Whur Yat?

Well, I'm here! Sorry I've been so out of the loop. Little things like this keep me occupied.

Yep. Keeping up after a normal household alone with a 17 month old is hard enough. My old activities of hour long sewing sessions, late night solo batik parties, and thoughtful blog postings are pretty much out the window.

It seems like the little time I have to create is going to things for myself or my family. Today I'm painting the hallway bathroom of our new house. It's my first experience painting anything "real", besides crap I screwed around with while living at my parents house, and experimenting with, and then eventually abandoning unfinished, in previous rental houses. What a pain in the ass! What the heck was I thinking of, starting a project like this with my husband out of town?

One successful project was these seat cushions I recovered. They were passed down to us from a family member. Their old condition was a medium brown that definitely needed replacing. I could have just done a simple job, but you know me! Gittin all creative and stuffff!

Here are some food pics to help urge you into the kitchen. Sorry, no time for recipes today.

Fajita Night (Family dinner @ my folks house)

Veggie Mac n Cheese

Rosemary Focaccia

Black Bean & Swiss Chard Enchiladas

Veggie Pot Pie

Cold weather means comfort food in this house. That warm-your-belly kinda stuff. Food that reminds me of bein' a kid.

First, you'll need to make up the crust. I just kind of threw it all together, but this is basically what I used:

2 cups flour (I used about 2/3 regular, 1/3 wheat)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3 Tbs cold butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

2 Tbsp shortening

ice cold water

*this was enough dough for 1 standard pie plate, plus a small casserole dish that I used for hubby's chicken pot pie*

whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the fat, using a pastry cutter or two butter knits, or just massage it in with your fingers. Once the mixture has pea-sized lumps and smaller, slowly add in a couple of tablespoons of water, until the mixture can be formed (by mushing) into a ball. Gather it all up, pressing in any extra flour around the bowl. Form it into a flat disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Now you'll need to make the filling.

Last night I used:

2 carrots, sliced

2 medium potatoes, diced

handful of broccoli bits

1/2 cup each frozen green beans and shelled edamame (soy beans)

(butternut squash is awesome in this!)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch each vegetable separately until tender crisp. Once they have been cooked, chill in cool water and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.

Saute 1/2 cup chopped onion in 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Cool until tender, then add 1 head roasted garlic, skins removed. Stir in 3 tbsp flour, then add 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and herbs (like thyme, basil, etc), and add the cooked vegetables. Set aside.

Roll out the pastry to 1/8" thickness, making sure it is large enough for the pot that you'll cook it in.

Spoon the filling into a pie shell.

Top with 1/2 cup shredded Dubliner cheese. (parmesan or cheddar would be great, too!)

Beat 1 egg and brush the edge of the pie plate with it.

Place pie shell over top, pinching the edges under for a thicker edge crust. Brush with beaten egg and make a few slits for the pie to breath while it cooks.

I put the dishes on a cookie sheet to catch any drips.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Vegetarian Pesto BLT

Vegetarian Pesto BLTs

3 Tbsp mayonaise

1-2 Tbsp prepared pesto

6 slices cooked vegetarian bacon (I really liked this brand)

4 leaves lettuce

1 large tomato, sliced

salt, to taste

4 slices bread, toasted

Mix first 2 ingredients to make Pesto Mayonaise. Spread evenly onto toasted bread. Top with remaining ingredients and eat!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

When the CSA gives you blueberries, obviously you need to make blueberry cupcakes. I mean, ya can't just let them go bad! One of the great parts about this recipe is that it makes just one dozen. I mean, I love them, but surely I DO NOT need to eat a dozen of them in a matter of days.

This blog has gone to shit lately and I apologize. I'm not even going to lie and say that I'll do my best to keep up with it. Here's a new post and who knows when the next one will be, so ya better enjoy it while ya can!

Baking is something I don't do a lot of. All that careful measuring when you can just throw a bunch of stuff together and call it dinner.

I'm glad I still had this buttermilk, and that it was still good. It's original purpose being for buttermilk waffles that never did get made.

These blueberries are plump and delicious; at their peak around here in our neck of the woods.

Look at them: all raised beautifully and pushing their yumminess out of the little cups.

My taste tester gave these the thumbs up, still warm out of the oven. I quickly gave him the look of death, clearly sending the message that these can't be touched again until they are complete!

Just enough frosting for the chef to lick clean while plating the cupcakes for their own little photo shoot.

Isn't it just lovely how the natural indigo color releases from the blueberries as they burst inside their cake cocoon inside the papers? It's magic, I tell you!!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Lemon and blueberry flavors give these cupcakes a great taste. Blueberries or fresh, edible flowers make an easy, pretty decoration.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 cupcake)


CUPCAKES:
1 1/2 cups (about 6 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
10 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

FROSTING:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh blueberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place 12 decorative paper muffin cup liners into muffin cups.

To prepare cupcakes, lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Measure 1 tablespoon flour; level with a knife. Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine melted butter and egg in another large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk, milk, and 1 teaspoon rind to butter mixture; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Toss blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon rind, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar (do not overbeat). Stir in juice. Spread frosting evenly over cupcakes; garnish with blueberries, if desired. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

CALORIES 236 (29% from fat); FAT 7.7g (sat 4.6g,mono 2g,poly 0.4g); IRON 1mg; CHOLESTEROL38mg; CALCIUM 71mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.7g; SODIUM 230mg; PROTEIN 3.7g; FIBER 0.7g
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2007

Biscuits and Veggie Gravy

Tonite I was craving something savory and comforting. Mmmmhhhh! Biscuits! The leftovers will make great breakfast sandwiches, or a yummy snack with butter or honey. The biscuits were derived from this recipe. I wanted a less sweet variety, so I subbed out the maple syrup he originally called for. I hate having to roll doughs out and use cutters. Re-rolling the dough always toughens it and who really cares what shape they are? Mine were rectangles. :o)

Cornmeal Biscuits with Veggie Gravy

First, prepare your ingredients for the gravy.

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 small onion, chopped. (I used about 1/4 of a large Vidalia)
  
• 1 medium carrot, diced small
• 8 spears asparagus, chopped
  
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I used a combination of button and shiitake)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vegetable stock paste
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk

Chop your vegetables and set aside on your cutting board. Then prepare the biscuits.
Biscuit Instructions:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cup cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp cold shortening
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 cup milk, plus 1 Tbsp
  

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients. I used the pastry cutter to do this. Slice the butter into about 10-12 pieces.
   
2. Using a pastry cutter, two butter knives, or your fingers, work the shortening into the dry mix until crumbly.
   
3. Add the butter, and continue to mix in. This time, keep the butter in somewhat larger pieces.
   
4. Add 1 cup milk. Using a wooden spoon, mix until it starts to come together. Dump out onto a floured surface.
5. Knead the dough gently until all the ingredients are incorporated nicely.
6. Roll the dough out to about 10 by 8 inches or so. Fold the right side towards the middle, then fold the left side over the middle. Turn the dough 1/4 turn and roll out again. Repeat 2 more times.
   
7. Finally, roll the dough to about 1/2". Using your hands, shape the dough into a rectangle. Cut into 8 or 12 pieces. Brush remaining milk over biscuits.
   
8. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 16-20 minutes, depending on size.

While the biscuits bake, make the gravy.

Gravy Directions:

1. Over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5-10 minutes, depending on how tender you prefer.
2. Add chopped carrots. Cook for another 5-10 minutes.
3. Stir in asparagus, cook 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the vegetable broth base and spices. Add flour and mix it into the vegetables. Cook 1 minutes more. Add the milk, stirring vigorously to incorporate.
   
5. Allow the mixture to cook and thicken about 4-5 minutes, adding more milk if you prefer a less thick sauce.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve over sliced biscuits and enjoy!