A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Ham & Cheese Crepes: Breakfast Blogging

I'm going to bend the rules a teeny bit for breakfast blogging. I neither made this homemade, nor did I eat it on the weekend, but it is breakfast and it is a meal that's near and dear to my heart and memories. These ham and cheese crepes from Village Inn powered my year through respiratory school.  I can't tell you how many mornings my body woke me up at 4am (always!) even after I'd finished a hospital clinical the night before at 11pm and needed to be at class at 8am.  It would have been easier if I could have slept in an hour or two more but my head is just wired for 4am no matter what time I go to bed.  So on class days, if we had a test, I allowed myself Village Inn for breakfast. No matter how many times I looked at the menu and decided on something different I always ordered "Ham and Cheese Crepes".

The inside is stuffed with scrambled eggs and cubes of country ham, the top covered in cheese sauce and sprinkled with paprika.  Their hashbrowns are my favorite in town, soft on the inside and just barely crunchy on the outside, perfectly browned. The cheese sauce on top of the hashbrowns is my request. It's an indulgence that got me through the day, or at least through until lunch.  Our lunches during respiratory school were...another story for probably never another time but they are good memories.

Breakfast blogging is hosted fortnightly by Nandita at Saffron Trail located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Be sure to check out the round-up of international breakfast dishes she'll be posting soon.

School Days Cakes

In honor of school starting again, I decided to upload a few pics of cakes I made for various school events for Jordan and Sydney.  The heart cakes were for Valentine's day for Jordan's first grade class at Cowden Elementary.  They were a big hit. The kids thought Jordan was pretty cool to have had made individual heart cakes with their names on them.  They were adorable.  Tija, whose cake was in this box, tugged at my shirt hem and whispered "But how did you know our names?"  I whispered back "From Jordan's Valentine's list."  "Ohhhhhhhhhhh,"  she said, like we were sharing a secret.

This next one was from one of Sydney's Christmas parties at MSU's Pre-school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  It's a penguin in Santa hats partying around an igloo.  The kids loved the penguins because they were made of black royal icing which makes their tongues turn bright purple when eaten. They'd giggle and sign "You look like a goober!" at each other and go nab another penguin.

The next two shots are from one of Jordan's Girl Scout banquets:  strawberry cupcakes with a huge rose on the top of each one, and rose and leaf molded candies.

These cakes, and the stars it made the girls in the eyes of their friends, made up many times over for the couple of bridezillas I had to deal with over the years. 

Eureka Springs: I Miss That Town.

The visit was fast and furious but fun.  Okay, fast but not so furious.   A nice, laid-back visit of short-duration. There, that was more accurate.

We stayed at the Basin Park Hotel in downtown:

On the opposite side of the hotel is Basin Park built around Basin Springs, which is obviously, where the hotel got it's name:

The first night we ate in the balcony restaurant at sunset, lovely even though it had been raining all afternoon:

This is looking the other way up the street just before sunset.  The hotel sits on a "Y" where Spring Street joins with I Can't Remember Which Street.  You can't really tell but it was drizzling at the time this picture was taken but had stopped by the time the photo above was taken. It was lovely on the balcony both days we were. It's been over 100 degrees in this area for what seems like--forever--but with the low front and rain coming in it dropped down to an almost cool feeling high 80's while we were there.  Beautiful.

For dinner I had a really exceptional quesadilla on spinach tortillas, filled with grilled chicken, grilled onions and tomatoes, avocado, and cheese.  Loved the avocado all warm and smooshy on the inside mixing with the grilled onion juices to coat the chicken.  Yum.  The salsa was okay but the pico was very fresh and lively.

Gene ordered the big "Sloppy Sandwich", pulled pork on an enormous egg bun.  He's a big eater but there was no way he could finish the whole thing. What he did eat he liked, though.   I took the photo after he'd glutted himself on the thing. I think you could feed a small country with this one sandwich alone:

For more photos and stories, click below for more food pics and go to my personal blog, www.xanga.com/Marie9949, for pics of our room, more scenic shots of Eureka, and the family we caught by surprise out on the lawn.

Weekender in the Middle of the Week

Gene and I haven't been much of anywhere out of town just for fun since I started respiratory school two years ago so when I ended up with three days off in a row right smack dab in the middle of the week I decided it was time.  There's a small town in northwest Arkansas (the UN-natural state as some of us who used to live there call it, but we say it with a grin) that was originally a summer getaway for rich folks from Midwest cities like St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago. 

The town is Eureka Springs, known at the turn of the century for its mineral spas and the nearby lake.  In the middle of the Ozarks Mountains, it always makes me imagine Victorian "cottages" as rock climbers clinging to the hills.   Keep in mind that most of these "cottages" are so big they've been turned into ten room bed and breakfasts.  I've always wondered at what it might have been like to be so rich that my family's little summer place had six to ten bedrooms and required caretaking staff when I wasn't there.  Definitely a concept I'm not familiar with in a big degree, or any degree at all.

We'll be staying here at the Basin Park Hotel, (the tall building on the right), dead center in town so we can park the car and enjoy a couple of days on foot.  If we're lucky, so keep your fingers crossed for us, we might run into a ghostie.  Basin Park, built in 1905, along with their sister hotel, the Crescent Hotel, overlooking town and built in 1886,  are both supposedly haunted to the gills.  I know it's a marketing gimmick they developed over the last several years but Gene and I were married in that town fourteen years ago and we lived there for two years in the early 90's so we're on the cusp of being in the know.  We've talked to a lot of locals who truly believe that the Crescent, at least, is genuinely haunted by one of the masons, "Michael",  who fell to his death during construction, a nurse wearing in a long white dress who pushes a med trolley on the third floor from when the hotel served as a psychiatric hospital, and there's something in the basement no one's ever named. There are locals who refuse to work there, and then, there are a couple of people who've worked there for years and enjoy the friendly frustrations with whomever or whatever rearranges the storage rooms after they've been locked down for the night.

We're off to spend a little time together in the jacuzzi, strolling main street to enjoy the art galleries, relaxing to the drift of jazz coming up from the clubs in the evening while leaning back on the hotel's street-overlooking balconies, and of course, sampling the cuisine of the several phenomenal local and transplanted chef's who've held court for many years in Eureka.

See y'all in a day or two and I promise to come back armed with photos.

I Need to Eat this Healthy at Every Meal

Blue Hake w/Balsamic Syrup (w/Splenda), Fresh Tomatoes from the neighbor's garden, and a small wedge of Rosemary Focaccia.

This was one of the best meals I've made in a long time. It was tasty and very good for us and it came together almost as an accident. I didn't feel like cooking tonight and I hadn't defrosted any meat so I pulled together what I did have that would be quick and easy, and then, that balsamic syrup I love so much popped into my brain as the sauce. Except this time I tried it using Splenda which puts this whole plate in at under 400 calories, perfect for most diet plans including that of Dr. Brenda Wells of Preventative Health Care, in the Springfield, MO metro area. 

Weekend Breakfast Blogging: Ozarks Country Benedict

Weekend Breakfast Blogging is sponsored by Nandita at Saffron Trail.  Be sure to check out all the other great things to eat for breakfast from all over the world.

This is my favorite lazy day at the lake breakfast. We used to have a little cabin down on a nearby lake, Taneycomo, and we loved to take friends down for the weekend.  That is the perfect time to make this dish because it does take a little time and patience and it's not something you really want to go to the trouble for, say, just for yourself.  For four, it seems worth the time and effort of making cheese sauce even if you are on vacation.

Loosely based on a breakfast served at a hotel I worked at and the classic Eggs Benedict, this is more MY version of those things.  I know. I just can't leave recipes alone. When tomatoes are in season, I swear, I'd eat them on chocolate cake.  Fresh garden tomatoes are sooooooo good with eggs and my lovely neighbors keep supplying me with them this summer since I didn't have time to put out my container garden this year.  I'm making the most of it. When I see Dave walking across the street with a bag in his hand, I meet him at the door, offer to let him have a seat, put his feet up, get him something to drink, and then snatch the bag out of his hand, saying "Oh I guess we can eat a few more" and quickly hide it before he can change his mind.

Well, I do say thank you even if I am blatantly tomato greedy.

My Brother, Carl's, Wedding Cake

Let's take a little walk down memory lane.  When my brother, Carl, decided to get married, I forget how many years ago, he, of course, asked me to bake the cake, and I of course, was happy to.  Their colors were red and white and the style they wanted was a very traditional cake in a very traditional setting.  He and Teresa were married in a small country church with a church basement reception of cake, punch, and cookies I made but forgot to photograph.  But they were cool. Take my word for it. Well, you kind of have to take my word for it, don't you, since I forgot to get the pictures to prove it.  The cookies were simple sugar heart cut-outs with a light white glaze and victorian lacy designs in white royal icing on top.

The most extra-ordinary thing about the cake was that the roses were all piped from royal icing ahead of time in two tones: darker in the center with a brighter red on the outside.

Forgive the lousy photo.  The cake isn't leaning, apparently the photo-taker was.  I wasn't much of a photographer back then.  Hell, I'm not much of a photographer now but this pic is proof that even someone as camera backwards as I am can improve skills with practice!

For a little closer up detail, below is the wedding topper I baked for them a year later for their anniversary. When I had my cake company I encouraged my clients to not freeze the cake topper and eat nasty yuck a year later. What kind of disgusting tradition is that?  Ick.  So I always told my brides to call me about a month prior their first anniversary and I'd rebake and decorate a topper for them to celebrate with, at cost. Several people took me up on it, several forgot or didn't bother, but the ones who did always called and said they enjoyed the fresh cake vs. year old freezer cake.

My brother, God love him, has never been very good at reading the subtleties of social communication so when he called me the day before his anniversary to remind me of my promise the year before to rebake his cake topper, I didn't hesitate to be honest, up to a point, with him.  He's my brother. I don't have to put on the pretty for him, you know what I mean, but on the other hand I've never been good at saying "no" to anyone, especially family, either.   I was in the middle of a bout with the flu so I'd forgotten all about his anniversary.  I know, I'm a bad big sister, but I was sick, she whined.  I told him I wasn't feeling well, that I was sick, feeling horribly crummy, in fact.  I thought he could connect the dots on his own.  He needed a bigger crayon. 

I told him that I'd feel better about rebaking it the next weekend instead of that day.  In my head I was thinking "hint, hint" but it didn't work.  He's a good guy but he's not good at planning ahead or picking up on the subtle stuff.

He said all bubbly like a girl  "It's my anniversary tomorrow." 

I said "Yes, but I'm sick." 

He said "Uh huh, and it's my anniversary tomorrow. When can I run by and pick the cake up?"

Sigh.  There was a fair amount of cursing in my head at that point but, like I said, "no" wasn't my forte and it's not that he's a jerk, he's just a man, and reading between the lines is not his forte. 

So here's the cake topper I recreated for him:

The punchline to the story is:  the marriage is no longer intact. Other than the photos to add to my cake book and the joy of never having to be sugary nice again to a woman I never could stand, here are the truly best two things that came out of that marriage: Kaylee and Isaac. 

Zucchini Fritters with Chimichurri Sauce

For all you folks who are currently climbing out from under a pile of zucchini in the garden (like I'm climbing out from a pile of workdays), here's another way to use those little, or big, green beauties up: by tucking it into fritters.  And note for all you South Beacher Dieters out there, because of the high ratio of eggs to flour in this particular fritter recipe, it comes out light and spongy with decent carb numbers.

And, and, and...yet another way to use chimichurri sauce that you've all now got stored in the freezer, right?

I'm thinking about changing the name of this blog to the 101 Uses for Chimichurri Sauce Blog. What are we up to now, about six? I think this is officially the 6th good reason to have chimichurri sauce stockpiled on ice, so to speak.

Lavender Scones, Made for Women But Men Like Them Too

I can only explain this post by saying I simply had a tea moment yesterday. I couldn't help myself.  I had a cup of tea and then I decided I needed another, along with lavender scones.

I've never actually had lavender scones before so imagine my surprise at feeling so compelled to make them. I had just bought some dried lavender at Mama Jean's Natural Market, and I was drinking dragon pearl tea, sweetly fragranced with jasmine, so I suppose the idea didn't exactly come out of thin air.  Well, maybe not so THIN air, just air fragranced by the sent of jasmine tea.  (And No, Matt, it's not a pregnancy craving. Sorry, Charlie.)  I just needed a little girlie girl time in that moment, I think.

I'd like to add this to Kalyn's, of Kalyn's Kitchen, Weekend Herb Blogging event.  Weekend Herb Blogging is being hosted this week by Christa of Calendula and Concrete.  Check out the round-up on her site on Monday.

Cascadilla: Chilled Vegetable Soup

I had this soup for the first time when I worked at Dairy Hollow House Inn, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, owned by cookbook and children's book author, Crescent Dragonwagon, and her husband, Ned.  It's another recipe that I've made so many times I don't even remember which of Crescent's cookbooks it came from or how far I've strayed from it.  I do know that how I make it depends a great deal on my mood and what veggies I have in the crisper.  Cucumbers are the only absolute.  I'll walk you through the straight and narrow as I see it and show you where a lot of the meandering paths I've taken start wandering off.