I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
I see so many Egrets out everyday. I love the Egrets. They are so beautiful and graceful. Usually they are in the reeds, right on the water’s edge, but I love seeing them in flight too.
I love seeing them in the trees too.
And I really love it when I see two or more together too.
I’m sure I will have lots more Egret pictures coming your way, since they are always out and about and are always posing for me.
Have a great day and make everyday great.
Sea scallops are some of my absolute favorites. I LOVE scallops. I love them any way they are cooked. I saw a recipe that looked really good, but when I read through it, it was really kind of boring. So I just did what I always do, and did my own thing. I turned them into Southwestern scallops.
Southwestern Scallops
This dish was loaded with sea scallops and bacon and all kinds of fresh goodness.
1- 1 1/2 lbs sea scallops, thawed if frozen
4 slices of bacon, cooked and diced
1 TBSP garlic
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced very thin
1/2 poblano pepper, sliced thin
4-5 mushrroms, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
2-3 TBSP cowboy butter, optional Mixed Grill Topped with Cowboy Butter
salt & pepper to taste
Cook the bacon first and reserve the grease. Allow the bacon to cool and cut.
Rinse the scallops and then cook in the bacon grease, with either butter or the cowboy butter if using. Cook for about 4 minutes per side.
When the scallops are cooked, remove and keep them warm. Deglaze the pan with either a little white wine or lemon juice.
Add the mushrooms, onions, garlic and peppers and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until softened.
Add the tomatoes, most of the bacon and the scallops and mix in thoroughly right before serving, cook just long enough to heat everything up.
Serve over your choice of either pasta, rice or couscous. I served it over couscous. Top with the green onions and the rest of the bacon. Serve with a chilled white wine and enjoy.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay cool, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Once again, my squirrels are out having fun. They are always playful and so full of personality. They always look like they are having such a good time, no matter what they do.
Have a fun, squirrely day.
Once again, our weather is all over the place. Two days ago, it was 100*F or about 39*C. Yesterday, it was cool and rainy. I took advantage of the cooler weather and did some baking. I haven’t been baking or eating a lot of sweets for quite some time, but I still enjoy baking, so every now and then I just have to do it. I made some hazelnut & Nutella brownies.
Usually, I just stick with the tried and true Ghirardelli Brownie mix, but I found a recipe to make them from scratch that I wanted to try. Mine are good, and I hate to admit it, but the Ghirardelli ones are better. It’s hard to beat perfection. I know all the effort that goes into perfecting these mixes, especially if they are good and tried and true. My pastry chef instructor from culinary school, Chef Rudy Rosier, was one of the master chefs who helped create some of these boxed masterpieces. But if you do decide to make your own brownies from scratch, this is still a very good recipe, producing very good brownies.
Hazelnut & Nutella Brownies
It’s been so long since I’ve actually made brownies from scratch, I almost forgot about the layering process involved. 🙂
The Bottom Brownie Layer
Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180*C.
Spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 stick butter
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP Frangelico or other hazelnut liqueur
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan until smooth and creamy. It’s recommended to use a double boiler, but it’s not necessary if you you are stirring it constantly. Once it’s all melted together and creamy, let it cool for a couple of minutes before adding it to the sugar mixture.
While the chocolate and butter mixture is cooling, whisk together the rest of the ingredients together, then add the chocolate mixture and nuts and blend together. Once everything is mixed together, evenly poor it into the prepared pan.
Hazelnut Truffle Layer
3/4 stick butter
6 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4-1/3 cup Nutella
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 egg yolks
Once again, melt the butter, chocolate chips, Nutella and cream, mixing until smooth and creamy, and let it cool again before mixing it with the other ingredients.
Whisk the other ingredients together, like before, and once the chocolate mixture has cooled, mix everything together.
Pour it evenly over the bottom layer and place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until it is set and no longer shiny.
Let the brownies cool completely, then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before slicing. Then slice and top with powdered sugar and enjoy.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Usually when our Pelicans come to visit, they stay awhile. But this year they decided they didn’t want to be here much, so we haven’t seen much of them this year. When I got up this morning, I was so excited to see them swimming around in our top lake, that I hurried downstairs to get my camera. And again, they didn’t stay long at all; just long enough for me to get a couple of shots and then that was it. They were off again. They aren’t the best shots, since they were taken from a distance from my back deck, and they were NOT being cooperative at all. They were being very coy. But at least I got a couple of shots.
Sometimes life just passes us by so quickly. Blink and you just may miss it.
It was definitely a scorcher yesterday. The mercury was up to 100*F or about 38*C. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. So for dinner I wanted something that was cool and refreshing. I made a ranchero steak salad that was just perfect to help cool us down. Very little cooking was involved at all.
First, I marinated my steak in a chili lime sauce for about 4 hours, so it was full of flavor and nice and tender.
Chili Lime Marinade
1/3-1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil or lime olive oil
1-2 tsp ground achiote pepper
1 tsp lime and chili powder
1 TBSP garlic
chopped fresh cilantro
Mix everything together and marinade your steak, chicken, shrimp, tofu or whatever else you may fancy.
Then I made some pico do gallo Pico de Gallo and cut some tortillas into thin strips and pan-fried them to make them crispy. I did those ahead of time, so they were ready when I made up my salads.
Time for the salad. Romaine lettuce, chopped; corn cooked just slightly and shaved right off the cob; red onions, sliced very thin; cucumber peeled and sliced thin; tomato diced; cheese for Larry; avocado for me; steak; pico de gallo; ranch dressing and fried tortilla strips.
I pan-seared the steak to a delicious medium rare, then cut it into thin strips. When the steak was ready, I added it to my salads.
I finished the salads off with the avocado slices, ranch dressing, pico de gallo and tortilla strips. Mission accomplished! It was cool and delicious and oh so refreshing. And better yet, by the time we were ready to eat, the temperature had cooled down enough to where it was comfortable to eat outside on our beloved deck. Life is good! 🙂
When life gets too hot, cool down with a nice refreshing salad and a cool glass or two of wine, sit back and enjoy. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay cool, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
I am seeing so many birds, of all kinds, right now. They are everywhere, singing their pretty little songs of love. The Red Robins are all over the place too, saying “look at me, look at me”. I had to share some Robin love, since whenever I see them, if I don’t take their picture, they look like they are mad at me. They want me to notice them, AND NOT focus on the other birds around. So here are my latest Robin photos.
This guy made sure I noticed him. He was perched right on my roof, just waiting for me to come home.
I notice all my birds, and try to give them all equal attention. So Mr. Robin, you have been noticed and recognized as well. 🙂
People have been eating seeds and nuts since the beginning of time. They are very healthy sources of protein and other nutrients as well. Sunflower seeds in particular, are ranked as one of the world’s healthiest foods.
Sunflowers originated in North America and the Native North Americans have been eating sunflower seeds for between 3500-4500 years, though no one knows for sure when sunflowers were first harvested for their seeds. Some archeologists believe sunflowers were cultivated and domesticated before corn.
Native Americans ate the seeds raw or roasted and they cooked with the oil from the seeds. They also mashed them and made meal, cakes and bread from the mashed or whole seeds that the Native warriors/hunters would take with them while hunting or fighting. The seeds were often mixed with vegetables for cooking too. I know I like adding them to salads as well.
The Native Americans also used the seeds for non-food reasons as well, such as making dyes and paints or to use as decorations. They were often used for ceremonial purposes and the stalks were dried and used for building materials. Sunflowers were very important to the Native Americans for many reasons.
The Native Americans first cultivated sunflowers. When the Spanish came to the Americas in the 1500’s, they took sunflowers and their seeds back to Europe with them. They were used for ornamental purposes mainly, as well as medicinal uses for such things an anti-inflammatories. They were also used as animal feed. But they never really caught on until the Russians started cultivating them in the 18th century. By the 1830’s Russia had mastered the cultivation process for sunflowers on a commercial scale, mainly for the oil that was produced by the seeds. By the late 1890’s “in Russia, everybody, everywhere [nibbled] sunflower seeds” (p. 36 – The Story of Food, An Illustrated History of Everything We Eat). The Russian Orthodox Church increased its popularity by forbidding most oil foods from being consumed during Lent. However, sunflower oil was not on the prohibited list and therefore gained in immediate popularity as a food. By the 1900’s, Russia was growing up to 2 million acres of sunflowers.
It is believed that the Russian immigrants to the United States and Canada, in the late 19th century, were largely responsible for the reintroduction of sunflowers and the usage of their seeds to North America. With the high demand for sunflower oil, especially in Europe, Russia couldn’t keep up with production, so North American farmers started cultivating sunflowers in large quantities, and now produce over 5 million acres annually, though Russia and Ukraine are still the largest producers of sunflowers in the world.
Sunflower seeds are not only popular because of the oil they produce. The seeds themselves, both raw or roasted, or roasted and salted, have become popular snacks all over the world. They are healthy snacks and are a good source of vitamin E and minerals like copper, manganese, and selenium, and are full of healthy fats and fibers. There are many different varieties and all the seeds, from all the varieties are edible. Take your pick.
And here we thought sunflowers were just pretty flowers. It turns out, there is a lot more to sunflowers than we thought. They are good for so many things and are beautiful to look at too.
Enjoy the sunflowers in your life and have a great day. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Whether you are a real father or just someone who is inspirational and loved like a dad, today is your day to be loved and honored in return.
Father’s Day didn’t begin as the joyful celebration it is known for today. It actually emerged from grief and gratitude. Many believe that the first known Father’s Day was held in 1908 in West Virginia, USA, after a tragic coal mine explosion killed 361 men, most of whom were fathers. President Lyndon B. Johnson did proclaim it as a day of recognizing fathers in 1966, though it wasn’t officially recognized as a national holiday until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation to make it permanent.
Sonora Smart Dodd, initiated the idea of Father’s Day to honor her widowed dad who raised six sons. Since the month was her father’s birth month, and the third Sunday of June was his birth date, it was decided as the day to celebrate Father’s Day.
My own personal tribute to my daddy. My daddy was my hero.
Daddy in his Australian Army uniform, headed off to fight in WWII. He was only about 14 here.
Daddy not long after coming to the United States. My mother was from Texas, and they lived there for about 5 years before moving out to California in 1955.
Daddy, me, and the menagerie in our backyard.
Daddy with his girls in my first home in Colorado.
Daddy walking me down the aisle on my wedding day.
Our father/daughter dance at my wedding.
My favorite picture of my daddy. I took him on a cruise on an old fashioned cutter ship that cruised up the California coast for Father’s Day one year. He was in the Merchant Marines his whole life and was so happy he got to do one more cruise on a ship.
My daddy was my hero. He was always there for me, even when we fought like cats and dogs. We were two peas in a pod. I learned so much from my dad. I am who I am because of my dad. He passed away 18 years ago, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t still think of him and miss him. I love you daddy, always and forever. Thank you for being my daddy.
As you know, I love my little American Kestrels, as well as all the birds of prey. But then again, I could have just left it with I love all my birds, and that too would be a very true statement. 🙂 There is something magical about my little Kestrels though. These are the smallest and most abundant falcons in North America. Here we call them American Kestrels, but in some areas, they are also called Sparrowhawks or Northern Kestrels. They are one of the most colorful of all the raptors: the male’s slate-blue head and wings contrast elegantly with his rusty-red back and tail; the female has the same warm reddish on her wings, back, and tail.
She is looking for her prey in all directions.
Another day, another female, in the same location. They like this spot a lot. I tend to see Kestrels perched here quite often.
Have a great day. 🙂
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 