Sunday drive...

Sunday's sky was low and gray, ominous...heavy with the promise of snow, mist, freezing rain...something? We decided to get out and go for a drive. In mid-January, on a dreary weekend day, it feels good to get out and just go...wherever. So we packed up the baby, some clementines and string cheese...hats, mittens, boots, and headed north up the shore. First stop: our favorite fish house to get some smoked turkey and beef jerky. (They have the most amazing turkey jerky! We drove there twice when I was pregnant and they were out of it both times!) Then little baby Bub fell peacefully asleep for quite awhile in the back, giving us a chance to talk together and rest a bit and gaze out the window at the wide open expanse of the big lake. I really like the feeling of being able to see a far distance. When I lived in the Cities, I remember sometimes feeling a bit boxed up or trapped in a way because of not being able to see for miles and miles. It feels good on the eyes or something. Later on we stopped for a little fresh air just as some light snowflakes began to fall. We bundled baby in his down snow suit and I carried him against me in the BabyBjorn. We made our way down to the lake to show him Lake Superior, the closest he'd ever been to it. Hub showed him his rock-skipping skills...sending them sailing off into the dark, icy lake...while I clung to the wonderful feeling of my precious little one warming up my front, snuggled in next to me, seeing the lake through his eyes for the first time.

a new dish {creamy chicken broccoli noodle bake}

Last week I made a new thing for dinner...I should try to come up with a more succinct name for it but that's the best I can do these days. It's nothing super creative but we thought it turned out pretty good...warm & comforting too on these darker, colder fall nights. The leftovers were great too. Lately I've been really into egg noodles for some reason. I've always used them when I make chicken noodle soup but that was about it until recently.

This dish has 4 main ingredients*: egg noodles, chicken, broccoli, and a creamy, cheesy bechamel (white) sauce. It worked well for me to prepare it in chunks as time allowed since I don't have a whole lot of time to spend in the kitchen lately.
Here's how I did it: Par cook the broccoli (about 2 cups or so) for about 4-5 minutes. Poach 1 large or 2 regular sized chicken breasts (about 2 cups or so of pulled chicken...I always like to pull mine apart by hand after poaching). Cook the egg noodles (about half pound or so) just shy of the full cooking time by a minute or two. (I don't like mushy, overcooked noodles.)

Make the bechamel sauce: Saute a little diced onion & garlic in about 2 Tbsp butter. After a few minutes or so, add 1/4 cup flour. Cook for about a minute, stirring lots! Add 1 cup of chicken broth/stock/bouillon. Stir out any lumps. Then add 3/4 cup milk/cream. Stir over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then, the real secret, special ingredient of this dish is added: cheese! But not just any cheese...Sartori's Bellavitano Gold**. I think I added a cup or so of shredded cheese.

Then in a casserole/baking dish, combine the noodles, chicken, broccoli, and sauce. Mix together well. Top with breadcrumbs for an extra special treat. (I just happened to have some breadcrumbs ready in the freezer that had some herbs and parmesan cheese in them as well which made this dish even easier.) Bake covered at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the breadcrumbs get toasty brown. Yum!

*It should be noted that I didn't measure much of anything except for when making the bechamel sauce...perhaps you can tell by all the "or so's..."! I just don't measure things when I'm cooking, unless I'm following someone else's recipe...so all of these directions are (hopefully) pretty close estimates! But I don't think you can really mess this up anyway!

**Hub recently came across this Bellavitano Gold cheese at the grocery store. It was right next to the regular chunks of parm we usually buy and he was persuaded to buy some when he saw the shiny gold award sticker on it's label. We tried it, loved it, and I use it often in my cooking! It melts wonderfully and has a really good, unique taste. :)

little weekend projects...

The weekend was good and laid back...the first one that's felt like this in a long while. I made some chocolate covered strawberries for a friend's wife's birthday.

I hadn't made them in a looong time... I forgot how good these are!

Also, I finished my project for little baby's room. Remember these old frames? I decided to pretty much leave them as is except for a bit of sanding (originally I had planned to paint them but decided I liked the natural/rustic wood look best...it complements the brown accents and juxtaposes nicely with all the crisp white in his nursery). As you can see, I have a little bit of a "deer" theme going. I searched for vintage children's books containing deer illustrations to find a good picture for the bottom left frame...and luckily I came across a great book at my local thrift shop that had a neat cover illustration. The book must have been in a library at one time as there was plastic over the paper jacket cover. So when I took off the plastic it was still in great condition! The other two frames contain some patterned paper topped off with handcut things...a deer silhouette and the letter "A" in a light green paper...It's a little hard to see in this photo...but I'm so happy with how it all turned out!

cravings

While down in the Cities last weekend, Hub and I had dinner at Cafe Latte. For weeks and weeks before this, I'd been craving a BIG slice of their Raspberry Creme Torte...and it didn't disappoint!

I would say that I really haven't had any strange pregnancy cravings...or really any cravings at all, besides maybe ice cream...and hot chocolate too? Since I've cut out coffee and tea, I've become a bit of a hot chocolate connoisseur. Which reminds me, Cafe Latte's hot chocolate is amazing too!

weekend journal {planting & eating!}

{looking out from inside our local nursery}
{hub...a man among flowers...I love him even more when pushing a shopping cart in the nursery!}
{tiny pots of pretty at the nursery} {some gardening goods, ready to plant}
{Verbena + very dirty gloves}

{pots of lettuce and basil}

{more Verbena...I LOVE Verbena & buy it every year...this is my favorite color, pale peachy-pinkish with a white center}

{Dwarf Goat's Beard...the new Perennial I treated myself to for "my garden in the woods"}

{ my entree}
{hub's entree - look familiar?}
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Hub & I began the weekend with a trip the local nursery and ended the weekend with a delicious dinner out on Sunday night...with a whole lot of planting/gardening, going to the driving range, hiking near Enger Tower, and bird-watching (the Hummingbirds arrived on Friday and a pair of Robins built a nest underneath our deck) in between.

I love going to the nursery and browsing at all the plant possibilities, color everywhere, and rows upon rows of pretty flowers all mashed together. My senses are overloaded! Now that I really have my own yard and garden, I'm finding its one of the things I most look forward to each Spring. We bought my standard Impatiens & Snapdragons (which both always remind me of my Grandma J - she always had impatiens in her window boxes and I loved snapping the plump green seed pods & she always had snapdragons in her garden too). We also bought Pansies and Verbena, more standards. A few tomato plants, oregano, parsley, and lettuce. A new clematis (Ernest M...somthing?...which also happens to be my late Grandpa J's name...) for the side of our house where we did some new landscaping last weekend. We also had basil and a green bell pepper plant purchased earlier just waiting to get in the ground. I could tell everything was much happier once planted in a more permanent home!


As mentioned, we topped off the weekend right by heading out for dinner...we were going to grill but then it was one of those days where little showers were popping up and we didn't know if we'd be able to...so we headed into Canal Park, a place we don't go to very much now that we live here, and had dinner at Lake Ave Cafe...Hub and I both ordered the Deconstructed Fish & Chips (a Lake Superior whitefish). Hub ordered it the last time we were there and I kept snitching bites of his meal. It was sooo delicious! Not often do Hub and I both order the very same thing...so when that happens, you know it's really quite good. And it was!
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Happy Monday!

Lutsen

Hub and I headed up the north shore of Lake Superior to spend a restful, woodsy weekend in Lutsen. While the weather was dismally gray and misty, accompanied by the kind of damp cold that seems to seep deep into your bones, it still couldn't detract from the beauty of this place. The tumultuous weather also made for some of the biggest, most amazing waves I've seen on the lake in a long time. Yet what we lacked for in good weather, we more than made up for in gastronomical delights!

We indulged in a fair amount of fish...Hub often orders it and we always end up sharing our meals. He had a very good Swordfish for dinner one evening, deep fried Herring the next, and we also made a stop to the smoked fish house on our way up where he purchased a chunk of smoked Salmon. As he was purchasing the salmon, I, rather out of character, impulsively grabbed a couple homemade caramels that were sitting in a big bowl on the counter. And they turned out to be the best caramels we've ever had. I wish I had purchased the whole bowl of them! Funny how something so small was a little highlight of the "foodie" part of this trip for me. Another highlight was the White Truffle Gnocchi we shared at Nokomis one day. I hope there are truffles in heaven! ;)

While most of our time was spent hiking around Lutsen, the Cascade River, and the gorgeous hike to Carlton Peak, we also squeezed in a massage (for me) and a little misty golf (for Hub). It's not too surprising that we spent time soaking in the hot tub, but what was surprising for us was our closing out the evenings rather competitively at the lodge's Ping Pong table...which Hub was victorious at every single time... But it made for a pretty good weekend all in all!

Currants {pretty little jewels}

Just the other day, I discovered these pretty berries, currants, growing right next to my "garden in the woods", slightly overshadowed by the wild raspberry bushes. I was so happy to find these gems! Although there aren't too many and they are quite tart when eaten plain, I'm already dreaming of ways I'll use them, mostly by incorporating them simply for aesthetic reasons...just like jewels...to dress up fruit tartlets more artfully...or to dot some plain scones with bright red pops of prettiness.

Also, they reminded me of a favorite article about tarts in an old MS Living mag from July 2004. I loved all the photos in this feature and saved the magazine just for that reason. Below are a couple pages from it...spot the currants? Although I've always loved fruit tarts, especially those at Cafe Latte, and of course the tasty ones lining the windows of Paris patisseries...it was really this very article that inspired me to try making them for myself. I even bought the long, rectangular tart pan (shown in another photo) from Williams-Sonoma that year...just for my tart-making pleasure. And so obsessed I became that I even served tarts that August instead of cake at Hub's birthday party. So I think these currants are telling me perhaps it's time for another tart-making session.

P.S. Happy August! Can you believe that it's August already?

Rainier Cherries & Veggie Burgers

I've searched high and low looking for a good veggie burger recipe...but all too often revert to the frozen Gardenburgers found in the grocery store for sake of ease. Last summer I devised my own veggie burgers that turned out to be rather bland and far too crumbly...much to Hub's chagrin every time he had to flip one on the grill.

Last weekend I made another attempt at concocting my own recipe for a tasty, satisfying veggie burger that holds together well when grilled. And this recipe I think is worth sharing. Even Hub with his carnivorous tendencies tried a bite and was impressed. I called on morel mushrooms and toasted walnuts to impart depth and flavor. A few garlic cloves and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese provided even more of a flavor boost. Using more egg this time around and a bit of olive oil helped to hold things together much better and I found that bread crumbs were an essential building block...adding them gradually as needed to get the right consistency at the end. So without further ado, I offer you my veggie burger recipe:

• 1/4 cup wild rice
• 1/3 cup white rice
• 1 cup (approx.) whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted & roughly chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 morel mushrooms (I'm sure other woodsy mushrooms would work well too)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup red pepper, diced
• 2 eggs
• olive oil (a few drizzles)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp parsley (fresh would be good but I didn't have any)
  -1/8 tsp garlic powder

Cook white rice and wild rice as directed. Soak dried morels in hot water for 30 minutes and then dice into rough chunks. Saute garlic, onion, and red pepper in butter along with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (season to your liking) for about 8-10 minutes (until veggies are tender and onion translucent), adding morels in at the end to saute for the last few minutes. Process bread in a food processor until finely ground along with parsley and garlic powder. Once the rice and sauteed veggies are cooled, begin mixing all ingredients together in a bowl, adding the eggs and olive oil at the very end. Press mixture together firmly to form burgers (makes about 6 or 7). Wrap individually or section between sheets of parchment and freeze in a baggie for future grilling! I like to top mine with some lettuce, onion, and sharp cheddar. :)

P.S. Rainier cherries are in season and I had to splurge on these lovelies...I'm always captivated by their pretty peachy pink color and their perfect summer sweetness. But even on sale they're still a bit of a splurge! Yet entirely worth it, oui?

Weekend Journal {Wild Loveliness}

This time of year, when Spring is just waiting on the doorstep of Summer, is so beautiful here. Although the weather hasn't been too exceptionally warm yet, and we've had to cover plants and bring in planters due to cold nights more than I'd like...I still find myself outside most every chance I get.

Last weekend was no exception. Friday found us at the driving range, practicing my swing. And then an impromptu hike afterwards in search of morels...again, no luck...but perhaps its been too chilly. We did find some wild asparagus and fiddlehead ferns though, a nice compromise. And I will admit that I "cheated" earlier in the week and bought dried morels. So a wild spring dinner was born. Hub invented something new...baked chicken breasts stuffed with blue cheese, walnuts, and some herbs...drizzled with fresh lemon juice and more herbs on top. I had the easy job (but what I always do) of making my roasted garlic mash (see below for recipe).

Mum & Dad were here visiting for the rest of the weekend and we took plenty of walks and more hikes through the woods. Mum & I discovered lovely Wild Sarsaparilla and some odd but pretty pink pinecones. We planted flowers together in my garden and enjoyed sitting on the front porch, basking in the landscaping loveliness...(tired of hearing about that yet?). ;)

Sunday ended rainy and stormy with Hub and I snuggled on the couch together watching an old Hitchcock movie (The 39 Steps...love it!). So creating and making and working on projects has been put to the wayside, as I'd rather be outside most often. I do have a few new things to share though...hopefully soon. Oh, and do be sure to try that garlic mash below...so, so seriously good!
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Roasted Garlic Mash

Cut off the top of a whole garlic bulb, just to expose all the cloves. Set in a dish lined with tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Wrap foil up around garlic and pop in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool and then squeeze the cloves up and out of the bulb. Put cloves on a cutting board, season a bit more, add some herbs if you like (thyme is good) and mash with a fork. Scrape up and put in a little dish. Drizzle with more good olive oil and a hint of truffle oil if you’ve got it…then spread onto good, crusty baguette slices.

Pretty Things {Windows, Signs, & Sidewalk Decor...}

My eyes were thirsty for pretty, inspiring, tangible things…the warmer climate in the Cities (no snow on the ground anywhere!) plus the plentiful shops and such provided just what this girl needed. Only problem is there’s always too little time to take it all in. Hub and I went down to visit family, celebrate Easter with them, and try to squeeze in a few other enjoyable things as well…things like shopping and eating at an old favorite restaurant. I’m so blessed to have my Hub who doesn’t mind shopping with me one bit at all. Nor does he mind (very much) running me back out across town on Easter Sunday to return a skirt I bought in the wrong size the day before. I know that sounds just wrong all around but we were only there for a short time so it had to be done! Yet he never complains…even if it isn’t what he really prefers to do…he just lovingly helps me along in life…I’m so thankful and could really take a lesson (or two or three) from him in this. I think that’s what makes our marriage work so well though…putting each other first, being more selfless rather than submitting to our natural selfish inclinations, and ultimately learning that it brings more joy to be this way than the other.
But without any further ado (or rambling thoughts on marriage), a few more photos from our busy Easter weekend…

{Anthro: I'm loving their "honey bee" theme for the month of April. I'm a lover of the month of April in general though too, being that it's the month of my birthday and I had received a bday card from them for 15% off my entire purchase!}
{Rick Rack: Rick Rack is pretty, no? I adore the tiny vintage kind and I hit the jackpot at a neat, new-to-me antique shop.} {Muffuletta: Hawaiian Blue Marlin & Homemade Ravioli, pretty food perfection...no food photos to show though, just the restaurant's cute sign.} {Vintage Deer + chocolate eggs: Better than an Easter basket. Mum found this cutie and knowing my fondness for deer, left it as a surprise for us on the guest bedroom nightstand. I just love those exaggerated ears!}
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P.S. I made some pretty tasty Pecan Bars to share for Easter and they were quite a hit. A few people have asked for the recipe so I thought I'd link to it here. They're quite easy to make...just don't mind all the butter...butter is better! ;)