Try to have a flashback…

(I thought I posted this PRIOR to my trip to Chicago, but then I found it saved as a draft today.)

(Source-EOnline)

‘Member that roasted red pepper soup I was talking about forever ago?

Well, I thought I would just let you know that it turned out AWESOME!

When I was reheating the soup for dinner, I made my asparagus.

I call it my asparagus, because its the only way I will ever cook asparagus because it is the best and tastiest thing I have ever ingested.  Trust me and peel some garlic.

As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, I throw in my asparagus and cover it with dill:

I saute the asparagus over a medium-low heat (covered if they are really thick like these guys) and then spritz them with lemon juice right before I take them off the heat.  Effing amazing.

Asparagus and red pepper soup need salmon.  Yummy, thick salmon:

I always buy salmon fillets with the skin still on them because as you can see above, the fatty lining containing things like yummy omega threes and flavor is still intact.

When I broil the fish, those omegas are released into the fish and your absorption of them increases.

I broiled this salmon 10 minutes with the skin side up and about 10 minutes with the skin side down.

(I swear my oven is off, though, so make sure the fish is no longer fleshy inside and flakes easily with a fork.)

It was literally that easy.  Except for the whole red pepper soup explosion thing.

Wordless Wednesday

In Memory on Memorial Day

I don’t have anything fantastical to report from Memorial Day.

To be honest, I was completely exhausted from our trip and then we had to drive an additional hour to visit my parents on Monday.

Because it was Memorial Day, I decided to make one of my grandmother (Bubba)’s pies.

Strawberry Pie.

I don’t have any specific memory of this pie, like I do many of her other desserts, but it felt appropriate for Memorial Day.  Both in significance, season and stars & stripes.

I’ve spoken about my grandmother before here, and it is so special to me that I am able to share her love of cooking on a day created to remember loved ones who have moved on. ♥

This pie is so simple and I know I didn’t do it justice.  I know what I did wrong, easily fixable for my next attempt.

First, combine in a saucepan:

Keep stirring it until it gets thick and syrupy:

While the filling is becoming delicious, put 4 cups of sliced strawberries into a pie crust.

I used a shortbread pre-made crust because I had absolutely no desire to make a crust Monday morning.

After my filling was done, I poured it over the pie crust and popped it in the fridge to set.

In my rush, I forgot to grab a pack of 2 pie crusts and with an impatient brother lurking around I knew we needed to make this pie happen.  Use your discretion on picking the right size receptacle for your ooey goodness – and don’t let children peer pressure you into “just dumping it all” in.

The pie didn’t have time to set (which would’ve taken a week or so based on the size), unfortunately.  We wanted to scarf it down long before it was ready.

OOPS.

No complaints here!  Next time, my pie will stay together – just you wait.  🙂  The fact that it didn’t turn out kind of makes me smile, because if you knew Bubba – she wasn’t the type of woman to let one failure stop her from success.

I hope that you all got to spend Memorial Day with the ones you love, remembering all the ones who’ve come before.

And enjoy some Strawberry Pie Soup ♥

Operation Diaper Wagon: Day Three

The final leg of our diaper wagon journey involved A LOT of police sightings and again, a lot of farm country.

We loaded our diaper wagon up with everything AND the kitchen sink:

Spent some quality morning time with the family…

I’d like to think that Unc’s expression here is saying “Hopefully nobody notices this sausage I just cooked is still raw in the middle.”

Based on the extended tour of Mayberry Hillsdale, I’m guessing that Unc + fam wanted us to stay a little bit longer, but alas we had to take our diaper wagon and head home!

There are two things we needed before we could endeavor on our long trek home:

+

Its safe to say that I was pretty chatty for the first leg of the journey.

After leaving Michigan, I feel like every hour we saw this:

WTF Ohio.  You’re killing me with your tolls and with your horrific sports teams.

There was literally nothing to even look at.

Cleveland.  Ew.

The only thing that even SLIGHTLY redeemed you?

I’m really not even sure how I got roped into stopping at the fireworks store just before the state line.

(Its illegal to sell fireworks that leave the ground in the state of PA so of course we just hop the boarder like Mexicans, grab our contraband, get the hell home and start lighting M80s before any of our neighbors realize who is the responsible party.)

Ahhhhh….a place that makes me feel warm and cozy:

It was smoooooth sailing from this sign baby!

My peep always tingles when I come around this bend and see the best fucking city in the world:

That’s not smog – its a filter and it was dusky.  Pittsburgh is actually a really clean, beautiful place to live so I thought I’d add the disclaimer!

Home ♥ Sweet ♥ Home

And now the real journey of the diaper wagon begins!!

Meet Dottie: