Lake, Family, Food

Tomato Corn Avocado Salad

Finally a new (to me) recipe. It tastes like summer.

  I often have all the ingredients on hand.

It only takes minutes to put together.

We paired the salad I made with Boars Head snack packs 

of meat and cheese and wedges of pita for 

the easiest porch dinner for two before we headed to the lake.

TOMATO, CORN, AVOCADO SALAD

1 large ear of corn--cook and cut off kernels

1 medium avocado, diced

1-1/2 cups diced cucumber

1 cup halved grape tomatoes

2 tablespoons diced onion, red or white

2 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I used lime)

salt and pepper to taste

Let corn cool. Then toss with remaining ingredients. 

Serve immediately. 

Want a peek at our lake time? Keep reading...

Notice anything new? Lots and lots of green grass. 

We had to replace the lake wall and pier over the winter. 

When that was finisbed, we had to redo the yard!

There was more food on the way for our annual July 4th gathering.

There were cousins everywhere. 

This was only one side of the porch.

It's good to see each other at least once a year.

Our family stayed longer.

Little Lady got to touch her first fish!

And she saw her very first rainbow. 

She had a very special week.

There was lots of lake time.

Thank goodness for the lake. The temps were scorching all week.

Little Brother had the most fun walking by himself between the cabins. 

We can see from porch to porch.

"Goin' to Daddy-O's house. Be right back!"

Storms and rain cooled us off a couple of nights. 

Another family lake stay is in the books.

 

Make-Ahead Bean Salad

Make Ahead Bean Salad

After a crazy few weeks, I'm settling in to routine. I think know I do better when I have a routine to follow. Particularly when it comes to choosing my meals. It is so incredibly easy to slip off the healthy food wagon and make less wise choices. Sometimes because I'm tired and I want the quickest food I can grab. Sometimes because I'm lazy and don't want to cook. Sometimes because dessert sounds like the best thing I can think of!

But for one more time I'm trying to do better. That usually means keeping ready to eat things in my refrigerator. Like this bean salad. I love bean salads and there are a few in the recipe index here on the blog. This one is a little different. Most of the ones I make call for sugar in the marinade. Sometimes not much but there is always some. 

Unlike those, this salad has no sugar. Not even sweet pickles! I used dill pickle salad cubes along with some of the pickle juice and vinegar for the marinade. The first taste was good, but I'm sure it well be even better after it sits in the refrigerator for several hours. By dinner time it's going to be the perfect side dish.

Using canned beans makes this so quick to put together. And beans are high in fiber and protein. Both fiber and protein are good for keeping you from getting hungry 20 minutes after you eat—like I do when I've grabbed fast food. 

In keeping with my jazz journey, this recipe also involves improv. There are so many similarities between cooking and playing music. Improv is a big one. I had a recipe as my starting place. Then I changed things around because of when I had (and didn't have) in my kitchen. You have my permission to do the same thing.

Here is the original recipe. My "improv" changes follow.

MAKE-AHEAD BEAN SALAD

1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

1 (15-oz) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup chopped cucumber

1 cup diced grape tomatoes

1 cup diced orange bell pepper

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 cup dill pickle salad cubes

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons dill pickle juice

2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Can serve chilled or at room temperature.

How easy is that? Here are my adjustments. 

• I used a red bell pepper because that's what I had. The orange pepper would add another color to the mix. That would be a nice visual, but the taste is the same.
• I didn't have scallions so I added some minced onion. Close enough.
• No fresh parsley here either. I used a good sprinkle of parsley flakes. Fresh would definitely be best, but you do what you have to do.
• How could I be out of white vinegar? I'm never out of that. But I was today. Apple cider vinegar was close enough.

See? No major changes. No need to dash to the store for a missing ingredient. This is close enough.

Same as with recipe variations, the most interesting music is full of variations, too. Learning how to put the pieces together is excellent brain exercise. I'm learning to play Misty right now—and all the fun embellishments and fills that I've always wanted to understand,.

And just to show that I really am getting back to my routine, the knitting has been pulled out, too! You can't play piano and cook all of the time. 

 

Jazz Journey

 Because reader Chloe asked about my jazz journey....

I have spent countless hours in the last three years learning a new way to play piano. For most of my life when I heard a jazz pianist or a cocktail style pianist I wondered how they did it. How did they get that tinkly sound that I love? I have played piano for decades, but always from printed music. And these musicians that I heard—whether in person or on television or on a recording—sounded different. It really didn't occur to me that maybe I could learn a little of this. 

But like many of us who tried new things during the pandemic shut down, (how many of you learned to bake sourdough?) I used that time to explore jazz piano. I am far from accomplished but I'm making progress.

When you watch this snippet of my video, understand that I am not reading music off the page. I didn't have any! I'm watching the timing on a backing track app. This recording was done as a final project for an online class and we had to maintain the assigned tempo. 

Why am I doing this? It keeps my brain cells and my fingers active. I've learned a lot of music history. I've learned to be a better music listener. And it's proof that it's never too late to learn new skills. It might take longer, but it's never too late. My goal is to be the best mediocre jazz pianist I can be. It's only for fun!

Yes, there has been a lot of grandmothering happening also. So many funny stories. So many aching muscles. So many good memories. But in the thick of things, I didn't get many photos to share. 

There have not been many new recipes happening in my kitchen. I am thankful for the good ones that I use over and over. This week I made one of our favorites—Carol's Marinated Veggies. It's delicious and it keeps for days in the refrigerator. I'll share it again because maybe it's new to you.

The last time I made this salad, I remember thinking maybe I could use less sugar in the marinade. I know I love how Carol makes it, so I texted her to ask if she used the 3/4 cup of sugar in the marinade. That's what the recipe called for. I told her that I think hers is always better than mine. Here is her reply:

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. I don’t stick to recipes very well. I do drain and rinse all canned veggies. Use dark red kidney beans. Have been using small butter beans lately instead of edamame beans. Sometimes use canned corn.  I’m sure yours is just as good, though.

CAROL'S MARINATED VEGGIES

1 (15.5 oz.) can light red kidney beans

1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans

1 (6.5 oz.) can mushroom stems & pieces

1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts (I cut into smaller pieces)

1 (2 oz. ) jar diced pimento

frozen white corn (amount about equal to the kidney beans)

frozen green peas (amount about equal to the kidney beans)

1 bag frozen shelled edamame beans, cooked according to package directions

1 rib celery, finely chopped, optional (I used this)

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2  to 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Drain and rinse canned vegetables. Cook and cool edamame beans. In a large bowl, mix drained beans, pimento, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. 

Combine oil, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. When cool, pour over vegetables and refrigerate. Vegetables will keep in refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Yes, you add the corn and peas frozen. No cooking. I did cut the slices of water chestnuts into smaller pieces. I'm sure if there is something that you don't like here, you can leave it out. 

Not The Week We Were Expecting

Greek Pasta Salad

Daddy-O is under the weather. I am mostly staying out of his way, letting him snooze. Lack of appetite is one of his symptoms. But then his medicine says "Take after breakfast and dinner." As on a full stomach. 

This recipe popped up on my computer yesterday and I had all the ingredients here. I thought it would make a nice light dinner. I mixed it up while he napped. I'm happy to say he ate this for dinner.

This recipe is the only greek recipe I've ever seen that didn't include olives. I don't like olives. I wonder if the recipe developer doesn't like them either. The only good thing I can say about olives is that it's easy to leave them out—or in this case, add them in. 

Because it doesn't have a lot of other vegetables that would need to be peeled and chopped, this salad is very simple to make. The star of this recipe is the dressing––it's really good and really easy, so keep it in mind if you want homemade greek dressing for a green salad later. 

GREEK PASTA SALAD

1 (16-oz) box penne pasta (or other short cut variety such as rotini or bowtie)

2/3 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon, about 1/4 cup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons Cavendar's seasoning, or other greek seasoning

1 (6-oz) container of crumbled feta cheese

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil slivers

Cook pasta. While it's cooking whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise and greek seasoning. When pasta is cooked, drain, rinse with cold water and pour into large bowl. Add dressing mixture, cheese, tomatoes and basil. Mix until combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Will keep in refrigerator for 4-5 days.

When the mood strikes—or you have vegetables you need to use up– you can change this up by adding other vegetables. Red onion, artichoke hearts, red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers are all candidates. 

Or toss in some leftover cooked chicken  and make this a main dish. 

Note: Daddy-O got up this morning and made the coffee. That's a good sign!

 

Lake Week with Family

 

We just got home from a week at the lake. The week started with a family gathering on the Fourth of July. After missing two Covid years we were back in full force. There had been two weddings since our last gathering so had new faces this time. 

There were 29 assorted cousins from multiple generations. it was so good to see faces that we had not seen in a couple of years. And of course, the food is always good. The fellowship is even better.

For the remainder of the week it was our immediate family. This time it included a 5-month old baby and a toddler who, as she proudly told everyone, turned 2-1/2 on July 4th. So it was crazy busy times for the entire week. We raced to keep everyone fed and to keep the littlest ones in dry diapers. I had forgotten how hard young mamas work.

Lucky for us, Little Sister and Baby Girl (who have really outgrown their blog names--but they like them!) are willing and able helpers. They kept babies entertained, helped out in the kitchen and ran back and forth between our old cabin and the new cottage. Saved us a million steps.

Little Sister volunteered to make an appetizer one night. We have basil growing by the back door so caprese skewers were quick and easy to make. Alternate grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls and folded fresh basil leaves on small skewers. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a balsamic glaze. They were gobbled up before I got a good photo!

We had one meal at the beginning of the week that was good enough for a repeat at the end of the week. Mommy makes a Baby Kale & Chicken Caesar Salad at her house on her regular rotation. She uses the recipe from Real Simple. It's super healthy with lots of fresh dark green kale and shredded Brussel sprouts and uses a homemade Caesar dressing. It's delicious.

But at the lake we took the Real Simple recipe and made it REALLY simple. This time we used more preprepped ingredients so that it was only a matter of quick assembly. We did keep the homemade croutons. The second time we had it at the lake, we added fresh corn and cantaloup from Daddy-O's garden. It was a perfect summer supper.

Here is how we did it.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

1 bag hearts of romaine

1 bag butter lettuce

1 bottle Panera Caesar salad dressing (look in the refrigerated section)

1 rotisserie chicken from the deli

1/3-1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

1 loaf sourdough bread (we used a round loaf from 

Publix bakery)

shaved fresh parmesan for topping

Cut or tear bread into cubes and place in single layer on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss with hands to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in preheated 425º oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Pull chicken from the bones into bite size pieces. In a large bowl, mix lettuces and chicken. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Pour dressing over and toss to coat. Transfer to a large serving platter. Sprinkle croutons over and top with shaved parmesan.

The homemade dressing was very good. But the bottled Caesar was a pleasant surprise. The Panera brand was a cut above the other bottled brands I've had. I bought a couple of extra bottles to have on hand.

Mimi Camp starts today, so I'll be away from the computer for at least a week. Maybe I'll have something to share from our camp week at a later date.

Trying Hard To Get Back On Track

Chickpea Salad

We have been working like crazy at the lake cabin trying to wind up a project before family comes to stay. It's one of those projects that has taken way too long. (Is there any other kind?) What started as a plumbing repair grew to become a bathroom redo. And as long as we were putting down a new floor there, I decided we ought to replace the kitchen floor also.

But it's done. At least THEIR work is done. The clean up job, however, belongs to us. You know how sawdust goes everywhere when the sawing is inside. What a mess. And this is a summer cabin, too, so it's unoccupied for the winter. That meant we needed a massive cleaning. While we were deep into to washing and wiping every single thing there, I kept finding things that needed to be replaced. I made more than one trip to into town to buy kitchen and bathroom things.

When I'm on that kind of schedule, I tend to grab whatever is easy for lunch. PB&J. Crackers and pimento cheese. Or, I'll make an even worse choice and head to a drive thru. And since at that point, I'm tired and starving, it's easy to talk myself into chicken strips and fries. Or a milkshake. I always tell myself when I'm that tired that I deserve a treat. 

Starting today I hope to have a better plan. My first choice for meals would be the fresh, healthy foods that we all should be eating. I really do like those foods. But it takes time to make them. I have to remind myself that it actually takes longer for me to drive to Bojangles and back home. But my mind can play tricks!

I saw a recipe for a chickpea salad this week and I wanted to stir it up to have in the fridge. I took great liberties with the recipe. I added celery because I love celery. I swapped out the olive oil and used canola because olive oil gets solid when refrigerated. I used red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice because I wanted a little more zip. And after Daddy-O tasted it and was less than enthused, I added a teaspoon of sugar. He also tasted it the minute I mixed it up. It does needs to chill and let the flavors blend. Even then, I doubt he will like this as much as I do.

So here is my completely rewritten recipe. It took me about 10 minutes to mix it up. And it's ready and waiting for a quick lunch. And it might also be a side dish tonight. 

CHICKPEA SALAD

1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (I may have used more)

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving.  

Makes a little more than 5 cups. 

My friend Linda and I are always on the lookout for WW friendly recipes, so I sent this to her a few minutes ago. It calculated to 1 WW point (on my plan) for a 1 cup serving. She texted back in minutes that chickpeas are one of the few foods she doesn't care for. I think that any canned bean would work—cannellini or black beans would be good choices. And if you decided to double or triple the recipe, you could surely use a mix of beans. 

So for the next few days at least, I have no excuse for making bad food choices. At least if I DO decide I need a treat it will only be one treat!

NOTE TO SELF: Keep the "good" foods on hand and ready to eat. Then I'm less likely to give in to temptation.

Kids In The Kitchen

Kids with sharp knives??? 

This might bring terror to their moms.

But with instruction and supervision they can be good to go.

Little Sister is 11 and is plenty old enough to use one.

Rest easy...I was supervising the entire time.

Everyone needs good knife skills unless they plan to eat out forever. 

 Little Sister and I worked on slicing and chopping techniques over the weekend.

Our favorite pasta salad was a great place to start.

With so many vegetables to slice and dice, she got plenty of practice.

Then it was quick and simple to stir the vegetables, pasta and dressing together.

Cooking is also a good way to teach about caring.

To teach about being helpful. About being a kind, thoughtful human.

Taking food to someone is one of our favorite ways to say "I care."

Over the weekend my kitchen was also a science lab.

Little Sister is studying plant and animal cells.

And these cakes that she baked by herself represent the cells.

And all the candy and frosting made up the call components.

When the "cells" were done, she labeled all the parts

–nucleus, ribosome, mitochondria, etc.—

and made a video presentation for her class about the project.

Baby Girl had her turn in the kitchen, too, and baked banana muffins. Sadly there are no photos because I was her baking coach. She did all the measuring and even used a hand mixer all by herself and filled the muffin tin. She is still small enough that she has to stand on a stool to cook. When the muffins were done, they were packed and delivered, too. 

You've probably seen these recipes here before. They are both tried and true. But I'm sharing them again. Who knows when your house will be the one full of grandchildren who want to cook? 

GARDEN PASTA SALAD

1 (16-oz) box of pasta -- rotini, bowtie, or penne 

5 cups of chopped fresh vegetables*

fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

1 (15-oz) bottle Italian salad dressing (my fav is the Wishbone brand)

3-4 tablespoons McCormick Salad Supreme Seasoning

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water. Drain well. Put pasta and vegetables and parsley into a large bowl. Add salad dressing and Salad Supreme Seasoning. Toss gently until mixed well. Cover. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until ready to serve. I like to make it a day ahead.

*We used carrot, red pepper, yellow pepper, corn, broccoli, red onion, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. It doesn't take much of each veggie. 

This recipe fills a 5-quart plastic container.

BANANA MUFFS

2 cups Bisquick baking mix

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)

Preheat oven to 400º.

Combine baking mix, sugar, butter and egg. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Fold in bananas.

Evenly divide between 12 greased (or line with cupcake papers) muffin cups. Bake 15-18 minutes. until lightly browned.

While warm, you can drizzle with Thin Icing and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired. (The girls like them better without the nuts.)

Thin Icing: Blend 1 cup confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons water until smooth.

Sometimes I make 36 mini muffins instead. Bake those for 12-15 minutes. 

A Week Of Family And Food

Summer supper—pork tenderloin, orzo spinach salad, grilled corn, sautéed apples.

What a week! We had Little Lady and her mama and daddy in residence here at the farm for a whole week. We had not seen her in far too long. Last time we saw her in person, she barely had hair, she wasn't walking, and she had maybe four teeth. Now you can see the curly hair. And she walking AND talking. (Some words that you could understand, many words that we can understand.) And has too many teeth to count. 

We caught up on things that Mimi does best. Like reading books, snuggling....

...making music, singing songs (Wheels On The Bus is a fav)...

...and spending time on the porch.

Little Lady explored the farm as she waddled over every inch of the front and back yards.

And she got her first tractor ride with Daddy-O.  

That was a big hit! 

Mimi worked a little magic on the christening gown. 

Because of the pandemic, we are having a christening a year later than we planned. 

Thankfully the gown still fit—except around the neck. 

I added ribbon so that we can tie to fit instead of using the traditional gold pins.

It's going to be quiet here this week without those little feet pattering around the house. But we are thankful for the family time we enjoyed. Family time outside around the farm and family time around the table as we shared meals and stories. Here is the menu for one of those meals:

Because my friends have said they liked having recipes for an entire menu in one post, I'm adding another set. I cooked many meals—so many meals—while they were here, but this dinner was the favorite. All recipes we have used before but this combination is worth recording. We grilled the pork tenderloin and the corn, but both of those can be done in the oven. We've done it both ways.

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There are so many good ways to cook pork tenderloin. There are several recipes here on the blog. But hands down, this is our family's favorite. For us, it's one of those never-fail recipes.

BOURBON MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN

2-1/2 lb. pork tenderloins (usually one package contains 2 tenderloins and is about this weight)
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2 teaspoons of jarred minced garlic)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
 

Pat tenderloins dry. Combine soy sauce and remaining ingredients in a gallon ziploc plastic freezer bag or shallow dish. Add tenderloins. Seal bag or cover dish and chill 4-12 hours. Turn once or twice while they marinate. Remove pork from marinade, discarding marinade.

Grill, covered with grill lid, over high heat (400 to 500 degrees) for 30 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat reads 155 degrees, turning occasionally. Remove from heat; cover with aluminum foil and let stand 10 minutes or until thermometer reads 160 degrees.
 

It's also good cooked in the oven, if you don't have a grill, or if it's raining, 
Put tenderloins in an oven that has been preheated to 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until thermometer reaches 155-160 degrees. Let rest before serving.

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We absolutely love this dish! If there is an issue with feta in your household, you can sub crumbled goat cheese like we did this time.

ORZO SPINACH SALAD

1/2  box (16-oz) orzo, cooked according to package directions
1/2 bag (5-oz) baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion (use the amount that you want)
4-oz. container crumbled feta cheese (or crumbled goat cheese)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper (I used a few grinds of fresh pepper)

While orzo is cooking, mix the dressing--oil, vinegar, basil, pepper. Set aside.
Drain orzo thoroughly when done. Stir in chopped onion, spinach and feta. Whisk dressing again. Pour dressing over the pasta and mix to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

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The corn was perfect with this supper.  Daddy-O started it on the grill about 15 minutes before he put on the tenderloin. It all was done at the same time.

GRILLED CORN

fresh ears of corn, shucked and cleaned

Lawry's seasoning salt (or your favorite seasoning)

black pepper

Place an ear of corn on a sheet of foil. Add a couple of pats of butter, sprinkle with seasoning salt and pepper. Roll it up tightly, twisting the ends so the butter doesn't leak out.

Put corn on medium grill, not directly over the heat, for 30 minutes. Close lid of grill. Turn corn in quarter-turns as it cooks. 

You can also put the wrapped corn in a preheated oven, 350º-ish, for 30 minutes. It won't have the brown color that you get from grilling but it's as delicious. Jessica says that if she also is baking another dish at 375º or 400º, she slides the corn in with it at that temp.

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I just realized I've never put the directions for sautéed apples here on the blog. It's a family favorite. It was one of those things I would make these when I needed one more things on the plate. 

All of these amounts are approximate. Just used the number of apples you have. Or the number you need to feed the crowd around your table. Make the butter and sugar match. Like I said, these are more "directions" instead of a "recipe."

SAUTEED APPLES

6 apples, peeled and sliced

1-2 tablespoons butter

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar

ground cinnamon

a little water

Melt butter in skillet. Add sliced apples and stir to coat. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Add a little water. (The apples will release some liquid as they cook.) Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are as tender as you like them. I turned them low and put the lid on this time, to cook a little slower. 

The butter and brown sugar cook down to make a nice glaze. I don't use very much of either, although you can make it as buttery and sugary as you want to.