Caramel Fanatico

Friends found an article in the local paper about a Zinnia Farm in Zamora so we checked it out.  It was a pick your own flowers place. There were buckets of water, clippers to use, baskets and glass jars to arrange the flowers and take home ... all completely free. This was the second year Metzger's Farm in Yolo has offered the Zinnia Farm but we didn't know about it. It was a pretty great stop, a total feel good from start to finish. There was no one to thank, so we left our clippers behind for others to use. I'm taking 5 cheerful bouquets to work tomorrow.

The other fun part happened a couple of weeks ago when I made caramel sauce for the first time. Caramel is one of those amazing kitchen chemical miracles. You add heat ... sugar ... butter ... and cream and it transforms into this creamy rich dark gooey caramel yumminess.

I took 4 oz jars to my test lab (work friends) and they went nuts. As they talked about it little spittles formed at the edge of their mouths. Not really. But I did hear reports that husbands cleaned the jars and requested refills. Some grandmothers who shall remain nameless resorted to hiding their jar from their family and wanting more even before the jar was empty. And one of my coworkers who has this tiny little body and never eats ate the entire 4 oz jar with sliced apples while standing in the hallway as we all watched in awe.

I offered the recipe, but I was pretty much told to just make it for everyone forever and they would buy it. HA! So I turned it into a Relay fundraiser and in one week had over $200 in orders!

So part of my weekend also involved batches of Salted Caramel Sauce. I was blogging tonight and out of the blue came a photo of a bowl of vanilla ice cream with the caption that read: my ice cream is sad.  I'm not going to even think about my role in creating an office of Salted Caramel Sauce junkies.


I could balance the Federal budget with this!
                                              Fund universities!
                                                                   Create world peace!

Serve with my test lab recommendations ~ green apples, sliced banana, unsalted pretzels, marshmallows, Triscuits, strawberries, and ice cream.

I am told it is also very good twirled on a fork and eaten right from the jar. That's right, the Hubs knows his stuff.

The Father's Day Breakfast Pie Challenge

No this isn't our place but
in our heads this is what we see

The best part of the weekend is a leisurely breakfast enjoyed with a nice cup of Graffaeo coffee.  We're eggheads so weekends for us involve a full breakfast at least one of the days.  Omelettes, poached or over easy eggs. Potatoes. Fruit. Some type of meat. Maybe toast. 

Merr's Casserole

I started out with Egg McBagels when the kids were small - a scrambled egg on a toasted bagel with a slice of American cheese. But recently I've been making single serve omelettes for the Hubs on weekdays, 1 beaten egg folded over a few veggies and cheese, which he heats up at work. Sometimes it's oatmeal, sometimes cereal, but he's on the go earlier than I am and I'd rather him have some options for the week.

First, I eyed a friend's holiday brunch casserole as a possible option. It is really delicious.

Essentially it is sourdough sliced lengthwise and placed butter side down in a lasagna pan, a bunch of cheese layered over, your favorite cooked meat, some diced chiles, seasoned eggs and milk, and a 350 oven for about 1 hour 15. A meat strata. I mean, what's not to love.

It feeds an army, and you can individually package them up for the week.

Meat Lovers Pie

But I really wanted mine in muffin tins, true individual servings, and I didn't want sourdough to be an every day of the week thing, so I played around in the kitchen for something new.

I purposefully under beat the
egg to give the pie texture

Meat: Sautéed up 6 frozen zucchini pancakes and lined the bottom of sprayed muffin tins with them. There were leftover beef hot links in the fridge so I cubed and sautéed them with some onion. Each tin got 1/2 link and a handful of shredded Mexican cheese, and poured over it was a beaten egg (1) seasoned with ground pepper and garnished with leftover green chiles.   350 oven for about 22 minutes until set.

Meatless with leftover bagels
to line the outside

Without meat:  Leftover stale bagels were repurposed. I sliced them vertically in 1/2 slices and cut them in half so they stick up a little around the rim (3 per).  Cubed pepper jack cheese filled the center with 6 or 7 chunks, a small sprinkling of shredded Mexican cheese was added, and a beaten egg seasoned with -- a bit of sage, paprika and rosemary.  350 oven for about 22 minutes until set.

Remove from tin and serve (or cool)
right away so it does not overcook

They turned out! The zucchini made a nice bed and the meat was a pretty layer in the middle of the pie.  The bagels crisped up nicely with the meatless variety and gave it additional texture and crunch.  

But the Father's Day Breakfast Muffin Tin Challenge winner was~~~

The meatless!
It won out for the flavor combo with the pepperjack cheese. The meat wasn't even missed.

I was surprised, pleased. Anytime something can be repurposed instead of pitched, it's a good day. Working towards meatless, but it's a  s-l-o-w  go.

Fleetwood Max

Every day starts off pretty normal.  The way it goes is this:  after I'm 3/4 of the way through my first cup of coffee, somebody gets a little antsy.  She looks deeply into my eyes as she prances around, she whines and hops from one foot to the other.  Are you ready yet?
How about now?
Now? Now? Now?

I slide into flip flops, refill my cup and head out to the chuck it with ball wedged in the tree, waiting. Enthusiasm is running high.  We play throw and catch and find it in the tall weeds, all over the yard, and they are finally ready to start the day.  This is incidentally the same routine when the last bite of dinner is gone and the Hubs and I chat afterwards about our day. He cracks open an orange and the dogs are at my feet like lightning, begging for a piece from him and a game from me.

 

Today, there is something new in the drive. It's a Fleetwood Americana pop up tent trailer airing out in the sun. We explore that for a while and the dogs have to sniff and lay on every surface to see if it is comfortable, including the space below the table where they will park themselves during dinners on the road.

I sipped on my coffee and imagined being in Big Basin or Yosemite. And then we went out to play ball.

It has a peaceful energy, spacious inside with two large beds. We are hoping one will be for us and one for the dogs, but they do enjoy sprawling between us until we are clinging to the outer reaches of the mattress.

 

One of these units has always been on my wish list, but when the kids were small it was just as easy to tent camp, and we didn't have anywhere to store it or something to haul it.  

But now we do! So when we saw the ad, my love of camping and his love of fishing bubbled up happily and we thought it would be a lot of fun. We named him Max.

It's a big Father's Day surprise that I have arranged with our dear
friends in Portland to head up over Labor Day ... but hopefully we can get in a couple of overnights to break it in before then.

Surprise!! Happy Father's Day, sweetheart.  n



 
 

SOS

Temps are soaring and it looks like we got the drip system in for the herb garden just in time.  I made some salted caramel sauce for my buddies at work as we head into a strenuous week of usual. Sugar heals all wounds, and this stuff is delish. Thanks again for the recipe, Nell.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar, med heat, stirring constantly until it clumps and then melts smooth and darkens into a medium golden color, add 6 tablespoons cubed butter until melted (which is immediately), and then drizzle in 1/2 heavy cream (stirring still, right, so it doesn't burn). Cook 1 minute with it creeping up the sides of the pot, remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Cool a bit, pour into jars, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks. Warm slightly and serve over ice cream.

I've been a Dessert First kind of gal for most of my adult life. My dad had a jelly jar on the table and after dinner would take a big spoonful before leaving the table. It just seemed pretty obvious to me that when you hold off on the good stuff you sometimes miss out.  

The fruit flies got to some of our figs. A lot of them, actually. They were ready to pick early in the week and the time just got away from us, and figs don't wait very well. Add to that some pretty high temps on Fri*Sat*Sun and we missed the window. We picked some tonight but we'll be back watering and fertilizing her for the next yield in August. Live and learn.

Lots of green beans are on the vine even after having them Saturday night. Our first crop. The tomatoes are growing, and we are waiting for things to blush and redden. Two bushes on the end are stunted and turning brown (??) - no real reason for it, same soil, same nutrients, sun ... so I'll pull out some soil and freshen it when we replant more heirlooms. There's plenty of time for a late harvest. The corn didn't make it (my fault, we were gone) but the boysenberries have new growth and I'm glad about that.  Nectarine and apricot trees are doing okay. Little baby fruit is a cheerful sign.

I've been experimenting with a friend's breakfast bake (strata) recipe that uses leftover bread. I always like having something for the Hubs to take to work and warm up for breakfast.

Glass lasagna pan
Sourdough or other hearty bread sliced in 1/2 thick pieces and buttered on one side, lining the pan, butter side down
1 7oz can green chiles diced sprinkled over the bread
1 lb favorite breakfast meat - cooked - sausage, ham, bacon - evenly distributed
4 cups of cheese of your choice - I use Mexican white and yellow cheese -
Some finely chopped onion if you have it and want to add it (I omit) - sprinkle that on next

8 eggs whipped with 2 cups milk, 1/4 t. each of onion powder/dry mustard/oregano, pepper to taste.
I topped it with fresh oregano that was handy. Pour the egg mixture on top, cover with foil, and cook 45 minutes on 325 degrees. Remove foil, cook 10-15 minutes longer until set, and serve.

Thinking these days about some way to shield the artichokes from the hot sun because they aren't producing tender veggies ... and that got us to thinking about a garden cover that would essentially convert the raised beds into a greenhouse for the winter. That solves a ton of problems, will likely be a lot cheaper and it fits into the got it use it attitude we are learning about. The garden is perfectly capable of being utilized more of the year and shielding it from a freak winter freeze is a very good plan.

SOS:  Sunscreen or Suffer

Speaking of hot sun, just a reminder to be kind to your skin. I just had another skin cancer removed and so did the Hubs ... so when you are vigilant about spraying on that mosquito repellent be sure first you've slothered on the 50 spf sunscreen.  Skin cancer strikes every type of skin - those who tan easily like the Hubs are just as vulnerable as those with fair and pale skin like me.

We all know to cover up and layer on the sunscreen when going to water parks, the river, 4th of July picnics and all that. But did you know that skin damage happens through an accumulation of exposure also doing the kinds of things we do everyday?

Things like ~ walks in the morning * a quick trip to the garden for just 15-20 minutes * driving to and from work for years with the left side of your body in sun - face, shoulders and arm *  tossing the ball with the dogs 15 minutes in the morning and night. I don't remember to put sunscreen on for those types of activities or even before I dash over to the farmer's market on a trip home from the store.

Skin cancer is serious business, especially Melanoma. If you want to learn more about ways to be healthy and active outside, check out www.cancer.org.