Crostini

We grilled some chicken on the grill one night, so I decided to try out some different flavors on top of  crostini.  Crostini is "little toasts" in Italian.  I bought a loaf of fresh French bread, goat cheese, avacado, and fresh salsa from The Fresh Market.  I also had some fresh blueberries from a local (NC) farm.

I brushed olive oil all around the french bread slices and delivered them to my husband, who grilled them along with the chicken.

The crostini with goat cheese and blueberries tasted like it had blueberry cream cheese, which was yummy, but not what I had expected.

What I really fell in love with was the one with goat cheese, avacado, salsa, and fresh cracked pepper.  I couldn't get enough.  It was so refreshing on a warm spring day.  My 7 year old even loved it!  My 4 year old wasn't quite as adventurous, who stuck with crostini with goat cheese, and blueberries on the side.

What do you love on crostini?

Spring Dinner Outside

We've had ridiculous weather this year, especially over the last couple of weeks.  Crazy heat, roller coaster temperatures, and I think there's been about 10 inches of rain at our house over the last 2 weeks.  But pollen season seems to be long past us, and today was absolutely one of the most beautiful days so far.  It was only 80 degrees outside in the hottest part of the day.  It wasn't humid, the bugs weren't out in full force, and the grass wasn't so wet that we couldn't walk on it.

So needless to say, we fired up the grill, put the umbrella up, tablecloth on and enjoyed dinner outside.

I did a very simple boneless chicken breasts in olive oil, onion powder and Italian seasoning, letting them sit for 20 minutes while the grill was warmed up.  My husband grilled them to perfection, along with the apricots.

 I whipped up a simple mixed greens salad, and some delicious strawberry lemonade.

Strawberry Lemonade

2 cups water plus 2 quarts water
Zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 pints of strawberries, hulled and rinsed
Juice of 5 lemons (about 3/4 cup)
Ice

First, warm the sugar and zest on high heat with 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan.  Boil and stir until the mixture is clear and the sugar is no longer grainy.

Blend your strawberries in a food processor.  Then in your drink pitcher, combine the berries, lemon juice, sugar water, and additional 2 quarts water.  Then add ice to cool it down.

Serve over ice.

Now sit back and enjoy the effort!

Chocolate Orange Mousse

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my faithful readers!  Have you ever had a Chocolate Orange?  You know, the candy?  So, I've only had it twice, but YUM!  Here's what I whipped up for my family for a Valentine's dessert.  This would be great to serve dinner guests!

Chocolate Orange Mousse

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup whole milk
Zest of 2 clementines plus juice of 1/2 clementine (to equal 1Tbsp of zest/juice)
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

Melt chocolate chips and milk in a warm double boiler.  Stir frequently until chocolate is completely melted.  Cool completely, then completely stir the zest/juice in.  Whip up the cream until stiff peaks form.  Set aside about 1/2 cup cream.  Fold the cream into the chocolate mixture until completely blended.  Put into dessert dish(es) and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Serve with a small dollop of the reserved whipped cream.
Serves 8

Book Exchange Birthday Party

After discussing some birthday ideas with my almost-7 year old, such as a craft party, etc, she settled on a book exchange.  We have harder times with ideas for her, since the weather here is so unpredictable in January.  She absolutely LOVES books, and goes through them very quickly.  She currently has a fixation on the Rainbow Magic books, and also still loves Magic Treehouse books (and FYI if you're not familiar with either series, there is no correlation between them even though Magic is in the series names for both).

She knew we were on a budget, and after all was said and done, we managed to keep the entire party, including our gift to her, which I'll tell you about later, under $100!

The idea behind the book exchange, which grown-ups also do for fun, is to wrap a gently used book that you enjoyed reading.  At the end of the party you each go home with a different book.   This is supposed to be in lieu of bringing a gift for the birthday girl.  I created the invitations in MS Word based on inspiration from Reid Girls Handmade.  It cost me only $3 for copies to be made on cardstock at the local office supply store.  Ribbon and envelopes are always on hand in my craft room, so no extra $ spent there.

We did a game that was like Dirty Santa, but only 1 girl stole from another, so I'm not sure these young girls understood the game part.  (LOL)  It was great watching the girls see their new book in the end, there was a lot of excitement in the room!  Each girl filled out a simple card to place inside that told who brought it and what they enjoyed about the book (see above pic).

I did some very simple decorations.  My daughter didn't want any balloons, so I used green and blue buckets (her favorite colors) to hold flowers and drape ribbon.  The ribbon tied in with the bookmarks that they made.

I bought jumbo paper clips for them to tie ribbon on.  The girls ended up recruiting their moms to help.  I had a bucket of small ribbon pieces, told them to pick out about 10 each, and tie them to the top of the clip.  I thought it was such a cute idea, and the ribbon was no extra cost for me, since I have a TON of it upstairs in my craft room.

Lastly, we had an ice cream social.  The birthday girl did not want cake, since she doesn't like frosting.  So, per her request, we had ice cream, homemade whipped cream, and fresh fruit- a selection of fresh blueberries, sliced strawberries, and sliced bananas.

It was a nice relaxing party, no hustle and bustle, and the girls all had a great time.  Best of all, it didn't break the bank.

Our gift to her was an LED book light that has a charging station (and the special edition book Belle the Birthday Fairy).  We let the girls read at bedtime (we encourage reading), and feel it gives them flexibility and not 'feeling' forced to lay there when they're not yet tired.  We've used glow bracelets in the past to provide them the extra light.  The book light was definitely something she loved- my husband even found her using it in a dark room in the middle of the day one day!

A great cookbook and incredible dinner rolls

We had a nice quiet Christmas dinner at home.  I made a more formal dinner for the occasion, and made a decision to include homemade rolls on the menu.  Being that it was Christmas weekend, I wasn't able to find time for any yeast breads, so I decided to hunt down a good recipe from my collection of books.

One of the books I perused was Lee Bailey's THE WAY I COOK.  It's a large collection from several of his cookbooks, all combined into one.  My aunt gave me this cookbook many years ago, when she lived in the area, and I'm so thankful to have it in my collection- it is timeless.  I recommend this book to people who want a comprehensive cookbook that will be a standby for years to come.  There are no pictures, so you have to imagine everything.  In the case of our Parmesan Onion Puffs, I'm so glad I imagined... and so was the family!  Even my kids loved these, despite the presence of onion.

The great thing about the puffs is that they are really simple to make, and it makes a lot of them, which is good because you will not be able to keep hands off of them!  The recipe says it makes ~18, but I'd say it was more like 24 or so.  I used my medium Pampered Chef scoop to make life easier.  These would be great for a dinner party.

Parmesan Onion Puffs

Saute 2 cups coarsley chopped onions in 4 Tbsp butter until wilted, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

Next, make the PATE A CHOUX:
1 stick unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
4 eggs, at room temperature

Put 1 cup water, the butter and salt into a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Dump in the flour all at once and stir vigorously over medium heat until the paste begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Off the heat, beat in the eggs, one at a time.

To finish the puffs, add in 1 cup freshly grated parmesan and the sauteed onions.  Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets (*I used parchment on mine).  Brush tops with milk and then sprinkle with additional parmesan.  Bake until golden and fluffy, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Entertaining at Christmas

 

My mom had a Christmas party this weekend.  There were around 50 people in her home.  There was a lot of food, so that everyone could have a 'floating' dinner.  

Mom asked if I could make signs for some of the food items, so that people would not feel the need to ask what certain things were.

I came up with these little bags that contain soft peppermint sticks.  I took some copper wire and looped around a pencil, stuck the wire down into the peppermints, took a cellophane square and pulled the corners and sides up into a bag shape and tied it with a small piece of silver cord.  I punched out the scalloped oval and regular ovals, along with a tiny hole punch to fit the wire in.  Tightened the wire to hold the paper firm.

When the party was ending and people were leaving with goodies, we pulled the wire out and handed over the peppermints!

Another idea: These would make fun place cards for a festive Christmas table setting, which the guests could each take home afterwards!

Merry Christmas!

So Many Ways with Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies are so often overlooked by more popular cookies, but I'm here to tell you that they are near the top of my list.  Where else can you find so many cool things to do with them?  In the past I have stamped them with a cookie stamp and hand painted them with edible paints.  Also I have sprinkled them with colored sugar crystals before baking.

This year I...

• Dipped in milk chocolate and then chopped walnuts  (Let set on wax paper in the fridge.)
• Dollop of milk chocolate and topped with Andes Mint Chips
• Sandwiched with lemon curd, and dusted with powdered sugar

I got rave reviews at my mom's Christmas party.  The recipe came from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen which is a cookbook I talked about in my last post.  They were divine!


These last a while, so not only are they great to make ahead for a party, they would also be wonderful packaged up for a gift!

What do you do with shortbread cookies?

Mom's Cherry Squares, Remade

I remember my mom making cherry squares growing up.  I'm not sure how often she made them, but they were dangerously delicious.  They still are.  I decided that they can still be delicious, but be made a little healthier.  I'm not saying my version is healthy (after all, it's still a dessert), just more so than the original.  The taste was not much different!  Did you know that cherries are known for their anti-inflammatory properties?

In my recipe, I tell you how to easily make your own cherry pie filling.  You can make ahead the pie filling if you like, just refrigerate until ready to use.  I recommend this, because with time, the juices come out and create the sauce.  As for pitting fresh cherries, I use the OXO Good Grips Cherry Pitter.  We love it (my husband even helps with pitting cherries)!

 'Sweet Cherry' Pie Filling

4 cups sweet cherries, pitted
juice of 1/2 lemon (1-2 Tbsp)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, stir ingredients and warm on med-high heat until sugar breaks down and dissolves.  Cover and reduce heat to med-low.  Heat them about 20 minutes to heat though and soften, stirring frequently.

Cherry Squares
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the ingredients together.  Spread 3/4 of the mix in a parchment-lined jelly-roll pan (10"x15"x1").  Spoon the cherry pie filling across the pan (on top).  It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, just make sure your cherries are somewhat evenly distributed.  The juices/sugar don't have to be evenly spread over every inch, just drizzled around.  Then spoon the remaining bar batter on.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or so.  The center needs to look cooked through before you pull it out.  Allow time to cool, then cut into bars.  Makes 24.

Have a delightful week!  Life is just a bowl of cherries~ just remember to throw out the pits!

Apple Cheddar "Stuffed" French Toast - Your Mouth Will Thank You

On Saturday night, our family picked up a loaf of Panera's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread, which we had them slice in the 'small' slices.  Our plans were to make French Toast after church.  The idea came to me as I thought about what I could do to add some 'wow' to the french toast.  Then the idea came to me.


So I sliced up some Empire apples, about 1 apple per person, maybe a little extra.  I peeled and sliced them, put them in a dutch oven on medium heat, and covered.  I stirred occasionally, but they only needed about 10 minutes of heat to start breaking down and getting warm.  Meanwhile, I grated about a cup of sharp cheddar cheese.

My husband cooked up our french toast, and it all came together like this:

We topped it off with some butter and a drizzle of organic pure maple syrup.  Delicious!  This would be a great idea for hosting a brunch!

It reminds me of an old bread recipe that I have made a couple of Christmases, Cheddar Apple Vanocka.  It's a traditional Czech Christmas bread filled with a cinnamon apple filling and cheddar cheese.

I love spending time in the kitchen with my family!

Strawberry Season 2011 has commenced!

I took a week of "stay-cation" this past week.  One of my favorite springtime activities is picking strawberries, and it was the perfect week, because the weather played out just perfectly for strawberry season to begin on my week off!  I took my oldest daughter with me.  We picked 2 big flats of strawberries.  I froze many of them.  On Friday morning we had whole wheat pancakes with real whipped cream (unsweetened) and fresh strawberries (with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top).  Yum!

Today I made this tart, which I've had in my mind for quite some time.  I think you would love it.  It's light and very springy!  We delved into it after the youngest finished her nap today.  I heard "quite delicious" and "best dessert ever" from the family!  Hope you'll try it! 

I want to share with you two new strawberry tools that I bought recently, both of which were fantastic!  Easy to use and made my workload much lighter!  These tools really sped up the time I spent prepping!

 

The Chef'n StemGem and Sliceter were both awesome tools that I picked up at Sur La Table.  It appears they're also available elsewhere for the same prices.  Hulling the strawberries went much faster than using a paring knife, and only cut out the unnecessary parts.

So without further adieu...

Strawberry Citrus Tart (makes 2)

Tart Cake:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fresh orange zest
pinch of salt
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 pint heavy whipping cream, whipped until stiff
1 jar lemon curd, chilled

Fresh sliced strawberries for top

For cake:
Prepare 2 tart pans (preferably the kind that will make a well in the center when flipped, such as Pampered Chef's) with cooking spray, a circle of parchment, and more cooking spray.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 375.
In a prep bowl, mix sifted flour, salt and orange zest.  Set aside.  Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until frothy.  Gradually beat in 1/4 cup granulated sugar; beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed with 1/3 cup sugar until thick and lemon-colored, several minutes.  Beat in the vanilla.  Fold the flour mixture into the yolk mixture.  Fold the yolk mixture into the whites.  Spread evenly into the 2 tart pans.
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.  Center should spring back when you gently push with your finger.  After cooling for 5 minutes, invert to your serving platter.  Cool. 

For filling, gently fold the lemon curd into the whipped cream until well blended.  Spread into the well of each cake.  Top with sliced strawberries and indulge. 

Go on, have a second piece.  I won't tell.

I *Heart* Picnics

We've had picnic dinners a few times this summer.  I love to picnic, especially when we can go to the park and hear free music to enjoy while we dine.  I love getting creative with what we're going to eat, and I don't typically go simple.  It's too fun not to.

Recently I took some mini cube sandwiches with chicken breast, sliced cheddar and southwest lime ranch dressing on pumpernickel bread (wheat for the girls).  I made regular sandwiches, but then cut into 4's and put them on toothpicks so they were small pick-me-up sandwich bites. 

To go with it, I chose fresh raspberries and kiwi wedges for fruit, and a simple black bean salad that I whipped up with some stuff from the garden.  Hope you'll try this simple recipe.

Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans, drained
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, snipped
2 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime

Mix together and refrigerate or pack in cooler until ready to eat!

Bento Lunches and a Red White and Blue Food

Busy busy busy... We're in the final countdown for lots of end-of-school-year activities.  After this coming weekend things will be a lot less hectic.  This weekend we had an outdoor dinner of grilled chicken (Greek seasoning from Pampered Chef), zucchini and pineapple, some tzatziki sauce for the chicken, garlic artisan bread, garlic and olive oil couscous, and some of this fruit salad, red white and blue for the holiday.  The salad consisted of ripened d'anjou pear (peeled), gala apple, blueberries and raspberries.  All of the berries are just amazing right now.

Last week we had to start packing lunches for our oldest daughter every day.  I didn't want her to feel like she's eating a sandwich every day, so some days I've done Bento box style, and other days I've given her the opportunity to choose what she wants to eat.  One day she said, "Mommy, I want a banana dog on Friday!  It just so happened that I had extra hot dog buns from a cookout, and a fresh banana, to which we added PB&J- voila, you have a banana dog.  Here are some of the Bento lunches:

Bento 1: Not too creative, she ended up just making a sandwich.  LOL.  American cheese and Oven Roasted chicken from Boar's Head; whole wheat bread, strawberries that we picked at the farm, and some teddy grahams.  Got some cute animal food picks designed for Bento lunches such as the ones seen here.

Okay, a little more creative on day 3, maybe.  Hearts and stars for bread, chicken and colby-jack cheese; yogurt tube, organic carrot sticks, blueberries in a cupcake liner, and some teddy grahams.  (Day 2 consisted of PB&J, I'll be blogging about sandwich ideas on another day.)

Week 2, Day 1 (Bento #3): Ants on a log- I used Smucker's natural peanut butter and Craisins (she will not eat raisins); cheese bites that I got from couponing, raspberries, and tortilla strips.

Today, being a holiday, I decided to do a quick fun treat for the family, so I broke down and made red white and blue Rice Krispie treats.  I used 5 cups of the cereal (instead of 6) and replaced the last cup with 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries and 1/2 cup dried blueberries.  They were 'berry' delicious!  Our 2 year old had never had the regular version of those treats before and didn't eat much because it was so sticky.  The rest of us thought they were fabulous!

Happy Memorial Day!

I'm so thankful for those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedoms.

God bless the families of those who served sacrificially.

My husband's birthday pie... and the story that goes with it

Many years ago, my aunt and uncle lived here locally.  She was a regular subscriber to a LOT of magazines and would pass them on to me when she was finished with them.  I used to love looking through them.  Most of them were cooking magazines such as Gourmet, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit... I loved trying new recipes out, and back then we had no kids, so I had a lot more time to experiment.

During those times, 10 years ago, I stumbled upon an interesting pie recipe in Bon Appetit (from the January 2000 issue).  I was intrigued by the ingredients, and decided to tear it out.  One Saturday, I set out to make that pie.  Little did I know, there was a lot of involvement and time required to make it.  So I slaved all day to make that pie.

When my husband asked me what kind of pie I had made, I told him it was a Pear and Blueberry Pie with a Walnut Streusel Topping.  He said it didn't sound very good.  I told him that it took me all day, and it was fine if he didn't like it, because I would never have to make it again!

After dinner, we ate the pie with vanilla ice cream.  He proceeds to tell me that it's the best pie he has ever had.  I also LOVED it.  So I told him that he can have it once a year for his birthday, and that's it.  Over the years, it has become famous among our friends.  Word quickly got around.  Some years I have friends over for his birthday and to share in the pie experience, and some years we just share the leftovers.  But I have gotten the creation of the pie down to a science, and for at least the last 7 or 8 years have made 2 pies at the same time.  It is still over a half day to make, but well worth the time for us.

Many people over the years ask for the recipe.  My response is always "are you sure?" and sometimes people decide not to get the recipe after I explain the process.  It's really not bad if you love spending time in the kitchen for something that is great!  For those of you who would like to make it, below is the link for the pie and the topping- not sure why it's called a sauce on the linked page, it is not at all a sauce on top.

Pear and Blueberry Pie 

Walnut Streusel Topping

Happy baking!

If you plan to make, keep reading:
My notes for making crust:
The crust on the bottom layer has shrinkage issues.  Try to make it large enough to go at least to the edge of the pie dish, then get a fork and poke fork holes all around the sides and bottom.  This will help you tremendously.  I have tried weighing it down with beans and not doing anything at all.  The forking method has worked best for this crust.  It is very flavorful and my husband has refused to allow me to use a different bottom crust. ;)

Also, please note that any of the 3 layers can be made in advance and refrigerated, covered.  Layer the 3 layers only when you're ready to bake the pie(s) in the oven.

Pajama Party Treats

Call me crazy, but I'm no fan of the typical birthday party treat bag.  Full of candy and toys that don't last long... I know the kids like them, but a month later they're long forgotten.  This year, my daughter decided that she wanted to have a pajama party with pizza and a movie.  Since her birthday is in January, the weather here is too unpredictable for an outdoor party.


I made each of the girls 2 things that tied in with the theme, which was the movie "Barbie & The Diamond Castle."  I bought some dot fleece with the Barbie signature and made each girl a no-sew scarf.  Just cut the fleece in strips about 8" wide, then snipped the ends about 7-8 times, maybe 4" length, and tied knots on each one.  (Just wait until I share what I did with the leftover fleece!)

I also bought two coordinating pattern fabrics, one with Barbie signature design on it, and the other with hearts that were really meant for Valentine's, but worked well with the Barbie fabric.   I bought a case of 10 pillow forms from United Pillow, the travel size (14x20, I think it was).  I made pillow cases for each of the girls that had a ruffled edge.  It simply required a gather stitch.  I'm willing to do a pillow case tutorial if enough people would like to see, it's really quite simple.

My serger is temporarily not functioning properly (I broke the needle plate) and so to finish the sewn edges I simply added a zigzag stitch after the straight stitch.  I then trimmed the excess fabric.  I hated having to do it that way, but at least I was able to finish the project.

We ended up having 9 girls total (including my daughter), and they all had a blast.  They also seemed to really like the scarves and pillows.  A treat that will last more than an hour, a day, or a week.

Bowl of cherries

I often like to buy cherries in bulk. They are in season right now, so it's the perfect time to stock up the freezer. Cherries are great in place of ice for smoothies. You could also try out your own homemade cherry pie, use them as garnish on a summer drink, serve them over ice cream, or just have a cup of cherries with a handful of almonds for a healthy snack.

In order to freeze cherries, you will need to pit them, rinse clean, pat dry and lay out on a parchment covered pan so that they aren't touching. Place in the freezer until just frozen, then transfer to a freezer safe baggie. Very similar to freezing strawberries!

Many people do not know about the cherry pitter. It's so easy to use. I have the OXO Good Grips cherry/olive pitter, which has a small splash guard. Simply pull off the stem, place the cherry upright in the pitter, and push the pit out into a garbage bowl. Yes, it's a bit time consuming when you need a bunch, but fresh ripe cherries are amazingly tasty. If you plan to keep them in the fridge for more than a day or so, save the pitting until closer to needing them. Once cherries are pitted and washed, they rot faster, as is the case with most fruits.

Cherries also have many amazing health benefits! They contain high levels of antioxidants and many vitamins. My neighbor friend recently shared about his battle with gout, and after many years of searching for relief, heard from a friend that cherries helped their gout. So my neighbor friend tried it. He started eating cherries daily for a week, and said the severe pain and swelling/fluid on his knee disappeared. He says he's been eating cherries daily for the better part of the last 3 years!!! And if he misses a day, he can tell by the reaction in his knee! That's amazing to me!

So add some variety to your fruit selection next time you go to the store, buy some fresh cherries!

This prize-winning lasagna is one of my comfort foods!

When I was of pre-school age, or maybe slightly younger, my mom entered a recipe contest. We were living in Wisconsin at the time, and she, like me, enjoyed cooking and baking. The newspaper article, still framed, stated that there were over 2200 entries. She won the entire contest with this lasagna recipe. For those wondering if you "miss the meat," I will say this- of my friends who have had the pleasure of eating this lasagna, other than my 4 year old (ha ha), no one has missed it. It is full of flavor and has plenty of hearty ingredients, leaving you full and ready for leftover night.

Mom's Prize-Winning Vegetarian Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles (1 box)
1 box frozen chopped spinach
2 cups (5oz) sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
6oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped pitted black olives (1 small can of chopped olives)
1-1/2 tsp oregano
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp butter/margarine
16 oz cottage cheese
16 oz very thinly sliced monterey jack cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water (unsalted) for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender; drain. Defrost spinach in microwave without adding water; drain and squeeze excess water out.

In a medium saucepan, cook carrots, onion and mushrooms in hot oil until tender, but not brown. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives and oregano.

Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with butter. In dish, layer 1/3 of noodles, 1/3 of cottage cheese, 1/3 of spinach, 1/4 of monterey jack, and 1/3 of sauce. Repeat layers two more times. Then top with remaining slices of cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Pass the Parmesan cheese!

Kelly's notes: On the lasagna recipe, I only made a couple of minor modifications. I used a 7.3 oz jar of sliced mushrooms, drained, instead of fresh and didn't bother cooking them with the carrots/onions since they are already tender. I also substituted olive oil in place of vegetable oil and in place of butter. Lastly, I sprinkled about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese on the top before baking and didn't serve extra at the table.

I don't normally serve dessert, but if it's a weekend and we're having guests for dinner, which we did last night, I will serve dessert if I can. So last night I made a dessert, mostly inspired by Kraft, but I changed one thing- it called for strawberries on top and I chose to substitute fresh pitted cherries since they're in season, and it was REALLY good (if I say so myself).

Angel Lush with Pineapple

1 small prepared angel food cake
1 pkg (small) instant vanilla pudding
20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice (undrained)
1 cup cool whip
2 cups fresh cherries, pitted (or pick something you like, recipe called for strawberries)

Cut the cake horizontally into 3 layers. Place bottom layer on serving platter. Top with about 1/3 of pudding mixture. Repeat two more times. Top with cherries. Refrigerate for at least one hour. If there are leftovers, be sure to refrigerate.

Enjoy your next meal!

Dinner for friends... and a great standby meal!

We had some friends come for dinner this past weekend. I decided to make an "old standby" that is well loved at our house. Not sure if I recall the origination of the pesto recipe, but because it has lime in it, I paired it with a unique limeade and a simple fruity dessert.

Cilantro-Lime Pesto Pasta

• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (stems removed)
• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons sliced, toasted almonds
• 3 tablespoons chopped or minced fresh garlic
• 2-3 teaspoons lime juice
• 1 cup shredded asiago for pesto, plus 1/2 cup shredded for serving
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup organic chicken broth
• 8 cups spinach linguini, cooked
  
• 2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
• 1 cup sun-dried tomato, sliced julienne
  

So you've cooked your chicken and linguini. Combine cilantro through broth in a food processor until blended. Stir pesto sauce into pasta and chicken. Top with sun-dried tomatoes.

I have varied this recipe over time, such as substituting tuna steak for the chicken, or adding artichoke hearts for a veggie right in the dish. This makes a great one-dish meal.

Minted Honeydew Limeade

• 1 ripe honeydew melon
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cups fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 3 cups cold water
• Ice cubes

Blend the melon, in batches until liquified. Mix together the melon liquid with remaining ingredients (through water) in the blender. Serve on ice. Very refreshing!

The trifle was the simplest thing, I picked up some fresh farmer's market peaches, blueberries and strawberries from the store. Also picked up a store bakery angel food cake. I made a package of instant vanilla pudding. I also used whipped cream. Layer in a trifle bowl. Very easy to do and always great to eat.
I feel like this was a nice light meal, but great and not difficult to make, so you can enjoy yourself, your family and/or your guests!

Easy BBQ Pork Tenderloin

This meal is great for the family-on-the-go. The tenderloin comes out pretty tender, even cooked in the microwave using the instructions below. You can't do "pulled pork" with this version, but it cuts very easily, even with a butter knife.

I've never been a huge fan of BBQ sauce, but I did find a brand that I like, Cattlemen's. Alton Brown of the Food Network actually featured this brand on a show once, and said that it is used in many restaurants across the country. They sell it in a huge jug at Sam's Club. I got roped in once when they were sampling it. Since I have a deep freezer, I bought it, and froze it in zipper bags. If you're freezing BBQ sauce for future use, layer the bags flat on top of each other. Freezing the bags of sauce flat is also great for defrosting, which is very fast if the bag is thin.

One more note: I did this with the Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker, which is a stone, although I believe that it would work with any covered casserole that is microwave safe. It should fit the length of the tenderloin and not be squished in, nor should the liquid completely cover the meat, but rather come about halfway up.

Easy BBQ Pork Tenderloin

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 cup water
1 pork tenderloin

Season your pork tenderloin and trim the fat off. In a microwaveable casserole dish (that has a lid), stir the water and sauce together. Add the tenderloin, coating on all sides. Cover and microwave for 10 minutes on high. Keep covered and let sit until ready to eat, up to 30 minutes.

Great (and healthy) served with black beans and corn, but get creative and do what fits your family!

Were you wondering about the picture? If you're hosting a formal meal, you can visit eHow here to see how to properly set the table. Au revior!

Caprese Salad Skewers

I saw this in a publication some time back, and had to do it! It just looked so fun! It was really very simple. And it makes such a bold statement! I chose to put ours into a small glass hurricane for dinner tonight. If you're wondering how to pronounce caprese, click on this link (but don't forget to come back)!

This would be very easy if you needed some hors d'oeuvres for a large group of people. Find a large unique serving dish.

Another idea would be to do maybe 3 per person and do them in individual stemless wine glasses for a dinner party.

Trim your wooden skewers shorter, to the length desired, using hand held bush/flower trimming scissors, something that cuts through twigs easily. I trimmed mine just longer than halfway.

At this point I would like to give a big shout out to The Fresh Market! I grew up shopping there and was so glad when they finally opened up here in our area. I will always say it, silly as it may sound, it's not just a grocery store, it's an experience!

I picked up some teeny fresh mozzarella balls from the olive bar, some strawberry tomatoes (grape size would also work well), and fresh organic basil leaves. I already had at home the EVOO (olive oil) and balsamic vinegar.
I simply sliced the tomatoes and mozzarella balls and pierced them into the skewers, tore a couple of basil leaves into pieces and dropped them in, and poured the EVOO and balsamic over them.

It has such an amazing flavor, not overpowering at all. There's nothing like fresh mozzarella. Happy eating!

Dinner out and roses...

Dinner out doesn't always have to be fancy, and is not always defined by going to a restaurant! Tonight we decided it was nice enough to eat outside on the deck. We bought roses for our daughter's dance recital this weekend, and she requested them to be at the dinner table.

I always remember Sunday nights being family night growing up. We'd head over to my grandparents' house for dinner. Normally if the weather was nice we'd eat out on the porch overlooking the backyard. I have very fond memories of that house. I hope for my daughters to have the same fond memories of our family and the things we do together.

I like to get out the nice tablecloth when we eat outside, and still eat off the real dishes, it just makes the meal feel special. Even the food doesn't have to be fancy. Tonight we made wraps. Here's what was out to choose from:

• Tortillas
• Chicken strips
• Black Beans
• Corn
• Black Bean Chipotle Dip (Fresh Market)
• Fresh Spinach Leaves
• Cheese
• Sliced Red Bell Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Sour Cream

Isn't it time for you to have dinner out?