Cool Cucumber Soup

If you are like me and find yourself with an abundance of cucumbers from your garden, here's an idea for a soup that is simply delicious!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients
• 2 cups Greek Yogurt (I used low-fat)
• 1 cup Vegetable Broth
• 2 English Cucumbers, peeled, diced, and divided (I used regular & removed the seeds)
• 4 Green Onions, sliced, divided
• 2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Dill
• 2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 4 teaspoons (a little over 1/3 lemon) Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 teaspoon Salt (I only used ½ a teaspoon)
• Croutons

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine Greek yogurt and vegetable broth; set aside. In a food processor, purée 1 peeled, diced English cucumber, 2 sliced green onions, chopped fresh dill, and chopped fresh parsley.
Add the cucumber mixture, fresh lemon juice, and salt to the yogurt mixture; whisk to combine.
Stir in 1 more peeled, diced English cucumber and 2 more sliced green onions; refrigerate for 1 hour.
Garnish each serving with chopped dill and croutons.

Did I mention that a BLT sandwich compliments this soup nicely!

Best wishes for a safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!  

Wordless Wednesday . . . Maine Moments 2013

I'll be joining Vee's notecard party ~ click here

One Year Ago

She Called for Pie

She Called for . . . Bundt Cake!!!

Happy girl

This smile says it all!

This is my niece "C", she was the happy recipient of the bundt cake that I cooked in "A's" pan that I blogged about here My Wish Came True!

We had made arrangements to join my sister and her family for dinner.  I forgot to ask her if there was anything I could bring.  I was going to ask if she'd like me to bring a dessert.  Before I could call back, a text message came in from "C" asking for my orange cake!

                           

She said "OMG, just give me a spoon!"  LOL!!!

I never replied to her message!  But I phoned my sister back and we surprised "C" - she said she didn't think I'd bring it, because I didn't have enough time to bake one!

"C" is in middle school and she was on vacation with her parents, her older sister was working and she was at the cottage "dorm" alone!  The room had 6 single beds and she loved it, especially when she had some of her friends visit!

This particular day was rainy and my brother-in-law said he'd only seen "C" a few times - for bathroom breaks and food breaks!  LOL

I've mentioned before that "C" has awful food allergies.  She can't have dairy, nuts or shellfish.  So when when we cook or bake for her we need special "butter" and "milk" so that she can eat it. 

I'll post the family heirloom recipe later this week!  It's a recipe that my nana used all the time.  Every time I bake this recipe I feel like she's in the kitchen with me!  I can still remember her handing me the beaters to lick!  

I always thought the batter was frosting when I was little, and she explained the difference.  All I knew is that it tasted good!

One Year Ago

Happy 100th Birthday and Boeuf Bourguigno 

My Wish Came True

  

This past June I did a post on Lemon Spiral Bundt Cake and it was delicious! At the end of my post I said "I'd be thrilled if they (Nordicware) would send me their 12 cup anniversary pan! LOL!!!" Well, my wish came true - but it wasn't from Nordicware either!

Unfortunately, my next door neighbor had to go into a nursing home because her alzheimer's had progressed to a point where it wasn't safe for her to be in her home any longer. Her husband had passed away a couple of years ago and her disease progressed rapidly once he was gone. They did not have any children to help take care of them. She had some nieces that she was very close to and they decided to put her in a home. Then after two years they decided to sell her home.

I felt sad about all of this, "A" was a lovely lady, and she used to pop over all the time! I also felt sad because her nieces never mentioned any of this to us - putting her in a nursing home or selling her home. What they did was bring in a giant dumpster and empty the contents of her home into it.

My husband happened to notice her husbands snowblower shield (about a $200.00 item) in the dumpster, being curious he did a little "dumpster diving" for himself. My husband loves to recycle, and he is now the proud owner of a snowblower shield!

My husband also found the Nordicware 12 cup pan! It's a treasure I'm proud to own, and I'm thrilled my husband rescued it. The pan brings a smile to my heart when I look at it, and I fondly remember my lovely neighbor. I have no idea how old the pan is, but "A" baked all the time and she made many cakes in this pan. When I received my Bachelors Degree "A" and her husband came to my little party and she made me a pistachio cake in this pan - it was delicious!

In a few days I'll post the happy face of the recipient of a bundt cake made in this pan! 

No, it won't be "A" but she was very happy!!!

Lobster Stock & Seafood Risotto

What a day, what a day, what a day!!!  My good friend Susan at From Beyond My Kitchen Window came to visit us in Maine!  We were sad that her hubby couldn't make it, but we still had fun!!!  We did lots of touring, lots of seaside gawking and lots of cooking!

Tonight Susan treated us to her home-made seafood Risotto!  It was better than any dish I've sampled in 5 Star restaurant!

We started by making our own seafood stalk!  Susan was the genius behind this idea, and it made all the difference in the world.  Our "Top Secret" recipe is below!!!

Fill your pan about 3/4 full with water.  Take the carcass of your lobster or any shellfish you have, add an onion, pepper corns, white wine, lemon wedge, Old Bay Seasoning, parsley, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes.

Strain through a cheese-cloth into a bowl or use a coffee filter if you don't have cheese-cloth.  Once you've used what you need, freeze the rest!!!

We used this stock to make a seafood risotto!   You can follow any basic risotto recipe, add fresh seafood (the secret to this amazing dish).  We added fresh lobster, shrimp, scallops & calamari, and organic green peas!

Below is our first cooking video!  We'll probably keep our day jobs!  Enjoy!