Blooper Friday! Avocado Soup FAIL!

Even highly skilled cows and pigs fail at cooking sometimes. We thought avocado would make a cool, refreshing summer soup.  Maybe it does.  These avocados did not.  

Once upon a time there was... Watermelon Sherbet

Technically, it's still summer. We realize that school has started and leaves are starting to fall in some places, but it's still summer for another 2 weeks... That means you still have time to make this sherbet! You can still find juicy watermelons in the grocery store and the weather is warm enough to crave an ice cold treat - but only for a few more weeks!

Once upon a time there was... Mac and Two Cheeses with Caramelized Shallots

Alright Castle Farm Cookbook readers, today you are in for a delicious treat.  This macaroni and cheese recipe is pretty much the best thing ever.  Why top your noodles and cheese with dried out bits of stale bread when you could gloriously coat them with buttery caramelized shallots instead?  That's what we thought.

We were originally introduced to this recipe when a friend brought it to us as part of a potluck.  After stealing all of the leftovers for ourselves, we took her recipe, too.  (She found it at Epicurious.)

Once upon a time there was... Summer Roasted Chicken

Well Castle Farm Cookbook readers, we're back! Did you miss our cute faces and delicious recipes? I bet you did! Well, we missed you, too! We had a long, unannounced, unexpected summer break from our blogging. We took several vacations (an International Tour of America, a Baltic Cruise, and a Poconos weekend) and we moved (still outside the beltway in DC). We're 90% unpacked at the new Castle Farm, so now its time to get back to blogging.

For our first new recipe, we decided to make a summer roasted chicken. During the summer, we do not often consider roasting chickens - it's a very fall thing to do. But we added some lemon, basil and thyme instead of apples and potatoes, and now its a summery meal. This recipe is a Castle Farm original! We're also pairing this one with some prepared potato and macaroni salads to complete our summer meal.

International Tour of America, Part 2

Hi readers, we are very sorry for our lack of posting, but we have been so busy with our various trips and events! Before we leave for another two week adventure, here are some more pictures from our International Tour!

Here's the Parthenon:

And the great pyramid of Memphis:

Here we are with the famous Peabody ducks:

And with a kangaroo! (they are really soft and furry, by the way)

And in case you forgot this was a food blog, here we are with some cheese:

That doesn't really have anything to do with the International Tour, but we do love cheese!

We'll get back to actual recipes soon, we promise.

Moo!

International Tour of America Part 1

Hello Castle Farm Cookbook readers! Sorry we haven't updated much lately; we've been getting ready for (and now taking) a trip!  We are on an International Tour of America.  We're driving through Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia in search of amazing things.  Here's some we found so far...

We went to the Virginia Safari Park:

(here we are stealing some of the animals' food)

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Loveless Cafe:

and we saw Foamhenge:

and the Eiffel Tower:

It's been an exciting trip with lots of delicious food, international landmarks, and driving so far.   We'll keep you updated with a few more pictures this week and hopefully we'll be back to your regularly scheduled Castle Farm recipes shortly...

pig, out!

Once upon a time there was... Tomato and Feta Fritters

These are also called ntomatokeftedes, which is a long Greek word that means tomato fritter.  We found this recipe over at Closet Cooking, where Kevin the blogger makes all kinds of delicious and beautiful food.  We definitely recommend checking out his site.  Anyway, Greek fritters...

I was super excited about making them, Cal was less convinced.  Once we finished them, Cal loved them, too.  They definitely take a little time, and aren't great for reheating.  Perhaps these would make a better party food than weeknight dinner, but you should still make them.