Spoiled.

We've been really spoiling ourselves lately with some amazing food.  The first night I came home from traveling we had a delicious steak, grilled potatoes and Michigan corn dinner.  Simple, cooked to perfection and just what we needed. Comfort food.

The next night I made chicken with a poblano pepita pesto and fresh corn cakes.  It was pretty good.  The pesto was a little thicker than I liked.  I need to dig out my original recipe, because that was the best.  I liked the flavor of the corn cakes, but I think they were a little underdone.  I'd recommend giving them a try.  I subbed smoked cheddar for the cheese.  Let me know if you try them and what you think.

Yesterday I followed a recipe from one of my favorite blogs/people - The Pioneer Woman.  I have never had anything less than stellar from her recipes.  The vanilla berry crumble was a variation of her recipe and it was amazing.  

Unfortunately though, I thought the brisket I made was over done and I didn't like the flavor.  Too salty.  Now if you know me, the words "too salty" almost NEVER get uttered from my lips.

Regardless we had a good, home made meal with a new favorite side dish (directions below) and another loaf of homemade Boule. 

Life is good.

Brisket with garlic mashed potatoes and new fav side dish (directions below).

Day two - second loaf of bread from dough.  
The dough was easier to handle, and much less intimidating than the first attempt.  
It came out denser with a much crisper crust.  
Still experimenting with the dutch oven method of cooking right now.  
Batch three to come later this weekend - plus a new recipe.

"Recipe" note: there is nothing brilliant about this veggie dish. I frequently get asked for recipes for things I make and I don't have one.  So I will be sharing *directions* for things or variations of a recipe.  

Susan's Summer Veggie Saute

• Remove corn kernels from corn. (I'll do a couple, bag it up and then use during the week for recipes)
• Dice one zucchini into small squares (complimenting the size of the corn, not too big, not too small).
• Dice half of a small onion (ditto on the size)
• Warm olive oil in a saute pan, when hot add the corn, zucchini and onion.
• Cook veggies over medium high heat, tossing occasionally to give everyone a fair chance at the bottom of the pan to brown a little.
• Season with salt and pepper.  I also used a healthy sprinkle of Penzey's Herb Mix.  If you don't have that in your pantry, get some! Or I'll give you some.  I'll have to do a whole post on that at some point... If you have a favorite seasoning mix, use that.
• Remove from heat when the veggies are tender and the onions are translucent and things are starting to brown a bit.
• Toss a small pat of butter (real stuff please) in with the veggies, distribute throughout and serve.
• Enjoy.