Just some beach shots

Enjoyed a wonderfully warm day at the beach; even managed to get a touch of tan.

Spent the evening at a friends house. They just happen to live right on the beach. Pretty dang sweet! That view is amazing.

 

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Hamburgers!

Check out these beauties! They turned out soooooo good. We mixed in some mild blue cheese, onion, diced jalapeño, diced banana pepper, and a few seasoning. Poured on some Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce and added some veggies.

This picture just doesn't do it justice!

Look at all that goodness!

 

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Awesome Birthday Card!

So I got this awesome birthday card from my brother and just have to share it. Who doesn't love a dancing pickle?

Just click on the picture and it will redirect you to Instagram so you can watch a short video!

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My birthday presents!

My husband is the best. He got me these orchids. The green on is a vanilla orchid which will (hopefully) produce vanilla beans in a few years.

 

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Home grown green beans with dinner

Green beans with onions and bacon! We've made this three times and it is amazing! Quick pickle beets (I swear they don't taste like dirt, even if my hubby says otherwise) and a chicken alfredo with fire roasted tomatoes, fresh grated Parmesan, and parsley from the garden.

 

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Garden update

Cherry tomatoes

Parsley

Cilantro

From left to right: green beans (bush), tomatoes, daikons, and radish

More green beans, and two types of basil

Green beans - so far we've harvested three dinners worth

Beets (more beet greens than beets themselves)

And last but not least four stalks of corn with one ear of corn per stock.

Not too bad for the beginning of December!

 

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Guess what I got?

So I decided to do something completely selfish. I rented a violin and had my first lesson today. It was fun. Just learning all the basics so far and not even using the bow yet. My fingertips are a little sore from practicing. Big surprise, my brain isn't a fan of reading music yet. I rented the violin from a really nice shop for three months. My teacher says it is of high quality, especially for a student. But don't worry I still managed to make it sound pretty crappy :)

I've booked a lesson for every Wednesday this month. Payed in advance too - no backing out now!

 

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Peasant Bread

Tried a new "no knead" bread recipe that I found over at alaxandra's kitchen called Peasant Bread. Very good. My hubby ate half a loaf by himself so I knew it must be good. Turned out really springy and chewy. I've made it three more times. It is a great bread to use for french toast (my favorite).

 

very wet dough

 

I didn't have the 1 liter round bowls that she was using but I figured I could try out these 1.7 liter flat bottom ones. Turned out fine. Just make sure to butter the dishes well.

 

buttered and dough divided between the two

 

just out of the oven

 

I love no knead bread - so fast and easy

 

 

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Hot Dog Pizza

Oh yes, we went there. Hot dog pizza. I don't really know how to express the goodness that this turned out to be. It was delicious. Obviously you will need to like hot dogs to like this pizza. We prefer the brand Nathan's over everything else. I think I may need to give some credit to myself. I don't really know what we did differently but both of these pizzas turned out to be the best we have ever made. That's saying something since our pizza is pretty much always amazing.

Dough (double batch of large pizzas)

Ingredients for hot dog pizza - will also need pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Here is the pizza sauce I use (cheap). We miss our homemade sauce so much.

Mixed together some pizza sauce and mustard/dill relish.

mixed 

 Spread the mixture on the pizza. As you can see we were a little worried it wouldn't turn out right so we only went with half a pizza. (right side)

We used hot dogs, onion and our homemade red kraut. Pre Bake

Finished pizza 

So good! We can't wait to make this again. 

Fermented Red Cabbage

So we finally got around to making a batch of red sauerkraut. I was a little doubtfully because I'm not a huge fan of the red variety of cabbage. Since Paul loves it I decided it was worth a try, and man am I glad we did. It tastes great and is so pretty. It was only two small heads so it didn't make a huge batch. 

Here it is after I removed the weight that had been keeping the cabbaged submerged.

ended up with: 1 quart, 1 pint, and 1 quarter pint - the little one was for a friend to try

Fermenting may sound a bit scary but it is a very safe and great way to preserve some foods. I love how easy it is to do. Factor in all the probiotics that come along and you have a fun and easy super food you can make at home. Regular sauerkraut just doesn't taste good to us now. 

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Needed to make some bread but just wasn't feeling like making the same old regular bread so I decided to give Rosemary Olive Oil Bread a try. No surprise I found it via Pinterest... So speaking of Pinterest, I have found that it is better if I self edit out the words "So today on Pinteret/Guess what I found on Pinterest/I was on Pinterest" when speaking with my hubby. His eyes glaze over and his hearing it temporarily shut off. Besides, if I don't bring up Pinterest it will make him think that it was something I thought up...right?? Probably not and I'm okay with that. Back to bread - it turned out really nice. I was a little worried about 2 tsps of dried rosemary so I knocked it down to only 1 tsp. but it still smells/tastes delicious. I will be making this again.

Yummy in my tummy.

 

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