Homemade “Oreo” Cookies
Who doesn’t love an Oreo cookie? Okay, I know there are a few who don’t. Personally? A few times over my child-rearing years, I have disappeared into the bathroom with a package of Oreos and a glass of milk, to soak in a hot bubble bath with a good book. If you can’t leave home, this is my ultimate relaxation technique. If you can get them to stop pounding on the bathroom door – “MOM!”
Me: Where is your dad?
Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes
Happy Monday!
Wow. How annoying was that? Well, it is a happy Monday for me, because I made (and ate) this awesomely simple and delicious pasta for supper tonight.
Blueberry Buckle
I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend! We pretty much stuck to home, barbequed some babyback ribs one day, salsa marinated pork chops another day, Barbacoa another day….yummmm. And we didn’t have to leave our front porch to watch fireworks. Two of our neighbors about 1/4 mile away both had a ton of good fireworks. They both went on for over 20 minutes. And no crowd to fight driving home from anywhere. 🙂
I would have liked to have a bonfire with all the kids, but that just didn’t work out this year. Hopefully before Summer is over….
Grape Salad – Lightened Up
It’s July 4th, time for gatherings, cook outs, barbeque, friends, family and fun! Here is a delicious one for you to try for your picnic. It makes a great dessert, the kids love it because it’s sweet and most of them love grapes! And, it’s better for them than cakes and pies.
The first time I saw grape salad, my sister brought it over for a family cookout we were having. She was home from Florida for a few weeks in the summer, and we always try to have at least one family gathering when she comes home. And of course, my family does not gather without food. LOTS of good food.
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Mac and Cheese? Yes, please! Just not from a box. I don’t care if the box is blue, red or otherwise. I want gooey, stretchy, creamy (yes, all in one dish)….you know, the real thing.
AFTER we finally got all the cherries picked, then cleaned and pitted and into the freezer (jam later, yippee yum!), I was ready for some comfort food. I could eat just mac and cheese for dinner, but my husband is not of the same mind. He likes it, but not like I do.
Cucumber Tomato Salad with Dill
I looove cucumbers. Sometimes, when they’re in season or they have a good special at the supermarket, I will cut them into sticks and serve them as the veggie with dinner or as the salad. Just them. And some salt. I love them in sour cream sauce, with onions and vinegar….mmmmm.
I mentioned in my previous post that we had a party/picnic here this past weekend. Although it was a birthday party for a 10 year old, there were lots of adults here as well. While it hasn’t exactly been hot around here so far this summer, I really didn’t want the usual heavy pasta salad type stuff (I did make a MONSTER batch of homemade mac and cheese, but that covers kids and adults). I wanted something fresh, veggie somethiiiiing….
Strawberry Cream Pie
Guess what season it is?!?!!?!? If you live in Michigan and you’ve been to any of the farmers markets lately, you can smell ’em! And, ooohhhh is that aroma better than any perfume or any of its (sort of) relatives that ship here from California and Mexico in the winter. Michigan Strawberries!!!!!
Strawberry pie, strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberries over ice cream….too much? NAHHH.
Double Tomato Relish
I am in recovery mode today. Well not totally. There were still cherries to pick, laundry to do, dishes, general clean up – you get the picture. We had a birthday party/cookout here this weekend and, in addition, two grandaughters that stayed with us for the weekend, plus our younger son and his awesome girlfriend were here for most of the weekend. The birthday boy was our grandson, who just turned 10. Both sides of the family were here, so there were 8 kids and, including we two, 10 adults. These things usually have higher attendance, but some were out of town, some had to work, and one family had sick kids. The pool was full of kids for most of Saturday, then again on Sunday. I don’t believe there were more than two dry towels left in the house. And that only because I have a large stack of beach towels for this reason.
If I sound like I’m complaining, I am certainly not. It was worth every second! We had an awesome day/weekend!
Grilled Cheese with Bacon, Tomato, and Avocado
Grilled cheese is one of those foods that takes most people back to childhood, with the crunch of the toasty, buttery bread and, depending on what cheese you prefer, either smooth and creamy or stretchy, stringy fun. I am of the stretchy, stringy, tangy cheeses. Back then, we usually had a dill pickle with it at a minimum, and often with a bowl of tomato soup. Then I would throw some cheese in the soup, too. Mmmmm. Back then, we (being in Michigan) didn’t know what avocados were. I don’t think I tasted one until my sister came home from living in California (probably 20 years ago) and introduced us to guacamole. Instant addiction. Of course, that was about the same time she also taught us to make homemade salsa (more on that later). That trick she learned from a mexican woman she had become aquainted with. We learned a LOT from that, all good. Since then, we use avocados with MANY other things, and adding more all the time.
Cheddar is always good, but what I really love is a blend of cheeses. At least two, sometimes three cheeses on a sandwich, each with a slightly different characteristic from the others. The tangy cheddar, with the nuttiness of swiss and the ultra melty creamy fontina all come together to form a beautiful blend. Perfection? Close, but not quite yet.
Cinnamon Gooey Butter Cake
It’s that time again…freezer stock for lunches is getting low. I try to keep 2 or 3 lunch snack options, and it’s getting pretty scarce in there.
What makes this more difficult for me is that hubby is not really a fan of chocolate. I know!!! How can that be? I don’t understand it, but there it is. If it has apple in it, or a grain of cinnamon, he’s likely all over it. Soooo, I started searching for something different. I’ve done molasses crinkles, snickerdoodles, oatmeal, apple chunk, blah blah….time for something a little different. So I went googling, and when I saw this one, I was pretty sure I had a winner. Soft, cakey, cinnamon, what’s not to like? Weeeellll, it’s not exactly your low calorie health food. Tough. His skinny self doesn’t care.