steak with egg n goat cheese

Continuing on my quest to not make that trip to town yet, I prepared steaks with fried eggs and goat cheese for dinner.

start with nice well-marbled steaks

The Hubs grilled them 5 min on the first side and 4 min on the second side. As the steaks were resting, I fried eggs in olive oil. Placed the eggs on top of the steaks. Crumbled goat cheese on the eggs and sprinkled a few cilantro leaves on top. 

  we enjoyed them with a glass of 

14 Hands

Hot to Trot

bacon n goat cheese tart with caramelized onions

We live on our farm which is 30 miles from the closest grocery store. At times the frig starts to look a little bare but I'm too busy to make the trip to town, so I start scrounging through the freezer, frig and pantry trying to come up with something to fix my two guys for lunch.

todays offering

bacon n goat cheese tart with caramelized onions

I made pizza dough in the bread machine. I like to bake my bacon in the oven instead of frying. I think it is less mess. It takes about 15-20 min at 350 degrees. I caramelized my onions by frying in olive oil and a little sugar. 

I patted the dough onto an oiled cookie sheet. Brushed the dough with olive oil. Grated Smoked Gouda cheese on the dough. Crumbled the bacon on next. Then topped with a little goat cheese and the caramelized onions. Baked at 450 degrees for approximately 12 min. It met with my guys approval. Trip to town saved for another day. 

new mexico

home ...

home on the range. 

where the deer and the antelope play

These photos were taken not far from our home. I love the wide open spaces of the west. The sky seems bluer. The clouds more abundant. 

peaceful sunday morning

wild plum galette

What to do when the wild plums are ready? I decided to make a plum galette. Roll pie dough into  a circle about 1/4 inch thick. I had some blueberry preserves that I had made earlier and spread that onto the dough, leaving about 2 inches out around the edge. Layered the plums and sprinkled with about 2 T sugar. Folded up the edges of the pie dough and baked at 375 degrees for approximately 30 min. Let cool and enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

santa fe

theses photos are from our recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico

rooftop bar at la fonda

canyon road

i highly recommend the st francis 

This is a perfect time of the year to spend a weekend  in Santa Fe. The days are warm. Evenings bring a nice chill to the air and a thin sweater is welcomed. The colors excite my eyes. The spicy flavors of the restaurants make my taste buds dance. What could be better?

french bakery

the plaza is a very relaxing spot

st francis cathedral

inn of the anasazi

Our recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico included a morning stop at the Inn of the Anasazi. I highly recommend treating yourself to an amazing breakfast on their outdoor veranda. The weather was perfect. The food was superb.

Huevos Rancheros 

Smokey Black Beans

Corn Chipotle Pancakes 

Chicken Apple Sausage
topped with
2 Poached Eggs

Jalapeno Hollandaise Sauce 

Fried Potatoes

Grapes

kittens

Part of living on a farm is the abundance of kittens. I captured three in this photo. Can you spot all three?

almond blueberry cookies

recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg 
•  1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest, about 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
• 1 cup blueberries 

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In another medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using a hand mixer. Add egg and beat to incorporate. Add milk, almond extract, and lemon zest.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the almonds, then the blueberries. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using two small spoons, dollop mix onto cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes.

squash

A tasty way to use up your abundance of garden squash?

Slice and layer squash and onions. Repeat. Top with butter, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for about 30 min.

burger n fries

burger n fries, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

For the perfect BURGER on the grill...use 80 - 20 ground beef. Lightly pat the beef into a patty. DO NOT over pat the meat. The only spices needed if you use good beef is salt and pepper. Put a thin smear of butter on the patty and grill. I usually do 5 min on first side then 3 min on the second. Absolutely DO NOT smash the burger down with the flipper. If you do I will come find you!

I use a homemade roll for a bun.

For the FRIES use 1 potato per person. Cut potatoes into narrow wedges.

for 4 potatoes...
Mix 1/4 c olive oil
1/2 t SPIKE seasoning
pinches of salt n pepper

Coat potatoes, lift out of mixture and arrange potatoes on baking sheet.

Bake 10 min at 375. Flip potatoes and bake 15 min at 400.

       

f

l

o

w

e

r

s

our anniversary party

evening with friends, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

Good food. Good wine. Good friends. 

It doesn't get any better than that! 

evening sun

evening sun, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

End of the day ... the last rays of the sun

fresh and savory tomato pie

fresh and savory tomato pie, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

The smell is amazing!

For this recipe go to
www.creative-culinary.com

tomatoes n dough

tomatoes n dough, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

Yellow and red cherry tomatoes. Chilled pie dough. Ready to make FRESH AND SAVORY TOMATO PIE for dinner tonight.

lasagna

lasagna, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

I have recently noticed several crockpot recipes, I got to wondering if I could make my lasagna recipe in my crockpot. I have an All-clad crockpot. Expensive..yes .. but so worth it!

It worked great!

olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
a few portabella mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pepperoni
1 large jar of spaghetti sauce
ricotta cheese
1 t. salt
uncooked lasagna noodles
grated parmesan cheese

Saute onion and mushrooms in olive oil. Then brown the ground beef. Add the minced garlic and salt. (I did all of this right in the crockpot cast insert.)

I removed half of the mixture. Added a 1/3 of a jar of sauce. A layer of noodles. And a thin layer of ricotta cheese.

Then repeated the beef mixture, sauce, noodles, ricotta.

Then end with the last 1/3 of sauce. Topped with pepperoni and the parmesan cheese.

Slow cooked on low for 2 hours.

olive n onions with honey gastrique

olive n onions with honey gastrique, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

1/2 pound small cipollini onions
2 t kosher salt
olive oil
3 cups sherry vinegar
2 cups honey
2 fresh bay leaves
1 large fresh rosemary sprig
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon
5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 pound of mixed olives

Place the unpeeled onions in a large bowl. Pour a few cups of extremely hot water over the onions and set aside for 15 min to loosen skins. Drain the onions and peel; pat dry. Place a very large skillet over high heat and add a 2-count of olive oil.Add the peeled onions and the salt and sear until the outsides are nice and golden brown, 5-7 min. While the onions brown, combine the vinegar, honey, and 2 T of olive oil in another skillet and bring nearly to a simmer over low heat. Add the bay leaves, rosemary, zests, garlic and olives. Once the onions are nice and golden brown, carefully pour in the olive mixture. Simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 30-35 min, or until the onions are cooked through and the liquid has reduced slightly and has a syrupy consistency. Makes about 2 quarts

this is a Tyler Florence recipe

orthorexia

Do you know someone that has ORTHOREXIA? It is a term used to describe people who have developed a fixation on healthy or righteous eating. It’s a disorder not a disease, an obsession that puts stress on the person to be a perfect eater. It’s not about weight loss. It’s about the quality of their food. They think it makes them a virtuous person, a better person, if they are a perfect eater. It’s not about losing weight. They want to feel pure, healthy, and natural.

Most sufferers cannot see it in themselves. It takes a family member to point it out. What are some of the signs of Orthorexia?

Do they obsessively read labels? Do they worry about everything that’s in their food? Do they avoid foods that contain fats, preservatives, animal products or other ingredients that they consider to be unhealthy? Do they lecture others on not eating this or that? Do they care more about the virtue of what they eat rather than the pleasure they get from eating it? Does their self-esteem get a boost from eating healthy? Do they spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about healthy foods? When they eat the way they’re suppose to, do they feel in total control?

An Orthorexia sufferer may take a perfectly healthy food item but stress over what is in it. It takes over their life. It may socially isolate them. If the sufferer does not eat appropriately they can become malnourished.

BALANCE and MODERATION is the key to healthy eating.

thunder head

thunder head, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

texas sky

texas sky, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

evening corn

evening corn, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

cotton bowls

cotton bowls, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

cotton bloom

cotton bloom, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

cotton

cotton, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

I love the feel of clean cotton sheets against my skin as I sleep or the feel of a cool cotton T shirt on a hot Texas day. Those sheets and T shirts started somewhere. Here on our farm maybe?

everything is a little better with bacon

everything is a little better with bacon, a photo by WineePamela on Flickr.

peaches, blueberries, and feta cheese topped with a little bacon