Gaby's Summer Salad

Greens (Arugula, Spinach, Romaine)

Persian Cucumbers (4-5)

Avocado (1-2)

White Peaches, Nectarines, Reg Peaches (4)

*Optional: Strawberries, Blueberries, Fresh Corn 

Dressing: 

Olive Oil (1/4 cup)

Champagne Vinegar (or Apple Cider or any kind) (4-5 Tablespoons)

Garlic cloves (2)

Lemon juice

Salt, Pepper

Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup freshly grated)

Eat 5 days/week in the Summer with any kind of protein.

Chicken, Salmon, Shrimp

This is AWESOME!

Caroline + Arie's Perfect Brunch

 

C + A hosted the BEST Brunch ever yesterday! I wanted to add her recipes here so I can find them easily!  

Menu:

• Best Bloody Mary Bar // Mimosas
• Overnight French Toast w/Coconut Syrup
• BLT's
• Homemade Hash Browns
• Fruit
• Arie's Famous Dutch Apple Pancakes
• Coffee w/ Bailey's

The Groeneveld's

The Guests

Tomato Jam

• 1 1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (she used 3/4 c)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 jalapeno or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week. 

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

• 12 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• kosher salt  + freshly ground black pepper
• a little shredded cheese

1. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until light, frothy, and uniform in color. Strain the eggs through a fine mesh stainer into a separate bowl.
2. Combine the butter and creme fraiche in a large nonstick sauce pan. (Caroline cooked hers in the oven so they wouldn't fall apart and stay on the BLT. Pour the eggs into the pan and turn the heat to low and cook slowly; mix gently using a heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon until soft curds form, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat (the eggs will still be somewhat wet). Season with salt and pepper, and add any flavoring additions (cheese). Let stand for 1 minute more to allow the heat of the pan to finish cooking the eggs. 

BLT:

Toasted Brioche bread without the crust, mayonnaise,  glazed bacon (thick cut with pomegranate molasses, dijon mustard, pepper baked), arugula, scrambled eggs, tomato jam, avocado. 

Served with Potatoes & Fruit.

Amazing! 

BLT & Hash Browns

Overnight Berry French Toast w/Coconut Syrup

• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• Zest and juice of 1 small orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 baguette, cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices.
• 2 cups berries (any combination of raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped walnuts *optional
• 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• grand mariner

Coat a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, syrup, orange zest and juice, and vanilla together. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture and arrange in two rows in the baking dish. Tuck berries between slices and along the edges. Pour remaining egg mixture over top of the bread and berries. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the French toast from refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, walnuts, and brown sugar. Sprinkle over the bread and berries. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and cover with foil if the top is getting too brown. Serve with maple syrup. (Or coconut syrup!)

Arie's famous dutch apple pancakes with cinnamon & sugar. *Secret recipe (3rd generation!) Delicious!

Cheers!

 

Future Posts

I have so many blog-worthy events that I don't even know where to start. I'm looking forward to writing more pretty soon. Some of the topics involve:

Being a Grandmother.
My job situation.
Up north Michigan.
COVID lessons.

... and so much more!

Stay tuned shortly.
xoxo

Bruchetta

Bruchetta

Cherry tomatoes
Fresh Basil
Fresh Garlic (TONS)
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar (Good quality)

Turkey/Vegetable Chili (BEST)

Ingredients:

3- 15 oz. cans of tomato SAUCE (not puree or diced)
1 can of black beans (rinsed)
1 red or yellow onion (whole if medium size or half of large)
3 stalks celery
1 large sweet potato
1 pound ground turkey (or beef)
3 bell peppers (red, orange and yellow)
3 cloves resh garlic
olive oil
4 Tablespoons of chili powder (a variety of brands/kinds is good)

Cook the onion & garlic in olive oil until translucent. While the onion is cooking, chop the celery and sweet potato. Add ground turkey. Once meat is cooked, add the tomato sauce and ONE can of water. Then add the chopped celery and sweet potato. Add the black beans. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Then chop the 3 bell peppers. Once the 30 minutes is up, add the peppers and cook for 10 more minutes. Done!

Serve with cornbread!  Delicious!!

Spicy Black Bean Soup

1- 1/2 cup black beans
1 Tablespoon dried onion
2 Tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 veggie bouillon cube
1 chile pepper (optional)
6 cups water

Remove wrapper from bouillon cube and add it, plus all remaining ingredients to 6 cups of water into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to low and simmer until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 90 minutes, adding more water as necessary to soften the beans. Remove and discard the chile pepper and bay leaves before serving. Season to taste.

From Heidi A.

I haven't tried this yet, but my friend Heidi said it is easy and good!

Coconut Curry Soup

2/3 cup orange (or red) lentils
2/3 cup green lentils
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon dried chopped onions
1 Tablespoon dried minced garlic
2 veggie bouillon cubes
4 cups water
14- ounce can of full fat coconut milk
1 chile pepper or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Remove wrapper from bouillon cubes and add them, plus all remaining ingredients to 4 cups water and 14- ounce coconut milk. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, simmer until the lentils are tender about 20 minutes. Remove and discard chile pepper before serving. Season to taste.


From Heidi A.

:)

Italian Barley Soup

1 cup pearled barley
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 Tablespoon dried chopped onions
1 Tablespoon dried minced garlic
2 Tablespoons dried basil
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 veggie bouillon cube
4 cups water
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

Remove wrapper from bouillon  cube and add it plus all remaining ingredients to 4 cups water and 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, simmer until barley is tender about 20 minutes. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese. Season to taste.

From Heidi A.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Meghan made these excellent chocolate chip cookies when we were in Culver City for Thanksgiving 2018. I made them for our neighbor, Sharon on the heels of a red-eye and I quickly learned the importance of mixing the dry ingredients before adding the sugar, egg mixture. ;)

This Is Us 2018

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (melted over medium heat. Whisk butter and remove from heat as soon as butter begins to brown. Set aside and let cool for a few minutes) --> this is key!


Sugar Mixture:
1-1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Dry Ingredients:
2- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (plus more for sprinkling on top)


Beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk, yolk and vanilla until combined. -->add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Add the chocolate chips.

If you can, chill the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Make your dough balls and sprinkle w/sea salt flakes. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. You want the cookies to look under baked in the center, but lightly browned around the outside.

**If you want crispy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside, then refrigerate dough balls for 24-48 hours before baking, and make sure to bring to room temp before putting in the oven.

Oatmeal (Prep)

Breakfast Idea from a patient In glass tupperware layer: 1/4 c. rolled oats (not instant) blueberries drizzle with honey cinnamon 1/4 c. rolled oats other berries (raspberries) drizzle with honey cinnamon 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk Cover and keep in fridge. Make a week's worth and bring out each morning. Uncovered and cook in microwave for 1 minute 10 seconds.