summer means frozen treats

I have renewed my interest in my ice cream machine.  I had gotten it a few years back and never had much success.  I’m sure that this is due at least in part to my inability to follow recipes very well.

Today however I made raspberry chocolate chip frozen yogurt.  It’s pretty damn good.  I used greek yogurt and I think that helped a whole lot.  Using regular lowfat yogurt always leaves you with an icy catastrophe.  Plus it’s a beautiful color.

July 4th Steak Salad

Sorry the pics a bit blurry.  This salad was so good though.  Local greens from Arcadian Farms, I love their spicy mustard mix.  It’s so spicy it will clear your sinuses and make your eyes water!  Homemade pesto with the first of my backyard basil thinned out with some red wine vinegar to make a pesto vinaigrette topped the salad.  A few grilled potatoes on the side roundout the meal.

I also made a little biga for some ciabatta rolls that I finished off today.  A little non-uniform in size but crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!  The Kitchenaid really got a workout this morning with the dough.

Jammin’

Friday morning found me standing at Salisbury Farm toying with the idea of strawberry picking.  However due to the extensive rain we’ve been having I wasn’t quite sure I really wanted to venture out into the fields to pick through the surely rotten strawberries, no matter how much cheaper they were.  I also had Owen watching responsibilities and wasn’t sure if the dog wanted to sit in the car for an hour or more while I wandered in spider infested strawberry fields.  Ultimately I opted for the easy way out and bought 4 quarts that someone else labored for.

This would be my first venture into the making of jam.  It consisted of a good hour or so of hulling, smashing and cooking 3 quarts of strawberries to make 8 cups total.  I got eleven 8oz. jars out of it all.  I’m hoping that my water canning will hold up so that in december I can still open up a jar of July strawberries sweetened with nothing more than a bit of honey.

I have big plans for the raspberries, blueberries and peaches yet to come!!

Buenos Dias y Bienvenido

I have a passion for cooking and for food and there’s nothing I like more than the ability to share that with other people.  Since it’s a little hard to physically get the food to a lot of people without some sort of restaurant vehicle I will settle for this venue.

At the end of a day when most people dread coming home and making dinner, that is exactly what relieves my stress.  To be able to focus on something that has nothing to do with my current occupation does wonders for me, it clears my head and puts me at ease.  Food doesn’t call out sick, talk back, it isn’t condescending, stuck up or bitchy.  Food is what you make it.  You are in control of it, for the most part anyway.

We consist of myself, Liz, and Nathan.  I take the role of menu planner and chef de cuisine whereas Nathan falls into the role of sous chef, “meat man” (due to his innate ability to know right when meat is cooked perfectly) and more often than not, dishwasher.

I try and use primarily local fresh ingredients, however am not a purist by any means.  There are weeks that due to budgetary constraints and availability I must buy mass produced product, so it goes.  My first concern is making good, relatively healthy food.  So we’ll see what this brings us all.

It’s Friday and I have the day off due to the holiday tomorrow, so I will be planning next week’s menu, grocery shopping and maybe strawberry picking.

-liz