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“I don’t know why anybody would eat fish that comes from warm water.” I had never thought about the difference between cold water and warm water fish until on day when we were talking about food, Alaska born Molly said that. I’m not much of a fish eater anyways. I love shell fish and you’d be hard pressed to find a fried shrimp basket on the Texas Gulf Coast that I haven’t tried. But I’ve never been a big fan of any type of fish filet.

I feel badly for my parents who love fish. They would literally wait for me to sleep over at friend’s home or go to summer camp and I think they would eat fish every night I was gone. As I’ve gotten older, I’m trying to branch out a little more. I like tuna sushimi, California and spicy tuna rolls and I’ll eat squid salad.

A few years back I got the South Beach Diet Cookbook. It was an interesting read and there are several recipes I absolutely love. One of those is the Spinach stuffed Salmon fillets. This recipe is so super simple, tasty and perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. It literally takes from start to finish about 15 minutes.

Process:

Take one salmon fillet and split it in the center. Squeeze out the excess water in one package of spinach, mix in two table spoons of pesto, a tablespoon of pine nuts, salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the mixture into the salmon and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or less.

Oh and Big Ups to EricaLucci for her new job and for taking the bus to work. Woot!

Sometimes I watch the Weather Channel. Not often. It’s one of those channels you don’t realize is on, don’t know how it got there, but nonetheless, it’s on. Sorta like when NPR turns off and switches to jazz. You’re still listening until something jolts and you switch the station.

So, it had to have been during one of those episodes when I saw these crazy storms starting in Central Texas and going all the up through Missouri. Michigan and Minnesota are still with freezing temperatures. It’s crazy. But in Arizona, things are as predictable as always. Today was our first official 90 degree day and in another two weeks we’ll be flirting with 100 and we all know too well what happens once we hit the century mark…oy.

Before we’re all confined to our air conditioned homes, this is the time of year where everybody is outside enjoying the weather. Neighbors grill outside, kids play in pool and the sunsets become more amazing. Right now it feels like a lazy Spring evening.

I grew up in a house where there was always iced tea in the refrigerator. Our brand is Lipton. I don’t brew tea all the time, but through the summer, I usually have some on hand. I used to be a two teaspoon of sugar and squeeze of Minute Maid Lemon, but now I’m a Splenda and take it or leave it lemon. My mom is totally hooked on mixing in a spoonful of Minute Maid Lemonade mix into her tea. Her own quick Arnold Palmer (or if you’re from Baltimore a Half and Half).

What I did here is just take a simple Arnold Palmer and mix in Prickly Pear syrup. The syrup has a subtle sweetness, so I didn’t have to add any sugar or sweetener to the mix. For every 10 oz. of tea, I added 1 T of syrup and a quarter of a lemon. It was so refreshing and light.

I hope that if you’re reading this from a state that’s still stuck in the craziness of Spring weather that you remember this when the weather finally turns. Cheers!

There’s a coffee shop by my house has a board up for patrons to write down song lyrics they thought said something else. If this was a contest, I know I would win hands down! Nobody can mess up a song like I can. A few years ago I got a red convertible, and named it Cherry Pie. To compliment this new little zippy thing, I downloaded a lot of songs with the word “cherry.”

You can guess a few right? “She’s my cherry pie” by Warrant and “Cherry Baby” by Erick Donaldson. And there was one song I couldn’t find, no matter how much I searched for it. I searched by artist, I searched by key word and no luck. One day I was at the office and I had it and I asked a co-worker if they would help me. I told them about the mix tape I was making for my car and that I wanted to find one more song, “Sweet Cherry Pie.”

“Sweet Cherry Pie?” Yeah you know the one, “Sweet Cherry Pie. Da da da. I think that Neil Diamond sings it.” Only to hear in reply, “Every body in the USA knows that the song is Sweet Caroline.”

I adapted the recipe below from the published Sprinkle’s Strawberry Cupcake recipe.  Previously, when I made this recipe I used fresh strawberries and I didn’t feel that the strawberry taste was pronounced enough. So, with this adaptation I used frozen cherries. And, the taste was still very mild. I think maybe it would have been stronger if I had used cherry pie filling instead, but I don’t know.

Cherry Cupcake Recipe

Makes 1 dozen

• 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen cherries, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature

I love that I’m 30 years old and my parents still take the time to send me an Easter basket. Today my whole family is in Texas, cooking a big Easter lunch, hiding eggs for the two who are still young enough to hunt them and going to the Lake to try to get some hint of a tan.

There’s something that has always been deceptive about sunshine, Easter and tanning for us. It’s this time of year that it’s sunny enough that the lure of brighter days tease that it might be warm enough to actually get some sunshine and start working out the gray that’s set in over the past 3 months. And it never fails that after Easter lunch, someone will say, “Hey. Let’s head out to the lake and lay out for a bit.” And it never fails that we get swim bags put together, drive out to the lake and get settled out on the pier, only for 20 minutes to pass before the first person says, “Hey. I’m going to head inside.” It’s not long after that one by one we all start to head back into the house.

Since I’m too old to hunt Easter eggs and I’m not going to be around any kiddos today, I didn’t dye any this year. But I have been craving egg salad and today seemed as good as any to make some for lunch this week. Egg salad is simple, so paying attention to the quality of the components is important.

Boiling eggs as you can imagine is pretty fundamental when making egg salad. When prepping to boil the eggs, set them out for 10-15 minutes to help take the chill off of them. This will help ensure that they boil evenly through out. Put enough water in pot so that all the eggs are submerged in water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add the eggs. For a hard boiled egg, it only needs to boil for 10-12 minutes depending on the size egg. (Soft boil eggs require 4 minutes for runny, 5 for medium and 6 for a partially firm yolk). When they’re finished cooking run cool water over them and I allow mine to sit for a few minutes in the cold water. Crack and peel. And don’t be fooled you can over boil and egg.

Easter Egg Salad
Makes 2 big sandwiches

5 hard boiled eggs (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (homemade if you have it)
1/2 juice of a lemon
1 t yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients and serve on a sandwich or crackers.

And in case you were wondering, it’s 65 degrees in Central Texas today.

I’ve always heard that you can tell that a girl’s from Texas if she can drink beer. Most people equate Lone Star Beer with The Lone Star State, but a beer that I’m finding more often outside of Texas is Shiner Bock beer. In college Shiner was elite keg party beer. Usually the Shiner keg was tucked away and you had to be invited to have some. Now that I’m gainfully employed; I can get Shiner whenever I want.

Shiner, TX is a small town about an hour to 90 minutes east of Austin. The population of the town is about 2,500 which is  about the same size of the town I grew up in. Do you know that kind of place? There was a time in high school that my friends and I sat at the lunch table and named everybody in the room (first and last name). That’s a small town!

This St. Patrick’s Day I wanted to make Irish Stew, but as I was mixing and simmering in the kitchen I started to deviate from the recipe and ended up with what I’m calling, Shiner Bock Stew.

From the Shiner website, they describe their beer as:

Shiner Bock is a distinctive, rich, full-flavored, deep amber-colored beer. Its handcrafted brewing process creates an inviting smooth taste without the excessive bitterness that characterizes many micro, specialty and imported beers.

Shiner Bock Stew

32 oz Beef broth
2 Bottles Shiner Bock Beer
1 T garlic
1 T dry Thyme
2 T tomato paste
2 lbs stew beef
1/4 c oil
3 lbs yellow potatoes (chopped about 1/2 inch slices)
1 lg yellow onion (diced)
2 c chopped carrots (chopped)

For the broth
Brown the beef in soup pot with oil. Add beef broth, beer, garlic, thyme and tomato paste in large soup pot.

For the other ingredients
Brown potatoes, onion and carrots in large skillet for about 10 minutes. Add veggies to beef broth.

To finish
Allow to cook for 40 minutes. Tastes better the next day.

One of my favorite Phoenix blogs is Lunch Bucket Bento. Lisa and crew are a bento toting, Daring Baking group. A few times a week, she posts snapshots of what I believe are the coolest lunches in town. Sometimes her posts are a simple list of what was packed and other times, she shares simple, but delicious recipies.

My work routine has changed this past quarter and my plans to ride the bus one day a week haven’t been working out. So, in thinking about how I can change just one thing in my day to help out Mama Earth, I’ve been taking my lunch to work more. I’ve been pretty good these past few weeks and as I was packing my lunch, I kept thinking how useful a bento box would be.

This weekend I acquired my very own bento box! I’m so freakin excited and it’s so much fun thinking about how much flavor I can pack in on little box!

This week I’m working through a batch of Sonoma Chicken Salad and Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey.

I don’t know what website I was trolling when I saw this simple recipe for Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey, but it’s super tasty and has really hit the spot this week.

Cantaloupe with Chili Powder and Honey

1 Cantaloupe (balled)
2 t locally harvested Honey and Mint
1-2 t chili powder

Method:
Mix it all together and enjoy!

Spring training baseball games in Arizona, hiking Camelback mountain and patio dining are all hallmarks of Arizona spring. We trade 4 months of 110+ degree days for 6 months of crisp autumn nights and bright spring days. So, when it seemed that my whole Twitter posse was kite flying and bicycle riding yesterday, I had to join in.

We headed to Tumbleweed Park in Chandler, the ride is only a few miles away, and it’s close to the new recreation center that just opened early spring.

A Boston Cooler seemed to be in order when kite flying was over. Boston Coolers are like a Root Beer Float, but made with ginger ale instead. Some sources site that the Boston Cooler came first and companies like McDonalds followed suit with Coca-Cola and ice cream. In Texas we’d make Coke Floats and you can even order them at Dairy Queens in Central Texas (along with tacos, but that’s a whole other story) or we’d make my favorite Dr. Pepper Floats. Can you imagine how good a Cherry Dr. Pepper Float would taste?

Boston Cooler

3 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2 can Vernor’s Ginger Soda

Preparation:
Put ice cream in a highball glass and slowly add the ginger ale. Enjoy!

If you’re from the South, you’re familiar with Velveeta cheese, white break and Miracle Whip sandwiches. I grew up on these sandwiches and it’s amazing that I’m not a million pounds. Come to think of it, my Mamaw would also make her macaroni and cheese with the stuff.

It was one day when I was at friend’s house and her mom was making us sandwiches when she asked me what I would like on it; mayonnaise or mustard? When I realized that the mayo she was referring to was real mayonnaise I almost gagged. But before I could protest, her mother said, “I can’t believe some people use Miracle Whip. That will never enter this house.”

All of a sudden I doubted the sandwich I had grown to love. Was Miracle Whip, dare I say, a little country? Not wanting to appear anything less than pristine, I ordered my sandwich with mustard and for the better part of 15 years, I’ve always made my sandwiches with mustard.

Editor’s Note: There was a little stint in college where I kept a sample size jar in the back of the refrigerator. But we were all a little crazy back then and I was living on the edge.

It’s been recent that I’ve actually started to appreciate the taste of real mayonnaise. I’ve started using it as a base for dips and I’ve been pleased with the taste. And I started thinking I should try to make my own.

The bonus of making your own is that you can play with what type of flavor you want your mayonnaise to take on. Use olive oil and garlic for a Spanish Aioli or go simpler with lemon juice and vinegar if you’re going to pair it with ham or roast beef use yellow, brown or Dijon mustard.

Classic Mayonnaise from Gourmet Magazine

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature 30 minutes
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive or vegetable oil (or a combination), divided
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Whisk together yolk, mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until combined well. Add about 1/4 cup oil drop by drop, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken. Whisk in vinegar and lemon juice, then add remaining 1/2 cup oil in a very slow, thin stream, whisking constantly until well blended. If at any time it appears that oil is not being incorporated, stop adding oil and whisk mixture vigorously until smooth, then continue adding oil. Whisk in salt to taste and white pepper. Chill, surface covered with plastic wrap, until ready to use.

References:

Classic Chicken Salad from Food Network

Aioli from Gourmet September 2002

Emergency Cupcakes from Superwife 

I’ll post more on these later, but the picture turned out too pretty not to share! Happy Friday!

…And HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!