Meals from the Garden, A Birthday Party and Celebrating with My Daddy!

The kitchen is my favorite hangout, where my creative juices flow best.  I like to keep my camera close at hand so I can capture the moment; the one when the recipe works, or doesn't, when I've just brought in fresh produce from the garden, or when the kitchen counter is in a state of chaos because there is something wonderful cooling in the background.  These things make my heart sing.   I believe that good, real food given in each season is a gift from God and is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated with those we love.  This month's photo collection spotlights fresh food from the garden, a birthday party and a Father's Day lunch.

Offerings from a June Kitchen

We enjoyed the last of the lettuces from the garden with a variety of salads, one of my favorites being this one,with chopped strawberries, Point Reyes blue cheese, walnuts and balsamic viniagrette.  So delicious!

The butter lettuce leaves were perfect for making these asian wraps with a spicy dipping sauce.

I always hate saying goodbye to strawberries, but all good things must come to an end.  Until

next year I'll have to make do with the bags I've put in the freezer. 

We had a pasta week as I practiced, and practiced making pasta for a class I taught at church.  

Worse things could happen, you know?  I had a great time teaching the class.  

My kitchen smelled wonderful as a I zested and juiced lots of lemons for our favorite lemon cookies.

Sugar snap peas from a friend's garden.  What a wonderful gift.

We had them for dinner,

 and I put the rest in the freezer.

On one of those, "I don't have time to cook nights", I picked up a rotisserie chicken.  

A few days later I made a rich stock from the leftovers with a ton of fresh herbs from my garden.

Fruit smoothies are so refreshing and I love to whip up one after I work out.  But, I always

make more than I need.  I've started making popsicles out of the excess.  A brilliant solution if I 

say so myself.   Yes, these rocket shaped popsicle molds have been around a while.

Dillon's thinking hard about that birthday wish.  I made a carrot cake at his request.

I had more frosting than I needed and since it would be a crime to throw away

cream cheese frosting, I stashed it in the refrigerator and later in the week made

these carrot cake whoopee pies for my sister.  She loved them.

I surprised my Dad with a visit on Father's Day.   As a bonus, I got to visit with my sister and her family too.

We had Dad's famous roast with carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls.  I made a 

chocolate layer cake for dessert, but I guess we didn't get a picture of that.   It was all delicious.

I finally made pesto from the garlic scapes that had been waiting patiently in the refrigerator.

The next day, we enjoyed a pesto pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.

Italian artisan bread made the perfect cheese sandwich,

to go with creamy tuscan tomato soup, made with more of that fresh pesto.

My favorite new recipe of the season is this Lemon Pie Ice Cream.  I just can't tell you how good it is.

Blueberries are here!!! 

The first thing I made were blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

I made a big batch of Dad's BBQ sauce and canned some for grilling in the months ahead.

Last, but not least, I whipped up some individual banana puddings in these cute little

ramekins that my friend gave me for my birthday. The lucky recipients of this gift  from

the kitchen gave them a big thumbs up.  I have to admit, they were pretty darn good.

Celebrating Family and Spring Garden Delights

   The kitchen is my favorite hangout.  It's where my creative juices flow best and where I gather others around me and share love.    I like to keep my camera close at hand so I can snap a shot to capture that moment, the one when the recipe works or doesn't, when I've just brought in fresh produce from the garden, or the counter is in a state of chaos because there's something wonderful cooling in the background.  These things make my heart sing.  I believe good, real food is a gift from God and is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated.   This month's photo collection shows how we've celebrated a birthday, Mother's Day and wonderful things from my spring garden. 

Offerings from a May Kitchen

   Jantzen's Birthday cake- German Chocolate, the often requested family favorite

Asparagus growing in the garden.

The first thing I make with my asparagus is an omelet with fresh eggs and parmesan cheese.

At least once during asparagus season, I make this wonderful appetizer with roasted asparagus wrapped in buttery prosciutto.  Oh man, is it good.   We had it for my Mother's Day lunch.

Quiche made with asparagus, fresh dill and parmesan cheese.

Kale from the garden, chopped and added to this farro salad

Chocolate chip cookies for Mother's Day gifts.

I planned and cooked my own Mother's Day lunch, because I knew exactly what I wanted and was  happy to make it.  Having some of my children here to enjoy this huge dish of lasagna and then clean up afterwards was a wonderful gift.  

Then we had homemade strawberry ice-cream made in my new machine.  Yum!

Monday is baking day.

This avocado toast made with my wheat bread is divine.

Oh, how I love strawberry season!  

Strawberry Crepes

Strawberry Rhubarb jam

Strawberry Rhubarb muffins

Pizza night with fresh basil, tomato sauce and mozzarella.  Pizza margherita!

A tasty and healthy way to use my kale.  Thanks to Sandy for the recipe.

"Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; 

all these are to be used with prudence and thanksgiving."   

Doctrine and Covenants 89:11 

Crock Pot Apple Butter

The smell of simmering apple butter screams fall.  It's the best potpourri around and once it's finished cooking,  I love it smeared on a slice of homemade bread.  Yum!  Pure comfort food. 

I've made apple butter for years, but never have I made a recipe that's this easy.  I'm thankful to j'Nae for sending this my way.  In fact, it's so good and so easy, I've lost count of how many pots of this I've made in the past three weeks.  Let's just say, I have a nice stash put away for winter and for sharing with very special people.  Before I move on to apple pie filling, I wanted to share this recipe with you, just in case you'd like to make some apple butter for yourself.  Don't be nervous if you've never canned before.  This is the perfect project for beginners, with no pressure canners involved. 

Before going to bed, I slice my apples and fill up the crockpot.  I dump my sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice on top of the apples.  I don't even bother to stir, because with all those apples, it would just make a mess.  I set the crock pot on low, cover and forget about it until morning.  Be prepared to wake up to a wonderful aroma.

As soon as I wake up in the morning, I give the apples a stir and then turn the temperature up to high and take off the lid, so it will thicken a little more.  I take my clean canning jars and put them in the oven to warm on the lowest temperature.

New, canning flats go into a pan of water and are brought to a boil.  Then I turn them down on low and keep them hot.

Now it's time to work with the apple butter.  The apples have cooked down by almost half and are still nice and chunky.  If that's the way you like you're apple butter, you can skip the next step.

I take my stick (immersion) blender and blend on low to give the apple butter a smooth consistency.  Be very careful with the stick blender.  This thing works like a charm, but if you accidentally lift it too far out of the apples, you will likely spray it all over your kitchen, burning yourself in the process.  I might know this from experience.  Really, just be careful with the stick blender!

I love the way the blade pops off for easy cleanup.  Don't let my warning scare you away from one of these.  They really are great.

After the blending process, my apple butter looks like this.  If you don't have a stick blender, you could mash it with a potato masher or use a food processor or regular blender.  If you end up taking it out of the crock pot and working with it, you might need to reheat it in a big pot on the stove before putting into canning jars.  With the method I've been using, the apple butter stays hot enough to go straight from the crock pot to the jars.  That's another thing I love about this recipe, one less thing to wash.

With hot apple butter, jars and lids, it's time to put it into the jars.  At this point, I've already filled my hot water bath canner with water and let it start getting hot.  I will admit that I don't always do this step, but it's a good idea.  My nana taught me how to can and she never used a water bath canner for her jams, jellies, pickles and tomato products.  I don't think anyone ever got sick from her home canned foods, but the current guidelines for canning suggest water bath canners as a precautionary step.  So, it's your call.  

After filling the jars, I wiped the rims of each jar with a clean towel, to clean up any spills.   If it's not clean, the lid probably won't seal.  And you want the lids to seal, or you will be eating a lot of apple butter in a short amount of time.

I use my magnetic lid lifter (what a clever tool, that I should have bought years ago) to move the flat lid from the hot water onto the jar.

Then screw on the bands and move it to the hot water bath.

The water should completely cover the jars and come to a rolling boil before you start timing.  After putting the lid on the canner, I left these in the water bath for ten minutes.

Nothing is as satisfying as seeing all these jars lined up on your cabinet and hearing the "plink" of the lids as each one seals.  The only job left is loading them up and carrying them to the basement pantry.  But I leave them on the counter for a few days, just so I can admire the fruits of my labor.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Slice and fill your crock pot with a good cooking apple.

( I used a mixture of Rome and Winesap)

Add 4 cups sugar (I've reduced this to 3 cups with good results)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

Cook on low overnight or adjust heat and time to your

schedule.  Apples will reduce by almost half.  Mash

or blend to desired consistency and put into hot jars.

Process for ten minutes for pint jars.