It's soup time. Seriously.

It's summer and a light dinner really hits the spot when it's 200 degrees outside, right? Try this one. We made it up tonight and it was really good. We ate a cucumber dish on the side because we had cucumbers that we had to eat, but you should probably eat something else with it.

Squash-tastic Summer Soup

(2) minced cloves of garlic

(1) medium sliced yellow onion

(2) tbs. olive oil

(2) yellow squash cut in cubes (well as close to a cube as you can cut from a round vegetable)

(1) tsp. honey
(3) tsp. vegetable bouillon base

(3) cups of agua

(1) measuring cup to measure the aforementioned agua

1 ½ tsp. rosemary ground in a mortar and pestle

a mortar and pestle to grind your rosemary

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (more if you like it)

a 5 quart saucepan with lid to cook it all in

fire (or a stove)

a spatula or some kind of fancy stir stick

one of those blender-grindy things you can put right in a dish and blend with

safety goggles

bowls and spoons (as many as you have guests—if there are more than four—make more soup)

unsweetened yogurt and a dusting of basil and your favorite hot sauce as a garnish

Stoke the fire (or put the burner on med/high) and first caramelize the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Next add the squash and honey to the pot. Now get the bouillon into some warm water, mix it up quickly, and add it the the vegetables. (But don't splash. This is not a bathtub.)

Add the spices and simmer this all until the squash is tender. Tender, as in slightly firm, not tender like the mushy Luby's buffet vegetables your parents made you eat after church on Sunday's. Grab the grindy thing and safety goggles and grind all of this stuff together in the pot.

Pour it into bowls, garnish and eat. (or slurp—however you want to do this is fine.)

Yum.

Panda cakes. Good ones!

 Everyone loves pancakes, right? But you eat a bunch and then you just want to take a nap from the carb overload. I know I do. And usually I am supposed to be digging holes in the yard or mowing the yard or going for a bike ride or antiquing.. .. something that is not taking a nap. (I just got up, anyway!) So I pieced this recipe together from a couple online that just didn't seem to have all of the flavors I am looking for in a pancake. And they are gluten free. Look at that. Sorry for you lactose intolerant folks. I still really like milk.

2 c. almond meal

¼ c. 1% milk

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

(6) eggs

1 tsp. grapeseed oil (helps with non-sticking)

1 tsp. honey (local is best)

¾ tsp. baking soda (makes them fluffy)

Fresh sliced strawberries and blueberries tossed with a dusting of cinnamon and agave nectar

Local organic maple syrup (we use Little Creek Maple Bush)

(1) preheated griddle (cooks the pancakes)

(1) spatula (flips the pancakes)

(1) ¼ c. measuring device (pours the pancakes)

butter (lubricates the pancakes)

Combine everything above the strawberries in a bowl and let the mixture rest for 15 minutes. (this lets the baking soda activate—I just learned this today. Who knew?) Use the ¼ c. measuring device to scoop out the batter onto the griddle. Keep them on the smaller side (2-3” outside diameter) so they cook thoroughly.

Put on a plate. Add a little butter if you want and cover with berries and a dab of syrup. Eat and tell each other how awesome they are. Repeat this last step a few times, especially to the cook.

Now off to mow the yard. (mower)

Super Summer Dessert Cake

Ok--so it's not really that good for you and it has a few more ingredients than I would like, but it sure hits the spot after a nice dinner from the grill and after a margarita. Lemon Cake!

We have a party to attend tonight and decided it would be a good treat to bring to complement thunder sticks, sparklers, and the eventual visit from the police.

So we are going crazy and mixing some of our beloved almond meal into an old Better Homes and Gardens Recipe. Almond and coconut meal always make everything so much more dense and moist than typical crappy white flour that it's hard not to try it out in everything. So here goes--we have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I'll tell you what--I would eat the batter in a bowl for dessert as is.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached white flour

1 cup almond meal

2 tsp. lemon zest (yes 2, we are crazy over here!)

2 cups sugar (or sub 1 cup agave syrup)

1 tbs. baking powder

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup margarine

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 oven pre-heated to 350 degrees

2 greased and floured 9 1/2" cake pans

1 oven mitt

1 (preferably clean) mixing bowl and mixer

1-2 toothpicks (more if you really like to poke things)

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs. Cointreau (or Triple Sec for you cheapies)

1/4 tsp. vanilla

@ 1 tbs. milk

slivered almonds

1 small bowl and spoon

Directions:

Beat ingredients 1-8 together until mixed. Add ye olde eggs and beat some more (until mixed.) Pour the mixture into the cake pans and bake for around 25-30 minutes. While this is going on mix the topping ingredients together. Use the toothpick method to see when the cake is really done. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Remove the cakes from the pans, put the topping on the cakes and eat with hands, forks, or flat sticks from the yard.

(Our oven had that baked on stuff when we bought it new. I am sure of it.)

(Yes, this is the topping. You get a gold star for being so observant.)

one lucky dog (well, two actually)

If you know us very well, then you know that on a whim we decided to go vegetarian last December. It was one of those days where we had just finished 4 pork chops, two baked potatoes, a loaf of bread (with butter,) 2 lbs. of fried cheese curds, and a 12 pack of beer a piece and we both rolled over a little so we could see each other over our bellies and double chins and Jill wondered out loud "What happened to our eating habits since we left California?" I was popping some popcorn and finishing the fat on the side of my plate left over from the chops and muttered something in return (I didn't hear her.) 12 hours later I found out that I had agreed to go vegetarian.

So 13 lbs. later and an upgrade to Category 1 mtb racing and we have a freezer full of aging meat that needs to go somewhere. Doggies--welcome to a month of heaven.

Super Dogtastic Dog Food (a compilation of dog food recipes to use up our leftover meats.)

2 cups cooked brown rice

1lb. browned ground beef

1 cup cooked green beans
1/2 cup cooked oatmeal

3/4 cup cottage cheese

Directions: 

1. add ingredients 1-5 in a bowl and chill.

2. put in dog food bowl and serve near room temperature (unless you live in a Turkish Bathhouse, then go for 70F degrees.)

3. stand back as your furry one devours the food

4. repeat twice daily until gone.

And these two turkeys are getting all of the love this month. . . .

The View

Here is the view from our new bike path to downtown. It almost looks like we are not in the burbs if you squint just right. The good part is that this is a natural protected wetland. The bad part is that mosquitoes call it home. So what we are all going to do now is enjoy the view and ignore that buzzing in our left ear. . . and right ear . . . and the biting on the left leg . . .and the right . . .

Speaking of bike trails--check out how Madison did for bike to work week:
Bike To Work Results

The weirdest vegetable ever. Kohlrabi.

Ok-so hear me out. The last time we tried it, we didn't read the instructions very well so we kind of screwed it up. We threw it cubed into a stir fry and left too much of the skin on. It was pretty bad. Kind of like eating a tasteless radish with part of a bike inner-tube still attached to it. This time we did it right. Here is how we cooked the kohlrabi:

• 2-4 kohlrabi's peeled, and sliced into 1/4" slices
• 2-3 minced cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• bowl
• clean-ish hands
• big cookie sheet
• one broiler heated to 450. (I was going to use the grill but ran out of fuel.)

Directions: put the first 3 ingredients in the bowl. Use the clean-ish hands to mix everything together. Put under the broiler (or on the grill if you have fuel) for 10 minutes, then flip the slices and broil for another 10 minutes. 

Enjoy it. It's just that easy and really tasty. We think they would make good roasted fries, too. (Like the sweet potato variety. Same process, just a different cut to the veggie.)

And here is some nutritional info from our friends at nutritiondata.com if you are into that sort of thing:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2467/2

The only photo we were able to nab was the aftermath of our kohlrabi laden euphoria.