New Things Thursday: Serenbe Farmers' Market

Last Saturday, we went to a community festival.  There were lots of artists and their artwork.  Everything from handcrafted T-Shirts to artisan jams and jellies.

We also enjoyed our first visit to the local Serenbe Farmers' Market.

It was so beautiful!

Can onions, radishes and greens be beautiful?

I think so.

There were onion flowers too.

And little containers of mint and peas.

 I think the little chalk signs were just the sweetest!

All these fresh veggies had me yearning for our fresh veggies from our little garden.  So later that evening, I came home and weeded.

Have you tried anything new lately?  Pop on over to Alicia's Homemaking to see what adventures others have gotten into.

Enjoy!

New Things Thursday: Homemade Larabars

Do you love Larabars?  

I can't tell you how much I love them.  My favorites are Cherry Pie and Coconut.  

The only problem?  

They cost about $1 each when they are on sale.  

I've seen a couple of recipes for homemade ones and thought it couldn't be that hard.  Look at the ingredient list:

Exactly!  Dates, almonds and unsweetened cherries.

Then I found this great tutorial.  Not to mention she is one of my favorite food contest winners.  She even won the Southern Living Cook Off!

Here's what the Larabar looks like:

And here's what mine looked like:

Her recipe made two bars.  And they are really good and taste just like the real thing, only cheaper!

Homemade Larabars - Cherry Pie Flavor
1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole dried dates)
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 tablespoon boiling water
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Put the dates and cherries and water in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a bowl.

Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the fruit paste back to the processor along with the cinnamon.  Pulse until clumps and combined.  Spoon mixture into storage baggies and squish into a flat shaped bar.  Cut into two bars. Store in the fridge.

Hope you'll give them a try!

Have you tried anything new lately?  Head over to Alicia's Homemaking to see what others are trying.  

***Updated 1/3/12***

Coconut Cream Pie Flavor
1/2 cup dates (chopped whole dates)
2 teaspoons boiling water
1/3 cup cashews
1/3 cup cocoa roasted almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut (healthy? use dessicated coconut or unsweetened)

Pulse dates in food processor until finely chopped.  Add boiling water and pulse until sticky.

Add nuts and continue to pulse until the mixture starts to clump.

Add coconut and pulse until combined.  Divide mixture into 2 and press into the bottom of food storage baggies.  Then press into a bar shape.  Refrigerate and then cut each bar into 2.  This recipe makes 4 bars.  Easily doubled to make 8 bars. 

Enjoy!

RECIPE: Vanilla Black Pepper Pork Loin

The other week, Susie at Susie's Homemade shared a recipe she made from Aarti's Party on the Food Network.  I thought it sounded really interesting and since I had everything in the pantry and freezer, decided to make it for supper.  My pork loin was 4-3/4 lbs, so I cut it in half to use in this recipe and the other half we ate Apricot Dijon Pork Chops.  Like Susie, I didn't have Vanilla Beans.  She used vanilla extract, so I did too!  My husband doesn't like cooked apples so I decided not to do the apple and celeriac part of the original recipe. I also didn't have some of the required baking ingredients, so I just used what I had.  Isn't that what you're supposed to do when involved in a pantry challenge?

I've never done a brine on anything before, so this was new to me.  

Have you ever brined anything?

Here's how I did it:

Vanilla Black Pepper Pork Loin (adapted from Aarti's Party)

Make the brine:

9 cups water

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

2 whole cinnamon sticks

5 whole cloves

1/4 cup whole peppercorns

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup salt

Bring water and seasonings to a boil.

Make sure sugar and salt dissolve.  Turn off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  Mine took about 2 hours to cool completely.

When it's cool, pour it over the loin and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. 

Cook the pork:

2-1/2 lbs boneless pork loin

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups water

Remove pork from brine and pat dry with paper towels.  Heat oil in oven proof Dutch oven over medium heat.  Sear and brown all sides of the pork.

Pour applesauce and water into a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.  Pour the apple mixture over the pork and bake in the oven at 325 degrees F for about 45 minutes.

(Pork should read 145 degrees F on thermometer.)

This had a very interesting flavor.  In a good way.  My "picky eater" liked it and even said he'd eat it again.  It was sort of cinnamon-y more than vanilla-y.  It was very good and the texture of the pork was soft and delicious.  The kids loved it and ate every single bite.

I'll definitely brine things in the future since it made the pork more tender.


Have you tried anything new lately?  Visit Alicia's Homemaking to see what new things others are trying.

Enjoy!

New Things Thursday: Visiting a Teahouse

I'm not really fond of trying new things.  I have terrible anxiety and when I do something out of the ordinary, I get all discombobulated.  My heart palpitates, I break out into a sweat, my stomach gets all knotty.  So when I read about Alicia's blog carnival Try New Things Thursday, I thought no way,  I can't try new things!  But then I thought about it and decided I should step out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Sounds crazy to put myself through some torture!  But maybe if I do it enough, I won't experience such bad anxiety.  Sounds good anyway!

A few weeks ago, Groupon was offering a discount to Roswell Teahouse.  So I bought two for me and my Momma.  My Momma loves tea.  In fact, she works at a place in Douglasville that offers afternoon teas.  She loves it.  So after my ordeal with this crazy surgery and her spending nearly an entire week with me, changing diapers and folding laundry, I thought it only appropriate to show my appreciation by taking her to the Roswell Teahouse. 

I've never been there before.  We usually have our own tea parties.  We left early, so we wouldn't get lost and be late...to avoid some anxiety.

It was really nice.  The food was pretty good.  The kids had a great time too!  They offer a Princess Tea for the kids.  The Princess Tea had PB&J sandwiches, open faced Nutella sandwich, chocolate dipped strawberry and cream puff, apple strudel, cucumber sandwiches, and a slice of chocolate Bundt cake. 

The full afternoon tea included all the above plus a bowl of soup.  We chose Tomato Basil, it was delicious!

Our sandwiches included a smoked salmon open faced sandwich, which I did not like.  

Their scones were really strange.  They were baked in a muffin tin but tasted like a flaky, dry muffin.  The lemon curd was wonderfully delicious.  Sissy LOVED it!  She ate nearly the entire bowl!

Boo-Boo tried their Teddy Bear flavored tea.  It had apple, light almond and cinnamon notes.  Very tasty and pretty, it was pink!  Sissy and I tried the Georgia Peach tea.  Very clean, fruity flavor.  Momma had the Chocolate Safari and Pumpkin Spice Cream.  The Chocolate Safari was not very chocolatey, but had notes of chocolate, Momma loved it.  I tried some of the Pumpkin Spice Cream.  It was pumpkin-y and spicy.  I didn't get the creamy notes, but I really liked it.  

It was a fun day.  I think the kids had more fun than we did!

 

We had a great day.  My anxiety did get the better of me at one point, but after downing some cold water, I was fine.  Trying new things might not be so bad after all.  

Enjoy!