Chips and Dips and an Oopsie for Dinner

We stopped into Cafe Ole, downtown Boise last night for a quick dinner. The bean dip was really good, especially mixed with a little bit of the salsa. My dinner? Well...that was it. The gal who waited on us somehow didn't get my order to the kitchen. We were on limited time so by the time dinner was served to my husband and the mistake was discovered - we didn't have time to wait for my dish to be prepared. I was going to have enchiladas del mar.

Another Chicken Salad Variation

This chicken salad, chock full of extras besides chicken, came from my friend Faith. Good ideas here, including the dried cranberries and sweet little sliced peppers.

Shrimp Salad

Salad shrimp, tomatoes, Romaine lettuce and ranch dressing. This shrimp salad is nostalgic for us, since it's one of our favorite snacks during our yearly trip to the Oregon Coast. And these salads taste way better when on vacation for some reason.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Orange Juice Frosting

These vanilla cupcakes are from a box, with frosting whipped up from scratch. One cube of butter, a mountain of powdered sugar and orange juice for the topping. Tinker with the recipe for the consistency you want.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

A fresh batch of cinnamon rolls baked by my friend Faith, who sells these goodies every Saturday.

Manicotti Formaggio with Shrimp

A quick family dinner at Olive Garden last night. This was something new on the menu since I had been there last: Manicotti Formaggio with Shrimp. It was fine, the sauce didn't taste so fresh to me, but the cheese in the manicotti was good.

Cabbage Salad Improvisation

A cabbage-carrot-water chestnut slaw with Asian overtones. That's the fancy description for this cabbage salad scrounged together with the scarce pickings for fresh veggies in my pantry right now. I tossed the vegetables with a dressing of brown sugar, soy sauce, minced garlic and a touch of sesame oil.