What Did You Eat?

WHB: Meatballs With Ginger Root And Radish Greens, For The Sensitive Stomach

After a week of eating little to no food, and what I did eat was very bland, I decided to test my stomach.    I wanted something with ginger root, as it's  a time honored remedy for an upset stomach. In truth, I wanted it more for the taste.   And I wanted it in meatballs.  Once the thought came into my head there was no going back.  So, I ground two skinless, boneless chicken thighs in the food processor, with radish greens from my garden, a little soy sauce, and ginger root.  I made five meatballs, cooked them in a skillet, ate them with profound pleasure, then waited for my stomach to protest.  It didn't. There was nary a peep out of it.

I've loved radishes all my life, but only recently began using the tops in cooking. They have a marvelous tangy bite, like horseradish, and paired nicely here with the ginger root.  And since radishes can be shockingly expensive at times, it's nice to use both the root and tops.  They are amazingly easy and quick to grow yourself, which is what I do now. 

WCB: The Recap Begins

You'd stick you head all the way into a shoe too, if your mom had been walking through catnip with them.

That's righteous stuff Bro.

My Friend, Club Soda

I've had a tenacious stomach bug for the last three days.  So, this blog should be titled What I Can't Eat.  It was a big deal when I ate a banana yesterday.  But, club soda is my savior.

Maybe I can have some rice today?   

(.....Story developing.....)

Bread Baking Buddies!

Note:  If you sent me an e-mail with a link to your site about the Poilane-Style Miche, and you aren't listed below, please leave it in the comment section below and I'll add you. My server has been crashing  as I try to open mail or write this post on Typepad!

Despite a formidable looking recipe, our valiant Bread Baking Buddies decided to try their hand at making the Poilane-Style Miche.  And the results are beautiful.

Here they are! Please go to their blogs and see how they did it. 

First out was Ulrike at Kuchenlatein, who produced her marvelous loaf in record time, because she already had her own starter in her fridge!  Well done.  We should all be so well prepared.

My friend Astrid at Paulchen's Food blog made this beautiful loaf, adding spelt flour to the dough. It was her first attempt at sourdough, and it came out great.

Gea at Koekje Van Eigen Deeg produced this lovely loaf. Looking at those perfect slices makes me hungry for a sandwich.  Corned beef, anyone?

Look at the beautiful design Jude, at Apple Pie, Patis & Pate, made on his bread. Marvelous!  It's a work
of art.

Unfortunately, I left out Soepkipje at Ipernity! Look at this beautiful loaf.  That was a crime!

I also left out Gretchen at Canela & Comino!  She had to contend with the fact that she can buy almost any kind of flour, but whole wheat flour wasn't available.  But, like a true baker, she persevered and created her beautiful loaf.

Judy at Judy's Gross Eats was faced with the eccentric nature of this starter. But, she persevered (thank heavens for us) and produced beautiful bread! 

Bread Baking Babes

• A Fridge Full Of Food - Glenna
• Bake My Day - Karen
• Breadchick - Mary
• Cookie Baker Lynn - Lynn
• Grain Doe - Gorel
• I Like To Cook - Sara
• Living on bread and water - Monique
• Lucullian Delights - Ilva
• My Kitchen In Half Cups - Tanna
• Notitie Van Lien - Lien  (Our wonderful logo and Badge designer)
• Thyme For Cooking - Katie
• What Did You Eat? - Sher

 

 

WHB: Southwestern Corn Chicken Chowder

There it was, way in the back of my pantry, a can of Campbell's Chunky Corn Chicken Chowder. Judging by the layer of dust on the top of the can, it was bought some time ago.  It was time to eat it or turn it into a paper weight.  Unfortunately, I don't like the odd taste of the cream base in canned chowders.  They always have a stale taste that overpowers the soup.  But, I figured that adding herbs, and some sort of booze, would help rescue this tired can of chowder. And it did.  It took additions of cumin, cilantro, poblano pepper, and dry sherry, but I wound up satisfied with the results.  It wasn't great, but it was good.  The cream base wasn't stale anymore.  The vegetables were mushy, but if I replaced them all with fresh vegetables, I wouldn't really have canned soup anymore.  It's like plastic surgery, a little is OK, but too much should be avoided, lest we not be able to recognize ourself.

WCB: The Way We Were....

My tomatoes for this year are growing well, but it's all rather bittersweet.  Each day, when I go out to the garden, I remember how Upsie would sit on the raised box next to the tomatoes, guarding them from tomato worms.  How I miss my beautiful girl! 

Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted this week by Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats.  Mind Of Mog is hosting The Bad Kitty Cats Festival Of Chaos, our buddies Kashim and Othello are hosting The Carnival of Cats, and last but not least,  The Friday Ark is at The Modulator

PPN: Confetti Couscous, With Dried Cherries And Pistachios

Thanks to everyone for motivating me to stop complaining about the cherry harvest.  Your enthusiasm made me realize that this was a gift to be enjoyed.  I saw how inferior the cherries in the grocery store looked, compared to mine.  So, after giving away nearly 30 pounds to neighbors, I got busy drying, freezing, and cooking the rest. 

Years ago, back when I made my own yogurt and granola, my mother gave me a dehydrator to dry food.  A lot of dried bananas, pineapple, and apples were produced with that machine, but eventually I packed it away, where it sat on a shelf in the garage for years, lonely and unappreciated.  My husband once told me to throw it away, but I couldn't do that.  So, I was very happy to haul it down from the shelf and dry some of the cherries.  Naturally, I thought of my mother.  I wish she was still alive to see the cherries and eat this dish.  It tasted much better than I expected. The sweet cherries, crunchy pistachios, soft couscous, seasoned with mint and basil, created a most enjoyable meal.

Daring Bakers: Opera Cake

This Month's Hosts:   Ivonne, Lis, Fran, and Shea 

Another Daring Baker Challenge, and it introduced me to a famous cake I never knew existed!  The Opera Cake was first introduced to the world in 1903 and has been quite popular since then.  But, I've never heard of it until now.  Maybe our noble founders of Daring Bakers, Ivonne of CreamPuffs In Venice, and Lis of La Mia Cucina, assisted by Fran at Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea at Whiskful, knew there were people like me, and wanted to enlighten us.  Well, I'm very happy that they chose this recipe. I admit that my first glance at the recipe made me groan. It was so long and I immediately thought...too complicated. Then I remembered that a long recipe can actually be easy to make, because everything is spelled out clearly. And so it was.  I made this cake over a period of several days and easily assembled it on Mother's Day, for a party I attended.

This lovely recipe is dedicated to Barbara of Winos And Foodies, the driving force behind LiveStrong Day.  If you haven't already done so, stop by her blog and see beautiful, funny, and inspiring photos and stories.

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries: Cherry Syrup

Project Cherry, Day 2.   I made cherry syrup, which used almost five pounds of fruit.  It also meant I used the dreaded cherry pitter again.  But, it was worth the effort when the syrup was made and bottled. I love the sight of cherry, pomegranate, or raspberry syrup drizzled over ice cream, pancakes, or Greek yogurt.  Food should please the eye, as well as the taste buds, and a ribbon of bright red syrup usually makes a dish taste better.  But, not if it's one of those fruit syrups from the grocery store that contain little fruit, but lots of sugar and artificial flavorings.  This syrup may seem too high in sugar, but it's much less than many commercial brands.  Since this is a syrup, it contains as much sugar as fruit, which produces a good texture.  Some of the sugar could be reduced, if you don't mind a thin syrup that runs all over the plate.  I don't mind the sugar, as I generally only use a tablespoon of it at a serving.

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries

How did you spend your Memorial Day Holiday?  I've spent mine trying to deal with the best sweet cherry harvest ever.  For reasons I can't fathom, my dwarf cherry tree produces almost nothing one year, then huge amounts of fruit the following year.   But, I've never seen anything like this year's bounty.  At first it was thrilling to stand under the branches, yanking the cherries off, popping them in my mouth, and spitting the seeds out on the ground.  It's the best way to eat them, in my opinion.  But, eventually it was time to start some serious harvesting, or all that fruit would shrivel up on the branches.  So, I've spent the last three days picking cherries, with help from Bob.