Not dead...yet.

I just wanted to post and say I am still alive, I am still wanting to update here, I just haven't had a lot of time. Not much time to cook, no time to post. We've been eating out an awful lot over here, hopefully things will settle down enough that I can get the Crock Pot going again and get some recipes posted.

I can say this, I am up to 13 babies born into my hands! School is very exciting and the thing that is consuming all my time right now.

I will return though, promise!

Back in business

I am so very happy to report that my camera is back in my possession. I am tickled pink! I am able to take lovely macro photos again. I am a happy camper.


I also have a metric ton of tomatoes. Or so it seems at times. Whenever I am out in the garden I bring in at least a few pounds of tomatoes off the vines...and those are just the Early Girls! My Mortgage Lifter tomatoes are just coming in and the Sweet Pea and mystery tomato from my mom is blooming now. I should have even more tomatoes soon. I am off from work and clinic on Friday, so I will find a way to use that plethora you see above and post it here.

In the mean time, salad has been a big part of meals this week, tonight I bumped them up a bit and made a Cobb Salad.




I kept things simple, using iceberg and green leaf lettuce and topping it off with a few tomatoes from the garden, some hard boiled eggs, avocado, bacon, green onion and chicken. Keeping things even easier, we dressed it off with a yummy bleu cheese dressing.



Wrapping up the fabulous-ness of it was the dry rub I used on the chicken prior to grilling it. I just mixed equal amounts of salt and garlic powder and added in a few shakes of poultry seasoning. Grilled and sliced on the salad it was awesome with the dressing. The salad was also perfect for the heat we've had this week, filling and so yummy.

So my cooking has been minimal over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, having my camera back will encourage me to cook, otherwise, I have nothing to post here!

More paint

We hit Lowe's up last night for a few house things including more paint samples. I was able to get some swatches up last night before bed and here is how they look today.




This is our master bathroom, I liked the blue last night, today, I am not so sure, it might be too icy. Especially next to the blue we chose for our bedroom.



We love this blue, here it is next to our bedroom set and the light on our nightstand. Of course it is currently under the lovely incandescent light in our room, but I think it looks nice under that anyway. I am not sure about the flow of this blue into the bathroom though.


Here we have the chocolate cherry we chose for the pool room/dining room next to a beige-y color we wanted to try out with it. We are very happy with the two colors together, and the beige
will run through the general areas of the house as well, including the entry way and the hallway leading to the bedrooms.


Here it is again in the hall, not too much natural light here and it still has a nice hue to it.




And lastly, the kitchen. This is a yellow I loved at the store and am now not so enamored with it. I think it is too bright, I even put up the beige next to it to see how I felt about the two together and I still am not sold on it.
We are closer to pain color choices, but not quite there yet, unfortunately.

A "wild" weekend

My husband's family was in town this weekend to spend time at the San Diego Zoo and the Birch Aquarium in celebration of our niece's third birthday! Because of work, the Hubs and I didn't get to go to the Zoo on Friday with everyone, but we were able to make it to the Aquarium on Saturday.

I love the Aquarium. And I love that guy there, the Sea Dragon. If I could, I would have a tank full of them, and just watch them for hours. My husband and I are going to go back and get an annual pass, I want to get back in there with my new camera, once it is back from being repaired. Hopefully this week it will be fixed!


For the birthday celebration, we grilled chicken and hot dogs on Saturday and I made a cake for Ms. Natters, our guest of honor. Unfortunately, and of course given the family was outside at the Zoo, this weekend was warm and humid.

























Heat and humidity aren't so kind to butter based frosting. My crumb coat was oozing a bit, and I got the cake in the fridge to firm it up, I just didn't realize just how much it was leaning until we pulled it out to finish the decorations.

With the help of my sister, we got the cake done up with a blue sky, grass and animal cracker cookies.

We had a hippo and a seal with a ball on his nose.


And zebras, lions stalking the zebras, and a camel on a magic carpet. Because honestly, why else would a camel be in the same environment as lions and zebras?



Happy, happy birthday Natters!


Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting (adapted from two recipes from Epicurious)

Cake Recipe (I doubled this for our four layer cake)

• 1 cup boiling-hot water
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
  
• 4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes

Preparation:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 (9- by 2-inch) round cake pans and line bottom of each with a round of parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess (I didn't butter and flour my pans/paper, but will leave this step in for others. My cakes came out of their pans perfectly).

Whisk together hot water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in yogurt and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter may look curdled).

Divide batter between cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean and edges of cake begin to pull away from sides of pans, 25 to 35 minutes total. Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, removing wax paper, and cool completely.

Note: My cakes never had the skewer come out completely clean, I pulled them once the middles sprung back a bit and the edges pulled away from the sides of the pans.

Vanilla Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• Splash of vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in pan, including vanilla bean, and bring to boil on stove over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar is dissolved completely. Allow to cool completely, leaving vanilla bean in to steep. When ready to use, remove vanilla bean.

Vanilla Frosting

• 3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8-9 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
  

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then cream, vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract.

Note: The original recipe I adapted called for far more sugar then I used. I made my frosting in split batches, one for the crumb coat and one for the final decorating and I didn't use anywhere near the original 10+ cups of powdered sugar, above is my best estimate of what I did use.

Assembly:

Place first cake layer on cake plate or stand with the rounded side up and brush generously with glaze.
Frost layer and apply next one with the rounded side down. Again brush on glaze and frost, repeating with remaining layers if you are making a cake larger then 2 layers.

Once layers are assembled, cover entire cake with a thin coat of frosting and allow cake to set in fridge.

Once set, apply final, thicker layer of frosting, using food color to tint frosting for decorating as you please. Flying carpets with camels are allowed!

Fruit salad with ginger infused simple syrup

Today is certainly not Tuesday, most assuredly it is Friday, and I am just now getting this posted. Part of the reason I am free to just sit and post a blog is the mess in my kitchen.

Oh yes, and the lack of cabinet doors there.

Mmhmm, that lack of doors. And a lack of shelving to the far left, which is why I have quite a few appliances and knick-knack kitchen items sitting out. However, it is all for a very good reason.


Oh yes. That, dear readers, is my life saver. A savior for my hands. A water saver as well. That is an absolutely fabulous, unique, and soon to be functioning in my kitchen 18 inch dishwasher.

I have a somewhat vintage house. It has wonderful, original 1959 wood flooring. I have an almost original 1959 kitchen as well. The counter tops may be granite, but the cabinetry is knotty pine, very keen for the era the house was built.

The issue with having these great original cabinets is that in 1959, dishwashers weren't a standard feature of kitchens. And I have been washing dishes since October. And I am done washing all my dishes, especially the silverware. So last month, I rang up the contractor that remodeled my parent's home and asked his opinion on how to get a dishwasher in without tearing up the whole kitchen. If we had to, we were willing to find the money, but with me being in school for another year still, it wasn't an idea we were too fond of.

In came Tom the Super Contractor with the solution: smaller dishwasher. Oh, and he had one his family had used for 2 years before they did their own giant remodel in a house older than ours. Score! The perfectly sized dishwasher at a reduced price. And no giant kitchen remodel. By the end of the day my silverware washing days are over.

On to the recipe! I took this to the barbque celebrating my sister's engagement, I chose it because I had some tuscan cantalope and a watermelon waiting to be used and something that adds a little flavor without adding a ton of junk is always a benefit.


I used a recipe from Epicurious yet again and made small changes: using basil from the garden instead of mint and cutting back on the amount of sugar. I am not growing any mint currently and my husband really hates the taste. I forgive him that since I refuse to eat coconut. And with my Mom and Grandmother attending as well, I wanted to protect their blood sugars, Mom is prediabetic and Gradma is diabetic. Less sugar with the same amount of ginger for a pop of flavor on the fruit. It was fabulous.

Fruit Salad with Ginger Syrup (adapted from Epicurious)

For ginger syrup

• 3 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
  
• 2 cups thinly sliced fresh ginger (1/2 lb; from a 10-inch piece), left unpeeled

For fruit salad

• 4 cups (1-inch pieces) summer fruit (I used cantalope, watermelon, strawberries and a small handful of kumquats)
  
• 3 tablespoons sweet basil
  

Preparation

Make syrup:
Bring water, sugar, and ginger to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes or longer, to taste. Pour ginger syrup through a sieve into a bowl, discarding ginger. Chill, covered, at least 2 hours.

Make fruit salad:
Toss fruit and basil with 1/4 cup syrup, or to taste.

Oh, and yes, the syrup is really good in iced tea. I plan on trying something with gin or vodka and the syrup next.

And such and such

I will unfortunately have few postings over the next couple of weeks here, my camera took a tumble over the weekend and the lens is slightly cock-eyed now. I got it into a repair shop today, and I should have it back in a couple of weeks, good as new, which is good news since it is brand new and was my anniversary present. Sorry honey!
In between times I will make due with my old camera which only acts up occasionally, we shall see!
Before it's unfortunately fall, I was able to get some pictures of a yummy fruit salad I made for a barbecue on the 3rd to celebrate a big event for my sister, her daughter and my sister's boyfriend.

Aren't they cute? And my sister looks pretty blissful here, an uncommon sight from her to be honest, she's the grumpy one normally. (Love you sis!)

And she has good reason to be blissed out:


She got a promotion from girlfriend to fiance last week! And what a promotion, look at that puppy! Good on you future brother in law, good on you.
She isn't a diamond type of woman, so she got a lovely sapphire instead. Our families spent the afternoon last Thursday eating and getting to know each other. It was fun, and I had some wine cooler made by my sister's future mother in law that was yummy and I would like the recipe for, I will get a hold of it and likely post it on here.

So next summer these three will be a family and I am very happy for them, congrats guys!


I will post the fruit salad I made this week, hopefully tomorrow...

First!

We got our first tomato off the vine today!