Garlic Scapes at the Wine Party!

My daughter had a wine party for her girlfriends one weekend when husband was gone ... and I was invited! We all took some food and because I knew nobody would know what garlic scapes are ... I happily stuck a couple in my basket! Of course, I had used some to flavor my food.

I mixed cooked salad size shrimp with lots of fresh garden veges that I had received in my CSA bag that week ... chopped radishes, carrots, peppers and I added crunchy celery, too.  The pretty leaves are Napa cabbage leaves.

I was given a recipe for for peanut sauces 30 years ago from a friend who grew up in Nepal. It is too easy!  Mix 1 cup of creamy peanut butter with 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 teaspoon crush garlic, 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce and 1 Tablespoon of honey.  I like for the sauce to be slightly thick, but you can thin it with a little peanut oil or canola oil. Drizzle as much as you like over the contents of the wrap and enjoy!

We call "Bang Bang Chicken" ... "Pow Pow Chicken"!  I use the same simple recipe for shrimp or chicken.  I grill the meat, then toss it in a sauce made with 1 cup of Mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of Asian Chili Sauce, 1 teaspoon garlic paste and a couple drops of Siracha.

The more meat you have, the more sauce you'll need and the recipe is easy enough to expand.  I garnished this dish with chopped greens, yellow peppers and sweet onions.  

I'll probably share this with a couple parties listed in my sidebar, so make sure you click through!

Creamy Black Bean Soup

I don't like beans! If you follow my blog, you know that already! It isn't a totally true statement ... I like baked beans loaded with onions, green peppers and brown sugar .... I love big broad butter beans ... I love black eyed peas ... and I can tolerate little green lima beans! Don't try to feed me any other kind!

So ... why did I make black bean soup?  Because I had a bag of black beans and some fresh cilantro ... and I was craving that flavor ... on one of those unseasonably cool days a couple weeks ago!

I ate one bowl of it and froze the rest in single size portions. It might still be in the freezer this time next year!

I cooked the black beans all night on low in the crockpot.  I cooked a pound of beans in six cups of chicken stock and by the time they were done, there was very little liquid left, but that is what I wanted.

I seasoned the beans with chopped onion and green bell pepper ... 1 Tablespoon of Cumin, 1 Tablespoon of Chipotle pepper and about 1/4 cup of chopped Cilantro.  I didn't add salt, because I was satisfied that the chicken stock had enough.

I used my immersion blender stick to puree the beans, added 2 cups of half and half and 1 cup of sour cream.

How simple is that?  The soup does freeze well ... I've made it for years because other people like it!  Thaw it overnight in the fridge and cream it a little more with milk or half and half.

I garnished mine with additional fresh Cilantro, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips.  Chunks of avocado are good, too!

I'll probably share this with a few of the blog parties listed in my sidebar, so make sure you click through to visit!

Halloweens Past!

Welcome to Halloweens Past! 

I gave up on traditional Halloween  colors years ago ... because I just love being different!  Finally, retailers decided purple and green could be added to the orange and black themes we had seen for years.  When you look at vintage Halloween cards, you'll find all kinds of color, so I typically choose a couple cards I love and create themes using those colors!   The cute purple witch was my inspiration for a tablescape in the sunroom one year, but these 

cards carry similar color schemes.

      

Then came blue ... another year.  I had first found this transfer plate in some graphic files I had and it made me think that metallic blue would be fun!  Low and behold ... Kohl's had some metallic blue flameless candles that year ... and Walmart was loaded with plastic pumpkins in blue!  Blue ... was Miss Phoebe's favorite color that year ... 

so the sunroom theme was blue!

Now I don't want you to think I don't do anything traditional ... I do and my ladies' luncheon in 2009 was all tradition!   Look how cute the tablescape was.

Sometimes ... traditional takes a different spin for me and polka dots donned the dining room in 2010!  

For a couple years ... I scouted "after" Halloween sales and bought all the vintage looking decorations I could find.  I refused to pay original prices for those things, and eventually I had enough to do something dramatic!  Take a look at this fantastic theme!

The front porch and yard are special places for us at Halloween because we have 400 

little goblins who come visit for the ten seconds it takes to load up on candy!

 My Cricut machine gets a work out in the fall ... You probably noticed the framed items in the Blue Tablescape ... and here are a couple more!  I made this one the year Phoebe dressed like a Mermaid!

Even if nothing else gets decorated, 
the fireplace mantel is usually appropriately dressed for the holiday!

Hope you've enjoyed this giant Halloween post!  I'll be sharing with the Fabulous Fall Party, so make sure you click through to see the other posts!

Corn & Garden Vege Salad

Isn't this bowl adorable?  It is Temptations in the flower garden pattern. Look at the cute lady bug and bow decor on the inside edge!

 I made a fresh vegetable salad using grilled corn, tomatoes,  celery, cucumber and green pepper.  Just cut the corn off the cob and chop the vegetables into bite size pieces. Hope you have celery on hand, because I think it makes this salad extra good! I chopped some Basil to add to it, too.

 The dressing is simple ... Just mix 3/4 cup of mayonnaise with a teaspoon of mustard, a Tablespoon of white vinegar (I used my own Basil infused), a Tablespoon of olive oil (I used lemon infused), as much bleu cheesse as you'd like and a pinch of sugar or Splenda. Whip it all together and add it to the salad just before serving.

 It was delicious served with Sloppy Joes!  I'll be sharing this with a few blog parties listed on my sidebar. Make sure you click through and visit!!

Flower Boxes on the Back Deck!

My flower boxes at the back of the house have done really well this summer.  I don't have much sun in that spot ... lots of big shade trees ... so I planted shade loving coleus and they have grown so big that I've clipped them a couple times and started new plants!  My aunt used to do that and put them in quart jars in water and tuck them away in a window in a little potting shed.  She would leave them there all winter and have new plants in the spring!

When Miss Phoebe was just a toddler, I started putting little figurines in these planters. One year I used a bunch of ceramic chickens, another year I had ceramic fish from the dollar store. This is the second year I've put these thrift shop figurines in the boxes. See Pinkie and Blue Boy?

If you'd like to see the tablescape shown in the first picture, 
click through right here!

I'll share this post with a couple of parties listed in my sidebar, so make sure you visit them!  Stick around my home page, though.  You'll surely find something else you enjoy!

Vintage Basket Weave Dinnerware

I've had a cute set of vintage dishes that I've wanted to use all summer for a back deck tablescape. I bought them at my favorite collectible shop in the Spring. They are a 1960s Corelle pattern that was made in Mexico during the time the company hooked up with Vitrelle Glass. That is about the time we started seeing all kinds of Corelle glass patterns in dinnerware. Remember the green and the burgundy ... and clear? I had never seen this pattern until I saw it in the junk shop and I knew it would make great outdoor dinnerware. (Not that I don't already have three sets of clear patterned glass that is durable enough for the deck.)

In this photograph, you can see the basket weave pattern. I can think of lots of ways to use this, but for this table ... I wanted lots of color and a place mat that would show up well ... beneath the glass.  

In this collage, you can see various elements of the setting. The flatware is Cambridge and I've had it for years. The glasses are Fostoria Mignon from the 1980s. Don't you love the tiny basket holding the napkin? I have several of those and a small tree-shaped stand that they fit in ... You've probably seen that in my Halloween posts. I use it and fill the little baskets with candy. They are actually intended to hold tiny plants!

Rabbits are a year-round decoration at my house! The back yard is full of them right now and they all run for the dogless kennel, when the dog hits the yard! (He never gets in his kennel.)

I believe this cute little glass basket is Fenton ... no positive. It has been in my china cabinet for decades and I remember the bouquet from my Valentine ... that was in it! He had a special flower shop he used and they knew that he cared more about the quality of the container than the flowers!

Phoebe and I hit the clearance aisle at Walmart the other day, looking for anything for crafting. Instead, we found this table cloth with fringe on the ends. It was probably a part of the summertime outdoor decor that I tried to ignore this year! Didn't cost much, so I grabbed it figuring it would work for a tablescape of some sort! It did!

I'll be sharing this tablescape with a few parties this week ... They are listed on my sidebar. Stick around my home page for a while though ...

Carrot Cake Made With Splenda

I've had Diabetes for fifteen years and never had much trouble keeping my blood sugars down ... until this summer.  Guess the old body changed and the meds quit working, so I have had to really start watching my diet. As a result, I've started baking with Splenda and so far, the product is really working. This is not a paid announcement for Splenda ... a store brand product works just as well!

I had a bundle of sweet tiny carrots from the CSA for a couple of weeks and decided to use them in a cake.  I've been baking empty nest size cakes (cutting recipes in half and baking one layer ... or baking in a small Bundt pan or springform pan). If you want a 13x9 or two layers, double my recipe.

I used Splenda in the icing, too. It is that old recipe for buttercream that requires cooking flour and milk to make a thickening agent.

Cook 1/2 cup milk and 3 Tablespoons of flour, whisking constantly, until the mixture forms a paste.  Let this cool completely.  Whip 1/2 cup Splenda, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1/2 cup fluffy shortening and 1/2 cup butter until well combined.  Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and the flour paste and continue whipping.






For the cake, I used the Splenda brown sugar blend. It is important to know that if you are converting recipes, you use just half the amount of Splenda brown sugar blend ... to replace brown sugar.  If the recipe calls for a cup of brown sugar ... use just 1/2 cup of Splenda brown sugar.

Carrot Cake Made with Splenda

½ cup Splenda brown sugar

¾ cup canola oil

2 eggs

½ teaspoon almond extract

1 ¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

1/4 cup raisins

½ cup walnuts halves or pieces

½ pound carrots, grated

Small can crushed pineapple with juice

I used the food processor fitted with the chopping blade to make this batter. First thing I did was chop the carrots. Then I dropped in walnut halves and all the other ingredients and blended it together.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.  If you are using an eight or nine inch pan, it will take a little more than 30 minutes.  For my deep 7-inch pan, it took 45 minutes. When the top springs back when you touch it ... or when a pick inserted comes out clean ... the  cake is done.

Now, if you are asking yourself if this preparation should have been done in proper stages ... whipping the eggs, oil and Splenda together ... sifting dry ingredients and adding them ... etc.  The answer is no! I know how to bake and I know how to save time in the kitchen.  Because this cake is dense and moist, it can be blended together in the food processor ... all the ingredients at one time!

Doesn't this make you hungry for carrot cake?

I'll be sharing this with a few blog parties listed on my sidebar, but stick around my home page first. You might find another recipe you want to try!

Tomato Tart with Cheese Custard

I've had the most wonderful cherry tomatoes from the CSA .. all colors and sizes and finally decided to make a tart with some of them.  I learned from experience, that the best tomato tarts include tomatoes, which have had most of the juice squeezed out of them.  Cutting my little tiny tomatoes in half and squeezing them gently over a bowl ... accomplished that.






For the crust, I used a packaged piece of puff pastry.  This is found in the refrigerator section of the supermarket ... not frozen.

It is very easy to use ... Simply unroll it onto a sprayed baking sheet. I just rolled the edges ... didn't really crimp them.





I filled the pastry with cheese custard. It is really easy ... whip 2 eggs with 1 cup of half and half and 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Whip in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and another 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese or Mozzarella.

Then I somewhat carefully placed my tomato halves into the custard.






I sprinkled more shredded cheese over the top and included several pieces of Basil.  Notice the purple basil flowers ... I use those, too!









Bake this at 400 degrees for approximately 35 minutes.  Once the cheese starts browning on the top, it is ready.

Let it cool at least 15 minutes before removing it to a cutting board and cutting it into pieces.  This is perfect for appetizers, brunch or lunch.  It is best served warm or at room temperature, but be sure to refrigerate the left overs

I'll be sharing this post with some of the parties listed in my sidebar.  Stick around my home page for awhile, though ... You might find something else you like!  Enjoy fresh tomatoes while the season is flourishing!