A summer love

Basil. This little guy is wonderful.


I have no green thumb. J has a small green thumb (giggle giggle, I love you). I'm pleased to announce that we've kept this basil plant alive for over 2 months now. We...ok, J...picks the leaves a couple of times a week.

It's provided us with some kick to a couple of delish dishes. And a quick go-to for pesto.

And, caprese style: Tomato, mozzarella, basil leaves, a dash of balsamic. Mmmmm


Note to self: a Mexican cheese block looks like a mozzarella block.
Reminder to self: Tell J not to keep blocks of different cheeses in the same tupperware.

Gnocchi in Fontina cream sauce

When we went out for our anniversary dinner a couple of weeks ago, J had a tasty dish that he couldn't forget. So he searched high and low and found a recipe that is pretty darn close. We tried it out Saturday evening and it was fabulous!

Gnocchi in Fontina cream sauce

1 pound gnocchi
6 T butter
2 T shallots
8 ounces Fontina
2/3 C cream
3 T parmesan
1 T fresh basil

Directions:

First, melt the butter with shallots (or substitute onion and add some garlic like we did)


Then add the cream. We like rich and we like extra sauce, so we added a bit extra cream. Bring the mixture to light boil. Add the Fontina & parmesan. Stir until melted.


Cook and drain the gnocchi (or make your own).


Add the pasta to your sauce. Serve and top with fresh basil. Voila!

Banana Bread

Yesterday, my friend Smartass came over. We had some down time between laying out at the pool and going to listen to a "band," so I used up some old bananas to make bread.

Banana Bread

Sift together:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda

In a separate bowl, mix:
2/3 cup of shortening or margarine
2/3 cup of sugar

Mix, then add:

2 eggs (one at a time)

(I forgot the picture of this mixture, but you can figure it out - it looks like eggy butter...with sugar granules, duh.)

In a separate bowl, mash:
1 cup banana

Alternate adding and mixing 1/4 the mashed bananas and 1/4 the sifted mixture (repeat, repeat, repeat) to the shortening/sugar mixture. Pour into a greased bread pan.

Bake at 300 for about 1 hour or until a toothpick in the middle comes clean. Makes 1 large loaf or three small.

Because we were starving, we also experimented with a dip. Cream cheese, cocktail sauce, crab meat, shredded cheddar cheese. In oven until the cheese melts. Serve with crackers. YUM.

Macaroni & corn casserole

Mmmmmmm, sound gross? Well, it's not dang it!

This recipe came to me from a family friend at a church potluck. It quickly became a favorite and I've passed it on to many others. It's a great side dish for any meal, but especially great for a cookout.

Recipe:
1 can corn, undrained
1 can creamed corn
1 cup macaroni, raw
1/4 stick butter (2 T), chopped for better melting
Cheese*
Breadcrumbs (optional)

*Cheese? Cheese, you ask? Ok, you can use any type of cheese you want. Me, I'm no cheese snob. I usually use good ole processed Velveeta. A 2 inch block, cubed. But for you snobs, do what you want :)

Pour everything into a greased casserole dish. Cover & bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (until the macaroni is cooked), stirring occasionally. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs if desired.

Precooked:


Cooked:

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

This weekend, I had 2 half empty containers of cream cheese frosting in the fridge. Why? Who knows. I thought about making some pumpkin bars, but it just doesn't seem natural to eat pumpkin anything in the summer. So I made red velvet sandwich cookies/whoopie pies/whatever you want to call them. I prefer the word whoopie.



I found the recipe in this post from Bakerella (who has some other awesome treats - check it out). Shout out to Stefi for her find. Because I knew they were just for J, me, and J's mom, I didn't take the time to make them pretty.

Tip: Keep them refrigerated, but before you serve/eat, let them sit out for 10 minutes or so to soften. Also, don't worry about making them all the same size - you can match up the similar sized ones later.