Pasta Salad

On these hot summer days, I find a nice cool salad is a great side dish.

I like salads made with lettuce, but after a while I get bored with them even when I vary the types of lettuce and ingredients and dressings.  

So, to combat my lettuce boredom, today I'm making a pasta salad.  This is not the normal mayonnaise laden macaroni salad, but instead, a lighter version full of colorful crisp veggies and dressed with a home prepared Italian dressing.  

Strawberry Icebox Cake

This Strawberry Icebox Cake recipe has been calling to me....
"make me...make me". 


Today I couldn't ignore the little voice any longer.  This recipe is a perfect summertime dessert that is exploding with fresh berries and sweetened whipped cream.  The best part is that it doesn't require you to heat up your kitchen!  What a bonus that is with the 100 degree temps in the forecast this week.


I found the recipe through Pinterest (yes, I'm an addict).  The pin was from The Kitchn.  I've used that recipe but adapted slightly to fit my taste.  Just make sure you have room in your fridge for a 9x13 pan before you start making this recipe.   I knew I was going to make it and still had to juggle to find sufficient shelf space.  

Fresh Coconut Cream Pie

Last week I was having supper at a local chain restaurant.  On the table was advertisement for their crust less coconut pie.  I looked at the person I was eating with and said "it's not pie if there isn't any crust, it's just coconut pudding!".  Well, that got my taste buds going for a real coconut pie....and I mean a REAL coconut pie!  Not the kind you make with the sweetened coconut you buy in a package and mix with some instant pudding and pour into a purchased pie shell.  No, for me it had to be the kind you make with real coconut, homemade filling and a homemade crust and meringue.  No simple whipped cream topping either, it has to be crowned with a sky high pile of meringue!

If you have never had a made from scratch real coconut pie, you haven't had coconut pie!  It takes a bit of time and effort, but oh what a glorious pie you have when you're finished.

Luscious Lemon Tart

To make this tart you will need a good...no great... recipe for Lemon Curd!  Lemon Curd is very ease to make.  All you need are fresh lemons, sugar, eggs and butter and you're set.


You can find my go-to recipe for Lemon Curd here.  I think you will find this easy and it will become your go-to recipe too.  One of the reasons I like this recipe is that the steps are condensed by mixing everything together in the food processor before you cook the mixture. Another reason I like this recipe is that it uses whole eggs so you won't have the messy job of separating the yolks (until you make the meringue).

Barbecued Pork Chops

Once again, I'm rummaging in my old recipe file.  Pork chops were on sale this week so I purchased a big package.  I believe it had a dozen or so boneless chops. You will notice that this recipe calls for 8 chops, but I used it with the 10 or 12 chops in the package.  Growing up, we always had chops with bones, but boneless fit into the pan a little easier and you don't have bones to throw away later!

This is comfort food for me.  This is my mom's recipe.  I don't recall where she got it but it is unique.  It is a thin sauce and not the sweet sticky bottled sauce you buy at the store.  It has a couple of unique ingredients that are more commonly found in sauerbrauten recipes.  Anyway, seeing chops on sale triggered a memory and these are now cooking in the oven and the whole house smells amazing!

Lemony Chicken

This recipe is one that just happened.
I recently returned from Italy and while I was there, I purchased this cute little glazed terracotta cooking pot.  The pot required soaking for 24 hours before use, and I had decided to do that so it was out of the way and I could use the pot whenever I was ready.


Well, once it had soaked, I was anxious to use it.  I did a quick inventory of the fridge and augmented with a little fresh rosemary from my garden, this dish was born.


I really liked the result, the chicken was tender and the bright lemon flavor was not overpowering.  A co-worker and a friend did taste testing for me and both really liked the dish, so I thought I would share it with you.