IN-N-OUT Inspired Burger

                                     

A couple of months ago, a wonderful thing happened in north Texas.  In-N-Out Burger made its first appearance.  If you want me to pinpoint why I love In-N-Out, I can't.  What I can say, is that the food is incredibly fresh and wonderfully tasty.  If you are going to splurge on fast food, shouldn't it be as yummy as possible?  I say yes.

I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of In-N-Out since the announcement of its proposed arrival first circulated the airwaves last summer.  My husband even called after it was on the news to make sure I had gotten the fantastic memo.  He knows my affection for it.  So when that glorious spring day arrived when the first north Texas In-N-Out opened, I was thrilled!  What I wasn't expecting, was the 3-4 hour wait. That's right, it's that good.  With 2 young kids and a 45 minute commute one-way, my In-N-Out road trip was going to have to wait.

Wait, I did, but only for about 3 weeks.  I thought that was sufficient time.  One weekend, we loaded the crew up, popped in a movie, and began our commute to the new restaurant.  Surprisingly, the excitement still hadn't worn off for folks.  After a 45 minute drive there, and a 45 minute drive thru wait time, we had our delicious feast.  Let me tell you, it was sooooo worth it.

Tonight, rather than driving that trip again and adding commuter traffic to it, I decided to attempt my own, knock-off version.  

The way I love my In-N-Out burger is what they call "protein style."  This eliminates the bun and replaces it with fresh, crisp lettuce.  I think it is a super yummy way to enjoy their burgers.  If they had soggy lettuce that would be one thing, but it's super crisp, fresh, and fantastic.

So tonight, I laid out my crisp lettuce and added some generous slices of hothouse tomato, while I cooked an Omaha steak burger on my fairly new cast iron, stovetop grill pan.  I only seasoned the meat with some Montreal Steak seasoning, as I find it to be burger gold. 

Then I added some cheese, tucked the burger in neatly, and put the whole shebang together.  Viola!  My very own "protein style" In-N-Out-ish inspired burger.  I meant to serve it with sweet potato fries, but I forgot to preheat the oven in time.  That would have been a yummy side, but strawberries did the trick too.  

While it was definitely no In-N-Out burger experience, it did the job.  I'm already plotting my next road trip there, and happily awaiting the arrival of closer ones this summer.  If you ever find yourself near one, I beg you to stop, and by all means, get yourself a chocolate shake!

Link to In-N-Out website

Ultimate Taco Night

I have been a fan of the Food Network for quite some time now, even though I didn't know how to cook.  Mostly, I just loved it for the yummy food suggestions for the next time I went out to dinner.  Sometimes, I would daydream about all the wonderful dinner parties I would throw in my dream world where I could actually cook.  Either way, I found it to be lovely TV.

Last summer, I watched an episode with Tyler Florence, and he was having his Ultimate Taco Night.  Even though, I couldn't cook.  I could pull off a basic "Old El Paso" taco night with the best of 'em, so an episode dedicated to an ultimate taco night sucked me right in.  I was enthralled with this stunningly delicious fiesta that Tyler was bringing together with ease.  I immediately hit "record" on my DVR, and the next day I printed the recipe.

For the past 12 months, I was frozen by the idea of TF's ultimate tacos.  I knew a non-cook like me couldn't do it.  This past weekend, I stumbled upon the recipe again.  This time, it seemed different.  Actually, it was me that was different.  I no longer feared it, but anxiously wanted to give it a whirl.  Somewhere in these past 3 months, I gained enough courage and confidence to give it a try.  Monday night, that's just what I did.

I wrote yesterday about how the "cocktail pie" was a total bust for dessert that night, but tonight, let me tell you about ultimate taco night with Tyler and me.  

After finding and reading the recipe over the weekend, I excitedly loaded up the crew first thing Monday morning and went out shopping for all of the fresh and yummy ingredients required.  After putting my sweet princesses down for a nap, I prepped my dinner.

First, I prepped the mexican pot roast tacos, a.k.a. the super awesome taco meat!  I put all sorts of goodies (that you can find below in the recipe) into my lovely Dutch oven.  That needed to sit and simmer for 3 hours, so it was wonderfully easy to do while the girls were asleep.  

Then I went on to prep Tyler's 2 other requirements for the Ultimate Taco Night, guacamole and salsa.  In order to make the salsa, I needed to commit to buying a new blender.  For those of you interested in the untimely loss of my earlier blenders, please click this link, trust me, it's been a rough road for them.  At the exact moment I finished my very first homemade salsa, it hit me.  I was now a true Texan.  

Pardon me for a total sidebar, but you see, I have this theory that all Texans make their own salsa.  I don't know the exact origin of this theory, and its validity has yet to be checked, but I really think it's true.  So in that moment, when my first salsa was made, I fully believe that my Texas status changed from "passing through" to "legit Texan."  You would think that this moment would have happened when I had my 2nd daughter here, and they gave me a lovely piece of paper that said, "Congratulations on your new Texan!"  Really, it was more the salsa thing.

Once the meat was happily simmering, and the salsa and guacamole were happily chilling, I was just plain old happy.  I had finally tried a recipe that I had always dreamed of doing.  Even though my dessert was a disaster, Ultimate Taco Night ROCKED!  The salsa and guac were fantastic, and the pot roast tacos were amazing!  If you are looking for an A+ Taco Night, then this is definitely the recipe for you.

As for me, I just finished off all of the salsa tonight, so I'm set to make a new batch in the morning.  Can't have a house without fresh salsa, they might revoke my Texas card! 

Link to Tyler Florence's Ultimate Taco Night

Vodka Lemonade Cocktail Pie

I love trying new things, especially in the food department.  When I saw the recipe for Vodka Lemonade Cocktail Pie, I thought it might be fun.  Fun isn't exactly what it ended up being though.

Last night, my friend came over for dinner (more on that later), and I thought this would be an interesting treat for us to try.  We are both fans of the Bachelor/Bachelorette series, so it was a great treat to prepare us for last night's big episode.  I figured cocktail party for them, cocktail pie for us.  

The recipe seemed simple enough.  Cook a refrigerated pie crust and let cool.  Check.  Combine frozen lemonade concentrate, lemon pie yogurt, and lemon sorbet in bowl, and then pour into cooled pie crust.  Check.  Freeze uncovered for 3 hours.  Check, plus 1.  I froze it for 4 hours.  I was fully expecting a very frozen pie.

What I got was a lemon soup pie.  My friend, being the good sport that she is, merely asked for a straw and dove in.

 I joined her, and we drank pie out of straws like two teenagers from a sixties sitcom sharing a milkshake.

Not that I was shocked that a cooking mishap had occurred on my watch, but more confused as to what went wrong on a seemingly simple recipe.  So, I reviewed it over and over, and then I saw it.  "Freeze uncovered for 3 hours."  Could that really have made all the difference?  A covering?

Frozen Lemon Pie

Lemon Pie Soup

Apparently, yes.  I froze the pie for an additional 2-3 hours and la-dee-da, it was frozen.  Turns out this pie is insanely lemony in my opinion, and this time it had nothing to do with my Texas sized lemons.  If you are up to it and a huge lemon fan to boot, I wish you well.  You'll find the recipe below.

Link to Vodka Lemonade Cocktail Pie Recipe

PS-If you're a fan of the Bachelorette series, I'd LOVE to hear your pick for Ashley.  Just post your choice below in the comments section.  If you aren't a fan, be glad.  It's addictive.

Chaos as Beauty

How do you handle life's unexpected surprises?  I mean the ones you didn't want, not the good ones.  I'm currently stuck figuring that one out.  Usually exercise does the trick.  Today I tried that and baking.  I just needed a baking project to throw myself into to process things. 

Last night, we watched the movie "Eat Pray Love." At one point, Julia Roberts refers to wine as her therapist.  I realized this morning, that mine was baking.  I guess it's watching the chaos of all of these various ingredients beautifully coming together as something extraordinary.  It helps me to feel like the chaos of life is all going to come together beautifully too, and when it does, it will be extraordinary as well.

This morning, we spent time together as a family, and it was awesome.  The girls attempted yoga with me, then the girls played outside while my hubby and I read the paper, and I also baked.  I found a recipe that not only looked perfect for a weekend morning, but I also had all of the ingredients on hand!  It comes from one of my favorite blogs, And Now For Something Completely Delicious, and it's called Strawberry Pecan Bread.  The link is below for any of you interested.

It was an ideal baking project that yielded delicious results we all enjoyed.  I even feel a tad better about things.  If you've got a quiet morning around the house, and you just need something tasty to nourish you, I do recommend this.  It's even better shared with those you love!

Link to Strawberry Pecan Bread Recipe from "And Now For Something Completely Delicious"

Fresh and Simple Salad

With one princess napping, and the other out on a "date" with her daddy, it's ME time!  That's also the best time for me to try a new recipe, and that's just what I did.  Today I made Rachael Ray's Orange and Asparagus Salad.

This salad was quick and easy to toss together, especially doing it in utter silence.  I was definitely more efficient giving cooking my full attention today.  I love all of the fresh ingredients in this recipe.  Eating it really gives you that summer feeling!

In following Rach's recipe, my personal preference is to add some extra orange, and be a bit more conservative with the olive oil.  You really want the orange to be the star of this one.  

Click on the recipe link below and give this one a try.  It is a wonderfully refreshing salad for a hot day, or make it as a side for your weekend cookout.  

I hope you have a fantastic summer weekend.  I'm actually attempting to go back to the yard of danger this weekend.  The Big Green Egg is calling (our grill), and in order to answer it, back to the yard we must go.  I'll be sure to let you know of any snake sightings.  Wish us luck!

Link to Rachael Ray's Orange and Asparagus Salad

Culinary Rock Star

For those of you who are loyal readers, you know that I have had my fair share of culinary mishaps.  While I've had successes too, I feel like nothing compares to today.  That's right.  In my book, today I was a culinary rock star.

Blueberry Pop Tart Pops

Why am I defining myself in this way?  I can now make homemade POP TARTS!  This may or may not impress you, but for this newbie, I am wildly impressed by myself today.  Not only can I make homemade pop tarts, but I can also make 'em on a STICK!  We all know that I love food on a stick, so the fact that I successfully made delicious Pop Tart Pops totally knocks my own socks off.

I found this awesome treat online yesterday on Babble.com's blog, and I could hardly wait to make them.  The creator of these, Brooke Mclay, was inspired by Bakerella and her cake pops.  Brooke made Cherry Pop Tart Pops.  Today, I attempted 2 kinds: strawberry & blueberry.

Strawberry Pop Tart Pops

First I made the pie filling in both flavors.  I combined a 1/2 cup of fruit,    1 1/2 TBSP of sugar, 1 TBSP of cornstarch, 1 TBSP of water, and 1/4 tsp of almond extract into a small saucepan. (If you are only using 1 fruit flavor, then double everything).  Heat this mixture with medium heat on the stove until the sauce is thickened.  It should look like pie filling.  Turn off the heat, and let it cool.

While the filling is cooling, remove 1 package (containing 2) of refrigerated pie crusts.  Yes, the homemade factor would have been better if I had whipped up some crusts from scratch, but considering I am currently blender and food processor-less...this was my only option.  Unroll the crusts and cut into 2-3 inch pieces.  The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 inch by 2 inch, but I felt that was a tad too small.  It's really up to you.

The smaller blueberry tart pops

Lay a cut piece of crust on parchment paper, then stick a wooden popsicle stick in the middle, starting at the top.  After this, scoop some cooled filling into the middle.  Place a second piece of cut crust on top.  Seal with a fork.  It will essentially look like a ravioli on a stick.

The larger strawberry tart pops

Pop these little guys into a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.  Once the edges start to turn brown, they are done.  Let them cool.  I made the blueberry pop tart pops according to plan, but made the strawberry ones larger.  I even made 2 popless in the shape of a calzone.   ALL are yums.

Once they are completely cool, you whip up your glaze.

Cooked pop tart pops

Again, I cut the recipe in 1/2 because I was making 2 different color glazes, blue and pink, to identify each pop tart flavor.
This is the recipe I used, double if only using 1 glaze for all.  Combine 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 1 TBSP of milk, 1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract.

Add to this a food coloring option if you so choose.  I chose my neon food colors to make them spunky and more appealing to the kids.  Once you spoon the glaze over the top of each tart, add sprinkles immediately if doing so, before the glaze hardens slightly.

Do note the gooey goodness inside!

Sit back and enjoy these delicious, super fun, breakfast treats to go!  They are sure to brighten up any morning, and be a welcomed treat by people of any age!  If you make any of these, especially in a flavor other than strawberry and blueberry, do come back and post.  I'm considering an apple flavored one in the very near future!

Link to Brooke Mclay's Cherry Pop Tart Pop Recipe

Sassy Grits

Growing up in Florida, I was no stranger to grits.  While geographically Florida is in the south, many a person over the years has tried to inform me that it isn't "the South."  My opinion is, if they serve grits at every local breakfast joint...it's the South.

I'm not "southern" enough to have grown up eating them at home, as I was raised by city people.  My parents are born and raised Chicagoans.  Yet, we did adapt to our surroundings and have even learned to love this yummy breakfast treat.  Now that I'm a Texan, I can still get grits.  Yeehaw, is all I can say to that!

I mentioned the other night in the post, A New Twist, that my dinner out with the hubs was incredibly yum.  I shared with you the modified s'more.  Well tonight, I attempted what I like to think of as "sassy grits."  The grits were listed as a side item on the menu and came paired with my delicious beef tenderloin.  The sassy grits are called Creamy Poblano Grits.

I was able to locate a poblano grits recipe on the internet and just modified it a tad to achieve the creamy part.  First, I took my poblano pepper, splashed it with some olive oil, and roasted it at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  After letting it cool for about 10-15 minutes, I removed the skin, cut 'er open, seeded and chopped it, and then set it aside.

Poblano about to go in oven.

Roasted Poblano

After that, I nuked 4 packages of instant grits.  Yes, I know this is going against my "trying not to eat processed food" goals, but seriously, I know no other way to make them.  Hopefully in time, I'll learn.   I then poured the 4 packages of grits into a bowl with a tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, and the chopped roasted poblano.  I found I had plenty of pepper, so I actually held some back to save for a kicky omelet in the morning.  I did find the grits to be dry and not the creamy I desired, so I added in some whole milk until I reached my desired consistency.  I think some cream would have been more effective, but my milk did the job.

It was a yummy side that I paired with chicken and asparagus.  I didn't serve my girls the pepper, but made them some cheesy grits instead.  I will put the link to the recipe below that I based my poblano grits from.  If you are looking for a sassy side, cook up some of these sassy grits!

In the matter of my snake issue, I'd like to say that I'm moving forward, but really I'm thinking about snakes in all levels of consciousness.  They say that dreaming about snakes means that you are about to get a bunch of money, so perhaps a lottery ticket splurge might be a good call for me.  

Just thought I'd share some photos with you fine folks.  The first is a photo of the 2 princesses barefoot and fancy free mere moments before the snake skins were located.  Do note that about 4 feet behind the swings, in that dark area, is where the burrow and skins were found.  Once we saw them, the 4 year old stated, "guess we're done in the backyard for today, huh Mom."  Perceptive little one, isn't she?

 This is a photo that I took of one of the snake skins through the window.  I was too afraid to go outside and take a closer one. I'm so thankful for the zoom lens.  After last night's storms and the wind, I'm thinking the other skin might have blown away.  I know this skin doesn't look that big.  It's only because I don't have anything there to compare it too.  Trust me, you don't want this guy at your house.  

Link to Poblano Grits Recipe

Ok, Apparently I DO Have a Snake or Two...

Due to the unfortunate fact that these 2 creepy breeds of snakes have decided to call my backyard home, I just spent more than I'd like to say having "snake repellant" scattered all over my yard.  My consolation prize?  Apparently they aren't venomous.  A copperhead snake is the only venomous snake found in this area as far from water as we are.  My snakes are much larger than any copperhead found in Texas.  Lucky me.

So instead of cooking tonight, I'm going out.  My neighbor has kindly agreed to join me to sort out my feelings in regard to my new snake colony.  We are doing this at the local mexican joint, where conveniently it is $1 margarita night.  That's about all I've got left after my "snake repellant" splurge, so I'm in.  Hope your yard is a safer haven than mine these days!

Coachwhip Snake

Source: flickr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Texas Rat Snake

***These are google images of the breeds found in my yard today as determined by my "snake dude" based upon their shed skin.  There's no way I took these photos, as I am a total chicken!!

A New Twist

As I confessed to you in the post S'more Please, j'adore le s'more.  Actually, my love of the s'more might be borderline obsession at this point.  It really depends on who you ask.  While I have the uncanny ability to build a s'more out of almost anything, I was pleasantly surprised last night.  I discovered a new twist on my classic treat.

Last night, my hubby and I went out for a lovely, quiet meal...sans kiddos.   Thus, the quiet I described.  Probably the first thing we noticed on the menu (after the wine list), was the dessert listed as House Made S'more.  One knowing look at each other, no words were needed, and we knew our end game...the s'more.

Just reading the description alone had me drooling.  A graham cracker chocolate chip cookie with chocolate ganache and charred marshmallows. YUUMMMM!   I then carefully calculated my dinner strategy.  I refused a salad in order to spare extra calories for the s'more.  Yes, there's logic there.  While salad is salad, it still has calories, and momma wanted to spend any extra caloric fun in the right spot.  A fantastic theory in my personal opinion.

A decision well made if I do say so myself.  Once the dishes from our incredible dinner were cleared (more on the dinner later this week when I try and recreate part of it).  The spunky waiter brought out our plank of s'mores and a glass of milk.

While the description of charred marshmallows was incredibly accurate, there were moments when I felt that they were too charred.  Even still, I must give points for creativity and for yum factor, char and all.  While I haven't made any of the recipes below, I did manage to find some incredibly simple recipes for both Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Ganache.  If you attempt to recreate this s'more, layer cookie, ganache, marshmallow, and cookie.  If you brave this fancy twist, do post and let me know!

Link to Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Link to Chocolate Ganache Recipe

***I want to give some serious props to whomever created the menu at the Wildwood Grill in Southlake, TX, where we ate this lovely s'more.  It is a fantastically unique and creative menu.  I had the hardest time choosing from all of the yumminess!

Charlie Sheen, I'm Not

Today, I'm SO not "winning."  It all began with the midnight and subsequent 1 a.m. visits from the 4 year old princess who just wanted to express that she was done sleeping in her room.  Not an announcement I was interested in hearing twice in the middle of the night.  After explaining that this was not an option, she reluctantly moved back to her place.

Let's not forget our pal, her sister, my sweet little "Texas Tornado" as she's known in these parts.  She decided that a 2 a.m. scream fest was a fantastic idea.  Clearly the girls worked out the schedule beforehand, as to not overlap each other.  Aren't they thoughtful?  This of course all occured when my husband had to be up at 4:30 a.m. to broadcast from the Dallas Mavericks Championship parade.  Not one of our best nights.

The rest of the day, I progressed with that "off my game" feeling.  Determined to get it all back on track after the kiddos naps, I thought making some Father's Day cookies would be a fun activity for the girls and I to embark upon.  Really, I thought that.

It actually started out pretty well, which I found rather astonishing once I grasped what I was truly attempting to do.  The actual dough was made with ease.  It was the baking that got out of hand.  I may have gotten a tad distracted.  It might have been at the point when the Texas Tornado decided to disrobe entirely, diaper and all, or maybe it was the constant singing by the 4 year old.  It was a new song from day camp.  Her version is, "cast your hairs upon the Lord, He will sustain you."  For those of you that don't know the song, hairs should be cares.  After about the 8th repetition of this chorus, I tried earnestly to explain it to her.  Yeah, my words fell on deaf ears.  Not a battle I'm picking.  Hairs it is.  In the midst of this chaos, the poor cookies suffered...dearly.  Blackened, charred, burnt.  However you phrase it, not exactly the fun surprise we had in mind for daddy.

From that disaster, I powered on to prepare dinner, Rachael Ray's Roasted Garlic Pesto Cream Pasta.  It didn't go so well.  While I am to blame for the unfortunate outcome of this meal, I'd also like to blame 28 year old me.  She made some mistakes too.  As we all know, I'm REAL new to this whole cooking game.  Back in the day, when I was registering for wedding gifts, I completely skipped over apparently crucial things, such as: a food processor, a Kitchen-Aid mixer, good knives, etc.  I think you get the point.  I couldn't cook, so these things seemed irrelevant.  Oh, to go back in time!  I would beg and plead with 28 year old me, show her a crystal ball into her chaotic future, and say "Register for the good stuff!"  Oh well, a teleporter, I'm not.  A lady without some dreamy cooking appliances, I am.  Therefore, when tonight's recipe called for a food processor, I got out my stand-in, the blender.

This blender is actually #2 in this marriage.  Blender #1 was a great guy who was a wedding gift, but his life was unfortunately cut short but the Texas Tornado.  About a minute before we realized the necessity of child locks, as we never needed them with the first kiddo, she chucked the poor blender on the ground.  Trip one was to Lowe's for child locks, trip two to Target for a mid-priced, "just ok" blender.  Tragically, his time expired yesterday while making my yummy galette.  A food processor was required for that recipe too.  Per usual, I used Blender #2.  The poor guy gave it all he had, but in the end I burnt the engine out and left the kitchen with a stench comparable to elephant poo on a hot summer's day.  I rationalized that after a good night's rest, my lil' blender would be ready for some work again.  Not the case.

Desperate, I decided that my mysterious emulsifier could handle the job of making pesto.  It's mysterious because I have no idea where it came from.  I just found it in one of my cabinets a few months back.  Go figure.  Your guess is as good as mine.  This is all the emulsifier was able to do.  Pretty icky, and not exactly what one would categorize as pesto.

At that moment, I made a snap decision.  The kids were never going to eat this one.  So I pulled out my back up plan...

FYI...this was the final product, because oh yes, I'm no quitter.  I saw this one through to the painful end.  I even ate a few bites, thinking it was fairly edible.  It really wasn't.

Ah yes, but it gets better, I overcooked the pizza.  I set the timer to go off 5 minutes before the pizza was supposed to be done.  I guess the oven was running hot, if that's possible, from all of its hard work that day.  I don't know.  Thankfully though, the princesses ate it.

After all of that hard work, coupled with the realization of how brutal dish duty was going to be, I opted for my favorite meal as a bachelorette...cereal.  Always perfect.  Do you see now why 28 year old me had zero interest in all of the fancy kitchen gadgets?

Hope you guys ate better than we did.  While I did have some mighty great successes this week, particularly the galette and the Thai food, tonight was a total bust on all counts.  I'm off to prop my feet up and eat a 2nd bowl of cereal goodness.  

If you'd like to take a stab at tonight's recipe, be my guest.  Just be sure you have a working blender or a food processor.  I'm just sayin'.

Link to Roasted Garlic Pesto Cream Pasta Recipe

No Stress

Life is stressful in a variety of little ways most of the time.  How do you deal with it?  For me, the best stress reliever is exercise.  I especially love yoga.  When I leave, I feel like I just left the spa, except for the fact that I did all the work.  I am discovering that cooking can also be stress relieving.  It really depends on how crazy life with the kids is that day.

Today, in lieu of going to yoga, I chose cooking.  I was excited to just crank up some tunes, throw on an apron, sip some coffee, and bake.  The 4 year old princess is in day camp, and her sweet daddy takes her there...and brings the 1 year old with him.  Yup, you guessed it, I was able to cook in peace...all alone.  Ahhhh.....the stress relieving begins.

My St. Louie niece recently stumbled upon an awesome blog entitled, Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body.  She was so excited about it, I thought I'd check it out.  It's awesome!  There are so many things I want to try from her blog.  The one I made today, is called Rhubarb, Strawberry, Pear Galette.  You may wonder, what is a galette?  I wondered too.  Per Wikipedia, it's a "free form, rustic tart."  Sounds like a fair definition to me.

I was excited to make this particular treat for many a reason, one being getting to use such a variety of fresh fruit.  Another reason was to use rhubarb.  I've never cooked with it before, can't say for sure if I've eaten it, and never would have known it resembles a stick.  It's the red thingy in the picture below.  Who knew?  Not me.

The link at the bottom of this post will give you great details, as well as the recipe, but I wanted to highlight a bit of my journey to the galette.  

After preparing the dough, and allowing it to chill for an hour, I rolled it out.  I then layered the bottom with thinly sliced pears, and placed the strawberry/rhubarb mixture on top.

I sealed it up, and then brushed part of a beaten egg on the outside.

Then I popped it into a 350 degree oven for an hour, and viola!  I had a dreamy, fruit filled, rustic tart!

After allowing it to cool on a wire rack for 25-30 minutes, I excitedly dove right in!  It was absolutely delicious.  Just the right about of sweetness, and the crust is just heaven!  Not to be gross, but it leaves the BEST after taste in your mouth.  Just sayin', it's an added perk.  I envision making this one for a brunch or for a morning in with the girls and coffee.  It's an impressive baked good in my opinion, and I give it my seal of delicious approval!

Link to Rhubarb, Strawberry, Pear Galette

This Is Me Singing!

Actually, that title is a tad misleading.  I'm not literally singing.  Heavens no, that would be brutal.  I'm theoretically singing.  Remember yesterday in the post, Food Philosophy, I said that last night's dinner wasn't one to sing about?  Well, tonight's is!  Matter of fact, call in a choir for back up, that's how loud I'm singing tonight.  

Tonight, I fixed Thai-Style Chicken with Basil and Pineapple from Rachael Ray.  That's right, another night together for Rach and me.  It is from her healthy line of recipes on her website entitled "Yum-o."  It is just that indeed, "yum-o."  I know the title can be a bit alarming.  I would never have thought to pair basil and pineapple together, much less lime and green pepper, but toss that all up, add some chicken, jasmine rice, tamari, a hot pepper and the horribly named "fish sauce"...and there you have it.  

I was very put off by some of the ingredients, yet oddly tempted too.  Since I'm so new to cooking, I am following recipes to a T, but even so, buying fish sauce wasn't easy for me.  I had an internal struggle in the sauce aisle weighing both sides of my argument in the matter of the fish sauce.  I finally decided to trust the recipe and went for it.  It was a great move, as I wouldn't have changed one single thing about this...nothing.  It was perfect.  

I was a cooking fool again today, so much so that I made a second round of "fool" for dessert.  As you may recall, last night I made Lime Blackberry Fool.  Since I used up all of the blackberries on that, I decided to try Strawberry Lime Fool.  Turns out, it is pretty tasty too!  I'll probably be fooling it up all summer.  It's a light, versatile, and yummy dessert that takes mere minutes of work.  Here's how I made it...

Strawberry Lime Fool

1 1/2 cup strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

Zest of one lime 

1 teaspoon lime juice

Pinch of salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine 1 cup of the strawberries with the sugar in a bowl. Using a potato masher, smash the berries until they are jam-like and mostly pureed. Add the remaining 1/2 cup strawberries. Stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium high speed to firm peaks. Fold into the chilled strawberry mixture with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.

Allow this to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

 

A big "thank you" to my friend M.  Together we cooked this meal and simultaneously wrangled toddlers.  We decided we'd make a great Food Network show, and even thought up names.  I think "Cooking in the Midst of Insanity" would probably be the winner.  Trust me, we were way more entertaining than the Gosselins.  

Well tomorrow's leftover night for sure, but who knows, I may surprise you this week with something sweet!

Link to Thai-Style Chicken with Basil and Pineapple Recipe

Food Philosophy

Inspiration.  What drives you and gets you to change?  So many things inspire me, but tonight I want to share with you the inspiration behind all of this cooking.  

Over the past 2 years, I have been curiously learning about food.  I have always loved food, but I had never studied it.  I'd never really thought about what I was eating besides the obvious...was it tasty or not?  That was my only bar of measurement.  Well, that and the whole fat and calorie thing too.  Now, I want to actually know what is in it. 

My food journey began by listening to a speaker.  Her words made me question everything.  An especially pivotal moment was when she pulled out 7 year old french fries, and they still looked edible.  I gasped.  My journey continued and has been forever changed by Chef Jamie Oliver.  His passion to revamp the food in our schools is becoming my passion.  

With that being said, I'm working towards a clean eating approach to what I prepare.  I say "working towards" because it's really tricky!  My definition and my goals for clean eating are to prepare foods that I can pronounce, and eliminate as many processed foods as I can.  I know I sound insane to many, even to myself 2 years ago, but the correlation between food and health is unmistakeable.

Hadn't planned on preaching my food philosophies tonight, and in no way am I trying to convert anyone to any lifestyle other than what they are comfortable with, but I did want to share with you for a moment my cooking goals tonight...especially tonight.  Tonight I managed to pull together an entire meal and a dessert made of pronounceable food with relatively little effort...and I'm proud of that.  This change in our eating hasn't come easily to me, but it inspires me, and therefore challenges me to do better.

Tonight, we ate Honey-Lemon Chicken with Potatoes.  Together, Rach & me (that's right, Rach...it's been awhile) made a healthy meal in my crocky.  If I were to gauge merely on taste, it would get 3 1/2 stars on a 5-star scale.  It was just good, not one to sing about.  However, it required very little in the way of ingredients, and those ingredients were all fresh.  So even when each bite was just pretty good, I still smiled because I knew my family was eating really well.     

For dessert, I literally whipped something up called Lime Blackberry Fool.  I still had a couple of limes leftover from my Cupcakes & Cocktails soiree the other night, so I used one from that.  The only other necessary ingredients were blackberries, sugar, and heavy whipping cream.  It required little in the matters of both ingredients and precious time.

It was light and refreshing.  A treat that I would gladly make over and over, 4 stars for sure.  I would say 5 stars, but there's no way any dessert can be 5 stars without some degree of chocolate.

Thanks for listening to my theories on food.  Until tomorrow, when Rach and I brave the world of Thai food.  Yikes!

Link to Honey-Lemon Chicken with Potatoes Recipe

Link to Lime Blackberry Fool Recipe