The Hiatus is Over

Back to the blogging world! It has been a hot and jam packed summer. Drake is walking (running really) and babbling all over the place, keeping me and my cowboy very busy. My main man has been occupied with the cattle and the end is finally in sight...shipping date is approaching. Translation for you big city girl (Teacup), we have fattened up the cows and its time to sell them to their next home, a feed yard. This is exciting because it means I will soon get my husband back. Speaking of my husband, he and I have been busy also...buckeroo 2 is due April 3rd...yee haw! Check out the pics below of Drake and I feeding the cows with daddy; one of Drake's favorite things to do!

Don't Forget the Sugar!

Although I was not there in person for the little Butterball's first birthday I was there in skype spirit thanks to the trusty internet! My Italian man and I woke up early Sunday morning so we could join in on the festivities which were taking place on Saturday night in Oklahoma. We stood in our Pajamas sipping our coffee while we watched the little Butterball dive into his bright blue cake. Thank You to the inventors of skype who made the moment possible! My dear Mother carried the computer around the party so that we could talk to all our friends and family who were there to celebrate the little man's first birthday. It almost felt like we were there except for the fact that I was in my PJs drinking coffee while everyone on the other side of the screen were drinking Margaritas. And Peanut the decorations looked amazing and the food looked tasty delicious! Can you post the Enchilada recipe for me?
On another note I awoke this morning and laid in bed and checked my email like I do every morning to see what photos Peanut sent me of the little Butterball. She sends me photos through out the day of the little man as I sleep on the other side of the world and when I wake up my inbox is full! However, this morning I did not get a photo of the littlle man but instead of some sort of congealed cookie mess with the heading "I tried your Anzac Cookie Recipe and this is what came out of the oven...." After I stopped laughing I got out of bed and called Peas to see what had happened, apparently she had forgotten to add the brown sugar....So people do not forget the Brown Sugar!
P.S. That did not Stop Peanut from eating the Brown Sugarless Anzac Cookie Mess....hehehehe

Drake is 1!

Our Cinco de Mayo boy turned one and we celebrated big with a Cinco de Mayo themed party in our backyard. It was wonderful! I decided to make everything for our guest of 40, with the help of my parents and Dan's parents of course! The menu included beef and chicken enchiladas, pulled pork, grilled corn on the cobb with lime, mexican style beans, black bean and corn salsa and all the usual Mexican fixings. It was all delicious and we have plenty of left overs. The decorations were easy and festive. If you every want to throw a Cinco de Mayo party here are a few things I recommend. Use sombreros as vases for plants, string Mexican flags across the yard, and hang lanterns from the trees. I also made a center piece with tissue flowers and used a huge sombrero as a chip bowl. It was easy and cheap decor, but ended up looking great!















Drake loved his cake and had help eating it by some of his friends and cousins. Teacup was even skyped in for the cake eating event...notice the computer in one of the pics!

The party was a hit, but I am definitely exhausted today. I cannot believe our baby is one....and sleeping thru the night...in his own crib I might add:)

Never Never Land

I hate that my little butterball is growing up so fast. It is hard to believe that he will be a year on Wednesday. Sometimes I wish I could move to Never Never Land with Peter Pan so he could be my baby boy forever. He is a precious little man!

Spring Has Sprung!

Now that my hubby and I are home owners with an actual yard, I have become quite fond of gardening. Beware...it is addicting! I have lately been consumed with researching, buying and planting flowers and herbs of all sorts. Our buckaroo was born on Cinco de Mayo, and believe it or not, there exist a Cinco de Mayo rose bush. I tend to have the philosophy "go big or go home", so in his honor I have planted 3 Cinco de Mayo rose bushes. They are currently blooming and gorgeous. My favorite however, has always been the Peony. It is such a romantic and feminine looking flower. We have one wonderful peony bush and I have 2 more yet to plant. I am by no means 'master gardener' status, but I am proud of what has been accomplished in our yard so far. My father in-law, the Big Cheese, is in the process of building us a raised bed garden for veggies. Stay tuned Teacup, for pics as we tackle that plot of dirt...can hardly wait!

My beloved peonies starting to bloom!

Drake is a little wet here from playing in the water hose but this picture makes me smile.

Anzac Cookie Discovery

I know it has been an absurd amount of time since my last blog but I have been busy busy re-painting our bedroom from the hideous blue paint disaster. Yes it was a lapse of judgement on my part when I thought it would be a good idea to paint the walls a blue tint which as it turns out caribbean blue once dried on a wall is really more like neon electric blue. So now that is behind me and I have moved on to cookies!

It was Anzac Day in Australia this Monday which is a day of remembrance for the Australian soldiers that fought in WWII. And thus I made Anzac Cookies which are so appropriately named since these are the cookies that were given to the soldiers in their care packages because they kept so well. And these cookies are finger lickin' good!! Peanut you have to make sure you eat them when they are warm and I suggest with coffee but thats just me. Paul and I had them for afternoon tea (its an Australian thing, they also do morning tea) with our cappuccinos and I had way way too many but hey it was Anzac Day so I was in the spirit (at least that is what I am telling myself)!

Anzac Cookies (a must eat)

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 sticks of butter or 125g of butter

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate soda for all those Aussies)

Method:

1.) Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the sugar, rolled oats and coconut (Just put them in the kitchenaid and mix quickly).

2.) Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the golden syrup and water.

3.) Stir the baking soda into the liquid mixture.

4.) Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. (Mix in kitchenaid or by hand held mixer both work well)

5.) Place walnut/golfball sized balls of mixture on a greased tray/baking paper lined tray and bake at 175C (345F) for 15-20 minutes (Until nice brown).

Tip:

Beautiful and chewy straight from the oven, nice and crunchy when they cool. They will keep really well and if you want them crunchier use more golden syrup.

Pasta Extra Virgin Olive Oil Bliss

Well Peanut I am feeling pretty guilty seeing as how you have started the work out routine and I have just consumed not one but two bowls of pasta!! No one told me that when you marry an Italian they come with a disclaimer that reads "May cause spontaneous consumption of large quantities of delicious pasta" Yes, pasta night in our little abode has sadly come and gone once more and has filled our bellies to the brim and will hopefully keep us satisfied until next weeks pasta night. We ventured down to our little fresh food market or as Australians say Green Grocer and picked up wild field mushrooms, and fresh just rolled out peppercorn Pappardelle pasta (which is just a really wide flat pasta). From there we came home and Paul began to assemble his weekly masterpiece of tasty goodness. He always keeps what he is making me for pasta night top secret until he serves it to me in a bowl. Tonight he made Pappardelle Pasta with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, field mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh parsley, & topped it off with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Of course it was amazing made extra amazing by the olive oil that he used which of course comes fresh from his olive grove.....oh yes the man has an olive grove which produces the best olive oil I have ever laid taste buds on. His Mom and Dad slave away at the grove each year and every May we get freshly cold pressed olive oil from their grove. Me being an Oklahoma Girl with a Norwegian Mother means I was raised with all things butter!! Everything from the biscuits to the rice was made better with butter and then I met Paul and discovered quickly that not every family is alike especially when it comes to butter v.s. olive oil. In Paul's family even the cakes are made with olive oil and they do not take very kindly to someone asking for butter for their bread. Luckily Paul told me this before our first family dinner night. So Peanut with all this pasta eating I think I need to steal some work out routines of yours or maybe we can do a Skype work out session together? I have added the Paul's Pasta recipe for you below. It is very easy to make and if you can't find wild field mushrooms any mushrooms you can get your hands on will do. But remember what Julia Child told us in her cooking book...Don't Crowd the Mushrooms Ladies. Make sure you put a few sliced mushrooms in the pan to saute and make sure that each slice has plenty of room around it as to not crowd the mushrooms otherwise the pan will fill up with water from the mus

hrooms and it becomes a mess.

Paul's Pappardelle Pasta:

2 cloves of chopped garlic

2 handfuls of chopped fresh basil

1 handful of chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil plus more as needed

2 large field mushrooms sliced

1 packet of fresh pasta (serves two but double recipe for more and so on. If you cannot find fresh pasta then dried pasta works as well)

Put pot of water on to boil. And once boiling then put in fresh pasta while sauteing the mushrooms. If the pasta is not fresh and is dried pasta then put in pasta before you start to brown the mushrooms.

In a saute pan coat the bottom of the pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and saute the mushrooms and add salt and pepper. Brown the mushrooms and then add in the garlic and saute for 1 minute.

Once pasta is al dente then drain pasta and put the pasta into the pan with the extra virgin olive oil and the field mushrooms and mix all ingredients together.

Once mixed then serve pasta into bowls and sprinkle basil and parsley on top of the mixture and grate parmesan cheese on top and serve.

Back in the Groove

Working out after a baby is a bit of a pipe dream, especially when you live in a small town. We do not have gyms that provide child care. While preggo I would day dream of running with the babe in a jogging stroller, doing mommy and baby yoga, or at the very least getting in a few crunches and/ or lunges during nap time. My butterball is almost 11 months and until this week, none of the above has happened. With swim suit season around the corner I have decided to get my butt in gear. Today was only day 2, not too impressive I am aware, but just wait...I am back! And determined to stick with my new workout regime. It is challenging, trying to get workouts in while he is napping, then trying to shower and pull myself together hoping to look half way presentable for the remainder of the day. I am a bit old fashioned and still find it fun to look nice when my hubby walks in the door. After being with the cattle all day looking good is not that hard a task, and a little eye candy never hurt anyone:) So Teacup, keep me accountable. This workout routine needs to stick...I am in my 30's now remember...and if it doesn't the butterball is worth every pound and jiggle. Just look at him; irresistible.
whoops, sorry that is my man....and he IS irresistible. here is the butterball, isn't he perfect?!
and here are a few more pics, just because I couldn't help myself

Red Wine?.....Yes Please!

I was always a Sav Blanc kind of girl until I discovered the wonders of Shiraz.....and it is kind of amazing! I always strayed from the red wine side of things because I did not like how it made my whole entire mouth look like I had eaten a box of blueberries only after a glass...not so appealing when you are entertaining. But a couple of weeks ago Paul made Chili and paired it with a glass of Shiraz and I was thoroughly impressed! Apparently variety is the spice of life and I have my wonderful husband to thank for it! Not only does red wine go well with a warm bowl of chili but it also goes well with a movie, after a long day at work, and after you paint your bedroom a hideous color of Caribbean Blue (yes it was pretty tragic).Right now my man and I are sampling a glass of Flying Fox Shiraz from the beautiful Adelaide Hills of Australia....definitely worth sampling yourself. And Peanut I know you are reading this and thinking about where you can find Flying Fox Shiraz and I have no idea but I am sure your local wine store can get a bottle.

Speaking of all things red wine brings up memories of a recent trip to Greece....Peanut, remember when we ended up stranded in the Rome airport for 14 hours with a bottle of red wine and a calling card....Well it was partly our fault we did get lost in the Rome airport trying to find our connecting flight to Greece only to end up outside in the parking lot. But I might add that our flight was late due to the world's largest flock of birds flying into our planes engine while on the tarmac of the JFK airport in New York....and of course that would happen to Peanut and me (as it turns out the world's most unlucky pair of traveling partners) Realizing that we had made a wrong turn somewhere we slowly started to back track which lead us into the arms of Italian Officers who proceeded to take our passports....apparently this is a big NO NO to do while traveling through Italy ....definitely do not give the random Italian Officers your passport. Eventually we did get our passports back and decided we needed a giant bowl of Italian pasta with bolognese sauce and some red wine to top it off with which was the prefect cure to our horrific experience....after 14 hours and once we were safely on our way to Greece we laughed ourselves until we were blue in the face about the whole tragic turn of events.
SALUTE Peanut!

True Love

Today was a good day, my new House Beautiful arrived! After putting our little butterball to bed, my Cowboy put together a play list, poured us each a glass of wine and we snuggled up on the couch, he with the remote and me with...ahhh...my new mag. The euphoric moment, however, was short lived as I was quickly reminded to "turn off the light!"...we have a thing for dark rooms (and wine) at night, maybe our 'dig in' motto from the Baltimore days. Anyway, it was then I sprang up, ran to the bedroom, and walked out proud in...my headlamp! Yes, when you are married to a rancher you have your very own headlamp. My Carhartt Cowboy looked at me and said, "awe babe, I love you in a headlamp," which of course put a huge smile on my face. So, here I am nerdiness and all in my headlamp, enjoying every minute of it, while soaking in the excellence of my most recent House Beautiful. Oh how I love late nights with my man.

Super Target Blues

Hope all three of you guys get some much needed sleep soon Peanut. Don't worry just keep thinking to yourself that the end of crib training is on the horizon. I am childless at the moment so I cannot say that I feel your pain but if you need some support in the middle of the night I am only a phone call away since it is in the middle of the day here! And by the way keep the photos coming of the little butterball......he is way too cute!!
Today I had a verrrrry looooong day at work finishing up late and was dreading doing the weekly grocery shopping.....I know a little odd for me right seeing as how I am one of the crazy few that loves to go and browse the fresh veggie stand or go and pick out my favorite cut of meat from the local butcher but yes Peanut it seems you do not have to have a case of the sleepless child syndrome to become incredibly tired. And the whole way home all I could think about was how much I missed SUPER TARGET.....yes I said it...I miss Super Target and all its convenience. I miss being able to grab a pair of socks, maybe a cute T-shirt, milk, butter, and ice cream all in the one go. It is genius! So end of story....I did not end up going grocery shopping opting for a rummage through the freezer instead. Praying that I had some sort of meat in there frozen that I had long forgotten about I went freezer diving. It was my lucky day because tucked away in the far back of my never ending freezer was a piece of frozen beef tenderloin woooohoooo!!!!



Every Spice in the Pantry Beef Tenderloin:
1 beef tenderloin
1 tbls cumin
1 tbls paprika
1 tbls mustard powder
1 tbls black pepper
1 tbls celery powder
1 tbls dried oregano
1 tbls dried thyme
1 tbls Salt
1 tbls Chilli powder
2 cloves of garlic chopped
EVOO for coating around the beef tenderloin

In a bowl mix all of the ingredients above together (except for the beef tenderloin and EVOO)
Then coat the beef tenderloin with the spice mixture and put in zip-lock bag and sprinkle EVOO into the zip-lock back and let sit in the frig while you prep the salad and salad dressing or let sit for 30-45 mins. Then remove from the zip-lock bag and wrap the beef tenderloin in foil with all the ingredients from the zip-lock bag and grill.




To Die for Salad Dressing:
Juice of two limes
1 tbls of sweet asian vinegar
1 tbls of freshly grated ginger
3 tsps of brown sugar
Healthy pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbls of EVOO
1 heaping tsp of seeded mustard

Mix above ingredients together until smooth and dress salad


Arugula Salad with broiled cherry tomatoes
Arugula Salad
Cherry Tomatoes (roast these in a pan under the broiler until charred, for a little deliciousness)
Mushrooms
Fresh Basil
Sugar Snap Peas chopped with ends chopped off
1 Fresh Fig

Mix all the ingredients above into a bowl and serve

Sleep training continues....

First of all T's I am completely jealous of your herb garden, the basil and pasta both look like they belong in a magazine. I cannot wait to get my herb garden up and running. I think I have even convinced Nancy into helping me put in a full blown garden...fresh veggies here we come!

The sleep training continues. Drake, the butterball, is doing better but it is still a struggle. According to my program he was not able to nurse at all last night, which translates into all three of us up most of the night trying to soothe him through. I am praying the end is near. He is napping better in the crib but I have not yet tried him in it for night time. I think deep down I am not ready for the transition. The little buckeroo has been snuggling with us for the last 10 months, giving it up brings tears to my eyes....literally I am tearing up right now...but I know it is the right thing. So, I will keep you posted as we progress.

Making butternut squash ravioli and the strawberry rosemary scones tomorrow. I took your advice and vetoed the amaretti cookies. Will post the recipe tomorrow along with pics!

Buenas noches my sweet Teacup. Talk to you manyana.

Paul's Pope's Pasta Perfection

It has been too long since my last post Peas and I know you have been after me to get to writing so here I am to spill the pasta shells on what my mister and I have been up to cookin in the kitchen. Tonight was our weekly pasta night which is one of my favourite nights. There is nothing better than the smell of fresh basil and simmering onions in a rich napolitana sauce. Paul never ceases to amaze my taste buds when he gets behind the stove top with some fresh ingredients from our little herb garden along with great EVOO!! On the menu for tonight was Pope's Pasta, remember the one we had when you came to visit Peanut? For anyone who doesn't know we call it Pope's pasta because it's rumored to be the only pasta the Pope eats (it is made from special grains with a high protein content) and it always comes out al dente!
The only problem with this dish is that its too good to stop after just one bowl and then the inevitable happens which is me sitting on the couch too full to move.


Paul's Pope's Pasta
Ingredients:
1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves of garlic (diced)
3 big mushrooms sliced (any type that suits your fancy)
2 tbls. balsamic vinegar or red wine (any variety of red that is in your wine cupboard)
1 cup of chopped fresh parsley (must be fresh not dried Peanut..I know you would call me and ask)
2 cups of fresh chopped basil
Salt and Pepper
EVOO for sauteing and extra to add to the sauce
1 package of Pope's Pasta (Squisito is the brand we use but could substitute with Fusilli Pasta)
Best Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) you can get your hands on!

Recipe:
In a large pot saute onion and mushroom with EVOO. Making sure mushroom browns just a little. Add in garlic and saute for a minute or so until just brown. Pour in balsamic vinegar or red wine. Then add in whole tomatoes and diced tomatoes and give mixture a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for 45 minutes. Meanwhile boil a pot of water and add salt to the water. Once to a boil add in pasta and cook until al dente. Then turn off heat on the sauce mixture and add in the fresh parsley and half of the fresh basil. Drain pasta and return to pot that it was boiled in. Paul likes to add some sauce through the cooked pasta and then serve into bowls and add more sauce on top with rest of fresh basil and freshly grated parmesean.


Our Fresh Basil from our little urban herb garden

Thanks Peta!

Teacup-

My hat is off to Peta, Oz's mom for those of you who do not have the privilege of knowing her. When we were in Aussie over Turkey Day she introduced me to eucalyptus oil...please, please, please thank her for this! The last few nights my Cowboy and I have been up with our butterball and his rattling cough. Poor Drake has been miserable at night. Tossing, turning, crying and...coughing. Last night was the worst by far. We were hopeless, until I remembered the eucalyptus oil, the coup de gras for coughs. Until now I have used it solely for cleaning and stains, but I remembered Peta using it on Drake when he had a runny nose. So, we gave it a try, poured it on a rag, laid the rag by the bed and voila...it worked! Drake quit coughing and slept peacefully for the rest of the night. I big sigh of relief for Carhartt Cowboy and I. THANK YOU Peta! I recommend all those with small children adding this natural remedy to their medicine cabinet, works like a charm!


Here is a picture of our sleep saver. She is awesome. She recycles everything, and I do not mean she sets it in the plastic bin by the curb. She turns left overs into delicious meals, plastic grocery store bags into 'zip-locs', and even has buckets in her shower to collect the extra water for watering her garden.


Thanks Peta!

It's Complicated....

Apparently it's complicated to go see "It's Complicated". Paul (the Aussie/Italian) and I decided to pack up wine, dinner and dessert and head to the moonlight cinema in Centennial Park. For those who don't know what the moonlight cinema is; in Sydney and Melbourne some wonderful people decided to take advantage of the beautiful summer nights and have outdoor movie screenings in some of the botanical gardens of the city. It was a beautiful night and Paul cooked up his tasty delicious roast chicken with rice and raisins (did I mention the man can cook and make his own pasta!) And I added in a fig and pistachio arugla salad. We got to the park and started off by having a glass of red vino while waiting in line to head into the viewing area. However, the generator broke and there was no power so our wonderful moonlight cinema picnic was short lived. But we made the most of the situation and headed back home and had our own moonlight picnic in the back yard with candles and our trusty Mac computer showing the movie 'Dan in Real Life'

Roast Chicken with Wild Rice and Raisins
(Paul doesn't use recipes so bear with me for the measurements)

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
3 cups of chicken stock
2 lemons (zest from lemons as well)
1 cup of wild rice/brown rice/or cous cous
1 brown onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic (diced or pressed)
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of paprika
a hearty shake of cayenne pepper
Salt + Pepper
Lots of golden raisins (anywhere from half a cup to a whole cup)
1/3 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil plus more for browning the onion
1/3 cup of Port Wine

Mix together in a bowl the rice and half a tablespoon of the cumin, paprika, a shake of cayenne pepper, a chunky pinch of salt & pepper and 3/4 of the lemon zest from the two lemons. Also add into the bowl the raisins.

Pre-Heat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit or 180 Degrees Celsius

Mix together half a tablespoon of the cumin & the paprika. Rub this onto the chicken. Rub a hearty shake of the cayenne pepper onto the chicken. Then rub onto the chicken the rest of the zest from two lemons and make sure to sprinkle salt and pepper onto the chicken. Drizzle some of the extra virgin olive oil onto the whole chicken.

Drizzle some of the EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) into a large crock pot or le creuset pot (anything that is oven proof and has a lid). Brown the chicken in the pot for 5 mins on each side and then remove from the pot and set aside. Then add into the pot the chopped onion and brown for approximately 5 mins. or until the onion is a little brown. Add in the garlic and sautee for a couple of seconds and then add in the port wine (or white wine). Scrape bottom of pot with a wooden spoon to free up all of the good tasty crusty bits. Then pour in chicken stock and bring to boil. Add rice mixture and squeeze in juice from two lemons, stir briefly. Take two lemon halves and shove them inside the chicken before adding in whole chicken into the pot breast side up. Cover the pot with the lid and turn off stove top. Place pot into pre-heated oven for one and a half hours or until chicken is done (use meat thermometer in breast to check).

Chef's Tips:
1) Don't leave out the raisins from the recipe as they puff up and fill with lemony flavor and they are delicious.
2) If you choose to use cous cous with this then don't add the cous cous when it says to add rice. Instead dice other vegetables like carrot and mushroom and bake the chicken on those for an hour before adding stock. When the chicken is done remove and cover with foil, then add a cup and a half of cous cous to the stock and vegetables and cover for 10 mins to allow the cous cous
to absorb the liquid.

Arugula Salad w/ Fig and Pistachio:

Ingredients:
Arugula Salad (or if you are using Recipe in Australia then Rocket)
3 Figs (sliced)
1 cup of Pistachios
Sprinkle of Blue Cheese Crumbles

Mix ingredients into serving bowl and drizzle with dressing when ready to serve.

Salad Dressing:
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of raspberry jam
1 tablespoon of seeded mustard or dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of EVOO
Salt & Pepper
Dash of dried rosemary

Put all ingredients into seal-able container and shake until smooth or put into bowl and whisk ingredients together until smooth.

For Dessert use Peanut's Strawberry Scones (see recipe of her previous post)

Sleep, Scones, and Salmon

Yesterday was the day of S’s. We are in sleep training mode and my precious butterball Drake, took not one, but 2 naps in his crib! Huge accomplishment! For all of you parents who ever thought co-sleeping was a sweet and cuddly way for you and yours to bond with your baby…BEWARE…do not do it! It is precious and sweet and all that jazz, but there comes a point when you want YOUR bed back. And although you love that little angel sleeping peacefully between you and your husband, enough is enough! Let me get down and dirty for a minute, the ‘ we will just roll him to the side’ technique works less and less the older he gets; yes I did just throw caution into the wind and put that out there for the world to read. It’s the cold hard truth.




Rosemary Strawberry Scones…hello heaven. They are amazing. I just discovered the recipe last week and have already made 3 batches, not recommended if you are counting calories. The recipe is below, they are from Giada De Laurentiis, one of my muses I might add. Don’t be afraid of the lemon glaze. I used it sparingly with the first batch, thought it made the scones less attractive. It dries almost clear and adds so much flavor…the words ‘too much of a good thing’ are not in my vocabulary, douse them in it!

Rosemary Strawberry Scones

Scones:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
* 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/3 cup strawberry jam

Glaze:

* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1 to 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Special equipment: a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter

For the scones: Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 1/2-inch thick, 10-inch circle. Using a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out heart-shaped pieces of dough and put on the prepared baking sheet. Gently knead together any leftover pieces of dough and roll out to 1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough into more heart shapes and add to the baking sheet. Using an index finger or a small, round measuring spoon, gently make an indentation in the center of each pastry heart. Spoon a heaped 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer the cooked scones onto a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes.


For the glaze: In a medium bowl, mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually add the water until the mixture is thin enough to spread. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the scones. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes. Serve or store in an airtight plastic container for 2 days.


Cook's Note: The dough can also be made by hand by stirring together the flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough.



And to end the day, we had salmon. A new recipe I tried from the October 2009 issue of Bon Appetit, one of my fav magazines. It is an easy, delicious, one pot meal. Scott are you reading, you would like this recipe. Perfect for a hardworking man like yourself; little prep time and no frilly stuff required.

Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon

Calories: 473 Fat: 14 g Fiber: 5 g….and it’s healthy! Thank you Bon Appetit for putting that in the recipe.

· ¼ C fresh lime juice, about 2-3 limes

· 2 T finely grated lime peel

· 2 T honey

· 2 T chopped fresh cilantro plus additional for seasoning

· 4 t soy sauce

· 1 T olive oil

· ¾ C sliced shallots (about 3 shallots)…you can also use red onion, which I did and I used a lot more than ¾ C probably more like 2 C, added lots of flavor

· 1 ½ C basmati rice

· 3 ¼ C chicken broth

· skinless salmon filet…I used a whole piece of salmon. The recipe calls for 4 5-to-6 ounce filets

· 1 bunch broccolini, trimmed….good luck finding that in my neck of the woods, I used plain old broccoli crowns

Preheat oven to 450 degress. Whisk lime juice, lime peel, honey, cilantro, and soy sauce in small bowl; set aside.

Heat oil in a large deep ovenproof skillet with lid (I used a Le Creuset dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add shallots (or onion) and begin sauté until they begin to soften and brown. Stir in rice, then chicken broth; bring to a boil. Cover tightly with lid; place in oven and bake 10 minutes (rice will be almost cooked through and most of broth will be absorbed, mix in more broth by ¼ cupfuls if dry).

Remove skillet from oven. Sprinkle rice lightly with salt. Salt and pepper salmon and arrange on rice, pressing in lightly. Tuck broccolini in around fish with stems anchored in rice. Spoon 1 T lime mixture over salmon. Cover skillet tightly and return to oven; bake until salmon is just opaque in center and broccolini is crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drizzle remaining lime mixture over the fish and rice, sprinkle with additional cilantro and serve from skillet.



Bon Appetit mon petite Teacup!:)

I'll give you the gist of the day. I was driving to work thinking of the events that lead me to this bustling, busy, bright lit city and also thinking how drastically different this was to what I had planned for my life. I had every stepped planned out...College on the East Coast... check, Medical School (hopefully on the West Coast).... check, Residency in Oklahoma... check....and then in my junior year of College as I trudged through the knee deep snow of Connecticut to my Biology class I thought how amazing it would be to live in a place where I did not have to envelope myself in four layers of clothing in an attempt to exit my dorm room. And that is the tiny moment that lead me to Australia on a study abroad program. Shortly after that tiny little moment I of course called my Peanut to run my master plan by her in which she decided she could not miss out on this little adventure. And so we both packed up our enormous suit cases and headed South for the winter.

Peanut has been with me through all of the pivotal moments in my life up until recently. She was there with me as a little girl as we danced to the Mary Poppins record in our green play room, we toughed it out together through those strange awkward moments of our teenage years always fighting over clothes and the bathroom, and she was with me that first night in Australia when I met my Aussie/Italian man. And now for the first time in my life she is not there in the same way that I am used to.
I realized that life really doesn't have a roadmap once you head into adulthood, it's a great unknown, and there's no way to prepare yourself for any of it. Your support systems get stripped away to the bare bones, and while they're still there they don't exist in the same way they did before. And it has nothing to do with living on the other side of the world and everything to do with Adulthood.

And right now my life is on the southern hemisphere where it is always one day ahead of the American side of the world and where driving on the left hand side of the road is a whole new wonderful adventure on its own (by the way its going to take a whole blog to get through the perils of learning how to drive on the left hand side of the road).

I still remember the day I came back to Oklahoma and told my mom I'd met an Australian who was also Italian. She said "What is an Italian doing down in Australia?" And then I turned to my dad who said "And I was worried you would marry a Yankee and move to Connecticut or New York permanently"

But even though I'm far away I can always come home to my Italian/Australian man and he can whip up a Chilli, or we can mix up some Guacamole or some biscuits and I am instantly sitting around our round old wooden table back home in Oklahoma.

Night Sister

I am the night sister. I have dark hair, dark eyes and end every single day talking to my sis. As her hubby explained, we call him Oz, we have ended up worlds apart…literally. It has been a hard adjustment, but also a learning experience for us both. We talk daily, usually gossiping and laughing over topics such as cooking, fashion, decorating, families, marriage and babies. Our everyday lives however, could not be more opposite. She lives the glamorous big city life…with a million beaches to choose from I might add, while I live the small town life in Oklahoma. Although my world ticks at a much different pace, I still consider it glamorous, of sorts. My husband, a retired NFL football player, spends his time on the family cattle ranch, while I stay home managing the brood. Well, currently just one brood but we do plan on adding to the pack at some point. The Day sister, we call her Teacup, and I spend hours everyday laughing (or complaining) about how different but equally perfect our lives are. Yesterday for example, she was trying to decide the best route to take to work, hoping to avoid the millions of people and cars also making the daily commute, often getting stuck at stop lights, waiting on cross walks, etc. I on the other hand, had made my weekly commute to the ranch delivering lunch to my irresistible Carhart Cowboy. A 15-mile drive into the country, no lights, no crosswalks, and if you are lucky you may even pass a car or two along the way. Chances are you will know the person behind the wheel as they roll down the window giving that signature ‘welcome to the country’ wave. Life for me, the night sister, is quite simple; it is everything I never knew I wanted. It is home cooked meals, wild flowers, cows, fish, sweat and dirt. It is wonderful and marvelous, and I thank my Carhart Cowboy everyday for bringing me back down to earth. Now, if only we could figure out a way to move Australia closer to Oklahoma.

The Start

As a loving husband this is my first entry to a blog, intended to begin a trans-continental connection between two sisters. I am married to the day sister, she's blonde and bright and pretty much the best person I know, and we in live Sydney Australia. Because of me she lives far from her family in Oklahoma, and far from her best friend who happens to be her sister. The only time they can talk is during a few brief hours each evening and morning, with many of the funniest stories, anecdotes, recipes and living hints passing between them during daily conversations. I thought perhaps if they had this forum it would be a great place to document and archive their relationship.
While they may look like Night and Day, the warmth and beauty of both their personalities makes them easily identifiable as sisters. I hope that in years to come we will read these pages and it will bring back many happy memories from a bittersweet separation.
I love you both Day and Night.
Enjoy