Garden Fresh Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with tomato, basil and onion with a side of toast covered in blackberry jam

Fresh tomato and basil from our garden

It's my day off, so I woke up without an alarm at about 9:30am, watered the garden, did a 20 minute workout and then showered and got ready for the day. I realized after all of this that I was hungry, but it was already nearly lunch time. I remembered seeing a ripe tomato and fresh basil in the garden and wanted to use it. So I made an egg dish with these two garden fresh ingredients, plus some chopped onion, sea salt and pepper. It was delicious. The basil was incredibly fragrant, I can still taste it so keep in mind that a little goes a long way. While the eggs were cooking on medium heat, I put a slice of Dave's Killer bread in the toaster and topped it with butter and homemade blackberry jelly. I wish the whole meal could have been farm fresh, with eggs from the Sibold's chickens, and cheese and butter from a cow, but I did what I could in my "suburb-ian" lifestyle. Until next time, keep eating :)

Dinner & Dessert for Two

I was craving spaghetti the other day and what better way to satisfy a craving, than make it yourself. So I surprised my mom with dinner when she got home from work. I made her famous spaghetti sauce using garlic, ground beef, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and salt & pepper. This sauce is simple and delicious. The side salad is just a spring mix, cut up carrots, parmesan and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Before I made the sauce I made homemade rosemary bread from a recipe I got from my friend Sara (Busch) Dalton. I got the idea to braid the loaf from my mom.

Sara's Easy Yeast Bread Recipe

2 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup olive oil

optional seasonings (I use a few TB rosemary)

3 cups flour

Directions:

combine flour, yeast and salt and seasonings in a bowl or food processor. Then add water stirring with a spoon or the machine. Add olive oil and continue to mix for 1 minute or so, then add water by the TB if needed until a ball forms. If using a mixer, keep it on for 10 minutes. Then split the dough into three sections and roll them out. Attach them at the top and braid the pieces together securing them at the end. Let the bread rise for another 10-15 minutes on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees F. I have done this recipe with and without a food processor and found that the texture of the bread is much better using the mixer.

For dessert I made homemade strawberry shortcake, using a recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

2 cups flour

2 TB sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup light cream

1 beaten egg

3-4 cups sugared strawberries

1 cup whipping cream or vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Sift together dry ingredients and cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then combine egg and cream adding all at once. Stir only until moistened and separate into medium sized cakes and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 450 degrees F. Remove from pan and cool. Break open each cake and place ice cream or whipped cream and the sugared strawberries in between the two sides.

Overall it turned out to be a wonderfully classic dinner for two.

Houseboat Cookin'

Preparing a salad with caramelized walnuts & almonds (caramelizing is so easy, all you need is to heat 1/4 cup sugar and nuts in a saucepan to get candied nuts) a great addition to salad

Serving up chicken curry with cashews and currants on a bed of white rice

For the last week I was on a houseboat on the glorious Lake Billy Chinook with my entire family. Some may think it crazy to be in such small quarters with over 15 people but we love it! The house boating tradition came about when I was 9 and we went consistently for a few years after. As we all got older, it was more difficult to synchronize schedules so we have not been in a while. This week was a great chance for our family to relax and get away from our busy lives. Each year that we have done the houseboat the moms have been given tasks. Grandma is in charge of breakfast, Kathy in charge of lunch, my mom in charge of dinner and Pam in charge of drinks and snacks. All of these jobs take a lot of prep work, and this year I helped my mom every step of the way. We started a few weeks early and made lasagna first because it freezes so well, then we made chicken enchiladas, BBQ ribs, ham roast, chicken curry, and homemade chili. Each night I went down to the kitchen with my mom and helped by making a salad. I learned so much this last week, mostly that you can create a salad even if you don't have lettuce. We made coleslaw, cucumber salad with balsamic, and fresh crawdad slaw. Also, if you are out of salad dressing you can make some with mayo, mustard, garlic, oil, sugar and S&P. Being on a houseboat with limited amount of ingredients really posed a challenge for our creativity but each day I learned more and will be able to use this new found creativity in my own kitchen someday.