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Happy Memorial Day Weekend! {What’s cooking for the rainy holiday?}

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:25:01 +0000

It’s looking awfully lush and green up here in Northwestern Connecticut! We’ve had an entire week of rain storms, and expect more over this holiday weekend to come. We had high hopes of breaking out the grill over Memorial Day weekend, but it looks like the temps are expected to top out in the low fifties each day and it will continue to be wet, wet, WET!While continuing to serve my favorite Springtime seasonal dishes, I’ll delve back into a few hot comfort foods and save grilling and cool, crispy salads for the warmer weather to come. Earlier this week, I got my hands on some organic Asparagus from a local farm and made my old favorite Baked Asparagus with Egg recipe. This time I skipped steaming the Asparagus and prepared it on a cookie sheet under the broiler with EVOO, salt and pepper. I also omitted the butter for a lighter version of my old recipe – it was delicious!For tonight, I’ll prepare Chicken Cacciatore. It’s a pretty easy recipe to prepare – I can make it in the early afternoon and let it stew in the warming oven until the Mr arrives on the train from the City later tonight. For tomorrow night, I am thinking about reviving my Fiesta Salmon with Salsa. I’ll also get a nice Grass fed Sirloin that I will serve with crispy roasted potatoes on Sunday night. The steak can be prepared under the broiler -if it continues to rain- or on the grill if we get a break in the storms.And of course, I also have a gigantic bowl of that super tasty Kale Salad that I have been making recently. I swear, it has been a staple in our refrigerator since February! I have a bowl of it ready to serve alongside any meal we eat this weekend – I just love that you can dress it, place it in the fridge, and the leaves stay fresh for days and days!

What a MESS!

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:33:24 +0000

Hi everyone. I’ve been dealing with a mess and a half since the start of November. I hired someone to help rid my site of hackers, and as luck would have it they did half of a job and then disappeared. Then, I hired another person and they rid my site of the problem -or so I thought- but the site still wasn’t functioning correctly when they handed it over. When I asked them about it, they said they’d fix it. Then, at the same time they were fixing it my site was hacked AGAIN! As far as I knew, it wasn’t a big deal and they were going to pop in, fix it, and I’d be ready to roll.Not so fast. When they were “fixing it” they didn’t back up my data base and I lost all of the posts from April and May. Ugh. I asked them to find the missing posts and then they fell off the face of the earth. It was only after a lot of pestering that they admitted they were a designer and not a coder and wouldn’t be able to help…with any of it. WAH!I finally stumbled upon Susan Reid at Our Website Lady via Lynne at Decor Arts Now who was dealing with a very similar issue. Susan has been nothing but helpful and responsive – and she knows her stuff! She managed to get all nine posts back and rid my site of all the bad stuff. Needless to say, I think I am on the right track again. (Crossing my fingers.) So I am back! Hopefully there won’t be any more issues like this!

Spring Weekend Baking Bonanza

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:19:03 +0000

Every day, Tauren Poodle returns from his second visit outside for the day and I say “You want a ba-na-na?” He turns around, points his nose up the the air and gallops happily to his bowl. It’s seriously his most adorable time of the day – that prance to his bowl is so incredibly joyful. Last week, he ate something outside during our walk that made him not well. As a result, he was put on restricted diet of rice and chicken. I found myself with six dark brown bananas upon my countertop. You know what happens with dark brown bananas, right? I had enough of them to whip up two batches of my mom’s recipe for banana bread.So needless to say, when I found myself in a baking mood (and the oven was already pre-heated for banana bread) I just kept on baking. The Mister’s favorite dessert has got to be Nestle’s Toll House chocolate chip cookies. I’ve been promising myself for a while now that I would make him a batch of them. Is there any recipe as good as the one on the back of the chocolate chip bag? I don’t think so. For our dinner party on Saturday night, I made an Apple Raspberry Crisp. I put all the desserts out on our counter top with a quart of vanilla ice cream and told our dinner guests to help themselves. This way, they could stick to one treat or make any combination of sweets that they desired. As a matter of fact, I even saw someone make a chocolate chip cookie and ice cream sandwich. What creativity – I haven’t thought about the idea of an ice cream sandwich in years!

Tarragon Chicken Salad Recipe {A Healthier Alternative}

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:36:12 +0000

I had eight for dinner this past Saturday night. The weather was particularly amazing. We had mid-sixties and sunshine at 6:15 pm. The yard is starting to bud out and our flower beds are full of daffodils. We ate appetizers on the screened-in porch before we moved inside for dinner. I served both marinated flank steak and chicken breast – both marinades had a similar sesame/garlic/red pepper flavor to them. Most folks opted for the steak, so I found myself with a ton of leftover chicken for Sunday lunch. When lunchtime came around on Sunday afternoon, I decided to make chicken salad. It was only after I chopped up two whole chicken breasts, an entire bunch of celery heart stalks, and dumped a tablespoon of dried tarragon on the mixture that I realized I was completely out of mayonnaise! (I used the last of it when I served The Mr. chicken salad for lunch when he was working from home a few weeks ago and never remembered to replace it.)As a side note: ever since we combined our pantry from the City with the Country, I have been working my way through back stock of cooking oils and vinegars. This weekend was pivotal. I finished the last drips of Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, and Tarragon Vinegar. It seems crazy to me that it took this long, but I guess it’s a testament to the fact I was well-stocked in both places. What’s even crazier is that now we’re considering an apartment hunt in the City which will mean I may be starting up a second kitchen sooner rather than later.I suspect this Tarragon chicken salad would be just as good with plain baked chicken, but I think there is something to be said about sesame-garlic flavor combining nicely with the curry flavor cashews. Something to keep in mind when trying this recipe! For the chicken marinade, I used a pre-prepared marinade by a company called Asian Menu. I love the Sesame-Garlic flavor and when I am not using my Aunt Pam’s chicken recipe, I regularly use this marinade as an easy week-night chicken dinner alternative. What I did: Chopped up 1.5-2 whole baked boneless chicken breasts, and a bunch of chopped celery heart stalks. I added 1 Tablespoon of dried Tarragon, and about 3/4 cup of both curried cashews and cup of dried cherries. Then, I whisked 4 teaspoons of Tarragon Vinegar and 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil with a pinch of salt until it emulsified. I poured it over the chicken salad mixture and served it on a bed of dressed lettuce. (You may want to make extra of the same salad dressing for the lettuce leaves.)

{SPRING! Full Steam Ahead} Daffodils in Bloom, Outdoor Furniture Arrives

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:03:57 +0000

Yesterday was a big day for the garden! We had our first glimpse of 70 degree weather upon our hilltop, and most of the Daffodils on the Northeast side of the house came into bloom. I met up with Tami who is going to help me whip the garden into shape this Summer. Truth be told, I know a lot about keeping fresh cut flowers looking good but I really have no clue about keeping them alive out in the dirt. I am not over-exaggerating…As a matter of fact, two Summers ago I nurtured a weed that popped out of our raised planters – until it was over six feet tall! It was only when someone who knew better came into the yard that I learned it was a weed, not a flower. Anywhoo…back to our garden meeting: I talked to Tami about the Asiatic Mix of day lilies behind the rock wall. She loved the idea, but told me that there is a Beetle infestation that is ruining all Asiatic blooms in Northwest Connecticut. She said I’d be better off with run of the mill roadside lilies – the decision has been made for me – all orange blooms it is! I also received a partial shipment of outdoor furniture from Room and Board yesterday afternoon. Two Cruz Chairs arrived – the Cruz Sofa comes next week. (The one that was slated for our yard arrived to the shipping facility damaged.) I must admit, the customer service from Room and Board has been completely amazing. They have been nothing but helpful and understanding in each phone conversation. They’ve been very on top of scheduling. Not only did they give me a reminder call, but they also gave me a two hour delivery window that they actually stuck to. On top of it all they gave me a heads-up phone call about fifteen minutes before arrival. Overall I have been very impressed!Now that I see the beginnings of a comfy spot to sit, I find that I am thinking about those outdoor curtains that the ex-lady of the house had staged the arbor with – HELP!! I might not be able to stop myself! All kidding aside, as much as I don’t want to be a slave to our outdoor “room,” I am definitely going to order a few outdoor scatter pillows from West Elm for the chairs and sofa. The Desert Sun and Lemon Curry Sundial Pillows are a great addition to our yard. Both are a more intense version of the colors we have our house and outbuilding painted. And speaking of West Elm, did I tell you about this green (as in Eco, not the color) Jardine Double Lounger that I ordered for the pea stone patio? It’s good looking, right?The space-age side tables came from West Elm too. They were on clearance. I practically got two for the price of one. YAY! I was going to order one more for under the arbor between the two chairs -I moved one from the patio to the arbor for the photos- but they seem to have sold out! There is something to be said for acting upon something right when you see it. Lesson Learned.At this point I am realizing that I don’t have anything that resembles a cocktail table for between the chairs and sofa – or side tables for that matter! Lots of places to sit + nowhere to place your drink = a problem. That being said, perhaps I should consider moving both white tables down under the arbor? I’ll have to figure out something else for next to the double lounger, but at least the arbor area will be complete.