portobello fungi and bietola......

This is a great recipe! I love pasta and this one is so flavorful and good! My garden is full of swiss chard and this is one way to use it, the other is in nightly green salads....I love the earthiness of the chard and the mushrooms...it goes together very quickly after the prep work is done...you start this with making the portobello mushroom....

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
3 portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions
1.Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.
2.In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.
3.Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes.

marinate the mushrooms for 1 hour...

grill over hot coals or gas grill for 10 minutes turning often....

slice each mushroom into thin slices....and set aside for the sauce...

Pasta sauce...

1 1/2 cups of chopped swiss chard

1/2 of a sweet onion cut julienne style

3 roma tomatoes seeded and cut into cubes

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup of butter

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 grilled thin sliced portobello mushrooms

1 cup of grated parmesan

heat oil and butter in a large fry pan over medium heat until hot and add garlic and onion, saute until soft about 3 minutes, add wine and bring to a boil, add chard and cook for 1 minute until limp then add tomatoes and mushrooms, saute until heated , then add pasta and stir, add 3/4 of the shredded parmesan, reserving the rest for the top...and stir......

mince garlic...

seed tomatoes...

saute the onion and garlic in butter oil....

add wine...

add chard.....

and grilled, sliced portobellos...

add tomatoes....

and salt and pepper....

add pasta of your choice...do not add to much, you want it to be saucy...

add cheese and stir....

an stir, and stir.....

serve with extra fresh grated parmesan on top....the grilled mushrooms are so good, they are very flavorful and meaty...it made the pasta dish...

Cheers to Happy  !!

Smashed Potatoes...

These are Great! Pioneer Woman made these on her blog almost a year ago...they are so simple and so good! They are great with a steak, and super duper if you remember to get sour cream and bacon bits!

place boiled, whole medium sized red potatoes on a cookie sheet....and smash....

just once down with a potatoe masher, drizzle with olive oil....

put salt, pepper and a little garlic powder on top and put in a 500 degree oven...

for 20 minutes and roast....(and yes the picture is blurry)

and serve....they would also be good with a little fresh rosemary on them!

Cheers to Happy  !!

Blackberry Salad Dressing

About a month ago, I planted my garden. I planted my salad vegetables in a horse trough.... then here is the Pacific Northwest the rains came, and they came, and they came some more.....it has been cold and winter like for most of the spring....my in the ground garden...is way behind schedule, just now having little plants start, but the container garden is.....abundant...

May 15th

June 23rd

Wow what a difference! So it is salad time at my house!!!! Here is a recipe that I learned many years ago, when I was at a restaurant near Mt. Rainier....the dressing on the salad was blackberry, it was the first time I had a fruity dressing, I asked the server about it and where I could buy something like that and she said 'oh, just make it! half blackberry syrup and half italian dressing!' that was how they made it....so easy! I have changed it up a bit to use, homemade vinaigrette.....but if you have italian dressing, use it! I would!

dressing ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tbls vinegar or lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon grey poupon
1 tsp salt
several grind of pepper
4 tbls of berry syrup

measure and put all in a bowl and whip....

the finished product will be creamy......

Enjoy!!!!!!

Cheers to Happy  !!

Napa Cabbage Salad...

If your garden is growing abundantly now, this is a great salad to make, use what you have, this is an easy salad to change, every time you make it!



Napa Cabbage Salad

1 head of napa cabbage finely sliced
1 bunch of green onions
1/4 pound of sliced pea pods
1 peeled and seeded cucumber sliced thin
8 thinly sliced radishes
1 small bunch of cilantro leaves
2 tbls of black sesame seeds
1 package top ramen noodles, broken into small bits

dressing
2 tbls honey
1/2 cup of salad oil
3 tbls of white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbls soy sauce
mix all ingredients for dressing together in a jar and shake, can be made ahead and refrigerated..
toss salad just before serving...

some of the items in the dressing, (not pictured is the soy sauce and black sesame seeds)

put all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake up......can be done ahead of time...

get out a great big bowl.....and slice up 1 head of napa cabbage...napa cabbage is curly and has a great texture...it is softer and milder than regular cabbage...

slice up 1 bunch of green onions thinly including tops...

peel, seed and slice 1 cucumber...

take off the ends and strings of pea pods and slice up...

take the leaves off a bunch of cilantro, time consuming...the stems are bitter...so leave them out...

slice up thinly the radishes.....

any flavor of top ramen will do, you will throw the seasoning away, only use the noodles..

toss all together with the dressing......

this is such a great salad. it would be great with shredded chicken on top....you can put any vegetable you have in this, as long as you have the basics of the napa cabbage, and onions and noodles...it make a big salad enough to share!

Cheers to Happy  !!

John Wooden's fathers legacy...

Is “leadership” applicable only in sports or corporate world? How do you become a leader for your kids? How do you lead them to become a better person, a better citizen, a better worker, a better leader?
John Woodens father, Joshua, knew how....

Joshua Wooden..

When his third son, John, graduated from eighth grade in his small country school, Joshua gave him a card and said, “Son, try to live up to this.” On one side was a verse that read:


Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his life more true:
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and heaven securely.

On the other side was a seven-point creed that read:

Be true to yourself
Help others
Make friendship a fine art
Drink deeply from good books
Make each day your masterpiece
Build a shelter against a rainy day
Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.

John kept that card in his wallet for decades until it fell apart. Eighty years after receiving it, he still knew the words by heart.

John's father kept teaching his son long after he left home,...on the birth of his grandson, Joshua gave John a poem that for 65 years has been framed on his office wall as a reminder...

The Son follows the Father


A little fellow follows me.
I know I dare not go astray;
For fear he’ll go the self-same way.
He thinks that I am good and fine;
Believes in every word of mine.
The base in me he must not see;
This little chap who follows me.
I must be careful as I go;
Through summer sun and winter snow.
Because I am building, for the years to be;
This little chap who follows me.

On this day, Fathers Day, I honor one of my great teachers, my Dad.....Whiskey Bill...who, even though he has passed away is still teaching some of lifes greatest lessons....

Cheers to you Dad!!!

Swiss Cheese Crackers

I have always wanted to make crackers, and this is my first attempt..I am so glad I made these, they're so easy and so much better than store bought! absolutely amazing...Some day I would like to be known as the best cracker maker in all the land...

Swiss Cheese Crackers

3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup fine grated swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
Make pastry: in a medium saucepan bring milk, salt and butter to just boiling. Remove from heat and stir in flour, and beat with a wooden spoon until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Let cool slightly, beat in eggs one at a time, continue beating until well-combined and dough becomes shiny.
Stir in half of the cheese.
Spoon into either a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the end snipped off...
Pipe onto the baking sheet in 2 inch circles and sprinkle with remaining cheese....
Bake for 25-30 minutes...cool on wire rack...

Boil the milk, butter and salt...then add

the flour, stir, stir,  stir...

until it starts leaving the sides of the pan...

add the eggs one at a time and beat after each one...

it will be very shiny...

add half of the shredded cheese...

put in a bag and cut off the tip...

pipe into small circles and sprinkle with remaining cheese...and bake....

that is it! they are crisp and tender without being crumbly...perfect for Brie and Berries...

Cheers to Happy  !!