The Simplicity of Salt & Pepper

First of all...I got the job! (And the nametag, bow tie, visor, blue shirt and ugly shoes.) I am so eager to start - I have a couple of training days first, but then I'm officially on the work schedule. For now, I get minimum wage ($5.85/hr.) which is a few steps down from earning $10/hr. filing for my neighbor's business across the street. But I'm still excited! And I'm still employed with my neighbor.


Secondly...I am going to post another recipe soon. Not today though, today is simple. Today is for enjoying the basics - salt and pepper, essentially, but with some grits and mashed potatoes thrown in for good measure. Of course, they're not all mixed together. I have reasons for choosing these things - I love salt & peppers classic flavors & absolute power over food, grits because I used to live down South & potatoes because I'm part Irish. I also have a thing for whiskey sauce...I see bread pudding in the future :)

The weather here has been muggy and hot and we've had a number of intense thunderstorms that are unusual for this time of year. However, all of the humidity and sunshiny afternoons make for great swimming weather. Except I haven't gone yet! Tomorrow, tomorrow. I took the SAT (for practice) this morning and it kinda drained me. So tomorrow. Today I have a picture of the developing raspberries on my Flickr photostream. They are now shapely green orbs, and we've covered the bed to keep away the greedy birds. Also - I am now going to link all of the photos in my posts to my Flickr account. Click on one and see what happens! I'll post again soon.

Short & Sweet

This morning I made gluten-free vegan blueberry muffins from Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cooking. There are a lot of great recipes in that cookbook. The muffins had a nice, crumbly texture and were not too sweet. I used sorghum flour & added extra blueberries. (I like lots of fruit in my baked goods.)

The reason I didn't post the other is because our Internet (and TV, for that matter) wouldn't connect. A lightning strike on Friday messed up all of the AT&T systems the street.

I'll post again soon, with an original recipe and maybe some jewelry. (I finally got my eBay beads in the mail!) I promise I don't only do breakfast stuff - I'll get some lunch/dinner/dessert/snack things on here sometime. Other events to look forward to: we might have raspberries soon...and I have an interview at Culver's this afternoon. I know that the place kind of goes against my beliefs about food, but I'm looking for $$$ this summer, and my two other part-time jobs at my neighbor's, filing and cleaning their pool (maybe 1-3 hrs./wk?) aren't keeping me as busy as I'd expected. Wish me luck!

Tropical Fruit Salad

Cracking coconuts is not as hard as I'd expected, but removing the crisp white meat was a challenge. It was well worth it, though, because my fruit salad was absolutely delicious. I put pieces of bananas, a handful of cherries and grapes, a kiwi, an orange & a couple of strawberries in it. I supremed the orange this morning, and that is what you see on the plate over top of two fresh mint leaves.

We've had mint in our garden for a very long time, but I never really paid it much attention. Now that I've begun to use it, I've come to love its strong, moist flavor, as well as its appearance as a garnish.

I have a good-sized bowl of coconut meat and about a cup of coconut water chilling in the fridge for later use. Does anyone have any ideas on how to use it? BTW: I recommend straining the coconut water before use. Mine had tiny chunks of coconut meat and flecks from the shell in it.

My First Post!

Hi! I'm Katie. Welcome to The Summertree Café! I started this blog to document my culinary explorations. I'm not exactly a vegetarian - I really would like go vegan, but I live with my meat-eating parents and my gluten- and dairy-sensitive sister, so it's not exactly convenient for me to alienate all animal-derived food products from my diet. My family has been health-conscious for a long time, and I love eating and cooking healthily myself. I enjoy trying new things and experimenting with alternative ingredients.

Though my plate today does not feature an original recipe, I will post some of my own recipes as soon as I make it to the grocery store. This cracked-wheat quickbread is from Low-Fat Living. My mom made it frequently years ago, when I was little and living in South Carolina. It's good with butter, honey, jelly or anything else you can think of. The texture is great, and it makes a fantastic snack or breakfast.

Now I know that you've seen more sumptous, attractive berries than those on my plate, but they'll suffice to satisfy my berry craving until the raspberry plants in the backyard bear their summer fruits and the Farmer's Market has their locally-grown berries out for sale. The grocery store berries taste good, but they still leave me dreaming of organic berries picked by hand, grown and eaten in the warmth of the sun. Our sweet fruits are not ephemeral; the crop last year provided us with plenty of red berries to savor and enjoy. I'll track the bushes's progress here. I can't wait!