Triple Coconut - Citrus Olive Oil Cake

This is a current redo of a recipe I concocted and posted 4 years ago that I named Mediterranean Olive Oil Cake. I discovered, sadly -AFTER- my trip to Italy, that a lemon version of this is a classic all over Italy and neighboring countries. Wish I had known this in 2005, I would have tried several variations while I was in Florence. It's a not-too-sweet cake perfect for morning coffee or tea, or anytime. . .

Preheat your oven to 350° In a large glass bowl, whisk together:

1c unbleached all purpose flour

1/2c coconut flour

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
1c shredded, sweetened coconut 

In your blender jar, blend the following on high until smooth:

1 whole seedless lemon
1 whole Cutie type Mandarin orange
~ scrub and cut the lemon and orange in pieces
~ removing the ends, centers and any seeds

3 lg. pasture raised eggs

3/4c coconut sugar
~ or dark brown sugar

1/2c single source EVOO
~ or if you'd rather. . .1/2c melted coconut oil

1/2c coconut milk

~ from a half-gallon carton or canned

3/4t pure vanilla

When the oven is preheated, pour the blender ingredients into the flour mixture in the big glass bowl. Stir and fold together until everything's well combined.

Pour the batter into an 9" x 11" glass baking pan that's been buttered and sugared for a sweet crunch on the crust! Bake at 350° for 35 minutes - check for doneness with a toothpick. Cool before slicing and serving. . .Lin

Avocado Crumpet

This was interesting.

The flavors were good, but the texture of the crumpet, that I double toasted, wasn't crispy enough, so this was more like an Avocado Pancake! I'll stick to toast, but the avocado spread turned out well. . .

Mash together:

1/2 of an almost ripe avocado
. . .I don't like these mushy. . .

1/4 finely chopped onion

a little strong dry cheese - chopped up

dried parsley

salt & pepper

mayonnaise

. . .or enough of a mayonnaise based dressing to hold everything together

When combined, spread this on toast, crackers, a crumpet or use it as a vegetable dip. Sprinkle with a little smokey paprika. Today it was a great breakfast with a sliced tiny tomato and part of a white salad turnip, both salted, savory and crunchy.

This is a great breakfast or lunch, no matter what time that happens for you. .  .Lin

Crunchy, Colorful Chopped Salad

Sometimes I just open my refrigerator. . .

to see what jumps up and says, 'pick me, pick me. . !'

So it was today. Earlier I made my tweaked version of Martha Stewart's Tuna and Apple Salad. I also wanted to make a crunchy vegetable salad. So this happened - and I had both for lunch. . .

1-2 ribs of celery and some greens

1-2 carrots (-or- part of 1 giant carrot)

1/4 sm.-med. purple cabbage

1 white spring turnip

1 purple shallot

Chop everything into a medium glass bowl. Toss with a little savory, herby vinegar and oil. To balance this, add a little sweet dressing such as poppy seed or French.

I picked at these two until there was only a little of each left, then I rolled it all up in that crispy cabbage leaf I used to line the bowl.

Wow, so good. . .My kind of lunch! . .Lin

Blueberry-Lemon Frozen Yogurt

In your blender jar combine:

1c frozen blueberries

1/4 whole seedless lemon - chopped

1c Chobani whole milk Greek yogurt

2T raw organic honey

a splash of pure vanilla

Pulse and blend everything together until it's as smooth as you like. Freeze in a 16oz. container until scoopable. For future servings, take this out of the freezer 20-30 minutes before serving since it freezes rock hard!

This is one of the best I've made yet!

I was organizing my freezer, came across the blueberries with only a couple cups inside. I almost pitched them and now I sure am glad I didn't!

I have enough to make this again. Instead of honey, I'll spice it up, with Jalapeno Jelly! 🔵 🌶 🍦 😃. . .Lin

A Fresh and Crunchy Egg Bowl Breakfast

I think my body needed protein today.

I woke up thinking EGGS!
Perfect since I have a couple dozen pasture raised; of excellent quality, from the Farmer's Market and an Asian Grocery in the cities; I simmered 9, chopped 3, gave one to my pup Oliver, mixed with some homemade chicken bone broth for a 2nd breakfast 😊

To my two I added; chopped avocado, a small tomato, green onion, a handful of pistachios and 3 Brazil nuts; for selenium that our thyroids need. Some frozen peas would also have been really delicious!

Then a little drizzle of my spicy current mayo-sour cream pepper-garlic-dill dressing and it was ready. Quick, easy and SO good! . 😃. .Lin

Lemon-Banana Frozen Yogurt

3/4c plain whole milk Greek yogurt

1 lg. banana - peeled 😉

1 lg. lemon - UNpeeled !!

2-3T organic raw honey

Chop the lemon, remove any seeds, then put all the ingredients in your blender jar and blend on high a minute or two.

The flavor of the banana is overpowered by the lemon, but it adds good texture. Freeze in a 1 pint container for about 4 hours. If it's in the freezer much longer, put it on the counter for a while to soften it to a scoopable consistency. These fruity frozen yogurts are a very flavorful and healthy ice cream alternative. . .Lin

Orange-Pineapple-Coconut Frozen Yogurt

I was organizing my freezer today and found a forgotten quart size ziplock of frozen pineapple. I decided to experiment but didn't pay a lot of attention to amounts. I'm blogging this in hopes of refining the details in the future when I attempt to duplicate it. So, for now, weights and measurements are in the 'best guess' category.

1 whole Cutie mandarin

2-3T raw organic honey

8oz. frozen pineapple

2T lemon juice
1-2t pumpkin pie spice
1c± whole milk plain Greek yogurt

1/2c canned coconut milk or coconut cream

~ ~ the thick kind that has to be spooned -not poured- out of the can

Cut the orange into little chunks, with the peeling on, into your blender jar. Add everything else and blend until smooth. Freeze in a 16oz. container.

Homemade ice cream and frozen yogurt freeze rock hard. Put the container on the counter a half hour or so before serving to soften it enough to scoop. . .Mmmm, the bright flavors of this were just perfect and although this is frozen yogurt, it tastes more like a fruity sherbet-sorbet. . .Lin

A Farmer's Market Vegetable Thing. . .

I finally made it to the Duluth Wednesday Farmer's Market. Oh, how sweet it was!

Then decided to make a vegetable casserole using some of this for a vegetable casserole with some other things I had in my 'fridge.

Some chicken bone broth that turned out great, 2 green onions, half a can of garbanzo bean and part of an orange bell pepper, 3 radishes and 3 white turnips.

All the hard vegetables were sauteed in a little ghee, then I added a big splash of cooking sherry and the chopped turnip leaves.

Just before gobbling this down, I also put in 3oz. of roasted chicken and a handful of pistachios. . .So good, and there's still lots leftover. . .Lin

Spicy-Yummy Tomato-ey Chicken Soup

I'm running out of names for recipes. This started out to be Chicken Fajita Soup, but evolved in a couple other directions before it was finished. The only 'mistake' I made this time was using Chili Tomatoes that were fire roasted. I didn't see that on the label until it was too late. The burnt flavor is what dominates, at least in this brand. 

Chop or slice the vegetables and saute in a generous amount of single source EVOO:

3/4 each - 1 lg. orange and green bell pepper
5 lg. garlic cloves
1-1/2 yellow onion
several celery heart stalks

~ I also added some mixed cabbage I had previously shredded: Napa cabbage, purple, green and a little shredded carrot.

Saute the vegetables only a short time, so they're still crisp, just enough to release their scents into your kitchen. Next add:

4oz. chopped sun-dried tomatoes + the oil they're packed in
chopped celery tops
28oz. seasoned crushed or diced tomatoes
1 (enormous) or 3 med. bay leaves
2 cans of corn - 1 drained, 1 w/liquid
1 lg. can 19oz. drained-rinsed black beans
12oz. roasted chicken
1 quart well-jelled chicken bone broth
2-3T powdered chicken bone broth base
1 pkg. Cilantro-Lime rice

Gently stir this all together then simmer 20 minutes. You can stir in 1c of sour cream now, or leave it out and just garnish each bowl with a big dab and some fresh cilantro leaves.

I still really don't know what to call this soup. . .Maybe Chicken Taco Soup. . .but whatever I call it, I like how it turned out! .😊. .Lin

Lemon-Rhubarb Muffins and Quick Bread

I'm always on a quest to create a recipe for great muffins or quick breads. One that has texture and LOTS of good flavor. I think I've avoided banana and zucchini breads due to what I perceive as their blandness. This is another recipe where I typed everything I wanted to use into Google and A.I. gave me dry ingredient amounts and other suggestions. I varied it from what was given, of course, and this turned out so well! Preheat your oven to 335°

In a medium glass bowl, whisk together:

2c all purpose flour

1T pumpkin pie spice

1T baking powder

1t baking soda

1t Orange Salt

In your blender jar, blend the following:

1 lg. organic thin skinned lemon - whole then chopped

1c packed dark brown sugar

2 lg. pasture raised eggs

1/2c single source EVOO

1/2c full fat sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)

1-2t pure vanilla extract

Before pouring the blender contents into the bowl, stir the following into the dry bowl:

1c rough chopped pecans

1-1/2c finely diced fresh rhubarb

Now stir in the wet ingredients. Fill silicone muffin molds and a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the tops with spiced sugar. Today I used equal parts of turbinado, organic cane and coconut sugars, with a good amount of pumpkin pie spice, for my spiced sugar.

Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes and the quick bread for an additional 5 minutes or until everything passes the toothpick test. Mmmm. . .Lin

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Salad

I made pull apart biscuits I thought they would pair nicely with some chicken salad for dinner tonight. So this happened. . .

Combine in a medium glass bowl:

1/3c± jalapeño jelly
~ warmed in the microwave

1/3c± EVOO mayonnaise
~ This sweet-spicy sauce was wonderful! ~

To this chop and add:
2 green onions
3 stalks celery heart
4oz. roasted dark meat chicken
cilantro, celery tops or parsley
a good shake of garlic salt

Using a silicone spatula, mix everything together. Pull apart some biscuits, slice some cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles or avocados on the side. . .Lin

Sandwiches!

Strangely, as an adult, sandwiches aren't something I eat often. 

Or pizza. . .Somehow, just typing this here feels oddly un-American - 

or maybe anti-Italian - neither of which apply to me!

As a child I didn't like peanut butter at all, but when pregnant with my son, I couldn't get enough PB&J's! One every day for lunch. Now, natural peanut butter and jalapeno jelly is great. . .Or some EVOO packed tuna made into crunchy tuna salad with lots of onion and celery.

And pizza. . .homemade with an interesting sauce, cheese, pepperoni and lots of chopped vegetables on a big tortilla is fun and delicious. Back to sandwiches. . .My absolute favorite - is a Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Onion 😋 on really good, healthy bread. Sourdough or my Focaccia or one of my Artisan breads, Mmmm.

These happened in the past couple days.

<———The first: Swiss+American cheese, sourdough bread, tomato, mashed avocado, seedy mustard, peppered deli turkey, onion, brushed generously with EVOO and 'grilled' in my heavy stainless frying pan.

The second, open faced, were on the last piece of the Focaccia I made recently with 1/3 corn flour. I don't think corn flour belongs in Focaccia. . .I'll stick to bread flour, or use rye or buckwheat flour for part of the total.

For these, I toasted the bread, then spread it with EVOO Mayonnaise, added a slice of an heirloom tomato, onion, cilantro and Swiss cheese ———>

Mmmmm. . .SO good, but then, I can't remember a nicely put together Grilled Cheese sandwich that I didn't love 😃

These both happened quickly and took care of the sandwich cravings. . .Lin

Roasting Chicken - For Meat And Bone Broth

Ahhhh, it's A Chicken Roasting Day!!!
One of my favorite days in the kitchen!

Today I washed and dried several pounds of chicken thighs (adding chicken feet later in the roasting process.) I then put the thigs in my 60 year old black speckled roasting pan. Drizzled with Moroccan EVOO and seasoned. Today my Rosemary Seasoning sounded good. This bone broth will be shared with my cat Henry and dog Oliver, so NO onion or garlic in any phase of prep.

When roasting chicken, I always do it the opposite of everyone else I know. I start with the chicken uncovered, for about an hour at 400° to brown it up, then turn the heat down to 350-375° and cover for the rest of the oven time. Today, the total time was just under 2 hours with the feet added after I reduced the temperature. Check the brownness of the thighs, occasionally poking them with a fork and basting everything.

Then the covered pot cooled, on my back deck where it was 52° and shady. Once cool enough to handle, I removed all the meat to package for future use.

It was back-to-the-pot for all the skin, fat, bones and feet, which Walmart's meat department labels . . . . .  😁 CHICKEN 🐔 PAWS 😅 !!

To all that I added enough water to half way fill the pan, bay leaves, peppercorns, turmeric, a big splash (1/3 - 1/2c) of apple cider vinegar and simmered it all on low, covered, for about 3 hours. Then cooled a bit again before beginning the straining.

Strain everything from one pot to another, of equal size, going back and forth a couple times using finer mesh strainers each time. I've now got it down to only a couple 'strains' since I use a dampened piece of cheesecloth type of material inside a big strainer, the final time to catch all the little particles. This works well for a nice semi-clear broth.

Before doing the final strain, be sure to thoroughly clean the pot you plan to chill this in. Chill at least overnight, or long enough for the fat to solidify at the top and the actual bone broth to gel underneath.

The vinegar and those simmered chicken feet produce a very well gelled broth, which indicates it's full of healthy collagen.

Heat and have a cup, use it in soups or gravies, and give your cat and dog some in their food. Supplementing our pet's diets with healthy human foods can definitely extend their lives.

My American Staffordshire, Penny lived to be 19+ and my Puggle, Oliver will be 15 in July. .🐶. .Lin

Sweet and Hot Peanut Sauce

This is my version of 'fast food.' Something I didn't cook from scratch, that I can eat at home, on a day when I've been really busy and need a break from the 2 or 3 of the things in the 'fridge I made in the last few days.

Tonight it was these frozen chicken-vegetable wontons sauteed with 6 big garlic cloves in toasted sesame oil (yes 6!) with 3/4c frozen peas added at the end. As this was coming together I realized I was out of sweet chili sauce, so I put a peanut sauce together in just a few minutes: Combine. . .equal parts of natural peanut butter + jalapeno jelly or jam. Add a big splash of soy sauce to get it to the consistency you want. . .that's all! If it doesn't mix well, 30 seconds in the microwave will help.

Another good addition would have been a spoonful of the really spicy Swad Coriander (cilantro) Chutney - Maybe next time. Bon Appetit! . . . Lin

A Whole Grain Focaccia

Creating variations of this bread baking is really becoming a fun thing!

This recipe is almost the same as the previous except for the flour and the seeds/seasonings I added to the dough. Next time I might use some corn flour and increase the yeast a bit.

200g Italian 00 flour - from Caputo, Italy
3T ground flax seed + enough rye flour to = 100g

7g everything bagel seasoning
1/2-1t Himalayan pink salt

4.5g active dry yeast

280g warm (115°) water

2t raw organic honey

Whisk the flour and seasoning in a big glass bowl. Heat the water to 115° and stir in the yeast and sweetener. Once dissolved, let it activate for 10 minutes or so. Pour this into the flour bowl. Working quickly with a silicone spatula, mix this together until all the flour is absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in your unheated oven with the light on. That brings the temperature to around 85° and there are no drafts to interfere with the rising process. When it's doubled in size, in an hour or two, take it out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 395°F (200°C) Butter a glass baking pan very well* Pour and scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula to spread it evenly to the corners.

Drizzle with EVOO and oil your fingers. Poke them into the surface of the dough to make little 'wells'.

Sprinkle the top with flaked salt or any seasoning you like. I used everything bagel seasoning just before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy on top. Cool 20 minutes or so then remove from the pan - this time the bread removed very easily. Cut it into strips and squares. This is really good split and toasted when used as the base of an egg sandwich or avocado toast. . .Lin

A Focaccia Adventure!!

Wow. . .This was really fun, quick and turned out great for my first attempt at Focaccia!

First of all, if you aren't already weighing your ingredients, for baking - as opposed to measuring - just put this recipe aside for now - buy yourself a little kitchen scale that weighs in pounds, ounces and grams. You'll be glad you did after using it a time or two.  It's a European thing that gives much more consistent results.

300g Italian 00 flour - from Caputo, Italy

7g of a salt, pepper & garlic blend

  -or- everything bagel seasoning

4.5g active dry yeast

280g warm (115°) water

1t organic cane sugar

  -or- raw local honey

  -this helps to activate the yeast-

Whisk the flour and seasoning in a big glass bowl. Heat the water to 115° and stir in the yeast and sweetener. Once dissolved, let it activate for 10 minutes or so. Pour this into the flour bowl. Working quickly with a silicone spatula, mix this together until all the flour is absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until double in size.

I've found the best place for this is a cold oven with the light on. That brings the temperature to around 85° and there are no drafts to interfere with the rising process.

Preheat your oven to 395°F (200°C) Using butter or ghee, grease a glass baking pan very well* Pour and scrape the dough into the pan using the spatula to spread it evenly to the corners.

Drizzle with EVOO and oil your fingers. Poke them into the surface of the dough to make little 'wells'. Sprinkle the top with flaked salt or any seasoning you like. I mixed a salt, pepper & garlic blend into the flour, to flavor the bread but decided to sprinkle the oiled top with everything bagel seasoning just before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy on top. Cool 20 minutes or so then remove from the pan and cut into strips and squares. This is really good served warm.

This recipe, and any subsequent variations, just might turn me - a 'not-too-big-on-bread' person, into a crispy Focaccia lover! I'll cut the rest of this into squares that can be split for sandwiches or toast. . .Lin


*This came out of the pan cleanly, but did not come out easy.
It required some prying with a flat metal pancake flipper. If you want to avoid that, line the pan with 2 well greased pieces of parchment paper, cut to fit the length and width of the pan, including the sides.

A Delicious, Quick and Simple Avocado Toast

Got 1/2 an avocado, a long piece of artisan whole grain bread and some fruit? Well then, you've got a great breakfast, lunch or snack, just waiting to happen!

Cut the bread in half and pop both pieces in the toaster then slice up part of an apple (orange, pear, banana)

When the toast pops up. put 1/4 of the avocado on each piece, mash lightly and season. I used Kinder's Garlic Salt and my blend of ground black+cayenne pepper. With a mug of steamy buckwheat tea, this was perfect!

By the way - buckwheat - despite its name - is gluten free, caffeine free and has some great health benefits. . .Lin

Pineapple Ginger Turmeric Yogurt Smoothie

I just wasn't feeling right this morning. My sweet pup and I went for a long walk in the sunshine which was wonderful, but didn't fix how I felt. I was also hungry and this sounded like a good option. I blended together:

5oz. whole milk plain Greek yogurt

5oz. frozen pineapple

a splash of pure vanilla

1T raw organic honey

about 1c -or so- of cold herb tea

~ I used Aldi's ginger turmeric

Not sure this will help with my current 'ick', but it was quick, easy and tasted great. Around 225 calories, if you're counting. . .

Pineapple contains bromelain which helps with inflammation and digestion. The yogurt can also help with gut issues. I think a blueberry version of this would also be excellent. . .Lin

Italian Flour Artisan Multi-Grain Bread

Again a reminder. . .baking artisan bread is pretty time intensive. It would be good to read all the way through this process so you're not surprised by that. Tonight, to save time tomorrow when this will come together, rise and bake, I measured and whisked all the dry ingredients into the big bowl. If you find a recipe you want to make on repeat, you can actually do that regularly. Or just whisk a batch or more of all the dry ingredients together, transfer to a big ziplock bag and you've saved yourself some time with the initial prep on bread baking day.

I met with an allergist recently and in conversing, we discovered we're both huge 'foodies.' He bakes all his family's bread and told me he only uses Italian flour since discovering that even people who are gluten sensitive have no problem digesting bread made from European grown grains. No GMO's or other preservatives that we allow here in America. This was inspiring. I did a little digging then decided on Caputo Chef's 00 Flour. From wheat grown, harvested and ground in Caputo, Italy. I've since discovered they have many different types of flour including bread flour. I'll probably have to order some of that soon.

2-1/2c Caputo Chef's 00 Flour

1/4c organic buckwheat flour

1/4c organic corn flour

3T Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed

3T Everything Bagel Seasoning

1-1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1/2t Bob's Red Mill active dry yeast

1-1/2c warm water

2T raw unfiltered honey

Whisk the first group of ingredients together in a big bowl. In a measuring container, mix the warm (110°) water and honey then stir in the active dry yeast. Let it sit 5-10 minutes to get foamy. Add this to the dry bowl mixing with a silicone spatula until the dough is shaggy but the flour is all incorporated. Transfer this to a sheet of wax paper. 

Wash the bowl then drizzle it with a generous amount of good quality EVOO. Put the dough back in the bowl, flipping it a couple times to get the surface completely oiled. Cover and let it rest on the counter, away from drafts, for 8-10 hours. If your kitchen is cool, like mine, it might be good to put it in your oven with the oven light on for just a tiny bit of warmth.

Put a 4 or 6 quart Dutch oven into the oven, set the temperature at 450° and preheat for 30 minutes. Use a 4 quart for a higher loaf, a 6 quart for a flat wide loaf.

While that's happening. . .turn the dough out onto a floured surface, forming it into a ball with floured hands. Cover with plastic or a large inverted bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes. After this time elapses - working quickly - open the oven, and pull out the rack. Flour your hands again and put the dough ball into the hot Dutch oven. Cut a "slash" across the top, about 1/2" deep, with a very sharp serrated knife.

Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue baking another 10 minutes to brown up the top.

Cool completely before slicing.

This recipe creation might have just earned 'artisan bread favorite' status. .😊. .Lin

Antioxidant, Anti Inflammatory, Anti-Everything-Bad Smoothie

Well now, this was an interesting idea that turned out really well! Something I'll definitely make again.

Drop these into your blender container:

15 chunks± frozen pineapple

1c± Chobani whole milk plain Greek yogurt

1/2 can Bubbly

1/2 lemon - cut in chunks

1-1/2" fresh ginger - cut up

1-2T honey-fermented garlic

Be sure to blend this well on high since the garlic, ginger and lemon contain a lot of natural fiber. Pour into a big glass or mug and sip on it until it's gone.

This will be followed up later by the slow-steeped Buckwheat Tea I'm making right now in my all purpose, trusty Mr. Coffee. Contrary to its name - buckwheat is gluten and caffeine-free, and makes an excellent, healthy tea.


Be Adventurous - Create some healthy new food and drink options. Your body will thank you! . .Lin

Pineapple-Black Cherry Smoothie

I wasn't thinking of blogging this until I tasted it. So good! In your blender, combine the following.

frozen black cherries - maybe 20

frozen pineapple - 1-1/2c or more

about 1c of whole milk, plain Greek yogurt

1/2 a seedless lemon with the skin

~ ~ cut the lemon into several pieces ~ ~

a drizzle of honey

1/2 can of Bubbly

Blend and enjoy. . .Lin

Another Avocado Toast. . .

I bought a bag of 6 little avocados the other day and they're now just barely soft enough to mash. So naturally, I made avocado toast for breakfast this morning,  with the bread I made recently. It was really good! And this made enough to do it again tomorrow morning 😊

1 sm. avocado - mashed

3T chopped Vidalia onion

1/3 lg. tomato - chopped

2-3T lemon-EVOO vinaigrette 

Mix this together well and spread on your favorite toasted bread.

I added a sprinkle of my black+cayenne pepper blend and a little garlic salt to wake up all the flavors. The real fun of avocado toast is it can be made so many different ways. Be Adventurous! Happy Cooking. . .Lin

Asian Chicken Soup

Since my last similar post, I've decided I love this type of soup! This recipe is similar, just different amounts and a few added vegetables. Be careful not to go too heavy on the pepper, Chinese 5 Spice and star anise. Those seem to develop and intensify when reheated.

Start by slicing or chopping, then gently sauteing, the hard vegetables in some toasted sesame oil for 10 minutes to soften them a bit. 

3 med. carrots

4-5 dark green celery ribs

~ put the tops aside for later

12 or so Brussels sprouts

half a big purple shallot

Next add the other half of the chopped shallot and 1/3 of a red bell pepper, stir-saute this for about 5 minutes then add the chopped celery tops and seasonings. Start with small amounts then check the flavors and add more after simmering if needed. If you want a little sweetness, you can also add a tablespoon of honey.

garlic salt

Chinese 5 Spice

powdered star anise

black and cayenne pepper

Everything Bagel Seasoning

a big spoonful or two of chicken Better Than Bouillon

Stir and saute all this for several minutes, then add 2-3 quarts of water. Simmer 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are almost done the way you like them.

Add 10oz. of chopped roasted chicken, 2c frozen peas, and 4-1/2oz. of rice noodles. Stir gently and simmer another 5-10 minutes being careful not to overcook the noodles.

Mmmm. . .Soup's Ready. .😊. .Lin

Whole Grain, Seed-and-Flax Artisan Bread

Just so you know. . .baking artisan bread is pretty time intensive. It would be good to read all the way through this process so you're not surprised by that. Knowing that, I decided to have a late night and didn't start this process until noon today. . .

I've been looking for just the right recipe that fits the title I created for a special artisan bread. I found something similar but very basic. I used it as a guide for proportions, but I had to make many changes and additions - and came up with this.

In taking this photo, I realized it looks like a Bob's Red Mill ad! That wasn't intentional, but I've found the Red Mill products to be highly rated and they work well for me. When you find ingredients from one source, they often create a more predictable, quality product.

2-1/2c Bob's Red Mill Artisan Bread Flour

1/2c organic rye flour

3T Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed

2T Everything Bagel Seasoning

1-1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1/2t Bob's Red Mill active dry yeast

1-1/2c warm water

1T raw unfiltered honey

Whisk the first group of ingredients together in a big bowl. In a measuring container, mix the warm (110°) water and honey then stir in the active dry yeast. Let it sit 5-10 minutes to get foamy. Add this to the dry bowl mixing with a silicone spatula until the dough is shaggy but the flour is all incorporated. Transfer this to a sheet of wax paper. Wash the bowl then drizzle it with a generous amount of good quality EVOO. Put the dough back in the bowl, flipping it a couple times to get the surface completely oiled. Cover and let it rest on the counter, away from drafts, for 8-10 hours. If your kitchen is cool, like mine, it might be good to put it in your oven with the oven light on for just a tiny bit of warmth.

Preheat your oven to 450° Put a 4 or 6 quart Dutch oven into the oven for 30 minutes to preheat. Use a 4 quart for a higher loaf, a 6 quart for a flatter, wider loaf.

While that's happening. . .turn the dough out onto a floured surface, forming it into a ball with floured hands. Cover with plastic or a large inverted bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

After this time elapses - working quickly - open the oven, and pull out the rack, flour your hands again and put the dough ball into the hot Dutch oven. Cut a "slash" across the top, about 1/2" deep, with a very sharp serrated knife.

Cover this with the lid and bake 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue baking another 10 minutes to brown up the top. Cool completely before slicing. . .Lin

Roasted Vegetable and Tomato Bisque

Preheat your oven to 375°. Scrub the vegetables then cut them in chunks into a big bowl. Drizzle with a generous amount of good quality extra virgin olive oil and season with a good seasoning blend. Pour onto a big baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

2 big carrots

1 green pepper

2 big celery stalks

1 sm.-med beet

1 big purple shallot

2 med. Yukon Gold potatoes

16oz. bone broth
28oz. San Marzano tomatoes

1 jar tomato pesto
1 can coconut milk

8-12oz.± water

Roast the vegetables 35-40 minutes until they're browned lightly. Put about half into your blender jar along with some bone broth and about half of the tomatoes. When well blended, pour into a 6 quart pot. Repeat until all the roasted vegetables, bone broth and tomatoes are well blended and in the big soup pot. Check the seasonings and add 1T sugar. Whisk in the coconut milk, tomato pesto and zest of one lemon. 

Top with some fresh chopped parsley, basil or dill.

This was really good with cottage cheese-almond flour-cheese biscuits I made the other day.

Ahhh soup! For me, 'soup season' is 12 months of the year. .😊. .Lin

Crunchy Chicken and Grape Salad

8oz. roasted chicken

2c quartered grapes

1 celery heart and tops
1/4 red bell pepper
3 green onions

Chop - slice everything into a medium bowl then add a good shake of black+cayenne pepper and garlic salt. A couple tablespoons of dijon mustard and enough olive oil mayonnaise to hold everything together.

Today this was lunch over baby arugula. You could also add a couple cups of cooked pasta for a Chicken Pasta Salad. I didn't originally think of chopped pecans or walnuts, but after having this for lunch, I'm going to add some to the rest of the salad. .😊. .Lin

Chicken Bone + Feet ('Paw') Broth

I've heard chicken feet - ('paws' - yes they were actually labeled Chicken Paws!) - make a lot of difference in the quality of bone broth when added to roasted chicken skin and bones then simmered in the usual way. Based on the jelling of this particular batch, I'd say that's correct.

I drizzled 5-1/2# of chicken thighs with EVOO then seasoned them with turmeric, Himalayan pink salt and my blend of black + cayenne pepper. They were roasted at 350° uncovered for almost an hour then added the chicken feet, basted everything and returned the pan to the oven for another 45 minutes. This pan of chicken thighs and feet looks SO weird! 

The next step was removing all the meat which totalled almost 2# and returning the skin, bones and the chicken feet to the roasting pan. Cover with fresh cold water, filling the pan to about the 2/3 point. Simmer this, covered on the stovetop, for 3-4 hours on a very low bubble.

Scoop out the solids and drain the liquid back to the pan. Strain this back and forth between 2 pans in increasingly smaller mesh strainers, removing all particles for a clearer broth. Throw away the skin and bones-secured as much as possible in a sturdy bag-in hopes of preventing animals from ingesting the bones. Chill overnight in the refrigerator.

It was interesting to me that all the dark orange color from the turmeric settled into the fat, reminding me how our bodies store vitamin A and D in fat as opposed to vitamins B and C which are water soluble. I'll add a little of this to Oliver's food as well as use it to brown meat. I was very happy with the way it all scraped off from the chilled-jelled broth. You can see how solid it is with the spoon I used for that standing up in the pot!

The more bone broth jells when chilled, the more natural collagen it contains. Very good for old bones and joints, so my sweet old pup Oliver and I, hopefully, will both benefit from this.

Next, heat up the broth to steaming, but not boiling. Ladle it into clean jars. Seal and listen for the >ping< then put the sealed jars in the 'fridge.

Since these aren't canned the usual way they're not 'shelf stable' so need to be kept cold and used within a few weeks for soup base or as a nutritional supplement, warm broth, for you and your dogs. . .Lin