This was a big yummy K burger. K is for our last name.
Inside is tucked a perfectly cooked tender juicy burger,fried bacon with melted jack cheese, shredded green leaf lettuce, sweet onion and tomatoes with lots of goopy Zo's special sauce.
I did get my mouth over it for the first bite but it was difficult.
Tonight we dine on Easter dinner. The rolls are raising as I type.
I am anxious to set our dining table festive for our meal. I am going to use yellow and green for the tablescape.
I wrote my son this morning and said how I wished he was here with us. If I recall he was here last year for our good meal. Momma as he calls me can usually coax him here with the promise of a good meal and leftovers to pack home.
I just put the first coat of ArmorAll on the spa cover. It looks brand new but will look even better when I apply the second coat this evening after the sun is off the deck.
We sure enjoyed our restful time on the deck yesterday late afternoon after completing our chores.There is nothing more rewarding than hard work then relaxing.
Hubby is cleaning the garage at this moment and getting his tools of the trade ready to load in the work van in the morning. He starts a big job in Pleasant Hill tomorrow.
Sounds as if the plans for a gals weekend at the Oregon Hotel in McMinnville will work out. Seems we are all available for the weekend of May 25th. The weather should be perfect for a wine tour of surrounding vineyards and just having gal fun.
Happy Easter!
These little dandelions looked so sweet yesterday on our table. I pulled them out of the garden beds.
I was not going to blog today but thought I would write a little while eating my Chobani yogurt. I love this greek yogurt.
We had a wonderful day yesterday and the day was lovely. Woke to low clouds which burned off as we drove through the Mohawk Valley. When we returned to the city for lunch the day was bright with spring sun. After returning home we spent the day on the back deck sucking up that heat and showing off our pasty white winter legs.
As we had a large lunch I made only a chilled asparagus salad with french bread.
This is a good recipe as a side dish or like we had last evening to have if you just need a little something.
Clean and break asparagus at it's breaking point. Put top portions in the steamer and steam until just tender. Plunge the steamer basket into a large bowl filled with ice and water. Let the asparagus sit in the ice water to cool. This keeps it a bright pretty green as well as stopping the cooking process.
When cooled put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
Make your favorite vinaigrette I made a lemon vinaigrette. Basically just fresh lemon juice, sugar, kosher salt, tarragon and a combination of canola and olive oil. Shake well and put in fridge. Take out of the fridge about twenty minutes before putting together the salad as the olive oil will solidify.
Boil two eggs to hard boiled.
Arrange asparagus on a small platter in a uniform manner. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and add chopped hard boiled eggs over the top. Yummy.
Tonight we are grilling burgers with the works. I will clean the deck today.
Tomorrow we will enjoy our beautiful ham.
Have a lovely Easter.
This evening we are having potato leek soup. This a easy soup to make and just a little different than the two other potato soups I make.
As hubby purchased a big bag of potatoes that were on special and I had already purchased a large bag elsewhere we are in potato world. So a nice hot bowl of soup this evening with a slice or two of buttered warm french bread sounds divine.
Here is the very simple recipe.
Potato Leek Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups of sliced leeks white and pale parts only.
1 large clove of garlic minced
1 qt. reduced sodium chicken stock
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup of half and half
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook leeks stirring often until softened about five minutes. Measure out 1/4 cup of leeks and set aside. Add garlic to the remaining leeks in the pot and cook until fragrant about two minutes. Increase heat add the chicken stock, potatoes and cook covered until the potatoes are tender about 15 minutes. Add the half and half and salt.
Cool soup and then working in batches whirl soup in the blender to puree. Reheat slowly. Divide soup among four bowls and top each with the reserved leeks.
There are variations you can make by adding fresh herbs, some flat leaf parsley or whatever you like. But this simple straight forward recipe is good.
I am going to cut this recipe in half as there is only the two of us and I do not want a lot of soup leftover.
The reason to cool the soup before blending is that hot soup can blow the top off your blender. I had it happen to me once making a mexican hot chocolate. What a mess, luckily I did not get burned.
As I had mentioned previously my daughter was to be here at this time for a three day visit. Well she was unable to come as she came down with a cold. We were both so disappointed as we had our time planned out and could not wait to start having fun. So the way it stands now is that she will come in two weekends. Made me sad.
To appease me somewhat my sweet husband took me to a late lunch yesterday as he only worked a half day. Then tomorrow I going on a country ride with him out into the beautiful Mohawk valley as he going on a bid. Then we are going to do a couple of errands and out for lunch again. Seems it is one of our fave things to do.
Then of course as I mentioned yesterday we are working in our garden space and the back deck this coming weekend and having a Easter meal.
Our weekend is shaping up nicely weather wise. Lots of bright sun, warming to 69-70 degrees. Perfect for weeding the garden area.
I will not post for a few days now so do have a lovely Easter however you are spending it.
Ciao.
Easter weekend plans.
Hubby and I will be alone as is usual. We are not into organized religion so there will be no church activities, services or gatherings. But we do enjoy a nice meal and making the occasion special. So we honor God and Jesus, the spring day, our lives, our spirituality and spend the day in a peaceful loving way. We are hoping to spend the day outdoors enjoying what nature has to offer in our back yard, which is the bird and squirrel activities.
As far as the meal we are having a spiral ham with red wine glaze, smashed potatoes with scallions and red eye gravy, fresh roasted asparagus with lemon butter and yeast rolls. Very simple but tasty.
The weekend will be one of working outdoors as the weather is to be lovely.
The deck will be set with table and chairs, the big grill will be a presence once more, pots filled with posies, and everything cleaned and neat. We will repaint the deck and the deck rails later before summer sets in.
This weekend the garden debris will be removed and the little stone path along the raised beds cleaned of weeds and dead leaves. As I work on the path hubby will tend the raised beds. This is a fun time, though it is work getting the garden cleaned out.
Then when the time is right the beds will be filled with new soil and fertilizer in preparation for planting.
We will have a full weekend. Work and play.
Today we have sun and huge whip cream clouds fighting for space in a deep blue sky. It is awesome their is no other word to describe.
Bye for now.
This is a beautiful photo of the Tuscan region in Italy. I posted this photo today as I may be off to McMinnville wine country with Bend gal pals this spring. We will stay at the McMenamins Hotel there. I have stayed there a couple times in the past with my hubby. It is a great old hotel and claims to be haunted. We did not see or hear a thing in our room but maybe the ghosts were not roaming about at that time.
My daughter will be here in two days now. I am almost ready for her visit. We were in the midst of some re-do's in our home as you know. We are now put back together. I do so dislike the house in disarray.
Yesterday my sweet husband vacuumed all the hardwood floors and then I cleaned them.
I need get out and spruce up the deck today. It is a mess from the wind we had the other day. I have not bought even one posy yet as the weather is just not warm to be enjoying the deck. I was hoping when Gina was here we could be outdoors getting some sun and soaking up the warmth of spring sun.
Tomorrow I must run for fresh ingredients for the food I am preparing.
For one evening I am preparing Chicken Picatta as it is a favorite of mine. I have not made it for my daughter. I will serve steamed asparagus along side. I know the chicken recipe by heart as we have it quite often and I did not want to be struggling with a unfamiliar recipe after sipping wine. I have done that before and lets just say that does not work out to well.
I will making a French lemon tart tomorrow that will be served with whipped cream. I have made this tart before and it is a zap for your senses. There is a lot of fresh lemon and also lemon zest.
We are hoping to do brunch one day also. I have ranchero sauce made from our fresh tomatoes last year in the freezer. So the dish will be quite easy to put together. Some from scratch re-fried beans, softened corn tortillas and soft fried eggs all topped with ranchero. For drinks we will have mimosas.
So there will be much to look forward to in the food department.
Today is to be sixty but it surely does not look that way at the present. There is blue sky scattered about but gray clouds clutter the sky also.
My husband is back on a job site today. It worked out well that he was home for a week so he could take care of his honey-do list. I kept him very busy and all looks so nice. He is a very handy fellow.
I need to close and get "my" list of to-do's done for the day.
Have a happy Monday.
This cake is a winner. Very moist and taste like fresh oranges. I am surprised it is this tasty as you know where I got the recipe? From the Cake Dr. cook book.
I never make cakes that are not from scratch. So this a semi-homemade cake. Starting with a yellow cake mix with pudding in it and then adding 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and four large eggs. Just mix all the ingredients together in the mixer till well blended creamy and thick and spread into a oil sprayed and lightly floured bundt pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. I took mine out at at 43 minutes as I did not want to over bake it and it was perfect.
Remove from oven and set on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edged and invert onto a plate and let cool completely before glazing.
Glaze.
1 cup of powered sugar and juice of one orange and zest from one orange. I use the same orange, just zest it first and then juice it. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it drizzle down the sides and into the middle.
Store the cake in a cake keeper. It can sit at room temp for a week. You can also wrap in foil and freeze it all or part of it if you like.
It is a bitter cold day here. I was to the grocery store very early this morning and the air felt like snow. Now that it is early afternoon we have a broken gray sky with bits of blue scattered about but still chilly. I want spring, this does not feel like it.
For tonight's dinner I am preparing crusted baked pork chops, oven roasted vegetables and a pear and walnut salad.
This is a lovely fresh tasting little salad.
Pear and Walnut Salad
4 servings assorted greens
2 med size pears thinly sliced
2 teaspoon lemon juice
3 teaspoon honey
1/4 toasted chopped walnuts
crumbled blue cheese.
In a 2 quart bowl toss together the assorted greens and pear slices. For dressing combine the honey and lemon juice. Pour over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles.
I love an oven meal and this will be so simple this evening. The salad will make a nice accompaniment.
I have much to do today so I will leave you now and be back here tomorrow with more earth shattering information.
This is the scene this time of year. All the plum trees have bloomed out in the past week. They have gotten a good battering from the wind and rain but they are holding up well.
The day today goes from bright to dark, from dark to bright and repeated. As I was puttering in the kitchen it was raining on the back deck and in the front it was sunny no rain. Only in Oregon!
I had good intentions of the making the orange cream cake yesterday but my daughter called just as I setting out the ingredients and we chatted for over an hour. I lost my window of time for cake baking. So as I type now it is baking in the oven. Oh, it smells divine and even the batter looked yummy,thick creamy yellow. It calls for a whole cup of fresh squeezed orange juice. Also there is one cup of fresh squeezed juice in the glaze. Mmn cannot wait.
I do not have much to chat about today. We are just having leftover chicken rice soup for dinner with leftover biscuits. So the same dinner tonight. My hubby loves that, when he likes something two nights repeated is fine with him. The soup was quite rich as the rice makes for a stoup as RR calls it. Not quite a stew and to thick for soup. So a good call on her part. Rachael is really a character.
As it is windy today I am going to leave you with this quote from Stephen King.
"The wind makes you ache in some place that is deeper than your bones. It may be that it touches something old in the human soul."
I like that. It is from his book Salem's Lot.
Later.
This was a big yummy K burger. K is for our last name.
