Cassie’s Ruminations

CSA Box, Week #1

The CSA boxes are back! I signed up with Growing Washington again this year, and actually ended up being the Boeing Everett site focal. I’m excited about the summer and all the boxes to come 🙂 I got a combo box, veggies and fruit (fruit starts in July, so just veggies for now), and flowers. The duck eggs are new this year, and their dairy is now offering sour cream in addition to the butter. Fun fun!

This week’s haul:

• Flowers
• Dried heirloom beans
• Duck eggs
• Free range chicken eggs
• Sweet basil
• Sage
• Oregano
• Potatoes – Red Storage
• Beets – Red Ace
• Rhubarb
• Asparagus
• Lettuce Mix
• Arugula – Cut
• Lettuce – Green Bibb x2

Posted in CSA, Food, Vegetables | 1 Comment »

Planting Flowers

Well, I looked at rose bushes to plant by our door, but none of them really called to me. I did really like the salvia plants, though, so I went with one of them – a salvia caradonna. I think that it looks quite nice 🙂 It’s a perennial, a member of the sage family, and allegedly quite hardy, so it should in theory survive and come back year after year, if I can keep it alive!

Posted in Ramblings | 1 Comment »

Ginger Shrimp

This recipe is inspired by this one from Weight Watchers. It was okay. The components were all good, but the sauce was way too thin and didn’t stick to or flavor anything else in the stir fry. Next time I’ll cut down on the water and add a little cornstarch. I’ve written the recipe below with those changes already incorporated. I think it’ll be much better next time 🙂

Ginger Shrimp
Serves 2

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp shaoxing wine (a Chinese cooking wine, or substitute sake or dry sherry)
2 tbsp water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 two-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into matchsticks (about 1/8 cup pieces)
1 clove garlic, pressed
20 oz large raw shrimp
12 oz snow peas, steamed for 2 minutes

Mix together the soy sauce, honey, shaoxing wing, water, and cornstarch in a small bowl and set aside.

Place a skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. When it starts to shimmer and almost smoke, add the ginger and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until just turning golden brown and fragrant. Add the garlic and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Push the aromatics to the sides of the pan.

Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes per side, or until just turning opaque. Stir the sauce to reincorporate the cornstarch and add it and the snow peas to the pan. Bring the sauce to a boil to thicken, 1-2 minutes, and toss to coat the shrimp and peas evenly, then turn off the heat.

Serve warm.

Posted in Asian, Food, Seafood, Vegetables | No Comments »

Grilled Tri Tip

This recipe is inspired by one I found here that was very highly rated. My version is scaled down and has my own twists, of course. This turned out quite well, and I’m glad I gave it a try. I can definitely see doing this again over the course of the summer. Tonight, I served this with some grilled summer squash.

   

Grilled Tri Tip
Serves 4 generously

For the marinade:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 cup pressed fresh garlic (about 6 medium to large cloves)
1/8 cup ground black pepper
1 heaping tbsp garlic powder
1 heaping tbsp onion powder

2 lbs trimmed tri tip beef roast

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a large zip top bag. Add the tri tip and seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Marinate for at least 6 hours and up to 48 hours in the refrigerator.

When ready to cook, remove the meat from the fridge and let come to room temperature, about half an hour, on the counter.

Preheat the grill to medium high.

Place the tri tip on the grill and sear on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Turn the heat down to medium low and continue to grill for about 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 135 degrees F for medium rare, (25 minutes, 145 degrees F for medium), turning occasionally.

Let rest for 10 minutes, then slice against the grain and serve warm.

Emma had to keep an eye on me as I grilled 🙂

Posted in Beef, Corgi, Food, Grilling | No Comments »

Pumpkin Beer Bread

This is a take on my beer bread inspired by a recipe I saw on Twin Tables. This was a very tasty quick bread, and a nice accompaniment to some of our favorite chicken apple sausages for a quick and warm meal on a cool and rainy spring evening.

Pumpkin Beer Bread
makes 1 loaf

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 12-oz bottle beer, medium to light in color (I used the local Scuttlebutt Amber Ale, but it would be really good with a fall seasonal pumpkin beer too)
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix in the beer, canola oil, and pumpkin until just combined.

Scrape the dough into the loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Food, Muffins and Quick Breads | No Comments »

Grilled Garlic Flatbread

This was an easy and really tasty way to make garlic bread, and I’m looking forward to trying more pizza dough creations on the grill in the near future 🙂 The refrigerated dough I used tasted amazingly good cooked this way, so don’t feel that you have to make your own dough if you’re pressed for time.

Grilled Garlic Flatbread
Serves 4, generously

12-16 oz uncooked pizza dough
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp Italian seasoning mix (mine has marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, and basil)

Preheat a propane grill to high heat.

While the grill is heating, roll out the pizza dough to a rectangle, about 8 inches by 12 inches, and place it on a piece of aluminum foil (I used Reynolds Wrap non-stick grilling foil for this). Brush the dough with the olive oil, scatter the garlic over the top, and sprinkle with the Italian seasoning.

Carefully move the foil with the dough onto the hot grill and close the lid. Grill for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom of the dough is nicely browned and starting to char just a bit around the edges. Turn the heat to low and close the lid again. Grill for a final 2-3 minutes to finish cooking the dough and roasting the garlic.

Carefully slide the garlic bread onto a plate and cut into four pieces. Serve hot.

Posted in Bread, Easy, Food, Pizza | No Comments »

A Fun Day on Whidbey Island

Today, Emma and I made a trip out to Whidbey Island. Sadly, Shaun had drill and could not join us. There was a corgi meet-up planned at Sunlight Beach at 11:30 that we decided to attend, and it was a blast. You can see all my photos on Flickr, or see a few of the best with Emma below.

We snagged the 9:30 ferry, arrived on the island at about 10, and headed to the Bayview Farmers Market.

At the farmers market, we wandered around to all the stalls, then got some lunch from the Columbia Beach BBQ truck that was there. I got a tri tip french dip, half a grilled artichoke, and, from The Kitchen Door stall at the farmer’s market, a slice of homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. It was all delicious!

After lunch, we headed further north to the cabin on Sunlight Beach that belongs to our hostess for the event, Bobbie. We spent a little while in the front yard while waiting for everyone to arrive. Emma enjoyed the tall grass and flowers 🙂

Once everyone arrived, we all headed out to the beach. A little rock “staircase” led to the driftwood at the beachhead, and past the logs was a lovely spread of beach as the tide was out quite a ways. Emma bounded ahead of me, but kept a watchful eye to make sure I wasn’t too far behind.

We then walked out onto the beach. Emma and the other dogs had a blast running up and down, playing chase. They got in the water, got wet, rolled in the sand, and generally had a blast being dogs. 😀

After a great walk and about an hour and 15 minutes on the beach, we packed up and headed homeward.

After arriving back on the east side of the sound, we headed to Petco for a grooming to wash off the salt and sand and to get a new bag of kibble. Then it was home to get a good drink of water and to be flat and happily remember our day. 🙂

Posted in Corgi, Ramblings | 3 Comments »

Happy Birthday to My Husband!

Today is Shaun’s birthday, so we splurged a little and had some pasta with our turkey meatballs tonight. Tonight I used Mario Batali’s Arrabbiata sauce, which has a nice spicy little kick to it. I was really quite impressed with this jarred sauce, and I’ll have to try some of the other varieties. I also made a little cheater’s garlic bread. All in all a very good meal to celebrate another revolution around the sun 🙂

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Poultry, Product Review | No Comments »

Colorful Socks and Emma in a Box

For my May edition of goofy socks, I present to you some of the most normal socks I own 🙂 I do own a few pairs of plain black, white, and tan socks, but most days find me wearing a pair of these brightly colored footies – sometimes coordinated with my shirt, sometimes just a random fun color 😛 I get these at Costco in packs of 8 or 10 or so in a myriad of colors. They have tons of sets in all colors, stripes, and even plain white if you so chose 😀

Speaking of Costco, after our run out there this weekend, the boxes we got for our smaller stuff were just Emma-sized, so she of course ended up in one for a little bit. She wasn’t too pleased with this development, but she puts up with a lot for treats 😛

Posted in Corgi, Ramblings | No Comments »

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

These are inspired by this AllRecipes recipe. It comes very highly rated. My version incorporates several of the changes recommended by commenters, as well as my own notes and changes. These turned out very well, and I’d happily go back to this recipe again when I want a good muffin recipe 🙂

Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the streusel:
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the streusel ingredients together with a fork until the mixture has texture like a coarse cornmeal. Set aside.

Mix together the flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. In a one cup measure, pour in the oil, buttermilk, and egg and beat together lightly. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir together with as few strokes as possible. Some lumps are just fine. Fold in the blueberries.

Spray a muffin tin generously with non-stick spray.

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cups, each about 2/3 full. Sprinkle evenly with the streusel mixture.

Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Breakfast, Food, Muffins and Quick Breads | No Comments »