Gehring Road

mint and pea pesto... it's what's for dinner

It was 84 degrees here today. 84. It is such a treat and we are just loving and soaking in these warm (bug-less and humidity-less) days. These delicious stolen moments make enjoying this fall season so lovely, but also have us holding on a bit to summer, especially when it comes to dinner. Mint and pea pesto has been on a continuous loop here at our house, it is so quick, so easy and most importantly so tasty. You must try it. My sister and brother in law made it for us when we visited them this summer and they follow this recipe. We follow it a bit, but mostly just eyeball things as they go into the blender. Here's what we do...

1. pasta into salted water and cook according to directions

2. reserve some of the pasta water for later before you drain it (this is 1 cup)

3. Into the food processor goes... 1 cup of mint leaves (we've kept a potted mint plant that stays pretty happy throughout the year, be careful not to mistakenly put mint into the ground, it will take over everything... my Aunt once tried to throw bleach on her runaway mint as it took over her yard... it still grew back... true story) 

4. Don't blitz anything yet, just throw in some peas (a bag or so is fine)

5. Next goes freshly grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup or so...) add some olive oil (1/4 to 1/3 cup no precise measurements needed), lemon juice to taste (1/2 lemon? my sister likes a bit more) and blitz it...

6. Add that mixture to a sauce pan and heat it. Remember that reserved pasta water? Add it to the mix as it heats until you get a consistency you like.

7. Add in the pasta and make sure the pesto covers the noodles. Garnish with parmesan. 

Happy Wednesday! Hope you find yourself enjoying these first days of autumn, even if they're feeling a bit like summer. 

lemony

Last week, I picked up some Meyer lemons at the grocery store, mostly because I've been craving all things lemon lately but also to add some spring color and cheer to the kitchen. I should say, force some spring color and cheer into the kitchen... it's been a cold start to spring thus far! Rob decided to make Smitten Kitchen's Lemon Bars on Sunday and they were so incredibly good. Have I mentioned how much I love that cook book? I do, and we do as it turns out. These bars were perfectly lemony and wonderful. They're as perfect for an after lunch snack as they are for breakfast. I know this from experience! I have a sneaking suspicion they're pretty perfect for a Monday night snack... I'll report back. Happy Monday everyone. 

and then there were doughnuts

"Just no more cookbooks!" is a phrase often repeated around Christmas and Rob's birthday here at our house. This guy of mine is notoriously difficult to shop for ("I have everything I need!"). It is however, all too tempting for me as someone who loves books and loves Rob to want to add to his quickly growing cook book collection, but in truth, he has a few cherished favorites that he uses almost always to plan our meals and adventures in eating. When I saw Top Pot's book, I bent our rule of no more cookbooks.

Top Pot Hand Forged Doughnuts is a Seattle based doughnut legend that is consistently voted best doughnut in the area. People seem to love their doughnuts and rave about their tasty creations. Rob likes to indulge in a doughnut every day few doughnuts when he travels to Seattle for work. He even braved TSA to bring one home for me on one of his trips. It was so, so good. 

So for Rob's birthday, I knew Top Pots cookbook would be a hit... and that it would prompt testing and doughnut eating. Last weekend while I was busily sewing in the loft, Rob was making the "Glazed Ring Doughnuts". They were so delicious, eaten plain or with a bit of sugar. We bought a candy/deep fry thermometer and it was well worth it. At the same time that we are getting used to doughnut making, we are also getting used to our new oven's bread proofing settings. Rob felt like the oven was a bit too dry to really do its best on the doughnut dough in its rising phases, I thought they were fluffy and wonderful. Rob's final verdict was that more practice needs to happen, and that is just something I'm not going to disagree with or complain about! The cookbook is filled with recipes for other things besides doughnuts or baked goods that can be made with left over doughnuts. Left over doughnuts? Not in this house. Maybe with more practice. Happy weekend everyone, hope it finds you enjoying whatever it brings your way. 

before the storm...

Well, here we are at the end of October and facing yet another storm around these parts. No school for me today, and likely tomorrow, which feels strange, as did this morning's very, very red sky. Lots of peeking out of windows, some Downton Abbey, some sewing and loads of watching the last of the leaves come down in the winds before the truly big gusts come. We're old pros at all of this now... the generator is at the ready, we will have water (warm water at that!) and we have the knowledge that we will be just fine in the end. In the meantime, it is comfort food and making sure all is right in our little world. We made this cake with this frosting and tried to mimic Alicia's beautiful cake decorating, because even if the lights go out, there will be cake... comfort indeed! I hope you are having a very lovley Monday, wherever you are, send good thoughts North East if you can. Happy Monday all!

he had me at pineapple upside-down cake

My farewell to summer dinner consisted of clambake (so, so, so good) and was followed by these amazing individual pineapple upside-down cakes made by Rob. I'm pretty lucky. They were absolutely amazing. Rob used the Cook's Illustrated recipe here. If you are not a Cook's subscriber you would need to sign up for their free trial to make it. Your family will thank you. And lick their plates. Not that we do that around here. You would think, from the picture of course, that we had company with those plated lovelies, but no... just us. Savoring last moments and last crumbs, just the way it should be actually. I could have eaten all three, in one happy sitting. So good. Happy Wednesday!  

these days

I've been enjoying the most lovely few days... off from work, surrounded by love and things I love, this has been a much needed and perfect little break. I'm feeling a bit ahead of the game in terms of class work, which is such a rare feeling, and I allowed myself some time to rest, and some time to sew! Those granny squares I had been anxious to begin are finally underway. They are super quick and just the thing I need right now. I'm loving the process of making them. Just one mustard, peach, orange and grey square done so far, but my mind is spinning with color possibilities. My granny progress can be found here. Another day off tomorrow and then it's back to work on Wednesday, but a refreshed and rested return this time. I hope you are enjoying this week and finding ways to enjoy all that is around you! 

clambake

image from Williams Sonoma

We've been enjoying, savoring, gorging on, feasting and loving a good old fashion New England clambake around these parts once in a while for the past few weeks. As New Englander's we're not so blessed with the best weather but we are blessed with seafood, readily available local seafood and there really is nothing better. The recipe we use for this clambake is from Cook's and included kilbasa which was new for me, I'm a convert... big time. Really everything gets stacked in the pot... the water from the seafood acts as a steaming agent and everything opens/browns/bakes/cooks on its own in about twenty minutes. Magic. We recommend a plastic bag on the old table, which is just a tick classier than the lobster bib (no judgments if you bib as a rule!). Anyway, we throw the steamed goodness onto a platter and eat away. For those who are counting, yes, those are two lobsters. Yes, it was just Rob and I at dinner. Yes, we over ate and will probably just do one lobster next time. Or crab legs... yum. The best pot we've found for the job is that All-Clad (we love All-Clad) two in one multi pot. It has two steaming baskets (we don't use them for the clam bake) which can be used for pasta or even skimming broth. It's a new addition to our cooking arsenal. No clambake this weekend, we're celebrating my Aunt Tootsie's 90th (amazing, no?) birthday with some of Rob's famous chocolate (to die for) cupcakes and some quality family time. Happy Labor Day... get your clambake on if you can, it will make your soul happy! 

pesto

My craving for pesto kicked in the second it got a bit warmer outside, but it was in full swing on Sunday as we browsed the Farmer's Market. All I could smell was basil, and well, pesto making was in order. The recipe we used is really quite simple and gave us plenty of sweet pesto-y goodness for a pound of pasta (frankly we overly dressed the pasta, but as it is, someone... not going to name names... was craving some pesto)... so here's what we did...

* four coups of packed basil leaves washed and dried

* added to four whole cloves of garlic and chopped coarsely in the food processor

* add salt and pepper (we don't add much salt as the pasta is salted) to taste as well as 1/2 cup walnuts (we didn't have pine nuts on hand but it works) 

* smooth together with 1/4 cup of olive oil... add more to make it smoother if you wish and we sometimes pour a bit more over the dressed pasta... 

* finish the dish with 1/2 cup of grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (you can add this in the food processor if you are not planning on freezing the pesto)

* add to warm pasta and enjoy... it's very tasty

Some tips for freezing... we freeze the pesto in small ball jars and with the recipe, we will get two meals (at least) as well as two tiny ball containers to be enjoyed during the winter.  Make sure that the pesto is covered in the little ball jars by a layer of olive oil.  This will prevent any oxidization (Rob's words) or funky brownness (mine) from making the pesto not so tasty. Also, don't freeze any that has cheese in it. Pesto, it's what's for dinner... again... I'm a happy camper! 

making fajitas

Rob's been making fajitas more than one might think is humanly possible lately... mostly because I love them. The recipe used is from Cook's Illustrated Backyard Barbecue edition picked up at our local grocery store. You can find it here... so so good. The lime and pepper marinade make these so incredibly tasty, perfect for summer. Feast (if you're in the area, we'll probably have these again this week if you'd like to stop in) or feast your eyes if you're everyone else...

vegetarians should look away now!

...we've been slicing up some avocado for them, adding a little fresh salsa and I love a little dollop of sour cream on mine... so, so good. Funny, my camera seems to have been set aside and unable to get a shot of the fajitas all dressed up... it's just to easy to dig right in... ah, next time (probably very, very soon!). Happy Monday! 

dinner with crust

Rob has been on a tear lately... some of the most tasty dishes have been dinner as of late.  This potato-leek-zucchini-feta tart was dinner-lunch-dinner over the past few days and I so enjoyed it.  Really I love anything crusty (especially Rob... ha!), but this was exceptional. We purchased this book at our local grocery store last week and the tart recipe was one of the first we've tried from it. Love Real Simple and especially love a really simple but simply delicious dinner.