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Tomato Gazpacho with Pickled Onions and Parsley Oil

Isn’t it great how some of the most enjoyable foods are the simplest? A scrumptious garden tomato with a simple sprinkling of salt is a delicious gift.

So simple.

I made my case for peaches being one of the greatest foods of summer, but tomatoes are right up there too. The kids and I had an opportunity this past weekend to pick at a local farm here in San Diego, Suzie’s Farm. We’ve done many farm tours there for school and we love being able to pick baskets and baskets of produce goodness. The Best. When summer fruits and veggies are at their peak, very little needs to be done to improve upon them. God created a tomato or a pepper to go from incredibly sour and inedible, to juicy and sweet in just a few days, thanks to that glorious summer sun.

What a fantastic overseer and gardener God is.

Thank you, God, for tomatoes.

I think gazpacho is a such an amazing soup. It actually existed way way back in the deep dark corners of the history books. Maybe it’s just my love of history, but I think it’s pretty cool to eat something like they did in Rome long ago, don’t you think? It was created to both enjoy the produce of summer but also to eat on a hot day. Quite simply, it is a tomato-based soup served chilled. All of the ingredients are thrown into the blender, so no cooking over the stove or turning on the oven for this recipe! The pickled onions add a little tang and the parsley oil adds some fun flavor and color.

Ok, let’s blend…

Toss all of the gazpacho ingredients in the blender. Puree for a few minutes or until completely smooth. Season to your liking.

Pour into bowls.

Done.

I find arranging buffet style toppings for meals encourages kids to create their own meals and eventually try things which would normally cause them to freak out. Having a small level of control even helps mine to branch out and try new things.

Above, I have hard-boiled eggs, pickled red onions, parsley oil (see below), bruschetta, goat cheese, cucumber, and avocado. If you had shrimp or crab available, that would be fantastic too!

I also served ours with bread since it is an automatic comfort to my kids when they are eating something with a texture like a soup. Gazpacho or even tomato soup are delicious with torn pieces of bread in them.

Enjoy!

Tomato Gazpacho with Pickled Onions and Parsley Oil

For the gazpacho:

6 regular size tomatoes, preferably heirloom

1 large avocado

1 sweet pepper, any color

1 regular size cucumber, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. paprika

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper, to taste

For the toppings:

pickled onions

avocado, chopped

hard-boiled egg, chopped

fresh bruschetta (chopped tomatoes, dash of olive oil, garlic, salt)

goat cheese, crumbled

cucumber, peeled and chopped

Parsley Oil:

1 c. of fresh parsley

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

Blanch the parsley for 1 minute in boiling water. Strain and blend with the olive oil in a blender. Serve, salt, and refrigerate.

Add all of the gazpacho ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Season to your liking. Add the toppings and enjoy!

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Pet Pigs

We are a family of 9 now!

Bon

Faith

Jack

Dean

Leonard the Pug

Peter, Figueroa, and Woody the guinea pigs! *NEW*

We are 10 if you count the worm family in our compost bin.

11 if you count the rotating lizard or beetle member.

I had guinea pigs growing up, all the way as late as high school. They were wonderful pets and I was so excited to share these amazing animals with my kids one day. While my middle and oldest went to Las Vegas with my husband to be with their grandparents while he worked, my youngest and I devised a plan to get some guinea pigs. I’ve been searching on our local guinea pig rescue site for a solid year and RARELY saw babies. As you can imagine, when they did appear, they got snatched up. Frustrating. I’ve also been checking Craigslist but the rare ones i did find were snatched as well. So, when I texted the people looking for a home for 3 adorable short-haired baby guinea pigs, I assumed they were gone in 60 seconds. So, I said a little prayer. No, I really really did. I said a prayer for some guinea pigs.

I thought the timing was perfect for these little guys and thankfully, so did God.

Travel: San Onofre State Beach

Soooo…we tried a new campsite this year. As you drive down the 5 South toward San Diego, you will notice a rather obscure campsite off to the right-hand side, near Camp Pendleton. It’s inconveniently placed near the San Onofre power place. Yes, those are the ones that are shaped like boobs. It’s true. Everyone knows it. We had driven by this site a lot over the past few years and wondered how good it might be. You see, this campsite is right next to the beach which is AMAZING, but it’s also right next to the freeway. Unfortunately, the closeness to the beach doesn’t remove the noise from the freeway. I was hoping it would, but it doesn’t. We still enjoyed a nice few days with some friends and family. If you plan for some noise, it’s a great place for surfing and boogie-boarding.

Good Times.

**WARNING** THIS WAS A NO MAKEUP EVENT**

Ginger Peach Hand Pies

I hope your summer has been full of rest and peace, friends!

Fresh summer produce is such an amazing part of summer, don’t you think? I love going to our local markets and soaking in the glorious smells that the season has to offer. Although I live in a very farm friendly area, summer brings fresh markets to pretty much every area of the country. If you haven’t found any local farms yet, check out Local Harvest, which gives a pretty accurate list of neighboring farms. Buying organic food the day it’s picked is a pretty amazing thing.

That brings us to peaches.

I think it’s safe to say this fruit is the essence of summertime. Without the heat summer brings, there is no peach. Next time you feel hot, remember all that yummy fruit that is living it up in those rays. You see, it makes it just a little more endurable.

I thought a good place for peachy goodness to dwell would be inside a hand pie with flaky crust and some ginger.

Don’t you agree?

Deliciousness! Ok, let’s make these guys…

To start, chop the peaches, grate the ginger, and squeeze the lemon juice.

Mix all of those with the cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar. The cardamom isn’t necessary, but I really love it, so I threw it in to make things interesting.

After it’s mixed, let the fruit strain from the juices for several minutes. If the juices were left in, they could leak out and cause burning or make the dough soggy.

Sprinkle a little flour on your counter and rolling-pin. You should be starting with 4 total pieces of dough (what would have been the tops and bottoms of whole pies from a recipe). Roll out your dough to be a 14 inch circle or until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick.

Cut the dough twice diagonally to make 4 triangles. Repeat until dough is used up. You can roll out the scraps to make more pies if you want.

Fill one triangle with peach filling, leaving space all the way around the edges to press down and close. Place another triangle on top and use a fork to press down the edges. If you see cracks, try to smooth them with your finger so the juices cannot escape. Brush the top with the egg and sprinkle with sugar to your liking. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Ginger Peach Hand Pies

For the filling:

3 just ripe peaches

2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cardamom

2 T. sugar

For the Crust:

1 pie or tart dough recipe, enough for 2 pies with tops and bottoms

( I have one here available from my homemade pop tarts)

Pre-made pie dough from a store like Trader Joes.

(Just remember to defrost it beforehand)

1 egg, beaten

large grain sugar for sprinkling on top

To start, chop the peaches, grate the ginger, and squeeze the lemon juice. Mix all of those with the cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar. The cardamom isn’t necessary, but I really love it, so I threw it in to make things interesting. After it’s mixed, let the fruit strain for several minutes. If the juices were left in, they could leak out and cause burning or make the dough soggy. Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and rolling-pin. You should be starting with 4 total pieces of dough (what would have been the tops and bottoms of whole pies from a recipe). Roll out your dough to be a 14 inch circle or until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough twice diagonally to make 4 triangles. Repeat until dough is used up. You can roll out the scraps to make more pies if you want. Fill one triangle with peach filling, leaving space all the way around the edges to press down and close. Place another triangle on top and use a fork to press down the edges. If you see cracks, try to smooth them with your finger so the juices cannot escape. Brush the top with the egg and sprinkle with sugar to your liking.

Enjoy this taste of summer!

Slowing Down

Just popping in to say hello to you all. It’s the last week of summer vacation for us so I am trying to soak it all in. Only problem, I feel like this week is jammed with event after event. Actually, I think that is just life in general. There seems to be a lot of “stuff” right now. I feel tugged in a lot of life directions and am just praying for peace.