Rosie

Shrimp Burgers with Fennel-Cilantro Coleslaw

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Granddaughter Piper w/ me in Michigan

You’re right. If you’re a regular reader, you might say this looks more like FRIDAY FISH (my 7-week Lenten posts) than August but August it is. Where is the summer going?! After over a month away from the blog (scroll down to LIFE GOES ON) getting ready for, celebrating, and taking a family trip for our 50th wedding anniversary, it’s feeling just plain old good to be home and to share a new –to me–dinner with you.

As always, when I arrive back home, I’m focused on making big over our 10-year-old flat coated labradoodle, Rosie; getting the unpacking/laundry going; stocking up at the grocery store; reading the mail and email; and enjoying my own coffee pot and bed. This time, as fall approaches (school starts in one district here today), I also did a good check of the freezer to see what needed to be used before its yearly defrosting and readying for fall cooking–think soup, of course. A big bag of partially used shrimp stuck out, oddly placed on the top shelf with baked treats and baguette. Time to do something fun with it before it turned all icy-crusty, as shrimp will do. There are a lot of shrimp recipes on this blog but right off, a quick burger came to mind as summer will soon be tapering off and burgers often feel like summer to me. I read through my blogs for Pepperjack Cheese Fish Burgers and Crab Burgers, as well as the one for Caprese Salmon Burgers to find a quick path to dinner. A run to the store for buns and some produce for the Fennel-Cilantro Coleslaw and I soon had dinner on the table. Both dishes, for speed, depend on the food processor but can also be done by hand if that’s your druthers.

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Almond Shortbread

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Who first thought of sugar, butter, and flour together? A match made in heaven, I’d say.
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I’ve made the same shortbread recipe for years. Ina Garten stands by Eli Zabar’s shortbread recipe and I’ve done the same. What’s good enough for Ina…! In fact, there are several variations on that theme right on this blog–think chocolate dipped and salted fluted rounds, sugar-sprinkled hearts, lemon-scented fluted cookies, and even a savory appetizer version. I have, however, heard from a follower that the dough is a perfect pain to keep together and roll; I partly agree. It is sometimes, though not always, difficult–you must pay strict attention and keep patching and rolling– but the result always seemed to be worth it. Facing the need for a couple hundred shortbread cookies for my friend Lynne Stefonik’s mom, Marge Murray’s funeral, I decided to compare Ina’s/Eli’s basic to other shortbreads just to see what I could see. One that appeared promising was SCOTCH SHORTBREAD from THE FANNY FARMER BAKING BOOK by Marion Cunningham, a book I trust implicitly. The two recipes were similar in scope, the big difference being the use of powdered sugar rather than granulated. Any Scot baker worth her salt knows shortbread is made with granulated sugar–though some also have cornstarch, which is an ingredient of powdered sugar, after all– but I decided to give these a try, given my need for ease and speed. What a bake! This dough goes together, rolls, cuts, and bakes like the perennial dream cookie. The recipe is so simple I had it memorized by the second or third batch. My only change was to move from vanilla extract to almond extract, which is just enough to give them a tasty boost to my mind. I also fleshed out the directions a little. Thanks, Marion. Once again!

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FRIDAY FISH: Shrimp-Tortellini Chowder with Black Pepper-Parmesan Corn Muffins

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First Congregational Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Each spring, my friend Chris Hall — who’s in charge of the Healthy Living cooking classes at our fine downtown church — emails me about choosing a date and topic for my yearly class. I like to teach individually or in small groups but make the exception for this fun and laughing, engaged group of loving cooks who can number anywhere from 20-40! Some years I even teach two times, depending on my schedule and Chris’ needs. Our 150-year old green church kitchen (no AC and difficult-to-reach windows) is hot anytime of year so I choose spring or fall and avoid summer like the plague it is. Chris usually wants to have a title for my class and having to settle on something so early leads me to choose a rather general topic that I can fudge as needed. This year, I was ready for her: It was going to be Whole Meal Soups with Dessert Pairings. While I haven’t gotten the corresponding dessert figured, the first soup will certainly be one of my new Friday Fish favorites, Shrimp-Tortellini Chowder, featured right here today.

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Eggcellent Veggie Burrito

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Going on vacation next week....details at the end of the post. 
See you in September!

When I was a younger woman, I had no time for breakfast. Of course I choked down all the coffee I could manage and then, on high throttle, ran to catch the bus for work or jumped in the car to run kids to school. By lunch I was Starved with a capital “S” and surely ate more than I needed. I particularly remember drinking chocolate milk with my noon meal every day for one year of my short teaching career. (I also had to buy new and larger pants that year. It only takes one constant change, you see.) It wasn’t that I hadn’t been raised to eat a good morning meal; I had. Thanks, Dad. Somehow that daily oatmeal had gotten lost in the shuffle along the way, perhaps at college, much to my detriment. One fateful fall, however, weight having finally gotten the best of me, I joined Weight Watchers (WW). The doctor also called me on my caffeine habit; sigh. (I drink half-caff now so I can still have a humongous mugful.) If you know anything about WW and particularly old school WW –before points–you’ll know you must eat breakfast. You’ll fall flat on your face if you don’t. While I’m still a faithful member of the WW tribe (I’d be even larger if I weren’t), I also have become even more attached to the idea of a filling, substantial breakfast so I don’t lean into snacking or want two lunches. Plus I simply love breakfast!

Aside: Why have I done WW for so long? It keeps me honest. Can’t forget that ice cream bar if you’re tracking everything you eat.

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Plum Crostata with Walnut Streusel

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In September as the peaches wane and the apples are just ripening, here in Colorado we have trees and trees full of plums. These aren’t the big old black, handful plums we see a bit later on, but rather are the small dark purple, firm-when-ripe Italian prune plums. While excellent for snacking, perhaps they’re even better for baking since they tend to hold their shape and aren’t overly sweet. You might think of plums as the fall bag-lunch fruit —and I do, too— but for the past few years I find I adore a beautiful plum tart or, in this case, crostata.

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Vegetable Soup Two Ways

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There are simply days when it’s time to eat lightly or cut back a little. Even if you’re not on WW (Weight Watchers) or following some other sort of weight-loss program, a few bowls of colorful all-vegetable soup might be just what you need today or even exactly as the doctor ordered. (“Eat more fiber!”) Maybe you overdid it at the restaurant Saturday night or at the neighbor’s brunch on Sunday; you could have skipped your workouts last week. Whatever…I’m guessing this could be your soup this week–great for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

I have made this easy potful for years and it’s even been blogged before. Today it was time to rewrite the recipe and add its second-day version (baked in a bowl with an egg in the middle!) right here in the same post.

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A Tale of Three Turkey Soups

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For how long are those leftovers edible? 

It’s all over but shouting. Hopefully you gave thanks with the best of them and enjoyed a feast fit for you.  If  the shouting turns out to be what goes on a day or two after Thanksgiving when you get on the scale, no worries. You’ll not eat like that again for…oh, probably a month.  Meantime, you’re back to your regular life and my guess is those extra couple of ounces–ok, pounds–will jump right back off the scale in a few days. And if they don’t? Salad and soup for a week could fix it. So how about some soup?

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“Greek” Steak Salad with Quinoa

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If you’re lucky enough to have leftover steak, you’re lucky enough.  At our house, red meat is well-loved, but kept in its healthy place. So we invest in a good quality product  and eat it usually only once a week. If there’s a little left, and it’s steak, there’s usually a next day steak sandwich for my husband, Dave. Occasionally, though, there’s more than a little left  and I make a steak salad or tacos for us both. Maybe steak and eggs if we’ve been really good. A tiny bite for the pups could be forthcoming, too.

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Grilled Peach and Corn Salsa–Colorado Summer Bounty

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The Colorado growing season is short, but mighty.  We make up for the reduced length with the best and sweetest Olathe (pronounced: o-LAY-tha) sweet corn and toothsome, sticky-dripping Western Slope  Palisade peaches.  (Visit Colorado wine country, too, if you go to pick peaches.)  Somewhere in there the Rocky Ford cantaloupes also ripen, the Pueblo green chiles are roasted on street corners–going into myriad pots of pork green chile or into the freezer for scrambled eggs at Christmas and Super Bowl snacks. (We eat a lot of New Mexican Hatch chiles, too, which come in somewhat milder versions.) If you’re really lucky, you even know someone who fly fishes and will bring back trout we smoke to last all winter long. (More on those last three another post.)  

By the way, the Olathe Corn growers and the Palisade Peach producers each sponsor local festivals every summer and they’re coming right up:

OLATHE SWEET CORN FESTIVAL INFO AUGUST 5, 2017

PALISADE PEACH FESTIVAL INFO  AUGUST 17-19, 2017

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