Beat the Heat with a Cool Summer Salad

It. Is. So. Hot. Really all I want to do is sit in a pool or maybe in front of an air conditioner and read. It is too hot for baking of any kind! Oh how I dream of a cool fall evening that is just begging for me to turn on the oven and slip in a nice apple pie, baked squash or cookies, but alas, there is no such evening in the near future. So in the mean time, while I dream of using my oven, I must be satisfied with using the delicious veggies that are coming out of the garden and relishing in the heat. Yes, I know, those tomatoes would not taste nearly as good if it wasn't for the heat, so I am enjoying the bounty of the earth on wheat bread with mayo, salt and pepper for a good old MD tomato sandwich.

Another summer favorite that is light and refreshing as well as healthy is a Mediterranean Cucumber Salad that I made when my friend Steph came to visit. We found this easy salad the perfect way to cool down. The cucumbers are crunchy and the olives add a great salty flavor. You can whip this up in minutes!

Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

1 lg or 2 small cucumbers chopped into bite sized chunks
2 cups of cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup Kalamata olives
1 cup of Feta cheese crumbled
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve cold. Stay cool!

Crab Bruschetta

Being from Maryland, there is little that we will not add crab meat to. My new summer favorite is Crab Bruschetta. It is great to take to picnics or for a summer BBQ because it uses seasonal ingredients. I have made it several times this summer already.

It is also good added to pasta or on an English muffin with melted cheese as a melt. I am sure it would also be great in other ways. Let me know how else you may use this versatile appetizer.

Crab Bruschetta

1-2 Large tomatoes diced (Beefsteak work well) or 1 lg can of Petite dices tomatoes
3-4 Leaves of fresh Basil or 1/4 - 1/2 tsp/ dried Basil
1 or 1/2 clove Garlic grated or finely chopped (the garlic gets stronger the longer it sits, so sometimes less is more)
1 tbs. olive oil
The meat of 2 or more picked crabs or 1 can crab meat
Salt and Pepper to taste

First put the chopped basil and grated or chopped garlic into a non-metallic bowl with the olive oil. Let that sit for a bit so the oil becomes infused with the flavors. Then add the chopped tomatoes and salt and pepper. Mix these together. Add the crab LAST because as you mix it will break up the meat. Gently fold in the crab meat and serve over toasted bread.

It is good right away, but better the second day because the flavors become stronger.

Pasta a la Leftovers

Let me start by saying that growing up we learned to be very creative in the kitchen. When I would go to a friends house and we would get a snack, I was always amazed at the quantity of food in their fridge. It was not like that at my house. Not that we never had a packed fridge, just that more often than not, it was full of very random things or very little at all. So my sisters and I have basically learned how to create something from just about nothing, or remix leftovers into something completely different.

The best way to do the remix dinner is to start with pasta, something that was always lurking in the back of the pantry. In the summer we could always rely on veggies from the garden to create something delicious.

This evening I did some scrounging in my fridge to put together a tasty dinner since I was just back from a weekend away and the pickings were slim.

Here is what I was able to come up with:
1 zucchini
1/2 a jar of homemade bruschetta (tomatoes, garlic, onion, dried basil)
A sprinkle of fire roasted dried tomato bits
Parmesan Cheese
Pasta

Everything except for the pasta and parm went into the pan to cook with a bit of olive oil.

I boiled my new fun shaped pasta from Marshall's (they carry the best random food items to cook with). By the time the zucchini was cooked through, but NOT mushy (nothing worse than mushy veggies!) the bruschetta had cooked down to create a thick-ish sauce. I placed that over the drained pasta and topped it with some grated parm cheese and it was tasty, quick and very easy.

Thank You Apple Pie

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend my Memorial Day weekend at the Beach! While it was perfect beach weather, my sister and I were not there just to enjoy the rays, but to also get the beach house in working order for the summer, yard work and some serious cleaning! Needless to say the beach was calling to us and so we were very efficient in our house work.

The weather and beach were fabulous and though it is still not officially summer yet, it sure feels like it now, I don't want to go back to work! But before I get to the food, a word of warning...don't ever use sunblock from the previous summer! Just go out and but a new bottle! I am speaking from a painful experience here. I used a new bottle of the spray stuff on Saturday and came home with a nice tan, but Sunday was a disaster! I used a bottle from last year and slathered the stuff on thinking I would be good to go. Not the case! I ended up cooked anywhere that the sun had not previously been exposed to. So at this point I am sporting a 28 year old Coppertone baby tan line!

Now for the food.

We are fortunate enough to have some fabulous neighbors at the beach who have been mowing the lawn for us since we are not able to get down there regularly. So I was thinking what better way to say "thank you" than to bake something. I was trying to decide what to bake and went back and forth between chocolate chip cookies, muffins, or an apple pie. My decision was made when our Friday "snack" at school had a bunch of extra apples. I took those home with me and carted them "down the ocean" to bake.

This pie was not anything special, I took the short cut with the crust and just used a store bought one, but it was made with lots of thanks in mind. It turned out beautiful and our neighbor Mike said it was great.

Basic Apple Pie
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
8-10 apples (depending on the size you may need more or less, you want enough that the fruit is about 3-4 inches above the edge of the pie pan)
3/4 cup sugar
1-2 tbs. cinnamon
4 tbs. butter
2 store bought pie crust (I will include a recipe for a easy pat-in-pan pie crust soon)

Peel, core and slice all of the apples.

Place the bottom crust in the 8 or 9 inch pie pan. Let the edges of the crust hang over the edges, do not trim them off. Place sliced apples in the crust.

Sprinkle the sugar over the apples evenly.

Do the same with the cinnamon. Then slice the butter and place pats of butter over the cinnamon evenly around the pie.

Now place the second crust over the pie. Use your fingers to roll the bottom crust and top crust together toward the edge of the pie plate so that you are creating a seal between the top and bottom crust. You can then use your thumb and forefingers to create a pinched edge around the pie.

The last step is to cut vents into the top of the crust. Use a sharp knife to cut 4-5 lines in the top crust. This will let the steam out while the apples are cooking and allow the crust to settle with the apples as they cook.

Besides peeling all of the apples by hand, this is a pretty quick and easy way to make a fabulous pie. It is also good to add a few Crasins, raisins or even chopped dried apricots to the sliced apples to give the pie a unique flavor.

Thanks to my lil sis for taking the pics this time. Much easier to have a photographer than balance dirty hands and a camera!

Finished!

Rhubarb Cobbler

As promised, I am adding the pics from the rhubarb cobbler that I made for dessert this Easter.
At the tender age of 10 I asked my grandmother to show me how to make rhubarb since I was the only other one in the family besides her that like it. So it is the recipe written in my 10 year old hand from my grandmothers kitchen that I share with you for the fruit part of this recipe. I then refer to the tried and true Betty Crocker recipe for the cobbler topping, which in essence is more like a sweet biscuit than anything else. I a have also used an oatmeal pie topper, which I think I prefer.

Rhubarb Cobbler

4 c. chopped Rhubarb (washed and stalks only)
1 c. sugar
2-3 tbs. cornstarch

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a pot then place over medium heat and cook until boiling or the fruit mix has thickened. You may want to add a bit of water to the bottom of the pan initially to keep the mix from sticking. Once the fruit mix has thickened remove it from the heat. You do not want to over cook the rhubarb because it will just break down and you will end up with more of a fruit spread than chunks of fruit in a sweet sauce. At this time you can place the fruit mix in an oven proof glass dish or baking dish. I used a 1 quart round baking dish.
*A pie pan is probably not deep enough, also I do not usually make pie with this because the crust doesn't cook properly and ends up soggy.

Then place the topping over the hot fruit and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Biscuit Topping

4 tbs. shortening
1 tbs. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Cut in the shortening (neat trick courtesy of my cousin Nancy: use your finger tips to "cut" the shortening into the flour by pinching the flour and shortening together. This will be much quicker than using a fork or pastry cutter!)
Add the milk and minx until just combined. Place dollops onto hot fruit mix then bake for time specified above.


(This cobbler recipe will work with peaches, pears, strawberries, blueberries or any combo of those, it is a very flexible recipe!)

And on Sunday we bake!

Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) Bread with Cranberries

When life or your mom hands you Butternut squash... ?

Inspiration struck in the form of my father who made a "pumpkin" pie with summer squash! My mom gave me some squash from the fall that needed to be used because as the temps warm they just don't keep as well in the basement. I am not particularly fond of sweet squash, but realized courtesy of my father that it could be used to replace pumpkin in recipes. So I decided to make pumpkin bread using said squash.

I peeled it and cut it into chunks, then boiled it until it was very soft. Then once drained, used a whisk to mix/mash it all up. It had been boiled long enough that no food processor or blender was necessary! I then used a basic pumpkin bread recipe and replaced the pumpkin puree with the homemade version that I created. I also added some cranberries for additional flavor and sprinkled one of the loaves with chopped pecans. The two loaves are in the oven as we speak and looking beautiful. I will add pics when they are finished.



Yum! Very moist and good flavor!