Long Exposure Back-Yard Rave

Remember how SmithCale got his new tripod?

I wasn't kidding that as soon as we got home, he ran outside and set it up to play with the exposure setting.

This is what I found.

Our poor neighbors.

Or our lucky neighbors?

Food for Fun,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Grilled Veggie Gazpacho

Adapted from Cooking Light

Chef’s Notes: The only reason I get an occasional craving for Mexican Food restaurants is for two reasons: chips & salsa. This summertime soup is kind of like eating a brimming bowl of salsa. This was not a problem for me! Thank goodness for our recent grill-pan purchase, seeing as it would have been miserable grilling outside tonight. AND we would have probably lost the tomatoes through the grate.

Plan of Attack:

1. Grill baguette

2. Blister peppers

3. Grill onion/tomatoes

4. Blend

Ingredients for 2:

1/8 C olive oil, divided

1 oz baguette, thinly sliced

1 ½ large red tomatoes, cored and cut in half crosswise

½ onion, sliced ¼” thick

1 red bell pepper

1 jalapeno pepper

1/3 C water

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Large pinch of salt

Black pepper to taste

Toppings-

Fresh cilantro

Sliced cucumber

Green onion

Instructions:

1. Heat grill-pan (or grill) to medium-high heat
2. Sprinkle both sides of baguette with olive oil, grill for 1-2 minutes on each side; set aside
3. Grill whole peppers for about 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally to blacken on all sides; remove from grill, place in paper bag, fold down top and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes (while you grill onion/tomato).
4. Brush onion with olive oil and grill for 10 minutes, turning once.
5. While onions grill, into a blender add toasted baguette, garlic, salt, pepper & water
6. Add onions once grilled to blender then brush cut sides of tomatoes with olive oil and grill cut-side-down for 10 minutes.
7. While tomatoes grill, remove peppers from paper bag and peel off their outer skins. Remove the seeds, roughly chop and add to blender.
8. Once tomatoes are grilled, add to the blender a few at a time and blend until smooth.
9. Top with cilantro, cucumber & green onion
10. Enjoy!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Showered

I can whole-heartedly say that I truly enjoy attending a shower. I always leave smiling. I think it's mainly because the excitement is contagious. The overwhelming buzz of anticipation for the showered event is palatable and infectious. Maybe that's why they call these events 'showers', because like being caught in the rain, the feeling gets all over you!

Shannon's wedding shower fit the bill perfectly.

There were decorations.

An attendance roll.

Humble hostesses.

Corsages.

CAKE! The worth-getting-up-early-and-running-4-miles kind of buttercream cake!

A very ecstatic bride-to-be and mother-of-the-bride.

Family and old friends.

Lots of Gifts!

*OMG i'm getting married* giggles.

Homemade aprons subtly prompting her future husband to Kiss the Cook. (Personally, I'd settle for one that read, "Please don't complain about all the dishes I've made and just do them." Love you SmithCale!)

Gracious thank-yous.

and Good-byes. Diane told all the ladies that after the wedding, her and Clayton are closing on their house and moving back to the rice farm.

Food for Celebration,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Pre-Shower Sabotage

Shannon & Ben Wedding: T-Less than 2 weeks!

Today: Wedding Shower

Place: Spring, Texas.

SmithCale and I got up early this morning and after a quick run and shower headed south.

After a quick lunch I gave Shannon my Recipe notebook I made her, complete with tabs and our favorite recipes that we think she and Ben would like. Knowing Shannon like I do, all recipes included butter or cheese (except the obligatory vegetarian recipes)!

Then we settled up some father's day debt.

Then they duped us.

This box was marked "For Dad" from Diane and Shannon

Clayton, with leatherman in hand, carefully carved off the, what we found to be, first layer of wrapping paper. Then it was labeled "For Cale". Immediately I began to panic, because SmithCale's not a father!

SmithCale took this picture, but if you look beside the arrow, it looks like someone else was in on the joke.

It turned out to be a thank-you gift from the Smiths' for our help with the wedding! SmithCale is playing with the tripod outside as I type!

Don't worry about me, I was given a gift card to Ann Taylor Loft!

Thank you Shannon, Ben, Clayton & Diane!

Stay tuned for shower pictures...

Food for Surprises!

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Thursday- Roast Pork Loin with Plum BBQ Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light

Chef’s Notes: Is this week over yet? Geez Louise! It’s drug on forever! SmithCale and I took a must needed respite and watched our beloved waiting new Netflix movie, “The King’s Speech”. Being a fanboy/girl of the English actor fanclub as we are, we absolutely loved it! All our favorites were there: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Dumbledore, and Peter Pettigrew. SmithCale was so moved by the movie; he promptly shot up afterwards and DID THE DISHES! Friday, I’m officially ready for you!

Plan of Attack:

1. Prep/simmer BBQ sauce

2. Brown pork

3. Roast

Ingredients for 2:

1 tsp olive oil

8 oz pork loin

Salt and pepper to taste

BBQ sauce-

12 oz plums, seeded and roughly chopped

1 Tbsp canola oil

¼ C red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/8 C brown sugar

1/8 C rice wine vinegar

1/8 C ketchup

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

½ tsp ground ginger

1 whole clove

1 star anise

Sprinkle red & black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a small saucepan heat canola oil, then add the onion & garlic; sauté 5 minutes
3. Then add plums, sugar, vinegar, ketchup, mustard, ginger, peppers, star anise & clove. Bring mixture to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes
4. In the final 10 minutes of the BBQ sauce simmer: heat olive oil in an oven-proof skillet (or ready a sprayed baking dish).
5. Salt and Pepper the pork loin then brown on all sides in the skillet for about 5-7 minutes (then move to baking dish if needed)
6. Top pork loin pieces with ½C plum BBQ sauce and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the pork reaches 155-160 degrees
7. Enjoy!

Wednesday- Manager's Choice

What do you do when you have two frozen pieces of our beloved skillet cornbread, leftover sausage and dried black-eyed peas? Whenever we'd eat leftovers in school, they called it Manager's Choice. I always wondered who this 'Manager' was. (Had to sneak a few blonde moments into my childhood.) Who says eating healthy has to always been complicated?

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Easy Peasy Chinese Chicken Salad

This morning. 5:30 a.m., the alarm goes off. We've switched to running in the morning because 100 degree heat + running = heat stroke + hot feet.

It was humid and cloudy, not really uncommon for the mornings. About 1.5 miles in it started to drizzle. About 2 miles away from the house, it started to pour. That's the great thing about running either away from your vehicle or your house: you have to come back.

Unluckily, my phone has paid the ultimate price. But, you won't find me moping around the AT&T store because we NEEDED THE RAIN!

Thank you Lord for you rain and the Chinese chicken salad (+raisins) we had for dinner!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Meatless Monday- Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Chef’s Notes: Back in the day before the blog, and I was just emailing recipes, this recipe was one of our favorites. I think I was just so surprised that something so simple could be so delicious. It’s no wonder that fast food has little flavor but salty to us now. When you have friends like garlic, basil and grill-marks on your side; none can taste as good!

Plan of Attack:

1. Prep veggies/mayo

2. Grill

3. Assemble

Ingredients for 2-3:

½ loaf focaccia bread (sadly I haven’t tried my hand at making this one yet, but I do have a recipe waiting)

1 ½ tbsp olive oil mayo

1 garlic clove, minced

2 leaves fresh basil, chopped

1 yellow squash, sliced lengthwise

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large hunks

Handful red onion, thinly sliced

½ Tbsp olive oil

Side of Cole Slaw

Instructions:

1. Preheat broiler to high
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet and a sprayed grill-pan* to medium-high heat
3. Add the onions to the hot olive oil in the skillet and sauté 10 minutes, lowering the heat if needed to keep from burning
4. Add the squash and red bell pepper to the grill pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally
5. While veggie cook; combine mayo, garlic and basil in a small bowl
6. Broil sliced focaccia for 1-2 minutes on each side, then smear both sides with mayo mixture and layer with grilled veggies
7. Enjoy!

*All veggies can be grilled on an outside grill, just toss in olive oil, salt and pepper before-hand*

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Marinara

Fresh from the garden!

Chef’s Notes: Especially with the tomatoes being in season, there is no excuse to buy jarred sauce. This took me 40 minutes to make, start to finish; really. Nothing can quite adequately describe the awe you’ll feel when you start with a pile of fresh tomatoes and turn it into homemade marinara! Also, never hurts to can a jar or two for later! Don’t be alarmed by the size of the recipe, it’s so long because I take you through step by step what do to.

Plan of Attack:

1. Peel tomatoes

2. Saute onions

3. Blend

4. Simmer for 30 minutes

Ingredients for 2 Cups marinara (enough for one pasta dinner for 2 + enough for a pizza later):

1 pound roma tomatoes, washed

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp parsley (fresh or tubed)

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

½ Tbsp olive oil

½ yellow onion, diced

¼ C white wine

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot ½ filled with water to a boil. While water is heating, cut an X about an ½”-1” wide on the BOTTOM (non-stem end) of your tomatoes. Also a good time to cut up your onion and garlic; set aside
2. Have a bowl ready on the side, drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 1 minute until you can see the skins start to separate from the fruit.
3. Remove tomatoes from the water into the readied bowl; allow to cool for a minute
4. Dump the water from the pot and put right back onto the heat along with the olive oil to heat at medium-high heat.
5. Add onions and garlic to the pot and sauté 3-4 minutes (while you peel and chop the tomatoes)
6. To peel tomatoes, just pull towards the stem end and they should just peel right off; discard skin and roughly chop tomatoes. Add to the pot along with the onions.
7. Next add the tomato paste, parsley, salt, pepper, oregano and white wine; turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Pour mixture into a blender (saving ½ C back if you want a chunkier sauce), and blend until smooth
9. Pour all back into the pot and simmer for 20-25 minutes on low heat until it reaches your desired consistency.
10. Enjoy!

How My Alley Run Shirt Made Me Friends

It was only moments after this picture was taken that it happened.

A setof grandparents along with their daughter and her son wandered by, just having arrived for their own vacation for the weekend.

They stopped in front of the main rec. room where we were gabbing. Then the daughter saw my shirt, and said, "Did you go to Alley Fest?"

"Yes we did, and we did the 10K!"

"My son and I are from Longview!"

"Us too!"

"Well actually we live in Spring Hill."

"Really??? Us too!"

Come to find out they live literally a minute from us.

They asked about the rec. hall because their family was going to rent it for Christmas, and being the friendly girls they are, Carley and Kelsey took them inside and gave them the full tour.

Well, SmithCale's family being the way they are, met up with them Saturday and invited them to our family church service Sunday morning.

If you've never been to a Hunt family singing session (ala Church of Christ acapella), you don't know what you've been missing.

Obviously touched by our family, the daughter left in tears from being so moved.

Never take for granted your impact on people's lives. We're all in this together!

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Food for Everlasting Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Final Reunion Recap: Tradition

For all you non-family members, let me explain the shirts.

Our family shirts are:

1. Color coded

2. Embroidered with your generation

AY5-first generation (original 5 children of Dutch & Molly)

AY 12- second generation

AY 29+- third generation (our group, there were 29 grandkids, but they didn't want to keep re-embroidering shirt, thus the +)

AY4- fourth generation

Also, AY was the original brand marking for the family (like for cattle and other brandable things (children, disgruntled neighbors, etc.))

Green

AY5- Glenna (middle)

Red

AY5- Dale (3rd from right)

Blue AKA the Best

AY5- Shirley

This picture really sums up most of the members.

Clayton is always yelling (white cap)

Kacie is acting a fool.

And we continually pick on Ben (hands on head, who OFFICIALLY joins the family July 9th!)

We missed you Angela!

(and it's only fitting that SmithCale took pictures all weekend, and one of the ONLY picture he's in, Kacie is blocking him! Such is life!)

Tan

AY5- Janet (middle right)

Yellow

AY5- Bobby

I wish there was another word for what it feels like to become part of this family, blessed just doesn't seem strong enough.

But, I am blessed, enriched and guided by every member.

Thank you, and see you all next year!

Food for Family,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Wednesday- Tuna Pita Paninis

Chef’s Notes: To keep within my cheap ways, I don’t often allow waste of edible food. Last week when we headed to our reunions, I packed us hummus, pita chips and veggies for dinner. This has to be my new favorite way to use up pitas! If you can keep them from falling apart while stuffing them, once you press them Panini-style, they crisp up nicely and stay together! Yeah for no oozy pitas!

Plan of Attack:

1. Make avocado sauce

2. Assemble

3. Press

Ingredients for 2:

4 pita halves

1 (6.4oz) package White Chunk Tuna packed in water

1 avocado, mashed

¼ C yellow onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp salt

1 roma tomato, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Preheat Panini press, grill pan or broiler
2. In a bowl combine the mashed avocado, onion, garlic, garlic powder and salt
3. Heat your pita halves in the microwave 30 seconds to soften
4. Spread avocado mixture in pita half, top with tuna and tomato; repeat until all have been stuffed
5. Panini Press for 3-4 minutes
6. OR grill for 2-3 minutes on each side
7. OR broil on a baking sheet for 2-3 minutes on each side or until browned
8. Enjoy!

Food for Life,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Stay tuned for the final installment of the Mega Reunion Weekend tomorrow!

Saturday Night Entertainment: the Sibling Game

Hope abounded as Saturday Night came. Rochelle, and her creative ways, concocted a Sibling Game for the evening's entertainment.

Since SmithCale didn't feel like taking pictures before the grandchildren portion, allow me to sum up the original Hunt children's surprises.

Glenna was shocked to find out about a relative's snuff dipping habit.

Dale used to have hair.

Lolo (Shirley) cannot spell and tends to yell out violent actions to on-screen murderers.

Janet had an Outlaw Gang that liked to place unwanted hay bales on a cranky neighbor's porch.

Bobby, the baby, got to eat his meal in front of the tv.

Tension built as the grandkids took their turns in two waves.

Game play example: What's your sibling's favorite restaurant?

Then think.

Write down guess

Pray.

Then see how wrong...

or Right, you were.

Even though the Smith boys tried to cram before the game, cheaters never win!

Wrong!

Wrong!

Victory!

Don't have a sibling? Not a problem; friend=family.

It also goes without saying there will be at least one point of hilarity.

Since the picture turned out fuzzy, I'll interpret.

The correct answer was "When Audrey made me drink pee."

Embarrassing, indeed!

After an evening of side-splitting, there were no hard feelings and we all were still smiling.

Food for Laughter,

the SupperSmiths, forging one meal at a time

Don't forget to check out our Black Bean Bonanza