• about home, garden, life

home, garden, life

~ home, garden, life ~ sharing a sustainable lifestyle

home, garden, life

Tag Archives: cooking

the kiss system

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by home, garden, life in Dreamsicle recipe, easy recipe, quick desserts

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Albemarle County, Central Virginia, change of seasons, comfort food, cooking, easy desserts, easy recipes, summer dessert recipe, the kiss system

a photo of me during my design days...

During the years I worked as a residential interior designer, most of the fabric houses had what they coined the kiss system…attached to the main sample were smaller flags of complimentary fabrics, often making the selection process simple. The acronym translated, “keep it simple, stupid.” These days, I would prefer to drop the last s, as stupid is not accurate, nor kind. Yet, I digress…

Since 2000, I wandered into the world of food, where keeping things simple continues to be paramount. Needless to say, I never offered wedding cakes as part of my repertoire. As owner of a one-woman operation, my mission is: “respect the earth, create memorable food.” Additionally my steadfast slogan is: “there is a fine line between order and chaos,” and the kiss system is still as effective today as it was during the last decade.

springtime has simple written all over it...

springtime has simple written all over it…

As temperatures rise, my appetite declines and I seem to crave cool, easy, no-brainer (stupid?) recipes. If you follow my posts regularly, the last was about chocolate gelato…today, my recipe is even more simple…

Remember the Dreamsicle? Recently, I began craving this flavor and created the following in a matter of minutes:

begin by adding one can of full fat organic coconut milk and one can of organic frozen orange juice, to a blender...

begin by adding one can of full fat organic coconut milk and one can of organic frozen orange juice to a blender…

add both cans to the blender with 1/4 up of sugar and whirl...

add the contents of both cans to the blender with 1/4 up of sugar and whirl…

pour this into a loaf pan or glass cold-proof container and freeze...

pour this into a loaf pan or glass cold-proof container and freeze (shown here with cream floated on top after orange is frozen)…this can be then scooped OR

OR slice the frozen orange gelato and serve with a pretty garnish...

slice the frozen orange gelato and serve with a pretty garnish…no sticks necessary!

When orange is first frozen, add a half-inch layer of heavy whipping cream to the top and freeze again. This is super right out of the freezer, as the coconut milk keeps the texture smooth and not too hard to scoop. Slices make for a nice presentation.

June in Louisa County

June in central Virginia

OK, is this wee recipe something you might try during these steamy, soon to be summer days?

Happy summer and be safe!

If you have a minute, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!

Copyright © 2015 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

Ready Set Go or when NOT to proof the dough in the oven!

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by home, garden, life in Daily Prompt, sustainable lifestyle, The Daily Post

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bread dough, cooking, Daily Prompt, food, humor, proof, The Daily Post

Oh, so clever I thought…

proof the bread dough overnight in the oven.

The joke’s on me—forgot the dough—heated the oven for crusts!

Voila!

Copyright © 2013 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

Like this:

Like Loading...

thank a pumpkin

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in blessings, healthy food, photography, pie, quick meals, quick recipes, recipes, season, Stretch Gardening, sustainable lifestyle

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Buy Fresh Buy Local, Cinderella pumpkin, comfort food, cooking, Cooks Illustrated, healthy food, home garden, Long Island Cheese pumpkin, quick recipes, seasonal food, soup, stretch gardening, Thanksgiving, vegetarian

Fall delivers shapely pumpkins to home gardens and farmer’s markets.
I frequently select a beautiful Cinderella variety—as I relate to the story—work, work, work, during the holidays.

Long Island cheese pumpkin

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I created a luscious soup recipe to share with my dedicated blog followers. It gracefully transitions traditional Halloween décor into a memorable starter or a main course. This pretty pumpkin decorated my front stoop from October until this morning, when she came inside for a final shower.

Next she succumbed to the ice pick…

Next she roasted at 400F for two hours until tender.

cool this beauty before removing seeds and skin

When the roasted pumpkin feels tender to the touch, let it cool then remove the meat from the skin—separating the seeds and string, all while avoiding spills of the copious liquid. In retrospect, simply cut the pumpkin into huge wedges, seed, then roast. I vaguely remember doing this last year and most the liquid evaporated, making the pulp removal a breeze.

Diane’s Recipe: Sauté a large, peeled/sliced sweet white onion in 2T olive oil, add 1.5 lb. drained pumpkin pulp (do this in a strainer), 1T sugar, 2t ground coriander, 4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth (I use Imagine Organic), sea salt and black pepper to taste. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add one sliced/peeled/seeded Bartlett pear, remove from heat for 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to puree contents in the pot, or for a finer texture, process in a blender working in batches. Add 2T sweet butter to finish.

Serve in pretty cups garnished with chives and cilantro. Serves 6

Freeze any remaining roasted pulp in 2C containers, as this is the perfect portion for more soup or pumpkin pie. Cooks Illustrated has a perfect pumpkin pie recipe that calls for cooking the pulp a bit more to remove additional liquid…a super solution.

ready for the freezer

the finished soup

Oops, I see the Cinderella light flashing! Now where is that glass slipper??

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

POST SCRIPT: This is pumpkin is actually a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, an heirloom variety. Another favorite is the Rouge Vif D’Etampes if you can find it.

By the way, check out http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/thank-a-pumpkin-making-pumpkin-soup/ to see this post on the Home Depot Stretch Gardening Series! Who knows what else you will find there! Good Stuff!

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

Like this:

Like Loading...

cauliflower love

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by home, garden, life in Back Yard Birds, birds, Bluebirds, color, farmer's market, home ownership, Lifestyle, photography, spring flowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

baking with julia, blueberry muffins, Bluebirds, cooking, cruciferous, crunch crunch, farmer's market, food, photography, vegetarian

Who says we cannot get excited about a vegetable?? When I spotted this beauty at the farmer’s market Saturday, I thought, “come to mama!”

If ever you grow this cruciferous veggie, you will quickly learn this is not an easy process. I only purchase these, as I have not the time or patience. But OH how I love thee! Every time I opened the fridge on Sunday, I admired my prize and contemplated how I would devour it. Too pretty for soup…

This morning I could no longer wait, so I broke off a few florets and placed them in my trusty steamer. Piping hot, and with a healthy splash of olive oil and a light sprinkle of sea salt, down the hatch it went—crunch, crunch, crunch.

Sunday I had a few folks over and decided to break my rule of not cooking blueberries. My three bushes are loaded this year, therefore armed with Baking with Julia, I whipped up eighteen muffins, that turned out lighter than air.

Not huge or gorgeous, these melted in our mouths, or rather—were enhaled by my guests. I saved a few back and enjoyed two for breakfast at room temperature. YUM! The only thing that I would alter in the recipe, is REDUCE the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. I forced myself to freeze the remaining four and test how they handle the cold. Yeh, right!

The following are a few additional snaps from Saturday’s market—too beautiful to omit. Enjoy!

Bluebird Update

This morning the bluebird pair returned with their two chicks in tow. Both babes look wonderful, freckled, and still begging for food, as mama begins rebuilding her second nest for the season—in the same box. I fear the third fledged chick did not survive in the wild, yet I must focus on the success of the remaining two. How adorable to witness one chick mimicking mama by picking up a pine needle!

I awoke this morning to find both bird feeders toppled by some large critter, I presume the marauding raccoon. It will be a challenge for this new BB nest cycle. Have not seen the likes of the black racer since Sunday week, yet it too will be a risk for nesting birds—until I can capture/release it. Gulp!

Now back to the chores of this homeowner. The pressure tank begs to be replaced. Where is that plumber?

You all have a great week and please visit your local farmer’s market and fall in love with a veggie!

😉

Copyright © 2012 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved

Like this:

Like Loading...

Check out HGTV where two of my garden designs are featured…

I was featured on HGTVGardens.com!

Search this blog

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

G2B13

G2B15

DO NOT COPY ANY PART OF THIS BLOG

Protected by Copyscape Web Plagiarism Detector

Essay Titles

  • Another blueberry spring
  • Spring garden projects
  • Chocolate Ginger Molasses wafers
  • Winter warmer when we pause
  • The twilight zone is real
  • Projects keep coming…
  • Feeling it
  • the journey continues
  • My food journey
  • Brownies, Keto Style
  • Keto almond crackers
  • If you are climbing the walls…
  • Three hours of sun
  • “this too shall pass”
  • there is no place like home…
  • the perfect Tiny House
  • Miracles everywhere
  • And so it goes…
  • Transform, transition, resilience
  • An Artist’s Way
  • Sunday’s monster project
  • Meanwhile
  • how fragile we are
  • what I learned about Keto
  • small steps
  • do no harm…
  • will this convince you?
  • Plastics…a soapbox tale
  • Let’s clean up our act
  • 2020…are we ready?
  • All I want for Christmas
  • Thanksgiving…remembering love
  • At last
  • Keto “potatoes”
  • When critters call
  • Keto bread revisited
  • My report on Keto
  • for the love of rock, II
  • give a gardener a cool summer day…
  • Oh July, July
  • Kale, the ultimate chip
  • gone Keto
  • she’s baaaack!
  • Perhaps missed
  • for the love of rock
  • the anatomy of a popover
  • the garden visitor
  • what blooms this week
  • porch envy
  • Summer in Virginia

Seasonal Topics by Month

More to explore

Protected by Copyscape

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • home, garden, life
    • Join 553 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • home, garden, life
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: