In My Garden

Despite our cool temperatures and lack of sunshine, the flowers in my yard a blooming beautifully. This is the first year my iris have bloomed. I love their vibrant purple color.

Roasted Pepper Pasta Sauce

I wanted to make something different with a couple of peppers that were getting close to being past their prime. Normally we would slice these peppers, toss with a little olive oil, kosher salt, pepper and toss them in the grilling pan to grill. I wanted to do something different with these peppers. I hate to admit this but I don't make a lot of my pasta sauces from scratch. After working all day, it's just too easy to open a jar. I love roasted pepper pasta sauces, so I decided to give it a try.

No photos of the finished dish, didn't like the way they turned out. . The recipe that was my inspiration used cream. I made a lighter version of the recipe, using milk and cornstarch. We loved the taste and creamy texture of this sauce. Looking forward to summertime peppers and more roasted pepper sauce.

Roasted Pepper Sauce
2 large peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1.Preheat grill. Lightly coat the peppers with olive oil. Grill peppers over a medium flame broiler until the skin is blackened, and the flesh has softened slightly. Place peppers in a paper bag to cool for approximately 45 minutes.
2.Remove the seeds and skin from the peppers (the skin should come off the peppers easily now). Cut peppers into small pieces.
3.In a skillet, cook and stir the garlic, basil, and peppers in 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
4.Place mixture in blender (careful it is hot), and puree to desired consistency. Return puree to skillet, and reheat to a boil. Mix 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon cornstach with a whisk. Pout milk, cornstarch mixture into the skillet. Whisk until smooth. Add the Parmesean cheese; cook and stir until the cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

One Year Ago Beer Marinated Pork Chops.

I am linking this to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace, Tuesday's at the Table at All the Small Stuff and Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Happy Mother's Day - Orange Blueberry Muffins - SMS

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I am always a little sad on Mother's Day. I lost my mother to cancer when I was 16. I wish I could have gotten to know my mother better. There's so many things I've missed sharing with her. There's nothing more rewarding than being a mother. I have the best son. Okay I know all mom's say that but mine really is!!




I was surprised on Friday at work with these beautiful flowers. Thanks Justin for being such a great son!!

This week's SMS recipe would be a perfect addition to a Mother's Day brunch. We've made the muffin batter for these before here and here. I remembered this being a thick, dense muffin. I halved the recipe and still ended up with 10 muffins. After putting the batter together, I felt like it was really thick and dense. I wanted to see if I could lighten it up a bit so I added about 2 tablespoons of sour cream and a little more (1 tablespoon?) of cream. I think it helped, the muffins don't seem as dense as the past recipes. I added a few more blueberries, next time I would add even more. I decided to skip the topping. They didn't brown as much as I would have liked, so I sprinkled them with a little cinnamon and sugar. These made a delicious, traditional texture muffin.






Chaya of Sweet and Savory chose this week's recipe. If you haven't visited Chaya's blog, stop by. She's amazing, she posts every day and has some of the best recipes. You can find the links to all of the other SMS bakers here!

Pink Saturday -

Four years ago today Tim and I were married on the beach in Destin, Florida. Tim is my soul mate and the love of my life. I only wish we'd met years ago.






We exchanged our vows just prior to the PINK sunset. Joining us for our wedding were my son Justin, Tim's son Michael, daughter Chelsea and my friends of 30 years Karen and Larry. It was a beautiful day.





Happy Pink Saturday and Happy Mother's to everyone!! I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound!!

Roasted Radishes - Foodie Friday

After a long, cold winter everyone seemed ready for the opening weekend of the Omaha Farmer's Market. The market begins at 8:00. We arrived around 8:15 and made several trips around the block before we found a parking spot. The stands were filled with lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb, radishes, bedding plants and herbs. I was happy to see all of my favorite vendors with stands at the market again this year.

Aren't these radishes beautiful? Traditionally I use radishes in salads. What else can I do with these radishes? Of course, I googled and found this recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen for Roasted Radishes. Radishes can be strong and even a little bitter. Wonder if roasting them will make them milder and sweeter like it does with other veggies? Yep, it did!!! Even my husband who's not always a fan of unusual vegetable cooking techniques loved these. He had seconds! If you're looking for something different to do with radishes, give this recipe a try!



Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed
Makes 3-4 servings
Recipe courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen
Only slightly adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

20 medium radishes, trimmed and cut into fourths (use all red, or a mixture of red and white)
1 1/2 T roasted peanut oil
1-2 T soy sauce (I used about 1 1/2 T)
2 green onions (scallions) sliced thin
1 T sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan

Preheat oven to 425 F. Wash radishes, trim ends, peel if needed, and cut into same size pieces. Cut the white icicle radishes into diagonal pieces, and the red ones into half or fourths, depending on how big they were. Cut green onions into thin slices.

Toss radishes with peanut oil, then roast about 20 minutes, stirring one or two times. When radishes are tender and starting to brown, remove from oven, toss with soy sauce to coat and mix in green onion slices. Put back in oven and roast about 5 minutes more.

During final five minutes roasting time, put the sesame seed in a dry pan and toast over hot stove for about 2 minutes, or until starting to brown. Remove radishes from oven, place in serving bowl and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

In My Garden

This weekend we (or should I say Tim) finished my raised garden bed. Thank You, Tim!

We planted (and yes I really did ) tomatoes, basil, oregano, rosemary and sage. We started lettuce, peas and brussels sprouts from seed. I hope you'll follow along with me to see the results.

Tabasco Quinoa with Asparagus

I am trying to incorporate quinoa into our diet whenever possible. I am thrilled when I see a quinoa recipe. Although, you're starting to see more and more quinoa recipes, there's still not nearly as many as other side dishes like rice or potatoes. I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks. Thanks Heidi, I love your blog!!

I read some staggering statistics the other day about how much food we throw away. While I've never felt like I am a wasteful person, I am trying harder to not throw away food. Asparagus is a great example. When I make roasted asparagus, I use only the top 1/2 or so of the aspargus. Except for the very end of the asapargus, the rest of it can be used in recipes such as this one. It works great if you chop it in 1/4" pieces.

Tabasco & Asparagus Quinoa
Recipe courtesy of 101 Cookboks

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
25 drops Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch segments
4 cups cooked quinoa*
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
more Tabasco sauce to taste

Start by making the Tabasco butter. In a food processor, or with a hand blender, whip the butter until it is light and airy. Add the mustard, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and salt. As I mention above, you can make it stronger if you like, adding more hot sauce to taste.
Boil the asparagus in a large pot of well salted water, for just for a minute or so -depending on the thickness of your asparagus. Drain. If you are serving this immediately you can leave the asparagus hot, but if you are going to wait to serve this, or think you'll have leftovers I recommend you stop the cooking with cold water or a dunk in an ice bath, then drain well before using.
Take the 4 cups of hot cooked quinoa and toss with 3 tablespoons of the tabasco butter. You'll have leftover butter - you can serve that on the side or use it for other purposes. Stir in the asparagus, pine nuts, and dollop with creme fraiche. Serve with more Tabasco sauce on the side.
Serves 4 - 6.
*To cook quinoa: Combine 2 cups of well-rinsed dried quinoa with 3 cups water and 1/2teaspoon fine grain sea salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or until quinoa is tender and you can see the little quinoa curliques.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tuesday's at the Table at All the Small Stuff , Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace .