Summer Delights

Mr. Evening Dragonfly

Garden Flowers

Still Water

Little Boy and Ice Cream

Summer Harvest

Pork tenderloin with cucumber yogurt sauce on naan.

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This summer has been nothing short of rad.

Lordy, this lasagna was OUT of control. In a good way.

It came time to harvest some veggies from the garden and I needed a nice dish that would incorporate a few of the goodies. Aha! A veggie inspired (noodleless) lasagna. It turned out really very good and I can't wait for a second go at it. Luckily, there are plenty of leftovers for later this week. Here's the rundown....

Slice and roast as many veggies as you find desirable. My cast of characters were as follows:

Sun Gold cherry tomatoes (garden grown)
Zucchini (garden grown)
Eggplant (garden grown)
Orange and red bell peps (Costco grown)

Roast in oven at 425* for 20 minutes, turning once. (Warning: Multiple baking sheets needed.)

Prepare your sauce:

Brown 1/2 lb. ground turkey meat (If you roll like that. Otherwise omit this part, obviously.) Saute onion and minced garlic. Combine with browned ground turkey. Add your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce, 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on LOW until it's time to assemble the lasagna.

Next up, grate some Parmigiano Reggiano. Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Once your veggies are roasted and your sauce is simmered it's time to assemble. Spread evenly 1/3 of your sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking pan. Next lay your zucchini down.

Spread a 1/3 more sauce over the roasted zucchini.

Then sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella (this is dry, packaged, shredded stuff - go all out and get the fresh stuff and slice it up to make it even more heavenly.)

Mmm...roasted eggplant. Possibly my favorite ingredient of this dish! Okay, so layer these puppies on over the mozzarella.

And then go ahead and sprinkle on the Parmigiano Reggiano. Looks divine, right? My stomach grumbled about here.

I like glass baking dishes, especially when preparing lasagna.  You can "see" all the layers that way. Is that just me? Anyone?

Next layer on the last 1/3 of your sauce.

Then  arrange the bells and the tomatoes, NEATLY  if you're a control freak, like myself.

 See the layers forming?

One of the greatest visions in life is a glossy, vibrant roasted pepper.

FINALLY, sprinkle some more Parmigiano Reggiano and a little more mozzarella to lock in the juices and flavor of the vegetables.

Put that baby on the grill, on top of some tin foil and bake at 450* for about 20-30 minutes (per my sister's suggestion.)

Melted perfection from the Gods.

Serve alongside a crisp Caesar salad and your favorite glass of red wine. (Both of which are NOT optional in my house.)

Enjoy!

I was warned , but dude... SO. MUCH. ZUCCHINI.

We are living and breathing zucchini over here. The garden is coming to life and recently we've been able to enjoy something OTHER than the "green stuff" and the little hoarder in my brain that tells me I must not waste any of it has gone on overdrive, SO that means zucchini muffins were in order: compromising my WAISTline in order not to be WASTEful. (Don't worry, I'm here all week!)

I found a recipe online from Simply Recipes. Appropriately titled, these Zucchini Muffins were scrumptious and used 3 cups of shredded zucchini (I dumped in a little more for good measure.)

See all that shredded green goodness....just screaming HEALTH! (Nevermind the 1 1/3 cup sugar)

The recipe calls for dried cranberries and walnuts. (I like myself a muffin packed full of goodies.)

Begging to be gobbled up by my little crazy muffin monster, Mazzylicious. (Maxton could care less about these, frankly I think the dried cranberries scared him as well as the "green stuff".)

Perfect snack to be eaten OUTSIDE, on a pool break with the kiddos. (The one thing I love about summer is that most of the kids' meals can take place in the open air. Dining alfresco suits my needs and the needs of the usually always littered kitchen floor.)

Speaking of which, here are my kids after both eating an ice cream sandwich OUTSIDE:


How does that happen? They each manage to slop some ice cream  on their face as if they're penciling in a mole. Weird kids, indeed.

So, zucchini anyone? Please. Pretty please? I'm BEGGING you.

A not-to-be-named-energy-providing-company came out to install our new meter and totally wigged out our oven in the process, the clock flickers and the timer is not "timing" as it should. I made these muffins originally when we attended a brunch with some friends and the muffins were good but darker than I would have liked, so I just had to try the recipe again using the microwaves trusty timer. I popped these babies in the freezer this time and they make for a perfect snack for when I'm feeling lazy.

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Mini Garden Update:


I let Mazzy take a stab at uprooting our leeks.



She thought I'd have better luck.



I have to say my daughter is quite the little photographer, always stealing the camera out of my hands...which makes me smile and sweat at the same time. Anyway, here is me  posing for Mazzy with our leeks.



Latest harvest: Zucchini (of course!), Sun Gold tomatoes, lemon cucumber, and our leeks. I have yet to decide what to prepare with these summer leeks...

My NEW Favorite Winery: Cantiga Wineworks, Somerset, CA

Cantiga Wineworks philosophy behind their wine making is layed out clearly in their mission statement:

"The intent behind our unique method is twofold:

first, to recapture the art of making wine that benefits from long periods of cellaring;

and second, to craft a food-friendly style, thus reclaiming wine’s rightful place on the dinner table."  

- Cantiga Wineworks, http://www.cantigawine.com/Mission.htm

The mention of pairing food with their wine spoke to me like a gentle whisper in my ear. Okay, not really, but my ears sure perked up and I began to really fall in love with their "old world" approach to wine. I could have taken home one (or 5) bottles of every single wine I tasted. Now, I'm no wine connoisseur, but I do enjoy wine, especially with a meal. If we decide to have wine with our dinner, it's hard for me to take another bite if my wine glass is empty. I find that this is not the case with everyone. A number of my friends  prefer to drink their wine separately, either before and/or after their meal.

Rich (and his wife) own Cantiga Wineworks and have for about 11 or so years. Rich happened to be pouring wine last Saturday afternoon when my sister, mom, and I just stumbled upon this lovely little winery. Upon seeing us, waiting patiently for some glasses, he asked if we had tasted before and when we mentioned it was our first time he casually went into what he called his "spiel".  We actually really enjoyed the story of how his winery came to be and what the winery stands for and his philosophy behind the wine they make. I'm not about to get all into it here (something about no sugar, almost no sulfates, no lactic acid, aging for long periods of time, no new oak, etc...) so you NEED to check out the wine and hear it for yourself.

Aside from the great wines, the grounds are just beautiful. Nestled in the rolling hills of Somerset, located in the Fairplay wine region of El Dorado County, this place was ideal for me to practice what I sorta learned in that photography "class" I took a couple days back. Unlike the heat stroked streets of Old Sacramento, these wine soaked hills begged for an amateur, aspiring half-arsed-wanna-be-photographer to snap some photos ( PLUS I had some beautiful women along with me to provide inspiration, as well.)

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Uh, yes...a food shot. Charlotte's in Diamond Springs makes a mean sandwich.

My mama and sis.

I am blessed to have these beautiful and wonderful women in my life. Us girls know how to make the most of our experiences with one another, we love us some food and wine.

What Family is For

Thanks to the wonderful people I call my family, I quite enjoyed my time at the El Dorado County Fair. This is our second time going and for someone who is anxious around crowds and lines I found myself delighted by the whole experience. It was definitely fun the last time we went but, with the ages the children are now, it was pure magic this second time around.

Corn dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, kiddie rides, roasted corn on the cob, shaved ice, cotton candy, overpriced bottles of water, dipping dots, funnel cake, stomach dropping death pods, ferris wheel, sweaty bums, and flushed cheeks. All of it worth the $19,862,754 we spent, combined.

Oh, Maxton, your expression is priceless.

Horsey and nice cowgirl.

On his way to skimming the cornbread of the corndog.

The three of these kids on this hill made me want to install one big ol' grassy knoll  in our backyard.

The most joyful man. He makes this little girl's world.

Revved up to go!

Cousin Harlie called shotgun!!

Derby Dude.

Grandma Kris and her Mazzy Girl.

Just beautiful of Auntie Erin. (Photo by my mama.)

Refreshing. The perfect treat.

She gives me reasons to act like a kid again. Thank you, Roo.

Oh, Uncle Scott. You're the best.

My little man dreaming of being big one day. You'll get there, Mister.

The Death Pod.

Days like this is what family is for. (Photo by Erin)