~A Kitchen Vignette~

We are promised 50 degree nights and 70’s during the day, this week.

I know, and completely understand, not everyone welcomes Fall with open arms, the way I do.  It truly is my favorite time of year. 

This year I will welcome the season even more than usual.  Summer has been a tad hot, here in the St Louis area.  The temperatures, coupled with the humidity we have in Missouri, makes it seem much warmer than the thermometer reads. 

I tend not to think about what lies beyond Fall, preferring to savor the season, rather than project toward Winter.

When the time comes, I’ll welcome Winter, when we light the fireplace and enjoy the season, from our hearth room chairs. 

Since J retired, as a Lineman, for the local rural electric cooperative, I don’t have to worry about him going out in all kinds of weather conditions, including Winter. 

He served the cooperative well for nearly 40 years.

“Moose” celebrated his 65th birthday, Monday August 23. 

It’s been an interesting 65 years, to say the least.

  

It’s nice having him home when the weather is extreme and the roads not so nice .

It’s also nice the phone doesn’t ring, with “trouble calls”, in the wee small hours of the morning.

The vignette

I gathered a few cookbooks and added them to the cabinet top, at the end of the island.  Black and white dishes in a dish rack, a welcome home sign, canister and rooster add to the vignette.  I couldn’t resist the addition of a pumpkin. 

Tuesday Night Supper

One day a week, we have pasta.   

I love pasta!

I was very happy when I had great cholesterol numbers, at the check up, earlier this month.  J’s cholesterol report was good, too. 

That means we can continue our once a week pasta night, until further notice.

I’m always on the lookout for different ways to prepare pasta.

This week, I chose a recipe from the magazine, La Cucina Italiana (October 2010).

Penne con Salsiccia Zafferano

Fine sea salt

1/8 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion

(from one medium)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage

1 cup heavy cream

1 pound penne

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Meanwhile combine 1 tablespoon water and saffron in a small bowl; set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet; heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and thyme, cook stirring frequently, until softened, about 4 minutes, then add sausage and cook, breaking up sausage with a wooden spoon, until sausage is mostly cooked through, about 6 minutes.  Add cream, saffron mix and a generous pinch of salt, bring to simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente.  Drain, then transfer to a large bowl; immediately add cream mixture and toss to combine.  Adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

Salad

I served Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio Salad, with the pasta.

The recipe is from Mary of Home is Where the Boat Is. 

The link will take you to photos of her beautiful salad and the recipe.

Linking to Artie’s Vignette Fridays.

&

Designs by Gollum

Happy weekend!

~Lakeside Lunch~

Our daughter spent some time in Taiwan, for work, recently.  T has done lots of traveling to places around the world, but this trip was the longest flight.  She did okay on the trip there, but when she returned home, she had quite a problem with “jet lag”.  When we drove to the lake, early Sunday, T decided to follow us down for a couple of relaxing days at the condo.

While she was at the lake, I prepared the lunch, featured in this post. 

This is my contribution for Foodie Friday.

 

 Tomatoes, from our daughter’s garden, fresh Basil from potted plants on our back porch, and Mozzarella Cheese from Trader Joe’s.

Lunch ingredients from Trader Joe’s.

 

I usually make my own sauces for pasta.  This time, wanting to spend less time in the kitchen, I tried Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Marinara.  This sauce is delicious.  I will buy it again.

I added sauteed mushrooms and grated cheese.

As I type, it is Monday afternoon.  The temperature is a delightful 81; great for deck sitting and dining.

Happy Weekend!

~Doin’ Some Cookin’~

The plan, for this week, was to return to the lake and complete work on the master bedroom.

However, plans changed when we got the results of J’s Protime test, Monday evening.  He was told to stop Coumadin (blood thinner), for two days and have another test Wednesday.  We knew as soon as that blood draw was made, his blood was still very thin.  A call came from his Cardiologist’s assistant, yesterday evening, to stop Coumadin until he heard from the doctor.  Another call came today, telling him to decrease the Coumadin dosage and have another Protime, at the time of our check ups, in two weeks

Over the past couple of decades, J has had numerous surgeries; no problem with Coumadin.  We are puzzled as to why he is having trouble with it, at this time.

Since we are staying close to home, this week, I’ve taken the opportunity to do a little cookin’, The Tamales took no effort at all.

I am adding a link to Michael’s Foodie Friday, this week. 

It’s been quite awhile since I participated.

I bought 6 of these snack sets, from a neighbor, during our neighborhood garage sale, in June.  They were a gift from friends, returning from a vacation in Mexico.

Every so often, I crave Tamales.

J doesn’t care for Tamales, unless they are homemade by our son in law’s mother. Those are the best Tamales we have ever tasted.

J will not eat Salsa with any sort of “whang”, as he calls it.  I love Tamales and don’t mind a little spice to Salsa.  I purchase Tamales from the Schwann’s truck.  They are excellent.  I keep them in the freezer and heat one in the microwave, for lunch, once in awhile. 

I used the drink cup of the snack set to serve the fresh Salsa, I purchased Wednesday.  To my taste, it has just the right amount of “whang”.

The Salsa complements the colorful plate and cup.

Fruit cup of Mango Nectarine, White Peach, Blueberries, Strawberries and whipped topping.

I found Mango Nectarines, at Dierberg’s (local family owned grocery). Have you tasted Mango Nectarines?  They are wonderful.  I believe they would make a tasty salsa, for salmon or other grilled seafood.

Not My Granny’s Chicken & Dumplings, but pretty good anyway.

Comfort food for J. 

I had a tiny taste too.

Chicken and Dumplin’s

One package freezer Dumplings or homemade.

2 or 3 Chicken Breasts on bone

5 or 6 Chicken Wings

1 bay leaf

Ground Savory

Saute in 1 tablespoon Butter

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves crushed garlic

or Garlic Powder can be substituted

Sea Salt

Coarse Pepper

Or use your spice and herb combination for chicken. 

Simmer chicken in about 5 quarts water, until done.  Remove chicken to cool, cut from bone and chop.  Return broth to rolling boil, drop in dumplings, stirring often to prevent sticking.  Reduce to simmer, cover and cook about 35 to 40 minutes. 

I used a little corn starch mixed in water, to thicken the broth at the end of cooking.

While I was cooking the chicken for the dumplings, I cooked extra for salad.  I chopped and mixed it with grapes, walnuts, celery and Miracle Whip.

 

Giada’s Poached Pears

Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 (750-ml) bottle Moscato wine or other sweet dessert wine
• 2 cups simple syrup recipe follows
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in 1/2
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 (3/4-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled, and finely chopped
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 6 small, firm, ripe Anjou pears, peeled
• Serving suggestion: vanilla ice cream or gelato

Directions

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears, combine the wine, simple syrup,

cinnamon stick halves, honey, and ginger. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean and seeds to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted. Add the pears and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the pears are tender. Remove the pears from the liquid and allow to cool.

Continue to simmer the liquid until it thickens and is reduced by half, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick halves and the vanilla bean and discard.

Place each pear on a small serving plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with the honey, ginger and cinnamon syrup. Serve immediately.

• Simple Syrup
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.

Yield: 2 3/4 cups

I couldn’t find Vanilla Bean, so substituted Vanilla Extract.  Bartlett Pears were also substituted. 

Delicious and the house smells wonderful!

I used Saint James Velvet White Wine.  Saint James is a Missouri Winery.

Sprite Melon Information

I found some information about the Sprite Melon, seen in the previous post. It is grown in North Carolina. 

Click above photo for the website.

We are meeting special folks, tomorrow evening (Friday), for supper. I hope to get a couple of photos.

Happy Weekend!

~Lunch Table Talk~

Monday morning, bright and early, J and I drove south for blood work.  This time, we both had routine tests.  Each of us had a fasting test. J had another test for his blood thinner levels.  We’ll know more about the fasting tests, after our check ups in about three weeks.  We are hoping to hear the results of the blood thinner test, in the next day or two.

I don’t know about you, but after these fasting tests, I am famished!  I decided a Mocha Frappe from McD’s was just the ticket, for breakfast. 

To assuage my guilt over my lavish breakfast, I had a light lunch.

I placed a thick slice of Sprite Melon, in a small fruit bowl, filled it with Blueberries, topped with light whipped topping and garnished with a Strawberry. 

It looked so pretty it deserved a photo shoot.

It was delicious, too.

An update…..already!

 

Before

After I published the post about the new cabinet, I made a minor change.

After

About 10 years ago, I shot a few black and white photos of barns around our county, with a 35mm film camera.  I remembered those photos, the other day, and thought one or two of them would be a great addition to the wall beside the cabinet, made from an old Missouri barn.

The barn, in the top photo, was on the farm next to J’s family farm. It is still in existence.  The barn, in the second and third photos, was just outside a small village, west of our town.  That barn is no longer standing.

As you can see, in this photo of the back of the cabinet, red paint is still visible on the old barn boards.

Because this has a few tabletop elements, I am linking to Marty’s Tabletop Tuesday.

~A Day in Our Life at the Lake~

 I borrowed an inspiration photo, from Kathysue, of Good Life Design. That started the ball rolling toward a makeover of the master bedroom, at the condo.

We haven’t done much with the room since buying the condo, seven years ago.  We decided it’s about time.

I’ve tried a few different looks in the room, without buying furniture or painting.  I’ve never been quite satisfied with the results.  When I saw the above photo at Good Life Design, I was smitten.  While we don’t have the open rafters, we do have a double sliding door, that overlooks the lake.

I found a bed and dresser at the Ashley Furniture website.  Tuesday morning we drove to Versailles Missouri, where we ordered the poster bed and dresser, without mirror, at Bescheinen Furniture.

In this photo, from the Ashley site, you can see the bed is similar to the one in the inspiration photo. The finish is a sort of buttery cream color, rather than stark white.  We will use the dresser for a flat screen tv.  I’ll find mismatched pieces for either side of the bed. 

I’m looking for oars, to hang above the bed.  I wish I had come up with this makeover idea a couple of months earlier.  I saw a set of antique oars, a few months ago, at the now closed Countryside Antiques and Collectibles, Camdenton Mo.

The furniture will be delivered late in July, giving us plenty of time to paint the room Sherwin Williams Antique White.

While wandering around the store, we found this chair and decided to add it to the room redo.

Before returning to the condo, we stopped at JB Hook’s for lunch.

 

I had a Bloody Mary.  J’s drink was Boulevard Wheat. We shared a Crab Cake Appetizer.

My Cobb Salad with shrimp was delicious. The crackers are served with a sundried tomato spread.  J enjoyed a Philly Steak Sandwich with homemade chips.

Lunchtime View

I finally got around to driving the Camaro, while at the lake.  Absolutely love it!

Self portrait, on the road to Versailles.

~Lazy Days of Summer~

Endless Summer

I am adding this post to Michael’s Foodie Friday, at Designs by Gollum.

Insalata Caprese

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer.

-Artist: Nat King Cole
-peak Billboard position # 6 in 1963
-Words by Charles Tobias and Music by Hans Carste

I can hear Nat King Cole, singing this song, as I write this post.

Lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer will arrive soon, here in the St Louis area.  Even though it is another three weeks until Summer officially arrives, we are beginning to feel the promise of heat and humidity. 

It’s time to start thinking about lighter meals, with less time spent in the kitchen.

Over the weekend I made one of my favorite salads, Caprese, using tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil.  Our tomatoes won’t be ready for a few more weeks.  I purchased vine ripened  tomatoes with a nice flavor. Basil, growing in our back porch pots, is abundant.

Insalata Caprese recipe can be found at Epicurious.

  Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, from Saint Louis Bread Company

Tuesday, we spent the morning running hither and yon, in Saint Charles County, stopping for lunch at Saint Louis Bread Company; a favorite of ours.

  

J ordered Tuna Salad.  My lunch was the Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, with chicken. 

I’m going to try making this salad at home using, lettuce, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, blueberries and pecan halves. I’ll add sliced roasted chicken and light poppy seed dressing. 

I’m sure it won’t be as good as the salad at “breadco”.

Tuesday night supper, on the patio.

We stopped by Lowe’s, this week, and picked up an indoor/outdoor fan on a stand.  Having the fan on the patio will make summertime outdoor dining much more comfortable.

Update

We’re making a couple of changes in the bonus room/studio over the garage.  More about this in an upcoming post.

Appreciation  

Thank you  Gypsy Purple for mentioning Back Porch Musings’ black and white table, featured in THIS post.

Edited Wednesday evening to add my version of St Louis Bread Company Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad.