Mental Note

Do not leave your box of Splenda packets under a box of dryer sheets for five days. Your coffee will taste like clothes line clean.

Spinach Salad

This is one of my favorites in the summertime. My aunt gave it to me with a beautiful salad bowl for my bridal shower. It's apparently very popular in their neighborhood. It sounds like a strange combination of ingredients, but it works.

1 bag of prewashed baby spinach (After spending a couple months of my life cleaning lettuce, chard, and spinach for a restaurant I almost always buy prewashed.)
1/4 c. toasted pecans
1 c. sliced strawberries
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. honey
1/3 c. rice wine vinegar
1 c. vegetable oil

Combine Dijon mustard, honey, vinegar, and vegetable oil in a bowl and mix well. The dressing can be made up to 5 days in advance. In a large bowl, place spinach, pecans, strawberries, and red onion. Toss slightly, being careful not to bruise the spinach. Somehow I always manage to overdress this salad, so use the vinaigrette sparingly at first.

Depending on how strong your mustard and vinegar are, you may adjust the amounts to taste. I find that this is one of the few recipes that doesn't benefit from salt and pepper.

Fact of the day

How can you tell if a hen will lay a white egg or a brown egg?

White egg layers have white ear lobes. Brown egg layers have red ear lobes.

This seems more believable than my uncle telling me that white milk came from white cows and chocolate milk came from brown cows. What can I say, I was really little and totally believed it.

Bread Salad, take 2

I was hoping to be able to make this a little later with some glorious tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers from my own garden, but I have been thwarted. The peppers are still flowers, the cucumbers are about the size of a toothpick with a flower on the end, and half the tomatoes have been eaten by some sort of insect. Damn the garden gods! Next year I will actually read about this before randomly sticking plants in pots and hoping for the best.

More than anything I have ever made, this is the recipe that people ask about the most. Here is my best shot of writing it down, but please note, that this is one of those things that you can change based on what you like and what you have around with no problems at all. It's really more of a guideline than a rule.

1 loaf sourdough bread cut into 1 inch cubes (I also use French or Italian based on what's available. I would not recommend using a baguette if for no other reason that it would be a huge pain to cut into pieces. You also want something with a little more middle of the loaf than a baguette would have.)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved and salted (Just put the cut tomatoes in a bowl with a pinch of salt, stir well, and let sit for about 15 minutes. This helps bring out the tomato flavor and gets some of the water pulled out. Any type of tomato would work and using different colored tomatoes just adds to the beauty of the salad.)
1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into pieces
1/2 red onion, finely diced
8-12 0z of mozzarella, cut into cubes (You can also use the mini mozzarella balls whose name is escaping me.)
1/3 c. basil, cut into thin strips
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1 c. + 1 Tb. olive oil
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 Tb. Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Place bread cubes and all crumbs from cutting them, onto a baking sheet. Drizzle the cubes with 1 Tb. olive oil. Sprinkle dried herbs and garlic powder evenly over the bread with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Toss together until cubes are well coated. You want to make sure to use the garlic powder and dried herbs instead of fresh because the fresh will burn while baking. Bake the cubes for 7 - 15 minutes until crisp, but not rock hard. Shake the tray occasionally to ensure none burn. When fully cooked, let them cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine remainder of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and fresh garlic. Stir until well combined and set aside.
In a large bowl place (in this order) red onion, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, mozzarella. The salad can sit for about an hour in the fridge until the cubes cool. Add the bread cubes, drizzle with dressing, and toss well. Add basil and toss again. Taste the bread cubes and adjust seasoning as necessary. Depending on the bread, you may need additional dressing. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

You can also add capers or black olives, if desired. I generally stay away from this, but it's a personal choice. You can also add pieces of cooked chicken if you'd like a bit heavier salad. This holds up really well for about two days in the fridge, but Matt will never eat it the day after. He thinks it tastes funny, but I think he's crazy.

Toronto

I just got back from a great three days in Toronto. The first day I was there I got to visit St. Lawrence Market, which is a great indoor market that used to be a grain depository for the Queen. The Queen of England that is. There is no Queen of Canada. See, Americans do know something about Canada.

The main floor was mainly butchers, cheese shops, and a couple of bakeries.
I think I found my home and the new wallpaper for my computer.
Pick a color, any color.
Maybe you prefer meat on a stick? This was only one part of one case for the butcher section. Most butchers had cases almost 30 feet long. I have never seen so much meat in one place, and I've been to The Hanger Club.
They even had stuff I could have gotten for Teddy if I hadn't had to get it past customs. Note Canadian boy in the backgroud looking at me like I'm a freak.Downstairs was produce, dry goods, and souvenirs. I love the different colors of potatoes.
Really blueberry and cherry? That seems pretty nasty.
Sunflower seeds anyone?
I totally should have bought the shirt on the left for Yo-yo Seibert.
It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back. I got to have dinner at a restaurant right on the water and watch the ships go by. A loverly way to spend an evening.

June Updates

So, I have been told that I have been slacking the in posting department. And I have. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.
I tried to make another souffle, this one with bacon, scallions, and cheese. There was an extra yolk and 2 strips of bacon which made this one much denser than the last. I probably wouldn't make it again. The salad was great, and the company was even better.
I made chicken stir fry with snap peas, broccoli, and scallions from the CSA. I added some peppers and carrots from the fridge so I didn't end up with a green and white dinner.

I think Matt liked the veggies.

The final product.

We've been getting the most beautiful eggs.

I love the little specks on each of the eggs. And the purple carton is awesome.

After a couple of souffles, I went back to basics this evening. Scrambled eggs and hash browns, sprinkled with scallions from this week.
My mini garden is growing well. There are a number of tomatoes coming in.
And the cucumbers are trying to come in the house.
And I love our local farmer's market. I bought this at the last one I went to.

Rising eggs

This week the delivery included parsley, red leaf lettuce, romaine, snap peas, bok choy, and radishes. And more eggs.

Since I still have some eggs left from last week I decided to make a souffle. I used this recipe (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/HERBED-PARMESAN-CHEESE-SOUFFLE-4472) and it work out great.

Egg whites whipped till stiff about to be folded into the souffle base.

Finished souffle. Fully cooked, unlike the last time I made one and served at a baby shower and served undercooked eggs to pregnant women.

I also made salad with homemade vingarette. Very French and a great way to spend an evening.