Dad's Green Beans #1

I went to Kennebunk on Tuesday to pick blueberries at Aunt Jeanne's house. Sadly, in her part of Southern Maine, looks like BB season is coming to an end. I did end up with about 3 cups of berries, BB and blackberries. (These went directly to the freezer... muffins to come.)

After a swim in the pool to cool off - we headed to see my Dad for lunch. This is where we found that his garden was having no trouble producing these beautiful green beans! I ended up with about 3 lbs, we brought some to Nathan and we left some for Dad's dinner!! I love green beans - so you can see that I was very excited!

I have been SO busy that these poor green beans sat in the refrigerator for a good part of the week before I could explore my options with them. Then I asked Brian how he felt about eating 2 different green bean dishes with his BBQ chicken for dinner... He was all for it! YEA!

Moosewood Potato Bean Salad
3 C potatoes
1/2 C red onion, thinly sliced
3 C green beans (Thanks Dad!) 2" pieces
2 C chickpeas (1 can drained)

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. In the mean time, prepare the onion and place in a large bowl. Once the taters are done, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water and add immediately to onions.
Then the green beans go into the pot - I only cooked them for about 5 minutes, I love crunchy beans! Open and drain chickpeas and add to the big bowl. Once the beans are done, they join the mix in the big bowl.
Everything needs to cool - so I let them rest on the counter for a while - then off to the refrigerator.
I think you could probably use just about any dressing that you like for a potato salad, but I tried one of the Moosewood recommended options.


Cumin Yogurt Dressing

1/2 C plain yogurt
(I used Brown Cow, cream on top for a creamier dressing)
1 clove of garlic pressed
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin

Mix it all together, and put into the refrigerator too.

This is the finished product. It was delicious!! The onions are tender because they were lightly cooked by the hot potatoes - they were perfect.

The yogurt recipe called for optional mint or cilantro - which I didn't have - but I think that adding an herb would make it even better. Maybe a little heat would be nice too. The yogurt is so cool with the sweet green beans, I think it would be nice to add the cilantro, and maybe some cayenne. There is some yummy ancho chili powder in my spice cabinet which I would have probably added if I were at home. By the way, this dressing would be great on a baked potato or as a dip for veggies or even chips. It was tangy and tasty.

I must say that I love Wicket and Roger, but I also love cooking in their beautiful kitchen. Spreading out from one end to the other, and having room to spare is a special kind of peace for me! Some day! (Imagining my giant center island in my new house with a compost waterfall)

Dad's green beans were grown with love, I found this at the bottom of the bag!!

Dad's Green Beans #2

Farm House Cookbook written by Susan Herrmann Loomis. What a great book - she has travelled all over the US to gather recipes right from the folks who farm the land. Traveling for 2 years, she visited farms, ranches, dairies, vineyards and orchards. (How fun would that be!)

Green Beans with Walnuts and Lemon

1 lb green beans
1 lemon - juice & zest
3 Tbs butter
S&P
1 C toasted walnuts*

Steam green beans to your liking, mix chopped walnuts, butter and lemon with the cooked beans. Serve this right away because the citrus will make the beans lose their bright green color.

*350 degrees for 10 minutes.... they will smell yummy and you'll know they are ready

Generally when cooking green beans, I use a little butter and S&P - the easy way! The always tasty way. There are a lot of times, when nuts will end up in the mix too. Everyone loves green bean casserole, but who can open a can of mushroom soup to make that dish in the middle of the summer? This new recipe might be the easiest tweak to an already simple preparation.

There is something about the lemon and the toasty walnuts that has made me vow to prepare them this way for all of my friends and family. It was a simple addition to what I already enjoy - and it made these beans taste like summer. It would be great to serve this with the Thanksgiving spread, something light to balance the rest of the food on my plate swimming in Dad's homemade gravy!!

I will bring the leftovers to work for dinner - cold lemony green beans.... mmmmm....

Mama Dodge's Blueberry Muffins

With a few Blackberries! Yummy! Whenever I bake muffins - I use this recipe. It is basic but perfect. Having finished one just a moment ago, there is definitely something to say for packing two in your snack bag!

Muffins

Heat oven to 350 degrees
1/2 C soft butter
1 C sugar
2 eggs
Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. When I don't have my mixer - I find a fork is the best solution!

2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Sift together the dry ingredients. Sometimes a little cinnamon is a nice addition to the blueberry flavor.
1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
I always measure the milk and add the vanilla right to it. You now alternate between adding the flour mix to the wet mix, and the milk to the wet mix. This becomes a fabulous batter that you can add just about ANYTHING to! I have made multiple variations using this as a base depending what fruit is in season or how many banana's are turning brown. There are more muffins to come! I am sure of this.

2 1/2 C wild Maine Blueberries* (frozen is great though it slightly impairs the baking powder's ability to do it's job - they won't raise up on top as much)

Add the blueberries to the batter and scoop into Pammed muffin tins. It always makes 1 dozen muffins. Bake for 30 minutes, test with a toothpick.

*I added about a 1/2 C of blackberries too - they were near the BB's while I was picking so... it was just natural. This ended up being a very moist muffin since I added the extra berries.

Here goes nothing...

Being a part of an enormous family, food is the focus of all gatherings. When you are bringing together 30 people, 3 dogs and 4 cats for a meal, you need to spend some time preparing. You better have snacks waiting for the people that come early to watch the cooking taking place! (or some Frito's for me if I'm in the kitchen!)

As far as I remember, the Dumas family has only gathered to eat. Well, yes, it is usually some kind of celebration - graduation, new baby, new job or Uncle Mike's in town - they all need a hearty spread and at least 2 different pies for dessert. The kitchen is where my family lives, and this is how I started cooking.

When? Can't remember exactly. My job was to crimp the edges of Dad's pies with a fork or paint the top with egg. Stirring the gravy - which seemed especially important because of my almost unnatural love for Dad's gravy! (I can help create this liquid gold... sign me up!) At the big gatherings I am usually the designated smasher of all things smashed - potatoes, turnip, squash...

Cooking is never a chore and always an adventure, but baking is where my true love lies. With a mouth full of sweet teeth, I need to continually try new recipes to keep them satisfied. Sharing the kitchen with Dad, Amy, Chris, Aunt Jeanne, and more and more often, Brian, I find a kind of satisfaction that can't be found elsewhere. At home, I use my Dad's recipes and open the cookbooks that he and Aunt Jeanne have collected for me over the years. It is my family and my home that I find in the kitchen and this is what keeps me going back.




A side note: moderation. I have a hard time with this one - but I will mention it. Something that makes it easier for me is my bike. A nice long ride will always balance my cookie intake!

Thanks to Uncle Peter, I now have the first ever Cookie-Bike. Paid in full - with cookies.