Jessica's Baby Shower

Valerie threw a wonderful baby shower for Jessica on Sunday, June 9th. Iced lemonade and tea with fruit puree, chicken salad and cucumber sandwiches, and delicious chocolate raspberry and lemon curd macaroons were on the menu. Nursery rhyme jeopardy was played then opening of presents. You will not find a more thoughtful and talented sister-in-law and soon to be aunt!

Pecan Date Bread

Adapted this bread from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. I substituted the dates for the raisins. This is becoming one of my favorite breakfast breads. I put a smattering of Haystack goat cheese on top of the toasted slices. Yum! Sorry you Paleo folks; I just cannot give up goat cheese...

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup creamy roasted almond butter, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 5 large Medjool dates, seeds removed and chopped

Directions:

Grease a 7 by 3-inch loaf pan with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour.

In a mixing bowl, mix the almond butter until smooth. Blend in the eggs.

Combine almond flour, arrowroot powder, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to the batter and combine.

Combine the pecans and chopped dates and add to the batter. Mix until thoroughly combined. 

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 350-degrees for 45-50 minutes. Allow bread to cool in the pan for one hour.

Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Cherry Crisp

This recipe is a great alternative to slaving over making a 2-crust pie. Add some vanilla ice cream and you will receive no complaints. I have two sources for the tart cherries. Whole Foods has them in a glass jar ( I use 2 jars) or Lucky's has Oregon brand in the can ( 3- 14.5 ounce cans). Adjust the filling and topping ingredients if not exactly 5 cups of tart cherries.

Ingredients for Filling:

• 5 cups tart cherries, drained
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour

Directions for Filling:

Combine the sugar and flour and add to the cherries; mixing well. Place filling in a lightly buttered glass baking dish (9x9-inch)

Ingredients for Topping:

• 1/2 cup rolled quick oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (if desired)

Directions for Topping:

Combine all topping ingredients cutting in the butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over the filling.

Bake at 375-degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Serve warm.

Guacamole Grande

Love, Love guac! This is an excellent recipe. Great tip for choosing avocados: remove the little stem at the end and if green on inside, it is a keeper. Plastic wrap directly on the top surface of the guacamole will prevent browning.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup red onion, minced
• 2 small plum tomatoes, chopped 
• 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash hot sauce
• 2 large ripe avocados, mashed
• 3 tablespoons pepitas, toasted

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl except for the avocado and pepitas. Just before serving; mash avocado and add to the bowl along with the pepitas.

Valerie's BBQ Chicken

This is a great recipe for feeding a crowd. It is somewhat needy for being a crock pot recipe, but it is very versatile. Maybe served on a bun, on corn chips, over baked or mashed potatoes, or over rice.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• approximately 2 cups chicken broth or enough to just cover the breasts in the crock pot
• 12 ounce bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing ( I like Newman's Own)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar ( I use a little less)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped

Directions:

Place chicken in a slow cooker, cover with chicken broth and cook 4 hours on LOW, flipping chicken halfway through.

Drain off excess broth.

In a bowl, combine the .BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and chopped onion. Pour over the chicken.

Cook an additional 2 hours on HIGH; flipping chicken halfway through.

Shred the chicken in the sauce.

Freeze Queen seal of approval.

Garlic-Thyme Marinade

This marinate is particularly great on steaks. The time consuming task, stripping the fresh thyme off the stems, is well worthwhile. I was lucky enough to recruit Rob for this tedious prep work...

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced

• 2 steaks, 1-pound each, about 1 1/2-inch thick
• coarse salt and pepper

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine oil, garlic and thyme. Coat both sides of the steaks with the marinate, cover and refrigerate, at least one hour and up to overnight.

Remove the steaks about one hour before grilling. Season with salt and pepper. 

Grill on direct high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side.

Jesse's 27th Birthday Celebration

 Beautiful evening out on the patio.
Menu: Valerie's BBQ Chicken (blog 6/2/13) Nachos with Guacamole Grande (blog 6/2/13) ,Grilled Steaks with Garlic-Thyme Marinade (blog 6/2/13), Yukon Gold potatoes and sweet potatoes baked in cream, roasted zucchini with Tomato Sauce (blog 4/15/13) and Favorite Pesto (blog 4/15/13), roasted Videla onion & Roasted Spiced Carrots (blog 4/17/13), Simone's Cheesecake (blog 6/2/13) and Cherry Crisp (blog 6/2/13) with ice cream.

Cheesecake!

Cheese!

Big Bro

For Ally

Zac & Eli giving Uncle Jesse a diaper tutorial