Hang Loose

So long Summer...hang loose!

It all started with my brother's wedding...to the most beautiful bride, I might add! Now that summer is coming to a close, I take a look back and think "whoa", what a busy, fun-filled 3 months! Thought I'd share a little of what we've been up to this summer. So blessed to have fun memories with the kids and some really fun times with my sweet family! Actually, some of the best times have been right in our own backyard; all of us sitting by the fire pit roasting marshmallows & the boys having weekly campouts with their dad...I think those are memories they'll have forever!

here's me & my bro on his BIG day!

I got to have a special "mother-daughter tea" with my Ella

Ella had her dance recital

Jaden got to experience his first "skate camp", where he shredded

(at least that's what the instructor told me)

Then it was Maui.

Such an amazing trip I know the kids will never forget...

Jaden on the rope swing

the tide pools were so fun!

Lot's of fun times with our family...

Had many bonfire's in the backyard...

The kids with their cousin Kai in our tree

Pizza...any way you like!

We made pizza's last night & it was FUN! Gotta love the Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough, which makes the thought of homemade pizza's much more fun. I know homemade pizza dough is not difficult and I was actually planning on making some, but when you're short on time and energy...any store bought kind works just fine! I've also gone to my favorite pizza places before and bought some of their dough to make fresh pizza or rolls.

So, we all like different things on our pizzas, which is why I separated the dough for everyone to make their own. That way the kids are happy and I'm happy not having their grubby paws on my pizza!! Go ahead and make your own variety...these are just a few of the ideas that we tried!

So many choices...

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 4-5 personal size pizza's)

• 2 pkgs. store-bought pizza dough (16 oz. each)
• 1 jar marinara or pizza sauce
• Mozarella & Parmesan cheeses, shredded (Sterling & I also added fresh goat cheese)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• pepperoni (kids used this)
• small can black olives, sliced
• 1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
• 3 plum tomatoes, sliced
• artichoke hearts in water, drained & quartered
• fresh basil
• other options: sundried tomatoes (sliced), kalamata olives, pesto

Sterling "stuffed" his crust with cheese (on the left)

DIRECTIONS:

Unwrap pizza dough and place on floured surface. Let rest for 20 minutes. Divide 1 of the dough balls into 3 even balls. Divide the other into 2. This made 3 smaller pizzas for my kids and 2 very satisfying pizza's for Sterling and I. If you want to just make 1 large pizza, use 1 bag of pizza dough. let balls of dough sit on floured surface while you are preparing toppings.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice mushrooms and tomatoes. Place on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast in oven for 5-10 minutes or until cooked. **This will take out the moisture from the mushrooms and tomatoes, so when you bake them on your pizza, they won't get it soggy. They also give it more flavor when they are roasted! Arrange the remaining toppings in bowls for convenience.

Increase Oven temp. to 450 degrees and get your baking sheets or pizza stones ready. If using a baking sheet, be sure to use cooking spray!

Stretch dough out...be sure that it's thin because it will spring back and cook up thick if you don't stretch it thin enough. Now at this point, if you like a "crispier" crust, I would bake the dough for about 5 minutes prior to adding anything on the shell. If you like a softer crust, go ahead and add your sauce & toppings.

I made mine like this: thin layer of sauce, thin layer of mozzarella, roasted mushrooms and tomatoes, fresh garlic, artichoke hearts, basil, a light sprinkle of fresh parmesan, then lastly the crumbled goat cheese. Before popping into the oven, give the entire pizza a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (making sure to get some on the crust too!)

Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden and toppings are bubbly.

***Next time I will wait and add the basil after my pizza has come out of the oven.

So, I just HAD to brag about my son! His new hobby...surfing!

My Week of Experiments...

Hi there! Back from Maui and ready for a clean slate...

Soooo I'm taking a different approach to "cooking" this week and making a little detour from my normal routine. After coming back from an amazing vacation and having some of the best food that I could possibly eat, I'm finding the need to detox! I tend to spoil myself when I'm on vacation by indulging a little too much on EVERYTHING! I mean, who can resist sampling all of the Mud Pies around Maui? Not if you're a coffee/chocolate/oreo lover like me!! Or trying the different tropical drinks that sound so inviting when it's hot & humid and your laying out with a book in one hand? No complaints here, just feeling the need to get all of that stuff that's been dragging me down out of my body and get my body in good working condition to train for a half marathon. This will also be the first week of my training schedule, with an 8 mile long run on Saturday. I'm hoping by saturday my energy level will be soaring!

So, the next 7 days will consist of a detox food plan of certain fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. Only water to drink...that's right, NO COFFEE!!! And, a detox cleanse, which I'm sure will throw me for a loop! Don't worry, I'll try not to get too specific, per my husbands request, but I'll use my blog this week to log my days, what I've eaten and how I'm doing. This will be a good way for me to journal my experience and if your interested, you can come along with me!

Then you can decided for yourself if I'm crazy! Oh, and if you have any tips or recipes that could possibly make my experience more pleasant, please feel free to leave a comment!!

Here's to better health...

Rustic Boysenberry Tart

Oh my goodness...I've been in heaven with these sweet and juicy berries!!! A good friend was generous to share their crop of Boysenberries and I jumped at the chance to buy a flat. Although, I'm thinking I was crazy to buy just one and not two flats! I loved boysenberries as a kid, partly because they are so incredibly addicting and partly because I knew it meant summer...oh yea!! It's been really hard to find them since we've moved to the Central Coast and honestly, blackberries just aren't as flavorful (to me).

So, the afternoon I got them, I took out a little basket to wash and suddenly I had 3 little ones and a husband all with arms reaching into the sink to grab some berries! I knew these would go fast! My plan though, was to make a cobbler or crisp or pie. Well, I went the "easier" route and settled on a rustic tart. The beauty of the rustic tart is that it's a "free form" pie, so perfection isn't necessary! Yay for me and those who cringe at the thought of the perfect pie crust! Just plop the filling on the rolled out dough, then fold up the sides of the dough, brush with some egg wash and in the oven it goes!! Oh, and I splurged and made homemade vanilla-bean ice cream to go alongside...I just love summer! Don't you want to go out and find some boysenberries now??

The dough recipe came from Joy of Cooking and I kind of made up my own filling recipe.

DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. (3/4) stick unsalted butter
• 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS FOR DOUGH:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or your handy little fingers.

2. Make a well in the center of the crumbs and add the yolk, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir with your fingers until the dough comes together. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll to make a 9 1/2 inch - 10 inch circle. **Don't worry about keeping the edges from breaking...that's what makes it rustic!!

3. Line with parchment paper an edged baking sheet. Carefully place rolled out dough onto baking sheet. Pile fruit onto the center of the dough and carefully fold up edges around the fruit.

***Whisk up one egg yolk with 1 Tbsp. water. Brush the egg-wash over the outside edges of dough and sprinkle with Raw Sugar. Bake @ 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on rack; serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

FRUIT FILLING:

• 5 Cups fresh Boysenberries (you can really use any fruit for this recipe)
• 1/2 - 3/4 Cup sugar, depending on how sweet your fruit is.
• 1/4 Cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. juice from an orange (optional)

**Carefully mix all ingredients together and let sit for 15 minutes.

Boysenberries...need I say more?

The nice thing about a "rustic" tart is that it doesn't have to look pretty

All wrapped up, just waiting for an egg wash and a sprinkle of Raw Sugar

Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges, Walnuts, Dried Cherries and Goat Cheese

Adapted from FRESH EVERYDAY COOKBOOK by SARA FOSTER

Well, I was a busy girl yesterday! I planned a Sunday dinner for my family around some of the goodies I got in my Harvest Box. The menu was this salad: Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges, walnuts, dried cherries and goat cheese. The beets, so beautiful in three different colors, were roasted in an easy marinade. The oranges were from my parent's orchard and even though they're the last of the oranges for the summer, they were still sweet and juicy! All of the contrasting colors and textures in this salad make it not only tasty, but beautiful to look at!! The main course was Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Sweet and Salty Glazed Onions along with Roasted Potatoes, Fennel and Carrots.

The Salad and Pork recipe come from one of my most favorite cookbooks: FRESH EVERYDAY by SARA FOSTER. I actually changed around the salad recipe a bit, omitted a couple things and added a few things of my own. If you ever have the chance to look through her cookbook, you will find some of the most amazing recipes ever!!

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 6)

• 3 medium beets (red, golden or any combination), trimmed of greens and washed well.
• juice of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 oranges, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1 Cup glazed walnuts (store bought or homemade)
• 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup dried bing cherries
• 1 large bag Organic Mixed Lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place beets in a baking dish. Pour the orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, and 1/4 cup water over beets and season with salt and pepper. Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and roast the beets until they're tender when pierced with a knife, 40-45 minutes. Uncover and let beets cool to room temp. ** Reserve cooking liquid.

3. Peel beets and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Arrange about 1 cup of lettuce on individual plates. Layer orange slices, beets, walnuts, goat cheese and cherries.

4. Whisk the reserved beet liquid and pour over the vegetables, season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Roasted Beets just out of the oven

Look at what pretty colors these beets are!

A New Harvest

I can't believe this is the FIRST time I have bought a Harvest Box! I have friends who get them all the time and absolutely LOVE them! I'm always at the farmers markets in town and end up spending a lot, so I figured this would be a great way to get the best of what the farmers have to offer in one nice big box! So, I reserved my box at Rutiz Farms (all organic) on Thursday and was informed I could pick it up after 1pm on Friday. I know this sounds crazy, but I was SO excited to pick up my box! I couldn't even wait until I got home to peek inside the damp cardboard box. Potatoes, fennel, carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce mix, zucchini, a basket of the best strawberries on earth, and a single avocado! My mind started wandering about what I could make with all of the goodies inside. My plan is to get a box (or 2) weekly and plan my meals around what is in the box.

So, this is where I need help from my friends! I've never really cooked with beets, but I have some ideas just from dishes I've eaten at restaurants. Any good recipes you have that include beets, please send them my way! I'm thinking of a beet/goat cheese salad. I plan on using the fennel to make a roasted pork. I'm excited for this week of cooking and would love any ideas you have!!