Album Cover T-Shirt...by Brooke

Jill here - I love this shirt B made, and she volunteered to tell us how she did it. I asked a couple questions (see our texts below), the biggest one being how she got the images. She said she just googled them. So find the pictures you want to use and then follow how she turned them into this fun shirt. 

hey guys! i recently made this shirt with some of my favorite album covers on it that i thought was super cool! 

All you need to make one is a cotton t shirt, transfer paper, scissors, a printer, iron, and computer or cell phone. First thing i did was use the App called "collageable" and you make a collage with the pictures you chose. then you're going to click on frame adjust and turn both the things down all the way. this makes it easier to cut them later. after you make the collage you're going to print it (on iron-on transfer paper). then i cut the squares out. after i did that i laid the shirt out flat on the floor and i put the squares where i thought they looked the best! then i used iron paper that comes with the transfer paper and ironed them on really good and let it sit for 20 minutes! 

this is what the icon for the app looks like - search the
app store for "photo collage - collageable'. I just looked
and (at least on my iPhone) it's free. 

choose your layout. B did 4 equal squares twice for a total of 8 pictures

plug your pictures into the layout you chose

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll get B to help! Remember I can't comment on the blog tho (I still have no idea why) so find make my day camp on facebook and ask me there! Thanks. 

Beef Wellington

Funny story - I make this maybe once a year, usually for a special occasion,  the last time was for Dave's birthday last August and I took some pictures so I could blog it...but I only remembered to take pics for the first half of the steps. I didn't want to post the fabulous recipe without photos, so I decided to wait until I made it again and I'd get the rest of the photos! So when Cathy told me she wanted to make it for her son who has never had beef wellington, but since she'd never made it she wondered if I'd help - you can't imagine how happy I was to say yes! Shhhhh - I didn't tell her that I was helping so I could finish the blog post LOL, I just let her think what a nice friend I am ;)

I have only followed one recipe for beef wellington since I started making it years ago - Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Wellington from the food network. There are only like a billion recipes if you google for one - but trust me, this one is ridiculously good and I really don't think it's ever not turned out great. Do not let the mushroom layer throw you off if you don't like mushrooms - I know 2 people that hate mushrooms (one of them is Cathy!) and they still love this dish. You don't see or taste mushroom, promise.

Tyler's recipe includes a green peppercorn sauce but I've never made it,  mostly because it's hard to find canned green peppercorns. I don't think it needs sauce, but (as I'm a dipper) I have made creamy horseradish before and this time Al made a homemade bernaise that was great with it. Tyler serves his with roasted fingerling potatoes, sometimes I do that but other potatoes are just as good - Al made smashed potatoes which were amazing. Click here for a couple recipes for them - even if you don't make the beef wellington you have to make smashed potatoes! He also did grilled romaine with blue cheese dressing that I'll post later.

This is a multi-step process but none of it is hard, I'm not going to lie that it isn't time-consuming tho. The upside is that it looks amazing, tastes amazing, and everyone will assume you are an amazing chef when you serve this! Make sure they see it out of the oven before you slice it, it's very impressive - and if a hunk of meat wrapped in puff pastry can be described as beautiful, then it is definitely beautiful.

For the Duxelles (mushroom layer):

• 3 pints (1 1/2 pounds) white button mushrooms
• 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly cnhopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 T. unsalted butter
• 2 T. olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

For the Beef:

• One 3-pound center cut beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed (*see my note below)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 12 thing slices prosciutto
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 T. Dijon mustard
• flour, for rolling out puff pastry
• 1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 t. coarse sea salt

*you want the tenderloin to be uniform in size, that's what 'center cut' means - you don't want one end thin and the other thick.

1. For the Duxelles:
2. Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute until most of the liquid has evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside too cool. 

1. 
   
   1. my note: after it cooks down, this will look like thick pate or spread, or cat food as Cathy's son deemed it. You don't want the cooked mushrooms to have any liquid in them. After it's cooked down I put it in a colander and press out any remaining liquid with a paper towel. Get the mushroom mixture very dry. 
2. For the Beef: 
3. Tie the tenderloin in four places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with oil, then season with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy-based skillet over medium-high heat and lightly coat with oil. Sear the beef all over, including the ends, until dark brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. 

Meanwhile, set out your prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap (note plastic needs to be about a foot and a half in length so you can wrap and tie the roast up in it) on top of your cutting board. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef.

my note: I find packages of prosciutto hanging by the deli cold cut department, it usually comes with a piece of coated paper in between each slice. Al found a large container of it which was great since they were doubling the recipe, except the slices weren't separated and totally stuck together - the prosciutto is sliced so thin it's very hard to separate. We ended up just putting thin pieces on the mushrooms as best we could and it turned out fine, once you cover with the puff pastry you don't see the pretty shingled prosciutto. 

Using a rubber spatula, evenly cover the prosciutto with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with thyme leaves. 

                                       

the mushroom layer is only on half to show you the shingled prosciutto underneath.
You'll spread the mushrooms over the entire layer of prosciutto

When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Allow to cool slightly.

1. Roll the tenderloin up in the duxelles covered prosciutto using the plastic wrap to tie it up nice and tight. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Roll it up tightly in plastic wrap and twist the ends to seal it completely and hold it in a nice log shape. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets, you may have to overlap two sheets and press them together. Remove beef from refrigerator and cut off plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef, saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Top with coarse sea salt. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.

1. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash, then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife. Doing this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking. Bake until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125°F on an instant-read thermometer, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting into thick slices.

my note: I like to sprinkle coarse salt and coarse pepper on top of the puff pastry after brushing with the egg wash. I just like how it looks. In the photo below we made a braid for one of the tenderloins using the scraps from trimming the ends - stick it to the top using the egg wash.

recipe found here at foodnetwork.com

Here's another photo I found in my files from Dave's birthday, I baked it with 'happy birthday' letters cut out of dough scraps stuck to the top using egg wash like the braid above. 

Smashed Baby Red Potatoes

I posted a recipe for smashed red potatoes back in 5/16 (click here for that post) and don't think I've made them since. Why not since they are SO good? I do not know. I had a bag of baby potatoes and the idea to smash them popped into my head and I'm very very happy it did, these turned out fantastic. Even Dave gobbled them up and he's not even a huge potato lover. Delicious. I can't say enough good things about this recipe.

Actually it's more of a non-recipe recipe, I kind of followed the original recipe from 5/16 but changed it a bit. Here's what I did:

• Place baby potatoes in a microwavable dish and cook on high until just cooked, not mushy. 
• Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray, put the cooked potatoes on the sheet. With a potato masher, lightly press on each potato until it's about 1/2" or so thick.
• Brush each smashed potato with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. 
• Bake at 450' until crispy. I did about 10 minutes and flipped them, then baked an additional 10 minutes. It might not take you that long, watch for them to get browned and crispy. 

Tip-sy Tuesday: Float Anchor

We've been doing lots of floating in the lake - we are on Lake Huron where there's usually waves, or choppy water, so if you're floating without an anchor it doesn't take long for the float (and you) to end up back on the beach! Learned this genius tip from our campground neighbor - they screw a dog lawn stake thing into the sand (or whatever is on the bottom of your lake, ours is sand) and hook their floats to it with a bungee cord. I changed it a bit by using thin dog leashes that I got at Walmart along with the lawn screw. Is that what it's called, a lawn screw? I don't know - but here's a picture to show you what I mean.

This works great, you can hook more than one float to the screw if you want - and unless it's super wavy or really strong winds it holds us in place for hours of floating. Smart, right?

Gourmet S'mores

The name came from Dave, the idea came from my sis (don't know where she saw it) - it's not exactly 'gourmet', but it is a great idea! And they are even easier than regular s'mores since the chocolate and cookie are already together, just roast the marshmallow and stick between two fudge striped cookies.

Seriously, these are omg fantabulous. I have no other words.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 30)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp this past week:

Posts ~

• 7/19: 🔥week 29
• 7/20: chocolate chip, banana, and oat muffins
• 7/21: tip-sy tuesday: cilantro (and recipes using cilantro)
• 7/22: grass seed jars
• 7/23: Teri's tuna and zoodle salad
• 7/24: tuna cauliflower rice salad
• 7/25: cold southwest shrimp and corn soup

I just realize I pretty much only posted recipes this week! I've been crafting but nothing is finished to show you yet...

What's Cooking ~

• pork chops, roasted broccoli, parmesan couscous
• halibut stacks
• steak, fingerling potatoes, roasted asparagus
• ribs, chopped kale salad
• marinated chicken breast, cauliflower rice, green beans

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy (other than the above crafting that isn't done!)

• finally read a book that was really good and I enjoyed (I've been on a streak of not great books), 'A Bad Day for Sunshine' by Darynda Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2. When I finished I immediately searched to see if there's a sequel and it appears it'll be out in 2021. Woman moves back to her hometown to be the sheriff, it's a little romance, a little mystery, a little scary, and pretty funny. 
• also read 'Walk the Wire' #6 in the Amos Decker series by David Baldacci. I really liked the other books in the series, this one however totally disappointed me. It's got too many plot lines, too political, too preachy, too judgy, too condescending...just toooooo everything I don't like. It's set in North Dakota and he's made everyone there gun toting, ignorant, fighting, religious kooks who are fracking and then we basically get lectured about what the characters think of that. Boring and annoying. ⭐️⭐️ I'll give it 2 stars only because I actually finished it and am hoping the next one in the series gets back on track.
• been camping for a few days and have a couple little things to share with you this coming week - stay tuned.

That's it - hope you had a good week and will stop back often for more recipes, projects, ideas, etc...whatever I can think of to make at MMDC :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and doubter of David Baldacci's depiction of North Dakotans

Cold Southwestern Corn and Shrimp Soup

LeDonna was down for a few days and I've been waiting for a guinea pig to try this recipe out on (I asked Dave if he wanted to try it and before I even got the sentence out he said no, geesh), it's a super quick and easy recipe and she was game to have it for lunch. I was on the fence initially whether it was a keeper recipe, but she really liked it and as I kept eating it grew on me - I liked it more and more and by the time it was gone I decided I really really like it and will def make it again. This is meant to be cold but I did heat up a little to see how it'd be hot and I liked it that way too,  I can't see any reason it can't be cooked (other than not wanting to heat up your kitchen this time of year!). 

For the record, this is not the prettiest soup to post pictures of - it looks much better in person!

COLD SOUTHWESTERN CORN AND SHRIMP SOUP

• 40 oz. frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 cup low-fat yogurt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 t. ground coriander
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pound cooked frozen shrimp, thawed, roughly chopped, reserve 4 whole shrimp
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced

1. In a blender, working in two batches, puree corn, yogurt, milk, lime juice, coriander, and cayenne. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Stir in chopped shrimp, and season with salt and pepper.

2. Serve garnished with tomatoes, avocado, and reserved whole shrimp. 

Serves 4

notes:
- I halved the recipe and still ended up with 6 cups of soup.
- Didn't serve with tomatoes and avocado because I didn't think it sounded good. For lunch the next day (it held up really well by the way, I wasn't sure if the shrimp would make it too fishy or something but it was just as good) I tried it with the chopped tomatoes and avocado and it was really good -  I definitely recommend including the tomato and avocado.
- I also added about 1/2 cup thawed frozen corn to the liquid (after straining out the pureed corn solids) and really liked the texture.
- I pureed in my food processor, since I only made 1/2 recipe I didn't have to blend it in batches. 

of course I forgot to take a photo with the tomatoes and avocado - just picture
the above with those things on top and it's exactly what it looked like hahahah!! 

I have no idea where this recipe is from, I ripped it out of a magazine at some point in the past and it's been in my recipes to try folder forever. 

Tuna Cauliflower Salad

I was inspired by the tuna and zucchini spiral salad Teri made, and pulled this equally easy and delicious salad together for my lunch. Another non-recipe recipe that turned out great - thanks for the inspiration Teri!

                         

For my version, I mixed together a can of plain tuna (drained), pre-cooked cauliflower rice, and leftover cranberry/pumpkin seed mix from a chopped kale salad kit. Then I seasoned it with lemon pepper, salad seasoning blend, everything but the bagel seasoning blend, turmeric, and a drizzle of olive oil. I figured the entire thing has less than 200 calories so I ate it all - and loved every bite. 

Teri's Tuna with Zucchini Noodles

Teri made this easy dish for her lunch and sent me a photo knowing I'd love this one - how good does this sound?

zucchini spirals
package of lemon pepper tuna
everything spice blend
vegetable seasoning blend
ground turmeric

She added a bit of butter to a pan, tossed in some zucchini spirals and let them break up a bit, then added the tuna and spices. Healthy, quick, simple, and delicious!

Kid Craft: grass seed jars

Janis's grandson made these in school and it's such a cute idea I asked if I could share. Super simple, but how fun (and educational) for kids to plant and watch the grass grow. Put some potting soil in a clean empty small jar and add some grass seed (I'm pretty sure this is wheatgrass). Decorate the jar with silly googly eyes (you could add a mouth too with a marker) and a few days later the seed will grow and make "hair". Cute, right?

Tip-sy Tuesday: cilantro

Last week I posted a couple things using cilantro, and my guacamole also needs a lot of it - so I'm often chopping cilantro. Sorry I don't have an actual trick for removing the leaves, it's a tedious process pulling the leaves off the stems - but the tip today is when a recipe calls for cilantro you only use the leaves, no stems. No one wants to eat little sticks so make sure you only include the leaves (maybe the very thin flexible stems of small baby leaves, but cut them up finely). When I need chopped cilantro for a couple different dishes I tend to chop it all at once and divide it into the quantities that I need for each recipe - might as well get it all out of the way at once.

Some recipes from the blog using cilantro include:

mexican street corn salad
asian style meatballs with sweet chili sauce
spring rolls
cilantro lime rice
creamy cilantro dressing

Chocolate Chip, Banana, & Oat Muffins

Saw this recipe on a yogurt container and thought what the heck, they sound healthy and I had the ingredients on hand so...

I made muffins instead of a loaf, and they turned out really good. The combination of whole wheat flour and flax made me wonder if they'd be dry, but I think the yogurt and banana help give it moisture. I added a bit of cinnamon, just 'cuz, and not sure how much it added - but we really liked these. 

As much as you can like a 'healthy' muffin anyway LOL. 

Just kidding, they're good. 

• 1/2 cup Siggi's plain yogurt
• 3-4 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 T. maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup around flax
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350'. Coat an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt and bananas. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and maple syrup and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, flax, salt, and baking soda. Add mixture to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Gently stir in oats and chocolate chips. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a cooling rack.

I stored in the fridge, it doesn't say to but it just seems like they should be in there.

recipe found on the inside of a Siggi's yogurt lid.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 29)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at MMDC this past week in case you missed anything:


Posts ~
7/12: 🔥week 28
7/13: zucchini chimichangas
7/14: tip-sy tuesday: dryer sponge fail
7/15: sweet pork
7/16: cilantro rice and salsa beans
7/17: creamy cilantro dressing and dip
7/18: ding dong ditch

What's Cooking ~

• beef wellington, smashed potatoes, roasted veggies, grilled romaine with bleu cheese dressing
• bbq ribs, chopped kale salad
• grilled marinated chicken breast, caesar salad
• chicken sausages, creamy grits stuffed tomatoes, roasted asparagus
• shrimp cocktail, cauliflower rice, sautéed spinach

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 'Chosen Ones' by Veronica Roth. She wrote the Divergent series, this is her first adult novel about alternate universes and a bad guy going between them with the 'chosen ones' trying to stop him. Ehhh, it was just ok. Kinda slow, interesting plot line but just didn't do it for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Seems like I haven't read a great book in a while!

That's about it 'round here - hope everyone is safe and healthy, and that you'll stop back next week for lots more recipes, projects, and whatever else I can think of to make at camp! Have a great week!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and bored reader

Ding Dong Ditch

Here's a quick fun little idea from my sister - she had all kinds of different names for this but I like 'ding dong ditch' so am going with that hahah! This is so fun - sort of like getting 'boo'd' at Halloween, only this is just a random thing to do for others any ol' time you feel like it :)  

Did you know people are boozing/wine-ing each other (Or if they have kids, juicing each other) by secretly leaving drinks, snacks, puzzles, etc. as a fun surprise? Great pick me up in a time when people may be feeling isolated. 

Fill a basket, box, or bag with goodies and leave by your friend's door. Ringing bell and running (hence the name 'ding dong ditch') are optional, but give them some kind of heads up that there is a surprise outside in case they don't see it!

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

Part 3 of the pulled pork bar (click here for part 1 and part 2) - this creamy cilantro lime dressing is delicious and would be good on just about anything, not just pulled pork. Ok, obvi not good on 'anything' but you get my drift. This is good stuff. 

CREAMY CILANTRO LIME DRESSING

• 1/2 cup buttermilk (see note)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use light Hellman's)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I use light)
• 1/4 cup salsa verde or green enchilada sauce (I like Herdez brand)
• 1 T. fresh lime juice, from about 1 medium lime (I use bottled)
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. dried parsley
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• pinch of dried dill (about 1/8 t.)
• pinch of salt (I use coarse)
• pinch of black pepper (I use coarse)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (leaves only)
• 1 green onion, white and green parts coarsely chopped, or small bunch of chives

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Thin with additional buttermilk, milk, or lime juice, if you need to adjust the consistency.

Refrigerate until ready to serve (it can be made several days in advance). Makes 2-3 cups

note: if you don't have buttermilk you can easily make it by adding a teaspoon of white vinegar to milk, let it set a few minutes (don't worry, it'll curdle and that's ok). 

found here at melskitchencafe.com

Cilantro Lime Rice and Salsa Beans

Part 2 of the do-it-yourself' pulled pork bar recipes - click here for part 1/sweet pork post. Janis taught me to make rice in a small enameled cast iron dutch oven on the stovetop, it turned out perfectly and clean up is a breeze.

CILANTRO LIME RICE

• 1 T. butter
• 1 1/4 cups rice (long grain or jasmine)
• 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• juice and zest of 1 large lime
• 2 T. chopped cilantro
• 1/4 t. ground cumin

In a skillet or medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the rice. Stir, letting the rice and butter cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 15-16 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve. 

makes 6 servings as a side dish


SALSA BEANS

I love a non-recipe recipe - this one is literally just two cans of rinsed and drained black beans, mixed with 1 cup salsa in a saucepan, simmer for a few minutes. 

recipes found at melskitchencafe.com

Copycat Sweet Pork

I made this back in March for a 'do-it-yourself' pulled pork bar that included all the fixings, cilantro lime rice, salsa black beans, tortillas (we mostly ate this like a salad piled on plates with the different sides, but some did tacos) and a creamy cilantro dressing - and it was a hit. Why did it take me over 3 months to tell you about it? I 'dunno. Cuz I'm lame and I forget is all I can say. But I'm telling you now and you really, really want to try these recipes! I'll break them apart as separate posts so you don't get bogged down in all my words and long rambling posts. First up - a copycat recipe from Melskitchencafe.com for cafe rio sweet pork. I have no idea what cafe rio is, is it a chain? Whatever it is, this recipe is great - it might look like a lot of ingredients but is pretty much just dump everything together in the crock pot and let it go. Mmmmm we love this!

Seasoning mixture:

• 1 T. cumin
• 1 T. paprika, regular or smoked
• 1 T. onion powder
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 T. garlic powder
• 2 t. coarse salt
• 1/2 t. coarse pepper

Pork:

• 3-5 pounds boneless sirloin pork roast, or pork shoulder (don't use loin, not fatty enough)
• 1 cup root beer or cola (Jill's note: I used root beer)
• 1 cup green salsa or green enchilada sauce (Jill's note: I used Herdez brand)

Sauce:

• 2 cups red enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 8 oz. chopped green chiles
• 1 cup green salsa or green enchilada sauce

1. Combine all the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl. Measure out 2 T. of the mixture and save for later.

2. Cut the pork roast into large chunks (4-6") and rub the remaining seasoning mixture (not the reserved 2 T) evenly over all sides of the pork. 

3. Add the soda and 1 cup green salsa/enchilada sauce to the insert of a slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 5-6 hours until tender. Transfer the pork to a cutting board or pan and shred. Discard all but 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker. Add the shredded pork back to the slow cooker. 

4. Add the 2 T. of reserved seasoning, red enchilada sauce, brown sugar, green chiles, and green salsa/enchilada sauce and stir/toss to combine. Cover and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until heated through. Keep warm until serving. 

note: on her website melskitchencafe.com, Mel has directions for doing this in a pressure cooker if you're interested. She also has info on different cuts of meat, freezing the meat, etc. Click here for her post.