It's Garlic diggin' time!

The internet is full of garlic harvest how-to's, when to harvest, what to look for, etc. The idea of digging my garlic up felt a little overwhelming....like I was going to be too early, too late....well, turns out, I -think- was juuuuust right!

I found a site that seemed reliable, straightforward and didn't rely on old wives tales to tell me when to harvest my garlic. 
Here's a link about growing garlic. 
Here's a tutorial on when to harvest your garlic. 
Here's a tutorial on curing and storing your garlic.

Enjoy. Here are a couple pics from my garden!

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

This is so easy and delicious...you'll never buy enchilada sauce again!

Enchilada Sauce

2 T olive oil
1 c diced onion
1 1/2 T garlic, more or less depending on your taste
1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder

1 quart drained tomatoes (diced, whole, or crushed, - they all work just fine)
2 T canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (more = more spicy, less = less spicy; adjust to your taste, 2 T will make a medium sauce)

In a heavy skillet, saute onion until soft, add salt and garlic and saute for 1 - 2 min longer, add spices, tomatoes, chipotle peppers and bring to a medium simmer. Cook on med for approx. 15 - 20 min. Adjust simmer time depending on how thick you like the sauce - cook longer for a thicker sauce. 

Use immersion or regular blender to puree ingredients. Sauce will last 10 days in fridge. I haven't frozen it, but I imagine that wouldn't be a problem. Yields 3 1/2 c. 

Awesome

What a great idea!!!! Definitely need to make a boatload of banana espresso cake and fudgy  espresso brownies so I can use up my espresso and make this lamp.

genius.

http://www.sweetpaulmag-digital.com/sweetpaulmag/summer2011/?pg=134&pm=2&u1=friend

Caesar Salad

  Caesar salad with a homemade bagel after a nice bike ride. Sounds like a good day to me.... 
1 T fresh chopped garlic
1 egg
1 tsp anchovy paste
1/2 T mustard seed, any color (you can sub plain ole' mustard, I recommend a grainy mustard, not your typical French's mustard)
3 T lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
3/4 c olive oil
parmesan cheese

If you have an immersion blender, use it...I have this one and it has changed my life... OK well that might be a slight exaggeration, but it's totally awesome and makes blending hot soups or making salad dressings so much easier than using a blender...

blend everything but the oil, when it is all mixed well, slowly pour in the olive oil. taste and adjust seasoning. mix with romaine lettuce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. this will keep for at least 1 week in your refrigerator. enjoy!

Cucumber Cooler

Do you have a ridiculous amount of cucumbers to harvest from your garden? Or did you go a little crazy at the farmers market and now you have a fridge full of cucs? Well I've got just the solution...

cucumber cooler

any amount of cucumbers, peel on, that you have
fresh mint or fresh ginger (or try a combo!)
sugar

roughly chop the cucumbers, put in blender or cuisinart. whiz them up and pour contents into a fine sieve, gently press blended cucs through with spoon. 
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in the meantime, make a simple syrup:

1 part water
2 parts sugar
chopped mint or grated ginger (amount depends on your taste...for 2 c simple syrup, add approx. 1/4 c grated ginger or 1/2 c chopped mint)

combine ingredients in saucepan, let simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat and steep for about 15-20 min. for a stronger ginger or mint flavor, steep longer (I recommend this...)

the measurements are approx because the amount of simple syrup depends on a couple things:
1. how sweet you want it
2. how many cucs you have

so, make extra and if you have leftovers, just save it to flavor homemade lemonade or iced tea.
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once you have drained the cucs, fill glass with ice, pour cucumber juice over ice, fill glass about 3/4 full with juice, 1/4 with water, add a splash of simple syrup to your liking, stir and enjoy!

crystallized ginger....stop buying and start making!

It's no secret that I have a sweet tooth...and I LOVE crystallized ginger. The problem is that this sweet treat is quite expensive is often made with sulfur dioxide to help fix the color. I tried making some and it's pretty darn good. So easy to make! 


Disclaimer: It's hard to make this stuff look pretty, so just don't look that closely!

Recipe HERE from David Lebovitz


The only thing I did differently was let the ginger dry on the rack overnight, with the kitchen fan going (it's HOT this summer...) so let it dry as long as you wish, and I'd store it in the fridge, just to be safe. 

Arugula Basil Pesto

(back from vacation!...)The garden has doubled in size, and I was only gone for 10 days! Better get to work preserving...if your garden is blowing up like ours, try this recipe and adjust the arugula content to your liking. I find it a little bitter, so the basil addition cuts that sharp taste...

1 1/2 c toasted walnuts or toasted almonds

1 T kosher salt

1/2 c peeled garlic

2 T lemon juice

1 c veggie stock

8 c arugula

3 c basil

1 c olive oil

2 c parm. cheese

in Cuisinart blend nuts, salt, garlic and lemon juice. After this is blended, add half the arugula and basil and all the veggie stock, blend well. When this breaks down there will be room for the rest of the ingredients - add the rest of arugula and basil, olive oil and cheese. blend. adjust the salt. freeze in Ziploc bags and enjoy! (freeze flat to save freezer space:) 

garlic scape butter

Are you growing garlic in your garden? Well then snip off those garlic scapes and make yourself some garlic butter.

1 lb unsalted (soft) garlic butter
8 c. (very approx.) chopped garlic scapes

Put the scapes in a cuisinart. Chop 'em up, add the soft butter and blend.  Dump onto a sheet of waxed paper and roll up into a log. put in the freezer. The amount of scapes you put in depends on your tolerance for garlic. If you have a bit of a sensitive stomach, add fewer scapes. Scapes can be used in place of garlic in any recipe, they have a more mild flavor than raw garlic. I plan to slice off a pat of scape butter anytime I'm in need of a little garlicky, rich flavor...pasta dishes...inside twice baked potatoes...grilled fish....

Iced Coffee...how to

With summer upon us...pass the coffee, make mine iced. This method for making iced coffee will not disappoint...guaranteed! We diverged a bit from the original recipe found here...


12 oz ground coffee (medium grind)
8 c room temp water


combine coffee and water in a giant pitcher. stir and cover. let sit for 20-24 hrs. strain with a fine strainer and dilute to your liking. I  think 1 part coffee, 2 parts water is a fine ratio...the concentrate will stay good in the refrigerator for 10 days! (yes, 10!)

Don't throw out those veggie scraps....

I like this...hope you do, too!  From Saveur

Where to buy flour in Logan, UT?

We get our flour for baking bread etc. at the Central Milling Company. It's in Logan, UT! Check out all their products here.

Also, if you are interested in baking, my favorite book at the moment is:

ask Santa for it. you won't be disappointed...

Buttermilk

I never buy buttermilk. There is no reason to when you can make it!
If you recipe calls for 1 c buttermilk:
put 2 T lemon juice or white vinegar into measuring cup and top off with milk (or soymilk, yes, it works)
Let it sit for a minute or two and it will curdle and become buttermilk. 

Never buy brown sugar again!!!

homemade brown sugar:
fill your Cuisinart 1/2 full with white sugar. add 2 T molasses. give it a whirl. if you want darker brown sugar...add some more molasses. that's it! store in an airtight container. 


homemade powdered sugar: 
fill your blender with about 2 c white sugar. turn it on high. let it go for a few minutes. it will slowly start to turn to powder. yes. it's really that easy. now get cooking!

Watch Documentaries for FREEEEEE

One perk about being, well, a tad on the poor side (only when it comes to $$$ biyat***s!!!) is that I have learned to scavenge for entertainment...free food...joy...you know, the essentials.


Here's a link to a website that posts many very cool (I recommend 'the business of being born') documentaries. You can watch them for free.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/watch-online/
enjoy.

Falls under the 'why buy it when you can make it' category...

Homemade Citrus Cleaner

You can use any type of citrus fruit for this cleaning recipe. Simply stuff as many citrus rinds as you can into a mason jar, cover with vinegar, then plastic wrap (so the lid doesn't rust), put lid on and wait about a week (or longer...it really doesn't matter)


Strain when you are ready to use. Squeeze out the vinegar from the rinds. 


Homemade Citrus Cleaner:


About 1 c of citrus vinegar 
5-10 drops tea tree oil 
1-2 tsp dish soap


Mix all ingredients in 16 oz squirt bottle and fill up with water. There you go!