creamy bacon farfalle

!ell lets be honest, I don't cook much during the summer. We grill a lot and I make a few different pasta salads. My new summer fav is the one Ashley posted below. It is awesome cold with Feta!!

Another favorite pasta salad Gretel and I created by sharing ideas and substitutions back and forth and viola!! delish pasta.

CREAMY BACON FARFALLE

handful pine nuts (about 1/2 cup)
6- 8 mushrooms sliced
1 c. frozen peas
1 bunch asparagus cooked and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
a handful (about 1/2 cup) cooked and crumbled bacon. ( I buy the Kirkland brand cooked bacon from Costco- LOVE IT)

1 cup half and half
1 c. chicken broth
2-4 T butter
1 clove garlic ( I like the minced garlic)
2 T. lemon juice
1 c. parm cheese
cornstarch

1 lb farfalle cooked and drained.

In a large skillet toast pine nuts. Then add butter, garlic, mushrooms and bacon saute until soft. Add asparagus and frozen peas- cover and simmer on low.

In a small sauce pan warm broth over med heat. In separate bowl mix 2 T cornstarch and 1/4 c. of the cream add rue to broth and stir until thick. Add the remaining cream (3/4 cup) lemon juice and 1/2 c parm cheese.

In a large bowl combine cooked mushroom/bacon/pine nuts, sauce and noodles. Depending on your veggie to noodle ratio you may not want to use all of the noodles. This pasta is also great with grilled chicken left over from a previous day of grilling! Sprinkle with remaining parm cheese and enjoy!!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I LOVE chocolate chip cookies, and I make pretty good ones too.

But I am not going to share my recipe, not because I am mean, but because chances are you have a perfect recipe too- you are just making them wrong. (I know this is possible because people have used my recipe and made terrible cookies)

So here is how to use your recipe to make PERFECT chocolate chip cookies:

Fresh Ingredients: Don't pull out 4 year old baking soda and hope that is works.

Correct Measuring: make sure that your measuring spoons/cups all add up. I used to have a 1/2 cup that was more like a 1/3 and I couldn't figure out why my cookies didn't work.

Use 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter at room temperature: whatever the recipe calls for use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening.

Mix it by hand. Seriously. Let it be the arm workout that justifies all of the cookies you are going to eat!

Don't Overmix: Cream the butter and sugar and then add the eggs one at a time. (if you can't mix it all by hand- STOP using the mixer after you add the eggs) From here on out stir in the flour mixture and chocolate chips.

Refrigerate your dough if you have time- even it is only 30 minutes.

DON'T spray your cookie sheets and preheat your oven.

Use a cookie scoop so that your cookies are all the same size

And MOST IMPORTANTLY pull your cookies out of the oven before they are done. (I have a grandma who will not take anything out of the oven until the timer goes off. The rolls can be black on top- and still no matter- they are not done until the timer dings.)

Be patient: Put just a few on the cookie sheet to start out with. Start with 8 minutes. If you can see they are still gooey- leave them in for another minute or two. But if they look like just one more minute and they will be perfect: Pull them out and let them set. I think that you'll be surprised that they keep cooking on the pan. If they are still too gooey then next time cook them a minute longer.

I would love to hear if these tips (and any others) help you make AWESOME, no-fail chocolate chip cookies!

* disclaimer- that is not my picture at the top, but it was the best I could find. Guess I'll have to make some!

Fruit Pizza

Another summer fav: Fruit Pizza
The first time I ever made this, I totally ruined the dough. My cute boyfriend at the time(hubby now) showed superior cooking skills and told me the 2 1/2 C. flour was indeed that and not two half cups of flour (yes- that equaling one total cup of flour). Lucky for him I have gotten better at cooking, and can read a recipe now.
I made individual pizzas this time. You can make a big one and cook it on your pizza stone, or use your cookie cutter and make small ones. The small ones were fun because I could give them away!!
Crust: Use this sugar cookie recipe.
Filling: Mix 8oz. softened cream cheese with 1/2 C. sugar and 2 t. clear vanilla- mix until light
Toppings: Whatever assortment of fruit you desire. I used strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi and bananas. I have also used peaches and mandarin oranges.
Let the cookies cool and then top them with filling and fruit!

Julie's Pesto Pasta Salad

Guest blogger here. I am a sister to this salty cook. And I love her a lot. Seriously. I also love her enough to make a post on a cooking blog. I say that because I am not always super confident in my cooking skills... but I have a few tricks up my sleeve that seem to be people pleasers. Summer cooking for me is a LOT of pasta salads. Mostly cold ones that I make in the day and stick in the fridge ready for dinner that night. But the other day my cute bff from elementary school (who's birthday is today!) brought this pasta salad to a shower and I have salivated over it ever since. It was so simple- yet had such a fun fresh flavor. Love it!

Julie's Pesto Pasta Salad


box of bowtie pasta
chicken cooked on the grill- and cut into pieces
purple or sweet onion
craisins
pesto sauce ( I use Costco's- I know she makes her own sometimes)


Cook your chicken on the grill. It looks so much prettier when done on the grill, and for this pasta it adds a nice smoky touch. Cut it up and set aside. While your chicken is grilling, cut your onion and throw it on the stove with some olive oil. I let these caramelize for a really long time. Like almost a half an hour- til they are nice and clear and stringy! After your noodles are cooked, drain and then toss them with the pesto sauce. Add the chicken, onions, and craisins. Serve warm.


My own twist: I added a little half and half to the sauce to make it a bit creamier. Also it was delicious topped with crumbled feta. Another addition you could add would be toasted pine nuts.

Salmon Tacos

voila! one of the best and easiest cinco de mayo dinners!!


salmon

cajun seasoning

1-2 T butter per pound of salmon

small corn tortillas

cheese ( I like pepper jack)

shredded cabbage

mayo

1 lime

cilantro

salt & Pepper

Gently spread butter on salmon fillet in small pats, then sprinkle cajun seasoning on salmon according to your own personal spicy threshold. Wrap entire piece of salmon in foil and cook on the BBQ for about 20 minutes until light pink and flaky. (no need to flip)

while your salmon is cooking, melt pepper jack cheese between two small corn tortillas (just lightly spray the pan with Pam so they don't stick)

Place hot salmon on the tortilla and add shredded cabbage (I love the pre-made cole slaw mix because it saves on the chopping)

Then top with lime cilantro sauce: 1/2 c mayo, juice from one lime, 1 t salt, 1 t pepper, 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh cilantro ( I like to thin my sauce with a little milk to make it spread easier)

And for dessert: Fried Ice Cream. Just roll a ball of vanilla ice cream in honey bunches of oats, or granola and then drizzle with caramel. It is a lot easier and you won't run the risk of burning your house down or having to endure hot oil smoke for days!!

Brittany's Sweet & Sour Chicken

how cute is that apron??

Brittany's Sweet and Sour Chicken
1/2 c flour
1 T baking powder
2 c water
2 T cornstarch

4 chicken breasts, boned & skinned and cut into cubes
Mix ingredients & marinate the chicken for at least an hour

2 c cracker meal (I haven't yet been able to find cracker meal so I have used fish fry and it works great. You'll find the McCormick 12 oz boxes near the Seafood Counter)

Dip marinated chicken pieces in cracker meal and fry in oil for about 2-3 min per side. Drain on paper towel.

Sauce
2 T ketchup
1/2 c sugar
2 squirts of lemon or orange juice
1/2 T vinegar
3/4 c + 1 1/2 T water ( I know it's a weird measurement, but it works)
Combine ingredients and bring to a boil on med-high heat, stirring frequently. Boil 2 min.
Then combine 1 T cornstarch & 1 T water and then add to sauce and stir until boiling and thick.

(note on the sauce- Brittany adds an extra cup water, but I liked the thicker and heavier syrup. So if it too much for you add more water)

Fried Rice
3 c cooked rice (rice is actually better if it is a day old)
1 c carrots, diced
1 c onion, diced
1 c celery diced
1 c broccoli florets diced

1 c. frozen peas (add the peas when the other veggies are almost soft)
2-3 T butter OR 2/3 c. veg oil. (I prefer butter, Britt likes oil)
Stir-fry vegetables for 10 min. Add rice and soy sauce (3-4 T) to taste, breaking up rice clumps.

Free Cone Day!!

Tuesday April 21st is Free Cone Day

at Ben & Jerry's noon to 8pm



wow! that's long enough to go back a couple of times!!



ohh! and think of the fun shopping you can do at the gateway in between cones!



your welcome!