After we finished dinner this evening, Cornelius turned to me and said, “We ate really well this weekend”. So true. Everything we ate was fresh and didn’t require extensive cooking or baking or heating. Our morning started off right with light and crispy waffles topped with fresh and juicy peaches. Since we had a relatively late breakfast, lunch wasn’t necessary. Dinner was tomato and red onion and feta sandwiches (because everybody likes sandwiches, right?!) served with fresh refrigerator pickles and accompanied by some icy cold homemade lemonade. As for dessert, the previous night we worked up a sweat the old fashioned way as we whipped up a batch of homemade coffee ice cream with a touch of cinnamon, some roasted pecans and some dark chocolate shavings. Oh my!
I’m not sure if I’ll post the ice cream recipe because I found it was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but the rest of my Sunday cooking adventure can be found below. Enjoy.
crispy waffles
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vanilla yogurt
2 T vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 envelope of vanilla sugar1. In a batter bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
2. Measure yogurt, milk and vegetable oil in a 2-cup measuring cup.
3. Whip up egg whites into soft peaks.
4. Beat egg white in a small bowl with an electric hand mixer to almost soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue to beat until white and glossy.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Fold in egg white to batter in dollops. Fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.
6. Add batter to waffle irons and cook as usual. Serve with syrup or fresh peaches.
Print This Recipe
lemonade
1 c sugar
1 c water
1 1/4 c lemon juice (use fresh only! approximately 6-8 large lemons)1. Create a sugar syrup by bringing water and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add in lemon juice.
2. Pour into pitcher along with 4-5-6 cups of cold water. Add enough water to suit your tastes. I like a lot of water, so I usually fill up my pitcher with about 6 cups of water. Serve over lots of ice. Decorate with fresh mint, if desired.
I spotted these refreshing pickles over at Kitchen Parade and decided that I’d start making some right away. It seemed like the most perfect summertime snack. Tangy and sweet and crispy fresh. I made these in the morning and ate almost a whole jar by the afternoon! What can I say, I love pickles! I made one batch according to Alanna’s recipe (subbing the mustard & celery seeds and tumeric with dill, garlic and hot peppers since its’ what I had on hand), but then decided to make a second version with different vegetables and different spices altogether. Both versions tasted great and I’ll post my version here.
refrigerator pickles
1 c white vinegar
1 c water
1 c white sugar
2 t pickling salt
1 long stick of cinnamon, broken into 3 peices
1 t hot peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 small red onion, cut into quarters
baby carrots1. In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, salt, water and sugar to the boiling point. Remove from heat. Add carrots to simmer in the hot liquid for 5 minutes.
2. Add green pepper, red onion and garlic and spices into a glass jar. Add carrots to the jar and pour in the hot liquid. Cap off jar and let cool before putting into the fridge.
Once you are finished the jar (and I’ve already polished off one), you can add more vegetables into the liquid. I’ve added in some radishes and yellow peppers for my next batch. This should keep for about 1 month in the fridge.
I like my sandwiches with a bit of a bite. If you want a fresher taste, then you can skip marinating the tomatoes and onion in the vinegar and just add them fresh to the sandwich.
Please note Cornelius’ lovely handmodeling duties!
tomato sandwich with lemony-feta spread
2 red + ripe tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 T red wine vinegar
handful of fresh basil, torn
1/2 avocado, sliced
romaine lettuce
1 small block of feta cheese
1 T olive oil
1/2 c parsley
1/2 lemon, juiced & zested
salt + pepper
good bread, toasted1. Cut tomatoes and onions into slices. Place in a shallow bowl and drizzle with vinegar and add some salt & pepper over top. Tear some fresh basil over top and marinate for 30 minutes. You can skip this step if you don’t like a tangy sandwich!
2. In a small bowl, mash together the feta, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley together.
3. Toast the bread. Add feta mixture to one slice and mash avocado on the other slice. Add tomatoes and red onions and lettuce to the feta side and cover with the avocado side. Add salt & pepper if necessary.
Serve with fresh refrigerator pickles.
Gah! You’ve outdone yourself with fantastic photos! I need to eat veggies NOW… 🙂
I agree, great photos! And the jars of colorful vegetables are so pretty, if they didn’t taste so good you might have trouble eating them!! Love the combinations you put together!!
I just came across your blog after someone somewhere linked to a pasta salad recipe of yours. I’ve cruised through your home a bit and see that you just got back from a cycling vacation. How cool!!! I would love to take a bike tour one day, but I have to settle for my daily rides for now.
For lunch I just made your feta cheese spread sandwich. I had some huge well-ripened tomatoes from my cousin’s garden and a ripe avocado in the fridge. After whipping it together and eating it on my homemade whole wheat bread (made with grain I ground in my new mill) I was in heaven! So yummy!!! I’ve added you to my bloglines subs. Thanks so much for the great recipe–leftovers for tomorrow ;o)
thanks jana, i’m thinking i need a bit of protein since i’ve had a bit of of veggie overload lately 😉
thanks ak! i also loved how the photos turned out. thanks for the inspiration!
thanks so much for the nice words, jennyraye! daily bike rides are the best! and i’m envious of your knitting skillz.
Kickpleat, it looks as though pickles are in the air! Brandon has made a couple of batches in the past week or so, and we’ve been dipping into the jars almost every night – yum, yum, yum! I’m just about to put up a post about them, actually. They’re a little more labor-intensive than yours, unfortunately, but the effort spent is well worth it, should you run low on your current supply…
Cheers!
i love this time of year. that sandwich looks yummy.
i found your blog through some random mess of links, read the fridge pickle entry, drooled, went home and raided my veggie drawer and ate an entire jar for dinner…good thing i made 2 jars!
I too have lurked on your blog for awhile. Came across it from another link and I love your writting, style and food oh yes and photos 🙂
keep it up!
jenn
That sandwich looks fiercely good – I geuess everybody really does like sandwiches! Yum on the waffles too. Well done!
oh the yumminess!
i hope you are surviving the heat I have been hearing about over there! madness.
genius!
I love a sharp hit of vinegar. will definiteley try, thanks. love your blog
Awesome~ I’m particularly loving those refrigerator pickles (as well as the cute jars that you’ve stored them in!)
I just discovered craft blogs and got excited, now I have been meaning to search food blogs. I am excited, yours is lovely and I look forward to reading it!
I’ve had weekends like that – where everything was wonderful and fresh. Everything looked perfect for eating in this hot weather. I think I”ll borrow your waffle recipe!
Molly, your pickles look so lovely! I’m jealous as always.
Thank you Sara! Summers are the best 🙂
S, I’m so very impressed I was able to inspire you to make and inhale 2 jars of pickles! You are my hero!
Thanks so much Jenn for your kind words! It’s always nice to know that other people actually like what I do besides me 😉
Rorie, I think it’s true about sandwiches! Yum!!
Tania, it’s finally been cooling down…so I think an oven can now be used for more than a torture device! Hooray!!
Lobstersquad, nice to see another vinegar lover in the house! Thanks for stopping by!
Ellie, the pickles were lovely (notice that I’m using the past tense?). I think it’s time to make some more & put those cute jars to good use!!
Thank you AnnaLaura for stopping by! Craft & food blogs can be such inspiration!
Cyndi, by all means, borrow away!
Hello I have a question. I’d love to try your waffle recipe but I’ve never heard of vanilla sugar and don’t have a cluw how much a packet is??? Do you have a rough substitution for this or how much sugar is in one packet? We use Sugar in the Raw which is muc richer and a deeper flavor so I thought I’d try that, but don’t know the amount!
Thanks! Love the blog!
Judy, vanilla sugar can be found in little packets in most Canadian grocery stores. This is what I use: http://www.oetker.ca/cgi-bin/WebObjects/oetker.woa/wa/page?option=prd_311&destination;=page_36
If you can’t find that, you can make your own vanilla sugar by placing a vanilla bean (or the hollowed out husk) into your sugar bowl. Or if you don’t want to do that, just use 1 Tablespoon of regular sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
I’m completely into your pickles. I love the combinations, and it looks tasty!
Must. Try.
this could use a “quick pickles” tag.. took me a while to find it!