A few minutes into pulling bindweed and trying not to swear with every vine, my now 11-year old (how does that keep happening – wasn’t she just 4 and her dad would park his car across the driveway so she could ride her bike without worrying she’d land in the street?) neighbor stops by.
As usual, she wants to talk about plants and the household menagerie. We chat amiably for quite a while and then she disappears, as kids are wont to do. I figured she’d grown bored of watching me weed. Understandable, I was bored with weeding myself.
But no, she reappears with her mom’s gardening basket filled with gloves, tools, and a knee-pad. She slips on gloves and grabs her clippers, kneels on the pad and begins to help me trim down the iris leaves.
She also brought cilantro seeds for me to plant for the ducks.
I did figure out that scene, btw, it just didn’t happen while gardening.
Put The Lime In The Coconut…Bars
So I had another birthday not too long ago and there was much celebrating. I prefer a Key Lime Pie (recipe here) to cake on my birthday. But this year, I decided to go with Key Lime Bars instead. Easier to transport and package up as ‘thank-yous’ to various folks.
This time, I had just a few extra coconut shreds, so instead of storing them, I decided to toast them and add them to the top after I removed the bars from the oven.
Key Lime Coconut Bars
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx 28 squares)
- 3 heaping tablespoons shredded coconut
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 8 oz pk cream cheese, softened
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free)
- 1/4 cup Key Lime juice or regular limejuice
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract (opt)
- 1 lime, sliced into thin slices, then quarter
9×9 glass baking dish, mixing bowl and 36 cupcake papers
Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches.
Mix graham cracker crumbs, coconut and butter thoroughly with fork. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing cream cheese mixture. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Beat in lime juice, lemon extract and lime peel. Pour into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Bake about 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes on rack, then cover loosely and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled. Cut into 24 to 36 pieces, place in cupcake papers and top with lime quarters.
x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions
Garden Fresh: A Few Grapes For Smoothies
I processed the few grapes I got this year into juice that I then add to my morning shakes. My neighbor gave me a handful of passion fruit, as an exchange for all my plums her toddler loves to eat. So I also added those to my shake this morning.
Not exchange was not necessary, he can have all the plums he wants! He’s a pandemic baby, born just as we went into lockdown, so I have probably seen more of him than I normally would, as mom and dad walked around the neighborhood several times a day and my office faces the street. Socially distant chats were a welcome diversion.
It’s been my pleasure to watch him grow and start walking and now starting to talk, enough to make his desire to pick plums from my tree clear. Still a nice distraction from work, as far as I’m concerned.
This morning’s smoothie:
Mixed Berry Smoothies
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup ea: blueberries and raspberries, frozen
- 4-6 whole strawberries, frozen
- 1/4 cup fresh grape juice
- 2 passion fruit (scooped from shell)
- opt: 1 tbsp ground flax and 1 scoop whey powder
blender
Add all ingredients to the blender and blend well. This makes 2 thick smoothies. For more of a milkshake consistency, add 6 ice cubes and blend well. I use frozen fruit, so I don’t add the ice cubes, but sometimes a bit of water to make a smooth consistency.
x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions
Fresh Summer Salsas
The tomato harvest has been lackluster this year. Weird weather has caused the fruit to be small and slow to ripen. Some I’m afraid are not going to ripen at all. The San Marzano, which should be about the size of a Roma, look more like cherry tomatoes. Early Girls are anything but early and no bigger than golf balls. And I have to wonder what the Park Wonders would look like in a good year – beefsteak size for sure. Flavor has been great on all of them, but I take comfort in that. 
Since the jalapenos are not only abundant this year, but incredibly hot, I decided to try and roast them to bring out a bit of the sweetness. It wasn’t all that successful, but I did manage to make a couple of jars of pickled jalapeno and freeze them to use sparingly in cooking over the winter.
I set a few aside to make salsas this week. I went with Fresh Salsa (recipe below) and Cucumber Salsa to cut some of the heat (recipe here).
For most of the summer, whenever I grill, I toss an onion on to the grill and let it roast until the grill cools down, so usually about 20-30 minutes on the back of the grate. The flavor can’t be beat and it slips right out of the skin. I refrigerate and add to various recipes. This week, it’s the salsas.
As the weather cools, I may roast a dozen or so and freeze them – they lose their shape but are great in soups and stews and with roasts.
Fresh and Easy Salsa
- 4 tomatoes, quartered
- 6 green onions
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- ½ to 1 bunch cilantro, remove stems
- 2 to 4 jalapenos*, remove stems
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- dash of limejuice if desired
blender or food processor
In blender or food processor, add all ingredients and coarsely chop until blended well**. If you can make a day ahead, it gets even better. Seal in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.
**If you prefer a chunkier style salsa, you’d be better off chopping vegetables by hand.
How is your garden looking this summer?
x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions
Summer Favorites: Caprese Pasta Salad
If you’re wondering why I’m posting so many recipes it’s because as I finish up the first Duxbridge Mystery (Recipe for Murder) I am comtemplating what recipes to include. And besides, who couldn’t use a good summer salad mid-August?
X-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions:
This one is a regular at the dinner table. Visiting local farmer’s markets offered me the chance to change this dish up with flavored fettuccini pasta a couple of times.
Pasta Caprese
- 9 oz linguine or fettuccine
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 4 oz cubed mozzarella
- salt & pepper to taste
saucepan and large serving dish
Prepare pasta according to package directions. While it’s cooking, mix remaining ingredients together. Drain pasta completely (dab with paper towels, if necessary) then add to tomato mixture. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to let flavors blend. Serve warm or you can refrigerate and serve cold. Add a nice loaf of bread for a complete dinner.
I use a fairly expensive mozzarella for this dish because it’s softer, tastier, and absorbs more flavors. Any locally produced mozzarella would work. Also, my local farmers’ market has a pasta vendor, who hand-makes many flavors of pasta. This dish works very well with flavored pastas – fire roasted chili, lemon pepper, tomato basil, red bell pepper – the list goes on. You can also change-up the cheese to a Queso Blanco (again, use a fairly expensive or locally produced one), use cilantro instead of basil and use a chili flavored pasta for a whole new dish. The possibilities are endless.
Annie DeMoranville 