A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Bread! It is one of the most delicious creations ever made, at least in my view. I love all kinds of breads. Back in my younger days, many moons ago, there were many days that breads of some sort made a meal for me.

When I lived in the San Francisco area, many, many years ago, I was poor, and I did whatever I needed to do to make ends meet. So I would take the bus into work and walk from the bus station into work. Along the way there was Beaudoin’s Bakery. I would stop in every morning and buy a mini baguette and that would be breakfast (and sometimes lunch) for the day. I had it timed just perfectly and would finish the last bite just as I walked into the doors of my job. I still love my breads to this day too.

My latest bread making adventure was a delicious cheesy jalapeno loaf. Though not the soupiest of weather, Larry wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want a big meal, so we pulled some creamy chicken soup out of the freezer and it paired perfectly with the cheesy jalapeno loaf.

Cheesy Jalapeno Loaf

Even though I have been cooking all my life, and as a professional too for many, many years, it never ceases to amaze me how you can create such beautiful and tasty foods with just a few simple and basic ingredients.

3-4 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast (or 1 package)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup milk

2 TBSP melted butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste

1-2 jalapeno peppers, diced fine

1 cup shredded Mexican blend or cheddar cheese

1 TBSP sugar

Combine about 3-3 1/2 cups of flour with the salt, peppers, jalapenos and cheese and set aside.

Add the yeast to the water and mix together then add the sugar. Let set for about 5-10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.

Add the melted butter to the milk.

Add the milk and butter to the flour mixture and fold it all together.

Then add the yeast mixture and start working it in and kneading it all together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue to knead for about 8-10 minutes or until the dough forms into a soft stretchy ball. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl and cover to let it rise for 1 1/2 hours.

Once the dough is ready and has doubled in size, turn it onto a lightly floured surface once again and pound it into an 8×12 rectangle that is about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Starting from the smaller side, roll into a thick log and pinch the seams together.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and place the dough, seam side down, into the pan. Cover and let rise again for an hour, or until doubled in size once again.

Preheat the oven to 375* F or about 200* C, then bake the loaf for about 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown and the center is hollow when tapped. I rubbed a little olive oil on top of the bread to help with the browning and crusting.

Allow the bread to cool slightly before slicing and enjoy.

Bread, no matter how you slice it, will always be good.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I just love lilacs. They are so beautiful and fragrant. They perfume the whole area with their sweet fragrance. The only downside is they are not in bloom for very long. One day they are are showing off their bright pinks and purples and then, poof, they are gone and we have to wait for the next season for them to return. But they are in bloom now, and I am thoroughly enjoying it too. We have them in all shades of pinks and purples this year.

These are in my own front yard. They just smell Heavenly.

Always take time to smell the roses, or in this case the lilacs. It will always put you in a happy mood.

I think by now you all know about my love affair with good Mexican food. !Me gusto! So I am always looking for new recipes and new ideas to add to my ever growing repertoire. The other day when I made my enchiladas with mole sauce Enchiladas Con Pollo y Mole I also made a Mexican salad with a creamy avocado dressing to go with it. I took both dishes to our potluck party and both were loved by all.

The Salad

For the salad I just tossed together a few ingredients that are often used in a variety of Mexican dishes such as, corn, black beans, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and lettuce. Then I topped it all with some avocado slices, roasted pepitas and crumbled cotija cheese.

The dressing was a recipe I saw, once again, from our very own “My Meals Are On Wheels” at https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/. But of course, I added my own personal touches to it, as I always do.

It is once again lemon verbena season and it is growing wild all over my backyard. I just love lemon verbena, also known as lemon balm, and I try to use it as much as I can when it is in season. But every year I get more and more and there is NO WAY I can ever use it all. Anyone who wants some is more than welcome to it. It makes everything taste and smell lemony fresh. That being said, of course I added some to my dressing.

Creamy Avocado Lime Dressing

2 avocados

1/2 white onion

1 jalapeno

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup white wine or Proseco vinegar

3 TBSP olive oil and/or lime olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup buttermilk (I make mine with powdered buttermilk and milk)

1/2 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP lime juice

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lemon verbena, optional

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and mix until it is smooth and creamy. Then chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

I used this salad two different ways. The first day I used it as a side salad. But I had quite a bit of my chicken filling leftover from the enchiladas, so I made the salad into a dinner salad by topping it with the chicken. Both ways, it was muy delicioso.

Life is short. Eat well and be happy, healthy and safe. ‘Til next time.

We have so many beautiful birds out and about these days, and I love it. I just can’t help taking as many pictures as I can of all the birds we have here. We have such a great variety. Today, I am sharing some pictures of a Say’s Phoebe.

We were invited to a last minute going away potluck party for a friend of ours who is moving out of state. I whipped up a batch of chicken enchiladas with my mole sauce or enchiladas con pollo y mole for our contribution to the event. Pollo con Mole de Manzana con Pasilla They were a big hit. None of us coordinated on who was bringing what, but everything came together beautifully, as it usually does.

I do not have a picture of the finished enchiladas, since once again, I took them directly out of the oven and off we went. But I think you will get the general idea. I have confidence in all of you.

The enchiladas were smoky sweet, with a bit of heat. !Estoviste delicioso!

For the chicken filling, I used some leftover Costco rotisserie chicken, along with corn, red and green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, onions, cumin, oregano, salt & pepper, olive oil and lime olive oil, cilantro and a bit of my mole mixed in.

I diced up the vegetables and sauteed them in the oil for about 5 minutes and then added the shredded chicken just to heat it up and mix everything together.

Preheat the oven to 350-375* F.

Spray cooking spray into a 9×13 baking pan.

Once everything was cooked, it was time to roll up the enchiladas. I debated on whether to roll them or to layer them. I do both, and it really just depends on my mood at the time. This time, I rolled them.

I heated up the corn tortillas so they were pliable and spread a little of the mole on the bottom of the prepared baking dish first. Then I filled them with the filling and rolled them up and placed them side by side.

Once the enchiladas were all ready, I added more sauce on top and then a layer of Mexican cheese blend. Then I covered them in aluminum foil and popped them into the oven for about 45 minutes. They are done when the center reaches an internal temperature of about 165* F and the cheese on top is all melted.

We had a lot of food and we all brought foods that complimented everything else very nicely. We had a few salads (I also brought a Mexican salad with a creamy lime and avocado dressing, but more on that later), soup, chili con carne y frijoles, chips and a chocolate cake for dessert. Everything was delicious. Our friend Brent was very touched as we all wished him well with his new adventures and journeys in life. Vios con Dio mi Amigo.

Life is good, and it is even better when shared with good friends and good food.

Stay happy, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I’m back. Our niece’s wedding was beautiful, but it was touch and go with the weather. This IS LATE MAY, right? I thought so too, but you would have never known it this past weekend. Where I live, we got about 5-6 inches of snow, but it was even worse down in Colorado Springs, where our niece got married. There was over 16+ inches of snow. We left Thursday afternoon, and we broke a record high, at 91* F. By that night, the temperature dropped dramatically and on Friday, we got hit with a HUGE winter storm that lasted for two days.

The warm before the storm.

The storm

It snowed up until just about an hour or two before the wedding, but our niece still insisted on it being an outside wedding. Fortunately, there was a little bit of a break, and Colorado being what it is, the snow started melting not long after it stopped. But, it wasn’t done yet. There was still more snow the day after too.

I was only gone for a few short days, but I literally came home to 1000’s of emails. I have been busy catching up all morning. As much as I love all the emails and posts, I have to admit that sometimes it can also be very overwhelming. I am just about done with catching up, and things will soon be back to normal. Rest assured though, I will be back in the kitchen again later on today, with more goodies for you to enjoy.

Stay tuned. Don’t touch that dial. Stay happy, healthy and safe Everyone. ‘Til next time.

I saw my goslings again, and just since the last time I saw them, they have already grown quite a bit. I just can’t believe how quickly they are growing up. Soon they will be teenagers. But I am enjoying every little of their baby cuteness while I can.

Life is short. Make the most of it while you can.

Larry wanted ribs and potato salad for dinner. Easy-peasy. I seasoned up the ribs and put them in the slow cooker and left them to cook by themselves for about 6 hours. Dinner was a simple Southern styled meal. Delicious and no fuss about it.

Sorry for the poor quality of this picture. I didn’t realize it was so bad until this morning. I was in a bit of a hurry I guess. Oh well. These things do happen. 🙂

Once I got the ribs going, I made a simple potato salad, also per Larry’s request and a one of my favorite summer salads, with corn, green beans and tomatoes. You have seen this salad many times before. Sometimes I add green beans, and sometimes I don’t. But either way it is a perfect salad for those hot summer days. Bring on the Summer

Larry wanted something simple since he was going to have a late golf night. Once he got home, everything was ready. All we needed to do was serve it up and top it with sauce. This time, our sauce of choice was some Mexican BBQ sauce, again, per Larry’s request. Southwestern BBQ Chicken Pizza with Blue Corn Crust It went very nicely with the short ribs.

We are keeping things simple right now since we are going to be gone for a few days. Our niece is getting married in Colorado Springs, and Larry’s whole family (which is very large) is coming out. I am going to be breaking my long streak of posting with no breaks, but just for a few days, and then, I’ll be back once again. 🙂

Stay happy, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Yesterday I posted about the beautifully colored irises that are popping up all over the place. Nature Walks – Irises In Bloom I knew I would find more, and sure enough I did too. I went out to lunch with my friend Suzanne, and as I was leaving her house to come home, I discovered this yard that was just full of beautiful irises. Their whole yard was a sea of beautiful purple and yellow irises. They were mostly the traditional medium purple with hints of yellow, but there were also pockets of just bright yellow irises and then a tiny section of nothing but dark, dark purple irises. They were just breathtaking.

This garden would have been my mother’s dream come true. She did have a ton of different colored and different varieties of irises in her garden, but nothing like this.

I have learned to always bring a camera with me, even if only my phone camera. You just never know what you are going to see in this big beautiful world of ours.

You all know how much I absolutely love re-creating from my leftovers, but in today’s hard economic times, it is even more important than ever. Larry and I are in very good financial shape, however, even we are feeling the crunch at the grocery store. Every time I go to the store, it costs more and more. So now more than ever, I really try my best to use up everything as much as possible, leaving nothing to waste. This time my creative leftovers included some turkey we had in the freezer, that I mixed with vegetables and pesto sauce and served it all over some leftover pasta. YUM!

Pretty much any vegetable will go well with a pesto sauce. Pesto is one of those very versatile sauces that can be used for just about everything. This time however, I used mushrooms, red bell peppers, asparagus, red onions and tomatoes. I cooked all the heartier vegetables first, then added the tomatoes right at the end.

Once the vegetables were cooked, all I needed to do was to heat up everything else and bake my cheese bread, and dinner was served. It was delicious, quick and easy-peasy, and I got to use up leftovers. In a word – PERFECT!

I was brought up on the philosophies of re-use, re-purpose and recycle. These are still ideals I practice today and everyday.

Be creative at first, and then re-create later. Who knows what you will come up with. But the most important thing is to have fun while doing it.

Stay happy, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.