2014 January » Just 5 More Minutes

Over the past couple of years I’ve received a lot of emails inquiring about how we go about our winter camping adventures with our Airstream that it seems I should probably create a post about it.

Here’s a summary of our situation.

We live in the Pacific Northwest in the United States of America — specifically Seattle. Seattle experiences a rather mild change of seasons with the average temperate in winter time hovering around the mid 40’s. We do occasionally drop down to below freezing and we do experience snow every now and then. This means, for us, in the colder months — we need to keep a constant eye on the weather/temperature as we don’t (and never have) winterized our Airstream. If temps drop down below freezing we head into the Airstream and turn on the furnace which in turn, keeps the Airstream and her pipes warm (and from freezing).

Seattle Photography via MonicaBennett.com

Here’s a scrumptious/addicting snack for you and one that we’ve been enjoying this past week.

I introduce you to: Burratta ♥ Basically, Burratta is a ball of fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both soft, stringy mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft pillowy texture. It’s best served at room temperature drizzled with a good olive oil and cracked pepper and then spread atop crusty bread. I should also mention that it’s out of this world topped with Balsamic vinegar glaze.

And if you’ve never had the opportunity to taste Burratta, you will thank me for the introduction :) Just like I thanked my sweet friend Amber for introducing me to it a couple of years ago.

“You’ve never had Burratta Monica?” She asked me, completely shocked. Continue reading »

How much do I love this heavenly green concoction I’ve called Pesto? Well let me just count the ways :)

I love it gently swirled into a deep bowl of delicate angel hair pasta — B thinks it’s even better with his eggs over easy and I won’t forget hubby’s favorite way — straight out of the jar (naughty, naughty).

But today I enjoy it this way — on a Tartine :) which means, “open faced sandwich,” in French :)

This style of eating is one my favorites :) and B’s favorite too.

A slice of toasted French bread smeared with a generous helping of peppered ricotta followed by a nice dollop of the pesto and a thin slice of ‎ proscuiotto followed by a grand finale of perfectly roasted tomatoes.

Perfection.

Pesto is what I first called it — but upon further consideration it could easily merge into the category of Heavenly Deliciousness taking any meal to higher levels :)

You may remember this trip we took when I first created this recipe. I realized I had forgotten the real Italian pesto at home :( So, using what I had onboard I introduce you to our new favorite pesto/sauce/heavenly concoction ♥

My next thought for this? Atop a hot baked potato with a dollop of sour cream ♥

If you do try this, please let me know — I would love to hear what you think xo

Bon Appetit xoxo

~ Monica

Smoky Almond, Cheddar and Chive Pesto

Print recipe

Ingredients

3 cups chives (just take the bunch of chives and roughly break them apart so they will loosely fill three cups)
1/2 cup smoked and salted almonds (roughly chopped)
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese (finely shredded)
Zest of one small lemon
salt and pepper to taste (at the end)
1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Step 1
In a food processor (I used my trusty little 3-cup capacity food processor I keep on board the Airstream) put the chives, almonds, cheese, lemon zest and give it a whirl. Add your olive oil to it - a little at a time until your desired consistency is met.
Step 2
Add salt and pepper to taste at the end. Hubby said I should bottle this stuff and sell it. I also think next time I may add some garlic . . .
Step 3
In addition to topping eggs with this, I imagine it would be delicious with pasta or on sandwiches :) ♥

Fab Finds Tuesday via J5MM.com

These enamel measuring cups are simply adorable. After pinning them on Pinterest I went back to my board and bought them because I couldn’t get them out of my head {Via West Elm}
After a pretty bad rollerblading accident that resulted in a complete tear of my ACL, I’ve taken a break from downhill skiing and opt for a more leisurely winter activity – snowshoeing :) And if I didn’t already own a pair of snowshoes, these would definitely be on my wish list. {via REI}
Black, white, red and other bright colors fill my Airstream and these pillows (with a red backing) make my heart sing {via Amara} ♥
Food storage, salad dressing (and cocktail) shakers, smoothie vessels and lunches on the go are just a few of the ways I use these blue mason jars in my Aistream. Multi-purpose and cute too, what more could you ask for in a small kitchen? {via Provisions}

And if you’re from the Pacific Northwest and love your outdoor gear, you’ll appreciate this video :)

Sure you can drive, stop, park the car — get out and walk up to the geysers to check them out when visiting Yellowstone National Park.

But there is one really awesome way to see them that we discovered during our Airstream trip over the past summer.

Welcome to a beautiful Sunday my friends :) For 2014, I’ve decided to add another feature/category to J5MM named: Snack Sundays :)

This feature idea came from the fact that every day, when I come home from work, hubby and B are asking me (as soon as I walk in the door) “We’re starving! What’s for dinner?!” Seriously. Oliver is jumping all over me begging to be picked up, my coat is still on and I usually have an armful of something either groceries for dinner or files from the office that I can barely hang onto.

This year I’ve decided to add a new category: “Fab Finds Tuesday,” to J5MM sharing with you some of the many things I find beautiful, inspirational and just plain cute and funny online that I then pin — to Pinterest. If you follow me on Pinterest, you will see my obsession with outfitting my Airstream along with finding recipe inspirations and so much more.

So let’s get started :)

Fabulous Online Finds Tuesday via Just 5 More Minutes

Continue reading »

Japanese Potato Salad from my Airstream kitchen to yours

2014 is going to be a wonderful year — I can just feel it.

I’ve met some wonderful friends through J5MM over the last few years and for that very sole reason I am proud of this blog. But there are two people in particular that I absolutely can not wait to meet in person and it’s going to happen this year. We’ve been friends online now for a while — sharing stories of weekend adventures, Airstreams and best of all — the Japanese culture. Obviously I’m not Japanese but the culture has always fascinated me, so much in fact that at times in my life I have become quite absorbed in learning more about it. Fortunately for me, these sweet friends of mine have generously taken their time to carefully explain traditions as well as other things including the cuisine of the culture to me. They even sent me the best care package ever. Continue reading »

It’s a tradition to celebrate Christmas Eve at my brick and mortar home and have the Bennett family come over. As usual, my sister-in-law and I get wrapped up in heavy conversation about cooking, growing veggies, sewing and so much more. I simply adore her — she is such an inspiration.

Such an inspiration in fact that I could hardly wait to try a bread recipe that she’s been baking now for quite some time in her dutch oven at home. She made it sound so easy (she doesn’t even measure!) but the basic premise is baking bread at a high heat in the dutch oven as to replicate the “steaming” process that takes place in the higher end ovens found in fancy bakeries.

This loaf of bread you see below was my first attempt — I too did not measure and it came out delicious. But tonight as I sit here typing this, my home smells so Heavenly as I made a second loaf so I could measure my ingredients this time around and share the recipe with you.

Just 5 More Minutes

Winter Camping Airstream Style

Snack Sundays: Burrata Love

Five Or Less Friday: Smoky Cheddar & Almond Chive Pesto

Smoky Almond, Cheddar and Chive Pesto

Ingredients

Directions

Fab Finds Tuesday

When in Yellowstone

Snack Sundays: Crunchy Salmon Bites

Fab Finds Tuesday ♥

A Japanese Kind of Afternoon ✿

Happy 2014