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A backyard restaurant

August 27, 2014

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We have been having such a fun summer full of new experiences along with tradition. We are slowly but surely crossing things off of our summer manifesto and since we still have a few weeks left I am more than confident that we can fully complete it. It’s a simple and achievable list just as manifestos should be.

One of the things on our list was something that Hannah and Norah have been dreaming of doing for over a year now and it was so fun to watch it all evolve and come to fruition this past Sunday.
They have always wanted to create a real live restaurant at our home so on Sunday family and friends came out to 121 Cafe, a backyard restaurant offering homegrown and seasonal foods.

The menu featured pasta dishes made with homemade pesto and tomato sauce, farm fresh salads, breads dipped in herb infused olive oil, peach blackberry crumble, mint iced tea and lemonade. We used as many ingredients as possible from our own backyard as well as our local farm. They worked all week preparing, cooking and gathering.
There were 2 seatings, one at 5pm and one at 7pm where the girls worked as both hostess and waitress for 26 people total. We set a table on the back porch, one on the patio and 2 out on the street for a true alfresco experience.They made their own menus, check slips and even doodle pages for kids to draw on.

Many times throughout the night they kept running in to the kitchen thanking us for helping to make it all happen. We all had a blast and fell into bed that night marveling at and appreciating the many chefs, cooks, waitresses and restaurant owners out there. We definitely got a small dose of how much work is involved!

At the end of the night the girls were thrilled to find that their own hard work had paid off making a profit of $200, half of which will be donated to our local fire company.

A simple summer snack

July 14, 2014

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Just a quick post to share an easy and refreshing recipe made with three of my favorite summer flavors. It’s a perfect appetizer to bring to any picnic or party this summer. And it’s pretty too.

Watermelon, feta and basil. Stack up the three ingredients and hold together with a toothpick. Sprinkle with some cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and voila!

I brought this to my Aunt Patty’s birthday luncheon today and it was quite the hit.
I also gifted her a little homegrown basket of goodies. Cucumbers, yellow squash, tomatoes, fresh herbs, eggs and homemade pesto.

Also don’t forget to visit Tend to gather all sorts of garden tips, stories and inspiration. I write on Fridays.

Making pretty with what you have

May 27, 2014

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We hosted a little birthday celebration for my mom yesterday.
As we were driving back from the beach in the morning my mind began to wander as to what needed to be done once I got home to prepare for the party. Bake a strawberry rhubarb cobbler, clean the bathroom, marinate the chicken and asparagus for the grill, make a few flower arrangements…..

I wanted to be able to entertain mostly outdoors since it was going to be a warm evening but I began to get into a funk as I thought about our back porch which is looking a bit run down (plans to rebuild it next month!) and the fact that we needed new outdoor furniture and that I wished there was some money in the budget for some new plants and …… you get the point.
I stopped myself and said “Amy you can do this. You can get creative and make a beautiful outdoor experience with what you have. I know you can!”

After the car was unpacked and a visit to the market I got to work.
I swept the patio and porch clean (what a difference a clean swept space makes!) and unearthed the patio umbrella from the garage. I brought out a woven rug and laid it out on the porch. To serve hors d’oeuvres, I set up my antique ironing board with a pretty cloth napkin and glass jars filled with stems of Solomons Seal and Honeysuckle. I placed a piece of large flagstone on top of a clay crock and one on top of the stand that holds our fire pit to make little tables to set food and drinks on. I used a basket tray to place on top of one the tables for a homey feel and set out a bouquet of flowers and a votive. Instead of buying flowers, I made arrangements from my own garden of Lambs Ear, Catmint, Hosta leaves, Enonymous and Comfrey. I got out the birthday flags and stuck them in arrangements and planters and set out a chalkboard wishing my mom a Happy Birthday when she arrived.

When I was finished I stepped back and fell in love with the cozy outdoor party space made entirely with things found around my home and garden. Later that night as I was blowing out candles and cleaning glasses off of my makeshift tables I realized I hadn’t noticed all night how run down the porch was. I sort of like it now.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

May 24, 2014

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It’s Friday and I am over at Tend with a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble. Just in time for the holiday weekend.

Happy Weekend Friends! xo

Pasteli

May 22, 2014

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This past Christmas a friend gifted us a beautiful box full of homemade Pasteli. The minute I bit into the chewy, golden, Greek pastry I was hooked. I actually hid it away from the rest of my family and ate the entire box myself! Feeling a bit guilty I asked her for the recipe so I could make it and share the next time. This delicious candy consists of only two ingredients ~ honey and sesame seeds. With sesame seeds containing high amounts of vitamins and nutrients and honey being an antioxidant, Pasteli is the perfect energy bar. Eat it for breakfast, as a lunchbox snack, a mid day pick me up or for dessert.

Pasteli

~2/3 cup honey
~1 1/2 cup sesame seeds

Bring honey to a slow boil over medium heat. Add sesame seeds and cook until it reaches 270 degrees on a candy thermometer (hard ball stage) stirring frequently. Pour onto buttered parchment paper and cover with second sheet of buttered parchment. Using a wide dough scraper level to 1/4″. Cool completely. Oil the blades of kitchen shears and cut (through parchment and all) into bite size pieces.

*Nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, or almonds are also common in some versions of pasteli.

You can remove parchment paper and store in air tight container or use a patterned parchment and store with it on. It’s fun peeling it off individual pieces~ just like a candy wrapper!

Assateague Island and Banana Boats

May 19, 2014

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We ventured south for our annual Assateague Island getaway this past weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect and so was the time spent with our most favorite friends. If you have never camped on a beach, I highly recommend it. Falling asleep and waking to the sound of the ocean is pure bliss. The first night I was woken to a full moon streaming through our tent and the song of the Eastern Whippoorwill. The second night I fell asleep kissed by the sun and fresh air and slept like a log. Harry and I were the first ones up each morning to catch the sunrise and there were even a few wild pony sitings.
The kids romped in the water and played in the dunes which always reminds me of the book Roxaboxen.
There was a roaring campfire each night along with jokes and ghost stories.
And of course there were marshmallows and s’mores. But our favorite is a banana boat hot off the flames. It’s like a campfire sundae!

Banana Boats

Peel back one piece of banana peel.
Scoop out a channel and eat.
Fill channel with chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, peanut butter, fresh berries.
Pull peel back over and wrap whole banana in tin foil.
Roast over fire until warm and gooey.
Grab a spoon and dig in.

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Cookie Cutters

April 14, 2014

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Ever since I can remember I have always loved to bake.
My mother was ever so patient with me in the kitchen whenever I would help make cookies, scones and pies alongside her.
I still have the glued together pie plate I broke when I was about five years old due to my over zealousness and excitement to assist her.

As I got older I loved to sift through my mother’s Martha Stewart collection of magazines and dogear all sorts of cookie recipes. Even though I still lived at home I began to collect my very own baking accoutrements in my teens. One of the first things I acquired was a set of vintage cookie cutters and began to master the art of a rolled out sugar cookie. Soon I was collecting cookie cutters of all shapes and sizes for every holiday and special event. I made cookies for Christmas, Valentines day, Easter, Halloween, birthday parties, showers and weddings. I even made heart shaped cookies sandwiched together with strawberry jam for my own wedding.

When Hannah was born I couldn’t wait until she was old enough to help roll out dough and cut out cookies alongside me. By that time I had quite the collection of cutters for her to choose from. She loved to see how many shapes she could fit onto one piece of rolled out dough.

I recently culled through my cookie cutter collection which had grown into two huge baskets. I passed some along and kept my absolute favorites. As I sifted through them I thought about what each one was used for. A saw and hammer I had bought to make for my Pop’s birthday one year. An umbrella and stork for all of the baby showers. A guitar and musical note for Chris when he first started playing and an antique chicken cutter when we first got our hens.

Although I may not make as many cut out cookies throughout the year as I did in my younger days, not a Christmas or Easter goes by without them. This weekend I saw my Aunt Patty, who hosts Easter dinner every year. She asked “you’ll bring the cookies right?”
Of course I will!

Let’s start with cake…

February 17, 2014

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We usually drag birthdays out as long as possible around here. The day you were born is an important day to celebrate so why not do it over several days or even a week!

Although Hannah doesn’t turn 12 until Tuesday, we began the festivities with a birthday cake with friends last night. I made this cake and it was to die for!
I am usually a chocolate cake with buttercream or cream cheese icing kind of gal but this cake spoke to me when I read the icing was made with sour cream and bittersweet chocolate.
The tangy to sweet ratio was perfect! Warning: make enough icing to ice your cake and eat it too. It was hard to stop tasting!

When I came home from the store to unpack the cake ingredients I was disappointed to find that I had overlooked the bittersweet chocolate I had bought contained almonds. Chris was nice enough to run back out for me. He couldn’t find plain bittersweet but did come home with both dark chocolate and milk chocolate. He thought combined it would do the job. And he was right. It was perfect.

And there is still cake left over. Cake counts as breakfast right?

Happy Valentines Day

February 15, 2014

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i love valentines day.
a low stress holiday spent with the ones you love. a day to indulge just a bit.

we made some of our favorite treats today to celebrate.
a dutch baby for breakfast.
soft pretzels for lunch.
and clementines and strawberries dipped in chocolate fondue for an after dinner dessert.

my heart (and belly) is happy and full.
i think tomorrow we will start the day with a green smoothie.

applesauce cake

February 13, 2014

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we had just a smidge of our homemade applesauce left so i thought i would do it justice by turning it into cake. craft circle was this evening and i served it up with chai tea.
it’s a deliciously moist cake made with warm spices, brown sugar and pecans, tasting a bit like gingerbread. it tastes best warm out of the oven with a dollop of homemade whipped cream but is also the perfect breakfast drizzled with a little yogurt and honey.


applesauce cake

preheat oven to 350 degrees
grease and flour one (6 cup) fluted or bundt pan

1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon round ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup applesauce
1 cup chopped pecans

sift together flour, baking soda and spices.
cream butter and sugar. add egg
alternate adding flour mixture and applesauce.
add nuts.

scrape batter in to pan and bake for 30 minutes.
cool and dust with confectioners sugar.

adapted from the joy of cooking. i added ginger to the recipe.

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Welcome Welcome Amy Johnson is a writer, photographer, gardener, teacher, mother and wife living on the corner of Second and Edgemont. She creates space for beauty and simplicity in all that she does.
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