Sensible Sundays: Homemade Croutons

Everyone loves croutons. That crunchy, savory, herbed bread is the perfect addition to any salad. But why go out and buy a box of them when you can make them yourself at a fraction of the cost? Besides, once you try your own homemade croutons, I promise you’ll never want to go back to the heavily preservative laden, stale, hard as a rock pieces of bread that come in a box.

Ingredients:

A few pieces of old bread
Butter (or margarine)
Garlic powder (or I guess you can use fresh garlic minced)
Dried herbs of choice (Italian seasoning, oregano, parsley, thyme, etc.)

The best kind of bread to use it old bread you don’t want to eat. This does not mean moldy or spoiled bread! I’m talking about the heals of bread loafs if you don’t eat them, those two slices sitting in your bread bag that are just too dried out to make a sandwich out of, pieces of that leftover french bread sitting on your cupboard, you know what kinds of breads I’m talking about! What I typically do is save the heals from the loaf of bread we are eating, put them in a bag, and throw them in the freezer until I’m ready to use them. Once enough pieces build up, I let them thaw in the fridge overnight, then use them the next day. Cut your bread into crouton sized pieces and put into a bowl. In a small pan, melt what you would consider to be enough butter to coat the amount of bread you have. If you are only using a few pieces, try a tablespoon or so; more bread means more butter. Sorry I don’t have any exact measurements, it’ll all depend on how much bread you are using. Having a hard time guessing? Melt a little and toss it with the bread and if you need a little more, melt some more. There really isn’t an exact science to this. I like to add my garlic powder and herbs to the melted butter before pouring it over the bread, that way it’s more evenly distributed. Again, add the amount of herbs you want. Like a heavy garlic taste? Add a teaspoon or more. Not so much? Add less. Keep track of about how much you add so that the next time, if you want to add more or less, you can. Pour over the bread and toss with your hands. Once all the bread pieces are evenly moist/coated, spread them on a baking sheet and put into a 300 degrees F oven. They will take about 45 minutes or so to cook, but that depends on how many you have and their size. The best way to tell if they are done is to open the oven and toss them occasionally, allowing you to check on their progress. When they finally reach a beautiful golden brown color, you’re done. Let them cool completely before storing them in an air tight container.

Most recipes suggest eating them within a week, but I’ve found they’ll last longer than that if you store them properly. Besides, you’ll be lucky if they last more than two weeks!  This recipe is great because it allows you to utilize ANY kind of leftover bread that would have only gone to waste. They are incredibly inexpensive to make as I can guarantee that you probably already have everything you need to make them in your kitchen. You know what’s going into them, can customize them the way you want, and pay a fraction of the cost that you would to buy them already made in the grocery store. And of course, they taste great, making them a great addition to any garden or chef salad. The more substantial I can make my salads look and taste, the more willing my husband is to make a meal out of them, and I’m sure that goes for kids too!! So TRY IT!! It’s EASY! I promise, you wont regret it!

 

Strawberry Season Is Here

The view from the strawberry fields at Wellwood Orchards.

This weekend’s bounty. We will be going back when a lot more of them are ripe in two weeks.

 

New England Summer Memory Loss

Many of us living in New England have a problem- summer memory loss. That’s right, you heard it here first! We forget about a lot when it comes to summer. What? Don’t understand what I’m talking about? Let me explain the “Three B’s” phenomenon.

Winter lasts forever here. Fall is just the start of winter, then there’s November through mid-January pretty winter, then mid-January through March let’s be done with this already winter, and then April through mid-June is spring which is just a muddy version of winter. So, when summer finally hits, we all celebrate and praise the sun because it seems like it’s been forever since it was summer and wonderful out. And it’s when summer finally hits that we realize our memory loss problem. The memory loss phenomenon typically consists of three “B’s”:  burns, balmy, and bugs.

Come on my New England friends, you know what I’m talking about! Without fail, every single year we forget about these things! All we do is beg and plead with Mother Nature to send us those warm wonderful lazy days of summer. But we forget about the frustrations. We all get our first burn of the season because we forgot about the power of the sun and the fact that it takes little to nothing to burn after spending all winter being pastey. Then we remember to bring out the sunscreen. Then we forget how grumpy we get because of all the humidity and muggy nasty days that comes with the heat. Then we remember to pull out the fans (and some lucky people, the air conditioners). And we forget all about the pesty mosquitoes until that fateful day that you figure out when you get inside that you are covered in itchy bites. Then we remember to pull out the bug dope. THAT my friends, is the New England memory loss phenomenon.

Why do I bring this up, you ask? Because I’ve finally achieved all three “B’s” this morning, which stirred my memory of this problem we encounter every year. I’ve already had my first burn a couple weeks ago, but the muggy morning started me off sticky and mildly grumpy. And then my “brilliant” idea of doing 30 minutes of weeding before the haze burned off and the sun became viciously hot, was rewarded by re-discovering how hungry the backyard mosquitoes are in the morning. 13 giant itchy lumps were washed, rubbed with witch hazel, and slathered with hyrdrocortisone cream.

So it’s official. Technically speaking, the first day of summer was this passed Sunday. But in my backyard, with the accomplishment of the three “B’s”, the first day of summer starts today.

 

Grilled Pizza and Sunshine

I am shocked at what I am seeing- sunshine! It’s been so gray and dreary for the past week! Sunshine seems to be a rare sight this June. The fact that there’s some peeking out right now makes me smile, even if it’ll only be there for an hour. Too bad I have to spend my time inside while it’s out!

The garden is going nuts! Everything I posted last week looks, no kidding, twice as big! We also stopped by Posie’s Place on Saturday, after our morning errands, to pick up some tomato seedlings to replace the ones I, well, the frost, killed on June 1st. There were not many left, so I decided to get one six-pack of Early Girls instead of two, and instead picked up a six-pack of jalapenos! I’m very excited about those! Only time will tell if they will make it up here. Surprisingly, as small as the tomato plants are, they are already sending out flowers! I’m so excited! The corn is popping up now, and our replacement zucchinis will be transplanted outside this weekend. Then everything will be getting a layer of hay mulch.

So this past Friday, Ryan and I decided to try grilling pizza. Although we make a killer pizza in our oven, the oven being on in the summer is a real pain as it produces a lot of heat in our small apartment. So, we decided to try our hand at throwing it on the grill. Let me tell you, it’s EASY! I used our homemade pizza dough recipe (I’ll have to share that in another post, it’s the BEST) and split the ball in half. Due to the size and shape of the grill, it was easier to do two smaller pizzas rather than one large one. I pulled and rolled the dough out just a little thinner than I usually do, all the while, Ryan had the grill heating up nice and hot. Once really hot, we put some olive oil on the grate and slapped the dough on. It only look a few minutes for it to brown and puff up (note: have a fork or knife handy to deflate any bubbles that rise). We flipped it, and lightly crisped the other side and turned the grill almost off. Then we put all of our toppings on the pizza- it helps to have your toppings all ready to go so you can put them all on quickly and not waste your grill’s propane. This time we tried the traditional tomato and mozzarella slices, a little olive oil, onions, mushrooms, and some Italian seasoning, but next time will probably be the typical sauce and cheese and then toppings kind of deal. We put them back on, with the heat really low, and left them just long enough to melt together and ta-da! Delicious grilled pizza! And you know what? It was EASY! So easy, two semi-cavemen could do it! So give it a try, I dare you! I think you’ll really like what you end up with!

 

Gardens Will Grow When You Are Away

Well, we’re back from our vacation. We had a lovely time and can’t wait until our next vacation in a year! In the mean time, we will continue to enjoy every sunny evening we get, and make the most of each weekend.

So I thought I’d do a quick photo post on what’s happening in our garden. Of course, as soon as I leave, everything starts to pop up! Maybe I should stay away more often, ha!

Our cilantro on the porch- nothing better than the fresh stuff! YUM!

Our wild morning glories I’m trying to teach to climb the stairs.

Chives and horseradish

Our sunflower bed (there’s only 6 left I think eeep!) that’s being shared by some of our morning glories

Turnips doing well, here’s hoping they continue to grow!

The start of our delicate carrots. They are so tiny, I fear covering them with some light hay. Their cover may have to wait.

And the rhubarb. It’s growing alright, but it’s fighting a leaf spot disease. I read on one site that stressed plants are heavily susceptible to them, which I believe seeing the plant barely survived it’s transplant! I don’t dare to cut off all the leaves right now, I really want to encourage it to grow. But come fall, when it frosts, I’ll be sure to trim everything down to the ground and destroy the clippings. That’s all I have read I can do. Anyone else have any information they can share with me??? Should I risk killing the plant by cutting everything off now, or should I wait, in hopes it will continue to grow and risk possible death anyways???  Any ideas?

 

On Vacation

A wonderful sunny weekend and week to all! We’re going off on our long awaited vacation. Home to Maine for a little friends and family time and two nights/three days in Kennebunkport.

 

What A Difference A Day Makes

I thought we were done experiencing the hard frosts this year. Boy was I wrong. Today marks June 1st and we got another hard frost this morning. All but one of the 12 tomato plants are dead, both of our strong and huge zucchini plants are gone, as are all the sprouts that were going to be corn. Everything was just starting to look like it was going to make it. Then the frost happened.

All that hard work of getting things to start sprouting inside in February. The patience and excitement. But like I said from the very beginning, with this being our first time with a garden, it’s all a learning experience. We’re still hoping the seeds out there sprout on the carrots, turnip, cucumbers, and Swiss chard. We started a few more zucchini seeds tonight, in hopes they will sprout up and we can put them back out there again in a few weeks. As for the tomatoes, we still want them, so although they will not be exactly what we want, we’ll go to a local greenhouse and pick up a couple plants to put in there once we get back from vacation. As for the corn plot, we’re not quite sure what we are going to do with it. Maybe find some seed potatoes or whatever random plants we come across. Why not?

I wont lie, I was very upset to find everything dead, I even cursed the heavens a little bit and then apologized. Such is life. We’re very lucky not to have to depend on that would have been food, and atleast we learned a few good lessons about the weather and never truly being able to predict what is going to happen.  With everything indicating the average last frost date in the area being from May 1st to the 31st, of course we get another frost on June 1st. My husband says it’s “that damned Giroux luck” that I inherited when I took his name two years ago. I suppose I’ll take that bad luck so long as I get to keep him and his name around. Speaking of which, our second anniversary will be June 9th, so we’ll be taking that week off. We’ll be traveling to Maine to visit family and friends, and to take a little time to ourselves in Kennebunkport for two nights. So all will be quiet here for a week after Friday.

The good news is that the chives are thriving, our free rhubarb is still hanging in there, as is the horseradish, and our herbs we planted are still hanging in there. Not all is lost. To all those who have or who may lose plants to the cruel and unpredictable weather, my sympathy is with you.

 

Sensible Sundays: Taking Advantage of Leftovers

We all make them and we all tend to have a hard time using them up- leftovers. I grew up in a house where nothing was wasted. Little bits of meat that were not even enough for a meal were cut and picked, tiny pits of leftover potatoes and vegetables, parts of meals, all found their way into the fridge. And you know what? My mom always found a way to use them up. Roast beef and vegetables always had a second go around as another meal, then any leftover veggies got worked their way into other meals, with the roast beef getting ground up and turned into delicious and delectable beef croquettes which I think also had a lot of the leftover potatoes too, served with the leftover gravy. Multiple leftovers were sometimes combined in a “who wants what” supper, or saved for lunches for my mom or step-dad or for us on the weekends for lunches. I’m telling you, I idolize my mother for finding ways to use up everything. Note to self, I’m going to have to try a roast beef this fall and figure out how she makes those killer croquets.

Since Ryan and I started our new lives together, here in Vermont, we’ve slowly been finding ways to become more independent, self-reliant, and sensible and leftovers have definitely become a strong part of that equation, even if he doesn’t realize it. I can’t imagine throwing out perfectly good food, food that you worked hard to buy and to make. So every time we make ourselves a nice big meal, we end up with a ton of leftovers- after all, there’s only two of us. And I always spend a little extra time saving as much of that as possible to use again. A perfect example of this was for Easter, we prepared an amazing New England Boiled Dinner with ham, potatoes, carrots, turnip, and cabbage. When all was said and done, we separated out a portion of ham with the left over vegetables to be reheated as another portion of supper later that week. But we were still left with all kinds of boiled ham. So what did I do? What any sensible person would, take a half an hour to pick out all the terrific ham, separate it into meal sized portions, labeled, then froze it to use again. Three meals worth of ham ready to go in the freezer, can you think of anything better than that?

And here is a perfect example of what leftovers can get you! A crowd pleaser my mom created that even my semi-fussy sister liked: Ham Roll. Just take a ball of pizza dough (I always have homemade balls in my freezer that are easier than easy to make in our bread machine), roll it out into a rectangle-like shape, lay the leftover ham pieces down the middle, then pile on the mozzarella, or whatever cheese you have that might be on it’s way out and you want to use up (I bet Swiss, provolone, or cheddar would be great too) on top, roll it up, then bake in your oven like you would a pizza at 450 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until the top turns a nice golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting and you’re done! You can serve it as a meal with a side of veggies, a green salad, or anything else, as an appetizer, or just as is! You can eat it plain or dress it up with some mustard, tomato sauce, or anything else you think might be nice. Quite often this ends up being a plain and simple meal just as you see it (with some cukes or tomatoes on the side) during the week. One piece of advice when it comes to making meals out of leftovers- KEEP IT SIMPLE! You don’t need to do something elaborate and crazy, just find a way to use it again in a way that you and your family will enjoy it.

So there you have it. It’s only one example of using your leftovers, but there’s tons more you can do and I’m sure many of you have your own quick and easy left over meals you like to serve up. I would love to hear some of them! So for heaven sake, cherrish everything you cook and find a way to use it again. Make your mother’s proud and don’t throw anything away before it’s been used atleast once more.

 

Yard Sale Finds

My husband hates them, but I love them. Sure, there’s usually more junk than usable items at them, but you never know what you are going to find. They are an unavoidable sign of summer. They are treasure hunts in disguise. And every year, I do my fair share of random (and possibly dangerous) breaking for their signs. Without fail, my husband rolls his eyes and grumbles about all the “worthless junk” there is. That is, if I’m lucky enough to be driving or am able to coax him to pull over. Last year was a lucky horseshoe, a basket for my mittens, a nice jar, and a wooden bowl that, after being painstakingly refinished, is beautiful.

Already this year I’ve found two wooden folding chairs at just the right height to put at our kitchen table when we have company over (no longer will we have to pull out the computer chair and outdoor furniture), and a couple really beautiful glass jars.

Aren’t they just terrific? Call me a product of the 21st century, but I’ve never seen jars like these with glass tops! I thought they were too neat with their specially designed closing system. Although I don’t have a use for them yet, I figured they might work well for different gift ideas I’ve been playing with. We’ll see yet.

 

Waiting & Lilacs

Lilacs. They are my favorite flower this time of year. I can never get over how wonderful it is to be walking down the street and be able to smell nothing but them. It’s an uplifting and joyful scent that is the epitome of the spring-to-summer scents- that, and of course fresh cut grass and BBQs.

Due to yesterday’s wicked frost (I woke up to see 28 degrees F on the thermometer) I’ve pushed back when I wanted to plant the garden. Originally I was planning for this weekend, but after that frost, I just don’t think it’s time yet. So then I pushed it to the weekend after. But I’m still debating waiting even longer because we’ll be going away on vacation for a week after that, and I really don’t want to just up and leave right after everything is planted. I’m sure it would be alright, but with no one around to water or weed or keep pests off, I’m just not sure. That would put everything a little further behind, but I’m already having problems.

I almost killed the cucumber seedlings. They are still hanging in there, but a few mornings ago, when I put everything out, I guess it was just a little too cold. Some of the leaves on our tomatoes are looking a little iffy, though really they are looking quite strong, and the cherry tomatoes, well, they look weak. So all these issues have me debating putting them out the weekend after next so they might get established and quickly strengthen, or to wait so that I can give them extra attention if needed. The average last frost around here is practically the end of May, so waiting another week or two into June really wont be too ridiculous. I guess time will tell.