Bumper Crops of Zucchini and Tomatoes?

Try this amazing, summer "Recession Garden" Treat...

This one actually brought rave reviews by the whole family -- everyone found something to like about the seared zucchini, the light pasta, and of course -- I enjoyed it along with a lovely Pinot Grigio from Southern California's award winning South Coast Winery

You'll need:

Thin sliced Zucchini
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbs butter
liberal amounts of Parmesan cheese

Bow-tie pasta - prepare per directions

Bring olive oil and butter to bubbly
Toss in clove of garlic
Sautee zucchini approx. 3-4 min
Right when it starts to "brown" - dust with salt & Parmesan cheese

Once pasta finished, drain and toss with bit of salt & olive oil
Serve Zucchini over the pasta along with crusty bread

If you have a ton of grape tomatoes like I do, you can also slice those in half, and serve as a side salad - with chunks of mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and equal parts olive oil & balsamic vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

Here's one that I love and plan for making for the kiddos tonight for dessert:

Slice up one to two apples per person - thin or thick, your preference
juice from 1/2 lemon - fresh from your lemon tree (note - if you don't have one, you need one).

Dump sliced apples into casserole dish. Squeeze lemon over top - no seeds, mind you!

In a separate bowl, create mixture of:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 tbs flour
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 1 tbs sugar
  

Cut butter into brown sugar, flour, cinn. and sugar until a crumbly mixture.

Dump over top of apples. Pat down until even.

Cut thin pats of butter to place around top of the mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, using sauce as topping.

Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Enchilada Skillet

You'll Need:

* 1 tbs olive oil/1 tbs butter for flavor
* 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into chunks
* 1 can chicken broth
* 1 can Cream Of Chicken soup
* 2 tbs flour
* 6 flour tortillas, cut into pieces
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* ½ cup salsa

Music/Media of Choice: Swap favorite CD’s with your best friend and dance to a different tune!

To Create this Magnificent Meal:

- Heat oil & butter in large deep skillet, add chicken and cook thoroughly – about 7 minutes.

- Mix broth, soup, and flour until well blended. Add to skillet gradually, stirring all the while. Add tortillas, and stir to fully combine ingredients. Bring to bubbly boil. Simmer for about 3-5 minutes.

- Sprinkle top with cheese & cover until cheese melts. Top with salsa & serve with Zesty Refried Beans! Ole!

Lemonade on the Rocks!

Here's another Lemonade recipe...

The kids'll love this one!

Alright, you started it! Here's Dani Thorne's lemonade. It ROCKS!

1 lemon, cut into quarters
2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup of water
1 mason jar filled halfway with ice

Cut and squeeze juice from lemon into mason jar and ice. After squeezing, put one of the lemon quarters into the jar. Add two to three tablespoons of sugar. Fill jar with 6 to 8 oz of water (the ice should raise it to about 3/4 to the top of the jar). Put the lid on and shake for two minutes.

Drink immediately!

daniellethorne

Southern Style Homemade Lemonade!

Here is a truly southern way to make the best lemonade ever. I reduce the sugar a bit as we like it just a tad tart.

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.

2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.

3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Serve with ice, sliced lemons.

Serves 6.

Thanks to my friend, Dixie (and what's more southern than that!)

Gnocchi and Pie

Tonight's special request was pie. Berry Pie to be specific. Its super easy, but still, I had 45 minutes to get dinner ready and two toddlers who wanted to help. So I opted for Trader Joes Gorgonzola Gnocchi that takes just 7 minutes to make. Of course, I had to embellish.

Gorgonzola Gnocchi with Spinach and Crimini Mushrooms
One bag Trader Joes Gorgonzola Gnocchi
One package of Brown Crimini Mushrooms washed and cut in half
Half a bag of baby spinach

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil - they can be chopped up more than in half if you prefer but I was holding a baby at the time so in half was a good as it was going to get. When they are cooked, add the package of Gorgonzola Gnocchi. I didn't bother adding the tablespoon of oil that they said to add because I figured that between the moisture from the mushrooms and the oil I had already put it, we were clear. Once the gnocchi looks finished (all of the clumps of frozen cream sauce are melted) add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Takes about 15 minutes.

Three Berry Pie (or Google Berry Pie in honor of Noddy)
1 package of frozen pie crust from Trader Joes
1 1/2 packages of Very Berry frozen berry mix from Trader Joes
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch

Defrost the pie crust (be sure to take them out of the box) and the berries for about a half an hour. Or if you're not that together, stick the pie crust on top of the stove while you preheat the oven to 375 and defrost the berries for 2 minutes on 6 in the microwave. This plan works well for me. Combine the berries, sugar and corn starch. Line the bottom of your pie plate with one of the pieces of the pie crust. Fill with berry mixture. Cover with other pie crust, crimp and poke. This is a fun one to do with a three year old but a one year old really can't manage to do more than make a terrible mess and fall off the stool. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 50 minutes with the edges covered with foil or until it looks bubbly.

Tiny Potatoes

Do we really need another potato recipe? Probably not. This was a special request from Ken because he loved tonight's potatoes.

Small Creamer Potatoes cut into tiny chunks (like 1/4-1/2 inch pieces)
olive oil
sea salt
garlic powder
smoked paprika

Combine everything in a bowl - use lots of olive oil and sea salt, a little garlic powder and a little smoked paprika. Cook in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes (just about the same amount of time that it takes to cook the fish sticks from Trader Joes - Yum!)