Kale Chips

Kale Chips

1 bunch Kale

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt

preheat oven to 300 degrees

Wash and dry kale. Pull leaves off the stems, into chunks about as big as the palm of your hand or smaller

Place in bowl. Drizzle with olive oil until each leaf is lightly coated.

Now sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt, to your liking. I prefer my chips on the salty side. But that's my problem. Not yours so salt your kale as you wish. My son who likes spicy even suggested that a little red pepper flake would be good on here too. Maybe next time.

Toss around in bowl with your hands.

Now lay it out in an even layer on cookie sheets. Bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Now sit back relax and prepare yourself for a life changing experience.

Okaaaay...whatcha think? Well it didn't win everyone over in my family, but most of them. Of course my oldest daughter with the palate of a seasoned chef chowed on it. I hope, if you have feelings for kale like I do, you will give this a try and let me know, if I have made a believer out of you.

Happy kales to you....until we meeet again...

Kale

Our first year as share holders of Trillium Haven Farm is coming to a close. Only one month left. This summer flew by! I have loved being a part of such a wonderful community of people.

I really would recommend a CSA(community supported agriculture) to anyone, who loves a variety of fresh organic produce, but does not really have it in their blood or time schedule to plant their own garden. I don't have it in my blood by the way. I tried that for two summers, it was, quite frankly, a disaster. This summer I planted three tomato plants and some herbs and that worked out fabulously for me.

I loved everything about going to the farm except one thing. There is one thing that would just get my stomach in a knot and my pits a pouring sweat. Kale. I hated the kale. Every week there it was. Laying in it's nice basket, all clean, pretty, and green waiting for me to take it home and love it. I HATE IT. I can't stand kale. It would not go away. It was never ending.

Does kale have no season??? Tell me people. I need to know.

I few times I acted as if I didn't see it. I scooted right past and ignored it. Then I had kale-guilt. Another time the nice woman that is always there to help us fill our baskets and bags, pointed out that I had passed the kale by. "oh, you forgot your kale, here ya go." "Oh oops, thanks", I lied. On occasion there will be someone at the Farm cooking when you pick up your share, one day there was a women there showing the many ways to use kale. It helped, I tried a few, but really I couldn't get past it. Kale-guilt. And there is always so darn much of it! Sheesh give us kale haters a break would ya.

This is what I really want....

Beets and potatoes...

Beautiful carrots!

Radishes, green onions, lovely lettuces, which I was given...but always with this....

kale. Is this a lesson in..."with the good there always comes the bad"? Oh man....and how do I take the "bad" and turning it into something good?

Flippin' kale...trying to teach me life lessons! Who does he think he is? Blast!

Somewhere along in my blog hopping I read something about a Kale Chip. What? What did I read, and where did I read it. I couldn't remember for the life of me. Did I dream it. Kale had been haunting me in my sleep.

Dream #1: I went to the farmers market and all anyone was selling was kale.

Dream #2: I went to the grocery store and everything was kale.

Dream#3: I woke up and I was sleeping on a bed of kale!

I love chips. Potato chips with plenty of French Onion Dip. But how could one turn kale into a chip. I did what all good people do these days....I googled, kale chips. And what happened next is not to be explained. The heavens opened up and a beam of light shown through the window onto my keyboard. True story. Then I clicked on the second choice that was given, cause that's just what I do. I rarely choose the first one. To my good fortune it was Smitten Kitchen. Who is also not a fan of kale and therefore sought out the chip and it was life changing, for her, and for me too.

Yes, it is true the Kale Chip has transformed me. I have taken something that I believed to be horrifically yucky. And transformed it relatively easily into a thing of wonder.

I will leave you all to ponder how wonderful a kale chip is. I will be back later to post how to make kale chips. Or if you have a mound of kale and are desperate need of a recipe for kale chips then go to Smitten Kitchen, she has a lovely site, with lots of good stuff you may like.

Be back in a few.

Vote 4 ME

Cooler weather is finally here. The trees are changing color. Fall. My favorite season. The season of football games, and comfort food. Nothing says comfort like a good stew. This recipe makes enough to share, or if you are having friends over it's the perfect amount for 10-12 people. Serve it with wide egg noodles or some boiled potatoes with butter and parsley, a crusty baguette and you are all set. Well you might need to make some apple crisp too, then you will be completely set for sure.

I have entered my recipe in the Everyday Chef Challenge put on by Pacific Natural Foods. I could win a trip to the Culinary Institute of America in California! That would be a dream come true. If you go to Pacific Natural Foods, you will be able to print off my recipe and VOTE FOR ME. So please click on the "vote for me" link and do just that. I am hoping to enter a few more recipes but for now this is the one. Feel free to link this to your Facebook or Twitter and have your friends and family vote for my recipe.

Thanks so much!

death by CHOCOLATE chip cookies

I realize that there are a million ways to bake a chocolate chip cookie, and you probably all have your own favorite recipe, and most likely you won't be interested in trying a new one.

But just in case you don't and you are and maybe possibly you are having a hormonal seizure like I was this evening and you need chocolate chip cookies or your head will explode.

I felt sort of like Cookie Monster today...after watching three different sporting events and an afternoon of my oldest daughter and her friend turning our house into a bubble gum factory for their science project. I was wandering around saying, "me need coookie". I whipped out a batch of one of our favorite cookie recipes. Ate too many. Now I feel sick. Now I wish I had more self control when it comes to cookies...because I think I actually might die..or barf. Now I am walking around saying, "Why did I do that, I am never eating another chocolate chip cookie again. Not ever, ever...."

At least for a week.

Some of my best recipes have come from nurses. This is one of them. Norma was one of my husbands favorite nurses at his first job out of residency. He loved her, and her cookies. And she was sweet enough to share the recipe with me, all those years ago.

Now I hope you enjoy it too!

Norma's Chocolate Chip Cookies

printable recipe

1 cup butter softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup vegetable oil

24 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

6 oz. milk chocolate chunks

1 cup chopped pecans optional

preheat oven to 325 degrees

1. cream butter and sugars

2. add egg, mix well and scrape down sides of bowl

3. add vanilla, mixing well again

4. mix flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda in a separate bowl

5. alternate adding vegetable oil and flour to butter mixture. Mix well and scrape down sides of bowl a couple times

6. fold in chocolate and pecans

7. spoon (I use a melon baller) onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, bake for 8-10 minutes. NOTE: do not over bake. Take out of oven as soon as cookies start to brown slightly around edge. They will appear undone, let cool on cookie sheet, then remove.

Be sure to enjoy these cookies while they are warm. That's how I prefer all cookies, but these especially!

Now for your viewing pleasure. "Death by Chocolate Chip Cookies" the photo montage.

Anniversary

Today, Kenny and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. Sixteen years ago....sheesh-Louise, where has the time gone. Look at us...

Cutting that gorgeous cake, not a care in the world. That was some cake. I was all about the cake. I think everybody thought I had lost my marbles because I was more concerned with the flavor of the cake than the meal. It was chocolate, dark chocolate with 4 different fillings. It was amazing.

Speaking of amazing, look at my new husband there. Wasn't he handsome in his grey pinstriped tuxedo and ginormous saucer glasses. Goodness gracious, I thought he was so sexy. Little did I know he would only get better with time.....yup. And what's up with the skinny chic, golly feed her some cake! Who is that brawd?! Four kids and a lot of good eats later, I do not have the skinny thing going on.

I made everyone wear Groucho Marx glasses for pictures. What the bride wants the bride gets...heh, I thought it would be funny. I am all about dessert (the cake) and a good laugh (Groucho glasses). To this day...I am still the same. Dessert and giggles. Everyone was a good sport and had fun with it, at least I think they did. Did I ever thank you all for wearing the glasses? I love you guys....thanks for wearing the Groucho Glasses for me.

After our wedding we spent the next two weeks traveling the North Eastern states. I have a great lobster trap story I should tell you some time. Oh yeh, and another story about an incident on the beach......mmmhmmm.

Yesterday I went looking for our wedding pictures. I couldn't find them. I was a bit frantic, causing me to take the dog for a walk and come home and write this. Then late last night I found them. Thank goodness.

My super Hunk of a husband has off today. We are going to spend the whole dag-nab day together. First, something yummy for breakfast...then on to visit Kens grandma, she's 96 so sweet can't wait to see her. She was married to the love of her life for over 60 years! Grandpa passed a few years back makes my heart ache for her. We will have to get some tips from Grandma on how to make our marriage last 60+years. Then later we will check out ArtPrize, and grab something to eat, of course.

Have a good day!

roasted tomato basil cream SAUCE

Next to coffee and chocolate I think roasted tomatoes are my third addiction. I love the smell of tomatoes cooking! Mmmm-mmm yummy! They are so versatile too. I roasted these on Tuesday, put them in this container, and stored them in the refrigerator until yesterday. Roasted tomatoes will keep 5-7 days in the refrigerator after roasting, or if you freeze them they will last 3 months. You can check my post on roasting tomatoes out here.

There they are, 2 cups of roasted tomatoes. Pretty little suckers. This sauce is so easy I am not even going to do a printable for it. You cannot ruin it. I promise. And if you are watching your fat intake...LEAVE. No really...DON'T leave, what I meant to say was you can leave the heavy cream out and add broth or white wine instead.

In a sauce pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and as much fresh minced garlic as you would like. I used 2 cloves of garlic, because my husband is a vampire and he cannot tolerate it. Saute' that on low heat. You don't want the garlic to burn.

Seriously, my husband is not a vampire, but truly he does not tolerate garlic. Which has been a huge problem in our marriage. By the way we will be celebrating our 16th year of marriage tomorrow! And we have survived the "War over Garlic" thus far. I keep sneaking it in on him in small doses. Hoping to build up a tolerance...as you can see we are only up to 2 cloves.....it's been a process.

After the garlic has warmed up in the pan, pour in the roasted tomatoes and stir around, use your spoon to break the tomatoes up a bit.

While your garlic and tomatoes are getting to know each other, chop 1/4 cup fresh basil.

Now for the really good stuff, add 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. I just eyeballed it, but I'm sure it was about 1/2 cup. Stir and let simmer for 1 minute. This is a quick sauce less that 5 minutes!

Now toss in Basil. Isn't he handsome..and he smell good too. OOh-la-la Basil I love you.

Boil up any pasta you prefer. I had rigatoni handy, but I actually think this sauce would be perfect over gnocchi.

Ingredient list:

2 cups roasted tomatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

1/2 cup heavy cream (or broth or white wine)

salt and pepper to taste

pasta

Hope you enjoy!

autumn EQUINOX

Today is Autumn Equinox. I did not realize this. Did you know this? Or am I the only one that missed the memo? Tonight on the way home from church my kids were talking like Jr. Astronomers. I was informed first, that my daughters friend actually named her cat Autumn Equinox.....Ok...then I was told that twice a year the Earths equator and the center of the Sun are on the same plane. Making it possible for eggs to stand on end. How may I ask did I live the last 41 years and miss this. What else am I missing people?!

Wild....Wacky...Wednesday.

OUCH! dang it!

Have I told you that I am a klutz? I am. Totally. I attempt to be graceful and walk tall, but usually I trip. I have this spot in my kitchen that is a problem.....



See this spot? Isn't it lovely, I stand here most of my days, my sink is over to the right, so I move from sink to stove, sink to stove. Back and forth. Back and forth.

At least once a day, at least once I said...usually two or three times, I bump my noggin on this corner.....



And I yell, "OUCH! Dang IT!" stupidriffle raffle,schniffleshnaffle-ARRrrrg.

Yup, I do.

Pork Chapsh N Applesawsh

If you read my exceedingly long post about 2nd grade a week or two ago, you would know that I had a thing for Peter Brady as a young girl. To this day I can not say pork chops with out thinking "Pork chawps and applesaws". Remember that episode? Peter was trying to imitate Humphrey Bogart, I believe. It was really quite a stupid scene, why has it stuck in my head all these years? The whole time I was making this dinner I found myself rolling my upper lip up on my top teeth and saying "pork chapsh and applesawsh". You probably find this quite strange and possibly kookookachoo. I know. It's who I am, no excuses.

For this recipe you will need:

4 thick cut pork chops (you can use the thin chop or pork steaks if you prefer)

flour for dredging (about 1 cup)

4 tablespoons butter

1 large apple or two smaller, use a tart variety. I used Spy.

1 medium onion

5 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1/4 cup chicken broth or Chardonnay works fabulous if you just so happened to be opening a bottle. (Just a quick note. Saying "pork chapsh and applesawsh" is much easier after a glass of Chardonnay.)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 heaping tablespoon of Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

preheat oven to 375

Give your apple a little bath.

Then core, and slice. No need to peel.

Thinly slice the onion.

Put flour on plate or in a bowl, add a dash of salt and pepper. Dredge each pork chop in flour, so all sides are covered.

Place a sprig of rosemary on each chop.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in pan. Burner should be on medium heat.

When butter is melted and sizzling. Lie chop down with rosemary on the bottom side first.

Cook for 3-4minutes on each side. (If you have chosen a thinner cut of chop, you will need to adjust your cooking times)

Remove from pan on stove and place chops in an oven proof pan or on a cookie sheet to finish cooking. This should take 15-20 minutes. Now you can start your "applesawsh".

Sometimes the butter in my frying pan burns, this is not good. You do not want to start your sauce with burnt butter. At least not for this recipe. Remove pan from the burner, and take a paper towel and quickly wipe out any burnt butter from pan.

Return pan to burner on medium heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in pan.

Now add the apple and onions to your pan. Do not add the 5th sprig of rosemary yet. You can quick give it a chop and save it until the very end.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over apples and onions.

You want the apples and onions to start to caramelize. Move them around a little bit, but really you shouldn't move them too much because you don't want the apple to start breaking up.

Now add a salt and pepper to taste.

When apples start to brown around the edges add the Dijon mustard. If you are a mustard fan then go crazy, add 2 tablespoons.

Pour in your liquid of choice. Chicken broth or Chardonnay. Really any dry white wine would do. Chard just happens to be my favorite.

Now give it a gentle whisk making sure the mustard is completely spread throughout the sauce. Let this bubble for a minute then turn off your burner.

Add the remaining fresh rosemary.

Spoon some of the applesauce on plate and place your chop on top. Or if you want you can spoon it over the top. It's really up to you.

Now get out a fork and knife and cut yourself a piece.....

Oh baby, this is really, really good! I served it with Roasted Squash Puree and Oven Roasted Redskin Potatoes. Really any vegetable would do. Roasted asparagus would be nice, too!

Enjoy!