The Not so Lonely Jimson Weed

Our back alley is filled with many varities of native wildflowers. (Ok, honestly, many of these wildflowers are not so much flowers - and are more accurately weeds - it seems one of our neighbors is a connoisseur of the fine weeds of west Texas.) One of these wildflower varieties is the Jimson Weed.

The flowers open after dark - during the cool part of the day. I'm sure they are also open in the cool early morning hours, but let's be honest, I'm not the most high-functioning gal in the early morning hours. And if I was, trekking to the back alley is probably not where you would find me.

I suppose it would be best to capture these blooms in the early morning sunlight that will be a project for another day.

You might recognize the flower, the Jimson Weed from a Georgia O'Keefe painting, Jimson Weed. O'Keefe was commissioned by Elizabeth Arden to paint this image for Arden's New York Spa. Bryan and I saw this painting at the O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe on our honeymoon last summer.

By Request: Coconut Cream Pie

When I was at Gene and Esther's house a few weeks ago, I ask Gene if there was any dessert he wanted in particular for the Father's Day dinner we had planned at our home.

Gene asked if I would be so kind as to make a coconut cream pie. Coconut cream pie with a meringue is his favorite dessert.

Gene then told me how when he was growing up his grandmother always had a coconut cream pie for him when he came to visit. It seems, as the only grandson he was spoiled from time to time.

I explained to Gene that I had never made a coconut cream pie, but I certainly was not afraid to try.

This weekend it was time to make good on my promise to Gene; it was time to bake my first coconut cream pie.

My grandmother once told me that everyone should have an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, as the recipes are better in the older cookbooks. There are no shortcuts taken. And, I'll have to agree - if you want to make a recipe the way grandma used to, use the cookbook grandma would have used. I pulled my BH&G cookbook off the shelf (copyright 1953).

Sure enough, I was able to find a recipe for a coconut cream pie.

If you would like to make the pie, here's the recipe:
1/4 cup corn starch

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk scalded (ok, I used 1 cup milk + 1 cup coconut milk)

3 slightly beaten egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup moist shredded coconut + 1/2 cup for the top of the meringue
1 baked 9 inch pastry shell

Mix cornstarch, 2/3 cup sugar, and salt; gradually add milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Cook 2 minutes; remove from heat.

Add small amount to egg yolks; stir into remaining hot mixture; cook 1 minute; stirring constantly. Add butter, vanilla, shredded coconut; cool slightly. Pour into baked pastry shell. Cool.

Yes, the perfect meringue. A proper cream pie should be topped with a perfect meringue.

1. Beat 3 egg whites and 1/4 teaspoon salt till frothy. Whites will whip fluffie if they're at room temperature. Now you're ready to add sugar.

2. Beat in 6 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. The meringue is ready for the pie when the sugar has dissolved and the meringue is stiff enough to hold a point, yet still looks moist.

3. Cover pie with meringue. Sprinkle 1/2 cup coconut on top of meringue. Bake at 350F for 12 - 15 minutes.

4. Enjoy!


This is the finished Coconut Cream Pie. I hear that it was very tasty, but I didn't get to try a piece myself - it was all gone by the time I got to it!

I also made a lemon meringue pie, which I learned at dinner was Esther's favorite pie. Must have been my lucky day!

Not every baking adventure is a success

Not every baking adventure is a success.
If a recipe calls for self-rising flour - one should really use self-rising flour.

I'm just saying...oops!

Western Swing and Other Things

This weekend Bryan's biz took us to a gig at a ranch on the canyon rim. The Western Swing Heritage Band played for the party goers.

Luckily, the high heat of the week was lessened by the cool Amarillo breezes.

Ha, did I say cool Amarillo breezes? That's only true if cool breezes means gusts of 30-40mph. At times we felt like we were being pelted by a sandblaster. But, I'll take the gusts of wind over the 95+ heat.

As I look at this picture from the evening at the ranch I have to chuckle. What sign is there of the wind on the ranch - if one were to believe this windmill they would think it was a completely calm evening! I think this group of musicians were genuinely excited to have a sound guy to to look after them. These guys were certainly a chatty bunch - sharing many stories of years gone by.

The jamming continued well into the evening providing many hours of dancing for the party goers. Honestly, I had never seen a party quite like this until I moved to Amarillo. Western Swing dancing is not exactly common in Eastern Iowa.

Bryan enjoyed mixing audio for this group. The plus side is that Western Swing is not very taxing on the gear.

I was excited that the gig was big enough to warrant a load-out crew - this meant I had to move less gear. And that's a good thing!

Until the next big gig...

Chicken Fajita Roll-Ups

While in college and for several years afterwards, I worked at Applebee's in Dubuque, Iowa. My favorite food to order at the end of my shift was a Chicken Fajita Roll-Up. After moving to Amarillo I decided to recreate my favorite dinner treat.

I made this roll-ups for our dinner gathering this week and thought I'd share the recipe I've developed. Perhaps someday I'll remember to use a camera to document the steps PW style.

Chicken Fajita Roll-ups
The recipe may for these may seem a bit complicated, but it's really not. Divide the tasks into 4 parts.

Step 1: Marinate the Chicken
Fajita Chicken Marinade Recipe
2 cups Water
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Salt
2 Tablespoons White Distilled Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Ground Chipotle Pepper
2 teaspoons Hickory Smoke Flavoring (Liquid Smoke)
2 teaspoons Garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Marinate 4 chicken breasts in marinade for no longer than 2 hours. (I also use chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts).

Step 2: Prepare the Pico de Gallo
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill until ready to build roll-ups.

Step 3: Prepare the Mexi Ranch Dipping Sauce
(this is essential to the enjoyment of the wrap - do not skip!)
1/2 cup mayo
2 Tablespoons minced onion
2 Tablespoons diced tomato
1 Tablespoon buttermilk (or milk)
1 Tablespoon White distilled vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon (or more!) canned green chile peppers
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
healthy pinch dried dillweed
healthy pinch cumin
healthy pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Step 4: Prepare Chicken Wraps

1. Grill marinated chicken (I use our George Foreman Grill).
2. Cut chicken into bite size pieces.
3. Heat tortilla on grill pan. Melt a handful of cheese on the tortilla (I use a Mexican Shredded 4 Cheese blend). Add chicken. Once cheese is melted remove from heat.
4. Top meat and cheese with pico de gallo and shredded lettuce. Roll wrap. Slice on diagonal.
5. Serve with homemade mexi ranch.
6. Enjoy!

At Wednesday night's dinner, Bryan shared that this was one of the meals that I had made for him when we first started dating. He shared with his friends that if this is how I cooked - I was probably a pretty good catch. :)

And a final note, if you serve the wrap with french fries (this would be a good idea!) Mexi Ranch is a fabulous dip for your hot french fries.

Bryan's reason to be excited about Wednesday night dinner guests

Yes, ladies and gents, this might be the reason that Bryan was so excited to have company for dinner on Wednesday night.

Ok, it's probably not the only reason.

Ok, I know it's not the only reason.

Wednesday night we had a pair of our good friends over for dinner. We enjoyed an evening of conversation, dining and sharing the story of our home remodeling.

Bryan was very excited that I stayed up late on Tuesday night to prepare our Triple Chocolate Cheesecake for our dinner party.

After the guests had left Bryan was eager to share another piece.

Very eager.

If you'd like to make the dessert that Bryan smiling on Wednesday night - I can't take credit for the recipe - check out Martha's recipe here.

High Noon on the Square 2010

Today the symphony sponsored a string quartet to perform as part of the Center City High Noon on the Square series.

My loving husband gladly stepped in to serve as my partner in techiness today. And, I think he might have actually liked it! It's a good thing he enjoys a bit of audio work - today was a toasty Amarillo day and we certainly invested some sweat equity into this afternoon's performance.


Several string players in the symphony agreed to play for today's performance despite the incredible heat.


The quartet serenaded the audience with some wedding favorites. Perhaps it was a little marketing for future wedding gigs.

And, yes, there was even a bit of audio gear to entertain Mr. Bryan.

Yes, I'm trying to take a lot of pictures - I'm trying to learn more about my new camera!

My brother, the Artist

Did you know that my brother is a visual artist? It's true! There's a reason I don't have much creative talent, my brother got most of those genes.

My brother currently is an artist living in South Dakota. Recently he's had an extra bit of well deserved recognition thrown his direction. Late last month he received notice from the South Dakota Arts Council that he is the recipient of an artist project grant. With these grant funds he will work to create a new body of work that explores the landscape of the South Dakota Badlands.

In addition, this summer his past work will be featured at the Figge Art Museum in the Quad Cities. If you are in the area you should check out the exhibition or, if it works in your schedule check out the artist reception on June 19.

We are lucky enough to have several pieces of his original artwork in our home. All of our pieces are from the earlier periods - maybe someday we will have a new piece.

If you are interested in seeing more of Chris's work you can check it out on his blog here.

New toy and weekend projects

This week I was the lucky recipient of a new (to me!) Nikon D100. This is my first DSLR camera. I had an SLR that I used for many years, but I had stopped using my Nikon N70 shortly after moving to Amarillo when it became more time consuming to use traditional film. In the years since all of my photography has been with my little Kodak point-n-shoot.

So, now that I have a new toy I hope to spend some time this weekend learning how to use it. I know I won't be able to master it in a weekend, it will be a source of entertainment and a new hobby for many years to come. Now I need to dust off my knowledge of aperatures and shutter speed and....

While I'm learning to use the new camera Bryan is resuming some work on the kitchen drawers. We have taken a long enough pause on the kitchen and now would like to have a place to store our silverware!

Hopefully some significant progress can be made in the coming weeks!

Luckily I have a husband who loves me very much and is amused by my random antics. Thank you sweetie!

Guacamole

Yummy.

My husband makes delicious guacamole. I waited a year for a batch of guacamole. Hopefully, I won't have to wait that long for the next batch.

Fruit Dip

Another recipe rooted in the theory that every recipe is better with a little bit of liquor.

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tsp. Grand Marnier

Mix, chill, enjoy with a variety of fruit.

Sausage Mini-Quiche

sI prepared these Sausage Mini-Quiches for a recent baby shower. The preparation work was worth the deliciousness!

Here's what you need:

1 roll Phyllo Dough

1/2 pound country sausage, sage

1/4 cup finely minced onion
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper

1 clove finely minced garlic

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/8 tsp dry mustard powder

1/4 tsp ground sage

1/4 tsp ground thyme (I didn't have ground thyme, so I used fresh thyme)

1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt

Dash of hotsauce
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
2 eggs
Shredded Gruyere or Swiss Cheese

Makes 24 mini-quiches

1. Prepare the Phyllo Dough according to the package instructions. Alternate a layer of Phyllo dough with a layer of melted butter. Build five sheets for one set. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut shells for the quiche. Fit each circle into the mini-muffin pan.

2. Saute pork sausage, onion, red bell pepper, and garlic together until the meat is no longer pink. Break up the sausage into small pieces as you saute. Let pork sausage mixture cool to room temperature.

3. Spoon 1/2-1 Tbs. of the cooled pork mixture into each mini-muffin cup.

4. Blend cream cheese, dry mustard, sage, thyme, onion powder, salt, pepper, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated.

5. Spoon egg and cheese mixture over sausage in each cup. Top with a sprinkling of Gruyere or Swiss cheese.

6. Bake 10 minutes in a 400F oven.

Enjoy!