Lemon Shortbread Cookies

It's official - it's spring time! And what is more indicative of spring than citrus!? So now I have a beautiful vase full of lemons, limes, and clementines, which makes a beautiful centerpiece for our apartment's bar, and allows me to have zest and fresh juice any time I would like. The first spring time citrus recipe? Lemon shortbread cookies!

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon zest

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in half the flour by hand with a fork. Mix in lemon juice, then add the rest of the flour, all by hand. Not all of the flour will be incorporated easily, so pour the dough out on a clean surface and knead until all is incorporated. Roll out into a rectangle, about half an inch thick, and cut with a chef's knife or cookie cutters into desired shape. Bake on ungreased backing sheets for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom.

Glaze with lemon glaze, recipe to follow.

Lemon Glaze

1 cup of powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

a few tablespoons of milk

Place sugar in a bowl and squeeze lemon juice over top of sugar. Mix with a fork until a glaze forms. Thin with milk until desired consistency is reached. Spoon over top of cookies and allow to set for an hour at room temperature to harden.

These cookies are perfect for tea time, with a cup of coffee, or, in my case, for Tuesday night Bible Study. I hope you can share these with your friends and family soon!

Me: from A to Z

I have been trying in recent blogs to share a little more of myself in an effort to seem a bit less like a mystery and more like an actual person who sits down to write these entries curled up on the couch with a mug of tea in my hand (usually putting off homework until just a little bit later...) I tend to abuse the use of ellipses, I don't like air conditioning, and I get absurdly excited about odd things that most people wouldn't waste the energy on, like trying a new shade of lipstick or getting the first spoonful of a new jar of peanut butter. So in posts like this one and this one, I have tried to share little bits of myself. You are all obviously gluttons for punishment since you keep coming back for more. So here are a few more tidbits to chew on today, as you gradually weave together this vast blanket of crazy called Katelyn.So without further ado, Me: from A to Z


A is for age: 21, yippee! If you missed my birthday celebrations (yes, plural) check them out here and here.


B is for breakfast today: Oatmeal with a dollop of pear butter and a banana.


C is for currently craving: I still have my craving for barbecue pulled pork. Still. See here for more on this craving.


D is for dinner tonight: Probably an Italian chicken burger... I'll keep you posted.


E is for favorite type of exercise: I love to swim. I swam all the way through grade school and am thrilled to have gotten back into it this year. For those of you who swim out there, I am a flyer, and distance fly and IM's are my favorite events. I really miss swim meets, both competing in them and attending them, because obviously I don't have enough chlorine in my system.


F is for an irrational fear: I hate spiders, like HATE them.  Whenever I see one I shreak and holler like someone is coming after me, and I can't stand to get close enough to them to kill them so usually I just put a glass over it until someone comes along who wants to take mercy on me. I also really don't like drive-thru's. I would much rather physically go into Starbucks or the bank.


G is for gross food: Mayonnaise. I will probably never come to terms with the stuff. And avocados and I are on an uphill battle, but hopefully after some intense therapy and sharing of our feelings, we will again be able to share the same dinner plate.


H is for hometown: I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio. I was born and raised there, and about once a month I travel home to be surrounded by family like the good old days when I took them being there all the time for granted.


I is for something important: I am graduating with my Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration in 38 days. Oh. My. Goodness. 


J is for current favorite jam: The strawberry zucchini jam Mommaw makes, hand down. I eat this stuff on everything and we should make it by the truck load. That and her bread and butter pickles, I eat those by the jar full too.


K is for kids: I love them. Hope to two of my own one day. One day far far away from today. 


L is for current location: I'm currently a senior Business Management student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. I LOVE Lexington, with all my heart, and it kills me to have to leave here in a few months. But on to bigger and brighter culinary school things!


M is for the most recent way you spent money: Last night I paid for a carton of orange juice with nothing but change (*looks around* I know I'm not the only one who has done that...) but that probably isn't what y'all were looking for. I bought a steal of a dress on Sunday at Target, which I plan on wearing today. 


N is for something you need: Other than a good night's sleep and a few extra hours in my day, I can't think of a thing. I'm a pretty lucky girl.


O is for occupation: I'm a full time student, but I work for the Student Government Association here at UK as a program coordinator, and I work with for a distillery here in Kentucky in their banquet kitchen - so I stay busy, but it's all fun.


P is for pet peeve: People being late. And unprepared. And not responding to emails.


 Q is for a quote: I love quotes. I enclose them in cards, send them in emails, and pull them out when I really don't know how to start a paper. This one is one of my favorites: "Small minds talk about people. Mediocre minds talk about places. Large minds talk about ideas." I heard this from a speaker I attended last week and it has stuck with me.


R is for random fact about you: I've never played a video game and I've never had a Pop Tart.


S is for favorite healthy snack: I love to make smoothies because I can make them out of anything and get to enjoy them for longer than most other snacks.


T is for favorite treat: I love frozen yogurt with strawberry zucchini jam or chopped up fruit and nuts on it. Or from Fro Jo's here in Lexington - delicious!


U is for something that makes you unique: I don't match my socks. Ever. Just because.


V is for favorite vegetable: Just one favorite? Homegrown tomatoes, still warm from the garden.


W is for today’s workout: I swim every Tuesday and Thursday, but instead of a workout, we played water polo in class today. For those of you who haven't played, water polo is still a heck of a workout!


X is for X-rays you’ve had: I had one of my knee once to make sure everything was ok (as a kid I was building muscle faster than I was growing tall to make room for the muscle, which caused a few obnoxious consequences) and ones a few months ago before I had my wisdom teeth taken out.


Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Yesterday was awesome because my roommate got into Graduate school and we celebrated! It was so fun hanging out with her and celebrating her success.


Z is for your favorite animal at the zoo: Polar bears, flamingos, and babies. Any babies.


I got this template from one of the blogs I frequent called Meals and Moves, which can be found here. I made a few alterations, but the gist is still the same. 

Chipotle Doesn't Have Anything on Me

As you all know by now, I am a sucker for Tex-Mex and Mexican food. It is always my go to when I am out of ideas for dinner time, I not-so-jokingly kid that I could eat my weight in chips and fresh salsa, and it is the only way I have found to stomach avocados (I am still on uneasy ground with them... see here.) That being said, my weekend was filled with nothing but writing my business plan (not joking, that's all it was - I need to go back to school to get a break!) but was interrupted briefly to make this yummy bowl of comfort.

I think I should go ahead and put my two cents in there when it comes to the burrito fast food debate. Qboda, Chipotle, Pollo Loco, Taco Del Mar, Taco Bell (shudders)... so many to choose from, essentially offering the same things, and shamelessly overpricing their product. I mean come now, how expensive is rice, beans, grilled vegetables, and lettuce? Not. Very. But I have a special weakness for Moe's: http://www.moes.com/. But really, Moe's salsa. I buy it by the cup full and ask for it as a birthday and Christmas present, not joking. Seriously, if you aren't lucky enough to have a Moe's by you, drive to the nearest one, tell them Katelyn sent you, and I'm sure they will give you a discount.

And I am now following them on Twitter... I'm such a dork...

To avoid paying too much for rice and beans, plus saving the time to walk there, I decided to make my own rice bowl this weekend. It turned our scrumptious, I could use brown rice (which Mexican restaurants won't jump on board with,) and I saved eight bucks. Win-win-win!

Cilantro Lime Rice Vegetable Bowl

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/4 cup finely minced fresh cilantro (I used the paste that comes in the produce section of the grocery)

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper to taste

Cumin Scented Black Beans:

1 can black beans, un-drained

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 TB minced cilantro

Toppings:

diced avocado

salsa/pico de gallo

shredded lettuce/spinach

shredded cheese (I used pepper jack!)

Mix rice ingredients together and place in your serving bowl. Warm your beans in a saucepan, bring to a hard simmer, then take off the heat and spoon your desired amount over your rice (making sure to get some of that yummy, spicy, cumin-scented juice too.) Top that with your sauteed veggies of choice (I used onions and red bell pepper) or meat for you carnivores out there. And finally, top off your bowl with all the toppings your heart desires.

Spaghetti Squash Supper

One of my favorite vegetables of all time is spaghetti squash, followed closely by kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. For those of you who haven't worked with it before, go out to the store right now and buy one. Seriously. Grab your keys, grab your wallet, get in your car, and drive to the store and get one of these babies. I'll wait here...

Ok, now that you're back, get ready for a yummy dinner! Spaghetti squash is about the size of a Nerf softball but heavy for their size. They have a smooth, light yellow skin and can be found with the other various squashes, usually being refrigerated. Once baked, the insides can be scooped out to make perfect "spaghetti" strands, and they can even be baked to al dente, for those of you who, like me, like a bite to their pasta. Top off the strands with your favorite sauce (I thawed out some homemade stuff made with spinach, chunky tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and lots of basil.) Talk about your veggie servings for the day!

Baked Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Pierce the squash skin with a paring knife and place in a baking dish, whole. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until, when pierced with a paring knife, the squash is tender.

Allow to cool until you can handle it, then slice in half and scrap out the insides with a fork. Now you have yummy spaghetti that is just as versatile as the wheat-based alternative. Toss with some browned butter and sage, top with sauce (like I did here,) or bake in a torta with some eggs and parmesan cheese, crowned with fresh tomato chutney. 

Feel free to let me know how you like your spaghetti squash that I just made you go out and buy!

This is not Barbecue Pulled Pork

I had this uncanny hankering for barbecue pulled pork this past week. I know, odd right? Probably because last weekend was St. Patrick's Day and there was a plethora of cabbage in the grocery store, waiting to be boiled with corned beef, and cole slaw (or as my uncle used to call it, cole salad) is a natural accompaniment for pulled pork. So while perusing the aisles (and realizing I get inexplicably and somewhat shamefully excited by grocery shopping,) I pondered the feasibility of making pulled pork in my minimally equipped college kitchen. I could make barbecue sauce, that wasn't a problem, but how shall I make the pork tender and juicy, without a crock pot, which is my traditional cooking method for pulled pork?

Still pondering, I collected my ingredients somewhat haphazardly - ketchup, brown sugar, onion, and Tabasco for barbecue sauce, whole wheat buns for sandwiching, and a pork shoulder for roasting - and headed home, still pondering the best way to go about this endeavor. I could tightly cover a baking dish with foil, but needed to be careful not to over cook the pork into tough, chewy submission. 

Plan in hand, I returned home only to find out that we were out of aluminum foil. What?! All visions of moist and succulent pulled pork evaporated and I was left with bags full of groceries for which I now needed to find uses. I found a can of jalapeno diced tomatoes in my cupboard, along with a jar of salsa, and decided to retreat into my comfort zone and go the Tex-Mex route. After all, anything wrapped up in a tortilla is delicious. Plus the extra liquid from the canned tomatoes and salsa would help keep the pork moist and create a protective crust, sans foil.

Taco comprised of roasted pork, warmed salsa, shredded cheddar, spinach, and lime

This was delicious and all, but I still want pulled pork!

I'm a Geek for Greek

Greek food that is... though Greek men aren't bad either. And the Grecian Islands are second to none. And I love Greek inspired fashions.... 

Anyway, today we are reveling in the wonders of Greek food! I was having a real hankering for Greek food over Spring Break last week and to squelch this craving, not to mention transport my family to Greece for a little while on Spring Break, we made this delicious, healthy, and pretty authentic Greek meal (nevermind the fact that we were watching the NCAA tournament games while preparing it in the kitchen.)

Tzatziki (Greek yogurt dipping sauce)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated, and salted

1 16oz. container fat free plain Greek yogurt

2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely minced

the juice of 1 lemon

1/4 chopped fresh dill

salt and pepper, to taste

Salt your grated cucumber (about 1 tsp) in order to draw out the water in the cucumber; mix and set aside. Mix the rest of your ingredients. Squeeze the excess water out of your cucumber and add to the yogurt mixture. Mix and chill.

Use half of this dipping sauce to marinate your chicken (around a pound and a half) for at least 24 hours. Skewer the chicken chunks and grill.

I'm also a geek for Shelby's great photography! We have the pleasure of viewing a few posts worth of her pictures this week - buckle up, they are pretty awesome!

We paired our wonderfully marinated, cut-it-with-a-fork tender grilled chicken (which had to be grilled in the pouring rain by my dad ducking out from under an awning to flip the skewers, what a trouper) with a Greek inspired orzo salad. Orzo is a wheat based pasta, just like spaghetti or penne, but is shaped like rice, as you can see below. It cooks super fast, takes on a lot more flavor than rice does, and can be found in whole wheat versions for those of you out there who care about whole grains like I do. We tossed our orzo with yellow bell pepper, celery, cucumber, lots of fresh parsley, and a vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and celery seed (Finally! An application for that tricky celery seed that is hiding in the back of your spice rack.)

Final plating - Greek orzo salad, feta cheese, fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, tzatziki , warmed whole wheat pita bread, and grilled tzatziki marinated chicken.

Potato and Leek Soup

Sundays are wonderful things. They are a little gift at the end of each week, especially Sundays that you haven't scheduled to the brim. Today was one of those days. I slept in, lounged around, lingered over planning my weekly menu (as I am no longer on Spring Break and the luxury of going to the market for dinner ingredients every few days is no longer an option,) and went to see my sister's winter percussion performance. I drove with my windows down, hair blowing all over the place, and sang to the radio turned all the way up. It's official, Spring is here.

Soup is a wonderful thing to eat on Sundays. It is easy, filling, and homey. I heated up some leftover potato and leek soup and caught up on my Google Reader blog reading.

Potato Leek Soup

1/2 pound bacon (I used turkey bacon, but the pork counterpart is perfectly fine)

3 leeks, whites and light green onion, thinly sliced and washed thoroughly

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 stalked celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

4 Idaho baking potatoes, evenly diced (no need to peel first)

3 cups milk (I used skim, but any kind will do)

3 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup plain yogurt (I used fat free)

toppings: bacon, green onion, sour cream, cheddar cheese - at least that is what I like on my soup.

Chop your bacon and crisp in a dutch oven over medium heat; remove to paper towels and let drain. Remove all save for 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan (or add some olive oil if your turkey bacon didn't give off much fat) and saute your leeks, onions, and celery. Sweat for 8-10 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant.  Add diced potatoes, toss, and let soften for 8-10 minutes. Add milk and chicken stock, cover, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer - cook until potatoes are tender. Turn off the heat and puree with an immersion blender, or stand blender. If you would like, which I do, don't puree the mixture completely and instead leave some yummy chunks of potatoes. Right before serving, stir in the plain yogurt.

Sauteed leeks, celery, onions, and garlic, cooked in the turkey bacon fat and some olive oil

Once the aromatics were tender, I added the potatoes to soften

Potato soup is my mom's favorite, and we like to eat potato soup "loaded," meaning topped with cheddar cheese, (turkey) bacon, green onions, and sour cream. And of course, two separate platings - both of which were served in whole wheat homemade bread bowls, topped with bourbon smoked sea salt. Mmmm.