Z Bread

 I had two left-over zucchinis from our farm-stand hall the weekend before last.  This time of year, it's easy to over-buy them.  They were cheap and they were tasty -- but it wasn't possible to eat four in a week.  What is a girl to do? Of course, make zucchini bread.  One batch was made in a baking dish, the other was in a loaf pan.  We've enjoyed the baking dish version all week.  It's  breakfast, desert, and snack. No guilt either as I made it with oatmeal and whole wheat flour.  It's been yummy.

Soup Indiscretions....

Tomorrow is "Souper Tuesday" at work, but my soup is taking a pass.  The boss takes everyone out to lunch the day before a holiday.  Since I started making things for the soup on Friday, I'm going to bring it all in and we will freeze it.  We can thaw it next Monday and it will be on site and ready to go next Tuesday.

I have a confession to make about my soup.  It is a Frankenstein monster of ingredients, based on what is either cheap or left from something else in our house.

Mix Mistress - The Camp Edition

I am always looking for economical ways to fight odor in the trailer's black tank (that tank holds sewage).  One camp wife's method was to flush a cup of Borax a week.  Another camper suggested powder dish wash detergent instead.  Then there are the pricey tank deodorants made specifically for RVs.  I have used all methods but decided to mix up my own this weekend, because Dollar Tree didn't have any of the cheap powder I like to buy.

Friday Night Dinner

Our Friday night dinner splurge wasn't lobster -- but it was seafood.  We had scallops, made in the Sous Vide.  I had given up spending money on good scallops because I could never cook them just right.  That is not a problem with the Sous Vide.  The correct temperature is 125 degrees, and they need 25 minutes.  After that, just a quick pan sear in butter -- 20 seconds per side.

Flavored Water

Yes, I love my home-brewed iced tea, but I have another favorite beverage that I'm guzzling daily too.  Each morning, I cut up veggies and fruit,  cram that in a jar with one green tea bag in the bottom, then fill the jar up with water and ice.  Usually I throw in a slice or two of ginger and a chunk of lemon (minus the peel/rind).   I bring the infusion to work and stick it in the fridge.  Once I've had my coffee, I am ready to drink my infused water for the rest of the day.  When the jar is empty, I just fill it up again with more filtered water from the cooler.

Asian History

About ten to twelve years ago, when we had a substantially lower income and a much higher debt load (a mortgage that was at least double what we carry today), we had a bad restaurant habit.  Every Thursday night, we would meet another couple out for noodles.  Then we'd generally also go out either Friday or Saturday night.  At least one weekend morning saw us in a diner for breakfast.  We also partied a lot more and often went out for Saturday night.  Now, we get our Asian fix at home.

Tea Totalling

I made up another big batch of iced tea today -- my standard formula of White Jasmine, Green, Black and Ginger, with freshly squeezed lemon and also a bit of fresh ginger (steeped with the tea).  A little honey was added with the sugar for a change. It turned out very well!  We save a lot of money and calories making it at home.  The convenience is great too.

Bread Crumbs!

I know it's a small thing, but since I hate to waste, I saw no reason to throw away left-over bread crumbs from our breaded cod dinner on Sunday.  I just sealed them up and planned to use them for meatloaf tonight.

Before Brine...

 Long before I brined my first bird, I practiced the act of "Koshering."  It's been a while since I koshered a chicken and decided it was time I prepared one that way.  Koshering is a practice used to draw all blood out of a piece of meat.  The first step is submerge the meat for at least a half hour in water.  Next you remove the meat and dry it.  It is then set out to drain for at least a half hour.  Once it is drained and patted dry again, a liberal coating of Kosher salt is applied to all surfaces.  The meat sits like this for at least a half hour.  Finally, the salt is washed off and the meat is patted dry again.

Doing Dinner

 I've been sticking to my goal of making a healthy and fresh dinner every night.  We are eating around 6PM and trying to include a salad with each meal.  This meal is very vegetable-heavy.  We love our pasta but are trying to cut back.  In the past, I would probably have added some bread to this meal, but as much as I like bread, it's not a good way to maintain a healthy waistline.  sigh.

Lavender Scent-Crafts

 This is my home-made version of a reed scent diffuser.  With a huge cache of lavender harvested before the first freeze, I had to do something with the stems I had left after pulling all the leaves off.  The oil in the bottom is a mixture of canola and drops of scent oil (the type you put into a wall-plug diffuser).  I had a small mayonnaise jar with a plastic lid. I was able to drill a messy hole into it and stuff in a few wooden skewers and stems.  We will see if it scents my bedroom.

What's Going On...

 

I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with my home-centered beliefs, even though I am not posting frequently enough.  As the whole socio-political situation spirals out of control, I take comfort in the routine responsible things we do daily.  Things are good for me.  With some financial wiggle room, I am changing my outlook on how I cook and what I buy.  For instance, no more part-skim mozzarella.  I'll take the full-fat gourmet version.  It tastes better on the fresh tomatoes from the farm share.  The basil has come in full force, so we're eating fresh pesto.  These are the things I take comfort in when the real world is going crazy.

My New Summer Drink

There are days when I am just too lazy to make iced tea.  It's also not uncommon for me to struggle with how to come up with ways to use the unpredictable contents of our farm-share box.  Often I am looking for a drink with dinner that is refreshing and caffeine-free.  My go-to alternative and new favorite summer drink is cucumber water.  It seems we always have a cuc or two on hand and there's a pot of fresh mint outside my back door.  Lemons are my summer cooking staple so I always add some fresh-squeezed lemon juice.  I don't dump in slices because we don't drink a whole batch in one sitting and the slices make the drink go bitter.

Jamming

 

I have started making my own jam and now I never want to buy it at the store again.  The first time, it was because we had a surplus of strawberries from our farm share.  Now they are done with strawberries, so I picked up two bags frozen, plus one bag of blueberries.  They are organic and were something like $2.50 each at Aldi.  So far I have made three batches and learned that you want to use fruit pectin, not gelatin.  So those are the main ingredients, in addition to sugar and a few flavorings.

Frozen Basil

I froze six large portions of basil at the end of the season last year, mixing in some EVOO.  Yesterday I pulled out the first packet to use. Yes, it's been that long since we've had pesto.  Two weeks back we went to an excellent restaurant, Lucias On the Lake, in Hamburg, NY.  Our meal was awesome and the appetizer was a delicious pesto you dipped in fresh bread.  That had me thinking that we had gone too long without pesto.

A Lady Who Lunches

Summer on a Plate

It would appear I am obsessed with plates as of late.  I like them when they're empty, but I love them when they're full!  During the summer months, I love to eat fruit for dinner.  The more colorful the contents on your plate, the better.

Drinking Responsibly

One of the joys of summer is drinking a cold glass of iced tea with plenty of ice.  I understand ice isn't nearly as popular in other parts of the world, but Americans love their ice and I am no exception.  Fresh home-brewed iced tea is my favorite because I can mix up my own special flavor blends.  Right now, I am favoring white jasmine, green, lemon and ginger mixed together.  The glass pictured above is that mixture along with a small portion of a bottle from the supermarket.  The Big Guy hosted a BBQ last week and the half jug in our refrigerator was not going to be consumed in its "natural" state because we hate all of the sugar in the manufactured beverage.  By using a variety of teabag flavors, I can brew a concentrated cup of whatever combination I like, add just enough sugar, then balance it out with plain filtered water.  For this week's batch, I filled plastic pitchers with 1/3 of the supermarket stuff, five ounces of my concentrate, then filled the rest with water.  Including the half jug of supermarket tea I started with, I now have two gallons of iced tea on deck waiting to be enjoyed this week.