Sweet Potato Souffle- Set this aside for safe keeping

The first time i made this, it blew my mind, I didn’t know sweet potatoes could taste like this. It’s an entirely different level of good. You do have to taste it raw and adjust seasoning, trust me, you really do. I almost always add a little something. This will stand out at a holiday dinner. I get requests to make it every year.

5 Sweet Potatoes, the whiter the better, boiled and whipped

1/4 c butter room temp

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 c milk

2 tsp white pepper

Candied pecans

Whip it all together (except pecans), place in a large oven safe buttered casserole dish, bake for 45 minutes at 350

Top with pecans, serve warm

I love this dish so much, and I somehow manage to lose it every year. This makes more than the average recipe, and is kind of spicy, which is what makes the dish stand out.

Fancy melons, to get fruit into kids.

The secret to getting veg into kids is soup, and the secret to getting fruit is the freezer. This is an alternative to the frozen banana.

Half a melon (or a box of the cubed kind)

1 cup yogurt (whole, low fat or non, they all work)

1/2 bag frozen raspberries (cheaper than fresh)

a couple of dashes of honey.

a blender

ice pop molds

First puree raspberry with a little honey, set aside.

Puree down the melon with the yogurt, (you can add some milk to get the machine going) add a little honey if its not sweet enough

Starting with the melon mixture layer the ice pops with melon and raspberry, Take a skewer and run up and down the sides for the swirl look.

They should be frozen in around 5 hours.

Frozen Strawberry lemonade for lazy summer days

The juice of 4 lemons

1 bag of frozen strawberries

1/4 of sugar or honey, to taste

a blender

Add the frozen berrys, the sugar, and the lemon juice to the blender, start it up, Stream in enough water to get things moving. This will create a great thick product, lovable and easy.

You can also make this with frozen blueberries or mangoes.

 

Random zombie thoughts #1

(Felt like I needed an outlet for them.)

Instead of having the tooth fairy give coins or cash, what about books? She would need to have a secret stash somewhere, but making rewards reading, that sounds about right.

Super Salad – to give zombies super powers

What is a super salad?

All veg, no frills, but still yum. It’s different for different zombies of course. This is mine, and through some sort of text messaging with the gods, my farm box this week created this salad for me.

Super Salad

2 zucchini, chopped

2 ears of corn, boiled, cooled, removed from husks (slice off)

1 mid sized cucumber, peeled, chopped

2 cubes frozen chopped basil

juice of two lemons

olive oil to taste

lots of freshly cracked pepper, (secret power to the super salad)

some salt

Prep time 15 minutes.

Ok first things first, to boil corn you stick in a pot large enough to hold the corn (break them in half if needed) cover them with water, salt the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling take off the heat and let sit around 8 minutes, they should be done  I often do this with left over corn from a summer bbq party.

Frozen basil is available at grocery stores, including TJ’s of course.

You can be adventurous and use raw corn, wash very thoroughly if you are, organic or not raw corn needs to be really clean.

 

Open the box and see all the veggies: Strawberries, and other sad tales of doom

One little tiny thing of strawberries, what! After trying to kill me with watermelon!? But it gets worse

Quality

Good strawberries are always a little rotten, they’re usually a day away from complete destruction, thats why a non rotten strawberry never tastes good, the ones that rotted on the truck were the best. These were just as they should be, about to start falling apart. So far so good. I did taste a couple the first day, they were sweet and friendly, and well red.

So what did i do with the sucker,

Here’s the sad part, i took them to work, and left them there on a Friday, certain DOOM. Had to call the office and donate them to the crowd still there. At least they werent wasted

The others in this category include cilantro, which is untouched

untouched lettuce

untouched carrots

Conclusion Hmm, i should consider changing my vote to mostly fruit…

On the post next time Avocado Salad, woohoo!

Open the box and see all the veggies: Tomatoes

They seem to think i have a thing for tomatoes, one thing i would never take to work for fear of early refrigeration, i found myself cooking not just one or two but all 8. And some of them were big.

Quality

There’s nothing like a tomato in the summer time, in fact i wont even eat a tomato other time of the year, well not willingly anyway. These had the scent, and were all red, though i have learned to love and respect the green and yellow. They held together well, survived the heavy chopping and the lazy, this thing is going to cook for an hour, what does it need chopping for melted away as beautifully as i imaged it would.

So what did i do with the sucker,

I stuck 7 of them in Moroccan meatballs which shockingly turned out really spicy, probably should cut down on that in future. Had to made so many extras to take the heat away. Couscous, (what a shock) But then found myself having to take it further, embarrassingly, like a true California girl i found myself cooking onions down til slightly charred and adding gypsy peppers (cause they came in the box) and garlic, *Can you tell where this is going?) Then serving with sour cream, yes i will admit it, i mexified moroccan food, and may in fact need help, or salvation or something. Oh well, tasted good.

The last lone tomato, (though huge) ended up lazily cut up and toss in a pot with chicken and salsa, garlic, pepper, paprika, and anything else red I could get my hands on.

Tomorrow’s post should focus on strawberries

Open the box and see all the veggies: Watermelon

Oh the first box of a new (for me) organic to my door plan. The excitement and builds you open it up and find a small watermelon lurking inside. I’m allergic, not like this is going to kill me one day (that’s cherry) but in the discomfort is just not worth it way. Plus it was cracked, a huge wedge right down the middle. So sad.

Quality

I have many uncalled for talents, one of which is picking watermelons, i can thump on them and tell you if its ripe or not, youre looking for a B flat, though seeing as how 99% of people cant tell what that is (expect possibly if there’s a piano beside them) What you’re really looking for is an echo. I play drums with them all til i hear a deep echo and then don’t eat it afterwards.  With the crack the echo was lost, so took a risk and had a little taste, it was ok, not as sweet as it could be, but watermelony enough. It was dark seedless, they’re never white seedless, in fact when was the last time you saw the seed? Aside from the toasted and salted variety I havent seen one since i was a kid.

So what did i do with the sucker,

I cut half up into little piece and then attempted to blend them with the blender that features the never turn on motor. Was planning on making watermelon lemonade and attempting to sell it at work, oh well. Lost that half to that and second half sits in my fridge mocking me. In its inedible glory.

Tomorrow’s post should focus on tomatoes

Changing directions once again

So the last time I cooked something it was eggplant gratin, a dish i have made dozens of times, before that there was grain mustard potato salad, before that a cauliflower gratin. before that better than sex cake, and thats everything  I made in the month of May, not only uninspiring, but not much either.

So onwards and upwards we’re changing again, have a short but ridiculously fun winding trip planned in July, and hopefully we’ll cover some of that, also a large photo project coming up we’re really excited about. Photography seems to be the flavor of the month these last few months, that along with growing herbs, all kinds of beautiful seedlings have sprouted, and ate doing so well, aside from cilantro, stubborn little thing, refuses to even give a little root. Oh well, you cant win them all.  Photos coming soon!