Lord and Lady Boonie Strut Their Stuff

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Lord and Lady Boonie living their Wild Life in the Woods.

You know it's spring here in the Boonies when the turkeys start showing up in your "yard" on a daily basis. (Well, we CALL it a yard. But it's not really a yard. It's the woods.)

Turkey hunting season doesn't begin in Tennessee till Saturday, but The Big Bison (my dear husband) has been out shooting some turkeys a little early this year.

With a Nikon.

The BB put his hunting blind up out in our yard so that he could go watch our fowl guests ( :-D ) without disturbing them. Having a hunting blind is a lot like being able to have your own clubhouse - in camo! - even though you're a grown up. It's also sort of like pretending you're going camping, without all the packing and planning, since it's a tent - and, in camo! I think he really likes going out to play in his clubhouse blind. With his big toy camera. I pack him a little PB&J and off he goes.

OK, I don't really pack him a lunch. I'm not that nice.

But I did help him drag his hind end out of bed bright and early so he could be there to get the worm. Or the early bird. Whatever.

And sure enough, this morning, several of our oh so finely feathered friends showed up, ready for their closeups (Mr. DeMille).

Since this blog is called Wild Life in the Woods, from time to time, I like to show you a little wildlife from our woods. I consider it my small contribution to Truth in Advertising.

The Tom Turkey, when he struts his stuff, is sometimes called the Lord of the Spring. I hope you'll enjoy your springtime visit today with Lord and Lady Boonie, and all their courtiers.

Come weeth me to the Casbah, and we weel make beeyooteeful museec togezhair.

"You take the blonde. I'll take the brunette. What do you mean they're both brunettes???"

In the words of the Old Spice Guy: "Hello, Ladies".

 

Come to the Edge: A book review

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Come to the Edge: a love story by Christina Haag recounting her relationship with John F. Kennedy, Jr.

Come to the Edge is a memoir, written by actress/author Christina Haag. This book arrived on my doorstep because from time to time I participate in a book club/Twitter party with Andrea Katz, of Great Thoughts. Andrea must have me on her "nice" list, because when this book arrived in the mail for me, it had been personally autographed for me by the author, with a simple note on the title page, "For Susan: Enjoy! Christina Haag".

Now, I ask you: wouldn't you be intrigued if you received a book with a lovely personalized note from the author on the cover page? And the next thing I discovered: the author was the former girl friend and the "compass"  of John F. Kennedy, Jr. Hello? That beautiful young man, the son of America's most romanticized president, the guy that People magazine declared one year to be the sexiest man alive? And now his former love is ready to share her memories in regard to their story of young love?

Bring it!

Christina Haag's book was every bit as personal and engaging as I could have hoped it might be. She mentions in the book that John told her how he treasured her letters, keeping every one, and to me, after reading her memoir, that's quite easy to imagine. I truly enjoyed her writing style. As she described the poignancy of the beginning of their relationship, I was carried back to the exquisite feelings I had when first falling in love. There's nothing quite like it, is there, when you first discover that the feelings of longing that you have kept secret in your heart for that special someone are actually requited?

~sigh~

She tells her story beautifully.

I think the thing that I liked most about this book was the courage that went on behind the scenes that led her to tell her story. In my opinion, it took great courage for Ms. Haag to examine her life in such an open manner. for it has doubtless led to public criticism by some folks. I also find it extremely courageous that she tried her hand at doing something completely different with her life other than what she had done up until this time, which was acting. And if you go by the external measurement of the book being a NY Times bestseller, her efforts have met with rip-roaring success.

I will confess that it did take me a while to get through it, but only because I love history, and I kept stopping to google people and places she mentioned within the book. When she would describe John's mother, the beautiful Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for instance, I wanted to go find videos on youtube, so that I could actually hear Mrs. Onassis' voice. I wanted to again see pictures of Caroline Kennedy, and her wedding dress. This is recent history: these are things I can remember, very well, and it helped make the story even more real to me, to further research some of the people and places she mentioned in the book.

The only aspect of the memoir that I didn't enjoy as much, was that Ms. Haag has not elected to tell her story in a strictly chronological order. I get it: it's her memoir, and a memoir is not bound by the constraints of an autobiography, and so therefore need not be in chronological order, but my preference would have been for a more orderly telling. I like to see the connections between events, and how one thing very often  leads to another.

That said, I enjoyed this book very much indeed, and recommend it wholeheartedly, especially to anyone who enjoys a romance, or to anyone who is a bit of history junkie.

I'd love to hear your thoughts: Were you as intrigued by the Kennedy family as I was when I was growing up?  What do you think of, when you think of young JFK Jr., and the Kennedys?


Even though I was given this book, all opinions are very much my own.

My friend Mama Kat asked for a book review on her writing prompts this week, and, as it happened, I had this one ready to go, already in the hopper, so to speak. If you'd like to read other wonderful book reviews, or just some great stuff, click on the box below, and you'll be magically transported to some really fine offerings.

Accepted in the Beloved

Pin It What would it be like if every morning, when I woke up, one of the first thoughts that came to my mind was how deeply I am loved, cherished and completely accepted by the Father? What would it be like if I didn't just know in my head, but actually believed in my heart, that He longs to spend time with me, to walk with me, the way He walked with Enoch?

What I know in my head to be true doesn't seem to line up with the feelings in my heart. The feelings in my heart are that since He is a holy God, and I must be a great disappointment to Him.


But if I REALLY believed in my heart, what I know to be true in my head:

I think I wouldn't avoid Him nearly as much.

I think I wouldn't let the computer crowd Him out.

What if I knew in my heart that I am this cherished by my Father in heaven?

I want to throw this verse out there, for my consideration, at least, and maybe for yours. To remind myself (and maybe you) of some truth that my heart needs to learn.

I took this from the King James Version, so if you look it up in the NIV, the wording will be somewhat different. It's Ephesians 1:6.

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved."

In HIS eyes, I am accepted in the Beloved.

In HIS sight, I am holy and blameless.

Why?

Because I'm His. Because He adopted me: not because I was the cutest little thing in shoe leather. Not because I was an extra good girl.

He adopted me before the creation of the world. Before I'd had an opportunity to do one single thing: whether good or bad.

Here's what it says in the verses right before that verse that I extracted from Ephesians 1(and I added the italics, obviously):

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

Just reminding myself of what my head knows to be true, and of what I want my heart to learn to count on, daily, as truth.

Who knew I'd still need reminders, after all the years I've been His?

Well...HE probably did. :-D

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

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Double Chocolate Layer Cake

I promised I'd get back with you on that chocolate cake recipe, and I like to keep my promises. I'd also like to tell you that it's my "own" recipe, as if I came up with it, but it's not. I found it on Epicurious the first time I made it, and then, a few years later, I found it in a cookbook, Gourmet Today, the bright green one in the right hand margin. And apparently, Gourmet got it from a restaurant, Engine Co. No. 28, in downtown Los Angeles.

(And for the record, my fingers just typed downton, rather than downtown, which means I've been far too absorbed by a certain British TV show. I should probably post on that someday, but in the meantime, I have other things to be too absorbed by. Like how Mad Men is about to come back on on Sunday night. But I digress.)

All that to say that if even good old Gourmet magazine shared the great recipes of others, as long as I cite my sources, should I be ashamed to do the same? I think not. My role, as I see it, is to share the best of the best with my readers. And this, my friends, is a REALLY good chocolate cake, that I'd be proud to serve to anyone.

Here's what's great about this cake: it is dense, but not too dense. It is moist. It is rich. It is delicious. Some of the deep dark richness comes from adding strongly brewed coffee to the cake. The frosting is a ganache, which means it is basically melted chocolate mixed with cream. Lovely.

Next time I make this, I believe I'm going to make an adjustment or two to this recipe. First, I'd add a pinch of salt. probably, to the icing. I just felt that it needed a bit more zing. Maybe even a liquor would be nice? Like some kirsch (cherry brandy)? Or maybe Grand Marnier? Or Irish Cream? Or Kahlua? Any of those would be lovely, I'd think.

OR: a whipped cream kind of frosting in between the center layers, flavored with vanilla? That would also be lovely.


I'd just like some other flavor to break up the dense chocolate loveliness a bit.


But that might be just me. Maybe you can't get enough chocolate. And if you can't, sistah, then this is the cake for you! It certainly was the cake for my son, the chocolate fan. He loved it.

*NOTE*: The recipe called for TWO 10" cake pans, and to bake it at 300º for 1 hour - 1 hour and 10 minutes. I didn't have 10" cake pans. I had 9" cake pans. So in the recipe that I am giving you, I'll tell you how to make it for those. You'll need THREE 9" pans, to hold all the chocolate goodness, and then you'll need to reduce the baking time to around 45 minutes, or whenever a toothpick inserted in the center of the layer comes out clean. (So now you have directions for either way!) If you have 10" cake pans, I'd suggest you use them, because that way you'll have what will seem like more icing to work with, since you'll only be icing the surface area of two circles, rather than 3. Clear as  mud chocolate ganache? Good!

After icing the first two layers.

Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Ingredients:


For cake layers:

3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 c. hot brewed coffee
3 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. all -purpose flour
1 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t. baking soda
3/4 t. baking powder
1 1/4 t. salt
3 large eggs
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. well-shaken buttermilk
1 t. vanilla

For frosting:

1 lb. fine-quality semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. sugar
2 T. light corn syrup
1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)

3 9" cake pans*(see NOTE above)


Preparation:

Make cake layers:

Preheat oven to 300º and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper. Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Into a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 45 minutes. Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.


Make frosting: 

Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting whisking until smooth.
Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable.
Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

My chocolate ganache was still pretty soft. I could have refrigerated it a bit to get it to firm up, but...

Then you'd have missed out on seeing me pour it.

After the icing had "set" for a bit.
 It's a little messy, but I had run out of time for my fast approaching party.

 Are you a fan of chocolate cake? What flavor might YOU add to jazz the ganache up just a bit?

Stacking Stones

Pin It My husband and I threw a dinner party Friday night. You might wonder at our audacity, since the last time I threw a dinner party, a rattlesnake showed up as the uninvited guest.

The Uninvited Guest from our last dinner party.

(Could I make this stuff up? And yes, this is the picture to prove it. If you haven't read THAT post, it's a doozy, and I suggest you skedaddle your way back over there and read that one as well, when you're done here.)

But life is full of risks. And we are risk-takers. I even answer my phone that doesn't have call waiting from time to time, because I LIKE to live on the edge. To a degree.

And so we decided to take our lives (and the lives of our guests, apparently) in our hands and throw a shindig for ourselves, celebrating the fact that our son has just turned 18, and neither one of us, his parents, have been thrown into a Tennessee Correctional Facility for charges of child endangerment, abuse, or neglect. From this point on, it is SO not our fault. Whatever happens. (Some moms brag on their kids. But I like to brag on myself.)

We knew our son wanted to celebrate his birthday with his friends. And he had done that in a large way. But this party was for US, and we were going to invite whomever we wanted. We knew this concept would cause him to run screaming in the opposite direction. So we promised really good food as a lure.

And it worked!


Steak (dry aged and salted), baked potatoes (meat & taters: man food), salad, bread, and for dessert? Chocolate cake. Magnificent chocolate cake. I promise you the recipe will be upcoming soon, if God gives me strength and help. And dark chocolate is my son's favorite. And I know this. We knew we needed to make the payoff significant.

How to lure a young man: the bait.

We told him to choose a friend with whom he felt a spiritual kinship to invite, which he did. He chose a young man he has been friends with since they were quite literally toddlers. And we chose the other guests, with the same care and attention. We invited four men who have all played a significant role of spiritual leadership in our son's life.

The evening began somewhat inauspiciously, even though the weather was perfect: a pleasantly warm, golden, sun-kissed spring evening. The food was all prepped, and I felt relaxed. Confident in the knowledge that the evening's food and my home were ready for our guests. I went upstairs to get dressed in something a little bit nicer. (Read this as: to get out of my nightie. This tends to put our guests slightly off their feed, I've noticed. )

 And yet...wouldn't you know it?

Just as it was time for our guests to arrive, our daughter came running up in the steps with that kind of "deer in the headlights" kind of look, and said in a quivering voice, "I think you need to come downstairs quickly. Something awful has happened." I tore down the steps behind her, because the look on her face really frightened me. "What? What?" I called to the scurrying figure in front of me. But not a word did she say until I rounded the corner....and saw....

Four piles of dog dookie in the middle of my kitchen floor.

I could NOT make this stuff up.

Now, this time, mercifully for you, I have no pictures.

Even more mercifully, this is not smell-a-vision. Because the odor of dog crap permeated the air of the kitchen that was SUPPOSED to be redolent of home cooking and the wonderful aroma of freshly baked chocolate cake

Feverishly, I disposed of the ...doo doo. How hurriedly did I spray the floor with vinegar water and the air with Febreze!

What IS it about me that I draw such disaster unto myself???

I prayed for the Febreze to do its magic, and overcome the odors of dog mess and vinegar.

And then...the guests arrived. Introductions were made, because several of them did not know each other, having known my son through different activities. (And, thankfully, no one began curling his lip or flaring his nostrils disgustedly. I do THINK we got away with it.)

And then, we all gathered around the table to eat dinner. We swapped a lot of stories, and shared a lot of laughs.

And then, after our lovely and delicious meal, I went upstairs with my daughter, so the men could relax in the living room. We had asked each guest to bring a word of wisdom that he wished someone had shared with him when he began his journey into manhood.

My husband had asked me to stay and be a part, but I decided I  felt like it was important for the men to be able to say anything they wanted to say, unhindered by my presence. I realize that one of my son's chief jobs as he enters adulthood is to individuate from his mother. Since I'm the one who has been his chief instructor all his life (since I've been his homeschool teacher), it's really important that I purposefully open my hands, and release him to be whoever it is that God has created him to be.

I realize that.

I'm just not sure that makes it any easier for me as his Mama to do that.

At the end of their time of sharing with my son, my husband came upstairs and got me, and we all prayed for my son. I was really, really glad to be a part of that portion of the evening. What a privilege to hear these men pray for blessings for my son. What a privilege for me to be be able to speak my gratitude to my Father in heaven, out loud, in front of men who themselves have poured love and energy and wisdom into his life.

Quite a moment it was.

I had asked the women that I meet with each Friday morning to pray that I would have wisdom to know whether or not to stay with the men in the living room for the entire evening, or whether to step out for a bit, to let them talk more candidly if they wanted to.

One of my friends wrote this prayer for me: she prayed that this moment would be like when the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and they set up a stack of stones collected from the river bed, each tribe bringing a stone, as a memorial of remembrance to what the Lord had done for them.

I think my friend was right on, perhaps even in more ways than she even knew.

Crossing over into independence and adulthood is my son's Promised Land. Each of these men brought their own Stone of Remembrance. Each remembered God's goodness in the past in his own life, pointing to His trustworthiness in the future, as my son prepares to take his Promised Land.

I don't know how much of this my freshly minted 18 year old man actually "gets" right now. It may be years from now before he understands the significance of what was done for him. How very much his parents love him. How great the weight of these "stones" were, that these dear men each carried to him.

Often in life, we learn our most valuable lessons in the areas where we have messed up in the most spectacular fashion, and where we have suffered the most. It's sad, but it's true. Our avoidance of negative consequences in our lives may depend on how amenable we are to heeding the warnings of others.

What my son "got", at this point,  may have been that he had a really great meal, and that his Dad's friend gave him his very own laptop computer. And those are some pretty sweet rewards.

But I hope that the sweeter, less tangible gifts that were a bit less obvious, may come back to my young man in years to come:  the understanding that he was loved, cherished, prayed for, and released to his destiny. I pray that he'll see that he was launched, to do whatever good works God may have prepared in advance for him to do.

Friday night, we stacked some stones for my son.

Long may they last.

Baked Potato Soup In Honor of St. Paddy

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Baked Potato and Leek Soup

Have you ever heard this traditional St. Patrick's Day phrase?

"The Luck of the Irish".

It hit me this morning as I was planning this post, that we Irish, as a people,  have had spectacularly bad luck.

Can you say "potato famine"? For six years?

I thought you could.

Be that as it may, my people survived those years, in part because of their thrift, and this meal is quite a thrifty meal when your finances are kind of tight, because at my house, it's actually two meals for the price of one, with very little expense for the amount of protein involved. (Soup the first night. Loaded potato skins the second night. Mmmm. Loaded potato skins. Love those.)

Bacon packs a powerful amount of flavor in a small portion, and you don't have to cook THAT much of it to take advantage of its flavor boost. I use as much as I do (12 slices) and spread that out over two meals, so, really, it's just 6 slices of bacon per night. Not THAT much. Potatoes are cheap. And I buy cheddar cheese when it's on sale, grate it, and store it in 2 c. portions in ziplocks in the freezer, and take it out when I'm ready to use it.) So, really, the only ingredient that I use in this soup that is a bit pricey is the leeks. (Which you could omit, and opt for only green onions, which are cheaper. But if you can afford the leeks, you totally should use them. Their sweet flavor adds so much to this soup!)

I've tried several versions of baked potato soup, because I only share recipes that are the best of the best, right? I tried America's Test Kitchens Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup, certain that it would likely be my winner. There's something magical when you put the words "Slow Cooker" in front of a recipe. (I get a lot of hits that way from the search engines, too, from people looking for ways to utilize their slow cookers better.) My verdict? Surprisingly to me and my family, the America's Test Kitchens recipe for the slow cooker was not the best!

My family and I all preferred the version I'm going to share with you today, that is my own adaptation of a version I saw many years ago on a homeschool internet forum. I altered the original recipe by  sautéing leeks in the bacon drippings, and adding those to the soup. I also cut back on some of the fat in the original recipe, which in my opinion, made it much mo' bettah.

(OK, and here's my favorite inside story on the origins of this recipe. On this homeschool forum where I found the recipe, they had software in place that was very locked down in terms of not allowing anything REMOTELY resembling an obscenity. In fact, the software was so strict that when this sweet homeschooling Mom's recipe directed her readers to "prick the potatoes", the recipe came out looking like this on the forum:

"***** each with a fork several times before baking."

Now, I don't know about you, but that makes my mind go places it NEVER would have gone had they not been busy keeping me all pure and stuff.

Anyway...back to the subject at hand:

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes, about 10 oz. each
12 bacon slices
2 leeks, halved lengthwise, carefully washed to remove grit, and then sliced thinly into half moons
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. canola oil
2/3 c. flour
6 c. milk
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish
2 T. chopped green onions
1 c. sour cream


Preparation:

Wash and pierce (:-D) the potatoes several times with a fork. Bake potatoes at 400º for about an hour until done.

Cool potatoes and cut in half and scoop out pulp. Set aside.

(It's your Irish lucky day: a recipe within a recipe! Save those skins in a ziplock bag in the fridge for dinner the next night. Brush with garlic butter, top with cheese and bacon and broil till cheese is melted and bubbly, and top with sour cream and green onions.)

Fry 12 slices of bacon. (I do mine in a cast iron skillet inside the oven at 400º for @20 minutes. That way I don't have to turn the bacon, or clean up the spatter on the stovetop.)

Place crisp bacon on a paper towel to drain, and crumble it when cool.

Sautée sliced leeks in the bacon drippings. Set aside.

Melt butter and oil over low heat in a Dutch oven.
Add flour and whisk constantly, browning the flour for about 1 minute or so in the hot fat.
Gradually pour in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, until thickened and bubbly.

Stir in until heated: potato pulp, salt and pepper, sautéed leeks, 1 c. cheddar cheese, and 1/2 c. crumbled bacon.

Garnish with additional cheddar cheese, green onions, and sour cream.

Additional St. Patrick's Day recipes here:
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Champ (Irish Mashed Potatoes)

There is no catching air with my fingers.

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There is no catching air with my fingers.

There is no capturing a moment in time.

Memories  blur as I reach for them

Eluding my grasp

Evading my efforts to clutch them to my chest

To brand them on my brain

Dancing away

Just like she did.

And all my struggles to resuscitate

to resurrect

to breathe life back into them

through words

through images

bring back only shadows of the joy that 

WAS

mine.

But, oh.

How she danced.

This "poem" was written in response to a writing prompt I found at MamaKat's wonderful blog. If you 'd like to read more responses to the five prompts she suggested, just click this magic button, and you'll be transported to lots more (and probably much better) writing. 

Springtime Fresh Strawberry Pie

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Oh, my gosh.

I remember well the first time I had strawberry pie. My mother was hosting a graduation party for my brother and had made several strawberry pies. I was 10 years old, and didn't even think I liked strawberries. They had that awful little seed/crunch factor going on. But then I tried one small bite. And there was something about the tender flakiness of my Mom's excellent pie crust, combined with the seductive sweetness of the glaze around the berries, and the unctuousness of the freshly whipped cream, and my taste buds went 'round the bend, never to return.

And every spring since, it just ain't spring unless the pie gets sprung, if you know what I mean.

Since that time, I have found a recipe that even surpasses my Mother's pie, may God forgive me for the desecration of her name. If she weren't already eating far more luscious pie with the angels, she might not. (I love you, Mom. You taught me ALMOST everything that I know that's worth knowing.)

A couple of years ago, Cooks Illustrated shared their recipe for strawberry pie, and since it didn't involve jello (which under  any circumstance other than strawberry pie is prone to make me shudder), I decided to give their recipe a try. Smart move on my part.

Best strawberry pie I've ever made. Not cloyingly or artificially sweet, because the redness of the glaze comes from NOT jello's artificial flavoring or food coloring, but, surprise, surprise: strawberries. Yum!

The only alteration I made in the recipe was that I used only 2 lbs. of strawberries, instead of the 3 lbs. that the Cooks Illustrated recipe called for, because:

 a) when I was at the grocery store I didn't know how much I needed to buy for their recipe, and

b) I'm cheap on time and money, and it's a 1 hour round trip to the grocery store from out here in the Boonies, and I made do just fine with only 2 lbs. of strawberries. If you're making a bigger pie (like a 10") or you like a lot of strawberries, or you have a lot that you'd like to use up, by all means, add in the other pound, like their recipe called for.

So...here's the recipe. I'll give you a link to my pie crust dough, so you can make your own crust.

Springtime Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

2 lbs. fresh strawberries (3 lbs. if you want a bigger pie), rinsed and hulled
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 1/2 t. Sure-Jell for low sugar recipes (pink box)
1 pinch table salt
1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 pre-baked pie crust shell

Top with:

1 c. cold heavy cream,  whipped with
1 T. sugar

Instructions:

Select 6 oz. of your ugliest, softest strawberries (about 1 1/2 c. worth if you don't have a scale to weigh them, and puree them for 20 to 30 seconds in a food processor. This should yield around 3/4 c. purée.
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, Sure Jell, and salt in a medium saucepan, and stir in berry purée. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan to prevent scorching. The mixture will look frothy at first, and will then darken and thicken. Transfer to a large bowl to allow it to cool more quickly and stir in lemon juice, allowing mixture to come to room temperature.

Halve the remaining strawberries, and add to purée mixture when it has reached room temperature. Stir until berries are evenly coated. Scoop into pie shell, piling into mound. Turn all berries on top face down for a prettier finished appearance. Refrigerate until pie is chilled, about 2 hours.

I am salivating all over again.

Serve with cold cream and sugar that have been whipped to soft peaks (this takes about 60 seconds in my mixer).

Have you ever had strawberry pie?

Oven Roasted Broccoli

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Roasted Broccoli with Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan.

I don't know what it's been like at YOUR grocery stores lately, but at my stores, there hasn't been much produce on sale lately, I have been able to find some pretty good buys on broccoli. Which reminded me, I promised recently to give you a delicious side dish recipe for roasted broccoli.

Up until a few months ago, I had tried nearly every other vegetable roasted: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, asparagus, sweet potatoes, green beans and even cauliflower. I don't know why I was a holdout on trying roasted broccoli. It didn't sound appetizing to me.

I was so wrong.

I used Alton Brown's recipe. This couldn't be much simpler, or much more delicious. I've tried it WITH parmesan cheese, and without parmesan cheese, and it's delicious both ways.

The only ingredient that is a little high falutin' is panko, which is a kind of Japanese flaked bread crumb, which makes for a crispier bite. But the first time I tried this recipe, I decided to use some bread crumbs that I had from a homemade loaf of bread that I needed to use up, and it was absolutely delicious as well. So if you don't have any panko sitting around, don't let that hold you back from trying this recipe.

I served this with Ginger Roasted Chicken the first time we had it, and it really was a perfect accompaniment for that dish, but now I serve it with whatever main course I have that needs a side dish. (Especially if I found a good buy on broccoli in the produce section like I did last week.)

I found that if I followed Alton's directions to pre-roast my panko crumbs for 2 minutes, that I kept burning them, so one minute in my oven (with my pan) is all that was necessary. I changed the time in this recipe to reflect that. Also, while I'm including the Parmesan in this recipe, I forgot to use it the first two times I made it, and never missed it once. So if you're out of Parmesan or wanting to cut a few calories wherever you can, feel free to omit the Parmesan. It's nice, but unnecessary.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients

1 lb. of broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. kosher salt
grinding of fresh pepper
1/3 c. panko bread crumbs (or homemade bread crumbs)
1/4 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425º. To prepare the broccoli, peel the broccoli of the tough outside stem. Then cut the stalk into slices 1/4" thick. Trim the florets into bite sized pieces. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Spread the bread crumbs on a 13" jelly roll pan, and toast for about one minute. Remove the bread crumbs from the oven, and toss with the broccoli mixture. Spread the whole mixture onto the jelly roll sheet, and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and top with grated Parmesan, if you like.

With Ginger Roast Chicken and Elbow Macaroni with Tomatoes.

If you like the way that last picture looks, here's a link to the Ginger Roast Chicken and Elbow Macaroni with Tomatoes.

Have you ever tried roasted broccoli before?

Blogging Conferences: Inspiration at Blissdom

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Have you ever wondered what the big deal is about blogging conferences? Really, it's a lot of time and money. And, let's face it: your time IS extremely valuable. Time really is money.

No one can keep all the plates of your life spinning in the air half as well as you can.

This is true.

I remember the first time my friend Anne told me that she was going to attend a blogging conference or two in the coming year, and she wanted to take me with her. And that there were two conferences that I should absolutely go to: one that was short and sweet and perfect for a newbie, (Bloggy Boot Camp, Atlanta)  and one that was fairly large, and very, very close to my home (Blissdom).

I thought she'd lost her mind to the people who were ladling out the Blogging KoolAid.

Well, in one way, she kinda had.

But in another way, she was kinda right.

Yesterday, I told you about my main takeaway value from Bloggy Boot Camp Atlanta: "it's the PEOPLE, stupid!".

(Not that YOU'RE stupid :-D. )

Today, I'm going to tell you how I found inspiration at Blissdom, and why maybe you should, too.

It was still about the people, but it was also about the inspiration.

Do you know what the word "inspire" really means? "In" + "spiro" from the Greek: which means, quite literally, to breathe life into. To put "spirit" inside someone.  Like when God created Adam, and breathed His life-giving breath into Adam's nostrils,  the Bible says that "Adam became a living soul".

Me Ra Koh left me inspired and weeping: longing to speak for those who can't, whether through my words, or through the pictures that I take or use. I want to tell people's stories! (And then, she laughed at my joke in the hallway. BONUS!!! :-D )

Diane Cu and Todd Porter, of White on Rice Couple, two of my personal heroes in the food blogging world, inspired me with their presentation in their photography workshop.  They challenged me to not be afraid to depict the deliciousness of the imperfections of life. Then, they surprised me with their warmth as they sat in as participants with me in another workshop.  I got to listen to them up close and personal at our table  where THEY were participants like I was (!!!), as we all brainstormed our way through how we see our values communicated through what we blog about. I was able to give them a little feedback on what I see their blog communicating, from the viewpoint of an outsider who is a devoted reader. How often do you get the opportunity to communicate one on one with your heroes, face to face, as they are working through evaluating themselves? (Um....practically NEVER???)

The California Raisin left me inspired to not worry so much about a few wrinkles. 

Harrison Ford inspired me to always have a glass of milk handy, in case he needed one: "Got Milk?"
"Sure, Harrison. Whatever you need."

My friend Anne, who inspired me to go to a blogging conference in the first place, with my friend Anissa, who I'd SAY inspired me...but then...

...she'd go getting all paranoid about being "inspirational" and stuff and go incognito.

My friend Anne also inspired me over a year ago to take a risk by buying a sequined evening dress in a Goodwill store and waiting for the event I could wear it to. (If you buy it, it will come...)And then she inspired me to try wearing false eyelashes for the very first time in my life.

Here I am with my pal Chloe, rocking the false eyelashes and the Goodwill sequins.

And then, there was the inspiration that comes from being with dear friends who love you and listen to you and seeing yourself not merely as someone's Mom or teacher, but as a person with hopes, dreams, desires, passions, and a VOICE.  That's pretty inspirational as well.

Talk about some time to cut loose and set your spirit free?

My friend Chloe inspired me to laugh, which she nearly ALWAYS does.

So, really: take a little sip of the KoolAid.

You might find yourself inspired, too!

Blogging Conferences: Why I Want to Go To Bloggy Boot Camp, AGAIN!

Pin It Why go to a blogging conference?

I can answer that for myself in one word.

OK, four, if I put it in a sentence.

Are you ready for it?

"It's THE PEOPLE, stupid."

(Not that YOU're stupid!!! It's just a riff on what helped Bill Clinton keep his presidential campaign on track back in the 80's. It was a banner on the wall of his campaign headquarters that read: "It's the ECONOMY, Stupid.")

I went thinking I would get great content.

And I did. I learned lots of things, to which I have given serious consideration, (especially, for me,  Amy Bradley Hole's presentation on branding). At Bloggy Boot Camp, they promise great content for bloggers, and they deliver on that promise.

I went thinking I would be able to connect with sponsors, and I did! I've enjoyed quite a few perks from that trip to Hotlanta!

But what, to me, was the highlight of this conference?

It was the PEOPLE, stupid. :-D


This picture is Melissa of MomComm, and my two roomates Chloe of The Chloe Chronicles and Anne of Nota Supermom, and me.

I got to see and stay with some dear girlfriends, Anne and Chloe, who are extremely important to me, so that was an extra special benefit that I enjoyed that perhaps everyone did not. But even more than the wonderful presentations, it was making connections to the PEOPLE in the blogging world that I had not yet met that mattered.

Would I go to Bloggy Boot Camp again? In a heart beat! Couldn't recommend a blogging conference more, especially for someone who has never been to a blogging conference before. Because Bloggy Boot Camp is designed to be a smaller group, that tends to make it less overwhelming.

But it was connecting with people like Tiffany and Francesca and Melissa and Mama Kat and Anissa in Atlanta at the Bloggy Boot Camp that I attended that was so pivotal for me. It was connecting with people I was already "virtually" fond of, who suddenly, became real human beings, in real life, whose voices I heard, whose I eyes I looked into (and who heard MY voice, and looked into MY eyes): these were the connections that for me made all the difference.

So, by all means: GO to a Bloggy Boot Camp!!! I think you'll be glad you did!

Wine Tutorial

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From a wonderful visit to Arrington Vineyards in TN last summer. 

Have you ever had a recipe that you were excited to prepare, but wished you had known how to select a really nice bottle of wine to go with it?


I used to feel that way quite often, when I was looking for wine to go with a nice meal. I've spent a fair amount of time educating myself about great food, but not so much time on what makes a great wine.


A few years ago, while picking out wine for our Christmas dinner, my husband ran into a friend and fellow musician who was working part time at the wine store where we buy wine. After listening to our menu, our friend Denny chose a wine that was perfect for the meal we served, and I never forgot that this guy's taste in wine was excellent. He turned us on to wines that we would never have known to try.
We ran into Denny this year at a Christmas party, and I told him how much I appreciated his taste in wine, and his recommendations, and somehow, over the course of running into him a few more times, he OFFERED to share what he knew with my readers.


My dear readers, I feel like we have hit the proverbial jackpot! I feel this way because Denny is willing to share what he knows with YOU, too! I told him that a lot of people come here for the recipes, because they trust that the recipes that I share  will be really excellent recipes. And so now, how great is it that if you come here to find a great recipe, you may also be able to find really excellent suggestions for great wines to go with those meals?


Today, I'm excited to announce the very first post of a brand new series of posts on finding a great wine for your lovely, special meal.


If you learn something helpful, or if, in general, you enjoy what you read here, be sure and leave him a nice comment, won't you? Or share it on Facebook?


I asked Denny if he would tell you a little about himself, but I'll just tell you that he is a world class musician, and a really nice guy. So...without further ado: Here's Denny!

Let's start with a little background on me. My name is Denny Jiosa. I have been a professional musician for many years. I have 7 CDs released, 4 Grammy nominations, and numerous awards. The long and short of it, I love music. I love creativity. And, I love wine! If you would like more info on me, please visit my website!

Awesome picture, yes? Taken by Adrianna Jiosa.

So, let's talk wine. I believe there are three rules to live by when it comes to vino:

1. Learning about and tasting wines should be FUN!

2. Great wine does not have to break the bank! 

3. No "wine snobbery " allowed here, please! 

Wine selection is vast (5000 grapes) and there are many great varietals, (and some not so great…)!  They range from affordable, mid-priced, to expensive. I think the most important rule about wine is to drink what you like…in other words, someone may recommend a Cabernet Sauvignon with your meal but if you don't care for a dry full bodied red and you have a favorite Zinfandel, then drink the Zin. You may feel like you should like a $100 bottle but you truly enjoyed the $20 bottle more…drink the $20 one! Your palette will thank you!

In this series, I would like to offer you a choice of 3 wines in each post to complement Susan's recipes. One $15 (and under) , one in the $20 range, and one that is in the "special occasion" category ($50 and above)!

Let's talk about Susan's "Expensive Steak house" recipe for starters. If you're a carnivore like I am, you will love this recipe. One recommended rule of thumb is red meat, red wine,white meat,white wine. There are a few exceptions to this that we will cover at a later date. With this recipe, we definitely want a full bodied plump red to keep up with the the hefty flavor of steak. There are many wines that would work with this including a California Cabernet Sauvignon, a French Bordeaux, an Italian Brunello, or an Australian Shiraz! 

In the $15 and under range, let's start with the Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz. This wine was ranked #33 in Wine Spectators Top 100 wines for 2011! It is composed of 95% Shiraz and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. Loaded with dark fruit (Blackberry) and blackcurrant with notes of dark coffee! A bit of vanilla and cedar appear on the long finish that lingers after each delightful swallow. I must confess, Shiraz is one of my favorite grapes and this wine will not disappoint. Big, fat, jammy mouthful of flavors. 

Susan in the Boonies and the Big Bison personally have actually tried, and highly recommend this Shiraz. Affordable, lovely wine.

** Side note, be sure and serve all these wines in a big glass to get the most out of the fantastic aromas coming from the nose. The glass DOES make a difference in the performance of the wine. More on that later!

My second choice, the wine in the $20.00 range, is a Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($24). Full bodied and smooth as silk. Soft on the palate with plum and blueberry flavors as well as vanilla and toasty oak. This is due to 18 months of oak barrel aging! This wine is fruit forward but I would not necessarily call it "jammy"…. just delicious! It is a great choice for a winter wine and steak dinner!

Choice number three, for the special occasion, is a spectacular California Cabernet from Vineyard 7 & 8 in St. Helena, CA. Vineyard 7 & 8 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($125) was rated 94 points by Robert Parker, who is the leading U.S. wine tasting critic. This is the kind of wine you can drink now or cellar it for 25 years and it will be fabulous either way! With blueberry, floral notes, licorice, and a hint of earthiness, this wine is incredibly concentrated and structured yet smooth and silky on the palette. Minerality is present due to the rich volcanic terroir of the area. The finish is long and lingering. With 18 months aging in French oak , the toasted vanilla overtones are pleasantly present and balanced! This is the "special occasion" wine I mentioned. A real treat!

If you have comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at denny@jiosa.com. 

If you found this post informative, consider sharing it on Facebook. There's a button you can click at the end of this post. Also,  feel free to leave questions here at this blog for Denny, and I (Susan in the Boonies) will be sure to jump up and down to make sure that Denny catches wind of them.  Your question  might be a question that lots of other readers of mine would enjoy having answered.

Blowout in the Boonies:

Pin It Since the storms blew across many parts of our nation today, I thought I'd give you an update on how we fared in the Boonies of TN. Because it got a little exciting here.

We heard that a couple of tornados had touched down in a town in the county that is just across the creek from us. So we headed to our small downstairs bathroom: all four of us, and two big dogs. It's a crowded little room with all six of us, especially when one of us (the German Shepherd) has storm anxiety issues.

Everyone but my husband hunkered down in the bathroom with blankets and pillows, with our shoes on. My husband stood out in the front hallway and watched the western horizon, over the creek. Exactly at the time the news predicted it would arrive, he sauntered back into the bathroom, clutching his camera, with his eyebrows up, and his face just slightly pale.

"It's coming," he said. The man is ALWAYS low key, cool, calm and collected. Even when he's having a heart attack. So we closed the bathroom door, and waited, hoping for the best. I prayed. Out loud. Because that's the way I roll.

I did not hear a train.

What I heard was low, loud moaning, and then a louder howling, and then clatter, clatter, CLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTERCLATTER.

The lights flickered and flickered and flickered and flickered and flickered. With each flicker, I'd think, "Here we go!".

But mercifully, they stayed on.

As we somewhat timidly emerged from the bathroom to see what had transpired, this is what we found on the front porch:

The front porch. We had some hail...

I shuffled through the ice balls and thanked my Father in heaven for the safety we'd had.

This picture is taken from near the cliff that overlooks the creek, but you are facing back toward the "back" of the house. You can see the melting hail (the temperature had been EIGHTY DEGREES) and the downed tree.

We lost a couple of trees on the part of our land that is cliffs overlooking the valley and the creek below. At the house, we have some heavy white wooden rockers that sit on our long front porch, and they were picked up and carried to the other end of the house. We lost the internet (which also takes out our phone, and our TV: our connection to weather reports of additional oncoming tornados, which is kind of important. So that was a little troubling, but it was only out for a couple of hours, and mercifully the first round of storms was the worst.

Other than the downed trees, the only real casualty.
OR: what happens when a redneck leaves his Christmas lights out on the balcony of his studio.

 And, HEY! We're all safe!


Thanking God again.


It almost goes without saying that of course, I'm extremely concerned for all who had a worse experience today. My heart goes out, and my prayers go up, and I'll be watching for a way that we can meet the needs of those who did not come through this storm OK.

Have you ever been in a tornado? Would love to hear about your experience.