Flux Capacitor Foods...

Food like music has the power to take you back in time - to a different place in the space time continuum. For me this is one of those foods.

In its most basic form you can make these with four items you probably already have on hand.
-Beets
-Vinegar
-Sugar
-Hard Boiled Eggs
When these four basic items combine they create a magical transporter where I have been beamed back to my youth. This is Festival Food made by many loving hands every summer for our church festival dinner...

Here is my ode to:Pickled Beets and Eggs.

There are just about as many variations on this age old recipe as there are stars in the sky (maybe not), but everyone seems to have the one they like the best. I took my favorite parts out of several recipes and came up with something magical. And I took a million pictures too because they are beautiful...

This story starts at a local farm stand and the beautiful bundles of beets there. I loaded my cart with those beauties and a few other essentials...dill (with seeds so I can spread them and have my own fresh dill next year!), some sweet corn, and a gorgeous heirloom tomato. 

I am notorious for not really following recipes and winging it. This is one you can totally wing...there is no right or wrong it is all just personal taste. I used fresh beets, but canned are totally fine just make sure to save the juice...

I took four (4) beets, which was just shy of a pound, cut off the leaves and wrapped them tightly in tin foil. I roasted them in the oven at 350 for about 75 minutes. You just need them soft. No need to peel prior, because the skins will slip right off after you roast them and let them cool. I also cut up one sweet onion.

See the skin just slid off with my hands...of course I also looked as if I may or may not have committed a crime in the process. REMEMBER beets stain!

 I boiled half a dozen eggs (or seven) and let them cool as well.

While the eggs were cooling I sliced up the beets. No rhyme or reason here just chop chop. Next I put the onion and beets in a non reactive bowl. This must be important because most recipes stated this explicitly. Not being a chemist I am guessing it has to do with the chemical and reactive nature of vinegar and metal bowl or the like would taint the taste, but don't quote me on that...just use glass and you are good.

Now peel your eggs. I used six maybe seven, but today (the next day) I am cooking more to make them magic too...

You also need to make your pickling brine...this is where there are a million ways to customize to you particular tastes. Mine consisted of apple cider vinegar, white sugar, fresh cracked black pepper, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cloves.

I went with a 2 to 1 ratio apple cider vinegar to sugar ratio. My first attempt did not make enough so I ended up doing two batches to cover the precious eggs and beets (and onion). In total I believe I went with 3 cups of apple cider vinegar and 1.5 cups of white sugar. Again you will need to use a non-reactive pot to cook this in...I used my enameled cast iron and it worked brilliantly - plus it is really pretty cookware! I tossed in two bay leaves, about 10 cloves, a solid sprinkle of cinnamon, and went grind grind grind with the black pepper and brought that happy mixture to a boil. After you reach boil turn down the heat and let it simmer for about five (5) minutes so all your ingredients get to know each other. ***Side note - some recipes said to let this cool and let the ingredients mingle like they are having cocktails for a few hours. I am not that person and I wanted it done NOW! I let it cool kinda and then poured this bad boy

Boiling

Simmering - it looks totally different in pictures right???

Now you pour that happy juice over your beets, eggs, and onion.

Close that bad boy up and put it in the fridge so they can all get cozy and get to know each other...oh and this lets the beets do their magic and turn everything a beautiful ruby shade.

This is a few hours later. I am so impatient and I need to check on them...and maybe eat one. Ssoooooooo goooood! Everything...the onion, the beets, the eggs. Perfection! Back in the fridge to blend a little more. 

Guess what I had for breakfast today?

This has got to be the breakfast of champions somewhere...most likely Amish country or Germany.

Look at that perfection! It was amazing. I seriously could have eaten the whole dish. Like I said I even put the rest of my eggs on to boil so I can restock them. Plus pickled food is good for you!!! Totally a health food.

Gone in Sixty Seconds.

Your food should be as beautiful as it tastes and this my friends fits that bill...

Here is a brief rundown of the recipe to the best of my hazy beet filled recollection.

Roughly one pound of beets I used four.

Remove leaves, wrap in tin foil and roast at 350 for about 75 minutes.

Hard boil eggs. I initially used six or seven.

Slice on sweet onion.

For the pickling juice:

In a non-reactive pan!

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1.5 cups white sugar

2 whole bay leaves

10 individual cloves

A shake or two of cinnamon I probably use .5 teaspoons, but could have gone a bit heavier

A few turns of fresh cracked black pepper

Bring to a boil and make sure the sugar is dissolved

Turn down heat and let simmer for about five (5) minutes

After eggs and beets are cool peel both. Cut beets however your heart desires, but leave eggs whole.

Marry everything in another non-reactive container and allow to have some alone time in the fridge...at the very least you should wait 8 hours if not 24. 

Serve fancy or eat right out of the dish like I will in just a few minutes...Yum!!!

Enjoy...

Do you have a twist on this? I would love to hear about it!

A ReFreshing Table Story

A year or two ago is when I think I was first bitten by the spray paint bug. We had a marble topped coffee table. The marble is off white streaked with greys, blues, tans, and white. The base was brown. Yep. Brown. One day I ask Mark...'Mark do you care if I paint the base of the table?'

Foolishly he said no.

This was the time when I didn't even realize you could get the same shade of spray paint in flat, semi-gloss or full-on shine.

I painted it a gloss off white and it was good...until we moved to Chicago where all of our accents are now white. Not eggshell, nor ecru, or even antique white. As luck would have it I just so happened to have an extra can of gloss white just hanging out in the garage (actually there were two, but who counts that stuff).
Let me tell you the marble on that table is heavy AND awkward.
I get the base outside and it assumes the position...

Yep this is the correct position...

I am about one coat in and Mark calls...he innocently asks, 'what are you up to?' I fumble for words looking...searching for ones that will not incriminate me. Nope. There are none so I mumble real fast...Iampainting. 

Maybe he won't notice. 

Wrong.

I think his response was something like, 'Oh no. Now what?' 

I respond the table. 

'What table?' the coffee table. I had to. It was wrong and we can't live with a coffee table that is wrong.

So now the coffee table is right again.

As a matter of fact he hasn't seen it yet...

Hey babe, here the the coffee table done right! 

Now we can all sleep just a little more soundly tonight. 

You are welcome.

The easiest bread you will ever make - Cinnamon Sugar Version

I love bread.
Bread is good. 
Homemade bread is the best.

Bread doesn't have to be this intense hours long endurance marathon of flour and yeast. In fact this recipe takes less than 60 minutes from start to finish...of course I often get distracted and it may take me a bit longer, but no worries I have yet to destroy this bread.

I found this while searching for who knows what, but I am so happy I stumbles on this recipe. At its most basic it is five ingredients. After that, the sky is the limit. In this post I attempted a cinnamon sugar version...but if you want basic just leave it out.

What you need:

1.5 cups warmish water. Think warm enough to start the yeast but not fry it. 

1 Tablespoon of honey - I like as local and raw as possible.

1 packet of yeast and I am finding quality matters as far as yeast goes. I am really liking this Platinum brand.

1.5 teaspoons of salt (quite honestly I totally wing this part and just use the grinder until I am annoyed by turning it).

Combine these is a large bowl and let them get to know each other for about 10 minutes. A nice foam will form on the top.

After they have sufficiently bonded add the flour.

The quantity really depends on several factor including humidity and temperature I have found...

3.5-4.5 cups of flour. I mix it in with my hands until the dough is no longer sticky. That's it.

 I mix it in with my hands until the dough is no longer sticky. That's it.















If you are going for plain bread you would form a loaf and set it on a cookie sheet or whatever your preferred bread baking implement...Let it rise for ten minutes while the oven is heating to 400 degrees.
Cook for 20ish minutes (mine usually go about 25, but it depends on your oven). Bam done.

For this loaf I went all fancy like and made it a cinnamon sugar loaf.
I flattened it like a pizza dough on my cookie sheet (I put down either corn meal or flour on the pan so it doesn't stick) and added several pats of butter and a quick mixture of cinnamon and brown sugar. I didn't measure just threw caution to the wind and it was good.

Flattened on the cookie sheet.

 I folded the bread up trying to seal my seems so all the goodness didn't drip out, covered it, and let it rise for about 10 minutes while the oven heated.

Resting bread...

Post rising.

I added three slits across the top because I am fancy like that.

This loaf cooked for just about 25 minutes.

Look at that gorgeous piece of deliciousness...

I turned out delicious. What I would change...stretch the dough a little more and roll it up a bit tighter! But it wasn't too big of a deal. I would call this a success and I will add this into the rotation.

Easy variations:

• Use garlic salt instead of plain salt. 
• Add in various herbs. 
• Make vegan by subbing sugar or brown sugar for the honey.
• Brush the top with olive oil or butter and sprinkle on herbs or cinnamon and sugar.

This is the same basic recipe with added fresh crushed garlic and onion in the dough and olive oil brushed on top with oregano and thyme sprinkled on the top.





Seriously. Try this. It is that easy.

Directions in one place:

1.5 cups warm water. Think warm enough to start the yeast but not fry it. 

1 Tablespoon of honey

1 packet of yeast 

1.5 teaspoons of salt

Combine these is a large bowl and let them get to know each other for about 10 minutes

3.5-4.5 cups of flour

Form a loaf and let it rise for about 10 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cook for 20-25 minutes

Adapted from My Mundane and Miraculous Life. Thank you!!

A bowling balls magical transformation!

Again my love of all things spray paint is evident.
I am surprised the cashier at Menard's isn't questioning my intent with the mass quantities of spray paint I buy. I am sure I am on a registry somewhere...

So this weeks was project gazing ball.

Goodwill provided me with the bowling balls and a lamp a certainly didn't need (we haven't told Mark about these little surprises and we will see how long it takes him to find them ;) ).

This one was painted with the mirror finish.

This one was painted with the Metallic in bronze.

Menard's has by far the best selection of spray paint and it is much cheaper than some of the other home improvement stores that are nearby. The employees there were probably wondering why I was taking so long in the spray paint isle, but the choice of metallic color was important. My inspiration for this was from the glorious site The Garden Glove - thank you!

I used RUST-OLEUM Mirror Effect for one and Metallic in bronze for the other. Both came out fantastic. In the future I may seal them with a clear gloss, but for now I am happy with the results.

The color choices for this project may also have been influenced by the current Olympics...I do have gold metallic too for my next bowling ball purchase.

This was quick and easy spraying each with as many coats as it took to get the effect I desired. Three coats seemed to do the trick. (The lampshade was for the lamp I didn't need - shhhhh)

The mirror effect ball. I love the minor imperfections from the bowling ball being used. It gives it character.

And here is the bronze gazing ball. 

This has to be one of my favorite and one of the easiest projects I have done. Now to find them the perfect home...

Food on sticks and other deep fried pleasures.

This weekends adventures were plenty, but they culminated in a trip to the Wisconsin State Fair!
One of the many joys of living in the Chicago area is access to the beautiful state of Wisconsin. In fact it takes us less time to drive to the border than it does to drive into the city...go figure.

The adventure begins...

Before ya know it...Wisconsin you betcha!

I will say the parking situation was a bit frustrating, but we survived and made our way to land of deep friend everything. This is the fourth state fair I have been to and I believe the smallest, but it was busy and people were friendly.

True story.

The food adventure began with deep fried green olives on a stick. They taste exactly how you imagine they would. My sodium level jumped at least 200 points within minutes.

Of course they come with ranch...

No, we didn't try it.

They choices in culinary delights seemed endless...

There was an entire cream puff factory in here and satellite selling stations throughout the grounds.

We did learn that one MUST HAVE is the Original Cream Puff. A tradition at the state fair for years. There is an entire building dedicated to the sugary creations and the website said last year over 500,000 were sold. They are so popular there is drive up service so you can just grab your dozen and go...of course we had to try them.

Being from Ohio I have had the Schmidt Cream Puff which I appreciate. These were different. Same type of puff pastry, but the filling was a healthy (probably not) dose of real whipped cream. There is no delicate way of eating these...just dive in.

They are so confident in their ability to bring on an episode or possibly a heart attack all the boxes list the number to the on site ambulance service. The Wisconsin people are so thoughtful or maybe they have learned from experience.

One unforeseen, but welcome treat was the passion and dedication Wisconsinites have for their beer. It was everywhere. Standing at a crossroad we realized each corner had a different establishment dedicated to beer. My favorite was the Rhubarb IPA from local brewer Mob Craft. I only wish it had been more rhubarby...Mark did have an unfortunate encounter with a beer called Little Sister. He says she is nasty. Different strokes for different folks...

Lastly we sought out the holy grail of true Wisconsin foods...the Fried Cheese Curd. We found them in all their golden fried gooey glory. Yes, they were well worth the drive and parking fiasco and the nasty little sister. Behold their beauty!

The Sacred Curd.

We had a really great day and met some really fun people in our time at the Wisconsin State Fair...We saw a draft horse pull and met a mule and watched a disc dog demonstration. We also saw dock diving dogs and Mark had a Wisconsin brat with sauerkraut (he says it was really good) and I had a wonderful ear of sweet corn. We also took advantage of the photo ops presented to us...

I have no idea what this was...

Velociraptors like cream puffs too!

Who has a head as big as this cutout? Seriously!

I will leave you with a mystery science has yet to explain...

On the walk back to the car we saw in the middle of a crazy busy street a pair of baby shoes. How? Does? This? Happen?

At least this is a matched set.

Thank you Wisconsin State Fair for a glorious Sunday!