Sunday Crepe Day

I’ve been house craving worse than normal lately. I find myself looking at house plans, pinning more than my share of chandelier lit rooms, and shamefully envying all of the new home pictures being posted on Facebook. Until my James graduates with his new degree we have no guarantees of a location for his new job. The only part we do know is that we both hope it will be outside of Texas. Texas is great but being closer to family would be great too. This all to explain why I sit in our tiny apartment and dream through Pinterest. Of course our tiny apartment is always better when there is a smell fresh crepes on the stove.

Sunday is our favorite day and it comes complete with our favorite meal. Although most Sundays we try out whatever the newest brunch spot is on my list of Houston must eats, this Sunday I was craving a more homey meal. My definition of homey may just be a bit different than the average Joe. James bought me a crepe set for Christmas and what a better time to get it worn in than our favorite meal. Argo…

Greek Crepes (Makes four Crepes)

You will need:
A container of hummus
Four Crepes, store bought or homemade
A handful of Seeded Kalamata Olives
8 ounces Baby Heirloom Tomatoes cut in fourths
Three Persian Cucumbers diced
A handful of Baby Spinach leaves
Fat free Greek Style feta
Feta Greek salad dressing (I got mine from trader joes)
Couple of diced up chicken breast

First I set the burner on low, I put the crepes I had already made back in the pan. I spread hummus thinly on about half of the crepe. The key to any brunch Item is simple, use what you have. This is the one meal of the week in the US that we slow down and take time to enjoy spending time with people. That being said I started these crepes with left over rotisserie chicken.
I then tossed a tablespoon of feta, a teaspoon of olives, and a few spinach leaves on top of the chicken.

After that I fold both sides of the crepe over one another and flip it over to seal in the steam. This will warm some of the feta helping it all melt together perfectly

Then I slide the crepe on the plate, topping with the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and drizzle the dressing over the crepes (I serve two as a serving)

This a really pretty healthy and even my husband loved them. As most of you know I can’t make a meal with out having a dessert ready as well. We are currently obsessed with our fireplace. The few times in a year it is cold enough to at all need a fire, we are all over ours. We have toasted bread cubes dripping in olive oil many nights but for my sweet crepes I was think of a camp fire take so the traditional Parisian dessert. This creating the s’mores, Valentine’s Day worthy crepes. Especially coming in under 250 calories each!

S’mores Crepes (Makes two crepes, one for you and one for your honey)

Ingredients:

Two crepes
Four sliced strawberries
2 Tbs. pistachios
2 Tbs. dark chocolate chips
Four marshmallows

We start these by roasting the marshmallows in fireplace, James favorite part….

While their roasting, toss a tablespoon of chocolate chips on the center of crepes, then when the marshmallows are finished toss half the strawberries and pistachios on each.

Then fold them over to seal the crepes, feel free to top with a drizzle of honey or some fresh whipped cream.

Enjoy with your sweetie from our tiny apartment kitchen to yours…
Happy Valentine’s Day

Thanksgiving for two

Happy Thanksgiving from our tiny apartment to yours!

A Mad Hatter Tea

As many people know I have hosted a yearly Halloween party since my senior year of high school.  Ever since I was little I have loved Halloween, it must have been the costume contest I entered as the Little Mermaid at age three.  I won of course beating out what I can only imagine was thousands of children…or maybe more like fifty… Then again all of the candy in high dosages could have helped moving it into position as one of my favorite holidays.

Halloween is just one day of the year, but daily sweets and scares are always a part of our little home.  I am the girl that DVRs all ghost shows that exist to my knowledge and relish in scaring myself episode after episode.   These, paired with whatever sweet I have been craving for the week, make for a pretty good night off.

I do have another obsession though and it is tea parties.  These parties I have surely been hosting since long before my award winning Mermaid costume.  I will always love all things girlie and a tea party is the ultimate ladies event.  Now I have been to a good tea time or two (even once at the Ritz in London) but they are all nothing compared to an actual party.  The petite pastries, delicate dishware, and of course a fabulous tea dress, all make a tea party so much better.

It was a mad combination of my obsessions, between food, Halloween, and tea parties that came to mind when my husband asked about my annual holiday bash this year.  “An Un-Birthday Bash it shall be”, I thought, and the Mad Hatter rose to life.  While my husband may have been the one dressed in the correct costume, it was I, the Queen of Hearts, that was in full planning mode the month before.

The set up….

Other than the necessary tea pouring from my favorite Tea Pot drink dispenser, this was the most perfect party for a very quirky menu.  The lady like salad…

To make it easy on myself I featured one unique and maybe mad dessert for those brave enough to taste it.  The reward for the fierce tasters was simple and wonderful.

Chocolate Dipped Figs sprinkled with Fluer De Sel

Half a bag or Good Quality 60% or higher cacoa chocolate chips

Washed Fresh Figs

Fluer de Sel or sea salt

To save time I actually heat the chips in the microwave for about a minute, taking them out half way through to stir, and then heating the rest of the way through.  Do not, I repeat do not, over heat your chocolate.  I am trying to save you time so do not heat these chips over a minute, continue to stir, I promise it will smooth out.  You need it just silky to dip the Figs into, one at a time, and carefully rotating around in the chocolate to get a good coating on them.  I always set mine on a parchment lined pan to cool.  Then after you dip the figs (I did about sixteen for this amount of chocolate), quickly sprinkle the salt over the top of them.  Voila! you have a unique simple sweet that will intrigue even your “Maddest” guest.  I’m leaving you with a few fabulous pictures from the tea…

 

From our tiny apartment kitchen to yours have a Happy Halloween!

The Farmer’s Daughter

I had no idea how personal I was going to take this blog when I first started.  I have had full intent of keeping this blog free of any real personal details but I can’t any longer.  The reason there have been no updated posts for the past month is because my dad, the cancer patient from a previous post, is getting close to the end.  He was so proud of my blog.  I think every single person he has come in contact with since February has heard about my blog.  They have also been asked to go look it up and follow me.  Up until about a month ago he proceeded to use word of mouth to spread the word about my blog through out the multiple hospitals he was still visiting for treatments.  It is as me and multiple other members of my family have existed in this hospital room for the past two weeks straight that another member of my family asked about my blog.  I say all of this to say, I have not blogged because with out my dad calling me the instant he got the inbox message with my new post, I couldn’t stand to type a single word.  The truth is he was so proud and I know he would want me to keep writing.  This blog is personal, food is personal, so in honor of what my Dad would most definitely want I am going to keep sharing my culinary experiences.  Most of these experiences are attached to family memories, happy memories, and to some extent I now have a sense of duty  to keep this going.  After all what is so wrong with being personal?  Even Ree Drummond’s uploads pictures of her kiddos every other day.  If Ree can, I can too.

Growing up my Dad was always outside, and in the summer he spent many hours in the garden.  He was organic before we knew what organic was.  We would eat tomatoes like apples from the barrel.  Poor mom left to can and freeze barrels full of fresh picked corn, squash, zucchini, green beans, etc…. This year the garden is much smaller since a friend planted it for my Dad.  Regardless of who planted it, that will always be my Dad’s garden, when I bring my kid’s to Mom’s house some day this will be my Dad’s garden.

Dad’s prized tomatoes…  (Best served warm from the sun, fresh off the vine)

While I took a break from the hospital to pick the garden, Sophia made sure no tomatoes were wasted..

We have had many a creative dishes based around trying to use all of the extra squash and zucchini we had from the garden..

Dad has always wanted muscadine grapes in the garden, they finally came in this year, they’ll be ready in the fall…

This is one of the many fruit trees Dad planted years ago in the farm, it’s already loaded with granny smith for the best pies you’ll ever eat..

This is possibly Dad’s favorite item from the garden, his gourds….  These are polished with pride and grace a stunning McFadden thanksgiving table every year…

Some of the favorites are still overflowing with ripe produce.  The blackberry bushes are ridiculous this year but the best berries never make it back to the house.  I’ve been going out just to pick and eat them……. Yum!

My Dad loved the most simple recipes with the fresh crop of the day.  Strawberries picked with a little sugar sprinkled on top, the best watermelon in the world enjoyed on the back of a truck dripping down your face, and a fresh tomatoes sliced with a little salt, were some of the favorites to name a few.  The time I have spent the past couple weeks in the garden has brought back so many memories and I can’t wait to have my own garden.  I’m not sure it will ever live up to Dad’s but summer wouldn’t be summer for me without a garden.  Sophia the country dog will be right there to help me, hiding from the heat under the blackberry bush…

This is a recipe I created to feature some peaches I got at the farmer’s market in Houston, but is perfect for any fruit.  Blackberries would be great and cherry tomatoes trust me would be even better.  This is exactly the simple type of recipe my Dad has always loved.

Farmer’s Fruit Galettes

Fresh fruit of your choice (best if used in the first couple days off the plant)

Frozen puff pastry (Follow package directions to defrost)

Brown sugar for sprinkling

Clear sugar crystal sprinkles also for sprinkling

Cream for brushing the top of each pastry

Preheat your oven to temperature suggested on the package.  Cut each pastry sheet into about six squares, then use a rolling-pin to make each square larger.  Move the squares to a parchment covered cookie sheet.  Put select fruit pieces, berries, or cherry tomatoes turned seed side down on the center of each pastry square.  Sprinkle about a tablespoon of brown sugar over each pocket of fruit, then fold the pastry around the edges of the fruit.  Brush the top of each pastry with cream and sprinkle the sugar crystals over each pastry.  Bake until golden brown, enjoy!

With many a fond memory, from my home to yours, enjoy!

An Easter on the Beach

Due to a very long past few weeks my parents decided to round-up the kiddos and head for the beach.  We got the news that my dad’s cancer is worse which is the kind of thing that makes you savior every second a little bit more than the last.  My dad is on a serious dose of steroids meaning he could not get enough food.  Possibly my biggest fan the title of my blog has been used as an excuse for his own cravings more than a few times recently.  I suppose food is a passion I inherited, we all love food .  We’re a food family.  When we’re happy we eat, when we’re sad we eat, when we’re bored every snack food in the house is in danger of a true extinction.  Every occasion has a eatery tradition in the McFadden household and now the Erwin household as a direct reflection of my raising.

Now when we go to the beach we have one shrimp dinner during the week.  This dinner has been cooked by my mom every year until this year.  Bless my mother’s heart she has been an angel taking care of my dad so I decided to take up the time-honored tradition this year with my own spin.  We eat tons of shrimp at the Erwin house since we are by the coast and it is my hubby’s favorite protein.  For these reasons I have created endless shrimp recipes and the one used for this trip was no less special.

There is nothing better than fresh shrimp prepared with truly simple ingredients.  My mother’s recipe is a very rich buttery scampi pasta, which brings back memories of summer beach trips gone by.  When I think of a spring pasta, no offence to mom, I think of a light sauce and loads of vegetables.  With it being the week of Easter I cooked up a bright-colored pasta special enough for Easter  but easy enough to be thrown together as a weeknight dinner at home.

Easter Shrimp Pasta 

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 pound deveined shrimp

1 box of your favorite dried pasta

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

2 leeks sliced

1 1/4 cup part skim Ricotta

1 cup Parmesan or Asiago

1 lemon or orange (you will need zest and juice)

Directions:  Start boiling your salted pasta water.  Once the water is boiling cook the asparagus for a couple of minutes until bright and tender.

Heat up a pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil or butter (whatever you have on hand will do).  Cook the leeks in the pan for about 5 minutes or until starting to wilt a bit and become brighter, add two tablespoons of citrus zest with about an eight a cup of juice (I prefer lemon but either works well).  Then add the shrimp and cook until they become white.  Boil your pasta until al dente, usually this takes about 7 minutes.  Then toss the pasta into the pan with the shrimp, reserving a cup of the pasta water.  Add the cheeses and the asparagus to the pasta and mix until combined.  Slowly add pasta water until sauce is smooth.  Enjoy on your beachside porch with family and friends.  From my borrowed big kitchen to yours, Happy Spring!

  

Cinnamon Roll Craving from the Cancer Patient

My dad has Cancer and as anyone who has been close to somebody with this disease knows, his body is going through an entire spectrum of quirks.  One of which is a serious side effect of the steroids he has been taking to take the swelling out of his brain after his most recent surgery, cravings.  He is having cravings for everything from loads of salt to an even more heightened sweet tooth than the already oversized one I inherited from him.  This meaning my mom, my sister, and I have recently made late night runs to McDonald’s, watched as he doused an egg mcmuffin in mustard, and went back to the counter to order a second organic grass-fed burger. 

During the time he was still in Houston at MD Anderson, I was the only one with a kitchen, leaving me to work to satisfy his the craving that only I would be able to cook up.  The Christmas morning traditional cinnamon rolls, that are currently my own recipe, were at the top of his must eat list.  What could be better than a yeasty, sticky, ooey gooey cinnamon roll to feed the soul?  This is by far my most requested recipe and I have now decided to share it with all of you…….

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 quart of milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages of active dry yeast
8 cups of all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon of baking powder
1 small tablespoon of baking soda
1 package of vanilla pudding mix

Filling:
2 cups melted butter
1/4 cup cinnamon (I sometimes substitute with pumpkin pie spice for an even warmer flavor)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Vanilla Icing:
2 pounds of sugar
1/2 cup of milk (I keep skim in the house so that’s what I use)
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup strong coffee
1 tablespoon Madagascar vanilla extract

Directions: Heat the milk, oil, and sugar, cool until lukewarm, sprinkle yeast on top and sit for 1 minute. Add 7 cups sugar, pudding mix, stir until just combined in a large mixing bowl. Put a cloth on top and sit in a warm place for an hour.   The mixture may rise over yourbowl, if needed punch it down. 

Then add the baking powder, soda, and remaining flour, stir until thoroughly combined. 

 If your making this the night before, this is where you cover the dough and put in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 375. Roll out half the dough on a floured surface, roll into a large rectangle. Pour 1 cup of butter on top, spread out with your fingers, and sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/8 a cup of cinnamon.

Now roll them up and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices.

Repeat with the next half of the dough. Put a couple of tablespoons in your pie pans and put into the oven to melt and coat the pans. Then place the rolls into the pans without overcrowding. Let rise for another 20 minutes on the counter with a towel on top. 

Then bake for about 15 minutes.  Mix Icing ingredients together and pour over the top as soon as the rolls come out of the oven.

These will truly warm your soul.  From my wonderful smelling tiny apartment kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Best meal of the week…….. Saturday Morning Brunch

Weekend morning brunch is by far my most favorite  meal of the week.  I work long hours as a retail manager, this meaning I work most weekends.  It is a rarity when I actually have a morning off for my most favorite meal.  In my eyes, brunch is the one meal with endless possibilities: it can be sweet, savory, baked, grilled, french, chinese, ect….  Whatever is for brunch, it should always be effortless.  You want to take the morning slowly.  Brunch is at a time that allows sleeping late, and slowly getting out of bed.  No rushing now, it’s the weekend.  You have to sit back, sip on a large cup of coffee, and enjoy your brunch with great company. 

I closed this past Saturday, so the morning was ours.  My siblings spent Friday night, as they were all in town for the week.  My brother put in a request for pancakes and my sister picked out some fresh peaches at the store, so I came up with a combination with the two, but not what I think you might expect….

Peach Pancake Poppers

Buttermilk Pancake mix, follow package directions for 20-25 pancakes

4 medium size peaches diced into small cubes

1/2 cup of  brown sugar

1 cup of water

Directions:  First put the cubes of peaches, water, and sugar in sauce pan.  

 

 Bring the mixture to a boil then lower and let simmer until thickened.  Grate a little cinnamon on top for an added zest.

Then heat up your Pancake popper pan (they sell these almost everywhere now, I think mine came from Target).  Fill each half circle about 2/3 the way full with your batter and drop a half teaspoon of your peach mixture into the circles.  Press the mix down until the batter covers most of the mixture.

You flip these when the batter starts to bubble then flip them, somehow this half circle then comes out as a circle.  These are wonderful with fresh whipped cream, maple syrup, and the extra peach preserves. 

These are perfect for a brunch to share with friends.  What ever you eat take the time to enjoy the best meal of the week slow and easy.  From my tiny apartment to yours, happy brunch!