Caprese Salad & Back-Yard Fire's!

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie."
                                                                                                          ~Jim Davis, "Garfield" Cartoonist

It's that time of year when there's so many opportunities to bring a favorite dish to a get together. There's cookouts, graduation parties and other celebrations to attend. One of my favorite salad's to make and bring especially this time of year to a gathering is that deliciously simple combination of fresh grown tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. My favorite version of it is shared below.

 I love the sentiment in the quote above because it's true; when it comes down to it we really like to eat what we like.Whether you're on a diet or not. I try to keep a balance between exercise and healthy eating. But I love a slice of Lemon Cake and a really good Chocolate Chip Cookie once and awhile too. So be it. Life is short. And why not try to enjoy it?

As for back yard fire's, it's a good time for that too. There's a chill in the air as the sun sets and the mosquito's haven't arrived quite yet. My daughter's and I sat around our fire-pit Friday. And of course we had to make s'mores.

Caprese Salad

1 lb. Fresh Mozzarella, sliced thin
2 large Ripe tomatoes, sliced thin
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
 1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped fine
Salt and Pepper to taste
 Fresh Romaine Lettuce, cleaned and dried

Take a large platter and place the romaine lettuce in a thin layer. Layer the mozzarella and the tomatoes on top of the Lettuce. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh basil and salt and pepper as desired. Chill slightly before serving. Enjoy!

Chocolate Crown Cake & Recipe for a Fabulous New Sandwich!

I baked a chocolate crown cake for dessert this week. It's such a fun and easy cake to make. I bake a chocolate cake in a bundt pan, let it cool and then drizzle it with lots of melted dark and white chocolate. It does look a little like a crown!

My son was home from school one day this week. I decided (since as a growing teen he's always hungry) to make a special lunch for us to share. Food always brings us together in a way that we can talk and share about things that matter.

I was in the mood to make French Dip sandwiches: those yummy sandwiches with sliced roast beef, cheese and au jus dipping sauce but I didn't have roast beef or au jus sauce on hand.

I decided to be creative instead and come up with a new specialty from items already in my fridge. Below is the recipe of what I came up with. We ate it with roasted rosemary, olive oil and garlic potatoes.

Black Pepper Turkey with Feta & Sharp Cheddar Melts with Barbecue Sauce

Yield two sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 Slices Black Pepper Turkey, thin from Deli

1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Hearty Fresh Oatmeal Bread

Barbecue Sauce

To make:

On a medium heat warm a skillet and place the bread buttered, face down and add the turkey and cheeses then cover with another slice of bread buttered on the top. Grill until brown and cheese melts. Slice in half and serve with potatoes on the side. Take a small bowl and warm Barbecue sauce in the microwave and serve as a dipping sauce along with the sandwich.

If you give it a try, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Let Them Eat Cake!

Monday is the last day of classes for one of the College Writing courses I've been teaching. By now my students have read and discussed many essays, wrote many entries in their journals and have written four essays to place in their final portfolio's.

Cake (really yummy cake that's made from scratch and with love) is a perfect way to celebrate the end of a semester. They've worked hard. We've worked hard together.

I'm baking a Lemon and a Banana Chocolate Cake over the weekend to share on our final day.
It reminds me that when I used to sell my cakes (before going back to teaching) I hand-printed my own label designs with a message that said eat more cake it'll make you feel good!

Baking Pies, Time for Grilling & Ships Coming In!

 With the return of warmer weather I decided to cook on the grill this week. We made cheeseburgers and a large cheese pizza. I bought my grill at the end of last summer and got a great deal on it. It has a place for a pizza stone and it comes out surprisingly good. I started with a basic cheese then grilled some vegetables and added sprinkles of feta before serving.

I baked an apple, three berry and a cherry pie earlier in the week. And, I took the photo of the ship from my parking spot at work. It's fun to watch the large ships pass through the canal. I'm anxious for the summer to arrive so we can pack a picnic lunch and head to the beach for the day.

Chicken & Sour Cream Enchilada's with Tomatillo Sauce, Sangria & Students!

I went to a Spain Reunion Party for the kids and the parents of those who went on the trip over break to Madrid and Barcelona. It was fun to hear all the stories and see all the photographs. What great memories those kids will have!

I decided to bake and bring a batch of chicken and sour cream Enchilada's with a tomatillo sauce to share.

It's super easy to make the sauce. You dice fresh tomatillo's, chop garlic, cumin, coriander, fresh lime juice, chop fresh cilantro, green chile's and salt and pepper- place into a food processor and blend. Then saute on medium heat in a sauce pan and add water to a simmer. Use sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place flour tortilla's filled with fresh cooked diced chicken, cheddar cheese and sour cream rolled on bottom of baking dish. Fill the baking dish with the rolled tortilla's and top with the rest of your tomatillo sauce, sprinkle additional cheddar cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.

They were a huge hit. And work well for a dinner party or other pot luck.

A writer friend of mine is hosting a fun party this Sunday to celebrate her husband's birthday. I offered to bring a pitcher of my Cranberry Sangria- the version I published in Cape Cod Magazine and if you do a blog search I'm sure I've posted the recipe here before. I thought it was a great way to not only celebrate the gorgeous weather we've been having but also his birthday.

As for my students, I can tell they are starting to get spring fever. The sun and warmth easily distract them off the topics at hand. We are studying Robert Frost. Frost knew well the lure and complexities nature offers and what a pretty day can do for the well being of one's soul.

Check out my recent Lunch Club Post on Girlfriendology!

http://girlfriendology.com/blog/5206/friends-being-there-in-the-good-and-bad-times-girlfriend-guru-linda-steele-cookierecipe/

Blessings!

It seems I get along (a lot) better in my life when I step back and try to let the big questions and problems have a chance to work themselves out while I simply focus on the blessings I already have.

Some of my blessings this past week include:

The weather was so beautiful I got back to my beach walks.

I spent a bit of quality time with each of my kids.

A friend stopped by for a walk and a glass of wine and we chatted for a couple of hours in my kitchen by candlelight.

Getting started (finally) on a pastel drawing I've been wanting to do for my daughter's bed room.

Spending time with my sister and my nephews on a visit off Cape.

And making really tasty food for my family including a couple of tarts and a lemon cake.

Do you count your blessings? Do you find your life goes along more smoothly when you do?

Food as Conversation & a Taste Test!

I realized this week while in the middle of teaching my Analysis of Literature class at MA Maritime Academy how Food is often a powerful starting point for good conversation.

We've been reading Melville, Faulkner, Chekhov and Mansfield. The turning point for the character from Katherine Mansfield's Ms. Brill is when we watch her pass by her usual stop to pick up a honeycake. It was something she did often but on this day she doesn't. We had fun discussing why she didn't stop at the bakery- something she loved to do.

From there a student talked about a time he made an elaborate dinner for his girlfriend. Class ended with lots of talk about good food. Students asked me to promise by the end of the semester to bring in something for them to try.

Talks around food happen often at home too. There are times when I find it can be a bit of a challenge to connect to my teenagers. They grow and change in new directions so quickly.

So, I'll bake a Chicken Pot Pie (Bella's favorite) pictured here. It always gets them out of their room and into the kitchen to talk.

And we recently bought a Chicken Pot Pie from Pies A La Mode in Falmouth and then another one from Centerville Pie Company in Centerville to do a little taste testing of our own. They both make excellent pies but we decided we liked our version best. Because, we made it from scratch ourselves. Besides, it gave us something fun to talk about.

French Dips & Making Progress!

" A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same". ~ Elbert Hubbard

I've agreed to guest blog regularly for Girlfriendology. There is something about the concept of nurturing friendships that really appeals to me. Life gets so busy and time with friends makes it all worthwhile.
I've been lucky enough to have had some excellent friends in my life. Since food is always such a big part of so many friend get together's I thought it'd be fun to offer regular guest posts and reach a wider audience. It's going to be about hosting regular lunch clubs and offering tasty recipes too.
It's been a busy week here with getting my Language and Literature classes at MA Maritime Academy underway. Not to mention, I'm happy to announce I've completed a revised edition of "Meet Me in My Cape Cod Kitchen" and have it (just about ready) available as an e-book version through my Blog.
And if I don't hear from a Publisher who is willing to publish "Sweeter by the Beach" anytime soon, I will most likely shoot the photographs myself and make it available as an e-book as well.

As for the French Dips, over winter break my youngest daughter and I visited my sister for a night. She took good care of us and when we arrived made us a really tasty sandwich. It's something I see offered on pub menus often yet never made myself. Since we visited her, I've made them for my son (his new favorite sandwich), the kids Dad, neighbors, a friend who stopped by for an unexpected lunch and myself. They're so easy and good.
If you're looking for something new to make this weekend maybe you can give this super simple sandwich a try.

French Dip Sandwiches

Roast Beef, quality deli meat, sliced thin
Provolone cheese, sliced thin
Sharp Cheddar, sliced thin
Large Fresh Sub Rolls
2 cups, au jus sauce, for dipping the sandwiches

Place the fresh rolls, sliced open faced on a baking sheet. Turn your broiler on to a low heat. Place a baking rack close to the flame. Layer the roast beef and cheeses on top of the bread and place into a heated oven and brown for about 3- 4 minutes or until bread starts to brown and cheese melts. Place single servings of au jus sauce in small bowls and serve along with the sandwiches for dipping the sandwiches into and a nice freshly tossed green salad. Enjoy!