summer Archives - Sadler House

summer

All of the posts under the "summer" tag.

Rockland “What’s New” Round-Up for 2015!

Some people would call us crazy for heading north to Maine for spring break, but we would have it no other way. Not only does it give us an opportunity to take care of projects around the house before a fresh season of guests, but it allows us the chance to enjoy Rockland in the off-season, when there is no waiting at restaurants and everyone has time to chat.

No matter where you go, even with cooler weather persisting, it seems you run into someone you know, and it’s so much fun to feel the strong local ties that you don’t notice in the summer, when the town is full of visitors. Of course, after a tough winter like this one, there’s also the happy feeling that summer is on its way. The snow is finally (!) melting and Rockland is buzzing with quiet excitement about several new additions. Make sure not to miss these new Rockland favorites as the weather warms and outdoor living resumes.

Sadler House April 8, 2015 Leave A Comment Permalink

Balsamic Pesto Caprese Bites

I love serving antipasto when we have guests over, but sometimes the delivery is challenging. If you don’t give people something they can easily eat standing up, they won’t always take it.

This is the perfect time of year to be using late summer ingredients like basil and tomatoes. This weekend, I threw together my own twist on caprese bites. These were a huge hit at our gathering and every single one was eaten!

Sadler House September 28, 2014 1 Comment Permalink

Presto Pesto Recipe

When you want to feel really self-satisfied over a home cooking endeavor, look no further than pesto. It’s one of those foods that has a sort of glamorous foodie image and with good cause. Pesto adds incredible flavor to everything from sandwiches to pasta. It’s expensive to buy, though, and can be overpowering if you use too much. I think people are a little intimidated by it.

When we finally moved into our own house and I had room to grow as much basil as my heart desired, I went a little overboard. In the summer of 2006, my backyard looked like it belonged to Cheech and Chong. What could I do with all this basil? I just made batch after batch of pesto and froze it in ice cube trays. For the entire winter, we had fresh pesto (defrosted on the spot) to use in our meals. Some summers, since, have been better for pesto than others. This year, I got another bumper crop. As August comes to a close, it’s time to put that freshness away for the cold winter nights.

Sadler House August 28, 2014 2 Comments Permalink

Mom’s Sneaky Whoopie Pie Recipe

Dan and I love food. We love to cook it and we love to eat it. That’s why it was a surprise and a frustration to us when one of our two children turned out to be one of the pickiest eaters we’d ever seen.

Suffice to say, this child has not eaten a vegetable in any form since he was old enough to feed himself.

I tried all the cook books promising that I could hide veggie purees in my child’s food. None of them worked. He’s a detective — seeking out and systematically rejecting any recipe that has incorporated a vegetable in any form.

Man, does this kid love a whoopie pie, though — and why not? The whoopie pie is truly one of the best things ever to come out of Maine, is it not?

Recently, I came across a recipe for a supposedly delectable double-chocolate zucchini bread. It’s no wonder; everyone I know is buried under a pile of zukes at this time of year. Zucchini recipes are needed, stat! I started to ask myself if it might not be possible to create a whoopie pie that hid a pile of zucchini inside its delicious, cakey goodness. I figured it might be a total failure, but I had little to lose. Sure, I’m still handing him the filling to go with all that veggie goodness but, hey, you pick your battles, folks.

Spoiler: THIS WHOOPIE PIE TURNED OUT TO BE TOTALLY RAD. More importantly, the child ate it.

Yep. He ate it and begged for more. Having tasted the pies of whoopieness, myself, I am totally sold. They pack the electrically sugary punch that a normal whoopie pie might, but the bite of the dark chocolate and the moist density of the cake is ideal for balancing out the sweet filling. We are totally sold.

We already ate the first batch and it’s only been two days. If you have a child who could benefit from some zucchini, try serving this up as your next dessert.

Sadler House August 5, 2014 4 Comments Permalink

summer

Rockland “What’s New” Round-Up for 2015!

Balsamic Pesto Caprese Bites

Presto Pesto Recipe

Mom’s Sneaky Whoopie Pie Recipe

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