Pear and Fennel Salad

by Missy Tippens

I actually cooked this week, y'all! :) I know, I know. You're all in shock. hahaha

I was pleased to see a good deal on fennel at the grocery store. I grabbed a bulb and decided to find a recipe that I had made years ago.

I'm pretty sure the one I made back then was the Orange and Fennel Salad from Robin Miller (Food Network). I didn't have any oranges, but still, this is close to what I made.

1 large fennel bulb sliced very thin

2 oranges peeled and sectioned (removing the white fibrous parts)

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1 TBS red wine vinegar

2 TBS dried cranberries

salt and pepper to taste

First, cut off the green parts of the fennel, leaving only the bulb. You may want to save all this for soup stock. And you may want to chop and save some of the fronds to sprinkle on top for color and some flavor. I didn't think of doing so in time and had already tossed it in the trashcan. But it would have looked pretty.

Cut the bulb in half. You'll see it has a core.

Cut a triangle out to remove the core--kind of like cabbage!

Thinly slice. You may want to use a mandolin if you have it (be sure to use the hand protector!). I didn't want to try to find my mandolin (post-move) so just sliced as thinly as I could.

Thinly slice the pear as well. Mine was getting old and the skin was tough, so I peeled it. But I recommend leaving the skin on to add color and texture.

Mix the fennel and pear and set aside. Now make the dressing.

Put the vinegar in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil to emulsify it. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the cranberries and orange slices (wish I'd thought to use canned mandarins!) to the fennel and pear and toss the salad with the dressing.

Do a taste test and then add a bit of salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy this light, crunchy salad!


www.missytippens.com

Orange-Lemon Basil Baked Trout

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and it has been SO hot here. That's the bad news. The good news is that our garden is in full swing!

 Mmm, love these heirloom pear tomatoes!
                                              
And this black Thai basil went to seed, but I found you can still use the buds in pesto and sauces.
                                           
Upside garden deliciousness!
                                    
We always share our pears and plums...
                                             
Because it helps our elderly neighbors remember why they love this family with the six loud kids! Lol

                                          
I could eat this all day. *sigh* Why can't we have fruit in the garden year-round? I definitely live in the wrong climate for my tastes.
                                        
We did go blackberry picking and got a few gallons, but they were small and scraggly because a heat wave had hit just as they came ripe. :(

This zucchini blackberry bread was so good! I may have neglected to mention the zucchini part to our picky eater, although I think the sugar balances out any nutritional benefits.

So, one of the neighbors we share fruit and baked good with likes to fish. But he fishes more than he can possibly eat. SO he likes to give the fish to us. I don't crave baked fish but when we do have it, I remember how wonderful fresh baked trout can be.

                                                             
We sliced oranges, lemons, and basil.
                                                  
Spreading a little olive oil on the foil, lay out the fish, salt on one side. Flip the fish. Rub the top with garlic. Stuff the insides with orange slices, some basil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Lay lemon slices on top.

 We have a fun spice grinder that has rosemary and black pepper. Great combo!

 Right before it goes into the preheated over at 425F!

 Ta-dah! They look like baked fish but they taste like the most amazingly fresh bit of fishy foodie heaven. YUMMMM. We paired them with a sparkling lemon water, watermelon mint chilled salad, and couscous.

 Until next time! Be sure to stop by my author pages Mary Jane Hathaway and Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last to get the latest news on my releases in contemporary and historical Christian fiction!

End of Summer Musings...and Easy Chicken

For the past two weeks, we've had temperatures in the high 90's. I know that's nothing big for a lot of people, but this is South Dakota! Our temps usually start tapering off around mid-August, and by Labor Day locals keep their jackets handy.

But this year everything has been late - we still had winter weather in April, spring weather in July, and now summer in September.

Wynter enjoying our April 22nd snow storm :)

Finally, though, summer seems to be winding down...finally :)

And on Friday, the produce truck arrived in town! A local hardware store brings a truck in from the Northwest (the Fresh Pioneer's neck of the woods), and it's our opportunity to buy produce for canning. 

I bought a few cases....

Tomatoes...peaches...pears...plums...potatoes.... Oh My!

(And I still have a deadline in September....)

But the story is getting done, and the canning is coming along!

I can tomato sauce in both quarts and pints. Quarts for soup,
pints for tacos and sloppy joes.

I used my 20 ounce jars for the peaches. I haven't seen
this size canning jar before or since, but these were in a box I picked
up at a garage sale years ago. They're just the right size
sometimes!

We still have pears, plums and vegetable beef soup to go, so you know what I'll be doing next week!

My grandmother called these "prune-plums". They're just the
right size for canning!

Meanwhile, I just drink in the sight of this wonderful bounty straight from God's grocery store! And working on stocking up the pantry, as our GAL Julie talked about last weekend: What's in Your Pantry?

Wait a minute! I have a family to feed, don't I? 

I think I could probably live off peaches for a week, but the family might complain. It's a good thing I found this wonderful convenience item (and yes, I'm a sucker for the free samples at Sam's Club!)

All natural and NO MSG! Don't you love it?

This stuff is great.

One day I cooked some chicken pieces with this as the seasoning...

...not too much kick - just enough. We had that with some Cole slaw and dinner rolls, and it was a great meal for 95°+ weather.

Another day I fixed chicken the same way, and we had it wrapped in tortillas with everyone's garnish of choice. (I would have loved mine with avocados, but didn't have any on hand, so I made do with lettuce, salsa and cheese.)

And it was another great hot-weather supper.

Even with all these wonderful summer dishes, we're all looking forward to soup and homemade bread weather around here!

And the right weather to fire up this puppy:

It's a soapstone stove from the Hearthstone
Company. We've been dreaming of one of
these for years!

We had our wood stove installed in May. 

Waiting...waiting...waiting.... 

It's in the corner next to my desk. I plan on firing it up sometime in October and keeping the fire going until April, at least :)

And as summer swings around into fall, it's time to share some dog day pictures!

Thatcher at 23 weeks - almost grown up!

But his nickname is "tiny puppy"

Or "short stuff"

And a smile from Wynter! She's almost nine years old.
We call her "the big dog" or "the old lady."

So tell us - are you looking forward to fall? Or will you hold on to summer as long as you can?

Me? I'm a cold weather lover. Give me those -10° temperatures!!!