Two Things I Love - Flowers and Cats - Don't Tell My Husband

Euphorbia in the bloom

Bianca

Spanish Lavender

                                                                Chessie - My Princess
                                                                         Hoity Tortie

                                                        Tigger Bubbba - My Ginger Cat

Stuffed Italian Squash - You Will Be Too . . .Stuffed That is

Suzie and Jeffrey dined on this easy week night meal

                                                               Stuffed Italian Squash

1 lb of ground Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey

2 Italian Squash - cut in half - insides scooped out and chopped

1 Large Onion - chopped

4 Roma Tomatos - chopped

Salt and Pepper

Mozzarella Cheese

Brown the ground turnkey.  Remove from pan.  Add onion to olive oil and saute until soft.  Add the chopped squash and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until soft.  Add the Ground Turkey back to the pan and mix all ingredients together.  Put in hollowed out squash shell.  Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.  Put Mozzarella slices on top of the mixture and back until melted.

 

                                                 

Joanne's Golden and Crimsom Beet Salad

From my paisano!  Grazie, mi amici!

Gerry, just made this again for the kids on Prentice B'day dinner. It's Gina's and my favorite beet salad!

  GOLDEN AND CRIMSON BEET SALAD.

2 red beets (all but 1 inch of tops trimmed)

2 golden beets ( all but 1 inch of tops trimmed) white beets are similar in taste as golden

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 fennel bulb(fresh fennel bulb trimmed quartered cored cut into paper thin stripes)

2 oranges

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1/4 cup sliced almonds toasted

1 shallot finely chopped

1  tbsp balsamic vinegar

kosher salt

ground white pepper

11/2 cup blue cheese ( coarsely crumbled)

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all beets in 9x9x2- inch metal pan. Drizzle 3 tbls oil over; sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Cover pan with foil and roast beets until tender, about 1-1/2 hours. Uncover and cool completely. Peel beets, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, and place in a bowl, each color in its own bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Can be made ahead of time, cover and chill. Bring to room temp before using.

2. Cut all peel and pith off oranges. Working over med. bowl to catch orange juice, cut between membranes releasing segments. Add 1 cup orange segments, fennel, mint, parsley, nuts, and shallots to bowl with beets. Transfer 2 teaspoons orange juice to small bowl; whisk in vinegar and remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Stir into beet mixture. Mound salad on large platter and sprinkle with cheese.

You can use feta instead of blue cheese if you like, and what ever nut you want. Like any recipe, you can tweak it anyway you want.

The Beet Goes On . . . . . Red Beet Recipe to Die For

The Beet Goes On - Try this Recipe for Incredible Flavor Bursts

Cut Top and Bottom off the beet
Rub all over with olive oil
Wrap indivually in foil
Grill between 30 and 40 mintues - stick a fork in to see if done
When cool, peel and slice
Core, peel and thinly slice an apple
Spread with Goat Cheese
Sprinkle with ground cashews
add a slice of Roasted Beet
repeat to make another layer
Top with Goat Cheese and Cashews
Drizzle with dressing made with Balsalmic Vinegar, Olive Oil and Dijon Mustard

A Twist on Southern Collard Greens and A New Way With Chard

We are so used to fixing collard greens the way Wilson, my beloved late father-in-law used to cook them.  Boil them what seemed like forever with a little bit of fatback or bacon, hot pepper flakes, and chicken broth, and then doused with vinegar. 

Our friends from Chicago did a their midwestern twist on an old stand-by and shared their recipe for swiss chard with an italiano twist. .

Collard greens on the left in the pic and chard on right. From the windy city . . . .

Use a little canola oil for the Collard greens and some broth to wilt them. I made a glaze with this triple citrus vinegar that I have and mixed the greens with it. Awesome. For the Swiss Chard I did the same thing but dressed them with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Anchovie Paste. Double Awesome.

From the Mouth of Babes . . . .

White Beets - Grilled to Perfection

These yoummy grilled white beets were the result of our friend, Mike using his brand new Weber grill.   He spent countless hours analyzing which grill to purchase.  It looks like he's got it nailed.   Here's how Nancy  prepped them before Mike put  them on the  new grill.

"Trimmed them, rubbed them in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme, wrapped them in foil and grilled them for about 45 minutes.  So, so, good and good for you!"

So, try some white beets and stop the bleeding.

Pic by Nancy

Grilled Carrots by Our Friends Nancy & Mike

Our  friends, Mike and Nancy had us and a bunch of other friends  over for a barbeque the   4th of July.  Mike  grilled some of the carrots from Valley Farms.  They were incredible.  Grilling brought out the sweetness of the carrots. 

Yum oh!

Thanks Mike and Nancy for wonderful  dinner!  A perfect way to celebrate our country's independence - with good  food, lively conversation  and especially great friends.

The Squash Will Rise Again! and Again! and Again!

Suddenly it's summer, and the squashes are coming in - in full force!  Wow, didn't think we'd have such prolific squash plants!

Now we need to get creative and start finding recipes for all this wonderful produce.  I needed a quick recipe - something that didn't need alot of attention and we could eat for a few days since life is a little hectic.

Here's what I made and I'm sure you all have a variation of it.  If you do, please send it it!