What I'm Dying to Make From My Pinterest Boards

Pinterest is one of my favorite things ever. I pin recipes like crazy, and actually do end up making a quite a few things from my boards. Here are some of my pins I'm loving lately.

Preserving Herbs in Olive Oil and Freezing- Genius.


Dairy Free Strawberry Lime Ice Cream (paleo)- Isn't this the prettiest color you've ever seen? Plus ice cream that good for you? I'm in.


Roasted Veggie and Black Bean Burritos- I'll probably be making these for lunch soon.


Easy Pad Thai- No strange ingredients required.


Mini Cannoli Cups- Drool. I want these, like, now


Two Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookies- Carrot cake mix and canned pumpkin. Good for the kiddies.


Baked Egg Rolls- These look easy, and I'm a sucker for Chinese food.


Green Gazpacho- Health in a bowl. I can't wait to try this one.


Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive oil and Crushed Red Pepper- This is a no-cook meal. Easy, easy, easy.


Black Bean Tacos- This might make its way onto my menu for next week.


Coconut Panna Cotta with Vanilla Syrup and Figs- dairy free, gluten free and delicious.


Cinnamon Water- This just sounds interesting


Adult Capri Sun's- Bag-O-Vodka Lemonade- And this one sounds too fun. Presentation is everything.


If you like these ideas too, make sure to visit my Pinterest boards and follow the ones you are most interested in.

Homemade Shortcut Twinkies and My Dad

My dad has been visiting us this past week. I know what you're thinking...Have we ever been without company this summer?!

Oh, wait, maybe I was just thinking that.

Anyway, It's been busy, but my dad has officially capped us off and is our last guest of the summer.

He flew in to the airport 25 minutes from our house at 10:41pm on a Monday night, so it was super convenient for us to go and pick him up (insert sarcasm here). We also missed his flight on the way home so he stayed an extra day while I coordinated his next flight home. That was fun. (insert more sarcasm here)

He also came with two additional tattoos. He has had a tattoo of Isabella's name (his first granddaughter) on his forearm. He was very proper and got her full name.

Isabella Victoria Burgos.

Then, I got married to Jeremy, who legally adopted Isabella and both our last names were changed to MacGray.

Oops.



And, he's always had my name tattooed on the inside of his right arm. He got this done when I was about 10 years old one night while intoxicated in Brazil. This explains why my middle name, Lynn, is misspelled with only one "n".

Double oops.



Did I mention how incredibly responsible and on top of it my father is?

All kidding aside, he came with the names of my other kids tattooed on his arm around Isabella's.  He called me on the phone from California after they got done. Then my dad dropped a bomb.

"I got the tattoos, and Olivia's looks great! I have to go back to the shop to have the guy fix Jeremiah's name though. The guy made the "a" in Jeremiah's name look like an "o", so it reads "Jer-O-miah"

My dad actually got a tattoo of Jeremiah's name spelled "Jer-A-miah"

My sons name is spelled "Jer-E-miah".

-silence on the phone-

It's okay, I mean, he spelled my (middle) name wrong too. It's only fitting.

"Well, the longer I look at it, the "A" looks more like an "E" than an "O", so we might be okay"

When he finally came and I saw the tattoo? It was totally spelled right. I'm still not sure what happened. I won't even ask.



My Dad, Me and My mom


This is a classic story. Before you think my dad is a major dirtbag for not knowing how to spell the names of his grandchildren, let me explain. My dad has a bad brain injury. He was in a horrible car crash in Sao Paolo, Brazil when I was 13 and he was 30. The car he was traveling in tumbled down a revine. His friend Tyler died. My dad would have also had it not been for a doctor who happened to have been behind his car, witnessed the accident, and by chance, had a tracheotomy in the trunk which he used to save his life. A coma, brain damage, and many, many years of PT later, and my dad can't remember how to spell everyones name.

Sue him.



Now that our company has all gone home, we will enjoy one more weekend of summer bliss before shifting our focus to 'Back To School'. It seems too early to be doing this in a way, but I'm ready for it. Wasn't it just last week that I made homemade twinkies for Isabella to take to her end of the year class picnic? I couldn't have been months ago. My kid couldn't request something simple like cookies, she had to ask for twinkies. Not that they are hard (surprisingly easy) but they are more time consuming.



Homemade twinkies are delicious. I don't even like normal twinkies, but I could scarf the whole batch of this sweet, spongecake, creme filled goodness. I made them once a few summers ago and our friends, the Fieldings, flipped.

Like, OMG.

Melissa demanded that she know when I made them next and warned that I'd better save her one, or three or else. Her son, Reese, would come over and ask for weeks afterward if I happened to have any twinkies around. Sheesh- good luck with these lasting through the day you make them. They will be in very high demand, and you will be the most popular mother on the block. If you are lucky enough to have some leftovers, they freeze in Ziplock freezer bags very well. I don't know this from personal experience, of course, but the blog I sourced these from said so.

Rolling twinkies in simple syrup


These are "shortcut" twinkies because we start with a pre-made cake mix. Most times, I snub my nose at them (unless it's funfetti- because that stuff is G to the O to the O to the D) but in this case, it works perfectly. I happen to have a twinkie mold for reasons that beat me, but you don't need one becuase you can make your own! Wrap heavy duty aluminum foil around a spice jar to make a boat. It's that simple. And clean up? fogetaboutit.



These twinkies are very authentic. When the sponge cake has baked and is still warm, you roll it in simple syrup creating that sweet, slightly sticky layer over top. This also keeps them very moist. Don't skip that step, it's essential to getting it right. Just pipe the filling in the bottom and you are done! Don't have a piping bag? Use a ziplock bag with the end snipped off. Then, make sure you press that filling in forcefully. You'll feel the twinkie expanding on the sides. You'll know when to stop. Keep squeezing until you feel pressure.



Homemade Shortcut Twinkies
adapted from The Cooking Photographer
makes 16

Simple Syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

Boil together in a small pot with a lid. Once mixture comes to a boil remove the lid and cook for three more minutes to ensure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cakes
Crisco for greasing
4 egg whites
1 16-oz box of golden pound cake mix
2/3 cup of water

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a cream canoe pan with Crisco. (Butter doesn’t work as well here).

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not a solid mass. In a separate bowl combine the cake mix with water and beat until blended. Then, fold egg whites into the cake with a spatula then beat it with the hand mixer at the end until just combined.

Fill the molds half full of batter. Bake for around 22 to 23 minutes, or until the cakes are lightly golden brown around the edges (but light on top) and a toothpick comes out clean.

Run a toothpick around the cakes to loosen the sides. Dump the hot cakes onto parchment paper. Turn cakes upside down so the bottoms are now on top. Place some of the simple syrup into a wide shallow bowl and immediately roll the tops, sides, and ends of hot Twinkies in the syrup. Try not to get syrup on the bottoms. Fill with cream filling, below.

Repeat the process for second set of cakes. Be sure to grease the pan again.

Cream Filling
2 teaspoons very hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups marshmallow cream (or one 7 oz jar)
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 chopstick

To do the cream filling, first mix the salt into the bowl of hot water, and mix until the salt is dissolved. Let it cool.

Combine the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and mix, preferably with an electric mixer or stand mixer on high, until fluffy.

Now pour the salt-water solution in and mix.

When the cakes are mainly cool, poke a hole into the bottom in three places like a Twinkie with a narrow ended chopstick. Move the chopstick around inside to make some room for filling. Then stick a pastry bag into the holes and press gently to fill.

Storing Twinkies
Store in a wax paper lined covered container for a few hours before serving. Twinkies need time for their outsides to get soft. Twinkies also freeze quite well after filling.

Fried Zucchini Spaghetti

My kids have this little ditty they sing. It goes something like this

"Oh my gosh, It's a double rainbow, what-does-it-mean?"

See?

They sing it when we see double rainbows, which during Steamboat summertime, happens more than you'd think.

Rainbow in our backyard a few weeks ago

Tonight, we saw the most ginorous, complete rainbow ever. This comes right after a particularly difficult evening of worry, and just seconds after I called God a show-off because our view of a storm in the distance while sunlight filtered in on our part of the valley was spectacular. Did you see how big that rainbow was above? Yeah, this one was soooo big that I couldn't fit it in the frame. This shot below was all I could get.





God was like, Boom! Take that, and shove your worry up the tailpipe, little lassi! I got this.

So, we've learned two things so far.

1) My kids are as strange as both my dad and I am

2) I come across as blasphemous online

I am not trying to be blasphemous. I promise I give God all the reverence and respect He deserves. But my God? He has a sense of humor about Him and sometimes gives it to me straight with a Scottish accent.

I so hate to go here, but summer is slowely weaning itself out of the picture, leaving rainbows and storms behind and making way for fall, back to school, crispy apples, pie, and chilly mornings. All this to say, you better believe I'm going to suck out all the summer I can before then. This means eating more fried green tomatoes, hiking, grilling, roasting perfectly ripe summer tomatoes and freezing them for winter time tomato soup, and using up all of that goregeous, plump zucchini I see everywhere.

Mom, if you want to bring me any from your garden, feel free. Anytimenow. 



If you can get zucchini fresh from the garden, slightly warmed from the sun, there is perhaps nothing better. Summer zucchini is sweet, mellow and plentiful. Kind of like this Fried Zucchini Spaghetti.  This isn't the most figure friendly dish (read: fried zucchini) but it's not the worst either. I was surprised at how mild this is. I mean, it's only some whole wheat spaghetti, thin, crunchy and sweet zucchini disks, salty parmesan, fresh basil and olive oil, so I'm not sure what I was expecting because all those  things are really good, really mellow ingredients.

Fried Zucchini Spaghetti
adapted from My fathers Daughter, by Gwyneth Paltrow
serves 4

3/4 pound (3/4 box) spaghetti (I used whole wheat)
3 zucchini, very thinly sliced (but thicker than paper thin or they will just burn)
2 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
Coarse salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1/4 cup pasta water, to thin
Freshly ground black pepper
Handful fresh basil leaves (about 12 large), roughly torn

Boil the spaghetti in salted water until just al dente. Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with the flour. Heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat and add as much zucchini as will fit in a single layer. Cook, stirring and flipping occasionally, until well browned and a little crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove the zucchini to a plate and sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat until you've cooked all the zucchini.

Meanwhile, whisk the cheese together with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the pasta water, adding a bit more if necessary. You want the consistency to be creamy. Drain the spaghetti and add to the bowl with the parmesan mixture. Toss together, season with the coarse salt and pepper, and fold in two-thirds of the fried zucchini and all the basil. 

To serve, portion the pasta into four shallow bowls and evenly distribute the rest of the zucchini on top of each, along with a couple gratings of parmesan, and another sprinkling of coarse salt. 

I love this idea. It's summer comfort food. Next time I might add some crushed red pepper and garlic to the mix and try cutting the zucchini a touch thicker and breading it with Italian bread crumbs for a different flavor. All good things.

Grilled Potato Wedges with Lemon and Chives and Family

My husbands family was in town this past week for a family reunion. There were about 35-40 people in all, and we usually got together during the day to do group activities such as hiking 4 1/2 miles down Spring Creek, swimming at the pool, biking the bike path downtown and gelato at Ciao. Our family might have snuck in a hike up Mad Creek as well. By the way? Don't take your kids or stroller on that hike unless you want to risk them falling to their death off a cliff. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into...but as my sister-in-law, Charis said:

well, we made some memories.  

We turned around after 20 minutes. Nail biting, I tell you.

Me and my Mother-in-Law, Cindy

When the days would come to a close, the whole family would congregate at someones house and the five siblings (my mother-in-law's brothers and sisters) each take a night making dinner for everybody. Theres been a taco bar, burgers and veggie burgers, grilled chicken with mango sauce and roasted broccoli, chili, and pizza at Mambo's so far.

The five siblings (Laura, Tim, Dan, Cindy, Gracie) and the Matriarch, Grandma Claudine Lehman


And I have to say...

I LOVE the Lehmans. Here we are in all our glory. Notice the sweet kiss Liv is giving me.
 

This family is seriously blessed. Everyone is lovely, fun, and likes to be together. Theres no rudeness or fighting. Everyone is content to be themselves, and accept others for who they are. These people were brought up very, very well. I am so happy to be a part of the clan.

Me and Malakai, my brotha from anotha motha...or cousin-in-law, however you want to look at it.


The little kids

Of course, lots of pictures were taken, thanks in part to Danielle.

Cousins (Shane, Jeremy, Malakai and Brandon)


Our immediate family

Most some were funny.

Brett is single, ladies...watch out. 


Nate


The girls- Stephanie, Alexis, Charis, Isabella, Makayla, Tiffany and Brooke


Me and my husband


Boys.  Oh, lawdy. 


Me and my sister-in-law, Charis

Onward to the potatoes, friends. I'm always looking for ways to prepare something in a different way. Grilling potatoes fits this bill. Warm, lemony, chive potatoes sound like a good idea, yes? The wedges get a little bit of smoke from the grill and mixed with the little bit of olive oil and herbs, it takes on a life of its own. I could eat these for a main course with some broccoli on the side. Easy too. If you happen to be serving a crowd, like we did this week, these potatoes would be a good choice. The Lehmans like potatoes. You'd have to convince them to give up their beloved Resers potato salad first though...

But as you and I know, is there even a question? 

Grilled Potato Wedges with Lemon and Chives

adapted from Sunset Magazine

Serves 4

• 
  
• 6 medium red thin-skinned potatoes, quartered
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest 
• 1/3 cup chopped chives
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 
  
• Heat a grill to medium (350° to 450°). Toss potatoes with olive oil in a medium bowl (don't wash the bowl). Grill, turning as needed, until browned and tender when pierced, about 20 minutes. Return potatoes to same bowl and sprinkle with lemon zest, chives, and salt, tossing to coat in the remaining olive oil in the bowl. 
• Serve warm.

I'm visiting The Daily Dish!

Hey everyone, happy Friday!

Is anyone reading this?

I get so skeptical on Fridays. It's like the blog world takes off on vacation early.

I'm sharing some of my favorite foods, plus answering questions about my blog/hometown/entertaining to the lovely Shari at The Daily Dish.

 Head on over there for my take on Asian salmon with ginger scallion Sauce, huge chocolate chipped cookies, and homemade enchiladas among other things.

Over and Out.

Momofuku's Cornflake Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookie

It's a Tuesday afternoon, at 1:56pm and I couldn't be giddier because at this very moment, I have this blessed cookie baking in my oven. Don't ask why, but I recently read that my dosha is likely kapha dosha which means, among other things, that I like to eat but also have a slower, heavier digestive system. (Want to know your dosha?) The best way to balance myself according to this article I read is: stimulation, movement, and spicy, light food.

Riiiight

So, your saying I should probably start exercising and stop thinking about eating this cookie?

Not a chance.



I first tested out to be a vata dosha (aka: air) anyway, but upon reading that, that type is characteristically is quick minded, have small, darting eyes, with a lean body, who regularly has a problem with skipping meals, I quickly dismissed it. So, I took the test again and changed around my answers until I got a result I liked. Or at least one that sounded like me. The one I picked, the kapha dosha, is known to be calm, thoughtful, loyal, simple and profound, slow and cold (two details I'm not particularly fond of), don't like change, are prone to allergies, and gain weight easily. They tend to have a bigger build (I don't) and might have strong food cravings.

Either way...It sounds like the kapha people might be the most likely to have a cookie baking in their oven in the middle of the day just because they felt like it.



And just like that--- here you were reading about doshas from someone who knows nothing about that topic, and the cookie has already baked, cooled and been eaten.

Damn. It was good. Really, really, sweet mind you but good. I normally don't go for super sweet desserts. I prefer my coffee ice cream less sweet, a tinge bitter and very creamy. So going off that, this would not be something I'd make all that often. But when I'm craving a carmely, buttery, crisp edged, soft middle, cookie, candy something, this is going to be the first thing I pick. These cookies are ugly because it kind of wants to be a toffee candy, but it just wasn't born that way.

You'll need to freeze this cookie dough before baking. This step is not optional. If the cookies are baked at room temperature they will just spread out and puddle on your baking sheet. Sure, it might taste good, but it'll look like a hot mess. If this happens and you are horrified, just crumble the cookies on top of vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is good for all sorts of things.

Getting ready to freeze the dough



You have to make something called a "cornflake crunch" before making your cookies. I feel I should let you know that cornflake crunch is as addicting as crack. Not that I've tried crack, but I've heard that crack is very addictive. I can testify that cornflake crunch is very addictive. You'll have some cornflake crunch leftover after making your cookies. Keep it and put that on top of ice cream. I told you vanilla ice cream is good for all sorts of things.

Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies
Makes fifteen to twenty

16 tbsp. (2 sticks) room-temperature butter
1¼ c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1½ c. flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. kosher salt
3 c. Cornflake Crunch (recipe to follow)
2/3 c. mini chocolate chips 
1¼ c. mini marshmallows

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugars; cream together on medium-high 2-3 minutes. With a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat 7-8 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step or risk overmixing.) Scrape down sides of bowl.

3. Still on low speed, paddle in cornflakes and chips until just incorporated, about 30-45 seconds. Paddle in marshmallows.

4. Portion out 1/4 cup dough at a time and shape into flat, disk shapes. Line them up in a ziplock freezer bag without touching, so they don't stick together. Place in the freezer and freeze until solid

5. Heat oven to 375°. On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, arrange frozen disks a minimum of 4 inches apart. Bake 10 minutes exactly. Cookies will be browned on edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. Cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them set up for 10 minutes before eating.

6. Cool cookies completely on pan before moving them to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Next time I make these, I might try adding 3/4 cup more flour to the recipe to see if it helps them stay more cookie like with a round permitter.

Cornflake Crunch

Yields about four cups

Ingredients

5 c. cornflakes 
½ c. milk powder (I didn't have this, so I omitted it)
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
8 tbsp. butter, melted

Heat oven to 275°.

In a medium bowl, with your hands, crush cornflakes to ¼ of their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt; toss to mix. Add butter; toss to coat. (As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal, creating small clusters.)

On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread clusters and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.

Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for one week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep with one month.