52 for 52 Week 28

Hello all! I hope you are doing well.  My weeks are starting to fly by and it's the end of July today!  Wow!  This week's new product is these juice shots from Numi Organics.  I've been able to try them as a sample here and there from a friend and I really enjoy them.  They are expensive but yummy.  The mind tonic has coco and coconut along with rishi and lion's mane mushrooms.  I wasn't sure about them at first but the flavor really grew on me and it's just this delightful richness. I also really love  the immune support.  This was a love right away.  If you are into juice shots I would recommend giving them a try.  Amazon sells a sample package.   I love just trying something new now and again.  

Have a great weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life July 24

Hello again!  Well this week has been kind of quiet. We went up to Door County again for a few days; I'm grateful to get away here and there.  I've also been working on putting away peaches and other food from our CSA.  It's a lot of work but I'm always super happy during the winter. I've also been doing some school work for the upcoming year getting ready for some sort of online teaching.  We still don't know what is happening.   But here are a few pics from the week.

Cocktail hour in Door County with a rosé.

Juniper trees are all over the county.  I think their berries are so pretty.

Another gorgeous view from Peninsula State Park.

Pasta salad for lunch with Banza pasta, cucumbers, herbs, feta and vinaigrette (white wine and olive oil) dressing.

I started making dilly beans.  I get a lot of requests for Christmas presents.  These beans are from my CSA and my plants are starting to bud.  

We have 2 boxes of peaches at the moment so I made a feast for lunch yesterday: peach, prosciutto and buratta salad with balsamic vinegar and zucchini fritters topped with tomato jam from last year. 

More peaches went into peach salsa too. 

Oh and peach muffins.  I use a recipe from Cookie and Kate for strawberry muffins, but sub peaches for strawberries - they work out great. 

I hope you had a great week and have a lovely weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 27

Hello! I hope you are doing well this week.  I may be a week off from my 52 for 52.  Oh well I'll see at the end of the year. This week I tried a different recipe for teff flour pancakes.  The picture may not be beautiful, but these pancakes were delicious.  I have another recipe from Run Fast Eat Slow, but they are pumpkin based and sometimes in the summer I don't want pumpkin.  If you never have used teff before the grains are crazy small.  Also if you have time let the batter rest for at least 10 minutes, my other recipe said for overnight if possible but I didn't try it with this one. I don't always think that much ahead for my breakfasts.  I love maple syrup and these pancakes sucked up the maple syrup - just a word of warning.  I served them with seasonal fruit; right now it is peaches, blueberries and raspberries. Please give teff a try even if you are not gluten free, but maybe this is something you can pass on to for your gluten free friends or family.  They really are delicious.

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth

My Midwest Life July 14

Hello all! Well another week has passed, plus a few more days.  Madeline and I went up to Door County this past week, plus my son took his senior pictures.  Time passes so fast.  I also picked up more peaches from the peach truck; I'll post pictures probably next week.    One of my newest finds, in my own town of course, was Lawrence University.  I didn't know how pretty it was until I walked all around it getting pictures done. 

A bridge over the street.

The Fox River, and my son on the left. I tried to stay out of the way. 

More river views.

Up in Door County again.  I think hollyhocks are just fun. 

Fish Creek.  I always love seeing a harbor.  

Before we went hiking we needed a little caffeine. We stopped at our favorite coffee shop, Base Camp Coffee north of Sister Bay.

Hiking at Newport State Park. The trail goes along Lake Michigan and has several changes in scenery.  

I hope you had a lovely week and are staying well and safe. 

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life July 8th

Hello and happy Wednesday.  I hope everything is going well for you this week. I feel last week and this week have revolved around 2 things at my house, the heat and peaches.  It has been a very warm summer around 88-90 degrees everyday and 70 at night.  Usually we head to Florida for a week or 2 during the early summer, but due to COVID 19 we didn't go. So Florida came up here, too bad I don't have a pool.  We're also steadily going through 2 large boxes of peaches before our next Tree Ripe shipment comes.  1 box is gone and we're 1/2 way through the other and I haven't canned anything.  I froze about a bag worth for smoothies and warm peach compote with cinnamon in the winter. (This is great on pancakes, waffles, oatmeal or even ice cream???) 

One day  we had peaches with every meal, at least my eldest, Madeleine, and I did.   Peaches, tomatoes, spinach, feta and Bonza pasta with a vinaigrette. Yum.

Peach and strawberry mock kombucha; we used apple cider vinegar. 

I made an Indian inspired meal of grilled chicken and needed homemade naan. My husband and I made this on our uuni grill. 

A mini peach crisp, yes peaches again. 

The farmers' market makes the best salads.  We are now getting more cucumbers and still a few hot house tomatoes.  The herbs are from my garden.  This is a greek salad with marinated tofu instead of feta.  It was really good and had a lot more protein than the cheese.  

I finally went for the second summer ice cream at our local ice cream shop.  They have several tables set up outside near a park; it was super cute. 

Had to bake some chocolate chip cookies for the 4th.  We made them into ice cream sandwiches.  

Overnight my clematis plant blossomed.  I've trained it back into my lawn so it doesn't latch on to the tomatoes. 

The lilies are out too.  

Have a wonderful week and stay well. 

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 26

Hello! It's a beautiful summer morning here in Northeast Wisconsin.  The sky is blue and the birds are chirping.  It will be 90 degrees again today, but right now it is in the upper 70s. This weeks new food is halibut cheeks.  I must say the pictures are not very pretty since halibut is white and I served the fish with a white sauce. So it's a lot of white on white.  On to the food.

This is what the cheeks look like - yes they are the cheeks of the halibut.  Halibut is huge.  I made sure to pat them dry before I seasoned them with salt and pepper.  I cooked them in a hot skillet with some olive oil for about 2-3 minutes per side.  So a lot like cooking sea scallops, if you have ever done that.  Before I started cooking them I roasted potatoes, and made a mock beurre blanc sauce. Here is the recipe from a few weeks ago. For never having cooked these before they turned out very well.  The kids and I all enjoyed.  My husband, who is not big fish eater, said we shouldn't waste them on him.  He had a chicken breasts. 

I also served some local bock choy, so the plate wasn't entirely white.  

This is the interior of the fish.  It had a stringy texture but in no way was is tough or unappetizing at all. Just very different.  

Dessert was pot de crème with homemade caramel sauce. Yum.

If you see fresh halibut cheeks at your local fishmonger please give them a try.  You won't be disappointed.  

 Stay well and bon appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth