The husband in the kitchen with the screwdriver

How to crack a water coconut.
Step 1. Using a hammer, drive a nail into the outside of the coconut
Step 2. Same method, but now attempt to drive a knife into the coconut
Step 3. Watch your husband shake his head as if your attempts are pathetic
Step 4. Husband drives big screwdriver into coconut – Success.

I found this coconut at Harvest Time my favorite little grocery store down the street. I was unsure what made a water coconut a water coconut except that it looked different than the hairy variety I am accustomed. And recognizing that coconut water is all the rage, I brought it home to experiment.



For some unknown reason I have had trouble getting into Battle Frozen Treat – crazy really, considering it has been in the high 90s for weeks. But I think the heat has basically kept me completely out of the mood to cook. But tonight, with water coconut in hand I made my first frozen treat. A Watermelon and Coconut Water drink. Garnished with mint.

It really is a good looking drink and refreshing. And since coconut water is “nature’s Gatorade” it is also hydrating. Nothing to it. Fresh, sweet watermelon in the blender with coconut water. Add ice and blend until the ice is mostly crushed.

Hmmm. Given how hydrating this drink is, maybe I should add a little booze. Low calories, nice and healthy…and with all the hydrating qualities...a cocktail without the hangover.

From the Grill to the Freezer

July is too hot for the kitchen.  So we are taking this battle to the freezer.  Introducing Battle Frozen Treat.  The colder the better.

The Keels are excited about this Battle.  We bought Chris an ice cream maker for his birthday four years ago and it has been one of the greatest kitchen gadgets we have ever purchased.  In the beginning, I would make completely organic ice cream.  It felt great to make it and tasted great to eat it.  Then I calculated the cost of one batch - approximately $65 - and the contraption found itself on a shelf.  Luckily the hiatus was short lived.  With a few minor adjustments to the ingredients we have been enjoying it yet again.

Our friends from Portland are coming into town to judge this month so we decided to brainstorm over this homemade watermelon sorbet ;)  No better way to kick off July's battle.

Watermelon Sorbet
Everything into a blender
3.5 cups watermelon chunks
6 oz pineapple juice
Juice of three limes
3/4 cup simple syrup (1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water simmered on the stove until sugar has dissolved)
1/2 cup fizzy lifting drink (O.K. this is just carbonated water - but we have seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one to many times)

Blend and then put into your new ice cream maker you ran out and bought and follow its instructions.

Then if you are like Atticus and Adam, put some chocolate chips on top.  Because ... why wouldn't you?

Grilled on Vacation

Nothing like needing a vacation after your vacation.  We had a great time.  It was exhausting chasing a 17-month old and keeping track of two boys swimming in the ocean, but it was completely worth it.

Now for the food.  It was a bit like The Next Food Network Star, meets Chopped, meets Dinner Impossible.  It's hard making dinner for 25 people and wanting it to actually taste good (The Next Food Network Star).  Plus, not having all the ingredients at your disposal (Chopped) and certainly not having the right equipment in your condo and only one gas grill for the entire complex (Restaurant Impossible) made it even more challenging.  A shout goes out to Chris for snagging the grill before the other group of 25 did.  To Megan for being reinforcement at the grill as I kept bringing down food.  And to Elizabeth and Kristin for playing with Margot.  I would still be cooking dinner now if it weren't for them.  'Holla!'

We were all grilled, all the time.  Here was the menu ...

Green Apple, Brie and Pecan bruschetta - O.K. we were going to grill the bread, but I toasted it in the oven instead.  I used Megan's Candied Pecans here.  It was rustic.

Hamburgers and Beer Brats - no pecans

Grilled corn - no pecans

Grilled corn salad with cilantro, feta, red onion, toasted pecans, cumin and cayenne.  It tasted like summer and was completely gone.

Grilled romaine salad with a bacon and blue cheese dressing.  Thanks goes out to Meredith and David for not panicking when the stove went up in flames and the smoke detector went off.  I stand on my statement, Burnt is the new Charred :)  This salad was great.  It was a wilted salad on steroids.  The blue cheese and bacon on the smoky lettuce was perfect.  I wish I sprinkled it with pecans so it was one of my battle dishes. 

Dessert was a Pecan and Beer Caramel sauce over a Grilled Peach and ice cream.  Like I said, we grilled everything.

It was a pleasure feeding the family ... but I needed a drink afterward.  Well, one before during and after too.

One Nail Shy of Nailin' It

The next time someone says “Hey, have you ever had to cook lunch for 25, using pecans in each dish, and then serve it in one small condo on a steamy crowded day in South Carolina?” I can say “yes I have”. And now having done that…NEVER AGAIN.

That was just too much of everything to have to add pecans to the mix. I chose to do my challenge meal at lunch and carefully planned for my pulled pork, spicy pecan slaw and green bean/goat cheese/candied pecan salad. I started at home, in Chicago, by making two versions of candied pecans. One with an orange zest and juice, and another using chili powder. Here is the recipe.

Spicy Pecans
Ingredients
1 large egg white
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Coarse salt
4 3/4 cups pecans (1 1/4 pounds)
To one batch I added: juice and zest of one orange
The other, 1/8 cup of chili powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Whisk egg white in a large bowl until foamy, about 30 seconds. Whisk in sugars, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add pecans, and toss to coat using a rubber spatula. Transfer pecan mixture to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and spread into a single layer using rubber spatula. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack, and let stand until cool and hardened, about 30 minutes

This was a hit. The sweet, slightly salty crunchies were great all week, on salads, and by the handful. I think Tricia even crumbled some in her challenge meal. So “thumbs up” for the candied pecans.

Next came the pulled pork. Much to my nephew's sadness, I was chopping pecans the night before (about midnight). He was sad but knew better than to stick his sweet 10-year old head out the door to comment (thank you David). Pecans crushed. Mixed with a very gooey rub. Slathered on three bone-in pork shoulders. The shoulders were small so I put the slathered pork in the fridge and hit the hay.

And then the unraveling of a good meal began…

6 am Pork shoulders in the oven
6:45 Back to bed
9:00 Feeling cocky. Hit the pool.
10:30 Back from the pool. Pork shoulder NOT EVEN CLOSE.
10:31 Ignore that pork will never be done by 12:00
10:32 Make slaw, try to convince my son to snap green beans
11:00 Tongue on fire, slaw too spicy -- add mayo and sugar -- good save
11:30 PORK NOT DONE
11:45 Green bean salad perfect
12:02 Children begin asking "when's lunch?"
12:30 John texts "abandon ship -- go get a bucket of chicken, save pork for dinner"
12:33 Silently curse John for not helping me
12:50 Realize that the pork will not be "pulled" rather "sliced"
1:00 Lunch. Smelled good. Tasted good. Wrong texture. Big miss.

My brother-in-law took some pics. Here they are. Pork (not pulled), slaw and green bean salad with those orange flavored spiced pecans.



The moral of this story: Don't expect to make a perfect meal with only 9 toenails to work with.