Dinner

Princess Q sees her plate, falls to the floor and begins to scream and cry, "I don't want sauce on my ravioli."

I tell her, "If you don't want to eat your dinner, you can go to bed now."

While she continues to scream & cry, I dish up a plate for The Mister and eat my dinner. Why should I wait until it's cold? The Mister isn't a huge fan of ravioli (I didn't think he'd be home for dinner tonight) and since it will likely take a miracle for The Princess to eat hers, I help myself to the remainder with a second helping. Seems mushroom ravioli really hits the spot when your dearest, little one is having a tantrum.

After a little over a half hour of screaming and crying, The Princess raises her white flag and gives in. She eats the ravioli proclaiming, "I like this ravioli better WITH sauce."

Yes, folks, after nearly 45 minutes of hysterics because she didn't want sauce, it turns out she likes it better WITH sauce. AND she wants seconds and by now, I've finished my second helping. There are no seconds to be had.

I break the news to her and The Princess bursts into tears. The offer of additional French-cut green beans did nothing to quell her anguish.

Luckily baby tomatoes, picked from the plants in our yard, DID.

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Salmon and Fennel

Simple and delicious...

My new find:

Wash and cut fennel bulb into quarters or eighths, depending on size. Toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Throw into grilling basket and place on heated barbecue while preparing salmon.

Create a "boat" out of aluminum foil and place salmon inside. Brush wild salmon fillet generously with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill on barbecue until nearly done, brush with Vineyard Pantry Cherry Zinfandel Grilling Glaze and remove from grill while still not quite done in the middle (it will continue cooking after taken off grill).

Serve with extra sauce on the side and a baguette.

Love

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Gazpacho

I love gazpacho. It's perfect on a warm day, cool, crisp & light. Add some crusty bread and it can be a meal.

We like chunkier gazpacho in our household; the pureed kind is good but we prefer some texture. After a too-long wait due to weather, tomatoes are looking great at the farmer's market and I stocked up on most of my necessary gazpacho ingredients Sunday for tonight's dinner. Mmmm.

Here's my favorite recipe:

Chunky Gazpacho

6+ c coarsely chopped tomato (about 3+ lb, I like to use a mix of heirlooms, diff colors)

1 (32-oz) bottle low-sodium tomato juice (I use RW Knudsen Very Veggie, Organic, Low-Sodium)
2 c coarsely chopped & peeled cucumber (about 2 medium)
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 1/4 c finely chopped sweet onion or red onion
1 c finely chopped celery (approx 1-2 ribs)
1 T olive oil
Balsamic vinegar to taste
1 T sherry vinegar, optional
1 T rice vinegar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp hot sauce, optional
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used a few tsp of crushed garlic)

Oregon pink shrimp
Avocado, halved and sliced
Baby yellow tomatoes, quartered

Combine all ingredients except shrimp, avocado and yellow tomatoes in a large non-reactive bowl**, stir well. Puree a bit to thicken with a handheld blender (stick blender) or put a portion into a regular blender and puree slightly, then mix back into the larger portion.

Cover and chill.

Serve with shimp, avocado slices and quartered baby yellow tomatoes with crusty bread on the side with additional hot sauce and balsamic vinegar, to add to taste.

* If available, I like to substitute 1-2 lemon cucumbers for one of the green cucumbers.
** If you like to add more "good stuff" like tomatoes, mult kinds of cucumbers & peppers, make that a very large bowl.

pictures from the air

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