Italian Grilled Vegetables

We've enjoyed this recipe over the summer. The problem is: only Micah has made this dressing. I'll try to make do when he leaves. We bought a couple of big metal baskets for putting on the grill. That saves us from having to put all the veggies on skewers. I would probably double this recipe for a large batch of vegetables.

Ingredients:
A variety of veggies washed, trimmed, and cut in large pieces for grilling, including such favorites as onions, large mushrooms, bell peppers, asparagus, etc.
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
2 T orange juice
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/4 t fresh ground pepper

Directions:
Toss prepared vegetables with salt, pepper and enough olive oil to keep them from sticking. Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl. Grill vegetables to desired tenderness. Toss hot vegetables with dressing and serve immediately.

It's a wonderful day to go out and play

Hey, maybe you could come along!

All you need to bring is a song to sing,

A happy little baby song!

Abe and I watched most of these. They just don't make baby and children's videos like they used to! These little songs are so sweet! I love My Mommy Comes Back!

Cynthia's Summer Salad

Cynthia brought a delicious salad to our house last night. I liked it because it was neither too sweet nor too heavy, and because it arrived with Cynthia, Eric, Caleb and Madeleine!

Ingredients:
Hendricksons Unique Dressing and Marinade
Fancy Lettuce
Spinach
Toasted, slivered almonds
Purple grapes, halved
Cucumber, peeled cut in rather small pieces
Avocado pieces

Directions:
Mix and take over to your friends' house

Why Buy Organic

No, I'm not tellling you why you should buy organic. I'm wondering. That title should have a question mark. It should be read like this: "Why buy organic?" And then some mom should follow up with a subsequent post answering the question.

Thanks! :)

Banana Cake Recipe

The cake turned out pretty well! Next time I wouldn't add so much sugar to the frosting, it turned out really rich. But it was pretty good! I also added extra lemon :)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups icing sugar

Garnish
chopped walnuts

Directions
1Preheat oven to 275°.
2Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8Stir in banana mixture.
9Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
11For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
12Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
13Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
14Spread on cooled cake.
15Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired. (I used blueberried and banana slices)

We took the cakes out of the oven too early, so it kind of sunk in the middle. Oh well, I liked it!

Sweet Stories from the Old Shelf

Cooking Whine III

Here are my thoughts about cooking with wine and etc.:
1. Food tastes really good cooked in wine.
2. Wine and other such beverages are against the Word of Wisdom.
3. Some people say the alcohol cooks out.
4. Some people say it doesn't.
5. Whether it does or doesn't I don't know if it is still keeping the spirit and the law of the commandment to use it, and I always feel a little uncomfortable doing it.
6. So I am not going to cook with it any more, but I will not have a problem eating what the other chefs in my home prepare for me, even if cooking wine is included!
7. Check out this website for substitutes: gourmetsleuth.com/alcoholsubstitutes.htm
8. I love you and I love food!