Busy Week

I have had a busy and productive week. Monday started out with reporting for jury duty. Out of 240 people, I was one of 15 people who were asked to be questioned for the one jury trial of the day. Out of those 15, I was one of 6 people chosen to serve on a jury in a DUI case. It was an interesting experience. We were unanimous in our decision and the case was concluded by the end of the day.

Tuesday night I went to a cooking class at the Buford Highway Farmers Market. The class topic was salmon and cost $15. At the end of the class, everyone received a $10 gift card for the market. I had not been to this market in several years. It has changed a lot since my last visit and I can't wait till my next day off to go there and wander the aisles to make new food discoveries.

Wednesday was a day off and I did errands, some to get ready for our weekend at Lake Burton. Yay! Can't wait to float on a raft in the lake and do nothing, nothing. I'll take some knitting, reading, maybe some cooking magazines I need to catch up on. We're leaving Friday morning for the long weekend.

Tonight is my monthly book club meeting. We read Loving Frank. It was an historical novel about a love affair that lasted for many years between Frank Lloyd Wright and a woman, a former client. Very interesting with a definite surprise ending. A good read. I think I'll make "taco bites" as my appetizer contribution.

Today my brain is actually in the menu-planning mode and I got all my menu plans done for clients for the next three weeks...yay! Now off to finish laundry and start packing for the weekend. Also to make pimento cheese to take with us.

Kirby Cucumbers and Pickles

It seems I've gone crazy with canning, putting up, putting by, whatever you want to call it. In the last couple months I've canned green beans, tomatoes, strawberry jam, pickled peaches, peach preserves, triple berry jam, onion/pepper relish, and now pickles. And I have really, really enjoyed doing it!

This weekend I made pickles that my husband asked for...he especially likes these. They're called Kinda Sorta Sours from an Alton Brown recipe that I've had for several years.
My extravagant recipe organizing system: I know approximately what folder it's in and I definitely know what the piece of paper looks like that it's written on! I'll put the recipe back where I found it.

The full recipe is below but in a nutshell, you start with cucumbers. These are Kirby cucumbers, the perfect cucumber for making pickles. They're peaking in season now so get them while they're hot! They are small, with thin skin and have great flavor and crunch. You wash the cucumbers, cut them in either spears or slices, slice onion and smash some garlic. Then you make your boiling liquid using vinegars, sugar, and spices.

Pack the jars, add the boiling liquid, add the lids that have been sitting in hot water. Once they're packed, turn them upside down for a couple minutes so that the seal gets hot and seals well, and you're done! I made 4X the recipe for this many jars. I'm going to get more Kirby cucumbers this week while they're available. Enjoy!









Alton Brown's Kinda Sorta Sours
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 medium cucumbers or about 6 Kirby's
1 cup water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp mustard seed
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp pickling spice
4 whole garlic cloves

Combine onion, cucumber slices and garlic in jars.
Combine remaining ingredients in non-reactive pan. Bring to boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour hot liquid over ingredients and seal.

Spices and Spice Jars

Several years ago, I became obsessed with these cute little 1/2 pint jars. These are the old kind with the metal tops and the porcelain insert. I began searching for them at antique shops and shows and bought a lot of them on eBay.

I wanted them to store and display my spices. Here they are in their spot on the back of a door in my kitchen. It's a great convenient spot and I can always see how much I have of any given spice. Did I say I love these jars? I think I have about 40.

Of course I have them all lined up in alphabetical order.









I buy my spices at the DeKalb Farmers Market. Notice that I paid 77 cents for this tub of sage. Sure beats paying $3.99 at the grocery store for about 1/5 this amount! When I buy a new supply of a spice, I label the top of the jar with the date so I'll know its shelf life. I don't let a spice sit for more than a year because by then it has lost its flavor and punch.

My little spice jars, just another thing that makes me smile when I use them!

Pickled Peaches

I've been doing a lot of canning last week and this week. This is one of many posts about all the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables that have come my way lately.


On Sunday, I went with my Aunt Tootsie to a peach orchard in Hollanville, Georgia, Griggs Orchards. Hollanville, Georgia is in Pike County, about 60 miles south of Atlanta. My aunt has been going here for years and knew how to get there....thank goodness. It was a lovely drive on country roads and we had homemade peach ice cream at the farm stand when we got there. It was a great treat on such a hot day!

These are the clingstone variety. Later on the cling free peaches will be ready. Those will be perfect for making peach jam. I bought a large basket of peaches, about 60 or so. This is a small portion of what I got.










On Monday I made pickled peaches. They are seasoned with fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks and cloves. These will be a welcome treat around Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I think I'll have to break into them long before then!

Easy, Tasty Chicken

My friend Ann told me about a chicken recipe she had tried. I took the idea and made up my own version. It's a boneless, skinless chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes and fresh spinach.

Here's how I did it:
Butterfly the chicken breast, being careful not to cut all the way through. Salt and pepper the inside, smear with softened goat cheese, add chopped sundried tomatoes and fresh spinach.


Then close up the breast and secure with toothpicks.



Salt and pepper the outside and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until the breast is cooked through. Let the chicken rest before you slice it.



When you slice the chicken, you get the great colors of the goat cheese, tomato and spinach.


I served the chicken over these noodles I've recently found. They're in the Kosher section of the grocery store, made by Manischewitz and are called Klusky. They're a great size and width and would also be the perfect noodle for chicken noodle soup.

This is a really fast meal to make and you get your protein and vegetables all in one! And be sure to try the noodles. Enjoy!

Graeters Ice Cream

Oh my, you have to try this ice cream. Last weekend, we had a girl's weekend here in Atlanta. A friend was here from Kentucky and was talking about this ice cream, Graeter's. She said, "you have to try it, you can buy it at Kroger". So, yesterday I went to see if I could find it. Kroger had about 8 different flavors but I chose Vanilla and Coconut with Chocolate Chips.

It is really, really delicious! Creamy, and almost like homemade, fresh churned, only thicker and creamier. The chocolate chips are more like chocolate chunks, big bites of creamy chocolate. The vanilla is really rich....a little will do!





The way they make it is an interesting process that you can read about at graeters.com. They make two gallons at a time in French Pot style containers. Yum!

In the Kentucky, Ohio, etc areas, apparently they have storefront locations. You know that has to be good!

Thanks to my friend Donna for sharing this great new find! I have to pace myself though. The first ingredient is cream and it has about 300 calories for 1/2 cup. Enjoy!

Bakelite and Salad On The Porch

We had another lovely dinner on the porch last night.....salad with grilled chicken, greens, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomato and homemade vinaigrette. So good.



I have a great set of bakelite forks, knives and spoons that I got from my mother-in-law. They had belonged to her mother. My husband says he remembers using these when visiting his grandmother. I love this stuff! When we cleaned out my in-law's house several years ago, this was one of the things no one wanted....except me. I have many, many pieces from that clean out day and love them. Whenever I use something that belonged to my husband's grandmother, he tells me what he remembers about it from his childhood. Makes for great dinner conversation.

Our salad was the perfect meal for a hot evening. We often just have a huge salad for dinner. It's a great way to use up items from the refrigerator and also eat lots of fresh vegetables. And I like to set the table nicely so when we do have the rare occasion to sit down and have dinner together, it seems a little special.

We both cleaned our plates.