Food Glorious Food

 

Food always tastes best when you have grown the ingredients yourself.

~Lilac

pictured:  My 2020 Basil 

My love of Basil started when I was still just a small child.  We had a rather enormously over-sized herb garden. Until I was much older, I always looked upon that garden as though it were circles within circles of chaos and weeds.  My mother made those herbs make sense by gathering them and bringing them into the house and using them in our foods.  Basil is one of those perfect flavors we used in tomato sauce and pizza sauces.  Whether used fresh, full-leaf or dried and crumbled, Basil is a staple for the kitchen!

Growing Basil is one of the great loves of my life.  Basil obviously pairs with tomatoes, so I had the (very dumb) idea that I could grow the two side by side...which I did last year in my first garden of the new house. The sad truth was that the tomato plants towered over the Basil, blocking the sun and limiting its growth.  Growing them side by side had no impact on flavor, so the brilliant concept that I thought I had, produced no results.  But in spite of these limitations to the Basil plants, they did still grow.  They also grew from Spring straight through until the first frost of the year in November.  Basil is a hearty plant.  Also, Basil comes in several varieties.

This photo is my summer garden.  You can see the height of the largest plants- these are tomatoes.  The Basil plants are flanking them on each side and are lost in the leafy tomato bushes. In all honesty, I had not done much advanced planning before putting plants in the ground.  

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Last year I came up with this clever and pretty way of displaying my herbs once harvested.  In addition to displaying, this allows my herbs to dry.

Once we have completed the process of growing the ingredients...one ought to take a bit of a break and relax before cooking them.  I had no part in growing the grapes for this wine...but I certainly enjoyed sipping it.

You don't need to grow your ingredients in order to make wonderful, homemade meals that are memorable and flavorful.  But it is good to be slightly choosy about what you put into your dishes.  Here are some other favorite ingredients and cooking supplies of mine:

BAY LEAVES.

What are they good for?  Everything.  

Bay leaves are not for the benefit of flavor, but do enhance the health benefits of all foods.

FAVORITE COOKING TOOLS

My new "Pioneer Woman" stuff includes this Dutch Oven and these pretty floral dip cups which I use for everything!

My Dutch Oven is a wonderful rice pot and the perfect pot for soup too.

A COOKING GUIDE

Now, I am not sure about this but the magazines and books with recipes and creative food ideas are a guide.  But what about this cat?  It is possible that this cat is my cooking guru.  He stops me on the page and says, "Mama can we have this cake?"

I am not a very attentive baker.  It is a precise art form and I don't even like to measure things.

BUT...shown here, one of my greatest creations.  A simple cupcake;  a slight swirl of Cream Cheese Frosting and a topper of Macaroon!

Pretty. 

Pink. 

Perfection.

My favorite meals are well balanced with a main dish, nice sides and bread, a glass of wine and an exquisite dessert.  Naturally we can't have that everyday, but why not make some days more special and just do them up right!

A mix of cut watermelon, fresh blueberries from Rocky Point Farm, and mint from our own garden!

A photo collage of the preparations for a Primavera sauce which is basically a hearty vegetable tomato sauce that you serve with pasta.  These tomatoes were grown in my garden;  blanched and peeled and then became my sauce!  The green peppers were grown in our garden too.

This was my take on a Chicken Marsala and a side of broccoli...a truly delicious meal.

My daughter works at a nearby bakery and brings home bread in the evening sometimes.  We enjoy a nice spontaneous Garlic Bread anytime of the day!

This is the "base" for my mom's sauce.

This was a lovely and light Shrimp dish with pasta and broccoli

One of my mother's staples for family dinners was Sausage and Peppers (with onions).  Mom liked to use a mix of Hot Italian Sausage and Sweet Italian Sausage.  Over the years I have used chicken sausage in place of standard sausage in order for my daughter to enjoy the meal with us.  This particular dish was made with peppers from my own garden!

The last harvest of 2020 (September)

These cupcakes were uncomplicated, from a box mix.  Annika and I made 7 dozen different flavors and frosted them.  These were for her graduation party in 2020

In 2020, August- I turned 46 years old.  I decided to make myself my own birthday cake.  I decided on this delicious Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

In late September, as the cold weather began to roll steadily in, I decided to try my hand at grilling.  I marinated some Meat and some Shrimp.  I grilled Kabobs of veggie, Kabobs of Shrimp and delicious Ribs.

My daughter helped me create this Pumpkin bowl by carving out the inside of this pumpkin and slicing the top to create a cover.  We made a yummy dip and put it in there.  We served pretzels and veggies for the dip.

I got this recipe idea from The Pioneer Woman tv show.  She called it "Pantry Pizza".  That is when you take ingredients that you stashed in the pantry and make a pizza.  This one was for my husband:  Artichoke Pizza!

This unbelievably delicious meatloaf was so easy to make and even looks beautiful.  I glazed it with barbeque sauce.  Also...it's all turkey.

This was one of the greatest ideas I ever had.  

I took out the George Foreman grill for these sliced rounds of sweet potato, rubbed in olive oil and herbs and grilled.

Food.

Glorious.

Food.

We all love it.  We all need it.  We all look for the satisfaction of food on a daily basis.  Food is more than just fuel...although for a period of time I convinced myself I could look at it as fuel.  But in truth it is so much more than that.  Food is culture.  Our food culture is about the experience of food.  So now that it's 2021 and we have a new year ahead...I cannot wait to create more food excitement this year!

What are you cooking?

~Namaste

Lilac