Swan Island Dahlia Festival

This post definately doesn't have any relation to cooking, but gorgeous flowers in the kitchen make happy cooks, right?

Took Mom to the annual Swan Island Dahlia festival yesterday. We had a blast!

Swan Island Dahlias is a local Dahlia farm - and the biggest grower in the US! Every year they open up their fields for visitors and have talks on Dahlia growing and huge flower displays. We headed out with my friends Melanie and Marlo. Here are a few pictures of the fields:

The weather was just perfect 75 degrees and sunny. There were so many amazing flowers everywhere, it was just beautiful!

And of course we had to bring a few bunches home with us!

I didn't get any pictures of Melanie and Marlo trotting through the fields looking all fabulous in their high heels, but I'm glad those gals came, we had some good laughs. Afterwards we refueled at "The Wild Hare". Ask Mom about her Wild Hare chilli!!

Hey I'm still alive!!

Sorry I've been MIA for the past week. Things have been nuts around the homestead. Getting ready for mom's visit, clogged up kitchen pipes and a little food poisoning all mixed in... fun!

Look for a new post on my jelly canning soon :)

Chicks and Hens??

Last weekend Robyn was nice enough to give me some cuttings from one of her succulents. She called them "chicks and hens"... anyone heard of them?

Seems like they are doing well so far! Once they get settled they should multiply and fill up the whole pot.

Weekend Adventures

What a busy and interesting weekend!

Ran around doing errands on Saturday morning, then rushed around to bake up a tasty treat to take with us to visit Dante's "grandma & grampa". We've stayed good friends with Robyn & Chris - the couple that bred Dante. And a few times a year we head out to their place to visit and let Dante romp around.




Whipped up Oreo & Cream Cheese swirl brownies:

They were a little dry, I think I may have cooked them too long... but I digress...

Made it out to Corvallis by the early afternoon and spent a few hours just yacking and then barbequing. It was a scorcher outside so we waiting until 7 or so to start a game of croquet. Carlos won the first round (I'm pretty sure he cheated!). By the time we started up game 2 all the dogs were lounging about, acting as obstacles on the playing field.

All of the sudden I notice Dante leap up and take off across the creek and into the field on Robyn's land. He came trotting back a minute later and I figured he had given up on his chase. He then decides to run up to us and I notice he is just salivating and foaming at the mouth and shaking his head. At that moment the wind shifts and it hits all of us... that god awful smell that anyone who's driven down back highways in the Midwest could recognize... SKUNK!!

Yes that's right, our big mutt thought saw a skunk, thought it was a cat, and proceeded to get sprayed right in his face! There was nothing to do but stick him in the kennel and stay the night in Corvallis, hoping he would air out a little before our 80 mile drive back home.

All wasn't lost though, getting to stay the night was a blast - we went on a hike up a logging road that lead to an amazing view of the valley and sunset, I watched shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower, and kicked butt in a few games of horseshoes!

No one got any sleep though as Mr. Skunky decided to howl all night long about being left outside while the rest of us were snug in our beds. He was so pooped that he slept in the car the whole way home...



One vinegar bath, a night in the kennel with cedar chips and another oatmeal bath later and he still reeks though!! And the strangest things of ours smell too... hubby's car keys, my hair clip and my camera bag?!

I'd like to hope he learned his lesson, but in reality he thinks he smells great and I'm 100% sure he'll go after any black and white "cat" again.

Cilantro & Lime Rice

Enjoying some nice weather in PDX these days. 70's-80's. Now that I'm away from the Midwest I think I would melt if I had to endure a whole summer of 100+ degrees.

Anyway, we had this a few weeks back and I thought I would share!

It's pretty easy - you can't mess it up!

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic (or just take a bit from a jar of pre-minced stuff if you are lazy like me)
juice of one small lime
small bunch of cilantro (rinsed and chop off all the long stemmy parts)

Toss this all in a food processor - mine's a mini version which actually worked perfectly. Blend it up enough that the cilantro is in small enough bits that you wouldnt mind eating (up to your preference really). Set to the side.











Meanwhile steam up 2 cups of rice. We have a handy rice cooker that we use all the time. Combined with rice from the Asian market you get rice with that perfect sticky texture.

Once rice "ready" pour in the lime/cilantro mixture and mix into the rice with a fork, trying to get everything combined evenly. And that's it! Perfect side for grilled chicken/veggies - or in our case, filling for burritos!

The Garden's Bounty

Here we go... so we've gotten a few zucchinis after all, though notice the nibbled end on one of them!















Hubby likes the spicy stuff...




















Notice the bloody finger? That's what happens when you make me angry!! Haha, kidding... really I accidentally got him with the scissors while trimming the peppers. (sorry!)

And the Winner is....

Ok brace yourselves for this one... I won something, when does that actually happen?!



Another blog I follow had a giveaway for a copy of a new cook book by David Lebovitz (who is not only a fantastic chef but writes his own very witty and entertaining blog) but I digress.... I was one of two people out of 700 who entered to win the book "Ready for Dessert" - and just so you know I AM ready! Here I am in a victory pose. (editors note: please excuse the windblown hair... I drove home from work with all the windows down, helllooo summer!)


PS - I must give a shout out to my lovely mother and hubby who inspired my answer which won me the book. The question was: "Leave a comment with YOUR favorite dessert and why you’d like to win this book".


I answered: "My favorite dessert? Anything made by mom… even if it’s just brownies out of a box! I would love to win a copy of David’s new book so I can put my recent birthday gift from my hubby to good use (a KitchenAid stand mixer)! I’m sure he will take dessert as re-payment, right? :)"


Look at these recipes...yummm!!!

Zucchini & Parmesan Galette

The Zucchini saga continues...

Here's the bounty of the garden so far; one humongous zucchini and two stunted squashes.















Tada... Zucchini Galette!















Basic pie crust (homemade of course!), cheeses layered with slices of zucchini. FYI: cutting in butter to flour by hand is really difficult.... I think my forearm will be sore tommorow. Note to self: must invest in pastry cutter!


If anyone wants the recipe I can post it!

Zucchini Emergency

Something is eating our zucchinis!!! What the heck?!

Birthday flowers!

Lilies from the hubby, aren't they gorgeous!

Guiness & Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes

Cupcakes!!! Who doesn't love cupcakes? Tasty personally sized little cakes... I don't see where you can go wrong.

For my first feat with Ruby I decided to tackle a cupcake recipe. But oh no I wouldn't want to try anything too basic would I? No, no.. I went for Guiness & Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes. Not only are we talking about the cupcake batter here but also ganache filling & buttercream frosting. Yum yum but a little ambitious perhaps?

First off, the ingredients:















Cupcakes:
1 c. Guiness
2 sticks butter (unsalted)
3/4 c. cocoa powder (I used the dutch process kind)
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

Ganache Filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used dark)
2/3 heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp Bailey's Irish Cream

Frosting:
1 stick butter (unsalted)
4 c. powdered sugar
6 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
















I'll be honest here and admit I strayed here and there from the recipe I went from. For instance I accidentally mixed up the amounts of salt & baking soda, which turned out fine. Also I used dark chocolate instead of bittersweet... it's fait to say no harm done!

For the cupcakes first turn your oven on to 350° F.
- Line 2 muffin pans or grease them well (I only have one so just had to cook two batches)
- Heat the Guiness and butter in a pot over medium heat, then stir in the cocoa powder
- Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl(mind your amounts, hah!)
- Beat the eggs and sour cream in an elextric mixer, then add the beer/butter/cocoa and beat to combine
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to ¾ full
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, for me was about 20 minutes
- Let cool completely

















While cupcakes are baking, work on the ganache.
- Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl
- Heat the cream in a small pot until just starting to boil, then pour over the chocolate
- Let sit for a minute and then stir until smooth
- Add the butter and Bailey’s and stir until combined
- Set to the side to cool.

















Once cupcakes are cool, cut small cone shaped portions from the center of each cupcake. This will hold the ganache. Next, eat the cone pieces or if you are feeling nice share with others.

Now you'll want to take the cooled ganache and pipe it into the cupcake centers. If you're a professional like me you can use a plastic baggie to accomplish this. You will want the ganache to fill up the cupcake so the top surface is smooth. I had to use a butter knife to smooth out my work.

Now for the frosting.
- Add butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes)
- Turn the speed down to low and bit by bit add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Scrape sides as needed
- Combile in the Bailey’s until smooth

Frost the cupcakes to your heart's desire. Once again I relyed on a good ol' plastic baggie to get the job done.
















Share with friends or keep them all to yourself, I wouldn't blame you if you did :)


Source: slightly adapted from Annie's Eats. Thanks Annie!