Early Morning on the Deck at Dewey Street

As those of you regular readers are already aware, we are in the process of finishing up projects at Crest Avenue and moving things to Dewey Street.  That includes plants from one deck to another.  Over the July 4th holiday, our friend Bev visited and helped get the deck cleaned up at Dewey Street.  Thank you Bev for all your hard work that weekend.  I promise never to make you wait at Panera.  A little inside humor. Since then, I have brought a few more plants to the deck decor and some of what we planted earlier in the season is now in full bloom.  I thought I would share these pictures of our little spot of relaxation with you today.

I brought the ferns from Crest Avenue.  One on either side, flanking the red begonia.  This is just incredibly beautiful.  The white blossoms hanging over the railing is crepe myrtle.

Here is another shot of the white crepe myrtle and a container of white impatiens and the garden shed in the background.

Another view of both of the white impatien containers.  These filled in so nicely.  More white crepe myrtle in the background to the right.

Here is a lovely little pot put together by our friend Lea and presented to Steven on his birthday this year.  I just love it.  And it is very happy in this spot on the coffee table.

Finally, I just love this.  It is a cement bowl from an old birdbath that is filled with ground cover.  I love the rustic look and the exposed wire which makes the form for the bowl.  It looks spectacular in this location.

So there are some shots of our little oasis on Dewey Street.

Who Wants Chicken Wings!

Caramelized Baked Chicken Wings.  Chicken wings are a favorite at Crest Avenue.  And why not?  They are delicious.  If prepared correctly. And I believe I have just the perfect recipe for you.  We made these recently and they were a huge hit. Check it out.

Rather than taking a picture of each ingredient like I usually do, I'm going to tell you all that is in the bowl in this picture:

Caramelized Baked Chicken Wings

Ingredients

1-2/3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1-2/3 tablespoons ketchup
3/4 cup honey
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and Pepper

Whisk it all together.  Make certain that you take time to fully whisk the ingredients together.  The honey has a tendency to collect on the bottom of the bowl.  You want to whisk thoroughly until you feel the honey is completely incorporated.

This recipe calls for 2-1/2 pounds of chicken wings or legs.  I bought a large pack of the full chicken wings from Giant for this project.  I removed them from the pack, rinsed, patted dry and then separated the three sections using a large butcher's knife.  This is not a difficult task.  After you have done it a few times, you don't even think about it.  You will learn right where to place the blade for a clean cut, which is in between the joints.  The small sections on the very end were discarded and we proceeded to marinate the two larger.

So we were able to fit 22 wings in a 9" x 13" glass baking dish.  We had 4 wing sections left over.  So this was right at 2 pounds.

With the oven preheated to 350 degrees, we gave one last whisk to the marinade and then poured it over the wings.  Into the oven they went for one hour, or until the sauce caramelizes.

And one hour later, this is what we had.  Beautiful, delicious chicken wings.  The sauce had perfectly caramelized on the tops of the wings.

I turned each wing over to allow the top with the caramelized sauce to sit in the warm marinade to soften up a bit.

Finally, we had a plate of the most delicious chicken wings you have ever eaten.  This marinade is very similar to a Teriyaki style marinade.  It is really delicious.  Also, after cooking at an even heat for an hour, the meat falls off the bone.  They just couldn't be more perfect.  Give this recipe a try.  I think you will really be glad you did.

Bedside Cold Drink Holder

Do you wake up during the night a little parched and wish you had something close by to drink?  You don't want to trudge all the way down to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water or juice.  And you don't want water that has been sitting in a carafe on your bedside table that is room temperature.  I suppose you could get one of those little refrigerators and put it in your bedroom.  But that is really not something I would want to do.  Not a good look.  So I came up with this solution.

This is a glass baking dish that you would use for making a loaf of bread.  I filled it with ice and put two Caffeine-Free Coca Cola Zero cans in it. That way I can have something refreshing to drink if I wake up thirsty.  You could put in two of your favorite beverages.  In the morning, dump out the melted ice, wipe it with paper toweling and it is ready for the upcoming evening.  I like this idea.

Banana Oat Muffins

I am always open to trying a new recipe.  I like to experiment in the kitchen.  Sometimes on my own and sometimes with some of the many recipes I find out on the internet.  I recently found a recipe for these Banana Oat Muffins, so I thought I would give it a try.  Here is how it went.

We used a potato masher to mash three ripe bananas.

We added one teaspoon cinnamon.

Other ingredients: Two cups oats, one-half cup mini chocolate chips, one-third cup apple sauce, one-quarter cup almond milk and one teaspoon Madagascar Vanilla.  Add all the ingredients to the banana and cinnamon mixture except the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly with a large slotted spoon.  When done, add the chocolate chips and gently fold into the mixture.

I then transferred the mixture to these cute little cupcake cups I found at Home Goods.  I placed the cups on a baking sheet and placed them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

And this is the finished product.

I let them cool to room temperature.

Removed the cup.

A festive looking muffin.

And you can see all the wonderful mixture inside.  These are a healthy snack, so they are a little lacking in flavor.  I suggest heating them in the microwave for a few seconds and then using a little bit of Promise Soft Spread to help bring out the flavors.

I Have a Wedding Coming Up

I have a wedding just around the corner for which I will be putting together some favor boxes for the guests. I think since there will be a buffet style brunch afterward, I'll put the boxes together and place them on a silver leaf tray at the front door.  That way everybody can take one on their way out.  My first idea was the box below.

This is very cute.  Very simple.  This would be filled with a little organza bag containing five white jordan almonds.  But my mind was racing and I decided I wanted to try something else for this event.  So I ordered these.

A tray of these little purse shaped boxes at the door, each filled with white jordan almonds - what is the word?  Spectacular!!!  These should be arriving any day along with the jordan almonds.  I had to special order the almonds.  You can't just find them anywhere these days.  I will post more about this once the boxes and the bags and almonds arrive.  What a fun project for my friend Bette.

We Made Beef Jerky

I love beef jerky.  And I enjoy making it at home.  I like the taste of homemade beef jerky.  I like knowing there are no preservatives in it to lengthen its shelf life.  I like beef jerky to be thoroughly dried.  Some of the store bought brands either are not completely dry or they add something to it during packaging that makes it too moist. It feels and tastes unnatural to me.  So, I make my own.  This batch turned out just as I had hoped it would and I would like to share with you just how I made it in case you are interested in making some of your own.

We started out with round steak.  You do not need an expensive cut of meat to make beef jerky.  Round steak works perfectly.  This particular one came with one of those "pop-up" thingies to let you know when it is done if you are planning on cooking it in the oven.

Since we were not cooking it in the oven, we promptly removed the pop-up thingie.

We have had this Krups slicer for more years than I can recall and it still works beautifully.  I sliced the meat in half which made it more manageable on the slicer.

Each slice was about 1/8" thick.  Sort of like a thick cut bacon.  This looks like long strips of beef but actually they are short cuts laid out on the cutting board.

Into a quart sized Ziploc bag with it all.  The steak weighed a little over two pounds.

Previously, before slicing, I made the marinade.  And believe me when I tell you, this is absolutely perfect.

Beef Jerky Marinade

4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix and marinate the meat for 4 to 6 hours, then drain.

I also add one teaspoon of salt per pound of meat.  So in this case, I added 2 teaspoons of salt to the marinade in addition to the 1/2 teaspoon that is called for in the recipe.

Mix this all together with a whisk and let is sit for at least 30 minutes.

Pour it over the sliced beef jerky strips.

Seal the bag.

Let it marinate for 4 - 6 hours.

Here is the beef marinating on a plate next to chicken breasts which were marinating in Italian dressing. More on those later.

When it is done marinating, pour everything out of the bag onto a plate and grab some paper towels.

Lay down a couple layers of paper toweling.

Lay out a few strips of marinated beef.

Fold the toweling over to absorb some of the marinade.

And now you have beef jerky strips ready to be placed in the dryer.

Tray 1.

Tray 2.

Tray 3.

Tray 4.

Temperature set, and we were making beef jerky.

Here is a small sampling of our beef jerky.  It is delicious.

To store, we placed it in a mason jar and tightly sealed the lid.

Then we placed it into the refrigerator.  Beef jerky stored on a shelf will start to go rancid at room temperature after 3 or 4 weeks.  Refrigerate or freeze for longer storage.  It will stay fresh and tasty for up to 6 months in the freezer.

Also, the instructions for the dehydrator stated that it should take between 4 and 15 hours to thoroughly dry the beef for jerky.  You will need to monitor the drying process closely.  This jerky was ready in 2-1/2 hours.  Any longer and it would have been like shoe leather.  It all depends on the thickness and the type of meat you are using for your jerky.  A little experimentation and you will get it just right.

What's For Lunch?

A delicious three ingredient salad.  I think sometimes salad preparation can get a little out of hand.  A little of this and a little of that and little more of something else and the next thing you know you've got too much of everything.  Of course, this is not always the case.  Sometimes I want a really hearty salad.  One of my all time favorite hearty salads is the Cobb Salad.  Very delicious and very filling.  The best place to go for a Cobb Salad in D.C. is Chadwick's on K Street in Georgetown.  Absolutely supreme.  But for lunch this week, I decided on a simpler, three ingredient summer salad.

In this container we have a bed of iceberg lettuce, two smallish chicken breasts, grilled and chopped, and one large tomato.

Oops!  We need to change the description on this salad to a "four" ingredient summer salad.  We had part of a block of Asiago cheese left over from the spaghetti casserole we made last week.  A little bit of that shredded on top was a perfect final touch.  You do not need a lot of Asiago.  It is a very robust cheese.  It is similar to Parmesan but more intense in flavor.

A plastic lid covers the container and into the refrigerator until time to prepare the lunch containers.

And here is today's serving.  I will dress it with Ranch dressing and a little salt and pepper.  A nice light midday meal during these hot and humid days of summer.  Nothing too heavy.  I think a very cold V8 would help round out this meal.  I like it very, very cold.  I will sit the bottle or can in the freezer for a few minutes just prior to drinking.  I am not a big fan of V8 over ice, but I have done it if I am eating out and the restaurant does not have it cold enough for my taste.