As we get ready for the warmer weather, I looked back on some of my photos, and found four that really speak to summer time:
What are your summer go-to’s?
It was my daughter’s turn to cook. She can be very creative, but often she just wants to get it over with. Who can blame her? Since her day off is Tuesday, I asked her to make dinner. She chose salad with chicken. She decided on all the ingredients, she did the grocery shopping, she planned, cooked the chicken early so it was cooled off for the salad. She even included items she doesn’t like that the rest of us could add onto our individual bowls.
In addition to our salads, she got really delicious dinner rolls and we had those with a bit of butter.
What was in the salad is below the cut.
My new favorite drink at Starbucks is also my new inspiration. When Starbucks got rid of the Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher (that I adapted to my own tastes with customization) I was so sad. How would I ever go on? I tried their new berry drinks as they came along: the Summer-Berry Refresher and the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher, and they were both good.
When this new one came out last week or so, I thought, okay, let’s give it a try. Well, folks, it is all I’ve been drinking when I go out for a drink.
It’s delicious, and I think it surpasses the Hibiscus one that I enjoyed for so long.
Pictured is the new Blackberry Sage Lemonade Refresher. The only change I make is “light ice” so it doesn’t water down as I leisurely drink it.
No, Starbucks doesn’t pay me (they really should); I just love this drink and want to share it.
Have a great week in whatever way you are spending it.
A bit ago we made a simple dinner: chicken tenders with sweet potatoes and pull apart garlic bread. The chicken tenders were very simply made, and if I were being honest, a little bland so each could add a sauce individually for dipping.
Looking at those sad, pepper covered white tenders, I decided to try something new.
I grabbed a can of mandarin oranges from the pantry, poured them into a saucepan on medium, added dried cranberries, a tiny bit of orange peel and vanilla extract, and mixed them, letting the oranges crush just a little bit. It thickened just slightly, and when it was warmed, I poured it over my chicken tenders.
It was lovely.
From the photo, you can see that I still need to work on my food color balancing, but all in all, delicious.
We eat turkey all week after Thanksgiving, and while many complain about the amount of turkey leftover, I love it!
Here are a few samples of our dinners this week (not pictured Turkey Cottage Pie):
Holiday Dinner: Turkey, of course, mashed potatoes with gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, macaroni & cheese, cranberry sauce, and a dinner roll.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s Turkey Trot Tot Hot Dish (with a few of my own modifications). It was cheesy and delicious!
Turkey Salad sandwich. I usually put in cranberries, but we had none in the house, so I spread some cranberry sauce on the bread. The turkey is very simple: chopped turkey, 1/2 granny smith apple, fresh ground pepper, and mayo all mixed together. I wish I had enough turkey for more than one sandwich!
All photos copyright kbwriting, (c)2024
What food goes with fascism? Autocracy?
Will eggs be cheaper? No, they won’t. Gas? That’s a big NOPE on that, too. Peace in Gaza? Hah! But those are subjects for another post.
I’ll hope to have more useful things to say about the next two years of American politics. In the meantime, join me as I look towards the comfort foods of my childhood.
Tonight, we had roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas for dinner.
I’m looking forward this week to baked sweet potatoes, macaroni & cheese, Chinese take-out, an egg bagel with cream cheese, quite possibly a knishe, and a Diet Coke. Not all at the same meal.
I never ate oatmeal as a kid, but when I started attending retreats, I began to eat oatmeal for breakfast on any of the weekend retreats that I went on.
I can’t explain why or how much I love oatmeal on the retreat weekends.
I get an extra helping and add butter, brown sugar, and craisins.
I eat it slowly and savor it. It’s warm and wholesome, and all I need to start my day.
Well, with a cup of tea, but that is how I start my days on retreat.
I plan to share some of the amazing vacation food we enjoyed on our visit to Canada. When we returned, we had our thirtieth anniversary and the end of summer through Labor Day and there was food fun throughout!
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Griffins and Ginger Snaps 