Mimolette

What a crazy week it’s been and it’s not even Friday yet,  Monday I had jury duty.  Augh!!  Luckily, I was not picked to serve because all three of the cases (2 criminal and 1 civil) were postponed and I didn’t have to serve.  But, that was after spending most of the day in a HOT jury room bored out of my mind before we were finally dismissed! 

Today was much more fun.  I spent it at a cheese seminar learning all kinds of tips and tricks and I got to try a new cheese today that I just loved.  It’s called Mimolette and it’s a French cow’s milk cheese that was just delicious.  At first I thought they were cutting up a cantaloupe melon because of it’s round shape and bright orange interior.  So delicious and highly recommended.  I am exhausted so more about my day of cheese later.  Seriously, look for the Mimolette next chance you get!

My New Laptop

It’s about time!  My frustration level should come down a few pegs now that I have my new laptop.  I was so close to being out of memory on my last one that everything I tried to do on it seemed like it was processing in slow motion.  I like to zip in and out of screens, you know, websites to go and virtual people to see.  Snap. Snap!  I am still figuring it all out.  Still downloading programs and transfering our virtual life off of the old laptop onto the new.  Mine is the keeper of the family photos and music library.  So, bear with me as I use this post to test out my skills on downloading Windows Live Writer properly and uploading photos from my camera to Windows Photo Gallery and then placing a picture on Windows Live Writer and uploading a blog post.  Ahhh…technology. 

I hope you are having a fun weekend.  I know there are lots of you out there hosting or attending graduation parties.  Tis the season.   Have fun!

Taco Salad

We’ve been eating and I have been posting a lot of salads lately.  Today’s addition to my unofficial roster of Summer Salads (you can eat them in the Winter too)  is this recipe for Taco Salad. 

After spending the last couple of days at Freshmen Orientation with my son and being bombarded with huge amounts of information, a lot of which didn’t apply to us, and feeling like we were trapped in an episode of GLEE because there were so many song and dance numbers about things like how to  register for all the right classes, how to get along with your roommates, where you can and can’t park, how delicious the food is and selecting the right meal plan, what it will take to graduate in 4 years, rushing a fraternity or a sorority, the dangers of binge drinking, why getting to know your professors on a personal level is good, and of course the school fight song,…..let’s just say it was mildly entertaining and definitely exhausting.  :)

And then, because I wasn’t able to work for those two days, I had to double up on my cheese stores today to try and catch up.  Let’s just say, what to make for dinner was one more decision I didn’t want to have to make.  BUT, I went with the Taco Salad and every one was happy.  (Except the son who doesn’t eat vegetables but no problem, he was able to make a couple of tacos/burritos with the taco meat while the rest of us enjoyed the salad.)   This is a quick and easy lifesaver on those hot days when you don’t know what to make and don’t feel like cooking.  You still have to brown the ground beef but the cooking here is kept to a minimum.    The measurements are approximate.  Just add what you like.  If I was making this for a party or a large group I would assemble it all in a large bowl or on a huge platter.  For our dinner tonight, I just prepped all the ingredients and let everyone assemble their own salads. 

TACO SALAD

1 head of ice burg head lettuce, chopped

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 taco seasoning packet

4 small tomatoes, chopped,

1 bag of shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 bottle of Kraft Catalina Salad Dressing

Optional: cilantro, black olives, black beans, corn, and crumbled corn chips.

Brown the ground beef and drain off all the fat.  Prepare the meat according to the taco seasoning package. 

Assemble the salad starting off with lettuce as a base, add the cooked taco meat, (black beans and corn if you want a really hearty salad, sprinkle with the Cheddar cheese, and top off with tomatoes, onion, avocado, and sprinkle with optional items like the cilantro, olives, and crumbled corn chips.

I usually make my own salad dressings but not for this salad.  We LOVE the Catalina dressing.  It’s sweet, sour, and tomato-y.  I like the pour spout on it too because it lets you decorate and make designs on you salad as you dress it.  What’s not fun about that? 

While I am thinking of it, I would love to know what bottled salad dressings you like to use?  I have had a hard time finding several that we all like.  It would be nice to have more on hand besides just Catalina and the Hidden Valley Ranch.

Candied Almonds

Put some Candied Almonds in a salad and you won’t believe the reaction you get.  They make an ordinary salad extraordinary. I’ve started putting them in this summer salad.  And if I put strawberries in a salad, the whole house is happy.  Well, almost the whole house.  My son doesn’t eat vegetables or fruit so we won’t count him but it makes my husband Jim and my daughter very happy.  So today, in honor of Father’s Day, I added not only strawberries and shredded Jarlsburg cheese to my salad of Spring Mix and spinach greens, but candied almonds too.  Lot’s of happy faces around the table tonight. 

Candied Almonds

2 TBSP sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

In a dry pan over medium heat, mix the almonds and the sugar and stir until the sugar starts to melt and using a heat proof mixing spoon, continue to stir until the almonds start to brown and the melted sugar coats the almonds.  Warning:  there is a fine line between perfectly coated almonds and burned almonds.  And once you burn them, the taste is ruined and you will have to start over.  So, take it slow!  And be warned.  These get really hot.  Don’t be tempted to pop one in your mouth to taste test.  The natural oils in the almonds and the hot melted sugar will scorch your tender mouth.  Don’t taste till they are cool!

 

   Once your almonds are nicely coated, spread them out on something non-stick to cool.  I just got one of those silicone mats like a Silpat.  The one I went with is called “Fat Dadio’s”.   It was cheaper and I liked the name.  Works just like it should.  NOTHING sticks to it.

Parchment paper works good for cooling too.  After they cool, break them up and store them in a cool dry container if you have leftovers.  

Then, assemble your salad, and finish with your favorite dressing. My favorite for this salad is my Sweet and Sour Dressing that I posted on the blog quite a while ago. It’s really good with the strawberries and the sweet almonds. I’ve included a link for the dressing recipe.

And there you have it.  A delicious summer green salad with strawberries, cheese (Shredded Mozzarella  or Swiss are also good here) and candied almonds.   

And before I go, I just want to say thanks for the kind notes checking on me.  I’ve  let a lot of time slip by since my last blog post.  All is good.  Sometimes, despite all of your carefully laid plans, things don’t always go the way you expect them to.  I hate it when people leave cryptic messages on their blogs or on Facebook making people wonder what’s going on and I really didn’t want to do that here so I haven’t said anything.   It’s  nothing big,  just lots of little things throwing me for a loop . Life just decided to heap it on in these last few months and slowly things are getting back to normal.   So thanks for sticking with me!

Cinco de Mayo Randomness

Gelato from Gnam Gnam in Greensboro, NC

1.   Whole Foods.  It just opened in Greensboro a few of weeks ago. THANK YOU Corporate Director of Marketing and Demographics for seeing the potential, opportunity and need here in Greensboro! Amazing croissants. Liked their olive bar. The bright green olives are my favorite I will get the name of them next visit. Cheese counter was smaller than expected BUT they had nice variety and carry types you cannot find anywhere else in Greensboro. And they carry Bailey Hazen Blue! Their Bakery cakes were pretty and unique. Floral department rocked. Loved all the tulips. First time I’ve seen a Granola bar. They even had Gelato. Sorry, not impressed with their Gelato. I think we’ll stick to Gnam Gnam.   Now if the Demographics and Marketing Gods could just see their way to bringing a Trader Joes here, I would be a happy girl.

2.  If I was having a Cinco de Mayo Party today, and I’m not, I would have thought ahead and ordered these decorations.  ($11.99 for all 6 from Celebrateexpress.com!)   Instead, I am thinking about trying a new recipe for these Margaritas.  

3.  I think it’s very strange, ironic, and unsettling that when you boil a pot of eggs for hard boiled eggs they make a chirping sound. 

4.  Mad Men.   Zou Bisou Bisou. 

5.   Wedding in Chicago this summer at Navy Pier. Looking forward to it.

6.  I was listening to NPR on the radio in my car the other day and Marilu Henner from Taxi was the guest.  She is one of 12 people in the world who has something called HSAM: Highly Superior Auto-biographical Memory.  It is the rare and incredible ability that allows her to vividly recall every detail of her life since childhood.  She even remembers what day of the week her memories took place.   To listen to her was fascinating.  She has a new book out called Total Memory Makeover where she talks about her incredible memory and how you can enhance your recollection of the events in your own life.  Might be fun to pick this one up.

7.  Husband snores.  Becoming a problem.  Can you help?

Flower Urns and Happy Dogs

Today I found a pair of urns at Tuesday Morning that I just love.  I first saw them in a sale flyer they sent to me in the mail.  I knew I wanted them right then.  So,  I went to my local Tuesday Morning and there were no urns to be seen.  I asked the store clerk and she told me they wouldn’t be in until the following Tuesday on May 1st.  Hmm…so that’s why it’s called Tuesday Morning.  :)  Well, I forgot all about them and then today as I stopped at a sandwich shop I noticed a Tuesday Morning right next door to the shop.  In I went and out I came with two of these beautiful gold urns.  The sales flyer showed three colors; gold, red, and a bright green.  I wanted the green.  They were a bright lime/French green but the store I was in only had the gold and one red one.  The red was a VERY dark burgundy color.  So, I picked up the more practical gold urns and now that I have them home I am happy I did.  And if I decide I want to got the French green route someday, there’s always spray paint.    These are a great buy at $24.99 each and they are huge.  And they are made of fiberglass so they are  extremely light. 

After I got home with them, I changed out of my work clothes and headed to A&A Plants and picked up some red geraniums, lobelia,  ivy, and some spikes.  (Do spike plants have name?)  Each urn took almost a whole bag of Miracle Grow Potting Soil.  I was going to put one of each side of my front door but they are so tall and large it was almost too much.  So, I placed one on my deck and kept one next to the front door.  I like the look. 

It’s only May 3rd and I hate to complain about the heat already but lord it was hot today!  Even Oakley needed to be hosed down to cool her off.  That dog loves nothing better than to be hosed down with the icy cold water from the hose.    And after her cool down, she did a the Happy Dance on her back.

 

One of my favorite flowers is blue Lobelia.  Each year I plant it in my planters and by the end of June they are cooked.  So this year the nice people out at A&A Plants suggested I try a new variety of Lobelia that they had that is more heat tolerant.  So I brought 4 pots of the new Lobelia home with me and I am hoping I can get them through the summer.  I’ll let you know how it goes. 

 

Lobelia has the prettiest color blue.  So delicate looking and I love it when they spill out of a flower pot.  All of my pots are finally planted.  Feels good to have that done!  How about you?  Have you finished all your planting yet?

Greek Salad

 
This Greek Salad takes me back to my high school days in Michigan every time I eat it.  There was a restaurant on Cass Elizabeth Lake Road  called Mitch’s and their Greek salad has both ruined me and put me on a quest.  Ruined because no Greek salad tastes like I remember their Greek salad did and ever since I have been searching for a substitute.  But like a Porsche...there is no substitute.  And the sad thing is,  Mitch’s is gone.  It think someone told me it burned down and they never rebuilt it.  Tragic.
My girlfriend’s and I would make Mitch’s a destination once we all got our driver’s licenses.     Sometimes a whole group of us would get a table and munch down on their breadsticks and salad.   They had good pizza too but the highlight for me was always the salad.   Other times we would get carry out and sit outside on a hot, summer, muggy, Michigan night and happily pick around the bright red beets and inhale the rest of that salad.  It was especially near and dear to my friend Karen A’s and my heart.  More than once we sat in her car Meyer (yes, we used to name our cars) eating that salad.  It was a destination when we came home on break from college (she from Michigan State and me from Central Michigan) to get our Mitch’s Greek Salad fix, balancing the round foil container on our knees, laughing and catching  up with each other about all the crazy things that we were doing at school.   I remember feeling a wee bit jealous when our friend Meghan actually got a summer job there.  Why couldn’t I find a job with a built in perk like that? 
 
I make mental notes every time I see a Greek salad on a menu. Does the menu list beets? What about the olives? What kind are they? I insist on real Kalamata olives. I’m a bit of an olive snob now too. Should I try it? Do I risk disappointment once again?  No restaurant has ever come close.  So instead, when I am feeling the Greek salad urge and sometimes when I am feeling a bit nostalgic, I’ll get the ingredients together and make my own salad.  Minus the beets.  They just don’t taste the same as I remember when I put them in.  Give this salad a try.  It really is delicious and the beets are optional.
Greek Salad
Salad Ingredients:  (All of these quantities are flexible.  Use more or less of the ingredients you like.)
1 head of ice burg lettuce ( a mixture of Romaine and ice burg is nice too.)
3 tomatoes diced
1/2 cucumber, diced.  (I like English cucumbers when cucumbers are not in season.)
1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly.
1/4 cup of Kalamata olives (whole or sliced)
4 oz. feta cheese
Chop up the lettuce and put it on a large platter.  Top the lettuce with the tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion.  Add the feta cheese and the Kalamata Olives.   Add the dressing a few minutes before serving. 
Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. salt
a couple of shakes of ground black pepper
I usually mix my dressing up in a Pyrex measuring cup.  Start with the olive oil, add the garlic using a garlic press.  Add the juice of the lemon careful to catch any of the seeds.  Add the sugar and whisk together.  Add the oregano, salt, and pepper and whisk again till well combined.  Taste it.  If it is still too sour from the lemon juice, carefully add a bit more sugar till the sharp sour taste is gone.  I like to then put it in a Mason Jar and keep it in the refrigerator until it’s time to serve. 

It’s not the same as Mitch’s but it’s darn close and I will continue on my quest for finding it’s clone.  Something tells me I’m not going to find it down here.   Ooops!  Did I just say that?!  Well, shut my mouth!