A Somewhat Summery Menu!

It's been a woeful situation here at meal time lately.  Not much happening - but, I've been noticing a buzz of summer -ish meals all around me and I think inspiration has finally struck.  For the record though - this is a half summer/half cozy up in your home menu really.  We don't have warm June days here in the PNW - they are little snippets of sun and lots of variations of cloudy with some drizzle.  So, hence the light comfort food!
Here is this week's menu (notice we have already begun so some have been made and others have not yet):
Monday - Maple Salmon & Stir-Fried Rice with Veggies
Tuesday - Caesar Salad with (leftover cooked) Salmon, Parmesan & Croutons
Wednesday - Fish Tacos with Pico de Gallo & Dill Sauce
Thursday - Light & Crispy Tuna Casserole
Friday - Avocado & Chicken Enchiladas

We have no idea what we are doing this weekend so I didn't plan that far ahead but I did buy all the ingredients for the above list and I am sure we will have leftovers!  Later I will post recipes and photos of our favorites! 

What's for dinner at your house?  Do tell!!
Olivia

The Caterers Wife

In preparing for the in~house caterer to arrive home from a rather large event with tons of produce to overflow the fridge ~ the caterers wife (you can guess who that is) got to work in the kitchen today to make room.  This is a fabulous recipe I found when my older kiddos were tiny like below miss mouse!

I have made it enough times that I use whatever ingredients I like together and only follow basic proportions these days. 

Here it is:

Blueberry Gingered Granola Bars

1 1/4 c. toasted walnut halves

1 1/2 c. puffed rice cereal

1 1/4 c. oats

1 c. dried fruit

1/2 c. oat bran or wheat germ

3 T. crystalized ginger, fine

1/4 c. (or desired amount) semi sweet chocolate chips

~~~~~~~

1 c. brown rice syrup

1/4 c. natural cane sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

Oil a glass baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl:  Combine first 6 ingrediants & toss well.

In a small saucepan combine the next 3 ingrediants & boil for 4 minutes gently stirring until thickened.  Remove from heat & stir in the vanilla.  Pour the sauce into the dry mixture and toss.  Pour into the prepared dish and let set up for 45 minutes before cutting into bars.  

Delicious & nutritious, right in time for the first day of school!

Whilst playing in the kitchen (I mean working very hard) I also got to changing around the countertops a bit and added in this little shelf to display some of my favorite little kitcheny things. 

If you know me very well at all you would know that the only way I really get inspired to do a clean is by moving things!  My friends always tease that they have to look around every time their here to see what has changed! 

Anyway, that is much of how I spent this Sunday afternoon!  How did you spend yours?

Blessings,

Olivia

My Dream Potager, Practical & Pretty

One lovely day I was reading a favorite magazine (several years ago so I can't even remember which one) and I found a good story about a kitchen garden right out the back door!  What a romantic idea to walk right out in the midst of cooking dinner to grab a handful of chives, some sage, a fresh tomato or two...and thus my dream garden was alive in my imagination. 

Currently we have two 16 x 16 ft gardens way down by the pasture on our property, one for roses & herbs (this one will stay) the other for veggies & berries (this one is going for more parking).  We also have a funny little plateau that you walk out onto off our back deck.  We are waiting for a friend to level the plateau so it is nice and even.  The 5 raised beds are already built (5x8 feet each) according to my garden plan (above).  Many of the seeds have arrived from Seed Savers Heirloom seeds.  I am just dying to get started.

(picutre above from The Violet Fern)

I'm dreaming of something like this.  It will have some formal lines, even some boxwood at the inside edge to bring a little english flair.  We will set our patio table and chairs in the nook next to the deck.  I have also included a border of white hydrangeas (I love them but also because of shade in that area) to add some flowers and fragrence.  I love the idea of the garden being beautiful and useful even in the winter months.  And so, the potager! Wish me luck at getting the men motivated on the structural work so I can get to planting and preparing!
Blessings,
Olivia

A tribute to talent!

This is just a little post in honor of my husband who is having his birthday this week and we are also celebrating our 11th Anniversary!  He is so talented and these photos are just a few from a recent local event we catered!  "We" meaning I printed menu's, chatted with the staff and ate!  (that's not all I do though!)

Even from the beginning his career made an impact on me.  As soon as I met him and he told me he cooked he had me hook line & sinker.  I didn't know he was this good!  The pictures are pretty but the taste is amazing!  I am so thankful for the way he provides for our family but also for the success he has carved out in his career.   I am so thankful for the kind of dad he is to our children, he is fun and active always teaching them important skills and lessons! 

And I am also thankful that when he offers to cook dinner for the night it isn't boxed macaroni and cheese but more like braised cabbage & slow cooked ribs or .... any number of flavorful dishes!

Thank you God for my husband, & thank you honey for choosing me!

Blessings,

Olivia

Work mingled with life

We work all sorts of hours with our catering business.   But, it's a dream really. 

When I married a chef I didn't realize how difficult it would be to raise a family while he worked restaurant hours.  He would be at work by 10am and come home after 10pm usually Monday thru Saturday. 

It was lonely!  I would feel like a single parent often and we celebrated many holidays without daddy.

By 2004 we were done!  Couldn't go on!  So we took a risk and opened a business from scratch.  It helped that he was very qualified and had many contacts in the profession including eager clientele.  We haven't exactly gotten "rich" like the song choice might suggest!  But I cannot complain, we have had success and have always been able to provide for our family!

Now all these years later we can truly say we are partners in everything.  I started this post meaning to talk about what our children learn by working alongside us! 

But, I realized it may be good to give a little background! 

Maybe I'll get to that in the another post!  Here is my littlest helper working at the computer I use daily for client emails, invoicing, balancing accounts and all that good stuff!

Today the older ones are at work with daddy helping to prepare for a Valentine's Dinner he is catering at the Wine Shop in town.  So it won't exactly be a romantic day for us even though I will be there, tasting and visiting with customers, staff and friends! 

Wishing you all a day of love tomorrow and always!

Blessings,

Olivia

A delicious & fallish recipe!

Every time I make this Bread or Muffins (this time I made both!) my husband (who is a chef:) says these are so good they should be in a bakery window.  They are pleasing to the eye and taste scrumptious!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread or Muffins

Preheat Oven to 375

Filling

1 8oz Pckg Cream Cheese

1 egg

1 t vanilla

3 T brown sugar

Topping

4 1/2 T ap flour

5 T sugar

3/4 t cinnamon

3 T butter

3 T chopped pecans

Batter

2 1/2 c ap flour

2 c white sugar

2 t b powder

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

2 eggs

1 1/3 c canned or fresh pumpkin

1/3 c olive oil

2 t vanilla

Make filling ~ Beat cream cheese until soft, add egg vanilla and brown sugar, beat til smooth.

Struesal topping ~ mix flour sugar cinnamon add butter, cut in til crumbly.

Batter ~ sift flour, sugar, b powder cinnamon salt make a well in the center and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil, vanilla ~ beat until smooth.

Fill muffin cups halfway, add 1 T of cream cheese mix and sprinkle with streusal topping.

Bake at 375 20-25 minutes or longer for bread.

Trust me it is worth the effort!  At least once during fall!

Blessings,

Olivia

Country Apple Cake

I absolutely adore baking in Autumn.  This rustic recipe has it all for me!  Simple to make, even the name inspires me...and the smell wafting through the house as it bakes!  Mmmm... I just had to share!

(Recipe is from the beach house cookbook & since I have an Apple Tree, I substituted Apple's this time - it was originally Country Pear Cake!)

"This cake is perfect for picnics or informal parties because it's best when cut into squares and eaten out of hand.  It's delicious made with fresh ripe pears, but it also works well with almost any kind of fruit or berry."...this was the description that had me at hello!

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter - at room temp

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs - farm fresh (preferably!) & room temperature

2 medium or 3 small apples, pears or other fruit thinly sliced - peeled or unpeeled it's your preference

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly butter and flour an 8 inch square baking pan.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together.

3.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar with an electric mixer until light & fluffly.

4.  With the mixer running and set on medium, gradually add the flour mixture to the batter.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and mix until well combined.

5.  Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Arrange the pears in rows on top of the batter.  Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture over the fruit.  Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and turns golden brown, 40 t0 50 minutes.  Set aside on a rack to cool.

6.  When the cake is completely cool, cut it into squares and serve fruit side up!

The cake in the picture was a gift to my dear friend Tamara for her birthday last week!  So much fun to give as a gift!  But of course, my whole family was jealous that the entire cake was given away so I made another the next day for afternoon snack!  Easy as pie!  I mean cake!

Bon Appetite!

This is kinda cheesy!

Recently, my littlest sister Jeneah came over just to visit.  Well, little did she know I had big plans for us to try out a fun and simple recipe for Buttermilk Cheese (saw it in Country Living Magazine). 
Jeneah and I went to work at our very first ever batch of cheese.  The ingrediants are Buttermilk, Whole Milk and Sea Salt.  Wow.  Really?  I never knew cheese could be made by cooking a few simple items 8 minutes (until 180 degrees) and laddling the curds from the whey.  (does that remind anyone of Little Miss Muffet?)
Let me tell you the cheese was good!  Along with the cheese we made the accompaniments in the article - a little pistachio crust, some strawberry jam and a fig sauce.  All easy and delicious!

I realized through this process just how silly it is that most of us (me included) don't know the first thing about how to make things from scratch anymore.  For the most part, we don't know how to grind grains, make clothing or even grow our own food.  I realize some do, but how did we get so far away from the basics so fast! 

So that little project was the inspiration for me to try more cheese recipes - next maybe Mozzarella!