tomatoes

Every once in a while the grocery store has logs of fresh mozzarella on sale that beg to be bought and consumed. When last this happened, we purchased two logs and came up with a variety of tasty ways to incorporate them into our meals. This particular time was an experiment of condiments / sauces we had around the house, baguette bread, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Check out these ideas!

My husband doesn't much care for pasta salad, so I usually make it for myself during my summer break. I have always enjoyed cold pasta salad, especially of the Italian variety! There is something about fresh veggies cut up with noodles and pepperoni! Plus that Zesty Italian dressing that pulls the dish together! It's a refreshing summer dish.

With every party, there should be options for healthy snacks. That's where this mini-treat comes in handy and you won't believe how easy it is to do!  Just gather up your favorite vegetables, some dip, and short shot glasses.

My mother has always made the BEST lasagna I've ever had. Whenever we went to a restaurant or over to someone else's house and they were serving lasagna, it just never compared to my mom's homemade lasagna. The sauce wouldn't be quite right or there wouldn't be enough cheese or, worst of all, there would be sausage in the lasagna! I mean, sausage?!

My green bell pepper plants have finally produced large enough peppers for eating, so I came up with some tasty meals that could incorporate my garden fresh peppers. The first one was the steak sandwich. Then, considering my husband's inexplicable love of "Mexican" food and all things wrapped in a tortilla, I decided to make Chicken Fajitas!

*Note: prepare the egg bake the night before you need it!

Growing up, I had never had egg bake. We made scrambled eggs, over easy eggs, deviled eggs, omelets, and used eggs for baking, but we never made egg bake. My mother-in-law, however, makes it on special occasions and it is probably one of my favorite breakfast foods!

After visiting my dad's for dinner the other night, he gave us some leftover steak to take home. My dad makes the most amazing steak I've ever had. Leftover meat poses a small problem (at least for the picky of us): it never tastes quite the same as when it was freshly cooked. Now, my husband would have no issue with just eating the leftover steak and some grilled veggies like we did the first night.

I grew up with tuna from a can and didn't realize until much, much later in life that there is a such thing as "ahi tuna" and other forms of tuna that do not come out of a can. In fact, these fancy kinds of tuna are served at fancy kinds of restaurants! I remember the first time I went out to eat at a classy restaurant and my mother-in-law ordered tuna.

As my mother's wedding day nears, I've been experimenting with various appetizers. The goal is to find some quick and easy apps that are still tasty. First, I practiced my deviled egg making skills. Then I moved on to a simple but elegant looking dessert: tuxedo cupcakes. Now, it's time for an excellent finger food: cheese and crackers!

For many years, I disliked breakfast food. I remember traveling with my family and stopping at Perkins. Everybody else ordered omelets, pancakes, toast, cereal, bacon, etc... except me. I always ordered some kind of sandwich, even if it was 9:00 in the morning! The waitresses usually gave me a funny look, prompting me to inquire "is it too early for lunch food?" to which they would smile and reply "No, of course not."