I spent my whole day yesterday pickling vegetables. With the intermittent order of oysters to shuck or charcuterie to build, the majority of my time was spent with about 14 heads of cauliflower, a bucket of carrots, a knife and a peeler. A seemingly redundant and snore worthy job, left me instead aweing over God’s creation. I began peeling and slicing a Ton of carrots. Once I had my huge Bae Marie of carrots full, I looked down, and looked back up and my eyes blurred with that sensation you get after looking directly at the sun. It seems impossible that a vegetable, a thing that spent so much time under the ground in the dirt, could produce such an alarmingly bright color. Next I moved onto cauliflower…Now, if you haven’t ever cut into a head of purple cauliflower, I beg you to go out get one and get chopping. Each time I cut up a piece I was left in wonder locking at the beautiful purple and white of he stalk, the bright green leaves that faded to a purple tip and the wonderful soft flowers, all of which completely beautiful and completely edible. On occasion I had to turn around and again remark on how incredible these things were, which I am sure got old after a while, yes I understand it is only cauliflower but STILL. The second half of the cauliflower I pickled is called cheddar cauliflower, having nothing to do with the cheese, but rather the bright orange color it produces. WOW. I saw a bunch of green cauliflower in the walk-in that I will probably be asked to pickle soon and I am all too excited and already in awe of its equally bright beauty.
If you have a lot of vegetables sitting around that you want to save or are afraid that you may not use I urge you to pickle them! It is an incredibly simple and economical way to preserve those veggies. Get ready for this recipe…..1:1:1 parts water to vinegar to sugar. Bring to a boil, pour over sliced veg, cool at room temperature and then pop in the fridge. Toss them in a salad, snack on them, throw them in a sandwich….you get the idea. J Now go get yourself in a pickle.
Ok I took this picture at the grocery store the other day and in it no way does its beauty justice but I never had time to take a picture at work :(
Ah. After an exhausting week at work there is nothing like getting outside and getting your hands dirty. It seems as though there is nothing more therapeutic than the smell of fresh soil, some dirt under your fingernails, and the hope a tiny seedling or baby tomato plant brings as you plant it in the ground and prepare it for a bright future.
So here is the low down:
Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, green beans, squash, lettuce, basil, cilantro, chives, oregano, and corn are all getting ready to make their debut in our little humble garden. J yay can’t wait!
Winter term ended and Emily and I packed up my car and headed out on the open road…
(Emily and I are both doing our internships in CALIFORNIA!)
(ok we packed up my car MULTIPLE times with a lot of help from friends, took stuff to storage, packed the car again, squeezed in the car for a few days, stayed with my amazing cousins, lost a lot of sleep and barely made it through finals and then left for California in a desperate rush to get to our beds and unpack our lives from the trunk of the car…the verdict…sell everything and just carry a toothbrush and one change of clothes with me for the rest of my life.)
Time has gotten away from me. It seems like Christmas was ages ago, but I can’t let this time get away from me without mentioning the amazingly decadent dessert we had Christmas Eve! As if our feast of lasagna, salad, bread, and pretzel salad wasn’t enough, we topped it all of with white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. YUM! Gingersnap crust, with a rich pumpkin and white chocolate swirled cheesecake. I got it from one of my chefs at school who just raved about this recipe, and with good reason!
PUMPKIN WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes to 1½ hours
Cool time: Best if chilled overnight
Crust:
¾ cup finely ground ginger snaps
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling:
1 ½ pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar ____
5 eggs _________
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract ____
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted ____
_____½ cup white chocolate chips, melted__
1 cup solid pack pumpkin ____
1 teaspoon cinnamon ____
1 teaspoon ground ginger ____
½ teaspoon ground clove ____
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch spring form pan and tightly wrap an aluminum sheet around the bottom and half way up the sides of the pan. The pan will be placed in a water bath so be sure it is tightly secured around the pan. Mix together the ground ginger snaps and melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl, and gently beat with an electric mixer. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla extract being careful to avoid lumps. Continuing to mix, add the melted butter.
Remove 1 cup of the cheesecake batter to a separate bowl. Add the melted white chocolate and mix by hand until fully incorporated. Set aside.
To the remaining mixture, add the solid pack pumpkin, the cinnamon, ground ginger and ground clove. Using the electric mixer, beat gently until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
Place the prepared pan into a larger pan that is deep enough to hold several inches of water. Pour pumpkin cheesecake batter into the prepared spring form pan. Randomly place several tablespoons of white chocolate batter on top of the pumpkin batter until all the white chocolate batter has been utilized. Using a knife, swirl the white chocolate batter to create a marbled effect.
Place the set of pans into the oven. Using a pitcher, pour room temperature water into the larger pan until it is no more than 1/3 of the way up the spring form pan.
Bake for approximately 1¼ to 1½ hours. Test by inserting a small knife in the center to see if it comes out clean.
Serves 12 – 16.
Recipe via Chef Woolley
Just a few wants…
I love the new funky colors —> latest collection - essie nail polish and really just…nail colors - essie nail polish
Everything From Anthropologie, but it would be especially cool to put my recipes in this…Taste-Test Recipe Book - Anthropologie.com
I love rings..one of these might have to be a 21st birthday present to myself :)Real Feather Jewelry Pheasant Feather Ring Eco by HappyGoLicky
or this one…an apple branch ring.. I mean, come on…Apple Branch Leaves Ring by Camla on Etsy
Any boots from Steve Madden FRIENZZI COGNAC LEATHER women’s boot flat casual - Steve Madden
A cute skinny belt to wrap around a cami and a sweater…FOSSIL® Clothing Belts:Womens Logo Ultra Skinny Belt BT3860
and…Women’s accessories - belts - Distressed denim belt - J.Crew
and of course this is always on the list…Search Results - Macy’s
Love this…Avocado green print beach photo olive green sky by bomobob on Etsy
Thankfully though, I have everything that I need.
But a girl can dream…:)
It seems that the possibilities for a delicious meal are endless when you have some good chunky red sauce on hand.
My favorite thing about making things from scratch is the fact that I have complete control over the ingredients that go into what I am eating! This means no long list of supposedly edible items that I am unable to pronounce, but rather healthy and wholesome real food! I also really believe that when you make things from scratch you are also able to save a lot of money, which is always what we are aiming for.
My easy, go to tomato sauce is simple and can be used in so many different ways (forget the pasta….for now).
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt pepper and herbs to taste! I use about 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried thyme, and 1 tsp dried basil. However, as always, if you have access to fresh herbs USE THEM!!
A splash of balsamic vinegar (2 tbsp)
Saute the onion in the olive oil and add the garlic. Throw in you tomatoes, followed by herbs/salt/pepper and vinegar. Allow to simmer. Feel free to puree if you like a smoother sauce.
This is totally all to taste. Adjust as you see fit and until it tastes good to you!.
Some Ideas of what to do with it
1. Toss with spaghetti squash and spinach and pair with your favorite sausage (I had chicken and apple sausage!)
2. Add some vegetables (peas, spinach, mushroom….whatever you have on hand) to the sauce and crack some eggs in and bake the eggs in the sauce. Pair with a crusty piece of bread, dipping into the beautiful running yoke and soaking up all that delicious sauce!
3. Toss with quinoa, ground turkey and roasted brussels sprouts (my new favorite vegetable…I simply do not understand why they have such a bad name.)
Really just add it to anything and you will be happy!
YUM!
Simple is delicious. Tonight, what I thought was going to be an extremely boring meal turned into something way too delicious that had me appreciating the deliciousness of God’s creations. I made some rice in the hopes that it would help with my upset stomach. While the brown rice was cooking up, I sauteed some onion, added some mushrooms and sauteed for a bit longer. I then added some kale with about 2 tablespoons of chicken stock. I searched the cabinet for some herbs and decided to throw in a pinch of sage, thyme and oregano and then the tiniest dash of nutmeg. I then covered it and lowered the heat and allowed that to cook for a little bit. I finished with some salt and pepper and threw that on top of the rice and it was the perfect meal for a cozy and calm night at home.
