Took Us Forever to Blog About the 4th of July Corn Dogs, But We Were Recovering from a Corn Coma

NOTE: You can totally tell that Kelly took the pictures, as they are the least attractive yet. She's nice, but an eye she does not have. - K

KELLY * July 4 * PAR-TAY!!

So, it has taken a while to get this up here, but it's largely because we have been recovering from the 4th of July weekend. As we have done on many occassions, we threw a 4th of July party. When living in NYC, we started doing 4th of July corn dogs and fried chicken. We did the same here last year. All I know is that it was a hit. The other thing I know is that baking wildly and deep frying for hours in the middle of the summer in an apartment with no A/C is rough, BUT in the end it was totally worth it. I started baking on the 3rd (after delivering a 2nd anarchy cake to a friend's house). I decided to do mini cupcakes, as I could make fewer batches. In the end I went back to the mingmakescupcakes site and chose a chocolate Guinness cupcake with sour cream frosting and a red velvet cupcake with butter cream frosting (that I colored blue). Everything was topped with fresh blueberries. Liz spent the 4th making slaw materialize from the CSA items and deep, deep, deep, deep frying. In the end, the folks seemed to enjoy all of the fried items. We had food to feed Steppenwolf Costume Shop for days. I wish we could have corndogs all of the time. (My butt thinks otherwise.) I am also pleased that my need to watch the hot dog eating contest does not hamper my ability to eat corn dogs. That said, Joey Chestnut is a pariah.

ELIZABETH * July 4 * Partay!

She is not kidding. We were exhausted.

The party was great fun - I deep fried for 3 1/2 hours, turning out 40 pieces of buttermilk double-crusted drumsticks and 48 corn dogs. (My attitude about deep frying is thusly: It is a big pain and a big mess. It smells up the house and is hard to clean up. It creates delicious foods. If you are going to do it, do it up. In for a penny...) We made up a new cocktail. We set some stuff on fire. The guest contributions to the potluck were plentiful and creative. See recipes below:

* Aunt Ginny's Corn dogs
(This is enough for one package. We made 5.)

Dogs on sticks (we used all-beef ballpark augmented with one pkg jalapeno-cheddar dogs because Kelly is a teenage boy.)

1 c. Flour
1/2 c. Cornmeal
1 T. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Baking Powder
1 Egg
3/4 c. Milk
1 T Vegetable Oil
1 t. Mustard Powder

Mix this business together and get it to stick to the dogs (this is easier if they are dry, but not easy at all. Silicone spatula helps. Work fast or it falls off.

Drop in hot oil until yummy. (Thanks Ginger.)


* Double-Dipped Buttermilk Fried Chicken

I augmented this recipe with some beer in the batter, but otherwise stuck to it.


* Creamy Coleslaw

Started here but upped the sour cream to mayo ratio and added some honey and water. The veggies included kohlrabi, cabbage, carrots, red onion, and cauliflower.


For the PDR (Piece de Resistance), drumroll.... Our Signature Cocktail

* The Lee Greenwood. (It was gone in an hour.)

1.75 L Svedka Lemon Vodka
1.75 L Welches White Grape Juice
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 L Seltzer (courtesy of Soda Stream via Dr. Caroline Frick-Page, Thanks)
2 c. Blueberries
2 c. Strawberries
Handful Fresh Mint

Mix ingredients and bash around fruit with a spoon. Steep as long as you can before someone drinks it.

It's Anarchy!!! Ironic 4th of July Baking

KELLY *July 3* Dessert

Just a quick post. This is in no way from our CSA box, but a lovely fresh dessert that I highly recommend. We're heading off to a 4th of July party and will be arriving with really, really cheap Trader Joe's beer and a lovely raspberry and blueberry anarchy cake. I found the recipe a couple years ago on epicurious. You bake it in a springform pan (the only thing remotely complicated, as the pan and I often argue). It only rises to about an inch high, but is lovely and tasty and light and fresh. See the link for specific amounts, but it's just a bit of flour, sugar, milk, egg, baking powder, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh fruit. It bakes for a little under an hour at 350 and is always a hit (and a bit of a balsamic surprise). (In addition, I do enjoy the ironically titled dessert for this particular holiday weekend.) Off to the party.

Bloggy Come Lately, But Bloggy Come Tasty. The Risotto Conquered the Giant Zucchini.

Kelly * Dinner * July 2

So, this one is going up a little late and I think Liz will have to add her part later. Last night we polished off the majority of the remaining box items for this week: the rest of the ENORMOUS zucchini, the remaining swiss chard, some green onions, the beets, and the radishes. We shared our bounty with our good friends Danny and Rachel (who provided us with homemade challa and wine). The good food and excellent company (enjoyed in the actual dining room rather than the sun room) wholly prevented us from blogging in a timely manner. Alls I know is that the zucchini/chard/garlic scapes risotto was lovely (and plentiful, as we sent a wad of it home with our CSA box-mates today when they dropped off our week's veg). I still find beets sketchy (although gladly ate the goat cheese that was slathered on them). (NOTE: I have not eaten beets since an unfortunate beet incident in the 5th grade. I have not been convinced I was wrong yet. Liz, however, did a beet dance.) The challa was lovely. I made an anarchy cake for dinner (see post for July 3). In short, win, win, win. More from Liz at a late date on the specifics of the risotto.

I'M THE LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE!! Chili in the summer rocks!

KELLY * July 1 * Dinner

So, sometimes the best dinner comes from sheer fear or laziness. Upon leaving the house this morning Liz said, "figure out what to do with that roast." It was as if she knew me not at all. I don't figure out what to do with large pieces of meat. Roast scares me. It's too big. It's mysterious. So, about an hour before she came home I texted that I had done nothing. My fear, laziness, and resistance to food research led to the Kelly who sits here blogging. She's full, smiley, and finished 2 bowls of chili before Liz finished one. I also have to say that my ineffectiveness also led to a tasty side dish. Defaulting to Jiffy cornbread (really cheap, but I stand by it), I rushed to make the mix. Okay, so I didn't really pay close attention and I made the corn pancake recipe rather than the cornbread recipe. I am not sorry. Let me just clarify, I'm not sure if people know this, but chili is hands down one of my favorite foods. It's like a present with beans. The spicier the better. I feel that my life's work is (a) making students watch Tootsie and (b) finding the perfect bowl of chili. I'm not sure if this was the perfect bowl, but it only reinforced the notion that I married well.

ELIZABETH * July 1 * Dinner

When I got home at 6:35 and it was true that K had not even touched the roast I had defrosted for dinner, and knowing it would take a full three hours minimum to roast the roast, I offered that cutting it up for chili would be faster. This suggestion was met, as you see above, with great enthusiasm. A departure from vegetables - we have only a few left and have big plans for beets and zucchini tomorrow night - tonight was all protein and carbs in freezers, cans, and boxes.

Impromptu Pot Roast Chili Stew

- Pot roast, cut into 1.5" chunks and dredged in flour, salt and pepper, is seared in olive oil in dutch oven. Pan is deglazed with beer, and beef and liquid set aside.

- Onions, garlic and diced jalapenos are sauteed in olive oil.

- All of the above are combined in dutch oven, then added are the rest of the beer, chili beans, pinto beans, two cans Rotel tomatoes w/green chiles, a can of pozole, and lashings of Dallas Dynamite Chili Powder (CM Austin yeah).

- Above is simmered 1.5 hours, then topped with chopped green onion (CSA!) and eaten with the aforementioned accidental pancake.

Kelly is not wrong. This is good.

Oh, the Perfect Creamy Tasty Goodness of Broccoli and Spud Soup!

KELLY * June 30 * Dinner

Whew, we've been away for a day. We have been very popular (well, a little) and therefore not home to cook. Tonight, honestly, I almost ruined my dinner by going to Trader Joe's while starving. Liz did open the pumpernickel pretzels in the store and begin eating them (an act I frown upon but is inherited from her Grandma Flauto). The unfortunate "shopping while hungry" incident did lead to some random purchases (cereal, chicken chili, goat cheese), but also to a tapenade that well complemented the dinner. We've actually been waiting since Sunday to eat the potato and broccoli soup. It was ultimately fabulous (although Liz does not think I liked it enough). We ate it with some lovely bruschetta (red pepper and eggplant tapenade from Trader Joe's and thinly sliced pork leftover from Monday night's dinner). (That was totally my idea. Don't let her tell you different.) In short, I say lovely (although I seem to now be forcing Trader Joe's light kettle corn into my mouth (that is perhaps a little too light for my taste).

ELIZABETH * June 30 * Dinner

The problem is that I thought that soup was awesome. Kelly thinks it's delicious. I think it's surprising and spectacular. The secret of this soup, and of several other soups I have made and loved (soup's my specialty) is this Herbes de Provence mix from Central Market Austin. I have bought HdP other places and found them lacking. The special ingredient here is.... lavender. It contains the usual suspects - thyme, rosemary, etc - but the slight herbal flowery note struck by the lavender is unexpected and complex. This is the first time I have used it in a cream/puree soup, and if anything I like it better in there - the pureeing of it really infuses the flavors into the whole thing. I recommend it in potato leek and sausage bean soups, but this was special. Thanks to Dad for the page from his James Beard cookbook about cream soups - I combined the recommmendations of that re: white sauce and seasonings with an old Weight Watchers trick of using potato in a cream soup to make it creamy. More or less this is the soup -

- Garlic, chopped fine, and onion, diced, sauteed in butter and olive oil
- Major quantity of broccoli, flowers and tender stem parts (Angelic CSA)
- Box of organic chicken broth (Costco)
- Herbes de Provence, 1 tsp appx (CM Austin)
- 2 Dried Bay Leaves (Dad's Garden)
Cook this until broccoli is tender

Make roux of small amt butter with 1 tbs flour. Add
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh ground pepper

Meanwhile, boil potato chunks until very tender.

Mix potatoes, broccoli/broth, and white sauce together, mix well, then puree. I prefer the immersion blender, as you can do it all at once in the pot. Season to taste. It sure was to my taste!

Kelly's great suggestion of tapenade bruschetta was perfect.

Unlike my Grandma Flauto, I did eventually pay for the pretzels. She chose to approach bulk bins as if they contained free snacks. Kelly was scandalized - she would never let me get away with that.

R.I.P Lettuce. I Hardly Knew Ya.

KELLY * June 28 * A Eulogy

Little to say today. We had dinner at a friend's, so no work on the CSA veg. I did, however, make Liz a lovely salad this morning to try to salvage the last 2 boxes worth of lettuce. Unfortunately about half of it had gone to the great beyond. That which remained made a lovely lunch for Liz with farmers' market white radishes, some "been around for a while" carrots, "who knows where they came from" olives and red onions, Edgewater Produce tomatoes, and CSA broccoli stalks. Word on the street is that the salad was delish. I'm only sad to say that the rest of the lettuce was not around to hear its praises. I give my heartfelt apologies for being wasteful and I'll try to do better in the future. Our first casualty.

ELIZABETH * June 28 * Lunch

I will just say, the salad was awesome. And big. I know a lot of lettuces (2) gave their lives for that salad, but it was not in vain. The half we didn't have to throw away was crisp, sweet, and flavorful. The salad, with basil-infused olive oil and salt and pepper, provided a great and satisfying luncheon, which I enjoyed. Thank you lettuces. And XO K.

What To Do With a Zucchini The Size of Liz's Forearm? EAT IT!!

KELLY June 27 *Dinner*

Okay, it's been a really long day of cleaning and cooking. We were determined to keep up with the CSA box and we had a banner night. I'm going to have to take the blog over for both of us this evening (as Liz does not think she can blog twice in one day and she's just too pooped from the cooking). So, part 1 of the cooking was some lovely potato and broccoli soup. We'll tell more about that in a couple days. We've put it away for later in the week. For tonight, we enjoyed the wonder that was zucchini, onion, and spinach enchilada casserole. I must admit, my makeshift grapefruit Izzie margarita and the near-concussion I gave myself today while cleaning has made me less than prolific, but... Here you go. So, you think you can't make enchiladas without cheese. Wrong you are. Despite her misgivings, Liz persevered sans queso. She sautéed chunks of zucchini and fresh spinach (CSA) with white onion. They were then layered between 2 stacks of 3 Atotonilco corn tortillas (local), smothered in the same Meijer salsa of last night, and topped with sour cream, fresh cilantro, and the ubiquitous Trader Joe's chili pepper sauce. As with any meal, Goya black beans hit the spot as a side dish. I fully admit that I ate 3/4 of them. It just looked like we split them. All I know is that we inhaled this meal. It was tasty, delicious, and SO NOT BAD FOR US!!! In short, this was an amazing day of cooking. Thank you CSA and thank you my live-in chef. Now, off to play Rock Band and work off the meager caloric intake from dinner.