Summer rolls in...

As the Atlanta weather heats up, its time for summer foods!  Gazpacho has been a favorite around the house for over a year now.  Fortunately, many of the ingredients are now fresh (or fresher) as the summer rolls in.

Gazpacho is a great, light, refreshing dish.  I continue to forget to log the recipe I use as I make it.  I generally just make it to taste so it is more difficult to write down.  I will get it on here eventually though.  I have had several folks ask for a recipe for it.

Recipe: Tuno-fish Salad

This recipe makes a very large amount so folks may want to half the ingredients however, it was perfect for our family of 3 dinner and a few lunches over the next couple of day.  It should keep about a week or so.

Tuno-fish Salad

45 oz of chickpeas
1 1/3 cup of vegan mayonaise
1/3 cup of seaweed (dulse and nori are best)
1 1/2 tablespoons of dill relish
1 tablespoon of onion
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of vinegar (plum is best)
1 teaspoon of mustard

In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until broken down but not pureed.  Pour the chickpeas into a large mixing bowl, this make take several smaller batches.

In the food processor, combine all other ingredients and puree until smooth.  Add the ingredients to the chickpeas and mix thoroughly.  Once mixed well, chill for 30 minutes.

This was a big hit in the house.  Kaleigh even wanted to take a sandwich in her school lunch the following day.  Delicious!

Good Shows, Good Bands, Good Times.

I have gotten to attend some good punk and folk/punk shows recently.  One, I was asked to record the local band Paradox set for a VHS they are releasing.  We finally got it edited and it looks great!

At that same show, I got a chance to see Pissbath for the second time.  They played with one of my favorite locals, Mercenary and some out of towners, Aspects of War from Boston and System Fuckers from Japan.

Pissbath

Mercenary

Aspects of War

System Fucker

A few weeks later Ashley and I got a chance to welcome home our friend Dakota.  He played with some local folks as well as the traveling band Turncoat Collective, Cottontail, and the very exciting Moon Bandits!  It was a great show and there were lots of doggies running around the house to entertain everyone in between bands.

Moon Bandits

Turncoat Collective

Two days later, I hit up a local punk bar and saw some new locals as well as The Flex from the UK and Violent Reaction, also from the UK.  I was there for Violent Reaction and they did not disappoint but I will also say that the local band, Know Your Rights was also very good.

Violent Reaction

The Flex

This spring has been a good time for shows and I hope to catch a few more before summer rolls in.

Summer is coming!

Growing up in Maine, rhubarb was a common treat paired with strawberries.  Here in the south, rhubarb is more of a commodity.  Ashley, Kaleigh and I found some inexpensive rhubarb at the farmers market and decided to make some strawberry rhubarb lemonade!

It turned out really well.  Tart and extra sweet.  We used about 12 lemons, a cup of strawberries and a stack of rhubarb, then loaded it up with sugar!  There is nothing like fresh lemonade.

We also had Kaleigh's favorite, roasted brussel sprouts and one of Ashley's favorites, spaghetti squash with pesto.  Both great dishes for the warming weather.  Summer is almost here.

Cooking with Kaleigh; Part 16: Fruit Salad

when we film Cooking with Kaleigh, i is typically a recipe that I have and taught her to make.  This time, it is her very own recipe!  Lots of fruit, lots of yogurt and an extra addition that throws the fruit salad over the top!

We are so proud of her, not many 7 year old's have their own recipe.  She is a special kid.  This video is a little longer than the others because she wanted to be able to show everything.  In fact, it was over 30 minutes but I got it edited down to around 6. 

So excited for her!  She loves this dish and requests it all the time when we ask her what she wants for dinner.

Hiking at Sweetwater with our house guest!

For a week now, we have been dog-sitting.  Her name is Sandy and she lives with Ashley's sister but they are on their honeymoon.  Sandy is a great dog and it has been great for Kaleigh.

One day last week, during Kaleigh's spring break, she and I took Sandy for a hike at Sweetwater Creek State Park.  It was Kaleigh and my 2nd trip there this year.  I think it was Sandy's first time on a hike, she loved it!

Due to a recent rain, the creek was flooded and some of the trails were a little washed out but it was still a great time.  Before we left, Kaleigh packed our lunch, Peanut butter and jelly's with almonds on the side and we each got a banana.  She also packed her new binoculars!

Getting better and eating well!

Ashley had recently been saying she wanted some sweet potatoes.  We do not have them often, not for any particular reason though.  We all like them and they are a healthy option.  Now that I am starting to feel better and regain some strength, I decided it was a good time to succumb to the requests for sweet potato soup.

We coupled the soup with the equally starchy, New England shepherds pie!  A layer of mock meat, a layer of creamed corn, topped with a layer of thick mashed potatoes!  Growing up in Maine, this was what all shepherds pie was like.  It has always been a favorite of mine and it makes anough for us to take to work as well!

Deep Frying!

I have had my new deep fryer for about a month now.  We have made some great things so far.  One of my new favorites is an old recipe that used to take forever to make due to the frying process.  My seitan chickin nuggets!

With my deep fryer, the process now only takes minutes when we hit the end step.  It is amazing.  The crunch is so much more consistent as well.  They are amazing the following day for lunch too.  It really has perfected the dish.

This time, we had them with some roasted cabbage and smashed potatoes with gravy.  I can not wait to get some time to try some of my other recipes in the deep fryer!  This thing is a gold mine!

The Pizza Dilemma

Surprisingly, for  7 year old, Kaleigh does not like pizza very much.  Unfortunately, it is Ashley's favorite food.  We try to only eat pizza when Kaleigh is not home but sometimes, Kaleigh has to give in.

However, Kaleigh does really enjoy making pizza's at home, just not eating them.  Over the last couple of weeks, we seems to have found a happy medium.  Calzones!  For whatever reason, Kaleigh seems to like calzones but not pizza.

Using Ashley's awesome clay pizza stone, we have made individual calzones.  We all get the opportunity to put on whatever we like.  Ashley and I both vegan cheese while KAleigh skips it.  Kaleigh and I both load up on mushrooms while Ashley skip those.  It works out great and the pizza stone cooks to perfection.

It is also nice to follow up a great calzone dinner with some ice cream sundaes!