They all ripen at once! So we’re having Gazpacho and Dad’s favorite sauce. Gazpacho is a great hot season meal … fresh … cool … light and jam-packed with this great fruit.
Our Favorite Gazpacho. Or try this richer version.
Here’s the first sauce I learned to make as a child. Not traditional to be sure but still a family favorite.
Didn’t get a taste but I’m betting this tastes as good as my recipe if not better. My recipe here. My brother is the family barbecue and meat smoking expert. We were introduced early on to the smoky flavor of barbecued steaks and smoked Portuguese Sausage. We just can’t help ourselves when it comes to the taste.
This recipe is an all day activity but most of this is observing … A great dinner for that special picnic and all day swim party. You must try my brother’s pit meat recipe too, here.
This is a taste-alike look-alike. I’ve been craving Jake’s Tex Mex salad for years now. I’ve come to conclude I just have to make it myself. For best results the ingredients need to be freshly prepared … Then just simply layer into the perfect Tex Mex Salad.
Jake’s Tex Mex Cafe is located in Bakersfield and has been pleasing many with their comfort foods for decades. It’s a cafeteria style restaurant if it hasn’t changed … providing a casual pleasantly fast service. As you approach the end of the service line there is a tempting dessert, their delicious chocolate cake. I haven’t frequented this eatery in years. So I can’t remember the tastes of this cake but I have a recipe for an equally delicious easily made chocolate cake. You won’t be disappointed.
No Fuss Chocolate Cake
Simple additions can take your BBQ from ordinary to amazing! Start with a simple garlic butter to slather on your veggies, steak or bread. It’s easy and you no doubt have the ingredients. Beat together 1 cup (softened) salted butter, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 teaspoons dried parsley (or 2 T fresh), 1/2 teaspoon dried chives (or 2 t fresh), 1/4 teaspoon white pepper. Sprinkle with a bit of grated Parmesan (optional). For the wedge salad add a Blue Cheese dressing for plenty of tang or change out the blue cheese with Feta. This Blue Cheese dip seconds as a dressing, here.
Try these to the delight of your family or guests.
marinated ribs
basil spread
bearnaise
mushroom cheese
french dressing
blue cheese burger
milk mayonnaise
blue cheese
dressings
ketchup
chicken marinade
avocado spread
The moistest chocolate layer cake you’ll ever bake! Not too sweet and just the right amount of chocolate taste. So says my taste tester! What’s the secret? Sour cream and brown sugar add the amazing moisture, and the chocolate … use your very best unsweetened cocoa along with the best vanilla to achieve the just right taste.
This was just what I was craving. Perfect!
Pasta fully loaded … with vegetables that is! And for the meat lover … you won’t miss it! Sometimes the simplest of dishes is best. If your garden is full of summer vegetables your shopping list for this amazing dish just got shorter.
Calabria is the toe of the Italian boot. This Southern Italian region is known for simple dishes. We love pasta so much that many of our pasta dishes become comfort foods. Pasta Calabrese is one.
Perfect coffee time accompaniment. Not too sweet and a bit of healthy. Actually, this was my breakfast. Hope you enjoy this recipe and if you’re into another berry instead, substitute.
Another of many oatmeal recipes. Try my latest here. A great way to start your day!
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
Love my hairstylist, Melissa, for more than taming my hair … a real time consuming task, believe me. We share interests … our love for family, cleaning (ha), and food. Melissa recently tried a version of this recipe, apparently Mississippi Roast has been around, (who knew?), and said it was amazing. It sounded really tasty as she gave me the list of the few ingredients without much in directions. Melissa is considerably younger than I … In fact, she’s younger than my youngest child. What does this have to do with anything? I like to get ideas of what young mother’s & dad’s cook for their families. Yep, I have several of her recipes on this blog, some of Portuguese origin. Just plug her name, MELISSA, in the search box above to see what happens. Thank you Melissa!
Enjoy this amazingly simple recipe with a few extra steps thanks to me. Oops.
Want to know the scoop on Mississippi Roast, see it here.
Whether making dessert for 25 or 50, let me make it fast and easy for you. These two cakes made 48 generous slices. They could have been sliced a bit smaller making 30 servings per 1/2 sheet cake pan, 60 total. I love gatherings but used to get exhausted trying to do it all. I found not only is organization key but recipes that look and taste delicious with the least amount of effort are best when serving a large group. I do fall into the believers … deliciousness comes from not only the palate but the visual too. For these cakes I chose attractive gold colored half cake pans. I knew I wasn’t going to remove the baked cakes to another dish. Side by side, they looked lovely on the self-serve dessert table. If you wish to perfect this further, a la Martha Stewart, use a ruler when slicing the entire cake to give the eye the beauty of exactness, and use attractive, sterling perhaps, serving utensils.
Now for the cakes … Just about any three layered cake recipe works. For the German Chocolate Cake I used the Baker’s German Chocolate recipe for the cake and frosting. These recipes are printed on the Baker’s German Chocolate inside wrapper. I’ll list the ingredients later. This cake whips up nicely with a few extra steps like melting the chocolate and beating the egg whites separately. It’s worth it if you love sweet chocolate with a pecan coconut topping. Hard to beat. For the white cake I used this delicious recipe, here. It was time to try a new (to me) white cake recipe. I liked the idea that this one uses whole eggs and doesn’t require the extra step of beating egg whites. It also uses a bit of shortening and I knew this meant the cake would hold moisture. It didn’t disappoint! For the frosting I used my simple butter cream, recipe to follow. A few things to keep in mind when preparing to bake these recipes in a 1/2 sheet cake pan: 1.) Grease and lightly flour your pan wiping off excess on the top edges of the pan. Remember you will be serving the cake in this pan and want it to look tidy. 2.) Spread the batter evenly especially in the corners of the pan. 3.) The cake will bake faster, 15-30 minutes depending on your oven. 4.) Use a toothpick in the center for doneness. Keep in mind the center is likely to take longer to bake. However, the cake will continue to cook when removed from the oven. If the cake is pulling away from the edges of the pan and the toothpick is almost clean when pierced in the center it is safe to remove from the oven and allow the heat to continue the cooking process.
A family recipe I would have never tasted if it weren’t for Margie. Margie put together a family gathering (yesterday) … Through ancestry.com she found my brother (and then me), and Marie (her family) and many others. Now, I’m not advocating family searches. But in our case, my brother & me, we were curious. My father’s father died at a young age and dad just slipped into the Willitts and Perry families. Dan & I heard very little about dad’s other side of the family. Not for the reason that perhaps you might guess. It was a matter of life getting in the way. So when we heard from Margie we were excited … as excited as she was!
What does it have to do with Marie! Well, she is one of dad’s first cousins and made the event. This recipe is what she brought to our luncheon. Her daughter brought some delicious desserts too. Marie’s peas reminded me so much of my Grandmother’s recipe … more so than my own version of my Grandmother’s. I could taste the bit of wine, and keep in mind, the linguica makes this dish. Not just any linguica! But did I get the name of the brand she used … no! My grandmother often used homemade. Have you tried my brother’s recipe for linguica? Try it here!
This simple recipe is just wonderful. Often served as a Main Dish in Portuguese Cuisine.