fuquay varina garden tour

In case you didn't already know, Fuquay Varina (the town with the funny name), holds a special place in my heart. Both of my parents are from there and I have lots of loved ones still in the town! Fuquay is holding is garden tour next month. Here's the scoop:

12th Annual Fuquay-Varina Garden Tour 
Sat, Sept 10th from 10 am – 5 pm
Sun, Sept 11th from 1 pm – 5 pm

Experience seven traditional southern gardens with contemporary accents; such as brick pizza oven, hot tub, and water features. Be inspired by these innovative garden designs!  

Tickets are now available for purchase at The Garden Hut, Ashley's Art Gallery, and the Mineral Springs Inn. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 day of the tour. There will also be an after tour reception featuring garden writer, Pam Beck.

Visit facebook for more information.

What to do with all those...eggs

The chickens are a blessing, don't get me wrong, but you have to stay on top of your egg eating or they start to accumulate in no time. Right now, we are easily getting 4 eggs a day which quickly adds up to 28 eggs a week. Of course, I could give away some eggs, but I've accepted the challenge to try to use them all. So, here are a few of my favorite and tastiest ways to use eggs:

Chocolate Pavlova - I've posted about this one before, but at 6 egg whites a piece, it's by far the tastiest way to consume a half dozen eggs! If you are concerned about wasting the egg yolks, there are several recipes for Key Lime pie (this one is great) that call for egg yolks only - so you can plan your desserts right and avoid throwing away either part of the egg!

Quiche - This is a great recipe for basic quiche - You can jazz things up from there. We love to add ham, caramelized onion and goat cheese .I make mine in a regular (not deep dish) pie crust and pour the left over mixture into Dutch Ann's mini pie shell tarts (avail at Harris Teeter) which make for great breakfast treats when you are in a hurry!

Egg Drop Soup - Not sure why I always assumed this was too complicated for making at home, but it truly isn't.
Ingredients:
chicken stock (4c) - (I use bullion cubes, only because they are cheaper and keep better and I don't have to add extra salt when I use them)
corn starch (3T)
water (1/4c)
vinegar (1/2t)
soy sauce (2t)
eggs, beaten (2)
pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Broil 4 cups of chicken broth. While broth is boiling, whisk together corn starch and water until its smooth. Then whisk the corn starch mixture into the broth. Cook 1- 2 minutes until broth starts to thicken. Slowly pour and stir the eggs into the broth mixture. Let simmer 2 - 3 minutes. Add soy sauce, vinegar and salt (if needed) and pepper.

Enjoy!

Baguette making

My first loaves baking in the oven!

One of my New Year's Resolution was to learn to make a baguette. I realize that my New Year's resolution should have been to decrease the amount of carbs consumed, but that was not so. I love french bread, but it pains me to pay upwards of $3 dollars for a baguette and I hate that they don't keep well. Furthermore, going to the store every time I need (or want) one isn't really realistic. Hence, my desire to learn to make them myself!

Andy received a bread machine for Christmas last year so I set out to find a French Bread recipe that would allow me to let the bread machine to do some of the work. My first attempt was a success, however I must admit this isn't for the faint at heart: I spent an entire afternoon checking, flouring and kneading. Here's the recipe I followed from All Recipes. Unfortunately, the bread machine only did the initial mixing and rising, and the recipe only netted two modest-sized loaves. However, they did have the unbeatable combination of a crusty exterior with a soft spongy interior. Yum!

Summer Recipes

I love seasonal summer foods! There is something about them that makes me want to gobble up as much of the goodness as I can while it last! Andy doesn't like to follow recipes, he's more of a real chef, but I'm happy to admit that I'm more of a recipe follower. Occasionally, when I'm sure of flavorful combinations, I'll venture out on my own, but for the most part I do as told!

One of our all time favorite recipe books is, Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson. I must admit that not every recipe in this book appeals to me, but at the same time everyone that I've tried has been an off the chart hit with us as well as who ever else has been served it!

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Here are some regulars in our house:

• Chocolate Raspberry Pavola - This is a super-easy, super-impressive meringue-like summer dessert. Depending on what's in season, we make it with raspberries, blackberries or even blue berries and there are NEVER any leftovers...enough said!
• Happiness (or "sunshine") Soup - The book calls this "happiness" soup, but i can't help but calling it sunshine soup due to its radiant color.  Its a great use for summer squash. I follow the recipe to a "t", but I do dial back the lemon juice so that its not too sour on the pallette. Its a very different, but very yummy soup!
• Thai Beef in Lettuce Wraps - These make for a great light summer supper.
• Rice Paper Rolls - These are another wonderful light summer treat packed with the refreshing flavors of mint and cucumber! (In Raleigh, I've found rice sheets at Total Oriental Foods near the Walmart on New Hope Church Road)

Bon Appetit!

Scrumptous London Broil

Lately Lowes Foods has been having some super deals on London Broil and while its not grass fed and local, I've caved in due to the $2.97/lb price tag.

I found a super delish recipe for a marinade that I've made several times and it has been a hit with all to whom it was served. Here's the recipe from Our State Magazine:

• ½ cup oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse fresh pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 to 3 pounds London broil
• Meat tenderizer

Combine all ingredients (except meat and tenderizer), and stir. Put ¼ to ½ of the mixture in a plastic bag with meat to marinate 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Reserve remaining mixture for sauce. Remove meat from marinade; discard used marinade. Sprinkle meat with tenderizer. Grill immediately. Heat reserved sauce to a boil before serving.

I've served this sliced over mixed greens salads with blue cheese and berries, but more recently I made it with dill green beans and baked acorn squash with maple syrup and butter. YUM! The left overs made for some great sandwiches too!

What do to with all that....Zucchini

A friend had a bountiful crop of zucchini, and was recently seeking out ideas for what to do with it all. I shared a few recipes and ideas with her that I've been collecting and thought I'd share them here, as well. 'Tis the season for zucchini, afterall.

• Zapallitos Revueltos (Scrambled Zucchini) - This is still one of our favorite summer stables.
• Zucchini Cakes (from Relish Magazine) - Quite possibly the perfect vegetarian crab cake. Declared "delish" by veggie eaters and carnivores alike!
• "Good as Crack" Zucchini Bread (from All Recipes) - I made up two loaves of this this weekend it took it to a friend who declared it "good as crack". I substituted 1/2 of the walnuts for chocolate chips - can't go wrong there! Seriously delicious!
• Brown Butter Squash with Garlic - We've also recently been cooking down zucchini and summer squash with minced garlic and butter over low heat. Very yummy!

Here are a few more that I've "clipped" for safekeeping, but haven't yet tried:

• Bean-free hummus - Swap the usual can of chickpeas for one large zucchini that's been peeled, trimmed, and chopped. Toss in the food processor with lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper; process until smooth for a light, creamy dip. (This is from Kiwi Magazine: Growing Families the Great, Natural and Organic Way - a freebie from the Stoneyfield's reward program.)
  
• Zucchini fries - Slice zucchini into sticks (about the size of your finger), and then dredge in a beaten egg and seasoned bread crumbs. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes (Another one from Kiwi Magazine)
• Zucchini Cookies - from my current read, "Animal Vegetable Miracle"

Roasting a whole chicken

Last week I decided to attempt being a grown up and roast a whole chicken. This was a big deal for me as I'm pretty scared of raw chicken. I purchased my free range chicken from Homestead Harvest Farm at the North Raleigh Farmer's Market. After perusing several recipes, I settled on one that called for lots of garlic and rosemary from Dean and Deluca- can't go wrong there!

As you can see in the photo my ratio of vegetables to bird was a little off, but the veggies were super tasty. I found that my 3.25 roast cooked considerably faster than the recipe said, but all in all it was a pretty tasty first attempt. Not sure it will be a regular at our house, but its a nice (and pretty) option.