Fresh Butter Beans!

We went to the local Farmer's Market today for something to make for dinner.  It was a hot and busy day with lots of people shopping for fresh produce.  Today's list included Red Delicious apples, russet potatoes, locally grown onions, butter beans,  Vy's Pies , and to see if the quilt lady they advertised about was really my sweet friend Pauline.  I got lucky on so many counts.

Now for the confession:  I do not like Lima beans or butter beans.  Really and truly.  The real reason I picked up the butter beans today was for my daughter Paulina who loves them.  Neither she nor I had ever eaten them fresh.  The amazing revelation is that fresh butter beans taste NOTHING like the canned or dry ones.  They were amazing.  They were so good that my oldest daughter (who never eats anything green) loved them!

It all started with a small bushel of locally grown, fresh butter beans. I dumped them in the strainer and rinsed  well to get off all the little leaves and dirt.

Into the pan they went with just enough water to cover and some salt for flavor. They boiled for thirty minutes.  I drained them and added some butter (you really are not surprised, are you?) and stirred well so the butter melted.

The butter beans were wonderful! Needless to say, there were no leftovers. I am amazed that she and I both loved them.  A new favorite bean to our menu!!

The proof is in the picture. Billieanne....actually eating something green. I love my beautiful daughters.

Scratch cake and allergies....

It is Wednesday! Youth group meeting night at church.  I made it home from work with about 2 1/2 hours to spare before leaving for prayer service.  I figured that would give me just enough time to get a dessert going and to make dinner!

I don't buy pre-mix cake mixes very often.  It seems like a waste of money when making a cake from scratch is just as easy.  I dove into my trusty "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook" copyright 2001 by Hearst Communications Inc.  It is one that I like to use a lot. Page 652 is a recipe simply titled "Yellow Cake"  It only has 8 ingredients (not including the frosting).  I mixed this up and decided to add some green food coloring since it is March!

While I am whipping this together I am talking on the phone to a sweet friend whose kids also go to youth group with mine.  She asks me what kind of frosting.  Obviously, my immediate answer is "chocolate".  HMM...she says.  He can't have chocolate.  So I switch it up to straight vanilla buttercream.  And I am happy to do it.  I am already aware we have a peanut allergy in our youth group so I make sure I never send anything with peanut butter.  I was very happy to be able to accommodate this allergy as well.

I didn't really think about it too hard until I actually started making the frosting.  I have never made buttercream without a splash of milk in it.  I confess, I like to use milk when I make my buttercream.  Tonight was a first.  My buttercream was strictly butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and green food coloring.  I used extra butter and extra vanilla.  I think it turned out pretty good.  It must have, as the pan came home completely empty!  And of course, there was that text message from my daughter.  The young man told her to tell me "I was the best".  That made my whole evening!  I am glad I could do that because I don't ever want anyone to be left out on goodies!

Something has just occurred to me.  Typically I cannot bake when I am sad.  It always flops.  I am sad but the cake and frosting did not flop.  And I know why.  I was talking to my sweet friend.  She and I are both going through a deep valley and we are both learning to "be still".  Her love and concern carried me while I was trying to show care and concern for her and for my kids at youth group.  Is it any wonder the Bible tells us:

" not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another,and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25 NKJV


Makes sense to me! Thanks for your love sister! You know who you are!!  I really don't know how people make it without a church family? I know that I cannot.

Pasta, Salad and stuff

Today was a long day.  We had an Evangelism Tea at our church.  It was a lot of fun. My big sissy came all the way down from Richmond and sat with me.  It was a good time.  Unfortunately, I was rather melancholy when I got home.  I think it was because the speaker's message really struck a chord with me topped off by the fact that I guess I am worried about my husband's test results and my current job status.  WHEW....that is a lot!

This morning while lounging in bed before hitting the shower, I watched the new episode of Trisha Yearwood's cooking show on Food Network.  I love her cooking show but I was especially interested in it today because she was having her husband, Garth in the kitchen.  I really like him and I love Trisha because she is so REAL.  Her recipes on the show today were very diverse.  I have to admit I will never try her black bean & tofu lasagna.  My family would probably run me out of Dodge if I served tofu!  The Ty's Thai Salad sounded lovely.  The peanut butter balls looked delicious and deadly!

After the tea today, I headed to the grocery store alone with my melancholy self to buy milk and eggs.  After hugging my favorite cashier  Oshaine ( and trying to remember to only call him Shaine) I meandered through the produce department.  I suddenly found myself craving the salad I saw Trisha make.  I started throwing things in my cart and trying very hard to keep a count on the amount of money I was spending.

Here is the link to the original Trisha Yearwood recipe:

Trisha Yearwood's Ty's Thai Salad

So I started out by chopping up my cilantro.

There is something earthy and luscious about the smell of cilantro.  It speaks to my heart somehow and I truly love it.  Lately I have been trying to find different ways to use it.  Next I smashed three cloves of garlic. I confess, the Italian in me had me adding more garlic.  Her recipe only calls for two but I added one more.  I love it when I get the smell of garlic on my hands.  I know I am weird.

The dressing for the salad is the strangest I have ever tried.  Two cups of olive oil and one whole cup of sugar!  It was actually very tasty, not to mention a vibrant green!

Here it is in all of its green glory!  It was very, very sweet.  The ingredients were few and basic, olive oil, sugar, cilantro and garlic.  Quite the dressing!

After making the dressing I began to chop up my red cabbage, Napa cabbage and cucumber.  Now I have to make a confession:  as I chopped away (at the same time making my main dish of chicken and pasta) I completely forgot about the edamame. I also had neglected to buy a green onion while at the store, although I am proud of myself as I bought all the ingredients from memory with the green onion the only thing I forgot.  But alas, I forgot to include the edamame in my salad.

I threw some fresh, ripe avocado on top of my salad and three tablespoons of the cilantro lime dressing.  It was a yummy salad.  This was my very first experience with Napa cabbage.  I did not like it very much.  It was kind of curly and weird.  I am not sure what I should substitute it with? Any ideas?  I did like the red cabbage and the addition of the avocado.

I guess I am off to clean up my disaster I left in the kitchen from trying a new recipe.  Sometimes I turn into a tornado of disaster when trying a new recipe!  Don't forget to set your alarm to get up in time for church tomorrow!

Potatoes, Parrots and other GREEN things

Tonight's dinner was cube steak, baked potatoes and corn.  I wanted REAL steak but feeding a family of five + one requires some frugalness!  I needed steak as I have been dying to make a chimichurri sauce ever since I had it at a restaurant. And I must say, it turned out beautifully!

This is what I did:

(1) large bunch of cilantro, stems chopped off
(1) large bunch of Italian parsley, stems chopped off
(3) cloves of garlic, chopped and smashed
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
water

I do not own a food processor.  If I did, I definitely would have used it!  I put the most of it in my Kitchen Aid blender.  I added the garlic and then (1) tablespoon of the oil, vinegar and water.  I pulsed it for a minute then continued to add the liquid ingredients a tablespoon at a time until I got a smooth-like consistency.

I then transferred the ingredients to a bowl and let sit and "marry" while my son (God bless him) went outside in the 29 degree cold weather on the back porch to grill my steaks! He put the fire pit on to keep his backside warm while the front side of him was kept warm by the grill! It was not too bad for him out there!

I guess by now you are wondering where the potatoes and parrots come in, right?  We had one baked potato left over after dinner.  Our parrot LOVES potatoes!  I cut open the potato and put it in his cage where he happily proceeded to eat it.  He is such a goof ball.

Dinner was successful overall.  There was no steak or chimichurri left over. And the last potato went to the parrot!  This is a picture of me and Louie! My lovable, crazy Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot!