Say hello to my little friend

John called me out into the yard early one morning.

He found this guy (or girl, we didn't check) hanging out in my succulents.



Luckily I'm not one of those girly girls who is squeamish about bugs or reptiles or even spiders, in fact, I kinda dig on on the creepy crawlie things I find in my yard.

Hell, it's my husband and our friend Mitchell that are terrified of spiders. I find the occasional arachnid fascinating.

This little cutie made me smile.

I liked the feel of his little suction cup tooties against my fingers.

He seemed kinda sluggish, like he needed a good nap.

I placed him back on the pot from whence he came and let him do his thing.



We went out a few hours later to see if he was still there, but he hopped away somewhere.



Maybe he'll be back.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

During some of my relaxing time off I actually did a good bit of reading and catching up on my magazine subscriptions. There were a few lazy days that I sat in the gazebo, put my feet up and read my copies of the various foodie mags that were stockpiling themselves up on end tables. There was a mountain of them I tell ya.

I often will call out the names of recipes that I find interesting and announce them to whoever is around me at the time. Most of the time my announcements are met with “uh-huh” and “okay’s” and once in a great while I’ll even get a “sounds good”. Let’s just say the rest of my family doesn’t get as excited as I do with the prospect of a new recipe.

This was not the case with this recipe. I mumbled out “Hmm Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars” and my husband, who usually nods or grunts actually said, “I love anything that’s sweet and salty like that”. Wait, did I actually hear a coherent sentence?? I know I sound like the teachers on Charlie Brown to him when I have my face buried in a foodie magazine “Wah wah waaaa, wah waaa wah”. Did he actually listen to the words that were coming out of my mouth?

It was true. There were no nods, no grumbles, no grunts, not even a heavy sigh.

I was amazed.

Naturally after receiving such an enthusiastic response, I just had to make these for him.



Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars
Printable recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1-cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 – 12 ounce bag bittersweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch metal baking pan with parchment paper allowing overhang on the two long ends.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. At low speed beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chips and pretzels.



Spread the batter in the pan and top with the sprinkles. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. The center will still be a little gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool completely.

Run the tip of a knife around the side of the pan, and lift the bars out using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.



These bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Sliders

Here in Rhode Island we don’t have an In ‘n Out Burger, a Chick-fil-A, a Jack in the Box, Hardees, Arbys, or a Sonic (much to my husbands disappointment). Heck we had one Krispy Kreme and it went out of business. I’ve read about all these restaurant chains on food message boards and blogs, and the only one I’ve ever been to was a Sonic when we were in Pennsylvania. (The strawberry limeade was good. The onion rings – eh). So I’m sure it will come as no surprise after reading that list that we don’t have White Castle. I never even knew White Castle burgers existed until I saw the movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Isn't that pathetic?

A few years ago I started to see the White Castle sliders pop up in the frozen food section of my local mega-mart. I don’t buy frozen pre-made burgers, so a White Castle burger still never made it to my table, enough though I loved the idea of a little burger grilled with a layer of onions and topped with a pickle. I love onions.

So sliders are “in” now. I see them on restaurant menus; heck even the late Billy Mays was hawking a Big City Slider Maker on TV. Talk about the mother of all unitaskers.

I knew one of the talented bloggers I follow would eventually come up with a great recipe for delicious sliders that I could make at home, and they did. Thanks to Big Red Kitchen, you too can make these cute little burgers right in your own little kitchen (and they are easy too).



Sliders
Recipe from Big Red Kitchen.
Printable recipe
½ cup dried onion flakes
2 pounds ground chuck (80/20 ground beef)
½ teaspoon seasoning salt
6 slices cheddar cheese
24 small party rolls or slider rolls
24 dill pickles

Evenly spread the onions on the bottom of a 9x13 inch-baking dish. Gently press the ground beef on top of the onion flakes. Press evenly, making one giant pattie. Sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Using a paper towel, pat the excess grease from the top of the ground beef. (My note - there was way too much grease to pat these with a paper towel. I ended up pouring the grease into an old pickle jar while my husband held the hamburger with with a spatula so it wouldn't fall out. Worked out pretty well). Top with cheddar cheese and return to the oven for 2 minutes, or just enough to melt the cheese. (I didn't return these to the oven, the heat of the burger melted the cheese). Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into 24 patties.

Arrange the bottoms of the rolls on a large platter and using a spatula, place the patties on the bottom of the rolls. Top with a dill pickle if desired, then slap a top on those bad boys. Serve immediately.



Note: BRK stored these upside down in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will prevent the bottom bun from getting soggy from the onion layer. To reheat, place a few on a microwave safe plate and heat for 20 seconds, and then check at 5-second increments after that until warm.

One

John walked in the house this morning cupping this one lone cherry tomato in his hand.



Since our sunny days have been very limited (we're talkin' 5 tops in the last month) we thought our tomatoes would never ripen.



This little guy gives me hope. Come on sunshine.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I seem to be on a roll of making the most popular food blog recipes this week. First it was the carbonara and now it’s strawberry rhubarb crisp.

I’m fortunate to work someone who has an overabundance of rhubarb plants. He can’t give the stuff away fast enough. Last week he brought in a huge bag of freshly picked stalks. So much in fact that I had plenty to make this rhubarb crisp with and a whole bunch more to freeze for later use.



I know rhubarb is one of those foods that not everyone likes. It’s not the bacon of the food world, it more like, well the rhubarb of the food world, for lack of a better example, lol. Botanically speaking, rhubarb is a vegetable, yet we use it in recipes as a fruit.

I love its tartness. I especially love it when paired with other sweet fruits like blueberries, or cherries, or in this case strawberries. I’m the only rhubarb lover in my house, so I will share the rest. My rhubarb supplier always gets to taste the finished product too.

I think that’s why he keeps bringing me so much rhubarb.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Printable recipe
4 cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
2/3 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
zest from one lemon
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
1 cup old fashion oats

Preheat the oven to 350. Even divide the rhubarb into 8 ramekins or any other small making cups.

Combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon and lemon zest in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender. If you don’t have a pastry blender you can use two forks to cut in the butter. Blend until the butter is pea like in size. Toss in the oats and crumble the topping over the strawberries and rhubarb. Go ahead and really pack it on. The crumbly topping is the best part in my opinion.

Bake until the topping is browned and the filling is bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm, and I won’t tell anyone if you decide to put some vanilla ice cream on top either.

Happy Independence Day.

Taking a few days off to relax and be a lazy bum.
I've got some cooking to do for the 4th, but not too, too much.

The 4th of July is about grillin' and chillin' after all, so I'm going to take advantage of the lounge chair in the yard and actually lounge
in it for a change. John is the grillmaster, so all I have to worry about is sides and some fabulous desserts.

I plan on catching up on my reading, working a bit in the garden,
and spending some long nights with my family and friends by the fire pit.

I might even throw in a Margarita or two.

Enjoy your festivities.

Happy 4th!

Summer is bustin' out all over.

Everything finally seems to blooming and growing and flourishing here in New England.

I took my camera out, walked around the yard and snapped a few photos.

Clematis.



There are hundred upon hundreds of blooms on this plant.

Every year it gets bigger and bigger. I love it.

This is my mandevilla. It's slowly climbing up this trellis.



Here's one perfect bloom from the mandevilla.



My little succulent garden.



I love buying nasturtiums before they bloom so it's always a surprise as to what color it's going to be.

This year it's red.



Lambs Ear.



If you've never felt a lambs ear (the plant not a real lambs ear) you just can't imagine how incredibly soft this plant is.

Even though I love the bursts of color in the yard, I love plants that stay green all season long too.



Ferns are some of my favorites.



Mosses too.



Oh and I can't forget the silver mound.



This is the view down my driveway.
I like things kinda free flowing and wild.



Coleus have always been a favorite of mine.
I love all the different colors that they come. in.



Here's a couple of mushrooms hiding out in the lavender.



This little white chair sits in one of my favorite corners of the yard, nestled among the tiger lilies.





We love decorating the yard for the 4th of July.
We have flags all over.





Little bursts of color creeping between some rocks.



There's a few stone critters hanging out too.



Here is my most favorite flower of all.

My hydragena that John bought for me 3 years ago on Mothers Day. The plant was in bad shape and I thought for sure that it wouldn't make it till the next year, but much to my surprise, it grew and flourished and is now a huge plant filled with dozens upon dozens of beautiful blue blooms.

I adore this plant.

I picked up another one this spring and it's getting ready to produce a bloom. Looks like it's going to be a pink one (yes I know it's the acidity of the soil that changes the color). I'll snap a pic of that when it's ready.