Looking for fresh herb ideas

The Dirty Knee Club is planting an herb garden at the cottage. Because of that, I plan to do two presentations in the summer term on use of fresh herbs in sandwiches and salads. We'll have an open kitchen format so that folks can show up and learn how to use the various fresh herbs from our garden. I already have plenty of ideas for these herbs, but can always use a few new ones from cooks who enjoy using them in creative ways in sandwiches and salads. I can't do a cooking with herbs class because I don't have time this summer to tackle a wholesale herb-cooking program.  The herbs being planted are : sage, rosemary, parsley, chives, tarragon, basil, mint, oregano, thyme, and dill. Just email me with ideas at debbyhalv@aol.com with your suggestions.Thanks for the help.

Please ask to be an author

Today I urged the members of the Board of Directors at the tail end of their meeting to check out my blog. Self-serving as that would seem because as I look at it, mostly everything on it is me chattering on about family stuff that relates to food. Before those hard-working board members comply with my request, I'd like to have someone beside myself put something up here. At this point, it needs some fresh ideas, a different style of writing etc. So if you haven't been invited to author for the blog, as must be the case according to the bloggy rules, let me know by email ( debbyhalv@aol.com( that you would like to be an author. You will immediately receive a request to join as such from the blog people. The behind the scenes stats indicate that this blog is being read by a goodly number of people, even at odd little corners of the globe. So talk to us about restaurants, recipes, food tips, intense food dislikes and likes. Please help me keep the narrative going in a variety of directions.

On the way home from Fairfax, I had an early dinner at a local family restaurant. Sent the vegetables back, because even though they were lovely and fresh, they were barely cooked. My big complaint is about under-cooking fresh veggies. If I want a raw vegetable, I'll order a salad.  Green beans should be cooked through and carrots soft, not crunchy. This quick steaming thing may be the current popular way to present vegetables, but I want them cooked. The waiter graciously took them away and returned them to me steamed in lemon juice and quite edible.

The Season for Wishes

My mother enjoyed any opportunity to wish on something. In the spring, when in those olden days asparagus wasn't as plenteous throughout the year, she would wish on the first asparagus of the season to hit our table. So last week when asparagus was on sale and really very nice indeed, I bought a bunch and wished on it. Not going to tell you what my wish was, but I have put that bunch of the tender green stems to good use. Some to top my homemade white pizza, some to brighten a risotto dish and now looking for another use for the rest.

"Better Homes and Gardens" this month has some appealing ideas: There's "Avocado and Egg Sandwiches"; "Asparagus Fritter Sticks"; "Ham and Asparagus Stuffed Chicken; "Garlicky Asparagus Flatbread"; "Roasted Asparagus Orange Salad"; "Fresh Asparagus Ribbon Salad"; and finally "Grilled Asparagus Soup with Chili Croutons". You can look up these recipes on BH&G's website, but I'm sure you can create something akin just from reading  these good looking recipe titles.  Many good cooks  are roasting all of their vegetables  these days. As for me, I"m fine with steamed, sprinkled with lemon juice and buttered.

What's next to wish on? Maybe English peas. Something's got to work.

Full of bologna!

At the risk of ruining my culinary integrity, if I do indeed have that, I have been playing with that cheapest of cheap deli meats, bologna. Several years ago, I watched Emeril take a whole loaf of bologna, lather it with brown sugar and mustard and bake it for four hours. Bologna was the lunch meat of my childhood before we could afford to buy ham for sandwiches and for me they occasionally serve as comfort food, spread with lots of mayo on soft white bread.

Well, with the memory of Emeril's recipe, I picked up a one inch hunk of bologna from the deli and when I got it home, I cut it in half. With one half I decided to make salad.The web provided me with recipes for bologna salad...like ham salad and including hard boiled egg and pickle relish, all put through the food processor and mixed with mayo. The egg gave it good texture and broke the too much bologna taste. It was supposed to include capers but I was out of them.The other half of the chunk I slathered with a mixture of mustard and brown sugar, wrapped it in foil and baked it for about 45 minutes. The coating turned to a lovely sweet syrup and the meat turned out to be quite tasty. I was surprised it was as good as it was and decided that if I do it again, it will pair well with sweet potatoes or baked beans, even in a sandwich made of good brown bread.

Clearly I have the winter boredoms. Good thing classes start soon.

A Meal Planning Change (Temporary)

I've decided to do an experiment with my single lifestyle eating and cooking plan. I've toyed for a long time with the idea that I could eat quite well for less by eating out and carrying the leftovers home, and pairing that with trying the many very appealing convenience dishes from Trader Joe's. Adding the cost of those to what I need for breakfast and lunch, would I come up with a lower payout? Would I enjoy getting out more frequently to ethnic and family restaurants,would I eat as well as I do when cooking for myself?

Before I could do this, I had to consume what had piled up in my freezer like chicken, fish, pot roasts and leftover casseroles. Actually, I've just about done this since I began my plan a month ago. Now there are only a few burgers, a small chuck roast, a piece of frozen flounder and one turkey that I bought a few months ago for $5.00 when it was on sale and I couldn't resist. Of course, the freezer still holds a bunch of frozen vegetables and some breakfast waffles and a treat or two.  I will not succumb to good deals on chicken parts; I won't drop in to Safeway on $5.00 Fridays and pick up a rotisserie chicken, nor will I fill the freezer with single servings of sausage. My cart will include only fresh produce and dairy for breakfast and lunch and only if they are on my list.  I shall have to limit my cooking creative yearnings to those two meals.

I'll let you know how it turns out in a month but I think it will be fun.

Those Indians knew a good thing...

My dad loved succotash. That juicy combination of lima beans, corn, lots of pepper and salt and milk or cream in a side dish was something my mother served fairly often. I liked it too. But when I tried to serve it to my growing family, it was greeted with a unanimous "yuk". So that left the menu...until this week when I made it for myself and realized how much I had missed it. In truth, it became even better  like so many dishes do when heated up the night following its return to my table. Dad really knew what good food was (he also liked Scrapple and Taylor's Pork Roll) and so did the American Indians when they introduced it to the Pilgrims way back then.