Sherry – Page 8 – Rosemary and the Goat

Oatmeal Peach and Blackberry Cobbler

Yum, and with ice cream, DOUBLE YUM!

We moved from The Woodlands about 8 weeks ago to Round Top, Texas. Our son, Paul, and daughter-in-law, Brooke are opening Round Top Brewing and Lollitop Sweet shop (right next door to the brewery). Eventually we will start working on house plans but right now we are helping them do whatever we can to get the two places open.

So, on weekends we have been driving around to some of the wineries in the area and enjoying some local wines. The hardest part of this move has been not really seeing people’s faces. If I go into the local mercantile and talk to someone, I’m not going to remember them because I haven’t seen the face on the other side of the mask. The winery outings have been nice because the people that are there are social distancing and you can at least see some friendly faces.

I’ve been experiment with so many things that they might offer in the sweet shop. The focus will be on candy with some yummy baked goods made by me. There are so many recipes I’m experimenting with like sugar cookies shaped like donuts and covered with icing and sprinkles, cookies, bars, coffee cakes and today I was trying out my new krumkake electric baker; just haven’t decided what I might want to fill these with.

July 30, 2021 By Sherry

Entree/ Pasta

Bucatini with Spinach, Bacon and Creamy Parmesan Sauce

Who doesn’t love a good pasta dish?

While in Chicago a few weeks ago I made this Bucatini pasta dish. I love bucatini. It’s spaghetti on steroids with a hole through the middle. There are so many interesting shapes and sizes of pasta it is always hard for me to make up my mind what to try next. And I buy pasta wherever I go. I’ve bought chocolate pasta at Pike’s Market in Seattle and brought back some cool shapes of pasta from Italy and France.

The night I made this recipe we served it with seared scallops on top. I made it again after returning home to Round Top and used sliced grilled chicken thighs on top. Both ways were delicious; when I do again I’ll choose the grilled chicken thighs.

This recipe is fairly quick to make with or without the scallops. The only change I made to juliasalbum.com’s recipe was to add sun-dried tomatoes the second time I made this dish. (Note: the sun-dried tomatoes were great)

July 17, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish

Bok Choy and Peas

Trip to farmer’s market always fun.

It’s hard to believe that it had been 18 months since we saw our son, Scott and his family (Missy, Oliver and Charlie). With a 3 hour delay going (an hour delay coming back and terminal change) we finally arrived to hugs and kisses. It’s hard when you can only face time your grand kids and can’t give them a hug in person. But, we got plenty of those while there and as always we did a lot of cooking and eating.

One day while everyone was working and the kids in a summer school program we went to a local farmer’s market. I have been to farmer’s markets all over the world and am always excited to see local produce and products for sale and I never walk away without buying something. This particular day I found some bok choy, spring onions, heirloom tomatoes, peas and some tapenades.

While there we managed a trip to Top Golf and dinner at Longitud315. Another day we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden and Frida Kahlo exhibit in Glen Ellyn. So, even with mask wearing still required in a lot of these places we still managed to have a very good trip.

June 28, 2021 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Beef/Veal/ Entree

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Cauliflower Rice

Stuffed Peppers for dinner!

Don’t you love bell peppers, and to stuff them with something healthy and delicious makes them even better.

I have some pepper planted outside this year. We’ll see what they produce. I’ve also planted some shishito peppers and I’m really hoping they produce big time; also trying some okra, and cherry tomatoes in our tiny back yard garden at our tiny house here in Round Top.

My mother always made stuffed peppers with cooked rice mixed with the hamburger meat on the inside and I loved them that way and still make them occasionally. Sometimes I can shut my eyes and see her cooking in the kitchen and smell the food I remember her cooking. There’s this one song, “The Wayward Wind”, I still remember playing in the background from a transistor radio while she is cooking. Do you have memories like this?

May 26, 2021 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Blackened Red Fish with Lots of Butter

Redfish with lots of butter!

I guess by now you know if you don’t want to read a bunch of text you can simply scroll through this “no ads” food blog and find the recipe. I, too, get tired of scrolling forever trying to find a recipe and seeing an ad every other paragraph. I have no ads for two reasons, first, I could never figure out how to get them on the blog and secondly I do this purely as a hobby. When, I’m not baking at Lollitop Sweet Shop with son, Paul I may actually find time to fire up some new dishes at home.

This recipe I found while searching for New Orleans fish recipes (nola.com). I love looking at different city’s newspapers that I can find on line for their regional cuisine recipes. I usually pick cities like Louisville (lived there), San Francisco (been there), NYC (been there too) and southern cities like Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans. It’s also fun to come across really good restaurants and I will pick through their menu to find something I might want to recreate. I still have an idea for a dish we had in Aux Baux France in 2012 at Le Varietes (and it is still on the menu; must be a favorite) for Poulet Sauce Tapenade Verte. It was a beautiful chicken dish with stacks of green and black tapenade and served with a tower of red rice (which I have).

May 10, 2021 By Sherry

Food Stories

What’s it like to work in a sweetshop — SWEET!

In the beginning there was sugar!

So how do I go about telling you about the sweet shop? Well, in the beginning there was sugar, flour, butter and lots of eggs. And, what appeared the next day? Well, cookies, muffins (sweet and savory), pies, and cakes. That was just the first week back in October.

My son, Paul and daughter-in-law Brooke are opening Round Top Brewing and back in October they had the chance to open Lollitop Sweet Shop right next door to the brewery. I have always liked food and even when I was a kid my twin sister and I would play restaurant and we had our own little order check pads (see picture below). I’m always up for a challenge in the kitchen and did we ever have one this past March show. Most days we went through about 9 dozen eggs (from Yonder Way Farm) before 10:30 in the morning. Yonder Way have the most beautiful eggs and the orangeyest (is that even a word) yolks I have ever seen. Those eggs really changed our products after we switched to pastured eggs. I’m sure we went through more than 10 pounds of butter a day and the flour we get in 50# bags. Brooke will tell customers when they come in that we are a Sweet Shop (candy) who likes to bake. Our kitchen is about 12×12 and has two Vulcan ovens and believe me we take advantage of ever square inch of wall space for shelves.

May 4, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish

Lemon Basil Cauliflower Steaks

Cauliflower fan?

(It’s been a while since my last post (if anyone is still there) and my NEXT post I will give a look at what our life was like during the antique show. 12 hour days and most of the time I was too tired to cook when I got home and definitely too tired to try a new delicious recipe for this blog.)

Can’t say I was ever a cauliflower fan in my earlier years. That would be decades ago! I don’t remember my mother or grandmother ever cooking cauliflower. I’m not sure why because my dad had the best garden around and grew just about anything he could think of; even Jerusalem Artichokes and who the heck knew what to do with those things back then.

Over the years I’ve done some delicious things with the funny looking head. My Tomato and Cauliflower Soup recipe is one of those recipes that is pretty to look at and delicious to eat. My Cauliflower Potato Salad is infamous with my friends; although now I add one potato to the mix for flavor and texture. I’ve done Cauliflower Steak and Onions before but I have to say I like this Lemon Basil Cauliflower “Steak” better.

Once I found a beautiful head of purple cauliflower (and purple is my favorite color) and couldn’t resist making my Pasta with Purple Cauliflower and Walnut Cream Sauce . There are many other cauliflower dishes on my blog you can “search” for but before I quit telling what I’ve done in the past you have to take a look at my Winter White Soup which is one of my favorite cream soups.

April 7, 2021 By Sherry

A.M. Side Dishes/ Egg Dishes/ Morning Foods

Ham and Egg Waffle

A waffle-less waffle!

I love a good waffle and my waffle with bacon is to die for (I really don’t like that expression but they are the best) but this waffle doesn’t get syrup or butter but could get a good cheese sauce or hollandaise sauce poured over the top after it comes out brown and crispy from your waffle iron.

When I first started this blog back in 2009 breakfast was my least favorite meal to post about. I don’t care for scrambled eggs and that’s about all my husband wants. He actually use to scramble his eggs (before work, before he retired) in the microwave. Ugh!. So I started experimenting with egg dishes and I have to say I have some pretty fantastic “brunch”, “breakfast” recipes here. Take a look around in the “Morning Foods” section when you get a chance.

For this recipeI used my Belgium waffle maker (All-Clad). Most of my 52 (almost) years of marriage I had a normal thin waffle maker that was the flip type that the plates could be reversed for a grill top. But after getting this All-Clad back in my “working for Williams Sonoma days” I learned to like the thickness and crispness that the Belgium waffle maker gave to the finished product. So, if you don’t have the thicker waffle maker give your other one a try. If you don’t have one just try pour the mixture into a pan and baking.

March 3, 2021 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Bacon Jalapeno Cheddar Frico

Who doesn’t like a good Frico! (Cheese crisp)

Cheese, bacon, jalapeño — who could not like any appetizer with those ingredients and how could you make an easier appetizer than this recipe for a very thin and crisp bite to go with your favorite cocktail or glass of wine.

I don’t want to talk about the pandemic ( or the fact I have had my first shot) or the freezing temperatures or anything else that I don’t have any control. When things don’t go the way I would like them to I cook and I cook and I cook then I may make a cocktail or two.

Ya say “what’s a frico” ? Well it is a dish from Italy the consist mainly of heated cheese that melts and turns into a lacy crisp. There is a version that is thicker made with potatoes, onions and other vegetables but the one I’m making is another version that I think most Americans probably make and it is simply a thin layer of shredded cheese added on a hot frying pan and cooked until the cheese becomes slightly crispy. While warm, the frico can be molded into a bowl or little cup where you could add toppings etc. I’m going to have to try the other version sometimes because it looks like a thick potatoey pizza.

February 22, 2021 By Sherry

Cookies/ Cookies/Bars/ Dessert/ Food Stories

The Ugly Sweater Cookie

What became of that ugly sweater?

I never really owned an ugly Christmas sweater. In fact, I never liked to put on a heavy sweater or any type of clothing that was heavy. Oh, could I use a few of those now in this freezing weather here in Texas. I hope everyone is staying warm and have power So far (fingers crossed) we have not lost power in Round Top.

So, back to the ugly sweater cookie. For Christmas 2018 we rented a house on Lake Travis in Austin. All three of our kids and their spouses and their (2 each) boys (grandsons) came. I had planned ahead for cookie decorating and even made cookies in shape of the Catan game board for the kids to help decorate for their uncle Scott’s Christmas birthday. And, of course, we did all our normal “Michie” cookie of everything from escargot to chocolate martinis.

Perfection is something I long for and have yet achieved. Looking back at these pictures today, who would have ever though that we would be baking/selling cookies at Lollitop Sweetshop here in Round Top, Texas. Decorating cookies have never been my cup of tea because I’m not good at it. Paul and I are getting much better since these cookies were decorated back in 2018 and we have moved on to experimenting with royal icing. What’s next? Who knows. If it looks good and taste good you will probably be seeing it at Lollitop.

February 17, 2021 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Entree/ Pasta

Beef Stroganoff

Been decades but I still like this recipe.

So you are wondering how many ways can one possibly do beef stroganoff. Well, I couldn’t find many recipes that veered off the traditional recipe.

All I knew when I started this recipe was I wanted to use our leftover delicious bone-in ribeye steak that we had for Christmas dinner. We had bought these steaks and some other meats at Eckermanns Meat Market in Fayetteville (TX) (my now go-to for delicious meats and sliced pork belly that I love).

My daughter, Alexis, had brought me some trofie shaped pasta on her first visit to see us after our move to Round Top. I guess I was complaining too much I couldn’t find certain things that was easy to pick up in The Woodlands. Now I know (I already knew this) if I can’t find it, then I can order it probably from Amazon.

January 10, 2021 By Sherry

Beverages/ Cocktails/ Drinks

The Last Word

This cocktail was named after me!

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you for following my blog and instagrams (@rosemaryandthegoat and @roundtopjourney). Let’s all hope this year will be one of our best. We are going on six months living here in Round Top and enjoying every minute of it except I would like to see people’s faces that come into Lollitop Sweetshop.

So, why is this cocktail named after me. Well, my mother always said I had to have the last word and my husband says the same thing. I guess that is a little bit true. BUT, if I know I’m right, I’m just not going to quit talking.

I can’t quit talking now or you won’t know about this green drink. This cocktail was one of the first pre-prohibition drinks to lead the cocktail revival of the early 1900’s. It was rediscovered by a Seattle bartender Murray Stenson who had seen the drink in an old copy of Bottoms Up! (1951), made it, liked it and then in 2004 put it on his menu at Zig Zag Cafe. This cocktail is made up of equal parts of all the ingredients. The Last Word cocktail falls into the same category as one of my favorites, The Aviation; a cocktail from long ago that found its way back to a bartender’s list of cocktails.

January 4, 2021 By Sherry

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