Home again!

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After three wonderful weeks in Germany and France, I'm back home again. Hubs and I had a wonderful time but it's nice to get back home. I think finally I'm over my jet lag now and getting caught up with everything after being gone for so long.
Just before I left for Germany I entered a giveaway on Sara's blog Ms.Adventures in Italy. Sara's blog is full of food, recipes, and info on Italian living. She was giving away Pocket Coffee. It's a candy combining two of my favorite things chocolate and coffee.I entered and won!!!! The day before I left Sara sent me an email saying that she'd shipped the candy and it would arrive with in the next two weeks. My younger sister was getting my mail while I was gone. I asked her to keep an eye out for a package because it had chocolate in it and would melt. She was kind enough to get the package and even try a few of the pocket coffee's to make sure that they were still okay. Wow isn't nice to have a sister willing to do that for you. hehe Thanks sis:)
Anyway the Pocket Coffee is wonderful. They are rich chocolate candies filled with espresso syrup. Coffee you can carry in your pocket. Perfect!! Thanks Sara!

Images from our trip to France

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The Medieval city of Carcassonne

Pont du Gard

Gourdes

Wordless Wednesday

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Where in the world is half baked??

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About 5 years ago my husband's job brought him to Germany for about a year. We lived in Wiesbaden during that year. When he wasn't working, we traveled all over Europe. It was great way to experience the culture and foods of the places we visited. We also made lifelong friends of our neighbors in Germany. It was an unforgettable year, full of wonderful people and experiences.
A few weeks ago Hubs got the opportunity to come back to Germany for about 3 weeks for his job...and I got to tag along! The best part is that while here, Hubs will have lots of time off.
Our first couple of days were spent catching up with our good friends in Germany. We lived next door to them during the year that we lived here. It was wonderful seeing them again. The first day I arrived we went to see them. We had cake and coffee in the afternoon(a habit that I would love to adopt!) and then took us to a wine festival in a small nearby town. Hubs and I were definitely the only Americans at this little festival. It was fun and the food and wine were terrific.

Riesling with strawberries

So for the next couple of weeks I'll be a little out of the loop but will try to keep you posted on our adventures!!

Strawberry Cake

Strawberries are in season here and they are everywhere. Our friends made this strawberry cake. We had a slice or two before heading out for the wine festival.

Key Lime Mousse

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One of favorite summer desserts has got to be Key lime pie. It's a wonderful combo of tangy, sweet, and cold that's just perfect on a hot summer day. This Key lime mousse is a twist on the traditional pie. It has all the elements of a key lime pie but the whipped cream is incorporated making for a very light dessert. Topped with super ripe fresh mango, this maybe the perfect summer dessert!

Mango topped Key Lime Mousse

Ingredients

For the crust
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter together. Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch sprinform pan. I line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper so that I can easily remove the bottom when I serve the mousse.

For the mousse

2 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup key lime juice-if you want it a little more tart add about 1/4 cup more juice. I used Nelly and Joe's Key Lime juice but you can use freshly squeezed key lime juice if you want.
1 (1/4 ounce) envelope plain gelatin
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 ripe mango diced

In a large bowl mix together the sweetened condensed milk and the key lime juice.
In a small pot over low heat, warm 1/4 cup of the cream until it is about room temperature, warm to the touch.
Sprinkle gelatin over the warmed cream; let stand for a minute or two to soften; over low heat cook, stirring constantly, until dissolved, 1-2 minutes; cool away from the heat for five minutes.
At high speed, beat the 1/4 cup sugar with the remaining cream until soft peaks form.
Reduce the speed to medium and gradually drizzle the gelatin mixture into the cream. Beat until stiff peaks form. Mix about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk. Mix until well combined, then gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Put the mousse into the prepared springform pan. Smooth out the top and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from the sringform pan. I run a dampened knife around the edge before I open the pan. This seems to help it to release easily. Top mousse with the diced mango.


Notes
This time I wanted to make the mousse into individual servings so I made these in my silicon muffin pan. I pressed the crust into the bottom of the silicon muffin pan then filled them to the top with the mousse. I refrigerated them overnight. I ran a knife around the edge then flipped the pan upside down to release the mousse. I removed them one at a time. I haven't tried to use a regular muffin tin so I don't
know if that would work or not unless they were lined with muffin papers.

Fresh sweet corn salad

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I've had corn coming out my ears this week. Okay that's a little corny... (Sorry I couldn't help myself!) We have had a lot of corn around here. The first of the sweet corn in our area is ripe for the picking. Over the week-end I got 3 cases of really nice sweet corn. My mom and I decided to put up some corn this year. This is something she always did when I was growing up. It was a family event, all the kids helped out. I always dreaded corn freezing day. It meant spending all day husking corn, outside, hot, with sticky hands. She'd get several hundred ears of corn and we'd all spend a whole day working to get it put in the freezer. As a child I never thought I'd actually want to freeze corn.
Now that I'm an adult I find myself looking forward to getting that wonderful sweet corn and preserving it for later. So mom and I put up 33 quarts of corn on Saturday. Now Dad does all the husking. Yeah! That's the part I still don't like to do.
We didn't freeze all the corn however. I kept out several ears to eat fresh. We had some plain old corn on the cob. One of my favorite things but I wanted to do something a little more creative with some of the corn. I decided on making a corn salad. Really fresh seasonal ingredients are the key to this salad. I made it to accompany grilled chicken and we loved it so much I made it again to go with our burgers the next night.

Fresh Sweet Corn Salad
(Print Recipe)

Ingredients nocoup

5 ears of corn, husked
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
1/2 cup of chopped tomato (one medium tomato)
1/2 cup feta cheese, diced or crumbled
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Large handful of fresh basil leaves, julienned

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.

Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, tomato, feta, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.

I used an heirloom tomato from my parents farm but any really ripe fresh tomato will be fine.

For step-bystep instructions on how to freeze corn, visit our Waterberry Farm blog

Oatmeal Carmelitas

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I really loved the oatmeal banana muffins I made a few months ago using oat flour instead of regular flour. Since then I've been looking for other ways to use oat flour. These carmelita bars are also flourless and made using oat flour. They are so delicious you'll never guess that they actually contain about 15 grams of oatmeal per serving!
As I was making these bars with all their hidden oats, I was reminded a bit of one of the latest fads in cooking. You know the one where you puree up vegetables and sneak them into brownies and chicken fingers so your family doesn't realize they're eating vegetables. I'm not really a fan of this fad. I mean shouldn't we be trying to encourage or families to try new things and broaden their palate as well as their world? This is just my opinion but I'd hate to think we're raising a generation that will only eat veggies as long as they're disguised as something else. I've read the argument that at least the kiddos are eating veggies. I suppose that is true but at what point do you learn to enjoy vegetables that look and taste like vegetables? *stepping off soapbox now*


Carmelitas

Yield: 1 – 13" x 9" pan (35 squares)

Base and Topping
1 1/3 cup oat flour (go here for instructions for making oat flour)
1 cup oats, rolled, old fashioned or quick cooking
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup butter

Filling
32 caramels
5 tbsp cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Instructions

Combine oat flour, baking soda, salt and stir well. Stir in oats and brown sugar. Cut butter into dry ingredients until crumbly.
Pat half of the mixture into a lightly greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
While the base is baking, in a small saucepan, melt the caramels in the cream until smooth.
Remove pan from the oven. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts on top of the base. Drizzle the caramel mixture on top. Add remaining oat mixture. Return to the 35 degrees oven for another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow bars to cool before cutting. Because they don't contain any flour or eggs the carmalites are not as thick and a little most crumbly than most bar cookies but they taste so good you won't mind.


So chock full for nuts, chocolate and gooey caramel you'll never miss whats missing from these carmelitas.