Hot weather eats

It’s been too damn hot. I’ve been trying to not complain, but as I started to draft this post, it was 87 degrees in our house. At 11 p.m. The cool down these past few days has been a blessing! If you’re native to the Northwest, you’re likely in the same AC-free boat.

If your preference is to leave the oven off for awhile and enjoy something more-or-less straight from the fridge, I’ve got some great recommendations for you!

Our star-spangled quinoa salad. Several people tried this and it received rave reviews! I think you should give it a try too…

Star-spangled deliciousness!

Star-spangled deliciousness!

Farro Greek Salad. It’s a favorite of ours and is in our semi-regular rotation. It should be in yours too.

Tempeh farro Greek salad

Tempeh farro Greek salad

My new favorite salad dressing. It’s so good on just about everything. We often have it on spinach salad (with fresh blueberries, candied pecans and goat cheese!) and just last week we had it on a green bean, quinoa, chicken salad. It was delicious on both! (This recipe was derived from FitSugar.)

My favorite summer meal: homemade pizza oven pizza and my favorite salad dressing!

My favorite summer meal: homemade pizza oven pizza and my favorite salad dressing!

Ingredients

  • A couple of tablespoons of honey
  • 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 cup lemon juice (from the lemon or from the bottle. Both work!)
  •  1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  1. Whisk together all ingredients.
  2. Pour into jar with lid and refrigerate. Makes about 1 cup of dressing. It for sure keeps over night, but it doesn’t last much longer in our household.

Finally, my go-to party/potluck salad is one I discovered more than five years ago, at my friend Kelsey’s bachelorette party. This salad is so good and all of the ingredients can be picked up with a quick trip to Trader Joe’s.

Here is Aunt Nancy’s quinoa salad with smoked gouda:

Ingredients

  • 1 box red quinoa from Trader Joe’s (~ 2 cups of uncooked normal quinoa works too)
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 1 bunch green onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ pound smoked gouda cut into tiny cubes (Sometimes more makes it even better…)
  • ½ cup toasted chopped pecans (toast pecans in oven)
  • Dried cranberries

Directions

  1. Fix quinoa according to directions on the box.
  2. Once the quinoa is done, mix in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and let quinoa cool in refrigerator.
  3. While quinoa is cooling, prepare red onion, garlic paste, green onion and celery.
  4. When quinoa is cool, mix in everything including the gouda and pecans.
  5. Salad is best made one day ahead so that the smoked gouda can infuse the salad with flavor. Cover and
  6. Bring salad to room temperature before serving.
  7. Enjoy!

I hope these recipes help make the hot weather more bearable. At least we’re breaking sustained heat records, right? We’re a part of something bigger than just lots and lots of sweat.

Star-spangled quinoa salad

Happy belated independence day to you, dear blog reader! I took a brief hiatus from blogging, my real job, and my outside jobs to enjoy the fourth — and the heat — east of the mountains, at my family’s cabin near Vantage.

On the shores of the Columbia

On the shores of the Columbia

We played in the pool, we wine tasted, we did some work around the cabin, and we participated in the community celebrations. Brandon ran the community 5K — he got 24th overall! — and I decided at the last minute to enter the cooking contest.

Spoiler alert: I won!

Sunland Estates Best Salad winner 2015: ME!

Sunland Estates Best Salad 2015 winner: ME!

The cooking contest consisted of several categories:

  • Best burger
  • Best salad
  • Best ribs
  • Best chili
  • Best dessert
  • Best cocktail and costume

I made a quinoa salad with mint, watermelon, feta, and blueberries, in a lime vinaigrette. (Recipe below!) The initial recipe came from our cookbook of the week, Simply Ancient Grains, but I made many changes, including swapping the couscous for quinoa, making it gluten-free. I also added the blueberries for the red, white, and blue-ness of the salad, for ‘Merica. Brandon helped me re-name it, dubbing it “Star-spangled quinoa salad.”

Patriotic watermelons

Patriotic watermelons

There were seven judges, so I plated seven samples of the salad. Dishes were judged on presentation, so I added some fourth of July flair, including watermelon stars and decorative elements on this plate itself.

Star Spangled Quinoa Salad

Star Spangled Quinoa Salad

Star-spangled deliciousness!

Star-spangled deliciousness!

The salad turned out deliciously and there was plenty leftover for us to enjoy it with our burgers and corn-on-the-cob from the grill.

Decked out and ready to go!

Decked out and ready to go!

Our fourth of July feast

Our fourth of July feast

Star Spangled Quinoa Salad (adapted from Simply Ancient Grains) Serves 6-10, depending on serving size

  • 1 c quinoa (this can be altered as you see fit), appropriate amount of water to cook it with
  • 2-3 limes, to be zested and juiced (a couple of tablespoons of bottled lime juice works as well)
  • 2 T olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 2 T honey
  • 1.5 c seedless watermelon, I used about 1/3 of a small watermelon
  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 1/2 c crumbled feta
  • 1/2 c mint
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

  1. Cook the quinoa per the instructions, typically 1/2 c of quinoa with 1 c of water (I like to add a swirl of olive oil and some salt and pepper to the pot as it’s boiling)
  2. Make dressing: Combine oil, honey, lime juice and zest with salt and pepper.
  3. Prepare additional ingredients:
  4. Cut watermelon into little chunks (or stars, if applicable)
  5. Chiffonade (cut into small strips) the mint leaves
  6. Wash blueberries
  7. Crumble feta
  8. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve!
  9. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Be careful: feta is salty and too much additional salt may overpower your salad!
  10. Salad can be served warm or cold.
  11. Enjoy!

Nutella Chocolate Chip cookies

Nutella chocolate chip cookies

Nutella chocolate chip cookies

Normally, I’m all about the savory treats since Brandon has a big enough sweet tooth for the two of us combined. However, this little guy inside of me has an even bigger sweet tooth than Brandon does and suddenly now I do too.

My pregnancy has been relatively craving-free EXCEPT for my new cookie-a-day habit. Chocolate chip cookies have always been my favorite, and we recently discovered a recipe for cookies that is my new favorite: Nutella chocolate chip cookies.

I found these on Pinterest (of course) while researching a dish to bring my friend Stephanie after she delivered her son. On a whim I made a double batch.  We’ve enjoyed our portion so much that I’ve made them three times since!

I hope that you enjoy these as mush as I do!

Ooey, gooey dough!

Ooey, gooey dough!

Soft & Chewy Nutella White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Averie Cooks

YIELD: 11 large cookies

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

COOK TIME: about 13 minutes

TOTAL TIME: about 3 hours, for dough chilling

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
  • heaping 1/3 cup Nutella (stir well before adding)
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 bag white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS: (My version. Her version is here.)

  1. Mix the ingredients up until flour until creamed and well combined.
  2. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Blend until mixed.
  3. Add chocolate chips and still until combined.
  4. Scoop your cookies and strategically place a few chocolate chips right on top of each mound of dough by taking chips from the underside and adding them on top.
  5. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. (I’m often tempted to not chill the dough because when I want cookies, I want them right then! I’ll try making these without chilling sometime soon and report back!)
  6. Preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool.
  7. Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. We really enjoy making a large batch of cookie dough and freezing them, so we can make just a few at a time.
Delicious Nutella cookies!

Delicious Nutella cookies!

Happy National Doughnut Day! {2015}

My Top Pot favorites: frosted doughnuts! (Not pictured: my other favorites: the maple bar)

My Top Pot favorites: frosted doughnuts! (Not pictured: my other favorites: the maple bar)

Do you know what tomorrow is? It’s National DOUGHNUT Day!

We’re doughnut lovers here on Megan’s Island and I combed the archives for some great reads and recommendations to celebrate National Doughnut Day as the sweet delight that it is.

I’m not sure where I’ll indulge in celebration on Friday, but a new Seattle-based doughnut-ery (that’s a thing, right?) has opened up and Brandon and I plan on visiting this weekend: Rodeo Donuts. Rodeo Donuts has been operating out of the Ballard Cupcake Royale and is starting to sell out of the Capitol Hill Cupcake Royale starting tomorrow! The Rodeo Donut bakers are also bakers at Cupcake Royale, and they make brioche doughnuts that look amazing. Just look at their Instagram feed! It’s the food porn I look at every morning on my way to work. Their flavors rotate daily and once they’re out for the day, they’re out for the day. This peanut butter chocolate fritter had Brandon drooling this morning.

Top Pot is using National Doughnut Day to raise money for Northwest Harvest. While it will decrease our chances of winning, I’d encourage you to stop by a Top Pot cafe tomorrow for a celebratory doughnut and spend an extra $10 on a raffle ticket to win a grand prize of a four-night stay in Hawaii, complete with airfare! Here are the specifics, from the Northwest Harvest website:

Tomorrow: National Doughnut Day!

Tomorrow: National Doughnut Day!

Join us on June 5 from 6-10 a.m. at Top Pot Doughnuts locations around the Puget Sound! We’ll be celebrating National Doughnut Day and collecting donations of non-perishable food items in addition to money.

As part of the celebration, we will be raffling off a four night stay in Hawaii complete with airfare. Tickets can be purchased until 5:00 p.m. June 6 at any Puget Sound Top Pot Doughnuts for $10.

Must be 18 or older to purchase tickets. Winner will be drawn 9 a.m. Monday, June 8 at 711 Cherry St., Seattle 98104.

Happy celebrating! Nom, nom, nom.

Our bumble bee-themed gender reveal party

A couple of years ago I received a special order in my small business, Little Britches Bakery, for a bumble bee- themed diaper cake, for a “What will it BEE” gender reveal party. Ever since then I’ve been thinking about starting a bumble bee line for Little Britches and Mo/Michael’s big reveal was the perfect opportunity!

As usual, I started with some inspiration on Pinterest and a board.

Then I set about making the diaper cakes, and shifted the color scheme to yellow and white rather than yellow and black. I also added some burlap into the mix, which was very complimentary.

The full spread: What a party!!

The full spread: What a party!!

I always hang some sort of a banner (here, here) and this party was no exception. I wanted something light and airy, so I opted for tissue paper tassel garland. These are pretty easy to make and the bang you get for the cost and energy is definitely worth it!

My tissue paper and washi tape banner

My tissue paper and washi tape banner

I use 8 pieces of tissue for each garland and followed the instructions here for the most part. I did not bust out my glue gun and instead created a loop and secured the tissue paper with a black glittery washi tape. This was one of the first times I’ve used washi tape and as a result, I didn’t know that it wasn’t very sticky. I added a dot of of super glue to the edge of the tape and now the washi tape is there forever. Once the tassels were created, I alternated white and yellow when stringing them on the burlap yarn.

Because of the afternoon timing of the party, we opted for a light menu focused on desserts , with several of gluten-free options for our gluten-free guests. We enjoyed: a variety of cheeses, crackers, cured meats, a veggie platter, polenta bites, bee sugar cookies with royal frosting, meringue bee hives, spring Oreos (with yellow filling!), chocolate cupcakes with yellow frosting and chocolate bees, and lemonade.

It turned out to be quite the spread:

The food spread

The food spread

Even more food!

Even more food!  Did you spot the bees buzzing the lavender bush?

What will Mo bee? A "he" or a "she"?

What will Mo bee? A “he” or a “she”?

Handmade chocolate bees on cupcakes

Handmade chocolate bees on cupcakes

Beyond the diaper cakes, the beehive cookies were the focal point of the party. They were by far the best tasting items at the party. I normally try to make — or semi home-make — all of the items at my parties but I outsourced these cookies to my friend and former colleague Robin. She only makes cookies as a hobby right now, but she could easily be in business full-time! Her skill and creativity are both exceptional! Just typing about these cookies makes me want one right now… Just delicious.

The best cookies ever! Bzzzzzzzzz....

The best cookies ever! Bzzzzzzzzz….

I scoured the internet for old wives tales related to gender prediction — ok, it wasn’t just for the party. For the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy, every time I experienced a new symptom, it was off to the internet to try and gain some insight as to whether Baby Mo was a he or a she. I created this poster, and underlined the symptoms I’d been experiencing.

Old wives tales: truth or fiction?

Old wives tales: truth or fiction?

We had our guests guess Mo’s gender and they went along with the old wives tales and guessed girl. They were also wrong!

All signs were pointing towards Mo being a GIRL! (And yes, they were wrong!) Our little one will likely look like little Brandon, pictured here: 

Guess the gender!

Guess the gender!

The actual reveal took place in the form of this beehive cake. The results of the baby’s anatomy scan were given to our local bakery and they used blue or pink frosting in the middle. We had a great time cutting the cake and finding BLUE frosting! See the full party here!  We didn’t peek, this was the reveal to us as well!

What will it bee gender reveal cake

What will it bee gender reveal cake

If this Bee Gender Reveal party looks like something you would like to replicate, you can order most of my supplies and decorations on my Etsy shop.

Bumble bee diaper cakes

Bumble bee diaper cakes

As always, please ask any questions you might have! I’m happy to answer everything from suppliers to technique questions and beyond!

We're excited to meet our "HE" joining our family in September!

We’re excited to meet our “HE” joining our family in September!

 

Urban farming

It’s official… we’re urban farmers! The tricks to our success? Creating a nutrient-rich environment (tilling our own organic soil and compost, sand, coconut husks, and organic fertilizer) for our fruits and veggies to flourish in and doing nothing.

About six weeks ago we constructed and planted some planter boxes. After planting, we basically did nothing but monitor nature doing it’s thing. Job well done, nature!

Here’s how our kale box started in early March:

Raised bed #1: Raspberries, strawberries, kale, beets, garlic bulbs and carrots!

Raised bed #1: Raspberries, strawberries, kale, beets, garlic bulbs and carrots!

And at the end of March:

They're growing! The raspberries took the early lead in growth

They’re growing! The raspberries took the early lead in growth

Easter Sunday:

Kale has taken the lead, but the raspberries are holding on strong

Kale has taken the lead, but the raspberries are holding on strong

The next week:

Holy greens! Nothing like April showers and sun to get that garden growing!

Holy greens! Nothing like April showers and sun to get that garden growing!

This past weekend:

Kale progress: ready for harvest!

Kale progress: ready for harvest!

And today:

Harvesting our first kale crop!!!

Harvesting our first kale crop!!!

Thanks, kale, for a delicious dinner!

Yum! Kale, sausage and mushroom pasta for dinner tonight

Yum! Kale, sausage and mushroom pasta for dinner tonight

Pizza, pizza: Non-pizza in the pizza oven!

Our pizza oven is awesome. It’s especially awesome for pizzas, breads and skillet cookies and a couple of weekends ago we tried our hand at some more standard dinner fare.

Brandon’s dad was in town, so we heated up the oven TWICE. Joe helped us build the oven and hadn’t seen it in action yet.

We started with a trip to the Pike Place Market and QFC to pick up our supplies: Uli’s sausages (French Onion, heavy garlic chicken, and mild Italian), a sweet onion, zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus, a pork chop, and a seasoned flat iron steak. Dicing here, chopping there and voila! We had our veggies ready to roast and our skewers skewered!

We paired oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbs from the garden for the marinade.

Meat, meat, meat! Don't get the meat sweats!

Meat, meat, meat! Don’t get the meat sweats!

 

Veggies ready to be roasted!

Veggies ready to be roasted!

We heated the oven floor to approximately 800 degrees.

Sizzling dinner

Sizzling dinner

Veggies: roasted

Veggies: roasted

Final product: DELICIOUS!

Final product: DELICIOUS!

My compliments to the chefs! A wonderful Father-Son team!

My compliments to the chefs! A wonderful Father-Son team!

Easter treats

GonePinning

Somehow it’s April and Easter is already this weekend. We’re not religious, but we are looking forward to celebrating with baskets of candy, great company and a wonderful meal.

Setting the tone for a day full of sweets, we’ll start the day with these festive cinnamon rolls:

Easter breakfast of champions

Easter breakfast of champions

We’ve been assigned dessert for the main meal and I can’t decide what to make! There are too many great ideas! Maybe I’ll make a smorgasbord of items! Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Here are the front runners:

A platter of chocolate-covered strawberries

A platter of chocolate-covered strawberries

Bunny butt cookies 

Bunny butt cookies 

Cookie fruit cups

Cookie fruit cups

Coconut bunnies-- How cute would candy eyes be on these!?

Coconut bunnies– How cute would candy eyes be on these!?

Oreos pudding cups with chocolate-covered strawberries, err, carrots

Oreos pudding cups with chocolate-covered strawberries, err, carrots

Nest cookies with eggs (and maybe Peeps?!)

Nest cookies with eggs (and maybe Peeps?!)

I’ve compiled a lot of great Easter ideas over on Pinterest. Check them all out here. And have a wonderful weekend, however you plan to celebrate it!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! {2015}

Between lots of work and pregnancy exhaustion, my blogging has really fallen down lately. Sorry about that!

I had grand plans of doing several blog posts leading up to today’s holiday, but then, I didn’t. I had plans of making all sorts of treats for my office buddies. Then, I didn’t.

Instead, I present my “Luck ‘o the Irish” Pinterest board full of great ideas for today’s holiday.

I also would like to present a new favorite side dish of ours that pairs REALLY well with corned beef. (We jumped the gun on our corned beef consumption and created this perfect dish a few weeks ago…)

Without further ado… our feast:

St. Patrick's Day feast

St. Patrick’s Day feast

I buy my corned beef at Costco, throw it in the crock pot, sprinkle on the packet of spices, pour in a couple of glasses of water and let it go for 8-10 hours on low.

The potatoes are cut, boiled, and seasoned. I leave the skins on.

The garlic-roasted cauliflower is from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa: How easy is that? cookbook. (From week seven of our cookbook challenge… I’ll post them soon! I promise!)

Garlic-roasted cauliflower

  • 1 head of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled (We used pre-minced garlic… turned out great!)
  • 1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into large florets
  • 4 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil, divided use
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed (or bottled) lemon juice

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the garlic cloves. Boil for 15 seconds. Drain, peel and cut off any brown parts. Cut the largest cloves in half lengthwise.

3. On a sheet pan, toss the cauliflower with garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread mixture out in a single layer and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing twice, until the cauliflower is tender and garlic is lightly browned.

4. Scrape the cauliflower into a large bowl with garlic and pan juices. Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, pine nuts and lemon juice. Sprinkle with another 1/2 teaspoon salt, toss and serve hot or warm.

We’re off to enjoy MORE corned beef tonight with some friends. I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day and you don’t forget to wear green!

{Interesting fun fact–or fiction: According to the legends, leprechauns delighted in causing mischief, which included tripping, kicking or otherwise harming humans. Wearing green supposedly rendered the wearer invisible to leprechauns, and thus spared the wearer their attentions.)

Valentine’s Day desserts

GonePinning

I’ve been a bit preoccupied with my day job and Seattle’s run at the Super Bowl (here, here) so February sort of snuck up on me.

Luckily I still have a few days (eight to be exact) to get my “stuff” together and plan a special day for my one and only.

We’ll likely plan a fun adventure either around town or just out of town: think breakfast at the Market or a quick ferry ride west for some wine tasting or beach combing.

We’ll also likely plan a dinner at home. (We’re not much for the often jacked-up prices on Valentine’s Day…) And with dinner comes dessert. Here are some delicious-sounding desserts that would round out our (and your!) fancy dinner quite well!

Macarons

Brandon is getting better at macarons. Maybe we try these out? They're cute and delicious-looking!

Brandon is getting better at macarons. Maybe we try these out? They’re cute and delicious-looking!

More macarons

An even fancier macaron! These scream Valentine's Day!

An even fancier macaron! These scream Valentine’s Day!

Strawberry shortcake or these Puff Pastry with Sabayon Custard and Strawberries 

These are pretty fancy. I'd settle for these as strawberry shortcakes!

These are pretty fancy. I’d settle for these as strawberry shortcakes!

Champagne sorbet 

Champagne + sorbet = Yes, please!

Champagne + sorbet = Yes, please!

Conversation heart Rice Krispie treats (These would be perfect to bring to the office!)  

Rice Krispy treats with conversation hearts

Rice Krispie treats with conversation hearts

Perhaps a chocolate lava cake?! 

For any and every chocolate lover: lava cake!

For any and every chocolate lover: lava cake!

Happy Valentine’s Day prep to you! If you decide to make any of these, let me know about your experience!