There is a kitchen tool that I have owned for over 20 years which I have used only once. I can’t for the life of me tell you when, why or how I acquired it, I just know that it’s been hanging around forever. I honestly don’t even know the proper name for it but I’m calling it a crinkle cucumber slicer. This past weekend, I used it for a second time.

Do you know how most homes have a junk drawer? Yeah, I have one of those too, but sadly, I have a second drawer that I call the kitchen tool junk drawer. It holds an odd variety of tools I seldom, if ever, use. I had to pull out the drawer to get to the bottom to find the slicer.

The reason the slicer was rescued from the pit of despair is that my dad brought over crates full of cucumbers, beans, peas, squash, and corn that he received from his friends in Colorado, who he calls his shirt-tail relatives.

My dad asked me to “put up” the cucumbers and some of the green beans for him. Although I have an obsession with Mason jars, I’m not really into canning. I told him I’d quick pickle them and he could give them to his friends at church. He reluctantly agreed to settle on that.

All three of these recipes can be processed for canning. If you’d like to do so, there are plenty of articles online about the canning process. HERE is one that I found for you.

The photos show more jars than the recipes make, that is due to the fact that I doubled and tripled the recipes. The first two are Tyler Florence recipes, the third is one I worked up.

Quick Sweet Pickles

6 pickling (Kirby) or 2 regular cucumbers
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 cup water
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 bay leaf

Wash and dry the cucumbers. Using a sharp knife or a crinkle cucumber slicer cut the cucumbers into ½-inch slices and place them in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Place the colander over a bowl and allow it to sit, covered, for about 1 hour.

Rinse off the salt and dry the cucumber slices well.

Place them into a sterilized quart jar.

In a small saucepan add the remaining ingredients. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and allow it to cool. Pour the brine over the cucumbers in the jar. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Will keep, refrigerated, for about 2 weeks.

Recipe from Tyler Florence

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A week ago today, my 7th Blogiversary contest winner, Nancy Bull, came over and we cooked her favorite recipe together.

I asked Nancy to send me the recipe ahead of time so that I could purchase the ingredients and get set up for our time together. Since this is an overnight recipe, I made one the day before and popped it in the oven when Nancy arrived.  She brought a casserole dish with her, I pulled another one from my cupboard and we each made a pan of Nancy’s Chili Rellenos.

Since Nancy was my guest blogger, I asked her to write up a little something about the dish:

“We’ve been making this dish for probably 25 years or more.  My mom found the recipe in a church cookbook and thought it would be a great breakfast casserole for Christmas morning.  Every Christmas Eve, after cleaning up from dinner, all the Bull girls gather in the kitchen to make the casserole(s) for the next morning.  Thank goodness it’s so easy because by the time we get to this, there have been festive beverages consumed!  We pop it in the fridge for the night and bake it while we open presents on Christmas morning.  The family has grown over the years so now we make 2….leftovers are never a problem!

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we have over the years!  Cheers!

Nancy”

This recipe could not be easier. In fact, Nancy was a little embarrassed about this at first, be I assured her that people, my followers included, LOVE easy-breezy recipes. And you can rest assured – this one is a winner! I know, because the two of us enjoyed it for dinner that night and I had some for breakfast the next morning. Just as good the next day!

A few notes: Nancy’s recipe called for a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles. I only had 7-ounce cans. Nancy said that we should use the 7-ounce cans – the more the better. Good idea! The recipe called for garlic powder, but I didn’t have any, so I used a mini-chop and ground-up dried minced garlic to make my own powder.

Since I actually made two pans, the one Nancy and I enjoyed and the one I made with her, I asked her if the cooked dish could be frozen. She said they never have had any leftovers, so she didn’t know. I was leaving town the next day, so I baked my second pan, let it cool, then refrigerated it. Next, I removed it from the pan, then I double wrapped it in plastic, then wrapped that in heavy foil, and froze it. I pulled it out six days later, transferred it back into the baking dish, let it defrost in the refrigerator, and then reheated it in the oven.

The verdict: It does not freeze well. It was soggy and not even close to as delicious as it was when it was freshly baked.

Lastly, when the casserole comes out of the oven, it is puffy as all get out.

In the five minutes that it rests before cutting, it deflates. That’s natural and what is supposed to happen, so don’t fret.

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This is the new logo for something nearly a year in the making.

Something I’ll be launching on the first day of my favorite month of the year.

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Who would think that a person could squeeze three blog posts out of one simple Chinese Take-Out Pot-Luck Dinner Party?

You must admit, I know how to stretch out a good thing! I’ve given you the recipes for the cocktail and the soup, now it’s time for dessert.

Tropical Fruit stuffed Pineapple with Coconut-Yogurt Sauce

• 1 pineapple, halved lengthwise
• 2 kiwis, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large mango, peeled and cubed
• 1 large papaya, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 container of raspberries
• 1 container of blueberries
• Juice of 2 limes

Sauce

• 2 cups Greek yogurt (my preference is Greek Gods, honey flavor)
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut

• Mint sprigs and lime slices, for garnish

Cut out the center of each pineapple half, cube the pineapple you removed from the center, avoiding and discarding the center core, and set aside the pineapple cubes.

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I was inspired to create this soup because I had a nearly full can of coconut milk, less only 2 tablespoons, that I’d used for this recipe.

Ginger-Lemongrass Coconut Soup with Chicken

• 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
• 3-inch piece of fresh lemongrass, smashed
• Cheesecloth and kitchen string
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup coconut milk (regular or lite)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 pound sugar snap peas
• 6 large basil leaves, divided
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced on a diagonal, divided
• 1 cup finely shredded breast meat from a rotisserie chicken
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 small red chili, thinly sliced for garnish
• 1 lime, thinly sliced for garnish
• Cilantro sprigs

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From Zürich, we traveled to the gorgeous city of Lucerne. Our first quick stop was at the historic and beautiful Lion Monument, which commemorates the more than 700 Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, at the Tuileries Palace in Paris.

It is a very moving and emotional place. As Mark Twain said of it,

“… the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”

Before we got back on the coach, I snapped a selfie, one of the rare photos proving that I was actually on this trip! And one of the even rarer times you’ll ever see me wearing a hat. It was raining, so the hat was there to try to save the hair from frizzing out from here to kingdom come!

We were then dropped off near the city center to tour around while our driver took our luggage to our hotel.

These colorful umbrellas caught my attention.

My favorite part of Lucerne was seeing and walking across the Chapel Bridge. I felt as if I couldn’t get enough photos of it. In the picture above you can see our guide, Patricia, telling us the history of the bridge before we walked across it.

The flower boxes on the sides of the bridge were magnificent!

Absolutely stunning!

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Our friends, Lori and Jonathan Vento, were in town last week. We wanted to get together with them along with Tram and Steve, but none of us felt like cooking. Come on – It’s August – It’s hot – Our energy level is low, at best!

I offered our house for Friday night and Lori had the great idea of just getting take-out. We decided the thing to do was a Chinese Take-Out Pot-Luck Dinner Party.

Coincidentally, my friend, Chef Joshua Hebert of Posh was selling some excess kitchen and dining wares he’d recently acquired from a restaurant that closed. I met him at a hangar at the Scottsdale Airpark on Thursday and purchased some lovely Asian dishware.

One little thing like this is all it takes for me to go all out with a theme! Now it’s ON like Donkey Kong!

The Ventos are former neighbors of ours, so as a surprise for them, I invited two other neighbor couples, the Codys, and the Cavans. On Thursday afternoon, I learned that Friday was Lori and Jonathan’s 27th wedding anniversary. Now we really did have a party! Tram and Steve picked up a cake, and everyone brought their favorite Chinese take-out to share and an anniversary for the adorable couple!

Since I was hosting, I didn’t want to leave the house to get take-out, so I made a cocktail, soup, and a fruit dessert. Today, I’ll share the cocktail recipe. Tomorrow we’ll have another entry for the new weekly Travel Tuesday feature. Then, on Wednesday I’ll post the soup recipe, and Thursday I’ll share the dessert (no oven, no-bake, in other words – the perfect dessert!) recipe.

Chinese Take-Out Pot-Luck Dinner Party Menu

~Orange-Ginger Sake Champagne Cocktail

~Lemongrass-Ginger Coconut Chicken Soup

~ Tram & Steve brought Chow Mein and Beef & Broccoli from Nee House Chinese Restaurant

~ The Anniversary couple also brought Chow Mein, along with Orange Chicken, from Chop and Wok and some cookies and candies from Sprouts. (which I forgot to put out, so I have them all to myself! Just kidding, I gave the cookies to my dad and the candies are destined for Connor’s house.)

~ The Codys picked up Chicken Lettuce Wraps from P.F. Chang’s, which Whitney beautifully served on a lovely wooden tray with a vintage covered serving dish and a stoneware pitcher for the sauce. They also brought a big bowl of fortune cookies. It’s not a Chinese dinner without fortune cookies!

~ The Cavans brought Fried Rice from Yume Sushi Grill, which Dana transferred to a big chafing dish to keep it piping hot. Smart girl!

~ Tropical Fruit stuffed Pineapples with Coconut Yogurt Sauce

~ Chocolate Mousse Anniversary Cake

It was all delicious! Even having two types of chow mein was fun since it was great to taste them side-by-side and compare.

I have a TIP to share for this cocktail recipe. Actually, it’s a good tip for any recipe where you are using herbs in the body of the dish and again for garnish. When removing the leaves, in this case, the mint leaves, strip the leaves below the tip of each sprig and save the tops, the tip of each sprig, for garnish. Too many times, people strip off all the leaves and realize too late that they need some pretty pieces to use at the end of the recipe. Get in the habit of always reserving the pretty tips and you’ll never have that issue again.

Orange-Ginger Sake Champagne Cocktail

• 1 bottle sake, chilled
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, plus 8 to 10 sprig tips for garnish
• 5 navel oranges, divided
• 1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

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At the beginning of June, Kim, Barb and I took a field trip to the new AZ International Marketplace on the corner of Dobson and Broadway Roads in Mesa.

I meant to blog about it back then, but then … I didn’t. When I was making room in my freezer to freeze the rosé wine for the Frozé cocktail, I came across a package of flap steak (also known as Bavette steak) that I bought at the Marketplace. No better time than the present to cook up the beef and blog about the store.

When I go shopping to check out a new place, mainly when it’s far out of my neighborhood, I call it a Field Trip. This was an especially good one! There were plenty of the things you would expect to find. Such as shelves upon shelves of dried mushrooms.

Aisles upon aisles of noodles, rice sticks, rice paper, and the like.

And of course, many interesting finds – “Hello Kitty” seaweed anyone? (Oh, and we’ll be talking about that popcorn later, believe me!!!)

There were sweets of every variety, plus corn starch in lovely old-fashion boxes and even cooler-looking boxes of psyllium husk. Love the packaging on that, even though I had no clue what it was used for. Turns out it’s a laxative. Well then, there you go!

The produce department was the most fun!

So many exotic and tropical items to tempt you.

Kim and I were extra excited about the jackfruit. Some of them are triple the size of your head! No joke! What to do with all that jackfruit? I have no idea. Before I go back, I’m going to figure it out and buy one. For sure.

Not to worry, I still filled up my cart. Here is what I brought home on this first trip.

A wide range of coconut waters and kinds of milk. Some are roasted, others have pulp, and all were delish.

A can of sweetened condensed milk with a pretty label, fish sauce in a smaller bottle than you’ll usually find, and three interesting drinks; Korean ginseng drink with root, royal milk tea, and macadamia nut iced coffee. Thus far, I’ve only tried the milk tea. It was good and how cute is that blue can?!?

Cool triangular-shaped rice paper, Chinese honey in a sweet little glass, chrysanthemum drink, super cheap thin white candles, candied ginger, and three pretty little boxes of ginger candies. I haven’t tried the chrysanthemum drink yet, I haven’t been brave enough. The candies are good though. 😉

Two flavors of sardines (for my dad) a lovely can of Café du Monte coffee, a large tin of Madras curry powder, Korean BBQ sauce, green and red curry paste, and sweet chili sauce. One can never have too much sweet chili sauce!

An inexpensive jar of tahini, garlic hoisin sauce, extra-thick noodles, and panko.

Next up: A cheap hat for yard work and the pool, a cool “ice stick” ice tray (which I used along with the candied ginger for THESE Peach Mules), and the very best thing that I bought – SRIRACHA POPCORN!  It is amazing! I can’t wait to go back and buy a case of it! Seriously addicting! A case may not be enough! I may go out there this week since now I can’t stop thinking about the popcorn!!! Does anyone want to take a field trip with me?

Finally, the last tray displayed my purchases; frozen dumplings and pork buns. These were nothing special, I’ve found similar items at Trader Joe’s and they were about the same. And the flap steak.

Here is a great recipe for flap steak. I did not create it, it comes from one of my all-time favorite chefs and cooking teachers, John Ash.

Chef John Ash’s Grilled Flap Steak

• 2 tablespoons green curry paste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Pinch ground cayenne pepper
• Pinch salt
• 2 pounds flap steak, trimmed of fat

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Some of you asked if I plan to post more about our trip to Germany and down the Rhine River. I’m sorry to have started with a few posts, then abruptly stopped.

The problem with being away for a couple of weeks and then getting home and blogging about the trip, is that I actually have recipes I want to post and other events that come up, such as the 7th Blogiversary.

My solution is a new feature called Travel Tuesday. This way, I’ll be able to share pretty photos and fun travel info without allowing the travel posts to hijack the entire blog.

So we’ll pick up here…

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I wish I had come up with the name for this pretty, refreshing, and perfect summer cocktail. Unfortunately, I didn’t and it is easily found all over social media.

Since I love rosé wine and it’s hotter than blue blazes, I had to put my spin on the Frosé sensation. I should have tried it sooner though, back when Rainier cherries were in season. Instead, I bought regular cherries and strawberries and made simple syrups from each fruit.

The cherry style was far too tart, so I went with the strawberries. Next summer, I’ll get on the ball earlier and make it with Rainiers. Already looking forward to that!

It’s recommended to use a darker shade of rosé since the wine will lose some of its colors and be diluted due to the blending, freezing, and the addition of other ingredients.

If you would like to make two batches (since only half of the strawberry simple syrup is used in this recipe) the instructions to do so are at the bottom of the recipe.

My “do as I say, not as I do” recommendation for today is to place the sheet pan in the freezer first and then add the wine to it. I poured the wine into the pan and tried to transfer it to the freezer. Way more difficult than it seems like it should be!

One last note before the recipe. Above are nine of the ten stacks of cookbooks for the blogiversary winners. I didn’t bother to package the tenth stack since it’s for my daughter, Marissa. She’ll pick hers up when she visits over Labor Day weekend.

I delivered six of the packages on Saturday. I’m waiting for the other three winners to be home. Those lucky ladies are out-of-town, enjoying some cooler weather. Yes, I’m jealous!

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