Foodie Friday - Fresh Tomatoes and Pasta

Earlier this spring, as a cost cutting measure and to have a fun project with the kids, we decided that we would plant a small vegetable garden. Not anything real big and not a lot of different vegetables because we are, in fact, novices at the gardening thing. We basically planted some tomatoes, peppers and strawberries.

So far, the only thing that has produced anything for us is the tomatoes. And if you know me very well, you know that it just fine. I love me some fresh sweet summer tomatoes.

As I was working in the garden on day, watering, weeding and spraying with organic insect “stuff,” I got a whiff of a very familiar smell. The tomato plant smell.

If you have ever grown a home garden, you know that a tomato plant has a very distinct smell. It is hard to describe because it doesn’t smell like tomato. It smells like a tomato plant. While it is not what I would normally consider a pleasant smell, it was pleasant to smell it in that it took me back in time. To a simpler time.

My father had a vegetable garden every year in the back area of our back yard where he planted all manner of vegetables from tomatoes, to peppers, to onions and Lord only knows what else. I so distinctly remember that tomato plant smell from the vegetable gardens of my childhood. I remember I couldn’t stand it then because I felt like I was the weird one with the farm in her backyard. But now, as I smell that smell, I am transported back to my dad’s vegetable garden.

As I pondered this I began to think of how we can associate a lot of memories with smells and with food. Have you noticed that? Certain foods will remind me of people or situations. Homemade rolls remind me of being at my Nana's house at the holidays, as does chocolate meringue pie. Ribs always remind me of Christmas day and playing Monopoly until late in the night with my parents and sisters. The smell of the coast reminds me of many a spring break that we spent fishing off the Texas coast.

So many wonderful memories. I certainly hope that my children are making the same kinds of memories.

But back to tomatoes...

In our tomato growing journey we’ve learned a little about gardening. For one thing I’ve learned to identify a certain insect that could be extremely detrimental to a tomato plant. The tomato hornworm.


I found this little guy on my tomato plant not far from some small tomatoes that had been munched on. I quickly found out that his intentions were less than honorable and that he needed to be dealt with appropriately…. and quickly.



Despite all the odds, attacks of hornworms and Texas heat, we had several tomatoes ripen all at the same time. I was so excited, I had to email a picture of this, our first tomato, to my dad.



With so many fresh tomatoes sitting around, I felt it was the perfect opportunity for me to make one of my favorite dishes, Fresh Tomato Pasta .

This is a wonderful and inexpensive meal as most of it came straight from my garden between the tomatoes and my herb garden that I have grown for several years, now.

4 medium size fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh basil (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh garlic chives (chopped)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
Pasta of choice (cooked to taste)

Dice tomatoes and prepare all herbs. Combine everything in a bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for at least one hour (more is better, in my opinion).

Serve over prepared pasta.

We usually serve it with some grilled chicken, but it is certainly not necessary.



I'd like to say that this was a dish that also takes me back to my childhood, but it is not. Our fresh tomatoes were served mostly alone as a fresh side to a meal or as a condiment for hamburgers or sandwiches. But, I hope that it is a dish that my children remember when they begin planting gardens of their own and have some of their first fresh tomatoes.

And I do hope that they remember that tomato plant smell and fondly recall the summers of their youth.

Is there a particular food smell or dish that takes you back to another time in your life? Tell us about it in the comments.

In this post: Fresh Tomato Pasta

If you liked this post, you might also like a post about my Herb Garden and a Greek Salad recipe.

Because some randomness is good at times.

If I seem a little absent this week it's because... well... I am.

July is here and it's the one month a year that I seriously get into a sporting event (besides Aggie football in September-November). Yes, the Tour de France has begun and my watching of it has seriously cut into any blogging time I have in the evenings, mornings, mid-day... you get the picture. I've been looking forward to these three weeks for quite some time now and it has been a fun race to watch so far. If you didn't know, Lance Armstrong is out of retirement and has rejoined the Tour this year and is on an excellent team. I may just have to break down and finally make some croissants in honor of the Tour for the 21st stage in Paris. We'll see how ambitious I feel come the end of July.

This week is also interesting because my girl is at camp all week. We took her out to camp on Sunday afternoon and go to pick her up Friday evening. I've been seeing some pictures online and can tell that she is having a good time fishing, kayaking and doing daily ranch chores.

This is her second year to go for overnight camp but something is different this year. I actually got a letter from her. A real life snail-mail letter. I think I'm going to frame it. Last year I sent her with several pre-addressed stamped envelopes and paper and got a big fat nuthin'. So imagine my surprise when we saw a letter from her in the mail on Tuesday.

It's been interesting having only Nathan around this week. Things seem a little easier and I think he is enjoying having mom and dad to himself. But it's clear he misses Sarah a little. We took him to a local water park on Wednesday and as we were getting ready and telling him where we were going he said, "But I need a sister to go with me." Awww.

On another completely unrelated note, I've added some things to my side bar. I feel like a real-life blogger now that I've signed up with Feedburner and have posted a widget for subscription in not only in readers, but by email as well. So, if you'd like to get updates from the dear ol' blog in your email inbox, just head on over and sign up. I have the same things on the Recipe Blog, too.

Y'all have a good day and I'll be back tomorrow with a "fresh" Foodie Friday post.

BBA Challenge #8 - Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of months ago, I spent some time testing a few different cinnamon roll formulas as I began down my yeast bread baking journey. Because seriously, what's the point in ever baking yeast bread if you're not going to make cinnamon rolls? I can't think of one.

I first made these Black Forest Buns because, oddly enough, I had some extra chocolate cake sitting around that I needed to use in some way. They were yum.

I also tried a recipe/formula by Art Smith from his book Back to the Family. It was kind of a fussy recipe and I realized too late in the process that the formula omitted salt. I noticed it but it was too late to add some in. They fermented and proofed fine, but tasted... blech.

You can see pictures of my attempts at both of the above recipes here.

I also tried the formula from my Williams Sonoma book The Essentials of Baking. This formula was easier and tasted better. But it made a LOT of cinnamon rolls. More than my little family of four need ever eat.

So, to say that I was excited about getting to the cinnamon roll formula in the Bread Baker's Apprentice is an understatement of epic proportions. Let me put it to you this way: I have had a tab on the page marking this recipe since the day I got the book and first looked through it.

I actually have a reason for this obsession with the cinnamon roll. My family loves the Pillsbury Orange Cinnamon Rolls from a can. I KNOW... It's. SO. Shameful. But I'll admit that they are good and so easy. But I have wanted to find a homemade solution to this canned madness in my house. And this formula by Peter Reinhart may be the answer.


I looked over the ingredient list and thought, "Lemon extract? Why would I use lemon when orange is so much better?" And since I always have orange extract on hand for a few of my recipes, I used it instead.

As I have mentioned before, I do enjoy working with soft dough. I have much more success with elasticity and gluten development in these softer enriched doughs than I do with some stiffer doughs.


And just LOOK at that windowpane!

That's probably about as good of a window "pain" test that you will ever see from me again.


So the dough did its dough thing of fermenting for a while. I rolled it out, spread on some cinnamon sugar and then rolled it up to slice.



Now, every book that I have encountered has you cut the cinnamon rolls with a knife, so I have been trying to do that. But I remember back when my mom used to make them, she used fishing line since it was always around the house. We do not have any, but I think I'm about to buy me some because this knife business is for the birds in my oh so humble opinion.

With the fishing line, you hold a length of it on either end. Slide it up under the log to the length that you want to cut, then cross the ends over the top and pull. Trust me, it makes a beautifully round cinnamon roll. I'll post a tutorial some time to show you.

I also experimented a little bit. I cut half of the log into rolls and put them in the fridge to bake the next morning (Friday). I was having such a hard time cutting the tender dough that I left the other half as a log and put it in the fridge to then slice and bake on Saturday.

I tell you what, the refrigerated dough was so much easier to slice. The only problem I found was that the holes of the cross section of the dough were a little more visible in the dough that was refrigerated first. But hey, that gets covered up with this...











Overall Impressions:

This was a very good formula; and I feel like I can say that with a knowledge base of having tried several. I love the substituted orange extract and also used orange extract in the glaze.

I would like to make them smaller and may try to do so next time because...

Would I make this recipe again? Oh heavens... YES!!!


To read about the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, go here.

Mama Braggin' Monday - The Theater

Mondays are the day of the week that I shamelessly brag on my kids here on the blog. Join me if you like. I'd love to see what awesome things your kids are up to. I am no longer adding the Mr. Linky, but please leave a comment and brag on your kids. Or you can brag on mine. Either way.

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I got a call from one of my sisters last Monday that she wanted to give me and my kids a special birthday present. She wanted to send the three of us to see "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" at the Fair Park Music Hall (in the Dallas Summer Musicals line-up).

Now if it had been just about any other musical, I'd have said that Nathan would not dig it. But "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"? The same as the movie that he watched non-stop between our house and Destin making our car a virtual "All Chitty All The Time" station? Oh yeah, he was going to go see it.

But with a temperamental four year old there is always that nagging feeling and question in the back of your head, "Will he be able to do it?"

The answer? A resounding, "YES!"

Here we are in the foyer of the Music Hall.



And here is my stash of contraband that got us through a good bit of the musical.



The three of us had such a good time and I have to brag on both of my kids here.

With Nathan's recent obsession with the movie, Sarah has been pretty much "out" on "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." But we convinced her that it would be different from the movie and that the seeing it in the theater would be a completely different experience. And it was. She was a trooper even though it wouldn't have been her first choice and ended up having a wonderful time and enjoying the musical.

Nathan did so well during the performance. He was mesmerized most of the time. And, while I had to remind him to be mindful of his feet to not accidentally kick the chair in front of him (and I had to remind the lady in front of him that he is only four and doing the best he can so that she would stop glaring at us with any little bump), there was not a great amount of squirming, talking, or anything you would expect from a four year old boy. There was a bit of dancing to some of the music as we sang along (because after the Destin trip, we all have them all memorized).

The musical itself was incredible. My sister had taken her boys to see it and as we talked about it she said that she almost started to cry when Chitty started to fly... I had to admit that I did cry; but I cried when I saw the castle for the first time at both Disneyland and Disney World, so this wasn't really surprising.

It was a fun show and a great one to take my kids to as I continue introduce theater to them in fun ways. If it comes to a city near you, I give it a definite thumbs up and would call it a "must-see" for you and your children.

1st & 15th Scripture Memory

I completely missed June 15th in our scripture memory challenge. I was so focused that week on trying to get me and my family ready to go on vacation that it slipped up on me and I never got around to it.

How awful that those words just came out of my mind. I never got around to it.

I have also had a difficult time in finding the verse I wanted to memorize. I keep thinking that something will just pop out at me and that I shouldn't have to work that hard to find a verse. I'm starting to think that I do actually need to work for it.

For this time period, I went back and looked at some of the verses that Beth Moore has chosen and this particular one spoke to me and where I am right now.

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

I do believe that He has and will bless us abundantly, that we will have all that we need and that we will abound in every good work.

Foodie Friday - Smoothies (because it's summer... and it's HOT)

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah came to me with an idea to make a smoothie that she found in her own cookbook, "The Cooking Book" by Jane Bull. I felt bad because, at the time, I just couldn't stop to do it. I don't remember exactly what the deal was but more than likely I was up to my elbows in bread or getting ready to go on vacation. But I told her to bring her book on vacation with us and I told her should could make smoothies for us while we were in Destin.

And so she did.

I told her as she made them that I was going to post her recipe here on the blog.

And so I am.

With pictures and everything.

So, without further ado, my daughter's food blogging debut.

Pink Smoothies
(Makes enough for 2 smallish glasses)

Ingredients:

1/2 banana
3 strawberries
A handful of raspberries
2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup milk (approximately)


You will also need:

Blender
Knife
Cutting board


Method:

Look really cute.

Then, cut the banana and strawberry into chunks and place into blender and add a handful of raspberries on top.

Add two or so scoops of ice cream, 1 tablespoon of sugar and about 1/4 cup of milk to the blender as well.



Blend until smooth. You may have to stop and push the ice cream down in with a spoon after about 30 seconds.

Pour into glasses and....



ENJOY!!!



They were very good and very refreshing. As we sat and drank them, we remembered a smoothie that we used to make a long time ago. So we went and got the ingredients.

For a more adult (although non-alcoholic) smoothie recipe, try this:

Raspberry Margarita Smoothie

Ingredients:

Vanilla Ice Cream
Margarita Mix
Raspberries (fresh or frozen)

You get the idea, I'm sure, but for the complete post for this recipe, click here. It's wonderfully refreshing and beautifully tart. Mmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

In this post:
Pink Smoothies
Raspberry Margarita Smoothies


**I am also linking this post up for Dessert Friday at Stop and Smell the Chocolates. Go visit Lisa over there to see more dessert posts.**

DFWChix Bloggers at The Melting Pot in Grapevine!

Several weeks ago, I got an email from Rachel at Surviving the Stores introducing herself as a blogger that lives in the D/FW area. She wanted to get some of us local bloggers together for a meet-up.

At first I was a little stunned, and then I saw that she got my name from Alyssa whom I met on twitter (@kingdomfirstmom) a while back. Alyssa and I have tweeted back and forth periodically about storms rolling through the area this spring. You can always tell who's local by the weather tweets.



Well, stink. Can you even tell those are people in that picture? Why is it out of focus? Not my fault, folks... I was actually in front of the camera this time, not behind it.

Anyways, here's a list of who was there so you can go visit them:

Rachel @ Surviving the Stores
Alyssa @ Kingdom First Mom
Amy @ Amy Loves It!
Dwan @ MommaDJane
Heather @ Your Coupon Buddy
Hollie @ Happy Couponing
Lea Ann @ Mommy's Wish List
Stephanie @ Couponing 101
Susan @ Craving The Savings

We met up at The Melting Pot in Grapevine. Our server, Sara (without an "h") is right there in front and was just as darlin' as she could be. She and the rest of the staff were on the spot with anything we needed and was engaging but not overly so. Some servers can be a little much for me, personally, but every wait-staff member that I have ever encountered at the Melting Pot has always been a good balance of friendly while maintaining a professional demeanor about their service.

I also got a surprise when one of the girls and I were talking and found that we had a mutual friend and that we had likely met at this friend's house before. Such a small, small world.

Here are some food highlights from the evening:

Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue with Fontina and Butterkase cheeses, spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic in a broth base.

We also sampled the Cheddar Cheese Fondue (in a beer base) and the Quattro Formaggio Fondue (in a white wine base).

Alyssa, bless her heart, dropped something in the pot. And if you've ever done fondue, you know there's always a consequence to losing your food in the pot. When we do fondue at home, the loser has to do the dishes. But since this was a bloggy get together, the loser got their picture with her mouth wide open blogged for the whole world to see.



We had a variety of meats to cook three ways: Coq au Vin (red wine in bullion + seasonings), Mojo (Caribbean seasoned & inspired bullion), and Bourguignonne (a very fancy way to say "FRY ME SOME MEAT")

The best was still yet to come. The chocolate.

OHHH the chocolate.

The dark chocolate was good. I didn't touch the Turtle because, hello... pecans. But my favorite was the Tiramisu.



We had a variety of chocolate delivery methods and my favorite is usually pound cake and fruit. But I like the variety they offered with rice crispy treats and graham cracker covered marshmallows.



We have been to The Melting Pot before and I cannot think of a time I have had a bad experience. Enjoy a nice intimate dinner for two or have a large group. Either way it's a great place. And even if you are not local here in the DFW area, there are Melting Pot locations all over the country.

Have you dined at the Melting Pot before? Tell us about it in the comments.

I'll also take this opportunity to share with you my favorite chocolate fondue recipe. Click here to see it.

I look forward to doing more things with local bloggers. If you are local in the DFW area and would like to join us sometime, let me know either in the comments or drop me an email at (waymorehomemade at yahoo dot com) or click the email button above.

I also look forward to having more to say about local events and goings on. Stay tuned!

Works for Me... Italian Sausage Skewers

I posted a new recipe post over at the recipe blog today for Italian Sausage Skewers. It's an easy summer recipe that gives you an entire meal with meat and vegetables all at the same time.

Enjoy! And go visit We Are THAT Family for more summer recipe ideas.

BBA Challenge #7 - Ciabatta (with Rosemary & Parmesan)

In the 7 breads we have made so far, I have found that I enjoy working with soft dough. While I still enjoy the feel of the stiffer doughs in my hands, there is something about these softer doughs that I just find fun. And this ciabatta dough was no exception. The stretching, pulling and folding was just fun; even though I'm not convinced I did it quite right.

I used a bit of my regular sourdough starter and some poolish that I had left over from another bread project. As I set out to begin I pulled the starters out of the fridge, measured them, and was going to leave them out to come to room temperature while I just straightened up about the kitchen a bit. Well, the straightening up turned into hand washing everything that had been left in my dishwasher while we were gone for a week... unwashed.

Yes, "Ewwwww!" is right.

Needless to say that with the two hours that my starter set out while I had to scrub the kitchen and all my dishes that were in the dishwasher and run them all again, it was definitely room temperature.

Sort of at the last minute I decided to add some parmesan that I had left over from something else and some fresh rosemary from my herb garden. I had already done the first stretch and fold, so I just added them in for the 2nd round.



For a homemade couche, I used one of my flour sack dish towels that I had attempted to use for a similar purpose for sourdough a while back. The only problem was that the dough stuck and now I have all these dark little balls that are stuck to it no matter how many times I wash it. However, with Reinhart's suggestion to spray it with oil and then dust with flour, I had much better non sticking results this time.



It was very hot around here on Saturday when I was making this bread. I think the outside temperature was at least a few degrees above 100 F and I considered just setting my loaves outside to cook. But with our old air conditioners and the added heat of the oven, it was, in turn, warm inside my house and I was afraid that I had overproofed my loaves because they proofed so quickly.

I moved the first one over to my peel and it deflated quite a bit and I decided to re-stretch and fold and let it proof again since, clearly, it was not going to take long with as warm as it was. The 2nd loaf I moved also deflated, but I decided to just cook it and see what happened.







See? No big huge beautiful holes. And I had such high hopes with the unexpected oven spring that I got that puffed it back up after deflating.

These pictures are of the first loaf that I baked. I did not photograph the one that I re-folded and let proof again because it was no better & maybe a little worse.

However, it was all good because I loved the flavor - especially the saltiness that the parmesan added and the rosemary just added a gorgeous flavor to it.

My man didn't agree.

But hey... what does he know.

Uses:

This ciabatta is a great bread to show off and take to a friend's house. I took a loaf with us to dinner with some friends on Saturday night and the rustic beauty of it impresses. It makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

Overall Impressions:

Ciabatta was really fairly easy. I'm just not sure where I went wrong to not achieve the big beautiful holes.

I'm not sure about you, but I made a huge mess in my kitchen with this one with all the flour dusting in between stretches and folds. I had flour from one end of the kitchen to the other by the time I was done.

Will I make this bread again? Yes. But apparently I won't be adding rosemary to it again if I want my man to enjoy it.

Mama Braggin' Monday - Time at the beach

Mondays are the day of the week that I shamelessly brag on my kids here on the blog.

To see my original post about Mama Braggin' Monday, go here

So, join me if you like. I'd love to see what awesome things your kids are up to. I am no longer adding the Mr. Linky, but please leave a comment and brag on your kids. Or you can brag on mine. Either way.

~~~

We had a wonderful time at the beach and I just wanted to overall brag on my kids for how well they did. They snorkeled, rode the waves, went on a boat and generally tried just about anything we threw at them.



And in the midst of it all, they understood and responded with quick obedience when I needed them to the most.

Now it's your turn. Go ahead. Brag on your kids. It's fun!