for charlie

Dear Charlie,

My mom made me puppy cookies. They were super easy and taste yummy. I think you should ask your Amy to make some for you.

Chow,
Lily

kitchen adventures

My latest adventures in the kitchen involved kale from my garden. Kale chips are quick and easy, fragile and very tasty. I experimented using different vinegars; Balsamic won chips down.

If you want to try making some kale chips yourself here's what ya do. 

Wash, dry and cut kale leaves into potato chip size pieces. You'll want to remove the stems as they get sticky when dried. Put leaf chunks in a gallon size ziplock bag along with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Mix around (shake) then add 1 Tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar. Shake again. Remove from bag and place on dehydrator rack (or cookie sheet if you use the oven). Salt lightly with sea salt then set them to dry. Keep a close eye on chips as they dry as they are easier to handle if you get them before they are totally dry and crumble into green dust. Remove and consume. Yum!

orange-julie-us

Making lemonade out of lemons-gone orange. Last week Jay brought home two large containers of very ripe oranges. After squeezing OJ for several mornings in a row without making a noticeable dent in the supply we needed a new plan. Jay peeled and juiced the oranges and I froze the juice in small plastic cups. I looked up Orange Julius recipes online and came up with a yummy morning treat. I substituted the milk, vanilla and sugar with vanilla yogurt and honey. The surprise in the recipe was a raw egg yolk that makes the fluffy. Tessa surprised me with the suggestion of adding cinnamon, which ended up being a excellent idea (from a four year old!). I'm surprised Orange Julius hasn't added it to their selection. When I found some leftover pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins in the freezer it was a breakfast fit for my favorite African-Adventure-Muffin-Maker-Niece.