The World According to Bella

Well I did not get good news from the vet. I went last week for my yearly check-up. The doctor looked at Mr. C and shook his head. ”Don’t like what I see. There needs to be a change.”

Fear gripped me. What could be wrong?  Was death imminent?  Did I have some bad disease?  It was then I heard the dreaded words, “No more extra treats for Bella. She has to lose some weight.”

So I guess my summer of lounging around has finally caught up to me. But really some days were so hot it took all my energy just to go from my resting place on front porch to my resting place on the deck to my resting place inside under the table.  

I am on what Mr. C calls a restricted diet. But lately I seem to be having these nightmares.  I am always trying to reach that red box of milk bones on top of refrigerator or trying  to pry open the pantry for snacks. But I just can never quite reach them. Sometimes I even wake up in a cold sweat panting. Mrs. S worries about my recent weight gain. She wasn’t sure I’d be able to fit into my Blaze Orange Neoprene Vest with Armor-Flex Chest Protector, a needed attire for the Fall season.  But here I am in photo modeling last year’s vest. Really, I have many weeks before hunting season starts to lose those extra pounds.  As you can see I still look pretty fit in last year’s model even though I feel silly wearing it. Lucky for me the vest has velcro adjustments. It just covers my tummy.

No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does

Christopher Morley

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Chicken Tortellini Soup

Cook’s notes: This recipe is an Italian version of chicken noddle soup.  The recipe serves six.

Even tastes better the second day but may need to add more chicken broth. The cooked tortellini absorbs a lot of the juice.

Ingredients:

• 1 package fresh tortellini (I used a product called Buitoni found in the deli section but other products can be found in freezer section) do not cook tortellini ahead
•  1 can diced chunky tomatoes (I used a product called Hunts Roasted Garlic)
• 1 cup finely chopped carrots
• ¾ cup chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• ½ cup green/red peppers
• 1-2 TB. minced garlic
• Italian seasoning (½ tsp of each  basil, thyme, oregano, parsley)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• Optional: 3 TB. dry red wine

Directions:

• Cook 2 chicken breasts, then chop into chunks and set aside
• Sauté in fry pan 2 TB. Olive oil, onions, carrots, celery, peppers, minced garlic and seasonings to mix about 3 minutes, then reduce heat, cover and cook 8 minutes more till vegetables are tender. Be sure to stir occasionally so mixture does not stick in bottom of pan
• In a soup pot add 6 cups chicken broth, chunky tomatoes, sauteed vegetables, 1 tsp. sugar, and wine
• On low heat uncovered cook mixture for about 30 minutes, add in tortellini and cook 15 minutes longer  

Serving suggestions: Add a dollop of prepared pesto to each serving and grate Parmesan cheese over bowl. Serve with warmed crusty French bread and fresh fruit

Late Summer Fare

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. 
The important thing is to not stop questioning."

 Albert Einstein 

Sticky Stout Barbecue Sauce

Cook’s notes: “Sticky” is a Kansas City barbecue (and Asian) term for thick and sweet sauces. The sauce can be made three days ahead. Pour into a covered container or jar with a lid and reheat when ready. This sauce is great on spare ribs and Chinese pork ribs.

I seem to gravitate to recipes where ingredients are used in an unusual combinations :)

This recipe was adapted from  Southern Living October 2011

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2TB. butter or vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bottle of Stout beer (11.2 oz.) (I used product Guinness)
• 1 cup spicy barbecue sauce (I used product Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet’n Spicy Barbecue Sauce)
• ¼ cup fig preserves (look in deli section of store)
• 2 TB. apple cider vinegar 

Directions:

• Saute onion in oil or butter
• Over medium high heat for 4 minutes
• Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more
• Gradually stir in beer cook 8 minutes or until mixture is reduced by half
• Reduce heat to medium and stir in barbecue sauce, fig preserves and cider vinegar
• Cook 4 minutes or until heated through
• Soon over meat while grilling and drizzle some of sauce over meat when serving

Cold Herb Potato Salad

Cook’s notes: More dressing may be needed for the amount of potatoes used. But start with basic dressing of Miracle Whip, herbs with pickle relish and mustard. Salad tastes better if made day before for flavors to meld.  

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of potatoes-peeled and cut in large chunks
• 1-1/2 cups of Miracle Whip
• 2 TB. parsley flakes
• 2 TB. dill
•  ½ -3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 TB. pickle relish
• 2 TB. mustard
• 4 hard boiled eggs chopped
• ¼ tsp. celery seeds
• 2 chopped celery ribs

Directions:

• Bring salted water to boil with potatoes and then cover cook till tender about 25 minutes
• Drain and then return potatoes back to warm pot and let sit at room temperature for an hour or so. This gets rid of any excess water
• Mix Miracle Whip, herbs, mustard, pickle relish
• Add chopped celery and eggs to potatoes and then add in dressing. Make needed adjustments for dressing  

Evocative Prose with Cookies

A good book, a cup of coffee and ginger cookies are a combination hard to beat.
Astrid & Veronika is Linda Olsson's first novel. The prose is lyrical, moves quickly with short chapters. It is the story of two women who develop an unlikely friendship set in a small Swedish village. Astrid is practically a recluse in the story who has lived almost her entire life under one roof. Veronika who has traveled the world is a writer, has rented a secluded home next door to Astrid. As their friendship deepens the women find they are each other's inspiration as their tragic secrets are shared. Their journey together leads them to emotional healing.
I felt the author did an excellent job crafting sentences that gives the reader a sense of character and setting. I enjoyed the way poetic lines were sprinkled throughout the novel at the beginning of each chapter. 

Chapter 5

I shall build it with a towering turret

called solitude.

Consider adding to your fall reading list. 

If you had time to browse the board I started on Pinterest (see Sept. 5 posting) I have downloaded titles of other books I have enjoyed the past few years. You might get some good ideas.

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Ginger Molasses Crinkles

Cook's notes: The recipe called for 4 TB. molasses. If you like more of a molasses taste I'd suggest increasing to 5 TB. This was the first time I had made the recipe so I went with 4 TB. so taste was a little on the lighter side. Recipe makes 2 dozen cookies. This recipe was quite easy to make and looked festive with the sparkle of cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

FYI: I did not consume the whole plate of cookies in photo while reading. But the temptation was strong!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups salad oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 TB. molasses
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 TB. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger
• small bowl of sugar and cinnamon combined

Directions:

Preheat oven 350

• Mix all ingredients. Place dough in freezer for an hour so it is well chilled.
• Roll dough into balls about 1 inch
• Keep dough refrigerated till needed for next batch
• Roll cookie balls into cinnamon sugar mixture
• Place on a ungreased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes (with my oven 12 minutes worked fine)

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Pinterest

Pinterest is an addictive social networking site that is loads of fun to browse and collect ideas. it is a content free sharing service that allows members to "pin" images, videos and other objects to their pinboard. The categories are quite extensive ranging from recipes, crafts, home decor, photography, travels, health, humor, quotes and many more to numerous to mention. 
So I took a "leap" and jumped into the site. I have a few boards started with books I have enjoyed and recipes and crafts I'd like to try. You can follow my board by using this link
http://pinterest.com/
The following craft idea came from a friend who gifted me with a bag of "goodies". She was quite clever even cutting out another brown bag and fitting it to her paper load in computer to run off the words: brown paper packages tied up with string and here are a few of your favorite things. Twine was added as a decorative item. Perhaps this came from Pinterest. If not it should be on the board

Please note: The feathery red plant from the Art Crawl on 84 photo (posting Sunday Sept. 2) was incorrectly identified. The information was corrected on the blog posting.

Autumn Thoughts

If you ever need a gift idea for a family with children then this is the book for you. Caroline Kennedy has complied a beautiful anthology of children's favorite poems. In the introduction she talks about how poetry played a special role in her family life. Her mother began a lifelong relationship with literature by reading out loud with her grandfather. The first poem her mother Jacqueline memorized with her grandfather was "And What Is So Rare As A Day In June?" Caroline and her brother John were encouraged to write or choose a favorite poem for each holiday or birthday as a gift for their mother and grandparents instead of buying a gift. Caroline put this book together a result of her work in the New York public schools because students showed her how poetry can connect each other in a new and powerful way.

With the start of school this week it is the unofficial end of summer. In the section called Seasons Caroline included a poem her mother wrote called "Thoughts". She felt it captured the feeling of sitting in school daydreaming about a life of adventure. And at some point most children in their school years have to write about Autumn. Caroline hoped by including this poem it might inspire some future poet to write about their back-to-school-days.

The illustrations throughout this book are paintings done by John Muth. They are exquisite and really capture the feeling in each poem. 

Thoughts

by Jacqueline Bouvier

I love the Autumn,

And yet I cannot say

All the thoughts and things

That make me feel this way.

I love walking on the angry shore,

To watch the angry sea;

Where summer people were before,

But now there's only me.

I love wood fires at night

That have a ruddy glow.

I stare at the flames

And think of long ago.

I love the feeling down inside me

That says to run away

To come and be a gypsy

And laugh the gypsy way.

The tangy taste of apples,

The snowy mist at morn,

The wanderlust inside you

When you hear the huntsman's horn.

Nostalgia-that's the Autumn,

Dreaming  through September

Just a million lovely things

I always will remember.

Repurposing

Art Crawl on 84

This is an annual Labor Day weekend art crawl in northern Minnesota. It is a thirty-four mile stretch in the rural area of nine outdoor stops filled with fine art, fiber, sculptures, food, clothing, jewelry,  baskets and many more things too numerous to list. What struck me about this art crawl was the ingenuity and creativity artists showed taking used items and finding a new purpose for them. Think Steampunk Jewelry.

This was a lamp made with parts of a meat grinder and a strainer for a shade

Lawn art made with plates

Scarves made from men's ties

Now here is an item every lady needs for their shopping trip. It is large, sturdy and holds a lot. Not only is this a great conversation piece but no one would ever guess these were once chicken feed bags repurposed into an artful item. 

 Along the way we discovered... 

This interesting plant is called Amaranthus Caudatus or Love-Lies-Bleeding. It is annual easily grown from seed. The plant originated in South America and parts of the plant are edible and used by the natives. It is also called the Tassel plant,velvet plant or Foxtail amaranthus. 
What better place to stop and have lunch than at small local cemetery along the route. We found a shady spot to take a rest. You know shopping can be hard work!

The story goes that these wooden boxes are caskets of two Indians buried in this cemetery in the 1800's

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Revisiting Chicken Florentine Recipe

Cook's notes: This recipe was posted on  August 21.  I tweaked it a bit so here are some minor changes I made to the original recipe 

Chicken Florentine

Ingredients:

·        8 oz. dried bow tie pasta or pasta shells
·        1 small onion chopped
·        1 TB. butter
·        2 large eggs
·        1-1/4 cups milk (2%)
·        1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
·        ¼- ½ tsp. crushed red pepper
·        ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
·        2 cups cooked chicken (diced)
·        2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
·        1-jar 6.5 oz. artichoke hearts, drained and diced (I used Cara Mia product)
·        ½ package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (use a paper towel to squeeze out moisture)
·        ½ cup oil packed dried tomatoes, drained and chopped or 1-1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
·        ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
·        2 slices of whole wheat bread 
·        ½ tsp. paprika
·        1 TB. parsley flakes

Directions:

·        Cook pasta according to directions but cook al dente, drain
·        In a skillet saute onion in 1 TB. Butter and set aside
·        In a bowl whisk eggs, milk, ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper and crushed red pepper and mustard
·        Stir in chicken, Monterey cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, artichokes, spinach, tomatoes,  cooked pasta and onions
·        Transfer to a greased 3 qt. rectangular casserole dish
·        Bake covered @ 350 for 20 minutes
·        Uncover and sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top and bake 10 minutes longer, let sit 10 minutes before serving

Bread Crumb mixture-mix in a Cuisinart 2 slices of bread, then add parsley flakes.1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 1 TB. melted butter

Corn Chowder Soup

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving,
but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day
worth living."
F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Corn Chowder Soup

recipe adapted from Cuisine at home magazine September/ October issue 2012

Serves 6-8

Cook's notes: What really caught my attention for this recipe was not so much the ingredients but what I call "a brilliant execution" of getting the corn off the cob! Something I would have never thought of but really such a simple idea. The problem I had with photo below is I did not have anyone around to take picture while I showed "the how to" So do your best imagining as I describe. 

Place cob in center of bundt pan funnel. Hold onto the cob firmly with one hand and with other hand use a knife to pare kernels off.  Once the kernels are in the bundt pan can easily be poured into soup mixture.

Ingredients:

• 3 strips of bacon
• 8 ears of fresh corn or one bag of frozen corn (do not cook corn ahead of time)
• 1 onion diced
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 cups half and half (use fat free to reduce calories)
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 jar of roasted red peppers or chopped green pepper
• 1 large carrot diced
• 1 cup finely diced celery 
• 1 large potato (Yukon Gold) peeled and cubed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp. thyme 
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

• In a fry pan cook 3 pieces of bacon and set bacon aside
• Drain some of the bacon fat down to 2 TB. then saute onion, garlic, celery, potato, carrot in 2 TB. bacon fat for about 15 minutes
• Add to onion/carrot/celery/ potato mixture the corn, bay leaf, thyme, mustard and chicken broth, cover and simmer about 20 minutes till potato and carrot are done   
• Whisk flour into half and half and add that to corn/broth mixture, mixing well
• Place 1/3 of the mixture in a blender to puree and then add back to saucepan with rest of soup and continue cooking adding in shredded cheese
• Cook on low heat uncovered till soup thickens
• Remove bay leaf before serving :)

Serving Suggestions: 

• Add crumbled bacon to soup right before serving
• Serve with Blueberry Muffins and fresh fruit

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Pumpkin Update: Recently I consulted a reliable source, a man who grows pumpkins, and he said "the time had come." The stem was black and it was not going to grow anymore. But what really spurred me into action was when he inquired if I was having trouble with deer getting into the pumpkins. Fear crept over me! I couldn't get home fast enough. Those dreaded deer show no mercy to gardeners. I took one last picture. The pumpkin is now being stored in a cool dry location. 

I do have another one coming along nicely and posted picture on right. 

Can you imagine some of my friends thought I had staged this picture!!!!