Archives for August 2011

Wait, school started?

August 28, 2011 / By Courtney / 2 Comments

…and I haven’t made one fruit cobbler all summer?

I need to get my head checked.

Nothing brings you back to reality more than getting back from vacation and seeing the bright yellow flash of buses whizzing by in the morning. Seriously…school? NO! I’m not ready for more traffic in the early morning rush, or schedules or EVERY DAY school for L as I make a frantic call to the preschool director…’does he really have to go every single day???’ It seems like a lot. He is 4.

Thankfully his preschool respects the laziness of the last weeks of summer and doesn’t begin until after Labor Day. (God bless them). That gives me a nice amount of time to sort it out while I bake as many cobblers as I can possibly fit in. I’m hoping I’ll find the answer I’m looking for somewhere between a raspberry and peach one.

Promise me you’ll make one before it’s too late. Let’s hold on (tightly!) to all that summer gives us as long as we possibly can. We all know what is looming around the corner…

Mixed Berry Cobbler

2013-09-15 15:52:14

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Ingredients

1/2 cup of flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
a dash of kosher salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
2 pints of fresh berries (your choice)
1 TBS cornstarch
cinnamon
1 tsp of freshly grated lemon zest

Instructions

Mix together the dry ingredients: 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, and a dash of kosher salt.
Beat together 1 stick of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add in 1 egg yolk and 1/4 tsp vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and blend. Chill the dough while the oven preheats to 375 degrees.
Mix together 2 pints of fresh berries (your choice) with 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 TBS cornstarch, and 1 tsp vanilla. Gently toss together.
Pour berries into a baking dish, top with drops of the chilled dough, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a tsp of freshly grated lemon zest.
Bake until bubbly and golden brown - about 45 minutes.

By A Life From Scratch

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Even if you don’t think you like cobbler, make it for the smell you get when you first open the oven. It’ll change your mind.
Courtney

Time to catch up.

August 21, 2011 / By Courtney / 9 Comments

Goodness it’s been awhile since I’ve written. I think my head is still up in the clouds, er – mountains. Time to catch up, I’ve missed my blog!

Where to begin? Over a week spent in Montana and there is a lot to say. There is also a lot of cooking and baking to do! First thing I did when I walked into my home after landing was preheat the oven for some roasted mustardy rosemary potatoes inspired by the Hungry Moose Market. Then I set down the suitcase. M beelined it to the basement to check for water. All dry (very fortunate – so sorry Catherine and Jeff!) and the potatoes were delish.

Backing up though, let’s talk Big Sky. I complied a list that best describes why I am so terribly in love with this portion of the country. Looking over it now I know there is even more to say but I’m not quite sure how to say it. And I think that’s ok.

1. Cowgirl boots. They instantly make any outfit way more adorable.
2. Cell phone service is iffy. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t. No one cares if it doesn’t.
3. Our mode of transportation? A 1983 (yikes) Suburban, license plate ‘Grizzly 1’ and a 1998 Suburban, license plate ‘Grizzly 2.’ Not kidding.
4. No humidity. My hair finally did exactly as told.
5. Dirty cowboy hippies at the ‘baked’ Blue Moon Bakery. Yee haw!
6. The feeling of breathlessness every. single. time. you look at Lone (or alone as L calls it) Mountain.
7. Sundresses by day, flannels by night.
8. Daily hikes that work your legs, butt, and heart.
9. Bison burgers are a regular on menus.
10. The smell.
11. Logan, Montana. Yes this place exists. It’s an abandoned (/sketchy) railroad town complete with an amazing steak house and an old empty church that I’ve decided I want to buy and move and open as a cafe. Hey – one can dream, right?

There is a lot to love.

But now I’m back home and I’m just in that place you always find yourself when you get back from a long trip. Behind on work, behind on household chores, behind on friends, and behind on the kitchen!

Montana menus and produce were quite inspiring. One ingredient that kept popping up was quinoa. Similar in concept to cous cous, think of it as its ‘brainer’ cousin. It’s a grain, not a pasta, so it’s a much smarter decision for your body before you head off to hike Ouzel Falls….oh wait, today it’s off to Target. Yep, back to reality.

Enjoy the recipe (made it in Montana and home!) as well as pictures from the trip.

‘Montana Inspired Quinoa Salad’
Recipe from A Life From Scratch

Prepare quinoa according to package directions. Mince up some yellow and orange peppers. Half some fresh cherry tomatoes and slice up some arugula. Toss everything together with some crumbled feta cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Serve as a side, alone for a light lunch, or over some grilled chicken or fish and salad. Super versatile.

Just like cowgirl boots.
Courtney

Mountain Man:

First hike!

Hot pink sunset:

Grizzly 1:

Ouzel Falls:

Quinoa salad over grilled fish:

Birthday dinner!

Baddest cowboys in the west:

Logan, Montana:

I’m ‘home.’

August 15, 2011 / By Courtney / 1 Comment

It is absolutely amazing to me that for over a week this will be my view when waking up:

Unreal.

And yet – very real. Almost too real. There is something about Big Sky that grounds you. There is room to breath – room to think – and room to feel. And it’s quiet. I like…no, I need quiet.

My favorite part though has to be the smell. The breeze rushes down from the mountain and it is filled with a coolness from the snow covered tops and a smell of fresh pine. It’s probably the thing I miss most when I’m not visiting and the first thing I do when we turn the car into Big Sky is roll down the window and take the biggest breath I possibly can.

Oh and also? Tied for my favorite thing is how the water literally sparkles in the Gallatin River. I could (and have) stared at it for hours. It never gets old to me.

I’m more than blessed to be able to fly away from home and yet still feel so at home here.

Well I’m off as L wants to ‘climb to top point of the mountain.’ Wish me luck – yikes!
Courtney

P.S. I will check in from time to time – I can’t think of a better place to write! We have a ridiculously over the top dinner planned at the wine room of Rainbow Ranch that I’m sure I’ll have lots to say about – check it out here!

P.P.S. See? Literally sparkles:

Summer is…

August 11, 2011 / By Courtney / 4 Comments

A scoop of confetti corn and towel forts at the pool.

Enough said.

Confetti Corn

2013-09-15 15:32:23

Serves 6

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Ingredients

5 ears of corn
1/2 minced red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
diced orange pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
chives, parsley, basil...whatever you have on hand

Instructions

Cut the corn off the cobb of 5 ears of corn.
Saute 1/2 minced red onion in 2 TBS olive oil over medium heat until soft. Throw in a diced orange pepper and saute for 2 more minutes.
Add in the corn and 1 TBS butter and season with salt & pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. In the end, throw in some freshly minced herbs - chives, parsley, basil...whatever you have on hand.

Adapted from Ina Garten

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Make it while you can!
Courtney

Blue eyes on fire.

August 9, 2011 / By Courtney / 7 Comments

I love celebratory dinners for people. There is something about creating a meal for someone that says ‘I care about you – a lot.’ Food is personal and I jump for joy at the chance to create that for someone.

We recently had close friends over to celebrate my good friend Heidi’s birthday – woohoo! That also means 5 kids age 4 and under, 1 of which pretty much hadn’t slept in 7 days. Which of course translates to mommy not sleeping for 7 days. More wine, Kelly?

The menu was set – the table was set – the food was almost complete – the kitchen sink faucet? Leaking all over the kitchen. Yikes! Good thing I keep ol ‘blue eyes’ around. Entertaining a group while not being able to run the water in the kitchen sink seemed daunting, but, we made it work. Late night dishwashing in the laundry room in the basement? A little eerie yet effective. I strongly dislike basements. And dishes.

The crew arrived with beautiful flowers (thank you Heidi), yummy appetizers (thank you Kelly), a complex palate (mangos…right Chris?) and ice cold beer (thank you, Daddie!). The kids enjoyed pizza around the fire pit while we enjoyed the refreshments and jammed out some Kanye West.

Now, that brings us to…what was our dinner?

Click here for the Tuscan chicken recipe – it was beautiful! I followed Ina’s directions to a tee and like (almost) always, she was spot on. This will be a new ‘go to’ for easy summer entertaining. Impressive for your guests, yet relaxed. Great balance.

So a great summer meal was enjoyed at a table with good friends and French wine. Not bad for a Sunday night – especially with L in charge of ‘babysitting’ (dear Lord). He managed to make $2, stuff ice down one of the toddler’s pants, as well as focus on caging (as he called it) everyone in the back yard by making this trap:

Dinner was followed by none other than a classic birthday cake! I am obsessive about this cake story article from Real Simple, which I have mentioned here before. I used it to create Heidi’s chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and fresh strawberries. Everyone sing along now…Happy Birthday to you….Happy Birthday to you….

To close the evening, M provided us with some late night entertainment. Gas + wood + a match? Never a brilliant idea. Great public service announcement for the children: stop, drop and roll LIVE is a much more effective learning tool. I don’t think Olivia will ever be the same…

Happy Birthday to my ‘Lisa!’
Courtney