81 Poppies

As many of you know I have started my own clothing line called 81 Poppies. I have been working really hard trying to get the collection together for an upcoming photo shoot as well as for spring market in a month. That's why I haven't been giving you guys lots of yummy recipes. So instead of food therapy here is a little fashion therapy for everyone to enjoy. These are some pictures I took during a quick fitting with my model.

Ice Cream you scream we all scream for Ice Cream

I am so happy to report that there is finally a non dairy ice cream product that is actually good! It is called NadaMoo and its made with all natural ingredients. The most important thing is that the texture is just like real ice cream. It is smooth and creamy and rich. I would highly recommend this product to anyone that has a dairy allergy or a gluten allergy. And even if you don't have all these things it just tastes good and you will love it! I promise. So far I have only sampled the Maple Pecan, which just melts in your mouth. I think you can buy it all Central Market locations and Whole Foods as well. And what's even better is it is a local Austin business! So go out and support your small local businesses!

Watermelon Popsicles

I took some of the watermelon that we grew and cut it up and stuck in a blender with some sugar and a couple tablespoons of lemonade, and froze it in our nifty Popsicle contraption. And the next day we had delicious and refreshing watermelon pops. This is so simple to do and you can do it with any fruit you like. Last year we did it with peaches and it was fantastic.

Summer Corn Soup with Shrimp

the tomato brushetta we made the second time around eating the soup. Simply cut some tomatoes and drizzle some olive oil a dash a balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper; mix well.
Then take some crusty bread and brush both sides with olive oil and stick in the oven to toast for 10 minutes. Its that simple.


This is another great summer soup recipe that I found on another food blog called Sprouted Kitchen. I think it came out really good and loved the shrimp and avocado topping. This minus the soup would even be good in tacos. We had a lot of leftover soup so we had the next night with some hard boiled egg and bacon crumbled on top with a tomato bruschetta on the side. Very tasty.
Here is what you need for the soup:
4 ears of corn, kernels cut from the cob
4 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
3 small Yukon gold potatoes or 1 large cut into cubes
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
cayenne or red pepper flakes to taste
2 teaspoons oregano
salt and black pepper to taste

Here is what you need for the shrimp topping:
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large avocado, diced
1 poblano chile
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 scallion, chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and saute to coat. Cook until the onions just start to turn light brown. Peel the potato and cut into cubes, add it to the onion. Cut the kernels of corn off the cob, add them to the soup pot. Add the broth, spices and a few grinds of fresh pepper and allow everything to simmer, until corn and potatoes are cooked through.
Toss the shrimp in olive oil and salt and pepper and put on a baking pan. Cut the poblano chile in half length wise, and place it skin side up on the pan as well. Bake on the upper rack for 5 minutes until shrimp are cooked through. Remove the shrimp and set aside. Put the pepper back in the oven until the skin blisters. While waiting peel the tails off the shrimp. Remove the pepper and put it into a Ziploc bag to cool, this will help the skin peel off easier.
Check on the soup to make sure the potato and corn are cooked through. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree the soup. I left it a little chunky.
In a separate bowl, combine the shrimp pieces, lime juice, chopped herbs and scallions. Peel and cut the avocado and add to the bowl. Rub the skin off the chile, cut into small pieces. Toss together.
Serve soup in a bowl and spoon shrimp mixture over it.

The BEST Banana Bread

Ok, so I know I have written about several banana recipes and I am sure you all are thinking, enough already with the bananas. But I have to share one last recipe that I have found to be the best banana bread I have ever made. I have used several banana bread recipes but this one tops them all. The original recipe came from a bakery in Boston called Flour Bakery which I have never been to but I have seen it on the food network, and it looks amazing. So, Food Network was kind enough to post their recipe for everyone to share in its glory. I have switched up one of the ingredients in it which I think is the key to this breads moistness. The original recipe calls for creme fraiche or sour cream which I don't use, instead I use low fat buttermilk. What also sets this recipe apart from others is that you beat the egg and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, so the cake is very light and airy and puffs up a lot when its baking. So enough talking let me give you this recipe so you can get to baking. :)

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (i use canola oil)
3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 tablespoons low fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on your oven, mine usually takes about 50 minutes).
let it cool on a wire rack in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then turn out onto a plate and let cool more.

Salmorejo Cordobes (Spanish Style Gazpacho)

We made a very good Spanish style gazpacho the other night for dinner. I found this recipe on Bon Appetit's website. It was so fresh and delicious. We simply served it with some chopped cucumber, hard boiled egg, and crispy pancetta (or you can use bacon). This is the perfect summer meal for these hot and humid days.
Here is what you need:

1 cups room temperature water
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cups coarsely torn day old baguette with crust or any type of crusty bread you like
5 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/8 cup sherry wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 garlic clove, peeled
1 cup lightly flavored extra virgin olive oil
2 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
4 slices of pancetta or bacon, cooked till crispy and chopped
1/2 seedless cucumber chopped

Stir water and salt in medium bowl to dissolve. Add bread; soak for 30 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from bread; reserve soaking liquid.
Puree half each chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, sherry vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic in blender until very smooth. With machine running, gradually add half of bread, adding reserved soaking liquid by tablespoonfuls if mixture is too thick to blend. Puree until very smooth. With machine running, gradually add half of the olive oil. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, sherry vinegar, fresh lemon juice, garlic, bread, and oil. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Or you can put it into your freezer for 15 minutes if you don't have 2 hours to chill it. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide soup into bowls; sprinkle with chopped egg, bacon, and cucumber. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve. Serves 4

The Fruits of Our Labor

We birthed our first baby watermelon today! She weighed in at about 25 pounds and had a gorgeous green skin and delicious red juicy insides. We cut the umbilical cord and it was love at first bite. We have 3 more babies on the way and are very excited. Hopefully they will be just as tasty as the first.