recipe — pleasure in simple things

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apple pie slushie

October

We have a lot of wonderful farms here in Connecticut. This is the time of year when everyone makes an obligatory trip to an apple and/or pumpkin farm. I stopped at a farm this past weekend to grab some freshly picked apples and some locally made apple cider.

With the summer-like temperatures in Connecticut this past weekend, I wasn’t thinking of baking a hot apple pie! Instead, I made an apple slushie from my farm fresh ingredients!

Why not get creative with slushies? (Have you seen the red wine slushies?)

Hot temp. Cold slushie. What’s not to like? And, the fact that the slushie was apple made it totally seasonal! It was delicious and refreshing ~ sort of like a chilly applesauce!

I used a honeycrisp apple for my slushie since that was the variety of apple I purchased at the farm and I thought it had the perfect amount of sweetness. A honeycrisp is a cross between a macoun and a honeygold. Obviously, you can substitute any variety of apple you prefer.

If you give the recipe a try, be sure to adjust the spices to your own liking before adding the ice.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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grilled cherry tomato skewers

September

As a kid, I would never even consider eating a tomato! Not sure why, because, as an adult, I look forward to this time of year when local tomatoes are beautifully ripe and ready to enjoy!

There are so many wonderful ways to eat tomatoes. You can’t beat a tomato tart when made with fresh, ripe produce! (Click here for a great recipe.)

Another fabulous, but very simple way to eat a tomato is grilled. And, skewers of cherry tomatoes, hot off the grill, are so very flavorful! I love eating grilled cherry tomatoes on toast spread with goat cheese. Or, just all on their own, sprinkled with salt!

Grilling skewers of cherry tomatoes is simple enough. If I am using them on toast, I just grill them, as is, on skewers. I season them once they are on the bread. If I am eating them plain, I first toss them in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper before skewering and grilling. Either way, they grill up fast and taste fabulous! Heating them up makes their flavor explode!

So, if you have a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes…or, have just picked some up at your local farmers market, be sure to try some skewered and heated on the grill! Tasty!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things…like seasonally delicious tomatoes!

Thanks for stopping by, Jackie

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cereal treat bowls

August

Cereal treat dessert bowls have been popular for a while now. I thought I’d give it a try just once so I could put my own spin on it.

Since everything I’ve seen has been made with plain rice or fruit cereal, I decided to make some cereal treat bowls with a chocolate cereal. And what flavor goes best with chocolate? A darker chocolate? Coffee? Raspberry? Peanut butter? That’s it! I decided on peanut butter.

Peanut butter mousse in a chocolate cereal bowl sounds like a good combination!

I made the standard cereal treat recipe of 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 10 oz. of melted marshmallows, and 6 cups of cereal. I lightly sprayed some small bowls with cooking spray (and sprayed a little on my hands as well). Using my favorite little Anthro bowls as a guide, I spooned the mixture into them and used my fingers to form the mixture into a bowl shape. Since I don’t have air-conditioning, I popped them into the fridge for a little bit to set them up.

I chose little bowls to make a nice sized individual serving, but you can make your bowls in any size you’d like! Since I am making a mousse to put inside, I am leaving them as is. If you plan on putting something more liquidy (I know this probably isn’t a word) than a mousse, I would suggest melting some chocolate and spreading a coat to harden on the bottom before adding anything so it will act as a seal and prevent any of your dessert from leaking out.

For the peanut butter mixture – kind of a cross between a mousse and a cheesecake – I beat together 4 oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2/3 cup heavy cream till smooth and then beat on high speed for a minute or two. I spooned this into the cups and garnished them with milk chocolate shavings. I think peanut butter ice cream would have been a better choice than the mousse idea. Whatever you spoon into the dessert bowls, be sure to do it just before serving so the bowls don’t get soggy.

Make a cereal treat bowl. Check. Have you tried making one? What did you serve inside it?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. If you liked this, click here to see a similar treat I made recently…peanut butter cereal treat bites.

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deviled eggs, hold the mayo

July

People find it hard to believe I don’t like mayonnaise. It’s true.

And, I think the reason I have never been crazy about deviled eggs is because of the mayonnaise in the filling. I’ve always eaten the outside, white of the egg and left the filling!

I decided if the mayo could be eliminated from the filling of the egg, I could enjoy the entire deviled egg!

So, for this year’s 4^th of July celebration, I made deviled eggs…minus the mayo!

My idea was to substitute yogurt – which I do like – for the mayo. I always have plain nonfat Greek yogurt in my fridge. I added that, as well as some fresh herbs from my garden, to the yolks of eggs for my deviled egg filling.

I boiled up a dozen organic eggs and got to work!

Here is what I ended up adding to a dozen egg yolks:

1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons organic, plain, nonfat Greek yogurt (you can adjust to desired consistency)
3 Tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
3 teaspoons fresh chopped mint (plus more for garnish)
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

I cut the 12 eggs in half lengthwise. The 12 egg yolks went into a bowl and were mixed with the ingredients above. I mixed well with a fork. (Maybe a mixer could be used here for more of a whipped consistency filling, but I didn’t have one available.) After the filling was mixed well, I piped it (not very neatly, as you can see!) back into the egg white halves and finished with salt and pepper to taste and some chopped fresh mint from my garden to finish!

My deviled egg creations came out really tasty! Now that I have tried a nontraditional filling, I think next time I experiment with deviled eggs, I may just remove the yolks altogether! Alter the spices to suit your taste. (Try the Trader Joe’s everything bagel spice!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a really fabulous and safe holiday!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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peanut butter chocolate cereal bites

June

I recently wanted to make a dessert as a gift for a person celebrating a new job. I know he likes peanut butter and chocolate candies and I know he likes cereal treats, so I decided to combine the two and come up with a special treat! Making a bar like a cereal treat didn’t seem ‘fancy’ enough for the occasion though, so I made the sweet as individual little cups!

I simply varied the recipe I use for a basic cereal treat to come up with a yummy peanut butter/chocolate version. They required a little more work than a bar, but I think you will agree the results were great! If you’d like to try, I am sharing the recipe. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cereal Bites

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1, 10 oz. package of marshmallows
½ cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1, 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate pieces
peanuts and sea salt flakes for garnish

Coat a mini muffin(s) pan with cooking spray. (I used a pan for 24 and had extra ingredients that I used to make bars in a coated 8” x 8” baking pan.)

In a large saucepan, melt butter on the stove over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted. Add cereal and stir until well coated and all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Press about a Tablespoon of the cereal mixture into the bottom of each well. There will be a little bit of room left to add some chocolate.

Melt the chocolate over low heat in a double boiler, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when just melted. Spoon about a teaspoon of chocolate into each well, smoothing the top with the spoon.

Finish with peanuts and flakes of sea salt. Set in the fridge. Store in an air tight container. These are best fresh, but there shouldn’t be any problem with them hanging around too long!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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mother’s day lavender almonds

April

On my last trip to Boston, I was at the market near the waterfront. One of the vendors was selling many different flavors of a variety of nuts. I tried quite a few flavors and picked out some to bring home.

After I got back home and sampled my purchases, I found my favorite of the nuts were the ones flavored Limoncello lavender. I thought the aroma and subtle taste of the lavender on the nuts was fabulous!

The nuts I brought home didn’t last very long and I found myself wishing I had more! It wasn’t long before I decided to make my own lavender flavored almonds…substituting vanilla for the Limoncello. After several attempts at creating vanilla lavender almonds, I found the recipe here to be the winning combination of ingredients.

I wish someone had invented a scratch and sniff computer screen so you could smell the heavenly aroma of the lavender! Give the recipe a try – maybe you will be inspired to adjust the flavors/amounts to your own taste and come up with your own flavor combination!

I think this treat is great to gift for Mother’s Day! Try packaging the almonds in a pretty jar or a vintage teacup!

Maybe for the next holiday I will try to recreate my second favorite flavor – the bananas foster flavored nuts!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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going nuts

February

I try to incorporate nuts into my diet as much as I can. I always add them to my salad and try to snack on them as a substitute for something less nutritious. Over the years, I have made many variations of seasoned nuts to serve as an appetizer or as part of a cheese tray.

I had no snacks for last Sunday’s epic television viewing night – the Justin Timberlake concert and then the This is Us episode, so I decided to jazz up some walnuts to snack on.I came up with this recipe for rosemary walnuts using ingredients I had on hand. I love rosemary. Using dried rosemary on my walnuts made it possible to add the rosemary flavor without running to the store for fresh herbs. (The one little sprig of fresh rosemary I had that you see in the photos was saved to use in the recipe I made next!) This snack was prepared in 20 minutes and tasted (and smelled) wonderful when eaten warm. I don’t ever eat much salt, but most people do – that’s the reason I put the range of salt! I also tried not to use more butter than I needed – starting with less and adding just enough to cover the nuts!

Rosemary Walnuts

4-6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups walnut halves

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and add seasonings. Add walnuts and toss gently, coating well. Place on a large shallow baking tray n a single layer. (I lined the tray with parchment paper for easy clean up.) Bake at 325 degrees until richly brown – about 10 to 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.

I know; eliminating the butter would make this recipe totally guilt-free! But, I decided to get a little decadent for the big concert. I may try substituting something a little more healthful for the butter next time – maybe sunflower oil.

The point of this recipe is to show you that it is easy to create some seasoned nuts using dried herbs you have on hand. I may have recipes for herbed nuts that I like more than this one, but this one did the trick when I wanted something quick without going to the store!

I hope you are inspired to try this recipe or to create your own variation.

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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‘unbeetable’ hummus

January

When I was a kid, I hated beets! They were a staple on my grandmother’s Sunday table, but I would not go anywhere near them! But, as an adult, I have developed a fondness for these root vegetables.

My most recent beet discovery came when I visited Flora – a restaurant with a plant based menu located in the Blue Back Square section of West Hartford, Connecticut. It was the first time I had tried beet hummus and it was absolutely yummy! This snack motivated me to research every beet hummus recipe I could find to try and recreate Flora’s delicious appetizer the best I could.

Many of the recipes I found used chickpeas, but I chose to eliminate the chickpeas and make the beets the star of the dish! If beets appeal to you at all, I would definitely urge you to try beet hummus! Here is what I did to make beet hummus, as inspired by the one I enjoyed at Flora!

Beet Hummus Recipe

½ lb. fresh beets (4-5 medium), prepared
2 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 garlic clove, minced
4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (2 lemons) plus 1 Tbsp. zest (1 lemon)
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil as needed

To prepare the beets (cleaning them prior to cooking), I covered them with water in a saucepan and simmered them until tender and they felt soft when pricked with a fork. It took about 35 minutes. After they cooled down, I peeled them and cut them into cubes.

I put all the ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor and processed until smooth. When serving, I drizzled the hummus with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Pita chips, as well as fresh carrot and cucumber curls, go great with this hummus!

Even though I wouldn’t eat them as a kid, I really enjoy beets as an adult! One of my favorite beet dishes – the beet soup at The River Tavern in Chester, Connecticut.

I think the pretty color of beet hummus makes it ‘unbeetable’ to serve as a Valentine’s Day appetizer! I hope you are inspired to try it!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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diy basil infused salt gift

November

Before the first frost, what do you do with the last of the basil from your garden? Do you make batches of pesto to freeze? Have you ever thought about making some basil infused salt?

I recently had the good fortune to stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. The Ritz on Amelia Island has a fabulous selection of infused salts for sale. Trying some of the salts from their collection, and watching the kitchen staff demonstrate how it is made, inspired me to use my ‘last of the season’ basil to make some of my own infused salt!

Basil salt makes the perfect seasoning for a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad when the basil from the garden has long gone…and, when packaged, it makes a great holiday gift as well!

It is super simple to create a basil infused salt!

First, I pulsed ½ cup kosher salt and ½ cup packed basil leaves together in the food processor. I dried this mixture by spreading it on a baking sheet in a 225-degree oven (tossing it every 15 minutes) for about 40 minutes – until dry.

After letting it cool, I pulsed the mixture one last time to make the salt extra fine. Of course, you can control the coarseness by the number of pulses used.

For packaging, I used some glass tubes I had purchased for another DIY. I think three tubes tied together are a great way to package the salt as a gift. If you try making some other herbed salt flavors, you can even package three different flavors of salt to gift as a trio! If you would rather use a more conventional container, small Weck jars or glass spice jars would also look super cute!

I hope I have inspired you to use some herbs from your garden to create some infused salt!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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2 ingredient ice pops

August

Ice pops are synonymous with summer! And, what could taste better on a hot, summer day?! I really love icy treats – evident since I own an ice pop mold, an ice shaver, and an old-fashioned ice cream maker!

Every year, I make many variations of homemade pops, but for today I am sharing a super-fast way to create some with a minimal amount of time and ingredients. Just two easy ingredients are needed – your favorite yogurt and some baby food!

Yes, baby food! Haven’t you ever bought banana baby food to make banana bread? Using baby food is an easy way to get some good quality prepared fruit for a recipe without any fruit cleaning or waste! Plus, you can keep some on hand without it going bad!

To make 6 pops, I use 3 jars (4.25 oz.) organic baby food (I like Beech-Nut in Just Mango) and 3 (5.3 oz.) containers of yogurt. Ice pop molds are super easy to come by these days – a quick trip to HomeGoods or Marshalls will fill the bill! If you don’t want to be bothered with another pan to clutter your cabinets, get small, 3 oz. paper cups and some wooden sticks – these will work just as well!

I use a plain yogurt because I like the tartness and it mixes well with the mango, but you may want to use vanilla or a favorite flavor that will mix well with mango (or whatever fruit you choose). For those of you that like extra sweetness – you can add maple syrup or honey to the yogurt before using it in the pop.

Just put the yogurt in the molds, alternating it with the fruit, and freeze – that’s it! The fruit gets so nice and icy! If you use the cup method, the yogurt is thick enough to keep the sticks standing up straight while the pops freeze.

I hope you enjoy this super easy ice pop recipe! Vary the yogurt and baby food flavors to come up with your own favorite combination! Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things…like enjoying a cold ice pop on a summer day! xo Jackie

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Tag: recipe

apple pie slushie

grilled cherry tomato skewers

cereal treat bowls

deviled eggs, hold the mayo

peanut butter chocolate cereal bites

mother’s day lavender almonds

going nuts

‘unbeetable’ hummus

diy basil infused salt gift

2 ingredient ice pops