Fresh Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce

These are my favorite asian dish.  You can pretty much make them with any veg and left-over meat you like.  The key is the rice papers and the bean thread noodles.  Most grocery stores carry these items but if you have an asian market where you live you can get the best selection. 


Peanut Sauce
2 TBS Vegetable oil or grape seed oil
1 TBS Tomato Paste
1 tsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
2 Heaping TBS brown sugar
½ -3/4 C Crunchy Peanut Butter
1/2 C chicken stock, more to thin sauce as needed
½ Tsp Chinese 5 spice mixture
2 TBS Hoisen sauce
1 squirt of Chinese hot sauce or regular hot sauce
Juice of 1 lime
Garnish with chopped roasted salted peanuts

On low-medium heat In small sauce pan, stir together first 4 ingredients until just starting to melt and sizzle. Add peanut butter and mix well. Thin with chicken stock to the consistency you like. If you go overboard with the stock you can always add more peanut butter to thicken it up. Add Chinese spice, hoisen sauce, hot sauce and lime juice. Stir constantly until incorporated. Remove from heat. Garnish with chopped nuts.

Fresh Summer Rolls (Can be made with any fresh produce or cooked meat left-overs you have on hand)
1 Pkg of spring roll rice papers.
1 Pkg of bean thread noodles also called cellophane noodles
2 Cups shoe string carrots
1 Cup bean sprouts or fresh alfalfa sprouts
2 Cups finely shredded lettuce
1 bunch green onion trimmed and cut in thirds
1 bunch cilantro
1 lb shredded chicken, beef, pork or whole small shrimp
Lime wedges

Assembly:

Heat water in large pyrex container in microwave until boiling. Pour a portion of it into a high sided pie plate. Kkeep the rest of the hot water in the pyrex. Put the bean thread noodles in the hot water of the pyrex container and let soften. Drain.

Work with one roll at a time: Soften a single rice paper in the hot water you’ve reserved in the pie plate. Handle carefully and spread out on your work area trying not to tear the paper. This will be nearly translucent and very flimsy.

At the bottom 1/3 of the rice paper, starting with some noodles layer on your shredded meat and fresh ingredients. Top with the green onion.

Pull in the sides of your rice paper and bring the bottom up and roll like you would a burrito. Be sure the sides are pulled in first and then roll up. Line a plastic Tupperware like container with slightly damp kitchen paper towels and line up rolls. You can use damp kitchen towels in between layers. These will keep a few hours in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Serve with peanut sauce and fresh lime wedges. Enjoy.

My English Roses

These just make me deliriously happy.  David Austin English Roses from my garden

My Beautiful Grandmothers

There is nothing sweeter than the love of a grandmother.  I still have both of my grandmothers.  Margaret and Mary Ellen.  Two distinctly different women, yet both beautiful, loving and wise.

My grandmother Margaret always sang to us.  Songs from her own youth ready on her lips to sing to us.  Songs like, “You Are My Sunshine” and “Hey, Hey, Good-lookin’”.  She is fun-loving and kind-hearted, can cook like nobody’s business and from her, I learned every domestic skill I now possess.  How to keep a garden, cook a decent meal and keep on a smile during tough times. She hugged us and kissed us constantly. She is nearly 82 now and still just as lovely with deep brown eyes and soft brown hair.

My grandmother Mary Ellen is who I get my sassy personality from.  I think ALL the women on my mom’s side got their sassiness from Mary Ellen.  A striking beauty with clear blue eyes and beautiful thick wavy auburn hair, she still has the ability to halt traffic at 83.  She taught me how to go after what I truly want in life and not let petty obstacles stand in my way.  She’s a fighter, a lover and a shrewd negotiator and I love every bit of her spit-fire spirit.

I Love Pinterest

I have a new addiction called Pinterest.  I just love that site.  I have included a link to my boards so please stop by!

My Niece Rylee Roo in her BOO BOO GHOST TUTU!

My sister-in-law Jerri and I have a knack for putting great ideas together.  I can have a little idea and she can have a little idea and WHOFFF once they come together it is a great big WONDERFUL idea. This was the case in her granddaughter Rylee's Halloween costume.

Jerri came to me one day and said, "Rylee needs one of your tutu's except she wants it to be a ghost, Can you do ghosts?"  Can I do ghosts, you bet I can.

Well Jerri came over to help and what we came up with is adorable.  Isn't Rylee the sweetest little boo ghost in a creation?  We certainly think so.

Photographs courtesy of Coco Photo.

September Southern Living Magazine

I tried this delicious apple cake from this month's issue of Southern Living.  It was so yummy, a little bit of work, but yummy.   I thought it was well-worth the time spent in the kitchen.

Clay Creations

I have recently re-discovered a wonderful crafting medium called Sculpy.  My mom used to make decorative things with it back in the late '70's and as always, I was at her elbow wanting to "help".  I remember it well.

Acorn

Just a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine at work showed me some of her clay art pieces and she too uses Sculpy.  It was like a flash back from my childhood!  I decided to give it a try and this is what I came up with.  By the way, you can see what Mary has for sale on her website http://www.stormybayouart.com/ and thank you Mary for the inspiration!

Rose

Maple Leaf

Magnolia

Art for art's sake

Let me know what you think about my two recent creations.

I have had a life-long facination and love for bugs. Chief among these are dragonflies. Here is my tribute.





























Another one of my creations. Note these are my signals of "living well". The 2005 date is commemorative of Hurricane Katrina.

Life Just Won't Slow Down!

I just wanted to post to let you all know I'm still around.  I don't know what possessed me to take 9 hours at college this semester when I have a very active full-time job.  A glutton for punishment!

That being said it is no wonder I've neglected my blog.  Homework, sleep and very simple suppers have taken presidence over my more interesting cooking. 

However, there is good news!  I'm taking the summer off from school and thanks to the help of my darling husband Stephen and very strong son Colin, I have the promise of a productive garden this year. 

I can't wait.  I especially love tomatoes and I have a fantastic recipe I'd love to share once they come in season. 

So hang in there with me friends, I haven't left and my love for cooking is still as strong as ever. 

Spanako-Pizza

Greek food lovers, listen up. I’ve got a fun appetizer or quick dinner idea that you’re gonna love. I’m a huge fan of spanakopita, a Greek appetizer made from spinach and phyllo dough and I have used this delicious dish as inspiration for my pizza. I used puff pastry instead of phyllo dough, but you could use any type of pizza crust you wanted for these. I found that the puff pastry simulates the phyllo nicely, but is very rich. If you use puff pastry, I would consider cutting them in to small wedges and serving as an appetizer and using a more substantial yeasty dough if you’re looking to make this a meal.


2 puff pastry sheets (whole package)
1 large sweet onion, cut in half and then sliced very thin
1 cup thawed frozen chopped spinach with all the water taken out
3 TBS balsamic vinegar
3-4 TBS olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced fine
¼ tsp oregano
¼ tsp thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz goats milk cheese
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 egg beaten to use as egg wash

In large skillet on medium to high fire, heat oil to a shimmer. Add thin sliced onions. Cook until soft. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until caramelized. Reduce heat to medium/low add garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano. Add drained spinach. Toss in mixture until cooked through.

Spray two cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Lay out a pastry sheet on each pan. With sharp knife, cut ¾ way through all the way around the crust to make an edge. Prick the rest of the dough with a fork.

Cook puff pastry in oven for 10-12 minutes at 400F until golden. Pull out of oven. Glaze the crust with an egg wash and fill each pastry dough with half of the filling. Top each with goats’ cheese and feta.

Return to oven for 10-12 minutes until cheese starts to melt or soften. Remove from oven and cut into squares or triangles any size you desire. Serve hot. Makes two 12x12 inch pizzas.