Little baby bunny found

The kids found a baby bunny in our yard on Saturday. We don't know what happened to the mama. It was only a day old and still has its eyes shut. We have been feeding it kitten replacement milk twice a day with a dropper and keeping it warm on a heating pad. It has survived the last 4 days so maybe it will have a chance? We hope it makes it. The kids loved taking care of it and would check on baby bunny multiple times a day. We found a wildlife shelter that took the bunny for us since we are leaving for vacation on Friday.

Ina's Gazpacho

I am a few days late in posting my recipe for Barefoot Contessa Gazpacho. I have never attempted Gazpacho before. I don't know if I was scared of a cold tomatoe based soup or too much chopping involved. I am so happy that Delta of Delta Whiskey chose this recipe. My husband and I both loved it so much. This was a perfect lunch for a hot hot hot day! I did add a little extra spice to it. I loved the addition of olive oil at the end. This tasted like something we would have eaten in Italy with some crusty bread. The only thing that I would have added was some shaved Parmesan and more basil!!! This is my idea of summer food.

I love all of the wonderful produce that summer provides us with. Strawberries are on the top of the list. I picked up some beautiful strawberries the other day and needed something to go with them. I would usually make a shortcake and whipped cream but decided on something a little lighter this time. I never got around to making this Barefoot Contessa recipe for Meringue Chantilly with berries. It looked good and I had everything that I needed. It was a hit with the family. My kids ate every bite of the meringue shell. They thought it tasted a little like cotton candy since it melts in your mouth. I loved the combination of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Another new and healthy dessert to add to my files : )

Whole Wheat Pasta

I recently discovered a treasure at a local thrift store. This is the exact pasta machine that my mom used growing up. After giving it a good cleaning, I got busy. We really enjoy whole wheat noodles in our house. I tried to find a good ratio of white to whole wheat flour. My daughter was a great helper and really loved rolling out the noodles. We made fettucine noodles and 3 cheese ravioli from a Tyler Florence recipe. The ravioli filling started coming out but still tasted good. I am learning and my second attempt went better. I am excited for all of the healthy noodle dishes I will be trying out on my family.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting

This is my second time making this wonderful frosting from Tyler Florence. I needed a frosting for my vanilla bean cupcakes and chose my new favorite. It has vanilla bean pieces in the frosting. I love it! These cupcakes were great with some fresh strawberries and vanilla sugar.

Vanilla Bean Butter cream Frosting

(Adapted from his recipe)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup milk

4 cups confectioner's sugar (1 pound box), plus more if necessary

Cream the butter in a medium-size bowl until very smooth. Stir in the vanilla-bean seeds until they're evenly distributed. Add the salt, milk and vanilla extract, and stir until combined. Sift the sugar over the butter mixture and stir the mixture until it's perfectly smooth. If the frosting is too loose, add a few more tablespoons of confectioner's sugar, and stir until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap until you're ready to use; mix well just before using. You can see what other TFF members did here.

Curried Couscous

This week for Barefoot Bloggers my good friend Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester chose this recipe. She was my neighbor when we all lived in Montana. Both of us love to cook and shared lots of recipes with each other. I was so excited to hear it was her turn. We talked each other into joining Barefoot Bloggers last summer and it has been so much fun! I love couscous and curry. I thought the flavours were great and enjoyed the crunch from the almonds and sweet cranberries. I would disagree about it tasting better the next day. I made this ahead for a party and loved the flavour the day I made it. The following day I discovered the flavours had mellowed too much and it was lacking something??? This was a healthy recipe that both Mark and I enjoyed. I served this with chicken, feta dip, whole wheat pita's and tomato cucumber salad. Thanks Ellyn for choosing such a great recipe.

Strawberry Summer Lemonade

I love Strawberry Lemonade. There is something about cold lemonade, BBQ 's and a hot summers day. I wanted to try a new recipe for Tyler Florence's lemonade for my neighborhood's BBQ this past weekend. I made this kid friendly by omitting vodka and adding lots of crushed strawberries into the punch. This was so sweet and refreshing at the same time. I added some limes and 2 extra lemons for a little more sour flavour. I wanted to try out my lemonade pitcher that has been in the box since I bought it last summer. I can't believe how much this held. It was a fun party and a wonderful drink. Next time I will be trying the grown-up version. You can check out what my other Tyler Florence friends did here.