and ice cream trucks is a little sketchy. The late 1800s saw the invention in Europe of such things as the Ice Cream Sundae & Ice Cream sodas.

There was also a European tradition of bicycle peddlers of ice cream at the turn of the 20th century and this was brought to the United States.

1904 saw the fabled introduction of the ice cream cone to America at the Worlds Fair.

In 1920 the Good Humor trucks started rolling.

1934 was the year the Eskimo Pie entered the scene.

1940 saw the opening of Dairy Queen.

And so many more things followed!

Today I am going to focus on a couple of my personal favorites - The Ice Cream Sandwich & The Nutty Buddy!

For a base for these two yummy treats, I started with an absolutely yummy Double Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.

I wanted to try and duplicate the flavor of the Dreyer's Double Vanilla I love so much and I think it came close.

Double Vanilla Ice Cream
From the Ice Cream Maker website

1 C milk

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 C cream

5 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Warm milk in a sauce pan.
Mix in salt and sugar.
Slice vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds from the beans with the tip of a sharp knife. Add the beans and the pod to the milk.
Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool.
Whisk the egg yolks.
Gradually pour the milk into the egg yolks, beating constantly, then return mixture to the pan.
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until custard thickens slightly and reaches about 80C (170F). Custard is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
Pour cream into a bowl. Set the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and set a sieve over the cream.
Strain the custard into the cream and mix.
Cool, stirring often.
Add vanilla extract, mix well.
Chill overnight, then transfer to ice cream machine.

With this ice cream I went on to make some really yummy ice cream sandwiches! Look at this 1905 Jersey Shore beach scene that has Ice Cream Sandwiches being sold for a penny a piece! You'll have to enlarge the picture by clicking on it in order to see the sign.

Ice Cream Sandwich
From Family Fun website

Ingredients

1 stick margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Half-gallon carton vanilla ice cream (or homemade)

In a medium-sized bowl, cream the margarine and brown sugar (using margarine instead of butter and brown sugar instead of granulated sugar produces a chewy, soft cookie). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, stir the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the margarine mixture. Beat until well combined. Gather the dough into a ball and chill for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Use a ruler and a sharp knife to cut out rectangular pieces. (I cut cookies to match the ice cream I molded in little pans)

Transfer the cookie rectangles with a spatula to an ungreased baking pan. Makes patterns with fork tines.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool on a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, cut rectangular blocks from the ice cream. To do this, peel back the half-gallon carton from the ice cream, and cut 1/2-inch-thick slabs that are roughly the dimensions of your baked cookies. Return the blocks to the freezer. (I used my homemade ice cream and patted it down in little pans that were the same size as the sandwiches I wanted.)

Once the cookies have thoroughly cooled, place one ice cream block between two cookies. Trim the sides with a knife, wrap the sandwich in foil or plastic wrap, and freeze for several hours. Repeat until you have used all the cookies and ice cream. Makes enough dough for 6 large sandwiches.

In addition to the traditional sandwiches I couldn't help getting a little more creative.

For these sweet pink hearts I mixed some fresh strawberries with one of my new faves - Coconut Pineapple from Dreyers. Its really great and must be more like sherbet because its lower in fat than most!

Moving on to the Nutty Butty! Ahhh I have such nice memories of buying and eating Nutty Buttys while visiting my grandparents & my Auntie Gussie on my Dad's side. I can't even remember the name of the little store we would go to to buy them, but I can picture it in my head as just a tiny little place. I'm sure there were other things to chose from but Nutty Butty was my pick. Although I haven't seen them in years I found that they are still being made by the Purity company.

Here's a close up of what they look like. The one on the left is the traditional Nutty Buddy!

Here is the way it came packaged. You would pull the top off and then peel back the paper.

Per the ever handy dandy Wikipedia, the "Nutty Buddy" was originally created and produced by Seymour Ice Cream Company, which was located in the Port Norfork section of Dorchester, Mass. and named after its owner, Buddy Seymourian. Seymour Ice Cream ceased operations in the 1980s.

I followed the directions found at This Charming House blog.

Nutty Buddys

What You'll Need
Sugar Cones
Ice Cream, softened
Crushed Nuts or Sprinkles
Smuckers Magic Shell
Wax or parchment paper
Scissors
Tape

What To Do
Set up your cones on an upside down egg crate or in a bowl full of rice. Shake the Magic Shell well, and pour a bit around the rim of the cone and swirl (you may need to use your finger) to create a thin coating on the inside of the cone. Then pour a generous bit into the bottom of the cone. Put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Wrap your cones in paper, and cut tops to about 2" above the edge of the cone. Fill them up with the soft ice cream to about an inch above the top of the cone. I used this nifty parchment/foil that Martha Stewart puts out.

Put them back in the freezer to firm up (about 1 hour). Add some Magic Shell on top of the cones & quickly add chopped nuts or sprinkles.

Put them back in the freezer for a few hours until firm. Enjoy!!!

I was pretty excited by how they came out! The taste was really close and the look was pretty dead on except I'm not sure how they get they chocolate to drip down the sides!

Can't wait to see what all of you have to share! Any ice cream related posts are welcome. Please add a link to your post mentioning the Ice Cream Social so that we can all enjoy each others posts! The Social will be going on all weekend so don't worry about being late to the party. In fact I will keep the linky open until the end of the month. Thanks for coming to this year's Social!

Please also take the time to visit A Musing Potpourri's Ice Cream Social on Sunday!

I'm also adding my link to the following this week:
Sweets for Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies
Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads
Fat Camp Friday at Mangoes and Chutney
Sunday Scoop at I [heart} Naptimes
This Week's Cravings at Moms Crazy Cooking

Flashback Friday ~Last Year's Social

2011-07-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

For today's flashback and as a prelude to this weekend's Ice Cream Social I thought I would do a roundup of the posts that were shared last year. There were some amazingingly yummy ice cream related posts. Click on each photo to bring you to the posts.

Marsha's Mocha Latte Ice Cream

Beth shared Duggar's Ice Cream Cake

BJ shared her beautiful black and white table and some Cherry and Lemon SwirlSherbet

Dogsmom Exploring the Blogosphere shared a dairy themed post featuring this floral Sundae.

Susan at Savoring Time in the Kitchen shared 3 great recipes. One for a Fudgisicle clone, one for a Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and one for this beautiful Chocolate Mint ice cream with Fudge cookies.

Vee shared "Diet" Orange Floats!

Purple Chocolate Home showed us her EXTRA LARGE "Pig Trough" Banana Split

My friend Barb at Foley's Follies made this awesome Better than DQ Ice Cream Cake along with Key Lime frozen yogurt and some Cappuccino Toffee Crunch Ice cream!

Lynn at Happier than a Pig in Mud did a post about Pig related ice cream stuff. Who knew there was such a close connection!???

Candy at The Little Round Table set a beautiful ice cream parlor inspired table.

Jane at Artfully Graced shared a great Hot Fudge Sauce recipe

Jennie at A Welcoming Heart shared her secret for a low cal fruity ice cream sundae of sorts

Pam at sidewalk shoes made an awesome sounding Whiskey Caramel sauce

My friend Kathleen over at Cuisine Kathleen made some cherry vanilla ice cream, ice cream stuffed cannoli and the cutest ice cream cake I've ever seen.

Laurie at Bargain Hunting threw the most awesome ice cream party for her granddaughter!

Cathy at Wives with Knives made this wonderful sounding Lemon Curd Custard Ice Cream - this is still on my to make list. I want this right now!

My friend Debbie at Mountain Breaths out did herself with this trio of Fennel, Mocha Latte and Strawberry Ice creams

Terri at Lakewood Manor shared this yummy sounding Lavender Honey ice cream that she tried at a restaurant.

My friend Carol tried her hand at Baked Alaska and I think it turned out great no matter what she says!

Even though Jerri at Simply Sweet Home wasn't able to make anything for the party she did share some ice cream dessert wish list items like this Smore pie!

The Little Brown House shared "Mama's" Homemade Ice Cream but don't tell her Mama who prefers to be called Mother.

Bonnie at City Home/Country Home shared her secret for this yummy looking Hot Fudge Sundae and for a Raspberry Sundae too!

Julie at Little Bit of Everything made an awesome sounding Brownie and Key Lime Ice Cream Sandwiches.

My fabulous cousin and his sweet wife made "Pop Rouge" Ice Cream - a cajun treat that would truly work with any soft drink flavor.

Candygirl made this outstanding sounding Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream!

Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Housewife shared this pretty pale pink Peppermint Stick Ice cream

Red Couch shared Key Lime Pie Ice Cream. This looks fabulous! She also shared a beautiful Blueberry Strawberry Frozen Yogurt and a chocolate malt ice cream.

Special mention to Scoopalicious blog that paid a visit (and sent me some awesome note cards!) and my friends Jayne and Cynthia who also played along.

If you have a Flashback of any kind please share your link below.

And last but definitely not least please join me Saturday July 16th after 10am Pacific time for the Ice Cream Social!!! Can't wait to see what everyone shares this year.

I'm joining in for Foodie Friday over at Design by Gollum
And Fat Camp Friday at Mangoes and Chutney

Mosaic Monday ~Ice Cream Colors 2011 & Instant Ice Cream

2011-07-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

A few things I have blooming at the moment.

As a preview and yet another shameless plug for my upcoming Ice Cream social, I couldn't resist trying this recipe for 5 minute Ice Cream when I came across it. That's not much longer than it takes to walk from the couch to the freezer :-) The consistency is like soft serve if you eat it right away. After freezing it hardens up a bit.

I loved it! Very full berry taste like sorbet but extra creamy. I think next time I try this, I will freeze the blender pitcher for a while before making to assist in the cooling process. I imagined it would have had more of a pastel "ice cream" color but its pretty bold!

5 Minute Ice Cream

Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 (10 ounce) package frozen fruit (I used last season's blackberries)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream

Directions

Combine the frozen berries and sugar in a food processor or blender. Process until the fruit is roughly chopped. With the processor running, slowly pour in the heavy cream until fully incorporated. Serve immediately, or freeze for up to one week.

Could there be anything easier?!

Hope this inspires you to whip up something even if its quick and come to the Ice Cream Social next weekend, July 16th& 17th! Any ice cream related post is welcome - even if its just ice cream dishes or a memory you have of a favorite ice cream treat! I'll have the linky up Saturday by 10am PST.

Joining in for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Flashback Friday ~Raspberry Ice Cream

2011-07-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

As a plug for my Ice Cream Social the weekend of July 16&17th I am flashing back to a recipe I did for my 2009 Social. This no cook ice cream was delicious and makes me wish my raspberries were ripe already! It's going to be a good crop this year. Can't wait!

Fresh Raspberry Ice Cream (No-Cook) Adapted from a Southern Living recipe

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 Tbls Lemon Juice

Pinch of salt

1/2 cups whole milk

16oz Fresh berries

4 oz dark chocolate, cut into chunks

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

POUR mixture into freezer container of a 1 -quart electric ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. (Instructions and times will vary.)

REMOVE container with ice cream from ice-cream maker, mix in chocolate and place in freezer 15 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container; freeze until firm, about 1 tO 1½ hours.

*****************************************************************

Sneaking in a garden flashback too. This zinnia always reminds me of a peppermint ice cream cone! I've got some seedlings started of this variety and hope to see some blooms later in the summer

I you have a flashback that you'd like to share add your link below!

All Ice Cream related posts are welcome!

Joining in for
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads
Flaunt You Flowers at Tootsie Time
These Chicks Cooked Linky Party at This Chick Cooks and
Fat Camp Friday at Mangoes and Chutney
Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Mosaic Monday ~Happy 4th of July~

2011-07-02T13:36:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July! We have plans to picnic and watch fireworks down near the water. I've been enjoying my long weekend working in the yard and doing a little in the kitchen. Its finally getting a little warm so no cook treats are right up my alley right now. Like this yummy patriotic fruit salad. The dressing is too delicious.

Honey-Lime Minted Red, White and Blue Salad

Salad:
1 banana, sliced
1 plum, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup blue berries
1/2 cup pitted cherries, optional

Dressing
Juice of one lime
3 T brown sugar
3 T honey
3 T sour cream
3 T minced mint

Combine dressing ingredients making sure brown sugar is dissolved and sour cream is well incorporated. This can be refrigerated until ready to use. Pour dressing over just chopped fruit when ready to serve.

Don't forget about the Ice Cream Social on the weekend of July 16th & 17th. Any ice cream related posts are welcome! Check out previous years socials HERE.

I'm joining in for Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House.

Flashback Friday ~Family Heirloom

2011-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

This week's Flashback is very special to me. While visiting my family in Louisiana we stopped in to see my Auntie Gussie. She is my Dad's only sister and never married. She lived with my grandparents most of her life and she and my grandmother were bakers and cooks extraordinaire! They cooked three meals and day and desserts too. There was always something yummy on the stove, in the oven or on the table when you arrived at their house. Christmas time was over the top with so many goodies it was hard to sample them all.

My visit happened to correspond to my brother's birthday and since I knew he'd be there as well, I made a Banana Cream Cheesecake for him - combining two of his faves. Because of this the conversation turned to baking and recipes. One thing led to another and before we left Auntie had given me a little book where she kept clippings and handwritten recipes.

I was so thrilled and honored! She has always been one to share good recipes with friends and family but this was over the top for me :-) I don't want to be stingy with these recipes and plan on sharing many here. I had twinge of guilt when I was able to go through the pages and I saw the inscription in the cover. My cousin Ray also loves to cook and has a blog of his own with his wife Peggy, Cappy and Pegody's World. Lil Ray...if you read this - we can share okay? Love ya and thanks for giving Auntie this cookbook to fill in.

In side are recipes written on the pages, magazine and newspaper clippings and my favorite of all - the recipes written on whatever was handy.

Some of the recipes on the pages I recognize as things Auntie made many times - like Date bars. Some are recipes I recognize as things other family members made many times like my grandmothers Hot Ziggerty Nut Bars. It was hard to decide what to make first, but I settled on this recipe for Old Fashioned Tea Cookies which I thought might be a version close to my Grandmother on my other side's and I do think it's close except my MaMa Nezat used more flour and rolled them flat.

The end product was fluffy, soft and old fashioned. The kind you'd love to fill your cookie jar with~

I also took some photos of some old photos while there, so I could have a copy too including this old one of my Auntie and Uncle Ray - Lil Ray's Daddy. She has it in a frame that says Po' Folks! Weren't they cute?

Old Fashioned Tea Cookies - as written

2 cups sugar
2 sticks oleo
4 eggs
4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla

Mix in order given, beating each egg in well. Then add other ingredients. Roll out to 1/4 inch . Cut out as desired or in long strips. Bake in preheated oven (350°) about 15 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen. Note in parentheses after: I don't roll mine out. I drop from teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten out with a glass dipped in sugar. (Suzy's note - I followed the directions in the parentheses!)

If you have a flashback of ANY kind that you'd like to share, please add your link below.

I'm joining in this week for
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Don't forget about the Ice Cream Social I host every July - this year the weekend of the 16th & 17th. Any Ice Cream related posts are welcome. Here's a link to the previous years Socials.

Chocolate Overload

2011-06-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

It was one of my work buddies birthdays on Monday and I know how she (and I think every single one of my coworkers and boss) loves chocolate so I set out to make the chocolatiest cake I could. After it was all said and done the birthday girl declared it the best chocolate cake she'd ever had and dubbed it the Matilda cake. Having never watched Matilda I had to check the scene out on You Tube. Its a good thing she told me she liked it before I saw the video! :-) I do believe she meant it as a compliment.

Matilda Cake for Shannon

Start with your favorite chocolate cake. I cheated and used Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix (for maximum chocolate overload), prepared as directed with an extra egg and 1 tsp baking powder added.

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup cream
2 tablespoons corn syrup
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg milk chocolate chips
1 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
2 sticks butter, cut into one tbls pieces

Heat cream with corn syrup and salt on stove until simmering. meanwhile, chop chocolate in food processor. with processor running add simmering cream slowly and process for one minute, until choc is melted. add powdered sugar and vanilla and process again. Then, with processor running, add butter one piece at a time, waiting until the piece is incorporated before adding another. cool until thick and spreadable. For a lighter, more buttercream-frosting, beat with an electric mixer before spreading which is what I did. Frost between layers, sides and top of cake which has been split to make 4 layers. Freeze cake for about 15 minutes then pour cooled put pourable ganache on top.

Chocolate Ganache
2 cups semisweet chocolate chip
1 cup cream
2 Tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla

In a large saucepan, combine chocolate chips, heavy cream, butter and vanilla. Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Cool down until no longer warm - you can put in fridge - but you want it to still be pourable for icing the cake. If you don't use all of it you can keep in fridge to use later for something else.

Come join me for a virtual Ice Cream Social the weekend of July 16th & 17th. Share your favorite ice cream recipes, memories, photos, products, dishes, etc! Or just come and drool! Here's a link to previous socials.

Joining in today for Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace and
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer (my poppy counts!)

Mosaic Monday ~Summer Pinks

2011-06-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

Joining in this week for Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House. Have a great week!

Hope you join me in a couple of weeks for the Ice Cream Social! Click HERE to check out the past years Socials.

Flashback Friday ~Late Spring and a New Angel

2011-06-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to be gone for so long. Life gets in the way! For a Flashback I thought I would show whats been going on in my yard the past month I've been away. Spring was long, wet and chilly and due to some late frosts plenty of things were lost or set back. But time marches on and things begin to bloom to spite all of that ickiness!

The columbines are just about finished but they were beautiful!

And so were the Pacific Coast Iris

The Poppies were very bright....

My Lewisiia is still blooming by the bubbling rock

More irises..

The clematis is a favorite but I'm not sure of its name

The blue geranium mixed with the sweet woodruff was really pretty

And Blue Ravine clematis which is a similar color is growing nearby.

The blooms on the Lady's Mantle are unassuming, but I love how the raindrops hang on the edges of the leaves. Click the picture to get a closer view.

This Mountain Bluet is more of a purple color

The forget me nots are just about done now, but boy were they pretty this year - they are my spring weed of choice!

Another blue geranium

And Multiblue Clematis - lots of blue in the spring!

Big lollipop allium with California poppies in the rear

Here's an evening shot of some of the ginormous hostas

Its not all blue though...these pink columbine were extra sweet.

And the rhododendron bloomed with the bleeding hearts this year

Azaleas and more forget me nots

And this cute little saxifage

And finally one of the main things in my garden that I look forward to every year...The lilacs! Can you smell them??

Finally...a sadder Flashback and tribute to my sweet Mother in Law Darleen, who passed away June 1st. She was a beautiful person with a fun loving spirit and will be sorely missed. I'm sharing my favorite recipe of hers and possibly my very favorite cookie ever.

Darleen's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt

Beat shortening, then add sugar, then eggs. Add and stir in peanut butter. Mix in rest of ingredients. Rolls in balls and pressed with a fork. I bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Let them cool for a couple of minutes on the pan the remove to a rack to cool. Makes 5 dozen very delicious cookies. To me they are the peanut butter equivalent to a Pecan Sandie which is a very high compliment in my book.

We Love and Miss you!

Flashback Friday ~Hiatus

2011-05-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Flashback Friday is on vacation today :-) If you have a little something to flash back to please put your link below!

Flashback Friday ~Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2011-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

It seems that just yesterday my nephew Alec was this cute little chubby cheeked baby boy

But yesterday he became a Daddy for the second time to his own little baby boy Kolbe!

I was so happy to meet him :-)

If you have a Flashback of any kind - favorite recipe, old photo, cherished memory please add your link below and link back to me on your blog.

The Great Cooking Magazine Challenge May 2011 Edition

2011-05-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

So its that time again! I'm putting out the challenge to flip through those stacks of cooking magazines and clippings or printed out internet recipes and try something new :-) I do this challenge mostly for myself - to justify my many cooking magazine purchases and subscriptions. But I know many of you out there are just as guilty as me!

I have a linky below where you can come back and show us what you did for the challenge. I got a new Everyday with Rachel Ray in the mail this week and thought I would give a couple things that caught my eye a try today. First up is BLT Mac & Cheese

Randy and I both grew up eating "the blue box" as my friend Kathleen calls it. Kraft Dinner is how my Canadian husband refers to it. I still love it, but we have graduated to Velveeta Shells and Cheese. High Class I know! But I am always trying out mac & cheese when its offered on a menu. I've tried to recreate it at home a couple of times but haven't been that happy with the results. This recipe was actually pretty good, maybe because it comes somewhat close to looking and tasting like Kraft! lol

BLT Mac 'n' Cheese

4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used the Hormel pieces in the bag..hey it saves time!)
12 oz pasta (elbows or rotini)
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp turmeric (gives it that nice orangey-yellow color)
6 oz cream cheese
2 cups finely shredded orange cheddar cheese. (About 8 oz)
6 oz cherry tomatoes quartered (I used two small chopped)
Salt, Pepper
Onion powder, garlic powder to taste (my addition)
Grated Parmesan cheese (my addition)

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook bacon until crisp if not taking the short cut that I did, then drain. Meanwhile in a large pot of salted water cook pasta until done & drain. In same pot bring milk to simmer over medium heat. Whisk in tumeric & cream cheese. Stir in cheddar cheese until melted. Add pasta, bacon and tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, tiny bit of onion & garlic powder. Transfer to 9x13 casserole and bake til heated through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with grated parmesan before serving.

In the same June/July edition of Rachel Ray's mag there was an article about updated & homemade Popsicles. There were a few I'd like to try, but settled on the "Cappuccino" because the ingredients to me sounded more like Vietnamese Coffee which I love. Very simple to make and would be a good use of left over coffee.

Cappuccino Popsicles

3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (I ended up using a big more in the espresso part)
1/2 cups brewed espresso (I used prepared instant espresso powder I keep on hand for recipes like this)
2 tsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder, plus some for dusting (I only used 1)

Combine the cream and 1/4 cup condensed milk, stirring well. Divide mixture between your popsicle molds. Freeze until almost solid, about 1 hour. Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together espresso, cocoa and remaining condensed milk (I used more than 1/4 cup because I like sweet coffee!). Refrigerate until cold. Divide the espresso mixture between molds insert stick and freeze until solid - about 4 hours. Run warm water over molds to remove the pops. Dust cream layer with more cocoa powder. Yummy!

I hope I gave you a little inspiration. Go search your stacks, do some cooking and blogging and come back here to link up! Putting a link back to my blog in your post would be neighborly too :-)

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there including my own! Love you Momma!

I'm joining for the following parties
Sweets for a Saturday
Weekend Cooking
So Sweet Sunday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
What's On Your Plate?
Meatless Mondays

Flashback Friday ~My Momma

2011-05-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

How about a Mother's Day Flashback this week? This is my Mom looking very motherly with her 4 kids. I'm the baby!

It's a quickie, but I've had late days at work this week. If you have a flashback of any kind to share please add your link below. A Mother's Day related post is the perfect flashback!

Hope everyone has a great first weekend of May!