This 'n That

Where do I start?

Okay, first things first.  I do not have a new recipe to post.  I've been making lots of oldies but goodies, like pasta, broccoli and chicken which was the recipe that started this whole blog.

Nothing I've made recently has been good enough to blog about.

This was the pot roast that I made in my crock pot earlier this week.  Ick.  First and last time making pot roast in the slow cooker.

I've been spending way too much time trying to figure out my blog header.  Or should I say lack thereof.  Several months ago I changed the layout and the graphics, and you have no idea how frustrated I've been trying to put the header back together.  I can't figure out how to layer a photo onto the header!  Caitie is coming home for her fall break in a couple of weeks, I think I will cajole her into helping me figure it out.

I painted my dining room today.  Or maybe I should say that I continued my kitchen/dining room painting project.  

This is how I left it last week, when I didn't have time to finish.  The new green is pretty close in color to the old green, and unless you were looking at this particular spot under one of the windows it was hard to tell that my walls were painted different shades of light sage.

As I was finishing up my painting I was thinking of what my next painting project would be.  I don't like anything about my kitchen and since there is not a remodeling possibility in my near future I was thinking that I'll paint the trim as well (hard to tell in the above photo but the wood is an icky knotty pine).  And I'm going to paint the icky oak cabinets.  

And then I wondered, is it possible to paint the icky tile back splash?  And what about the icky counters?

I think I've overused the word icky.

I'll switch gears, from icky to magnificent.

I'm so happy that my garden is still producing an abundance of magnificent flowers so that I can surround myself with their magnificence in my icky kitchen.

I'm not kidding about the abundance part.  The more I clip, the more they grow and bloom and multiply.

Some of the zinnias are even having twins!  I've never seen double blooms like this before.  Magnificent.

Next post, I think I'll write about Gus.  My magnificent little southern boy.

Broiled Zucchini With Melted Cheese

Okay, I've spent way too much time trying to come up with a name for this recipe.  

 I've just spent almost an  

hour staring at this blank page.  Daydreaming, talking to Gus, anything to avoid the torture that is coming up with a name for a recipe.  Time to move on and go with a straight-to-the-point name.  The zucchini gets broiled, the cheese does melt...and so there you have it.

The important thing is this:  you will now have another recipe to go to when you are looking to use up the abundance of zucchini growing in your garden.

Grilled Potato Wedges

I've never told you how I came up with the name of this blog.  I didn't even have to think about it.  Between my three kids, "Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?" has been the most-often asked question for the last fifteen years or so.  And by my three kids, I mean my son. 

I could usually expect that it would be one of the first questions of the day.  The memories are so clear:  Sean, at three years old, eating his cereal, talking with his mouth full, "Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?"  Picking him up from elementary school, and as he ran toward me he'd be yelling, "What are we having for dinner?"

Picking him up anywhere, and the first thing he would say when he opened the car door, "What's for dinner?"  And then when he got his license, he'd drive himself home but as soon as he'd walk in the door, "What's for dinner?" And then the 2.0 version of the question: "When are you starting dinner?"

Five days ago, we dropped him off at his college.  Now I'm the one asking the questions, texting him, "What did you have for dinner?"

With Caitie and Sean back at school, it sure is quiet around here.

Erin made a back to school cake today.  Chocolate cake with peanut butter-butter cream frosting.  I think she must have used three pounds of assorted Reese's cups/Reese's pieces decorating this.  I cut the teeniest, weeniest, skinniest slices I could, but I bet they still had about a gazillion calories in each.


Meanwhile, I'm trying to come up with a French toast casserole that doesn't have a million calories in it.
A while ago, a friend of mine made a French toast casserole and it was incredible.  It was Paula Deen's recipe for French toast casserole with maple syrup.  I googled the recipe and saw the ingredients--besides all the eggs and cream and maple syrup it had two sticks of butter in it--well, to make a long story short, I just couldn't bring myself to make it.

I mean, it's one thing to eat something when you are out somewhere and you think, "oh, this is spectacular!"  But when I'm preparing it myself I just can't bring myself to add two sticks of butter--not without envisioning a syringe plunging all those calories directly into my thighs.

This is what I made this weekend:

An overnight French toast casserole.  With only one tablespoon of butter in it.  It wasn't that good, so I'm going to have to keep tweaking it!

Sooooooo.........today I'm going to give you a recipe that has been my go-to side dish this summer.  Last week, I was talking with my friend, Alyse, and she said that she was having trouble coming up with ideas for side dishes.  On nights when you're going to be grilling your dinner, it's easy to throw these potato wedges onto your grill as well!