It's Tuile Time!

I had so much fun playing with these cookies.  I may never use a glass bowl to serve dessert, ever again!  Simple, delicious, crispy, and light, tuiles are a versatile cookie with endless possibilities.  While sitting at work this week all I could think about was rushing home to make another batch.  Ideas kept popping in my head and for those of you who are uber-creative, I bet you could elevate these to a thing of beauty!

Tuile is the French word for tile.  Tuile cookies are often shaped like a pringle potato chip.  Think "clay roofing tiles" ... in French of course.   Somewhere, someone decided these would be terrific shaped in a bowl and used to serve creamy desserts.  Brilliant idea!  Tuiles taste a little like the Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Wafer Cookies. 

Cara Cara Orange Creamsicle Sorbet

Cara Cara Oranges are a newly branded "power orange" due to their nutritional advantages.  According to Sunkist, Cara Cara Oranges "are a special variety of juicy, low acid, seedless navels packed with more natural nutrition and minerals to power a healthy immune system.  Cara Caras are an excellent source of vitamin C, A and fiber; a good source of folate and potassium, and a natural source of Lycopene, the disease-fighting antioxidant."  Silly me, I just thought they tasted great!

"Garden to table" zucchini lasagna

I'm afraid this might be the last of our garden vegetables this year.   Between the oppressive heat and drought  it's been a struggle to keep it going.  Kudos to my husband for his over-the-top effort.  

Happy Birthday Tricia!!

Chocolate Birthday Cake!

Love,
Your Traveling (and blog-hacking) Husband!   :)

Old fashioned peach cobbler with shortcake crust

With peaches still available at the local Farmer's Market, I thought it was a good time to post an old fashioned peach cobbler like my Mom used to make.  She often used a shortcake dough to spoon on top of a simple combination of peaches, water, cornstarch and a little cinnamon.  The shortcake rises almost like a biscuit soaking up the peach syrup and juice as it bakes.

Amazing Hummus

"Amazing - inspiring awe or admiration or wonder."

How can hummus inspire admiration or wonder?  So glad you asked!

Chocolate Marquise with Fresh Cherry Sauce

A Chocolate Marquise is a rich, dense, mousse-like dessert that has been chilled in a mold.  As if that's not enough, go ahead and top it with a fresh cherry sauce spiked with cherry brandy.  What can I say?  I still had a bunch of fresh cherries in the fridge and didn't want to waste them!  Really I did.

Ode to Zucchini - the super vegetable

When I made this dish for dinner recently, I didn't plan to blog it.  But as it sometimes happens this turned out great, and the recipe I planned to post, turned out yucky.  Really yucky.  I threw it down the disposal, yucky.  Wouldn't you know that roasting a few vegetables in the oven and piling them on top of some Quinoa and black beans would be a new favorite dish in our house?  We had one yellow squash left from our garden, I had a cup or so of fresh corn, plenty of tomatoes, a red onion and a few zucchini.  

Lace Cookies

British, French, Irish or Swedish?  The more I dig to find the origin of this lovely little cookie, the more variations I discover.  Some are made with oats, others with almonds, and they are sometimes confused with Florentine Lace Cookies.  Chocolate can be drizzled on top or smeared in the middle to make a sandwich cookie.  Before I started making these cookies I thought they were a traditional English Christmas treat.  So no matter what your argument, we can all agree these are a versatile, delicious, delicate, buttery treat that should be served whenever you want to mix them up!  Given their hodge-podge heritage, they should be named the official Olympic cookie!  

"Garden to table" - Rustic Tomato-Basil Tart

Tomatoes.  Lovely and firm, red and juicy.  This has to be our favorite summer fruit.  

And this recipe is a new family favorite.  The tomatoes are so sweet and the crust is amazing!  It may not look like much, but it really hit the spot.  This version is gluten free but substitute regular flour and you still have a terrific pie!