pond juice

this "Pond Juice" drink was fabulous and it's the 'signature drink' at a local tavern. It is huge, and quite tasty. Doesn't seem like you are having a "drink" so it is kind of dangerous, although it wasn't strong. It reminded me of having the HUGE drinks of Long Island Iced Tea when I was at school in West Virginia, and we used to go out dancing at "the Stables" and would get blitzed! yeah... I was 19.... 

yummy cheese log

I had this at a party last week, and got the recipe, as it was soooo good that a friend and I could not stop eating it!

1 scallion, the green part only- sliced (or use kitchen scissors to snip into rounds)
1 block of cream cheese (neufchatel), room temp
2 Tbsp crushed pineapple
1/3 cup pecans, chopped - to mix into the cheese
2/3 cup pecans, chopped - to roll the log in afterwards
1 box of Wheat Thins. MUST be wheat Thins!!! this makes a huge difference. trust me.

chop the scallions (with a knife or with kitchen scissors)

mix just the green part with cream cheese and pineapple

mix all together

chop 1/3 cup pecans

mix into the cream cheese mixture

mix well

blob onto  2/3 cup chopped pecans

and sprinkle some on top also

put your hand inside a sandwich baggie and carefully roll in the pecans

Blueberry Pie

From the Wilson Farm Cookbook. The absolute best blueberry pie recipe!

1 qt. blueberries, (4-5 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 pie crust- for top and bottom

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Mix berries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
3. Spoon into bottom pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and seal carefully. Cut vents.
4. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until top is brown and juice starts to bubble through vents. Serve warm.

red velvet cake, and a drive

Had the treat of having a fabulous Red Velvet Cake from Magnolia Bakery in New York City! It was Trish's birthday, so we had a feast in the clubhouse at the barn. Tyra, who rides at the barn a few days a week, owns the bakery..... so every now and then we get treats. Trish requested this cake for the party. I couldn't believe how fantastic it looked when she cut into it!


It looked amazing in the sunlight in the kitchen.....


Then Trish drove me all over the place on the way to her house for the night. I love driving with Trish. It is always an adventure. We drove around Dutchess county where the scenery is mind boggling!

pizza adventures

Over vacation with the boys, I wanted to do something fun with them. They were tired of alot of stuff though, since they had just come back from DC visiting Adam's mom with him. We went for pizza the first day back, and I thought it might be fun to go to some fun pizza places... so we decided to have "Pizza Adventures"

Bohemian Pizza in Litchfield...

this kept us busy while waiting...
Emmett wanted to play 'hangman'

amazing pizza at Randy's Wooster Street Pizza....

this one was soooo good!
believe it or not... white pizza with mashed potato, ham, garlic, and olive oil! amazing!

chicken that is so good!

I've been thinking about this recipe lately, and need to make it sometime soon. I've made it for many years, and it is always good. I even used to make it in my dorm room in college using an electric wok, and making the rice in a hot pot!


Chicken Dijon

3 Tbsp butter
4 split chicken breasts, skinned and boned
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup chicken broth (or boullion)
1/2 cup light cream
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1. Melt butter in a large skillet, add chicken breasts and cook until done and lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove chicken to a warm serving plate.
2. Stir flour into drippings in the skillet and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the chicken broth and cream. Stir and cook until the sauce thickens and bubbles.
4. Stir in the mustard.
5. Return the chicken to the skillet, cover and heat for about 10 minutes. Garnish with tomatoes, and serve with rice.

lucky food

This was AMAZING!!! the lemon bundt cake from Magnolia. I am lucky that I had the opportunity to have some of this. Tyra brought it to the barn for our lunch. It was the BEST, hands-down, lemon cake I have ever had.

great pie

While the dinner in the restaurant at my parents new place was surprisingly good, the desserts were horrid. They seemed like they came from a huge industrial box, which I am sure they did. The menu at the restaurant was inspired, and it was a disappointing finish to have bad dessert. Bummer.

So I needed to make one of my thanksgiving standards that weekend.
Sour Cream Apple Pie with a Cider Cinnamon Crust. So damned good, and worth making! This pie is a little different, and everyone seems to love it!

Sour Cream Apple Pie with a Cider Cinnamon Crust

from The Silver Palate. I’ve changed it a little bit, but not much. It is really good! The crust is really tasty and really easy if you mix it in the food processor.
Crust: 2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
4 Tbsp shortening
4-6 Tbsp. apple cider (or apple juice)
Filling: 2/3 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
5-7 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
Topping: 3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1.Mix together dry ingredients for crust in food processor. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until it resembles fine oatmeal. Add cider 1 Tbsp at a time with machine running, just until it all holds together. Then take it out and chill it in the fridge in a baggie for at least 2 hours.
2. Mix together the first 5 ingedients for the filling. Add the apples and toss well.
3. Using about 2/3 of the dough, roll it out and put it into a pie plate. Fill with the apple filling. Mix topping together and sprinkle evenly over apples.
4. Roll out the rest of the dough and cut small decorative shapes (leaves, apples, whatever) and place on top of pie. (There will probably still be extra.)
5. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes.

Best blueberry pie

Luz Zulema, my little niece, decided she was going to be my helper to make a killer yummy blueberry pie for dessert. She became my constant sidekick from then on, and was so cute! She chose the pattern we cut for the top of the pie.

It's the best damn blueberry pie.... not too sweet... just right, and fabulous with fresh whipped cream.

Blueberry Pie
From the Wilson Farm Cookbook. The absolute best blueberry pie recipe!

1 qt. blueberries, (4-5 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 pie crust- for top and bottom

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Mix berries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
3. Spoon into bottom pie crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and seal carefully. Cut vents.
4. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until top is brown and juice starts to bubble through vents. Serve warm.

great evening

new year's eve... in Hartford for early fireworks with the boys. Meg and I took them to the 6pm fireworks.... then home to have great meat fondue with neighbors. It was a nice change since we usually make cheese fondue in my beautiful swiss pot.

I made a good variety of sauces for dipping. I had fun planning it out with Meg too, who then ended up missing out on the supper. I was bummed as she is my best friend and I had thought she was going to stay. ... but my neighbor friends made me laugh harder than I have in ages. What a night!

I scream for......

Butterscotch Ice Cream!!!


man is it good! it's been hot and been a good time to make homemade ice cream. This recipe is so good, and deserving of the time.
We made it and mixed in some Butterfingers at the very end. It freezes perfectly in the freezer too, as it comes out not too hard to scoop, but rather just right! mmmm

Butterscotch Ice Cream

3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup water.
1 egg yolk, well beaten
1 1/4 cup cream
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a skillet, heat sugar and butter together. Stir until sugar melts.
Slowly add water.
Stirring, simmer for 5 minutes.

Slowly stir a little of the hot mixture into the yolk to raise the temperature, then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the hot mixture in the pan.
Continue stirring over low heat until mixture thickens.

Cool and add cream, milk and vanilla.
Chill and stir freeze in an ice cream machine.

organic blue eggs

just started eating these fabulous eggs. they look so cool too... since there are eggs from different kinds of chickens including the arauncana ones which are blue!
I am lucky enough to have made a connection with a woman in the next town who has free range chickens and pasteurizes the eggs. She even delivers them (!) to my house on Tuesdays. and to boot, she only charges $2 a dozen!

They are much lower in cholesterol, and have significantly more Omega 3 's and vitamin A. They have all sorts of things that are good for you, and are so healthy. Not going back to the other kind if I can help it.

This wonderful woman even hooked me up with someone who organizes orders for grass fed organic beef and free range organic chickens too! I may be able to eat meat again from a source I trust. I did just get my cholesterol checked again to have a baseline to check against after I start eating all of these things again.


When I first got the eggs, I had just gotten home, and was so hungry. I whipped up this fabulous omelet:

Cheese and Tomato Omelet

1 free range egg
sea salt
4-5 cherry tomatoes, cut up a bit
fresh basil, chopped just a bit
goat cheese (I use herbed from Trader Joe's) or Fontina

Use a fork to scramble the egg, add the sea salt, then put it in a small pan and let it cook for a few minutes until almost set.
add the other things on top and fold one side of the egg over the other.
Let it sit for a minute in the pan to meld it all together.

Farm Bill... please help!

This was in the sidebar of Chocolate & Zucchini as an ad.
it is sooo important!!! please click on the link and fill in the info.

(I have copied it and linked it, since I couldn't find somewhere to make it a badge and link it that way.)



Our Food Policy Is No Spring Chicken



The Farm Bill is up for renewal. Now is the time to bring our nation's food policies into the 21st century.

It’s time to rethink food safety, health and environment.

Congress is about to act. Tell them to support local, healthy food in your community now!

(See what we do when 100 people act.)

Read more...

killer salad

Ginger Spinch Salad

This salad is one of those yummy things that, when you make it, you need to give out the recipe with it.
I first had it in Maine at the annual 4th of July picnic near Four Winds, with Four Winds people. It was so damn good that I had to ask for the recipe (and now am subjected to such treatment every time I make it) It is great to go with the lobster picnic we always have there, but fared well also along with BBQ chicken and grilled portabello mushrooms.

Ginger Spinach Salad
This makes plenty for 4 bags of baby spinach..... which you may need- we ate that much with 6 adults and plenty of other food available. People would have eaten more if I had it! Be prepared to give out the recipe....

Spinach
Sharp White Cheddar Cheese – Grated
Red Onion – Chopped

Dressing:

3”-4” piece of fresh Ginger – peeled and minced
1/2 cup Soy sauce
4T Honey
Juice of 1 Lime
1/3 –1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper

Mince garlic and ginger. Put all dressing ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
Toss spinach with cheese and onion and pour on dressing.

a little 'naked chef'

I do love Jamie Oliver....
and I know of others who cook in less clothing (no shirt, etc....) .....

but my 5 year old gives a more interesting take on being the "naked chef"

he was making brownies........
(and sometimes he makes mac 'n cheese this way too)

had to remove this photo... too many people looking at it.... weirdos!!!!

picnic cookies

Emmett's school picnic was fun. The weather was fabulous, and the kids played for ages in the sun. Everyone seemed to want the recipe for the cookies I brought. These lemonade cookies are yummy and have a taste reminiscent of lemon squares. (recipe below)

Lemonade cookies

Lemonade Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cups powdered sweetened lemonade (ie: Country Time or similar)
an additional 1/4 - 1/2 cup lemonade mix to roll the dough balls
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and 3/4 cup lemonade mix until fluffy.
Beat in the egg, vanilla, and grated lemon rind.
In a seperate bowl, stir together the flour and the baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, beating until thoroughly combined.
Pour about 1/4 + cup of lemonade mix in a shallow dish.
Form the dough into 1-inch balls (I use a measuring teaspoon to scoop) and roll them in the lemonade mix, then place them 2 inches apart on a foil lined cookie sheet.
Bake the cookies until the edges just begin to brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on the foil before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen + cookies

emmett and friends

he dumped water on his head, then spiked his hair as much as he could, and loved it!

good book....

This book is coming out in 8 days.... yeah. can't wait to see it. Hers is one of my favorite blogs to read. it was one of the first I got hooked on reading, and I still love it. I am looking forward to picking up a copy. I recommend it. She writes so well, and the photos on her site are exquisite. She is inspiring in many ways.

no vegetables

I saw these beautiful artichokes at Trader Joe's yesterday. HAD to buy them. Love eating them and have since I was quite young. These ones were big and fresh and glorious. I cooked them for supper, assuming the boys would eat the pizza I had made.

much to my surprise, when I offered a bite to Emmett, he was intrigued, and accepted... then proceeded to eat tons of my artichoke! what!?! The child who says "I don't like fruits or vegetables" ... has now declared that he "LOVES" artichokes!

fresh snow only

I made this tasty maple-ness to have in the fresh snow. It brought back memories of being in Vermont, at Uncle Cheyney's little cozy cottage that we used to visit. White River Junction.... always lots of snow... skiing..... going to maple sugar houses..... sleeping all snuggly.... listening to an old radio in the house..... mom making this gooey mapley substance that we would eager crowd around for- first running outside to scoop fresh snow into bowls, then watching the steamy simmered maple syrup poured onto the white coldness that would make it chill instantly and then we could pop it into our mouths......
yum...... had to come in and make some quickly the other day and enjoy it with the boys.
okay, so neither one of them liked it. at all. bummer. (why did I care? other than that I wanted them to enjoy it the way I did)........ I ate all of it. and enjoyed it, although less so, as neither of them shared it with me. poor lonely sweetness. so tasty!

buttercrunch

making batches and batches of this........


damn it's good!!! and easy, and everyone loves it.
will be sending out bags of it for gifts.

Chocolate Buttercrunch
(alot less sweet than traditional buttercrunch)


saltine crackers (1 sleeve)
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 sticks butter
1 (12oz.) bag semisweet choc. chips
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans


1. Line a jelly roll pan with foil (12x15), leaving a 2 inch cuff. Line bottom with a single layer of saltines.
2. Heat butter and sugar in a saucepan until it bubbles, stirring well. Once it bubbles, turn the heat to low for 2 mins., stirring occasionally.
3. Pour butter mixture over crackers & spread evenly.
4. Bake at 350 for 13 mins.
5. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle choc. chips over crackers, allow to sit for 40 seconds.
6. Spread choc. evenly and sprinkle with nuts.
7. Refrigerate overnight (or somewhere cold until it is chilled) and break into pieces. Store in airtight container.