Summertime in the Kitchen

The end of summer has brought an avalanche of good food to our home, both because of emerging dietary needs and desires to try something a bit different.  Some of the experiments have been a success while others have been, well, less successful.  

Side Note:  Do you refer to your favorite chefs by their first name?  We do.  Mark (Bittman).  Heidi (Swanson).  Alton (Brown).  Julia (Child).  I’m sure there’s a few I’m forgetting, but these are the ones that spring to mind.

Kelly sent me a link a few months ago for homemade Cliff bars, and I decided to give them a try.  Sadly, the end result resembled peanut buttery rice krispies more than an energy bar.  I may have scrimped on the peanut butter (using chunky instead of smooth) and using Agave Nectar instead of Brown Rice Syrup.  Smooth peanut butter would have been a little creamery and I would have used more Brown Rice syrup than agave, which I think would have made the difference.  A little more glue and a little less substitutions and I’d have bars.  Instead I have a crumbly snack.

Not to be discouraged, I next tackled a recipe for grilled portobello mushrooms and pesto mayonnaise.  Becoming curious, I checked with Alton and decided to make my own mayo, which turned out to be easy and very tasty.  

I’d say the grilled mushrooms (which I marinated) with the mayo and some avocado made for the prettiest meal I’ve made in a while.  Although, truth be told, the presentation points should be given to Kelly.

My first attempt at arrangement had me tossing the avocado into a pile.  While I got my camera ready, Kelly was kind enough to rearrange them a bit.

To round out a week of good cooking, I worked on two of Heidi’s cookie recipes (second recipe) and ventured into Saint Paul’s premiere fish market, although I didn’t do anything interesting enough with it to post.  

How long will my desire to cook good food and write regular blog posts hold out?  Not sure, but at least it’s made for an interesting week or two.