Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lenten Rose and Thank You

Posted on by Laurie

Last March, I started this blog, A Taste of Morning. The image below is one of the first that I posted. At the time, I had no followers. I don’t know whether anyone ever saw this. It is an image of a purple Lenten Rose, the first flower to bloom in my garden last Spring. Having just noticed that the Lenten Roses are once again in bloom, I decided to commemorate the anniversary of my first year of blogging by sharing this early image. Thank you to everyone who has discovered my blog and shared your warmth and kind comments over the last year! Have a wonderful day!

 

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Cupid’s Arrow (A Valentine’s Martini)

Posted on by Laurie

 

For the February issue of The Morning Star’s newsletter, I wanted to create a Valentine’s recipe that would be both easy and fun. With the recent popularity of Chocolate Martini’s, I decide to create my own version of this dessert cocktail – an enjoyable little project if I do say so! This is what I came up with …

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Cupid’s Arrow

– makes 2 strong cocktails –

3 oz.  Chocolate Vodka (I use Cupcake Devil’s Food Vodka)

2 oz. Raspberry Liqueur (I use Pallini Raspicello)

2 oz. Chocolate Liqueur (I use Meletti Cioccolato)

Half-and-half

Dark chocolate

Fresh raspberries

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka and liqueurs. Shake well. Strain into two chilled martini glasses. Drizzle a little half-and-half over the top of each. (It will sink to the bottom then raise to the top, creating a marbleized effect.) Shave a little chocolate over the top of each cocktail then garnish with fresh raspberries. Enjoy!

Tips: Chill glasses in freezer for ten minutes before serving. Use chilled ingredients. The drink should be served very cold, but you do not want it diluted by melting ice.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

Posted on by Laurie

This is a photo that I took a number of years ago on White Island Volcano in New Zealand.  To me, it expresses the concept of “beyond” in various ways.

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Eloté: Mexican-Style Grilled Corn

Posted on by Laurie

This is a recipe that was sent to me by our friend Brian. We made it for dinner the other night, despite the heat, and it is absolutely the best tasting corn I have ever had. If anyone is thinking about cooking out for July 4th, this would be a great dish to try. The lime-mayo sauce is similar melted butter but with a lot more flavor. The cheese and spices soak into the sauce and add a smoky-spicy-salty component to the flavor. We might just have to have it again this week.

Eloté

4 ears fresh corn on the cob

3 T. mayonnaise

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 T. fresh grated parmesan cheese

1/2 t. ground ancho chili pepper

1/4/ t. ground cayenne pepper

1/4 t. ground cumin

1/8 t. garlic salt

(1) Peel back the husks on the ears of corn, but keep them attached. Remove the silk, then pull the husks back up. Soak corn in cold water for about 20 minutes. (If your corn is missing husks, wrap the ears in buttered aluminum foil or skip the grilling step and just steam the corn until it is tender.)

(2) Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Spray with high heat cooking spray. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until tender. This will depend on your grill, but probably about 10 – 20 minutes. (To be honest, I always have to test the doneness several times when grilling corn.)

(3) Meanwhile, in one small bowl, combine mayo and lime juice. In another, combine cheese and spices.

(4) When corn is done, pull back husks, brush corn with lime-mayo mixture, then sprinkle with spiced cheese mixture. Serve right away.

96 and Going to Havana

Posted on by Laurie

Officially, the high in Manhattan (Kansas) yesterday was 96 degrees F; but the official temperature is taken at the airport outside of town, and is always lower than what you’ll find recorded on any thermometer in town. According to ours, it was 101. Downtown, we experience heat reflected off streets and buildings and generated by equipment. In fact, different neighborhoods, even different properties can seem to have their own miniature climate zones. The back yard of the house on the corner near us, for example, is always a few degrees warmer than ours because it receives more reflected heat from the brick of Seven Dolors Church.

With the hot summer temperatures – though not as hot as they are likely to get later in the summer – one of our return guests surprised us yesterday with a bottle of Cuban Havana Club rum. When someone shows up at your door with such a gift, and it is so very hot, what can you do but make Havanas, sit on the front porch, and relax?

Havana

recipe from The Art of The Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics, by Jeff Hollinger & Rob Schwartz

1 1/2 oz. Gosling’s rum

3/4 oz. Cointreau

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Splash fresh orange juice

Dash of Orange bitters

Edible Flower for garnish

Line the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar. Combine ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake, and then strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with flower.

(As you can tell from my photos, I was too tired yesterday to strain the cocktails, but I enjoy the pulp from the fresh fruit anyway … and it was so hot, we really wanted ice. And obviously, we substituted rums.)

Photos From Master Gardener Tour

Posted on by Laurie

Sunday was a busy day.  Fortunately, I was able to make it to the local garden tour organized by  Riley County (Kansas) Extension Master Gardeners. I was only able to visit three of the wonderful gardens before having to make it home to check-in guests, but I did get some nice photos that I hope you will enjoy! (By the way, if anyone has suggestions as to how to present the photos in my posts, I am open to advice. I had received some comments early on in my blog that my photos took too long to load. So I have been saving them as smaller files, but sometimes they appear a little grainy.)

Just Out of the Oven: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Posted on by Laurie

My husband has a hard time starting his day without chocolate. So I make these muffins (or a variation thereof) pretty frequently!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Makes 10

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. granulated white sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 t. ground mace

1/2 t. ground ginger

1 c. mashed banana (about 2 lg.)

1/2 c. canola oil

2 lg. eggs

2 t. vanilla extract

1 1/4 chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

honey for glazing

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 10 half-cup size ceramic ramekins* with baking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except chocolate). Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (except honey). Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until the dry ingredients have been absorbed. Stir in chocolate.

4. Scoop batter into prepared ramekins. Use the back of a spoon to shape the batter in each cup into a slight mound. Place ramekins on baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch.

5. Remove baking sheets from oven and place on cooling racks. Immediately spoon honey over muffin tops.

* If you don’t have ramekins, use a standard 12 muffin baking pan.

We’ve Been Flocked

Posted on by Laurie

As a fundraiser for the Audubon Society, Gaia Salon is flocking local yards with pink flamingos. Someone flocked us. Hmm. We have a who done it on our hands. The front yard, even the fountain is full of these joyful pieces of yard art. Don’t expect them to stay, though. Tomorrow they’ll be moved to the yard of some other unsuspecting souls.ImageImage

Dinosaur Easter Eggs

Posted on by Laurie

To make these fun colored eggs …

(1) Gather together several glass jelly jars. Put a teaspoon of white vinegar into each. Add two drops of food coloring, using a different color for each jar. Add just enough hot water so that when you put an egg into the jar, it will be covered.

(2) Place hard boiled white eggs (in the shells) into the jars. Let them sit for a few minutes, then move them around from jar to jar until you are happy with the base color.

(3) Place several eggs in a glass or stainless steel bowl. Drop food coloring directly on the eggs. Pour a small amount of vinegar over eggs. Swirl the bowl around.  Lightly scratch the eggs with the tines of a fork.

(4) Repeat step (3), using different colors. When you are pleased with the designs, you are done!

Note: it is a good idea to wear gloves when handling eggs. Have fun!