Holiday Scents You Can Create On Your Stove....

I personally follow the blog, "A Beautiful Mess", and I think you might enjoy it, too.   Written by two sisters, Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, it is really a (homemade) lifestyle blog for many things and there are great ideas for food and cooking.  This popped up in my feed this morning and I wanted to share because I am very-much planning to use these ideas over the holiday season.  I love natural scents:  things that have absolutely no whiff of being packaged with preservatives.  Nothing is more revolting to me than the "smack you in your face" scent of fake cinnamon that hits you when you enter certain craft stores during this season.  Enough already!  It is a tradition to create clove-studded lemons to place in bowls around the house.  These natural scents flow nicely with that idea.
Read on....

SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY: NOVEMBER MESSY BOXTILED COUNTERTOP DIY (NO SAW REQUIRED!)

3 STOVE SIMMERS TO MAKE YOUR HOME SMELL LIKE THE HOLIDAYS!NOVEMBER 16, 2015ELSIE LARSON

AUTHOR: ELSIE LARSON CELEBRATE FAVORITES HAPPY HOLIDAYS THANKSGIVING

You guys know I have a deep and abiding love for all things cozy. I have shared my go-to stove simmer recipe in the past but wanted to branch out and try some new recipes this year.

If you've never used a stove simmer, here are the basics! You fill pot with water and some ingredients that will create a lovely smell, then you leave it simmering on low heat and your home will fill with the scent. It's natural and smells stronger than any candle I've ever used. You can use it for a couple days (refilling the water as it get low) and it will keep working, although it gets REAL ugly by the end. If you've never tried it, I insist you must!

Recipe 1- Bay leaves, lemon slices, lime slices, 2 cinnamon sticks and some cloves in half a lemon. 

This simmer is light and fresh. I made is specifically for those of you who don't love the heavy spice scent (which I do love!). After an hour of burning, it wasn't quite strong enough for me. So I added a few sprigs of eucalyptus and an extra cinnamon stick and you could smell the light fragrance throughout all our living areas. So fresh and clean! 

Recipe 2- One orange halved with cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, fresh cranberries and lemon peels.

This one smells like apple cider (but better) and every person who walks into your home will ask you what you're baking! 

Recipe 3- Pine cones, apples and cinnamon. 

This one is perfect for fall! It smells like you're baking an apple pie in EVERY room of your home. So good! 

Let me know which ones you guys love! I wish I had a scratch & sniff feature here on the blog so you could test them out. :) xx- Elsie 

Note: Be sure to use only natural ingredients without dyes or artificial scents.

Credits// Author and Photography: Elsie Larson. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess Actions. 

"Love and Lemons": a fun new food blog discovery!

I am eating almost exclusively plant-based these days and therefore am frequently trolling the internet for inspiration.  This will be a helpful resource for me since I live right "down the road" from Austin in San Antonio.  That means that she will be cooking with the same things that are fresh for me.

I found this post today and loved the blog so much I decided to share it.  Please stop over to the Love and Lemons website to check out all the great recipes she creates using fresh food.

This recipe really grabbed my attention.  I love that it can be adjusted in a variety of ways, vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore:

VEGGIE TACOS WITH AVOCADO-TOMATILLO SALSA

GLUTEN FREE / VEGAN-OPTION

I know – another taco recipe already? Well, I like tacos. I’m sure you do too because you are here after all. In all honesty, these were originally going to become enchiladas until I stopped short. Which is why they’re in a baking pan. Plus, it was a convenient way to get floppy tacos to stand up for the photo.

The plan was to make something similar to this creamy poblano enchilada sauce, but using avocados, pepitas, spinach and tomatillo salsa instead. The end result? I couldn’t stop eating this awesome sauce straight from the food processor with a spoon.

It’s so fresh and bright and I knew I’d wreck it if I tried to cook it. So taco night it was – with extra green sauce on the side.

I roasted patty pan squash, eggplant, a red pepper, and cherry tomatoes. But you can roast whatever vegetables you have – anything goes. If you’re craving fall foods, roasted sweet potatoes would be delicious here instead. I stuffed my tacos with black beans and topped them with serrano slices and a little cotija cheese. Skip the cheese if you’re vegan, (it’s not all that necessary).

This taco recipe serves about two with lots of extra sauce – double your taco count to serve four. Or save the leftover sauce and eat it yourself the next day.

Kale Pesto Stuffed Squash Blossoms

If you have never prepared squash blossoms you are in for a wonderful treat.  I adore them!  I have prepared them a variety of ways including simply dredging them in egg, then cornmeal, and quick-frying them.  I love to stuff them with goat cheese or ricotta blended with freshly-chopped parsley and a bit of sea salt.  You just can't go wrong with them.
Now that I'm eating mostly plant-based food I am experimenting with all these different food combos and it is pretty exciting.  When I stumbled on this recipe I just had to bring it over to our blog.  I can't encourage you enough to go over to the "What's Cooking Good Looking" blog and check out all Jodi's other posts.  Lovely food and photography awaits you!

kale pesto + rice stuffed zucchini blossoms with a herbed cashew cream

My mom would go nuts over squash blossoms. I think that we grew zucchini in our little garden when I was growning up, just so that we could make stuffed zucchini flowers all (mid)summer long. And as an adult, when my mom would come visit me in the summertime, she would always bring a basket full of blossoms for us to stuff and fry  .... her favorite activity and her favorite way to eat them. 

Every time I see a squash blossom, it reminds me of my mom.  One time I remember going out to dinner with her, she was so excited that they had zucchini blossoms on the menu that she ordered the stuffed zucchini blossom appetizer as both her starter AND her  main course. She loved them that much. You can tell where my love and enthusiasm for vegetables, especially the special ones, comes from. 

My FAVORITE delicacy of summer are squash blossoms. For me, squash blossoms are to summer what ramps are to spring. You will never find them out of season because they are delicate and  highly perishable. You cannot freeze a squash blossom, and thankfully there are no gmo-versions that make them last a million years on a shelf. You use them right away or you lose them. And once the zucchini peaks, the squash blossoms are no more (and a big sad face because we are on the other side of summer .... the side that makes me scared that the weather will be cooler soon). 

Recently I posted a pic on my instagram of some squash blossoms and asked you what to make. I got lots and lots of "stuff them with cheese and fry them", which is undoubtedly delicious. But, this time around, I was looking for something different. A little healthier, but something that would still be just as delicious and something that still felt like an indulgent treat.  A lovely person suggested stuffing them with rice, which is how they are typically prepared in Greece.............Yes. That was it. Some rice, some pesto, bake them in the oven. Done and delicious ..... my new favorite squash blossom preparation. 

kale pesto + rice stuffed zucchini blossoms with a herbed cashew cream

This recipe might make a little extra pesto and/or rice, but that is hardly a bad thing. I used the extras in a salad for lunch but you can also save them for when you find or harvest more blossoms. Also, I made this cashew cream unintentionally without a recipe ... and didn't realize how good it would go with these blossoms, but they were delicious together.  I found a recipe that was very close to what I made ----> HERE. 

MAKES
10-12 blossoms

INGREDIENTS

for the kale pesto:
1 bunch / 10 leaves / about 3 cups of kale, ribs removed + chopped
¼ cup of pine nuts, toasted
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ - ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil 

for the rice:
½ cup of cooked white or brown jasmine rice

10-12 zucchini blossoms, pistol removed

olive oil, salt, pepper
(opional) - bread crumbs for sprinkling

METHOD

Cook the rice + make the pesto:

• Cook the rice according to your personal method, or instruction on the package. 
• For the pesto, start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath and have it waiting next to the boiling water. Add the kale to the boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the kale from the boiling water and add it to the ice bath. Leave it in the ice bath for 1-2 minutes, then strain and squeeze the kale to get rid of any excess moisture. 
• Place all of the ingredients for the pesto, except for the olive oil in a food processor and pulse a few times until everything is chopped. Then add in the olive oil in a slow stream until it is emulsified. 
• Add a couple of spoonfuls of the pesto to the cooked rice, and stir to combine. Taste and feel free to add as much or as little pesto as you like to the rice. When your rice has the amount of pesto that you like, store any unused pesto (if there is any) in an air-tight container in the fridge for another use. 

Prepare + stuff + bake the blossoms:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350º.
• Be sure you've removed the pistol by reaching inside the blossom and snapping it off. 
• Gently spread open the petals. Then, using a small teaspoon, take a spoonful of the rice and carefully stuff the blossom. Twist the tops so they stay closed and lay the stuffed blossom onto a baking sheet. Do this until all of your blossoms are stuffed. You might have extra rice which you can enjoy on it's own, or save to stuff more blossoms with. 
• Brush the tops of the blossoms with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the bread crumbs (if you're using). 
• Bake for about 10 minutes, and enjoy immediately. 

Moussaka

I have been doing some experimental cooking since the holidays using eggplants and some other less commonly used (for me) ingredients.  I got a one pound package of ground goat (!) at the farmer's market a couple weeks ago and decided it might be good as part of a moussaka casserole.  I haven't made moussaka in decades.  When looking online for ideas for using the ground goat, moussaka was recommended.  I spotted a Bobby Flay recipe for moussaka and was inspired by his recipe but took quite a number of liberties based on the ingredients I had available.  Here is a link to his recipe.  

First, some of these things can be assembled in advance. I would recommend mixing the cheese ingredients (except for the Manchego) in advance and refrigerate.  Also, I think you could cook the ground meat mixture in advance and refrigerate (or even freeze!) until the actual assembly of the dish.  There are a lot of ingredients, so be sure to look over the list before you dive in (unlike me).  

A note about spices:  if you haven't updated your spice shelf in a while, do it!  It makes all the difference.  I pulled out a container of ground allspice and opened it.  I couldn't even smell the spice.  Then I opened a package of whole allspice and ground them in my spice grinder.  Oh my goodness.  Night and day. It is worth updating them every 6 months.  You won't believe the difference it makes in the quality of your cooking.

Moussaka

One pount ground lamb, beef goat, or pork (or a combo)

Olive oil

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp ground cardamom (optional)

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ onion thinly sliced

1 red pepper, chopped

5 garlic cloves finely minced

1 cup red wine

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

salt

1 eggplant, peeled & cut crosswise into ¼ inch slices and brushed with olive oil.

ricotta or similar cheese, about one cup

goat cheese, about 1/2 cup or use what you have..

fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley to taste and appearance

¼ cup pesto

2 or 3 egg yolks

1 cup of semi hard cheese such as manchego, or similar.

Combine the ricotta, goat cheese, chopped parsley, pesto, and egg yolks and set aside. 

Sautee the ground meat(s) in a pan with the various spices and salt. Remove from the pan and allow the juices to drip into a bowl.  Discard juices.

Add a bit more olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent.  Add garlic and continue cooking for one minute.  Add meat back into the pan, and add the wine and the tomato paste.  Cook until most of the fluid is evaporated.  Remove from pan into a bowl and cool.

In a skillet heated to medium-high add a bit more olive oil and sautee the  eggplant slices until golden brown on each side.  Remove to a paper towel to drain and allow to cool.

Coat the inside of a casserole with olive oil.  Layer half of the eggplant slices, then half of the meat mixture, then half of the cheese mixture.

Scatter half of the lemon zest over the top.  Repeat.

On the surface scatter the grated cheese.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Eggplant slices are brushed with olive oil before browning in a skillet.

Here the meat is being mixed with the sautéed onions and garlic.

First layer of sautéed eggplant going into the casserole dish.

First meat layer.

Then the cheese-egg layer.

More eggplant and I put half of the lemon zest over it (because I forgot to do it on the cheese layer!)

Spreading the final cheese-egg layer

Now sprinkling the layer of Manchego cheese on the top.

I served it with a tossed green salad. 

It was delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised about the ground goat:  it was really good.

I think ground lamb or beef would have been very tasty in this dish, too.

Steve's World Famous Spaghetti Recipe

My husband, Steve, makes the best spaghetti, so I thought I would share his famous recipe with all of our readers.  It's a double batch.  He's made it for our family, friends, big dinner parties, and everyone loves it.  Enjoy!

STEVE’S WORLD FAMOUS DOUBLE SPAGHETTI RECIPE

4 Lawry’s Dry Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning Packets

2- 4 oz. cans of Tomato Paste

2 – 14.5 oz. cans Diced Stewed Tomatoes

1 Red or Orange Bell Pepper

2 sweet onions, diced

2 boxes of mushrooms or more

1-1/2 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage and 1-1/2 lb hamburger meat

Put water in large pot or Dutch oven at low heat.  Stir in the 3 packets of dry seasoning until dissolved (ignore the directions on the seasoning package).  Stir in the 2 cans of tomato paste until dissolved. 

Pour the 2 cans of stewed tomatoes and stir.  Stir in the sugar, and start with ½ T, tasting the sauce as you go.  Dice the bell peppers and onions, slice the mushrooms and peel the garlic.

Put enough oil in a frying pan to coat the bottom on medium heat.  Add the bell peppers and sauté until they are translucent.  Throw into the sauce pot and stir.

Add some olive oil and butter to the frying plan.  Sauté the onions until translucent, stirring to make sure that they don’t get over cooked.  Garlic.  I use a garlic press, but you can finely chop them.  Add the garlic to the pan in the last few minutes from the onions being done, otherwise the garlic burns.  Stir to blend in with the onions, and then add the onions and garlic to the sauce pot.  Butter the frying pan, and sauté the mushrooms, and then add to the sauce pot.  TASTE THE SAUCE.

Brown the ground beef (I salt and pepper it).  Good meat stays in ¼ inch clumps.  Drain off the oil, and add the meat to the sauce pot.

Cut the casing off the sausage and tear the sausage into ¼ inch clumps.  Brown and add to the sauce pot.

Note:  Sometimes when I made this, 3 packets of Lawry’s spices works perfectly.   However, the last time

I made this, in tasting the sauce, I got a sharp tomato taste when I tasted it before I put the meat and sausage in.  I ended up adding almost a fourth package of Lawry’s Seasoning, more than a tablespoon of oregano and almost another tablespoon of sugar.  The sugar cuts the acid taste in the tomatoes, but you want to be careful so that it is not too sweet.  Getting to the right flavor is somewhat of an adjust as you go.  A little bit of Italian seasoning doesn’t hurt, but the sauce does not have to taste perfect before the meat goes in, because the meat and sausage increase the taste, so final adjustments should be made after all of the ingredients are in the spaghetti.  I have also added some parmessan cheese in the past to mellow the flavor.  

You can make the spaghetti sauce the day of your dinner, but you can also make it the day before because letting it sit overnight in the refrigerator actually improves the flavor.

If there is a reddish oil on top of the sauce, spoon it off and get rid of it.  TASTE THE SAUCE.

Note:  Variations: You can make veggie spaghetti by just adding chopped zucchini and more, and different mushrooms, instead of meat.  

Freezing:  I always make a double recipe so I can freeze the rest.  I put enough for two in freezer containers (usually 3 or 4).  It freezes with no problem for up to six months.

8 cloves of garlic

4 – 4-1/2 cups water

Olive Oil

Butter
Salt, Pepper

Dry Oregano, Bay Leaf, if you want

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Up to 1 Tablespoon of sugar