Jelly-Bones

Honey pineapple rhubarb popsicles

YUM! YUM! YUM!  I am still trying to use up all that tart and delicious in season rhubarb here in rainy Seattle, and after exhausting a huge majority of strawberry rhubarb combos, I decided to go with tropical fruit.  June weather is just plain depressing around here, since we don't really see temperatures above 65 until after July 4th, so pineapple is the perfect tropical treat to lift our impatient spirits.  In the midst of boiling down the rhubarb, I realized that I was OUT of sugar.  Unheard of with tart rhubarb dessertness, so I opted for some honey to improvise.  Man, it ended up sooooooo delightful.

First, chop about 2 stalks of rhubarb into one inch pieces and put in a medium saucepan.  Add about 1/4 cup of water.

Boil this over medium heat until it gets pretty chunky and starts to soften.  Add about a cup of finely diced fresh pineapple.

Boil until the rhubarb is super soft, and blend together using an immersion blender.  You can use a regular blender here too, but if you don't have an immersion blender GO buy one.  They are SO amazing.

Stir in 3 Tablespoons of honey, until the honey is completely melted.  Add about a 1 and 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt.  Let cool completely.

Pour this rhubarby pineapply delight into your popsicle set

Add the lids (or popsicle sticks) and freeze overnight.

Wiggle the cicles out of the popsicle set and eat up!  I was super excited about these straw/spout things on my popsicle set, but they didn't serve any purpose at all.  Hmmmmm......

Popsicles are such a great way to use up extra fruit from produce bins, or enjoy a healthy and unprocessed at home treat!  I actually had a ton of leftover juicy goodness, so I added the rest to some ice trays for some popsicle ice cubes (utilized later with a boozy cocktail recipe I'll be sharing soon).  Check out my recipe for pineapple rhubarb caribbean rum, or check out more tasty recipes here.

Enjoy!

Homemade pineapple rhubarb caribbean rum.

I am soooooo ready for summer my friends.  I've been dreaming of pina-coladas, mai tais, mojitos, oh sheesh the list goes on!  It's my first week out of school (YESSSSSSSSS!) and I couldn't think of a better way to treat myself than to make my own homemade infused booze.  We still have a sh**load of rhubarb left (expect more recipes!) and are trying to think of ways to use the stuff up.  I made some pineapple rhubarb honey popsicles (recipe to come in a few days) and some pineapple rhubarb caribbean rum!

Here's how:

First, gather your ingredients:

pineapple, rhubarb, rum.  Not a long list here people.

Then, cut the pineapple and rhubarb into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.

mmmmm........  Pour your bottle of rum into a larger bottle (or drink about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottle if you're feeling the urge).  I used a growler from a local brewery for a fifth of rum.  Add chunks of fruit to your rum until there is about a 1/2 to 1 inch layer of rum above your fruit.  Make sure that your fruit is completely submerged in the rum so it doesn't rot in your cupboard (eiw.). 

This picture actually isn't a great example, because I had to push those pineapple pieces down.  But you get the idea. :)

Give it a good shake and place the bottle in a cupboard, or a room temperature area of your house

Shake this caribbean goodness about once a day for about 5 days.  Strain using a fine mesh sieve, mashing the fruit with a potato masher to get all of that boozey booze out of that fruit.  This rum is sooooooo tasty.  Seriously.  Seriously seriously.  I haven't made a drink with it yet, but it is amazing just the way it is over some ice.

Enjoy friends!  For more tasty goodies check out these.  Stay tuned for some homemade pineapple rhubarb honey popsicles and a recipe for the best concoction I can come up with for this tasty booze.

Minty, cheesy, nutty, pesto pasta.

mmmmmm........ cheese and nuts and mint..... and pasta shells.

This mint pesto is super-duper delish my friends.  I found this recipe in the June issue of Sunset Magazine, and knew I just HAD to try it out.  Mint has become a staple in literally everything I make lately, drinks, salads, soups, sandwiches, and now pasta!

First, gather your ingredients. 

Mint, olive oil, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, mascarpone cheese, gorgonzola cheese (tons of cheese!), garlic, and walnuts.

Blend together 2 1/4 cups mint leaves, about a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup walnuts (if you are using salted walnuts, omit the salt in the recipe), 3 garlic cloves (be careful these aren't monster cloves, this is raw garlic people!), 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (don't go overboard here, you will add a TON of cheese later), about a teaspoon of pepper, and about a half a cup olive oil in a food processor.  Blend until you have pretty tiny chunks of nuts and leaves, you want this to be pesto-y, not sauce-y.

Get out your spatula and transfer that pesto to a big bowl.  Stir in about 3 tablespoons each gorgonzola cheese and mascarpone cheese.  I added a couple of dashes of crushed red pepper for some kick, and a little extra salt and pepper to taste.

Blend with your favorite pasta (I used large shells) and stir in about 3/4 cup chopped mint leaves and about 1/2 cup chopped green onion.  Garnish with a mint leaf and you have a wonderful minty, cheesy, nutty pesto pasta!

This recipe made a HUGE bowl of pasta.  My fiance and are still trying to finish it off, but it makes fabulous leftovers.

For more delicious recipes, check this out.  Thanks for stopping by!

Fresh strawberries and strawberry-infused balsamic over vanilla ice cream. yum!

This stuff is heaven heaven my friends! The strawberry infused vinegar  from last week ended up to die for.  I've got a whole bottle, and predictably the first thing I do is make a fruity dessert. mmmmmm.......

Some Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries drizzled with strawberry infused balsamic vinegar.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah siiiiiiigh.  So easy and so delicious.  Make this strawberry vinegar yourself here, or check out other tasty treats to make at home here.

Now time to eat my dessert...... yesssssssss!

Strawberry balsamic vinegar

Hello lovely friends!

One of my favorite things is vanilla ice cream with strawberries and balsamic vinegar.  I have been wanting to combine strawberries and vinegar FOREVER!  Today, I did. 

Start with you ingredients: about 4 medium sized strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and an 8 oz jar with a tight closing lid.

Hull and half the strawberries, and put them in the jar.  Use enough strawberries to fill the jar.

Fill the jar with balsamic vinegar, making sure to completely cover the fruit.

Close the lid tightly, and put in the fridge for 7 days.  Shake this jar vigorously once a day.  Strain at the end of the 7th day and enjoy!

Indian spiced pork chops with rhubarb sauce!

Hello lovely friends.  I made this for dinner tonight, and although it was an experiment, it was super delish.  I had to share.

Rhubarb sauce:

This was originally supposed to be rhubarb compote, but it ended up a sauce!  I recommend adding a little less water than I did.  I even added some cornstarch to try to thicken it a bit, but other than that it tasted great.

First, gather your ingredients, 2 stalks of rhubarb, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces, about 6 tablespoons of sugar (be generous with the sugar here, this stuff is TART!), and about 1/8 cup water (I added about 1/2 cup, so if you want sauce go for that!), and about a slice of fresh lemon (enough for a pretty good squeeze of juice).

Bring the water, sugar, and rhubarb to a boil on medium high heat in a small saucepan.

Cook this down for about 20 minutes, then stir a hefty squeeze of lemon juice.  Keep the sauce on low until your porkchops are nearly done, then take it off the heat.  It will be pretty runny, but should thicken up a bit as it cools.  This is what mine looked like before cooling:

The pork chops:

I winged this entire thing, so I don't quite remember the exact measurements of the spice rub I made.  This is what I guess:

2 tablespoons garam masala, 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Rub your pork chops generously with this amazing powder on both sides

Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, and lay pork chops in oil.  Sear both sides, and then cook about 5 minutes on each side, or until a meat thermometer reads 145degrees.

Serve the sauce with the pork chops and voila!  Fantastic dinner!  I steamed some broccoli on the side too.  Enjoy!

 

Strawberry peach soda!

Hello lovely friends!  I had some extra fruit that I needed to use up ASAP this morning, AND I was craving a soda!  I decided the two had to work together.

First, I gathered my ingredients.  Strawberries, peaches, and sugar.  Mine are pretty ripe as you can see. :)

Bring about a cup of sliced peaches, a cup of sliced strawberries, and 2 cups of water to boil.

When this boils, add 1 cup of sugar.  I actually added 2, and it turned out SO sweet.  1 cup should be perfect, but if you like super sweet go for about 1 1/2.  The sugar should dissolve immediately.  When this starts to boil (about 15 seconds later), take off the heat.  Using a potato masher, mash the fruit until you get a mushy icky mess like this:

Let this mash cool completely, and then strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard the fruit (or eat it if you can handle sweet mushy goo).  You should end up with some bright red simple syrup!

I decided to muddle a lemon and a little bit of mint into the bottom of a glass.  Then I added some ice.  I made mine about 1/2 simple syrup and 1/2 soda water and it was fantastic! 

It was a bit on the sweet side, and was screaming for some gin!  Enjoy friends!

Strawberry Rhubarb vodka = delicious

I adore the sweetness of strawberries with tart crispy rhubarb.  What a better way to spice up some vodka!?  This vodka turned out so fantastic!  Here's how:

First, make sure your bottle of vodka is only half full, or three quarters full.  Hull strawberries and cut them into quarters.  Cut unpeeled and unsweetened rhubarb into one inch pieces. 

Drop the strawberries and rhubarb into the vodka.  It looks gorgeous doesn't it?

Place the bottle in a cool place.  I chose a high shelf in a kitchen cupboard.

Shake the bottle once a day to mix up the fruit.  Do this for seven days.

This is what the bottle looked like on day 3.  That vodka sucked all the color out of the fruit!  I opened it up at this point and it smelled a little like farts....... I was soooooooo disappointed! 

After 7 days, pour the vodka over a fine strainer into another container.  Be sure to press on the fruit to get all of that delicous alcohol out of there!  I used a potato masher and it worked wonders.

Even after the three day fart smell of this vodka, it turned out better than I had hoped!  It was tart and sweet, and uber-dangerous to drink because it tasted just like juice! I had some friends over for vodka tasting and bbq and it was gone in about an hour!  Be careful there. :)

Hope you make this lovely friends!  It is soooo easy.  Enjoy.

Super simple lemon vinaigrette for May

We've all been there........ the weekend ends and you end up with tiny bits of random leftovers in your fridge.  This beautiful Spring weekend in May, I was out of town at a fantastic wedding!  It was a delight, but I came home to super slim pickins in our fridge.  Here's what I had:

Some delish smoked salmon, about half a cup of cooked bowtie pasta without sauce, half a lemon, and some red leaf lettuce.

Some lemon vinaigrette dressing over greens and pasta with smoked salmon for dinner?  It was fantastic!

Here's how:

Mix 3 tablespoons white vinegar, 1 to 1and1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the squeezed juice of half a lemon, and a half a tablespoon of brown sugar.

 Shake well in a small container and...........VOILA!  you have beautiful bright springy salad dressing.