TOMATILLO!

Tomatillo (toe muh TEE yo)!
Such a fun word to say, and a darn cool looking fruit!
Don't they look like little paper lanterns?
They still need a few more weeks of sun and water before they are ready to harvest, stay tuned.

Chewy Chewy Eggless Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Simply Delicious!

The remaining four cookies you see in the cookie jar... I ate 'um for breakfast!

The original recipe from Cooks.com used too much butter, so I made a few changes.

Eggless Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
1/2 of a stick of butter, soft
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1.5 c quick cooking rolled oats
A handful or more of craisins
1/2 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine sugars and butter. Add vanilla, water and vinegar; mix well.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt and add to wet ingredients. Stir in craisins and rolled oats and pecans if desired. If batter looks too dry, add a few drops of water till batter holds a bit of shape. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased stoneware cookie sheet or cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown for chewy cookies. Let stand for 2 -5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

I have a ton of zucchini and thought I would substitute shredded zucchini for the craisins, I'll let you know the results.

Pork Chops and Roasted Vegetables

A birthday dinner for a friend of mine. She is turning 91 years old today!
She's a bit of a picky eater and if it's not a meat and potato dish, don't bother serving her.

Tonight's birthday dinner is not fancy, but it's what she likes and it's really easy! Cut up all your vegetables into thick wedges or large pieces. Place in a 9 x 13 baking dish, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then place three frozen 1-1 1/2" bone in pork chops on top. You can mix and match your vegetables to suite your taste. I also like to make this dish with fennel, parsnips, turnips and everything else listed below.

1 vidalia onions
5 Idaho potatoes
4 carrots
2 Fuji apples
3-4T olive oil
3 -4 sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped
3 pork chops, bone in about 1-1 1/2" thick and frozen
I topped the pork chops with a 1 1/2 T Dijon mustard, 2 tsp Apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice, 1 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp olive oil.

Cut vegetables. Place in 9"x13" baking and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay pork chops on top of vegetables.

Whisk together in a small bowl the Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar and olive oil. Pour over pork chops.

Bake at 300F for 30 minutes uncovered. Bury the pork chops, cover with foil and bake for an additional 30-50 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the meat thermometer reads 145 F for at least 15 seconds. Once the chops are done, remove from oven and wrap in foil, let rest. Toss vegetables, return to oven and continue cooking until golden brown and tender.

Arrange the vegetables and pork chops on a platter, top with chopped parsley.

Lunch

I had just enough pesto leftover for lunch today and it was delicious and so was the slice of tomato. Nothing like homemade pasta, and fresh basil, parsley and tomatoes from the garden. The tomato was not from my garden, I paid a greenback for it at the local farmers market.

Black Raspberries!

My first harvest. They are SO sweet, delicate and just melt in my mouth!

Patio Garden

Lavender............................... peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos...............more lavender


Sweet Basil......................... Tomatoes.................................. Curly Parsley


Stevia................................ Tomatillos, Peppers........ Texas Tarragon..............More Tomatoes

Thank you Mother Nature for all the rain, rain, rain last week and for all the sun, sun, sun this week. The perfectly mixed combination has made my patio garden green, green, green!

Tonight's menu: Pesto with bow tie pasta, grilled shrimp, roasted yellow crookneck squash, sun tea with stevia and lemon.



This is the best cookbook, ever! The spine of my book is broken, the pages are falling out, but I love it just the same. I bought this cookbook about 20 years ago, I think I was about two years old, yeah two. I even bought one for my sister. I knew that as we got older and wanted to cook, this was the book for us!

This Pesto recipe is so easy, and a favorite in my house. Every summer my nieces and nephews request to make Pesto, and I let them. Sometimes my kitchen walls end up splattered with flecks of green, but it wipes off and there is nothing better than a child learning in the kitchen! The great thing about this recipe is you can add or subtract ingredients and it still is really, really good. Our favorite Pesto recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook pictured above.

Pesto
Original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Food and Cooking
1 c firmly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c firmly packed parsley sprigs with stems removed
1/2 c grated Parmesan Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/4 c pine nuts or walnuts
1 large clove garlic, quartered
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c olive oil

In a blender container or food processor bowl, combine basil leaves, parsley, Parmesan or Romano cheese, nuts garlic, and salt. Cover and blend or process with several on-off turns till a paste forms, stopping the machine several times and scraping the sides. With the machine running slowly, gradually add oil and blend or process to the consistency of soft butter. To serve, dollop some of the pesto atop hot soups or toss with hot cooked pasta. Makes about 3/4 cup.

Nutrition information per tablespoon: 76 Kcal, 2 g protein, 1 carb, 7 g fat (2 g saturated), 3mg cholesterol, 110 mg sodium, 66mg potassium

Shrimp
Created my own little recipe.
1 T light olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime
dash of salt
few grinds of fresh pepper
1 T fresh chives
12 shrimp tails on, thawed
3 skewers or foil

In a medium size bowl, stir together the first six ingredients. Add shrimp and lightly toss. Let sit for ONLY a minute or two minutes. If you own skewers, place four shrimp per skewer. Place on grill for about 1 minute per side or place shrimp on a foil bed, sides raised and cook. Shrimp are done when the shell turns pink and the flesh turns opaque. They will cook quickly.

Roasted Yellow Crookneck Squash
My sister taught me how to make this simply delicious summer time vegetable. It's a favorite.
Thinly slice squash lengthwise about 1/4" thick
Place on a bed of foil, lightly oiled with olive oil.
Sprinkle with water, freshly ground pepper to taste and grated Parmesan Reggiano, about 1-2 tablespoons. Place foil bed containing squash on hot grill and cook till just tender, and cheese is melted.

You can also make this in the microwave or oven. The directions are all bit different.
To microwave, arrange sliced squash in single layer, if you can, on a microwave safe plate. Really wet a paper towel or two and cover squash. Microwave on high for about 1-3 minutes or until tender. Be careful, the water will create steam! Once tender, remove from microwave and season with pepper, and Parmesan. Serve.

Oven: Lightly grease the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil. Arrange sliced squash in a single layer in a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with water, and season. Bake, covered, in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for 5 minutes or until slightly tender and the cheese has melted. I have baked the squash in the oven uncovered, the squash tends to dry out a bit.

Melt In Your Mouth Strawberry Muffins

I found this recipe on the underside of a Stoneyfield Farm yogurt label.
Sounds good, really good, I thought. Fast forward to strawberry season and I thought I had the perfect lazy Sunday breakfast, paired with an espresso. Let's just say the espresso lived up to its name.

I did make one change in the original recipe; I was out of yogurt, so I substituted plain Kefir and added a bit more flour and a dash of cinnamon. OK, so I made three changes. The muffins did not melt in my mouth and they really did spread creating a bit of a mess. Disappointing. So in all fairness, I am going to remake according to the original recipe, plus cinnamon. I'll let you know or you can bake them and let me know.

Melt In Your Mouth Strawberry Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup Stoneyfield Farm yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375F. Yields 12.
In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking soda. In another bowl, mix eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Toss strawberries into the flour mixture. Then, pour yogurt mixture into flour mixture and stir. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.