Exciting News

Here it is, the big reveal!

After several weeks of eagerly waiting, anticipating, and stressing, the day has arrived that I can finally share this HUGE news with you all.



I am pleased to announce the growth in our house!
New life is blossoming here in this family, and I couldn't be more excited to finally share in this with you.

I am thrilled to be able to celebrate this joyous day with everyone!



That's right!
My herbs are finally in bloom!

I've been wanting to tell you guys for a while. To shout it from the rooftops. But I've been waiting for the basil to finally make an appearance.

On Monday, it rained and rained and rained, ALLLLLLLLLLLLL the live long day. And I, being the horrible gardener that I am, left all my pots out on the steps while I was away all day. My face paled and my stomach dropped to my toes when I was at cooking club and remembered that my pots we're still sitting outside on the porch.

They were doomed, I knew it. All that water. All the flood warnings...they were done for.

Apparently, all that rain was what they needed because the next day, this happened:

Happy, tiny, little basil sprouts started to appear. 

And that's when I knew it was time. Time to share the joyous news of the growth of de herbs with you. 

The cilantro made its appearance first.

It's clearly doing the best of all the herbs. It's even starting to take its shape.

I picked a piece and ate it, and it's delicious. Mucho cilantro-ey. I cannot WAITTTT to use it this summer! It will be so nice to not have to run to the store all the time for herbs.

The parsley made it's appearance next.

It's not quite as full and robust as the cilantro--but I'll take it. It will come, in time, in time. It also hasn't started to take it's signature flat leaf parsley shape. It will get there, I know it will.

Next, my marigolds started to sprout.

I'm a little underwhelmed with the state of these. They haven't done much growing since they first sprouted, and come on, where are all the brothers and sisters? They are going to need to start appearing if I am going to have the beautiful welcome plant on my front stoop like I had hoped...

Then finely, the lone basils started appearing. I almost missed them--two tiny little sprouts on the very side of the pot. Last year, the basil were the quickest growers.

They're shy this year, they must be.
Maybe that's why I can't seem to find basil at any grocery stores this year...They're shy.

Anywhoo...
Precious herbs.
I can't wait to see how they grow up.

Pssst. You may notice in the picture about that my deck is one color, and the stairs are another. This was an annoying story. 

Yesterday morning I came outside of my condo to take my precious Gracie potty--there was a strange man at the bottom of my stairs with a power washer and a bottle of wood stain. He had removed all the stain from our stairs, and re-stained it. The stairs were dripping wet with stain, and there I was, stuck at the top with my dog who had to poo. I asked if I could walk on it, and the strange man replied with, "Uhhhhh....You're not supposed to."

HELLLOO--Those are my only stairs. My only way out. What am I supposed to do? Fly down? Glide down on the rail? A little warning about the staining would be nice, don't you think? Well, I picked up Gracie and we went downstairs anyway. Psh. Don't tell me what to do, homeboy. 

The deck is still a different color than the stairs. Annoying. 

More herby updates to come, promise. 

OH! And it's Gracie's birthday on Sunday. She'll be three. I might die--my baby is THREE.

Random.

Goodbye!

Cauliflower Gratin

I just have a minute, so I'll share a quick side dish with you.

Cauliflower Gratin was something I grew up eating. I loveeee cauliflower, and this is one of my favorite dishes. It's pure melt-in-your-mouth cheesy goodness. It's sort of like au gratin potatoes, except cauliflower.

Credit of this recipe goes to mi Madre. I know I poked fun of her pork steaks, but this cancels that out...Right?

Yum yum.

Cauliflower Gratin

(Printable Version)

What you'll need:
1 head of cauliflower
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 oz swiss cheese

First, trim the cauliflower into bite sized pieces.

In a saucepan, melt butter on medium-high heat.

Add the flour to the melted butter, and whisk until combined.

It will be kind of lumpy. This is called a roux--it's a thickener. You can add a roux to any sauce to thicken it.

Side Topic: Roux
To make a thickened sauce from a roux, melt the butter, then add the flour, then the liquid. It's always equal parts butter to flour (1 tablespoon of butter--1 tablespoon of flour.)

If you're thickening an already made sauce (or soup), melt the butter and add the flour. Then add some (a cup at a time) of the already made sauce (or soup) liquid to the roux. Whisk it until liquidy and smooth (not lumpy). When the roux is thick, but smooth, then add it to the sauce (or soup). Then, bring it to a boil. It thickens at a boil--so don't forget this step.

I'll have more on this in a later post, I promise. Maybe I'll do a How To post.

End Side Topic.

Slowly, SLOWLY, add the milk--stirring to incorporate. I cannot emphasize slowly enough, this prevents lumps.

See. Thick. Lump Free. Looks like gravy.
Add your salt and pepper, and garlic powder.

You just made what our grandma's call a "white sauce".

Pour this white sauce over the cauliflower in a 9x9 baking dish. Mix it in and make sure the cauliflower is saturated with sauce.

Then, grate your cheese.

My favorite step, clearly.

Cover the cauliflower with the cheeeeeeeese.

Stick it in the oven at 350˚ F for 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden and the cauliflower is tender.

See. Yum.

Serve it with your favorite meal to make it even more delicious.

Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

I know I told you I'd have this recipe for you yesterday, but it was such a gorgeous day--one of the first one's we've had this season, and I just couldn't have myself sitting at home indoors. Sorry!


I tried something new yesterday.

I went to Zumba class.
Zumba is a dance fitness workout.
Oh boy, oh boy!! Is it ever funnnnnnnnn!!!

Now, I'm not a huge workout buff--and I definitely cannot dance. I am very long limbed, and clumsy as all get out--but Zumba was fun. And I sweated. Boy did I ever. It was a great, great, fantastic workout.

Afterwards, I didn't feel exhausted like I normally would after sweating that much, I felt incredibly energized.
Have you tried Zumba?
You should.
My friend got me a Groupon in our area for Zumba--TRY it! It's FANTASTIC.


Annnyywhooooo, back to these delicious Crepes.

Deliciousness wrapped in a perfect pancake-omelet.

**I must post a disclaimer: As I said in the last post, my camera was a little wonky during crepe-time--so these pictures may be a little funky. Also, I am not an excellent editor. But please, please don't let un-delicious looking pictures distract you from the deliciousness that this meal truly was. We all have our moments**

These ended up being very similar to enchiladas (in the step-by-step, not the ingredients or flavor.) You fill them, you roll them, you bake them, and you cover them with sauce. See the similarity?

Let me tell you something, though: These were better than enchiladas.
I am a huge enchilada lover, myself--and these were better. Why am I even talking about enchiladas?
These crepes, they are not enchiladas.
They are cheesy-chickeny-herby goodness, wrapped in a sort of pancake, sort of omelet, then smothered again in creamy, cheesy, goodness.

Um, yes please.

And now, I share with you--the secret of these heavenly bites...

Chicken & Asparagus Crepes

(Printable Version)
Adapted from here.
What is required:
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (such as dill, parsley, mint, or chives), or...
      1 teaspoon of each dried herbs (I used thyme, parsley, and dill)
salt & pepper, of course
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 crepes (recipe here)
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 pound asparagus
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half, milk, or cream (whatever you have)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

First, shred the chicken into a medium bowl.

I just used 2 leftover chicken breasts leftover from the night before. You can do the same, or just boil and shred some or you can use rotisserie chicken.

Then add the ricotta.

Yep, that's ricotta--not ice cream.

Then grate some Parmesan...

My favorite part of grating cheese in when you do allll that work grating, then you finally get to lift the grater up, and you have a nice big cheese pile.

Add the Parmesan, herbs, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to the chicken mixture.

Mix it. Mix it good. Mix it....Mix it reeeeaaal good.

Next, you'll need a 9x13 baking dish, lightly sprayed.

In the dish, lay out 1 crepe, and spread a little of the chicken mixture on it.

Roll it up, and push it to the end.

Do it again....

And again.

Until all 8 crepes are rolled.

See, looks like enchiladas.

Stick this in a oven that's been preheated to 425˚ F.
No need to cover it. It will only be in there about 15 minutes--while we make the sauce.

For the sauce:

Chop up a shallot or 2 (I used 2, mine were small.)
Do you know what a shallot is?
A shallot is like an onion--but it has a much milder, sweeter flavor.

These are shallots:

But wait...Aren't those onions?

Nope--they're shallots. They're mini.
See:

Anywhooo, chop them up--just like you would an onion (be careful though, they're small.)


Then, get your asparagus ready.

First, cut the ends off (not the end shown in the picture--the other end....Someone in school cut off the end in the picture--oy.) You want to cut the dry parts off the end--they are just that, dry, and not good to eat.

To know where to cut, bend the asparagus gently.

It will bend naturally near the end...

Then bend a little harder...

And it will break naturally where it should be cut.

You don't have to do this to all of them, just one. Then you can chop the ends off the other ones about the same distance up as where the one broke.

*Can I just say that I'm mortified by my nails in these pictures. Please don't judge me by these pictures. Some people like chipped nails--like my old college roommate (Hi Mouch!). I; however, do not like chipped nails, and I can assure you that the problem has been addressed and the nails have since been properly manicured.*

Back to it, back to it...

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil or butter..
Then add the shallots.

Cook for about 1 minute, then add the asparagus.


Add the broth..

Then add the cream, salt, and pepper, and lemon zest.
Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, to thicken a bit.

Remove the crepes from the oven--serve with sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
YUM.

See! So easy!



I'm off to start my weekend...It's another gorgeous day--maybe I can convince the Boo to take the pup and I to the park...

Do you have any big weekend plans? Anything exciting happening in your neck of the woods?


soooon.

Enjoy!