Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Raspberry Peach Jam

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Canning Adventures Continue!

Our latest tremendous success was a batch of Raspberry Peach Jam.

This is the first year that I've really ventured out into the world of canning without the watchful eye of my mum. It's such a pleasure to have a house and gardens and have the space and time to put food by.






These are a peach jam with raspberries and sweetened with honey. I don't like jam real sweet so they're on the tart side. As we have already discovered, they are perfect on toast, crepes, or just a little on a spoon!




One of these days (when we finish the coconut-milk mocha icecream or the homemade orange-creamsicle push-pops in the freezer) I'll have to try making some really great vanilla icecream and spoon a bit of this jam on top!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Boston Cream Pie Cake

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Before you pie-advocates (in the cake vs. pie debate) get all uppity, let me explain:

This is a CAKE.


Now that we have that settled... On with the story!


One of Joe's favorite desserts is Chocolate Cream Pie. Last year I saved his birthday by express shipping him homemade vanilla cupcakes, snakpaks of vanilla pudding, and a jar of chocolate sauce for him to be able to have his birthday treat at his pre-deployment mob station.

This year, I decided to do even better. Instead of only one layer of delicious homemade pudding, I decided to make a boston cream pie layer cake and do three layers of pudding between four layers of cake with a dark chocolate ganache topping. And NO, this was not "safe" for me to eat in ANY way. But it was not for my birthday.


It came out brilliantly, and tastes even better than it looks!

Several days later there is still a very little piece left as it is so rich and delicious that it must be eaten in small portions! Not sure how I'll top it next year, but you better believe I'll find a way.

Happy Birthday my Dearest Husband!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Almond Crusted Poached Eggs

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Let me introduce you to something amazing:

Almond Crusted Poached Eggs.

They are AMAZING.

Especially if you can't just fall back on a piece of toast to catch all the goodness from your poached eggs.

Recipe taken from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook (a fantastic cookbook with nothing in it I can't eat!) and pictured here in the back of the photo.

The basic process: poach an egg, sprinkle one side with an almond flour and herb mix, brush with raw egg and add another layer of almond flour mix.

Flop over onto a well greased pan and cook until crispy and brown.

Turn over onto pan and then do your best to not die from how delicious it is.

(Pictured here in a photo by Joe with yellow zukenoodles and homemade tomato sauce)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Homemade Vanilla Extract: Day 1

There's "vanilla" that means boring, average or normal.

Then there's "vanilla" that means oh-my-goodness-this-is-one-of-the-best-most-comforting-homelike-things-EVER.

I'm making the second kind.






Turns out it's pretty simple too... Mainly involves waiting.

A lot of waiting.

But it'll be worth it.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Perfect Cuppa

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One of my favorite hot beverages is a combination of Mayan Cocoa Spice tea from Yogi and Roastaroma from Celestial Seasonings. It makes a delicious non-dairy, sugar free and wonderfully full of flavor mocha-like concoction.

I found a way to make it even better.

Inspired by a coconut-milk chocolate pudding recipe, I decided to make some cocoa "syrup" to have on hand. In a saucepan I combined coconut milk, cocoa powder and maple syrup.

Mixed all together, I have found my perfect hot drink for chilly mornings.

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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Zukenoodles and pesto

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I have been daydreaming about a (hand-held) julienne slicer for some time now.

As many of you know, there are many things I don't eat - I have (almost entirely) been off dairy for over ten years, eat little to no refined sugar, soy, pork, etc and have been mostly off grains for over a year.

The answer to the missing pasta gap?

Zucchini pasta!

I give you zukenoodles!

Here they are raw on the counter, fresh from the julienne slicer peeler thingy. :)





In a pan, I sauteed some scallions in oil and tossed the zucchini right in. (Photo by Joe)







(photo also by Joe) After adding a good healthy portion of pesto (from my last little tub from Garlic and Arts last fall!) and simmering down the liquid we ate most delicious piles of zukenoodles with pesto!


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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Four color tomato salad

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I love tomatoes, especially heirloom. I love the colors, flavors, and patterns.

At our local farmer's market we picked up four different colors of tomatoes and made a delicious salad. I dressed them with a little bit of raw cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a tiny bit of maple to soften the vinegar.

Absolutely delicious!


This once again supports my position that delicious food tastes better when it's beautiful.



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Sunday, August 22, 2010

Drinks for the hot days


Sparkling lemonade, with a splash of a summery white wine, lots of little ice cubeys, and a delicious garnish are a definite highlight of sweltering days.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Busy Summer

Wow. It's been almost two weeks since my last post.

Things here have been a crazy mix of good and bad and everything in between.

But don't worry lovelies. There are still plenty of good things to share!

We've been to farmers markets, farmstands, canned eight and a half quarts of tomatoes (funny story for another time) some tomato juice,

made tomato paste, froze some cantaloupe, and so much more!

For now I'll leave you with a little taste of summer.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A hat that fits

I've got a big head.

No, seriously. I've got a big head.

"one size fits most" means my big head is going to have a big headache from being squeezed into a hat that's too small.

The answer? find a great shop on etsy and have custom big hat made.

Cream colored linen cloche, vintage cotton ribbon and wooden buckle.

Perhaps someday I'll have to get into making hats out of something other than yarn.

Friday, August 6, 2010

He's home! he'shomehe'shomehe'shome!!!

For real! I got to pinch him and hug him and not let go for a really long time (to the point where much of his family jumped in on the hug to get a piece of him)

Yay!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

View from the road

As many of you know, I usually spend a couple of weeks in Maine with my family each summer. This year I left early in order to be home when my husband returns. (eeeee!)

I'm not someone who travels fast, even though I travel often. Driving the winding roads of mountainous New Hampshire I couldn't help but pull over to see if my little camera could handle the beautiful view.

Even though I have quit jobs in order to still be able to go on this vacation with my family, it is delightful to have found something worth leaving camp to see.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Trellis Wristwarmers

I had been waiting to post about these until I finished the matching (yarn) cowl that I knitted last week, but for some reason, sewing on the button and making a button-loop is too much to ask for at present. ;)

So lovelies, here are wristwarmers and the best photo I could take with my chin.

The patterns is the Garden Trellis Mitts pattern on ravelry, although because I have pretty small hands I ended up editing the pattern down to fit more snugly.