Remember yesterday I told you about the shop next door to HoC? Here it is…Savory!
What is it about hard wood floors that is so charming? The two things HoC and Savory have in common is that they are both located in older buildings, charming thing #1, and they both have hard wood floors, charming thing #2. Tile floors feel too cold, clinical and utilitarian. Maybe that is why I feel like I’m walking into a vet or hospital when I enter stores with tile floors. Wood floors seem to say ‘Welcome, you are now a part of history and intertwined with all the other people who have walked across me over the many years past.’ Tile floors seem to say, ‘hurry up and get out’.
I immediately felt welcomed and comfortable upon entering Savory. I was greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable woman by the name of, Shantelle. I quickly felt like a welcomed guest.
As you can see from the above pictures, they have quite a selection. You can buy a little or a large amount of each spice. I purchased a few 1/2 and 1 ounce packets to sample and see if I wanted larger amounts later. I have already used my Capital Hill Seasoning Blend to make omelets yesterday. I love the dried shallots in the blend. Last night, I sprinkled some of the Paris Cheese Sprinkle blend on fresh popped popcorn. What a delight! I also made off with a jar of vanilla sugar, a packet of black sesame seeds, the Tarragon Shallot Citrus Seasoning, Lemon Grass, and a Cambridgeshire Celery Seasoning. I already have recipe plans for the Tarragon seasoning but I can’t reveal them just yet. A word of advice on the vanilla sugar. It does contain real bits of vanilla bean. If you are going to use it in your tea or coffee, I recommend adding it to your beverage in a separate vessel and decanting it into your cup or different container from the first, while pouring the liquid through a fine mesh strainer, a tea strainer to be exact as my kitchen strainers have too large of holes to effectively keep the vanilla bits from getting into my cup. The bits aren’t an issue when they are small, but when they absorb the liquid from your drink and swell, it’s a bit unsettling (for me any way) to have them get stuck in your teeth. It is, however, well worth the tiny bit of extra effort to strain the bits. Think of it as a Zen exercise if it helps.
Savory also has a a myriad of salts, curries, extracts and sauces just to name a few of the wonderful things you will find on their website and on their store shelves
Savory can ship your order to you, you don’t have to drive to Denver or Littleton in order to fulfill your need for exotic spices and adventurous cooking. One quick phone call or computer click and soon, you will be your own Mistress of Spice.
shocked, originally uploaded by dancingteacup.
It’s a name this photo contest. Must have at least ten unique entries. Continental U.S. only. Winner will receive a selection of loose teas.
Contest ends tonight at 9:00p.m. Central Mountain time.
See the time ticker at the top of my website?(the one on the right, the other one is for Tasmania, I’ll explain later) When that says 9 p.m., the contest is over.
Thanks! Have fun!
This is my recipe, though I am sure there are other’s out there very similar to this one. I did not take a photograph (maybe we should call them digigraphs?) . I was going to do my chocolate zucchini scones, but those are especially ugly in digigraphs and do not look like scones at all, but more like road apples!
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Cardamom Scones
2 C flour
1 TBS baking powder
2 TBS white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp Chinese five spice
3 cardamom pods opened,
seeds removed and crushed into a powder
¼ C unsalted butter cut into 1 inch cubes
3 oz cream cheese do not warm
¾ C milk
In mixing bowl of food processor, blend dry ingredients
including spices. Add butter and blend.
Add cream cheese and blend. Slowly add milk while food
processor is running. Scrape down sides if needed.
Do not over mix.
Using a 2 inch cookie scoop, place scones on baking pan
about an inch apart. Bake in pre-heated, 425 oven for
10 minutes or until done.
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On a side note, I had a, ‘name that photo’ contest yesterday. You can still see the post. The contest is over, but I just wanted to let you know about it because you never know when there will be another. Don’t forget to visit!
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I had had a hope ‘chest’ for years. I started collecting things for it when I was in my senior year of high school. It was more of a collection of things to use when I loved out on my own, though, than things to be saved for my marriage. Good thing too because I didn’t get married until I was 37! lol When the big announcement was made or even while my husband and I were still dating, my mother made several things which I use, but cherish. Some embroidered pillow cases and ea towels, two of the tea towels I think someone helped themselves to as I can no longer find them. They may have walked off at a pot luck. This breaks my heart, not because of course of a monetary value, but because my mother now has arthritis in her fingers and can not make new ones to replace those which have been taken. I do still have one of the tea towels she made. It has a pretty blue teapot decoration and, yes, it does get used. I figure I may as well use my cute things as they probably would be sold at an estate sale when I die and someone else would use them for me later if I don’t use them now. Here it is.
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Here, not at all tea related, is a picture of some, ‘girls’ sunning themselves in a neighbor’s yard. I think it’s funny that two of them hopped the fence to lay in the grass (one was just out of camera range behind the building which is why you can’t see her).
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The power went out yesterday for about 3 hours in the middle of the day. As the time for starting dinner grew near, I started to panic. I sat down to pray that the lights would come back on in time to cook. The minute I said, ‘amen’, the lights came back on. Woohoo!
Dinner was a success even though most of the people didn’t like what I made, salmon, each for different, personal reasons, not because I’m a bad cook. One friend had eaten salmon and became very ill and as a result, cannot even put one bite in her mouth. I completely understand this as I once became violently ill at a restaurant because of their salad bar. It has been 25 years and I still refuse to step foot into that restaurant. I know it’s a mental reaction to a physical occurrence, but still. The other person has childhood drama related to salmon. As a child he was served up salmon and spaghetti on the same plate (Please, ladies, learn how to cook! This guy is in his late 40’s and is still traumatized by his mother’s cooking!) and he and his siblings had to sit at the table until every bite was gone. I remember those days myself and sitting at the table for what seemed like forever as the situation quickly deteriorated into a battle of wills. I offered to make them both something else, but she declined saying she was still full from lunch and could make due with the side dishes; home made mushroom onion soup, steamed broccoli, wild rice, and he said he would do his best to choke it down. Well, he ended up liking the salmon as it wasn’t the canned stuff he remembered from his childhood. I had made blackened salmon and one piece with a dill seasoning mix sprinkled liberally on top. Everyone who tried it liked it but it is the last time I cook salmon for home group. (They even had seconds!) I love having iced tea with dinner and now that it is warming up, it is served with every home group dinner.
One person was absent from home group. Kudos to her husband for coming without her. I wouldn’t go to a group event like ours without my husband but that’s just the way I am. I’ve always hated walking into a room by myself and when I got married, he became my security blank for stuff like that.
So, since we were down one person, I thought we could wait for her and do the lesson next week so we wouldn’t be a head of her, even though her husband said she said it was ok to go on without her. Instead, we sat around talking about resonance and sound waves and string theory and music. Yeah, we’re all like that at our home group. I’m married to a mad boy software developer who talks tech all the time. He was in his element last night. Thank you, Lord because he doesn’t get to talk tech much with me around since I usually stand there with my eyes glazed over scripting book plots in my head while he is explaining how something works. V, one of the guys in home group, goes every Tuesday to a church in a small town near us and participates in a worship event, whereby he takes several of his instruments and plays them ‘over’ people. He says he can ‘feel’ notes resonating back at him from their bodies. V, said that on Tuesday night, there was a guest speaker who was talking about quantum physics and resonance. Hearing what he talked about was very interesting and kind of put a different perspective on why we should be careful about the things we say, as it says we should in the bible.
All in all, it was a fun evening. Please contact me if you would like some ideas on how you can get a home group of your own started.
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Usually this phrase pertains to the homes of newly weds or a secluded place for an intimate tete-a-tete. Let’s reinvent the phrase to mean something else, shall we? Why not make your home a love nest for friends and family and persons who are ‘not yet friends’ n.y.f.? What would you need to do to turn your house/home into a love nest? Do you need additional chairs and tables? Try a thrift store. Table cloths hide a myriad of blemishes and can bring unity to a room quickly and inexpensively-if you shop at discount stores. Discount stores can also offer an array of inexpensive decorations such as glass containers for holding candles,(they sell the candles too), paper doilies, (which are great for dressing up a plate of appetizers), and seasonal decorations to help set a theme. You can pack such things away and use them the following year. Trust me, people are not making a record of your decorations and how often you use them and if you know of people who are, just don’t invite them over again. Keeping your menu simple can save money too. I have often used pre-seasoned pork tenderloin roasts for my home group meals. A larger roast can serve all six of us for about 2-3 dollars per person. Throw in a couple of .99 cent boxes of scalloped potatoes and a couple of cans of veggies and you’re good to go. You may also establish a menu schedule. My home group friends are such a blessing to me, not only for the wonderful friendships we’re developing, but also because they volunteer to bring dinner now and again. We have often asked them to bring a bag of ice to home group. I have an automatic iced tea maker and it uses quite a bit of ice to brew the tea. It’s not that the ice is expensive so I ask them, but if the week has gotten away from me and I haven’t had a chance to replenish the ice supply, our H.G. friends are happy to assist. Don’t feel like you have to carry the entire evening on your shoulders. I did at first and it became stressful, fast, and I started to not enjoy home group night. That all quickly changed when I started letting go of my preconceived ideas of how things should be.
If you feel your house is too messy or out of control to have people over, allow me to introduce you to the website that can help you out immensely. I don’t do everything she writes about, but I do follow the tips and ideas that work best for me and it has made a big difference in my home. Enough so to where I felt comfortable enough to start hostessing a weekly home group. Who knows, it just may do the same for you! Here it is:The Fly Lady .
Need some help with recipes? Recipe Zaar.
Have questions? You can always email me. I’m happy to help. Does this help you at all? Please let me know.
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However, lest I should yak on plain ol’ zucchini that isn’t grilled and smothered in garlic butter, here is a chocolate zucchini bread recipe. A nice cup of black tea or even chocolate tea if you are in desperate need of chocolate therapy, some days are like that, would go well with this recipe.
CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
3 eggs
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour (I like the unbleached Hungarian flour)
1 C oil I always use coconut oil you may use olive oil try not to use vegetable oil
2 C sugar (I will reduce to 1 C) I’m sweet enough already-wink
1 tsp salt
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
2 C peeled, shredder zucchini-squeeze out as much moisture as you can
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
In medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla, mix-add in zucchini, mix. In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
Gradually add wet ingredients to dry. Pour into two greased and floured bread loaf pans and bake
at 350 in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a knife stuck in the middle of the bread comes out clean.
Enjoy with your favorite tea. Serves many happy bunnies!
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Because I was sick and lying in bed for so long, my back (I have scoliosis) does not like me sitting at my computer all day, but I have goals and need to press on. I try to go and sit on the sofa to give it a break and to walk around too and ‘warm’ it up, but I’d rather have a new one and some dark chocolate please or some Ferro Roche. Maple Nut Goodies would work in a pinch but they are not chocolate but are one of the very few yummies that would be allowed past my lips in lieu of chocolate.
Today’s Easter REcipe comes to us from Healthy Insites. This would make a great addition to almost any tea setting but would be especially wonderful at a brunch. I too would even eat this, then stop off at the local breakfast diner on my way home for a nice steak and egg platter with hash browns of course!
BREAKFAST SALAD (serves 4)
1 unpeeled. chopped apple
1/2 C sunflower seed nuts
1/2 C raisins or currants
1/4 C chopped dates (pits removed)
1 sliced banana
2 TBS honey
1 TBS fresh orange juice
1 tsp double strength vanilla
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (or Chinese Five Spice to shake things up a bit)
1C cottage cheese
4 melon halves
In small bowl, mix together the orange juice, vanilla and spices separately, set aside. In large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients,except the melons and cottage cheese. Spoon orange juice mixture over the fruit and mix making sure all is evenly distributed. Place melons ‘face’ up on plate. You may need to cut off a small amount on the bottom so that they sit flat and straight. Spoon equal amounts of cottage cheese into each melon half.Top with fruit mixture and serve. Compliment the fruit salad with a light, aromatic tea such as a jasmine green or chamomile.
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I made beef bowls for dinner last night…and the night before. We had some left over steak so I thought I would experiment. Tech Hubby loves Yashinora beef bowls. Well, we don’t have anything like that here where I live, so, when you live in a restaurant challenged city, you get creative.
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Honteri Sweet Seasoning, Soy Sauce, Sesame seeds, Sesame oil, Sushi Vinegar, Coconut oil, and chili flakes. Also used but may or may not be pictures, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a white onion, 1 whole green pepper (both sliced thin), 1 sheet of sea weed, 1 gigantic portabella mushroom-peeled. Sticky rice.
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Follow the directions on the sticky rice bag for cooking. If you live at high altitude where there is almost no moisture (like I do) add an extra cup of water. When sticky rice is done cooking, stir into it, 3 tablespoons of Sushi Vinegar. You’re going to do the other prep and cooking while the rice is cooking. This is what it looks like when it’s done cooking. Even if the bag says it’s pre-washed, still wash the rice and let it soak in cold water for 1/2 an hour.
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Cut your onion and bell pepper into thin slices.
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Add them to a pre-heated pan with deep sides. that is coconut oil. The only time I don’t use coconut oil is when I’m making pancakes, then I use butter. If I use any other oil but coconut oil, I can actually feel my butt getting bigger. You don’t want to use too much oil because we’ll be adding the slices of steak to this and they have their own fat. Use about 2-3 tablespoons. Build your confidence. Learn how to ‘eyeball’ your measurements.
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I like to wait to add my garlic until the onions and peppers have cooked down a bit to avoid burning the garlic.
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While the onions,peppers and garlic are melding, I peel and cut my portabella into thin slices. As well as the steak.
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The steak slices were added in first, cooked for a few minutes, then the mushroom slices. To this I added; the soy sauce, sesame oil, Honteri, and the chili flakes. These flavors balance each other out and give the dish a sweet hot slightly salty flavor.About a table spoon each of the soy, sesame oil and Honteri a bit less of the sesame oil. Add chili flakes as to how hot you want your food.
By now the sticky rice has been done cooking as is on the ‘warm’ setting of the rice cooker waiting for me. I remove it from the rice cooker(you do not want to add vinegar to metal containers) place it into a glass bowl, add my 3 TBS of Sushi vinegar and stir it into the rice along with a tablespoon of sesame seeds. When that is all encorporated, I then crumble up a sheet of sea weed into the rice and stir it all up.Plate it and drizzle more soy sauce and sesame seeds over it all and enjoy!
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Remember the Scotch eggs? Those will NOT be making an appearance on my Easter table this year, or any other year for that matter. Here is a breakfast casserole that looks pretty good. I have not tried the recipe yet but I will before the big day. I don’t like surprises when entertaining. Testing a recipe before hand can help your event run smoothly.
BRUNCH EGGS
6 slices of bacon (I used the prepackaged real bacon crumbles. It saves time)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 C chopped onions
1/2 C milk
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs
3 English muffins split open
If you are using uncooked bacon, fry it then drain off all but on TBS of fat. Saute onion in the fat that is left in the pan. I will be using coconut oil to saute my onion. Stir in soup, milk and mustard. Heat until warm. Stir in cheese until it melts. Pour sauce into greased 9×13-inch pan. In the sauce, make six even spaced, ‘divots’ with the back of a spoon. Break an egg into each of the divots. Sprinkle crumbled bacon over everything. Bake 20 minutes at 350 or until eggs are set. Toast English muffins. Spoon sauce topped with an egg on to each muffin half and serve. Serves 6.
A nice mix of fruit would go well with this. You can either offer fresh fruit by itself, or Next week, I’ll be posting a couple of fruit recipes for a bit of variety at your Easter table.
If you do try this recipe, let me know how you liked it. I love your input!