Family Dinners

Did you happen to see my recent article in the Upper Cape Enterprise Magazine in the Family Supplement that came out last Friday?

 

I wrote a piece on the topic of "Family Dinners" . I talked about things like getting picky eaters to eat, getting kids to eat healthy and ideas for getting dinner on the table easier.

 

I shared a recipe for Linda's Sour Cream & Chicken Enchilada's, a favorite at our house and I wanted to share a photo of the enchilada's we made for dinner last week.

 

If you're in town and get a chance, check it out.

Holding on to Summer

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." ~ John Lubbock

      This past week I certainly could have skipped spending two days at Wood Neck beach and the next at Menahaunt but like Lubbock suggests it was 'by no means a waste of time".
My teaching semester is about to get underway, I have an article coming out soon and my kids are busy with back to school preparations and sports practice. So there was plenty to do.
 Yet the way I see it -- all too soon my children will be at school all day and I will be teaching then rushing from one activity to the next.
So for now we did what made the most sense: we called a friend, grabbed our suits and headed down to the beach.
Surprisingly I didn't turn my oven on all week (this might just be a first) yet we did use the grill to make burgers and dogs (a summer favorite).
The photograph above is from a sunset walk I took earlier this week with my girls down to South Cape Beach.

Falmouth Road Race & Super Yummy Lunch with Old Friend!

Last Sunday was the 40th Annual Falmouth Road Race. It's always an extra busy weekend with tons of people in from out of town. My oldest daughter is an avid runner and runs on the Falmouth High School Track Team and Cross Country Team.

She ran her first Falmouth Road Race this year and it was so much fun to be there for her and cheer her on from the sidelines. She did awesome! And I know I'm just a proud mama, but she really does have a knack for running and she loves it.

She ran nine minute miles and she said the last two miles were a killer. It's that last steep hill as you approach the finish line that seems to challenge the runners most. The cool thing is you run along the water that overlooks Martha's Vineyard so the views are gorgeous.

Later that afternoon I had plans to meet a good friend of mine. Both of our lives are so busy so we don't always have a chance to get together as much as we'd like. But when we do it's always such a fun time.

 I had lunch ready for us back at my house before we headed out for the day. We decided to take a drive down Cape out to Province town. We wanted to walk the rock jetty, maybe ride our bikes out to race point and then do some people watching and shopping along Main Street.

 I made a big fresh leafy green Salad, and I put together a special thin crust pizza topped with fresh tomatoes, roasted fresh sweet corn and black beans tossed in a bit of light olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette then topped with fresh Mozzarella and Parmesan. I served black raspberry ice cream with whipped cream and a cranberry biscotti on the side for dessert.

Recipe for Linda's Black Bean & Roasted Corn Thin Crust Pizza

Take a thin crust and place onto a pizza stone
In a small bowl toss 1/4 cup fresh diced tomatoes, freshly cut corn off a single cob, 1/4 cup black beans, Tbsp. light olive oil, Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste
Spread onto the crust
Top with 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan and 1 cup freshly grated mozzarella
Bake in 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes until crust browns and cheese melts.

Summer Dinner Party, Awesome (and Easy) Appetizer & Old Family Recipes!

I hosted a dinner party for ten on my back porch last night. It turned out really sweet. My guests said all the food was amazing and we sat around and chatted well into the night. Family I had not seen in many years came down and it was nice to catch up.

Earlier in the day I was a little worried about the weather--there were thunderstorms predicted, but it turned out to be a perfect night for eating out and grilling on the deck. Shown is a super easy appetizer that I make often because people love it so much. It's a simple recipe using hummus and feta cheese. The other dish is our favorite Summer Salad. We ate Strawberry Shortcake and Ice Cream Pies for dessert.

In case you're hosting a dinner party of your own soon here's my super easy recipe for a tasty appetizer.

Hummus & Vegetable Dip

Take a  container of your favorite hummus (I used a spicy version)

Sprinkle a half cup of crumbled feta on top

Slice and chop fine your favorite fresh summer vegetables ( I used finely sliced cucumber, red onions, diced fresh tomatoes and chopped yellow pepper) -Sprinkle the cut vegetables on top of the feta and hummus. Serve with your favorite cracker. I love the Simply Naked plain Baked Pita Chips.

As for the old family recipes, my guests mentioned they still have a lot of my grandmother's recipes (my dad's mother) written down and they are going to share them with me the next time we get together. I can't wait to try some of them. She was a woman who raised ten children. I can only imagine how much cooking and baking she must have done over the years.

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