Summer entertaining is my favorite. Probably because it is easy to prepare most of the dishes before hand so that you can relax and enjoy your company. Also, because men always seem to want to work the grill so if you plan your food wisely the menfolk will do the actual cooking on the day of the party. Men always look better standing at the grill in 100 degree weather, holding their bottles of beer. I just look hot and sweaty and borderline alcoholic.

This week I thought I would share some recipes for those of you entertaining this weekend. Everything can be made in advance.

First up today, the ubiquitous potato salad. It is a summer barbeque staple. Honestly, I think it is written in the Constitution that you must serve this at any and all Fourth of July functions, or else be deported.

My husband is currently eating his second helping of it and said, “You have to give me this recipe!” I guess in case I meet an untimely death he wants to ensure that he can still eat this potato salad. Read the rest of this entry »

This is another one pan wonder dish. I love making things for dinner that do not require multiple pans. I hate cleaning up after I have already slaved away cooking. (Okay maybe I don’t exactly slave away, but when I have a huge sink filled with dishes and pots and pans I feel overwhelmed.)

You will need:

green beans
potatoes, scrubbed and diced, not peeled
lemons
chicken breast
extra virgin olive oil
a few cloves of garlic (I used 4)
salt and pepper to taste

Don’t you love recipes that don’t have exact measurements? I do because it means odds are I can’t mess it up.

The most labor intensive part of this recipe? Washing and trimming the green beans.

Read the rest of this entry »

My favorite thing about cooking in a crock pot is the way the house smells so good all day. Mmm mmm mmm. Though I think it probably causes me to gain weight since all I can think about is food all day long.

Ignore the food a moment. Isn’t that a pretty plate? It was given to me as a wedding present. There used to be a matching platter that sadly fell and broke one day. Along with my heart because I loved it so. Anyway, I was at the orthodontist the other day waiting for my son and I was browsing through Martha Stewart’s magazine when I saw one of her recipes on this plate. My plate! She is such a copy cat. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t think that I have ever eaten split pea soup in my life. It is just something that has never appealed to me. I’m not sure why, maybe it was the consistency which I imagined would be like eating a bowl of school paste. Green school paste. My husband has always professed his love for pea soup, hoping that I would one day decide to share the love and make it. But thick green soup? Ugh, no thanks.

I also assumed that my children would not like to eat pea soup. Because thick green soup? Ugh, no thanks. Yes, I project.

Fast forward to this year when we bought a pig. Not a live pig, mind you, but one wrapped in little freezer packages from a local grower. Suddenly I had a whole lot of Babe the Freezer Pig to make into meals.

So I thought, oh what the heck, I’ll make some of that split pea soup with ham. Surely it couldn’t be that bad. I could tell my kids that Shrek liked to eat swamp soup.

I know it sounds so appetizing now that you can hardly wait to make it yourself, right? Read the rest of this entry »

In the cold winter months there is nothing I like better than a warm hearty stew. Aside from a tropical vacation where cabana boys bring me fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them, that is.

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Alternate post titles: Ode to Bacon, or
World Peace Can Be Achieved Through Bacon, or
Bacon, It’s Whats For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, or
Bacon is Your Friend, or
Cholesterol, I Laugh At You.

For this recipe you need Bacon. And some other stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello, my name is Chris and I love roasted vegetables. Specifically I love roasted potatoes. I don’t think my family shares my undying potato love, however. Unless saying that you are going to wish for a potato famine is a compliment.

I have a problem with getting stuck on a certain food and making it over and over again until I am sick of it and/or my family stages a revolt. Summer 2007 will always be known as the Summer of Hummus. Just ask Susan, she told me on the phone the other day that she hasn’t eaten hummus since July when we spent a week together and I forced her to eat it every day.

And this is the Winter of the Potato. Amen. Read the rest of this entry »