Tomato Tip! From Kari's Garden

How to get your green tomatoes ripe:

My sister, Kari, grows a beautiful garden every year. This year I decided to give it a go and grow some tomatoes. Here they were when they were babies, the first day I brought them home from the nursery:

Now they have gotten HUGE! But the growing of actual fruit has been slow moving. I was only getting flowers and then.... nothing. On the 4th of July my sister came over and trimmed all of the green leaves off my plants and left nothing but the little yellow blossoms. Poor things looks so naked and sad, but you know what? Within three days I had little green tomatoes popping up everywhere!

Moral of the story is, this year's mild heat and overcast days are not enough to get the tomatoes to ripen without a little help (aka haircut). The leaves on the plant are to shade the fruit from excessive heat and direct sun so we, Oregonians, need to clip away the shade and protection that the leaves provide. Clipping away the extra leaves also allows the fruit to benefit from getting all the nutrients that would have otherwise been shared with the leaves. It just speeds up the process so you don't find yourself at the end of August with nothing but a recipe for fried green tomatoes.


Clip off any green leaves but not the blossoms or the fruit

 You'll end up with a pretty large pile of leaves to discard but that is GOOD! The bigger the pile and the more naked the plant, the better!

To make it a little more fun, do it with a friend

One step closer to a delish Caprese salad!

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day

I am obsessed with Mrs. Meyer's cleaning and home products! Check out their website here: 
http://www.mrsmeyers.com/
The website is ultra cute but the products truly speak for themselves. They have a variety of different fragrances and I think I've tried them all. For summer I love the Geranium fragrance and for winter they have a lovely Pine fragrance. In between seasons I usually stick to Lemon Verbena. 
For touch up cleaning I use this on my kitchen counters:

And I wash my dishes with this lovely liquid dish soap:

I use the liquid hand soap in the kitchen and every bathroom in the house:

I completely and sincerely enjoy their soy candles AND they are great gifts:

Goodbye Glade Plug-ins! Hello Mrs. Meyer's scent diffusers!

Oh, I'm HOOKED! 

Swedish pancakes!

My mom is exactly half Swedish and half Norwegian. Which means that my grandmother is 100% Swedish and my grandfather is 100% Norwegian. I grew up with a Scandinavian nursery rhyme that went a little like this:

Rida, rida ranka
Hästen heter Blanka
Vart skall vi rida
Hem till att fria

I was a little surprised when I found out my other friends as school didn't know it... 

My mom makes home made lefse, krumkake and Swedish pancakes! Swedish pancakes are amazing! I would say they live more in the crepe family than the traditional pancake family because they are so thin and delicate. And you know what? There are some really delicious ones that you can make from a BOX! Yup, thats right. It looks like this: 

Lund's Swedish pancakes are delightful! Just follow the directions on that back of the box. I add a dash of vanilla extract to the batter but everything else I follow exactly. And don't be alarmed, the batter is very thin. Don't add more of the dry mixture, just go with it! I promise, you won't be disappointed! 

Hands down, BEST Apple Pie!

Ah, apple pie... You know why apple pie is so great...? Because it's the perfect dessert all year round! It's quite patriotic for the fourth of July, and its cozy and comforting during the holidays. I featured this pie on my fourth of July menu. I got it off of my trusty "go-to" website allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-pie-by-grandma-ople/detail.aspxbut I've made a few modifications to the original.  Here is the step by step. 


What you'll need: 
- 9" double pie crust (I use Pillsbury pre-made pie crust because I've yet to make a better one from scratch and so... whats the point?)
-1/2 cup butter
-3 tablespoons flour
-1/4 water
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
-6 granny smith apples
-a few dashes of cinnamon


-Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
-Peel, core and slice apples

-Lay one of the 9" pie crusts into the bottom of a 9" pie pan.

-Layer the apples along the bottom and top with a dash of cinnamon.

-Repeat

-And repeat again until you have a little mountain of sliced apples topped with cinnamon.

-Lay the second 9" pie crust on a clean surface.

-Using a butter knife, slice into even strips. 

-Place a side strip on the furthest edge of the pie.

-Skip the next strip, select the next and set it at the 1/4 point of the pie.

-skip the next strip, select the next and set it at the 3/4 point of the pie.

-Skip the next strip, select the last strip and set that at the opposite edge of the pie.

-Select the strip that is closest to the pie and set is horizontally at the 1/4 point. 

-Select the next strip and place it horizontally at the middle point of the pie.

-Select the last strip and place it horizontally at the 3/4 point of the pie. Now you have a nice lattice top.

-In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium low heat.

-Stir in flour

-Add water, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.

-Bring to a boil

-Reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. 
-Pour mixture evenly into the holes of the lattice crust.

-Ready to go into the oven!

-Bake of 425 degrees for 15 minutes. 
-Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft. 

There you go, BEST apple pie! The end.

Bbq Halibut Steaks

EASY breezy grilling recipe! As seen on allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/barbeque-halibut-steaks/detail.aspx


No hours of marinating required, just baste and grill!

Shopping list: (serves 3)

-2 tablespoons butter

-2 tablespoons brown sugar

-2 cloves garlic minced

-1 tablespoon lemon juice

-2 teaspoons soy sauce

-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

-1 (1 pound) halibut steak

-Preheat grill to medium-high heat

-Place butter, brown sugar, garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce and ground pepper into a small sauce pan.

-Cook over medium heat until, stirring occasionally until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. 

-Lightly oil grate.

-Brush fish with sauce and place on grill.

-Cook 5 minutes on each side, basting with sauce. 

-When fish is fully cooked it should easily flaked with a fork.

-Discard remaining basting sauce and serve. 

Mada inspired: Basil Lemonade

This recipe is inspired by Mada. All of the Mada hair products have a distinctly refreshing lemon basil fragrance which I love. 

Have you tried Mada? You should! 
http://www.madahair.com/

I found this recipe here: 
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/drink/views/Basil-Lemonade-238928

While I am posting this step by step recipe for Basil Lemonade, please note that you can use the basil lemon syrup for all kinds of things like Vodka Gimlets or iced tea. 


What you'll need: (serves about 6 cups)


(basil syrup)
-4 cups packed fresh basil
-4 cups water
-2 cups sugar
-9 (4x1 inch) strips lemon zest


(lemonade)
-2 cups basil lemon syrup (see above)
-2 cups cold water
-2 cups ice cubes
-1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice


-Measure 4 cups (packed) fresh basil

-Cut 9 (4x1 inch) strips of lemon zest. 

-In a medium sauce pan add basil and 2 cups of sugar

-Add 4 cups of water and lemon zest.

-Bring mixture to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. 

-Cover and remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour.

-Transfer to an air tight container and chill for 1 hour. 

-Meanwhile, juice your lemons to yield 1 1/4 cups fresh juice.

-Strain basil lemon mixture into a bowl through a fine sieve, pressing hard. Discard solids.

-In a pitcher combine 2 cups basil lemon syrup, 2 cups cold water and 1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice. 
-Chill until ready to serve. 

-Serve over ice. 

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!