Yum Dixiedog, your ribs look perfect. I like a little charring on them too.

Hey Arabella, welcome back. I wondered where you were.

Ann

Well I finally got off my butt and made dinner! I made a quiche with bacon, sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, shallots, swiss and gruyere cheese. I thought it was really tasty. Even if the dh wasn't totally in love with it he ate it, cause he's a good boy! No pictures because my version wasn't very photogenic (stupid crack in the crust left me with a crust ringed by egg mixture, boo!). But here's the link to the recipe, Jen made a much more photogenic version than I did. So lets just all pretend this is what mine looked like! :)

Bri

Here is a link that might be useful: Jen Yu- Use Real Butter

Sounds good Bri. I like Quiche with bacon and mushrooms in it.

I grilled Pork Chops for dinner last night and made a green olive and kalamata olive salsa to serve with them. Sides were grilled red and green peppers, zucchini and mushrooms and a potato gratin made with chicken broth and fresh thyme.

For dessert I made a Boston Cream Pie/cake. Rather than a round cake, I used the wonderful square spring form pan that Sherry gave me a couple of years ago.

We are eating dinner earlier now starting this week. A couple that we are friends with liked our neighborhood so much that they bought a home here also so my husband and friend are commuting to work together. It will help quite a bit with wear and tear on our car not to mention the gas (commute is 43 miles one way).

It is hot out and I worked on the landscaping some more so dinner tonight was Cold Shrimp Pasta Salad, fresh tomato wedges and fresh cantaloupe.

First, for everyone who's been thinking of Dad, he's home. He was in for a couple of days for congestive heart failure, they've upped his Lasix dose and the doctor told him that if he'd just be a little more "careful" with his diet and lifestyle he could live another 20 years. If he isn't, no promises. He's decided he needs to lose weight and "change the way he eats, we'll see if that lasts. And if stepmom can learn to cook in a new way.

So, it's time to catch up.

Dixiedog, we must be thinking the same. I had some multi grain pasta with a low fat alfredo type sauce and shrimp and scallops. The picture isn't pretty but Dad liked it and I thought it was OK.

I made some wholegrain waffles, because I'd promised the Monkey Princess that I'd make some for her freezer. Her Mom can't make waffles like cows and pigs, just Grandma, LOL. So, I had one for dinner, a barn.

I made a couple of sugar free "treats" for Dad. One was a sugarfree rhubarb pie:

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The other one had an angelfood type base, low fat cream cheese, sugar free jello, sugar free cool whip. Yeah, I know, but Dad gave me the recipe and asked me to make it. He liked it, so it's all good.

I canned some sugar free jam. This is plum. It was good enough that I kept a couple of jars for myself:

I made strawberry, with berries I picked myself:

I made some more pineapple/mango salsa and canned my entire cherry crop. Very few escaped the early frost, so I got these two quarts of pie filling. That's the whole harvest, LOL.

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I made a Friesan bread from the Bernard Clayton bread book Readinglady sent me. It had a tablespoon of cinnamon and a cup of broken sugar cubes. The sugar cubes melted during baking and it was sweet and cinnamon-y. A loaf went to Amanda, she and the kids made it into cinnamon toast and loved it. Dad didn't get any of that, he got onion rye, which was from the same book and tasted wonderful but wasn't so pretty, it collapsed after the second rise, LOL. No pictures of the rye....

I've gotten garlic scapes, baby beets and lots of basil from my garden:

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I made a big pot of bean soup from some local cranberry beans, grown about 20 miles east of me in Howard City:

I grilled some chicken halves. I did more than this but the rest were more "blackened" than grilled. Ah well, I hate to grill and I'm not patient enough to do it well.

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Which did not stop me from making Ashley her "aloha burger" she requested. My good ground sirloin, with some teriyaki, topped with swiss cheese, a slice of grilled pineapple and bacon. No condiments necessary, and we ate them with the baby beets.

Whew. I knew I hadn't starved yet, and I think I'm all caught up.

Annie

Great presentation Dixie. I bet that shrimp salad tastes as good as it looks.

Annie, I'm glad your dad is home. Hope he is able to make the changes necessary.

I'm always amazed at everything you manage to do and work full time as well.

We had burgers tonight too. And homemade fries. Dessert was fresh sliced peaches with whipped cream.

Whew, Annie. That is some impressive work! Glad your dad is feeling better.

Lovely dinner Ann. Everything looks wonderful.

It's been so hot here, we spent the day at the pond. Leftovers for us last night. More chicken, but I sliced it and put it on hot dog buns for the kids. Served with baked beans. We've been spending evenings playing tennis, so I haven't been particularly motivated to cook.

AM

Well I am never gonna get caught up, my camera is on the blink. Or it's me. I finally found the card again and when I went to take a picture of the delish seafood fettuccine, the battery was dead. I haven't been cooking a lot (I had pizza three times last week. Pure comfort food because my friend died (more justifying so much pizza than anything here).), but have made blackberry cobbler from fresh berries, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and tuna melts. See? Hubby is fending for himself.

I've come to a decision to quit avoiding what he thinks he won't like. Seafood is a big obstacle since I love it and he thinks he doesn't like it. It's all I cooked last night and fixed him a plate. I said, "Try it. If you don't like it, you can make yourself something else (thanks Annie!)". Whew, that was hard! but he liked it. I told him I was proud of him and made him a chess pie (his favorite, gonna have to get him out of this cobbler chess pie rut too!). He said, "Don't complain, get chess pie, Hm, sounds good!" silly boy.

LOO, Rob, you're welcome. Hey, it worked with Ashley, who has eaten more bowls of cold cereal and peanut butter sandwiches than I could ever count!

It's hotter than the proverbial pits of he!! here today, it's already hit 90F and the humidity is at 74%. Amanda is bringing the kids over to swim in the pool after I get out of work, so we'll be having a dinner that might even be picture worthy!

Annie

Annie you truly are amazing! What energy you have. Last night was beef stroganoff and it looked and tasted great but I didn't have the energy to take out the camera to take a snap after being in the hot sun all day. . You make me look bad Annie!:)

Ann your burger and fries look fantastic not to mention dessert.

I had plans for dinner but they fell through early this morning when I got a phone call that a friend of ours died suddenly. We are quite sadden by this news so husband said he would just pick up a pizza from Pizza Hut on the way home for us and I will add a salad along with it. Sounds good to me right now. Life just stinks sometimes.

Dixie, I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Hugs and prayers to you and the family and friends.

Annie

Annie you are again amazing with so much that you do in and out of the kitchen. After seeing your beets I went out and bought some.
Will perhaps cook them tomorrow.

Ann your burger and chips looks great!

Sorry to hear about your friend Dixie. You have my sympathy.

Catching up the past days:

Tuesday ...a walk up to the friendly Botanico restaurant where we had the same as many times before: Wolf... his ham omelette, me a chicken escalope with those papas arrugadas and mojo sauce. It was a lovely warm day with a breeze.

Next day was very hot so I took out a frozen white fish in Italian sauce and made oven roasted potatoes & yam with peas and sliced tomato..

Thursday I made Marilyn's Spaghetti with Peas & Pancetta...one of our favourite recipes which I make with egg noodles, bacon and feta.
It's so good with the fresh basil torn over top.
Later in the evening I made a fruit salad of nectarine, peach, strawberries, grapes and poured cream.

Yesterday I defrosted chicken tenders and made them into a curry with crushed almond, pineapple, chutney and Basmati rice.
Made a mixed salad and bought an avocado......just about fainted when I realized the price at the checkout! (About $3.00 for one avocado). And down the road from us a neighbour has a tree loaded with them. Must plant one of those and go into business LOL!

My computer was down for a couple of days with a worn out power source so had to struggle with Wolf's computer and German keyboard. Didn't get to upload photos but our techie man came to the house yesterday and fixed all so I'm back in business.

Have a good weekend everyone!

SharonCb

Arabella, Hot Dogs and Baked beans. Moe would be thrilled to have that.

Sharon, I'd be happy with your chicken or your pasta. Both look delicious.

I had some boneless chicken breasts out to cook for dinner last night. I really wanted Chinese so I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work to pick up bean sprouts and a few other ingredients. Unfortunately, they were out of them so I had to rethink dinner. Ended up dipping the breasts in the egg batter I use for Chinese Lemon chicken but serving them with a mushroom sauce instead. I still have a craving for Chicken Chop Suey, but it will have to wait now until Monday.

Wow. What amazing food and photos. I can't begin to comment on everything I'm drooling over - but I have to say that Ann's lobster, prawn and avocado platter looks fantastic.
I haven't had the time to cook as much as I'd like - nor post. But I did take some time to try a couple of new things tonight. I made cedar-smoked salmon on the grill - a first for me to use the grill for indirect cooking or to use cedar. It came out great - although the accompanying red pepper sauce had too much vinegar. I also tried a white bean and tomato salad (with parmesan, lemon, anchovy). One of the few mediocre Fine Cooking recipes I've tried (although very likely the fault of the chef). The best thing I can say about it is that it was very healthy.

Lynn.

Kathleen I love your dishes--fish and stars, wow!
I'm on vacation in my home state and have been lovin' the "eating local." Have had fish three nights in a row. A Lake perch dinner at a local resort restaurant on White Lake was one of the best meals I have ever had, and the view was spectacular. Last night I had a friend over for dinner and we had Lake trout, Walleye (broiled with lemon pepper, orange juice and lime juice because that's all my mom had in the house), fresh picked green beans with a little bacon, evoo and balsamic, fried red potatoes, and a yummy salad with avocados which were under a buck at the store, fresh lettuce, cukes, green peppers, and pickled beets and carrots. Below are two pics, which is unusual for me but I could use my folks camera. The one of me and my friend is a little blurry. I'm the one in pink, lol! My friend's sweet corgi is looking on.

Today for lunch I had "salad nicoiose" which was everything we had for dinner last night, cold over lettuce. Yum again!

Mmmm that mushroom gravy looks good Ann!
LPink....so nice to see you....and in the pink too! What a great meal you had with your friend. I could also go for fish three nights in a row with no problem. I can imagine that Nicoise was good with so many ingredients.

Yesterday we cleared out the leftovers from the fridge...the rest of those noodles and chicken curry. So nice to have everything all ready and cooked, just having to warm it up. Sat out on the patio in the sea breeze that cools our terrace every day after 3 pm.....red wine, flowers, a nice meal...pure contentment!

So today was a day without kitchen duty so we took the car for a recycle dump of bottles, papers etc and stopped again up by the Botanical Garden but at another restaurant this time, so we could try a different menu. We both chose the Tortellini in Gorgonzola Sauce, which was scrumptious! A bit of wine, water and beer and we were strong enough to resist the homemade chocolate mousse (but will take it next time) and so had a couple of cafes cortado instead of dessert.

Beautiful weather....we sat outside.... watching the Spanish family at the next table....about 12 of them with 5 small children running around chasing bubbles.....they were so cute and having such a great time. They all looked to be the same age, around 2-3 years old.

SharonCb

Lpink, nice to see a picture of you and your lovely dinner.

Sharon, I love gorgonzola sauces, especially on pasta. What was in the tortellini? Meat or cheese?

I had planned to grill a couple of NY strip steaks Saturday night, but by the time I got home from work I had changed my mind. Made Green Peppercorn steak instead.

Last night we tried a new Chinese restaurant in Duncan. Won't go back. Just as bad as the other Chinese restaurants in the area.

That would be salad nicoise! My mother the french teacher would be agast!

Sorry about your friend Dixie. I've lost two family friends this month, although they both had bad cancer so it was not totally unexpected. Still sad. My vacation has been a mix of a lot of hapiness and a melancholy feeling about their passing. I'm trying to enjoy friends while I can, which is the best anyone can do I guess. Anyway, you'll be in my thoughts.

Last night was my last vacation dinner in N. Michigan, and it was a great one. I had sauteed fresh garden veggies (green beans, zuchinni and summer squash) with pesto sauce and lemon pepper, served over whole wheat spaghetti. Huge salad with spring greens, fresh cukes and green pepper, carrot, more pickled beets, and a little orange and toasted almond. Served with raspberry vinagrette. Sourdough bread on the side. No picture though, I forgot! But I did get a picture of dessert, MI blueberry pie!! This is the most you'll be seeing of my cooking for a while, I don't normally eat this well or cook this much or have a camera! On my own it would take me over a week to finish off a pie, and by that time it would be moldy or well past its prime. My mom is happy too, since she's usually on her own when it comes to good food. My dad eats only plain meat, bread and potatoes, maybe some lettuce for a salad, but no other veggies.

Thank you all for your kind words to me about our friend. It means a lot to me. lpink I'm sorry about your two family friends who have passed recently.

Friday night was takeout pizza and Saturday I really just didn't feel like cooking so I whipped up chicken salad and had sandwiches, pickle and chips. It was too hot here anyways.

Yesterday was my Mom's B-Day and she wanted crabs and shrimp so that is what she got! Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and hushpuppies were added to the meal. She just wanted ice cream with fresh blackberries that I had picked for dessert. (No pictures the last few days).

Tonight we ate what was left of the crabs (we love them cold too) and I made up some Fire & Ice Salad and crusty bread & butter.

lpink your meals and pictures all look great. Beautiful blueberry pie.

Ann - Chicken in Mushroom Sauce and Green Peppercorn Steak both sound and look yum!

Sharon you are so tempting my husband and I to make a vacation where you live (and I am being serious). Your pictures are just beautiful. Your Tortellini look very good and your terrace at your home sounds lovely. That fruit Salad & Cream is my favorite type of dessert.

My first helping of leftover cold steamed blue crabs...:)

Too bad about that Chinese dinner Ann, but your peppercorn steak looks good. I have pepper steak once in a while here at a restaurant that does it well. The tortellini was filled with cheese (I think) lol...sometimes I don't pay attention to what's inside when it's with gorgonzola sauce, which I love so much.

LPink...you're still eating very well. Wish I had a piece of that blueberry pie!

Dixie I'm sure you'd love a holiday here as well. The south of the island is so developed now with world class resorts, beaches and beautiful golf courses. The biggest water park in the world is about to open here (in the south), called Siam Park. Not sure if you like those theme park attractions but it will be something to try on a hot day.The development is headed by a German man who had put Tenerife on the map with his Parrot Park and Hotel Botanico, both in the north. The north is a little cooler and more conservative, but also has some lovely places.

I've just found a YouTube video showing the testing of the biggest attraction in that water park, called the Tower of Power.
I know this it not dinner talk, but you may want to have a look! (Turn down your volume.)

Love the look of those crabs Dixie!

I was at my Pilates yesterday, finishing after 1 pm so walked to the supermarket and picked up some fast cooking battered hake fish and fresh carrots and spinach. Did a few potatoes and yams in the toaster oven and that was lunch.
Walking to the gym I pass by a street lined with African Tulip trees. Beautiful but they sure do drop flowers on the sidewalk.
Luckily the city street cleaners come by nearly every day.

SharonCb

Hello! I see some wonderful looking dinners here. I wish I had time to comment on each and everything but I have to get some sleep tonight.

Lori, thanks for sharing your Michigan pictures. Your Blueberry Pie has me drooling and thinking about making a pie ASAP!

I finally felt good enough to make a halfway decent dinner tonight. It was cool out so heating up the oven seemed like a fine idea.
Meatloaf with fresh herbs, Sauteed Sweetcorn and Mashed Rutabaga. After all the Hospital food, fast food ans crap I've eaten over the last three weeks, I was in heaven.

Nancy

Nancy, nice to see your photos again. You have been missed. Love your flower garnish.

Dixie, I'd love your crab dinner.

Made a Thai Chicken curry for dinner last night.

Annie, you have been cooking up a storm and all that canning....where do you find the time, working, farming and traveling to see your husband? You are just like the Energizer bunny!

Dixie, those blue crabs sure caught my eye. Seafood is my favorite.

Sharoncb, your meals are a delight, always. So nicely cooked and beautifully presented.

Thai chicken curry sure looks and sounds good, Ann. Your peaches and cream do too!

We have been eating well, but can't remember all the meals since I last posted. Burgers and a salad last night...tonight will be pork tenderloin.

Last week I had a bunch of grape tomatoes that needed my immediate attention so roasted them with garlic, olive oil and a little thyme and basil; then tossed it all in the food processor.

I just took a couple loaves of bread out of the oven. This time I added a couple of eggs to the dough.

Marigene, Yum...what kind of pan do you bake your loaves in?

Nancy, your flower garnish is glorious!

Ann, Yumm....

Here's lastnights meal..

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Country Pork Ribs Oven Roasted, Fried Cabbage from the garden, yukon golds mashed with parm and garnished with Shallot green rings

Sharon thank you so much for the links. I looked at them and really enjoyed. I'm doing some research on your area and we are trying to decide when we can go. Right now airfares are crazy high. As usual, your pictures of your dishes look outstanding and that fire tree is just beautiful. Red is my favorite color.

Wizard wonderful looking dish and the flower is just gorgeous.

Ann the Chicken Thai dish looks wonderful. My Mom would so have loved to have been at your table as she adores Thai food.

Marigene your roasted tomatoes look super. And the basil looks soooo fresh - I love that. The bread puts me over the top. Honest, I could sit down and eat a loaf (with butter, sorry) all by myself but I try to be good (most of the time).

Terri I love country style ribs and I just made them the other night on the grill. Yours look really good and the cabbage is great along with them.

This morning was the funeral and we had a nice lunch afterwards. So for dinner we felt like a little bit of comfort - throw the calories and fat grams to the wind!

Fried Pork Chops with country style gravy, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes and some tomato wedges. We will be eating a tomato a day (per each of us) throughout the season because I just love em!

Well I gained 5 lbs! I don't know if it was the good eating on my vacation or the 28 hours of sitting in a car driving back and forth. My guess is the sitting, it is the bane of my life!!

I continued my last leg of my vacation with a visit to a friend's place in NY. They have a huge garden and her partner is a fisherman, so we dined on Lake Erie walleye (panfried), fresh dug potatoes, and a fantastic salad with all the fresh greens and veggies from the garden. Blueberry pie a la mode for dessert. They do fresh sprouts, and I had forgotten how yummy those are!

Today back to the grind, with a frozen pot pie for lunch and a stop at the sandwich shop for dinner on my way home from work. Sigh.

Well....it took me a half an hour to read this thread and I'm in OMG mode. The pictures are wonderful and the post are pretty good too!

I went to Olive Garden tonight with friends...ICK, ICK, ICK!

Karen, I made one trip in the last 10 years to Olive Garden and it was awful! I don't think that there will be another one, ever! LOL

Dinner tonight was carne asada. I thought it was awesome, DH liked the flavor, but doesn't like meat that is stringy, it gets caught in his teeth. Sigh...but he did say that I should try it again, but with chicken!
I made a combination of Jain and Brenda's recipes. Basically, a marinade for 24 hours of the juice of one lime, one lemon and one orange, 1T of Olive oil, a clove of garlic and 2 T of chopped fresh cilantro and a few shakes of ground chipotle chile powder. I sliced the meat very thin and grilled for a couple of minutes on each side. It turned out juicy and rare. Yum! Served with guacamole, chips and jicama.
Last night was a late dinner of veal rib chops marinated in A1 marinade and grilled. Unfortunately one chop was fairly tough and the other was yummy. But for what they cost, both should have been spectactular!

Good to see you Nancy. Love the flowers on your plate with meatloaf and rutabaga. My favourite comfort foods!

That Thai chicken curry looks so good Ann!

Ribs yum Terri!

Marigene what lovely looking bread and tomato sauce.

Dixie you're right about airfares....of course I expected that but I've just been booking holidays to Canada and go to pick up the tickets this afternoon. Still in sticker shock!

So it's getting busy around here and I've been picking up fast cooking food such as yesterday's salmon and green beans, and a deli chicken the other day that lasted for two meals. No time for photos. I think today we'll be going out again as we have a schedule of things to do with only a small window for our midday dinner. Back here soon though!

Have a good weekend everyone!

SharonCb

Dixie I am so envious of you with your fresh tomatoes! I bought my first supposedly "local" one yesterday at Wegman's. We'll see. Eventually I am going to go scouting for canning ones, but it's still early for that. BTW, what is "Fire and Ice" salad?

I finally was able to look at this thread with the pictures turned on. I had to turn them off when I was in MI at my folks since I only had dial-up and it just took too darn long to load. OMG, the food is SO FANTASTIC! I just love this time of year.

I forgot to note that your pie and preserves look great Margiene! I've had to limit my preserve making this year since I have so much left from the last two years. I had some apricot jam when I was home, I'd forgotten how much I like it. Can't get the greatest apricots here in PA. Good peaches though.

Dixie, We had pork chops Wednesday night too. Think I might have liked yours even better. Can never go wrong with gravy.

Karen, I know that the Olive Garden wouldn't have been your choice.

Ellen, I have a craving for Tex Mex now.

Grilled Pork chops, Potato Gratin, Turnip and Green Beans

I bought pork chops and broad beans yesterday as well Ann. And I would love to have them also with potato gratin like yours. Just have to see how the temperature is on Sunday and if I can stand to put on the toaster oven. Otherwise it'll have to be something light.

Busy day today with appointments and a visit to the travel agency. There had been some errors on the tickets which had to be redone so by 4:30 pm we still hadn't had anything to eat.

Finally we went to the nearest place across the street from the agency and had "tourist food" which turned out to be quite good.
Mine was a veal cordon bleu with chips and salad and Wolf had German sausage with egg and chips.
We ordered strong cafes cortado afterwards.

The little restaurant is rather cute and bright, with bananas growing outside the window. We walked back to the car past a lovely apartment garden cared for by a gardener I know who has given me many cuttings in the past. I especially love that peach brugmansia.

SharonCb

lpink you actually can get some pretty good tomatoes at Wegmans. They have contracts with "local" farmers and are delivered daily to the store. I get mine at the Farmer's Market as I didn't plant any this year because too much going on in our house with upgrades/work/travel.

Ann I think I would have loved your pork chops - they look fabulous!

Sharon what can I say??? Once again your pics. are just beautiful and the food (I am sure) was just as good. I hope you have re-cooped from the sticker shock. I know what you are talking about.

Last night I made Refried Bean Soup and Taco Salads with beef. The bean soup is a recipe from SL's 20th Anniv. Edition. So easy and simple but yet tastes very good.

This was dinner tonight - Grilled BQ Chicken, grilled veges. and leftover mashed potatoes turned into potato cakes.

Forgot to add - lpink here is the recipe for Fire & Ice Salad. I will be making another batch tomorrow for us and my Mom and will take a picture.

*********

This dish is definitely the best during the summer months when the tomatoes and other veggies are fresh but you can do it during winter months also. You actually can add whatever vegetables you want but the tomatoes (peeled) are the key to it.

¾ cup white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon red pepper (ground)
¼ cup cold water
1 ½ teaspoon celery salt
4 ½ teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

6 tomatoes peeled and quartered
1 green pepper sliced in strips
1 cucumber sliced
1 red onion, sliced

Bring first 8 ingredients to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Allow to cool slightly; then pour over veggies and chill.

The skin needs to be removed from the tomatoes. Boil tomatoes for a couple of minutes, then remove and place in a bowl of ice water. The skin will peel right off.

Sharon, your veal cordon bleu looks delicious.

Dixie, I'd be happy with a plate full of your potato cakes. Love them.

I had intended to make pasta with prawns tonight. But we had a late lunch so instead I made us Tex Mex Avocado and Prawn Cocktails. Sauce was seasoned with Chipotle peppers and the prawns were on a bed of homemade salsa. Simple but good.

LOL Ann- You said that I set off a craving for TexMex! Yours looks yummy too! Is that sauce mayonnaise based?

Lovely, lovely meals and pics everyone!

I had special company for dinner yesterday, Janet and Chance. Clive is up north so it was just us girls.

We spent the afternoon toodling around old Oakville. Stopped at the Ice Cream parlour for Chance and Whole Foods for Janet and I.

Unfortunately dinner was pretty awful! I made pasta with meat sauce for Chance and she loved it, ate a huge dish! I made Gina's Lemon Scampi for Janet and I , beautiful large shrimp but the garlic was so strong and so harsh that both of us good only manage a few mouthfuls : ( It was farm fresh local garlic...I've never had this happen before but it was really bad!

The salad was good though, mixed baby greens, blueberries, candied walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette. That, along with some fresh baguette with EVOO and Balsamic for dipping and fresh strawberries and angel good cake for dessert, was enough given the before dinner nibblies and all our cheese samples at Whole foods!

But we had a lovely day and a great visit....no pics we never even mentioned it to busy yapping! LOL

How nice that you and Janet got to get together again.

Ellen, yes, I used Hellmans and just doctored it up with Chipotle sauce, garlic, salt, pepper and fresh squeezed lime.

I'm off work Monday and we are going to have dinner with our neighbours. I'm making Mexican. Still thinking out my menu. At the moment I'm trying to decide if I want to attempt to make homemade corn tortillas for 4.

Ann

I mixed up a batch of Jacques Torres' chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Baked half dozen immediately, and they were very good. Baked another half dozen this morning (24 hours) and they were also very good. No discernible difference though. Still have dough left and I'll bake another batch tonight (36 hours) to see if there is any difference. Definitely, a chocolate chip cookie that I will make again.

Breakfast this morning. Still warm, just out of the oven.

Thanks Dixie I can't wait to try that "Fire and Ice" salad. I am a huge fan of chopped salads, especially when there are tomatoes to add to it. Unfortunately due to a massive infection of verticillium wilt in my yard, no home grown tomatoes this year. But there are great farm markets around, if I can find the time to get to them.

We ate out with friends tonight for dinner at a very nice Chinese rest. The food was excellent.

lpink here is a picture of a batch that I made this morning for the Fire & Ice Salad.

Dixie, that Fire and Ice salad looks so darned inviting!

Dinner tonight was a grilled burger with herbes de provence spice mix, bleu cheese potato salad and fresh garden vegetables. Desssert was black and white cookies. (Just for you, Kathleen!)

Spent yesterday afternoon canning 13 pints of salsa....Annie's recipe less the tomato paste, most of the sugar and half cider vinegar, half lime juice, instead of all vinegar. I now have 19 1/2 pints.....wonder if it will last until winter. Really good salsa!

Ann - the cookies and the prawns look delicious! (shh, don't tell I'm lusting after prawns!)

Marigene - your cookies also look to die for. I'd love your recipe for B&Ws - those look perfectly cake-y (the puffy middles are the clue).

I love a chopped salad too. Green peppers and I do not mix though - I'd have to substitute.

We had Burritos last night. Quick, easy, and used up leftover rice, half an onion and some chopped salad I had in the fridge.

AM

Dixie I really must try your fire and ice salad.....it looks so good. I've copied and pasted it.

Ann those prawns and avocado are one of my favourite combos as well. Just wish our lime tree would hurry up and produce. All citrus crops in the Canaries were devastated by the April hot winds. Just hope I get some fruit this fall.

Nice burritos AM and your blog is great!

Marigene....all you've made looks delish. I envy you being able to make some of Annie's salsa. We don't get any canning equipment over here. Perhaps I'll try and make some for my daughter when I get to Canada next month.

Light and easy food these past days. Weather has been hot and humid and I've been clearing out closets in the guest bedrooms and caught a bit of a stomach bug. So I made a vegetable frittata one day to use up leftover veggies, together with a salad. And yesterday we went out to the newly tried restaurant of the other day where I had the gorgonzola tortellini. This time that was Wolfram's choice while I took ravioli in tomato sauce.

Weather was lovely yesterday with a little breeze.
View across the side street from the restaurant was of a pretty little Spanish cottage and a beautiful Canary palm.

SharonCb

Hot and humid here also which is pretty normal for this time of year.

Marigene - Your grilled burger dinner looks terrific. We had grilled burgers on Sunday too along with roasted potato wedges and the Fire & Ice Salad. The salsa looks super! You will sure enjoy that for months to come.

Arabella - I love burritos and yours look great.

Sharon I hope you enjoy the salad if you give it a try. Your meals looks super especially that vegetable frittata. I hope you are all feeling better now.

Ann I missed your shrimp dish and the cookies. They both look wonderful. I would have loved to have been eating those cookies for breakfast!

I'm on my own this week. I made grilled BBQ chicken wings, corn-on-the-cob and chopped up veges. for my dinner last night. No picture as my husband has my digital camera with him. Tonight??? I went to get my hair cut & colored later today and they served me a real nice chicken salad, crackers, grapes, drink and chocolate so I'm kind of full so maybe just a small bagel sandwich and sliced tomato later tonight.

Sorry all - this thread has gotten too big to download and read easily anymore. Here's my dinner from last night - Gardenguru Joe's recipe and my picture in this thread.
Anyone up for the idea of cutting the WFD to 50 posts from now on? What say ye?

I'm all for it Gina as I know I have to fight to keep the last few posts from sliding up off the screen.

I agree that 50 posts would be easier for all to read.

SharonCb

Great idea Gina. It would make it a lot easier for everyone I suspect.

Ann

I agree, I think 50 posts would be better with all the pictures. It takes a long time to load once it hits 70 or so....

And yes, I've been eating, but I just haven't gotten around to posting yet, I've been canning Chase's dill pickles!

Annie

I had noticed that it was getting slower. I apologize if my pictures were too large (I downsized them quite a bit before posting).

I agree also that 50 posts would probably be better. I love the WFD threads.