July 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008, by Leigh Anne
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I just had to share…
If you were to stop by my house this is what would greet you at my front door…
Isn’t this crazy, out of control clemetis ’jackmanii’ incredible!! I think it likes it there. It has totally taken over the rose that is underneath it.
Wish you could all stop by and see it in person. Enjoy the photo!
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Categories: Nest
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008, by Leigh Anne
One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning during the summer is to go the local Farmer’s Market.
We are fortunate to live within 20-30 minutes of half a dozen different markets. My favorite is the Beaverton Farmer’s Market. As well as having a wonderful assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers it is a visual feast . The colors are amazing.
I got a little carried away taking pictures this last Saturday and had to share a few with you.
I did more than just take pictures. We purchased an assortment of corn, squash, onions, peppers, artichokes and my favorite - marionberries. As well as a new plant for the garden, of course.
Marionberries are a berry that was first grown here in Marion County, Oregon. They are a cross between a Chehalem blackberry and a Olallieberry blackberry. They are delicious!
Months ago I printed off a recipe for Blackberry Pie Bars. I thought marionberries would be a perfect thing to use so I have been patiently waiting for marionberry season to arrive - and it has. I picked up a couple of pints of marionberries at the Farmer’s Market and tried out the recipe.
They are fantastic!!! They were a huge hit with the whole family including my mom and dad. After eating one Cali said, “You have to put these on the blog.” That has become the standard at our house - whether something is blog worthy or not and these are!!
If you don’t have access to fresh marionberries,. fresh or frozen blackberries will work too.
Enjoy!
Blackberry Pie Bars
Taste and Tell Food Blog
Crust & Topping
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chilled, unsalted butter
Fruit Filling
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 (16 oz.) packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained or fresh!
For the crust and topping:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until fully combined. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Add the butter to the flour mixture and process until the butter is evenly distributed, but the mixture is still crumbly.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes or until it is golden brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes.
To make the filling:
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl, then add the sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting (This didn’t happen at my house!0
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Categories: Nourish, Recipes
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Monday, July 28, 2008, by Leigh Anne
I’ve been tagged by one of my new blogging friends - Melissa from It’s Melissa Kitchen. I get to answer these fun questions she sent….
1. Last Movie I Saw in A Movie Theater? Mama Mia this past week. Sappy and silly but I loved it - I wanted to stand up and dance but my daughter wouldn’t let me so I just had to sway and sing along!
2. What Book Are You Reading? I usually have 3 books going at once - right now it is “These is My Words” for my book club, just finished “The Friday Night Knitting Club” and listening to “Life of Pi” on CD in the car.
3. Favorite Board Game? Quirkle
4. Favorite Magazine? Fine Gardening
5. Favorite Smells? Gardenia and Jasmine
6. Favorite Sounds? The sound of the ocean waves and the creek running at the same time from the deck off the bedroom at our beach house
7. Worst Feeling in the World? Following behind an ambulance that has one of my children in it (happened a week ago)
8. First Thing You Think of When You Wake? What’s on my list today?
9. Favorite Fast Food Place? Costa Vida in Oregon or Cafe Rio if I am in Utah.
10. Future Child’s Name - Miracle because it would be a miracle if I had another baby!
11. Finish This Statement - “If I Had a Lot of Money…. I would buy a little cottage in the English countryside and live there part of the year.”
12. Do You Drive Fast? Yes, but I have NEVER gotten a speeding ticket.
13. Do You Sleep With a Stuffed Animal - no, just a husband.
14. Storms - cool or scary? I love a good thunder and lightening storm!
15. What Was Your First Car - a little yellow Honda Civic
16. Favorite Drink -an icy diet coke from the soda machine - not out of a can.
17. Finish this Statement - “If I Had the Time, I Would…spend more time in the garden!”
18. Do You Eat The Stems on Broccoli? I only eat the stems - I have texture issues and the texture of the flower part bothers me.
19. If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Other Color, What Would it Be? I already color my hair and it would be any color but gray which I am trying to cover up!
20. Name All the Different Cities in Which you Have Lived - San Gabriel, CA, Temple City, CA, Kenosha Wisconsin, Alta Loma, CA, Provo, UT, Sacramento, CA, Rupert, ID (don’t ask!), BattleGround, WA and Portland, OR
21. Favorite Sport to Watch? Any sport one of my children are playing - otherwise NO SPORTS!
22. One Nice Thing About the Person Who Sent This to You -One of the best parts of blogging is all the amazing people I meet and all the incredible cooks and Melissa is one of them!
23. What’s Under Your Bed? A pile of unread books, 5 boxes of wrapping paper, gift bags and ribbon and the good silverware.
24. Would You Like to Be Born as Yourself Again? Most of the time
25. Morning Person or Night Owl? Definitely a Morning Person!
26. Over Easy or Sunny Side Up? Scrambled and dry
27. Favorite Place to Relax? On the beach with a good book
28. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor? Currently it is Tillamook’s Black Cherry.
29. Of All the People You Have Tagged, Who is the Most Likely to Respond First? no idea!
I am now tagging some wonderful fellow bloggers. Please visit their sites by clicking on their names. They have lots of great recipes to share!
Rachelle a new blogging friend who has so many amazing recipes on her blog - there are so many I want to try!
Melanie - who is always so sweet to comment on my blog and shares wonderful recipes with me! She helped me find the perfect almond sugar cookie!
Heidi - who shares lots of wonderful recipes on a blog she does with a group of amazing cooks.
If you are tagged, answer the questions in your blog, then tag 4 or 5 other food blogers (sorry I only did 3) by listing their blogs on your own blog, then commenting on their blog to let them know they’ve been tagged! Be sure and let everybody know who tagged you!
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Categories: Connect
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Friday, July 25, 2008, by Leigh Anne
One of my favorite cuts of meat is skirt steak. I like it for a couple of reasons - it’s inexpensive and it cooks up fast on the barbecue.
It is not a very tender cut of meat so it definitely needs a little help from a marinade - the longer you can marinade it for the better. The ideal is to marinade for 24 hours but that would require remembering to do it and planning ahead - I usually do it 3-4 hours ahead. The meat is definitely more tender the longer it marinades.
My favorite way to serve skirt steak is to cut it up and use it in tacos. I bought some cute smaller sized corn tortillas (they are 4″ in diameter). The Mexican restaurants usually double the tortillas but I didn’t - saved a little on calories.
I served them with a little chopped up lettuce, cilantro and Monterrey Jack cheese and they make an easy summer time dinner (the hardest part is remembering to marinade the meat!)
Enjoy this week’s Friday Favorite!!
Skirt Steak
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 lbs. skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces
In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper, cumin and sugar and puree. Pour into a large, heavy duty, zip top bag and add skirt steak. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow to marinade overnight or for at least 3-4 hours.
Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Cook on barbecue - just a few minutes per side. When finished cooking wrap meat in double thickness of foil and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Remove meat from foil, reserving foil and juices. Slice thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to foil pouch and toss with juice.
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Categories: Friday Favorites, Nourish, Recipes
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Thursday, July 24, 2008, by Leigh Anne
This is my second recipe as part of the Barefoot Blogger group. One more recipe down towards my goal of cooking my way through the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks.
I have to perfectly honest - I did not want to make this dish. In fact I was considering using one of my “free passes” and skipping this one. I am not a seafood lover and I hate salmon. Yes, a girl living in the Northwest that does not like salmon - such a waste!
I have some smell issues when it comes to food and two fish I can not stand are salmon and tuna. In fact when I was in preschool they would fix creamed tuna for lunch each Friday. (That was back in the good old days when fish was served every Friday!)
My mom would have to come and pick me up early from school, before they started cooking the creamed tuna, because the smell made me gag!
Well, we were invited to a barbecue last week and I needed to take an appetizer so I figured I’d just be a big girl and give this recipe a try. What I discovered is that smoked salmon does not smell nearly as bad as fresh salmon! I didn’t even gag!
The recipe was quick and easy to make and I even took one bite - not too bad. My husband thought it was great and those at the party seem to enjoy it. So if you like smoked salmon you might want to give it a try. If nothing else - the pink color is pretty!
This recipe was selected by Ashley of The Spicy Skillet
Smoked Salmon Spread
Barefoot Contessa Family Style
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp. minced fresh dill
1 tsp. prepared horseradish, drained
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 lb. (4 oz.) smoked salmon, minced
Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add teh sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt and pepper and mix. Add the smoked salmon and mix well. Chill and serve with crudites or crackers.
If you can find it the Barefoot Contessa prefers Norwegian salmon, it’s drier and less salty than other smoked salmons.
Popularity: 46% [?]
Categories: Barefoot Bloggers, Nourish, Recipes
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Here are three reasons why I love Oregon…
Blueberries…
…Raspberries….
… and Marionberries.
I love berries and Oregon is berry heaven this time of year! I made a trip to the corner berry stand today and came home with a flat of all three - blueberries, raspberries and marionberries. Most of them are going into the freezer for our winter enjoyment. Blueberries to snack on, throw into smoothies and add to pancakes. Marionberries for pies and crisps and raspberries for all kinds of things….including Ooey Gooey Cake, today’s recipe.
Ooey Gooey Cake is a Paula Deen recipe and the first dessert I always make during raspberry season.
There are all different versions of Ooey Gooey Cake but our favorite is the original topped with fresh Oregon raspberries! I add a seedless currant jelly glaze and we are good to go. I just heat up the jelly until it is liquefied and pour over the top of the berries that are on top of the cake.
The cake is best served warm (if you really want it ooey and gooey) but it is also yummy at room temperature or right out of the refrigerator - it is good any time!
If I don’t have fresh berries to throw on top I like to throw a ripe banana into the batter for some added flavor along with some fresh whipped cream.
Ooey Gooey Cake
1 packaged yellow cake mix
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 egg
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Grease and flour one 13 x 9 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together cake mix (DO NOT add the things it tells you on the back of the box - you are using just the dry cake mix.), melted butter and 1 egg. press into prepared pan. In separate bowl mix cream cheese, 2 eggs and powdered sugar. Pour over the first layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Popularity: 47% [?]
Categories: Nourish, Recipes
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Monday, July 21, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Thanks to those of you who have been waiting patiently. Several weeks ago I shared in my Summer Reads post that there is a book I love so much that I reread it each year during our Week at the Beach. So for those of you who have been anxiously waiting, here it is -
One of my all time favorite books is….
Gift from the Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
Anne was the wife of famous pilot Charles Lindbergh and the mother of 5 children.
I love how she describes her life, it sounds a little familiar….
“The life I have chosen as wife and mother entertains a whole caravan of complications. It involves a house in the suburbs and either household drudgery or household help which wavers between scarcity and non-existence for most of us. It involves food and shelter, meals, planning, marketing, bills and making the ends meet in a thousand ways. It involves not only the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker but countless other experts to keep my modern house with its modern “simplifications” (electricity, plumbing, refrigerator, gas-stove, oil burner, dish washer, radios, car and numerous other labor-saving devices) functioning properly.
It involves health, doctors, dentists, appointments, medicine, cod liver oil, vitamins, trips to the drugstore. It involves education, spiritual, intellectual, physical, schools, school conferences, carpools, extra trips for basketball or orchestra practice, tutoring, camps, camp equipment and transportation.
It involves clothes, shopping, laundry, cleaning, mending, letting skirts down and sewing buttons on, or finding someone else to do it. It involves friends, my husband’s, my children’s, my own and endless arrangements to get together, letters, invitations, telephone calls and transportation hither and yon.”
Now, if I didn’t know better, I would think she was describing my life - the life of a woman in the year 2008. Except for there is no mention of computers, Internet, email, instant messaging, cell phones or text messaging because this book was written in 1955.
Life doesn’t change much for us mothers, does it?
That is one of the reasons why I love this book - Anne’s message, 53 years later, is still as applicable to us as it was to her in 1955, especially when she writes -
“What a circus act we women perform every day of our lives.”
Each time I read the book I find a new message that I need.
This year the message I found for me was the following…
Over the years we as woman have gained much mechanically (invention of telephones, appliances, computers etc.) but spiritually we have, I think, unwittingly lost. In other times women had in their lives more forces which centered them whether or not they realized it, sources which nourished them whether or not they consciously went to these springs. Their very seclusion in the home gave them time alone. Many of their duties were conducive to a quiet contemplative drawing together of the self. They had more creative tasks to perform. Nothing feeds the center so much as creative work, even humble kinds like cooking and sewing…..”
Each of us is a creative person, whether we think we are or not. Some of us may be creative with a paint brush or a needle and thread. Others are creative in the kitchen or in the garden. And for some of us our creativity is expressed physically or intellectually. Creativity is whatever feeds our soul.
“What matters is that one be for a time inwardly attentive.”
For me I find that source in different places - sometimes it is my garden, sometimes my kitchen and sometimes with my sewing machine.
I have always loved to create. My mother is a creator too - when she was younger she found her creativity in a paint brush and canvas and we have some beautiful paintings that prove it. Now, in her later years, she finds it doing genealogy research on the Internet.
As a child I loved to create - I loved the summer craft classes where I created a gold-leafed mirror, a macrame plant hanger or a decoupaged box (it was the 60’s and 70’s remember).
I don’t consider myself terribly creative or original but I love the process of creating - whether it is copying someone elses great ideas or occasionally coming up with an original one.
As Anne says, “It need not be an enormous project or a great work. But it should be something of one’s own.”
As I got older I learned to express that creativity with a sewing machine when I learned to sew in the 4th grade from a wonderful 4-H leader.
Here I am in my lovely first, ever Stretch and Sew T-Shirt - does anyone else remember Stretch and Sew???
As a young mother it was my weekly tole painting classes (thanks to Grandma for babysitting), scrapbooking and sewing matching outfits for my two little boys.
But as the number of my children increased and I began my homebased business the time and opportunity I had to express my creativity, the time for inward attention grew less and less.
Even though my business involved a creative process - scrapbooking, the majority of my time was spent in running my business, helping my team and helping my customers. There wasn’t much time left over for my creative work.
After rereading Gift from the Sea
this summer I decided that I needed to make more time in my life for the creative work that feeds me. I pulled out my old sewing machine this past week. The only use it has seen the last few years has been Halloween costumes and costumes for the various theater productions my children have been in.
I also pulled out the quilt I had begun several years ago, the one that had been sitting in a corner gathering dust. One of my goals is to create a pieced quilt for each of my children before they are married. I have managed to complete two of them so far.
I wasn’t sure where I was going to fit this “creative time” into my already full life but I know that when I do, when I make that connection between my head, my heart and my hands - when I find the time to be “inwardly attention”, I am a happier mother and wife.
My goal is small - one quilt square a day. So far, so good. I’ll post a picture when it’s done.
So what feeds your center, what is your creative work? I hope you’ll share by leaving a comment below. Happy creating!
Don’t forget to click through to the actual blog to leave your comment if you are reading this through an email update or a rss reader.
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Categories: Inspire
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Friday, July 18, 2008, by Leigh Anne
For this week’s Friday Favorite I thought I’d share a Wilkes’ Family birthday tradition -and it does involve a recipe too!
As you know, my baby turned fifteen last Sunday.
I thought as my children got older that some of our family birthday traditions would begin to seem too silly -that they would think they were ”too old”, but I was wrong.
Our birthday person’s day begins with the whole family standing outside of their bedroom singing Happy Birthday. We stand outside the room because the doorway has been covered in crepe paper. After being awakened by our melodious strains the birthday person gets to jump through their doorway, tearing down the crepe paper.
They then return to their bed and they are served their favorite breakfast on a tray. Tessa chose Overnight Waffles with strawberries, whip cream and Cinnamon Syrup. She also wanted Sugared Bacon.
We didn’t get a picture of Tessa in bed this year but here’s one from several years ago.,..
This was during her “cherry phase” - note the cherry pajamas and the cherry hat hanging on the bed.
Years ago family friend, Merill Watts, shared his Overnight Waffle recipe with us and it has truly been a family favorite ever since. It is the ONLY waffle recipe we make and probably ever will make.
The only trick with it is you have to remember to make it the night before (thus the name Overnight Waffles). It has yeast it in and it raises overnight. This is actually a benefit as it makes prep work in the morning so much easier. All you have to do is add in some eggs and baking soda in the morning and you are ready to go!
Overnight waffles are best cooked in a Belgian waffle maker - it is deeper than a regular one.
We love them covered in fresh berries, whip cream and homemade cinnamon syrup but they are great just with plain old maple syrup too!!
I promise, you are going to love these!!
1/2 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
2 cups milk, warmed
1/2 cup butter (1 cube), melted
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. granulated sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Use a big mixing bowl (the batter will rise to double its original volume.) Put the water in the mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes. Warm the milk on the stove (I just add in the butter so it is melting as the milk warms) Be careful not to let the milk boil or get too hot. You don’t want it to kill the yeast when you add it into the yeast mixture.
Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar and flour to the yeast mixture and stir until smooth and blended (can use a hand beater to get rid of the lumps if needed, I usually don’t need to.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature. Just before cooking the waffles, beat in the eggs, add the baking soda, and stir until well mixed. The batter will be very thin. Pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup batter into a very hot waffle iron. Bake the waffles until they are golden and crisp. This batter will keep well for several days in the refrigerator. Depending on the size of your waffle iron this makes about 6-8 waffles.
Popularity: 54% [?]
Categories: Nourish, Recipes
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008, by Leigh Anne
One of my favorite things to do in all my “free time” is browse food blogs. You can get quite lost out there in food blog land as you click from one link to another. One night I stumbled across a new blog, Creating Post It Notes. I’m not sure how I got there but I copied off this recipe to try out.
Jim is out of town this week so it was the perfect time to make it. With the new diet he is on for his Meiners Disease he can’t eat pasta and the girls and I LOVE pasta so I took advantage.
This recipe is definitely a keeper - we all loved it. Even my big college boy Clark loved it - he ate up all the leftovers for lunch today (although he did pick out most of the sun-dried tomatoes!)
I used a corkscrew pasta (fusilli) and used pancetta bacon but you could use regular bacon just as easily. I grilled the chicken breast but any leftover cooked chicken would work.
After our morning in the Emergency Room I needed quick, easy and yummy and this was it! Enjoy!
Pasta with Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
1 pkg. fusilli pasta, cooked al dente
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut up
1/4 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2-3 slices bacon, chopped (or pancetta)
2 cups cooked chicken breast, diced
4-5 Tbsp. pesto
Parmigiano reggiano cheese, shaved
sea salt
cracked pepper
Boil pasta in a stock pot for 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat and cook bacon or pancetta. When halfway cooked, add the olive oil and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the cooked chicken. Add the pasta and sun-dried tomatoes. Toss to coat. Add the pesto, using more or less dependig on your taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove skillet from heat and stir in the parsley. Shave parmigiano reggiano over top.
Popularity: 55% [?]
Categories: Nourish, Recipes
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008, by Leigh Anne
Yesterday was one of those days that every mother fears - the day you find yourself in your car following behind an ambulance that has one of your children in it.
The day started off fine. I decided that I would treat Cali to a pedicure. I only have a month and a half left before Cali goes off to college and I want to cherish every moment of it.
As we were sitting in the chairs getting our toes done Cali began to feel nauseous and lightheaded. As I turned to tell the technician that she needed to go to the bathroom Cali began to have what we thought at the time was a seizure. Fortunately for us there was a nurse and another medical personnel (can’t remember what they told me they were) in the salon too and they felt it was a seizure so 911 was called.
After about 30 seconds (which seemed like forever at the time) Cali came to and asked what was going on. The ambulance arrived and off we went to the hospital.
Of course every “worse case scenario” went through my head during the short 10 minute drive to the hospital in between calls to my husband - who is out of town (aren’t they always out of town when emergencies happen!?), to my parents and to my good friend, neighbor and nurse Debbie - she is always the first one we call in an emergency!
After several hours at the hospital and lots of tests later it was determined that she had not had a seizure (thank goodness) and that she had just passed out. Yes - my daughter is a fainter. The more technical, medical term for it is Vasovagal Syncope.
She has passed out two other times - both due to intense pain. There was no pain this time but nausea and, lightheadedness can bring it on as well as dehydration and low blood sugar.
I knew she was going to be alright when she asked for a hamburger and said, “Is this going to be on the blog?” So, I couldn’t disappoint her - it’s on the blog! And yes, we stopped for a hamburger on the way home - neighbor and nurse Debbie joined us for lunch too - thank you Debbie!
I was also sure to clarify with the Emergency Room doctor that this was not a “pedicure problem” and that future pedicures were possible - he assured me they were. Especially since Cali and I both only have half a pedicure right now!
The people at the nail salon were wonderfully helpful and even called to check on her later in the day.
Three hours later, emotionally drained but incredibly happy and relieved we returned home. I was pretty much good for nothing the rest of the day. Cali took it easy, watching a movie and reading and I spent a lot of time just staring at her and giving her kisses.
How grateful I am for the good outcome we had, I realize that is not the case for all parents following behind the ambulance and my prayers tonight will be extra long.
I am grateful for the scare I had today -because of it I am a little more thankful for my children, a little more respectful of how fragile life is and a little more grateful for the many blessings I have in my life.
Popularity: 44% [?]
Categories: Family, Inspire
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