Sunday Supper

After a fun day of swimming with my parents at their house today, we came home and wanted to grill out for dinner.

At our house,the first step of the dinner process is to have a drink while planning/preparing.
Scott made us these delicious drinks- blackberry vodka lemonade with mint:



While we were enjoying our cocktails on the deck, this alien bug tried to land on me:



I don't know what this is, but it definitely came from another planet! So scary! Ick!!!

After the almost attack, we grilled out wild caught salmon filets, along with skewers of yellow tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, and zucchini. The tomatoes were finished first, so we had them for an appetizer:


Scott also had some left over risotto with his:



Veggies with feta cheese


A good ending to a good weekend!

Canning

I've been putting this off as long as I can, but with the abundance of tomatoes that I am daily accruing, I can't put it off any longer..



It's time to learn how to can!
I googled: "how do you can fresh tomatoes" and found a nice step by step tutorial with pictures.
To start, you first need cans, a big pot, and a can lifter thingy (thats the technical word for it)







Krogers had cans and this cool kit:



It contained the much needed can lifter thingy.

To start, the tutorial said to sterilize the jars, either in the dishwasher or by boiling them. Since my dishwasher was full, I decided to boil them:



The tutorial said to also boil the tomatoes for 45 seconds to 1 minute. This loosens their skins so that they slide right off.



After 45 seconds, you dunk them in an ice water bath:



See, the skins just slide right off!



I didn't think that they would come off so easily but I was pleasantly surprised!



I sat a pot under a strainer in order to catch some of that delicious tomato juice that squeezed out as I was peeling and chopping up the 'maters.



I used two strainers as I needed one to work with and one to put chopped up tomatoes in. After about 20 tomatoes, I had enough to make 3 pints.
I used my can lifter thingy to get my sterilized cans out of the boiling pot. Here they are all clean and shiny and ready to go:



I filled up 3 of them with the chopped tomatoes. The tutorial said to boil either water or the collected tomato juice to add to the pints. I boiled that delicious tomato juice (who would choose water over this, I have no idea!) and poured it into the jars until they were 1/4 inch from the top. The tutorial also said to add 2 Tbl (or whatever the abbreviation for tablespoons is- since I rarely measure anything I cant remember what it is!) of lemon juice. It said this helps to preserve the color. Then you just screw on the lids and they are ready for the next step



Boiling for 40 minutes


After 40 minutes, use the can lifter thingy to extract the jars from the boiling pot.
Ta-da!






This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Good thing, because I'm sure I will be doing a lot of canning this summer.

Y'all will be thanking me this winter when you get a hankering for some fresh summertime 'maters to cook with. Apparently canning brings out the country girl in me. Y'all come back now, ya hear!

Julie, Julia, Jenn, and Scott

Tonight we watched one of my favorite movies, Julie and Julia. I love this movie because it incorporates 3 of my favorite things: cooking, celebrity chefs, and NYC!
I loved Julia Child's book, "My Life in Paris". This movie is based on that book, and also on the blog of Julie Powell, who lives in NYC, and blogged about Julia Child's cookbook masterpiece, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". In her blog, she cooks the 524 recipes in MAFC in 365 days. The movie is inspiring for me as both a home cook and a food blogger, so this movie definitely hits home for me in both aspects!
What I really wanted to blog about though, is my sweet, thoughtful husband. When I suggested watching this movie, he immediately said "we should drink French wine while we watch it, and then I'll make us some French appetizers when watching all the cooking makes us hungry!"
Could I have married a more perfect person for me? A man who loves themes, just like me! :)
Here is the French snack he made for us:




Champagne, with Brie, French bread crostinis, Parrano cheese, figs, strawberries, and fig spread. All artfully prepared, and served to me during the movie. Sweet and cute- the perfect pairing!
Bon Appetite!

Harry Potter Mania! Part 2

Since I have transformed my dining room into Hogwarts, I wanted to get another use out of it from someone else who would appreciate it... my sister in law Holly! She is a HP freak like me, so I knew she would enjoy a visit to Hogwarts. Her and her hubby Jon came down from Cinci on Friday night to spend the night with us, so here is what awaited her:

I made her a letter from Hogwarts, inviting her to dinner:

The red spot is a wax seal

Since it's a little hard to read, here is what it says:

Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc, Chf. Worlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mrs. Paul,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to dinner at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed the menu.

Dinner begins at 8:30 pm. We await your owl no later than July 22.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Here is the dinner menu:

Again, since it is hard to read, here is what it says:

Salazar Slytherin’s Serpent Pie

(Beef Short Rib Pizza with Root Vegetable Ragu)

Godric Griffindor’s Baked Bludger Pie

(Lamb Pizza with Rosemary, Feta, and Capers)

Helga Hufflepuff’s Goblet of Fire Pie

(Roasted tomato Pizza with Olive Oil, Mozzarella, and Basil)

Ravena Ravenclaw’s Diadem Dessert

(Brandy soaked figs with cantaloupe, Maytag blue cheese, and honey)

Here is the Slytherin (left) and Hufflepuff (right) Pie:

Here is the Gryffindor Pie:

Ravenclaw's Dessert:

We had fun pretending to be eating at the Great Feast at the beginning of the school year term at Hogwarts. Holly is currently re-reading the 7th book. I may start over from book 1 again....

Harry Potter Mania lives on!

Harry Potter Mania! Part 1

Megan, Ben, Mom and I went to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 at the movies last Sunday night. I invited them over for appetizers and drinks a couple hours before the movie started. This is what awaited them when they arrived at my house:

Hogwarts! Or at least, my attempt of recreating it.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 played in the background:

To go along with the Hogwarts theme, I also made Harry Potter inspired fancy cocktails:

Scott helped out and made us one of each drink. We each shared the drinks and tried to pick which was our favorite. I also made some warm pumpkin butter toasts and a spinach spanakopita. We watched some of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 1, and then we went to the movies. I made the 4 of us each a M&M snack pack, with each of the 4 Hogwarts houses represented on the packs. Megan chose Gryffindor, Mom was Hufflepuff, Ben was Slytherin, and I was Ravenclaw. I also printed out a Gryffindor house crest logo and wore it to the movies. Yes, I am nerdy like that!

We all had a great time, and the movie was absolutely FANTASTIC! I want to see it in theaters again, so I am available if anyone wants to go! :)

Elderberry Moijitos

Elderberry Moijitos:
The only way to beat the heat!

Fancy Schmancy Dinner

Today I went to a farmers market, and also Whole Foods, and bought a bunch of fresh produce. So, since I had some fabulous ingredients, I decided I needed to make a fabulous dinner. Here is what I made:



For the appetizer course, I made a tomato gaspacho. I puréed fresh vine ripened tomatoes, coconut milk, ginger, curry, paprika, salt and pepper. I topped the chilled soup with homemade croutons:



For the pasta course, or first course, as the Italians say, I made an eggplant, shitake mushroom, tomato fusilli in white wine sauce:



To make this, I first tossed the eggplant, mushrooms, and tomatoes in olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Then I roasted the veggies at 400 degrees for 25 min. They came out caramelized, savory and delicious! After cooking the pasta, I made a sauce of white wine, butter, garlic, and some of the reserved pasta water. When the sauce had boiled for a couple minutes, I added in the al dente pasta and the roasted veggies. Mmm!

Next came the entree, or the second course. I made roasted chicken with a beet, blackberry, and mint puree:




Yeah, buddy!


The puree and the roasted garlic made this chicken so good!

As we are now totally full, we are going to go on a late night walk :)

Bon Appetite!

Sushi!

Scott and I have decided that the best sushi place in our area is this little hole in the wall sushi place in Prospect called Hanabi. We've been there a handful of times, but every time we go the sushi chef, Ten, remembers us! We've been the past 2 times with Megan and Ben, and when we walked in last night by ourselves, the first thing Ten asked us is where the other couple was! He then asked me how my sister was doing. How he remembers all that from the few times we've been just amazes me! He makes the experience truly fun. We always sit at the sushi bar and usually don't even order off the menu- we just tell him what we like and he makes stuff up for us. He is awesome like that!
Last night we had a sashimi platter



Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, and Red Snapper. Isn't that pretty?



We also had a Buffalo Roll, which was spicy tuna with avocado and buffalo sauce on top. Scott had the spicy tuna hand roll- it was giant!



This is why the Japanese aren't fat- this is their idea of dessert. Pineapple, banana pieces with chocolate syrup, and pears. Refreshing and delicious!

I highly recommend Hanabi, and you must sit at the sushi bar and talk to Ten. I guarantee he will remember you if you go back again! The great food and the friendly service make this place a Ten in my book! Pun intended :)

Easy Meal #3

More fresh produce means more new recipe ideas! Here is what I made for breakfast today:


It's a twist on huevos rancheros. I used the same poached egg on tortilla concept, but made it have more of a Mediterranean flair. I'll call this "Greek Huevos"

:)

Here are the ingredients:



Avocado, capers, lime, fresh tomato, mushrooms, zucchini, basil,



Eggs, vinegar, ramekin, pan of boiling water
And one halibut filet (forgot to take a pict)

I should also mention that I just got new pans. They are ceramic, as I am trying to quit using non-stick pans and quit cooking with that toxic Teflon



First I sauteed olive oil and garlic in a pan, then added in the halibut filet


I let the fish cook on both sides and took it out of the pan when it was just slightly undercooked to keep it from being dry

Next, I added white wine to the pan, and let that simmer with the garlic and olive oil, and added in the zucchini



While that was cooking I poached some eggs.
This is slightly tricky and the first one never comes out perfect, but they still taste good regardless of what they look like.
To start, you boil a pan full of water, then add a few tablespoons of vinegar. This helps the egg to coagulate.

Crack the egg into the ramekin and slowly pour into the steaming pan


Ideally you want to let a little of the water come into the ramekin to start to congeal the egg as you pour it, but this pan was a little too small so I couldn't get water to go into the ramekin. So the eggs turned out not so pretty








But they tasted great, so who cares, right? :)

I added in the other veggies to the now softened zucchini



Cut up the fish



And then added it in to the pan



I also added capers, and a splash of red wine vinegar, covered it and let the flavors simmer and meld together.

After a couple of minutes, I took the pan off the heat, sprinkled on the basil, and built my plate:










Lastly, I added the poached eggs, avocado, and a squeeze of lime juice. I added cilantro to Scotts as he loves it. No cilantro for me!




Voila! Breakfast is served!