Cherry Pie with Cold Brewed Coffee

Rainier Cherries backlit by the Sun

Shade in the afternoon is a summer treat

This is the easiest and best way to make a pie crust. Put a cup of water in the freezer to chill. Blend two cups room temperature butter with three cups flour, folding, not over working the dough. Slowly add the very cold water, and roll your dough in a circle on a floured bread board. Use a lovely rolling pin, a cotton cover over it helps.
Stem, and pit 4 cups cherries, mix with two cups sugar. You can go less on the sugar. Add a bit of kirschwasser if you want, to you or the mix.
Bake at 350 degrees for forty minutes.
Lay the crust in a deep pie pan, and crimp the top crust on, or sprinkle the dough like a cobbler.
Serve with cold press coffee. Put coffee grounds in French Press, let sit for ten hours, et voila, less acidic coffee, perfect for summer. This really has a smoother taste.
Now, the sun beckons.....breeze, ahhhh

Fresh Tomato Sauce Angel Hair Pasta with Blush Wine



Hanging Around Near Vantage, Washington in late June



Of course summer is the time to drink a rose, also called a blush wine, and Grocery Outlet has a great selection.
Have friends over, always preferable to dining out. To set the mood to cook, it is essential to watch this video from Vogue Paris, marking Emmanuelle Alt's ascension to Editor. It is supermodels covering Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.  It will give you all the energy you need to cook for loved ones, and you will know exactly what to wear. Watch the film here.
If you still feel like cooking, it must be something light and chic. And seasonal, as seasonal as white Levi's. Locavare is common sense, and common sense is comme il faut. Washington State can be full of surprises if you know where to look.
Wham! Here we go go!
Tomato Angel Hair Pasta
A classic favorite, it is simple and better without cheese. A great pasta sauce can be a light toss of fresh flavors from your garden or local market.
Seafood in a separate dish sauteed in garlic, oil, parlsey, and red pepper flakes goes well with this supper.
1 tbsp olive oil
4 plum tomatoes, finely diced
2 sliced garlic cloves
2 cups white wine
8 ounces angel hair pasta broken in half
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup fresh chopped oregano
In saute pan, heat oil on medium/high heat.
Add tomatoes and saute, stirring oftem, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute.
Add wine, pasta and oregano and stir to coat. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to meium. Simmer until pasta is done and liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with a bit of the fresh oregano. And white sneakers, no laces

White Wine and Cherries

Cherries are wonderful alone or with a sweeter white wine such as Reisling.
A graceful way to serve fresh cherries is to heap them whole, stems intact, on pretty dessert plates. Serve finger bowls of ice water with the cherries so the fruit can be dipped as it is eaten.
At mother's knee I learned her favorite way to prepare cherries. Destem the cherries, put in a large glass bowl or jug with a pound of sugar and two quarts vodka. Let it set, covered for a month or so, and voila, slivovitz, cherry brandy from Yugoslavia.
Or, for Cherries Jubilee pit and stem two pounds of cherries, poach them 1/2 sugar and 1 cup water. If that seems like a lot of water, decrease the amount and add kirschwasser or Grand Marnier.
Then heap the hot berries in a flame proof dish, add 1/2 cup kirsch or Grand Marnier and ignite, away from table. These taste great spooned over vanilla ice cream. No ice cream- then it's vegan! Either way, practice this dish before guests arrive. Coup de Foudre!
Here is an easy sorbet recipe - poach the fruit in booze, then puree and freeze. I did this today, and added fresh grated ginger and wild ginger- a lovely afternoon treat. Or a meal!

Columbia Valley Pinot Noir at Bargain Prices

PINOT NOIR is a top selling Grocery Outlet wine lately. The bottles are substantial, the corks just right, the flavor perfect - wine has overstocks like anything else. The black and white labels are a clue you are on to something, big.
Charles Smith of K Vintners, the famed Syrah producer from Walla Walla, Washington, created The Magnificent Wine Company in 2004 with the goal of bringing outstanding wines into people's homes at an affordable, everyday price. HOUSE WINE Cabernet blend and Chardonnay blend is the flagship brand of The Magnificent Wine Company’s Washington wine portfolio, also home to TABLE WINE Merlot blend and Chardonnay blend, STEAK HOUSE Cabernet Sauvignon, FISH HOUSE Chardonnay and The Originals (Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cab & Riesling). HOUSE WINE is the wine you drink anytime with anything…honest, tasty and real. A term that’s as universally understood among wine drinkers as a STOP sign is among drivers, HOUSE WINE with its simple black and white label and rich blend of fruit is the iconic symbol of the wine drinking experience stripped to its core.

Bacon Sampler for Breakfast

Bacon Sampler

remains of bacon sampler

Breakfast at Timberline Lodge features a Bacon Sampler- four types of bacon served with housemade maple syrup. Serve that to your family, with eggs in tortillas. It made a wonderful breakfast in all the fresh summer snow. They also have a jam sampler, three types of berry jam with delicious warm toast. This is all avsailable at Grocery Outlet - have a super Sunday Breakfast!

View from inside the lodge, warm and well fed!

detail from rawhide chair in lobby

Rainy Days Pair Well with Chocolate Cake

 Jameson Whiskey in Buttercream Frosting

Kitchens are the place to be on a rainy afternoon!

Well this weather is unusual! So enjoy the afternoon and enjoy the quiet of baking, before school lets out. Notice how nice a quiet time can be letting your thoughts flow, and hearing the hum of the blender. Epicurious is a wonderful source for recipes. If frosting a cake seems daunting, here is my favorite quick tip: frost the cake, lumps and all, the scatter the top with rose petals from the garden.

Sauvignon Blanc Pairs Well with Seafood

You don't need a wine rating system or self appointed expert  - often a middle aged man in Mom jeans and a shag haircut- to tell you about wine. Learn foryour self, pair wine with a poem, a friend, a breeze, s sonnet, a cello concerto, a nicely set table, and tanned legs. Books and Paker and ratings are silly. Read some Emerson and be your own judge.

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the  Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in  Southwest France a possible descendant of savignon, or Wild thing, you make my heart sing.

Sauvignon blanc is planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Oregon, Washington, and California produce some very nice Sauvignon Blanc blends that can be found a plenty at Grocery Outlet.
Sauvignon Blanc's crisp acidity, bright citrus, and green herbs call for a sauce or dressing laced with lemon and herbs. This salad is a natural match for Sauv Blanc heavy blends.
Seafod Salad with Creamy Tarragon Dressing
Serve this salad on a bed of butter lettuce or a sandwich on crusty bread.
1 lb peeled shrimp
1/2 lb bay scallops
1/2 lb cleaned calamari
1/2 cup mayonnaise, best when you make your own
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped butter lettuce leaves
1/4 cup drained capers
1 avocado pitted peeled and diced
Boil large pot of water over high heat. Add shrimp, scallops,a and calamari. Take a sip of wine.
Cover, remove from heat, and let steep until the shrimp are pink on the outside and and opaque but still moist inside. Drain the seafood, immerse in cold water and drain again.
Meanwhile, combining mayonnaise, lemon peel and juice, tarragon, mustard, whisk until smooth, or use a blender.
Combine seafood, lettuce, and capers in a large bowl, Gently stir in avocado, toast yourself with a nice glass of wine.

 

Beer, Wine, and Grilled Chicken Salad

This is where Wine Begins!

We are on the brink of summer and outdoor living, so use your grill. GroceryOutlet has grilling supplies and tools, and I bet you can find one of those funny aprons in a drawer somewhere!
Grocery Outlet has a huge variety of beers  - imports, microbrews, IPAs....and of course the wine. For this menu I bought a nice Oregon Chardonnay for me to sip and enjoy while cooking. I love to sip while cooking with the radio on, it is a nice time to focus. When your brain is calm and focused it is happier. For the men in attendance this weekend I bought Snoqulamie Brewing Company beer for my pals.
Taking time to cut and dice, instead of buying prepared sauces and mixes can be an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.
Grocery Outlet had a great meat selection - I like chicken, steaks, or the turkey sausage on sale this week!
GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD
Here, smokey charred chicken combines with bright peas and herbs in a salad that's fresh and hearty. Grilling the chicken ahead of time makes it even easier to put together.
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 clovees garlic, minced
one chicken, grilled outdoors, creating grill envy on your street
2 cups peas, fresh or frozen
1 minced shallot or small onion
3 tablesppons dijon mustard
1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 or 2 head of butter or bibb lettuce. Grocery Outlet has had this lettuce with the roots still on, a very fresh treat.
Whisk together oil, half the lemon juice and half the garlic, pour over chicken.
Boil pot of water, and when roiling boil toss in peas for two minutes, you don't want to overcook peas. Drain and put in cool water to stop the cookiung process, it is called s'arrette in French. This also helps retain the color.
Grill the chicken for 25 minutes or so.
Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Arrange the lettuce minute and peas on a large serving platter. Dice the chicken and toss in the dressing mixture, and pour remaining mixture over salad. Et voila, a perfect outdoor meal!

Chenin Blanc and Seviche Tostadas

The weather is perfect this weekend so of course the best course of action is to spend as much time outside.  This morning taking my coffee in the backyard, I heard  neighbor Gabriella singing "It's Raining on Prom" from Grease - no worries, I happen to know all is well with her dress and her date, and her mom said she was a hit at assembly.
I heard three lawn mowers from various houses singing in perfect harmony, and at dawn the sprinklers in the front and back performed a pastoral ballet worthy of Gershwin or Copeland, complete with rainbows across the water sprays.
Grocery Outlet has a wide selection of amazing values in wines. At the beginning of the 1970s, Americans began to discover that California's better-quality wines labeled their bottles with the name of the predominate grape variety, rather than standard practice of the day which was to label with  generic names. Made in a style popular at that time, fragrant and lightly sweet, and also easy to pronounce, Chenin Blanc quickly became the best-selling wine of the era
The first course of action is to open a Chenin Blanc, and think of a leisurely supper that welcomes the sunny season. This fruity wine is lightly sweet, much like a song from Grease on the piano. This supper is spicy, a delicious contrast.
Ceviche Tostadas
1 glass Chenin Blanc - for you, a tiens!
1 lb. cooked large shrimp
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 jalapeno, halved seeded and sliced
1/2  English cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 cup chopped cilantro - such a wonderful scent!
juice of 2 limes
8 tostada shells
1/2 cup crumbled queso or feta
Mix together everything except the tostado shells and cheese, let mixture marinate for ten minutes.
Spoon the mixture onto the shells, sprinkle with cheese.
For dessert, destem strawberries at the time you serve them in parfait glasses, sprinkled with sugar and creme fraiche. Easter chocolates may be stretching it, so any small dark chocolates are always good.

Homemade Corn Dogs

Spring Tulips from Grcocery Outlet Bulbs!

Homemade Corn Dogs
Spring is in full swing, and there are certainly more opportunities for festive food and parties.  These corn digs are a bit daintier and fluffier versions of the fair and rodeo behemoths, and they still go great with mustard and ketchup.
So, put on some cut offs and sunscreeen and let us begin:
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
pinch kosher salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
3 tbl sugar
Combine the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.  Mix 1 1/4 cups buttermilk with 4 tbsp water, add to the dry mixture and set aside.
Heat 4 cups vegetable oil to 375, check this with a candy thermometer, in a high sided 8 quart pot.
Insert a toothpick into the end of mini sausages, or larger sausages chopped into 3 inch sections.
Dip each sausage into the batter, holding the toothpick end, then carefully drop into the oil, frying only 3 at a time.
Turn with a slotted spoon until golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
Now invite the entire team over to enjoy!

Lemon Cream Pie

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Pink Flowering Almond Bush

Suede Frye Oxfords

So many pretty things in the garden, and the berries and summer fruits are still a little ways away. This pie is light an fresh, and a good excuse for a celebration. Have you you read As Always, Julia? It is the correspondence between Julia Child and Avis Devoto - both fun and informative.

LEMON CREAM PIE

10 ounces crumbled biscotti

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

14 ounces sour cream

3 large lemons - for 1/2 cup lemon juice, zest

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbl powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350. In blender, crumble the biscotti, add butter and sugar. Press into pie pan, bake for 10 minutes, let cool.

Whisk together eggs, sour cream, lemon, pour into crust and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool until at least 2 hours.

Whip the cream and confectioners sugar until soft peaks form, spread on the pie and garnish with more lemon zest. 

Invite some one ot share it, and wear the suede oxfords. Suede is so luxe, it shows you aren't out stomping through rain. And a pot of Earl Grey tea is the best with lemon!