Garlic Scape Pesto

~ Mary ~

Another post that was hiding in the archives from last year.

This summer I opted to give CSA a try. I was hesitant in years past because of the horror stories I’ve heard of too many vegetables and so much waste. The tipping point was this CSA, Shared Ground, offered up half orders. That was just the ticket. It’s been a month since I’ve started and I haven’t had any problem using up my rations within a week.

Malted Chocolate Cookies

This was written in January and never posted – doh!

I went internet grocery shopping for the first time! I’m not sure about the whole thing and will probably not do it again unless I’m really crunched for time and/or snow bound. I loved that all my hard to find items (malt powder!) were nestled in my bag, but I wasn’t thrilled with the substitutions of hard to find items that my grocer picker couldn’t find. Catch 22! It’s awesome that you can either have it delivered to your doorstep for $5 or pick it up at the store for free! I do recommend that everyone give it a try. For now, John and I will go Saturday mornings, after our workout at the Y, when Cub is quiet and oh so easy to navigate.

Almond Biscoff Cookies

~ Mary ~
It was a cookie baking extravaganza this past holiday season, and these were dubbed the all-around winner.

Cranberry Cookies

~ Mary ~
It was a cookie baking extravaganza this past holiday season, and these beauties at the top of my list. They appeared to me through the StarTribune in this article. The bit of cayenne in these beauties truly sets them apart, I suggest not serving them with any other cookie or dessert – they need to stand alone in their uniqueness.

White Lightning Chili

~ Mary ~

We celebrated New Year’s day with a chili bar and the movie “American Made” a real rip-snorter!  I’ve been making this chili since the ’90’s and everyone who has it would like the recipe. It started as a vegetarian chili – you can see the original that’s pasted in my recipe journal, in the photo below. I believe it originated from one of the Silver Palate cookbooks.

Gingerbread House

~ Mary ~

For a couple of Christmases I was invited to make Gingerbread Houses with my ‘adopted’ nieces (I claimed them as blood relatives because they are so awesome!). It was a lot of fun, until we all outgrew the novelty- it’s an extremely time consuming project that takes more than one day to complete. We did have a lot of laughs, and I wanted to make sure that if we were ever crazy enough to do it again – the recipe would be here in safe keeping.

Summer Salad

~ Mary ~

This delightful salad has been a saving grace this summer. When I am in no mood, or don’t have enough time, to put dinner on the table – this is it. The big plus is that, as long as I keep all the ingredients on hand, it is effortless and comes off so beautiful that it looks like I cared and seems almost indulgent. Yeah me!

Fresh Margaritas

~ Mary ~

If you hadn’t noticed – there’s a theme going on here. The last three posts have all been geared for you to plan a successful Tex-Mex get together with a few of your closest friends. So go pick yourself up a bag of limes from Costco and get to it!

Best Guacamole

~ Mary ~

There’s nothing like good guacamole and corn tortilla chips. The key to making it notable is a sturdy chip and never running out. Lets face it, by the time any of us get around to actually making a batch, we may as well make a bucket full and have everyone dig in!

Fajitas

~ Mary ~

I got this fajita marinade recipe from my college roommate waaaaaay back in 1985. It’s my favorite summer-time meal and I make it a lot. Which also means I think of my good friend Karla Oehlke a lot as well. We lost touch several years ago, but it’s fun to take a walk down memory lane every summer!