Mini Pumpkin Tartlets-- Happy Fall, Y'All!

Hello, everybody!  I have a tasty recipe for Fall. I'm a fool for Fall. You know those people who love pumpkin spice everything? Yes? That's me. 

Sometimes I get out the spices and take a whiff of nutmeg or allspice just so I can pretend that cold weather is on the way! Not that I love cold weather, but it's just the season...

Crisp leaves. Frost in the morning. Dark clouds on the horizon. 

Fall is so.... dramatic. 

My writerly heart feels an affinity for the season that's not all sunshine and clear blue sky. 

The spices of fall. Nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. (In this house, we call them "too much cloves" because I can't ever get the measurement right. There's none at all, and then way too much. We just accept that cloves will be "too much" in every dish.)

But before I begin, I have to say this little doggy makes me laugh. He rolls himself up in his favorite blankie when his person leaves him at home. Goodness gracious. Some people have emotional support animals. Our animal has an emotional support person. 

So! Let us begin. Two cups of crushed Nilla wafers, plus 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a dash of "too much cloves".

 Add a few TBS of melted butter and press into a pan.

 Oops, missed a picture but take a can of pure pumpkin puree and add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and a dash of ginger. Mix well, then add four large eggs to it will bake together. Most recipes have condensed milk, but I have a child who is lactose intolerant so we skip that part. It gives the pie a less custardy feel, which I like, too.

 Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until done. I let the crusts brown too much but there you go. It's Friday and the 80th birthday of the publication of The Hobbit so we were watching the movie. I remember my dad reading me the series when I was younger than my youngest child, and now I've read the series to them. Bless you, J.R.R. Tolkien, and thank you for the gift of your stories!

 A latte with a dash of bittersweet chocolate is the perfect pairing...

 Happy Fall, everybody!!

 Leaving you with this fun picture I took of a sunflower in my kitchen. (See how the screen made little tiny squares on the leaves?) I hope you find something with pumpkin spice to enjoy, and a few cheerful flowers to brighten your day!

Fresh Crab Cakes on the Oregon Coast

Hello, everybody! Mary Jane here with some pictures of our beach trip. I hate that we had to come back to 105+ weather. UGH. But, I just keep trying to remember that at least we have ice, unlike the pioneers. I can get a cold Diet coke with a lot of ice, instead of warm water from a canteen. Positive thinking, right?

 So, we went crabbing in Newport. $10 gets you a shellfish license for the season. Can you believe we were wearing light jackets?? *sigh*
                                                                
Hauling the traps up from the water builds muscles!!
                                                    
A Fish and Wildlife warden showed us the easiest way to pick them up. Here, Ana demonstrates her fearlessness.
                                         
I wondered if three large Dungeness would make enough patties for the nine of us...
                                
Time to get cracking!

 The boys went to work. My 12 year old is kind of squeamish and said, "No way, no how." But he didn't eat any, either, so that was fair, I guess.

 The three crabs gave about 1/2 lb of crab meat. I had a recipe that needed 1 lb, so I had to adjust a little.
3/4 cup mayonaise
5 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup panko crumbs, unseasoned
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
pepper and salt to taste

I like this recipe because it lets the flavor of the crab shine through, and it's not too overwhelming.
 

Fry on med high heat until golden on both sides. 

 Thank you, Mr. Dungeness, for your sacrifice!! You were delicious. :)

 

Until next time!!

Bacon Wrapped Rosemary Chicken

Hello, everybody!! Mary Jane here. I really struggled with what to call this dish. Was it Rosemary Chicken and Bacon over Pasta? Was it Bacon and Chicken with Rosemary? Was it Rosemary Pasta with Bacon and Chicken and Lemon??

 

In the end, I just threw some words up there. You get the general idea, which is that it's DELICIOUS. This is one of my favorite summertime dishes and we bring it to cook outs regularly.

 So, it's not hard to make but it does have quite a few steps.

1. Cut a chicken breast into strips. Season (we used a lemon pepper sprinkle.)
2. Wrap with bacon
3. Cook on a foil covered baking sheet at 400F until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is done- about twenty minutes. (I like my bacon crispy.)
4. While the bacon and chicken are cooking, boil the pasta.
5.Take a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and heat in a small pan with a few tbs of butter. Don't let it brown too much, just a little. Let it warm in the butter util fragrant.
6. Remove the bacon from the oven and set on paper towels to drain.
7. Toss the pasta with the rosemary butter. Add a few sprinkles of lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I added about 1/4 tsp of pepper to ours because I like the lemon pepper combo.)

8. Place the bacon and chicken on the pasta. Add lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary. Enjoy!!

That's all for now!

Homemade Almond Milk Mango Chiller

Hello, everybody! Mary Jane here and I'm hiding in the Umatilla National Forest at the moment. Why? Well, look at this heat! My poor little dude in the reflection was trying to be happy about heading to the library for "slime night" but his red and sweaty face convinced me it was time to get out of Dodge! 

But before we did, we made some delicious chillers to cool down... And they were needed because my son was raising money for Scout Camp. 

 That included splitting wood and offering them with fire starters for $3. Great price because the wood was donated to him!

 The same person donated a lot of hen and chicks in flats, saying "if you can sell them, they're all yours". Of course we can! We hit the thrift stores and the cabinets for cute containers...

 I loved this little pail! We have so many craft supplies, we just added cute beads and rocks and such.

 And for the 4th of July, we made red, white, and blue!

 Aren't these cute? Perfect for those BBQ cook outs!
                                  
A friend donated a bunch of leftover wedding supplies. Aren't these cute!

 We sold almost everything we made, and all the firewood. Success! He made his goal for camp, AND enough for hiking boots and some other camping essentials. He mowed lawns for $10 ($5 for elderly, veterans and handicapped) and we met some very lovely people in our small town.
                                      
We did learn not to offer delivery. :) My suburban has a turning radius of 80 feet, it seems, and I tend to hit curbs. Lesson learned!

 OK, on to the recipe! Add two cups of slivered almonds and 4 cups of water in the blender.

 Pour over a tea towel. Let it drain, squeeze if necessary.

 It doesn't look like much, but with a 1.2 tsp of vanilla and some honey...

 Ta-dah! Almond milk with frozen mango slices, a little vanilla and honey to taste. I liked mine with mint. SO refreshing!

Ok, I hope everyone is staying cool! Until next time!

Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake

Hello everybody!  I love those facebook cooking videos. You know, those videos where you're looking at the food from a bird's eye perspective, or the cook's view? I LOVE THEM. I could watch them all day. everything looks so delicious!

 So I think I belong to more cooking groups than any other facebook group, and now I've passed my obsession with cooking on to my children. Behold... Meyer lemons just waiting for a delicious recipe.
Just a day after I bought a bag, I saw a recipe on facebook for blackberry lemon cheesecake. We knew we had to try it.

 The original recipe had a blackberry puree but we had blueberries, blackberries, and some strawberries left over from the summer.

Berry puree:
1 1/2 berries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Mix in a pan over medium heat, bring to a boil and crush gently. I strained mine because one of my kids wasn't thrilled with the idea of lots of seeds in her cheesecake.

 For the crust, the original called for 12 graham cracker sheets, 1/4 cup sugar, and 5 TBS butter. We upped the butter to 6TBS because it always seems dry, and added a dash of cinnamon.

Cheesecake:

2 packages of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1/4 tsp lemon juice

So, the verdict? It was good. I don't think cheesecake can be NOT good. But it wasn't my favorite recipe. Maybe because I was yearning more for a pound cake than a cheesecake. Maybe because the lemon wasn't that strong. If I made it again, I'd up the zest to 2 tsp, or even 1 TBS. For the amount of cheesecake, it didn't seem very lemon-y.

                                                        
One more shot of those delightful lemons!

 

Toastados with Spicy Cilantro Sauce

Hello, everybody!  I have a delicious recipe for fish tostadas. (Actually, this could be set on rice or salad, too, but I like some crunch with my veggies.)

Ingredients:

One package of breaded fish fillets, or bread and fry up your preferred fish

two cups corn

two cups black beans

four avocados

3 small tomatoes, chopped

4 tsp chopped onion

Veggie sauce:

2 tsp olive oil

3 tsp honey

4 tsp lime juice

dash of cumin

dash of cayenne pepper

Cream sauce:

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp fresh cilantro fresh cilantro

4 tsp lime juice

1 cup mayo

1/4 tsp cayenne

4 oz canned green chiles, mild

salt to taste

4 or 5 corn tortillas

salt to taste

Oil for frying

So, chop the avocados, tomatoes, onion and add to the corn in a medium bowl. 

 Mix the lime juice, cayenne pepper, honey, salt, and garlic together and add to the veggies above.

 Random pictures of chopped tomatoes. *sigh* These were from a store. How I miss fresh tomatoes right now!

 Prep the cilantro so it's ready to add as a garnish. I'm NOT a cilantro fan. Even the smell of it makes me queasy. But my husband loves it, so here we are... lots of cilantro. Because love.

 I love fresh limes. :)

Heat about 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil in a small pan until hot enough to crisp corn tortillas. 

I also made some corn chips for those who preferred mostly veggies and just some chips for a garnish.

                                                    
As soon as the tostada is out of the oil and cooled, pile on the veggies and beans. This is a bit of a deceptive photo since the reality was almost all the ingredients were separate because I have picky eaters, so people were adding what they wanted, with or without sauce.

 Now, add the mayonnaise, garlic, lime juice, cayenne pepper and cilantro to a blender and blend completely. Add salt to taste.

 The fish should be cooked or near cooked by now. I picked up the wrong fillets so these weren't as crunchy as I wanted, but they were still good.

 Add the cilantro cream sauce and garnish with fresh cilantro.

A shot of the tortillas. If I wasn't so scared of hot oil, I'd make fresh tortilla chips every day!

Enjoy!