A Seasonal Change: August

For several months at Holy Batman HQ the Gals have been discussing some radical changes to the Holy Batman format. Our love for cooking, recipes and trying new things leaves us an endless idea list of how to keep doing what we're doing, improve what we do and go beyond the print of the recipe page.

At the heart of any recipe is the key ingredient. What is that special spice, the perfect sauce, or the prize produce that makes a recipe go into our "keep" file? Our key ingredient, the reason behind our Holy Batman creative geniuses, is togetherness. The brains of our HQ are spread from coast to coast with frequent phone conferences but infrequent personal meetings. Cooking together brings family together and this is our cyber way of meeting in the kitchen for dinner.

So as the most daring of the Gals (and they would agree) #3 is taking this month to begin a new initiative in the writing of our online cook book. This month starts a new idea for the Gals at Holy Batman. Check this out. A seasonal guide for your geographic area! Nice! We love cooking with seasonal produce because it is cost-efficient, super fresh and yummy, and usually requires less complex recipes. So this month I checked out the in-season list for our respective homesteads and came up with the idea of offering a variety of recipes to choose from according to the season. Think potluck style ladies!

In season for most of the Gals: zucchini, blueberries, corn, peaches and watermelon. So here are some menu ideas for our produce-conscious month! (Of course with a healthy perspective for the #3 household) Pick one, pick all, just have a ball! Enjoy Gals :)

Blueberry

Corn

Peach

Watermelon 

Zucchini

July's All American Review

Leave it to Gal #2 to give us an all-American menu that leaves a clean plate and fully satisfied belly! I have a real passion for my crock pots (yes plural) so I was thrilled when there was another crock pot recipe to try! And how simple were those ingredients! I had it all in my fridge and just put in the pot, pressed start and walked away. The romance of having a wonderfully cooked dinner without any of the work. True love.

The potatoes after hearing from Gal #2 about their not-so-yummy taste I did completely differently. We have a love of German food in this house so I made my German Potatoes. We LOVE them.

The cookies--what are the words? Incredible. Delectable. Soft and creamy. YUM. I made them twice actually. Once for Mr. #3 before I left for my vacation...gone before I left. And I made them mini...about 56 total and they were gone in less than 24 hours! The second time was with Gal #1 (pictures below) and they turned out slightly differently than mine. It might have been that I used mini semi-sweet chips and didn't pack the brown sugar. At Gal #1's place we used milk chocolate chips and made them mini-ish as well.

Overall it was a wonderful menu with all the comforts of American cuisine you should have in July. I will be repeating the chicken and cookies. And even if my German potatoes are slightly unpatriotic, they are a must! See you in August!

Three Checks In for June

"The summer wind keeps rolling in from across the sea".

This summer is flying by and I am finally catching up on my menu posts. I did June's menu in June in fact but haven't had a chance to post about it yet. It was a huge hit for me and for Mr. #3 it was so-so. It was so easy and I had a great time making most of it.

The pie was incredible but I would not repeat that crust recipe. The whole wheat sounded so much better, healthier and exciting that a whole wheat pie crust existed! It tasted great but was terrible to work with.

The main dish is a definite re-do at the #3 household but hold the snap peas. Something about them just didn't work in this recipe. I ate it up and enjoyed every bite! Enjoy the pictures! :)

                                                      

Gal 2 is July complete!

Well, July was definitely easy. Both the chicken and the potatoes took about 5 minutes, if that, to prep, and then you just let them cook.

 I made some changes to the spices in the chicken recipe. Instead of basil I used thyme. I just thought basil on chicken with beer was an odd combination. As you can see from the photo I used a lime beer. I thought you could taste a little lime, but I was the only one. So it must have just been in my head!

 My spice blend.

I also sliced a little onion and celery and threw that in the crockpot for flavor. I can't tell if it did anything or not. I used fresh chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) and cooked them on high for 3 hours and then they were probably on low for another hour. Mr. #2 thought the chicken was really good and really moist... I thought it was just alright. But if he liked it, I will be making it again because it was EASY!

~

Somehow I took zero pictures of the potatoes. I swear I made them. Surprisingly we didn't like them. I think maybe it was the "artificialness" of using a packet containing who really knows what... but they were just odd tasting and on the dry side. And I didn't even use the whole seasoning packet (maybe half or less) or cook them the full 45 minutes. Mr. #2 said he thought they tasted "funny" and "sweet". I'd much rather use kosher salt and fresh herbs!! And doing it that way isn't any harder. The cheese at the end however was a good idea! Will do that again.  

~

The cookies also were another easy thing to make. Just threw together the ingredients, then I used my cookie scoop and every 10 minutes another dozen cookies came out of the oven! No chilling needed. Mr. #2 said he couldn't tell any difference in the taste of the cookies (compared to a normal one) and he liked them. He also really likes soft cookies. I could tell a slight difference in taste and a big difference in texture! I am missing my crispy edges!! :-) But these would be great to freeze and un-thaw or to ship to someone.

I ended up with about 3 dozen cookies! They went to book club and the neighbors besides all the ones we ate ourselves. Yum!

Gal Two reports on June

Let me start by saying I did half the menu. I, of all people, did not make the dessert. My husband is not a huge pie fan, and with litterally an empty cul-de-sac right now I'm out of neighbors to share with. I just thought I would end up wasting most of the pie. I'm hoping that maybe when I'm in Ohio later this summer I can try it out with another of the Gals.

I did however make the chicken salad. And, after a slight hiccup, it was a success. I omitted the pepper for the Mister and he insisted on heating it back up (something about it not being dinner unless it was hot?!) and complaining about the broccoli, BUT he ate it. And went back for seconds. Score!

Cooking my couscous

My steamed veggies. Next time I would blanch them. Steaming them left them too soft!

I did cut up some green onion which I liked and the Mister never even noticed ;-)

The dressing and the almonds and seeds for toasting. Sadly I was going to toast and add at the last minute but I forgot! Next time.

Oops, we were so busy eating it I forgot to take a final picture. Here's the leftovers :-)