Ravioli with Tomato and Basil Cream Sauce

There's just so much to love about summer.

Warm, sunny days.  

No school.  All my kids are here, home for the summer, everybody under one roof.

Which means there are more people around for Gus to play frisbee with.

More people around for Clyde to turn his puppy charms on.

Those eyes....are like two puddles of...okay, I'll give you whatever you want.  *sigh*

And now that it's summer, our local Farmers Market is open.  Today's recipe was inspired by the ravioli I bought from the pasta vendor there!

Lemon Meringue Pie with Shortbread Crust

Am I the only one who thinks that May and June are THE most hectic months of the year?

I'm trying to find the time to slow down.  Unsuccessfully, I might add.

This is the groundhog who lives under my neighbor's porch.  He just waddles around aimlessly, poking through the grass.  He seems to have all the time in the world.  I'm kinda jealous of his free time.

Clyde has lots of free time.

Gus isn't one for lounging around.  His definition of "relax" involves some sort of manual labor.

See the frisbee...

catch the frisbee....

...stick the landing.  It's important to stick that landing so he doesn't crash into the rocks.

I think that I'm cut from the same cloth as Gus.  My favorite way to relax is to find something that requires focus, something that takes my mind off the myriad little stresses that usually crowd my day.

Am I the only one who thinks spending a couple of hours in the kitchen is a great way to relax?

It definitely is, especially when the end product is a lemon meringue pie!

Summer Salad Cooking Show!

We just finished taping another episode of the cooking show.  

Our theme was "Summer Salads."

Gayle joined me and we cooked up a storm.

BLT Chicken Salad

With a salsa dressing that is just perfect.

Strawberry Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad is topped with glazed walnuts, you can either buy them or click here to be taken to my recipe for glazed nuts.

Click on the above salad links to be taken to the recipes.

Southwest Sirloin Salad with Ranch Dressing.

Glazed Walnuts...and I finally feel like spring has arrived!!!

Reasons Why I Feel Like Spring Has Finally Arrived

1. 

I've been able to open my windows for two days in a row--here's the key--and the temperature inside my house didn't drop.

As opposed to those days when I'm just so desperate for fresh air that I open the windows and the heat kicks on.

2.  

My front yard is blooming.

3.  

The dry, dead winter grass has suddenly become a lush, green lawn.

4.  

I don't mind sitting outside at 6:30 a.m., with no need for a jacket, mindlessly watching Clyde while he amuses himself by pouncing on a tennis ball.  

Okay, enough with the small talk.  Let's get to the recipe of the day.  Glazed walnuts.  Or any kind of nut, whichever nut you prefer.  Or, as you are about to see, split the recipe and make several different types of glazed nuts at the same time.

Why buy the prepackaged glazed nuts when they are so very easy to make yourself?

Cooking Show--Poppy Seed Recipes, Inspired by Big Papi

This is the picture that inspired the theme for my most recent cooking show:

It was Big Papi bobblehead night at Fenway, so I posted a picture from the game.  My producer, Donna, commented that we should make a "Papi"-seed cake and use the bobblehead as the topper.

The show morphed into a mixture of poppy seed recipes with a healthy dose of "Let's Go Red Sox!" thrown in.

Because we sure do love our Red Sox around here.  (Photo of Gracie, c. 2009.)

What did we cook?

Lemon-Poppyseed Scones

 Strawberry/Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Click on the above links to be taken to the recipes.

We also made Chicken with Lemon-Poppyseed Muffin Stuffing.

Kitchen Failures

As a tribute to all of my recent, unsuccessful attempts to come up with new recipes, I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Hey, Mom, What's NOT For Dinner?"

Fluffy White Cake.  It was as dry as sawdust.

With Fluffy White Frosting.  It was very similar to a certain brand of "frozen non-dairy whipped topping" (you know, the one that is loaded with chemicals, and ingredients that you can't pronounce).  The difference is that the "frozen non-dairy whipped topping" (you know what I'm referring to, right?) actually tastes pretty good, whereas this fluffy white frosting that I made from scratch tasted like chemicals.

If you can figure that one out, clue me in.

I actually took 105 step-by-step photos as I was making this cake.  I kid you, not.  105.

And then I took a bite and wished that I hadn't spent all that time taking photos of a recipe that I'm not going to blog about.

Boneless Country-Style beef ribs.

They look good, right?

They tasted like an old army boot.  Okay, I've never tasted an old army boot.  But I imagine it wouldn't taste very good.  At least an army boot would be made out of somewhat-flexible leather.

These ribs were not flexible.  They were dry, rigid and impossible to chew.

Sticky Lemon Rolls.

Which were really good.  But from start to finish they took FIVE, yes 5, hours to make.  

I don't know why I didn't figure that out in advance.

The only way I will ever spend five hours on any recipe ever again is if eating the end result gives me some sort of superpower.  I would like the power to know in advance whether or not the recipe is worth making.  Or at least that it is not worth spending five hours taking 138 step-by-step photos while I make 10 rolls which--when all is said and done-- only make your clothes fit a bit tighter.

I'd even settle for a superpower that would help me resist Clyde's pleading gaze.

Sea Salt Caramel Cocoa Crispy Treats

I can't tell you how excited I was this morning when I found a tiny little patch of flowers blooming in my backyard.

Yeah!  The flowers are finally blooming!

I may have said that out loud.  

I whipped out my phone to take a picture and just as I snapped it Gus stepped into the shot and dropped a tennis ball.

"What's a dog gotta do to get a little attention around here?  Seeing that you're in such a good mood, maybe if I drop this filthy, dirty ball on your flowers you'll play catch with me."

Flowers for me, a dirty tennis ball for Gus.  That's all it took to make us happy on a drizzly morning.

Okay, let's get to today's recipe.  It's a slight twist on the Sea Salt Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

that I posted last summer.

Click on the link above to be taken to the recipe.  Yes, it is still the same recipe that you see in this picture.  The difference is that I didn't scorch the caramel on the treats in this picture.

To make the cocoa treats, you simply follow the same recipe with two substitutions: chocolate extract instead of vanilla extract, and cocoa rice crispy cereal instead of Rice Krispy cereal.

And this is what you'll have.  Oh. MY.

Happy Things!

I feel like spring is finally here!  Three days in a row with 50+ temps!

The only fun thing about the rainy weather this past weekend was watching Clyde sashay through the house.  He wears the towels we dry him with as if they're a fancy cloak.

Sometimes he carries the end of the towel in his mouth like it's the royal train.  And he looks at me as if he's saying, "Cue The King's March.  I have arrived."

Plopping himself down to take a nap.  I think he keeps the towel wrapped around him so that he will have royal dreams...dreams where he waves a perfect royal wave to his subjects.

Or maybe he just wears the towel because it's comforting on a rainy day.

Thank you to all who commented about their favorite comfort food to enter the giveaway for the Whole Foods gift card last week.  The winner was Carly G., whose favorite comfort food is "a toss up between baked mac and cheese and biscuits with gravy!"

"Biscuits?  Did somebody say BISCUITS?!

Hope you are all enjoying some glorious spring weather wherever you happen to be!

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Every day, every walk we take, Clyde picks up a stick or a branch along the way.

Today, this one stopped him in his tracks.  He turned around and looked at me as if to say, "Yikes!"  Then he did an about-face and dragged me home.

We came home and he promptly took a nap so he could sleep off his trauma.

While he slept, I baked a batch of muffins.

  I wanted to take a picture of the muffins, and the best place for natural light is on this bench in my dining room.

Gus understands the meaning of "look but don't touch."  Clyde--not so much.  Good thing he was sleeping.

If you haven't yet entered the giveaway for the Whole Foods gift card, head on over to this post and leave a comment telling me what your favorite comfort food is.  The winner will be announced on March 31.  Good luck!

Comfort Food Cooking Show...and Whole Foods Giveaway!

  I'm so ready for the snow to be gone!

Even though it is fun to throw snowballs for Gus.

Got it!  Clyde usually looks on in admiration, he simply doesn't have the desire to catch snowballs. 

 We filmed another episode of the cooking show this week.  With the freezing temperatures outside, it only seemed fitting that the theme of this show should be comfort food!

What did we make?

 Chicken Pot Pie

A large, family-sized chicken pot pie and cute li'l individual ones.

Lentil Soup.

Puff Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

Click on the links to be taken to the recipes.