FRENCH ASPARAGUS TART

This is a French tart made with asparagus, flat leaf parsley, Gruyere cheese, cream, eggs and subtle spices. This is a heavenly tart. Fun to make and luscious to eat.
In truth I was proud of the finished product as it does take a while when the crust and all is made from scratch. 
This is what I did.
Make your favorite pie crust for a single crust. Make a ball and flatten into a disc warp in plastic wrap and set in the fridge for at least a half hour longer is better.
Then roll out and lay and press into a tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust at the edge of the tart pan.


Asparagus Tart
1 pound fresh asparagus cleaned and trimmed 
2/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese divided
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley minced
4 eggs lightly beaten
3/4 cup half and half cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Paprika for sprinkling on top
Cut two inches off the top of each piece of asparagus set aside
Cut stem pieces into 3/4 inch long pieces. In small saucepan add the 3/4 length pieces and cover and boil for four minutes. Drain and immediately drop in to ice water let sit a few minutes and then drain and pat dry.
Place the blanched asparagus pieces in the bottom of the tart shell then add 1/3 cup of the cheese and the parsley. In a small bowl combine the eggs, cream, salt, cayenne and nutmeg and pour over the ingredients in the tart shell. Arrange asparagus tops in a pretty pattern over the egg mixture and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and paprika.
Place the tart pan on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes  remove the tart ring and slice.
Bon appetit!!
I served this with a romaine lettuce salad with sliced radishes, grilled corn cut from the cob and sliced sweet onion . Italian dressing to the side with Parmesan shredded cheese and home made garlic Parmesan croutons. 
For desert I made a rustic apple pie with a butterscotch drizzle and a topping of whip cream.
It was a beautiful tasty meal. 
I set the table in a multicolored motif. With colorful patchwork place mats(courtesy of my Mom) and bright red napkins. All looked very festive. We dined while listening to French Cafe music. After dinner we watched a beautiful travel film about the French Rivera.  We had a nice evening with hubby's mother and she truly enjoyed the food and ambiance. 


Now today it is a work day for both hubby and I.
I am cleaning this house from top to bottom. I will also make out the weekly grocery shopping list and menu. With my daughter arriving on Friday and spending three nights I would like to serve some simple food that is not to time consuming to make.
For dinner Friday evening as hubby will work late I will make a polenta, sausage casserole with peppers and onions and the last of our homemade tomato sauce. A simple satisfying meal that I can pop into the oven when hubby walks through the door. As all ingredients are precooked all just needs to meld together and heat through. My daughter and I will have a Saturday late lunch  at PF Changs so hubby will have leftovers, he does not mind. Sunday the menu will be blue cheese stuffed burgers with the works and baked potato salad. Hopefully the weather will be decent so we can eat outdoors at the patio table.  So easy fare with basically no kitchen time so more time for us to play!


Well I had best start my day. I will get my walk out of the way first thing. We have coastal clouds this morning but I can see already they are growing thin and giving way to sunshine. I am a happy gal!
Later.

BROOKE NICOLE LARSEN

Here is Brooke in a senior photo. She is just as sweet as she is pretty.
She gave hubby and I big hugs at her graduation party Sunday and told us she loves us both so much and is so happy we are part of her life! 
Brooke will be acting in different venues around the city from time to time. We will try to attend as many as possible. We enjoy going to the little theater venues in Eugene of which there are many. We will also see her time to time at family gatherings. Brooke will have an amazing life as she is quite mature for her years and has always made good choices. So Congratulations Brooke on your high school graduation.


We woke to rain still coming down this morning early. Also heard it pounding on the roof throughout the night. Our garden is certainly getting a soaking which is does not need. Tomatoes like dry feet as they say so surely all the wet is not to their liking.


Today I must run to the farm for veggies for a asparagus tart and green salad I want everything as fresh as possible. We are having my Mother in law for dinner this evening. She is here in Eugene from Bend for the week. She always enjoys my meals as I usually try to make something I think she would love or not make for herself. I am making a apple rustic pie for desert with vanilla bean ice cream. Now hubby loves that desert.


My house really needs a sorting out this morning we let things get a bit messy over the weekend it seems. 


Hubby starts a big job tomorrow and then has no breaks for two weeks. We are so happy for this work but these long stretches make him so very tired.


My daughter is arriving on Friday and will be here for three nights. Makes me so very happy to have this time with her. We are silly together, and chat non-stop we will eat good food and sip nice wine and have our belated birthday gift ex-change. Let the good times roll!


Well I must make haste today and get to my to-do's.
I do wish the sun was out today all is so dark and gloomy. Well it is what it is.
Hope the sun shines on you today.
Bye for now.

GRILLED BEER CAN CHICKEN

I know I have posted a photo of  beer can chicken before but just could not resist. It is so much fun to make and it smells incredible while it is roasting  on the grill. This time was even more amazing as we put a pan of hickory chips in the bottom of the grill. The chicken came out with a crispy skin as you can see and the meat was tender, juicy and smokey. It was the best tasting one we have ever made.
Tonight with the leftovers I am making chicken chili chingalinga's. 
What I do is pull the chicken off the bones and put in a large bowl, to the bowl I will add diced green chili's, onions that I have sauteed in a little butter, red chili flakes to taste salt and pepper and green taco sauce and mix all together.
Then you heat flour tortillas and spoon the mixture on the tortilla and roll and fold to close. I put a toothpick in to hold all in place. Then you drop into hot oil and fry till golden brown. After putting them on a plate you add chopped ice berg lettuce and tomatoes and onions over the top. Then top with cheese and salsa and serve guacamole and sour cream to the side for dipping. You can serve these whole it you like but I like to cut them into thirds or quarters depending how large of tortillas you use. This is my own recipe and we have been making these yummy little guys for years with leftover roasted chicken or roast pork.


We got caught in a hard rain shower this afternoon. We were surprised that this happened today. We were at a graduation party this afternoon and sitting outdoors in this beautiful garden area eating.  A few rain drops started and we noticed a dark line of clouds approaching from the west. It continued to get darker and then the storm let go and hard rain started in earnest. We ran for shelter as the rain spattered down upon us. My thin cotton shirt was just sopped. I was not the only one so at least I did not stand out from the crowd.
Now that we are home the sky seems to be lightening up again so it was just a short event at the wrong time.
Tomorrow I post some photo's of Brooke. Her graduation last night was lovely and she sang like a angel. What a adorable talented gal she is. Today the grad celebration with her friends was lovely.


Well I must call my brother now as I promised I would call this afternoon late.
He has been at the lake camping and is leaving Tuesday morning to another area to boat and camp with his son. He does so well considering he is not a young man any longer. But he stays fit and does what he enjoys. Life is to enjoyed!


Till tomorrow have a lovely Sunday evening.

SOUTHWEST TURKEY BURGER

This was really a good burger. I could barely get my mouth around it but I must have managed as a short while later my plate was clean. I do not usually eat a whole burger of any kind. But I was hungry last night as I had not eaten anything since my breakfast sandwich other than a snack of  a couple wheat crackers and a piece of string cheese.
We had great day outdoors yesterday. We did what was needed in the garden then hubby made a pitcher of his special tequila sunrises and we sat in our garden area under a patio umbrella to keep our frozen drinks from melting. It was festive back there with the fence art and brightly stripped umbrella. It gets so hot there no wonder our garden does well. We later sat on the deck in the shade of a tree and we were so thankful that lawnmower man was not indulging his passion.


We are looking forward to this afternoon and evening. As I mentioned we are attending our niece Brooke's high school graduation at the Hult Center. It is always such a pleasure to go to the Hult Center for the performing Arts. It is a grand facility. We will meet up with hubby's family in the lobby before the event starts. We are going down town a couple of hours earlier to have a nice dinner and stroll around the 5th st Market area. We love doing that. However we have not decided what we are in the mood to have for dinner. There are quite a few eateries in this area so we just need decide what our mouths are watering for.


Hubby starts a large job on Tuesday and will be tied up with that job for over a week. My daughter Gina is coming for a visit on Friday and will spend three nights. We have plans made of course as I am a planner. I do not like to leave things to chance like...........where should we go, what will we do, where will we have lunch etc. I like plans as we want to make every moment count. I know we will eat at PF Changs for one lunch. We both love to sit in their classy bar and have the chicken lettuce wraps for an appetizer. I love their lo mien and always tend to get that however their rice and noodle bowls are wonderful too. We are going to walk in the park one day along the river. Eugene is known for it's bike and walking paths. They are everywhere and go everywhere but the ones along the Willamette river are the prettiest especially this time of year when all is velvet green. I will fix us a meal here one night and we will dine on the patio weather permitting. I am going to try something new as I have hundreds of recipes just begging to be made. There are just not enough days in the week to make all I want to make.


We have the same ol gray blanket of low clouds this morning. However it is suppose to lift to expose sunny skies for the afternoon. At least there are no showers.


We slept in till eight this morning which was nice as we have been up so early every morning. I made us fluffy scrambled eggs with onions, fresh spinach and grated Parmesan cheese for breakfast we also had slices of nine grain toast. I was good and sprinkled on flax seed meal on my slice. You do not taste anything different except perhaps a slight nutty flavor, so our breakfast should hold us until we have our early dinner downtown.


I must get out the door now for my daily walk. I do not feel like walking this morning but I will go as I must.
Till tomorrow.

ZO'S HEALTHY BREAKFAST SAMMIE

Nummy, nummy for your tummy and health too.
This is my own little breakfast creation.
One slice of your choice whole grain bread toasted.
Peanut butter
1/2 half banana sliced. Just eat the other half while making your sandwich.
1 teaspoon of flax seed meal
a drizzle of honey

Make the toast and cut in half.
Smear peanut butter on both insides
Sprinkle the flax seed meal over the peanut butter.
Add the sliced banana and drizzle with honey.
Put cut sides together and press. The bananas have a tendency to slip a bit while taking bites. It is not easiest sammie to eat but it is a grand way to start your day!

I went walking really early this morning as hubby was up early and out the door. I walked for forty minutes at a brisk pace. Today the sky is summer blue with pale cotton clouds adrift here and there. The air is warm and it is to be 77 degrees.
I also have made a trip to the farm this morning for a few more flowers, herbs, lettuce and pepper plants. I bought five pepper plants a red cherry bomb a yellow Hungarian wax pepper and two jalenpeno's and one serano. Hubby loves growing peppers it is fun for him and eats them hot or not.
We will work in the garden this afternoon. He will plant and I will get all fertilized it is time again. I am also going to hang my garden fence decor. I have been reluctant to do so because of the weather but now we are to have ten shower free days. FINALLY!
I will also put a festive table cloth on the patio table set up the umbrella and put the patio chair cushions on. I have waited for this day for a long time it seems. I love setting up the deck and making it summer ready.

This evening we are grilling southwest turkey burgers on seeded buns. I like to loosen the turkey up a bit as turkey is so dense. So I normally add a egg and a few bread crumbs and seasonings. When the burgers are medium I will lay on each patty a whole green canned chili pepper on top of that two slices of  cheese one white American and one pepper jack and close the grill lid till the peppers are hot and the cheese is melted.
We always grill our buns to the side while the meat is cooking. Neither hubby nor I care for cold buns. I drizzle them with olive oil and they slowly heat and brown. I will put out lettuce, tomatoes and sweet onion slices to go on the burgers. I love making my simple little sauce for burgers of any kind. A dab of mayo a squirt of ketchup, a squeeze of mustard and a dab of horseradish and onion and garlic powder and black pepper.  There you have all the condiments you would want all mixed together. Easy. I am just serving the burgers with home made pickles and kettle chips the burgers are big and filling.

I hope we can eat outdoors. I say this because it has nothing to do with the weather which will be lovely this evening but it has everything to do with lawn mower man that lives behind our house . His yard is right behind our high row of shrubs. This man mows every two days and goes over his lawn three times. Yes you heard me right, three times. The usual length of time he mows is one hour and twenty minutes. He mows his front and side yards first then the back yard then on alternate days he mows his rental next door. He has the loudest lawn mower we have ever heard. It is just disheartening peparing to eat or grill or just be out on your deck enjoying life when he starts this marathon. His mowing has been a thorn in our side since moving to this house. Does he not think? Is he so bored with his life that all he dreams of is to mow his lawn?  Does he hate his wife? Does he it do it to irritate all the neighbors? Or is the guy just an IDIOT?  So we are holding good thoughts that tonight there will not be a mowing event.

Well I must get going on my outdoor chores and I cannot wait I am so excited to make summer happen on our deck.
I hope your day is lovely as well wherever you are.
Ciao

NEICE SARAH'S SUMMER HOME

How would like to spend a summer here in Vicenza? I know I surely would. What a fortunate girl young Sarah is. I suppose you all know if you click on the photo's they will come up larger.
I am still waiting to receive an e-mail from Sarah but her parents have communicated with her so they know she made the trip without mishap and is settling in. In fact she has already been doing a little sight seeing. Yesterday she was at a popular beach enjoying time with other student teachers. Way to go Sarah!

Today is Tuesday even though I started this blog yesterday.
I went grocery shopping early this morning so the weeks menu is set. I tried to not spend to much but what to do when the freezer goods are lacking and the pantry is sparse? It seems all at once we needed lots!

When I watered the garden yesterday I noticed that the lettuce has holes in the leaves. Must be bugs of some sort. Darn. So I will look up online what needs to be done to discourage them. Of course as I mentioned the cucumbers are gone so I have purchased yet more plants to be set in the ground tomorrow. Truthfully if these do not take I think we will give up on them. They are hubbies fave to grow as he loves to make his Mother's cucumber salad, he practicably lives on that salad in the summer time. I am not really a fan as it has sour cream in it and is just not to my liking. I prefer just to slice my cucumbers in spears and give them a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper and munch away. I also like thin sliced cucumbers in sandwiches with butter, salt and pepper. How strange it that? Sounds like an English sandwich.

I am going to make a rustic apple pie this week. It will be a nice addition to our beer can chicken dinner on Saturday. I will get some vanilla frozen yogurt to go with. A rustic apple pie is nothing more than the regular pie you would make except you use only one crust. You make the filling the same just a lesser amount then heap the apple filling on one large pie crust and fold the edges up over the pie overlapping the dough as you go. This leaves a opening in the middle without crust. When it bakes it is pretty as you see the open center with all the juicy apples sprinkled with cinnamon and the crust is browned and sticky from all juice. I cannot wait, once again not what I need but what will a small piece hurt?
This actually brings back a memory. When I was newly married at eighteen I went to my sister in laws for morning coffee and she gave me some rhubarb to make a pie. I was not a working wife at that time and I was learning to be a homemaker and more importantly a cook. While my husband was at work I looked at the Betty Crocker cookbook and decided to make a rhubarb cream pie. You chop up the rhubarb put it in the pie shell and pour a filling made of eggs, sugar and nutmeg etc over the top and then place the top crust on. Well I absolutely amazed myself. The pie came out of the oven a perfect pie in every way. I let it cool and later I thought I would try a small piece. I cut a piece and I could not believe how wonderful that pie taste. A while later I cut another little piece, later still another piece and on and on it went. Then I realized with a shock that about two thirds of the pie was gone. I was now in a fix as I did not want my husband to know I had eaten so much pie. So I just grabbed a spoon and finished it off, washed the pie plate and put it back in the cupboard. I never said a word about the pie. That following weekend we were with family and my sister in law asked me how the pie turned out. My husband said, what pie? I started to lie and say I never made a pie but then what would I have done with the rhubarb? So I confessed the truth. I was so embarrassed and felt like a pie pig. They always laughed about that story long after the fact. But truthfully my husband was irritated by the whole thing as he liked rhubarb pie. A day or two after I confessed he came home with another bag of rhubarb and I had to make another pie for him. You know it all most made me sick to smell it baking. If I recall I did not even have a piece of that pie. I did continue to make that pie often though as it became a family favorite even the kids loved it. I learned to enjoy a small piece every now and then. That actually was the second whole pie I have eaten. The first one was a lemon pie that my Mother had made. It was on the counter when I came home from school, she was not home and I started taking slices and the same thing happened. However she knew I ate the whole thing! What was wrong with me?

Friday evening we will be attending our niece Brooke's high school graduation. This is the niece that has so much talent. She sings, plays the oboe, acts, dances. Well you just name it she can do it and do it well. She has loved performing since she was three years old. Her graduation will be held at the Hult Center our venue for the performing arts here in Eugene. It is a wonderful facility and the acoustics are incredible. It will not be the normal graduation ceremony. There will be speeches of course but also entertainment. Brooke is singing two songs. We have no idea how long it will last as it is a large high school, So we will be venturing out for the evening which is something we never do, I hope we can stay awake if it goes past ten we may be snoozing in our seats!

Well it certainly has been a busy day and still I must get dinner prep going. Tonight we are having a big salad, and flat iron steak I will make the steak in my iron skillet. Simple and satisfying. For the price of those steaks they are wonderfully flavorful and juicy. Make sure you let them sit ten minutes under foil before slicing, I like to add a pat or two of butter it melts down over the meat.

Do have a nice evening wherever you are. It is mild here the doors are open and  the air smells of fresh cut grass and the wind chimes are tinkling in the breeze. I took my Claritan tab this morning so all should be fine with the grasses and tree pollen.
Till later.

ZO'S LITTLE ADVENTURE

Family, friends, food and one big dog! 
I still feel tired from driving, seriously. I suppose the older you get the harder it is on you. On the interstate you have to be constantly aware. It is always so busy it seems.
I went to my brothers first in Kalama WA. What a sweet man he is. He always has a bottle of my favorite wine sitting on the table. His bar is loaded with healthy snacks and breakfast things I like. This time he even had a bottle of Bailey's cream for me to add to my coffee.
He took me out to lunch to the little Chinese restaurant there in his little berg. The food is good as long as you stay away from the deep fried items. We both had vegetable lo mien and fried rice with bbq'd pork. Nummy. Of course it is enough to eat on for three days. The very first time we went there a few years ago we did a silly thing and ordered off the dinner menu. When the food arrived and they set that big platter of piled high food in front of me Jack said all he could see was the top of my head. He still talks about that it must have been quite something.
Later we sat on the his big deck and watched the sun go down. The weather was mild and nice. The photo's I posted are pictures I took from the deck. 
Brother has a huge fir tree in front of his second story deck. This tree sparks many a conversation as to whether it should be removed or limbed or left alone. If the tree were not there he would have a lovely view of the river. The way it is now it is a peekaboo view. However the tree gives him shade in summer and gives privacy throughout the year. So we always have the discussion.


This little trip also gave me the opportunity to have a lovely visit with my long time friend Judy.
It was so wonderful seeing her and chatting for a hour or so. It has been way to long since our last visit. Although we communicate via the e-mail it is so nice to be in each others company.
She is still as she always was. Sweet, cute and bubbly. I fear I talked too much I hope I let her say a few things!
I wish I could say our lunch was lovely as well. Sorry I cannot lie it was not good. This is an establishment that I have been going to for over thirty years when I visit that area. They have been known for their halibut fish and chips for as long as I can remember. It was always good though the beer batter at times would be a little to thick but that was overlooked as the fish inside was a big tender juicy mouthful cooked to perfection. Well sadly that has not been the case the past two times I have eaten there. I was served two rather small pieces of fish with greasy limp crust which I peeled off with my fork. Inside was overcooked mealy bland tasting halibut. I was hungry so I dipped the crustless pieces into the tarter sauce and ate them but it was disappointing to say the least. I will not eat there again. The good company however certainly made up for the meal.


Then the end of my little adventure was spent at my son's home out in the country behind Oregon City across the road from his house the Clackamas river flows.
He was anxious for my arrival and I got there early so we would have as much time as possible. We sat in chairs in the front yard in the sun and chatted and caught up.  I then went into the back yard to play with his big dog Bruin. Oh how that dogs loves me. I am his Grandma of course!  When I first got there I went into the house and my son and I were talking and Bruin heard us. He started whimpering, wanting to see me. I went into the bathroom, the window was open  and there he was below the window talking to me. Too cute!
He loves for me to brush him. He just sprawls on his back and moans. My son says Mom you are turning into a dog lover but I am not believe me. It is just that this dog grabbed my heart when I first saw him. A tiny black furry ball with the cutest little face and he just loved me. So I guess a bond was formed. 
So the entire day was spent in the sun and warmth on a summer like day. How heavenly is that? Later in the early evening my son started the briquettes and he made very delicious turkey burgers with the works. We were hungry and we were humming.
I felt sad the next morning leaving. Bru was behind the chain link fence. He had watched us load my car and he started the whimpering again. He was sad. When Mike called me later after I arrived home he said he went out to the patio after I left and Bruin was just laying there seemingly depressed he would not get up. Odd how they are isn't it?
The drive home only two hours door step to door step but it felt like I had been gone a long time as I was tried. No matter how I love to go it is wonderful to get home.
Hubby had the lawns mowed and all was weeded and he was cleaning and hosing the deck when I arrived. All I did was eat, shower and crash. He even had dinner partially made.


So that was my little adventure. 


We are having beer can chicken this weekend. I will post photo's of that however I have blogged about beer can chicken previously. We love it and it is an event when we make it so we like to make it frequently as well as under the brick grilled chicken. I think I will pick up some corn on the cob and grill that also with lime butter and make a big salad of greens with a simple dressing. I am craving greens.


Have a nice Monday.