This is a Winter picture from February. Remember when we all said we couldn’t wait until the Winter was over and Summer would get here? After yesterday’s 103 degree scorcher, I’m sure I wouldn’t mind sitting out in the cold for an hour or two. Weather seems to be the number one thing that you can always complain about…it’s always either too hot or too cold. Yesterday, absolutely too hot…way too hot. What has the weather been like in your neck of the woods?
This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen. It’s the time where we give thanks for another week of living. We give thanks for making it through and for being able to celebrate this fact. How do we celebrate another week of living? We dance. So take a moment and be proud of the fact that you’re here and you’ve made it to another Friday. Not only you, but your family and friends as well. So, to that end, are you alive this Friday? Have you given thanks for this?
Good, now let’s dance.
Every Summer has its own song. You know, that one song that speaks for that one particular Summer season. When you hear it, you immediately identify it with what you did that certain Summer, where you went on vacation that certain Summer, who you were dating, what you were drinking, etc. I was reading Billboard.com and actually found a list of the top songs of Summer by year. Reading through the list brought back memories and also made me realize that I’m not getting any younger. The songs were ranked on each track’s performance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the Summer. So here’s the list for the last ten years, just to refresh your memory:
So what will be the song of Summer 2011? I am putting my vote in now for ‘Last Friday Night’ by Katy Perry. Yes, this would give her three Summer titles, but this song is what Summer is all about. Letting go and having some fun. She also has quite the cast of characters in this video, including Kenny G. What can be bad about that? So enjoy the rest of your Summer and let loose to this little T.G.I.F. goodie. You made it through another week and deserve to celebrate. Does anyone even wear retainers like this anymore? What do you think the song of Summer 2011 will be?
This is a shot that I can’t even believe I took. Even with temperatures stuck in the high 80s and many times in the 90s, a dragonfly still has the energy to fly over and enjoy the bloom of a butterfly bush in our front yard. Even better, the dragonfly waited around long enough for me to get a couple of shots with my camera. It doesn’t usually happen like this for me when I’m out taking photos. Most things fly away faster than I can aim, focus and snap a picture. Yes, Summer is here. Temperatures are high, rain is scarce and there is a lot of humidity. That doesn’t mean that flowers and plants aren’t blooming here on Glen Road. To the contrary, a number of plants are in full bloom even with the harsh conditions. So we hope you take a few minutes and enjoy a virtual garden tour of what’s blooming in our garden right now. Here is what is happening:
We hope you liked our little virtual garden tour. It is amazing that there can be so many blooms given the temperatures we have been dealing with here in Connecticut. It just goes to show you that there is always a flower of some sort for every season. All of the plants in this tour require very little water and still show off a dynamic and beautiful display of blooms. What, if anything, is blooming in your neck of the woods given the hot temperatures we have been having?
This is a toad house. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Neither had we until someone commented on Acorns On Glen that I should buy this guy a house. Remember our little half-inch toad friend?
So we are told that these little guys like a house built for them that they can live under and not worry about predators likes snakes to eat them up during the night. We guess we understand…who wouldn’t like a house built for them when they are born or when they get married? Even more, would you like to get eaten during the night by a snake? The little ceramic houses also protect them from the elements….sun, rain, etc.
So if all thing go according to plan, we should have a toad or two living in the two apartments that we constructed in a very short amount of time….one in the back yard and one in the front yard. This is what we hope our happy toad family looks like in their new home. Think ‘Extreme Makeover, Home Edition’ for toads.
Let us know….good idea or a huge rip-off? Each house cost $13…not a huge investment and if it is successful, how great would it be to see where our toads live and be able to point it out to all of our city friends. If it doesn’t work, can’t you buy plastic toads at the garden supply store and try to trick all your friends into believing they are real? We’ll keep you posted on how they are received by the toad community. I’m off to buy an ab cruncher and a few knives off the television. Aren’t they guaranteed for success as well….just like the toad houses? What do you think….will toads move in or will we have a vacancy all the rest of the Summer?
This is a dish from one of my favorite chefs and one of my favorite cookbooks of all time. It is clams and sausage in parsley sauce over linguine by Anna Pump. I’ve written about Anna Pump before. Anna has never had a television show that I know of and I don’t think her cookbooks have made her millions of dollars, but her and her store in the Hamptons, ‘Loaves and Fishes’, have inspired so many people to make great food using simple and fresh ingredients. She has inspired people like Ina Garten and Martha Stewart, who both have taken her philosophies to the masses. In 1985, she wrote ‘The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook’ and I have loved using it since the day I bought it. There are a lot of cookbooks out there, but Anna Pump’s cookbook is one where you can feel how much she loves food and cooking. A lot of cookbooks are printed to make the author lots of money. Anna’s is not that type of cookbook. You can read it and tell that she has a deep and true love for the art of food. She is the rare type where the mission is the food and whatever comes after that is secondary. If she published or not, if she became famous or not, it doesn’t matter. The craft comes first and this craft is the art of making great food. The only other chef I can think of with this same philosophy is Julia Child.
I love the idea of mixing clams with sausage. This recipe is somewhere between a paella and a pasta dish with seafood. The sauce starts out very pale and reddens up after the addition of the chorizo sausage. The sausage also adds a little heat to the recipe which is another thing I like. Don’t get me wrong…this is not over-the-top hot, but just enough kick to make it interesting. The parsley is also a nice addition. I always use Italian flat-leaf parsley because I think it is less bitter than the curly variety. The recipe below is modified from the original. I use less clams, onions, red pepper and parsley than the original. I just think the original will make too much food. For example, the original says to use 6 dozen littleneck clams…that seems like a lot to me. Try making this recipe….it’s like a delicious beach clambake in your own dining room.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Scrub the clams and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Saute the onion, garlic and red peppers for 5 minutes over low heat. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables. Stir to mix well. Add the clam juice, wine, parsley and hot red pepper flakes. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the sausage and the clams. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer just until the clams open. This will take no more than 5 to 10 minutes.
Place cooked linguine in a large pasta bowl and empty clams and sauce over the top. Serve immediately.
This meal is easy because it doesn’t require a lot of side dishes to round it out. We ate it with just a green salad on the side. How easy is that? This dish has so much flavor. I was so happy how it turned out, but then again, Anna Pump’s recipes never seem to disappoint me. Give this dish a try, and if you like it, go find some more Anna Pump recipes. She is a really talented chef and worthy of the recognition. What favorite chefs do you go back to time and time again that you would like to tell us about on Acorns On Glen?
This is a roasted eggplant caponata that we used as an appetizer last night when we had friends over for dinner. It is an old Italian favorite our Brooklyn Italian Grandmother told me. Although she had never made it, she told me that it was her sister-in-law’s specialty, so the pressure was on when I announced that I was going to make it. There were a couple of questions about the recipe (“What, no celery?” and “She never used pine nuts.”), but the end result from Notorious B.I.G. was a huge thumbs up. To me, that meant this eggplant recipe was a keeper. It is one of those make ahead recipes because the longer you hold off on serving it, the more time the flavors have to mix and meld together. You can absolutely make this a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator until time to serve. I served it along with some plain and multi-grain pita chips, but use your imagination. Since it is a dip, we could have used regular chips, bagel chips, vegetables to accompany it. It’s really up to what you are in the mood for when you serve it. Try this recipe…the flavors are incredible together and by the empty container that was there at the end of the night, it was a hit. As well, remember that it comes with the Notorious B.I.G.’s seal of approval. Here’s how you make it.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the whole eggplant on the pan, prick with a fork in several places (you don’t want an exploding eggplant in your oven) and rub with olive oil.
Roast for 50 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool.
Halve the eggplant, peel, and discard the skin. Place the eggplant, peppers and olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Pour into a mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, and add to the eggplant mixture.
Add the parsley, pine nuts, lemon juice, capers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature.
It’s great having friends over for dinner and even better when you can serve them something new and delicious. Our roasted eggplant caponata did just that. It was the perfect start to a fun evening. Well, the eggplant and a few glasses of wine were the start to a fun evening. You get my drift. Give it a try. What do you like to serve as an appetizer at your dinner parties?
This is JoJo kicking back and relaxing. Not much going on here on Glen Road this weekend. Lots of heat which makes it perfect for laying in the hammock in the shade and relaxing. What are you doing this weekend?
This is a little dragonfly warming up in the early morning sun. They always look so magical and mystical. Friends with the faeries and gnomes that live out in the woods or so my little five-year old neighbors like to tell me. Makes me want to curl up and lay in the sun all Saturday as well. What are your plans for the weekend?
This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen. It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth. How do we celebrate another week of living? We dance. So, are you alive this Friday? Are you and your family safe and sound? Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have. Did you give thanks for that?
Good, now let’s dance.
Wow, it’s been a hectic week here at work. There was a new system upgrade (which really didn’t work that well) and so it meant a lot of late hours for my team and lots of stress. This week I was pondering on where we should go for summer vacation and although no final decisions have been made yet, after this week, I need a break. Whenever you have an extremely hard week at work, do you every so often think about just throwing in the towel and starting over from scratch? This was one of those weeks for me, but every time I think about what I’d do if I could pick a different job, I can’t figure out the answer. I just can’t think what I want to do when I grow up. That’s what made me think of this song for this week’s dancing. Why not give up all of this and move to a sugar cane ranch somewhere on a far away island? I could do that. Could I do that? Can you see me as a sugar cane farmer? Anyway, this is a great song by Shaggy. So get your reggae beat going and sway to the sounds. It’s been a rough week, but we’ve made it through. We deserve to dance and dance hard. Oh Whoa…Oh Whoa…Oh. Do you ever think of giving it all up and moving far away and starting over?
This is some real comfort food if there ever was some. It’s good old fashioned meatloaf with some creamy mashed potatoes. But it’s not your ordinary diner-style meatloaf. It’s not dense and dry and covered in brown gravy. No, this meatloaf recipe is a twist on that old recipe and produces a light and juicy meatloaf topped with a sweet and sour glaze made from ketchup and brown sugar. It also is pretty quick to prepare because all of your vegetables just need to be chopped in large chunks and then ground in the food processor. You don’t need to stand for hours dicing celery, carrots and onions. It also incorporates three kinds of ground meat to make the meatloaf light and full of flavor. I also use Pepperidge Farms as my white bread of choice when I make this recipe. Why only Pepperidge Farms? When I was younger and used to go to the grocery store with my parents or my Grandma, I used to beg to buy a loaf of Pepperidge Farms bread. I figured since it was so much more expensive than the other loaves than it had to be like a slice of heaven when you ate it. I would explain to them the facts of how it was made with care by jolly looking bakers who kneaded the dough with their own hands with tender loving care. I would tell them about the ovens where the bread was baked and how it was wrapped in paper and then placed in the plastic bag for extra freshness. Not only that, but they wrapped it while it was still warm from the oven. This is why too much television is bad for a small child to take part in every day! My parents or my Grandma would stare at me in disbelief that here was this small child reciting facts he had learned from a bread commercial. It must have been this scary little feeling inside of them that always made them tell me no. My parents and Grandmother were tough because I remember begging (and many times probably crying and screaming) to buy a loaf of this special bread. Why don’t they see what I see in this delicious loaf that is so much better than the other white breads out here on this rack? Now that I have my own money, I always buy Pepperidge Farms white bread to use at home. I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t necessarily taste any better, but it’s just the whole principle of the matter, if you get my drift. Bread aside, if you are looking for a comfort food classic with a twist, give our meatloaf a try. Your family will love it.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse bread in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 2 1/2 cups breadcrumbs). Transfer to a medium bowl.
Pulse the large chunks of garlic, onion, celery, carrot, and parsley in food processor until finely chopped. Remember to let the food processor do all the hard chopping work. This is a huge time saver.
Add to breadcrumbs. Add meats, egg, 1/4 cup ketchup, the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; mix together using your hands.
Transfer mixture to a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan.
Stir together remaining 1/2 cup ketchup and the brown sugar until smooth; brush onto meat. I also poke six deep holes into the top of the meat with my finger before I brush on the ketchup mixture. This enables the ketchup to penetrate farther down into the meatloaf and increase the flavor.
Set pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reaches 160 degrees, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
Always a family pleaser, this little meatloaf with a twist is great as your dinner’s main course and then equally as good the next day in a sandwich or two. It is also easy to pair up with almost any side dish. A potato dish, a vegetable dish…..it all works with meatloaf. Hope you like this new twist on an old fashion main dish staple. What old classics do you cook up with some modern twists to them?
Acorns On Glen 