A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Unless I am having guests over for dinner, or am having a party, I don’t normally plan out my meals ahead of time, but I have noticed that lately, there have been a lot more recent meals with a Mediterranean flavor and flair.  Maybe, I am subconsciously preparing for our upcoming trip to Spain, which will be next month.  Yeah, that must be it.  Oh and also because I just happen to love those kinds of food too. Or it could be that the Mediterranean way of eating just seems to go hand in hand with the warmer, summer weather.  Whatever the reason, I just know I love eating this way, and we are doing it more often than usual these days, which is perfectly OK by me.

The other day, we had our hottest day of the summer so far, and I made some chicken kebabs with a tangy olive, lime and mayonnaise mixture.  I served the kebabs with Greek vegetables and a Brussels sprouts and barley salad, warmed chiabatta with an olive oil and balsamic dipping sauce and a glass or two of a nice, light chenin blanc.  It was a perfect summer meal to enjoy out on our deck in the cool of the evening on a hot summer day.

All of you know, I love to be creative with leftovers.  Even if I only have a little bit left, I will do my best to find a creative use for them.  I just hate throwing food away if it’s not necessary.  I had just a tiny bit of my olive-lime mixture left from when I made my grilled Brussels sprouts Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Green Olive Sauce  The challenge for these leftovers was that I did not have much left over at all, but I still wanted to use them up in a creative way.  I added more olives, more lime juice, garlic and red pepper flakes and mixed everything together with some mayonnaise, then put it all into the food processor to make it into a sauce.  This was the marinade for my chicken.   When making sauces and marinades, I often interchange mayonnaise and plain yogurt.  It really just depends on what I have on hand at the time.  And if you like something a little zestier, like I do, Miracle Whip works just fine too.

I cubed the chicken into large chunks then mixed it into the marinade/sauce and let it rest for about 2 hours, before skewering it and grilling it.

The finished dish, with a little extra sauce (cooked down) as a topper, was a Mediterranean delight.

There are 20 countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea, all with different cultures and different languages.   These countries include Gibraltar, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey from the Southwestern and Eastern parts of Europe; Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine (The Gaza Strip) from the Levantine Coast, which flows from North to South; and Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco from the Northeastern and Western parts of Africa.  Surprisingly though, with all their differences, these countries share a lot of similarities in their foods.  A lot of fresh vegetables, a wide variety of grains, nuts, olives and olive oil and seafood are very significant foods enjoyed in all the diets of the Mediterranean people.   Aside from being very delicious foods, these foods are also very healthy as well.  A Mediterranean diet is considered to be one of the healthiest diets around, if not the healthiest diet.  It also just happens to be one of my favorites.  We eat and enjoy a lot of Mediterranean influenced foods.

Usually when people think of calimari, they think of the very popular and delicious fried version, that is found around the world.  I love this kind of calimari too, and we eat it quite often.  But this certainly is not the only way to eat calimari.  No, no.  There are many ways to eat this delicious, vitamin-packed gem of the sea.  Calimari is rich in protein (16 grams per 3.5-ounce serving), B vitamins and vitamin C, and depending on how it is cooked, it is very low in calories too.  I also love calimari steaks too, but here in the Denver area, they are not common and are often hard to find.  When I do see them though, I always buy some.  Calimari steaks are the circular pieces cut from the mantles of large squid.  They are usually tenderized while they are being processed, and are often used as a cheaper alternative to abalone, which is very expensive, and in a lot of places, illegal to catch.  The first meal I prepared in my newly painted kitchen was a delicious meal of Mediterranean calimari steaks over pasta, served with garlic cheese bread along with a dry and crisp chardonnay on the side.  My Newly Painted Kitchen

I just love cooking with everything fresh, from my herbs to my vegetables.  I always try to put in as many vegetables into my recipes as I can too.

Mediterranean Calimari Steaks 

4 or 5 tomatoes – as you can see I used a wide variety of tomatoes – if they are smaller tomatoes, just cut them in half, if they are larger tomatoes, cut them into a medium dice

1 lb calimari steaks

2 TBSP garlic

1 crookneck (yellow squash), sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 large shallot, sliced thin

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup olives, cut in half – again I used a variety of olives

1-2 tsp each of fresh oregano, basil, thyme and sage, chopped fine

1/2 cup dry white wine – preferably the same wine you are drinking with the meal

2 TBSP lemon juice

salt & pepper and lemon pepper to taste

olive oil

1/4 cup Parmagiano cheese

Saute all the heartier vegetables in olive oil until they are tender.  Then add the tomatoes and wine. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to break down.  Then add the olives, lemon juice, fresh herbs and seasonings.

While the vegetables are cooking, in a separate skillet or pan, cook the calimari steaks.  Lightly salt and pepper the calimari steaks on both sides and pan fry in olive oil for about 2 minutes per side, or until they are lightly golden on both sides.  DO NOT over cook the calimari or it will become tough and chewy.

I like to layer my dishes.  I do it all the time.  So cooked pasta first, then some of the delicious sauce, followed by the calimari, and topped again with more sauce, finished with fresh Parmigiano cheese.  I cut my calimari into thin strips, but you can cut it however you like.  There is no real right or wrong way to cut it.  In case you have not figured it out already, I am all about the presentation of my foods, especially for the camera.  After all, we taste with our eyes long before we taste with our taste buds.  My husband teases about this all the time.  Presentation is great, but really the most important part of a dish, any dish, is how it tastes.  This one is a definite winner.

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The painters have finished and now I am in the process of getting the house put back together again.  It is a slow process, but everyday a little more gets done.  The kitchen, however, was the first room to be put back in order.  After all, the kitchen is my main room in the house.  I had to set my priorities, right?!.  🙂  A lot of you have been asking for pictures of the newly painted kitchen, so here they are.

This is what the kitchen looked like while the painters were busy.  Previous to painting, the whole house was two-toned, with cream on the walls and white trim all around.  We added color.  Lots of color.  New carpeting will have to be next year’s home improvement project.  We have already spent the budget, and then some, for this year.

This is our kitchen nook area.  The teal accent wall is the color we chose as an accent color for all of the downstairs area.  We love it.  Upstairs, in our room and master suite, we went with a light greyish blue.

Other than the painting, the rest of the kitchen stayed the same.  No new appliances or anything.  We have a big house, and according to the painters, we have a VERY big house.  Our downstairs area is very open and just flows together.  Our kitchen opens up directly into our family room, so I thought I would include this picture as well.  You can really see the teal in this picture.  It just makes everything pop.

I hope you enjoy our new color and new kitchen.  I already have lots of good meals that have come from my new kitchen to share with all of you.  Be patient.  They’re coming your way shortly.

One last post about our latest Colorado adventure,  A Colorado Adventure – Part 1  and A Colorado Adventure – Part 2 and then I am back in the kitchen where I live most of the time (when not in the water), once again.  That is, back in my newly painted kitchen, as well as the rest of the house.  🙂

As I mentioned in both of my earlier posts about our rafting trip, it was a long full day.  We left the house at 10:00 AM and did not return home until about 11:30 PM.  It was a long day for us, but an even longer day for our fur babies.  They were really glad to see us when we got home, though they were also mad at us because it had been such a long day, and their tummies were long overdue for dinner.  In retrospect, we should have stayed the night rather than trying to get it all done in one day, but live and learn.

After rafting down the river, we still had to eat something for dinner.  We had one more meal on the road before heading home.  We stopped at the Eagle Diner, in Eagle, Colorado, which was only about 1/2 hour or so away from where we were rafting.

The Eagle Diner is an icon in Eagle County, with a loyal and sometimes famous fan base.  It is located in Eagle County, where a lot of our top notch ski resorts are located, and there are a lot of big, well-known celebrities that own homes up in that area too.  So when dining at the Eagle, keep your eyes open.  You never know who may walk through the doors next.

The Eagle Diner is a unique and fun place to eat.  It is a step back in time; back to a time of innocence, rock ‘n roll and milkshakes.   It is completely decorated in retro 50’s style decor.  There are pictures of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and many other 50’s icons and items all over walls and throughout the diner.  It is brightly colored in pink and turquoise, with black and white checkered floors.

The menu at the Eagle is pretty extensive, with a wide range of good comfort foods that will satisfy just about everyone.  Their “goal is dedicated to bringing you a wide variety of delicious food at a reasonable price”.

Larry is a rib eater, and he saw ribs on the menu, so he just had to have them.  He was disappointed to learn that they had just run out.  But his disappointment only lasted for about a minute.  To compensate for not having ribs, he was given a big, thick, old fashioned milkshake, on the house.  He was a happy camper (or rafter) once again and he enjoyed every little bit of that thick shake.  Larry had his shake and I had a delicious salad instead.  Shakes and ice cream have never really been my thing.

I guess Larry worked up an appetite while rafting down the river.  He was going for the gusto when it came to calorie consumption.  Along with his shake, he decided to add a big plate of loaded chili cheese fries and have that as his dinner.  I guess I was just in a fishy kind of mood for the day, since I went for the fish & chips, after having a tuna sandwich for lunch.   Oh well, it was all good, and we enjoyed every bite before heading home.  Our server was a lot of fun too, with loads of personality.  All in all, it was a good finish to a fantastic day.

*** The Eagle Diner is located at 112 Chambers Ave, Eagle, CO 81631 and their phone number is  (970) 328-1919.  

There was just way to much fun to share from our rafting trip and day up in the mountains for only one post, A Colorado Adventure – Part 1 so here is part 2.  It was most definitely a beautiful and fun filled day.  Being the adrenaline junkie that I am, I could easily become “addicted” to white water rafting as well.  I will just add it to my list of already exciting and exhilarating adrenaline pumping activities that I love to do.  🙂

We are geared up and ready to go.

As we were waiting, this coal train was passing through, right along the very same river were were soon going to be rafting down.

There were a lot of people that went rafting with us, so they brought out 9 rafts.  Each raft had about 8 people plus a guide.  Once the rafts were ready to go, we loaded into these old school buses and off to the river we went.

We’re on the river.  Because of all the snow and the recent snow run-off, the river was very high and was a rip roaring adventure.  The water levels were very high and the water was flowing at a very fast pace.  Part of the river was closed down because the current and the waters were to high.   We drove past those high points, and Larry said “NO WAY!”.  Me on the other hand, I said “Bring it on!  I would LOVE to go down that part of the river”.  I am glad we took this trip before we heard about yet another tubing death along the Poudre River, in Fort Collins.  We were on large professional rafts.  Tubing is literally going down the river in large intertubes by individuals. It would not have changed our minds though.  We were ready and prepared to go.  Sadly most of the accidents you hear about, and there are always quite a few, are from people who are out on their own and are not with a professional group with skilled and trained guides.

This seemingly innocent spot on the water was anything but.  We had a bit of thrill here and all of us got quite wet.  This water was COLD too.  It is all snow run-off from the mountains, and this was very recent run-off.

The end of the trip and we are headed back to camp.  We rafted with this family.  They were a lot of fun.

Sam, our fearless leader.  He skillfully guided us down the river and back.  No casualties on our raft, thankfully.   Thanks for an awesome white water experience.

We rafted with Raft Defiance, out of Glenwood Springs.  You can book your river rafting experience with Raft Defiance by going to their website raftdefiance.com or by calling them at (970) 404-3022.

The painters are gone, and now we are trying to put our house back together once again.  The new paint looks fabulous.  The painters did a fantastic job.  We have about 2/3 of the house put back together, along with all the cleaning and de-cluttering that I should have done before getting the house painted.  I just hate having so much on my plate all the time, and so little time to get everything done.  Oh well.  I somehow always manage to get everything done, but often I am literally flying by the seat of my pants, but somehow, everything manages to get done that needs to be done.  That being said, we did take a big break yesterday and went white water rafting down the Colorado River, up in Glenwood Springs, which is about 3-3 1/2 hours Southwest from us.  This was something we had planned long before we scheduled the house painters, and a break like this was definitely needed.

This was a big day, full of fun and adventures, so this will be a series of posts.  Trust me, it will all be well worth it.  I know you’re really going to like it, so grab some popcorn and something cool and refreshing to drink, sit back and enjoy.  🙂

We purchased our white water rafting experience a few months ago, and set our reservations to go for Sat., 7/6.  As I mentioned above, Glenwood Springs is about 3-3 1/2 hours Southwest of us, so it was a full day.  We had a beautiful drive up through the mountains, that believe it or not, still have quite a bit of snow.  In fact, Arapahoe Basin still had skiing up until a few days ago, and finally ended their season on July 4th.  Arapahoe Basin or “A” Basin as it is fondly called, is a very famous, beloved ski area here in Colorado.  The drive up was almost as enjoyable as the rafting experience itself, though two completely different kinds of enjoyment.

We could not resist and just had to stop for a short snowball fight along the way.  Yes, a snowball fight in July, as we are en route to go white water rafting.  Only in Colorado, folks, only in Colorado.

After throwing a few snowballs at each other, we kept driving up through the mountains to get to Glenwood Springs.  We saw so much beautiful scenery.  The drive was just breathtakingly gorgeous.  We stopped in Dillon, and had a picnic lunch at Dillon Lake.  We did not bring lunch with us since our kitchen was still under wrap, so we stopped at Jersey Boys Pizza & Deli to pick up a picnic lunch.

Jersey Boys Deli is a cute and quirky, delicious find nestled up in the mountain town of Dillon.  It has been voted both the best pizza and the best sandwich shop in Summit County, from 2005-2010, as well as the best lunch, best Restaurant, Italian or otherwise, in Dillon in 2008.  WOW!!!!  CONGRATS to Jersey Boys!  With this many wins, you know it’s going to be very good.  Once you step through the doors, you feel as though you have gone back to the East Coast.   The New York skyline lights up the back wall, and pictures of The Sopranos and Frank Sinatra greet you as you walk into the dining area.

Jersey Boys offers a wide range of foods, ranging from hot meals to pizza to sandwiches.  There was a whole pizza that had just come out of the oven when we arrived, and OH MY GOSH!  I have NEVER seen such a big pizza.  Next time you are going through Dillon, stop by and give the Jersey Boys a try.  You’ll be glad you did.  They are located at 149 Tenderfoot Street, Dillon, CO 80435, or you can check out their website at jerseyboyspizza@aol.com to order ahead.  Jersey Boys, “It’s all about the food”.

One of our newscasts has a saying “What is the most Colorado thing you saw today”.  This is most definitely “the most Colorado thing we saw today”.  A sailboat sailing on the lake with the snow capped mountains as a backdrop and beautiful, brightly colored pansies below.  I just love it.

There is beauty to be found everywhere, but there is something really special about the beauty you find in your own backyard.

We also met a cute and adorable new furry friend along the way to our big rafting adventure.  He was an award winning alpaca moving to his new home.

This was our delicious picnic with our gorgeous view of Dillon Lake.  Words and pictures just don’t do it justice.   Larry had a grilled cheesesteak sandwich and I had a tuna sandwich; a perfect picnic on a perfect day.

So in my post Painting the House I mentioned the kitchen was closed.  This is why the kitchen has been closed.  As you can see from the pictures, there is NO WAY the kitchen could have been opened during the remodeling process.  We have been eating on paper plates with plastic utensils.  Everything has been covered up, with very limited access.

Our intrepid painting crew.  They have been AWESOME, and are doing a fabulous job.  The house is already transforming into a work of art.

The kitchen will once again be open for business, very soon.  It is going to look so nice, along with the rest of the house.  Just a little more patience; I promise.  Once again, many thanks for your patience.  See you soon.

Today is the 4th of July.  Here in the United States, this is our day of celebrating our birth as a nation.  Today marks our 243rd birthday.  Happy Birthday America, with hopefully many more to come.

Sorry I have been AWOL these past couple of days.  We are having the inside our our house painted and our whole house looks like a disaster zone.  It will look really nice once it’s done, but it is total chaos throughout the process.  Today was the first day I was even able to get into my office, but it, like every other room in our house, is a total wreck  right now.  I will post things as I can, but for the next few days, it will be very hit and miss.  The painters haven’t even started on the kitchen yet.  They are only just finishing the upstairs and the downstairs portion of the house is just getting started today.  For the first couple of days, we had to sleep in the guest room downstairs, but now even that room is all taped up now.  I stripped the bed to wash the sheets, and when I came home from work, it was all taped up, dirty sheets and all.  We were able to sleep in our own bed last night, but just barely.  Our bed is the only thing that is accessible and the only thing we were able to put back on the wall was our flat screen TV.  Ah the price we pay for having a nice house, right?!.  🙂  All of this is going on as well as me taking Lucie to her treatments in between work and going in between jobs.  Needless to say, the Jones/Billinger household is in total disarray at the moment.  As soon as I can get back into the kitchen and our house is back in order, the kitchen will reopen.  Until then, please stay tuned ……  There is still lots of good stuff coming your way.  Thank you all for your patience and understanding.  I’ll be back soon.  🙂

This is what my house looks like at the moment, only worse.

Soon, everything will be spic and span again and my house will look like my house again.  Just so you know, these photos ARE NOT my actual photos from my house.  🙂

Chili-Lime Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Just a few simple ingredients transforms sweet potatoes into sweet potatoes that are packed with a punch and deliver a lot of WOW!

2 med-large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

1-2 tsp salt

1 TBSP lime juice

3-4 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP honey (not pictured)

1-2 tsp dry roasted garlic

1 tsp dried, minced lime peel, optional

1-2 tsp dried Aleppo chilies

1-2 TBSP parsley

Mix all the ingredients together and then toss the sweet potato wedges into the mixture, making sure to thoroughly coat the potatoes.

Once the sweet potatoes are tossed in the chili-lime mixture, it is time to roast them.  You can roast them in the oven, at about 400* F for about 30-40 minutes, or you can wrap them in foil and place them on the grill to roast for about 15-25 minutes.  We roast them both ways and both are delicious.  I have to confess though, I do not want to have the oven on if I don’t have to when the temperatures outside are pushing the mercury up to the 100* mark or above.  🙂  You are going to really enjoy these sweet potatoes no matter which way you decide to cook them though.  They are full of flavor, easy to cook, and are relatively health for you as well.