Baked Chile Rellenos {Saying Goodbye to Grandma}

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I've tried over and over again to open this post eloquently, and have been failing miserably.  It could be a lack of coffee, or perhaps it's a product of the past week's ride on an emotional see-saw.

On Monday, May 13, one day after Mother's Day, my Grandma passed away.

AnnaBelle Chaparro had suffered from Alzheimer's for several years, and in all honestly, she had left us long ago.  But the finality of her passing means a different kind of goodbye, one that we can't tuck away in our minds as "not really goodbye."  For a long time we still had her here, albeit somewhat absent.  My mom put it perfectly when she said that Alzheimer's is "the long goodbye."

During my Grandma's final years, my mom and dad worked day and night to make sure she was well taken care of.  What started out as merely being there to make sure she wasn't in the house alone gradually became much, much more, and eventually turned into a complete role reversal, wherein they became the "parents" of a now fully-dependent Grandma.  It's a thankless and extremely hard job.  There truly should be an organization somewhere that awards medals and accolades to caregivers.

When I think of my Grandma, I picture her in the kitchen or in the garden.  She had a beautiful, lush garden that she took great pride in.  In the backyard she had apples, apricots, tomatoes, rhubarb, veggies of all kinds, and even a cherry tree.  She was an avid composter, and to this day I can still picture her coffee can sitting under the kitchen sink, full of scraps and things to compost for the garden.  Hubby and I planted a garden the weekend before Mother's Day, and I thought of her as we tucked the little plants into their new home.

My Grandma was a great cook.  She would whistle as she chopped and stirred, and soon there would be a table full of deliciousness waiting for us all to dig into.  Today I'm going to share one of her recipes with you.

Every Christmas, Grandma would make spanish food for the family dinner.  She would spend hours in the kitchen and the house would smell amazing!  I can still smell the chicken poaching for enchiladas and the aroma of roasted chiles wafting from the kitchen.  This recipe for baked chile rellenos is one of the stars of Grandma's Christmas dinner.  As I assembled this dish and the house started to smell like chiles, I couldn't help but feel her in the kitchen with me.  There were definitely tears falling as I stuffed the chiles, beat the eggs and shredded cheese, and still now as I write this.  I hope that when you make this dish you can reflect back on your favorite memories with your family, and smile.
Who knows, maybe it will become a favorite in your family, too.

Green Chile Rellenos
|Serves: 6-8| Prep: 10 mins| Bake: 40 mins|
10 green chiles, roasted and peeled*
cheese (jack/cheddar) cut into 10 strips
1/4 c cheese, shredded
3 eggs
1/4 c milk
2-3 tbsp flour
salt & pepper
hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, or lightly butter. Set aside.

Stuff the chiles with the strips of cheese and arrange in baking dish.  Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.  Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk, flour, salt, pepper and dashes of hot sauce, if using.  Pour the egg mixture over the chiles.  Bake approx. 35 minutes, or until eggs are set.

*Green chiles can be purchased roasted in jars or cans.  Rinse them thoroughly to remove the added sodium.  To roast your own chiles, place them over open flame, turning occasionally, until charred on all sides.  Place roasted chiles in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10-15 mins.  To peel, wipe the chiles with a paper towel until the charred skins are removed.

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Cantaloupe Agua Frescas

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Hello?  Anyone out there?  Yes guys, I'm alive.  And today I am back from a long and unexpected hiatus to bring you a delicious - and ridiculously easy - recipe for a refreshing drink, along with an explanation of said hiatus.

I actually made this agua frescas over a month ago, and then some exciting stuff started happening so I haven't had a chance to share it with you all until now.  Remember when I promised you that I'd explain our exciting family news?  I'm a girl who is true to her word, and today the wait is over.  Our family trip to San Francisco was to celebrate my beautiful sis-in-law's baby shower!  In February we found out we were going to have a little niece or nephew come fall, and believe me it has been so hard to keep the surprise a.... well, SURPRISE this long!

Apparently we weren't the only ones excited for fall to come, because our sweet nephew decided to make a summer entrance instead.  On August 21 our perfect little angel of a nephew was born.  Without further adieu, I present to you, Diego.

To say we love him in an understatement of epic proportions.  He melts my heart.  I cried when we met him and burst into tears when we had to leave.  So as you can see, I've been a little distracted by the preciousness for a few weeks.  You forgive me, right?

Along with welcoming our nephew, we also up and moved.  We've spent the past couple of weeks getting settled in our new place and it's starting to feel like home now.  Chico has decided that the stairs in the new house are much cooler than the stairs in the old house, and runs up and down them about 25 times a day.  He's a goof.

So now that the dust has begun to settle, I will be getting back into my cooking/baking/blogging routine and will be bringing you yummyness on a more regular basis.  You know I'm obsessed with fall, and I'm so excited that it's finally here!  YAY, scarves and boots!  Except that it's gonna be about 90 degrees here for the next several days...  womp womp.  Might need to make a couple more batches of agua frescas to get us through the heat wave.

Agua Frescas are very versatile.  You can make this with all sorts of fruits - pineapple is fantastic.  Some mexican restaurants offer this on their drink menu, and around here we indulge when it's Fiesta.  Fiesta (aka Old Spanish Days) is a celebration of Santa Barbara's spanish roots and includes tons of food, dancing, music and booths of trinkets and treats and carnivals for the kids that span across the town.  It's great fun.

I have been on a cantaloupe binge, but feel free to switch up fruits when you make yours.  I'd love to hear how you customize.

Aguas Frescas
| Serves 6-8 | Prep time: 15 mins. | 
1 ripe cantaloupe, cubed
1/2 c agave
1/4 c honey

Place cubed cantaloupe in a food processor (you may need to do this in batches) and puree until completely smooth.  Transfer puree to a large bowl or pitcher.  Rinse the bowl of the food processor and reassemble.  Strain the puree back into the bowl of the processor.  Depending on the fruit you use, the pulp can be a bit thick, so you may need to use a wooden spoon to coax along the straining process.  Discard the pulp.  Add the agave and honey to the strained juice and puree until completely mixed.  Taste for sweetness. Enjoy very cold/over ice.

Red, White and Blue Sangria {White Wine Sangria}

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Happy Independence Day!  Are you all planning anything exciting?  Family get togethers?  Beach picnics?  Stay at home and avoid the holiday crowds?  No matter what your holiday plans are I have a great 4th of July recipe for you.

What's a summer holiday without a refreshing signature drink?  We all need something nice and cold to sip on during the hot summer months.  This white wine sangria is seriously yummy and is a snap to put together.  And it's healthy since there's fruit involved, right?  Right??

I used a Reisling since I wanted the end result to be nice and sweet.  It was a great compliment to the strawberries! Make this at least a day in advance - two days would be best - and you will be rewarded with a beautiful red-tinged sangria that is loaded with tangy and sweet fruit flavor.

That sounded like a commercial for Starburst.

Of course fruits that are in season are going to have the best flavor, so feel free to switch ingredients to your taste.  Summer strawberries are at their peak, so take advantage! 

White Wine Sangria
1 bottle white wine (not too dry)
1 pint strawberries, cut into quarters
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
1 red apple, sliced
1 bottle sparkling water (Voss, Pellegrino)

In a large pitcher, combine wine and fruit.  Stir gently and let chill at least overnight.  Serve with a splash of sparkling water.

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Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Pin It Now! Not really sure this qualifies as a "recipe" but it's just so darn delicious that I wouldn't feel right not sharing with you.  I never met a chocolate covered anything that I didn't love, but strawberries have to be my favorite.  They make me weak in the knees.

I actually made these a couple of weeks ago after Hubby & I played farmer at Classic Organic farm in Gaviota.  We came home with loads of fresh picked strawberries so I couldn't help myself.

Make sure to use good quality chocolate like Scharffen Berger or Ghirardelli since the chocolate flavor is front and center.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Strawberries, washed and dried
6 oz chocolate, melted

Line a plate with parchment paper.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and remove from heat.  Dip the berries in the melted chocolate and place on the parchment lined plate to set.  Chill until chocolate is thoroughly hardened.

Classic Devilled Eggs {Easter Weekend}

Pin It Now! Happy belated Easter!!  How was your Easter weekend?  Spring has been so beautiful, hasn't it?  Here in Southern California we have been enjoying very mild, sun-filled days.  Hubby and I have been soaking up the beauty on long walks on the cliffs overlooking the beach...  tough life, right?

We do have some pretty enviable views around here, that's for sure.

What are your Easter traditions?  We may not have kids yet (apparently Chico doesn't count.  bah.) but we are definitely kids at heart and had a great time dying Easter eggs.  Is it just me, or do those little tablets never dissolve entirely??  Anyone??  I always forget that the purple ones are completely defunct and end up ruining an egg.  Come on, Paas, get it together.  

Easter Eggs... they just don't know it yet.

Households everywhere are completely overrun with hard-boiled eggs after the holiday.  I'm sure there are a lot of egg salad sandwiches being packed into lunches this week.  I'm definitely not reinventing the wheel with today's recipe.  Just classic devilled eggs - but, boy, are they delicious.  These babies are dangerous.  I admit I ate a couple while making them.  You won't tell, right?

No Easter egg collection is complete without a Mudder egg!

I hope your spring is off to a beautiful start!  See you on the other side of egg overload.  :)

Fancy pants, eh??

Classic Devilled Eggs

8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half

2 tsp mustard (whatever variety you like)

2 tsp sweet pickle relish

2 tbs mayonnaise

salt & pepper

Lightly squeeze the sliced eggs to pop the yolk out into a small bowl.  Add the mustard, relish and mayo and mix until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Pipe the mixture into the eggs if you feel fancy, or spoon it in and attack them. 

{Comfort Food} Baked Meatballs

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Guess I kinda dropped off the radar again, didn't I??   So sorry for being such an inconsistent presence lately.  Allow me to give you a brief update...

As I mentioned here, we have been up to our ears with re-doing the apartment (not gonna lie, it's still a work in progress).  The kitchen and living-room are somewhat done, which is a relief, but the "guest bedroom" is still littered with boxes of things to go through.  At the moment we are actively in the "shut-the-door-and-ignore-it" phase.

Aside from the nesting, we had some car issues on our hands.  Hubby's temperamental car took another nose-dive right after the new year, so we had to make the tough decision to let her go and move on.  I didn't think it would be an emotional thing, but I cried when she drove away.  What a goober, right??  We had some good times with her.  We drove that car to the moonlit beach the night Hubs asked me to be his girlfriend so many years ago.  We drove that car countless miles to countless places over the course of our relationship making memories together, and the day after our wedding we drove that car - with my wedding dress in he back seat - home to start our life as husband and wife.  Those are the things that brought me to tears when she drove away with her new owner.  Now, time to change our phone number before they figure it out. ;)

Anywho, last week we took a day trip to the Bay area with close friends to visit some other close friends who recently got engaged.  The guys headed off to play golf while us girls took the train into the city and had lunch at Boudin Bakery overlooking the bay.

Don't judge us, it's a vacay day!

The Rock... Alcatraz

Great friends!!

While the hubbies are away, the ladies will play!

Back to the present, the ACM awards were on this weekend, and I sure loves me some country music.  Country music plus comfort food?  Yes, please!  This was kind of a kitchen-sink recipe.  Shredded carrots and canned tomatoes keep the meatballs tender and moist, while the onions, garlic and feta add tons of flavor.  I think next time I'll add some hot sauce for a little kick.

These would be great for entertaining as well.   The baking time will vary depending on the size, so keep an eye on them.  Now back to our regularly scheduled country music awards...  yeehaw!

Baked Meatballs
1/2 pound ground beef (85/15 or 80/20)
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 can diced italian style tomatoes (salsa would be great, too)
crumbled feta (just eyeball it)
1 carrot, finely grated
1 egg
Drizzle of olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

Now pay attention, this is where it gets complicated: Mix all ingredients.  That's it!  Make sure not to overwork the meat, or the meatballs will be tough.  Form into meatballs and bake on a cooking rack at 400 degrees for approx. 20 minutes.  Yummy yummy!