Extra Fancy Pasta Salad and Another Cover Reveal

The last two weekends have been big family events for our group. Of course, Father's Day was this weekend. And, last week, we came together to celebrate the life of Helen Obenhaus, my mother-in-law. After a long, full life, she passed peacefully in her sleep at the age of 92. 

Naturally, both events called for lots of food. Some graciously brought by friends and other meals cooked up by yours truly as a means of stress relief. There's just something about doing for others that takes our minds off of ourselves and our troubles. 

When the weather's hot--not to mention extraordinarily humid--one of my favorite dishes is pasta salad. Pasta Salad is one of those versatile recipes that you can easily tweak to fit just about any taste.

The one thing you absolutely must have for pasta salad is, well, pasta. You can use whatever shape(s), color or variety you like. One of my favorites is the tri-colored pasta because it's so colorful. But since I wanted to try to keep it Trim Health Mama approved, my best option was the Dreamfield's rotini.

Just cook your pasta per the instructions on the package, drain and then rinse to cool it, which also stops the cooking process.

From here, you can let you imagination take over.

On this occasion, I kept things simple, knowing I had some picky eaters.

Chopped red onions and black olives was about the extent of things for this group. And the Italian dressing is what brings everything together, but we'll get to that later. If I hadn't been surrounded by pickies, I would have also added some chopped broccoli, maybe some colorful bell peppers, grape or cherry tomatoes, cucumbers... You get the idea.

So add whatever you like to your pasta.

Oh, but wait. This is Extra Fancy Pasta Salad. So about now you're probably wondering what makes it so fancy, right?

Tah-dah!

You'd be surprised what imitation crab meat can do for pasta salad. It has a little bit of sweetness that, when paired with the tang of the Italian dressing, turns into this wonderfully harmonious treat. 

Of course, it doesn't look so fancy when it comes out of the package.

You can try to pull each piece apart, or do what I did and just roughly chop it before throwing it into the bowl.

Stir everything together.

Then stir in your Italian dressing to taste.

Note on the Italian dressing: I recommend using the regular as opposed to a light variety. The light dressings have more water in them that absorbs into the pasta, making the end product kind of dry. 

Okay, so it dawned on me when I saw Jan's gorgeous cover yesterday, that I have never shared the cover for my August LI.

So, without further ado...

Once again, the art department did a wonderful job. I just love the hulking mountain in the background. 

Yes, it's available for pre-order and, if I did things correctly, clicking on the image should take you to that link.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Blueberry Buckle rerun...and a cover reveal!

Everyone who hates summer colds, raise your hands!

Mine is way up there. This one has lasted for a solid week. No cooking. Definitely no cooking. I won't go into the details...but it was a bummer week. 

So I'm posting a rerun recipe for you, inspired by The Fresh Pioneer's weekend blueberry picking pictures.

But before the recipe, I have to share this beautiful cover. In the midst of my sinus headache suffering, I received this beautiful picture from Revell - the cover for my March 2016 release.

Seeing this in my inbox made my day! I love this story, and I'm so thankful that I'll be able to share it with all of you in the spring. Here's a little bit about it:

Hannah Yoder loves her quiet life on the banks of the Conestoga Creek. In 1842, this corner of Lancaster County is settled and peaceful—yet problems lurk beneath the placid façade. Hannah’s father worries about the spread of liberal ideas from their Mennonite and Brethren neighbors. And Hannah blames herself for a tragedy that struck their home nine years ago. She strives to be the one person who can bind the threads of her family together in spite of her mother’s ongoing depression and her sister’s rejection of their family. But her world is threatening to unravel.

When two young men seek her hand in marriage—one offering the home she craves and the other promising the adventure of following God’s call west—Hannah must make a choice. Faithfully perform her duties to her family? Or defy her father and abandon her community?

I'll be sure to let you know when it's available!


And now to the recipe. I first shared this in the summer of 2013, and I love this buckle better than ever. The original recipe is from Leduc's Blueberries in Paw Paw, Michigan.

Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

topping:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream 1/4 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar, then add the egg and beat well.

In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cup flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with 1/2 cup milk, beating until smooth.

Fold in blueberries, and pour into a greased 9-inch square pan.

For the topping, combine the ingredients and blend well to form crumbs, and then sprinkle the topping over the batter.

Bake at 375° for 35 minutes.

The buckle came out of the oven at 6:00 Sunday evening - just in time to take it to share at our Sunday evening service.

Oh yes, it was delicious.

And those who walked in at the last minute? Well, they shared the crumbs with me :)

This is a quick and easy recipe. Do you know what really makes it, though? That bit of cinnamon in the topping. Mmmm.....

Enjoy your week, everyone! But while you're still here, what's your go-to cure for the summer cold?

Home made Calzones and blueberry season is on!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have some pretty pictures from our first picking at the blueberry patch. We usually pick 100 lbs or more a season (which is about a month, so by the time we hit 100 lbs, the kids are protesting yet one more trip). This year, the season will be very short because of a hard freeze in November, so we aren't going to get our usual haul, which means there won't be so many frozen berries in the freezer! Sadness... but it is what it is. 

And I'm just glad we have these organic, deer/wildlife friendly, close and cheap (1.75 a lb) options. SO glad. Especially since our cherry season came and went... with nothing. That same hard freeze knocked our cherry orchards to the curb. As locavores (as much as we can), that hits us hard, too. We rely on those fresh fruits and veggies in the summer, and use them to put up stores (canning and freezing) for the winter. Again, it is what it is. 

Anyway, I was so proud of my crew! They picked 25 lbs of berries in 20 minutes in 90F+ heat. In and out. BAM. The woman at the weigh station was IMPRESSED. But it was hot and they sure didn't want to linger! Anyway, those 25 lbs are gone. In fact, they were gone in two days! We shared with neighbors, shut-ins, friends, relatives, and ate them by the handful. We also bartered with a friend for the loan of some old movies. Even though I'm sure she would have loaned us the movies for nothing, it was fun to have something to exchange. (That's a whole other story. Our summer project is classical movies. The kids are thrilled. LOL.)

We didn't even get any ticks, haha. 

 So, now for the dinner part, since we didn't really bake anything with the blueberries. mmmmm, calzones!
                                                               
OK, simple pizza dough recipe. But if this looks like a lot, IT WAS. I may be a teeny tiny bit distractable and there were a lot of people in the kitchen... which brings me to this bowl of yeast which is not quadrupled... but DECUPLED.  Yup... I multiplied the amounts by ten! We had a LOT of pizza dough.

 2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup warm water
Set aside for ten minutes.
                                                             
Add 1 1/2 cups flour into a bowl, make a well, pour in the yeasty mix and start to combine. When it's all mixed together, knead for about five minutes and then put it in a bowl to rise for about 30 minutes. (I should have taken a picture of our bowl. It was hilarious. SO MUCH DOUGH.)
                                
Roll out as thinly as possible... We didn't do this and the calzones were delicious but pretty thick. The great thing? Everybody could make their own version. This one had sweet peppers, onion, pineapples, two kinds of cheese and sauce.
                                            
My math-loving child making a joke.
                                        
Fold and press the sides together.
                                                                
Mark the top so everybody knows which is which. Veggie lovers will not be happy with pepperoni, and vice versa.

 This one was supposed to say what was inside but it apparently it's "for Papa's Work". Meaning, one of the kids made this for his lunch the next day. I have no idea what was in it, but he didn't complain, so it must have been good.

 Inside shot. Mmmm.

These look gigantic on these tiny plates, but they were actually sort of small. That's the nice thing about a home made calzone- you can adjust the insides AND the size!

And my little guy with his creation that he shared with his brother. They were VERY proud of all the work they did, and it turned out perfectly! I love having kids in the kitchen... as long as someone else does the multiplication, apparently. 

Until next time!

Oh, I'm also putting this up approximately 1.5 hours later than normal, just to welcome Mary/Cate to Yankee Belle Cafe. Next time I'll try to upload giant pictures, or make it in a tiny font. We want you to feel at ease in this crazy place, lol! 

Trying A Food Delivery Service

Missy, here. I thought I'd share with you a fun service I tried called HelloFresh. They send fresh ingredients to your home in all the correct amounts you need along with the recipes. And you prepare it yourself. Each shipment has 3 meals included. I ordered for two people, but there was sometimes enough to feed three.

You receive everything packed in one box. My main concern about the whole process was all the packaging. Even though you can recycle some of it, I felt guilty about it. We recycle everything we can and fill a huge bin every week. (I did tell them in a survey about my concern over the packaging. I guess it's just the nature of this type mail service.)

The produce came in plastic bags that kept things fresh. The box was lined to help keep everything cool. And inside were several frozen ice packs (disposable and non-toxic).

The meats (well, proteins, actually) were in the bottom of the box. For our week, we had steak, chicken and shrimp (it was already deveined). The proteins were all top quality, fresh and very tender.

Sorry this photo came out sideways. It's the recipe book.

They also sent pre-measured herbs and spices. For the first recipe I made, the package included a small packet of sour cream. A tiny jar of mayonnaise. You'll also see a small bag of green onions and fresh tarragon. The brown in this photo is the bread--brioche.

This particular meal was Brioche Shrimp Rolls with a butter lettuce and radish salad. It was DELICIOUS! If I could set aside my feelings about the packaging, I could tell you wholeheartedly that the food was amazing.

The recipes all took a bit of time to prepare (at least compared to what I usually cook). :) But it was well worth the time and effort.

First, I boiled the shrimp with a little lemon juice. Then I drained it, chilled it with cold water, drained again, and then chopped it up.

Combine the shrimp with a little mayo, sour cream, lemon zest, chopped scallions (the white part), chopped fresh tarragon and a dash of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. This makes a nice shrimp salad that's really tasty on a toasted brioche bun with some lettuce.

Serve with a nice salad. This one had a little bite to it with the radishes, which I love. But the salad dressing recipe also called for lemon juice, sour cream and scallions (the green part), so it was a little too similar to the shrimp salad for my taste.

Overall, I was happy with the food. Like I said, it was very fresh and tasty! Have y'all ever made shrimp salad? What do you put in yours?

Grilled Asparagus, Cookie Alert and Porkers!

First, it can't be asparagus season without a post about this awesome veggie! We grow asparagus. We sell asparagus at our roadside stand.

Folks love fresh asparagus and I know why: It's delicious! But I always used to steam it, think of all those years wasted!!!  ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Now I grill it or bake it, similar to how I do Brussel sprouts and broccoli....

Take the tender asparagus, trim the ends if necessary, lay out on baking sheet...

drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with seasoning (I use this roasted garlic and herb, it's my fave for lots of things!) Sprinkle with salt and bake or grill!

Baking is easier because it doesn't fall through the grill! Bake at 350 degrees until it's actually starting to crisp.

Amazing!

And then there are these, the clever Zip-Loc containers I keep on hand for mailing cookies and freezing treats. Today's M&M/Chocolate chip cookies were baked fresh for granddaughter Emma's soccer game but days of rain have flooded the fields, so the game was cancelled. (Note the use of two "l"s in cancelled).

No worries! Fresh cookies tucked into the Zip-Loc containers and popped into the freezer! Around here it's never a bad idea to have stashes of cookies in the freezer:

I just looked and I can't believe I haven't given you this cookie recipe yet.

Is that even possible???? I'm taken aback! I'm amazed! I'm chagrined!!! Putting that on the list of recipes to share! Ghirardelli chocolate chips, farm fresh eggs, and M&M's!!! Oh, Mylanta, they're wonderful!

And here's a new friend!

Well, it was love at first bite. These are a great snack for high-protein or low-carb diets, you have the fun of chewing (I can never be a juicer!!!!) and these are just plain delicious! A new family favorite!

So tonight, once the kids were all picked up and Emma's  game was canceled. (notice I'm spelling it both ways because I'm airport savvy, it doesn't matter if they use one 'l' or two, I'm still not getting on a plane! Which happened two weeks ago in Midway....Do you know what happens when middle school cheerleaders start practicing their cheers at midnight in an airport with hundreds of stranded travelers? I don't either, I curled up and dozed off so I wouldn't be a WITNESS to their possible demise!!!)  :)

Anyway, I digress, we have a couple of English Walnut trees that have been infested with a nut borer... so we have to cut off all the infected branches and burn them to help curtail the spread of this tree-killing bug... And that means what can we throw on the grill for super quick supper while we're cutting and burning?

PORKERS!!!!

Also known as White Hots (white hot dogs) up here.

We use Zweigles Brand (gotta love German sausage makers!) and they're a crowd-pleasing favorite in upstate. If you order a white hot at a call-in hamburger stand, they yell "Porker!"

:)

Everyone here knows what a porker is!!!

Oh, there's the pretty plate again! Hello, plate! And no, I haven't unpacked any of his friends because I still haven't washed the cupboards. Soon, maybe? Although windows might take precedence!

So that's what's going on here.... baked or grilled asparagus, porkers, salted nuts and sick trees and I'm in the middle of a crazy fun marriage of convenience story, one of those things where you know the hand of God is there... right there.... if only the hero and heroine are smart enough to pause... breathe... and see what's right in front of their eyes! It's my second book for Franciscan Media and I'm so proud of them, jumping in with Christian fiction that includes Catholic characters!

I love writing ecumenically, but I also like being able to have a little "name that church" fun like Jan Karon did in her delightful "Mitford" series.

Keepin' it real makes me real happy!

Multi-published and best-selling author Ruthy Logan Herne loves cookies, Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog. She understands it's not easy being green and she's all over the Rainbow Connection and this one with English singer Ed Sheeran is wonderful!

She loves God, her family, her country, dogs, kids, spring peepers, coffee and chocolate and isn't afraid to eat the occasional cookie!

Introducing Cate Nolan (almost) Healthy Writer

Hello Yankee Belles.

Another Yank here. You know me here as Mary Curry because I’ve been visiting and guest posting since the beginning. But today let me introduce my better self - Cate Nolan. Cate writes for Love Inspired Suspense and has a debut coming out in October. But more about her and that then.

This is now and today is another debut of sorts. My debut as the Wednesday regular on Yankee Belle.

I don’t have a cute nickname like the other ladies. I’m just trying to be a healthier eater. Several years ago, I did a weekly blog on a site called Healthy Writer. Since that’s what I aspire to be, maybe I’ll just stick with that name - Cate the Healthy Writer.

It's not an easy path getting to be a healthy writer.  You all know about the struggle on the writing end, but the healthy end is tough too when the foods that call your name list flour, butter and sugar as the main ingredients. 

Yes, I’m the one who introduced Ruthy to my favorite French patisserie in Manhattan.  Their website says: 

We hope you'll visit one of our shops, sip a cappuccino, enjoy a flaky, freshly-baked croissant, and stay awhile. 

"Vivre Délicieusement!"

Makes for a happy, but not so healthy writer.

I liked being a healthy writer. I lost 30 pounds while following the tips I posted on that blog. It’s time to rediscover that alter ego and get back to the healthy habits I craved. Because that’s the part I find so interesting. When I really stick to the healthy eating, I stop craving all those delicious baked goods. 

Almost. 

The cravings become manageable at first and then little by little I stop thinking of chocolate croissants and cookies and pies.  I begin to really prefer fresh blueberries by the handful to blueberry pie laden with sugar and a buttery crumb topping. *cue sobs

Okay, confession time. I tempted myself too much writing that so I got up and got a snickerdoodle to have with my coffee.

SEE! I need an intervention.

But school is still in session so I haven’t committed to my big change to healthy yet. Think of that snickerdoodle. Did I mention the rootbeer float?  (It’s been a very stressful year.)

 

This is my mantra right now.

By next Wednesday school will be mostly over and I vow I will be back on my healthy bandwagon.

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my favorite, tasty concessions to healthy eating - substituting spaghetti squash for spaghetti.

Saturday night is traditionally pasta night in our house and the biggest decision is usually whether it will be spaghetti or ziti (or maybe lasagna). So what’s a gal to do if she doesn’t want to eat all that pasta?

(An aside – I love pasta. I just don’t love how it makes me feel.  A Sicilian friend of mine told me it makes her feel depressed.  So, why eat it?  Generally because it’s easier to go along than to make another meal entirely.

Do you do that? Eat something you don’t really want because you’re making it for the family?)

I’ve tried substituting artichoke pasta and I do love that.

But there’s something I’ve come to love better -  spaghetti squash. When I made the ziti for my husband, I reserved a bit of the meat sauce. Then, while the ziti baked, I baked my squash.


Have you ever forked a spaghetti squash? It’s really kind of cool.
You just remove the seeds and pulp and then pull out the strands of squash with a fork.

I added some fresh arugula to my sauce, poured it on top of the “spaghetti” and sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on top. (It tastes REALLY good if you smother it with mozzarella.  See my problem? *sigh*)

I have to admit – I like it as much as – if not more than – the spaghetti. And it’s really easy. But it is more expensive to buy the squash than a cheap box of spaghetti. 

Do you eat spaghetti squash? Have any recipes to share?

But more importantly, am I alone? Am I the only one who would really rather eat bread and cake and cookies than a meal?


Next week look for me to being more committed to actual healthy foods minus all the temptations!

Peppered Maple Bacon!

Okay, I blame it on Cam and Rachel.

They got married.

As if that wasn't wonderful enough, they then had a reception at the family golf club in Central New York....

And if that wasn't enough, they served their AMAZING BACON.

Now I'm a bacon girl. I think of bacon as salad.

I don't care what anyone says to me, I refuse to count nitrates and nitrites and germs in my Keurig (Ruthy pauses to KISS HER KEURIG!!!!!)

Because you only live once, and if I have to be careful of bread and bagels and cupcakes and cakes and pies and oh gosh... tortes, and cream puffs and pizza and pasta and potatoes and rice.... I'm sure as shootin' gonna eat some bacon!

Think high protein amazement and join me!

First, you have to buy really good bacon. The only bacon I use is "Wrights" bacon, out of Texas. I get mine at Sam's Club.

(Let's hear it for the Lonestar State!!!!) Anybody got a yellow rose? No?

Sigh.

Okay, back to bacon!

First line your baking pan or broiler with heavy duty aluminum foil. I did not do this the first time. Wait, the second time. The first time I told my son-in-law to broil the bacon. He did. We burnt it all. VERY BAD/EPIC FAIL.

So the second time I laid the bacon on the top of the broiler pan... and didn't line it with foil. Did you know maple syrup burns?

Okay, but NOW perfectamente!  Here we go, and it's totally worth it. I promise.

Lay the deliciously thick-sliced, perfectly marbled bacon strips on a baking pan or the top of a broiler.

Brush with real maple syrup. Grind fresh pepper over bacon. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes. Turn once and bake until done. Don't overcook the bacon, it's better slightly chewy. This was Perfect Consistency Bacon.

Now, pictures do not do this justice. I've had maple bacon before. I don't like it. But this.... Oh, THIS is so good. First, the real maple syrup leaves a taste that's second to none and the fresh pepper, baked into the strips, is the perfect tang!

The entire wedding reception went into bacon overload! Bacon euphoria. Bacon joy!!!! Bacon dances!!!

Any diet that disallows bacon should be frowned upon and herewith discarded. While the bacon was cooking, there was this:

Five-year-old 'Lijah scaling the heights....

And once more, smiling for the camera as he practices to be an American Ninja Warrior:

So then Xavier had to climb because that's what kids do... they must best each other!

Beth says I should crop my pictures because one of these pics shows her kind of not exactly happy in the background, but my theory is she should work harder to look happy all the time. Isn't that sensible??? :)

So here goes Zee-Zee.
It wasn't easy. He fell down a bunch of times... He tried and tried and tried and then!!!

There he is!!!! He was so happy! He can't turn and show you that because he'll fall to his death, most likely, but here is a happy boy!  :) And I don't know why that picture is slanted, but if you tilt your head just so... it looks fine! :)

So then, I had some sweet potatoes.

Random, right?

But I thought "I wonder how delicious those sweet potatoes would be cooked in sweetened bacon grease?

So I did it!

I peeled four big sweet potatoes.... chunked them up.

And heated the drippings from the bacon pan with about 3/4 cup of water in my big frying pan on top of the stove. I added the chunked sweet potatoes once the drippings were hot, and simmered them until almost done. Then I added 1/4 cup butter, salt and pepper.

Delicious.