RWood

Pearl couscous salad with halloumi, tomato, arugula, corn, red onion (cucumber for my mother) and an herb dressing. Really tasty and cool for these 95F days.

Falafel bowl. My mom has been wanting falafel, so finally got around to making them. Also made the hummus and tzatziki, pickled red onions and turmeric basmati.

Had my dad over for lunch today. Salad with heirloom tomatoes, burrata, peaches, pistachios, cherries, basil, mint and drizzled with lemon thyme and garlic infused oil.

Tomato Pesto Galette with burrata, parm, lemon zest and more basil. Used some of my tomatoes from the “garden” if you can call it that. Served it with a Caesar salad.

Oh yes, thanks for asking. Apparently the fan motor died. Our contractor friend came over late the other night and put in a new one.

Blazing hot tonight, and I had planned for pizza. My oven was at 950F when I checked it. Pepperoni, black olive, onion, Rosa from Chris Bianco and Margherita.

Doctored brownie mix with frosting.

Hugo Spritz after coming in from the pool. Pretty tasty. Prosecco, lime, mint, St. Germain and sparkling water.

Lots of cakes this past couple of weeks. Baby shower cake for a friends niece (white almond with raspberry compote. And a small anniversary cake for my mom’s friends that came by for pizza. Also made my dad’s birthday cake (chocolate peanut butter, no photo), and one for my cousins friend (looks just like the anniversary cake). Both of those were strawberry layers with strawberry cream cheese filling. I’m worn out 😮‍💨.

John used to buy the big bags of spinach at Costco (in California) that weighed 2 1/2 lbs. He found that it would make two pans perfectly, so I halved the recipe when I wrote it up for the cookbook. As I said, I just kinda wing it now. The pan in the photo is smaller than the recipe. I used a 10 oz container for it.

Sure. I wrote this up for a family cookbook that I'm working on just to have it written down. We usually just wing it now. Some things I'll mention we found helped over the years of making it: Keep it thin, it helps with browning on the bottom and having less moisture. Use lots of feta. Most I've had are very sparse, probably just being cheap. Not sure what your oven is like, but I hate the one we have. It's a Kitchenaid and bottom browning is bad. So, I start it on the bottom, then move it up so the top browns. Don't put too much parsley, can be overpowering, lots of dill is good though.

Spanakopita. I always follow my mom’s husband’s version. Still the best I’ve had.

Tomato pesto galette with burrata and arugula.

Happy 86th for my moms cousin Peggy! White almond cake with raspberry filling. My first attempt at palette knife flowers. Supposed to be rustic, so that helped 😋.

Mostly pesto I freeze. And for caprese salad, pizza, etc. I dry my oregano because it is so much better than store bought. I have dried the basil too, but I don’t use it as much as fresh.