RWood

Rose, White Chocolate and Pistachio shortbread for my cousins wedding.

Fish tacos are one of my favorite things. Made these with cod, and used Kenji’s Serious Eats recipe for the batter. Really good. Made a spicy slaw and chipotle lime mayo. My mom had regular beef tacos since no fish for her . And Trader Joe’s Mexican rice on the side.

Had way too many Campari tomatoes. Made a roasted tomato pesto with bucatini. Added a spoon of ricotta and some sautéed zucchini.

Detroit style pizza. Pepperoni, red onion, pesto.

Yeah, no heat though

Was craving Greek spaghetti. Cleaned out some cherry tomatoes, with kalamata, capers, garlic, feta and parsley.

Thanks ! Yeah, it took several hours to get them all on there.

Combo August birthday party today. My cousin (the prime Donna 😑) ordered a mermaid theme since it’s her granddaughter’s 1st birthday. So I went with a tail and a 4” smash cake for the baby. All white cake and vanilla buttercream.

Spaghetti with home made marinara, Trader Joe’s burrata filling and basil from the garden.

These are some tasty little crackers, but the box is waaay to small 😏

Pistachio Lemon Tart. Crust is graham/pistachio, mascarpone lemon filling. Trying to recreate a tart we used to get in SF at a place called Tart to Tart on Irving St. They got new owners and it was never the same. This filling might need more lemon.

Tomato galette with herb dough, pesto and cheese. Pretty tasty. Served with an arugula salad.

My mom bought a spaghetti squash for some reason, so I used some of it for fritters. Just ok, even though I loaded them with herbs and such. Also a marinated tomato and Vidalia onion salad.

Well, I think the thing that makes a difference is the amount of liquid. I didn't put as much this time. Some of our old Greek cookbooks, put a lot of stock, and it doesn't all cook out. This batch had juice of half a large lemon, maybe 1/3 cup stock, 1/4 cup olive oil, then garlic, s&p, dried oregano. I cooked at 400F for about 40 mins. The liquid was mostly gone except the oil. I cooked them another 15 or so. My oven sucks and it doesn't brown like I want, so I wanted them to crisp more, but the stuff in the pan was good. I have cooked them before with more stock and covered them with foil, but sometimes they overcook and there is still liquid with no browning. This was a small batch though.

I didn’t get that much of my Daddy Bill’s gardening expertise but I made Greek lemon potatoes to go with leftover spanakopita. We grew the potatoes, garlic, oregano and parsley. They were so good!

Spanakopita kinda night. Made this with my mom’s husband a lot. He didn’t like dealing with phyllo 😁. Still think his version is the best!

Tried a new dough that has beer and honey. Really high hydration. Wasn’t bad, but a little sweet. Topped with The Pizza Bible’s New Yorker toppings, and the pesto one I’ve done before by request.

Pork cutlets with rice pilaf, arugula salad and steamed broccolini. Either my mom or her sister left the freezer drawer open, so now I’m cooking through a few thawed out things.

Wedge salad with homemade ranch, bacon, crispy shallots, watermelon radish and a few garden tomatoes. Corn that was almost too sweet and some crispy chicken tenders.

Tried a baked English muffin. Tasty, I think I’ll try a griddled one next time. Or at least do the shaping differently. This recipe said to roll the dough and cut, but it was too soft for that.

Made some no knead dough to use up some flour. Baked in my Lodge Dutch oven, and that made a huge difference. Our kitchen aid oven sucks, so this method helped greatly.

My mom had her sisters over, so I made pot roast and mashed potatoes.

Thanks, I think that's what happened.

Tried fresh mozzarella and ricotta today. The mozzarella seemed firmer than I had thought, more like regular. Good flavor though. Ricotta was good. May put it on a pizza this week. I bought some only pasteurized milk from a dairy in Georgia, so it definitely tasted different from store bought milk.

Happy Birthday to my Pops. Chocolate stout cake, peanut butter filling, chocolate buttercream and pb drizzle.