hurrayic

{this moment}**

3 kids at camp
1 kid working
no kid moments this week to share so...

... our first new-to-us csa of the season for 2012...hope this csa is better than last year!

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~ Soule Mama

{this moment}** a single photo with a few accompanying words ~ hurrayic

Enjoy your weekend!

{this moment}** ~ from the archives

doesn't my (then) 30-something hubby look like he's only a teen in this photo?

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~ Soule Mama

{this moment}** a single photo with a few accompanying words ~ hurrayic

Enjoy your weekend!

Summer Cooking: Napa Cabbage with Cilantro, Parsley & Basil

It's Summer Cooking again!  Won't you join in?
If you have a recipe to share,
just leave it in the comments with a link to your post. 
New post or old post...doesn't really matter,
because hey, summer cooking is good to eat anytime.

Summer cooking will probably need to go on hiatus soon (~I hope~ since I love Autumn weather and all that it brings), but a few more simple summer recipes are always a good thing.  I made salad this several weeks ago when we received a napa cabbage in our csa bundle.  We already had parsley and basil on our deck.  On impulse, I bought a small bunch of cilantro from the market without a specific recipe in mind.  Began a search.  Adapted a recipe from Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook, which by the way is becoming a go-to cookbook of late.  The original recipe calls for fish sauce which I'm sure lends depth of flavor, but since I didn't have any nor would use it (way too much sodium), it said you could substitute soy sauce.  Didn't have low-sodium soy sauce at the moment either, so I used liquid aminos (which can be somewhat high in sodium too, but tastes delicious). So much for trying to remain low salt!

Napa Cabbage with Cilantro, Parsley & Basil
adapted from Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook

1 head of napa cabbage, outer leaves removed if not the best, stem end cut off, sliced cross-wise into thin shreds
1/2 pkg shredded carrots (or shred your own)
1 orange bell pepper, diced
2 yellow banana peppers, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, snipped
1/2 cup basil, snipped
1/2 cup parsley, snipped
4 Tbsp liquid aminos (can use soy)
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp peanut oil (or sesame oil)
2 tsp sugar
salt & pepper, to taste

Combine cabbage, carrots & peppers in large bowl.  Whisk together aminos, vinegar, oil, sugar, s&p.  Add cilantro, basil & parsley to oil mixture.  Pour over cabbage mixture and combine well so that all is coated.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, stir again & serve. 

 

Summer Cooking: Gazpacho (and learning a valuable lesson)

Thank you, all, for such lovely comments yesterday.  Glad that Ginny started the yarn-along!

Well, it's Summer Cooking again!  Won't you join in?
If you have a recipe to share,
just leave it in the comments with a link to your post. 
New post or old post...doesn't really matter,
because hey, summer cooking is good to eat anytime.

With all the farmer's market and csa veggies we've had recently, I thought it was time to make one of our favorite soups: gazpacho. 

I love the recipe from Moosewood Cookbook (mine's the older version) and have made it gobs of times throughout the years.  I remarked to my husband that wouldn't it be interesting to try it with roasted tomatoes as the base?  I thought so, and I guess others agreed.  So now we'll have to try a new version.

What was my valuable lesson, you wonder?

Recently I found a brand-new immersion blender like this one at a thrift store.  I had it on my list to be on the lookout for et voila!  (do you make lists like that?) Anyway, I learned that you DO NOT lift the contraption up & down while having your finger on the button! Unless of course you want a whirring mess on your hands, face, hair, countertop...

 

Enjoying

Happy Monday! 
RIght now I'm enjoying...

the colors of a quick sewing project and learning to make my own bias tape ~ waiting for a larger bias tape maker to arrive (the one above made tape that's too narrow) ~ hoping it gets here before the 11th!

a few handfuls of sungolds from our back deck

the constant creations with all things Lego which have a tendency to pop up all over the house

being surprised by the colors of this melon

a wonderful and very needed lunch and swim date with a lovely friend

making good use of overly ripe bananas

this little bee's tireless working

his 9 cent t-shirt found at a local thrift store...9 cents! (camera shy for sure)

the recent evening and morning rain that cooled things off (temporarily ) and showered our poblanos with little wet kisses

watching a family of ducks paddle away

the straggling remains of an impromptu dinner with friends from the night before and using a tablecloth (usually tucked away in a drawer) for the occasion ~ btw an tablecloth not only adds festivity to the room, but can also hide lots of pencil marks and smudges very quickly

What are you enjoying today?

UPDATE: several of you asked what kind of watermelon we ate.  Not sure, but  I googled a quick search and these two might fit the bill: Golden Midget or Royal Golden. 

Bunch o' food

Last week, we were getting the kids ready for camp, which made cleaning out the fridge a necessity.  We had a plethora of farmer's market veggies and assorted other stuffs, and since four eaters in the house would be gone for 7 days, I knew we either had to use up what we had or chuck it.  And I dislike chucking food.

So I made: Roasted red potato salad with dill and rosemary and yummy dijon dressing (even had mayo in it!) from this cookbook

Roasted broccolini (or broccoletti) with garlic & curry AND a 2nd batch of roasted broccolini with garlic  & red pepper flakes. Found the broccolini at Costco ~ a great price and big bags!

Shredded zucchini, tomato and mozzarella salad (used both yellow & green varieties of zucchini) which tasted better the 2nd day.  Should have let the shredded zucchini sit in a colander first so that the extra moisture drained.  Got a tad soggy.

Warm green bean radish salad to which I added fresh corn.  This was especially good.  I discovered that when you heat the bright red radishes, they turn pink!  Recipe from here.

And a DELICIOUS kale, coconut & quinoa dish.  I altered the kale & farro dish just a bit from Super Natural Every Day cookbook.  This I made twice, the second time doubling the amount of kale and adding in toasted pine nuts.    You must try this one!  All but 1 of us loved it. 
So here we are stuffing ourselves the night before they left.  (Okay, we didn't eat all the above dishes in one sitting, but throughout the week.  Just so you know!)
But we did throw in some cheese (oh yes, please!) for good measure. Cheese makes everything livelier, don't you agree? And of course we had to top it all off with dessert.  (More on that later.)  So the kids are well-fed before a week of camp food, and our refrigerator is a little less empty...well, almost...