I created this recipe when a friend brought a quart of “Cheeseburger Chowder” soup to one of our tailgate parties. The soup was really good…but when our friend told me how much he spent on that quart of soup at a local deli..I almost fainted! I told him I would study the dab left in […]
Grilled Gruyere and Ham Panini
I’ve said it before…I LOVE The Outlet…Restaurant Quality Foods. It’s located between Coralville and Tiffin…a short drive from our home in Iowa City. And I never know what I’ll find when I go there. But THIS find was a REAL treasure! A SIX POUND BLOCK of mild Gruyere cheese…for $9.99!!! […]
Summer Caprese Salad with Balsamic Honey Glaze
I wish I could grow my own tomatoes. But the raccoons in our neighborhood are evil little monsters. They pick every tomato on the plant…one by one. They take a bite…and throw it down. And pick ANOTHER one. On and on. Until the plants are bare. Little devils… So the other day I stopped […]
Kale Salad With Apples, Cheese, and Walnuts
And with STILL more kale to use up, I decided to raid my cupboards and come up with a yummy salad for dinner. I know this will sound crazy, but to tenderize kale leaves that are somewhat tough, you can simply remove the center stem and POUND the remaining leaves with your fist. Just […]
Cucumber, Onion, and Tomato Salad
The other night, I decided I was NOT hungry for a regular green salad…but I still wanted a rainbow for dinner. So I whipped up an old standby from my Mom’s era…A cucumber and onion salad. I don;t remember my Mom adding tomato to her dish…but I love the addition. So here is […]
Zuppa Toscana
Here is MY version of that yummy sausage and kale soup served at that famous Italian restaurant chain. (I added several ingredients to a “copy cat ” recipe I found online.) MEEMAW’S VERSION of “ZUPPA TOSCANA” 5 Mild Italian sausages (removed from the casings) 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin olive oil 1 large onion, finely diced […]
Hearty Bean and Bacon Soup
OK…the calendar says it’s the beginning of Autumn, but Mother Nature apparently has OTHER ideas. It’s COLD in Iowa. TOO COLD! (Fort Lauderdale is sounding better and better to me…) So…it was a Saturday, about 11:30am, and I’m COLD and hungry for HOME MADE SOUP. So I reached in my cupboard and refrigerator to see […]
Bleu Cheese Chicken Wrap
I’m always looking for ways to make left-overs NOT taste like left-overs. And since I had two pieces of left-over fried chicken in the refrigerator, I turned them into a Bleu Cheese Chicken Wrap for lunch. I chopped up the cold chicken, and mixed it with some finely minced onion and a sprinkle […]
Cool Down Corn Chowder
Today our local weatherman says “The Muggy Meter” is rising, and we didn’t start our air conditioner. So I decided to see if my Aunt Carol was right (fifty years ago) when she said, “On a hot day…eat hot foods and you will cool down.” So for dinner on this hot summer night I made…SOUP! […]
Chicken Basil Panini
You don’t really need an expensive panini press to make a great panini sandwich. Here’s how to do it: Stack two slices of GOOD bread (I used Publix 5 Grain Bread) on top of each other, and butter the outsides. Open the two slices and begin to add your sandwich ingredients. Today I layered these […]