Ahhh…Porch Life

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We arrived in the Catskills on Friday night after a very long 14-hour drive.  My wonderful husband drove the whole way.  We got up to Twilight just in time for the Friday night drop-in dinner at the clubhouse, which was a welcome treat.  After a quick bite and hello to old friends that we hadn’t seen since last summer, we came up to the house to unpack and relax.  Friends in Charleston were asking me before we left what we did up here.  To be honest, we don’t do much- there are pretty much only two questions to be answered during the course of the day.  What hike will we do, and whose porch are we sitting on tonight?  The hiking I love, but porch life is what I look forward to all year long.  The Swansons’ porch has one of the better views, and hanging on that porch usually involves some sort of meaty treat.   Our porch always brings a plethora of cheese (after all, it is my porch), and Dave’s porch is usually reserved for after-dinner cocktails and fireside chats.  It really doesn’t matter whose porch we are on; it is always a good time.  However, I did want to spice up my cheese offerings this year.  And, in honor of my two favorite cookbook authors, The Lee Brothers, who coincidentally have a house close by and we are hoping to see next weekend, I am going to try to recreate their Henry’s Cheese Spread.  I have had it at a cocktail party they threw during Spoleto in Charleston, and it is fantastic.  I think everyone in Twilight will love it as much as everyone in Charleston.  Stay tuned for more “porch” recipes!

Henry’s Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

10 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (3 cups)
2 ounces (1/4 cup) lager or ale
Juice of 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, drained
2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Crystal
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 garlic clove, minced

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is smooth and spreadable. Transfer to a small bowl to serve.

Sierra’s Favorite Cucumber Soup

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We spent the most wonderful weekend up on Lake Summit with a bunch of great friends before we picked Walker up from camp.  I can’t believe three weeks’ sleep-away camp has already come and gone.  Lake Summit was like a camp for adults, which is my favorite kind of place.  We sat on the boathouse deck for pretty much the whole day- occasionally swimming, napping, reading, fishing, and lots of eating and drinking.  Two of our group were in charge of lunch, which were fabulous BLTs and really delicious cucumber soup.  It was a perfect meal for a hot summer day.  I had put my soup down while eating my sandwich, only to look up and see Sierra, a very sweet dog with maybe not the best manners, nose deep in my soup.  It was so funny I couldn’t even be upset that she had eaten the rest of my soup.  Here is Sierra’s favorite cucumber soup recipe- hope you enjoy it as much as she did!

Chilled Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fat free plain yogurt

1 green onion coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill

Additional chopped green onions and  snipped fresh dill

Directions:

In a colander set over a bowl, toss cucumbers with salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Squeeze and pat dry.

Place the cucumbers, yogurt, onion and garlic in a food processor; cover and process until smooth. Stir in dill. Serve immediately in chilled bowls. Garnish with additional onion and dill

 

 

New Mom Meals

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My dear friend Kendall is having a baby today, maybe even as I write this.  It was scheduled which is how I know it could be happening right now.  I am currently hanging out with her first son Kevin before I take him to camp, and then I will pick him up this afternoon and take him out to the hospital.  I think that is going to be a very difficult ride.  Kendall and Robert do not know what they are going to have, but they will send out a text to all of us who are waiting very impatiently to tell us all the good news.  When I pick Kevin up from camp this afternoon, I will know if it is a boy or a girl, and he still won’t, and of course, Kendall and Robert want to be there when he finds out.  So basically I am trying to bribe Kevin not to bribe me into telling him.  I am pretty sure I am going to win this one.  I texted Kendall this morning asking if there was anything I could bring her this afternoon like beer, cold cuts, soft cheese or anything else she has not been able to eat for the last 9 months.  She said she would let me know.  In that vein, I found a great web site (TheKitchn.com) for 10 great meals to bring new moms http://www.thekitchn.com/what-foods-to-bring-a-new-mom-10-recipe-ideas-176173.  Chances are I will bring donuts and beer mainly because I think she will like that better than healthy chicken.

Brownie Dessert

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Pinterest always makes me hungry.  I love looking at the wonderful food photography, and all of the recipes are great.  I did read a really funny quote from DJ Joe Kelly about all of the food photography that is constantly on Facebook and Pinterest.  He said:

“Remember the old days…when you used to have dinner…then grab the camera, focus it, and take a picture of your food? You’d then take the roll out of the camera, drop it off at the Fotomat place, and you’d pick it up a few days later…. Then, you’d pick out the best photo of your food, go back to the Fotomat, drop off the negative, get copies of the photo made….then, pick them up a few days later. You would then take the photos, put them in envelopes, add stamps, then run down to the post office and mail the pictures of your dinner to all your friends. Remember all that?

Of course not! You didn’t use to take photos of your food – why are you doing it now?

Studies show Facebook would be much less traveled if people just stopped taking pictures of their food!

Apparently, your friends onhttps://thesouthwillrise.com/wp-admin/post-new.php Facebook aren’t the only ones tired of this practice.Some restaurants are now banning picture taking in their dining rooms since all the camera flashes are disrupting the ambiance and disturbing other diners.

If you eat a nice meal and don’t take a photo, did it really happen?”

I thought it was pretty funny, but despite that, I do love this new trend.  Here is a fantastic Dessert Brownie recipe I found on pinterest via Luscious Food Recipes for the Soul while drooling on my desk.

Brownie Dessert

Ingredients:

2 brownie mixes
1 extra large egg
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 (8 oz.) containers whipped topping
1 (3 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding
1 (3 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding
3 1/2 cups milk
1 Hershey candy bar or chocolate syrup

Directions:

Mix brownie mixes according to directions. Add egg. Bake in 9×13 inch greased and floured cake pan. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 container whipped topping. Put this mix on top of the cooled brownies. Blend puddings and milk together and put on top of the cream cheese mixture. Top with another layer of whipped topping. Put chocolate shavings or chocolate syrup on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

 

Sour Cream and Chives Biscuits

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I do love a good biscuit- piping hot and steamy.  It can be the perfect breakfast- you really don’t need much else.  Fortunately, my wonderful husband makes amazing biscuits- not nearly as often as I would like, but when he decides to make biscuits, they are a work of art.  We are heading up to the mountains next weekend with friends, and Corby has said he will make biscuits.  I am excited.  I usually do not have a preference for flavor of biscuit, but I found this recipe for sour cream and chives biscuits that sounds pretty darn awesome, so maybe he will make these!!

Sour Cream and Chives Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick baking mix

1 cup dairy sour cream or 3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp dried snipped chives

Directions:

Heat oven to 450°. Mix all ingredients until dough form, beat 30 sec. Turn onto surface dusted with baking mix; gently roll in baking mix to coat. Shape into ball; knead 10 times. Roll 1/2 thick. Cut with 2″ cutter dipped in baking mix. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown, 8-10 min. Makes 12 Biscuits. Sour Cream-n-Chives Drop Biscuits. After beating, drop dough by spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown. 10-12 min.

So Many Cravings

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It has been an eventful week in our house with Walker out of school.  I took him fishing with a friend on Tuesday where he caught one red fish, two blue fish, two baby sharks, six big sharks and the biggest stingray I have ever seen.  Needless to say we did not swim in the ocean on Tuesday.  Yesterday, Corby, Walker, Nemo and I drove up to Lake Summit in North Carolina to drop Walker off for three weeks at Camp Mondamin.  This is Walker’s third time at Mondamin but his first time for three weeks.  He was so excited, and fortunately for me, the camp puts up pictures every day for the parents to see how the kids are doing.  And from the pictures this morning, it looks like the first day was a blast.  So, now that Walker is off for a couple of weeks, Corby and I have decided to do a cleanse.  I guess this is a good time to do it since we don’t have to cook Walker meals and there are not snacks in the house.  But on the other hand, now also would be a good time to go out to dinner and movies and bars etc since we don’t have to get a babysitter.  But, alas, we have chosen the cleansing route and this being the first day, I want to eat my desk.  My lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper concoction is not really doing it for me right now.  I am instead thinking about cheese, pastries, bread, crackers, milkshakes, cheese, hamburgers, bread and more cheese.  So I have decided to post my all time favorite recipes and to live vicariously through writing them out.  Here is the first one- keeping it pretty simple here with an old fashion grilled cheese sandwich.  (The two pictures are of Walker and his shark and then the car ride up to camp- Nemo did not want Walker to go!)

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients:

4 slices of white bread

3 tbsp butter

cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Generously butter one side of a slice of bread. Place bread butter-side-down onto skillet bottom and add 1 slice of cheese. Butter a second slice of bread on one side and place butter-side-up on top of sandwich. Grill until lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining 2 slices of bread, butter and slice of cheese.