Memorial Day 2014

Memorial Day.

What images pop into your head? The "unofficial start of summer?" Picnics? The year's first trip to the beach? Camping?

Getting together with family and friends?

Memorial Day is all this. But there's more. Much more.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

WWI British Cemetery at Abbeville in France, 1918
public domain 

That poem was written May 3, 1915 by John McCrae. He was a Canadian, and a soldier first, and physician second. He had volunteered for service in the Second Boer War, and at the age of 41 volunteered again for duty in World War One. On May 2, 1915, during the second Battle of Ypres, his friend, Alexis Helmer, was killed in battle. Lieutenant Colonel McCrae wrote this poem for his funeral.

public domain

This year, we mark a couple important anniversaries.

public domain

One hundred years ago this August, World War One started. It was the "war to end all wars." They were wrong.

public domain

Fifty years ago, June 6, 1944, was D-Day. That horrific, awful push by the allied armies was the beginning of the end of World War Two.

Why do we celebrate Memorial Day? So we never forget to remember.

Springtime Gourmet Lavender Flan

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a super fun recipe for you. But first... KITTENS.

 A friend of mine rescued a batch of abandoned kittens. This meant getting kitten replacement milk from the vet. (It actually came in a little pop top can. Hilarious.)

 (My friend Lili took this picture of one of her own cats investigating the newcomers. This kitten's viciousness had me howling with laughter. "Easy there, tiger!")

She fed them through the night, every few hours. Come morning, she was realizing... who is going to watch these sweet babies while she's at work?

 So, she calls the stay at home mom and her six home schooled kids.... but we were on the way to Pendleton (about 45 minutes away) for our yearly state testing! I told her we would LOVE to foster the babies, right after we took 3 hours of state academic tests.

 And it worked out! She brought them over as soon as we got back. We fed them with little eye droppers and then took them out for exercise.

 Here's our puppy trying to figure out what they are. The hissing and back arching was pretty hilarious.

 We put the dog back in the house so the kitties could play without having to show off their Ninja skillz. When the day was over, we gave them back. My friend found someone to take them on full time until they were old enough to find forever homes. But we loved being foster parents for the day!
                                        
 Sammy learns to feed the babies...
                                                       
 My friend Barbara brought over a pick nick lunch. Deviled eggs, shredded chicken salad, fried deli chicken, mint chocolate chip ice cream, fresh fruit. YUMMY. And we welcomed her with... kittens. Here she is, helping the little guys feed one of the calicos.

 OK, now on to the recipe. You'll need fresh, organic lavender. Organic because we're going to put it in our food. No pesticides, please! I've had lavender flan before, but wasn't sure exactly how to make it. I decided to take an easy flan recipe and just infuse the lavender into the milk during the cooking. Here goes!

 Now, you'll need 1/2 cup sugar, plus 3 TBS sugar
    4 cups whole milk
ten stems lavender
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
fresh fruit for topping (I was going to use blackberries but my youngest ATE THEM ALL when I wasn't looking)

 Preheat oven to 325F. Combine 1/2 cup and 2 TBS water in saucepan and heat until darkened. This will be the caramel on the bottom. It takes about ten minutes and then remove it from the heat, let it cool, and ladle into the bottom of 6 ramekins.

 Boil the milk with 3 TBS sugar and lavender. Boil for 15 minutes. Let cool. Strain out the lavender. It should smell GOOOD.

 "Watcha cookin' ??"

 Here's the caramel in the ramekins. It wasn't as dark as I wanted, but I didn't want to cook it too long.

 Hm. Smells good, anyway.
Apparently I missed a step with the pictures!
Beat the eggs and the vanilla together in a small bowl. Don't over beat. Add in the cooled milk and then pour over the caramel.

 Fill the dish with about an inch of water. Bake about 35 minutes until set. Remove from the water bath and let cool. 

Since someone ate all the blackberries, I thought a pear might be a good match for the lavender. Mmmm. Not sure the variety, but it's delicious!

 Now's the hard part... let them cool in the fridge for eight hours or overnight. The next day, carefully turn the flan out onto a dish, letting the caramel fill the dish.

The pear was a very pretty color and looked right at home with the caramelized flan.

 All in all, I really thought this recipe was a hit. The little guys loved it because it was tasty, the middle kids loved it because it had "weeds" from the garden in it, and the older kids loved it because of the unique lavender flavor. Very delicate and sweet! For such an easy recipe, I would give this a two thumbs-up for presentation and as a conversation-starter!

 Last week was also my FORTIETH BIRTHDAY. Ugh.... Is it really possible? I feel so young! (Ok, that was a lie.) I was so incredible spoiled. Like these teal, vintage milk glass Pyrex from my friend Christalee. I almost swooned! So cute!

 And my friends Gail and Laurie sent Austen goodies! (Yes, we have been playing with the Jane Austen figure!)

 Google celebrated my big day, too! I felt so loved... When i waved the mouse over the doodle, it said, "Happy Birthday, Virginia!" LOL

My friend Stacey stole me for a movie. I almost never go out, and I realized this called for something special. THE RED CONVERSE.

And my sister came to visit and brought my favorite pie! Strawberry rhubarb. With perfect crust. YUMMY.

Leaving you with a close up shot of the pie! I'm wishing you all a wonderful weekend filled with delicious desserts and unexpected joy!

Broccoli Alfredo with Missy Tippens

Missy, here. I've shared my favorite, simple fettuccini Alfredo with you before. But recently, I updated this at add just a bit of nutrition.

Yes, I know butter and cream and parmesan are technically nutrition. :) But I decided to add a healthier ingredient.

Broccoli.

Here's my basic Alfredo recipe…

Here are the ingredients I used (approximately, since I just dumped). :) If you want the real recipe, pull out your Betty Crocker Cookbook (and double the recipe for a family with big appetites).

1 box fettuccine noodles

1 bag shredded fresh parmesan (not the powdered stuff!) plus a little bit of a second bag

1/2 stick butter (the real thing. Don't even think about margarine)

Approx. 1/2 cup half & half (enough to make it fairly "wet")

Fresh ground Pepper to taste

Fresh ground nutmeg (Optional, and go easy on it. The first time my daughter got to grate whole nutmeg, she had so much fun she got carried away. Our meal tasted more like eggnog!)

I sometimes add Tyson Fajita Chicken (already cooked) but didn't use it this time.

Boil noodles in salted water according to directions until al dente. I usually test it by eating a noodle...or two or three. (Love this part!) :) They need to still be somewhat firm (chewy) for Alfredo. This time, I tossed in fresh broccoli flowerettes for the last 2 or 3 minutes of boiling time.

Don't overcook the noodles or they'll mush up and disintegrate! Drain, and toss in the butter. Let sit until melted.

Add half & half to the noodles. Stir around until coated with the butter and cream. Then dump in the shredded parmesan. Toss.

So easy and tasty!! Enjoy!

Carnival-worthy Belgian Waffles with The Yank!

I get no credit here other than being the messenger.

This is not my recipe. And although my daughter Beth's sweet mother-in-law insists I gave it to her, I've never seen it before in my life. My guess is she found it while browsing my laptop when they were here for a visit last year and I'LL GLADLY HOG THE CREDIT!!!!!

But it's totally undeserved and I wish it wasn't because after I combed the Internet once I got my Belgian Waffle maker for a great recipe, the only one we liked was a VCR.

Not the machine that plays tapes, mind you. "VCR" translates to "Very Complicated Recipe" and who needs that in the morning????

Not this Yankee mama! So this recipe is found here: Link To Original Recipe via Saveur

Here is the recipe with my adjustments:

The original recipe called for self-rising flour. You don't need to spend extra to buy self-rising flour. Simple recipe here:

1 Cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix. Done. Finis. Perfectamente.  So you can either use self-rising flour for this recipe or use the recipe as written:

InGREDIENTS:

Mix together in large bowl:

1 3/4 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

In separate bowls:

4 eggs, separated 

(Temporary separation, they will be reunited later!!!! PARTY!!!) Yes, you see 8 egg yolks there, we did a double batch and not one tiny wedge of a waffle was wasted but I had to call help for crowd control!!! Put whites in mixing bowl for beating, even though that sounds so mean!!!

Add to dry mixture:

1 1/4 cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

Whisk until fairly lump free, then add in:

2 sticks butter, melted (1 cup) (shush.... butter is all natural, of course it's GOOD FOR YOU!!!)

Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.

 My big ol' Kitchen Aid loves a task like this.... Then fold egg whites into the batter, one-half at a time, folding thoroughly.

Yes, you'll still see some of the egg white fluff showing, that's fine, so change that to "Fairly Thoroughly".

Heat waffle iron. No need to spray a non-stick waffle iron, the butter will leave its delicious glaze behind.

Pour a full cup of batter onto the iron, close and watch the steam escape, a great science lesson in evaporations/steam/water cycle, very Earth Science friendly.

Don't fret if a little browned butter drips from the sides... It's no biggie and paper towels become your new best friend:

My iron blinked "ready" at about 4 minutes and they were on the deeper gold side. Some of my peeps like the more tender 3 minute variety, so play with your iron and see what works for you.

These were the best waffles I've ever made, a praise I don't give lightly! 

These are so tender, they don't need syrup or butter, carnival-style with powdered sugar is a hand-held breakfast treat! But they're delicious with butter and real maple syrup, too!!!!

And after all that, I managed to RESIST eating seven of these and ate my salad instead:

But I WANTED the seven waffles, I'm not gonna lie!!!!

Well, after all this cooking, I needed HELP!!!!

Here come the helpers:

Okay, IGNORE this video, it was a short .02 one and I uploaded it by mistake, but it Won't Go Away.

Techno-dunce Ruthy!!!

And here's a sneak peek at next week:

Oh. Yum. And this is what the silverware drawer looked like when my very earnest and adorable helpers were done:

LOVE IT!!!!