Lovin' Lemonade!

There is nothing quite as satisfying as fresh lemonade on a hot, summer day.  Holly and I mixed up a batch of this to take to the pool this afternoon.  And as we were mixing it, we were thinking of you!

Here is the recipe we used:

Peel four lemons with a potato peeler.

Squeeze those four lemons.

Place the peelings in a large bowl with one cup of sugar.

Pour five cups of boiling water over.

Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and strain out the peelings.

 Stir in the juice of the four lemons.

Serve well chilled.

I believe I'll  sit outside on the deck

and enjoy the last glass

before anyone finds me out here.

Or... maybe not!

Love,

My New Favorite Breakfast

Every once in a while I discover a new taste combination that's a bona-fide winner.  This is definitely one of those times.  Recently, a friend told me about a breakfast treat she serves and I knew I had to try it.  It's ridiculously simple. 

For this you're going to need:

• toast or half a bagel
• half a banana
• 1 heaping tablespoon cream cheese
• honey
• granola

All you do is take the bagel or a slice of whole wheat toast and spread a liberal tablespoon or so of cream cheese on it.  Cut the half banana in half again lengthwise.  Place those two strips side by side atop your toast.  Now drizzle with honey.  The honey becomes the glue that holds the granola on top.  Sprinkle liberally with your favorite granola.  (This post shows how I make mine.)

Oh. My. Word.

Crazy good!  And you'll feel so healthy eating it!

I can't wait until tomorrow so I can have this again.

Love,

Yummy Goodness

I know, I know! I promised quilts. I'll just have to keep you in suspense another day or so.

While you wait, try this delicious recipe. I asked Abby what I should call this recipe and she suggested the above name. This is one I know you'll love. A friend showed me how to make this many years ago. It's great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! You decide! I make it occasionally, but not too often for it is

loaded.with.fat.and.calories.

It has four simple ingredients. Yep, that's it. Four. You'll need:

• crescent roll dough
• sliced lunch meat
• sliced or shredded cheese
• pancake syrup

Any meat or cheese will do. Today I used chicken and provolone. I also do turkey and mozzarella, or ham and swiss. Basically, you can't mess this one up.

Can you tell where I shop??

Roll out one tube of dough on your baking sheet, closing the seams well. Pile with your chosen meat and cheese, as much as you like. If you have children helping, yours may also look like this:

Top with the other roll of crescent dough. Pinch seams together.

Bake this at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Just watch it. You don't want it too dark, just a nice golden brown.

Now pull it out of the oven and drizzle some pancake syrup over the top. No measuring necessary. Don't drown it like you would your flapjacks, just give it a nice glaze.

This photo is just in case you don't know how to drizzle syrup.

Put the pan back in the oven and let that glaze bubble up a bit, for maybe five minutes. That's it! An awesome taste experience awaits!

Happy Eating!

Cinnamon Roll Sunday

Have you ever had a hankering for something that you just can't shake? Well, for me it's those darn IKEA cinnamon rolls. I didn't taste them, but I've thought about them all week. Today I finally gave in to the temptation. Holly was my partner in crime.


Hope you've had a lovely weekend.

Love,
Laura Lee

Bonjour!

Parlez vous francais?

Me neither!

But I LOVE French bread! I bake all the time and make lots of bread. Recently I discovered this recipe for French bread that calls for half whole wheat flour and half white flour. It makes the most delicious French bread I've ever tasted! My favorite unbleached white flour is King Arthur brand. It is far superior to other brands, in my opinion. If I didn't grind my own wheat, I would also purchase King Arthur whole wheat flour for baking. King Arthur brand is available at any grocery. I bake this bread in my French bread pans, but it could be done on a cookie sheet. This recipe makes two pretty loaves.

French Bread

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons dry yeast
• 2 cups comfortably hot water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups unbleached white flour

*******

• 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water
• sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix whole wheat flour and dry yeast in mixer bowl. Turn off mixer. Add hot water, oil, sugar, and salt. Mix 1 minute. Quickly add white flour, 1 cup at a time, until mixture cleans the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Knead 3-4 minutes.

Lightly oil hands. Divide dough into two equal portions. Roll each into a 12x15 inch rectangle. Beginning at the long side, roll up tightly, pinching edges to seal. Taper ends. Place each loaf with the seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet which has been sprinkled with cornmeal. French bread pans may also be used. Diagonally slash loaf tops every 2 1/2 inches 1/4 inch deep. Beat egg white and water with a fork until foamy. brush tops and sides of loaves with egg-water mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Let rise until double. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until deep golden brown.

I was ready with the camera because I knew what Tom would do as he walked in the door from work!


The only difficult part about this recipe is keeping the family out of it until dinner time!


Au revoir!
Laura Lee

What's For Dinner, Mrs. T?

I want to introduce you to my best friend. I've known this girl for over 24 years. Her personality is dependable, modest, quiet, and most importantly, warm. She's always there for me, never interrupts me when I'm busy, and works hard all day, never asking for anything in return. And best of all, she gives me the best gifts a friend could desire!

She is my crock-pot, and I LOVE her!

I love the freedom of filling her up with cold ingredients and letting her work all day for me, while I do whatever else I need to do.

So today she is going to simmer a delicious pot roast while I sew and play all day. Ahhh, liberty!

 

I found this big ol' roast marked down at Wal-Mart last night. This morning I grabbed my favorite crock-pot cook book, Fix It and Forget It, and chose from a zillion pot roast recipes. I had all the ingredients for Sweet Savory Pot Roast.

 Grab this, throw in that. I love a stocked pantry. OK, I didn't say organized, just well stocked! Hurry! Close that cabinet before someone looks in there....!

We'll be having potatoes and a salad with that.

Now, on to the best part....DESSERT! It's easy to spell dessert, just remember that you always want TWO servings and you'll never forget the TWO S's!

Here is the recipe for a simple, delicious pie. I honestly don't know the name of this pie or where I got the recipe. It only takes three ingredients and you can mix it up in two seconds. It is light and refreshing, a perfect ending to a summer meal. You can use ANY flavor of yogurt you like. We like strawberry or peach. I add a couple drops of food coloring to make it pretty, otherwise it is almost white. And that is fine. White is good if you like white! I just like a little color. OK, here it is....we'll just call it:

Delicious Frozen Yogurt Pie

• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• 2- 8 oz cartons flavored yogurt (try strawberry or peach)
• 1-8 oz tub Cool Whip

Mix yogurt and Cool Whip and put in pie crust. Freeze. Let thaw a couple minutes before slicing.

" Did somebody say 'Pot Roast?'"

"Wake me up when it's ready..."

Have a Wonderful Wednesday and be sure to check back tomorrow.
I have a surprise up my sleeve!

Love,
Laura Lee

My Latest Food Obsession

A few months ago, when Aunt Cleo was visiting, she kept telling me about a delicious sandwich she had at a restaurant in Austin, TX. She said it was simple, just a few ingredients, so I had to try it out. Basically, it is a mouth-watering-open-faced-pesto-tomato-mozzarella delight. It is simply DIVINE! Aunt Cleo, the girls, and I ate these for lunch at least three or four times while she was here for a month. Thank you so much, Aunt Cleo, for telling me about this wonderful recipe.

I make the pesto fresh, although at the beach I made the sandwiches with jarred pesto, in a pinch, when we had a craving for this incredibly easy, delightful treat. I keep a basil plant growing just outside the back door, and as soon as there are enough leaves, I strip that baby down and whip up the pesto.

To make these, simply slice a loaf of French bread on the diagonal. (That makes room for two thick slices of tomato.) Spread each slice of the bread with pesto and plop on a couple thick slices of tomato, side by side. Top with thick slices of fresh mozzarella. (Fresh mozzarella makes these so good. I have made them with shredded pizza mozzarella, but they just aren't the same.) I assemble and bake these on my pizza stone, because it makes the bread nice and crispy, but never burns. Toast these in a 350-375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until the tops are bubbly!

Hope you enjoy trying my latest obsession.

Here is my recipe for pesto. I halve this because I never have 2 cups of basil leaves at one time.

Fresh Basil Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

I chop all this up in my little hand held food chopper, so perhaps my pesto has a little more "texture" than usual. A small food processor would work, too. It keeps well covered in the refrigerator for a while, or so I'm told. I wouldn't know because we eat it up too fast!

Mix up the pesto.

Spread it on the French bread.

Top with tomato and fresh mozzarella.

Be careful, they are HOT!

Whoa, Lacy! Slow down...there's more!

Life is a Bowl of Cherries!

Nothing symbolizes summer to me quite like a bowl of fresh cherries! Holly thinks they are the best thing she's ever tasted. She starts asking for them the minute she sees them in the grocery. The price per pound is so high that I always wait until they are on sale. Still high as a kite, but worth it to put a smile on this little girl's face.

We don't make anything special with them...no cobbler or pie here. We just eat ourselves silly on them, straight from the bowl!

Hope your day is as sweet as a cherry!
Love,
Laura Lee

Overripe Bananas!

Here is a great recipe for those overripe bananas that are laying around. This is the BEST recipe ever for banana bread. Hope you'll try it. The recipe makes one large loaf or three small loaves.

Carrot Banana Bread

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; gradually add to the creamed mixture alternately with bananas. Stir in carrots and pecans. Transfer to a greased 9 in. x 5 in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf. (For three small loaves bake 30 minutes or till done.)

YUM!