blueberries

My parents have had just a few blueberry bushes for as long as I can remember. Some years the crop was good and other years not so good. Some years my dad would create this crazy net contraption to keep the bird and deer away. For this the whole family would need to help in the yard. With the net thrown over us like trapped animals, waiting for my dad to secure it in place.

My dad is famous for his blueberry pancakes, growing up the neighbor kids always wanted to sleep over on the weekend, just so that they could be here for breakfast. Even as a teenager this was still true. We still have pancakes on a weekend morning but now babylove is old enough to have them and this morning I tried my hardest to out eat the baby of 19 lbs. I was only successful because her mother cut her off and we were able to tie at 3. But if she had her way I wouldn't have stood a chance. 

Independence Day

I like my independence. When I think about how I live my life as a 26 years old single female. I know I have more freedom than many women around the world or throughout history. I am thankful. 

East Aurora always does their fireworks the night before. My aunt and uncle have the perfect spot and we always know right where to find them. A bunch of the cousins were in from out of town so we started last night and continued the party today. It was good. 

Our picnic was a collaborative affair however my aunt and uncle carried most of it, wonderfully. My uncle did ribs- slow cooked, they were fall off the bone melt in your mouth delicious. I think I need to try making them, I never have. We played badminton, silly relay races and watched fireworks from the front yard. It was one of the best Independence Day's in a long time. 

grilled pizza

I have wanted to make grilled pizza for some time now and since I have been cooking so much this week it seemed like a good thing to try on the family. I did my research and felt ready, however my dad wasn't so sure, it took some convincing for him to follow my process but the results won him over. He might never make pizza in the oven again. 

Homemade Pizza Dough

1 1/2 packages of yeast

1 1/2 cup warm water plus more if needed

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. oil

4 1/2 to 5 cups flour 

Combine the first three ingredients and let set for 5 minutes. Mix with a whisk. Add oil, salt and flour. Mix with a wooden spoon, then knead with your hands until dough is soft and smooth. If dough is sticky, add a small amount of flour. Put dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and put in a warm place for 45 minutes. 

While dough is rising. Prepare your toppings. I choose a variety. If you don't want to turn on the oven many of these can be done on the stove top or grill. 

Toppings List:

Mini sweet peppers - grille with a little salt, pepper and olive oil, just until they are soft and starting to blacken. Or roast in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper until starting to blacken and become soft. 

Grape tomatoes and garlic - Separate garlic cloves, I used about 6, keep at least one layer of skin ~ this condenses the flavor but speeds the roasting process. Place in an oven safe container with grape tomatoes and cover with olive oil, salt and pepper. This can be placed in the oven or off direct flames on the grill. Tomatoes will burst and garlic will become soft. 

Onions - Slice onions and rub with olive oil, place on grill or in saute pan. 

Garlic infused olive oil - cloves of garlic, smashed with 1/2 cup olive oil, slowly heated. 

Browned Italian Sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella, fontina cheese and parmesan cheese. 

Separate the dough into a small section about the size of a baseball. Roll and flatten the dough using a rolling pin or your hand on a lightly floured surface, turning and flipping the dough will help shape the dough and prevent it from sticking. Continue separate and rolling the dough stacking the flattened dough  on a baking pan. 

When finished, set out toppings, if possible put them out on a table near the grill. 

Have 2 baking pans ready, tongs and a brush along with the garlic olive oil. 

Grill should be warm on medium low heat. 

Take the first flattened dough and brush one side with olive oil and place on the grill oil side down. Close the lid and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Check to see that it is done, grill marks should form. Using the tongs and an upside down baking pan remove the pizza, sliding it onto the pan. Brush the top side with olive oil and flip. On the now cooked side place your choice in toppings, sauce and cheese.

Using the tongs place back in a low heat area on the grill for about 4 to 5 minutes. The bottom should be grilled and the cheese melting. Repeat the process, doing more than one at a time if possible. 

My favorite was when we took the garlic, remove the skins, tomatoes, the oil from the roasting, peppers, onions and cheese (no sauce) and made a pizza. My dad loved the onion, (I used purple onions by the way) sausage and pepperoni with sauce and cheese. 

Truly amazing. They were seriously delicious and I cannot wait to make them again!

Famous Chicken

Summer is so great. My day consisted of reading a book about writing- which is really inspiring me to write more, taking 2 walks, playing with squirt guns and sitting by the kiddie pool in the back yard. Pretty rough. 

So this is my famous chicken marinate. It could be called Western New York Chicken because there are a few ingredients that you can only get in Western/Central New York. I am still in New York and since I really have nothing else to do mom asked me to make dinner again, more specifically my chicken. 

Super simple... super delicious. The problem is I don't have any measurements for this. It's more about how you feel it should be. 

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts - bone in, skin on (This is a cheaper, juicier option.) 

Basting Oil from Wegman's (It is actually grapeseed oil with herbs.)

Olive Oil (I prefer Virgin and Organic) 

1-2 Lemons

Balsamic Vinegar from Four Chimney's on Seneca Lake (It's not balsamic by any means, its very much red wine vinegar- but works perfect.) 

salt and pepper

Garlic - smashed and rough slice whole cloves

Salt and pepper the chicken well. I find it easiest to do the marinate in a plastic zipper bag. Place in bag. Place in cloves of garlic (1 per breast), zest the lemon- place in bag, quarter lemons and squeeze into bag. Throw lemons in bag. Coat with vinegar, grapeseed oil and olive oil. Your ration to acids ( including lemon and vinegar) to oils should be 1 to 2. 

Let marinate in the fridge for an 30 minutes to 2 hours. Bake in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes. Then put on the grill or under the broiler to crisp the skin. 

Make do lasagna

So I was running around quite a bit today. Trying to help my sister with transfering to a new college and the other sister's car broke down. Kind of a hectic day and on top of that I told my mom I would have dinner ready when she got home. We have been eating together, the whole family I mean, a lot lately and it's been nice. It reminds me of being younger when we all still lived here. So she said lasagna or mac and cheese. Well I can't complete with her mac and cheese but I do a decent lasagna. 

I stopped at the grocery store and got what I needed and really just wanted to cook and be done for the night. Things were going great and dinner was right on schedule until I went to cook the pasta and there were mealworms floating in the water with the pasta! We had no more lasagna noodles, so I improvised. 

Make- do Lasagna

1 lb. of penne pasta 

1 lb. ground beef

1 and a half jars favorite sauce

16 oz. ricotta

2 eggs

10 oz. mozzarella

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

garlic salt

Saute ground beef, season with 1/2 tsp garlic salt.

Boil pasta, 10-12 minutes, al dente.

Mix ricotta and eggs. 

Mix meat and sauce.

Drain pasta pour back into pan and mix ricotta mixture.

Layer large casserole dish with half of the meat mixture, all of pasta, the remaining meat mixture. Top with parmesan and mozzarella. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 

It was good, like goulash, but not. 

Baby's First Birthday Party

Sistermom wanted to have a small party for the baby's 1st birthday. I love to throw a party and I was home for the week with nothing to do so I offered to help. Kept it simple, cake and ice cream with a few "snacks".

We definitely took some shortcuts but took the long road where it mattered most.

THE MENU

To Drink

beer ~ light and regular

wine ~ white and red

sangria

 fresh brewed ice tea

lemonade

To Snack

Cheese & Cracker Tray

Vegetable Basket

Mexican Dip & Chips

Peanuts

Chips

Bowls of fruit ~ watermelon, cherries, strawberries

To Sweeten

Raspberry Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream

Cone funfetti cupcakes

Homemade strawberry and vanilla ice cream

Recipes

Sangria - I researched so many recipes and still think this one needs work. I let it soak for about 2 hours.

Magnum of red wine- I chose an Australian Shiraz.

1 lemon - sliced

1 lime - sliced

1 orange - sliced

1 apple - cubed

1/2 cup of brandy

2 cups club soda

3/4 cup orange juice - I prefer fresh squeezed.

Mix and let sit in refrigerator for up to 5 hours. Add the club soda just before serving. 

Cheese and Cracker Tray- I choose a good mix of traditional cheeses and crackers, colby jack, munster, cheddar and cheese curds. Then put a brie and champagne cheddar to challenge the palate. 

Vegetable Tray- Green beans (raw don't blanch!), carrots, celery, tomatoes, and various rainbow peppers. Dip - ranch dry mix, sour cream and juice of half a lemon.

Mexican Dip - whipped cream cheese and taco seasoning to taste. Topped with blend of shredded cheese, diced rainbow peppers and tomatoes. 

Tomorrow is the party. I'll do the dessert recipes tomorrow cause this is already getting to long. 

The garden

We used to have a decent size garden when I was growing up, I have fond memories of picking green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and corn. One year my parents wanted broccoli and got brussel sprouts, which no one in my family ate. Seeing the perfect deep red tomato, reaching my hand to grab it only to encounter a sticky spiderweb. The fun of running through the yard with my sisters stopping to grab a pea pod or handful of green beans and continue on with our play. Good fond memories~ there are pictures of us as babies with piles of tomatoes as big as our heads. 

Having a garden is one of the things I am most looking forward to in my new place. I'll have a yard so I could do a real garden if I was ever there. My parents garden now consists of this... thanks to the deer it has become impossible to plant much of anything and keep it from being eaten.