Main Street Caffe

Okay, so this isn't my recipe--I didn't even make it. But I know the woman who did, so that counts, right?  I went to high school with Andi.  She opened a cafe in our hometown about six months ago and has been posting the mouth watering specials on facebook ever since, making me wish I could swing by for lunch.  So while I was in Idaho for spring break I hightailed it over there with my mother and two sisters.

There is just something great about a small town cafe, and this one has certainly got charm--and fabulous fare to please the pickiest palate.

We each ordered a different panini and then split them four ways so we could try each one.  It was a tough call, but I am always partial to anything with basil in it, so my choice was also my favorite.

My oldest sister ordered the Turkey Pesto:

My other sister ordered theTurkey Bacon Avocado (probably my second favorite. . . because it has avocado on it!):

My mother ordered the Southwest Turkey:

And I ordered the Caprese Sandwich--YUM:

She added balsamic vinegar to her tomato, basil, mozzarella sandwich.  I'm going to try that next time I make myself one. . . like tomorrow! Now I'm hungry. . .

Three of us ordered our her spinach salad with cider vinaigrette, which was oh-so-good!  I would say it was definitely worth the trip.  I will have to stop by next time I am in town.  Check out Main Street Caffe HERE. Or their facebook page HERE (where Andi often posts the special of the day to get your mouth watering.)

And just so you know, I often take pictures of my food--and not just in my own kitchen.  People sometimes give me strange looks in restaurants when I whip out my camera (which is no small piece of a equipment) and snap pictures of my food before I eat it!

Do you ever take pictures of your food in public?

Lavender Ice Cream

I have often heard people speak of using lavender in cooking.  Lavender cookies have been on my "try" list for a while, but when I saw the movie "It's Complicated" recently, I decided I needed to try lavender ice cream.  The main character owned a bakery and spent half the show making lovely, mouth-watering creations--one of which was lavender ice cream.  It sounded interesting.  Or maybe I just wished for it to be summer so badly that the thought of making any ice cream created visions of warm weather and blue skies.

And while it may be difficult to reconcile the idea of lavender being edible, as opposed to something you might find in soap, or lotion, it has a subtle smoothness that combines with the other flavors to create a soothing, tea-like quality that is oh-so-yummy.  

You will need:

2 cups heavy cream

4 cups whole milk

4 Tbs dried, edible lavender flowers (for locals, I found mine at Chuck's Produce and Street Market)

3/4 cup honey

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

juice of 1 lime (1-2 Tbs)

1 tsp lime zest

1/2 tsp salt

Heat the milk and cream in a pot over medium heat until very warm, but not boiling.  Turn off heat and add lavender.  Cover and let steep for 20-30 minutes.  Then strain out flowers and discard them.  

Return milk/cream to pot, add honey and heat on medium low until honey has dissolved.  Do not allow to boil.

Beat egg yolks, vanilla, lime juice, lime zest and salt until light creamy yellow.  While stirring, slowly add 1 cup of warm milk mixture to egg mixture.  When well mixed, add the milk/egg mixture back into pot, stirring.  

Heat on medium low until it thickens slightly (5 - 8 minutes).  It should lightly coat the back of your spoon.  Strain to remove any possible lumps that may have formed.

Cool in refrigerator for four hours, or until no longer warm.  

Freeze and churn according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

Yield: 2 quarts

Lime Bars

I am a girl who loves the changing of the seasons. . . but I am almost always ready for them to change before they are.  About this time of year I start craving spring in a major way.  It pops up in my clothing, my house keeping and decorating, my desire to hit the yard work, and in my kitchen.  I get the urge to grill things and make lots of citrus-y dishes.  So when my husband declared the need for dessert tonight, I vetoed the fudge brownies or cookies and suggested lime bars.  Yum.  So glad I did.  And since we had given in to the urge to buy raspberries yesterday, I threw some in for good measure.

I have posted many other citrus desserts, but this recipe is super quick, in case you get a hankering for spring and you need it now.

You will need:

1 1/2 cup of cracker crumbs (typically graham cracker, but I had none, so I crushed up lemon Girl Scout  cookies--yum)
6 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar (which I didn't add--I figured with the lemon cream filling I was covered!)
Zest of one lime

Filling:

2 large egg yolks
1  14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice (about 4-5 limes)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, crush your crackers. . .

Then mix with your zest, butter and sugar.

Butter an 8x8 inch pan.  If you want to easily remove the bars from the pan after they have baked, line the bottom with parchment paper and up two (opposing) sides--so you can lift them out before cutting.

Pour the crust into the pan and press with a spoon or fork until evenly covering the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes. let cool slightly.

For the filling, combine the yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice.

Pour over crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until set.  Cool completely.  If you used parchment, remove uncut bars from pan by lifting the parchment. Cut into squares, garnish as desired, and serve.

I garnished mine with whipped cream, a little more lime zest, and fresh raspberries.  It was springtime in my mouth.  Enjoy!

Lime Cilantro Dressing

I have mentioned this dressing in a couple recipes and have finally gotten around to sharing it with you.  I used to be a ranch only kind of girl, but I have been discovering there are a plethora of tasty toppings for  your salad out there!  This one has only recently been added to my arsenal, and doesn't stray too far from ranch since you actually use a ranch packet when you make it, though you don't follow the directions on the back.

You will need:

1 ranch mix packet
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup milk
juice from 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 cup green salsa (I used Arriba fire roasted Mexican Green Salsa)

Put all of it in the blender and blend.

Eat on salads, burrito bowls, with a spoon. . .

Store covered in the refrigerator for about a week. . . if it lasts that long.

Burrito Bowl

For a family that eats a LOT of Mexican food (sure, it's largely Americanized, but we love it all), I have to admit that this recipe has only recently entered my kitchen via my neighbor's kitchen. . . with a few alterations.  But that's what is great about this recipe, you can throw in what ever tinkles your taste buds, and every bowl can be customized.  It tends to be more of a burrito bowl bar at our house.

Start with rice-- sticky rice, white rice, brown rice. . . you pick.  We usually use brown rice.

Then pick your toppings.  Our favorites are:

peppers
onions
black beans
avocado
plum tomatoes
cheese
sour cream
cilantro

You can add salsa, or eat it with just your choice of toppings, but I love to add a little zing with Lime Cilantro Dressing.  YUM.

Pile it all in a bowl and try not to overeat, I dare you.

Confetti Cupcakes

Signe was sick on Friday, so for our Friday Family Fun Night activity we let her choose dinner, dessert, and evening activity at home. For dessert she picked confetti cupcakes.  These turned out both lovely and delicious.  They were their own little party on a plate. . . only I don't think any plates were actually used.  The girls certainly had fun lavishing on the sprinkles--at three points in the process.  So if you plan on making these more than once you might want to invest in the large bottle of dot sprinkles, like I did.

For this fun and flavorful treat you will need:

1 1/4 cups of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 Tbs multicolor sprinkles


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F) and line your cupcake pan with paper cups.

In mixer, blend flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add milk, butter and vanilla.  Beat on low until combined and then on medium for two more minutes.

Turn off mixer.  Add egg, beat on low until incorporated then on medium for an additional two minutes.

Using a wooden spoon stir in sprinkles. (this picture is misleading--I DID use a spoon and not the mixer whisk.  You don't want to break up your dots!)

Pour batter into prepared paper cups.  In case you don't think there are enough dots (like my girls) sprinkle additional dots on top of each cupcake.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting I use a random assortment of cream cheese, butter, milk (or cream) powder sugar and vanilla.  This time I used approximately these proportions:

3 cups of pdr sugar
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup of butter
1-2 Tbs cream or milk
1 tsp vanilla

Add pdr sugar if you want it thicker or milk if you want it thinner.

Signe chose blue food coloring for our frosting.

And then Hannah topped them with yet MORE sprinkles.

It was a party. . .

on a cupcake.

Or rather, a dozen little parties.

We thought it looked so fun we invited it into our mouths. . .

we suggest you do too.

The "Stuff in My Fridge/Garden" Salad + Chicken

I have tons of produce in my refrigerator and garden that I need to eat.  Like rows of lettuce in my garden and a crisper drawer of stuff I picked or bought and need to eat while it's still fresh.  What better way than salad?  It actually turned out quite tasty so I am sharing it here (and documenting it for myself so I can replicate it later) so you can enjoy it also.

First I chopped:

four or five little sweet peppers
a stalk of celery
a handful of parsley (from my garden)
a couple green onions (from my garden)
about a half a cup of cheese (I used cheddar)
a large tomato
and while I would like to say I grilled up a chicken breast (which I highly recommend) I was lazy and threw on a can of chicken I picked up at Costco

Then I picked red lettuce and green lettuce and spinach from my garden.

I tossed the chopped ingredients in a bowl and piled a scoop onto my lettuce.

I topped mine with lime cilantro dressing which is oh-so-good, but which I have yet to post a recipe for.  So you may top it with whatever your heart desires. . . and soon I will post the recipe for the lime cilantro because you really should introduce it to your palate.  It will thank you.