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!
As daughter Sarah and I planned for appetizers for their wedding reception, we found this Grape and Goat Cheese Bite appetizer. What’s not to like…goat cheese, pecans and grapes. Simple. Luscious. And, again, a Pinterest find.
GRAPE AND GOAT CHEESE BITES
Finely chop pecans in a food processor.
The hardest part of this recipe is rolling the goat cheese into balls. Only take a small amount of goat cheese from the frig at a time since it is easier to roll when cold.
Roll room temperature goat cheese balls in chopped pecans (so nuts will easily stick to goat cheese).
Put goat cheese ball on a toothpick and top with a fresh, washed green grape. Voila!
My Mother was an avid gardener growing lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, squash, green beans, peas, sweet corn, peppers, raspberries, strawberries, etc. The rich top soil of Iowa made for a prolific harvest each year. She would can and freeze vegetables and fruit for the family to enjoy all winter. Our farmhouse basement ‘fruit room’ was a treasure trove of pickles, canned tomatoes, relish, vegetables, soups, etc.
One of my favorite summer side dishes was my Mother’s cucumbers and onions. The recipe is simple, not written down, but made from memories in that Iowa farm kitchen.
CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS–Mom’s Style
Peel and thinly slice cucumbers and sweet onion. Soak in cold, salted water for 30-45 minutes. Drain. In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, dash of milk, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over cucumbers and onions and serve immediately.
I’m from Iowa and I’m pretty sure popcorn is its own food group. We grew popcorn on the farm from time to time and I remember stripping the tiny dry kernels from the cob. My best popcorn memories are, of course, eating it! Popcorn for dinner, leftover popcorn for breakfast, kettle corn at the fairs, popcorn balls in the fall…why not a popcorn cake? My college buddy, Mary, celebrates her birthday in late July. When we were in college and celebrating BIG for her birthday, I decided to make her a popcorn cake. A month later, Mary made me a Snickers birthday cake (winding my favorite miniature circles of Snickers bars into a cake). Until this year, it was the only popcorn cake I’ve ever made but I decided to celebrate my birthday BIG this year by making myself one and sharing it on my blog. Happy Birthday to Me! Now that I’ve told everyone about it, does that I mean I have to share?
POPCORN CAKE
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
2 tablsepoons vinegar
2/3 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
Pop about 10-15 cups of popcorn (2 batches in the air popper).
Bring sugar, water, vinegar and syrup to a boil. Add cream of tartar and boil to soft crack stage (260 degrees–use candy thermometer).
Add the melted butter, vanilla and baking soda. Stir well. Pour over popped corn and stir to mix well.
Pour popcorn mixture into a buttered angel food cake pan. Push the popcorn down with buttered hands to remove air pockets. Let cool. (Note: if you have any remaining popcorn mixture, use buttered hands to shape into popcorn balls about the size of a baseball. Place on waxed paper to cool.)
Once cool, take a knife and go around the sides of the angel food cake pan to release the popcorn mixture from the pan. Push the cake out of the pan from the underside of the pan (removable bottom).
Decorate as you wish. I decorated the top with colored candies and candles and tied a purple ribbon around the middle. Add candy to the popcorn mixture or use icing to write on the top.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME (and Mary, too!)
Ok, I’m on a Pinterest roll this week. I LOVE this website and used so many ideas from Pinterest for both daughter’s weddings. I noticed several family and friends pinned this Strawberry Bruschetta and I had to try it. It is amazingly simple yet fantastically delicious. I’m made it for parties, assembled and ready to serve. It’s like dessert for an appetizer. It feels soooo right.
It’s summer! Enjoy!
STRAWBERRY BRUSCHETTA
1 cup strawberries, hulled and diced
1 tbsp. sugar
1 French baguette
4 oz. goat cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
¼ cup minced basil leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the strawberries and sugar in a small bowl; toss to combine. Let the berries sit for about 30 minutes so that they begin to release their juices. Spread a thin layer of goat cheese on top of each baguette slice. Top each slice with spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top each slice with the basil leaves and cracked pepper, to taste.
Pinterest is a wonderful invention, giving us instant access to so many wonderful ideas. One of those ideas that daughter, Sarah, and I chose for one of the wedding appetizers was cucumber cups. What the heck is a cucumber cup, you say? Read on….
Wash the cucumber. Using a potato peeler, peel stripes around the cucumber. Cut off the round end of the cucumber. Cut the cucumber into 1″ slices. Taking a grapefruit spoon or teaspoon, hollow out about 2/3 of the center of the cucumber.
Fill each cucumber cup with the filling of your choice. Some of the ideas I’ve used include:
hummus with a chopped piece of red pepper on top
goat cheese with a drizzle of honey and a pecan or walnut on top
cream cheese with salmon/lox and a sprig of fresh dill
dip…any dip you please
It’s cucumber season, so cut some cups for an easy appetizer that will chill you down after a hot day.
Tres Leches (Three Milk) Cake was not on my radar screen until 8-10 years ago. A friend served it for the Holidays and I was instantly in love! When my sister and I traveled to Puerto Rico a few years ago, we couldn’t get enough of it!
On my way home from Nicaragua several weeks ago, I wasn’t ready to let go of the cuisine and was happy to discover Tres Leches at the Miami airport. It was good, but not of the quality I truly wanted to experience.
Once home in Colorado, I had to make it from scratch. It tasted wonderful, but not the most beautiful presentation I’ve ever seen. Oh well, I’m more about the taste, especially when fresh strawberries graced the top of each serving.
TRES LECHES CAKE
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch square baking pan.
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
Use an electric mixer to beat egg whites, in a large bowl, until forming soft peaks.
Add sugar a bit at a time and beat until well mixed.
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each egg yolk is added.
Continue beating and add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk.
Mix very well then add the remaining flour, milk and vanilla extract. Assure all are mixed well together.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Use a toothpick, fork, or skewer to poke several holes in the cake.
THREE MILK SYRUP:
Three Milk Syrup
12 ounce can evaporated milk
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream
Mix the evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream together until well blended. Pour over top of prepared cake. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.
Pouring Three Milk Syrup over Cake
I served the cake without the following frosting but with strawberries. Just in case you are more of a frosting person, here it is:
FROSTING:
1 cup cold whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Before serving the cake, whip together the cream, sugar and vanilla in a chilled bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until stiff peaks form.
Spread frosting over cake. Cut into squares and service. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Being a dog in Nicaragua can be a good and a bad thing. Most of them run free, wandering the streets of the small towns or countryside without a care in the world. But many of them also are in need of vet care, food, and boundaries.
Coming from a long line of dog lovers, I HAD to take pictures of the many dogs that crossed my path. I thought about a calendar highlighting a dog each month, but will settle to share these little darlin’s with you on my blog.
Just say AAAWWW and then scroll to the bottom for more information on how to help our canine friends!
An afternoon out with the boy at the local gaming pavillion
While these dogs appear to have a wonderful, carefree life, many of these have health issues, suffer from malnutrition, and over-population. I chose to take photos of the healthier dogs, but we saw many dogs that were suffering. For more information on how to help, visit the WorldVets website.
Tomorrow my baby, Sarah, will be married. Where did the 23.6666 years go? Wasn’t it yesterday she was saying ‘me do it’ and putting herself in time-out? So fun to see our children grow up and become adults, but not so fun to look in the mirror and not recognize that person.
Sarah Bearah, age 2
The preparations are almost done as we are gearing up for the ceremony at a local rose garden, followed by the reception in my backyard.
The ceremony and reception will be Colorado Casual with live music, BBQ and backyard fun. While the main course will be catered, we have been busy making the appetizers and cupcakes, clearing out the furniture on the first floor of my house to make room for tables and chairs.
We are PRAYING for no moisture, no high winds, and comfortable temperatures. In Colorado, you never know what you’ll get. We had a blizzard for older daughter Megan’s wedding to Christian last October, moving from the gorgeous outdoor venue to the ballroom. Oh well, made for beautiful photos and many stories.
October 8, 2011 — uh oh, wedding indoors!
Hopefully, no snow (or rain, or hail, or tornadoes, of hurricanes, or wind bursts, or earthquakes) on July 28 in Centennial and Littleton, Colorado….but I ramble….
I’m sending positive thoughts and prayers for a beautiful wedding and reception for Sarah and Kyle on their special day… and many years of love, joy and laughter!
Jamaican Apples (aka Otaheiti Apple) remind me of a red pear with the core of an avocado and the texture of an apple. Our hostess, Neyda, had a tree of them in her backyard and her helper, David, obliged our request to try one. He scampered up the tree to fetch a few for us to try. In Nicaragua, the fruits are eaten ripe, with or without the skin. It is sometimes eaten unripe with salt and vinegar or lime juice.
David Climbing for Jamaican AppleJamaican ApplesJamaican Apple halved
Today we would also enjoy a day hike from San Ramon out into the country. It was a beautiful day for a hike. Everyone walks, uphill, downhill, all around. If you need to go far, you hop on a bus or hitch a ride. If you need to market or buy something, you carry it.
Man Carrying a bunch of bananas
As we walked, we saw what appeared to be ordinary fences from local wood. The fascinating thing is the wood/branches are cut and simply put in the grow and they grow into trees/hedges for the property. (never would happen in Colorado!)
Grow a fence post!
After our hike, local craft fair, and two more wonderful meals with Neyda, we were off to a farewell concert and dancing in the park. It was a wonderful week with many unforgettable, enriching moments. Now it was time to return to reality but with memories that I will cherish.
Fork Lore 