I am a country girl, born and raised on a farm in Central Iowa. I am the youngest of three children by 9 and 14 years….I was the OOPS! Being younger had its advantages in that I was an Aunt at age 7 and grew up with my niece and nephews. My Father died from a farm injury when I was 12, which forever changed my life and strengthened my bond with my Mother. I tagged along with my Mother to visit older people in our community and learned about their lives in the early 1900s, enjoying the many wonderful traditional foods and family stories.
I graduated from a class of 25, which gave me the advantage of being involved in sports and clubs that would not have been possible in a large High School. At that time, Home Ec was still an elective and I loved the cooking lessons (not so hot on the sewing classes). While at the University of Northern Iowa, I began to collect and read cookbooks. Perhaps it was the absence of Mom’s home cooking that drew me to dream about cooking (and eating) wonderful food. After college I moved to St. Joseph, MO and then to Scottsdale, AZ and began to experiment with traditional recipes and discovering those of my own. It was such an adventure to discover new dishes and restaurants in historic St. Joseph, Kansas City, then Scottsdale, Phoenix, San Diego…and the list goes on.
In the early ‘80s, I moved to Denver, got married, started my telecommunications sales career and discovered the fabulous restaurants in Denver and Aspen. My career took me to cities never before experienced and the seafood in San Francisco, Cajun fare in New Orleans, Tex-Mex in Dallas, Italian in New Jersey, etc. are experiences I will cherish. In 1986 our first daughter, Megan, was born and then Sarah in 1988. Instead of indulging in dinners out, we were cooking more at home and seeking ways to have good meals with limited time. Dinners went from adult gourmet to more kid friendly meals. Megan’s tastes were more basic while Sarah adopted a gourmet palate at an early age. At age 6 her favorite meal was steamed artichokes and crab legs with drawn butter…still her favorite. Megan’s tastes expanded rapidly when she went to college and started cooking for her roommates and now loves to whip up gourmet dishes.
I am blessed to have many gal pals that also share my passion for good food. I love to try new restaurants and look forward to the ‘pot luck’ feasts at our book club meetings and other gatherings. It isn’t just the good food that brings us to together, but the great love and admiration we all have for each other.
We are addicted foodies…but we try to remember our 12-step foodie program is needed.
God grant me the serenity to only eat the food that I LOVE,
the courage to walk away from junk food,
and the wisdom to recognize the difference. Oh YEAH!
Converting grams to ounces and cups is not easy! Somehow it seems that Gooseberries are plentiful in countries that use the metric system. I did my best to convert and, I have to say, the results were excellent.
GOOSEBERRY CRUMBLE CAKE
1 1/2 cups cleaned gooseberries
3/4 cup unsalted, softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 ounces ground almonds
1 1/8 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Crumble:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup unsalted, softened butter
2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square cake pan. To make the cake, beat the butter and sugars in a mixer for 8-10 minutes until fluffy. Break the eggs and beat them gently with a fork. Add slowly, with the beater, to the butter and sugar mixture.
Combine the ground almonds into the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Pour the batter into the baking pan. Scatter the gooseberries on the top.
Make the crumble topping by mixing the flour butter and sugar in the food processor. Scatter the crumbs loosely over the top of the gooseberries.
Bake for about an hour, checking to assure the cake it done. Remove the cake from the oven and cool before serving.
Cranberry and Mango Quinoa Salad is a favorite salad shared by friend, Chris, at many of our Book Club and pot luck dinners. Finally, I decided to prepare it and savored every serving. I’ve also tried adding other ingredients to add variety, including bits of turkey or slices or fresh avocado.
This salad is great for summer meals and gatherings.
CRANBERRY AND MANGO QUINOA SALAD
2 cups of water
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup fresh kale or spinach in bite size pieces
1.5 cup fresh or frozen mango chunks (one to two fresh mangos should yield just about 1.5 cups)
1.5 c cubed melon (I used Honeydew)
1/2 cup slivered almonds (toasted/optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
pinch of salt
Bring water to boil and cook quinoa per the instructions. Cool.
Add kale (or spinach), mango, melon, almonds, and cranberries to quinoa.
Mix together Lemon poppy seed ingredients and pour over quinoa salad.
Serving Option: Slice fresh avocado slices over top of salad.
I only celebrated 12 Father’s Days with my Dad since he died in a farm accident my 12th year. His death was a great shock and loss to our entire family. I often wonder what it would have been like to know my Dad as an adult, to have him hold my children in his arms, to talk to him about his life, his experiences and to hug him once again.
Cathy & her Dad about 1954
What I do remember, with tremendous fondness, is…
riding in the back of his Turquoise Chevy pickup letting the wind blow on my face and hair
following him around the hog house and watching him do never-ending farm chores
riding to one of the small farming communities to visit the grain elevator, hardware store or local gathering place
building a cage and capturing a pigeon for me to take to school for ‘show and tell’
caring for baby bunnies that had been abandoned by their Mommy
his love of Adolph the cat and our good old farm dog, Skipper
hanging a tire swing for me and his grandchildren to enjoy
watching him crank the old home-made ice cream freezer as I anticipated the luscious results
riding on the tractor with him
feeling very grown up filling the gas tanks of the car or truck
going on picnics and fishing
watching favorite TV shows together including Bonanza, Lassie, Daniel Boone, Ed Sullivan, etc.
the piano he bought for me at the State Fair a month before he died
laughter and teasing (with love)
He was a good guy with a wonderful sense of humor and a dedicated, farmer’s work ethic.
My daughter, Megan, told me this was a great recipe. As mentioned in my Roasted Fennel post of last Friday, we garnished the soup with bits of the fennel and loved it. From now on, it will be a traditional side served with the soup, and a slice of hearty Italian bread.
The original recipe called for heavy cream, but we liked the soup without the cream and without the extra fat. Next time I would add chopped carrots and celery.
ZUPPA TOSCANA…COPYCAT OF OLIVE GARDEN RECIPE
1 lb. Italian sausage
2 large russet baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup bacon, chopped (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups kale or 2 cups swiss chard, chopped
2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 quart water
1 cup heavy whipping cream (I omitted)
Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces.
Brown sausage in your soup pot.
Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir.
Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in the pot.
Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.
Add bacon.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Turn to low heat.
Add cream (optional) and heat.
Tear pieces of kale into bowl and pour steaming soup over the top.
Fennel was a target buy at Trader Joe’s for daughter Megan and I this week. My husband, Karl, used to love to cook Fennel as was prepared for him on business trips to Italy. It’s been years since I’ve prepared it. Megan suggested we roast it and it was fantastic. I have to say that eating it raw was delicious, too.
The fennel was prepared the same evening as the Zuppa Tuscana (recipe to post next week). We decided to put some of the fennel in our soup and loved the addition. I even added cold roasted fennel to a roast pork and goat cheese sandwich…love it!
Next time I’ll try roasting the fennel with other vegetable, perhaps white and sweet potatoes and a bit of rosemary?
ROASTED FENNEL
2 heads fresh fennel
olive oil
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse fennel. Slightly trim bottom and top of fennel bulb.
Cut each bulb in half lengthwise. Cut out core and set aside.
Slice fennel thinly and place on baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast for 15-20 or until brown on edges and tender.
Baked Avocado…a new adventure for me and I loved it. The idea of using avocado as the binding ingredient for quinoa, tomato, cheese was great and included all ingredients I love. This recipe is worth experimenting with and can easily be adapted for a vegan or vegetarian diet.
BAKED STUFFED AVOCADOS
2 large ripe avocados
2 cups cooked quinoa (I used a mix of plain and Tri-Colored Quinoa from Trader Joe’s)
1 medium-sized tomato, diced
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice avocados lengthwise and remove the pit by gently tapping it with a large sturdy knife.
Scoop the avocado from the shell with a spoon and place in a mixing bowl. Add quinoa, tomatoes, feta, salt and pepper. Mix to combine, but leaving hunks of avocado.
Place the hollow avocado shells on a baking sheet and carefully fill each with the mixture. (I found that I had more filling that the shells would hold and baked the remainder in a small greased casserole dish).
Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is sufficiently melted.
Peanut Stew is featured today thanks to this great recipe prepared by fellow Grandma-in-law (grandson Evan’s other Grandma), Chris, for our potluck last week as mentioned in Tuesday’s post.
She adapted the recipe per her notes below and it was absolutely delicious! The original recipe serves six and is easily adaptable to vegan, omitting the chicken and using vegetable broth. I will add this recipe to my favorites.
WEST AFRICAN PEANUT STEW
“A hearty stew that’s super-easy to make and great for peanut butter lovers. Can be made vegetarian or with chicken. In a pinch, feel free to use vegetable or corn oil for peanut oil, powdered ginger for fresh, water for stock, etc. Kale works well in place of collard greens.”
2 tablespoons peanut oil (I used coconut oil)
one half onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger (I prefer to slice them thick so you can fish it out)
a pinch of sugar to caramelize onion
1 pound chicken, cut into chunks (optional)
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper, or to taste (which for me was none)
I added about a tsp of cinnamon
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 small sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 (16 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with liquid
1/4 pound collard greens, roughly chopped
1 cup chunky peanut butter
Heat the peanut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir the onion, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until softened, about 5 minutes. (I used Costco rotisserie shredded chicken, so I didn’t add it until the last step, since it was already cooked)
Add the chicken; cook and stir until completely browned. Season with the crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Pour the chicken stock over the mixture. Stir the sweet potatoes into the liquid and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover the pot partially with a lid, and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir the tomatoes, collard greens, and peanut butter into the soup. Partially cover the pot again and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, another 20 minutes. (Mine simmered for about 30 minutes longer than that. I used a potato masher and crushed up the sweet potatoes and tomatoes a little after the recipe’s 20 minute simmer, so it would be thicker rather than chunky.)
I had extra collard greens and one review suggested to sauté them as garnish along with chopped peanuts.
Poisonwood Bible (1998) was our recent Book Club read. I remember trying to read this great book in the late ’90s but work, teenagers and life interrupted my reading experience. I was delighted when our Book Club added the book to our 2014 list. While the book is long, the time flew by as I read this marvelous book by Barbara Kingsolver.
The book was originally suggested to me by my sister-in-law, Betty, when they were living in Malawi, Africa on a medical and education mission. During their time in Africa, Betty wrote many emails to family and friends capturing the many wonderful and tragic moments there. Poinsonwood Bible brought back a flood of memories from her stories.
Our book club always begins the evening with a potluck dinner with a theme from the book, so African recipes it is! Betty was kind enough to mail me her cookbook, The Malawi Cookbook:
Malawi Cookbook
The cookbook was originally published in 1972 by the Malawi Ministry of Health to raise money for children’s vaccinations and the Save the Children fund. Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity in young children in developing countries.
The recipes are fascinating and I will keep a few for my future cooking experiences, although I doubt I will ever serve Bee Larvae, Flying Ants, Grasshoppers, Crickets and Locusts. Instead, I decided to use the eggplant recipe that Betty shared directly with me. I love eggplant, made any which way, so this was a perfect choice. As Betty shared, Mashed Eggplant is served everywhere during harvest season.
Other wonderful dishes shared at our dinner were Ingera (sponge bread), Chicken and Peanut Stew (recipe to appear in Friday’s post), Fried Plantains, and an array of Ethiopian dishes from a local restaurant.
I took several wonderful pictures of the Eggplant and Peanut Spread, to later discover I didn’t have my memory card in my camera. My apologies but let me assure you the dish was a big hit, even for those that confess to not liking Eggplant. Serve this spread with wedges of pita bread or, for those eating gluten-free, a gluten free cracker.
The only change I would make the next time I make it, would be to roast the eggplant in the oven to decrease the amount of fat in the dish.
MASHED EGGPLANT & PEANUT SPREAD
2 pounds eggplant, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter (in Malawi, they would use local made groundnut butter)
salt and red pepper flakes, to taste
Prepare the eggplant in the usual way of slicing, salting, weighing down the eggplant during the two hours you are extracting the liquid and bitterness.
Pat dry, then fry eggplant slices for about five minutes in the olive oil, turning once.
Mix and pour remaining ingredients over the fried slices, mash with fork, then serve with pita wedges. (I admit to having used a food processor which made the finished product a bit smoother).
Memories of Bleeding Hearts in my Mother’s garden are vivid. Planting these beauties in my shade garden was a must when we moved into our home many years ago. Each year I look forward to their spring blooms and the memories they bring. Delicate little white and red hearts dangling from their tender stems, blowing in the breeze in my yard are precious.
My Mother used to take a blossom from the plant and fold down the bottom of the heart to create what appears to be a girl in a pretty red skirt.
Bleeding Heart BlossomBleeding Heart Girl in Dress
In playing this game with my girls, I discovered that if you fold the petal down a little more you now have a young boy in his pants.
White Bleeding Heart Boy
When I decided to post about the beloved Bleeding Heart, I did some research and discovered a wonderful legend that I love and will share with my grandchildren.
BLEEDING HEART LEGEND
Long ago there lived a noble prince who tried in vain to win the heart of a very beautiful princess. The prince had brought the princess wonderful gifts from his travels far and wide. Yet she had taken no notice of him. One day the prince returned from a long journey with very special gifts to surely win the love of the princess. First he presented her with two magical pink bunnies. (Peel off the two outer petals and set them on their sides to display two little bunnies.)
Story of the Bleeding Heart, Bunnies
The princess only sighed and barely looked at the little bunnies. The hopeful prince had another gift for the princess – he presented a pair of beautiful enchanted earrings. (Remove the two long white petals and hold them next to your ears.)
Bleeding Heart Story Earrings
These she took happily, but declared she could not love him. Still, he can’t bear to give up hope, and he makes her another gift of slippers made of the finest silk.
Again, the princess hardly noticed the prince’s gift. Now the poor prince was utterly heartbroken. He could try no more to win the heart of the princess. He rose up, pulled a dagger from his sheath and stabbed himself in the heart. (Remaining in the flower is a heart shape with the stamen, appearing as a dark green line down the center. Hold the heart up, carefully remove the dagger-like line, and plunge the dagger through the heart.)
Bleeding Heart Story with Stake
The princess was overcome by the dedication of the dying prince and his unending love for her. She realized too late that she loved him also. “Alas,” she cried out. “I have done wrong, my own heart is broken also. I shall bleed for my prince forever more!” And her heart bleeds to this very day.
Bleeding Hearts
There are many blossoms on a Bleeding Heart in full bloom, so next time you pass such a delightful array, perhaps you’ll have permission to pick a heart and discover the mysteries within
Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup, with only 5 ingredients, sounded too easy to be good. I was wrong.
It was full of flavor and, depending on your taste buds, could be enhanced with additional vegetables and spices. I think I will add a bit of curry next time.
What would you add?
SWEET POTATO AND CAULIFLOWER SOUP
1 head cauliflower
3 sweet potatoes
1 sweet onion
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
7 cups water
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400F.
Cut up cauliflower and lay out on a cookie sheet, drizzle with oil, and bake for 25 minutes.
In a large pot bring water, sweet potato, onion and garlic to boil. Cook until sweet potatoes are tender.
Remove half of soup and puree in food processor. Return to soup pot.
Garnish with green onion, salt and pepper, parsley.
Fork Lore 