Tag Archives: summer

Zucchini for Xerxes and Anyone Else with Too Much Zucchini

This photo of zucchini above was sent from my husband the day that our kids and I got on a plane for a vacation. I imagine by the time we return, Xerxes will be exhausted by our zucchini. The scary part is this photo is only about the fourth day of harvesting. The zucchini takeover has only just begun.

So, I am actually not writing this post for you at all today, because I imagine you did not overdo the number of zucchini and summer squash you planted just a couple of months ago. I know you are not contemplating ways to eat it in absolutely every single meal for the next month. Xerxes on the other hand is needing some help. Fortunately, he is an awesome cook, especially anything Italian, and so I decided to put together a list just for him. I am sure he would love more help, so please leave a comment with your favorite way to gobble up way too much zucchini, too. Of course, if you decide to try any of these recipes, I would love to hear about that as well.

Without further ado, here are some zucchini recipes for Xerxes… and you:

Crispy Zucchini Sticks Love fried zucchini? Try them a bit more guilt-free in the oven.

Zucchini Soup My family’s favorite. This is an essential recipe for anyone with too much summer squash.

Cheese & Mustard Zucchini Delights This is an ode to the Cheese & Mustard Delights that my best friends from college taught me to make & love.

Skillet Zucchini & Potatoes Lighten up a potato dish with a bit (or a lot) of zucchini.

Grilled Zucchini Meatballs Zucchini is stuffed in the meatballs and around the meatballs, giving each ball a little zucchini hug.

Grilled Zucchini & Peaches Stone fruit & zucchini become magic on the grill, then they are drizzled with lemon basil goodness.

Lemon Summer Squash & Walnut Pasta For the pasta lover (hey, Xerxes!)

Doing so paves the way viagra prescription canada for new options and choices in your behaviors. Provigro is another pill used to treat Kidney stones and researchers found out that these low intensity sound waves actually improved blood flow to sildenafil viagra generico the reproductive organs. All the female viagra india http://seanamic.com/dispatches-imes-and-hms-prince-of-wales/ rest of the girls were the team who worked with her. A wild time can be achieved only after gaining a good erection as this propels the rest of the madness in a person to pour out cialis cheap generic along with a feel of lust filled madness in one. Swiss Cheese Zucchini Melt A recipe inspired by Julia Child. Yes, it is meltingly decadent.

Summer Squash Pancakes The classic zucchini pancake.

Zucchini & Tomato Bread Salad Leftover bread? Leftover Zucchini? Make this panzanella salad… pronto!

Zucchini Antipasto Salad Your favorite antipasto platter and your favorite summer squash tossed into salad form.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread My favorite zucchini bread recipe… probably because it is packed with chocolate.

Zucchini Corn & Quinoa Wraps These balanced wraps travel well for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Peach & Summer Squash Quinoa A pretty little salad that celebrates one of my favorite summer combinations: squash and stone fruit.

What do you make with your zucchini abundance? Tell me below!

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well,

Chef Lilly

Mint Almond Cherry Salad

Rule Breaking Grilled Potato & Greens Salad

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Summer meals are often all about the ingredients: the ripest tomatoes with a fancy-ish cheese, crispy cucumbers with vinaigrettes, zucchini blended into the simplest soups.

And then there is this salad.

While finding the highest quality version of each of the merely seven ingredients in this salad is of course a super-dooper idea, it is not quite as necessary as acquiring a perfect tomato for your caprese.

You see the magic actually happens after the ingredients mingle and dance together.

This is not something I knew when I first started whipping it up. I ignored all sorts of rules about heat & acid when my mind wandered to the fantasy of a perfect Potato Salad with a dressing lighter than the cloying mayo kind, with grilled instead of boiled potatoes, a drizzle of tangy yogurt and more greens than anyone should ever put in this salad and still name it after the spud.

But, I made it anyways. (Dare I say… ala Julia Child’s quote “In cooking you must have a what the hell attitude”.)

The initial result of my wild idea was not very poetic. A more perfect person, would probably have required a silky dressing properly soaking each wedge of artfully grilled potato and maybe they would all rest on a fluffy bed of greens. Instead, I looked at the mess of a salad I made and saw curdled globlettes of yogurt twisting through the singed, way too dark in spots, potato wedges. And then there were the greens: some were entirely wilted and others that were still seemingly raw.

Oh, the disappointment. But, oh well, my family had to eat and that was what I was serving, pretty or not, here it comes.

So apparently, the lemon based dressing managed to curdle in the heat, but instead of the usual awkward cheese moment, it somehow became little droplets of goodness. And the random decisions each baby green made as they either wilted or stayed crisp managed to make complete sense too. At least in our mouths as we gleefully chewed away.

Unlike the standard heavy potato salad this one is best hot or room temperature. It loses a bit of magic when icy chilled, although, I have been known to grab a cold wedge of potato with sauce & greens clinging to it and munch down happily without complaint.

In a shameless final promotion of this salad, I just made it recently for the World Cup Final. Sadly, we had to leave during overtime, merely moments before the only goal in the game. As I went to pack up the last dredges of our salad, every guest asked if they could take another serving before it went sailing out the door. Yes, it is that good. And the ingredient list is nice and compact, too:
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Grilled Potato & Greens Salad
serves 2-3 people

1 1/2 pounds red or yukon potatoes (any thin-skinned potato will work well)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 cups arugula, spinach, or another tender baby green
1/2 cup basil, optional (roughly torn)

Heat a grill over medium-high. Cut the potatoes into wedges (if they are small, leave them whole) and toss lightly with half of the olive oil. Place directly on the grill, reduce to medium, cover and sear for 6-10 minutes. Reduce the heat slightly, if the potatoes are not becoming tender. Once grill marks appear, flip over and sear on the other side for 6-10 minutes until cooked through.

Meanwhile, whisk together the garlic, salt, yogurt, lemon zest and juice. Slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil while whisking rapidly.

Roughly chop the arugula or other greens and basil. Fold the greenery into the dressing. As soon as the potatoes are grilled, toss into the greens & dressing.

Serve warm or room temperature.

Day 50: Sugar Free Challenge and Peaches n’ Cream

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For this 50th day of blogging, I am most excited to tell you about the Sugar Challenge my family and I have taken on for the last three weeks. Here I posted about the first day of the challenge, but I have yet to tell you why and what we are doing.

This past year, I have had an internal debate about whether I am addicted to sugar or not. Stress, pregnancy, and some health frustrations all pointed in the direction of my needing to eliminate sugar, but deep inside my inner brat screamed “I wanna COOKIE!”

I noticed I wasn’t alone in demanding sugar treats. Most of us in the family, spent the evenings looking for a sweet way to end the day: a bit of chocolate, ice cream, the occasional cookie. At the start of the day, drizzling on honey or maple syrup, whipping up scones, buying pastries or pouring a bowl of sweet granola was common around here. Nut Butter & Jam sandwiches were also quite popular- anytime of day.

Starting with asking Lulu and Xerxes, we agreed we could do it! We would give up sugar. But, adding merely three years old Juliette to the mix was a bit more of a question. The more I considered the possibility the more I realized how much we relied on sugar to get all of us including her, through the day. “Get in the car and we can go get ice cream.” “Please be quiet and you can have this cookie”. UGH! What if we didn’t have sugar to even offer her? At the very least we would have to figure something else out. Right?!

So, I had a chit-chat with Juliette a few days before we started the challenge and we discussed what contained sugar, what did not and why we needed a break. I still wondered the best strategy for those times when she is offered candy. Man, people love giving kids candy! And I am totally not talking about strange creepy men pulling over in vans. Rather, I am talking about her dance teacher or the super ~~cute~~ nice guys at the liquor store who are so charmed by her patience as I search through Argentine wines. Considering the teeny-tiny lollipop they all love giving her, I was fine discussing with her that they do have sugar in them, but still letting her have them since it was a gift from a nice person. The last thing I need to do is give her some crazy disfunction where sugar becomes the forbidden fruit that she has to devour in hysteria. Growing up in a semi-hippie style, I have seen this happen and it ain’t pretty. A casual lollipop sends the message that this is a real rarity and not a daily treat. And most importantly, Mama doesn’t eat them or give them to her. Only nice random *trusted* people do. UGH. Oh- the challenges of raising children… in this sugar obsessed ~~family~~ society we live in.

Overall, we all seem to be doing well with the challenge. If anything, Juliette’s 1-2 times per week lollipop may put her in the category of cheating less than the adults who, I swear, are even more exposed to sugar outside the home. I just found out about how Lulu (aka Sharon, my fabulous Mother-in-Law) cheated a bit with a bite of brownie as she wrote in her blog. Of course, she says nice things about me, so I forgive. And Xerxes also seems to bump into the challenge more frequently than Juliette and I do. Although, I did eat a few dried apricots recently at a friend’s house. They were damn good. I can’t wait to get back to eating those.

The other challenge of the challenge was finding a challenge that we could actually swallow. (Challenging sentence, eh? Oh, this is out of control. I’ll stop.)

There was one big and popular sugar challenge that has a slight Palio twist to it, but they appeared to allow a few non-sugar sweeteners such as Xylitol and Stevia. I don’t eat those really normally, we are more into honey & maple syrup as sweeteners, but my focus for this challenge was to really say good-bye to sweetness for awhile, including the arguably natural ones.

The popular challenge also said no fruit. I completely understand giving up juice and dried fruit as they have been processed and no longer contain the fiber or juice that aid in digesting them, but giving up fresh, nutrient packed whole fruit seemed silly to me. Especially for a toddler and nursing mother. Lulu and I found other challenges and decided to mix the best of all of them into our own challenge that we would do as a family for six weeks. We saw them ranging from 21 days to 8 weeks, which made 6 weeks seem rational.

Here are the basics:

No More:
Sugar or processed syrups
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Honey
Agave Nectar
Natural or scary artificial sweeteners
Dried Fruit
Juice

Okay, in moderation:
Whole Fruit
Alcohol
Frozen Fruit & berries

Fresh fruit has been getting us through the tough days when our inner voice whines for sweetness. For the photo above, we simply whipped cream with a splash of almond extract and piled it high with sliced Colorado peaches. Delight.

After writing this post, Juliette, Xerxes, and I went to a birthday party. The Mom, a dear friend makes beautiful healthy cuisine and knows how to splurge to make a gorgeous dessert. We couldn’t resist and had to eat the Lemon Cake. It was heavenly, because let’s face it, when sugar is given a dose of time and love it can be out of this world. It did taste incredibly sweet, but if I had to cheat, it would only be with something so lovely and divine. Today is exactly half way through. I am looking forward to getting back on track with the challenge. Honestly, today’s experience made me aware that maybe as a family we could collectively give up sugar within these walls, but still make cookies for a friend who needs cheering up or enjoy a treat that is given to celebrate a year of living!

We shall see where this challenge takes us. So far so good!

Cheers,

Lilly

After a lovely morning with friends, I decided we should head out for a walk to the library. As the clock ticked and my preparations seemed ever delayed by a distraction or child in need, it was suddenly clearly lunch time.

To slow the ‘getting out the door process’ further, I decided we really should have a picnic just a bit further past the library at the park with a gazebo. I figured we could spread out a blanket and have a lovely time.

When that grandiose plan was finally packed and tucked in the stroller and we were rolling away, I saw out of the corner of my eye our dog Rhubarb effortlessly come through the base of the fence. Arghaugh!

I know at this point, you are thinking why did I not take the poor pup with me in the first place? Clearly, Rhubarb would agree with your sentiments.

However, if you saw me pushing the extra wide stroller stuffed with a picnic, baby bag and an infant dangling out of the Bjorn carrier, you would have begged me to leave the dog at home. I could barely walk with this set up and yet I was determined. Rhubie went into the house sadly, but please know she did go for a walk later in the day, when I had a buddy to assist us.

About four blocks into this adventure, Juliette started making proclamations of hunger, at which point I realized I forgot the crackers for lunch. I also noticed Zed’s head, which is normally easy to cover with the ergo pack, was well on its way to a sad baby sunburn.

At first, when I suggest to Juliette we turn around, explaining the crackers were missing and maybe it best we just have lunch at home, she was adamant that we carry on and that she was still in fact hungry. Hmmm…

So, I tried again this time suggesting we just quickly run home and grab the crackers. She agreed to this, if she was able to push the stroller. Fine by me.Side-by-side we pushed the stroller. She casually suggested that maybe it would be best if we had a picnic at home on the front lawn and then tomorrow we go to the library.

What a perfect plan!

The picnic was really a treat. We spread out a blanket, Zed kicked next to us and we arranged a small pile of each item in between us: a stack of cucumber slices and provolone cut in quarters, tuna salad and a bottle of bright yellow mustard.

I started with a few combinations of the four items. Next I suggested she show me her favorite combination. She put the stacks into various bold combinations: two slices of cheese with a blob of tuna and a few drips of yellow mustard oozing out, a stack with each element, or cucumbers with the squishy center. Her selections were thoughtful and ever-changing.

We giggled. Chit-chatted about what to make for dinner. She then showed me a few ‘tricks’ and futile attempts to climb the tree we were under. It was one of those joyful moments you hope gets saved in that part of the brain for when you need to remember how incredible life is and your endless supply of blessings.

Of course, I wanted to stay there as long as possible. Drinking in the delight of the moment but my grand plans to make mozzarella distracted me and I talked Juliette in to joining me inside for the next food project.

While I started the mozzarella making process, I read that my junket rennet wasn’t good enough. Then I accidentally heated the milk too high and had to wait for it to cool. Actually, that was the first of two over reheats. It probably should have taken less than an hour total and I was already nearly three hours into the process.

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Of course, I also started a salad to go with the main dish during the madness of cheese making. I seem to have lots of happy memories of combining peach & summer squash together. They are sort of my own personal Colorado version of that dynamic duo: basil & tomato.

Every year I seem to have a new peach & squash staple salad, including the Peach & Summer Squash Quinoa or the Grilled Zucs & Peaches. This years version was all about the current state of our garden: green & yellow squash, super spicy arugula, sweet as can be basil, and an enthusiastic nasturtium plant. My refrigerator donated a Colorado peach that I have been coveting in the final days of the season and a rather dry Homemade Ricotta. I was quite pleased with the finished product, although, I did have to add a generous amount of salt. If you use feta cheese instead or prefer things low-salt, scale back on it a bit and add more as needed. If possible, add plenty of salt to the dressing since it will help flavor up the squash as it marinates.

Summer Squash, Peach & Nasturtium Salad

3 small to medium sized Summer squash (yellow, straight-necked, zucchini, etc)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon balsamic
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (adjust as needed)
1/2 cup dry Homemade Ricotta or Queso Fresco
2 small to medium sized peaches
1 cup arugula
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup nasturtiums, about 6-10 blossoms

Cut the squash into diagonals and then again in halves. Or slice them in half moons. Either way, the thinner the better.

Whisk the dijon, balsamic and salt (start with half the salt, if your prefer) together in the salad bowl and slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking quickly until it is thoroughly combined. Fold in the slices of summer squash into the dressing and let sit for at least 5-10 minutes, but the longer the better.

Just before serving, fold in the crumbled cheese. Then lightly toss in the peaches, arugula, basil and nasturtiums.

Enjoy and sweet dreams!

Lilly

I don’t often shop at regular, national chain grocery stores. I try to buy from Farmers Markets, grow my own, often I go to places that have lots of bulk options or I hit up other interesting locally run shops. I would hardly say I buy our food from one spot.

But, when I lived in Colorado before our stint in Tucson, I actually shopped at King Soopers all the time.

#1 I could walk there and I loved the walk, even on snowy days.

#2 They sold a whole lotta local food and had a decent organic or other natural food selection too. Woot, woot!

For whatever reason, not all King Soopers are the same, it seems. As a personal chef, I shopped at whatever grocery my clients wanted or whichever was closest to them and it gave me an opportunity to notice the pros & cons of each place.

The one near us now after our return to Denver is so-so at best. This past week, I saw an ad that said Colorado grown green beans were on sale. I was quickly sold and we headed to the store for those as well as cabbage, peaches and a couple other fabulous local goodies, too.

Since I had a good ton of green beans, I wanted to do something that made them sparkle and shine a bit. So, I steamed them. Added some sweet onions at the end for a quickie blanch and then gave them a cold shower until they were salad ready.

Xerxes picked cherry tomatoes for me in the rain, while I whipped up the dressing and toasted pine nuts. The feta was easy enough to crumble on top- feel free to use more than I did too!

Italian Cherry Tomato & Green Bean Salad

4 cups of trimmed greens beans
1 small sweet onion (or half of a big one)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
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4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch of black pepper ground to taste
2 ounces feta cheese (about 1/4 cup crumbled) more or less depending on how much cheese you want

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Trim the green beans and cut the sweet onion into thin slices.

Once the water is boiling, add most of the salt (save about a 1/2 teaspoon) and dump in the trimmed green beans. Simmer for 4-8 minutes until the green beans are tender to the bite. Add the onions and swirl around until the strips are intertwined with the green beans.

Drain the onions & green beans into a bowl of ice water (or if you are feeling lazy, spray the green beans with icy cold water from you facet). Shake the green beans dry.

Meanwhile, place the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat. Shake in the pan for about 1-3 minutes until they are each kissed with a bit of color.

Whisk together the mustard, balsamic and remaining salt in a large salad bowl. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. Taste. Add more salt and even a bit of black pepper to taste.

Toss the green beans, onions, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and feta cheese together. Taste. Add more cheese, salt and pepper as desired if needed.

Serve this unfussy, tossed salad with a baguette to mop up the drips.

Sweet dreams, friend,

Lilly

Just a day past the 40th and again it feels time to reflect. First, I am patting myself on the back. For whatever reason, starting and maintaining a blog has been an annoying challenge for me. I have started and stopped numerous blogs, always feeling guilty and bummed by my failure.

The other night, as I sat in that super loud restaurant contemplating life rather than chatting with my husband who was out of speaking distance sitting a mere 2-feet away, I finally figured it out! You see, I started this 100-day series because just saying to myself “you will blog everyday” has clearly never worked. Instead, saying “you will blog for 100 days” seemed doable.

Now, I am a bit addicted and determined. But, something seemed to be missing. Rambling everyday about what I am eating was a great starting point, but now I want to offer more. And for the last several days I wasn’t sure what that may be. I considered many possibilities… Top 10 this, Top 5 that, Best of something, etc. But, this little voice in the back of my head said “too challenging”. While in some ways that may sound like a Little Hater (love this video!) which is more often than not the case. But this time, was different. I know the moment I take on too much, I fail. Miserably.

I still wanted to do something that would keep me close to my family without spending extra hours on the computer. Then that little voice whispered “what about recipes”.

Dugh! Of course! When I first started Lilly’s Table I prepared, wrote, and photographed 3-5 recipes everyday. That initial effort created quite an arsenal of at least 1000 recipes for members to play around with. Whether they are creating there own meal plan or they are following the one I create every week.

During the crazy transition this past year and the arrival of Zedekiah, I decided to stress less about 3-5 recipes per day. But, ONE per day!? Now, that I can handle. And for you, dear reader, wouldn’t you enjoy seeing my process of recipe development a bit more?

Now that I have rambled long and loud about my next step during this 100day process, here is what I have to share about today’s recipe…

As you know, my fam and I are on a sugar detox. I love baking and cooking on the weekends and doing something a bit outside of the box for breakfast. Many times, this is sweet and each of us adores my scone recipe, which only has about a 1/4 cup of sugar in it. Thinking about it further, I figured scones are just a sweet biscuit, right? Wouldn’t a biscuit taste pretty good stuffed with bits of Colorado fresh peaches?

This past February when I was preparing my Tucson Supper Club I researched graham crackers and found out it was simply a cracker made from graham flour. I remember noting that I had no idea where to buy it.

The other day I saw graham flour for the first time at the store for just a a couple bucks. Without much thinking the graham flour landed in my cart.

As I envisioned these unsweet scones, the flavorful graham flour suddenly had a use. But, if a package of graham flour didn’t land in your shopping cart recently, just substitute a whole wheat flour.

Peach Graham Biscuits

1 cup all-pupose flour
1/2 cup graham flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
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5 tablespoons butter, cold & cut in pieces
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract, optional
1-2 peaches, washed and chopped (Our peaches are giant, but if you have small ones, use two)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Toss together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, press the butter into the flour until it is pea-sized and grainy.

Pour in the milk and almond or vanilla extract. Gently fold the mixture together, until it is just combined. It will be super wet. And as I recently read about biscuits, the wetter the better.

ALSO- when I say “until it is just combined” I mean it. The moment you over do it with the mixing, the biscuits will become sad and tough. Gentle with your dough. Gentle.

With that delicate touch, fold in half of the chopped peaches. Barely. This is not an opportunity to overdo it! Gentle.

Use a bit of butter, or as I like to do take the butter wrapper that is still a bit greasy, and wipe it around a 8-10 inch cast iron pan or cake pan. Scoop up the biscuit batter and dollop in six big blobs in a circle.

Gently press the remaining peaches on top of each glob. At this point, I would be seriously tempted to sprinkle the top with a bit of course sea salt next time. Just to add another element of character, but please know that I did not actually try it. Yet. If you do, please tell me about that experience in the comment section.

Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden and the biscuits are fluffing up. Cut in wedges and serve warm.

Remember, these are unsweet, savory with little kisses of peachy sweetness.

Speaking of kisses…

xoxo,

Lilly

We are heading out to go camping tomorrow. This meant the day was spent planning, packing and other endless distractions most typically created by my sweet children. The morning began with my Mom’s tasty granola, coffee and milk.

Somewhere in there I felt hyped up by the long to-do list and decided to forget about it all for a bit and go for that jog I keep attempting daily.

When I got home, my tummy was growling and Xerxes had finished cooking the chicken for the lunches we were taking the next two days on our camping trip.

I chopped it all up and then Juliette helped me whip up the dressing and pulled the grapes off of the stems, so I was able to cut them into quarters. I also chopped zucchini and cucumbers to add. We tossed in chopped almonds and called it a salad.

It was pretty darn good. Xerxes, Juliette, my Mom and I nearly ate half of it. Fortunately, it is not the only dish on the lunch menu for the camping trip.

Within a couple of hours, my Mom and I were packing the kiddos in the car to go to the grocery store for the remaining camping foods.

The discount cialis healthier you are, and the healthier you will be when you are ready to retire and dash off and do all of those great things that you have to take while utilizing this pharmaceutical. Till now hip pain was a complicated topic to study, but with the advent of regenerative treatments there are many possibilities. viagra on line We always ship using respitecaresa.org lowest prices for sildenafil Canada Post Expedited Service with personalized tracking. A man needs to take the tadalafil generic cheap pill an hour before you start with your love making session. When we returned I was determined to master the dough that had failed last Saturday. I mean, if you are frantically packing up for a camping trip, the obvious step is to prepare Homemade Pizzas, right? But, all we could consider was the homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella that clearly needed some attention we would be unable to give when we were away.

In the meantime, we were giving Saturday night’s dough a second chance to prove itself and let it raise for almost 2 days on the counter. It seemed to have more life than I anticipated. So, in the end the mozzarella cheese and homemade tomato sauce had enough dough for six pizzas. A bit excessive for the four adults and one toddler they were meant to serve.

After letting the dough sit, I prepared the remaining camping food, including Homemade Marshmallows! I can tell my Mom wanted to protest the marshmallow project, but I convinced her that after making four batches in one week, Xerxes and I could make them in our sleep. That was clearly an over-statement on my part as it took quite a bit longer than expected. Regardless those Marshmallows look damn good.

My brother arrives at midnight to join us for camping/huckleberry picking fun. So, I will be staying up a bit longer, but I hope you my friend have sweet and *marshmallow fluff* dreams!

Lilly

Last night, my Mom gave Juliette a ‘milk cow’ similar to the one I had as a child. Juliette was thrilled with her new gift and willingly went to bed dreaming of ways to use it, I am sure. The next morning, Mimi and her sat down for homemade granola with the cow ready to go.

After our morning run, Xerxes requested French Toast and I was happy to oblige. My Mom’s Honey Whole Wheat is soft & dense and makes for an incredibly hearty French toast. This particular batch when sliced looks a bit like this, too:

Angel French Toast

As the day progressed we were busying ourselves preparing for our camping trip and shredding branches in the back yard. Lunch quickly became leftover Moussaka, pasta salad and Cucumber Dill Feta Salad.

About midday we packed up to go wine tasting. We started our mission at one of our favorites, Kiona Winery. It is run by grandparents of a darling gal who my sister and I danced with. When we arrived our server was actually the mom of another family who not only danced, but who went to our church and school growing up. It was fun to see her again and of course to sample the lovely wines she poured in the gorgeous tasting room.

Kiona Winery Tasting Room

Next, we headed to my favorite Winery of all time: Fideltas. The family also attended our church (noticing a trend? Catholics apparently love wine) and the eldest daughter was one of my favorite first ballet students. Apparently, she has not only graduated from college (wow, feeling old!) but she is in the PeaceCorp (wowsa, feeling impressed!)

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Picnic at Fidelitas

But, despite the connections we actually adore this winery because it is just ridiculously good. Every time I sip Fidelitas I feel this is how wine should taste. Simple, rich. Perfect, lovely. And I am actually not alone in my admiration. Charlie Hoppes was named Winemaker of the Year by Seattle Magazine.

We also met up with my ballet director Debra Rogo, her husband Joel and their daughter who is about to enter graduate school. They were holding a meeting to plan a fabulous fundraiser next year and I look forward to hearing how the plans will transpire. Debra also became a big hit with Juliette when she let her play a cupcake game on her Ipad.

Debra showing Juilette how to play the cupcake game.

After our tasting, we headed outside to dine on a picnic of my Dad’s smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, and a bit more. It was a gorgeous view and just a tiny bit too hot, but we loved it.

The afternoon fun ended with a quick trip to Costco to stock up on a few items for the camping trip. We also grabbed a chicken that everyone munched on with veggies and dip for a easy, not too filling dinner since our picnic was late in the afternoon.

May your dreams be as perfect as the sips of wine I tried earlier today,

Lilly

My Mom and family certainly taught me a lot about cooking. Less about technique and more about the philosophy of eating whole foods straight from the earth. We grew up with my Mom grinding red winter wheat for bread and my parents grew as much as possible in their garden. It was never a preachy lesson. We certainly could eat whatever we truly wanted, but our home was stocked with goodness and this is what I do for my own family without really over-analyzing it on a day to day basis.

When we woke up this morning, Mimi asked Juliette what she would like to have for breakfast. Juliette insisted that we did not bring anything from home and therefore, she stated frantically “there is nothing for us to have!”

We explained Mimi had her Honey Whole Wheat and we could make Eggs in a Hole— one of Juliette’s favorite! Mimi looked at me a bit wide-eyed and said I do not know how to make it. I said I would walk her through it, but Juliette insisted she would show her how. In the end, I made breakfast, Mimi made coffee and Juliette chatted both of us up.

We brought breakfast out on to the back picnic table and had a lovely morning together. Until… a bee stung my Mom and then stuck it’s stinger into Juliette. 🙁

They both screamed in shock and pain. Soon we were racing around trying to make baking soda pastes and pulling the stinger out of Juliette’s toe. My Mom’s leg swelled with the venom (or something) too. They were both pretty miserable and with Xerxes still feeling run down we decided the rest of the morning would be spent watching Finding Nemo. It seemed to do the trick, although, my Mom’s leg is still a bit swollen and hurting.

Lunch was simply quesadillas with big dollops of sour cream, more Black Bean & Corn Salad and a homemade salsa my Mom made before we arrived.

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We started chopping zucchinis, cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh herbs. I whipped up lemon zest, juice, a mustard aioli, and extra virgin olive oil. That was dumped on penne and tossed with chunks of swiss cheese and kalamatas. My Mom also made her famous Green Beans Almandine to go along with it. For dessert, some of us had Neapolitan and others had Tillamook Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

Zed showing off his winning smile!

Overall, it was a lovely evening spent with friends and a preview of the fun to be had at tomorrow’s event where we will get to show Zed off to even more friends.

Good night buddies, may your dreams be delicious!

Lilly

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