Whatever Watermelon Salad and my Kitchen Confession

I am the kind of person who doesn't read instructions much. I like to get in there and just figure it out. Sometimes this works great. Lots of times it doesn't.  I'm kind of like that with cooking, too. With baking I'm more careful (but not by much). I have a bit of a devil-may-care attitude about cooking - especially if it's just for myself. I collect recipes on Pinterest and have many cookbooks and yet, when it comes down to it I usually just make something up.

So, yesterday I got the idea to make a watermelon salad. I looked up some recipes on Pinterest, but none of them were really what I wanted to do. So, I just kind of did my own thing. I made a watermelon salad with cucumbers, blueberries and mint. I added some things to make a dressing and the result was really good. Here is a sort of roughed out idea of what I did (what, me measure?) so you can use it as a guide for your own whatever watermelon salad.

My version of Whatever Watermelon Salad

About 4 cups cut watermelon
1 cucumber, peeled and cut up
About 1/2 cup blueberries
Mint leaves, roughly chopped up (I used Lavender Mint from my garden)

Dressing

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Lavender Lemongrass Vinegar.
( I know not everyone has this sitting around. But, I recommend trying something that would give it just a little bit of some unique little tang. This vinegar is perfect as a secret ingredient in things. It adds so much, but you can't quite put your finger on it.)
a pinch of salt and a little bit of pepper if that's your thing.
Whisk together and gently toss with the fruit salad

You can eat right away, but it's better if it sits for a bit. The second picture is the salad the next day.

Are you a perfect cook and stick to recipes or are you like me?  I'll call it creative (but I have also called it half-assed).

summer's bounty

Although it's still almost a full month before summer is officially over, I'm seeing a bit of fall peeking out and sneaking into view. The air feels and smells a bit different and the light is different. I know though that we will most likely still have hot weather for another month. In this area the hot weather goes through the end of September usually.

Still it definitely feels like the end of summer. Before the heat wave last week I found 2 huge zucchinis. I look everyday, but someone had missed these. It seems impossible. I decided to make some zucchini relish with them. Something I'd never made or had before.

I found an easy recipe in a zine I'd gotten just a couple of days earlier at The Portland Zine Symposium.  The zine is Keeper's Kanzine and I highly recommend it. Not only is it a beautiful zine (I love the cover) but it has some great recipes and some great advice.

I got it from Ms Valerie Park Distro and you can get it there, too. There is second edition as well.  It was in this zine that I learned that I can put jars in the oven to sterilize. I've always been really put off by the whole sterilization process, kind of intimidated by it, so I loved this idea.

The recipe was called Golden Relish and it turned out great.  I wasn't sure how I'd like it, so I made a half batch. It's really good. If you like sweet relish you'll like it. I've had it on a sandwich a lot in the last two weeks.

Here is a picture of it right after I canned it. Today I made another half batch and I used a yellow pepper instead of red and put in less sugar. I want to see how it will be with less. Since I used the naturally sweet Walla Walla Onions I think it could use less sugar. I'm excited to try it.

The heat wave kind of burnt up my plants. I don't know if I will get much more harvest from them. I didn't get many cucumbers this year because the zucchini took over. Which sucks. I kind of like the process of having too much of something and finding a way to use it, and zukes are the best for that. But I want more cucumbers, so next year I may not plant the zucchinis.

Anyway, I'll leave you with this pretty picture I took on my phone Friday while I sat on the porch swing with my mom. My step-dad was working in the garden and he had handed her some roses. It was a lovely perfect breezy summer day. The air felt so soft and friendly.

summer, it'll be nice to see you

This weekend is usually considered the beginning of summer. Here in Portland, we've had a sunny day and then a grey rainy day - or two. That suites me. I will enjoy the summer when it comes - for a while. I personally think summer is about one month too long.

I hope you all get to have a nice long weekend. Maybe you're going to the beach. I had my beach vacation last week. The mister and I went to Newport, Oregon and stayed in a nice hotel, did some sight seeing, but mostly stared at the ocean a lot from our room. I love the ocean air.

We did get out of the room a bit. Including two visits to my favorite restaurant, Local Ocean Seafood. Their tuna kabobs are my favorite thing to eat.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, folks!

tastes

I made Colcannon for St Patrick's Day on Thursday. Colcannon is a traditional Irish meal which is basically mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage (or kale). It was quite good.

When I was a kid my mother used to make Corned Beef and Cabbage most years for St. Patrick's Day. She would always love to put scoops of horseradish sauce on her plate to eat with her cabbage and meat. It seemed so gross to me - as gross as the cabbage.

I got the idea to make Colcannon from this blog (picture courtesy of said blog) but really just used the recipe as inspiration - in the end I just kind of made it up as I went along. I boiled about 5 medium potatoes while I steamed half of a sliced cabbage. After it was done I added some milk, butter, green onions and then also some sharp white cheddar (from Ireland, of course) along with salt and pepper.

It makes a great easy comfort meal. It was especially good once I added the horseradish. That totally made it for me. I found myself making the same kind of satisfied sounds my mother used to as I reached in for more horseradish sauce.

It's weird how your tastes grow up and change. When I was younger her favorite foods were things like spinach, cabbage, horseradish sauce, pickled things, Tabasco, brussel sprouts - all things that totally grossed me out, but that I love now. I even tried some cole slaw the other day and liked it for the first time in my life!

What things do you like now that you didn't used to? I wonder if it'something I've been avoiding. I'm in the mood to try some new things....but I really don't think I will ever like black licorice, I don't care what you all say.

sickly

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Think I've caught that cold that's going around. So, just a quick pop in to tell you about my new favorite food item. Don't you love it when you find some perfect meal that is easy, healthy and you want to eat everyday? For me, in the summer it is always a salad with salmon and fruit and whatever else there is. But, in winter I want warm veggies.

The other day when shopping at Trader Joe's, I saw this guy reach out for this package near me and grab a few. So, of course, I wondered what it was. It was Tuna in Green Curry Sauce. Since I am a pescatarian and pretty much only eat Tuna and Salmon, I was of course interested. I got past the fact that it isn't refrigerated - which always kind of makes me wonder - and got a package.

I went back the other night and got 6 packages. This stuff is awesome and so easy to use. I saute up some onions and other veggies like mushrooms, red peppers, whatever I have and then add on lots of greens like chard, spinach or kale and then just put this on top and saute all together. It is so very good. I am making some right now for lunch.

The red curry is good, too.

Also, on my Trader Joe's hit list right now is their Black Vanilla and Cinnamon tea. It is delish. I recommend it.

So, I'm off to have some of both of these and watch a Christmas movie. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Show and Tell

I keep taking images for the blog and yet have not had the time to make the kind of post I have wanted to, so today I am sharing them all with you with little text. Here are some of the things I have been up to.

Strawberries! I am addicted to them. Look at this beautiful basket I got at Zupans for only 2.99. It is perfection. The Oregon strawberries are not quite here yet, although there is one guy selling them at the farmers market. Oregon strawberries are small and so so sweet. These here are the big California strawberries. I welcome them all.


I have been eating the strawberries every day for lunch and then at night I put them on my salad. This is heaven. Last year I got really into putting nectarines on my salads and that is good, too. The ultimate for me is smoked salmon, spring salad mix and strawberries. Sometimes I add dried cranberries, pecans or goat cheese. Mostly I just eat salad and strawberries. The best dressing I have found for the pairing of fruit and salad is Annie's Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette. So good!

This meal above was made after I got back from the Thursday night farmers market. I can't get there until late and it isn't quite full of vendors yet, but it is nice to have it back.


The other day we went for a Saturday afternoon drive. Oregon is so beautiful.



I love the bright green of the trees these days.



And the small details and shadows from the house across from me.


I am having a hard time getting motivated to clean up my garden and actually plant stuff, as this embarrassing picture proves.


I keep taking pictures of beautiful flowers in the park when I only have my phone, so they are not as impressive as they should be.

A few weeks ago I sold some stuff at the Twilight Rummage sale. Also a phone pic.


Today I had an iced tea party for two. I forgot to take a picture until it was over.


I hope you are all having a nice May. Go eat some strawberries.

weekend cooking

I have been wanting to actually use my cookbooks lately. I tend to make the same things or just make up stuff. I think I was inspired by this post on the Not Martha Blog. She and a group of friends have a cookbook club and the feast they had from the book they chose this time not only made me want to use my cookbooks, but also encouraged me to buy yet another cookbook. So, I thought I better start using all these recipes I have been collecting! Isn't a cookbook club a great idea? I loved that post and all the food looked so good!

Lat weekend I was invited to a brunch potluck. I decided to make the Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits I saw on the blog Joy the Baker a couple months ago. I made them smaller than regular biscuits since I knew there would be lots of food and people may not want a large biscuit.

They were really good, more like scones I thought. With butter, they were the best, but also good plain, too.


Last night I made something that was called Farmers Market Spinach Cannelloni from the cookbook Foods to Live By published by the people behind Earthbound Farms (they have lots of recipes on the website, but not this one). It had lots of steps, but was still pretty easy. I easily get intimidated by recipes, so if I did it you can bet it wasn't too complicated.

The recipe didn't call for cannelloni shells, but just rolled up lasagna noodles. It was quite tasty and something you can easily make in advance or freeze for later.



It was fun to put together while the mister and I watched a old movie. I am excited to make some more new things. Do you use your cookbooks or just collect them. They are entrancing aren't they?

more german grocery store goodness

I am very fond of German folk design and German food (sans meat). A couple weeks ago the mister and I went to The Berlin Inn for breakfast. And afterwards we visited the little German grocery store and deli next door. They always have Kinder Surprise Eggs there. They are a Chocolate hollow egg with a capsule in it that has a toy. The chocolate isn't that great. The toys are pretty fun. They aren't cheap, like 3 bucks each, so I don't always get them, but I couldn't resist when I saw the cute little house.



This seems to not actually be a Kinder Egg, but maybe a Russian version of it. Hard to tell since I can't read Russian. Is this Russian? {Hey I just found a mention of these as Russian Kinder Eggs on this candy blog. Oh my gosh and here is the whole collection. I totally got the best one, although those bears are cute.}

It has a lot of Bavarian style to it. The design of this one is way better than most Kinder Eggs I have seen. The egg tasted exactly the same. I loved the little toy inside and had lots of fun taking photos of it.





This also was inside:



I also got this mustard there and it is so very good. It has some horseradish in it and I love it and the tube is great. Why don't they do this in America? I even love the design on this. Mmmm mustard.

another reason to wish for fall

It has been too hot here for me to bake. I just am not in the mood when the house is already very warm. But, when it cools down I really want to try this recipe.

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar frosting sounds perfect. From Smitten Kitten blog. Get the recipe there.






















Yesterday I saw Julie and Julia with my mother. After the film she leaned over and said "Doesn't this movie make you want to cook?" I was surprised to realize that my answer was "No, it makes me want to blog" Ha! Now, I just need some fascinating content! I'll work on that. Stay tuned.

gatherings

Today I went to a meeting of the Portland Postcard Club that I am a part of. I haven't been to a meeting in a long time. It is great fun. Some people get tables and sell their stuff, others come and buy. Many of the people there are senior citizens and they have been collecting and even in the club for years.

I love hearing what people collect. Today someone mentioned that they look for postcards with sayings by a certain person who was a innkeeper. Not sure why, maybe he is related. Another person looks for real photos with ice cream signs in them. Really, it is fascinating how defined the search becomes over time. Me, I pretty much am open to lots of stuff, but I do certainly gravitate towards certain things.

Anyway, I got some great stuff today. I will write about much of it on The Cedar Chest blog and some will get listed in The Cedar Chest store. So, if you like ephemera and vintage postcards I hope you will add those sites to your lists.

So, even though this is more something I would post on The Cedar Chest I wanted to share it with you all. This is my favorite find from today:


1889! Can you imagine? This little complimentary dance card survived all of these 120 years! Maybe Fred met someone there. But, wait, if he used it it would probably not be here. Unless he asked to keep it. Maybe the ticket keeper kept it for sentimental reasons...Anyway, who knows. I have always wanted to go to a Dancing Pavilion, like orchestra style.

My window is open and it is a nice breezy and sunny late afternoon here. The neighbors the next street over are playing the best music and I don't know what it is, but it is very pleasant and kind of melancholy (this is when that shazam app would be great).

Along with the music I hear the crowd sounds and laughter of their gathering, a dog barking, sirens in the distance, the soft sound of the leaves moving in the wind, a car passing. I wish I had good recording equipment so I could do "field recording". I have always loved those.

Since I can't give you a recording of what I am hearing right now I am going to lead you to this field recording of a street party in Germany. Open a new window with this link and take a listen while you keep reading.

On the way home for the Postcard Club I stopped at the Old Country German store and got some genuine German Potato salad for the mister and some stuff for a nice german dinner for us. The real German Potato salad has meat in it. Being a pescatarian, I only make him the veggie version, so he should be very happy.

While there I was charmed into getting this pack of spaetzle noodles.


Don't you just love the name and design? I love Bavarian designs. Even more since we went to Leavenworth, WA a couple years ago. Going into the German Delis and stores in town always feels like being back there. I have never made spaetzle and I am not even sure I have eaten it.

Well, time to go spend a nice mellow evening with the mister. Thanks for listening to my stories.

I hope you all have a good rest of the weekend.

sunny days and cocktails

This weekend has been so beautiful. Sunny and warm, but not too hot. Yesterday I spent the day with my 28 year old nephew sitting out in the sun and puttering around the house. He had a party to go to later that night where there was a cocktail contest. So, we took a trip to the store and got some ingredients to make some invented cocktails. Running into a friend at the liquor store who always makes amazing food and drinks led us to mango and cucumber as an idea.



By 5pm we were feeling pretty good and ended up with something pretty decent. I think this is a great brunch cocktail. Pulpy and refreshing. The basil was the key ingredient, that really pulled it together. This would probably work good with other juices. Strawberry...watermelon...


Power Lunch cocktail

2 cups Mango Lemonade
1/2 cucumber, peeled and shredded
3 shots vodka
2 large basil leaves in blender

Blend all in blender

Tear up one large basil leaf and mix in

Pour over ice or use in shaker with ice
Garnish with basil leaf

fun and games

Today I spent a very pleasant day with part of the family for Father's Day. My 28 year old nephew is in town and he and I went out to my parents for the afternoon. Last weekend they taught us this new game called Sequence. It is pretty fun. You play in teams. My nephew and I were winning so amazingly, it was puzzling. Every time it seemed so easy to win. My mother didn't want to stop because she wanted to win a game. We must have played 20 games. They won once. We just had some crazy luck on our side or something.


Friday night after work I took a lovely drive out to Sauvie Island which is about a 15 minute drive from where I work. I love the farmland island landscape. It was so beautiful. I got a bunch of strawberries. Strawberry season is ending soon, so I wanted to get a lot. Not, sure what to do with them all now. Think I will freeze some. Any favorite strawberry recipes you want to pass on?


My hydrangea plant is doing great this year. It is so pretty. I got it from Trade Joes a couple years ago and replanted it. This is the first year it has blossomed. I think there must be a lot of lime in our soil, because the flowere were not such a dark pink before. Did you know you can change the color of your hydrangea flowers by putting different things in the soil to change the soil pH?



Hope you all had a nice weekend!

A fella's birthday

Last weekend was Steve's birthday. I made a cake very much like the one I made last year, per his request, complete with the same great cake decorations from Bake it Pretty.



I also gave him the most adorable card that you can see here. I think I found it on Etsy, unused. I just love it.

His choice for whatever dinner he wanted was dinner at home of warm German Potato Salad & Tofurky Kielbasa Sausages. We also had brussels sprouts and rolls.

Have you had real warm German Potato Salad? I never had before Steve introduced it to me. Usually it is served with bacon crumbled in it, but since I am a pescatarian, I passed that up. But, I have found this vegetarian Bacon Salt at the local German Store and it is very good. I recommend it. (Wow, I just found out, when looking for that link that this stuff is made in Portland and can be found all over. They have lots of options, too. Neat.)

Anyway, I have tried a few different German Potato Salad recipes for the crock-pot and have made some tweaks to it. Now, I am pretty happy with my recipe. German Potato salad is vegan (if you don't add the bacon, of course) and is basically just potatoes and vinegar. It is much better than it sounds or looks. It is a great thing to make when you have lots of potatoes.

I am sure it can be made without a crock pot, but I have only made it this way.

Here is my version of Crock Pot Warm German Potato Salad:

5 to 6 cups sliced potatoes, about 1.5 to 2 pounds
3/4 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup sliced celery (optional, you could take the onions down a 1/4 cup if you do the celery)
1/2 cup vinegar ( apple cider vinegar is good. I also use a german one with herbs in it, but any would work)
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon sugar (use more if you like more sweetness)
Chopped parsely (optional. I seldom have any, so I don't use it)
Slice bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)

Combine all ingredients except parsley and bacon

Add salt and pepper to taste

Stir and cook on low for 5 - 7 hours in crockpot (sometimes I do it for 3 hours on high)
Garnish with bacon and parsely.

birds nest cake

I just had to show you all the beautiful cake that Jenn and Jenny made. You may know these cake wizards from their many adorable ventures like Chet and Dot, Plants and Animals and Robot Candy.
This cake is like something you would see in Martha Stewart. God, I would never have the patience for that. I so appreciate people who do things so well. So very sweet.

You can see more on the blog.

it took 30 years

Dear Debbie Curtis's Mother,

You used to make Oatmeal Butterscotch chip cookies and put them in Debbie's lunches in 7th and 8th grade. Debbie would often give me one because she knew how much I liked them. Why did it take me 30 years to consider making them myself?

I use the Baking Illustrated recipe which is great and use a bag of butterscotch chips instead of raisins.



















Maybe these will become my new Christmas cookies. I don't really have a Christmas cookie. many people do. What is yours?

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies


1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 bag butterscotch chips

Adjust the oven racks to the low and middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.

Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Working with a generous 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.

Bake until the cookies edges turn golden brown, 22 or 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes.

cooookies

I have been planning to make some Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies for the last couple of weekends, but have not gotten to it yet. I love them and the recipe for Oatmeal cookies from this book is perfection.

However, I may need to put that aside for some cookies from the past! Gourmet has a list of their favorite Christmas Cookie recipe for each year since 1941! I love the idea of making things from old recipes. I have many old cook books, but it is a crime how seldom I actually use the many cookbooks I have collected.

I may have to make these Cinnamon Sugar Crisps from 1944. They would be so good with a simple ice cream or even better coconut milk ice cream.


Also on my list of recipes I would love to make from here, but probably won't for a while; Brown Butter cookies from 1961, Dutch Caramel Cashew Chews from 1972, and these Lemon Thins from 1976.

They all sound like perfect cookies to have with tea. I love that in a cookie.

I don't really have a "signature" cookie - you know, like something I make every year. For a number of years in the Nineties I made biscotti. I like it when people have a certain cookie or treat they always make. Do you have one?

What cookie or treat do you always make for the winter holidays?