This post was inspired by another blog, Cupcakes and Cashmere. Her original post was titled “Eight Things Every Happy Woman Should Have,” but that seemed a bit too grandiose for me. Using her categories, I’m calling mine “Eight Things.”
Eight Things
Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Disclaimer: This dish was not created at the lakehouse. I’m afraid that now that summer has drawn to a close, there will be less lake activity to share. However, this is a wonderful end-of-summer recipe that I plan on making again many times, and I’m sure that will include at least a few times at the lakehouse next year.
My friend Norma and I had big plans to can tomatoes this summer, but like many big plans, they never materialized. To be honest, while I’ve always liked the idea of having a supply of home-canned tomatoes all winter long, I have never been very interested in the actual process of canning. It just sounds hot, labor-intensive, and messy, and the last thing I would want to do on a beautiful summer weekend.
However, during my most recent mammogram I was having a nice friendly chat with the tech, and she told me how she roasted tomatoes and froze them, saying it was so much easier than canning. It sounded like a much more do-able way to preserve tomatoes, so Norma and I decided to try that instead. But again, summer got away from us and by the time I went to buy a bushel (or bushels) of tomatoes from the farmers market for a big roasting party, it was too late. All that were available were a few random quart-ish sized containers – not enough to buy in any sort of quantity.
But I was determined to at least give roasting a try and make a batch of sauce for pasta, so I bought one container of heirlooms and one of just plain old tomatoes. Yesterday was a rainy, chilly Sunday – perfect for spending some time in the kitchen.
Here are the tomatoes, minus one because I had already cut it up. The mammogram lady made a point of telling me the tomatoes needed to be dried carefully, so this is after they were washed and dried.
Core and coarsely chop the tomatoes. There seemed to be just a few too many tomatoes to spread onto one baking sheet without crowding, so I used two sheets.
Next, roughly chop an onion and four cloves of garlic, and sprinkle everything on both trays. Because I had peppers still growing in the garden, I roughly chopped a couple of those and added them to the trays but this is optional.
Some fresh herbs are next. I happened to have some fresh basil in the garden, so I clipped a small handful. I like oregano in my pasta sauces, so I bought some fresh and added that as well. The herbs are really up to your taste and what you have on hand; rosemary and thyme would be good too. Remove the leaves of the basil and oregano from the stems (not necessary to chop them at all), and sprinkle them into the mix.
Finally, sprinkle both trays with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and drizzle olive oil over everything (a couple of tablespoons per tray). With clean hands, gently toss everything together to make sure it’s all coated with oil and seasoning.
Place both trays in a preheated oven set at 325 degrees. Roast for one to two hours or until vegetables are tender (mine only took an hour).
These tomatoes are incredibly flavorful! I ended up dumping one tray into a Ziploc bag and freezing it; the other I used to make pasta sauce. I cooked them down (discarded most of the onion and garlic and just used the tomatoes with their juices) with red wine and a small can of plain tomato sauce, but no extra seasoning was necessary.
Oven Roasted Tomatoes (printable format)
- About 2-½ lbs. tomatoes (any combination of heirloom, regular, Roma, etc., roughly 16 small or 8-10 medium-large)
- Small bunch fresh basil
- 4 sprigs fresh oregano
- 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed, roughly chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Wash and dry each tomato; core and coarsely chop. Distribute evenly among two baking sheets. Rinse and dry basil and oregano and remove leaves from stems. Sprinkle evenly over both trays; add onion and garlic, distributing equally. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. With clean hands, gently stir vegetables to evenly coat with oil.
Add both pans to oven and cook for one to two hours, or until vegetables are tender. Place in freezer Ziploc bags and freeze for up to six months.
If using immediately for sauce: Place all vegetables (I removed the onion and garlic; it’s completely up to your taste) in saucepan and add about ½ cup dry red wine. If desired, add small can plain tomato sauce. Cook until vegetables are broken down and incorporated. If you prefer a smoother consistency, use an immersion blender and blend or pulse until you get the right texture.
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Falling for Fall
Today is last day of August. The MSU Spartans played their opening football game Friday night, tomorrow is Labor Day, and Tuesday Michigan’s public schools are back in session.
I can’t figure out where the summer went. For one thing, Winter 2014, also known as the 2014 Deep Freeze, so damaged me (and many, many of my fellow Michiganders, I’m sure) that I really don’t think I’ve even thawed out yet. Plus Michigan summers always seem to fly by. And now another summer is over.
But yet… but yet – I’m kind of getting excited for fall. I do love having college football games on TV (even though I rarely sit down and watch them)… I love seeing the colors change… I love fall fashion. I love putting a big pot of chili on the stove in the morning and letting it simmer, filling the house with delicious smells, all day. I love burning fall scented candles (this one from Yankee Candle is my current favorite). I love hearing the leaves crunch underfoot. I love fall baking.
Most of all, I love decorating for fall. I’m not one to decorate for every single holiday, but I tend to get pretty into Christmas and fall décor. If budget allowed, I’d go completely overboard but I do have to restrain myself, limiting the fall stuff to the front porch and maybe a bit in the kitchen.
This year I’m looking forward to also doing a bit of decorating at the lake house. Definitely not too much, but I’m thinking of doing some mums on the front porch (and maybe the deck too), with some cornstalks and pumpkins too.
My friend Norma and I discovered the most amazing pumpkin farm, Tomac Pumpkin Patch, not far from our hometown. They grow heirloom tomatoes in gorgeous colors, along with all sorts of crazy gourds. Plus they are very good at displaying their produce and putting together these fabulous stacks of mixed pumpkins, which of course makes you want to buy some so you can duplicate the look at home. I’ve been doing that for several years, and just love the look.
Then I found this pumpkin stack on Pinterest, with straw layered in between the pumpkins.
I think the straw makes these stacks so much more fun and fall-y! I’m always amazed at how just the littlest touch can elevate something from pretty good to really special.
I’ve also always been drawn to flowering kale as part of fall décor. I love the dark, textured foliage, and they’re just a bit less predictable than mums. If I have time and can find what I’m looking for, I might do something like this in the flower boxes at the lake house.
I’m not sure where to find bittersweet though, so I will be on a quest to find it somewhere. Can’t wait to get started!
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Mopedin’ Around Town
When Rich first brought two brand spankin’ new Mopeds home to the lake house, I was less than thrilled. I guess I’d been damaged from our scooter rental experience in Key West. It SEEMED like it would be fun, but I had a difficult time controlling mine and almost steered into oncoming traffic several times. Plus I’m not a big fan of speed, loud noises or adventure in general. But it turns out, there’s nothing to be scared of on these little puppies! I mean I definitely would not want to be on one in heavy traffic, but they’re perfect for tooling around town. And Spring Lake has lots of little side streets and cute neighborhoods, so it’s really an ideal place to have them.
On this particular outing, we decided to take the scooters over to Spring Lake’s popular dive bar, Stan’s. This little watering hole is a favorite among the locals. Plus you can order a pizza from the nearby pizzeria, Mamma Mia’s, and they’ll deliver it to you right in the bar!
But I think my favorite thing about Stan’s is the wine pours. None of this fancy pouring until the wine hits the proper spot on the bowl of the wine glass. No, Stan’s bartenders take special pride in pouring to the very top of the glass.
It may not be particularly good wine, but you’re going to get a lot of it!
Though summer is drawing to a close, I think we still have a good month or so of Moped time left. I definitely want to explore those little lakeside streets and take some pictures, which I will share here. In the meantime, cheers to the wind in your hair, summer days and good pours!
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Tropical Pots
I love planting these containers. I started doing these a number of years ago when a friend introduced me to Coleus, which I wasn’t familiar with. I had always done beds and and planters with very conventional plants like geraniums and impatiens. But I got kind of hooked on this darker,”urban” look.
These look great grouped in the planters we found at Costco this spring. They’re huge, heavyweight, and at about $40 apiece, a bargain. We sort of spread them across the upper deck at the lake house and then just let them do their thing. Little tip we got from a local gardening guru: fill the bases of huge pots with packing peanuts! They’re light and do a great job of taking up space in that base that really doesn’t need to be filled with heavy – and expensive – potting soil.
I always start with a big anchor plant in the center. In this case, it’s a spiky tropical; Elephant Ears make great anchors too. Then I plant fillers at the base – sweet potato vine, regular ivy, Coleus of course, asparagus fern and spikes if there’s room. The goal is a mix of dark, light and contrasting foliage.
We sometimes move these planters inside and try to keep them going through the winter, but I don’t know if that’s possible at the lake house because there really isn’t enough room for these babies. In the meantime, we’re going to keep them outside to remind us of warm, beautiful days for as long as we can.
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Lakehouse Tuna Pasta Salad
As much as I love to cook, I love to be outside enjoying my favorite season more. Summers are fleeting in Michigan and weekends are short, so I try to make meals that are quick to put together. This pasta salad is ridiculously simple but always gets rave reviews.
(I know I’ve been saying I’m trying to cut back on my pasta intake, but it’s just such a quick, easy way to feed hungry lakehouse guests and teenagers. Besides, I did Pilates this morning.)
Let’s take a moment to talk about tuna. For years I was a Bumblebee albacore fan, but in recent years I’ve found it to be disappointing. It seems mealy and lacking in flavor. Definitely not worth the price tag. I basically stopped buying tuna for a while, until during one of our Costco visits when they were doing tastings of their Kirkland brand canned albacore tuna. I thought it was so good I bought an eight-pack and that’s what I’ve used ever since. It’s high quality, firm, not watery at all, and delicious. 
This is such a basic dish it really doesn’t require instructions. I always include chopped celery, green onions, fresh dill (dried is fine if you don’t have fresh), fresh lemon juice, light mayo, lemon pepper, freshly ground black pepper and a little salt. For the pasta I like medium shells.
Dill is one of my favorite herbs. You know how they say that of the five senses, the sense of smell is the number 1 trigger of memories? When I was little we had a next-door neighbor named Mrs. Ring who had no children of her own and treated me like a granddaughter. I spent a lot of time with her (I think most of it was during the summer my mom was pregnant with my brother). She had a vegetable garden where she grew dill for canning pickles. To this day the smell of fresh dill reminds me of my childhood.
When I drain tuna I use this little gadget to shred it. I don’t like to bite into huge hunks of tuna; I prefer it in little bits. The gadget is similar to one my mom gave me when I first lived on my own. It disappeared last year and I panicked, because I couldn’t find a replacement anywhere. I asked my mom where she got it and she said it was one of two that my grandmother, her mother-in-law, had given to her. In other words, it was a thousand years old and so outdated nobody probably even uses it anymore. But it’s such a handy, simple little tool that really has a lot of uses. It’s a great, low-tech way to give a quick rough chop to just about anything. I searched everywhere and online but wasn’t even sure what to search for. Meat chopper? Tuna shredder? Anyway, I finally found a bunch of them on clearance in Meijer’s kitchen gadget section, so I bought four of them.
Sometimes it’s the old-fashioned ways that work the best.
Here’s the finished dish. It’s best if you make it ahead of time and refrigerate it for a few hours before serving, so the flavors have time to blend. Enjoy!
Lakehouse Tuna Pasta Salad
1 lb. pasta (I prefer medium shells), cooked in salted water according to package directions, drained and cooled
2 cans tuna (preferably albacore, packed in water), drained and shredded to your liking
4 stalks celery, medium to finely chopped
1 small bunch green onions, whites and part of the greens, chopped
3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh dill
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Roughly 1/2 cup mayo (I use light)
Lemon pepper, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Toss all ingredients together and adjust seasonings to taste. Refrigerate for a couple of hours; serve. Makes about 6 servings.
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The Big Lake
(Heads up: going into Pure Michigan public relations mode here) Did you know that Michigan, with more than 11,000 inland lakes and touched by four of the five Great Lakes, has more freshwater shoreline than any other state in the country? In Michigan you are never more than six miles from a lake or stream, or 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes. Michigan truly is a water wonderland.
And we are especially fortunate to have our vacation home on Spring Lake, because it is one of Michigan’s few inland lakes that has the added bonus of Great Lake access – in this case, to spectacular Lake Michigan.
The Great Lakes are an absolutely incredible (and underrated) travel destination. First-time visitors to Michigan are always blown away by the Great Lakes and how similar they are to the ocean, except they have, as the ubiquitous sweatshirts proclaim, “no salt, no sharks.”
If you’ve never visited one of the Great Lakes, consider making your next getaway to Michigan. From festivals to camping, from long days on the lake to wine tasting, from lighthouse tours to lounging on one of Michigan’s stunning beaches, an abundance of activities await you. Need more information? Your trip begins at michigan.org.
For some amazing fun facts about the Great Lakes, visit here.
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Beans… They’re Good for Your Heart
Baked beans are such an old school dish but they’re perfect for feeding a crowd, especially at a summer cookout. I’ve played around with my tried and true baked bean recipe many times. I always start with canned beans, including a can or two of already-prepared baked beans, and doctor them up with various ingredients. I am not one to soak dried beans overnight, although I respect people who do because it seems like something serious cooks would adhere to. But really, who has the time?
Anyway, I stumbled upon this recipe for Cowboy Baked Beans on Wicked Good Kitchen recently. It’s very similar to my recipe with one unusual addition: a dark beer reduction. I made a few tweaks and was very happy with the outcome. This is now my go-to baked bean recipe.
Just look at those beautiful beans.
Cowboy Baked Beans
For the beer reduction:
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle dark beer (I happened to use a Michigan beer, Founders Imperial Stout, but any dark beer will work)
For the vegetables:
- Four slices center cut bacon, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ Vidalia onion, chopped
- 1 medium to large red bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
For the beans:
- 1 (28-ounce) can Bush’s Original Baked Beans
- 2 (16-ounce) cans kidney red beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (4-ounce) can green chiles, drained
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
For the bean sauce:
- Beer reduction
- ½ cup BBQ Sauce (I used another Michigan product, Brownwood Farms Yankee Bourbon Barbecue Sauce)
- 1/3 to ½ cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1/3 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1-½ tablespoons Dijon or spicy grain mustard, such as Grey Poupon®
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Tabasco® sauce or cayenne pepper, to taste (a few dashes)
- 1 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 tablespoon fresh
- ¼ teaspoon ancho chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
For the topping:
- 4 slices center cut smoked bacon, partially cooked but still soft
- A couple of tablespoons of dark brown sugar, if desired (I skipped this)
Preparation:
Prepare the beer reduction: In a heavy saucepan over high heat, bring beer to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue to simmer until reduced by half to ¾ cup, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Arrange oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350º F. Spray 2-quart (9×13-inch) baking dish with cooking spray.
Prepare the bacon and vegetables: In a large frying pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until browned and just about crispy, about 5 minutes. Reserve rendered bacon fat in pan. Add onion and cook until tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in chopped red bell pepper and green onions; sauté until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
Prepare the beans: Combine beans and chilies in large bowl or stock pot; season with salt and pepper. Scrape bacon and vegetable mixture into beans. Season with salt and pepper; stir well to incorporate. Using rubber spatula, scrape and pour into bowl or stock pot and stir into bean mixture.
Prepare the bean sauce: Add all of the sauce ingredients to the bowl or stock pot with the bean mixture. Stir well to incorporate. Using rubber spatula, scrap and pour mixture, evenly dividing, into baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven until sauce has thickened, is bubbling and cooked through, about 90 minutes. Top with the precooked bacon slices and sprinkle with brown sugar (if using) after 30 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack to rest before serving, about 5 minutes.
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Welcome to the Lake House
This was my first attempt at chalkboard lettering. When I was younger I used to love playing around with hand lettering, but it’s been a long time and my skills are rusty. I was pretty pleased with these results, even though the word “welcome” goes on a downward slant. There are tons of chalkboard lettering tutorials out there in the blogosphere; I found a helpful one on this website.
The frame was actually a DIY project too. Last winter my friends Norma and Jen and I did a chalk paint workshop at Bungalow 47, a little shop in our hometown. The class included the frame and supplies. I can’t remember the exact steps I used, but I know they involved two shades of chalk paint, glue and a hair dryer, and some dark rub. I’m going to contact the store to see if they can give me the written instructions. If they do, I’ll post them here. In the meantime, here’s a link to some tutorials on the American Paint Company (brand of chalk paint we used) website.
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The Reading Glasses
This guy fought reading glasses forever. He tried reading stuff at arm’s length for a while, then went through a phase where he’d just give up reading something and blame it on the size of the type. He finally caved and bought a few pairs. He actually tried sneaking them into the house and hiding them from me, but of course that didn’t work. He thinks they look dorky but I think they make him look distinguished.
Kath Achtenberg 
