The Braves game with Eric and Elizabeth–Sorry E, I love this pic! haha.

Hefewiezen hummus with fried chickpeas

Frying chickpeas

Pork Tacos with Lime Mayo

I feel a bit like Nick Carraway these days, who declares in the beginning of The Great Gatsby that he “had a familiar conviction that life was beginning all over again with the summer.” Piece by piece, life has most certainly begun over again this summer, and the reinvention factor feels really good.

It’s the same thing I love about teaching. Every year begins with a freshness and sense of reinvention. Students don’t have to be the same person they were the year before, and I don’t have to be the same teacher–Every August holds a sense of renewal and we all get to improve on last year in whatever way we see fit.

This summer has given me a sense of renewal in many ways, as we measure our moments differently now–we’ve redecorated our life, one piece at a time, in order to nest and live the way we want. The farmer’s markets, Braves game, dinners with friends, and laughs with family have filled our free time and are just a taste of the forever that is our end game now. (Nicholas and I still don’t have enough time together, but I suppose that will always be my complaint.)

I especially feel reinvented in the kitchen–a fresh space has given me the inspiration and courage to try new recipes and entirely new foods, without being afraid of what my mom would call “a flop.” I’d rather try something new, make alterations if need-be, or even throw it away, before remaining in the rut of making the same 4-5 dishes over and over again as I once did in San Antonio. And since my main TV outlet has been the Food Network, I feel even more empowered to play with food. I usually spend a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday working on my food board for the week, and I’m trying religiously to avoid a recipe repeat unless I make a significant alteration; while we’ve cooked up a variety of new morsels lately, I have two favs to report in on from this past week and know that based on what I created for this next week’s food board, I ought to have a couple more to share come next weekend. 🙂

Hefeweizen Hummus

The idea came from watching the Food Network, of course, and I ended up using the recipe here for my base http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/recipes/123198893.html. That said, I altered the recipe, so you could give the original a try, or try my creation:

Ingredients:
2 16-ounce cans chickpeas, drained
1 1/2 cups Blue Moon
1 tablespoon lemon juice from fresh lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons olive oil
Olive oil for frying
1 cup flour

Process:
Blend or food-process 1 can chickpeas with 1/2 cup of beer, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Add 2 cloves garlic and 3 tablespoons olive oil and continue blending until smooth. (The actual hummus is done; now you are making the fried chickpeas for the top.)
Put enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a skillet on medium-high heat while you create the batter for the second can of chickpeas. In a medium size bowl mix remaining 1 cup beer and 1 cup flour with a fork until smooth. Add the second can of chickpeas. Using a slotted spoon, remove chickpeas, shake the excess batter off, drop into hot oil, and cook until golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon, place on paper towel and salt. Top the hummus with the fried chickpeas and serve with naan or pita chips.

Pork Tacos with Lime Mayo

This idea began with a steak taco recipe from May 2013 Cooking Light. We had left over ribs, however, and I wanted to shred the pork for the tacos instead. Essentially, we took tortillas and warmed them right on the grates of our gas stove–then I smeared about a tablespoon of the lime mayo, added the shredded pork (season it how you wish) and topped it with sautéed peppers and queso fresco. The most important thing was the lime mayo, and all you have to do is mix the following ingredients:

Lime Mayo:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon water