Summer Squash Slaw

Summer squash. I have far more in my garden than I anticipated. Here's last night's experiment: Julienne the squash, stopping when you reach the seeds. Make the dressing: 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and freshly-ground pepper to taste. Whisk together. Pour over squash and toss.

Cake Fail

Rich, chocolate cake with a light and fluffy whipped cream frosting. That sounded good to me. Um, it wasn't that good. A mismatch of textures and flavors that my family rejected.

Fair Food: Ice Cream Potato

That looks like an Idaho baker topped with sour cream...but it's really ice cream dusted with cocoa and topped with whipped cream and candy chips.

Potato on a Stick

I ate that. My dinner choice at the Western Idaho Fair last night. Twisted potato on a stick - deep fried. It was good.

Jerk Chicken Noodle Salad without Noodles

Another use for the bountiful yellow squash crop: julienned to play the role of noodles in this chicken salad. Saute sliced chicken breast in jerk seasoning. Let cool. Add julienned squash, corn, diced tomatoes. Toss with dressing of choice. I used a garlic-revved Caesar. I plan to do this again with an Asian twist.

Taste Test: Gino's Italian Ristorante

We were first-timers at Gino's Italian Ristorante last night. This long-time establishment used to be located in Downtown Boise, but is now out West in Meridian on McMillan at Ten Mile Road. Above is the red snapper special, and lasagna pictured below. Gino makes the rounds in the dining room and patio. The snapper was perfect and a generous portion.

Dinner Roll Recipe - Brown Sugar Version

Tested out a recipe from a friend this week. These dinner rolls could also be dessert rolls. They are sweet and wonderful...and have brown sugar in them. I rolled them a little smaller than the recipe directions. Here's the link: http://ht.ly/60GND Below is a picture before they went into the oven. These were a big hit with the kiddo.

Apricot Freezer Jam

Thanks to a generous friend, I had a big bag of apricots for snacking and jamming over the weekend. This is a freezer jam doing its time on the counter before icy storage.

Squash and Tomatoes, Tomatoes and Squash

It's that time of year when I can prepare dinner from the garden. Yay. What are you cooking up with homegrown produce?

Taste Test: Cinco de Mayo Restaurant

Chile relleno in a burrito. We've dined at the Cinco de Mayo restaurant twice recently. We're looking for a dependable Mexican food place not far from our house. The food here is fine. The best part so far is hearing the staff singing in the kitchen.

Easy-Bake vs. Real-Bake

The kiddo had an Easy-Bake experiment this week. It's hard to believe we soon will not be able to buy the 100-watt light bulbs that power the Easy-Bake. She prepared Easy-Bake brownies and traditional brownies for a taste test.

Even though the traditional brownies were a bit over-cooked. They won. (Easy-Bake on the left, traditional on the right)