It's Too Damn Hot

...to cook. But not to enjoy summer!

Savannah has hit 100 repeatedly this week, with heat indexes between 115 and 120 all week long. I've officially declared the kitchen closed, and we are eating dinner at the pool until further notice.

I'll be back when the heat breaks.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Just in time for the weekend, Attorney Mom blogs a fabulous menu. Get your grill on.
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It really WAS good advice! When I was growing up, my mother had two maxims about eating. First, make sure all of the food on your plate is colorful. Second, enjoy dessert, but just a little. Those two rules have stood me in excellent stead throughout my life, and of course while I try to follow them each meal, there are exceptions, like my current favorite summer dinner! (If, dear reader, you can’t sleep at night for the lack of color and true vegetable, just add your favorite green thing!)

Here is what is making my family happy this summer- for my husband, who likes to grill, my two kiddos, who love anything that takes a squirt of ketchup, and my two big dogs, who get the leftover burgers for assisting so admirably with the grill duties:

Hamburgers: I mix a pound of ground beef, 3 mild Italian sausages (take out of casing), 1 t. dry thyme, 1 t. dry oregano, salt (1/2 t.), pepper (1/2 t.) and an egg together, and voila! They just taste SO good! (Editor's Note: OMG. This is essentially a sausage burger. Genius. Because it is my firm belief there is nothing in this world that can't be improved with a little sausage. Can't wait to try these.)

Corn on the cob: We learned this secret while we were honorary Texans living in Austin! Prepare fresh corn (Place corn in water, just to cover the ears. Do NOT add salt. Boil water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes. Done!) and lightly coat each ear with butter, garlic salt, and Parmesan cheese. Now, those fearless Texans may also add a light sprinkle of Cajun spices to this mix- yeehaw, right?

Baked beans: To be honest, there are a million ways to gussy up a plain old can of baked beans, but I really really just like Van de Camps original! So that is what we do.

Fruit: Cherries, pineapple, or any other delicious fruit in season! Here is a delicious dip for your fruit: ½ cup sour cream, 2 tbls. brown sugar (or more or less to taste), and a dash of vanilla.
Enjoy!

Cravin' Oatmeal Craisin Raisin

This is crazy for me, just crazy, but I am posting two dessert recipes in one week. We had dinner at my friend D's house last week (aka Carpool Mom), and I wanted to bring something sweet but not too sweet. So I stared at my pantry for a while until inspiration hit - oatmeal cookies with both raisins and craisins. This is essentially everyone's favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, but with fewer oats and more raisins and cranberries. Delish! Serve these with a shot of milk at your next dinner party, and your friends (and children) will love you.

Oatmeal Craisin Raisin Cookies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened (Note - this ridiculously hot summer is good for something after all! If you didn't take your butter out of the fridge in time for it to come to room temperature, just stick it on your back patio in the sun while you get the rest of your ingredients organized. Works like a charm.)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar (light or dark, it doesn't matter, just remember to pack it firmly when you're measuring it)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 cups oats (the old-fashioned kind, not instant or quick cooking)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, and beat well after each one. Add the vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir to mix.

Add the butter mixture to the egg mixture and stir until just barely blended. Add the raisins and cranberries and stir gently. Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes.

This recipe made roughly 2 dozen cookies. So yummy!

Just Desserts

I have discovered the most perfect summer dessert ever. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I really don't have much of a sweet tooth. (This is not really such a blessing, as I have an incurable cheeseburger-and-french-fry-tooth, so I think it all evens out). But I do love a good key lime pie, and it is always my dessert of choice in the summertime. (For a great recipe for it, see Attorney Mom's guest post here).

Several weekends ago, we were having company over, and I really needed a dessert that could be made ahead of time (I like to spend my Saturdays on the boat, not in the kitchen, thank you very much)! Flipping through my cookbooks - all 43 of them - I came across Ina Garten's recipe for frozen key lime pie that I've been meaning to try forever. I should not have waited so long. This recipe is perfect in every way. Easy to do, made ahead of time, gorgeous presentation, and so delicious. Cool, crisp, the right balance of tart and sweetness. Ah Ina, you never let us down.

Frozen Key Lime Pie

Ingredients
First - The Crust
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (9 crackers)
¼ cup sugar
6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Second - The Filling
6 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons lime zest
¾ cup lime juice from 4-5 regular limes or 8-10 key limes

Third - The Decoration
1 cup cold heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely. (Note: my crust stuck to my pie pan a bit. Next time I make it I might spray the pie pan just a bit with cooking spray.)

For the filling, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes, until thick. With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour into the baked pie shell and freeze.

For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm. Spoon or pipe decoratively onto the pie and decorate with lime. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

FABULOUS.

Salmon by the Seat of Your Pants

Seafood and I have had a love/hate relationship. For the longest time, I hated it, and had a hard time even trying it be be polite. Seafood restaurants were nothing but a source of stress for me, as I sat there eating saltine crackers and ordering the overcooked chicken. But after years of living on the coast, I now love it. Shrimp, tuna, salmon, scallops, flounder...YUM. Still, I struggle with the sustainability issues and mercury problems, which makes it hard for me to know what to order, what to buy, what is generally okay to eat. These days we stick primarily to shrimp (OH!! Have I ever blogged my shrimp pizza? I don't think so...stay tuned for that...) and flounder.

For a long time we were on a big salmon kick. It was one of the first fish I learned to eat, and would order it at restaurants and make it at home once/week. But, as often happens when you get on such a food kick, both of us are a little sick of it. So when I made this recipe the other night, I must admit I didn't really have much enthusiasm for it. That said, it was good, and if you're currently on a salmon kick, it's worth trying.

Okay, one more salmon confession.

I lost the recipe.


I swear it was in the kitchen with all my other "to be tried soon" recipes, and then it wasn't. So when I made it, I had to do it from memory, which is always a little suspect. But still, it came out good, and I've been making salmon long enough and often enough that I wasn't worried about the method.

Salmon by the Seat of your Pants
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
A dash of olive oil
1 garlic glove, minced
A dash of dried ginger (actually, I do remember the recipe called for fresh ginger, but my goodness, what could be more high maintenance? I don't have the patience for that)
Pinch of pepper
Bigger pinch of kosher salt
2 salmon fillets



Whisk it all together. The sauce should be just the slightest bit syrupy, so if it's not, add a bit more honey. Pour over the salmon and let sit for at least 30 minutes, I think all day would be fine. Preheat your broiler, and put the salmon on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Pop the salmon under the broiler for 7-9 minutes. Voila! Dinner is done.

Like a Big Pizza Pie

Dear readers, I have been terribly, terribly remiss about posting. And I am sorry! I am merely living up to our family motto of It's Always Something (seriously, I'm pretty sure that's what is written under the old family crest I have) (our other family motto, from the Fraser side, is Je Suis Pret. But I can't live up to that one). I was finally recovered from the Cold From Hell, we had a fabulous weekend, and then BOOM. Literally, BOOM. Lightning struck our house Sunday afternoon, and we've been dealing with the aftermath ever since (Hello new phone line, new sprinkler system timer system, new hot water heater, and new tivo box - I just can't think of anything I'd rather be spending money on than all of you). On top of that, I flew to Atlanta Monday for a lunch meeting, and got unexpectedly stuck overnight due to more storms. THE FUN NEVER ENDS. (On the upside, I did get to see Atlanta Mom - gotta love a friend who greets you in the middle of the night with clean pajamas, Aleve, and a brand new toothbrush).
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On to better things. I am so enamoured of our grilled pizza, that I took pictures of it last weekend, to show you just how easy it is. In case you've forgotten, here are the quick steps.

(1) Roll out your pizza dough, super thin (to the delight of my boys, I actually toss mine to get it this thin, rolling it doesn't seem to do it for some reason). Brush one side of olive oil, place on grill olive oil side down (medium heat). Quickly brush the side that is now up with olive oil.













(2) Let it cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip.

(3) Put on your toppings - this past weekend we had the best farm box delivery yet, so our pizza is topped with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, peppers, onions, olives, and some pepperoni (yes, green peppers only on one side - little compromises like this make for Marital Bliss). Close the lid and let it cook another 4 minutes or so, until the cheese is nicely melted.

(4) Enjoy the best pizza you've ever had!

Company's Coming

Quick: what's your favorite company dish? The one that you know is fool-proof and a show stopper each time?

I have two. The first is paella, if I know the company likes seafood. But I don't know if the company we're having Saturday night is as crazy about seafood as we are (Actually, let's be truthful here. I don't even know their names. The husband is a work colleague of my husband, and I've never met him or his wife). So I'll likely be pulling out my other favorite tried and true Company And Other Special Occasions Dish, lasagna. But I'm poking around my cookbooks, wondering if there's something else out there I should consider. Ideas?

Back in the Saddle Again

WHEW. I have returned to the Land of the Living, and not a minute too soon. I woke up Saturday morning feeling human again, for the first time in 2 weeks, and we had a great holiday weekend. I can always tell how much fun we've had over the weekend by the state of our laundry room...right now it is strewn with beach towels, bathing suits, pitiful American flags, empty sunscreen bottles, and 2 coolers that need to be cleaned out. Must have been fun.

Now, though, back to reality. I am attempting to regain the upper hand with the laundry, mail, errands, exercise, and, most importantly, food. There's something about being sick that makes me abandon all attempts at feeding myself and my family balanced meals. We've pretty much been living on sandwiches, chips, and honey nut cheerios, with the occasional Chinese or pizza take out thrown in. Ugh. Not satisfying and not particularly healthy. My shorts are protesting today.

So here's the meal plan for the week, to get us back on track.

Tuesday: Rotisserie chicken, tortellini salad
Wednesday: Honey/soy glazed roasted salmon, brown rice, peas (this is a new salmon recipe for us, I'll post it if it turns out good)
Thursday: Spaghetti (whole wheat!) and meatballs, salad
Friday: Pizza night, and we're loading up on the veggies

Hope you all had a good Independence Day!