Summer is Here!

Goodness, how the year is flying by. It's summertime already and I swear it feels like we just had Christmas. But life is good, and we're trying to savor the moments as we rush through life...

Thought I'd share a lovely cool salad recipe today. This Asian Cucumber Salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken or fish, or as a side to a sandwich. Or maybe by itself... it's lovely anytime! Just grab a fork and try a bite. You'll thank me later!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful summer with lots of good times with those you love. Enjoy! Until next time...

ASIAN CUCUMBER SALAD

 3 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded* and thinly sliced

1 small (or ½ medium) sweet yellow onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Peel cucumbers. To remove seeds: cut cucumbers in half lengthwise, then remove seeds from center of cucumbers using a spoon or the back of a vegetable peeler. Cut into thin slices.

Combine cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over cucumbers and onions, stirring well to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Chocolate Nests

Maybe you noticed at Easter time that it was next to impossible to find chow mein noodles (the dry crispy kind) in the stores. That's because people everywhere were coating them with melted chocolate, shaping them into nests, and filling them with candy-coated chocolate eggs or jelly beans. Well, since I wanted to do the same thing and could not find chow mein noodles, I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with another solution. And the answer came in the form of bran cereal, which worked very well! I also kicked up the coating so it was fudgier (and in my opinion tastier) than plain chocolate. Now don't get me wrong, I love good old straight-up chocolate, but in this application I liked the no-bake chocolate/butter/peanut butter mixture better. Here's the recipe:

CHOCOLATE NESTS FOR EASTER

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups bran cereal (such as Kellog's All-Bran, original style)

Egg-shaped Easter candy of your choice (such as Cadbury or Hershey eggs, jelly beans, etc.)

Line a large baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper; set aside. Combine butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over medium flame, bring to a boil and boil while stirring for one minute, then remove from heat. Add vanilla and peanut butter; stir until smooth. Stir in bran cereal. Using a small scoop, scoop mounds onto prepared baking sheet. Use a spoon to make a small indentation in the center of each mound and add three or four candies to each "nest." Repeat with remainder of mixture. Let cool.

Dinner with the Morgans

Stephanie & Chris have invited us to dine with them tonight. Mark & Diedre will also be there... Diedre is Stephanie's sister, and Mark & Rich are childhood buddies so this should be a fun evening! Stephanie asked that I bring the dessert. I made some soft & buttery sugar cookies, scored a pint of gorgeous raspberries from the market, and then whipped together some cream cheese chocolate mousse. We're headed over in about ninety minutes. All I have to do is make some chocolate curls for the garnish and we're good to go. Here's the mousse recipe. Enjoy! Until next time...

CREAM CHEESE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

8 ounces cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened to room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar, divided

1 cup good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Whisk together the cream cheese, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. In a small glass bowl, microwave the chocolate chips in 30 second increments until warm enough to stir smooth. Add melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and whisk until smooth.

Place cream into the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip for 30 seconds. Turn off mixer. Add remaining powdered sugar and cream of tartar. Whip until stiff peaks form. Add chocolate-cream cheese mixture and continue whipping until combined. Sift cocoa powder, add to creamed mixture and fold to combine. Place into large bowl or individual serving dishes and chill until ready to serve. Garnish with chocolate curls if desired.

la cité de émeraude

The big Wizard of Oz-themed event is coming up this next week, and I have at last completed my quest for green candies to replicate the "Emerald City" candy display I shared a while ago. The top photo here is my creation, and the bottom one is the original photo that was my inspiration. What do you think? I set it all up in our dining room last night and Rich snapped some photos so I could figure out what candy to put in which container, and how to arrange them. I am pretty happy with the result. This should be a fun evening!

OK, time to run. Until next time...

I Love Quiche!

It seems I've had quite a thing for quiche lately. This may in part be due to my quest to be a better wife/mom and cook dinner for my family more often, I don't know. But quiche has been hitting the spot lately, I love it, and the fam seems to as well (well, except for David, he's kinda picky...). Anyway, I've made several kinds, trying to incorporate as many veggies as possible. I've used asparagus, tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, onions, corn, mushrooms, green beans, red peppers, and probably others I am forgetting at this moment. Rich does not care for cooked spinach so we've avoided that. 

So to honor my love of quiche I thought today I would share my recipe for Mushroom & Onion quiche. For those of you who have not made quiche before, it's essentially an egg & cheese pie with other yummies added. Try one today. It's delicious on its own or served along side a fresh green salad topped with a light balsamic vinegar dressing. I'm getting hungry thinking about it! Enjoy. until next time...

MUSHROOM  & ONION QUICHE 

1 purchased pie crust (or prepare your own)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup finely diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound medium button mushrooms, cleaned, halved & thinly sliced 
salt & pepper to taste 
½ cup grated cheddar cheese 
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese 
1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese 
3 eggs 
¾ cup milk 

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Bring crust to room temperature and unroll according to package directions. Place into a 9-inch pie pan, fluting edges. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

In a large non-stick skillet over medium flame, heat the oil and butter. Add onions & garlic and sauté until translucent. Add mushrooms, salt & pepper, and continue cooking until mushrooms & onions are golden brown and any liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat to cool.

Place half of each kind of cheese into the cooled pie crust. Top with half of the mushroom mixture. Repeat with remaining cheese and mushrooms. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until smooth; pour into pie crust. Sprinkle top with black pepper. Place pie pan onto a large baking sheet and place carefully into oven. Bake for about 40 minutes or until set. Let cool for about 15 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Valentine Cookies

It's the day to celebrate love with sweet treats of  all kinds! Last night I whipped up a batch of yummy, soft, delectable sugar cookies and cut them into heart shapes, baked them off and decorated them with sweet pink yumminess. They're going out to some special friends today, and a plate of them is waiting for my family to devour tonight. 

I wish you all a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Here's the cookie recipe. Enjoy! Until next time...

ROLL-OUT SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and egg and continue mixing until smooth and creamy. Sift together the dry ingredients; add to wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Pat dough into a circle, wrap in plastic and chill for 1-2 hours. Roll on a floured board to approximately 1/4" thickness, cut into desired shapes, place onto baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and decorate when cooled. Store covered at room temperature.

David's Birthday Brownies

Our son David turned 20 yesterday. His birthday treat of choice this year was brownies with cream cheese frosting. We prettied them up with some valentine-colored sprinkles and served them on a pretty white tray. They were a yummy way of celebrating our boy!

I have been collecting white ceramic serving pieces for several years now. Round platters, square platters, rectangle platters, oval baking dishes, large bowls, footed pedestals... I love them all! They're versatile and pretty enough for any occasion, and I also use them for every day. Why keep your "nice" dishes stashed away in a dark cupboard, only to see the light of day on holidays or when company comes? It's just as easy to stack a batch of after-school cookies on a beautiful footed pedestal as it is to use a plastic or paper plate. And if you're like me it will make you happy! 

Here's the brownie recipe. Enjoy! Until next time...

CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIES

 ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square pan with non-stick spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and blend until smooth. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares. This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9x13-inch pan (use only 3 eggs when doubling).

Low-fat option: substitute unsweetened applesauce in place of the butter. This cuts the fat from 7 grams per brownie to less than one gram.

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CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted if lumpy)

In a large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Frost brownies when cool.