Time to Catch Up with Some Recipes New and Old

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Potsdecreme1I’m in denial that February is almost over. It seems like this year is flying by even faster than the last. Although for those of you in the northern U.S. and Canada who have had weeks upon weeks of tremendous snow, I’m sure Spring can’t arrive fast enough!

So what’s been happening here? Well, we’ve tried to get back into our wonderful hiking schedule every Saturday, but winter weather—even here in the deep south—can be daunting. We’ve managed a few nice, long hikes so far this year, but will probably  have to wait until March or so to get back to our routine. Here are a few scenes from some those hikes and as you can see, even winter forest is quite lovely. Enjoy these moments of peace and solitude along with the myriad of textures and pattern that a winter forest reveals.

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This hike is one of the top Atlanta area hikes, the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area Gold Branch Trail, north of Atlanta. We hiked 4.5 miles of trail across some significant elevation changes. We’ll go back to hit the remaining 3 miles.

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Another top Atlanta hike we’ve managed this year is this 7.12 mile hike into, and around Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, GA, just east of Atlanta. We hiked along the Cherokee Trail which circles the base of Stone Mountain itself, which is an interesting quartz monzonite dome monadnock.

And then suddenly, it was Valentine’s Day! I’d intended to post before then, but it didn’t happen. I hope yours was lovely. We chose to stay in and explore a cookbook that my husband found on pairing cocktails with small plates, main dishes and desserts…and prepare our Valentine’s meal TOGETHER! Add a nice roaring fire and some music, and it made for a very special evening. This was a really fun way to explore recipes together in the kitchen, and I will definitely make some of these dishes again for us and for company. Here are some scenes of our cocktails, the dishes they paired with and the lovely roses my husband gave me. You can click on any image to see a slideshow if you like.

Beautiful roses for Valentine’s from the hubby.
Amazing color.
First course was the “Rouge” cocktail paired with Truffled Popcorn with Pecorino.
Ice cubes in our drinks…thanks again, KC!
A casually set table for two awaits with the salad and main course.
Sea Scallops in Roasted Red Pepper Chimmichurri.
A salad of roasted and raw grapes, arugula, almonds and manchego with Saba vinaigrette.
Milk Chocolate and Orange Pots de Creme for dessert!
For two.
A wee glass of California rose sparkling after dessert.
These roses were still gorgeous a week after Valentine’s Day!

The cookbook with recipes for the cocktails and the two dishes we made from the book can be found here. I halved all of these food recipes. You can find the Arugula, Grape and Almond Salad with Saba Vinaigrette from Bon Appétit magazine that I chose to go with the sea scallops here. I used an aged balsamic vinegar in mine instead of the Saba and roasted some of my grapes…delicious. The Milk Chocolate Pots de Crème recipe from Food and Wine magazine is here and I added the zest of half an orange to my chocolate which gave it a delicate and superb flavor. The salad and dessert recipes are keepers…easy and adaptable. The Truffled Popcorn with Pecorino is to die for, but I’d recommend making it when you have several folks to share it and here’s why…it’s addictive, and not in the least bit good for you in any way, but so divine. The recipe said it was for two, but we couldn’t eat it all and I think it would make a nice appetizer for 4-6…in small bowls.

The cocktails were magnificent and wonderfully paired with their dishes…we’ve made the Rouge again, as well as the Fireside 75 from the same book, though we haven’t yet made the chicken and waffles it is paired with. I’d highly recommend any of the food and drink recipes we made for Valentine’s, but I might make my own version of chimmichurri sauce next time for the scallops as I felt it was a bit too strong in onion and pepper…especially because we couldn’t get jumbo sea scallops. And be forewarned, it make a TON of sauce, even in a halved recipe.

In addition to what I’ve already mentioned above, we’ve taken some time for a quick visit to see dear friends in Chattanooga, I’ve been making more clay pots and working a lot.

This week we’ve had some threats of snow and some very cold weather…and in my house that means soup time. With an excess of rich foods for Valentine’s Day, I decided it was high time to have a pure veggie infusion with my Veddy Veggie Soup—which turned out to be one of the best batches I’ve made thus far. You can link to that post through the title and as with most soups, this one gets better each day.

So now that we’re all caught up, I’ll give you a little preview of what’s coming next…

spicedlentilandspinachsaladwithfriedegg1

Mmmm! That’s all I’m going to say about that for now, but stay tuned for the next post.

What have you been up to? I’m making my way around to catch up and read about your adventures. I hope you’re all doing well and that you’ve had a great week and weekend.

 

18 thoughts on “Time to Catch Up with Some Recipes New and Old”

  2. I’m sure there are a lot of people wishing on the end of February. The poached egg dish looks amazing and I can’t wait for you to post the recipe. The hiking, even though it’s winter, looks so beautiful and picturesque. And I think cooking for Valentine’s Day is the best way to celebrate xx

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    • Yes, it’s been a rough Winter for many and even down here we can have snow in March. I’m glad I’ve piqued your interest with the next recipe…it’s a good one! I never knew that hiking in the winter months could be so interesting. The site lines are so much better and there’s definitely a stark beauty to the long shadows and patterns of winter light! 🙂

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  5. It looks like you’ve been having a blast and I love what you did on Valentine’s Day. Does your hubby normally cook with you? I made a chocolate pot de crème for a food styling gig and it was TDF, so creamy and rich and you’re right, the orange would have been incredible in it. That popcorn sounds amazing too…I’m definitely checking out the recipe. When we were in Wisconsin last October I bought some white truffle oil which tastes incredible — can’t wait to use it on the recipe you found!
    You hikes look gorgeous, it’s been seriously cold here and there are days that I don’t set foot outside (a huge risk when a freelancer!).

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    • Thanks Eva! No, my hubby doesn’t normally cook with me. He can cook a few things, but since I like to cook so much and our kitchen is so small, I do pretty much all of the cooking or prep for the grill. He’s really the grill and cocktail master at our house! 😉 The link is to the cookbook, which we got as an e-pub. The popcorn is pretty simple, though. 1/2 cup yellow kernel popcorn popped, 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted, 1/4 cup white truffle oil, 1 cup fresh grated pecorino romano cheese, italian seasoning to taste. Toss popcorn with butter and oil, add cheese and italian seasoning, toss again. Ridiculously bad for you but very good!!! I think you could back off on the oil, butter and cheese a wee bit (at least by a tablespoon and maybe two on the oil and butter) and it would still be good, but these recipes were from chefs and they just went for it!

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