Posts from — July 2017

When I was in Chicago last month, I met up with two of my nieces, Megan and Amy, for dinner. Amy brought her son, my grand-nephew, Greyson. Grey, is seven years old and had just finished 1st grade.

(You may remember Greyson from THIS POST in October 2014)

The three of them were already seated when Lori and I arrived and Grey was sitting at the end of the table. I sat next to him and noticed that he had a paper and pen in hand and was working on something.

Lori was sweet enough to take a photo of the four of us. (Amy, Greyson, me, and Megan.)

Anyhow, I asked Greyson what he was doing and he said, “I’m writing a story.”

As we all chatted and caught up, Grey continued to put pen to paper and write his story. A while later he announced that he was done and asked if I would like to read it.

“Yes!”

He handed me the paper and I proceeded to read it out loud.

“Once upon a time there was a man.

One day the man went to a castle, he went in the castle something punched him. Aaaaa!

It was an invisible guy. The invisible guy cut the man’s hand off. The man found a hook, he put the hook on his hand. He ran out of the castle.

The invisible guy grabbed a bow and arrow and shot the man. AW! AW! AW! AW!

The man never went to the castle.”

By: Greyson Hopkins

Monday, June 26, 2017
7 years and 1 month old
Summer between 1^st and 2^nd grade

I have to say, I was impressed! He just turned seven a month before. Amy told us that he loved to write, so she had enrolled him in a summer creative writing class. What a fantastic and proactive mom she is!

I asked Greyson if I could keep it and he said that he wrote it for me. My heart melted. I asked if he would sign it for me. He said yes and asked if he could make all the letters in his name into pictures. I told him I’d love that, but asked if could he please sign his name on the front and sign it again on the back in pictures? He did and then he even wrote his name backward for me too.

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This bowl of soup might look like beet borscht, but I guarantee you that it is not. You can search this site from top to bottom and you won’t find a single recipe using beets.

Never! My least favorite food in the world is … beets!  So what is in this soup turning it purple if it’s not beets?

You may remember when I bought purple sweet potatoes at Whole Foods for THIS 4th of July dish.

I had extra purple sweet potatoes, along with a handful of baby potatoes, that were beginning to sprout. In the fridge, there were a few cobs of corn. It was logical that potato and corn chowder would be a good way to use it all up.

What I didn’t count on was just how deep purple those few sweet potatoes would color the chowder. It started out a light lavender color, which was rather unappealing. But as it continue to simmer, it turned a deeper and richer purple until it looked like borscht. Honestly, if it had stayed lavender-colored, I wouldn’t be sharing the recipe, no matter how good it tasted.

Feel free to use whatever potatoes, sweet or otherwise, that you prefer for this recipe. Just know that if you do choose to use sweet potatoes, of any color, they need to be cooked first because they take longer to become tender. The regular potatoes are added later since they are not as hard.

You’ll also note that I add the cleaned corn cobs to the soup when the broth was added. Adding the kernel-free cobs lends an extra rich corn flavor to the soup.

Oh, and I wanted to tell you something I discovered. Remember how I was complaining about the electric stove in my last post?

Believe it or not, I found one great advantage to electric over gas! It’s been so hot and muggy with the monsoons in full swing, that I must have an oscillating fan in the kitchen while I’m cooking to make it bearable.

There is no fear of the fan blowing out the flame… since there is no flame! See, I can appreciate the little things. 🙂

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I may as well begin the tour of the lovely house I am renting with a photo of the lovely wood floors in the master bedroom.

More honestly with a photo of my roommates, Bailey and Bombay, just because they’re so darn cute. As you look at the photos of the house, these two will be showing up in the background of a few. Feel free to play a kitty version of “Where’s Waldo” and see how many times you spot one or the other.

Here is the front view of the house. Some of the fabulous features are the huge pine tree in the front yard that provides great shade from the early and mid-morning sun. And take note of the high pitch above the garage. See those three beams poking out? This was the model home and sales office when the homes in the subdivision were built in the mid-80s. The garage served as the sales office and is finished with beautiful high-pitched wood-paneled ceilings and massive amounts of lighting. More on that later.

The east and west sides of the garage have French doors with concrete paths leading up to them. These office doors are now bolted permanently closed from the inside.

Next up is the backyard. Another large mature tree provides wonderful shade.

The renters before me had a big dog who basically destroyed the sprinkler system and the grass. I’m doing my best to bring it back to life.

This is the back west side of the house. I brought the lighter deck box from the other house. A week after I moved in, I picked up the two dark boxes from Costco and took the better part of an afternoon assembling and filling them with smaller garden items. I’ve given up on trying to revive the grass over here.

The back east side yard is crushed granite, so all my large patio furniture is being stored over here. I spent a Saturday morning covering the stacks of furniture with tarps to protect them from the sun and monsoons. The majority of it had been under covered patios in “Linda Land.”

Even though I’m living in less than half the square footage of the Equestrian Manor (from here out referred to as EQM) house, it’s not the inside space I miss… it’s the outside living space and that amazing backyard we created. My wish is to duplicate that on a smaller scale when I start the house-hunting for my next home.

Here is the cute little patio I’m living with for now.

It’s tight – but cozy.

And it has a really nice built-in grill. Loving that! OK, let’s go back to the front door and go inside.

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Shishito peppers are specialty peppers from Japan. They are high in vitamins A and C and are completely edible, including the seeds. Unlike other peppers, the skin is thin, so there’s no need to peel after blistering or roasting.

I like to serve blistered peppers as a nibble with drinks. Shishito peppers are also great in stir-fry and I even use them to garnish cocktails.

Shishitos have quickly become the new hot thing in the last year or so and are slowly showing up in the produce departments of grocery stores around the country. They are readily available in Japanese grocery stores.

I found 8-ounce packages of the peppers at Fry’s. They really are worth searching for. But if you can’t find them at your grocery store and are too lazy to go to a Japanese market, there is a substitute.

Use the sweet mini peppers that are readily available in produce departments and at Costco and Trader Joe’s

The peppers are sprinkled with flaky sea salt while still hot. My favorite salt is Maldon. It can be found at specialty food and kitchen stores. Or like everything else, on Amazon, which is where I get mine. I am obsessed with Maldon. I love it!

The other important ingredient for this recipe is shichimi togarashi. I first posted a recipe using shichimi togarashi, or Japanese seven spice, in the summer of 2014. I love this stuff and use it all the time.

Don’t be scared off by the long and complicated name of the recipe. It is the definition of easy-breezy and only has 6 ingredients, two of which are salt and olive oil.  See … EZ!

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Everyone loves caprese salad, or at least everyone I know love it!

There are many variations of Insalata Caprese, but the classic Italian salad consists of layers of ripe tomato slices, sliced mozzarella, and basil leaves that are seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and sometimes drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It is made to represent the colors of the Italian flag.

I have made it as an hors d’oeuvre before, but this time I assembled it to resemble our American flag for a 4th of July appetizer. I wish I could take credit for coming up with the easy idea on my own, instead, I saw a video on the Food Network Instagram page on the morning of the 4th. I immediately jumped in my car and headed to Trader Joe’s to pick up the ingredients. This was too clever and yummy to NOT make!

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Independence Day has come and gone, but there are plenty more patriot holidays between now and July 4, 2018. Labor Day is only eight weeks from today. Columbus Day is a month after that and before you know it, Veterans Day is upon us! The point is, don’t wait a year to make these fun and easy dessert kabobs.

I whipped a few of these up for the grilling tips segment I did last week and then made them again the next day for a 4th of July party I was invited to. Technically, I may have invited myself. But I tried to make the hosts feel it was worth it by bringing these kabobs along with an awesome flag appetizer, the recipe for which I will post tomorrow.

When I made the kabobs for television, I used pound cake. I quickly discovered that pound cake is not the best choice. Angel food cake works better, so that is what I used on the 4th. The pound cake is too dense and has a tendency to break apart when skewered. The angel food cake is light and fluffy and stays in place. Large marshmallows would be a great choice too.

I’m not providing you with any quantities here. I made as many as I could until I ran out of one of the ingredients. The first thing I ran out of was strawberries, then I was done.

After making four or five, it was getting tedious, so I decided to make three at once. I held three skewers in my left hand and added the ingredients with my right. I was done in no time.

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I hope you and yours are having a festive and fun 4th! I’ll be spending mine with Steve, Tram and Fam.  Holidays are always more fun spent with toddlers, especially Zak & Zoey! Above is a cute picture taken earlier this week during their Staycation at the Scottsdale Princess. Adorable!

Yesterday was a whirlwind for me. I was at an appointment when Tram called and asked if I’d be willing and able to do a “grilling tips” segment on 12News at 4:00. Mind you, the call came in at about 11:00, I still had more than 90 minutes left at my appointment, but I can’t say no to her. I was making mental notes of what tips I wanted to give and what I needed to shop for, prep, and pick up at home before I headed to the station in downtown Phoenix.

Straight from the appointment, I went to the grocery store to buy meat, fish, buns, veggies, fruit, a cherry pie, brownies, angel food cake, ice, etc. Then I raced home to load up the ice chests, prep some of the food, and pull out what little 4th of July decorations I have – that isn’t boxed up and in storage.

I changed my clothes and put on fresh make-up, which was basically useless since the segment was to be filmed outside on the 12News patio and it was 107 degrees out, so the make-up would be melting off my face while I was unloading and setting up anyhow. I packed it all up and drove well above the speed limit (not unusual) to get to the station by 3:00.

Here are the two carts of stuff I schlepped down there.

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I’ve been in my rental for just over a month now. Bombay, Bailey, and I are settled in and have our routines.

Part of their daily agenda is anticipating the visit from this neighborhood cat. The photo above was taken on the first day he visited and these two were not pleased with all!

He was just sitting there, all casual, grooming himself, while they crouched down, hissed, howled, and had the hair on their backs straight up in the air.

Now, it’s old hat. They look forward to his visit and longingly peer out the window when he struts away. I’m not sure who he belongs to or how far away he lives. Part of my daily routine is to walk 4 miles around the park that is two blocks from my house. And many a day, I’ve seen that cat roaming around on the far side of the park.

Speaking of my morning ritual… I walk by this house each day. And it took me nearly two weeks to notice this…

Seems hard to miss! Look back up at the picture of the house. Did you see it at first? LOL!

Since my lease started June 1st, if I want to walk, I have to get up before the sun to do it. I leave my house no later than 4:45 and even then it’s already up to at least 85 degrees. That’s the low temp for the day and one particular morning, it was 90 degrees at 4:30 AM!

But it’s worth it. Along with the skeleton in the rusted-out car, I see a flock of peach-faced lovebirds every morning.

These two sweet men with their “boyfriend and girlfriend” dogs. They’ve been meeting at the park every morning at 5:15 to walk their dogs for 2 years.

And on one magical morning, I spotted this gorgeous creature. I followed him around and filmed him for about 20 minutes. I’ve never seen such a colorful bird in Arizona in all my life.

While visiting my mother-in-law in Illinois last week, she pulled out her bird book and helped me identify it as a Vermilion Flycatcher. Awesome!

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