Instructions for the weekend: blow some stuff up for me!

I've posted lots of photos of my farm antics recently, but the other pastime that has stolen my attention has been fishing. My fishing gear gathered a fine layer of dust during my years in Utah, but my return to Idaho has restored my affection, plus I have a friend who graciously lets me tag along in his drift boat.

I wish I had more HUGE fish photos for you today, but I find myself taking photos of random items in the boat, grass, people's shirts. We do catch fish and photos are taken, but I'm not related to those people, and I can't exploit them on my site like I do my family. Thanks, family, for allowing me to exploit you. One day soon I'll post of a photo of me and an enormous fish. Until then, here are some randoms.

Have a great Fourth of July, all! Grill a yummy burger, drink a cold beverage and blow some stuff up for me! xoH

Token food photo.

Two days in a row I ate breakfast!

Internet, are you proud or what?

Cute contest: baby plants vs. baby animals.

Not being enrolled in summer school has given me a new appreciation for Sunday nights, which hold such a stigma of organization, schedule and routine. I am sitting here at 9:30 having just returned home from spending a weekend with my mom, and I am sleepy, a bit sunburned and am so relieved I have nothing looming for tomorrow. Work, yes, but work is finally enjoyable and not stressful. I had no idea such jobs existed in reality.

I am going to spend the rest of my night enjoying the quiet and the moon and revel in the fact that I don't need to rush to get ready for anything tomorrow. Loud sigh.

If you have a stressful day tomorrow, take a brief farm field trip with me. I promise it will lower your blood pressure.

How many kids (and adults) know that a potato plant flowers?

Too bad it's not Hail's Jumbo.

Not so jumbo . . . yet.

As I was taking these photos I looked up and saw trouble:

Thing One and Thing Two charging out of the ditch.

Heading in my direction.

As if their tails were on fire.

No regard for baby plants.

They proceeded to play tag around the car for about twenty laps and then chased each other to the shed (base) to catch their breath. They don't enjoy the farm one teensy bit.

Back to the field trip -- broccoli.

Such a cute little plant.

The judge was a little heavy-handed with the seeding -- needs some thinning.

Add some rutabagas next time you make mashed potatoes; it's a delicious change of pace.

Baby plants are almost as cute as baby animals. Almost.

My mom and I hustled back from the farm to my folks' house to meet Heather and Nick who were returning from a wedding in Boise (they graciously allowed me and my laundry to catch a ride) and caught the last twenty minutes of the Argentina - Mexico soccer game. We had the blood pressure cuff out yesterday while we watched the USA match. My mom reverted back to her soccer mom days of turrets-like yelling, "KICK IT! GET IT FROM HIM! DON'T JUST STAND THERE -- GET THE BALL!" Highly entertaining. We then sat in the hot tub and drank Coors Light the rest of the afternoon. We were exerted.

Anyway, I got to play a bit in my parent's garden this afternoon. They both have very green thumbs. Their yard and vegetable garden is lovely, Sunset Magazine lovely.

Their peas are about to explode.

As are their strawberries.

See what I mean about baby vegetables?

Salad greens.

Dill, tarragon, chives, chard and lettuce.

Add whatever herbs you enjoy -- freshens up a salad enormously.

Counting the days until we have fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

I wanted to post this homemade blue cheese dressing for you all, but Heather was vehemently opposed -- she said it's proprietary. Kind of like Bush's Baked Beans. Perhaps we should make a commercial staring Belle and Berkley attempting to publish the recipe.

Get the caboose moving

Breakfast and I have a love hate relationship. I love to cook breakfast, but I normally hate to eat it unless it is after 11:00 a.m. I just can't be bothered with anything other than coffee before then. Being a health educator who touts the value of breakfast -- breaking the body's fast from a night of rest is very important to "get the caboose moving," (a favorite quotation from one of my students) -- I should listen to my own advice. Should.

I made an effort today to consume something other than my daily caffeine fuel. I had leftover cooked barley from earlier in the week and some raspberries. Voila! I added some rice milk -- cow's milk and I had a falling out in college, similar but not as hateful to my falling out with my old friend Jose Cuervo -- chopped almonds and raspberries. The barley was much more fun to eat than oatmeal. Oatmeal is ooey and gooey and difficult to swallow. Barley's like individual pearls of goodness. My caboose is moving.

Baking-envy

As promised, here's the brownie recipe that has been taunting me since Monday. I finished a wellness class and brought these as a treat -- it's a bit of an oxymoron, teaching people about nutrition and exercise and then closing the workshop with brownies. Everything in moderation, right?

I am a sucker for white chocolate and blonde brownies are nearly impossible for me to pass up so when I saw the combination of the two I knew I had to try them. Plus, the batter has ground almonds, which gives it an additional layer of flavor that beats any plain ol' chocolate brownie. Also, these have blueberries -- tricks people (me) into thinking they have a teensy bit of healthfulness. I will be making another batch of these tonight because my class devoured my stash, and I haven't been able to concentrate since. Brownie on the brain.

I made the mistake of opening the bar and sneaking a bite (or two or three) of the chocolate;

the recipe calls for an entire 4 oz bar. Oops!

Ground almonds. I didn't grind my fine enough so the brownies had a bit of almond texture.

The finer the better, I think.

Melting the butter and chocolate over my makeshift double-boiler.

Since I am a klutz, I cracked the eggs in a separate bowl to avoid an egg catastrophe.

Notice the almonds in the batter? Yum.

You could add other fruit, too. I think the original recipe called for raspberries.

Heart cutouts.

For the recipe, pop on over to Eat my Cake now. Not only does she bake beautifully, but she posts in French, too! As always, my brownie doesn't compare, but I am honest and open about my baking-envy.

Psych evaluation is in order

It's officially summer! I am officially happy. This weekend's trip to the farm reignited my passion for eating fresh, healthful food, plus I had some vegetables in my fridge that were begging to be cooked.

The following recipe is a salad that is far from a boring green salad. You can add whatever veggies you like or have on hand, add fresh herbs, add grilled chicken, mix up the dressing, throw in lentils or wild rice -- go wild!

I have a brownie recipe for you all that I will post tomorrow. These brownies were so good that I am going to make another batch. Lord help me. I should never have introduced the evil temptress into my house because I went to bed entirely satiated from my tasty salad, but all I could think about were these damn brownies: WHITE CHOCOLATE BLUEBERRY BLONDIES. I am not even a sweet person. I would take potato chips over chocolate any day, but these brownies were, well, so sinfully delicious that they've trumped this post.

I feel badly for my salad now. Sorry salad. You were good, too. Not quite sinfully delicious, but certainly on my list of favorite salads.

And I think I'm losing it -- apologizing to a salad for my affection for brownies? I need coffee, stat . . . or perhaps a psych evaluation.

Barley kicks oatmeal's butt.

Texturally, taste and barley's used in beer.

mmmm, beer.

Try barley instead of oatmeal sometime;

you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Here's a quick tutorial on removing the tough ends from asparagus. Using two hands is much more efficient, but the camera didn't allow that luxury.

Nonetheless, bend the asparagus towards the end.

It will snap off at the juncture of yummy and tough.

Genius!

(I normally don't have tricolored fingernails, but I was waiting for a prescription to be filled yesterday and was amused by the nail polish isle).

Feta or goat cheese is great in this salad.

You could easily omit it, and this salad would be VEGAN!

Roasty toasty.

I took this photo at about nine o'clock. I love summer.

Lots of textures and flavors.

Basil.

Roasted vegetable and barley salad

inspired by 101cookbooks

1 zucchini, sliced

1 yellow squash, sliced

handful petite potatoes, halved

handful cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 bunch asparagus, rough ends removed

1 bunch green onions, sliced in half carefully

salad greens

1 cup barley

feta or goat cheese, crumbled

salad dressing:

1 tsp grainy mustard

1 shallot, minced

1 lemon, juiced and zested

2 tbs parmesan cheese

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

(The oil you use truly does make a difference. The last time I made this dressing I skimped on my oil and the dressing tasted like oil -- the other flavors were completely drowned out. Having one nice -- expensive -- bottle of olive oil in your pantry is well worth it for occasions just like this. People, if I can afford it, you can afford it.)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cook the barley according to the directions on the box and set aside once cooked. Because I am lazy and was hungry I cheated with the potatoes -- I boiled them in salted water for about 8 minutes before adding them to the roasting pan. Speeds things ups immensely.

Place the asparagus, squash and zucchini, tomatoes and potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Throw in the green onions for the last five minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients and stir vigorously to combine. Making dressing is an art -- you have to taste it! You may need more acid or more oil so feel free to add and adjust until it tastes right to you. Also, salt and pepper make everything taste better. (I usually double this dressing).

I've made this salad a couple of ways: combine everything (salad greens, roasted veggies, cooked barley, cheese and dressing) and mix. This works great for a big party because it will be eaten quickly and you don't have to be concerned with wilty greens. Last night I couldn't eat this entire salad myself so I placed some greens on a plate, combined the other ingredients and placed them on top. That way I have seasoned veggies ready to eat and salad greens that aren't sad and wilty. Whatever works for you!

A 'majestic' day

I know I promised to cook something for you all last week, but to completely honest, my relationship with my kitchen has cooled a bit. I think it has to do with summer -- I've been distracted by road trips, fishing trips and the most recent farm trip. My poor little studio is in a total state of disarray because of my neglect, but I've put myself on lockdown. No longer can I ignore the piles of laundry that trip me each time I walk into the bathroom.

FINALLY!!! we had lovely weather this weekend, which made for a great Father's Day and work day on the farm.

The farm and all its glory.

You can see garlic in front and potatoes in the far field.

Farm version of Abbey Road.

My asparagus lives!

My fabulous day was made even sweeter when I discovered the garlic scapes. This short-lived treat is one of my favorite things about summer. The scape is the flowering shoot on the garlic plant, and if you cut it before it flowers you are left with a culinary delicacy similar to morel mushrooms or ramps (wild onions). You won't find scapes in grocery stores, but you can find them at your local farmer's market. If I were you, I would hustle down to pick up a bunch because you will love them! They taste like garlicky green beans.

Snipping scapes.

Who gets this excited over produce?

Besides harvesting scapes, Lester was used to his full potential, we planted lots of delicious root vegetables in between the garlic since they will be harvested in about a month -- red and golden beets, radishes, kohlrabi, parsnips, turnips, as well as planted a blackberry bush. We will have a medley of fun things in the coming months!

If only Julia could have joined us --

the trifecta would have been complete.

Someone asked for a bottle opener and

the judge returned with this.

He's resourceful.

Lunch: pulled pork, coleslaw and salt and vinegar chips.

Prettiest farm dogs I've seen.

Fun with scapes.

To cook scapes: cut off flowery tip.

Slice into bite-sized pieces.

Heat a pan with about a tbs of olive oil over

medium high heat. Saute for a couple of minutes.

Add a few splashes of water to steam them a bit.

Saute until tender -- 5 - 8 minutes and

season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately and devour!

Father's Day feast.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Our next date involves fishing.

Love you xoH