Family Favorites · My Roots · Vegetarian

Cucumbers and Onions–Mom’s Style

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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.

Family Favorites

It’s my Birthday…Popcorn Cake!

cathysmaha6 Comments

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!)

New Favorite · New Traditions · Vegetarian

Strawberry Bruschetta

cathysmaha1 Comment

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.

Slightly adapted from Whole Foods via The Curvy Carrot and via annies-eats.com
New Favorite · Skinny · Vegan · Vegetarian

Cucumber Cup Appetizers

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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.

New Favorite · Nicaragua

Tres Leches Cake…delicioso!

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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.
New Favorite · Skinny · Vegan · Vegetarian

Fresh and Light Carrot Salad

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As the days get hotter, I crave light and cool foods (except for my occasional Mexican food craving). The Carrot Salad is light, simple and delicious.

IMG_5039

FRESH AND LIGHT CARROT SALAD

1 pound carrots
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 small shallot finely chopped

  • Peel the carrots and shred in a food processor.
  • Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Stir in the shallots and pour over shredded carrots. Mix well.
  • Cover the salad and sit for a few hours for the flavors to blend.
Nicaragua

The dogs of Nicaragua

cathysmaha2 Comments

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!

Nicaraguan Farm Watch Dog…Watching what…I don’t know

Yes, Maam there are fleas in Nicaragua!

Beggar Dog outside Granada…quite the performer!

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.

 

 

 

New Traditions

My baby girl is getting married tomorrow!

cathysmaha4 Comments

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!

Nicaragua

Nicaragua: Jamaican Apples (aka Jamaican Otaheiti Apple) and Hiking from San Ramon

cathysmaha4 Comments

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 Apple
Jamaican Apples
Jamaican 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.

Cowboy Caviar
Family Favorites · Vegan · Vegetarian

Cowboy Caviar

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When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up to be a rootin’, tootin’ cowgirl just like I saw on TV…Sky King, Roy Rogers, Gunsmoke and so many more. I really have dated myself. My parents indulged my desire, with my dreamy cowgirl outfit and boots. Smokin’ hot, right?

Cowgirl Cathy 1957

Now, the closest I get to being a cowgirl is 1) taking my once a decade horse ride or 2) making Cowboy Caviar.  I feel so rustic, and healthy, when I eat it, aside from the chips that are a ‘must serve’.  Ordinary tortilla chips are good but my new favorite, Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Chips, are the best! Even better, they are gluten-free.

COWBOY CAVIAR

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salad oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 firm-ripe avocado
15 ounce can black-eyed peas
11 ounce can corn kernels
2/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 pound Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
salt chopped
fresh cilantro to taste
1 bag tortilla chips (or 2 cups finely shredded cabbage for salad)

  • In a large bowl, mix vinegar, hot sauce, oil, garlic, and pepper. Peel, pit and cut avocado into 1/2 inch cubes. Add to vinegar mixture and mix gently to coat.
  • Drain and rinse peas and corn. Add peas, corn, onions, cilantro and tomatoes to avocado, mix gently to coat. Add salt to taste.
  • Serve pea mixture with chips as an appetizer or add cabbage to make a salad.