Plates of Food, A Pineapple, and Bow Ties

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa & Steamed Asparagus

Ultimate Grilled Cheese (three cheeses, tomato, bacon, red onion) at Davis Bakery in Avalon

Pastrami & Sauerkraut Sandwich at Davis Bakery in Avalon

A pineapple top I planted years ago.

Now it is growing a new pineapple!

Bow ties I made for Nancy's nephews to wear at her reception.

Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas

For supper last night, I fixed Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas,
a recipe I got from Better Homes & Gardens (Nov 2011).

The hardest part was cutting up the raw sweet potatoes.

Every cut I made, I was afraid I was going to cut my hand.
Next time I have to cut up raw sweet potatoes, I am going
to buy skinny ones, not big chunky ones.

See those potato peelings in the background?
They are going in my compost bin.

Besides the sweet potatoes, the recipe called
for carrots, a red onion, and chickpeas.

The recipe did call for white potatoes, but
we all know sweet potatoes are more nutritious,
so I only used them.

Arrange the cut up peeled sweet potatoes in a
greased 9x13 pan.

Next add the carrots--orange on orange!

In goes a cut up red onion!
Next I mixed a little olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper
and drizzled it over the vegetables.

An hour later (400 degrees, uncovered, stirring twice)
the vegetables are cooked and ready to enjoy.

Don't forget that pan of hot cornbread!

Chocolate Bark

Chocolate Bark with
Cranberries, Almonds, and Pecans

In this book, South Beach Wake-Up Call,
there are recipes at the back of the book.

One of the recipes is for chocolate bark, and since it's
almost Christmas, I decided to make it.

The doctor who wrote this book said "Just a
small bite of this delicious chocolate treat
provides important health benefits:

antioxidants in the cranberries and chocolate

and good unsaturated fats in the almonds and pecans."

You mix together 6 T chopped almonds,
6 T chopped pecans, and 6 T chopped
dried cranberries.

You then melt 9 oz of 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
(easy to find at Publix in the chocolate chip section).

Stir the nut mixture into the melted chocolate and then
smooth it all onto a foil lined baking pan.

Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Then break into about 30 pieces.
Store in an airtight container.
Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

This bark was delicious!
Just what the doctor ordered!

Fettucine with Zucchini & Pecans

I saw this recipe for Fettucine with Zucchini and Pecans in the
October 2011 Southern Living magazine
and it looked good!

No meat and I could use some of my pecans.

Below, the fettucine noodles are cooking on the back burner.
The pecans are toasting in front.

The large skillet on the right has the butter, olive oil & garlic simmering.

I shredded two zucchini.

Then sauteed the shredded zucchini till tender.

Asiago cheese and basil are then added to the zucchini.

The recipe called for fresh basil, but whenever I get fresh herbs,
it seems that I only use part of them and
the rest go bad.

Here's the meal, ready to eat.
The first night, the asiago cheese flavor was very strong.
The second night, it was weaker, thank goodness.

I read that parmesan cheese could be substituted
for asiago cheese,
which I may try next time I make this.

Bolthouse Farms

Bolthouse Farms salad dressing is my new favorite!

Creamy yogurt dressing, farm style.

Less fat, fewer calories and the price isn't high.

I've only tried the Classic Ranch, and it is delicious!

You'll find it in the refrigerated section by the salad bags at Publix.

Didn't see it at Walmart.

Bolthouse Farms also has a line of vinaigrettes next to the salad dressings.

Each bottle has a "best if used by" date. The first bottle I picked up had

an October date on it. I checked some bottles farther back and got one for December.

But this December bottle is going to be empty before October gets here!

Yum!

Yum...Tomato Pie!

A couple of nights ago I made Tomato Pie for supper.

I made the Never Fail Pie Crust--a recipe that I got from a friend as part of a bridal shower gift.

Next, I cut up four tomatoes.

Here's the mixture of mayonnaise, cheeses, basil, & chives.

Here's the baked Tomato Pie. Dig in!

Lunch at the Brick

Saturday, Richard and I went to Jax to visit my sister and brother-in-law. For lunch, we all went to The Brick, a popular restaurant on St. Johns Avenue, not far from their home.

KK enjoyed her Spinach Salad.

Ed chose the delicious BBQ Sandwich.

Richard ordered the Kobe Beef Burger (Japanese beef).

I tried the Fish Taco. We all enjoyed our meals.

We don't know these people--I'm just taking a photo of the dog and shoppers on St. Johns. This block is a popular one and was even written about in Southern Living recently.

Lego man and me.

KK, Ed, Richard on our way to more adventures . . . check back tomorrow.