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Very Berry Buttermilk Sherbet

June 7, 2010 By kellypea

I thought I’d have more time to write at this point in the year, but I’ve been preoccupied by my youngest son’s graduation from high school, as well as planning for a fall trip to the UK — our first official empty nest vacation. Is there such a thing?

Both events provide me an excuse to spend time at my Mac even though one is rarely needed.  Who knew that sifting through 18 years of significant world events, pop culture, family photos and memories could be so time consuming?  Each rediscovered piece of a life gives me pause, and I can’t resist indulging myself more time than is necessary to collect this piece or that to add to a collection that will commemorate my son’s big milestone.  Memories of my own graduation day and those of my two older sons have me counting the years since, amazed at how truly quickly they have passed.

When I become too maudlin,  trip planning commences and the details of deciding which route to take from London, how many nights to spend where, and which pubs might best entice us to stop and sample a pint or two gives me something to look forward to. It doesn’t quite distract me from wondering how it will feel after so many years of having growing boys in my house, to have none.

Oh my goodness.

I’d say it’s time for some ice cream, wouldn’t you?  Or what about sherbet?

Definitely.

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Filed Under: Berries, Cookbooks and Magazines, Dessert, Fruit, Gluten-Free, Make Ahead, Method, Quick & Easy Meal, Seasonal, Summer, Weight loss Tagged With: , ,

Red Sorrel and Arugula Salad with Avocado and Orange

March 16, 2010 By kellypea

Red Veined Sorrel

I live in an area that is perfect for growing just about anything all year long if one can forget the pesky dilemma of drought we’ve endured for the past many years.  I’ve been a reasonably capable gardener most of my life — thanks to my mother who most likely could grow a stick in the Sahara –  so I’ve always had plants that needed tending.  Whether they were house plants, everyday geraniums, or wildflowers I grew from seed scattered over moist soil, I’ve enjoyed the peace that has come from caring for them.

Fast forward about 10 years.

I no longer have any property to speak of to plant things in;  instead, I have what I’ll call an extended patio that wraps around one and a half sides of our house.  It all seemed so wonderful when we bought it, not to have to worry about fixing a leaky roof or painting it, and for the most part, I still agree.  But there are days when I long for a yard — or at least a yard that is more than eight feet wide.  On other days, I’m thankful that I don’t have to take care of that dream yard.  I used to have one and know that as much as it provides a sense of accomplishment and overall beauty to a home, it can be overwhelming to care for.

Herb Box

Last spring, I finally decided to purchase an herb box.  Of course, I’ll be the first to admit that an herb box (dimensions roughly 8″ x 36″) isn’t quite the replacement for a dream yard, but I can deal with the delusion when the Pacific is a short 10 minutes from my door.  My rosemary bushes grow like weeds in my planters, so they were the least of my concerns.  It was more the need to have parsley, or oregano, and maybe marjoram, or salad greens.  Now that would be a luxury!  A year has gone by, and I’ve been so busy I haven’t spent much time on my patio.  The herb box hasn’t gotten much attention.  Thyme has disappeared in more ways than one, and the purple basil never really flourished to begin with.  What I’m surprised to find is red sorrel bursting with life and all but wearing an advertisement for snails and worms to have lunch.  It never really died down over winter, and now, after our recent rainy weather, it’s flourishing along with the parsley and marjoram.  Granted, the level of soil in the box is about 50% of what it once was, but still.  Surprisingly, the arugula is sending out tender shoots as well.  Go figure.

I decided that it was the perfect reason to make a spring salad, even though the vernal equinox is still a week away.  Anything surviving the neglect my herb box has had to withstand deserves to be celebrated.  And I suppose it’s proof that one only needs a strip of space with bright light most of the day to lull her into the notion of being an urban gardener warrior.

Nice.

Red Veined Sorrel Salad

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Filed Under: Gluten-Free, Herbs and Spices, Salads, Soup, Salad and Sandwiches, Spring, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Shrimp and Veggies in Rice Paper Wraps

January 3, 2010 By kellypea

Banh Trang (Spring Roll Wrappers)
If you’re like I used to be, you try to get some exercise occasionally.  Actually, my efforts constituted more than trying for several years.  I rose before the sun at least four mornings a week on good weeks, stumbled into my car, and drove to my friend’s house hoping that my light knocking on her door wouldn’t wake the dogs.  I often felt that our trudging through the dark streets, sweating up one hill and huffing down the next had little effect.  Of course, my stamina had definitely improved, I no longer wheezed when trotting up the stairs, and most of my clothes fit better.  Unfortunately, the scale and I haven’t had an amiable relationship for years, so I rarely factored its results into my evaluation about whether my toiling was having any kind of noticeable effect.

How sad.

The last seven months of no exercise have taken their toll.  Although I’ve chosen to completely avoid my scale so can’t have the bad news confirmed, and my clothes haven’t quite taken on the appearance of a wet suit, I’ve begun to puff when I walk up stairs again.  My knees hurt, and my feet feel as if they’re carrying around a pack mule’s load.  So with little fanfare, and conscientiously avoiding any talk of a resolution, I’ve promised myself to take better care of my body.  I know how to do this and so I will.  It doesn’t mean giving anything up;  it means paying attention to what I eat, and how much.

It also means I have to get out of bed before the sun at least four mornings a week.  My good friend will join me two of those days, and I’m hoping I can get my husband to at least think about it on the other two. In the meantime, indulge me my veggies.

Have you ever made spring rolls with rice paper?

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Filed Under: Asian, Gluten-Free, Meatless, No Cook, Other Cultures, Quick & Easy Meal, Seafood, Spring, Vegetables, Weight loss Tagged With: , ,

Bittman Salads: 3 Delicious Choices

August 30, 2009 By kellypea

Radishes Since I began working my way through Mark Bittman’s “101 Simple Salads for the Season”, I’ve not quite been able to keep up with the goal I set to make at least five salads in a seven day week.  Most of the time, it’s simply that I was missing a key ingredient, or I hadn’t planned on making a trip to the market for the third time in three days.  I’ve planned ahead, but even that has caused some problems because we all know that fresh produce won’t wait forever to be used.  On weekends, I’ve been able to make a salad for my lunch, and then another for dinner, so I’ve made up a bit of time, but the goal isn’t necessarily to make all the salads by a particular date; instead, it is simply to make all the salads.

A few of you have mentioned that you’d like to get this book.  It’s not a book — it’s a list that was printed last month in The New York Times.  Each “salad” is really only a suggested list of ingredients and quantities mentioned only occasionally with phrases such as, “not a lot,” “a few,” “a bit,” and “loads.”  I think that’s what I enjoy best about this experience.  Cooking, or in this case, making salad isn’t necessarily about exact amounts of anything when you want something light and healthy without a lot of fuss.  It’s more about learning what will taste well together and which textures contrast appealingly.  It’s also about being able to relax a bit on dealing with a specific recipe, experimenting, and tasting as you go to decide how much of a particular flavor you enjoy.

As I’ve made each salad, I’ve only kept notes about what I’ve included in each salad, ingredients I’ve added, if any, and only occasionally, the quantities of dressing ingredients.  We don’t use bottled or packaged salad dressing , so experimenting with flavors is always something we enjoy.  If a dressing works especially well, then I will keep a quantity list, but even then, the amounts will be estimates.  There are no measuring cups or spoons — only squirts, glugs, and dollops of this and that along the way.

I’ve featured salads Nos. 29, 13, and 14 in respective posts, but in keeping with the spirit of simplicity, I’ve decided to group more of them together in a single post.  We’ll see how that goes.  In the meantime, make a salad!  Fourteen down, seemingly a million to go.

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Filed Under: Bittman, Gluten-Free, Meatless, Quick & Easy Meal, Salads, Soup, Salad and Sandwiches, Summer, Vegetables, Weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Salad a la Bittman: No. 14

August 26, 2009 By kellypea

Bittman No. 14 I’ve always been someone who enjoys a great salad, so it should be no surprise that I’ve become quite comfortable working my way through Mark Bittman’s 101 Simple Salads for the Season.  The 12-page print out is showing signs of wear with jottings of ingredients I’ve added, dates I prepared each that I’ve made, and stars to denote the direction I may next take.  Oh, the possibilities.  Of course, that would depend on the condition of the veggies I purchased when my eyes were bigger than my ability to follow through in an organized manner.

Let’s face it –  mushrooms only last so long if one doesn’t push the idea that they prefer the open air to being wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge.  Or consider the Jerusalem artichokes that met an untimely demise because I  didn’t have one of the ingredients I needed to make Salad No. 5.  And then there was the jicama that had seen better days long before I cut into it, surprised that it’s possible to find jicama in San Diego in that condition.  Perhaps salad No. 9 wasn’t meant to be on that particular day.

Honestly, I’ve grown to enjoy “The List” as it promises so much as long as I’m prepared, and goodness knows when it comes to food, I’m usually prepared.  The salads are so easily made and adapted that reviewing a section prepares you for the shopping and if the ingredients are remotely connected to what Bittman suggests, then I say fair game and a salad is born.

This past Sunday, I enjoyed salads No. 14 and 26 respectively; one for lunch and the other shared for dinner with grilled beef.  Each was so different, yet delicious, and that is what has kept me interested.   You just never know when you may find the opportunity to pair fennel and prune plums again in your lifetime, right?

Bear with me as I continue this exploration of textures and flavors — baked goodies will always be on the horizon.

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Filed Under: Gluten-Free, Meatless, Vegetables, Weight loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cool Zucchini Soup with Lemon-Cumin Shrimp and Cilantro Creme

August 22, 2009 By kellypea

Cool Zucchini Soup with Lemon-Cumin Shrimp and Cilantro Creme I’d like to believe the weather we’ve been enjoying is here to stay, but I know our small slice of Paradise much too well. Instead of the often sweltering heat we experience in August, we’ve been treated to grey skies, cool, moist breezes, and yesterday, fat drops of rain that teased us late in the afternoon. It’s only a matter of time when vacations become a fleeting memory, kids are back in school, and freeways are once again jammed with rush hour traffic that it will get hot here and stay that way well into October. The heat saps one’s energy after a long day and making dinner usually isn’t high on the priority list, unless it’s something easy to make, cool, and satisfying.  The added perk is that it’s healthy.

This soup’s for you on those evenings. It’s creamy without being full of fat-laden calories as long as you go easy on the cilantro creme. Make extra, because it’s even better the next day.

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Filed Under: Bon Appetit, Cookbooks and Magazines, Gluten-Free, Herbs and Spices, Make Ahead, Meatless, Method, Quick & Easy Meal, Soup, Salad and Sandwiches, Summer, Vegetables, Weight loss Tagged With: , , ,
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