West by Midwest

Recipes and thoughts from the West by Midwest kitchen

Potato Salad 2 Ways

I had a bounty from the Farmer's Market, buying big bags of veggies for $5.00 a bag. I'm taking Potato Salad 2 ways to a 4th of July BBQ tonight made fresh from the Farm. I loved my grandmother's potato salad growing up, she would make it every Christmas Eve and decorate it with green pepper and roasted red peppers from a jar to make it look like a poinsettia. My kids don't love mayonnaise so I have cut that out from one of these recipes and added just a little for the second so that it is similar to Grandma's but not too saucy. I think the first recipe is like a German potato salad without the bacon and served cold instead of warm so I'll call it: German Summer Potato Salad 12 medium to ... read more

Cauliflower Couscous

There are so many ways to use the new darling of vegetables, cauliflower. My daughter makes some pretty mean mashed "potatoes" and cauliflower stir fried "rice". I was making some lamb burgers and wanted a mediterranean side dish that was healthy and yum. Here is how it turned out: (By the way, that is Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam on top of the stuffed lamb burger, a great addition.) The Cauliflower Couscous was very easy to make, mega healthy and yum too. I cut 1/2 of a cauliflower head into medium size pieces and then pulse it in a food processor until I get rice or couscous sized pieces. Then I do the same with other vegetables, in this case I have a red pepper, 3 green ... read more

Growing Cilantro

One of my daughters and I love Cilantro. My other daughter and my husband say it tastes like soap, so they will ignore this post. I've never had much luck growing Cilantro until I thought to repurpose a couple of old Pottery Barn lanterns that we almost threw out. I planted the seeds in a old pretty pot, put it inside the lantern and then watered it every few days on my new potting bench. It turns out to be the perfect hot house for growing Cilantro and a great way to repurpose. Tip: I also tried it in the smaller lantern and it didn't work as well. The taller lantern was more successful and didn't require as much watering. ... read more

Cooking in a Heat Wave

Living in Northern California normally means enjoying some of the best weather in the country. My town's motto is "Weather Best by Government Test". I don't know which government declared it, but it's pretty much true. HOWEVER, we are not prepared for the heat waves that hit occasionally, we don't have A/C for those 10-14 days a year that we really need it. Father's Day was one of the days this year as temps hit over 100˚ and that heat stuck around. Cooking for dad in the kitchen was not an option so I put together everything we had to cook on the grill while we played his new game Kan Jam under the redwood canopy in our yard. I picked up some Flank Steak at Costco and did a dry rub over ... read more

Rose Drop Martini

Think Lemon Drop with a hint of Roses.  I was getting ready for a girls birthday weekend at Bodega Bay. I had just raided our dental office of some magazines (I work there, so no harm!) and was flipping through Sunset Magazine when I saw an amazing recipe for a Rose Drop Martini. I just so happened to have the first roses of the season on my driveway bushes so I had to try this. It was an absolute winner, and I suggest having witnesses as you put the drink together, they will be wowed, both by the presentation and the drink. Start with 5-8 pesticide free pink roses. Rinse and dry the separated petals, then pack into a Mason jar. Fill the jar with a good vodka, I used Hangar 1, a Bay Area ... read more

Cheese Tray on the Bay

Our wonderful friends, Bart and Barb O'Brien of O'Brien Estate Vineyards took us out on the San Francisco Bay for a little day cruise (that then included an evening cruise). I was put in charge of the cheese tray so I headed over to Trader Joe's and found everything I needed. They have a great collection of cheese, even Bon Appetite agrees, so I picked up an aged Gouda for my Northern European heritage, some Stilton Blue for my English heritage, Manchego for that little bit of Spanish heritage, Picorino for the Italian I recently found out I had and some Goat Brie, yes, I have some French heritage too. Trader Joe's has a pretty good selection of crackers too, I like the Fig and Olive Crisps ... read more

Happy Easter

In our local Target store there is usually a seasonal area that has inexpensive decorations. A few weeks before Easter I found the cutest canvas tote bags that have a bunny face on the front and bunny ears between the handles. For three dollars I thought they would make a great little Easter gift bags. I filled three for the young kids of the women I tutor at a local  center. I found pretty jewel like eggs that I filled with Easter candy. Target had some soft furry lambs and bunnies so I filled the bag with those and some Peeps lollipops, Dove chocolate bunnies and colorful Pepperidge Farm Goldfish boxes. (My husband is a dentist so I couldn't make it ALL candy.) Since my mom is in another ... read more

Linguine with Clam Sauce

My family first ate this dish while we were camping with friends at Donner Lake, and we were amazed at how easy it was to make a gourmet meal right from the campsite! This is great to make year round because it's filling but not too heavy and it goes well with a glass of white wine (or two). We are back in Tahoe this weekend on Good Friday, so this was a nice, quick aprés-ski, hockey play-off watching, meatless meal. It's a easy meal to pack to take along for cooking while camping or Airbnb-ing. It can be hard to find fresh clams... so unless we make a trip to the coast, I normally use the canned version. This recipe serves 4. Ingredients: 1 half of a 16 ounce (oz) package of dried ... read more

April Fools Puppy and Her Favorite Parks

Piper (or Piperoni in this photo) is our rescue pup. We adopted her from Coppers Dream, an organization that rescues dogs, mostly from California's Central Valley, that are within days of being euthanized. A friend of ours was her foster and we fell immediately in love with her. They told us she was 3-4 months old but the vet said "closer to 6" so we gave her an April 1st birthday. Easy to remember that special day! We have a nice yard that has become her home and digging grounds, but we need to get this agile girl out running to keep her out of trouble. We are lucky to live in a community that takes care of dogs and their 2 legged friends. Our favorite, Stulsaft Park, was an almost daily ... read more

Concord Grape Pie

  My neighbor had a lot of concord grapes that she wasn't able to use so I picked them before the birds got them and looked around to see what I could make.  This is a little time consuming but easy and was such an unusual and great pie, I had to share it. Ingredients: 1 Pie Crust (I use Pillsbury or make my own) 2 lbs. Concord Grapes, stemmed ¾ cup Sugar 2 tbsp. quick-cooking Tapioca 1 tbsp. unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces Steps: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For the filling: Slip pulp of each grape out of its skin into a medium saucepan, put skins into a large bowl, and set aside. (They slip out easily.) Cook pulp over medium heat to release the ... read more