photo by amy twomey

photo by ann west

{the dish} nutty pork chops

When all else fails make pork chops and everyone's happy. The kids love them, my husband and I think they are a nice change from our chicken, beef rut we tend to get into. We don't eat pork very often, but when we do nutty pork chops are always a big hit. Although truth be had 2 of our 3 children do scrape off the nuts. One day!


heat the oven to 350 and start smashing nuts. Coat the pork well with sour cream and then cover with nut and spice mixture.


and bake. How easy is that?


nutty baked pork chops
by amy twomey

6 thick pork chops
sour cream
almonds, walnuts, smashed
salt & pepper
dash of cayenne pepper

Put what ever kind of nuts you have sitting around in a bag and smash them. I happen to have almonds and walnuts...so I mixed them up together with a dash of cayenne pepper. Coat the pork chops evenly with sour cream (can use egg mixture if you are not a sour cream fan), and place in smashed nut bag coating pork as much as can. Place the pork chops in a buttered baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min or until tender and cooked well. Serves 4 to 6 people. Salt and pepper to taste.

photo by amy twomey

photo by ann west

photo by ann west

photo by amy twomey

{in the pot} first gazpacho

Gazpacho is truly the taste of summer. Zippy, fresh, healthy. You can taste the sun in each tomato.

With a dollop of cool sour cream and a crouton... it is the best!

Unfortunately I am the only one in my family that enjoys it!

Ok maybe lily will join me in spirit!

It is so simple.

I like dill or really any fresh herb to taste ... oooh and a tad of cumin.

Gazpacho by ann (& adapted from Ina Garten)

2 hot house cucumbers - halved and seeded

3 red bell peppers (I always use a yellow, orange and red)

8 plum tomatoes (I use what ever tomato looks the best! - but not grape tomatoes)

2 red onions (1 is plenty for us)

6 garlic cloves

6 cups tomato juice - not v8

1/2 cup white wine vinegar (I prefer red wine vinegar)

1/2 cup good olive oil

1 tbls kosher salt

ground pepper

Now I also add:

pinch of cayenne

pinch of cumin

fresh herbs like dill

squeeze of lemon juice too

Chop the cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, garlic and onions into 1 in cubes and process separately in a food processor. Combine all the chopped ingredients in a bowl and mix in the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil and seasonings. Mix well and chill for 6 hours or more. Top with sour cream and a parmesan crouton and you have a golden, fresh soup to enjoy!

cheers!

{delightful} gluten free granola

I finally decided to make the gluten free granola I have been thinking about for years. And surprisingly enough, it turned out perfect the first go around. I am so excited about it.


All you need are two bowls, one for dry ingredients and one for wet.



Set the oven temperature to 350 while you prep everything.


Gluten free Granola by amy twomey

Mix Dry:
2T. cinnamon
2 1/2 c. oats
1 c. coconut flakes
1/2 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c. crushed walnuts
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1 T. sesame seeds
1T. flax seed
1 t. salt

Mix Wet:
1 c. honey
2 T. corn and canola blend oil
1 T. Vanilla extract

Mix dry well, and stir in wet. Lay out on a big baking sheet and put in oven at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, flipping occasionally with spatula. Bake at 300 for an additional 20 min watching well that it doesn't brown too much. Remove from the oven to cool and pour generous handfuls of brown sugar on top. Stir up well when cool.


*serve over yogurt or on it's own for a snack.

so good. so good. so good.

I made a huge sheet of it that was gone in less then an hour! I will make double next time for sure. This would make a great addition to the kids lunch boxes too for a healthy treat.

photo by amy twomey

photo by ann west

photo by ann west

photo by amy twomey

{news} To you!

What a great year it has been so far with amy and ann. So much has been accomplished and so many more goals to achieve. TODAY our 3rd newsletter was sent. If you have signed up to receive our newsletter I hope you will pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy a little more about amy and ann.

If you haven't signed up for our news letter we would love to have you in the fold.

Thank you for your continued support of amy and ann - you all have been great!

ps I have full intension of posting a lovely rhubarb crisp. Life got in the way. A Greek God project, newletter, volunteer commitments .... sorry I will be back in the swing soon! ann

{the dish} parmesan risotto

This is a recipe I have adapted from my friend Tonya. We had this over for dinner at her house about a year ago and I fell instantly in love with it. I will say though it is a recipe I do not make very often because it is basically microwave-risotto which equivilates to EASY and FAST for delicious meal that takes all of 17-28 minutes to prepare...but I am pulled by the microwave in general...maybe a discussion for another day. I am NOT a fan of the microwave. I actually want to toss it in trash pick up and have contemplated this time and time again. I know people who simply do not have one in their kitchen and I applaud them for their strength and discipline on many levels. sigh....I will one day throw it out...I will. But for now I will share my adapted radiation-recipe. smile. It is fabulous.

Parmesan Risotto by amy twomey

*adapted from my friend Tonya Dalton

4 T. butter

4 T. olive oil

1 c. onion, chopped in cuisine art

2 c. arborio rice uncooked

6 c. chicken broth

1 1/2 c. shaved fresh parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t. pepper

1 t. salt

1 bunch of asparagus

1 package of bacon

Microwave butter/oil 75 seconds. Stir in onions and garlic cover 45 seconds. Stir in rice. Cover microwave 3 minutes. Add chicken broth microwave uncovered 28 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes add cheese, stir in.

Separate pan cook bacon. Separate pot steam asparagus while risotto is cooking! Add chopped asparagus and bacon to cooked risotto. So good.

*I serve with melted open face cheese sandwiches on gluten free toast & a salad.

For a super microwaved meal (ha ha) you can zap the bacon for faster results. Oh my!

A beautiful meal. I will be working on the long version of this same recipe, some day when my kids are off to college. ha ha! For now I will savor this one.

photo by ann west

photo by amy twomey

photo by amy twomey

photo by ann west

{companions} the succulent artichoke

(And check out those succulent ribs below from AMY. Yum.)

As a kid, artichokes always seemed to appear for birthday celebrations in my Family. We had them "just because" the other night. (ok really it was "just because" they were on sale - smile)

In fact I think my mom used to make one for each of us. Such a treat! We had our own dish for the artichoke and our very own dish of drawn butter. (not having to share was such a treat too!) We loved to dip the leaves in the warm drawn butter or in a mayonnaise dip. But the icing on the cake, the feast de resistance was that heart! Ohhh my mouth is watering right now!

Don't these beautiful succulents just remind you of the succulent artichoke?

This recipe is for my friend ann (not me - smile)!

succulent artichoke appetizer by ann west & family

3-4 artichokes trimmed. Cut the stem off the choke. Cut the top off about 3/4 to 1 inch from the top, and then trip the remaining leaves that have bristles.

Place the artichokes in a pot with about 1 in of water, a cut onion and throw in 1 or 2 bay leaves.

Steam the artichoke until done 30 min or so. You will need to raise the water to a boil then turn it down again. You will know the chokes are done when you can easily pull a leaf from the choke (i use tongs for this!)

Serve with drawn butter or a mix of mayo, lemon juice and capers. Sooo good! And don't forget when you have eaten all the leaves, scrape the white "hair" off the heart. Dice the heart and drop it into your bowl of drawn butter. Let it soak and then taste. Mmmmmmm

and look at this funny cacti... could be a cousin or something!

enjoy the succulent artichoke!

{the dish} baby back ribs

Week two! My man is still in the kitchen cooking man-meals and I am loving my little hiatus.


Matt made 9 hour , yes "9 hour ribs" today adapted from a recipe on cooks.com


9 hours later the meat will fall off the bone....it is totally worth the wait. promise.


2 racks baby back ribs
1 clove garlic, minced
1 med onion, minced
5 T. butter
2 1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. dark corn syrup
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. pineapple juice
1/3 c. cider vinegar
1 c. brown sugar firmly packed
2 T. spicy mustard with horseradish
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. chili powder
2 t. salt
1 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. black pepper

Melt butter in pot adding onion and garlic. Cook over low heat until onions are soft. Stir in remainder of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring. Let cool completely.

Cut each rib rack in half. Place in big tin and pour liberal amounts of sauce over ribs. Cover with tin foil and place in pre-heated 190 degree oven for 9 hours.


Remove from oven, discard drippings and save for other use. Transfer ribs to grill or place under broiler for about 10 minutes. May be refrigerated and grilled at a later time. Serve with extra BBQ sauce. Yum. We served these to a ton of friends last Friday night and they were gone. gone. gone. fast.

photo by ann west

photo by amy twomey

photo by amy twomey

photo by ann west