Sandwich Creation

I love grilled cheese sandwiches, so the other day I made a fancy one and it turned out really great!

I put cheese on one side and tomato on the other. I sprinkled the tomato side with Northwoods Seasoning, garlic powder and salt.

Grilled it. And voila a super grilled cheese!

Our Garden

I could not be more excited to have a house where we can plant lots of fruits, veggies and herbs. So far we have planted the following:

bell peppers and strawberries

here is one of our baby orange bell peppers

cherry tomatoes in a topsy turvy [we'll see how this works]

pickling cucumbers [Christian wants us to be "picklers"]

[sad] beefsteak tomatoes, grown the typical way

zucchini [I have a ton of baking recipes for zucchini that I cannot wait to try]

pink lemon tree [it probably won't produce this year, but it is so pretty]

basil, oregano, cilantro and rosemary

and finally our three potential herbs, we'll see what I find to put in these

Our strawberries and tomatoes are currently being stolen by some bad-news-birds so I need to find a way to remedy this. I cannot wait for all of our plants to produce so we can make lots of fun stuff with all of it. I'll keep you updated with our garden and fun creations.

Beyond Grocery Store Spices

Spices are crucial to almost any baking or cooking project. They can make or break a meal. That is why it is important to use the right spices, experiment a little, and find a wonderful brand of spices that suits your needs. I have found my brand in Penzeys Spices.

A few years ago my aunt Lori gifted me probably 25 Penzey's spices at my bridal shower. It was one of the best non-registry items I could have asked for. I have absolutely fallen in love with them and I try not to use anything else [I have to purchase them online to sometimes it is unavoidable].

Penzey's offers a vast selection of classic spices as well as a great collection of their own blends. Everything they have is of such high quality that you can really taste the difference between their spices and grocery store brands.

They are a little more pricey than what you can find at the store, but it is well worth the extra cost. Especially if you are someone who loves to cook and takes pride in a great tasting meal. Even Christian [who is kind of a tight wad] prefers to use Penzey's. His favorite spice of theirs is Black & Red, it is a blend of back and cayenne peppers that will make even the pepper-hater swoon [trust me, I fall in to that category]. My favorite is Baking Spice [I am not quite sure what it consists of] that you can pretty much add to any thing you bake and it give it a little extra umph. They also offer a variety of ethnic spices that are really great if you are in to ethnic cooking. We have their turkish, greek, and cajun spices.

Anyways, you should check them out if you are looking for a high-quality, fairly priced spice that will change your cooking experience for the better.

Lemon Crumb Cake with Rhubarb and Blueberries

So, I found myself with a massive amount of rhubarb and had no idea what to do with it. I mean, I have heard of rhubarb pie, but I generally like to try something more interesting than what I can buy at the grocery store. I searched and searched for an interesting rhubarb recipe and found one that I altered quite a bit and it turned out wonderfully.

Now, I have never really had much rhubarb before; so I don't know if this is usually the case, but I couldn't really taste the rhubarb much. This was really fun to make and tasted really good [if I do say so myself].

By the way, I do intend on blogging about things other than just recipes, but this is what it is so far.

Lemon Crumb Cake with Rhubarb and Blueberries

*for the cake*

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, thinly sliced

1 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter, room temperature

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, separated

2 egg yolks

2 tsp lemon juice

zest of one medium lemon

2/3 cup milk

1 cup blueberries

*for crumb topping*

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

5 tbsp butter, cold

~ Place the sliced rhubarb in a small bowl and add 2 tbsp sugar. Mix and set aside.

~ Butter an 8-inch cake pan. Line pan with waxed paper and butter that as well. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350°.

~ Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.

~ In a large bowl, beat butter and remaining sugar until creamy using a mixer. Add egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest; mix just until combined.

~ Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk until combined.

~ Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle the blueberries and sugared rhubarb over the cake mixture.

~ Bake for 25 minutes.

~ While the cake is baking, make the crumb topping. Mix the brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Cut the butter into small chunks and add to the brown sugar mixture. Using your hands, grind the butter into the brown sugar until it forms small clumps.

~ When the cake has baked for 30 minutes, sprinkle the crumb topping on and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

~ Do not toothpick test the cake, it will not come out clean. The cake is done when the crumb topping is browned.

~ Cool the cake for about an hour. Then invert it onto a plate and invert again onto a serving platter. Gently peel off the waxed paper.

~ Cut into pie-sized pieces and enjoy :)

Home Sweet Home

Here is a quick guided tour of where we'll be calling home out in Montana. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments, We'd love to hear from you!

Blueberry Ice Cream Fail [-ish]

Ok. I love ice cream. Like, if I had to choose between Christian and ice cream... Well, just don't make me do that. I have been wanting to experiment with my own ice cream for over a year but have been to cheap [or, uh... poor] to buy an ice cream maker. Until yesterday! Plus there is a brand of milk here [Kalispell Kreamery] that is just too good not to make ice cream out of.

So I made blueberry ice cream with sweetened condensed milk. Not a wild success, only because the texture is weird. I think the milk mixture may have cooked a little too long. But the flavor is great! It's not too sweet [my only qualm with Ben & Jerry's]; aside from the condensed milk it has only a tablespoon of brown sugar. And I think the condensed milk gives it an interesting flavor. I will have to make this again and be more careful about the cooking or just omit the eggs and not cook it at all. Anyways, here is my ah-mazing recipe [sarcasm intended]:

Blueberry Ice Cream with Sweetened Condensed Milk

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3 egg yolks

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

~Combine the cream and milk in a saucepan and heat on low until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.

~Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks together well in a medium bowl. Add in brown sugar.

~Temper the egg and sugar mixture into the milk. To do so, pour the milk very slowly into the egg mixture [so the egg doesn't cook as you add the hot cream].

~Return the mixture to saucepan and heat on low until the mixture will coat a spoon [about 170° to 175°].

~Remove from heat. Add the blueberries. Pour into a container and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.

~Cover the container and let cool overnight in the refrigerator.

~Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.

~Enjoy!

Dre's First Day

Hello All!

This is my project for documenting my creations, thoughts and life. So enjoy the ridiculously adventurous ride [I am going to have to find a way for my sarcasm to shine through the written word].

Anyhow, I hope that this will help those of you that care keep in touch and feel included in my life. And I am just excited to be able to look back years from now and laugh at myself, and feel nostalgic [should I be feeding my already intense need for nostalgia?].

Well here goes.