Pumpkin Spice Marshmallow Rice Krispy Treats

Have you noticed, all things "pumpkin" are hot right now.  Who doesn't love {and wait all year} on a good Pumpkin Spice Latte?  Have you seen all of the yummy seasonal creamers in the grocery store?  I can recommend International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer {but that's another post}.   If you visit Pinterest, you will see everything from creative, decorative pumpkins to some of the yummiest sounding recipes on the planet.  Yes, Pumpkin is hot.

While grocery shopping over the weekend, I stumbled across these:

Yes!  Thank you, Kraft for creating this yummy treat!  They are good straight out of the bag.  If you're a snacker, you might want to grab an extra bag to munch on while you make the real deal.   When I saw these in the store, I remembered seeing a pin on Pinterest about pumpkin marshmallow treats.  hmmmmm...the wheels started turning.  It was convenient that Kraft even printed their recipe right on the bag.  ;)

So, I got a box of Rice Krispies & whipped up a batch.  These are made exactly the same way that regular rice krispy treats are made.  All of the pumpkin spice is in the marshmallows.  Let's just say they are a GOOD THING!

Look!  They are a cute little pumpkin shape & color.  And, they melted easily!

I had to snap this picture quickly.  They didn't last very long.  ;)

What pumpkin goodness have you discovered lately?

Blackberry Cobbler Recipe {again}

I see Blackberry Cobbler on our menu for the weekend.  If you've run across some great berries lately, you might give my simple little recipe a go.  Be sure to pick up some vanilla ice cream too!  It's a sin to have cobbler with out ice cream, ya know!

Happy Hot Summer Weekend!

Snow Ice Cream Recipe

One of the joys of snow is simple treats like Snow Ice Cream.  Around here, we only get to make it once every 100 years or so because we rarely get enough snow to make it.  In honor of the blizzard sweeping across the nation, I wanted to share the treat we made during our snow storm in January of this year.

Like all good, true Southern cooks; I didn't measure anything.  This is strictly a "throw it together and tweak it til it tastes right recipe".  If you are an engineer or one who has to have detail instructions, this recipe may not be right for you.

Anyway, here we go . .

You need clean snow. {insert joke about avoiding the yellow snow here}  Put out a clean bowl to catch some,  if possible.  My bowl was an 8 cup Pyrex dish.  It was just about right to make enough snow cream for us.

8 cup Pyrex bowl.  It was full the next day after overnight snowfall


Bring in the clean snow indoors and dump into a large mixing bowl.  You will also need some sugar, milk & vanilla extract.

Add sugar; about 1/2 cup or to your taste

Add about 1 teaspoon {or a capful} of real vanilla extract

Add enough milk & stir until mixture resembles soft-serve ice cream.

ENJOY!

eat it now because it won't keep!

Cucumbers in Sour Cream : A Special Thanksgiving Recipe

Part of the Thanksgiving meal is having special dishes that bring back memories of years gone by.  In Sew Daddy's family, one of those special dishes is Cucumbers in Sour Cream.   His Mother made it every Thanksgiving and it was always a family favorite.  It was a nice, fresh taste among all of the other yummy, rich food that comes along with holidays. Sew Daddy's mother is in Heaven but she is remembered every year when we enjoy her special recipe.  She was a generous woman and would be happy for me to share her recipe with you.

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Cucumbers in Sour Cream

3-4 large cucumbers; washed and peeled

1/2 sweet, white onion; diced

salt and pepper to taste

sour cream {I use light}

Slice cukes into very thin slices {about 1/16" if possible} and put them into a large bowl.  Add diced onion and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add enough sour cream and toss to coat all cukes and onions.  Add more sour cream as needed to make sure the dish is moist.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  Overnight is best, if possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is great made a day ahead, but can be enjoyed the same day if made early.  if there are any leftovers, I enjoy it over it over a green salad. It serves as the dressing and is DIVINE!  If you plan to do this, add a little extra sour cream when making the dish.  ENJOY! 

Giving thanks today and everyday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Pumpkin Pie is not just for Thanksgiving : recipe

Today is Sew Daddy's birthday.  He has always loved anything pumpkin.  When we first met, he let me know he prefer pumpkin bread over birthday cake anyday.   No problem!  I have a great pumpkin bread recipe that I used to make Pumpkin Muffins.  You can get that recipe here.  Ever since I've known him, I've made pumpkin bread for him in October.

This year he original declared he wanted a cheesecake.  That was good.  I like cheesecake too!  ;-)  Scratch that!

Instead, he decided that a pumpkin pie was in order.  No need to wait for Thanksgiving when you can celebrate a birthday with pumpkin pie a month early.  So, this is what I making for him today!  His favorite pumpkin pie!

The best recipe I've found is the one on the can of Libby's pumpkin.  It's easy, has great spice/flavorings and I don't have to dig through files, folders & clippings of old recipes.  It's right there on the can of pumpkin every single time!  Doesn't this look DIVINE!?  Whipped topping is a must! 

So, whether you have a pumpkin lover or just need to get a jumpstart on Thanksgiving ideas, here is the Pumpkin Pie recipe straight from the can of Libby's pumpkin!  ENJOY!

Libby's Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Whipped cream (a must)

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Homegrown Veggie Medley Recipe

Having a garden can be work, but it is oh so rewarding when the harvest starts!

All of the vegetables & herbs in this dish came from our garden {with the exception of the mushrooms}.  It was super quick and delicious.  After grilling chicken for dinner, Sew Daddy just put this in his handy-dandy saute' pan for the grill.  In a few minutes, we had the most divine side dish EV-AH!!!  For those who refrain from eating meat, this would be a delicious vegetarian dish too.

If you don't have your own garden, the local farmers market has everything you need to create your own medley to grill AND the farmers will appreciate your business!  You can put together your own combination, but I'll share what we used.

Nothing was measured in this creation.  Use as much or as little as you like!  :)

Grilled Garden Veggie Medley
4-5 garden fresh yellow squash
1 garden fresh Japanese eggplant
1/2 garden fresh Zucchini-zilla {or a couple of regular zukes}
1 handful garden fresh grape tomatoes, whole or cut in half
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms {portabellos would be delicious here too}
6-8 leaves garden fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade
garden fresh thyme, as much as you like
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Cut the squash, eggplant, & zukes into slices about 1/2" thick.  In a bowl, combine veggies with tomatoes, herbs & garlic.  Add salt & pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil, not to much; just enough to coat everything well.  Grill until desired doneness & enjoy!

If you don't have a grill, you may also roast the veggies in a 350' oven for 20-30 minutes or until they reach your desired state of doneness.

Tomato Time & Zucchini-zilla

Our little garden is doing quite well!  I'm so excited that the tomatoes have finally ripened!!!  Of all the thing we planted, tomatoes are my favorite!  What's not to love about a BLT or just a plain ol' tomato sandwich.  GOODNESS!

Here is one of our yummy tomatoes.  We've been blessed with large fruit and no blemishes.

Our little grape tomatoes are coming in abundance and are so sweet! I've been putting them in everything from salads to sauteed spinach to a fresh tomato-basil-feta salad. They aren't bad to snack on either. You can see just a few of our bounty; along with a few little yellow heirloom grapes tomatoes. That plant hasn't done as well, but I'll definitely try again next year. The yellow tomatoes have a different, delicious flavor.

And then there's this . . ZUCCHINI - ZILLA

Our zucchini plants are huge.  The leaves are larger than dinner plates, but we have only a few blooms.  As of the weekend, this was the only zuke we had seen.  I found it when it was the size of a small cucumber so I decided to let it go another day or so.

Well, when I went to pick it, this is what I found :  Zucchini-Zilla!    I had never seen a zucchini this large!  I picked it thinking it would be pretty tough & nasty tasting.  To my surprise, it was very good.  I put part of it in a veggie mix which we grilled.  {I'll share pics & a recipe soon.}

If you have an abundance of tomatoes, you are probably looking for ways to use them.  This is one of my favorite, easy summertime recipes that won't heat up the kitchen.

Quick Broccoli Chicken Stirfry Recipe

I know
Mom!  What's for dinner?
The age old question.

What's the answer?
Maybe I can help with that!

This is one of my family's favorites so I have it in the dinner rotation often!  Easy Peasy, baby!

I don't have a formal name for this recipe.  Call it Broccoli Stirfry, Broccoli Chicken Stirfry, Asian Stirfry, Oriental Stirfry . . . well, you get the idea.  Let's get on with the details.

First, let me say that Sew Daddy grills a huge batch of chicken every Sunday; enough for me to use during the week for dinner, salads, sandwiches, etc.  Cook once, eat lots.  It works for us. {love that Sew Daddy!}

To make this super simple recipe, you need the items pictured above along with a few other things.  I'll give you the basic instructions and you can improvise as you like.

Saute a bag of broccoli slaw {available with the bagged lettuces in the produce section} in Kraft Asian Light Sesame Dressing {available in the salad dressing aisle}.  Use as much dressing as you like.  Use a little to start because you can always add more to taste.  As the broccoli is going, add a dash of low sodium soy sauce &/or teriyaki if you like.  If you don't, leave it out.  You can add matchstick carrots, water chestnuts, onion, peppers, mushrooms . . . anything you & your family like in a stirfry.

Once the broccoli is crisp tender, serve it up; topped with grilled chicken and some crunchy chow mein noodles.  If you have some silvered almonds, that would be a nice touch too.  This dish is great alone or served with some steamed rice or orzo on the side.  I like using chopsticks. . . . at least till I get down to the last few bites; then I need a fork. 

This was our dinner last night.  YUM!  I've shared this on Twitter & on Facebook so I wanted to share it with my blog readers too!

ENJOY!!!

Easy Crockpot Chicken & Dumplins

So the weather is colder, you are busy and the daily question from this family is:

Mom, what's for dinner?

EASY CROCKPOT CHICKEN & DUMPLINS

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts {frozen is ok}
1/2 onion, quartered
1 can Cream of Chicken soup {reduced fat is ok}
1 package Crescent Rolls {reduced fat works here too}

Place chicken in the crockpot and add just enough water to cover or almost cover. Add the quartered onion and season with salt & pepper. Cook on low to medium, depending on when you start. If you get this going before work in the morning, set your cooker on low. If you start in the afternoon, like I usually do, medium will work. Cook until chicken is tender.

Remove onion from crockpot & discard. Take 2 forks and shred the chicken right in the crockpot. {If your crockpot has a non-stick finish, remove chicken to shred then put it back in the pot}. Add cream of chicken soup and whisk. Replace the cover and let this go until about 15 minutes before you are ready to eat. Now add the crescent rolls. Simply pinch the dough into bite-sized pieces, drop into the crockpot, then stir gently. Add a bit if dried tarragon if you like. Replace the lid, let the dumplins cook at least 15 minutes and dinner will be ready when you are.

This is great served with Jiffy cornbread muffins.

I've mentioned making this recipe several times on Twitter & Facebook. It seems that someone always asks for the recipes so I decided to share it here. ENJOY!

Perfect Pumpkin Muffins : recipe

If you noticed the fine print at the bottom of yesterday's post, you know that it was Sew Daddy's birthday. He has always preferred pumpkin "something" rather than traditional birthday cake. Maybe it's because his b'day is on October, I don't know. Before meeting him, I was never a big pumpkin eater {and my name's not Peter}.

Early on in our marriage I found this recipe for Pumpkin Bread and it became his instant favorite.

This year I decide to make muffins rather than loaves. We just happened to have fun Halloween cupcake liners on hand! Yea! Wanna make your own pumpkin muffins this weekend? Here ya go!

Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

Dry ingredients:

1-1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup chopped pecans {optional}

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Makes 24 muffins.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add all wet ingredients and mix well by hand. Pour into 24 lined cupcake pans. Bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don't overbake so the muffins will be moist.

Enjoy!

It Bears Repeating : Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

Some things just bear repeating. It's so good the first time, you have to try it again.

This post is one of those things. It was originally posted in June of 2008, but it is one of the most visited links on my blog so I decided to share it again. I went to the Farmers Market again this week and found beautiful, FRESH, locally grown blackberries. Once again, pristine and plump.

Dessert tomorrow, for Father's Day, will be Blackberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream. It doesn't get much better than that. I thought YOU might need a recipe for your Dad's Day dinner, so here ya go! Hope you and your Dad enjoy!!!!


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{originally blogged June 20, 2008}

This week, a trip to the local farmers market yielded these beautiful blackberries. They were PERFECT! No blemishes, no bad berries, no mushy spots. We've plan to shop at our farmers market more this year. The local farmers need our support, plus the produce is literally fresh from the field.


After eating a few fresh berries I started craving blackberry cobbler. I don't know why. I've never been a big cobbler eater, but these were just begging to be in a cobbler. I went on the hunt for a quick, easy recipe and found this one, originally from Southern Living, at >recipezaar.com :

Quick & Easy Blackberry Cobber

• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup self-rising flour (see note below if you have all purpose flour)*
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups blackberries

Whisk together 1 cup of the sugar with flour & milk. Add melted butter and whisk until just blended. Pour batter into a greased 8x12 baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries & remaining 1/4 sugar over the batter. Bake at 350' for about an hour or until the crust is golden brown. You MUST serve this with vanilla ice cream. ;)

When you bake this, the berries drop to the bottom so the crust turns golden brown.

I will share a few variations I had to make on the recipe. I used an 8x8 pan. The 8x12 pan would have yielded a thinner crust. I didn't have self-rising flour so I used the standard substitute. *Take one cup of plain flour and add 1-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I also didn't have stick butter so I used squeeze Parkay that I melted in the microwave. I also didn't have quite 2 cups of berries (all that snacking on the fresh berries took care of that). The cobbler would have been juicier with more berries.

Can you tell, like many good Southern cooks, I only use a recipe loosely. ;-)

It must have been good anyway. I didn't get any pictures of the finished cobber! The family beat me to it with spoons and vanilla ice cream in hand.

If you run across some beautiful berries of any kind, this would be a great way to enjoy them with your family! :-)

THE Easiest Coconut Cake Recipe in the World

So, you've gotta take a dessert for Thanksgiving Dinner. What to do? Time's-a-wastin' and who has time to get into some involved recipe for the big day at this late hour?

Sew Gracious to the rescue!

THE Easiest Coconut Cake Recipe in the World!

1 boxed yellow cake mix; any brand

1 can cream of coconut {found in the baking aisle or with the booze mixers}

1 bag shredded coconut

1 small tub Cool Whip; thawed

Prepare cake mix according to package directions & bake in a 9x13 pan. After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool for about 5 minutes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the cake; all over. Pour the cream of coconut over the cake so that it soaks in. Frost with Cool Whip and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Chill for about an hour or until ready to serve.

Your guests will rave. You'll be the family's new "Martha Stewart" and it was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perfect Peach Cobbler Recipe

You're a Peach : That's Just Peachy
I really love your peaches [ok . . . enough of that one. Thanks Steve Miller ;-) ]

Fresh peaches are abundant right now. What better way to enjoy them than
FRESH PEACH COBBLER

This, warm from with oven, topped with vanilla ice cream . . . mm mm good!

FRESH PEACH COBBLER

Prepare the peaches:

• 2 cups fresh peaches, peeled & cut into pieces


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 cup water

In a sauce pan, combine the peaches, sugar & water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir often to make sure the sugar has dissolved and doesn't scorch.

Then you will need:

• 1 stick butter or margarine


• 1 cup sugar


• 3/4 cup self-rising flour


• 3/4 cup milk (skim or reduced fat is fine)


• dash of cinnamon (optional)


• prepared peaches (you can substitute a large can of peaches, undrained, if you're doing this in the dead of winter)

Preheat oven to 350' F. Put the butter in a 9" round baking dish. Place the dish in the heated oven, allowing the butter to melt completely. Once the butter has melted, remove the dish from the oven and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix sugar & flour completely. Slowly add milk; whisking to combine well so there are lumps. Pour the batter over the melted butter, but DO NOT STIR. Gently pour the peaches on top of the batter, then pour the remainder of the peach syrup into the dish. DO NOT STIR.

Return the dish to the oven and bake at 350' for 35-45 minutes or until the crust has risen to the top and turned golden brown. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and ENJOY!

This recipe will also work with other fresh fruits : berries, apples, etc. Be creative!

Fresh Tomato Pasta Recipe : Easy Dinner

We are blessed with a local farmers market. All of the produce is grown in our county by local people. There are no huge commercial operations; just regular folks, working hard to make a living and provide fresh products for our little community. I've gotten so much good food there this year: tomatoes, squash, blackberries, peaches . . . all grown right here. It feels great to buy fresh food from local people.

I found these gorgeous tomatoes at our local market. I'm not food stylist. I just put these beauties in a glass bowl, but look how beautiful they are!!! [and they were delicious too!] Because I had SO many tomatoes and we had eaten SO MANY BLTs, I decided to put together a simple dinner; using what I had on hand. The result . . . FRESH TOMATO PASTA.

I started with Southern Living pictorial - Food TV-worthy tomatoes, grown by a local farmer.




I picked fresh basil & thyme from my herb garden; conveniently right outside my back door. Sorry, not trying to brag, it's just the nicest little "good thing" . . . fresh herbs literally at my fingertips.





I pulled the thyme from the stems and did a chiffonade on the basil. Chiffonade simply means thinly sliced or cut into ribbons. To chiffonade, stack & tightly roll the basil leaves like a cigar. Then cut slices, as thin as you can get them.


The basil will look like this:


Good Olive Oil is a must. I really should have been Italian. Good wine & good olive oil are some of the finer necessities in life! ;-)

To make this dish; simply dice the fresh tomatoes and put them in a large bowl. Season with a little salt & pepper. In the meantime, boil some water for the pasta. Be sure to salt the water before it boils and add a little olive oil to the boiling water before adding your pasta so that the pasta doesn't stick together. Cook the pasta until it is al dente.

I used linquine, but if you prefer another kind of pasta; give it a try. Angel hair might be a bit too fine, but spaghetti, fettucine or even penne would be good alternatives, if you like. Whole wheat noodles will be fine too, if that's what you like best.

When the pasta has cooked, drain well and put in the large bowl with the fresh tomatoes. Add the basil & thyme. Drizzle with olive oil and toss well. The heat from the pasta will slightly warm the tomatoes; making a light, delicious dish.

Plate up your wonderful, fresh dinner and top with some fresh grated parmesan cheese. [I took my pics before I added the cheese, but it was the perfect accent in this dish]. It is delicious, as it, but we had some leftover grilled chicken so put that on the side. If you have some cooked shrimp, that would be a good addition too. Serve with some crusty bread or garlic bread and a nice glass of wine.IF there are any leftovers, this is wonderful as a cold salad for lunch the next day.

buon appetito

Cook It. Blog It!

Do you like to cook?
Do you like to blog?
Do you need ideas for dinner?

Patty, of Mod Kid Boutique, has started a great new cooking club on her blog! Cook It. Blog It! is a way for those of us who blog to share some great recipes & ideas with each other. The cooking club is open to anyone! Click here for some more information, plus Patty's recipe for Key Lime Pie.

Just go to the Blog Roll and leave a comment so that your blog can be added to the list. Patty has also created a Flickr group for those who would like to share pics that way too. Take a peek at the Blog Roll list. You'll see lots of names you know. With ladies this creative, you know the recipes will be great!

HAPPY COOKING & BLOGGING!

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

This week, a trip to the local farmers market yielded these beautiful blackberries. They were PERFECT! No blemishes, no bad berries, no mushy spots. We've plan to shop at our farmers market more this year. The local farmers need our support, plus the produce is literally fresh from the field.

After eating a few fresh berries I started craving blackberry cobbler. I don't know why. I've never been a big cobbler eater, but these were just begging to be in a cobbler. I went on the hunt for a quick, easy recipe and found this one, originally from Southern Living, at recipezaar.com :

Quick & Easy Blackberry Cobber

• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup self-rising flour (see note below if you have all purpose flour)*
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups blackberries

Whisk together 1 cup of the sugar with flour & milk. Add melted butter and whisk until just blended. Pour batter into a greased 8x12 baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries & remaining 1/4 sugar over the batter. Bake at 350' for about an hour or until the crust is golden brown. You MUST serve this with vanilla ice cream.

When you bake this, the berries drop to the bottom so the crust turns golden brown.

I will share a few variations I had to make on the recipe. I used an 8x8 pan. The 8x12 pan would have yielded a thinner crust. I didn't have self-rising flour so I used the standard substitute. *Take one cup of plain flour and add 1-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I also didn't have stick butter so I used squeeze Parkay that I melted in the microwave. I also didn't have quite 2 cups of berries (all that snacking on the fresh berries took care of that). The cobbler would have been juicier with more berries.

Can you tell, like many good Southern cooks, I only use a recipe loosely. ;-)

It must have been good anyway. I didn't get any pictures of the finished cobber! The family beat me to it with spoons and vanilla ice cream in hand.

If you run across some beautiful berries of any kind, this would be a great way to enjoy them with your family! :-)

What's for Dinner?

OK . . .


How many times do you hear that during the week? Is that the question you hate to hear? Do you cringe when your little one asks it for the 5th time before lunch?

My answers:

1 million, at least
yes
YES! YES! YES! ;-)

Luckily, Sundays are an easy day for me . . .usually. I can almost call it an off day. SewDaddy is the Grill Master! WOO HOOO! He will usually fire up the grill on Sunday afternoons to cook up a whole bag of chicken breast. Can you say "dinner for the rest of the week"? ;-) It is so wonderful to have that grilled chicken in the fridge for quick dinners & salads during the week.

So, back to the original question of the day . . . What's for Dinner?

Tonight our menu consists of:

• Grilled Chicken seasoned with ButtRub (That's a whole different post!) :-)
• CousCous
• Grilled Romaine & Tomatoes

Yes...you can grill lettuce! How chic is that? ;-) I buy the bags of romaine hearts, so it's really easy and there's no waste.

Gently wash the romaine and drain. Cut the head in half; leaving the core in tact. That will hold it together during the grilling process. Place your halved romaine heads in a dish along with some roma tomatoes which have also been cut in two. Drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt & cracked black pepper. Now from here, I'm not exactly sure what SewDaddy does other than put that stuff on the grill, cut sides down. The lettuce gets a tiny bit charred on the edges and wilts slightly. The tomatoes are still firm, but warm. This is heavenly!!!

It is delicious as it comes off the grill or you can drizzle with some buttermilk ranch dressing. What a wonderful, elegant yet simple dinner...done on the grill

Hey, the couscous doesn't count....that's 5 minutes for me in the kitchen! :-)

So, the question to you, my wonderful readers.... What's for Dinner?

Family Pizza Night

The weekend is a great time for a Pizza Night. You can always pick up the phone to order from those guys who bring pizza to your door, but what fun is that? My suggestion is to make your own pizza. What better way to have some fun & some special family time! Your bunch can display their creativity and have a delicious dinner too.

You can obviously choose the most artistic pie on our home. :-) The tomato & olive "eyes" are accented with some fresh basil "hair" and a cheese & bacon "smile". YUM! I think some of the FoodTV chefs would be envious!

My pizza is probably the most "gourmet" of the bunch with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, black olives, artichokes & feta. Delicioso!

The Man Pie is easily spotted . . . pepperoni and lots of cheese. You can't beat a classic!

Having your own Family Night with Make Your Own Pizzas is SO easy. Pick up some pre-made pizza crusts at the grocery store. We used Mama Mary's, but Boboli is another option. The toppings are up to you. Have fun, be creative, but most importantly....enjoy time with your family.

Buon Appetito!