Summer Favorites

Summer is a time filled with get togethers with friends and family, barbecues, salads and luscious fruity beverages. Find a salad or chicken recipe for a party or a quick dinner at home with family. We’ve got some great desserts choices too! Now that we are nearing the end of summer and school is starting for a lot of families, start planning now for your last big summer bash with ideas for a Labor Day picnic!

Raspberry Balsamic Jelly

Since I’ve started a new blog at RSVP Redux and want to input some content there; I’ve been looking even more carefully at the recipes in the RSVP section of Bon Appetit. Although I’ve already made the Toffee Peach Crisp crisp from the August 2010 issue, I was still compelled by the simple and wonderful [...]

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Warm Cherry Upside-Down Cake

There are many days when my food choices for the day are limited; on purpose, to a bowl of cereal with fruit for breakfast and a simple salad or sandwich for lunch. As a result, there are also many times while I’m on Twitter that I see so many amazing pictures of fabulous food that [...]

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Avocado, Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Pasta Salad with Pine Nuts

I love Insalata Caprese; a simple and classic Italian salad of fresh ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. This salad is a take on that classic with the addition of pasta, avocado, a balsamic vinaigrette and toasted pine nuts. You could make this salad year round; but to really enjoy and love it [...]

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Bon Appétit RSVP Redux August: Toffee, Pecan and Peach Crisp

I’ve started a new blog called RSVP Redux. It will be a compilation each month of participant choices from the RSVP section of Bon Appetit magazine. Each blogger involved has a month after Bon Appetit hits the newstands to decide on a recipe, post it and notify us so that they can be included. I’ve [...]

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Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad with Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing

I do get a kick out of a site called Food Network Humor and though I laugh at some of the outrageous pieces on many of the hosts and other snafus, I might not feel so enthusiastic about their take on Bobby Flay. Now, I don’t know Mr. Flay and have no personal knowledge of [...]

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Grilled Corn Salsa with Poblano Chiles, Cilantro and Honey

For some reason I’ve never been inclined towards corn salsa before. I guess I’ve always liked a tomatillo or tomato based variety and it just either sounded bland or I wasn’t crazy about using red peppers that I always saw in them (though that has gotten better). But that has all changed. Was it the [...]

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Raspberry Boccone Dolce (Sweet Mouthful)

I had to ask my friend Paula of the amazing Bell’alimento blog what the two Italian words, boccone dolce, meant in the name of this recipe. I’ve been making this beautiful dessert for many, many years but had never thought to find out what it meant before but truer words were never spoken. This dessert [...]

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Bacon and Tomato Pasta

The truth is, I wanted to make a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. I don’t always have bacon in the fridge, but did now and with some great tomatoes on the windowsill decided a BLT would be good…and quick! So, got the bacon going on the stove and before slicing some fresh tomatoes decide to [...]

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Herbs and Shortbread…Rosemary and Lavender – Really?

I’ve grown rosemary and lavender for several years but until recently have only used the rosemary in culinary ways. The lavender plant is so beautiful when it’s in bloom and though I’ve always wanted to cut some for use in making sachets for holiday gifts or just bunches to hang in the house; it never [...]

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Curried Chicken Salad with Dried Cranberries and Toasted Walnuts

I first had this Curried Chicken Salad at a networking event I attended a couple of years ago. It was so good, everyone wanted the recipe and now it’s a favorite to use for leftover chicken. I modified the original a bit with the addition of some dried cranberries and toasted nuts; they added some [...]