So what we have here is a mackin’ sandwich that I hope you will add to your “make it, and make it often” list of go-to meals. It tastes best with a Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, the beer choice of hipsters and bohemians alike!

It’s super simple, relying on awesome ingredients.

Hen of the Woods Organic Mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with crushed red pepper, red leeks  and a smattering of Proscuitto. Melt some good quality Smoked Gouda on top and slide onto a bakery roll and top with onions from the Porchtime Pickled Eggs from your fridge , a smear of organic mayo, salt and pepper and you have more than brotherly love! Make sure to warm up the buns in the cast iron pan to get them a tad greasy with olive oil. mmmmmmm.

Of course, he was referring to the mass-produced, cardboard tasting, salt-laden abomination of “pizza” that is sold to countless millions. What he wasn’t referring to was a fresh, handmade, organic, veggie-topped pie-of-heaven with a Greek fried egg on the side that we had for breakfast!

Well, you know me, I just have to fry stuff I guess!. No really, making a pizza in a frying pan is an awesome idea especially if it is too hot to turn on the oven, your oven is broken (you know who you are!) or, like me, you are starving and just can’t wait for all the rigour-ra-moll that goes with making a pizza from scratch at home.

Luckily, I made a batch of pizza dough yesterday and was ahead of the game. I took a fist-sized ball of the dough and rolled it out quite thin and chopped up my toppings while the ever trusty cast iron pan got sizzling hot.

For the toppings I used: Swiss Chard (of course!), green onion , red bell pepper, garlic and crushed red pepper, all of which got the usual treatment in the cast iron pan.

Now for the fun part, I took out the toppings and set aside and got the pan really hot. I added a little oil and then carefully added my rolled out dough. That thing poufed right up and just sizzled away to crispy goodness. I flipped it over and “baked” the other side while I added my toppings and a little grated Jack  and Cotija cheeses.

After it was nice and crispy on the other side, I took it out of the pan and then quickly fried a few Greek style eggs.

I cut this true “pan” pizza in two and served with the eggs. It was really just a fancy version of toast and eggs, or shall I say a “luscious” version? Yeah, it was all that. Oooh, I just realized that it would be a yummy and unusual base for a Benedict, using a biscuit cutter to make smaller rounds before frying. Oh my.

yes, I took bites before taking the pic. sorry, but I was sooo hungry!

(Oh, and I also topped it with some pepperoncini, but I put those on lots of stuff. I’m addicted, and plan on making my own later in the summer!)

Slightly sweet, tangy and tender the very chilled eggs straight out of the jar were a perfect light lunch with bread and cheese and some of the really delicious pickled onions from the jar as well. Hubby and I were both coming up with all kinds of ideas for future pickled eggs. He, of course, wants a “Diablo” style, super hot egg. My mind went in the direction of improving the quality of the eggs by using organic, and then I realized just how awesome it would be to have my own flock of chickens for the eggs! very cool.

I was thinking that Porchtime Organic Pickled Eggs are a great thing to have on hand in your fridge: unexpected company, really hot outside, camping, picnics, use them for deviled eggs, smash on bread, chop on salad etc.

Isn’t it great when one of your goofy ideas comes out good? I think so.

I was feeling pretty creative this morning and took my time preparing this yummy brunch.

My good stuff on hand: Dried Shitakes, Organic Jumbo Eggs, Bread from the local bakery Frank’s, Swiss Chard, Dill, Basil and Leeks (all from my garden), Goat Cheese, Hot house tomatoes (i usually don’t buy tomatoes, but they were on sale), Balsamic, Olive Oil and just a splash of Fish Sauce.

First, I frizzled my leeks in olive oil and used them to top a pretty tomato slice and a slice of goat cheese on the plate. I then added fresh ground pepper and topped with a little chopped dill.

Next, I sauteed the Chard quickly with a little garlic and put it to the side. The Shitakes I had soaked so I drained them and dry fried them with the Basil, adding the dash of fish sauce to deglaze the pan. Toasted Bread was then added to the plate and here’s where I got creative. One slice I  dressed with a quick little dressing I made with the Oil/Balsamic/more dill/dried herbs and then topped with the cooked chard. The other slice I left dry and mounded the mushrooms on top. I meant to poach the eggs, but kinda forgot and did the Greek Fried Egg like I mostly do. I topped each bread slice with an egg and sprinkled on a little more chopped dill and basil.

the first flavor layer on the bread base and my pretty tomato stack

The beauty behind the presentation is this: My hubby likes goat cheese, but doesn’t like a lot of it. Having the little stack of tomato and cheese on the plate made it so we each could add as much as we liked as a condiment to the eggs. Plus, it was funner to have it presented in a pretty way. I have to say while both versions were excellent, my favorite was the Swiss Chard one with plenty of the tomato/goat cheese stack added.

Shawns "overhard" version. Def would be prettier with poached, but still yummy!

No, we did not have the ubiquitous pile of potatoes on the side like you get in so many restaurants. No butter was harmed (or used!) in the making of this brunch and it really was not heavy at all, just fresh, elegant and delish.

On to the rest of the Mimosas and a great Sunday!

Buddha Approved!

I kind of knew that I would enjoy the process because I generally love to make dishes that require some assemblage such as enchiladas, lasagna, spring rolls etc. and the pickling process was right up my alley.

I pickled eggs for a couple of reasons. For starters, my cucumbers are not ready yet and also Henry’s had eggs on sale for 88 cents. At that price, it was buy them and throw them at the cars driving by on Washington or pickle those bad boys!

I found a recipe online for “Sweet Pickled Eggs” which I of course altered except for the brine. I added garlic, dill, a radish and a carrot to each jar. The brine was simply water, vinegar, sugar and pickling spice. I didn’t have pickling spice, so I used Zataran’s crab boil as it was practically the same thing. I’ll have to update y’all when we taste them in about a week, but they sure look yummy!

A few weeks back, we were out walking in Hillcrest and I spied a sale rack at a cute boutique stating that “everything on this rack $20″. Well, of course I had to look and of course found a super cute dress that Shawn said would no doubt become my new “uniform”. I tried it on, bought it and left the store wearing it. Normally, I only buy clothes from thrift stores or just have them given to me by my daughter and my friend Anita, but it just kinda happened, you know?

The very next day, this stupid dress started falling apart at the seams, literally! I had to get ol’ Betsy the sewing machine out and sew the bottom ruffle back on as it came almost completely off at the back . Ok, didn’t want to take it back cuz it IS cute and comfy. A couple days later, put it on again and this time the adjustable strap thingy wouldn’t keep the boulder up,so I tied a knot in the strap near the tiny plastic adjuster. About an hour later, I noticed the boob slipping down and lo and behold the damn plastic thing had cracked and half of it had fallen off! I was PO’d. But, no receipt to be found so I will have to just sew the strap in place I guess.

But how wrong is that? Cheap ass junk. Maybe  the old saying about you get what you pay for may apply here, but bear in mind this dress originally sold for $60. The bumpersticker moral to this story, for me anyway, is “I’d rather be shopping at Amvets”.

So with new dedication, the Amvets on the frontage road off Pacific Highway is now my go-to place for virtually everything. I guess I can’t buy panties or a bathing suit there, but whatever.Well, I guess I could. But nah.

Recently I have scored the following:

*2 pairs of gorgeous, nearly new, Pier One lined curtain panels for $19.95. They had been priced the day before at $19.95 per pair, but the next day when I went back they had a 50 percent off sale! Jeez, lucky! One pair is now hanging in my bedroom and the other pair may get used to make pillow covers and maybe even a new “uniform” dress for me!

*a huge and awesome wine decanter just like my wine broker friend’s for $2.95

*a pair of barely worn Lucky jeans for $7.95!!! They were 50 percent off the already incredibly cheap $14.95 and totally fit me (gasp!)

*a cute slightly trampy (ok, pretty trampy) Bebe top for $2.95

*Tommy Bahama shorts for Shawn, totally pressed and new looking for $5.95

*Brand new with tags Callaway Golf shirt for Shawn for $5.95

The only problem is, I have become a little obsessed with checking there a little more often than I should and I’m probably buying more stuff than I normally would just because of the awesome deals. Dear god, I can walk to the freaken’ place! I think I even have the recorded store information they play over the loudspeaker memorized. I’ve even been almost able to zone out and not hear the occasionally screaming kids. Maybe I’ll give it a rest for a few weeks….or days…..or , hmmmm,  I wonder if they have any cool random chairs for my budding dining area?

Remember the Fried Chicken Mushroom post? Well, the other night we had family over to include my super skinny 18 and 20 year old nephews Nick and Ryan and their friend Will, and wow can they eat! I love cooking for people that really love to eat like that.

Here was what I made for them (of course all from scratch)

Chicken Fried Steak Mushrooms

Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom/Buttermilk Gravy

Garden Greens

Broccoli Cheddar Corn Muffins

and for dessert, Meyer Lemon Scented Sponge Cake with Strawberries/Blackberries and Whipped Cream

I knew I wanted to make the chicken fried mushrooms again, but we had decided to make them with the seasoning from Paul Prudhomme’s Chicken Fried Steak recipe. I bought the Organic King Oyster Mushrooms this time and wow! what a great texture. I sliced them lengthwise and marinated them in the buttermilk and the spices as before. The new spice mix was much better, more complex and really gave it that country style taste.

To make the mushroom gravy, I simply used trim from my Oyster mushrooms and a few dried shitakes and simmered them on the back of the stove to make a mushroom stock. After frying the mushrooms, I kept them warm in the oven and used the mushroom stock to deglaze the pan. There was already flour in the little bit of oil from frying the mushrooms, so I just simmered it down and then added a little buttermilk and more of the seasoning. It was great on the potatoes and the “chicken”.

You’ll notice that we had greens, of course! I made them more traditionally than usual with balsamic and a little prosciutto, garlic and some red onion and cooked them down. The meal was rounded out with the corn muffins, which I snuck even more veggies into with a little chopped up broccoli.

you'd think his mother never fed him!

I was very pleased with the cake, because I don’t bake that much and usually feel a little intimidated. I knew I wanted a strawberry shortcake type dish but did not want to buy those gross little ones from the store. The cake was actually really easy and everyone wolfed it down. I also got to use my really nifty whipped cream maker, fun!

Except for the 1/4 cup or so of diced prosciutto, this meal was completely vegetarian. The cake was completely organic, even the whipping cream.

Feeding people I love is such a joy, thanks for coming over guys!

The first thought that burst into my mind was that of my mother. I couldn’t help but wish she could have lived her life in a place this peaceful and full of the simple beauty and joy that so many of us crave. For you see, I was staring at a stately Victorian home surrounded by what seemed to be acres of every type of flower, fruit and vegetable known to man. It reminded me a perfect farm on Farmville.

Camera in hand and perma-grin spread across my face I began to wander the grounds without even checking in with anyone.  And to what to my wonderous eyes did appear? A flock of  not so tiny chickens peacefully doing their chicken  thing under the watchful eye of a very handsome rooster. I wandered around just never wanting to leave, admiring the veggies (Oh Jessica,you would love this!), feeling not envious but just overjoyed that such a philanthropic place exists.

But I was there to lend a hand to one of my newly found passions; helping others learn to make healthy food  choices. You see, this Garden is run by the International Community Foundation and just recently, thanks to the efforts of Chef Julie Darling , Michelle Duggan Cox and many others, is now hosting local school children at the garden to learn about cooking with the organic goods found at the garden. The program has now expanded to include guest chefs who volunteer to teach groups of children about food, health, choices and cooking.

As always, I met some wonderful people to include Chef Chad White and Chef Andrew Spurgin.  My good friend Chef Basil Hernandez was there and soul sister Michelle Duggan Cox, who runs the Learning Center at Olivewood.

The day started with Julie lending me one of her Chef coats! Man, I am such a sucker for that stuff. The coat was actually really comfy and I kept it on all day. I wonder if my niece, the future Chef Alex Ashforth ,likes her coat? I’m guessing yes!

yep, thats my elf ear. learn to love it!

Will this be my only chance to ever dress up like a chef? hmmmm.

Yes, there was some early goofing off and breakfast eating and of course I wanted to open the wine that was in the fridge, but cooler senses prevailed and we soon all got to work.

Several bunches of kids came in throughout the morning learning about and helping to make Chef Chad’s Grapefruit Soda. Each group would then rotate outside and work with the Master Gardener of the property, Martha and then stop by and crowd around a table set up by Chef Andrew that was set up with good and bad food choices and exotic fruits that were donated by Specialty Produce for the kids to try. I admire these people so much, very busy professional Chefs giving back in a way that really matters.

Chef Andrew want to know "what side of the table are YOU on?"

Chef Julie explains why we are making grapefruit soda

Soon after, a group of donors to the foundation came through and it was the main event. We were to serve lunch with the help of the kids and there was quite a whirlwind of activity although a lot of prep had been done beforehand. We set a nice area up near the pool and had the kids serve these philanthropically minded people the grapefruit soda. Meanwhile, the kitchen was a last minute frenzy as lunch came out and was carried down to the pool area to be served.

All in all the event came off nicely and the meal that Chefs Chad, Julie and Basil put together was beautiful. It was really fun to see how proud the kids were of the soda they helped make. I really hope it helped to encourage the donors to bug their friends for more donations.

menu, recipes and party favor of garden herbs

I just want to say thank you to Michelle,can you believe that she put down on the card that I’m a “Food Writer”? I love her! It was a thrill to see my name next to that dream job! Of course, I covered it up with rosemary in this picture, but who cares? I brought one of the cards home with me

I learned so much today and absolutely fell in love with Olivewood. As far as my chef friends go, how did I get so lucky to meet such wonderful people at this time in my life?

Luann Harris Gould

Food Writer

Don't worry, that chicken will never be dinner!

Thanks for reading and commenting!