Season's Eatings

Home-made ratatouille on a weeknight - a dinner that seems far more elegant and complicated than it is!  

This was a super easy throw-together recipe.  We picked up eggplant, yellow squash, galic and onions from the market, then picked a green pepper and some tomatoes from our garden. 

All you need to do for this simple, hearty dinner is chop & saute eggplant with garlic and onion for a bit, then as they get soft, add chopped green pepper and squash.  Let everything cook together for a bit, then add the chopped tomatoes & tomato sauce (I just used leftover pasta sauce - that easy!)  Add seasonings (salt, pepper, dried or fresh basil, dried parsley), and serve with a sprinkle of mozzarella and a chunk of good French bread.

Perfect for a night when you want something hot and delicious but don’t want to put in a lot of effort!

This past weekend, Micah and I went up to my family’s cabin in central Wisconsin.  We stopped by the local veggie stand to pick up some end-of-season corn for the grill - and lo and behold, it’s squash season already!  

I picked up a few beautiful squash, and so this week had a few very “fall” recipes.

This one was super easy, and really good!

“Thanksgiving in a bowl”
1 large acorn squash, halved & seeded
1 large carrot, chopped into small pieces
1 small onion, minced
Ground turkey
Stuffing mix
Chicken or veggie broth 
Butter
Brown sugar

In a pan, brown the ground turkey with whatever seasonings you like (I like thyme, salt, pepper, and a dash of Penzey’s French Four spice).  Drain and set aside.  If desired, you can saute the onions and carrots a bit too.  In a bowl, mix the cooked turkey, carrots, onions, and stuffing mix in whatever proportions you like.  Add enough broth to dampen the stuffing mix.  Lay the acorn squash halves on a baking sheet and place a pat of butter (about 1 Tbs) into each hollow.  Sprinkle with about 1 Tbs of brown sugar, then stuff the squash with the turkey and stuffing mixture, making sure to include a lot of broth to help steam and cook the stuffing.  Wrap the squash halves in aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees F for at least 60 minutes, removing the foil during the last ten minutes if you like a crispy top.  Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

I actually made these with the leftover turkey meatballs from the day before, which made the process even easier. These were really good, and I’m looking forward to playing with the recipe a bit more.  If you like sweeter squash, use more butter and brown sugar!

barackobama:

Neil’s spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown—including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space. That legacy will endure—sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step.

—President Obama on the passing of Neil Armstrong

Corn dogs at State Fair count as local, right?

Here’s a quickie - salmon with home-grown rosemary, glazed carrots from the market, and rice seasoned with Penzey’s Arizona Dreamin’!

For a while this summer, our cucumber vines went crazy, and we had more cucumbers than we could possibly eat.  One of the things that came of that was home-made spring rolls - and they were delicious!

All you’ve got to do are chop up some veggies, and maybe some chicken, wrap the whole thing up in rice paper, and serve with satay sauce!

Here’s what I did for this batch.

Chicken Spring Rolls

• 1-2 carrots, chopped into long, thin sticks
• 1 cucumber, seeded, chopped into long, thin sticks
• Chopped onion (to taste)
• Chopped banana pepper (leftover from another meal!)
• Chopped cooked chicken breast

Just a couple of photos!

First, a caprese salad made with our home-grown basil and the first tomatoes of the season at the market:

And a wonderful bouquet from the adorable little old lady at my favorite stand:

Summer brings with it the Fourth of July, which isn’t known for being a “family” holiday, but my family has a number of traditions surrounding it.   Every Fourth, we all go to my grandparents’ house.  There, my grandfather grills steaks for steak sandwiches while my grandmother makes baked beans and potato salad.  After dinner, we all hike to their neighborhood fireworks.  We’ve done this every year for as long as I can remember – I’ve only missed it two or three times in my entire life!

So as summer gets hotter and the solstice passes, I always start to crave my grandma’s potato salad.  This year, with the array of ingredients available at the market, I decided to try my hand at a variation.  I wouldn’t say it was as good as hers, but it certainly filled my craving!

Summer Potato Salad

• 1 pint of new potatoes (red or white)
• ~2 handfuls of sugar snap peas (adjust to your preference!)
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• Mayonnaise
• Greek yogurt
• Salt and pepper to taste

Wash your potatoes and chop them into quarters – cut them smaller if you have larger potatoes; you want pieces that are about bite-sized.  Place in a pan and add water to cover the potatoes, plus about 1” of space.  Boil until the potatoes are soft and give easily when you poke them with a fork.  Drain and rinse with cool water until the potatoes reach room temperature.  In the mean time, wash your snap peas and trim any stems.  Chop the pods in halves or thirds.  Chop your dill – use as much as you like.  In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, peas, and dill with mayo and yogurt until you reach a creaminess and texture that you like.  Start with only a couple of tablespoons of mayo – it goes farther than you’d think!  Season with salt and pepper, cover, and place in the fridge for at least a few hours or overnight to chill.  This recipe is best on the day after you make it, and stays pretty great for about three days before declining. 

This recipe is easily enough for six people; increase the amounts to make enough for your summer picnic!

I LOVE breakfast.  I’m one of those people that can’t function unless I have something to eat in the morning – without breakfast, I’m a waste.  And like most people, I love some sweet breakfast pastries.  

But there is nothing in this world that can top a well-made breakfast sandwich.  Just think of it: all of the most delicious, amazing, perfect ingredients assembled into one incredible stack so you can eat them all at once.  In college, when I visited Micah in St. Louis, I would frequently fry up batches of greasy, amazing egg, cheese and bacon sandwiches for him and his roommates.  That’s probably why they all still love me years later! 

With the summer sunlight streaming in the windows, the basil burgeoning on the sill, and a bowl of fresh, scarlet tomatoes from the market, last week I opted for a “lighter” alternative.  This one’s easy!

Egg, Basil, Tomato and Cream Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

• 1 bagel of choice (for this, I like plain or sesame seed)
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced
• 1 egg
• Handful of fresh-picked basil leaves
• Bit of cream cheese (or Neufchatel, if you like lower fat)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tabasco Brand Chipotle sauce

Fry your egg on the stove top – I find that a bit of butter works better in my pans than olive oil, but use what works for you!  While the egg is frying, toast your bagel and spread with as much cream cheese as you like when it’s done.  Layer the bagel with slices of tomato, basil leaves, and your fried egg.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper, and add a dash of chipotle sauce for a nice morning kick. 

And you’re done!  It sounds like a lot of work for breakfast, but I’ve been known to whip these up on weekdays – once you get the rhythm down, you can go from start to finish in less than fifteen minutes.  Totally worth it for such an awesome and satisfying breakfast!

I know that the four people reading this blog (two of whom are my grandparents) don’t mind all that much, but my apologies for the delay in a new post!

In case you don’t know me in real life, and thus would already have heard, this happened two weeks ago:

Micah and I got engaged!  After taking me out for a day full of fun at the lakefront and art museum, we finished with dinner at a favorite restaurant before Micah took me for a walk in a nearby park.  There, he’d arranged to have a projector set up with a table for two, where he showed me a video he’d made about the five years of our relationship with the help of our friends and family.  Then he got down on one knee and the rest is history!

So, needless to say, these last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.  I have already emailed and/or called over 25 reception venues, have already visited one possibility, and have 6 more appointments scheduled in the next week.  If you know me, this information probably does not surprise you.  I’ve never been one to shy away from jumping in headfirst!  We have not been sticking to our “local only” rules quite as carefully as we should have – mostly because we haven’t had the opportunity to get to the market!  I won’t take responsibility for this week, though – I was gone last weekend, so Micah did the meal planning and grocery shopping on his own.  So far, he’s acquitted himself admirably, and I’m sitting on the patio typing this while he whips up some Greek-style stuffed peppers.  Can’t wait! 

I don’t plan on turning this into a “wedding blog”, but you will probably hear periodic updates as time goes on.  We’re aiming for an August 2^nd wedding next year.  Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a great venue within our budget!

And now for your normally scheduled blog post.