It has been a long couple of weeks. A fortnight fraught with all emotions a person can muster, and more graduate parties and activities than you could shake a stick at.
Whew.
Wine me, please!
Hilliard Bruce 2009 Pinot Noir
Here is one of our Wine Winnings from a few months ago: Hilliard Bruce 2009 Pinot Noir… very nice. I am just beginning to learn about this red wine, and I like how even though they are not as full of tannins or as powerful as a Cabernet, the Pinot Noir still tastes and feels like a red wine. They are lighter, but not watered down.
I picked up a new item from Trader Joe’s after trying a sample in the store. My children have vetoed it. It seems that they have strong opinions of which kitchen ingredients I am allowed to experiment with… or not. Evidently, chorizo is sacred to them.
A definitive VETO
I am the proud mother of The World’s Biggest Toddlers:
When we lived in Indiana, I loved our local farmer’s market. There was a vendor that sold bratwurst and pork patties, which would always become lunch when I returned. We’d also have fresh corn from “My Dad’s Sweet Corn,” picked that same day. And I would get the best cantaloupe in Indiana. Here’s the secret: Indiana has the nation’s best cantaloupe. And tomatoes. Lunch of the gods, people, no lie.
Orange Honeydew!!!!
The family had to try a new fruit today, because I wanted to. So there. Eat up, everyone! I’m pretty sure this is is an Orange Honeydew… whatever it is, OH MY GOSH, IT’S DELICIOUS! There’s a cantaloupe in the background for size comparison. This was worthy of serving with the bratwurst.
The Husband: This sure doesn’t taste like a cantaloupe. Me: Because it isn’t. Him: It’s good, though… Me: (finally tasting the melon) This is good… (another bite) Holy COW, this is DELICIOUS! The Boy: It’s good (high praise from a 14-year-old).
photo of an Orange Honeydew from CloveGarden.comSugar Kiss Melon- from CloveGarden.com
I tried looking up online what kind of melon this was, Google to the rescue! I’m pretty sure I bought it at Trader Joe’s, but I can’t for the life of me remember what kind of melon it is. CloveGarden.com came to the rescue with a great list and photos of all kinds of melons that you never even knew existed. I’m going to have to try some of these- anyone for a “Sugar Kiss Melon?”
Good grief, this is a great fruit. It kept forever on the counter -like two weeks- and was still crisp, and one of the sweetest melons I have ever tasted. Golden Honeydew has a very light texture, is more crisp than a regular honeydew, and is ultra-juicy with a sweet, sweet perfume-y and floral flavor. Really. I’m not making this up. Go get one, you’ll see.
Great with our favorite, bratwurst!Golden Honeydew. Yum.
I know that fruit flavored waters have been A Big Thing for a while. You can tell how Big of a Thing by how much stuff you can buy to support this latest Big Thing, or how many hits you get with a web search. Go ahead, Google “Fruit Flavored Water,” and you will see recipes even. Want a water bottle to take on-the-go that has a strainer to hold back your flavorings? It exists. But, as always, I’m slow to incorporate the latest Big Thing.
I’m part camel and decided this when I was quite young, maybe six or seven. I never drank very much water or other beverages. Even as an adult, one of my favorite lines to explain why I don’t drink a lot of Adult Beverages is to say “Everyone has to drink a few to catch up to my level of obnoxiousness au natural.” I think the simplicity of a simple slice of cucumber, lemon, and a single mint leaf may have me finally hitting somewhere in the six to eight cups we are recommended to drink.
Berries, Citrus and Mint for your water, yum!Fruit from the freezer…
When making several lemon recipes in February I was smart and sliced the leftover rinds, now squeezed of their juice. Into the freezer they went. When I was slicing limes recently to freeze, too, I remembered the frozen lemons… and the cucumber that I had sliced up for hummus (yum). AND I just bought a mint plant (who buys a mint Plant? It grows like a weed! I do… I can kill mint, I have that little luck with herb gardening).
Drink up!
Voilà. Flavored water. Sit a bottle of water in your fridge with a few slices of fruit and a mint leaf or two. Drink right away, or let the flavors steep overnight. I love this stuff, and hope I remember to keep sliced citrus in the freezer from now on- there’s room by the strawberries for smoothies.
…and they taste WAY better than store bought wafer cookies, or Oreos, and this only leaves me to wonder. What kind of dessert Nirvana would I arrive at by crumbling these cookies into a high quality vanilla ice cream?
I had a goal to hunt down a chocolate cookie recipe because I thought I could make a better one than those that make up the basic ice cream sandwich. No problem. One internet query and voilà. 3,000 recipes to choose from. Overwhelmed, I retreated to my Pinterest board, “Sweets,” where I knew I had a few promising candidates.
Simple Ingredients
I don’t know if I will try any others, this one was great- SeededAtTheTable.com has a simple, super-chocolaty wafer recipe with butter, vanilla, sugars, flour, baking soda, cocoa, and milk. That’s it.
Sugar and Butter, ready to cream; dry ingredients, ready to whisk together
Butter goes into the mixing bowl with the sugars, cream these ingredients, then add the vanilla (I added two, an extra one just for my mom). Into another bowl goes flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt to whisk together. Two Good Tips: I usually use regular butter, not unsalted, then add less salt than a recipe calls for; and if you want to be smart, always strain your baking soda or powders through a fine sieve… no one likes biting into a cookie to get a lump of baking powder… yuck.
Butter and sugars, creamed, with dry ingredients and milk ready to add
Cream the heck out of the butter and sugars to get a nice, fluffy texture- you know, this takes at least a couple of minutes, don’t give up if it takes even five minutes to get that lighter, fluffy consistency- add the vanilla and cream a little more, then add the dry ingredients. I alternated the dry with the milk, mixing only until just combined as everything came together.
Dough all done, ready for fridge time…
All that remained was to roll the dough into a couple of logs about 1 1/2 inches wide and wait as it chilled in the refrigerator for an hour.
Sliced into coins about 1/4 inches thick… baked for 10
Almost 4 Dozen Cookies ready to become ice cream sandwiches!!!
minutes at 350 and HO BOY ARE THESE GREAT!!!
Today, they are being dunked in my milk. Tomorrow these will become ice cream sandwiches. Or… maybe tonight after everyone else has gone to bed…
branching out... on a limb 