Things To Come

Wow, I am really amazed at how well our garden is doing! I think we just picked a great spot in the yard....it's getting lots of sunshine and apparently is very happy!

Soon we will have yellow squash. The tomatoes are also blooming like crazy...can't wait to have a tomato sandwich. There's nothing better in the summer, right, than a tomato sandwich with mayo and salt and pepper.


I have picked lettuce about 6 times now and there's still a lot still to go. I've shared with neighbors too and I'll need to pick again this weekend. But the spinach....it is delicious! We had some in a salad again last night. This I planted from seed and love how a pack of seeds that cost $1.29 produced so much spinach. I'll definitely plant spinach again. Who wants some?

In-Home Cooking Parties

I have been working with a client to develop monthly in-home cooking parties. Last weekend we had our first one, and it had a French theme. My client sent out an e-vite invitation to about 30 people and within minutes, the 15 available slots had been confirmed!

I developed the menu, which included appetizer terrines, French brie soup, sole meuniere, haricot verts, potato/fennel gratin, and chocolate pots de creme.

I prepared the appetizer terrines ahead of time so that when the guests arrived they'd have something to munch on. One was a layered vegetable terrine, the other a gorgonzola/fig/pecan terrine.

Once everyone arrived, we chatted a little about what we planned to prepare, then divided into groups and everyone got busy.

The soup group prepared the French brie soup....onion goggles helped since this needed lots of chopped shallots and we were doubling the recipe. The soup turned out great!


The haricot verts team was also busy. Success also!

The sole meuniere team prepared the fish at the last minute, since it doesn't take much time. It was also delicious and everyone did a great job.

Everyone did such a good job cooking and the food was fantastic! In the works for upcoming months are many more cooking parties with themes including Healthy Southern, Italian, Mediterranean and lots more!

This really is lots of fun and everyone enjoys being in the kitchen and learning new techniques and sharing the cooking experience.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

So glad we put in the vegetable garden this year! I love watching it grow.

The lettuce is going crazy! I think the two big ones are ready to become part of a salad.

And the spinach now has little spinach leaves....this I planted from seed.

Also from seed, I planted French Green Beans....two have popped up!

We also have squash, cucumbers and tomatoes, and Brussels Sprouts.

It really is the little things that make us happy.

Not Just Cooking, Knitting Too

I have been knitting for many years. Knitting gives me hours of happiness, and besides cooking, it's my second form of therapy. It's so relaxing and I do some of my finest menu planning while knitting. And I love yarn...well, we won't really talk about my stash.

I finally broke down and treated myself to a yarn swift and ball winder. Why would I be happy about this? Because it turns hanks of yarn like this


into nice little bundles of yarn, all wound and ready to start knitting!


Yes, it's quite the contraption -- I got it yesterday and set it up on my kitchen island so I could start playing with it.


Although I haven't minded all these years winding yarn into balls myself, this will save me so much time...and give me more time for knitting. Although, is there ever really enough time for knitting?

Ready For A Garden!

We decided last year (well, I did a lot of hinting and begging) to plant a garden this year. Last weekend, it finally was a great weekend, schedule and weather-wise, to lay it out and get the box built. We worked most of the afternoon Saturday digging the trenches where the boards would go, then finished up on Sunday replacing dirt and leveling out the space.










We had really good help...Haven is a great digger and she really got to it!





Then she had to settle back and just be the supervisor.

And we're done with that part. The next step will be to add lots of nutrient-rich soil, then wait for the proper time to plant.

We're thinking tomatoes for sure, maybe squash and cucumbers and some kind of bean. I can't wait! I just hope I do a good job with the weeding and watering...not really my strong suit.

Fresh Eggs

My neighbor across the street is an elderly man and since I'm always cooking and always have lots of food around, I often send my husband across the street with a plate of whatever I've recently cooked. His son has chickens and almost every week brings me a dozen fresh eggs. Oh my.

Lately, I've had to catch up on using the eggs so I've made Old Fashioned Egg Custard and pie, deviled eggs, egg salad, scrambled eggs on toast....you name it, I'm cooking eggs.

I think I have about three dozen left but I'll keep up, there's no way I'm turning down fresh eggs. And he's getting more chickens this year!

Tonight's dinner: Spinach Fritatta with herbed focaccia. Yum!

Banana Creme Brulee

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A couple of weeks ago, I was hired by a lovely man to chef a surprise birthday dinner for his wife's birthday. We worked together to plan the menu and all the details, and when I arrived, his wife was indeed surprised.

I prepared a four-course meal, including soup, salad, entree, and dessert which was Banana Creme Brulee. I want to share the recipe because it was really unique and very good! When you see the recipe, you'll see why: cream, egg yolks, oh yea, the real thing. But it was good and you certainly don't eat this every day, so if it's your birthday or a special occasion, make it and enjoy the splurge.

It's a typical creme brulee recipe where you cook and mash the bananas, make the cream, and cook it all in a waterbath.

When you're done, let it cool, then sprinkle with sugar and torch the top till browned and you'll have that nice, mandatory crunch when you break into it. This was creamy and delicious. Let me know if any of you make it, I'd love to hear the results! Enjoy!
Here's the recipe:

Banana Creme Brulee
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 bananas mashed
1 banana to slice on top
6 tbsp white sugar
juice of 1/4 lemon
3 tbsp brandy
3 cups heavy cream
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
12 tsp sugar for torching

Preheat oven to 300. Over medium heat in saute pan, melt butter and add 3 mashed banans. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp white sugar. Blend and cook for 5 minutes until bananas are lightly caramelized. Add lemon juice and stir. Raise heat and add brandy and boil for 1 minute, stirring. Remove, and divide among 6 shallow creme brulee dishes.

Place heavy cream in saucepan. Add vanilla and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Place egg yolks and 5 tbsp sugar in top of a double boiler. Whisk together, then stir over simmering water until it becomes fairly thick (about 15 minutes). Strain the reserved cream mixture into the eggs, simmering another 10 minutes.

Place creme brulee dishes in shallow baking pan. (You'll probably need to use more than one). Add creme mixture to dishes. Pour hot water up to the halfway mark on the dishes to form waterbath. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and chill.

When ready to serve, slice banana on top. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar on each. Torch! Enjoy!