Picnic in the Park

Today my daughter and I went on a picnic in one of our local parks.  If you haven't been on a picnic in a while I so encourage you to go.  We make up excuses that maybe we have to have a cute picnic basket, or the right food or a lot of time but all of that is wrong.  My daughter and I did have a little more time than a school lunch usually gives us, but the food was anything but fancy.  What was for lunch? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grapes, grocery store carrot cupcakes and bottles of water.  As I said super casual.  We found a clearing spread out our blanket and enjoyed the sunshine and each other's company.  After our lunch we hiked around on the trails.  Some were still quite wet from all of the rain we've had recently, but it was so enjoyable.  We also were blessed to see turkey and deer.     So please just take a moment to eat outside, whether it is on your patio or at a park and enjoy what nature has for you.  

A Few of My Favorites... Cookbooks part 1

I love cookbooks.  When I get a new one I like to read them from cover to cover and mark them with little post-it notes of recipes to try. I probably have too many, but over the years I have collected a few that I've used more than one or two recipes.  

The Joy of Cooking is really a useful book that every cook should have in their kitchen. No there aren't glossy photos, but there are some great recipes to teach you how to cook.  In addition there is a recipe or use for almost anything you can think of as well as teaching you to apply what you've learned to other foods.  I've learned how to make several sauces, use up chicken and make great fruit pies.

The Bread Bible is my favorite (quick and yeast) bread cookbook.  The directions are clear and not overly complicated. A few of my favorites are: cracked wheat bread, vanilla waffles, pain de campagne, and 7 grain honey bread.  

Deborah Madison's Vegitarien Cooking for Everyone is a great book for everything non meat oriented.  I love my meat however it is really nice to expand one's repertoire of side dishes, breakfasts, desserts and meatless mains.  I use her mixed leftover vegetable soup recipe as one of my main go to quick lunches on the weekend. I also love her breakfast musuli, zucchini fritters and saffron noodle bake.

The last one for today is The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2007.  I just really like the recipes I've tried in this book.  They are clear and easy to read. Date-nut bread, Sirloin steak with mustard sauce, and Alabama BBQ chicken are great.  Just to name a few.

I encourage you to go and dust off some of your old cookbooks and see what is inside. Maybe it is a forgotten favorite or something totally new.

As always, bon appétit!
Beth 

May's Pleasures

So I've come to the decision that every month has something to enjoy, maybe it's something that only that month has to offer or the first time in a long while that something is available to do or eat.  So every month it is my intention to remind myself and my readers of those special things.  In Wisconsin May can be a beautiful month (65-70 degrees and sunny) or it can be horrible (40 degrees and rain). Every once in a while I see snow. Yuck!  However it makes our beautiful days that much more special.  

One of my favorite things to do is dry our sheets out on a clothes line.  Actually clothes lines are not allowed in our neighborhood, but I have a rope tied from a tree to our house.  I love the fresh scent  that the sheets have when I change the beds.  I also just love this picture and the branches making a shadow on the sheets.

Another thing May brings is my garden.  I'm always so excited to plant this year's crops.  Just the other day I planted a variety of lettuces and radishes.  After May 15th it is usually okay to plant everything else.  However it doesn't really grow much faster if I plant it in early May vs late.  So I try to pace myself.

The planted part of my garden.  You can also see the compost pile in the corner.

Another plus in May is the food.  My rhubarb plant is starting to pop up.  I love making rhubarb cookies, bread, jelly, crisps and pies.  Also I freeze a lot of it too.   My asparagus crop is starting to produce as well as my herbs. I love local food so ever little bit is a reason to be thankful.  This is the third year with my asparagus so it is really starting to produce quite a bit.  

Even though I love my local food you can't go wrong with Vidalia onions.  If you are not familiar with these sweet onions give them a try.  They are grown in Vidalia, GA and come in only at this time of year.  They are great caramelized, in tarts or baked with beef broth in  individual tinfoil packets. Bake them for about 1 hour at 400 degrees until they are nice and soft.  The result is basically French onion soup without the cheese. Put a bit of butter on the top and chop them up and they an easy side dish. 

What is special about May to you?  A la prochaine,

Beth 

The Last Peaches

Well here they are the last can of peaches from the summer of 2015. I guess it is appropriate that I'm finishing up the last of the can foods from 2015 in the spring to get ready for the summer of 2016. It was a bittersweet moment when I pulled them up from the basement this morning.  During the winter I've really appreciated the taste of summer.  I think I've enjoyed them more now when we are between fruit seasons.  The grapefruits directly from Florida (the fruit truck) are gone and the berries are simply not good yet.  So it's been wonderful to go to my basement and pull up a jar of summer.  I've enjoyed these peaches by themselves with my breakfast and on top of cakes for a special treat with whip cream.   

If you haven't canned fruit before because you think it might be too difficult I encourage you to give it a try.  The website http://www.pickyourown.org/ is a great place to start.  They have easy to read directions and pictures.   I did use less sugar then recommended and I had no problems.  Last year I made about 8-10 jars of peaches and more peach jam.   Truly this is not enough. I think  this year I'll can more fruit and make less jam. 

Bon Appétit,

Beth