TGIF!

Hello & Happy Friday! Since I haven’t done a round-up of random links in a few weeks, I thought it was high-time to share all the things I’ve had bookmarked. Here goes…

The other night I took my cooking to a new frontier: The Grill. We’ve had so many amazing goodies in our CSA basket, and there’s something about veggies in the summer that’s just begging for that little accent of charcoal. If you look at the peppers and onions in the picture above, you’ll see that they make a circle. That’s because I used my new favorite kitchen doohickey: the fire wire. It’s a long, flexible kabob skewer, and you can order one here for under $10.

It is rare that I listen to an album from start to finish, but today I listened to Jon Batiste’s Social Music.

It.

Was.

Phenomenal.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can listen to it here, or the album’s on Spotify. His version of St. James Infirmary is absolutely incredible, which is rare for a song that is covered by everyone in the genre. If you recognize his name but aren’t sure why, he will be the house band for Stephen Colbert’s new Late Show.

We are big fans of Wayne White (who you may remember from this post). Recently, The Bitter Southerner did an excellent profile on the artist that’s definitely worth a look–even if it’s just to swoon over the photography by Kendrick Brinson and David Banks.

Finally, it’s national tequila day! Here’s a little something to get your celebration off to a good start.

Happy Friday!

What is a CSA?

This time of year, we get asked the same question a lot: “What is a CSA?” So today, I made a little video to tell you all about it.

Just a little more info:

If you are in East Tennessee and are interested in a CSA, Mountain Meadows still has a few slots left for their Summer CSA. You can pay online, and there are a slew of pick-up locations.

The website I mentioned to find a CSA or farmers market near you is localharvest.org

What’s your favorite way to #eatlocal?
Tell us in the comments below.

How to Roast Vegetables (2 Ways)

Winter Sundays are made for roasting things–be they chicken or vegetables. On Saturday, I got a call from my mother-in-law asking me how I roast my vegetables. It’s so simple that it almost doesn’t merit a post, but if one of the best cooks I know called to ask, I thought I should share it with you! So let’s talk about how to roast vegetables two ways. It will make the winter veggies more tolerable until tomato season and you may impress your mother-in-law while you’re at it!

Preheat oven to 425°F

Rinse, don’t peel, your veggies.

Note: If you’re using beets, I suggest scrubbing them really well and then just trimming off any of the little hairy/rootish guys.

Roughly chop into pieces that are all roughly the same size.

Drizzle olive oil and toss the veggies a bit.

Add salt & pepper. You can stop here or add a bit of thyme for Way 1. (This is what I did with those gorgeous yellow beets.)

Roast at 425° for at least 20 minutes. Then, continue to roast until they are just the texture you prefer and are dark around the edges. (See above.) This can take up to 40 minutes but really depends on the size veggies you’re using.

Way 2 is a “gremolata.” A gremolata is an Italian condiment, but I came across it in one of my favorite cookbooks (which happens to be British): Veg by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The gremolata adds a brightness and savory quality that I can’t adequately describe, but I can promise it will smell delicious!

for the Gremolata:

handful of parsley
1 clove garlic
zest of one lemon

Now simply toss the gremolata with your roasted veggies.

Cucumber Dill Dip

When one spends her days in Cubicle Land, lunch has to be a strategic affair–especially this time of year when I’d rather be weeding the garden than staring at a computer. So to compensate, I try to make my lunch as “homegrown” as possible. Last weekend, I whipped up this cucumber dill dip with ingredients straight from our garden. Mix that with a homegrown tomato and a couple slices of fresh-baked bread, and you’ve got yourself a feast!

This is a lot like Greek tzatziki dip, but by leaving out the garlic, I’m sure not to offend my co-workers. I love it on avocado and tomato sandwiches, but it’s equally fab with fish or just as a tangy chip dip.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 handful of fresh dill
1 medium cucumber
1 lemon

Make It:

Put 1 cup plain Greek yogurt into a bowl or small jar.

Chop your handful of fresh dill. Mine came out to be about 2 Tblsps, but it should really just be to your taste.

Add your lemon juice to the mix.

Cut the skin off your cucumber. Then, grate the flesh of the cucumber down to the seeds. Discard the seeds. It will look something like this…

Finally, mix everything together. You can store the dip in the fridge for a couple weeks.

#trustfallknox, Number 3

It is always magical to spend an evening discovering something new about this city of ours. Last night was one of those evenings.

Food by Chef Brian Balest, owner of Northshore Brasserie, our favorite local eatery.
Drinks by Roy Milner, a partner in Blackberry Farm Brewery.

Chef Balest used one pig to create many of the dishes like this head cheese. We decided halfway through the meal to name the pig Cecil.

from trustfallknox.com
“The idea is simple: gather a small group of people from across a variety of social groups and enjoy a gourmet meal prepared by a local chef in a clandestine location.”

Follow @trustfallknox on Twitter and on Instagram

1950s Dinner Party with the “Club”

I usually don’t share too much about the “club” except for the fact that it exists and an instagram here and there, but last night we threw a 1950s dinner party. So really how could I resist?

If you remember, last year I started a book club. It was fun! We liked talking about the books we were reading, but we also just really loved each other’s company–and planning ridiculously over-the-top food and drink to accompany the discussion. So finally…

Last night was the first gathering of the “club,” and what better way to kick things off than with a 1950s dinner party? After all, the women of the 50s were all about a good gathering of the girls, right? Garden clubs, book clubs, bridge circles… you get the picture.

Anywho, here are a few highlights:

I wore the only dress I have of my Woo-Woo’s. I’d never actually worn it because, in the words of one of the guests, “It’s beautiful, but the fabric feels like the upholstery on my couch.” It fit perfectly.

We made dishes that we found (and, in most cases, updated) in cookbooks from the era and our own family’s recipe boxes. Somewhere in the midst of the jello-d ham (totally a thing) and massive amounts of mayo and MSG, we found a few things that were pretty tasty.

Note to self: I learned that you really should never make meatloaf for a dinner party. It’s best out of the oven, which means that by the time we’d finished our punch, the main course was looking (and tasting) rather cold and sad.

Anywho, we had punch & deviled eggs to start. Then, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pea salad, jello salad, banana pudding, and candle salad. 1950s women were all about the salad! But what is candle salad you ask? The weirdest way to serve fruit I’ve seen and also the best centerpiece ever. I’ll let you be the judge.

Hannah prepping the candle salad. | Hannah & Husband

Assembling the candle salad… from Liz’s instagram

What’s your favorite 1950s recipe? Have you ever thrown a 50s party?

Loverboy’s Specialty Cake

Welcome to part ii of our series “Always Be Prepared to Party.” (If you haven’t had the chance, read about our party drawer here.) This post is particularly fitting because Husband actually learned how to make this cake as a boy scout. (For the record, his scouting career lasted a lot longer than mine did.) Several years later, he would use it to woo a certain high school girl, and we’ve been together ever since!

You’ve probably all had this cake and likely most of you have made it. But, it’s the one cake that we always have on hand. Unexpected company? Unexpected birthday boy coming to your house in an hour? Have a midnight chocolate craving? Need to woo the ladies? This is the cake. Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box chocolate Jell-o instant pudding

8 oz. sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 package chocolate chips

Make It:

Flour and grease a bundt pan.

Mix all your ingredients together and spoon into the pan.

Drop the pan straight down on the counter a couple of times to make sure any air bubbles settle.

Bake for 50 minutes at 350° until a skewer or toothpick comes out with little pieces of cake clinging to it (and maybe some chocolate chips).

Happy Friday, Loves!

Any fun weekend plans? We’ll be attending the Rhythm ‘n’ Blooms festival in Knoxville.

Food in the Mail

We both love to cook, and we both definitely have our own strengths when it comes to the kitchen. Versatility, however, is not one of mine. Since I’ve been doing more of the cooking the past couple of months, we’ve been a bit in a rut. Enter Blue Apron, a company that delivers the fixins for meals right to our doorstep. We looked at it a while back, and then when a friend recommended it (and sent us a referral), we gave it a shot.

Oh, by the way, the packaging is amazing.

What do we think so far? Mixed reviews.

Some of the meals are totally new (to us): We’ve cooked a lot of things, but new cuisines are hard to dive into. With this company all the ingredients are perfectly measured and ready to go. Easy, and fun to try.

Some of the meals are, well, not so new (to us): Chicken quesadillas? Don’t get me wrong, they were tasty, as was the paired salad, but I don’t want to send off for a special box of food only to make a quesadilla.

Only some of the products are organic: Okay, that’s fine. We buy organic when we can and don’t when we can’t just like anybody.

None of the products are local: There’s the (primary) rub. Last year we did a CSA. We’ve always been big farmer’s market folks, and we like supporting the local economy. We also grow much of our own produce. It’s nice to be able to get our hands on ingredients that might be hard to source in this area, but as soon as the farmer’s market gets up and running and our garden comes into its own, we’ll be putting the deliveries on hold until next winter.

So, what about you? Would you ever use a service like Blue Apron?

Hers & His

Hers

Reading

Have you ever been in the midst of a conversation and thought to yourself, “Am I actually losing brain cells right now? Didn’t I used to be smarter than this?” I felt this way the other night when I was watching the engagement party episode of Parks & Recreation and found myself analyzing the top 5 reasons I thought it was one of the best examples of situation comedy ever. (Seriously: the unity quilt… We’re a twizzlers family…? Come on!)

So when I started reading My Fair Lazy this weekend I thought, “This is soooo the book I need right now!” It begins with the writer, Jen Lancaster, sitting across from her idol, Candace Bushnell who says she’s really into Baudelaire at the moment. Jen wonders, is baudelaire is a type of noodle? At which point, she decides to culture up.

2 Things:

1.) You may remember that I fell in love with Jen Lancaster last fall when I read The Tao of Martha. Now, thanks to my friend Beth’s fabulous recommendation, Jen is officially on my ‘favorite literary people’ list, and I will be reading all of her books in good time.

2.) A warning: Jen’s books are not good for bedtime reading as you will wake up your bedmate with laughter.

Watching (About Reading)

This week, the New Yorker debuted the trailer for B.J. Novak’s first book. As if I wasn’t already excited enough to read this one, Mindy Kaling co-starred in the trailer making those two my favorite BFFs on the inter webs.

Watching (& Eating)

Things I already believed, but now buy into wholeheartedly after a couple days of processed foods while on vacation. Make things at home.

His:

Reading

I’ve been rereading a book of essays that I forgot I had already read, and I’m finding it quite forgettable again. Hannah bought me a couple of classics that I never got to in high school that I can’t wait to get to. Perhaps Catcher in the Rye will will finally change my life forever.

Watching

I finally started watching House of Cards. I don’t know why I waited this long. Princess Buttercup comes to the dark side to join Congressman Keyser Söze. Inconceivably (see what I did there?) addictive, as Netflix shows have tended to be.

Listening

Sometimes you just need to listen to some fun music, and this week NPR released 600 suggestions for your cabin fever playlist. Thanks NPR for the suggestions, but I’ll just stick with Tower Of Power.

Power Lunch

The weekends are when I most enjoy experimenting in the kitchen. There’s hardly ever a plan; I just turn on a podcast, pour myself a drink, and get to cookin.’ This healthy dish was a particular hit. Perfect for keeping up with those resolutions, it’s packed with flavor and full of veggies. We just didn’t know what to call it. So Husband suggested I ask you!

Here’s the recipe…

Ingredients

1 4 oz. box Wild Rice (or enough for a couple portions)
2 ¹⁄₂ cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 sweet potato or yam
3 slices red onion
a handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
¹⁄₄ red pepper, diced
1 handful kale, julienned

cayenne pepper
garam masala
1/2 lemon

Directions

1. Replacing the liquid with low-sodium chicken broth, cook your rice. For this recipe, the broth really kicks up your flavor base. The rice takes about an hour so clean up your kitchen and pour a drink for the first 30 minutes or so.

2. After 30 minutes of the rice being on, preheat your oven to 400°F

3. Cube your sweet potato. Toss it with olive oil and cayenne. (I used about a ¹⁄₄ teaspoon.) Then, seal the cubes in a piece of folded aluminum. The seal will let them cook without getting crispy. Cook for 20 minutes at 400° or until soft. When they’re done. Pull them out to cool.

4. Cut your remaining veggies. Sprinkle with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and garam masala. With the oven still on 400°, cook these veggies for 10 minutes. Then, put them under the broiler for 3-5.

5. Just as your rice is finishing up, toss in your your julienned kale for about 5 minutes.

6. Finally, toss all your ingredients in a large bowl and add the juice of half a lemon.

Makes 2 large portions or 4 side salad portions.

*Delish!* The only question left?

Hannah and Husband

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Tag Archives: Food