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When I was a youngster one of my favorite meals was a lunch that consisted of cream of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I still love that combination and often make it now. The soup doesn’t come out of a can like it did in my youth. I have come to love creating my own soups. Cream of tomato is hard to beat and making it with fresh from the garden tomatoes makes it heavenly.

Another favorite of mine is french onion soup. Typically, the liquid in french onion soup is beef broth. For most folks that is fine. For others, vegetarians, vegans and those allergic to beef, another option is needed to make the broth in this soup rich and delicious. Tho I am not a fan of thin soups, the sauteed onions, chunky croutons and melted cheese make this soup hearty and filling. I fall into the vegetarian and beef allergy categories. Hence my own creation here of a much loved soup.

Through trial and error I have created an onion soup that has a flavor filled broth made using dry red wine, tomato paste, water and seasonings. No beef or chicken broth is used. I use butter to saute the onion, but for vegans and lactose intolerant folks, olive oil works just as well. Roasted garlic cloves add a layer of warmth to the peppery broth. I always add cheese but it can be omitted without any loss to the deep, rich flavor of this soup.

Soups come in many forms. Thick, thin, meaty, full of vegetables. Pasta and rice filled soups. Plain broth or so many ingredients broth is barely noticeable. Creamy soups with velvet consistency you can sip from the bowl, and chunky soups you could eat with a fork.

Chicken soup for the common cold and the soul. Cold soups in the heat of summer made from zucchini, cucumber and other vegetables and a potato and leek version known as vichyssoise. A winter hike is made warmer by a thermos full of soup and a pot of soup simmering on the stove top warms the kitchen and makes a house smell like home.

Soup can begin a meal as a first course. And of course it can BE the meal. The healing properties of soup are to be lauded. The benefits of creating, simmering and enjoying a bowl or cup of soup are many. You can follow a recipe or you can stretch your creative imagination and simmer your own blend of ingredients to your own liking. There is nothing like homemade.

For my recipe here, you will need:

8 cups of peeled, thinly sliced onion. I use 2 very large Vidalia onions and one very large red onion.

4 TB butter or 2 to 3 TB olive oil

3 TB tomato paste

1 cup dry red wine

2 cups water

Several fresh grinds of salt and pepper (to taste)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

several cloves (8 or 10) of roasted garlic

several thick slices of bread

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

In a large (8 quart) enameled dutch oven melt 4 TB butter (or heat the olive oil) over low heat. Once the butter is just melted add prepared onions, tomato paste, 1/2 cup of dry red wine and one cup of water. Salt and pepper generously. Stir well and let the mixture simmer over medium/low heat until the onions are tender and beginning to caramelize. Most of the liquid will have cooked down.

Add to the onion mixture the remaining 1/2 cup of dry red wine, and one cup of water. Add a teaspoon of dried thyme and the roasted garlic cloves. More or less of each to taste. Cover the dutch oven and simmer on low heat for at least one hour. Stir occasionally. I simmer my soup for 2 to 3 hours. This allows the onions to become very soft and saturated with the flavors from the broth mixture.

Once the soup has simmered for at least one hour, remove the dutch oven from the stove top. Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top of the hot soup mixture.

Using a bread knife cut thick bread slices into 1 inch cubes. Place the bread cubes on a baking pan and place in the heated oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until they are beginning to brown slightly. Remove the pan from the oven and place the toasted bread cubes on top of the soup and Parmesan cheese.

Then, cover the bread cubes with the grated sharp cheddar. Place the dutch oven, uncovered, in the 375 degree oven and bake until the cheese is fully melted on the bread cubes and the soup is just beginning to bubble.

I have (shown in the small bowl previous photo) cooked some bacon and broken it into bits to sprinkle on the soup once it has been ladled into bowls. This gives the meat lovers in my family a bit of protein and a crunch of meaty flavor. It is entirely optional.

On a cold, late January evening, this soup was a one pot meal and it did more than fill our bellies with homemade comfort. It warmed our souls, warmed our home, and reminded us of our MANY BLESSINGS…

Winter solstice. The time of year when the earth rests in the depths of winter. Each winter day, the sun will grace us with a few extra moments of daylight. January, February, March, long months of winter cold, snow and hot toddies at the hearth. Yule logs have a while to burn this time of the year and tho I long for fresh vegetables from my garden, I have to be content with winter squash, braided garlic and onion garlands dried for winter fare. Root vegetables, carrots and potatoes, fill our bellies in many delicious ways.

Add salt, pepper, dried thyme and sage leaves, roasted garlic, a splash of white wine and three cups of water and you have all the ingredients needed to make this scrumptious soup. As it simmers on the stove top throughout the day, the house smells delicious. Add the aroma of baking bread and home becomes a heavenly place to be on a rainy winter day.

Butternut squash and potatoes, roasted in the oven with sweet onion, shallot, dried sage and thyme from my garden, bless this house throughout the cold months with an irresistible aroma of goodness. Add roasting garlic to the mix and our home becomes irresistibly inviting . On a day of heavy rain, like today, I have the oven employed with that savory mixture, roasting ahead for butternut lasagna on Christmas Eve. Prep done early saves a lot of time closer to the holiday and enables me to sit and enjoy family time without having to be in an out of the kitchen continually. A mixture like this keeps in the refrigerator well and gives the flavors time to blend before I assemble the lasagna.

But today, I am also making one of our favorite soups. Butternut, russet and sweet onion soup. Simmering on the stove, in my 6 quart cast iron dutch oven, this soup is a keeper. The first time I made it, a couple of weeks ago, I literally threw the ingredients together with no recipe (as I typically do). I had half a butternut squash and a cup of fresh juice from tomatoes I had used in a tomato pie the night before, as my starting place. On my counter was a large Vidalia onion that needed to be used soon and I had just roasted a head of garlic. I had bread dough rising and my thoughts migrated to a hearty thick soup in which to dredge warm bread. Toward the end of its simmering, I added a cup or so of a brown rice, lentil, quinoa blend; which thickened the soup with a good dose of meatless protein. Just before serving I added a handful of baby spinach which was hiding in my vegetable drawer in the fridge. Not enough to do anything else with, it added wonderful color to an already colorful soup.

Begin by peeling and removing the seeds from a medium size butternut squash. Perhaps 2 cups more or less of diced squash. Add a large peeled, chopped Vidalia onion, 2 cups more or less of peeled, diced potatoes. No exact measurements here.

Melt 2 TB of butter in a large (6 or 8 quart) porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven, over low heat/flame. Add a cup or so of fresh tomato juice (if you have it handy like I did) or 2 TB of tomato paste. Add a cup of water and once the liquid mixture is hot, add the diced squash, onion and potato. I added a small diced shallot also. Feel free to add diced leeks (I may try that today) just because it’s fun to experiment a bit ! Add a few grinds of salt and pepper, and about a half teaspoon each of dried thyme and sage leaves, give or take to your liking. Give the mixture a good stir with a wooden spoon.

Once the mixture is simmering, turn the heat/or flame to low, cover the dutch oven and let the mixture simmer for about an hour (if you don’t have a simmer burner, use a heat diff-user on your smallest burner). Then, after simmering for a bit (covered), add another 2 cups of water, a splash or two of white wine and adjust the salt and pepper levels to your liking. Add as many cloves of roasted garlic as you like. Let the soup simmer on low for another hour or two or three… and once the squash and potatoes are super soft and delectable to taste, add another cup of water and a cup of rinsed quinoa, brown rice, and or lentils, one or the other or a mixture of your liking. You can’t go wrong here. Just make sure you add enough water to accommodate the grains. A little extra white wine is never a bad thing.

Just before serving add a handful or more of fresh baby spinach leaves, (rinsed) and a bit of grated fresh Parmesan or grated sharp cheddar. Give the soup a gentle stir and ladle the savory soup into warmed bowls. Slice or break that loaf of (warm) bread into hearty chunks and dip your spoon into one of the loveliest forms of comfort food. A bit of winter warmth at the table, inside where the Yule log glows from the hearth, and rich, red winter wine adds a bit of earthy flavor to your meal at the end of a long winter day.

Don’t be shy with the bread slices. Go ahead and mop up the last drops from the bottom of your bowl. Go ahead and lick your fingers and dip the ladle into the pot for another helping. Give yourself and your loved ones the gift of rich and delicious winter warmth from your kitchen. Feel free to create this soup by adding or subtracting various ingredients. Experiment, tweak your imagination, and enjoy the results to the fullest.

Look for the light each day, as the sun sets later and the shadows of winter wend their way over the land. Be sure to count your...MANY BLESSINGS

Fall has officially arrived in New England.  According to the calendar. However, the warm days of late summer have endured and tho we’ve had a few cool nights, there has been no indication of frost.

Our vegetable garden did not produce as well as I  hoped it would this past summer.  Between a lot of rain, oppressive humidity and an overabundance of squirrels and chipmunks, we were left with precious little that was table worthy.   In the long run I was able to pick a few zucchini (nothing seems to discourage their growth), enough tomatoes for a few wonderful tomato pies (tho not enough blt’s and fresh tomato sandwiches for our liking), and literally a handful of pole beans.

The farmers markets are nearing an end for this season, and the corn crops are dwindling earlier than usual.  Typically, we can obtain local corn into mid October… but not this year.

I was hoping for peaches…POUNDS of peaches, from our own trees.  We had gorgeous, plump, ripening peaches filling all three of our peach trees. Red Havens, Reliance and White Lady peaches.  The squirrels enjoyed 90 % of them !!!  We were not alone in our disappointment.  Everyone we spoke with regarding the invasion of squirrels and chipmunks, had the same tales of battling those pesky rodents as we did.  Alas, we have next year to look forward to and a long winter to figure out ways of staying ahead of those thieving critters !!!!

The lingering warm days make it challenging to decide what to create for dinner.  The humidity this year has been oppressive and can make starting the oven enormously unappealing.  One of my favorite and simple go to meals is chicken salad.  The only heat required to create it is from the simmer of a burner on the stove top.  With sliced celery stalks and their leaves picked fresh from the garden (if the rodents left any), sliced ginger gold or honeycrisp apple, toasted pumpkin seeds or walnuts and sliced red grapes, this chicken salad is a meal in itself.  I usually add steamed green beans or corn, or even sliced tomatoes still warm from the garden, to complete the meal.  Anything goes with chicken salad and it doesn’t need to be a lot.  If you make enough to have leftovers, lunch the next day is a cinch.

End of Summer Chicken Salad

You will need:

3 or 4 split chicken breasts, bone in, simmered with carrot, onion, shallot, butter, salt, pepper, fresh thyme and sage (dried works too), water.  See directions below.

roughly one cup of diced crisp cored unpeeled apple, (I use ginger golds or honey crisp)

roughly one cup of halved red grapes

two or three slender stalks of celery with leaves

a TB or two of fresh rough chopped parsley

roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup of good mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s)

the juice from half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

a teaspoon more or less of dried thyme

1/2 to 3/4 cup of toasted walnuts, almonds or pumpklin seeds

 

I have no exact measurements for this salad.  And, if you don’t feel like simmering chicken on the stove top, by all means, buy that rotisserie chicken at the local market.  Your call.

I typically simmer 3 or 4 bone in split chicken breasts, with a stalk or two of celery, a carrot or two sliced lengthwise, a small onion and/or shallot, salt, pepper, one or two fresh sprigs of thyme and sage, (dried works too), salt, pepper and a tb. of butter, just covered in water, in a stock pot.

I start by bringing the mixture in the pot to a soft boil.  Then, I turn the flame to simmer and let it go for roughly an hour.  I check it every so often to make sure it isn’t dancing a high simmer…and toward the end of an hour I check to see if the chicken is tender enough to begin to separate from the bone.

Once the chicken is tender and I know it’s done, I turn off the flame and remove the chicken breasts to a colander, set on a plate or in a shallow bowl, to keep the juices from running all over the place.  I let the chicken, and the fabulous, fragrant broth in the pot, cool enough to handle.  Once cooled, I pour the broth into glass jars to refrigerate and use soon, or freezer containers  to use at another time.  I discard the veggies and herbs.  Voila, homemade chicken broth/stock for soups or recipes later on.  How much easier can it get !!!

Once  the chicken is cool enough to pull from the bone.  I shred it as I pull it and add it to a large mixing bowl.  I add salt and pepper to taste, a bit of dried thyme, and the juice that collected from the cooling chicken.  Mix together and add a stalk or two of diced celery AND the celery leaves.  A tablespoon or so of fresh rough cut parsley, and just enough mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s) to moisten the chicken. Then, add a cup each of halved red grapes and diced crisp fresh apple (of your choice).  Mix all the ingredients together well and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Just before serving,  mix in the toasted nuts.  Add a bit more mayonnaise if needed, and drizzle with the juice of half a lemon.  Mix lightly and serve all by itself or with a nice colorful addition of veggies. If the weather permits, spread a blanket on the lawn, lite the outside fireplace, pull out the picnic plates and utensils and carry it all outdoors.  Look up through the fall foliage glowing in its splendor with the setting sun.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy every last bite of your picnic dinner.

Many Blessings…

‘

 

 

Summer, summer, summer squash.  So many varieties of yellow and zucchini summer squash.  I plant seeds at the beginning of summer and eagerly anticipate the first blossoms on the hollow stemmed, large, prickly leaved plants.  Picked young, summer squash is tender with small seeds.  Their delicate flesh bruises easily so I pick them gently, using a sharp knife to sever the squash from the stems.  I place them in a towel lined basket, all the while contemplating the meals I will be making with them.  I typically wait until I have a few squash before I start picking and cooking some of the blossoms.  Like garlic scapes, they are a delicacy from the garden.  Palate pleasing freshness  I never tire of.  Their season is short and must be enjoyed.

At the beginning of our harvest season, mid July to early August in my neck of the woods,  I cannot wait to use these squash in all kinds of recipes I sometimes create on the spot.  Why not?  With a few ingredients from a well stocked pantry, the options and ideas can be endless.

Baking with summer squash, typically zucchini, is a great way to “hide” vegetable goodness in cakes, cookies and breads for those who are not fans of these garden greats.  And once those few seeds, grown into plants, begin producing, watch out.  Gardeners everywhere will start giving the squash away by the barrel full.  Farm markets this time of year are loaded with the bounty of summer gardens.

Jokes abound about zucchini “boats”, baseball bat sized squash, and sneaking around under the cover of darkness to leave huge zucchini in baskets on doorsteps.

I have found keeping up with the squash by picking it early is the key to staying out from under an overload.  If a couple (inevitably) get away from me by hiding as they do so well under the leaves, I bake with them.  Or, I grate them to freeze which works well if you drain and squeeze out as much of the extra moisture as you can from the grated squash before freezing.

Spiraled, julienne ‘d, diced, sliced, grated.  Sauteed, baked, fried, and raw.  So many ways to prepare and enjoy.  The simpler the better, particularly on hot and humid lazy summer days when the living needs to be easy.

This Au gratin recipe isn’t anything new to the universe.  Its been made before for sure but I like my version best and I’ve shortened the prep steps to make it simple and delicious.  It doesn’t require a long baking time which is great for those who haven’t got air conditioned homes.  I have never tried grilling it but I bet it would work.  It might be a bit more challenging to prepare but in a round foil pan, tightly sealed with heavy duty aluminum foil so it could be turned upside down for even grilling, it could work.  Where there is a will there is always a way.

Depending on the number of people you are feeding, this can be a side dish or can serve as your main entree.  For vegetarians, it’s a sure win.  Which is one of the reasons I love it so much.   Parmesan and mozzarella make this Au gratin scrumptious.  Fresh basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary add incredible flavor.  Sliced ripe tomatoes give just the right amount of moisture to prevent drying while baking.  I have added roasted garlic to this as well and the deliciousness can’t be beat.  Add or subtract what you will.  Eggplant, green tomatoes  herbs, cheeses…mix it up and try it different ways.  You can’t mess this up.

Here, in the dish pictured above, I have used:

3 each, small zucchini and yellow summer squash rinsed and sliced 1/4 inch thick

three medium ripe tomatoes cored and sliced roughly a half inch thick

one chunk (1 cup more or less) of fresh mozzarella sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 to 3 TB EVOO to drizzle over the top once assembled

Salt and pepper to taste

2 TB flour

1/2 cup of fresh, rinsed basil leaves (larger ones rough chopped if you wish)

3 sprigs of fresh, rinsed rosemary about 3″ long, leaves attached

4 stems of fresh thyme; leaves stripped from stems (discard stems)

Slice the yellow summer and zucchini squash. Toss in a large mixing bowl with two TB flour and salt and pepper to taste, making sure all the squash slices are dusted.   Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella.  Into a  12″ round casserole dish, layer the squash, tomato and mozzarella with a basil leaf worked in, in a circular pattern.  Do this until all the ingredients are layered in. I start on the outside and work in, you may like to do it the other way.  Either works.  Or, use a square casserole dish and line them up end to end.

Rough chop any remaining basil leaves (or leave them whole) and mix with the fresh thyme leaves. Sprinkle the herbs over the top of the layered ingredients.  Evenly sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the top.  Drizzle with 2 to 3 TB EVOO  and place the sprigs of fresh rosemary on top.  Bake uncovered in a pre heated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.  I have, on occasion,  drizzled a bit of balsamic vinegar over the dish before baking or, after the dish is removed from the oven and is still warm.

Served with or without other dishes, or alone with a chunk of crusty bread and a glass of wine, this Au gratin is sure to please and for summer squash lovers, become a keeper.

Summer is here…Many Blessings

 

 

 

For the first time since we planted our blueberry bushes, several years ago; they were covered with blossoms this spring.  Bunches of fruit have begun to form and I have a feeling the blueberries are going to be plump, juicy, blue orbs of heaven this summer.

Blueberry picking is one of my favorite ways to spend lazy, hot summer afternoons.  Small blueberry pails belted to the hip and into the patch I go.  Perhaps a hat to keep the blazing sun out of my eyes as I gather handfuls of ripe, deep blue berries and listen to the plop, plop, plop as they fall into the pails.  Once the pails are full, I gently “dump” the berries into a huge flat basket I have just for this purpose.  The birds are watching closely…they would like me to leave a berry or two.

What’s not to love about blueberries.  Good for your health, good for your soul, from the picking to the eating.  Pies, jams, tarts, muffins, SCONES!!!  All by themselves in a bowl, a splash of cream, a sprinkle of sugar.

Where I live, in the Berkshires, blueberries are abundantly grown. There are several blueberry farms around and when my family and I visited my fathers cousin on Otis Reservoir during my young adult years; we picked blueberries daily.  My fathers cousin Edward owned a cottage right on the lake at the end of Ona Road. Adjacent to his property, on Lands End, was a huge blueberry farm.  Still there to this day, I know the blueberries it produces are divine and the memories I have of picking pails full over so many summers are divine as well.

A few years ago I wrote a short story centered around those summer days spent on the reservoir.  Here, below, I share a few paragraphs.  As always, food was in the spotlight.  Our family reunions and gatherings always meant pot luck meals.  But there were some dishes that appeared year after year, without fail.  Blueberry creations took center stage.

~~~~~

~  I wonder if my cousins remember, as I do, the family reunions we had there (on Otis Reservoir).  Swimming all day under the sun saturated August sky until that heavy waterlogged hunger brought us all, wrinkled and blue lipped, out of the water;  our stomachs  screaming for food.

Dish upon delicious dish of potluck comfort food obscured the tops of picnic tables, and we raced toward them, the grass cool and spongy with moss under our bare feet.  The air was hot and humid,  heavy with the lazy buzz of cicadas in a field nearby.  We filled our stomachs to satisfaction and played cut throat croquet in the afternoon lull.

As dusk approached the air cooled and we reached for our shorts and sweatshirts; our hair still damp and smelling of lake water.  The black folds of night enveloped us as we watched the lights of cottages and campfires across the water punctuate the dark.  We lit our own campfire and roasted marshmallows over its glowing coals.

Murmurs from the adults talking and laughing where they sat in the inky shadows under the trees, hung like fog in the night air around us.  Their faces, lit by the campfire, appeared surreal and ghostly.  Their voices tangled in time with the sounds and voices coming from around the lake.  Sounds and voices that shot like arrows across the now silent and still water.  Straight, sharp and crystal clear.

Desserts appeared, brought out from hiding in picnic baskets.   The warm scrumptious smell of coffee,  along with the smoke from Edwards cigars, hovered in the damp evening air.  Fireflies danced in the blueberry patch and along the shore and soon, after the last bits of blueberry pie were scraped from dishes,  it would be time to head home.  ~

~~~~~

Those were not the only summertime gatherings our family had.  For many years we gathered at Congamond Lake(s), at the lakeside cottage of my fathers cousin Andrew.  The lake shore was dotted with wild blueberry bushes and for every July 4th picnic there (and there were many); Andrew’s wife Martha made blueberry cake.   It was my fathers favorite.  It must have been the favorite of everyone there.  It disappeared.  There were always blueberries still to pick on the wild bushes that seemed to be everywhere.  I know everyone that walked by picked a handful or two.   Then, for many years after Andrew and Martha sold the lake cottage, we gathered in East Litchfield, every 4th of July.  These memories, for me, are brimming with family fun, love and so many blessings, along with the joys a few blueberry desserts can bring.

Get ready for some warm fresh blueberry scones.  Betcha can’t eat just one..

Fresh Blueberry Scones

2 cups all purpose flour

1  scant TB granulated sugar

1 TB plus 1 teas baking powder

1/2 teas ground nutmeg

1 teas salt

1  1/2 sticks of butter, diced into small chunks

2 eggs

1 TB vanilla greek yogurt  (plain works too)

1/2 cup of whole milk or half and half

2 teas pure vanilla extract

1 cup of rinsed, drained (preferably organic *)  fresh blueberries

Prepare a large baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.

Pre heat your oven to 400 degrees

Into a large mixing bowl place all dry ingredients.  Mix so that all the ingredients are well blended.

Add the cold, diced butter and blend until the butter is mixed into the dry ingredients enough to be broken into tiny chunks.

Into a large bowl or glass measuring cup combine the milk, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract.  Beat together lightly making sure the egg yolks are broken and mixed in with the yogurt and milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until blended.  Do NOT over mix.  Using a spatula, blend the blueberries into the batter until equally distributed.

Using the spatula, drop the batter onto a well floured surface.  With floured hands, coat the batter (which will be sticky) with flour until you can form a square that is about 2″ thick.  With a sharp knife, cut the square into 12 even pieces.  Place each piece about 2 ” apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush lightly with milk or half and half, then sprinkle with a bit of granulated sugar.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18 to 22 minutes, making sure the bottoms of the scones are light brown.

* A note regarding organic blueberries.  I use organic blueberries, strawberries, apples…to name just three…  There are lists of fruits and vegetables that you can google to find out which are safer/safest organic and which are okay (loose term here) non organic.  If you are concerned with pesticides used on crops, and your health; I urge you to check the list(s).

Once the scones are browned remove them from the oven.  Let them cool on the baking sheet until they are safe to eat without burning your mouth.  Remember !!!  Those blueberries can hold a lot of heat.

Enjoy every scrumptious bite.  I know we do.  Time and time again.  Let the blueberry summer begin.

Many blessings…

 

 

One of our resident barred owls.

Sitting outside with the dogs on this May morning, I am surrounded by life reaching, almost imperceptibly, into the warmth of the spring sun.  The pulse of life beats steadily and insistently as our woodland sanctuary stirs and  stretches;  its winter slumber at long last, over.  The slightest sweep of breeze stirs the crackled, dry leaf layer on the forest floor, as do red and gray squirrels, their chatter competing raucously with songs of phoebes, thrushes and robins.

A red winged blackbird trills and whistles while a chipmunk clucks in warning from its hiding spot; our resident broad winged hawk sits in a tall tree nearby and waits patiently for its next meal to expose itself.   As does a barred owl hooting from its perch on a tree branch despite the daylight.  We believe our owl nesting box is occupied by a family of barred owls.  Owlets screeching to be fed.  We hear the attentive adults daily now, calling to each other beginning late afternoon, through dusk and on into the night. Occasionally we hear a great horned owl.  Rarely do we get a glimpse of either.  When we do, it is a divine gift.

From my kitchen window I have a panoramic view of our “orchard” which consists of three varieties of peach and two varieties of apple trees.  I watch as the first hummingbird arrivals of the season hover and dine at the peach blossoms.  The peach trees are bursting with delicate pink color.  The whir of hummingbird wings and the drone of bees is a spring symphony.

Every wild green sprout from the forest floor is pushing toward the sun. The ferns are freeing their fronds from their web like fists ; spreading their long green fingers, catching the wind, swaying pendulum like in greeting.

Trillium, wild viburnum, blood root, may apple. The earth is giving birth to another season saturated with green, vibrating with life, surrounded by the orchestra of nature;  bows made of sun rays gliding over the strings of life; by which we live and breathe.

This past winter was hard.  Seemingly endless, ruthless in its bitter cold shroud of dormancy.  So, when the first shoots of chives punctuated the cold layer of winters dead skin with their green tips of life; I knew spring was indeed on its way.

For me, chives are as sure a sign of spring as the red wing blackbirds, peepers and pussy willows.  I can once again begin to enjoy their delicate yet distinct green onion flavor, a cross between their relatives, leek and onion. Hollow, deep green shoots grow in clumps and produce purple blossoms.  Chives can be invasive so if you are planting them, put them in a spot where you don’t mind if they spread.  I dry as many chopped chives as I can and store them to use over the winter.

I can never have enough chives.  I use them in so many dishes and baked goods.  Like these cheddar, chive and dill, buttermilk biscuits.  I have been working on a gluten free version from my original recipe and have come up with a keeper.  It follows the original recipe below.

My gluten free recipe can, I believe, also be made using prepared gluten free flour (tho I have not tried it).  There are gluten free flours readily available in markets.  I find them expensive.  So here, in my gluten free recipe, I have used brown rice flour and corn meal which I find less expensive in the long run, and as I use them in other recipes, I typically have them on hand.  I have also added an egg and reduced the amount of sour cream.

Cheddar, Chive and Dill, Buttermilk Biscuits (original recipe)

2 cups all purpose, unbleached flour

1 scant TB granulated sugar

1 teas. salt

1/2 teas. baking soda

2 teas. baking powder

1 TB chia seeds

1 TB flax seeds

3 TB cold butter, diced into small chunks

1 cup buttermilk (I make my own using whole milk with 2 TB white vinegar added)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 teas. freshly chopped dill

2 TB finely chopped chives

If you are using dried dill and chives, or other dried herbs,  reduce the amount of dill to 1/2 teas. and chives to 1 TB.   These biscuits are divine with fresh herbs tho…I have added chopped thyme and parsley as well.  Flavor with fresh (or dried) herbs to your liking…more or less to taste.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To a large mixing bowl add all of the dried ingredients (including dried herbs if that is what you are using).  Mix well with a whisk. Then add the diced cold butter. Add the butter and mix until the mixture is coarse and the butter is mostly blended with the dry ingredients.  I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, with the paddle, on low speed. Add the grated cheddar cheese and fresh herbs. Blend well.  Using a spatula, blend in the sour cream then the buttermilk until all the dry ingredients , cheese and herbs are just blended.   Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes in the bowl before scooping into 1/4 cup sized mounds onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the edges and tips of the tops are just brown. Remove and cool on a wire cooling rack.  This recipe makes approximately 1 dozen biscuits.

When I am using these biscuits as an appetizer, I use my small cookie scoop and adjust the cooking time to 8 to 10 minutes in my 450 degree convection oven, watching closely so they do not get too brown.

Gluten Free Cheddar, Chive and Dill, Buttermilk Biscuits

Follow all of the above directions as used for the original recipe to prepare this gluten free version. An egg is used in this recipe as well, and a reduced amount of sour cream.

To a large mixing bowl add:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

2 TB medium ground cornmeal

2 TB flax seed meal  (ground flax seed)

1 TB chia seeds

1 TB cornstarch

1 scant TB granulated sugar

1 teas. salt

2 teas. baking powder

1/2 teas. baking soda

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 TB  cold butter, diced into small chunks

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 TB sour cream

1 cup buttermilk

As with the above recipe, using a whisk, mix all the dry ingredients well. Blend in the diced butter, then the cheese,  fresh or dried herbs,  lightly beaten egg and sour cream.  Lastly the buttermilk.

Let the batter rest for 5 minutes before scooping into  1/4 cup mounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 to 16 minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms and tips of the tops.  These gluten free biscuits may spread slightly while baking. They will still taste scrumptious.

Enjoy every crumb with or without a spread of soft butter.  You might have to have more than one.

The window screens are in, the windows…wide open.  Spring days are sliding by as summer approaches.  Enjoy the days of longer light and evenings filled with the songs of wood thrush and owls.

Listen to the GRACE of the world…

Many Blessings…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread.  Symbolically referred to as “the staff of life”, bread is a simple, basic food that has been created and consumed for centuries and is considered a staple.  A hearty, rustic food;  one that sustains life.  Bread is created in many forms. Flat bread, free form loaves, rounds of nutty bread, bread full of various ingredients and formed into loaves, depending on the regions and geographical areas where it is created.  I use the word created, because bread making, the forming of loaves;  is a highly individual form of art, of preference.

Culture and geography play a distinct role in the ingredients used in breads that are created, as does the individual hands on mixing and forming of the dough. Regional variations act as signatures for many types of bread.  Tho the ingredients may be similar, the hands that form the dough are as individual and personal as their fingerprints and leave their marks of identity in each loaf.  Slashes made with  knives also act as signatures on many loaves.

To “break bread” is to share a meal in the good company of others.  “Our daily bread” refers to the  meals eaten day to day.  “Our bread and butter” is a phrase used to indicate prosperity,  just as “bread” or “dough” are slang for wealth or cash;  a pocket full of money.

There are many biblical and spiritual references and interpretations to bread;  and ancient forms of bread have been discovered at archaeological digs.  All these facts indicate that bread, in its plain simple, or most hearty form,  has been created by human hands for centuries.

I grew up in a house that was often filled with the aroma of baking bread.  My mother made bread using a bread pail to mix the dough and spent a fair amount of time kneading the dough and forming loaves.  She baked them in loaf pans.  The scent of that bread baking was intoxicating.  I know she made several loaves at a time.   Those loaves of soul warming didn’t last long in our house.  Waiting for the loaves to cool enough to be sliced was torture.  One slice was never enough.  We typically ate those soft yet chewy slices of warm bread with layers of real butter and honey.  It became habit forming.   Addiction in its most tasteful form.

Some people swear by bread machines and will create bread no other way.  Without a doubt, bread machines are time savers for many.  Some people still use bread pails, antiques by now, and knead their bread into spectacular loaves.  There are some who have found no knead bread recipes and won’t ever go back to kneading bread dough again.   Some buy frozen loaves and bake them in their own ovens.  Some folks buy fresh made bread every day.

However you make, bake, or buy your bread…enjoy it.  It is after all…the staff of life;  described as “a thick crunchy or chewy crust, soft in the middle…”.

Hearty Peasant Bread

To mix this no knead dough you will need a large glass or ceramic mixing bowl, a whisk and a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.

You will also need:

1 cup of bread flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 cup of whole wheat flour (or white/wheat flour) unbleached

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 TB each chia seeds and flax seeds

1 1/2 cups of warm water

Place all of the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl and using a whisk, mix together well.  Once you have done that, using the wooden spoon or sturdy spatula, stir the 1 1/2 cups of warm water into the dry ingredients until all of the dry ingredients are moist.  Do not over mix…the dough should have a shaggy look.

Once mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the bowl of dough in a warm spot and let it rise for a minimum of 6 hours.  I usually let it rise for 6 to 8.

Once the dough has risen, using a spatula, scoop it into the middle of the bowl and then turn the dough (which will be very sticky) onto a well floured surface.  With floured hands, using more flour as needed, form the sticky ball of dough into a well floured round.

Then, place the ball of well floured dough into a well floured proofing basket if you have one.  Cover the basket loosely with a piece of plastic wrap.  If you don’t have a proofing basket, loosely wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap.  Let the dough sit, covered while the oven pre heats to 450 degrees.

As the oven pre heats, and the dough sits, get out a small…2 qt or a medium…3 or 4 qt covered cast iron dutch oven.  Using a smaller dutch oven will give you a taller round loaf.  A larger dutch oven will give you a flatter round loaf.  Here, I use a 2 quart dutch oven which makes a beautifully formed loaf.  I have two of these, and use them both when making 2 round loaves of bread.  This green one is 60 years old…it was a wedding gift to my parents…many moons ago.

Once the oven has heated to 450 degrees, place the empty dutch oven into the hot oven, very carefully so as not to get burned, and let it heat through for at lease 20 minutes.  Once heated through, carefully remove it from the hot oven and remove the lid, then, being very careful of the hot dutch oven, drop the ball of bread dough into the center of the dutch oven and place the hot lid on top.  Place the dutch oven back into the hot oven and let the bread bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

Here, in this photo above, I have very carefully dropped the bread dough from my proofing basket into the dutch oven.   Please, please, be very careful when handling the HOT dutch oven and its lid.  Use good pot holders and do not set the hot dutch oven or lid on an unprotected surface.  And remember the lid is very hot when you pick it up to place it back on the dutch oven.

Once baked for 30 minutes, remove the lid from the dutch oven and continue to bake the loaf, uncovered,  for another 10 to 20 minutes or until it is a deep golden brown.  Once it is browned, remove from the oven and let cool on your stove top for about 30 minutes.  Once the dutch oven is cool enough to be handled, invert the loaf onto a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.

If you can’t wait that long, try to wait until the loaf is mostly cooled. Otherwise, slicing will prove difficult.  The inside of the bread will still be too moist.  This bread is scrumptious toasted.  Slathered with butter, honey, jam, or  nut butter, it is impossible to have just one slice.  No matter how you slice it tho…ENJOY every bite.

MANY BLESSINGS…

 

 

 

 Spring, this elusive spring,  feels a long way off tho it is mid April.  The peepers are usually peeping in the pond across the street by now.  This year they are clearly biding their time under the lingering ice.  I hope they are not holding their breath, waiting…waiting…waiting…

In need of a treat to lift our winter weary spirits, I made this cake this past dreary Monday, and it undeniably and scrumptiously did the trick.  Few culinary treats satiate my taste buds as deliciously as this almond butter cake.  Now if it could only entice the peepers to emerge,  singing their jubilant songs of spring.

Each year before Thanksgiving and Christmas, I peruse holiday magazines and now, addiction forming Pinterest; for new recipes to try.  This past holiday season I came across a recipe for Dutch Butter Cake.  Four simple ingredients created this cake.  Butter, a lot of it, flour, sugar and salt.  It was undeniably scrumptious.  Alas, my creative gene kicked into high gear as it so often does, and I thought…I can tweak this a bit to make it less sweet with more flavor.   This recipe is what I came up with and it’s a keeper.

Consumers beware…it is rich with pure butter so all you need is a very small serving, many times throughout the day !!!!!  And of course, as I’ve done here in my photo’s, feel free to add fresh strawberries, raspberries, fruit of your liking.  It makes this almond butter cake a bit less sinful.

This cake does not rise as it bakes.  It is dense and perfectly moist.  It will cut into squares quite neatly and can be eaten with your fingers.  This of course, makes it all too easy to cut off a chunk every time you pass the kitchen.   It is best to make this cake for a picnic or a tea party or a luncheon where you must deny yourself anything but the crumbs; or you will show up for your event empty handed and guilt ridden.

Hugelhaus Almond Butter Cake

Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

I have a gas convection oven that bakes beautifully.  You might have to adjust the baking time by a minute or two in either direction depending on your oven.  I recommend watching the baking closely the first time you bake this cake.  You do not want to over bake it.

2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

2 TB almond meal         If you are allergic to nuts omit them and add 2                                                                additional TB of flour.

1/2 teas salt

1 TB light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter

1 teas each pure vanilla and almond extract

Using your microwave, melt the butter in a large ceramic or glass mixing bowl.  If you don’t have or want to use a microwave, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat on your stove top, until just melted.  Do not let the butter burn.

To the bowl or sauce pan of melted butter, add the remaining ingredients and mix all together until well blended.  The batter will be quite thick so I find using a wooden spoon works best.  Use what ever sturdy mixing utensil you are comfortable with.  Do not try to use a whisk as I did here (photo above).  The batter is too thick for a whisk to do a proper job.

Spread the well mixed batter evenly in an 8 x 8 baking dish.  There is no need to grease a ceramic baking dish.  The butter in this recipe keeps the cake from sticking to the dish.  You might want to grease a steel pan…or line it with parchment paper.  I avoid that by using a ceramic baking dish.

Bake this 8 x 8 cake in your 350 degree oven for no longer than 30 minutes. You should see the edges of the cake beginning to turn golden brown.  When that happens, your cake is done.  To perfection.  Let it cool completely before you try to cut it.

Once cooled, cut the cake into squares or pie shaped slices.  What ever appeals to you.  I think you will find that you will thoroughly enjoy every last crumb.  And…if you decide you want this cake all to yourself, my advice is to tell no one you’ve made it !!!!!

Many Blessings…

 

 

 

 

We recently returned home after a relaxing 12 day vacation, during which we visited sunny Florida to spend three days with long time friends, and then to warm Virginia to visit our son, daughter and law and two of our grandchildren.   Three weeks ago, we left the cold of New England, where Old Man Winter was still raging; for respite in the southern sun, where grass is green and daffodils are blooming.

Now, back home to snow lingering in the woods and in dirty packed piles on the sides of roads;  it’s a bit discouraging to have left spring behind.  But the pulse of its inevitable arrival beats imperceptibly, in the packets of seeds I brought home.  I have faith that soon, the warm earth will begin to swell with spring green shoots of our daffodils, that I know are waiting under the snow.

Coming home after a vacation, whether it was 3 days or 2 weeks, typically means there is little to nothing in the refrigerator.  I don’t like to leave perishable food in our refrigerator while we are away.  Coming home to an empty one, free as it may be from a variety of colorful mold in various stages of life;  is a challenge when it comes to preparing meals before I get a chance to go to the market to re-stock.

So.  Here is where I have come to depend on my freezers for storing a few well labeled leftovers.  Meals I have prepared in the days before we head out for a vacation usually provide a variety of leftovers that I can pull from the freezer upon our return, to create a meal.

Throughout the year, as I prepare meals, I double recipes when I can to intentionally create leftovers.  Having two freezers, makes life considerably easier for me when it comes to planning meals and saving money.  And, I fully respect those who are not fans of leftovers.  It’s not for everyone and, respectfully, to each their own.

Here, for dinner tonight, I am making a noodle casserole from leftover turkey, spinach and mushroom burgers.  This past Friday night, after grocery shopping to re-stock the empty fridge, I made turkey burgers.  As I always do, I added finely chopped fresh spinach and finely chopped mushrooms to the burgers.  Salt, pepper and grated Parmesan for flavor.  Caramelized sweet onions and roasted garlic cloves topped the burgers and they were scrumptious.  An easy dinner after a day of shopping.  And…there were three cooked burgers left over. Otherwise, I would have “shopped” in the freezer for this meal.  Either way, fresh cooked or from the freezer,  it works.

I don’t like to re-heat cooked burgers.  No matter how you do it, they always end up dry and tough.  But they are perfect for dicing and adding to a casserole.  Which is what I’ve done here.

Now, a lot of people, children in particular, don’t like casseroles.  Pasta, vegetables, meat, by themselves on a plate is more appealing to a lot of palates.  Visually and to the taste buds.

But then there are also a lot of people who love casseroles.  We fall into that category and I’m grateful for that because casseroles are filled with flavor and goodness and, leftover, are even more flavorful.

The ingredients in the turkey burgers blended with the egg noodles, diced shallot and frozen peas I added to this casserole.  Simple to prepare, economically sound, and for casserole lovers…delicious.  There was enough of this left over for my husbands lunch the next day.  How great is that!

I used 2 cups of homemade chicken stock, that I made over the weekend, for this meal.  This casserole took about 30 minutes to prepare and another 20 minutes in the oven before serving.  I added fresh steamed asparagus spears to complete our meal.  So, this creation would work well on a weeknight when time is short but dinner still needs to be put on the family table.  In the past, I have used leftover meatloaf and/or leftover baked chicken in my casserole creations.  When there is not enough meat by itself to go around, a casserole can really make it go farther.

No exact measurements here…this is one of my wing it creations.  Use your imagination and let your creativity have free reign.  You will need…

As much leftover cooked meat (burgers, meatloaf, chicken, beef) as you have on hand in the fridge or in the freezer.

A pound or a half pound of cooked egg noodles, gauged to how many people you are feeding.

One cup more or less of diced sweet onion, shallot, leeks, and a small bulb of roasted garlic cloves.  If you don’t have roasted garlic prepared add a clove or two of finely chopped fresh garlic.

2 cups of chicken stock (or more if using more egg noodles…I used half a pound of cooked egg noodles so 2 cups was just enough for a lovely sauce). You can also use the water from the cooked pasta.  Reserve some for this purpose if you plan to use it.

How ever many mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes you have on hand.  I had about a cup of diced mushrooms and about 1/2 cup of sliced sun dried tomatoes.

Feel free to add or subtract here…as you like it.

Melt a 1/4 cup (a half stick) of butter in a large enameled cast iron dutch oven over medium/low heat.  Be careful that the butter doesn’t burn.  Add a 1/4 cup of chicken stock.  Saute the onions, leeks, shallots and sun dried tomatoes (which ever you are using) in the melted butter and chicken stock until the onions are transparent.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now add the diced meat to the dutch oven (big, medium, small chunks…your call).  Add a cup of the chicken stock.  Mix well and let simmer for about 10 minutes on medium/low heat so that the meat is heated through.

Then add 2 or 3 TB of flour to the mixture depending on how thick you want the sauce to be and stir it into the mixture well.   Add the rest of the chicken stock and stir well until a thick sauce forms.  Add more chicken stock if you have it or add some of the reserved water from the cooked egg noodles.

Once the sauce is the thickness of your liking add the diced mushrooms and  a cup, more or less, of frozen peas and let the mixture simmer for a few minutes until the mushrooms are tender and the peas are heated.

Add what ever herbs you like to this gently bubbling mixture.  More salt and pepper to your liking.  A splash of white wine.  I added some dried thyme and a bit of grated Parmesan cheese.   Then, add the cooked egg noodles to the mixture and mix well.  Top the casserole with a bit more Parmesan, cheddar, bread crumbs, your call…cover and place in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Add a salad to the meal.  Add steamed broccoli.  Add asparagus.  Or, serve this noodle casserole all by itself.  It is full of good stuff and delectably satisfying all by itself on your plate.  It won’t last long…I promise.

Many Blessings…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make The Ordinary Come Alive

”  Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.  Such striving may seem admirable, but it is a way of foolishness.  Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.  Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.  Show them how to cry when pets and people die.  Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.  And make the ordinary come alive for them.  The extraordinary will take care of itself.  

I came across this quote, these thoughts for living, at a time in my life when I needed this message in a mammoth way.   I do not know who the author is.   I am I hope, a purveyor of the message it holds.  And if, in this ordinary world in which we live, you might benefit from the message too, then my sharing is doing what I hope it will do.  Throughout this post I have placed photos of our seven grandchildren.  Bill and I hope that throughout their lives, as we did with their fathers, we can help to guide them through ordinary lives.

I recently attended the funeral of a 70 year old man who lost his valiant battle with brain cancer.  His granddaughter, his only grandchild, at 17 tender years of age, gave a eulogy for him that spoke volumes of the ways in which he had led her through “the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life“.   Catching frogs, going for ice cream, tag sales and flea markets, going out for breakfast.  He was there for her school activities, for her field hockey games and practices.  She gave us a few highlights of how very much he meant to her and why.  I know her list of memories is long, full of enduring love, and splendidly ordinary.

Through the ache of insatiable loss, she painted a picture of her grandfather that was so wonderfully ordinary, it was extraordinary.  Extraordinary in that,  her heart is overflowing with memories of her grandfather who,  “made the ordinary come alive ” in such a way;  those memories will remain with her throughout her life.  Even through his illness, his raging battle with the demon of disease;  he continued to guide her through the “wonder and marvel of an ordinary life“.   What a gift.

In fact, this man’s entire family talked about and shared, his love of life.  The love of family, the love of giving, the love of living and sharing the ordinary.

At this same funeral,  in a most un-ordinary, cruel twist of life, was this 70 year old man’s, 93 year old father.  It felt horribly wrong to me, that this father should be burying his son.  So out of the ordinary, so misplaced, so erroneous…parents should not have to bury their children.  My heart ached for this man, in ways that only a heart that has done just so, can.

In 1987 a little girl was born.  In 1990, a tragic accident took her from this world and from us;  life has never been the same.  She was three and a half years old, my husbands daughter.  The sweet little girl in our blended family… with her older brother, and my two older boys.

Grief took hold and never let go.  Like a broken bone, healed, yet still crooked and painful at times, it left a lifelong limp with an intransigent ache. Yet, we needed to continue our ordinary lives and find ways through the darkness of our loss, to ensure our boys lives, and ours;  remained full of the colors and patterns in the kaleidoscope of life.   The effervescent, panoramic joys of ordinary experiences, which meant the flat, colorless, inevitable disappointments too.  Ordinary life.

A sweet friend of mine is raging war with breast cancer.  This narcissistic beast, cancer,  continues to rear its heartless head in true selfish fashion.  Yet, my friend continues to smile at every opportunity.  She bravely relies on ordinary life to help her, and her family, navigate this crooked path.  So much extraordinary power. Power filled with GRACE.

I know this positive, strong friend has been through the wringer with treatments, and she is weary.  Counting down the last days of treatments, she has been hit with schedule changes and her discouragement is palpable.  Her fierceness won’t allow her disappointment to last long and I know it will bring her securely back to the realm of ordinary life.

She and her husband have raised three extraordinary young adults.  Through ordinary life.

Throughout my life I have been told, I am always “so cheerful”, “so positive”, “so smiley”.   Well, I have a confession to make.  That is not always so.  YES.  I have a LOT of splendid, very blessed, happily ordinary days.  And…I have some very dark days.  Days of moments that are saturated with sadness.   Days when I doubt and question everything that exists …days that require me to process yet again,  the very things in life I do NOT want to be forced to process.  Days when the motions of ordinary life seem so heavy I cannot possibly bear them and my bones bend beneath the sorrow from what is lost that I will never be able to touch again.

And then, an ordinary moment descends, and I am reminded of the vital necessity of persevering through the darkness and into the light of day. The most poignant, the most insistent message, this ordinary moment has to bestow;  is one that has the power to propel the ordinary into the extraordinary.  And, I count myself among the blessed to be able to recognize the extraordinary as it comes.  To grasp it and never let go.  To let it guide me through the most ordinary of days.

To trust that, “the extraordinary will take care of itself”.  Life is splendidly extraordinary indeed.              Many Blessings…