Food Friday - What's for Dinner?

from Kris B.

I don't like the heat that Texas summer's bring, but I do like the abundance of fresh veggies.  I feel like I eat a little better during the summer months because of all this freshness.  Unfortunately, I don't care much for canned and frozen vegetables, so the winter months for me are marked by a lot of squash!  I love squash, but I do get tired of it after awhile.

As far as leafy greens, spinach is by far my

 favorite.  I'll add it to almost anything.  Asparagus is one of those things that I have leaned to appreciate as an adult.  I never wanted it on my childhood plate!  I don't know if that is because my mom served it from a can or if it was fresh and seriously over cooked.  Whatever the case, I always thought it was mushy and smelled bad.  Lol!

This dish is an adaptation of a couple different recipes and is a summertime favorite at our house.  If you are not an asparagus fan or have greens other than spinach, substitute away, just about anything will work here...even squash!

INGREDIENTS
12 oz. store bought gnocchi
8 oz. spinach
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Cup parmesan cheese and extra for garnish
2 TBS toasted almonds
6 spears of asparagus
3 TBS butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat  olive oil over medium high in a large pan.  Add the spinach and sauté until bright green and wilted.  Remove to a cutting board and allow it to cool.

Cook the gnocchi by adding it to a pot of boiling water.  Cook for three minutes.  the pieces should rise to the top.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the water in which you cooked the gnocchi.  Drain the gnocchi.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, garlic, almonds, a 1/4 of parmesan cheese.  Mix and mash the ingredients together.  It will look like green paste.  It may not look appetizing at this point, but it will taste good in the end!

Trim the asparagus and cut it into bite-seized pieces, about 1 inch.  In the same pan you used to cook the spinach, melt the butter.  Add the cooked gnocchi and the asparagas.  Sauté until the gnocchi is golden brown and the asparagus is soft but not much.  Lol!   I know what you're thinking.  Butter???Butter gets a bad rap. We all need a little fat in our diets, it helps the gnocchi and asparagus brown just a little, and, admit it, it tastes good!  Once cooked, add the gnocchi and asparagas to the spinach mixture.  If it seems to dry, add a little of the reserved gnocchi water a tablespoon at a time until it seems moist enough.  You do not want standing liquid in the bowl, just nicely coated gnocchi!  Season with salt and pepper and garniush with additional parmesan cheese, if desired.

I usually serve this warm, but my daughter prefers it cold.  So, I guess anything goes!

Makes 2-3 servings

Nutrition information: per serving; 377 calories; 18.8g fat; 43.9g carbohydrates; 13.3g protein; 6.1g fiber; 800mg sodium

The Bean Thing - that's the actual name, not just something we called it because we couldn't remember the name, and I've always loved it! The minute I take a bite of this salad I am a kid again. It's not sweet at all like most bean salads and that's what drew my mom to the recipe, it was different from most bean "salad" recipes out there. My mom made this often for "special occasions"  - meaning  mostly those things where you need a dish to pass. This couldn't be any easier and it's a powerhouse of good the stuff that beans have to offer. Now, my mom mostly served it as a side dish. And I have too, but for me it's a 50/50 mix of making it to go with something and making because this is the something that I want! I love to use it as a light lunch in the summer (winter too because it uses canned beans and corn - I've also used frozen corn for this too and it works just as well) and I've been known to have it for dinner with some nice bread, lol. In fact, it was my lunch today!

The original recipe is fine as it is, it uses heart healthy olive oil as the oil for the dressing. I have taken it a bit further and played with the amount of oil that goes in and I've come to the conclusion that you can cut it back to a little over a 1/4 cup and it still tastes pretty darn good! I've lessened the sodium as well, even though I pretty much exclusively use kosher salt, less salt is less salt. Kosher salt is great due to the flat nature of the crystals, you get big salt taste for a lot less of the stuff!  But this recipe is from the late 60's early 70's and at that time it was salt salt salt! I imagine you could skip it entirely and just salt your own portion. It also helps to use lower-sodium canned beans & corn to help reduce it as well. The original recipe calls for green pepper to be added, but Jeremy, my husband is not a big green pepper fan, so I omit it. And that's just fine - this does well without it. Another thing it does well without are the chickpeas - I love them, Jeremy does not, so, I used cannellini beans and all is well. Versatile recipes that you can swap without losing the integrity of the dish are hands-down my favorite kind! I hate not being able to make something because I'm lacking one ingredient, that drives me crazy! I love to use whatever I have on hand and have it be just as good as if I had everything right down to the letter. That makes me a pretty happy girl!  

I believe my mom cut this out of a newspaper or something, but it was actually a recipe written for red wine - not sure anymore it was a particular kind/brand etc because the original recipe has been long gone for quite awhile now, in fact, I don't think I've ever actually seen the original clipping!

The Bean Thing

serves about 8 officially

1 can red kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can chickpeas or cannellini beans

1 can sweet corn

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 green pepper chopped

Dressing:

3/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp vinegar

3 tbsp red wine

1 clove garlic crushed (or I use my microplane grater instead of my press sometimes!)

2 tsp salt (less is fine)

black pepper to taste

Combine beans and corn in a colander. Rinse under cold water and drain well. Place in a serving bowl, add green pepper and green onion. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Pour over bean and vegetable mixture. Toss to coat and refrigerate until serving time. This is always better the longer it gets the chance to sit and marinate.

Food Friday - Spring Colors!

from Tracey G

I love lemons, and I love pound cake - but literally pound cake adds on the pounds that I just don't need. So, when I saw this recipe for a lower fat version in my new issue of Taste Of Home (can be found here:Makeover Lemon Pound Cake), I KNEW I had to try it! But I will be honest here, this didn't work out too well for me this go around - and I'm not sure why. Not sure if it was something I did or didn't do, or that I used a glass loaf pan and so forth. I'm just not sure, seems like it could have been the perfect storm of things combined that affected the cooking/outcome of it, because mine did NOT look like the beautiful cake in the magazine! LOL But that's just how it goes sometimes isn't it? Kris and I are always saying that we think the making of the recipe and what we deal with is the better story of them! And we have some pretty funny ones to too!

But I must say, it was very yummy and got thumbs up from my guys, so that's good enough for me. I will definitely be making it again, and trying out a different baking pan. I do believe it was in the way it cooked somehow, the upper 2/3 of the cake was fine, but the bottom third seemed like it didn't rise - and I know my baking powder was good too. It could also be my oven's cooking/temperature affecting things as well. So, try try again, right? And you can bet I will be trying again because it was REALLY tasty. They garnished theirs with candied lemon slices,(which I'll include the recipe method for as well as the recipe) but I made up an impromptu lemon buttercream to garnish it with and added the strawberries I happened to have in the fridge - they were a great combination!!  

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

Recipe courtesy of Taste Of Home, can be found here:Makeover Lemon Pound Cake

1/4 c butter, softened

3/4 c sugar

3 large eggs

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon peel

1tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp poppy seed, optional

11/2 c all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 c fat-free vanilla yogurt

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9x5-in. loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, vanilla and if desired, poppy seeds. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with yogurt, beating until just combined.

3) Transfer to prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Garnish with candied lemon slices if desired.

Candied Lemon Slices:

Bring 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water to boil; stir until dissolved. Add one thinly sliced lemon and simmer 5 minutes or until tender. Drain; cool slices on a wire rack. 


from Kris B.

Last week it was what to do with all of those hard boiled eggs after their coloring and hunting; this week, it's a suggestion for what to do if by the time the Easter Bunny gets to your house he is full and leaves behind the snack of carrots you left out.  Now that my girls are adults, I can't decide whether I miss the Easter traditions of dying eggs,  the early morning egg hunt and leaving those few carrots out for The Bunny, or whether I'm relieved.  As a church musician, Holy Week and Easter are extremely busy, so on one hand, I am glad to have one or two less things to do, but I do miss those smiling faces as the little ones scurry around trying to find every last egg.  Oh well...

Served warm, this carrot soufflé can be a sweet side; or, if you chill it, because of its spices, it is reminiscent of sweet potato or pumpkin pie.  At my house, it is a hit served either way.  

And a bonus…it is easy to make!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb peeled and steamed carrots.

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

3 TBS flour

1  tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

Steam or boil the carrots.  Then mash them.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs.  Add all of the ingredients and whisk together until well combined.  You may still have small pieces of carrots. 

Pour the mixture into a greased 8x8 glass baking dish or comparable vessel.  (You can also use ramekins.)

 Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cooking times will very depending on your oven.

Serve hot or cold.  Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar and/or a peeled carrot curl.

Happy Spring!

Food Friday - Breakfast. It's What's for Dinner!

from Tracey G.

This week's recipe has really been a trial to get accomplished! LOL I didn't plan on 90+ degree temperatures when I picked out a new recipe to try that needs to be baked...poor planning on my part! I thought for the fun of it I'd find something new to make, always looking for new stuff. So, I picked this recipe, sounded super simple and super yummy. Well, it was simple, until you have a grocery store than doesn't quite have the bread you need. Then the frozen blueberries I'd bought for it (as you can use frozen or fresh with this one, which was another appealing thing about it!) somehow never made it to the freezer. I found them on the dining room floor, still in the grocery bag - the next day. I have NO idea how that happened, how does one miss a grocery bag??? I guess though, that's what happens when you're not the one who puts the groceries away - Harry wanted to be helpful and since the Cool Whip had made it to the freezer, I figured so did the blueberries, lol. I was wrong. So, I had to get some more blueberries which also set me back, ugh.

And even the photos were a challenge this week as well, hence the reason there's so very few, I did what I could, and had to just admit defeat and call it good enough, lol. So, let's get to it... ;-)

Here's the ingredients to get started with - butter, bread, sliced frozen or fresh peaches and frozen or fresh blueberries. The bread is supposed to be a long loaf of French bread, cut into 20 slices. Of course my grocery didn't have any baguette style bread - just an already sliced loaf of Italian bread, and not very thickly. So, I ended up improvising, which proved be a bit troublesome down the road, lol, now, looking back, I see a few ways differently I could have done it, but oh well, next time I will when they don't have the right bread, lol. As for the other ingredients, I didn't get any shots of them, lol, it's definitely been a challenge getting this one accomplished! 

First you melt the butter and pour it into a 9x13" baking dish, I tilted the pan to coat the bottom. Then, you layer in your bread slices. You're supposed to layer half the slices, which if you have the correct bread, would be 10, lol. Since I had the Italian loaf to work with, I put mine in this way, as shown in the above photo. And since they were pretty thin, I doubled the bottom layer. (This whole thing was trial and error for me since I didn't have the proper bread - it really threw a bunch of things off! LOL).

This photo, above, shows the dish a few more steps into the process....after putting your first layer of bread in, you top with some of the peaches and some of the blueberries. You then top it with another slice of bread (in my case I used only one slice for the top layer) and then you top that with the rest of the peaches and the blueberries.

Now you mix up the custard part - milk, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Once you have that mixed well, you pour it over top of the prepared bread and fruit. At this point you cover and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight.

Pull the French toast out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 350°. Meanwhile, you make the caramel sauce :-) This is a super simple little recipe on it's own, and I am going to use it for other things I think down the road, lol, vanilla ice cream for one thing! But anyway, you melt 1/2 cup butter and together in the microwave with 1/2 cup brown sugar, and cook it for about a minute. Then you add 3 tbsp heavy cream and 3 tbsp corn syrup and cook for about a minute longer until bubbly.

You take a 1/2 cup of the caramel and drizzle it over the French toast, then bake it uncovered for about 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. For me, I ended up going about 60 minutes, but that's because of the bread configuration I'm sure, lol. You let it stand about 10 minutes, then drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce before serving! It's really yummy no matter what it looked like, lol.

I hope the next time I make it I have the right bread, but if not I have a few ways, now that I know how it comes together, that I think will make it a better turn out than this first run, lol.

Peach-Blueberry French Toast

courtesy of Taste Of Home

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 loaf (1 pound) French bread, cut into 20 slices 3­1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh or frozen peaches

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

6 eggs

2 ­1/2 cups 2% milk

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

CARAMEL:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, cubed

3 tablespoons corn syrup

3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1) Pour butter into a greased 13­in. x 9­in. baking dish. Top with half of the bread slices. Layer with 2­1/2 cups peaches, 1/4 cup blueberries and remaining bread.

 2) In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and salt; pour over bread. Arrange the remaining peaches and blueberries over top; cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

 3) Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Place brown sugar and butter in a small microwave­safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 to 1­1/2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring once. Add corn syrup and cream; cook 1 minute longer or until bubbly, stirring once.

 4) Drizzle 1/2 cup caramel over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35­40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving; drizzle with remaining caramel. Yield: 10 servings.


from Kris B.

What I have to offer this week seems more about reminders and resolutions than it does a recipe.  Here are my somewhat random thoughts in a random order that will eventually result in a recipe...sort of.

First of all, breakfast is my favorite meal.  Or perhaps more appropriately stated, breakfast foods are my favorite foods.  Oatmeal, eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, fruit, French toast...it doesn't matter.  I love them all.  Therefore, when I am stuck for what to eat for whatever meal, I will usually reach for something "breakfasty."  This is how we arrived a this week's theme.

Though having breakfast foods for dinner sometimes feels like cheating as far as meal preparation goes, they really do make for a perfectly reasonable anytime meal.  Who decided that eggs are a breakfast food, anyway?  It is the perfectionist in me that somehow drew the conclusion that dinner should be well-planned, painstakingly prepared, and beautifully served.  I don't know where these ideas originated.  What I do know is that no matter how tasty, oatmeal or an English muffin with peanut butter doesn't really count as dinner in my mind.  Believing that dinner should be a more elaborate meal than the others sometimes keeps me from preparing a simple, but really perfectly acceptable to most, meal.  I share this week's recipe as a way to help myself shatter my own unrealistic expectations.

"Hash," as used here, means whatever you happen to have in the veggie bin in the fridge, a potato, and a fried egg on top for a little protein.  There are many different ingredients that can be used in this and equally as many seasoning variations that you can vary it every week and make it your own.  The ingredient that makes it worthy of being called hash is the potato.  Hash does not need to be well-planned or painstakingly prepared.  Quite the contrary.  It can be thrown together at the last minute with whatever ingredients you have on hand and the preparation requires nothing but dicing the ingredients.  It can, however, be beautifully served.

Here is my simple version.

INGREDIENTS
1 russet potato
1 sweet potato
1 zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Microwave the russet and sweet potatoes for 8-10 minutes, depending on size.  You want them to be "not quite done."  This is a lesson I learned late in life.  Any kind of fried potatoes need to be partially cooked before they are fried or the outsides burn before the insides get done.  

While the potatoes are in the microwave, dice the other vegetables.  When the potatoes are done, dice them as well.  I leave the skin on the russet potato, but remove it from the sweet potato.  

In a heavy skillet, (I am partial to cast iron.) heat the olive oil.  Add all of the vegetables, but no potatoes yet.  Saute the vegetables until they are tender.

Add the butter and the potatoes to the veggies.

Cook the potatoes until they start to brown on the edges and have a little bit of "crunch."

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare a fried eggs sunny side up in a non-stick skillet.

Serve the egg on top of the hash.  And that's it!

Like i said, the variations here are endless...add herbs, spices, different veggies, or meat to create a meal that is suitable for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Food Friday - Dinner on the Grill

July 31st!  All of the sudden the summer seems to be speeding by.  Soon it will be back to school and the freedom of our summer schedules will disappear.Tracey is enjoying some time away with her in-laws this week, so it is my turn to go it alone.  She and Harry have done a little back to school clothes shopping, but otherwise I think that they are trying to squeeze a little more fun and adventure into these last few weeks of their summer break and not think too much about the fast approaching beginning to a new school year.  

I am grateful that Tracey and I have an easy going relationship, one that allows us to work well together through the ebbing and flowing of our lives.  For me, this is a big deal.  I have never really been a fan of group projects because it always seems the work is never evenly distributed and I end up doing way more than my fair share.  That is certainly not the case with us.  Tracey has restored my faith in working with others. It is nice to have a project that you enjoy and the opportunity pursue with someone who is truly a joy to work with!  I have missed our conversations this week, but I am glad that Tracey and Harry had have this time with Grandma and Grandpa.

And now on to food...

I am still on my outdoor cooking kick.  This may be because we are about to have some major landscaping done at our house and I am trying to justify including a small outdoor kitchen in the plan.  Or, it may just be that it is easier and burgers taste better when they are grilled.  Whatever the case, this week's recipe is an open faced grilled burger topped with creamed spinach.  This recipe is adapted from one in the current issue of Cuisine at Home magazine.  

Creamed Spinach
2 TBS butter
1/4 Cup minced onion
2 TBS flour
1/2 Cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 Cup low sodium chicken broth
Salt, pepper, ground nutmeg, and cayenne pepper to taste.  I probably used a 1/2 tsp of each, maybe?  I'm not sure.  Focus here on the "to taste" part of the instructions.
4 Cups rough cut spinach
1/4 Cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp lemon juice

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the onion and cook until it is translucent.  Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.  Whisk in the milk and chicken broth followed by the seasonings. Bring this mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Add the spinach stirring until it is wilted, then add the cheese and lemon juice.

The spinach is rough cut to keep it from being too "stringy" when the dish is served.

The spinach sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.  Reheat before serving.

Burgers
1 Lb ground beef
garlic
Worcestershire sauce
onion
garlic
salt and pepper
Texas toast

Using a pound of ground beef, make your favorite burger.  I added a little onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  Shape the burgers and grill to your desired level of done-ness. 

In the final minutes of grilling the burgers, brush both sides of Texas toast with olive oil and place them directly on the grill.  Toast until it is golden.  The turn and repeat on the second side.

To serve, place a burger on a single slice of Texas toast and top with the creamed spinach.

The recipe makes 4 servings.  

The creamed spinach sauce can also be used to top chicken or a pork roast.


Have a great weekend!

Beans and Corn - Oh My! ;-)

by Tracey G

This Food Friday I'm on my own as my wonderful cohort is vacationing it up and loving every minute of it! ;-) Which is exactly what you're supposed to do on a vacation! I am happy she's having a great time, even if she did forget to stuff me in her suitcase, but that's ok - I'll forgive her ;-)

This week I stuck with something even more simple, I think, than usual, for a yummy salad. And it's totally customizable, I can think of lots of variations on it, adding cilantro, parsley, jalapeno etc and I know I've added some crushed garlic a time or two. It also goes with lots of things - I served this particular batch with a new grilled pork chop rub recipe I ran across - it involved brining, and that was something I'd never done. I gave it a whirl and was it easy and produced such a lovely chop! Only thing was it required a bit of pre-planning due to the brining time needed. But, I digress, lol - that's a recipe for another time! ;-)

Back to the Black Bean and Corn Salad - I love the fact it uses frozen corn - so you can make this any time of the year, not just in corn season! And it's easy because you don't cook the corn, just dump it into the bowl and add your stuff to it. It even chills the salad for you, lol. 

The ingredients are simple ones - (clockwise from bottom) a lime or two, can of black beans, frozen corn, cumin, red pepper sauce, olive oil  and red onion. Now, you can also add salt and pepper to taste, I usually don't until I dish up my own personal serving. That's because when I was cooking for my mom, I had to find ways to omit the salt in things I was making as she was on a salt restricted diet. Lemon or lime juice is a great substitute for the salt flavor, so it's not really missed in this salad!

Combine all your salad ingredients - the chopped red onion, corn and beans - in a bowl large enough to mix it up in without having beans and corn flying out everywhere, lol. 

In a small bowl, combine your dressing ingredients. Sometimes I have to use 2 limes depending on how "juicy" they are, sometimes I end up with the driest limes - getting at least 2 prevents that from messing me up ;-)

Then all you do is dump your dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl and mix well. That's it. I let mine sit out for awhile to defrost the corn and chill the salad as I usually am serving it that day with dinner, but you can store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I also sub ingredients as needed, if no lime, I use lemon juice, no red onion – I use regular, etc. and I usually double the recipe!

  

Black Bean and Corn Salad

1 can, 14oz, Black Beans – rinsed and drained

2 c frozen Corn kernels

½ Red Onion, chopped

1 ½ tsp Cumin (I eyeball it, and go to taste)

2 tsp Hot Sauce

1 Lime, juiced

2 tbsp Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil

Salt and Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Let stand for at least 15 min for corn to defrost & flavors to combine, salt and pepper to taste, then toss and serve.

And don't forget you have until midnight tonight (07.17.15) to add your comment and receive a chance (entry) to win the $20 iTunes or Google Play gift card! Winner will be announced Saturday, July 18, 2015!! Good luck!! :-)

Food Friday - When In Doubt, Eat Some Squash!

from Tracey G

I'll admit it, it was a very long time before I liked nuts in certain things - my savory dishes especially. I think it all started with a salad I had a favorite local restaurant - a lettuce salad with raspberries and walnuts topped with grilled chicken breast that had been basted in a raspberry sauce - after eating that I was amazed at how long I'd turned my nose up at the addition of nuts in certain things! I don't have too many recipes involving them, but this one and a Honey Pecan Pork Chop recipe are my favorites.

And I must say, this recipe quickly became a favorite of mine - it's easy and it's different. The biggest problem I have with this recipe is the fact I forget how fast it comes together, lol! I always seem to not get the timing right with this one for having everything ready for dinner, lol. It's that fast. The sauce is created in the pan, and it only involves a few ingredients. I did discover today that it's best eaten when made - for the documenting of the recipe purposes, I made this early in the day and had it for dinner tonight, and it just does not reheat very well, lol. The cream sauce just breaks and never quite comes back together. I've never had an instance of not eating it at the time I've made it, so this was a new discovery, lol. Usually I make it, it's eaten and gone, lol. So, today was something new that I learned, and an important thing learned to pass along! :-)

The ingredients are simple - for me it's the pre-made "fresh" butternut squash ravioli (you can also use frozen or if you can't find either fresh or frozen, you can use cheese ravioli), heavy cream, brown sugar, toasted pecans, butter, shredded parmesan, nutmeg and sage. As for the sage, in the summer when the sage in my herb garden is going strong, I usually grab the fresh, but when it's not ready yet - the dried works very well. The only things not pictured here, (and it seems to never fail that I forget something in the ingredient documentation! LOL), are the salt and the dash cayenne pepper.

Start by cooking the ravioli according to the package directions...while they are cooking start your sauce...

Part of the recipe is toasting the pecans in a large dry skillet. Takes 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat - it's super easy, but you just need to keep an eye on them. It doesn't take much for them to go too far - from toasted to burnt pretty quickly, lol. 

Once you get them toasted, add the butter and stir until melted - then stir in the brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and cayenne... The original recipe called for 1/4 cup brown sugar, I actually just usually use 3 tbsp firmly packed, as to me the 1/4 cup gave it too much sweetness. 

Next, you remove the pan from heat and stir in the heavy cream and the sage. Another change I've made to the recipe for my tastes, is to add 1/2 cup heavy cream - not exactly waistline friendly, but seems to coat the ravioli better and tastes good too! 

Once you have that done, and well blended, add drained ravioli and toss gently to coat. Top with Parmesan cheese, and serve! Or I usually top the individual servings with Parmesan cheese before serving. 

Sage-Pecan Butternut Squash Ravioli

Originally from Taste Of Home magazine

4 servings

1 pkg (18 oz) frozen butternut squash ravioli or 2 pkg. (9 oz. each) refrigerated butternut squash ravioli or, alternatively, 2 pkg. (9 oz. each) refrigerated cheese ravioli

3/4 c chopped pecans or walnuts

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 

Dash cayenne pepper

1/4 heavy cream

2 tbsp minced fresh sage or 2 tsp dry rubbed sage

Shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese

1) Cook ravioli according to the package directions.

2) Meanwhile, in a large dry skillet, toast pecans over medium-low heat 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and cayenne. Remove from heat; stir in cream and sage. 

3) Drain ravioli; add to skillet and toss to coat. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

from Kris B.

Well, where to begin?  There is food in this post.  There are even a few LOLs, but there is not much food photography from me.  I will explain and I bet you all will be thankful that my photos are non-existent this week.

The plumbing saga at my house continues...really, that is a good thing!  I have seen pictures of our coroded pipes under the house; they are not pretty!  So, having them all replaced is a absoluely necessary.  They are fifty-two years old.  Sometimes I think my insides may look just like those pipes.  LOL!  When you think about all that is involved in this process of completely replumbina a house, the inconvenience and discomfort to us has been minimal.  There were a few days when we had one functional bathroom instead of three.  We have had a couple hours of no water at all.  The end is in sight, but to get to the end means that right now we can't run water down the kitchen drain.  The upshot of that is no washing dishes.  On most days, that would be just fine.  LOL!  However, when you are trying to take "pretty" photos of food and its preparation, an inability to wash dishes is problematic.  I prepared this week's recipe using a minimal number of bowls and utensils and only those that could be washed in the bathroom sink:-)  Though this approach was more or less successful, it didn't make for very appealing photos.

Another side effect of all of the digging necessary for the plumbing fix, as well as all of our recent rain, is that the sugar ants have decided it necessary to seek a higher, dryer place to live.  Earlier in the week, that was my kitchen.  I managed to convince them that they really didn't want to take up residence here by mixing a solution of powdered sugar, borax and water, soaking a cotton ball with the mixture, and placing it under the dishwasher, which was their point of entry.  It was not a very pleasant housewarming gift.  I haven't seen any ants since.  

Despite all the weirdness around here this week, the stuffed yellow squash came out pretty darn good.    It is a simple recipe that, with the exception of the squash itself, requires only kitchen staples.

INGREDIENTS
4 yellow squash (Those with a nice fat end work best.)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Cups Panko breadcrumbs
3/4 Cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste  (I use Kosher salt.)

Preheat overn to 400 degrees.  Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat as well.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  From each half, scoop out the seeds and pulp and place them in a bowl.

Pour a splash of olive oil in a saute pan.  Saute the diced onion and minced garlic for a few minutes, then add the scooped out squash, salt, and pepper to this mixture.  Continue to cook until the squash becomes tender, about 6 minutes.  Remove from heat and return the squash mixture to the bowl.

Add the Panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese,  the basil, oregano and the egg. to the cooked squash mixture.  Mix until thoroughly combined.  Spoon the stuffing back into the hollowed out squash halves.  Sprnkle the tops with the remaining Parmesan cheese.  

Place the squash halves on the preheated baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes or until the tops become golden brown.

Thank you all for your support and understanding.  Hopefully things will be back to normal around here next week.  These little inconveniences make me realize how many things that I have that most days I take for granted.  Friends are not one of those things, however!  I am grateful for each and every one of you!