Strawberry Season

 The season for fresh strawberries has arrived and I have made use of the delicious bounty to be found in our local markets.  I made strawberry pie.

We ate bowls of strawberries and cream.

I made strawberry compote for our waffles on a leisurely Sunday morning.

Soon enough we’ll stir up some strawberry jam that we’ll preserve for the cold Winter days when strawberry season seems far away.  That’s happy!

Food Friday: Chicken Supper - Home Cookin’

Early on in the pandemic lock down, there were chicken shortages at our local market,  Chicken is the universal favorite food among the inmates of this house and both JT and T got a little panicky about a poultry shortage.  However, as supplies evened out it became clear that we would be able to fill our freezer with chicken for some chicken suppers.  I am the primary cook and meal planner around here and in this season of anxiousness, I’ve made old favorites as a means of comfort.  We’ve had fried chicken.

And chicken tacos.

Not pictured is chicken noodle soup, cowboy chicken, peanut chicken, and chicken cordon bleu....among other family favorites.  Suffice it to say no one has gone hungry around here.  Family suppers are among the blessings of this crazy period of time.  I've been one to take them for granted and it's been nice to have this daily blessing.

Food Friday: Comfort Food

Perhaps its because of my California origins that I find homemade Mexican food to be the best sort of comfort food.  And at the very top of the comfort hierarchy is the corn tortilla.  These were fried into homemade tortilla chips and served with a heaping bowl of guacamole.

Delicious.

Food Friday: Homemade Popcorn

When I was a kid, my dad made homemade popcorn in a popcorn popper and it was the most delicious of treats.  As an adult, I love popcorn nearly as much and I’ve learned to make it on my own.  While the rest of us have become a nation of microwave popcorn poppers, at Sassafras House we are old-school poppers. In my book, homemade popcorn is the ideal comfort food.

It takes practice to learn how to make popcorn just right but it’s a skill worth practicing because homemade popcorn is snake-charmingly good.

You need:

a big pot or kettle with a firmly-fitted lid

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup popcorn

salt and melted butter to taste

Heat the oil with the lid on the pot and 2 or 3 kernels of popcorn.  Usually, I heat it just short of the highest setting on my gas stove.  This is a practice-makes- perfect exercise and you’ll have to find your own sweet spot for heat.

When the first kernel pops, pour in the rest of the kernels and set the lid on top.  Let the pot sit on the heat until more kernels pop and then every few seconds, give it shake over the heat.  You need to keep the lid on, so the best way to accomplish this is with some hot pads to hold the lid secure.  When the popping begins to slow, listen carefully.  When there are a few seconds between kernels popping, you’re done.  Turn off the heat and let the hot pot sit for a minute in case any kernels pop late.  Empty into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and melted butter to taste.  Turn on something great on the telly and sit back and enjoy the taste of childhood.

Home Sweet Taco

Last weekend, JT returned home after a week in Iowa.   His taste-of-home supper was chicken tacos, of course.

He ate 8 of them and then said that he loved me.  I'll take it.

Food Friday: California Dreamin'

If I have my way, I'm in California less than 24 hours before I score a cheese enchilada.  I love good Mexican food and no place has more of it than the Golden State.  Alas, I make my home in the Garden State and while there is some good food here, there is no homestyle Mexican food that can hope to compete with California.  So I improvise and make my own.

The arrival of garden tomato abundance has really helped me along on that front.  The other day I took a look at all those fresh tomatoes and decided it was time for some salsa fresca.  It's a friendly recipe because you can make as much (or as little) as you need.  I made enough for about one and a half cups of chopped salsa.  I used mine to season a quesadilla, which is standard fare around Sassafras House.  

The salsa ingredients were easily collected. Note: if I were in California, that lime would have been home-grown.

Here's what you need:

1 cup tomato, chopped fine and seeded (this removes excess liquid)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno

1/4 teaspoon salt

squirt of lime

After you've placed all the ingredients in a bowl, stir them together.  

The salsa is tasty with chips on its own but is also a nice addition to a basic quesadilla.  For that you need a large flour tortilla and some freshly grated Monterey Jack cheese.   I make mine by briefly heating both sides of the tortilla on medium heat.  For this version, I layered in some cheese, a spread of the salsa fresca I had just stirred up, and then a bit more cheese.  

Fold it in half and cook until the cheese is melted around the salsa (it should take about 3 minutes on medium heat).  

Flip it over and cook the other side for about 2 minutes.

Let it sit for a minute then slice it in half and serve up the melted goodness.

Quesadillas and salsa are comfort food in my world and the next best thing to being in my home state.