by Krista | Sep 9, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” — George Eliot
Paris
“I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
Amsterdam garden
“Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?” — Hal Borland
Versailles village
What is your favorite Autumn travel memory?
by Krista | Sep 2, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
With the arrival of September I’m delighting in all things autumnish. Yes, I’m still basking in gloriously hot sunshine during the day, but I confess I’m enjoying the cooler nights where I get to wear sweaters and tucked quilts around me while I read or watch movies.
I’m excited today because The Travel Belles are featuring an article I wrote on Bled Castle in Slovenia. 🙂 I’d love it if you’d pop over and take a look and leave a comment to let us know what you think. 🙂 Click here to visit this gorgeous castle.
This morning I got up bright and early so I could take my walk and still have time to pick some blackberries before work. I have grand plans for a Blackberry Nectarine Galette to feast on this weekend. 🙂
This cooler weather has really put me in a baking mood, and my favorite thing right now is Spiced Maple Shortbread. Tender, buttery, not-too-sweet with all sorts of lovely Christmasy smells wafting through the house as they bake, these simple little cookies are so divine with a cup of strong black tea or sweet orange tea.
What does Autumn put you in the mood for?
Spiced Maple Whole Grain Shortbread
Ingredients:
2 cups whole grain pastry or all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add maple extract to melted butter and stir.
- Mix dry ingredients and stir in butter.
- Press into a square 1/2 inch thick.
- Cut into squares and bake for 20 minutes.
by Krista | Aug 26, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
This week we’re partying aplenty as we celebrate my beloved Mum’s birthday.
I’m so grateful to have a mother who is not only my Mum but my dear friend. I can’t imagine life without her hugs, compassion, and avid interest in anything her kids are up to. Happy Birthday, Mums!! I love you!
We tend to stretch out birthday celebrating in our family. We’ve had Kansas City bbq, great times with friends, movie nights, thrift store shopping, and who knows what we’ll get up to in the next couple of days. 🙂
When I asked Mums what sort of birthday cake she’d like, she asked for a fruit tart instead. I was delighted to oblige!
I nipped off to the market and found gorgeously plump strawberries that I thought would pair beautifully with almond cream and a sweet almond crust. Mmm, mmm! It turned out scrumptiously and Mums was a happy birthday girl.
What is your favorite birthday dessert?
I’m excited to have a new guest post up at The Travel Belles today! 🙂 Click here to read about Germany’s beautiful outdoor museum in Detmold. I’d love to hear what you think! 🙂
Strawberry Almond Tart
1 pint strawberries, washed and halved
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup almond milk
1 Tbsp agave
1 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp maple syrup
For the Crust:
1 cup whole grain flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Blend cream cheese, almond milk, agave and almond extract until smooth. Set aside but do not chill.
- Mix all crust ingredients, add a little flour if too soft. Press evenly into 9-inch tart pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown.
- Let crust cool, then spread cream mixture in the bottom and top with fruit. Drizzle with maple syrup. Chill until ready to serve.
by Krista | Aug 19, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I love my Mum’s garden. Wooden barrels filled to overflowing with pansies, Johnny Jump Ups and fragrant alyssum, all bobbing in the cool evening breezes. I stopped by there tonight to pick up bunches of kale and freshly picked beets, and had to stop for a little stroll as the last of the sun’s rays peeked over the top of the barn.
I especially like the nasturtiums spilling down to the ground and clambering over the white picket fence, just waiting to be picked to add some peppery cheer to salads and sandwiches. It did my heart good to see such beauty AND get a Mum hug. 🙂
Much to my delight I’m allowed to eat cheese again, just not heaps of it. Hooray!! So I celebrated this gift with Shredded Pork Quesadillas. I topped whole wheat tortillas with leftover Ginger Lime Shredded Pork (recipe here), added mild green chilies, sharp cheddar cheese and perky grape tomatoes, and got it melty and toasty under the broiler. Simple, fast and delicious. My kind of meal!
What is your favorite way to use leftover roast or chicken?
Shredded Pork Quesadillas
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
2 whole wheat tortillas
1-2 cups shredded pork
1 small can mild green chilies
handful grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Lay tortillas on baking sheet.
- Layer with pork, chilies, cheese and tomatoes.
- Place under broiler until cheese is melted and tortilla edges browned and crispy.
by Krista | Aug 12, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
Good morning, dear folks!
After a whole string of days of dark, cloudy, rainy weather, yesterday the sun appeared in all its warm, golden splendor. Hooray!
One of the nice things about having lots of rain is that my landlord doesn’t mow my lawn, and it turns into a wonderful meadow filled with all sorts of wildflowers popping up in the most random spots. I love them all, but on hot, sunny afternoons I like dandelions best. They’re like sunshine in a flower.
How has your week been, my friends? Have you been going “flat strap” as an Aussie friend says, or have things been motoring along just fine?
My week has been spent in bed, or propped up in my armchair covered in a quilt as my body adjusts to the remedies designed to get the mold out of my system and my pituitary functioning properly. It’s been painful, so painful, and I’ve had a few teary moments weathering each gut-wrenching moment. Last night was horrible and I awoke bleary-eyed and exhausted like I’d just gone through battle. So I was very happy to see sunshine dappling the trees and bushes outside my window, hear birds twittering away, and know that this is a new day, the long night is over and I can start fresh.
Perhaps that’s why you’re seeing so many flower pictures this week. I haven’t been able to go anywhere or do anything, so my simple pleasures are very simple indeed. Funny how wonderful little things become when your world suddenly becomes very small. Like a cup of tea in the biggest, cheeriest mug I could find, Christmas music while I do office work remotely, and these perky Morning Glories so radiantly white in the sunshine.
Kevin at Closet Cooking has been inspiring me with his super simple but delicious savory tarts. There’s no dough making involved, no tedious rolling out or carefully fitting dough into a fluted tray. Nope. He simply rolls out puff pastry, tops it with pesto or sauces and layers on his veggies of choice and pops it in the oven. I love that.
So yesterday I waited for my pain pills to kick in, then hastily assembled one using phyllo dough as a base topped with sun-dried tomato pesto, thinly sliced zucchini drizzled with oil, salt and pepper, and Herbs de Provence. Mine turned out a little darker than it should be because I decided to add some Parmesan cheese on top, place it under the broiler to toast, and promptly forgot about it. 🙂
It tasted heavenly though. Simple, light and so savory.
I hope you have a beautiful day, my friends. 🙂
Zucchini Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Tart
Ingredients:
10 sheets phyllo dough
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1-2 small zucchini, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning)
1 cup shredded Italian cheese (Parmesan, mozzarella)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lay one sheet phyllo dough on baking sheet, brush with olive oil. Layer and repeat until all phyllo dough is used.
- Spread pesto across dough within 1/4″ of edge.
- Layer zucchini over sauce, slightly overlapping.
- Spray or drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over Herbs de Provence.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and return to oven under broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese is slightly browned.
- Serve warm or at room-temperature.
by Krista | Aug 5, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I cried. I laughed. I sighed. And by the time I got to the end of Eat Pray Love wanted to give author Elizabeth Gilbert the biggest, squeeziest hug I could muster.
I love that woman, not because she is perfect or because I hold to all her beliefs and choices, but because she is so beautifully real, honest, and brave. And, most importantly, because her words reached into one of the darkest times of my life and shed a bright, radiant burst of sunlight that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I really was going to be OK.
Our backgrounds, lifestyles and worlds could not be more different, yet somehow she felt like a kindred spirit. She truly understood the terror of waking up and realizing you don’t belong in your world anymore, the inevitable fear, self-doubt and insecurity that follow as you try to figure out where you do belong, and the strange, beautiful feeling of discovering what you really love, really want to do, and who you really are.
We shared something else: a passionate love for travel and the incredible mind-expanding, soul-enriching, heart-healing impact it can have on a shattered life.
Strangely enough, I first read Eat Pray Love on a terrace in Italy overlooking vineyards, olive groves, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. I arrived with a broken heart, shaken faith, and a weary spirit, and as I read the book and talked with my dear friends, I was filled with hope and knew I was going to be alright.
Needless to say, when my wonderful Canadian blogger friend Val of More Than Burnt Toast issued an Eat Pray Love Italian Challenge, I was delighted to participate.
I knew exactly what I wanted to make too. No five-course dinner or lavish antipasti spread, I wanted to make a Street Food I had first heard about from Jamie Oliver: Fried Polenta with Rosemary and Salt.
His version looked delicious, but I wanted to amp mine up a bit so I cooked the polenta with chicken stock, garlic and lavish amounts of ground black pepper, stirred in a mound of grated Parmesan cheese, and set it to chill. When it was cool I tore it into bite-sized pieces, tossed them with cornmeal and fried them until they were nice and crispy. Mmm! They looked so good, but I wasn’t done yet. I added fresh garlic and rosemary to the oil and fried them up until the garlic was beautifully browned, added them to the fried polenta and sprinkled everything with salt. Delicious!! Crispy and salty on the outside, creamy and savory on the inside. Perfect.
Fried Polenta with Crispy Garlic and Rosemary
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from stem
4-5 cups vegetable oil
Directions:
- Bring chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to boil. Gradually stir in cornmeal, lower the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in Parmesan Cheese and olive oil.
- Pour into large cookie sheet and chill until cool.
- Tear polenta into bite-sized pieces, toss with cornmeal to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil until polenta sizzles when dropped in. Lower heat if oil begins to smoke.
- Fry in batches until polenta pieces are browned and crispy. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- When polenta is done, add garlic and rosemary to oil and cook for 2-4 minutes until garlic is browned. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- Combine polenta, garlic and rosemary and serve warm.
