Baked feta repost and wishing for spring!

Helloooooo, everybody! Mary Jane here. We've had the wettest, rainiest spring in nearly 20 years. Great for farms. Not so great for flooding. We live a few hundred feet from the Walla Walla River and it's getting high... but so far, hasn't crested the bank. So I'm in a SPRING DREAMING MOOD!
I'm reposting my baked feta recipe in hopes all the spring pictures will come true!



 Spring has sprung here in Oregon. And do you know how Richard Armitage (bless his gorgeous self) is related to spring??

 

Well, I'll get to that in a minute. But first a peek at my backyard...

Everything is in bloom. The bees are out (must buy sandals, note to self!), the frogs are croaking, and the tulips, iris, and lilacs are bursting with flowers!

Little boys with butterfly nets are scouring the garden (in snow boots) for prey.

The turtles cavorted in the tall grass as we cleaned their tank. Don't blink. You might miss them. They can actually get quite far away when you're watching for butterflies.

We tried to hem them in with bodies, but the little guys kept moving away and creating a gap for escaping into the far reaches of the lawn.
                                         
Here's a little guy very pleased with his flower, carefully placed in an antique egg cup. I didn't realize he could reach that shelf. He got the egg cup, filled it with water, and picked his own flower. Cute! And now I'll go move those breakables just a bit higher...

Our yellow climbing roses are blooming. They're in the hedgerow. You have to look hard. (Ooooh, I can hear him now!!)

 

*sigh* Isn't he wonderful? here's the full clip here, if you want to watch it. I'll wait... The relevant moment is 3:44. :)

 Ok, now that we've had our Richard Armitage fix for the day, let's see what there is to cook. I'm not feeling the need for anything super difficult. Hmmmmm. Edna reminds me there's some stinky cheese in the fridge and some large sourdough boules. 

 

An older kid is on hand to help with preparations so I'll man the camera while she works. Cutting the top off the sourdough bread is the first step.

Getting the feta cheese, parsley flakes, tomatoes and garlic out is the second step. I have an odd jar of olive and red pepper tapenade so I think I'll make one with that, too.

Hollow out the bread and place it in a bowl, crumbling slightly. This will help hold all the feta and tomatoes together.

Yummy. Give me a fork.

Add garlic, parsley flakes and mix well. Put it back in the boule... HEY. Someone has taken a bite.

And I found him over near the other one. Shoo, shoo!!

*sigh* It seems everything must be taste-tested for freshness before we cook it.

Wrap the boule in foil and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

This is the olive tapenade and feta version. The red peppers gave it quite a kick! Mmmm. Even the next day, it was good, heated a little in the microwave. This dish is definitely not a 'date night' dish, unless you don't mind feta breath. 

And to round off the spring-y post, here's an old table I picked up for super cheap. It was a wreck. But something about those lines... Edna whispered the legs were mighty fine, quite shapely. I agreed. 

Some scraping and painting (some by small children, don't flip it over since they got to paint the underside) turns into this. And in that stack is- you guessed it! North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. have I mentioned that she's a hero of mine? She wrote her books at her kitchen table, with five kids, a minister husband who gave lessons to the poor in their living room. And she wrote romances that changed LIVES. Just love her! 

  I think she was also a lovely friend. She and Charlotte Bronte were pals but one time visitors came knocking while Charlotte visiting. Being afflicted with crippling shyness, Charlotte was in tears, until Mrs. Gaskell told her to hide in the curtains. So she did. And Mrs. Gaskell entertained them, never letting on that one of the most famous authors of the day was hiding just a few feet away! What a woman. What a hostess!

 Anyway, go out and enjoy the sunshine! If there's no sun, watch North and South. A little Armitage makes everything better.

 Until next time!

Be sure to stop by my facebook pages at Mary Jane Hathaway or Virginia Carmichael for all my up to date book news!

Spinach Spanokopita-style Roll Ups

It's Monday with Jan, the Mid-Westerner!

Today I'm sharing a recipe that I love, but the rest of my family doesn't share my passion.

It isn't that they don't appreciate spinach. They do. In very small portions. (Like non-existent!) And this recipe has spinach at the very heart of its being.

We can blame this on Ruthy. A couple weeks ago she shared her Baklava recipe (go read that post here.) Last Wednesday I made her Baklava for a ladies' fellowship at church.

Yes, we do make each other's recipes! And it was as easy and delicious as she promised!

Well, the problem is that the package of phyllo dough has enough dough sheets for two Baklavas, and I only made one.

I could have kept the second roll in the freezer until the next time I made Baklava - but then I remembered this recipe.

Spinach Spanokopita-style Roll Ups

filling ingredients:

10 oz. (or about 3 cups) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup onion, minced (I used sweet white onions)
1 egg
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened (I used a tub of spreadable cream cheese I had purchased by mistake)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley

Other ingredients:
9 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix the filling ingredients together in a medium bowl, then set aside while you prepare the pastry.

I like to use a sheet of parchment paper as a base when I'm working with phyllo dough sheets. They are very fragile and dry out easily.

The box has directions on how to handle the pastry sheets. Basically, you need to keep the sheets you're not working on covered with plastic so they don't dry out.

Line a baking sheet with a second piece of parchment paper. If you haven't used parchment paper before, you'll love this stuff. It's perfect for this kind of work, and even better when you're baking cookies or brownies!

So here we go - the assembly.

Lay your first sheet of pastry on your parchment paper.

Starting with the edges, brush some melted butter on the pastry sheet with light, quick strokes. Do the edges first and then the center - you'll thank me later. :) Lay a second sheet of pastry on top of that one and repeat with the butter. Do it again with a third sheet of pastry.

Now, spoon 1/3 of your filling mixture onto one end of your pastry layers.

Fold over about an inch of the end, and then about an inch along each side, and then carefully roll up the pastry with the filling in the center.

Lay the first log on your baking sheet, and make two more logs with the rest of the pastry sheets and filling.

Slice the top layers of the logs with a sharp knife.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

Let's look at that first picture again:

Do you see how the filling has burst through the phyllo dough? Part of the reason is that I forgot to put the egg in the filling.

I mean, what difference can one egg make?

Well, plenty. As the egg cooks, it firms up the filling, making it un-soupy. Soupy filling weakens the dough and makes a mess.

No problem! It was still delicious!

When the roll ups are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes. You can cut each roll into 5 slices for appetizers, or have a whole one for a main dish.

Enjoy!

Gourmet Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, Feta, Artichoke Hearts

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a fun pizza recipe that takes a lot of odd ingredients you probably don't have in the pantry but it's WORTH the splurge, especially if you can't get to the next town where an actual pizza parlor is! We don't have any bad weather here at all, but as usual, it takes an act of Congress to get us out to a restaurant. So, sometimes it's just easier to recreate that delicious pizza we're craving at home!

 Now, this might be diet pizza. I have no idea. It has thin crust so maybe that counts for something, but if we're looking at fat and calories, this is NOT pizza that will make you skinny. (Of course, I'm not sure there is a pizza that fits that description.)

You'll need:
thin and crisp pizza crust (or make your own)
baby spinach
feta cheese
sun dried tomatoes
artichoke hearts
white pizza sauce (I usually make my own but I saw this one on sale and decided to try it)
mozzarella cheese

 We love this little pizza recipe book. We've used a lot of great ideas from it like...

 Artichoke and Tomato Focaccia. I love focaccia. If I could see in my chest, I think my heart would be made out of focaccia. But the kids don't, so we usually do regular pizza crust.

 This one I tried and loved but again... not a hit with the little people, so there was also a big cheese pizza on the table.

 I never took a photo of this when I made it. I think my thought process was something like, "FOOD! EAT FOOD." But, here's the picture from the recipe book.

 So, for this pizza, prewarm the oven to 425F. Spread on the white pizza sauce. (Note, I wasn't a real fan of this. It seemed too sour for a garlic sauce. I like my white sauces sort of Alfredo-y.)

 Sun dried tomatoes, chopped and drained.

 MMMMM... Artichoke hearts, in brine. I want to eat the bowl of them.

 Layer the spinach on the pizza.

 You don't have to be so geometric but hey, we were all talking and I think we were doing more talking than cooking so the fact I took fifteen minutes to put on spinach leaves didn't seem to matter.

 Layer on a bit of mozzarella. Add the sun dried tomatoes.

 I didn't cut the artichoke hearts because hubby is not a fan. The bigger they are, the easier they are to pick off.

 Drain and crumble the feta. (My life has gone sideways!)

 Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the edges are very crispy.

Ta-dah! With a salad on the side and some fresh veggies, I was a happy camper and I didn't even have to put on nice clothes and drive across the state line!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend and a prayerful Lent!

Avocado-Feta Salsa

Yes, you read that right - Avocado and Feta together in a salsa.

It's fabulous!

Start here:

Avocado, tomato, red onion and cilantro. Chop it all up.

And then add a bit of this:

Throw in some garlic and a bit of oregano, and then mix it all together with a splash of olive oil and some apple cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar - whatever you have handy).

And here's the hard part.

Refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours.

*tap, tap, tap*

And then it's good to go! You can eat it with tortilla chips, pita chips, or.....

Twice-baked Zucchini Rounds! 

Take one of those big zucchinis - you know, the ones that were hiding in your garden until they're gargantuan size and you don't know what to do with them - and slice a few 1/4" thick rounds.

Cover both sides with olive oil, and bake on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes or so at 375°. Then take them out of the oven and top them with your favorite combo. I used the Avocado-Feta Salsa. Stick them back in the oven and broil them for a few minutes, or until the cheese starts melting.

Delicious!

I had a few of these for lunch with my Salmon with Garlicky Spinach (recipe here). It was a low-carb extravaganza!

And last week I put the salsa on my hamburger - now that was delicious!

Okay, I know I need to give you the official recipe:

Avocado-Feta Salsa

(originally from AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 plum tomato, chopped

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped

2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon vinegar (apple cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar)

2 Tablespoons crumble feta cheese

Mix together gently. Cover and chill for 2 to 6 hours.

And we'll end up with a few Thatcher pictures. I'm out of town this week and really missing this guy!