Macaroni Salad

I still can’t believe that it is September already! It feels like summer just started. There are so many summer recipes I wanted to make, but I am running out of time! Soon it will be all soups and stews and root veggies!

But before all that, I had to make macaroni salad, a very summery dish.

Here is what you need,

1 cup elbow macaroni

½ cup celery, diced

1/4 cup yellow pepper, chopped

¼ cup radishes, sliced

½ cup cucumber, chopped

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

2 tbsp chives, chopped

For the dressing,

½ cup Greek yogurt

¼ cup mayo

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp grainy mustard

1 tsp worchestire sauce

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until el dente. Drain and run cold water over the pasta. Put in a large bowl.

Add all the veggies to the pasta, except the chives.

Mix up the dressing by stirring together the yogurt, mayo, mustards, worchestire sauce and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the pasta with the dressing and stash in the fridge for a few hours.

Sprinkle the chives on just before serving.

Eat and enjoy the last few days of summer!

Jen

Favourite Things Friday Vol. 3

My favourite thing this week is the autumn scented candle from Bath and Body Works.

I ♥ this store! I love their amazing soaps and lotions. Don't get me started on the wall flower scents! But my favourite thing is their candles!
They burn a long time, they smell amazing and they look great!

This autumn scent is one of my all time favourites. It is a bit spicy and warm but has that perfect fall air smell.
Even my in house taster loves this candle, and he doesn’t really like "smelly stuff!"
When I light this candle and I get that whiff of the fragrance it always makes me stop and take a big deep breath. It has a calming effect on me, it is like comfort food!

Go buy one, I promise it will quickly become your favourite!

Happy weekend!
Jen

Dill Pickles

I grew up with both my mom and dad spending a lot of time in the kitchen. They both did a lot of canning in the summer, fruits, relish and my favourite, dill pickles.
I love them!!

I went to the farmers market and bought a 5lb bag of dilling cucumbers and a couple big bunches of dill. Then I got some canning jars from Canadian Tire and went to town!

What you need,

Dilling cucumbers (I used a 5lb bag)

Dill
Garlic (about 3 cloves per jar)

Start by washing all of those little cucumbers, fun stuff!

Stuff each jar with as many cucumbers as you can get in, a couple big sprigs of dill and about 3 cloves of garlic.

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For the brine,
This recipe is enough for about 3 quarts. I tripled it, I had 7 quarts.
¼ cup pickling salt
2 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
Boil all the ingredients together in a large pot.

Pour the hot brine into each jar until it they are right full, to the very brim.

Put the lids on very tightly.
The jars will seal within a couple hours.
If they don’t seal for some reason you can store the jar in the fridge, they will be fine.

Now the hard part, you have wait to open a jar until Christmas! They need time to pickle! Dad says you can open a jar at thanksgiving if you want, but they will be better if you wait!

 
Now I have the canning bug, I want to do more! Any ideas what I should try??

Jen

Grasshopper Pie

My grandma Clarke used to make us this dessert. It was our favorite!! We begged her all year to make it but she would always say “You can’t make grasshopper pie when there aren’t any grasshoppers”. So we only got it in the later summer months. 

It is light and fresh, so full of flavor. It is still one of my most favorite desserts.

What you need,

1 package of chocolate wafer cookies 
3 tbsp melted butter
1-3 oz package lime Jell-O powder
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup boiling water
10 drops of food coloring
1/4 cup lemon juice, and the rind of lemon, grated
1 cup undiluted carnation evaporated milk

Crush all but 12 or so of the chocolate wafers. I just put the cookies into a zip lock back and crush them with a wooden rolling pin.  Put the whole wafers around the outside edge of a pie plate. Mix the melted butter and the crushed cookie crumbs and press them into the bottom of the pie plate. Save 1/4 cup of the crumbs to decorate the top of pie.

Dissolve Jell-O powder and sugar in the boiling water. Add food coloring, the lemon rind and 2 tbsp of the lemon juice. Chill until slightly thickened, it should be the consistency of raw egg white. Chill the carnation milk until soft ice crystals form around edges of the bowl for about 15-20minutes. Whip until stiff. Then add the remaining 2 tbsp of lemon juice and whip until very stiff about 2 more minutes. Fold the Jell-O mixture into the whipped milk.  Pour the batter into the prepared pie plate and sprinkle reserved cookie crumbs on top.
Chill until firm, overnight is best!

I can’t eat this pie without thinking about my grandma. I miss her so much. 

I am grateful for every minute I got to spend with her, she taught me a lot, including how to make this pie!

Thanks Grandma, I miss you.

Jen

Guess What I Did Today?

It smells like home in here today!

Jen