Around here, right now...here's a snippet of what's happening lately.
Cooking: healthier meals from scratch and I've made our favorite Grilled Salmon recipe three times over the last month! The Hubs' cousin was visiting from Arizona and we just "had" to make it for him...along with the Frozen Berries with Melted White Chocolate (recipe to come).
New Recipe I'm Trying: This Outrageous Eskimo Bar recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe has been listed on my "to make list" for the past two summers. All ingredients are now accounted for, although, my teens devour the ice cream as soon as it makes an appearance from the store (don't tell them, I have a secret stash in a nondescript container)
Currently Eating: Way too much Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
Seasonal Food I can't wait to stock up on: Strawberries and cherries!
Latest Kitchen Gift: The most amazing oven ever! My Uncle Harlan researched the best possible oven on the planet and then sent one to me! It's the Samsung Chef Collection Slide-In Flex Duo Electric Induction Oven! This incredible oven has induction burners with virtual flames, the ability to bake at two different temperatures simultaneously, with a warming drawer at the base and the induction burner boils water in two minutes! Supposedly typical ovens experience a 25 degree temperature change during cook time but this oven promises to never fluctuate more than 8 degrees. I am so enamored with this oven (and I am incredibly thankful for this dream gift)!
Latest Kitchen Purchase: the Zo Bread Machine (Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine) was purchased at a recent nonprofit auction. I'd researched the Zojirushi (pronounced zoh-gee-ROO-shee) brand for a long time and felt it was justified as the purchase not only benefited the nonprofit but it serves multi-purposes and can make more than just bread and dough (cakes, fruit jam, meatloaf or even lasagna). I am swooning. It's SO easy to make a perfect loaf of bread. I love the timed function that allows me to pop the ingredients in the early morning (you can program up to 13 hours ahead) and then shazam - produce hot, fresh bread at dinner! The only downfall is that it is "dangerously good" bread and I could see how one could devour and easily slather up slice after slice with butter.
Cookbook I'm Currently Obsessed With:Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman gifted to me from my Uncle Harlan. This book will transform cooking for me. It offers basic recipes and then builds on the basic scratch recipe with simple additions. What I love most is the fact that it provides the "why" behind the ratios. This quote sums up the power of this cookbook perfectly,
"Cooking, like so many creative endeavors, is defined by relationships. For instance, knowing exactly how much flour to put into a loaf of bread isn't nearly as useful as understanding the relationship between the flour and the water, or fat, or salt. That relationship is defined by a 'ratio,' and having a ratio in hand is like having a secret decoder ring that frees you from the tyranny of recipes." - Alton Brown
Making: grant proposals, project budgets and dreaming up ways to help nonprofits get more foundation funding support
Super Unhealthy Thing I Love: Fair food - Hand-battered Onion Rings (Gah!)
Drinking: Chai Tea with Hemp Milk AND I figured out a great take on the Arnold Palmer combo of lemonade and iced tea that my kids adore. Instead I've swapped out limeade and it's fantastic!
Reading: Okay, Bella is the queen of procrastination (I have no idea where she gets that love of deadlines and working under the gun) but she needed to read five chapter books over three months and I think she left four books to be read in less than 3 weeks. Sigh! Thankfully, the rule is that parents can read a book aloud (or they can listen to books on CD) so I helped her read one book in two days by speed reading.
Can you believe that her young adult genre book made me cry? Bella thought I was being dramatic and reading the book with extra theatrical efforts but I sobbed at the end of the story with the resolution and bittersweet ending.
Wanting: To go hiking! The Hubs invited me to a quick hike escape this morning but I had to work as it's the end of the month and deadlines are plentiful. Yet, all day...I can't stop longing to be walking along a babbling brook, taking the pooch out to explore, pushing back foliage to reveal hidden waterfalls. Tomorrow - this will be on the list!
Looking: At my kids and noticing their growth this year from their most noticeable change in height, smiles, humor, struggles, PR's (personal records) and their achievements. These two will both share the halls of the high school next year and I anticipate very few "dull moments".
Watching: Did you see Pitch Perfect 2 yet? I loved the acapella music, the humor and the fact that a sequel trumped the first movie! Loved this movie and being reunited with all the "Pitches"!
Listening: The killdeer are waking me up every morning before my alarm goes off and a nest of another bird family tweet it up every morning under the eave of our front porch. While I typically love the sound of birds, I'd prefer they wait until after 6:00 A.M. for their screeching.
Loving: Jambu shoes! Okay, I'm admitting that I may have a bit of a current obsession over said shoes. I rarely get excited about shoes or fashion but the comfort level of these shoes has transformed the way I walk/trot/glide. I have found out that the pricing for Jambu shoes is much better on Amazon but that could be because they are a season behind the current shoes...but if you know me, I'm not needing to be that cutting-edge with my styles. You will thank me once you get turned on to these shoes that have been equated with Birkenstocks in the comfort department and Keens in the water shoe department. They can be dressed up or down and are great for treks and water alike.
What are your recent favorite recipes or obsessions?
