Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Salad is one of my summertime recipes. It's incredibly easy.



Start with some goodies from the garden



wash the basil, chop coarsely and pour some olive oil over it to flavor the oil



Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

2 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
one bunch fresh basil
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Wash basil and chop coarsely. Pour olive oil over and let sit.

Layer tomatoes and mozzarella and drizzle olive oil over all. Garnish with basil. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

This is plenty to serve two, or four if you're using it as an appetizer.

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Zucchini and Tomato Dish

I had a fresh zucchini out of the garden, and some tomatoes, which seemed like the perfect thing to make a dinner with. So... here's what I whipped up. It was pretty tasty - of course, most things fresh out of the garden are.

Zucchini and Tomato Dish

1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 zucchini, sliced

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add tomatoes and zucchini. Let simmer on top of the stove, stirring occasionally, until the water is cooked out. Dish up and eat as is. Or, sprinkle some cheese on top for another taste.

You can adjust the amount of ingredients to suit your taste, of course.

I think some tofu cooked in it, or some chicken, would also be delish.

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Tea Sandwich Demonstration

Today I did a cooking demonstration on tea sandwiches at Apron Strings. Amy helped me, for which I was incredibly thankful.



Greg came and took pictures of the occasion. As usual, his photos are great. We did cucumber sandwiches...



And my own creation of an herbed mix on carrot chips. I've been making this for a few years for the MHA teas and it's always a hit.



As an afterthought this morning when I was picking herbs from my garden for this, I grabbed a bunch of other things on the spur of the moment - just to show different herbs. I used some of this red veined sorrel in the herb mix, as well as some rosemary.



Whenever I have occasion to see a bunch of photos of myself I learn something. What I learned today is that I don't look good talking. At all. Fortunately, Greg caught me a couple of times where I was between words.



Anne Dowell is the owner of the store. Her husband, Mike, and kids Tyler and Leah, were so helpful today. That Mike and Tyler - wow - they are troopers. They were washing dishes for us nonstop. Leah was helping up front with her mom and coming back periodically to see if we needed something else. They were all wonderful.



We did a lot of prep work and had the sandwiches all ready to go before we even started. I wasn't sure we'd be able to get them all done in advance, but we did. Amy was such a big help.





We were wearing the gloves when we were working with food, but as soon as I was done mixing food during the presentation, I took them off so my hands could breathe. They were hot!



Greg joked that he never has to wait for me to gesture to take a photo, because I'm always animated.











After the presentation, where I talked about not only the specifics of these sandwiches, but also tea in general, everyone got to have some samples.



Some of the ladies suggested scones would be a good thing to demo another time. I couldn't disagree with them! That would be a good thing for my friend, Teresa, to demo. She makes delicious scones!

A big thank you to Amy and to Greg for their help. And to Anne, Mike, Leah and Tyler for their assistance today too.
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Creative Sisterhood and Cucumber Sandwiches

Tonight was Creative Sisterhood. Only four of us were here, and two had to leave before eight, but it was good to connect. Teresa and I chatted for quite some time afterwards, which was lovely.

I mixed up my often-used recipe for brownies, which I know I've posted here before so won't bother with again. But, tonight I also made a surprise - cucumber sandwiches.

I had an ulterior motive. On Saturday I will be doing a cooking demonstration of tea sandwiches at Apron Strings. Because I always just do it by taste I decided I'd best experiment and come up with a real recipe. Here it is:

Cucumber Sandwiches

1 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced dried onion
1 teaspoon dill
1/4 cup sour cream

Mix those ingredients.

Cut white bread into circles. I use a biscuit cutter. Spread with cream cheese mixture and top with slice of cucumber. As you can see I leave a little peel on the cucumber for color.

If you're going to let them sit for a long time before using, spread the bread with butter before you put the cream cheese mixture on. It has to be real butter and you have to cover the bread completely or it won't work. It's the whole oil and water don't mix theory.

Garnish with fresh herbs. I used some French Thyme. Dill is my usual. You can use whatever you wish.

If you're local, come and join me at 2:00 Saturday at Apron Strings for the demonstration. I'll be making these and also carrot chips with herbed mixture. I understand there are a few slots open, but it is almost full. So, if you want to go, call Apron Strings. However, I'm sure you could just slip in and watch even if you haven't registered.

Of course, this is just good practice for me since I'll be making them for the MHA Victorian Tea on August 9. www.mhatea.com for more info on that.

Well, in the midst of all of these cooking and planning and such I am also trying to get more written on the novel. I've been plotting in the back of my mind all day as I've been working. I think this weekend I'll be able to write another chapter at least - maybe more.
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Squash Recipe

I hadn't been out to the garden in a couple of days. Tonight I found a normal and a monster zucchini, and two squashes. I decided it was time to cook something up. I've been giving things to my neighbor because I haven't had time to cook them. But, tonight I whipped up some squash for dinner and it was mighty tasty, if I do say so myself. And, it's easy!

Squash a la Patsy

2 squash, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
garlic
salt
pepper
cheese

I put the squash and onion in an iron skillet with a little olive oil and let it cook very slowly while I was cleaning up a bit in the kitchen. I added some garlic, salt and pepper to taste. When it was soft, I dished it out and melted some cheese on top. You could mix that in, too, if you wanted.

It was very good, easy and quick. And, it's a great way to use some of the squash which will, no doubt, be plentiful all summer.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.