NW Garden Pizza

Leftover & from the garden pizza with a beer crust

A few days after returning from our camping trip my mom and I wanted to make a lunch that incorporated the left overs we had from the weekend. And what better way to do that than to make a pizza? So on this pizza we included fresh tomatoes, basil and zucchini from our garden, summer sausage, onions, garlic, feta, sea salt and pepper. For the sauce we reduced a can of tomato sauce on the stove to thicken it and create a tomato paste. Then we needed to find a recipe for pizza dough. The first place I look is on foodnetwork.com, on this website I found a recipe for beer crust. The yeast in the beer rises the dough so it makes a really simple and delicious crust.

The beer dough:

• 3 cups unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12ounce) can or bottle beer (beer such as Budweiser is fine)
• Oil for greasing

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour in the beer and mix well. The dough will be sticky. Spread a handful of flour on your work surface and dump the dough onto it. Toss the dough around to coat it with the flour and prevent it from sticking. Knead it 2 or 3 times to make it pliable. Shape the dough into a ball, then divide it in two.

spread the toppings and cook for 12-15 minutes

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.

"Hearty" Cupcakes

Ok, I know the title is corny, but I couldn't help it. Last night we had our friends the Cha's over for dinner. My mom and I made up a baked Italian Ziti with penne pasta, ground beef, Italian bacon, spinach, cheese and onions in a homemade tomato sauce. We also made homemade French bread and salad. The dinner was great and I am learning so much from my mom about how to create something delicious out of minimal ingredients. For dessert I wanted to use these chocolates we got from our Norwegian relatives, they are thin milk chocolate hearts that I used as garnish. Once I cooked the cupcakes, I thought they were too pretty to frost so I just put a dollop of frosting in the middle to secure the chocolate heart. I did not have muffin cups so I had to put the batter straight in the cupcake pans. Trying to get them out of the pan was difficult, there was a a lot of cupcake stuck at the bottom. So while it was moist I cleaned them out and rolled the excess into a ball and placed it into a plastic bag. Then I put it in the freezer for about 2 hours and ate it later. It was delicious! It tasted like a homemade truffle, so I made about 6 of them. I found the recipe online and it is really simple. This recipe makes about 16 cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

Makeshift Cookie Cutters

Toothbrush/ Carrot Cookies

A few weeks ago my mom had a group of friends from her dental office over for dinner and she had promised them all toothbrush shaped sugar cookies. Years ago, when she graduated from dental hygiene school she got these toothbrush cookie cutters from my aunt Pam. just a few hours before the dinner my mom and I were preparing and she discovered that she no longer had those cookie cutters. She had lent them out and never got them back. She was terribly distressed, knowing that she had told everyone that these cookies would be there. Trying to help, I looked through the rest of the cookie cutters and found a carrot shaped one from an easter package. I looked at and thought it could pass for a toothbrush so I temporarily bent it to look the part. I spent two hours frosting each cookie while my mom and our friend Matthew continued cooking dinner. So what do you think? Can you tell they were carrots?

It's Been a While

Hello all, I have not posted for almost two months now because I wasn't sure what direction to take from here. I graduated from Oklahoma Christian University at the end of April so I am no longer a college student. After graduating I moved back home with my parents in Oregon to save up money. During this time I transferred David's Bridal's and I am now a bridal consultant at the Clackamas Store. In this time I have been working, seeing friends, sleeping and repeating that process over and over. I have still been cooking from time to time with my mom, in our kitchen at home and this kitchen is 5 times as spacious as the one in my apartment.

The current gourmet kitchen I have access to...

So while I am living here I will not be cooking on a college budget. I feel like I need a new name for my blog but I am not sure what to call it yet... Ideas anyone? For now I will write about the culinary adventures I will be taking with my mom and on some days my sister. Hope you enjoy and continue to read through this transition.