Baking with Blondie

We all have them, or we know people who do. Those giant green garden logs have taken up our counter space log enough. It's time to take a stand before it gets out of control (those of you who have zucchini-infested gardens understand exactly what I'm talking about.) When my Mom brought over a couple zucchini and squash last week, I was pretty pumped about the squash. I love squash. I usually bread it up and fry the heck out of it. Done. But that zucchini could only be met with a glazed-over look of complete hopelessness. I used one of them on my Thin Crust Garden Vegetable Pizza with Pepper Jack Cheese last week, but I still had another zucchini lingering over my head, and I hate to be wasteful - especially with fresh garden produce. It was then when I remembered eating at one of my favorite places in Utah: Magleby's . We don't get to eat there often, (the entrees are a wee bit out of our price range), so we usually save it for Valentine's Day or our Wedd...

Yesterday for Sunday dinner I decided we needed a little bit of Rachael . This chicken recipe has been on my list for a while, and I wanted Ryan to give green beans another shot. You see, he hates green beans. I love green beans. So naturally, I'm going to try to make them in new ways to get him to like them, too. I thought maybe if the little beauties were smothered in butter, garlic, and tossed with a bit of toasted almonds, they'd be enough to tip his scale. Long story short: I went crazy over them, Ryan still doesn't like them. *Sigh* I guess if someone tried to feed me pickles, in any way/shape/form, I'd sense them from a mile away. And I'd still avoid them like the plague. These beans, on the other hand, were a definite win (if you like beans, that is). They were still a little crisp, had beautiful flavor, and oh how I loved the addition of those toasted almonds. The chicken smelled incredible cooking in the oven. The fresh rosemary combined with the ...

Chocolate. Graham Cracker. Marshmallow.  These flavors just will not stop.  These will satisfy any and every s'mores craving you could ever have, and are thankfully easy to throw together.    That said, as I type this entry, and look at these delicious pictures, I'm saddened to relate, I was only able to eat two of them. "Oh! She must have given the others away! How generous of Blondie!" you might say. I regret to report, the other 10 mini S'mores Cups weren't given away, nor were they kept for ourselves... Let me explain.  This weekend Ryan's family generously let us borrow one of their cars for the trip to the airport/grocery store - I wrecked ours the night before the bridal shower. We hopefully get it back from the auto repair shop on the 7th of August. Anyway, I was getting ready to pick Ryan up from the airport/return the car to his family. So I made a batch of these little lovey bites of s'mores heaven to say thank you to them. ...

I have the most wonderful neighbors around, and they're always so generous with the beautiful vegetables they grow in their gardens. I temporarily looked like quite the vegetable hoarder.... and decided I needed to use them up in one bang.  Pizza was the perfect vessel, and the grill was calling to me (minus the spider episode , this time.) I decided a sauce would have been too heavy on the decadent thin crust, so I used a light drizzle of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil.... for those who don't watch the Food Network/Rachael Ray enough) and some light seasonings on a bed of shredded pepper jack cheese to cushion the beautifully colorful vegetables. Ever since I used pepper jack on pizza a while ago, it's been hard to not crave that extra depth of flavor it provides.  My little brother Ryan came over today after work for a visit. He arrived right when I was assembling the grilled vegetables. He must have thought I was nuts as I was carefully placing each pie...

Ombre is taking the design world by storm. Thankfully, it's now bleeding into food land. It is most welcome, I must say. Yesterday my husband flew out of town for some law interviews, so I needed a little somethin' extra to keep me busy. These little cakes took less time than I thought, but were so much fun to prepare, color, frost and assemble. I only wish Ryan were here to help me eat them. Being trapped in a house with these lovely stacks of velvety frosting and moist white cake staring at me all day... I think I'll have to sneak in an extra run this weekend... They're not the most evenly-shaped little lovelies, by any means, but how pretty would they be for a little tea party? mother's day? little girl party? You could switch up the colors to fit just about any theme you want - as well as the frosting. With the cake mix flavor (yes, I used a cake mix this time), be sure to choose a flavor with a lighter-color batter. That way it will be easier to guide the...

My love/hate relationship with tomatoes started long ago. I grew up hating tomatoes. I'm pretty sure my Mom made sure of it (she hates tomatoes, too). When we were little kids, my Mom would gather us all together in the backyard next to the brick-red picnic table. On said picnic table was strapped the devil himself... the tomato press/strainer. We knew what we were in for when we saw that thing. Pic from Fine Cooking My Mom was (and is to this day) huge on canning - this was the machine that took the whole tomatoes and transformed them into a very fine seedless juice/thin puree. Seems harmless, right? So why did the children in my family hate this thing so much, you ask?   ... While writing this blog post I actually called my older brother and sister and asked them if they remembered processing tomatoes in the backyard with Mom - and oh, how they remember the vegetable gore. The pungent smell of tomatoes in the summer heat, the guts flying out of the side of the pre...

On Sunday I made this crazy rice-bean-corn dish and it totally bombed. Ryan loved it. The manchild loved it, but for me it wasn't goopey enough for a casserole. It tasted like dry rice, with random corn and beans here and there. Just wanted to keep it real on here. Not all the recipes I try turn out well, and those ones just don't make it up on the blog. Thankfully, the leftovers are edible for their lunches for the next few days. These, on the other hand, have received the official 'husband stamp of approval.' I knew the second I put a mixture including cream cheese inside a crescent roll that Ryan would stuff about 4 of them in his mouth before they hit the plate. Just in case I haven't already shared, whenever I make a recipe that Ryan can't resist, and asks for on a weekly basis, I label the recipe as 'husband approved' on the blog. So, if you scroll down on the blog and look at the right sidebar at the bottom, there's a label cloud - if y...

\ This weekend I threw a wee little bridal shower for my friend Megan. It was less of a traditional bridal shower, and more of a 'honeymoon' shower :)  She already had plenty of things ready for their home/kitchen from previous showers, but really wanted more of what my husband calls "recreational pajamas."   Of course I'm not going to include all the pictures (mostly because they all came out completely fuzzy like these ones).... but I can tell you we had a grand 'ol time as giggly girlies. I think it turned out alright for a pretty tight budget! I served my favorite fruit salad ( Strawberry, Blueberry, and Grape Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing ) , some lovely sandwiches ( Zupas Chicken Pesto Sandwiches ) and had a friend bring Megan's Mom's famous salsa (I've had the recipe since high school - maybe someday I'll ask for permission to post it on here - it's a goodie). For dessert, I had little light lemon cupcakes ...

Sometimes you just need some comfort food. Despite the weather, temperature, season, I wanted some stick-to-your-bones pasta this week. I originally wanted to use penne, but I spotted a box of beautiful little campenelle pasta instead. I've never cooked with them before, but pasta is pasta, right? You just boil until al dente and you're all good. Plus, it's always fun to use a different kind of pasta shape here and there in the kitchen. Pic Source This recipe was very simple, but very tasty (that phrase is practically a cliche at this point, but it's the truth). Bacon goes so well with a nice cheese sauce - and this recipe is no exception. The sauce is kind of heavy, though (meaning: Ryan is going to love it), so if you wanted to use skim milk, fake butter, and less bacon drippings, I think it might help tone things down a bit. This recipe makes a ton of pasta (a whopping pound), so plan on leftovers if you're serving a small family like I am. I think ne...

Ladies and Gentlemen, guacamole has been redefined in the Blondie household. I love this recipe - and it was worth what I went through this afternoon making the dang thing. Let me explain. I'm deathly afraid of spiders. The gag reflex gets kicked into high gear whenever I spot a large one (small/medium spiders, not so much). I loathe spiders. If I find a large spider in my house, I usually put a cup over it until my husband gets home. I don't even have the guts to look at it, let alone get close enough to squish it. So you can now imagine the panicky blonde running around the backyard with her apron on, waving her tongs around, after opening up her mini-grill... and finding the devil himself in spider-form nesting away between the grates. I'm talking fangs.  As much as I hate spiders, nothing was going to come between me and grilling my pineapple for this guacamole. I had to pull out the big girl pants....  I turned on the gas and dropped in the match. End of sp...