It’s been a summer of food-food-food! This is a party tray I made for my Fairhope Writer’s Group. We were combining a meeting with a 100th birthday celebration for our friend Jule. She eats very healthy ( no wonder she’s 100 and beautiful!) I found the long wood tray at the Antique Emporium in Mobile, AL.
My college son was home this summer working a hot, sweaty job, so I was back in the kitchen cooking up a storm to keep him fed. After he left for school last year, Bob and I started eating super light meals. Lots of salads and grilled fish, but Joe prefers heavy meat and potatoes and old fashioned casseroles so we combined the two styles for the summer.
Salmon with a fruit and rosemary topping was a hit with everyone. Marinated for a few hours in the refrigerator with Skinny Girl Sugar-Free and Fat-Free Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing, the fruit was sweet and tangy. And NO SUGAR! Amazing world we live in, isn’t it?
Other big hits were meatloaf, shepherd’s pie, fresh peach cobbler and . . .
Bolognese sauce made from a recipe I found in Italy – over HOMEMADE PASTA! – More on that another time.
But the gigantic failures were when I tried to dehydrate green beans – you know how Whole Foods has them all crispy and salty to snack on? Well, mine turned out to look (and taste) like chewy little worms. Eeww.
And also, I’ve been determined to learn how to make croissants from scratch. It takes over 6 hours to make them. I can bake any type of pastry, but bread just stumps me for some reason. I even burn Sister Schubert’s Rolls. Sweet college kid thought they tasted good, but Bob said they tasted like wadded up biscuits. I’m on a mission now to figure this out.
Happy summer of food! If you are a croissant expert, let me hear from you.