Jam Exchange

I don't do jam. I used to at Nezinscot farm but there we had all of these cool jamming tools which I think make the job so much easier. Good jam though is hard to come by. I saw this recently and thought someone out there might be interested.

Steph chows Jam Exchange

I was tempted to give it a try but if you look at the deadlines that is wedding time. I would be setting myself up for failure. If you try it though I would love to hear how it goes. I think it is a great idea.

Bread salad

Thoughts on the week thus far...

1. I wish the work days would be 3 and the weekend days be 4.

2. I am torn on whether I am enjoying the heat or hating it.

3. Horribly scared to see a full month electricity bill.

4. Realized who needs a TV schedule when there is OnDemand.

5. Happy and Annoyed I have to go to Maine this weekend.

6. Wish I could buy a new dress for the wedding this weekend.

7. Wish it was the groom's job to plan the wedding - or at least execute the wedding plans.

8. Having my dress fit last weekend does not mean I am no longer stressed about it fitting in two weeks or even four weeks.


I could go on for a while but I don't think or want anyone to know all of the thoughts circulating in my head. I will go on to tell you about this divine thing I created the other day.


A few months ago I had a side dish of bread salad. I forget what the main dish was but that was why I ordered the meal. I had no idea what a bread salad was. Since then I have heard it mentioned a few times but never till this week did I ever contemplate making it. I have a good loaf of bread that I am afraid will go bad. I would cry to throw away homemade bread so one of the uses I came up with is this.



Bread Salad
Ingredients:
1 pint grape tomatoes - diced, and chunked
1 cucumber - diced
1/2 cup diced fresh mozzarella
10 leaves of basil
4 slices of good bread - cubed
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
garlic salt
pepper


1. Put cubed bread in bowl with oil, garlic salt, and pepper. Toss with spoon till bread is coated with oil.


2. Spread bread on cookie sheet. Bake on 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. I use a toaster oven. You can also use the broil setting. You just want the bread slightly toasted.


3. In previously used bowl add all remaining ingredients.


4. Add warm bread and toss into rest of the ingredients.


5. Combine and eat.



Basically you can take any salad and throw in these croutons for a bit of an extra zing. It really becomes a bread salad when the bread substitutes the lettuce leaves.

New cookbook, new recipe

I got this cookbook right before we moved. It was packed up and not looked at again till all of the boxes were unpacked. She write a blog which I had not heard of till I got the cookbook. She lives in Texas and is very witty. It is quite entertaining to read about her life on the ranch.

She also cooks and takes amazing photographs. I love cookbooks with pretty photos. And this one sure does have a lot of photos. This weekend for Sunday dinner I decided to try something new.

Pasta with Clam sauce



The dish was so simple and so delicious. I planned to make enough to have for lunch the next day but we ate it all the first night. I am not going to write out the recipe because you should go out and get The Pioneer Woman Cookbook for yourself. The recipe is rich and decadent. I even left out the cream. Jordan was impressed that I actually used the right amount of butter. I tend to cut that big time. And I probably will the next time I make it but it will still be very flavorful.

Everything just kind of melts in your mouth. There was lots of garlic, always a good thing in my book. And the cheese adds a creaminess to the sauce. Hence why it was so delicious even without using cream in the sauce. The whole thing took about 15 minutes from start to finish. There was no need to have it be a Sunday dinner.

Look at that yummy goodness!

The Pioneer Woman blog