Mexican Zucchini Salad

We had house guests: investors interested in Monte's swashbuckling geology. It was an all-of-a-sudden event, and one, the only one we knew, stayed the night. Our typical first meal for guests is Mexican and usually I'll grill stuffed poblanos (I'll post that recipe another time), but didn't do that this time. Since it was a quick throw-together we repeated our mexican chuck roast and radish salsa meal I recently posted about. I did a rhubarb crisp, already posted too, along with rhubarb-ade, and tea. I also made another favorite guests like - Mexican Zucchini Salad. (Monte told me I better take a picture of his plate - he always makes a great presentation of food!)



I have a cookbook from when we were first married, so thirty-five years old, that this recipe idea came from (idea... since I don't totally follow). When Travis got married, Monte and me catered the rehearsal dinner all the way to Ft Collins from our Evergreen home - a Mexican fiesta! This salad was one of the dishes well received.

MEXICAN ZUCCHINI SALAD

3 medium zucchini

1/2 tsp salt

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and again in 1/4" slices. In a bowl, salt these with the salt, toss to mix, then spread on several layers of paper towel to sit and drain for 30 minutes. Pat dry before adding to bowl mixture.



Combine in a bowl-

5 Tb vinegar (I like to mix some balsamic, red wine vinegar and maybe brown rice, apple cider, sherry vinegar - the recipe uses all white vinegar - how boring!)

2-3 cloves minced garlic (instead of recipe's 1 - I always do more garlic in recipes)

1/4 tsp dried thyme (use more of garden fresh thyme)

1/2C good tasting olive oil

1 can drained garbanzo beans

1/2C sliced olives

1/2C+ sliced green onions (I always do more green onions and love the green tops)

1 canned chipotle chili in adobo, seeded and minced (I always keep these in a jar, once a can is opened, and when I take out a chili I make sure to shove all the chilis into the adobo for better keeping)

1/2C crumbled queso anejo (which I don't usually have, so I use cows milk feta [we don't like goat feta - fresh goat milk and cheese is good, but something happens to it in the processing and time])



I'll make this a bit ahead 30 minutes to 4 hours, and occasionally stir for the flavors to marinate.

After supper, and a rain sprinkle, we walked around the gardens, enjoying the flowers, texture, and mountain air. I had them all eat a sweet cicely seed pod - an after dinner mint. The plant is behind my tarragon plant - both a type of licorice/anise flavor. Sweet Cicely is very ferny and mine has been reseeding (I think last year's moist summer did it) so I moved them about the garden this spring.



An artist friend, Sarah, and me made my Sculpy Dough herb labels last year. They are weathering just fine - I didn't know how they'd hold up. Garden twine holds them to bamboo poles.

Hummingbird Nectar

I just mixed up some more sugar water for my smallest hummingbird feeder. The feisty rufous hummingbird has arrived and the activity level has escalated. The rufous copper color in the sunlight is spectacular. Tho my feeders all have many feeding holes, once the territorial rufous shows up, he doesn't like to share the feeder. I read one will take over a feeder, so this year I've got three feeders, and I'm seeing more rufouses than ever!



I've read of boiling the nectar. I don't. Never have. Nor do I put in red food coloring. I've been feeding hummingbirds every summer for years, cuz they're here all summer, from mid May till Labor Day weekend. And noisy they be - their chips and high pitched humming sound is heard from afar!



So how I mix my sugar water works. I just use hot tap water and stir till sugar is dissolved.

Hummingbird Nectar

-1 part sugar

-4 parts water

(So 1C sugar to 4C water is my typical amount I'll make up)

-Have part of the water hot tap water till sugar dissolved, then add the rest as cold water.



I'll use this filling time to rinse the feeder in the hot tap water too. I do have a bottle brush for feeders if need be.

I so enjoy seeing nature utilize my environment I've created for their enjoyment.

Radish Salsa

I made up a recipe several years ago I called "Salad on my Chip", made with lots of radishes. So often radishes get too big or hot and I thought they'd make a good salsa. Well, I'm needing to use up garden radishes again and Googled "radish salsa" and found lots of recipes. I used from the varying recipes what I had on hand - most from the garden - and it was great!



I'd cooked and shredded a chuck roast in the crockpot using 1 tsp Mexican spice mix called "Alan's Spices" in my Hearth & Home cookbook, about 1-2C beef broth, and 1 16oz jar 505 Organic Green Chili Sauce. It had some spunk, but when mixed with black beans, sauted slivered roasted poblano chilies, sour cream, and the radish salsa on top ... yummmm! ... The first meal was with homemade from masa corn tortillas, the next meal was with crisp corn tostadas. And too, we'll put some of all the leftovers on a large lettuce leaf freshly picked from the garden and eat as a lettuce wrap - so lots of options. All yummy!

RADISH SALSA

-1# radishes - amounting to about 2 cups chopped in food processor

-small wedge of cabbage - maybe about 1/4-1/2C chopped

-1/4-1/3C chopped cilantro

-1/2C chopped chives

-1 tomato chopped

-2 minced cloves garlic

-pinch each of salt and pepper

-2 Tb lime or lemon juice (I used both, using up halved pieces sitting on cutting board, which is what Monte always uses on his salads, and in water with ice to drink)



I wanted to put some jalepenos in it but didn't have any fresh or jarred in the fridge. But then, with the poblanos and spunking chuck meat, I didn't need any. Eating alone, it was still great without jalepenos. Also in the past I'd added a bit of cider vinegar, but prefer the limon juice better.

The kitchen garden is looking beautiful! Along the picket fence you see the tomatoes in walls-of-water. At my altitude I can get tomatoes if they have the benefit of extra warmth, so I leave them on the entire growing season, whereas most people just use them for early spring, and remove them. I'm trying exposed tomatoes in-between this year. So far, those in the walls are growing bigger. We'll see how those out of the walls-of-water produce ... like will I pick the first tomatoes just before our first frost?!

I plant all sorts of lettuce varieties and greens. I love a bit of spunk in my salad that a few mustard greens provide. We use a lot of spinach and kale. Lots of phytonutrients! Kale has more vitamin C than citrus. And eating fresh spinach and greens is the best defense against disease and heart attacks. All our food choices should be as fresh as possible and THINK COLOR! - lot's of variety of color.



Now to sit on the deck, under the umbrella, read a bit drinking tea, and eating my second breakfast of yogurt and fruit and sprouted dried flax seeds and a bit of granola, and enjoying all the flowers and birds. Then back to my textile art work (fun!).

Cowboy Caviar

I've been a MOPS Mentor Mom for almost 10 years now. Last week I went with some of the gals on an outing. For lunch, one of the moms brought Cowboy Caviar. I knew once I saw the ingredients, helping with the chopping, and then tasting ... yummmm ... that this would be something I would make for our family's 4th of July get-together. But of course, typical me, I altered her recipe some. I just now Googled it to see the variances. So what did I do?

COWBOY CAVIAR

1 can black beans

1 can black-eyed peas

1 can corn

(I grilled, in the husks, 3 ears of corn till the husks blackened, then cut off the grilled flavored corn)

2-3 chopped tomatoes

2-3 chopped avacados (we love avacados)

several green onions, including the greens, chopped (I love green onion tops!)

a whole bunch of cilantro chopped

probably about 1/2+ cup of salsa

1-2 Tb balsamic vinegar

2 Tb red wine vinegar



I had also made a buttermilk half sour cream and mayo dip. So I'd brought tortilla chips and potato chips and lots of veggies for the dips.



Looking at some of Google's recipes and back at the original given to me, I didn't use a hot sauce, but the salsa instead. I'd add lots of garlic next time and some lime juice. I was supposed to add some oil too, but forgot. For proportions, around 2/3C grn onions as well as the cilantro is given in one and 2 Tb vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp oil. Another used canned diced tomato and added chopped bell pepper. Monte wants me to add jalepenos next time and one recipe adds 1/2C chopped pickled jalepenos (which I often use when I don't have fresh). Another adds Italian salad dressing for the vinegar and oil, and frozen corn. And I used more avacado than suggested. So you see, there's lots of possibilities with this recipe.



Travis's first bite comment was "Complex". Everyone liked it. So here's the recipe everyone who asked for it!

Tie-Dye

Knowing we were going to be gathering for 4th of July AND I needed to use up all my old dye, I tie-dyed a bunch of stuff: T-shirts, camisoles, and bamboo socks, and too, some summer onesies I'd got for the Grandbabies. So yesterday everyone got at least one shirt with matching socks.

Also, it's fun to see people using things I've made and given them. Last Christmas I tie-dyed aprons for gift-giving. Travis wears his apron all the time when cooking - especially grilling, as he did 25+pounds of ribs this 4th of July, using my mom's dad's bar-b-q sauce recipe.

RhubarbAde

A beverage I make often for company and family gatherings is rhubarb-ade. It's my made-up version of lemonade utilizing rhubarb we harvest and freeze. It's gotta be made from frozen rhubarb, otherwise you'd need to break down the rhubarb by cooking. I think I already mentioned in the Rhubarb Crisp post that I freeze rhubarb in 2 quantity sized bags: either a heaping quart measure (so more like 5+ cups) for my rhubarb custard pie (in my Hearth & Home cookbook), or a heaping 2+ cup measure, for the crisp.

From the pie bag measure of rhubarb I make a gallon of the ade beverage.


So, the RHUBARB ADE recipe proportions:

1 heaping quart of rhubarb
1 cup of sugar
1 gallon of water

Mix and cook in saucepan the rhubarb, sugar, and enough water to cover till rhubarb is soft. You have two options: either pour this mixture in a colander and pour the rest of the water to equal a gallon over the rhubarb, OR have your full gallon of water with the rhubarb and strain it all into your serving container. Then of course chill it before serving.

People like this beverage and I often have it requested by guests. I took it this past weekend for our 4th of July gathering. Years ago when Monte was telling a Wisconsin uncle about the drink, he laughed, thinking it sounded like silage (green farm fodder stored in silos for winter animal feed). I don't know if he believed us that it could taste good!

Posted at Gnowfglins

Sarah's Baked Beans

Every time our family gathers for summer meals (typically 4th of July) at Travis and Sarah's, Sarah makes this dish (or I'll request it). Now I'm finally getting the recipe recorded for my own personal use.



Can Butter Beans (drain all the beans)

Can Garbanzo Beans

Can Lima Beans

Can Kidney Beans

Can Northern Beans

1 large can Baked Beans

1/2# bacon, cut up

1 onion, chopped

1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup red wine

2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce



Cook in crockpot all day or bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.



Sarah says when it's just her and Travo she'll just do a couple of the beans and other bits in a saucepan.

Sourdough Pancakes

I'm currently at my son Travis and Sarah's home, sitting at the dining table with the back sliding glass door open to the back kitchen garden. We came yesterday for a 4th of July family bar-b-q meal using my grandpa's sauce on ribs. I'll have to post that recipe - it's in my cookbook Hearth & Home. We spent the night ... were going to go to fireworks, but it was pouring rain. Sarah's Mom and Dad drove in last night from TX and we made sourdough pancakes for breakfast.

Sarah's sourdough starter came from my starter (below). The pancake recipe comes from an Alaska Sourdough book.

Monte making sourdough pancakes

The Alaskan sourdough is made from potato water, sugar and flour (maybe yeast initially?). I've never made sourdough using milk like some recipes use. The current recipe I'm using is from the book Nourishing Traditions  by Sally Fallon. She claims the best results for sourdough starter are obtained from rye rather than wheat flour. And that's fine with me since we consume so much more wheat than any other grain. Her reasoning is because rye contains a lower phytate content (don't ask me what that means cuz I haven't researched it yet).

Rye Sourdough Starter

Start with mixing 2 cups rye flour and 2 cups water and cover the bowl with cheescloth and let sit out on the counter (I've got my bowl covered with a dish towel and rubberband). Each day for a week add another cup each of rye flour and water (or if you do have potato water left over from boiling potatoes, use it), then it's ready for bread. (I'm still working on creating a favorite sourdough bread.) Once your starter is created you can jar some of it up and refrigerate it, then take it out the night before, or a day or two ahead depending upon how much you need, for your next batch of pancakes.

So, from the Alaskan cookbook-

Sourdough Pancakes

Start griddle heating.

Mix together:

(I typically double the recipe all the time and it feeds 4-6 people)

2 C starter (I've been using 4C in a 2 quart pyrex bowl - it'll bubble up, so bigger is better)

2 Tb (sucanat) sugar

1 egg (I've used both 2 or 3  when doubling, and either works)

4 Tb oil

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together: 

1 tsp soda

1 Tb warm water

and fold into batter and let set a bit to rise.

Using a ladle, pour the pancakes to cook on an oiled griddle.

They are best with maple syrup. Sometimes we'll make up a rhubarb sauce. I often cook up berries or old fruit, adding in any old jams needing to be used up. The fruit syrup is good with yogurt (I always have homemade yogurt on hand). Leftovers are good - spread with almond butter and raspberry jam, and roll them up for a quicky meal when running errands.

The Alaskan cookbook tells historic stories and it's said a special place was always made in their cabin/tent/cave/home for their starter and that they'd rather live a year without their rifle than without a sourdough starter. I also found it interesting that a ball of starter could be stored in the midst of flour in a flour sack, like if you were crossing the prairie in a wagon. Think about it ... no stores, no yeast (except for wild yeast, and that's another story that I have from my own experience) you'd sure love biscuits and bread rather than just crackers or tortilla like flatbread all the time.

H,B,&W Visit

Heather, Bill, and Will stayed with us a big part of June. They were in limbo: moving and Bill on leave. They bought a house, but not able to move in till mid July. So rather than live in a hotel, they stayed with us.

I found out, tho I knew already, my house is not child-proof. We got through this time period fine with rubberbands on kitchen cabinet knobs, though Will was starting to figure out how to pull, stick hand in, and grab something. We kept tightening the rubberbands. I also covered some shelf areas with cardboard. Cushions and chairs blocked things too. As time went on, Will ventured further, finding more things to get into. Someday, cuz soon visiting Emery will be crawling too ... and then they'll be toddleing ... little hands finding things I don't notice - I'm probably going to have to rearrange things. Will loved going into my pantry and grabbing cans off the shelf, or thinking onions were balls, and then there was the 300 sandwich bag pick-up!

Our new season of life! My daughter-in-love Sarah is writing a blog called The Reluctant Mom and I realized myself in her posts and my current season. So I'm calling myself The Reluctant Grandmom. Not that I don't like this new season and grandkids. It's just that I'm not a typical gal that loves to hold babies. I wasn't the typical girl that babysat. Baby sitting still scares me. But having Heather and Will live with us off and on last year really helped me a ton in this journey. So bear with me my family, as I grow with you, as our family is growing.

Monte captured some great pictures with his iPhone. Bill and Heather were setting out on Father's Day to go to the Evergreen Rodeo (while I babysat!), and Monte took a pic of them by the porch post. Then before they left he thought of taking a family picture. Aren't they a cute family? Heather conceived while here that month, so they'll become four.

Rhubarb Crisp

Today Heather harvested the rhubarb. We usually harvest our rhubarb mid to late June, freezing several dozen heaping quart bags as well as heaping pints. I planted some newer rhubarb last year, and we've been letting some of the old plants go to seed and are finding baby plants.

When we built our home in 1984 chokecherries, wild raspberries and the rhubarb were already here, mainly at the edge of a bluespruce and aspen woods, with the rhubarb seeded out into the meadow. There's evidence of a homestead foundation from long ago here. We figure the rhubarb is 100 years old.

We fenced in a large area there for a garden. It's a ways from the house so now I've got more permanent or end of season plants - like asparagus, berry bushes like currents, saskatoon blueberries, canadian bred cherries and plums. I did plant blueberries too, for fun, and added almost 3/4ths of the dirt as peat, so to be acid. Then I plant all the broccoli cabbage family there and winter squash, and have some greenhouse frames for peppers and eggplant (we're at 8000 ft elevation - so cool).

From the rhubarb I primarily make rhubarb custard pie and rhubarbade, yes ... it's my version I invented of a beverage like lemonade. Then someone made rhubarb crisp for a function that I LOVE, so I got the recipe.

RHUBARB CRISP

Set oven at 350 and grease a 9x9 dish.
Mix together, cutting in the butter-
1C rolled oats
1/2C flour (I always use whole grain)
1C brown sugar (using less and sucanat instead)
1/2C butter (I usually use unsalted)

Press 1/2 of this mixture in the dish and spread
2C 1/2"chopped rhubarb
Sprinkle on the other 1/2 of the above mixture and
1/2C coarse chopped pecans

Bake for 45 minutes.

For some of you, you might be asking, "Heather?" Yes, Heather, Bill and 16 month old Will are here for a visit. Heather always loved harvesting rhubarb and helping with preserving food and doing chicken chores. Once she got married and it's pretty much just Monte and me, we got rid of the chickens (but I'm missing them and we may make a new coup up by the house next Spring and have SOME - not lots like before).

Posted at Gnowfglins