Even though fall is my favorite season, there's a lot to love about summer! One of my favorite things is that we grill about three times a week minimum. At lunchtime, I whip up a marinade, pour it into a ziploc bag or glass dish, and let it sit in the fridge until E gets home.

While he's outside grilling, the girls play and I prepare the rest of the meal. I don't know how many of you use the Pioneer Woman's recipes, but we are fans!

I wanted to share one of new favorite summer side dishes which is just mouthwatering with grilled chicken, steak, or pork:

Katie's Roasted Corn Salad

VEGETABLES
Olive oil
8 fresh corn ears
1 red onion, quartered
2 yellow squash, halved lengthwise
1 red bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes

DRESSING
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
12 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, chopped

1. Begin by heating a grill pan (or outdoor grill). Drizzle the grill with olive oil. Place the corn on the grill and drizzle liberally with olive oil.
I love drizzling with olive oil. It's my life.

2. Grill for 5-8 minutes, until the corn is beginning to brown.

3. Drizzle the onion with olive oil and grill just until it starts to become tender. Do not allow to overcook as you'll want the onion to remain somewhat firm.

4. Repeat with halved summer squash and red bell pepper. Allow vegetables to cool slightly after grilling.

5. Roughly chop the onion, squash, and pepper. With a sharp knife, scrape the corn kernels from the cob. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the mix.

6. To make the dressing, in a separate bowl, pour the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and whisk together until combined.

7. Finally, add the basil, a dash of salt, and garlic and whisk together.

8. Serve with tortilla chips and crackers, or spoon on top of grilled chicken. Delicious!

This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook by Ree Drummond

A Little of This and a Little of That

Thanksgiving was full of lovely smells and tastes. We visited Mr. S's side of the family. Much time was spent in the kitchen talking, cooking and tasting. So enjoyable ...

tired after all the festivities

We've been "Christmasfying" our house, and having fun in the process. We got a "real" tree for the first time, which was fun for Lena. We made it a fun process, and stopped at Smokin' Lil's afterward to bring home some yummy Southern BBQ.

I wanted to let her help me trim the tree, but abandoned that idea after about ten minutes of too much fun! While she was upstairs snuggly wuggly in her chair watching Little Bear, I snuck into the girls room and put up their little tree. Ah - it does resemble Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, but it is special nonetheless. We weren't disappointed at Lena's reaction when she saw her special surprise. After kissing the tree and running around her room in delight, she pulled at Shana's sleeper, saying "Look baby Shae Shae, its for you!!"

We had a brunch at our house last weekend, and my sis-in-law gifted me with a couple of recipes from her never ending supply of cookbooks and magazines. I wanted to share this recipe with you ...

Upside-Down Banana-Walnut French Toast Recipe 1 hour 15 min prep

An ooey-gooey do-ahead (1-24 hours) egg bake that will knock your socks off.

SERVES 10

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3 medium bananas, sliced

1 loaf sliced unfrosted firm cinnamon-swirl bread

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Spray bottom and sides of a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray or grease with shortening. In a large bowl, stir together first four (4) ingredients then gently stir in the bananas. Spoon this mixture into the baking dish.

2. Reserving heels of bread for another use (feed the birds, they love cinnamon bread) arrange 2 layers of bread on banana mixture, tearing bread to fit if needed.

3. In a medium-size bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla until well mixed. Pour over bread. Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 1 hour but no longer than 24 hours.

4. Heat oven to 325°. Uncover casserole and bake 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve portions upside-down, spooning sauce from bottom of dish over each serving.

We're still spending a lot of time at home. Shana has gotten sick twice already, and she is only 8 weeks old. It has been really cold too. We are finding plenty to do at home. Lately it has been a never ending round of tea parties. Lena, basket over her arm, cooks many delicacies that Shana and I are obligated to try.

happy Shae Shae

Shana is growing quickly and I have learned to cherish these times. I don't know when Lena grew so fast. I must have blinked -- so I'm keeping my eyes open this time!


Hope your home is full of love and warmth and wonderful memories this week ...

Herman is Taking Over

How many of you have met Herman? You know, the sourdough bread starter?

Herman is currently growing and bubbling in our kitchen, and we've been enjoying some really tasty baked treats like rolls, cinnamon buns and coffee cake.
I'm enjoying Herman so much, and I hope he stays with us for a while. He has his own little apartment in the refrigerator, and he only eats every three days. What a wonderful boarder!

To start your own batch of Herman: (There are many variations on this recipe - you can do a search online to find all of them)

1 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 c. lukewarm water
2 tbsp. sugar
2 c. warm water
2 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. instant potato flakes
1 c. warm water

Cooking Directions: Mix yeast with 1/2 cup warm water. Mix sugar with 2 cups warm water and flour. Add yeast mixture. Place in glass jar covered with a clean cloth and let stand for 5 days at room temperature. It should be foamy and have a yeasty aroma.

Starter Feed: Put the initial sourdough starter in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Take out and feed with this mixture:

1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. instant potato flakes
1 c. warm water

Mix well and add to starter. Leave starter out of refrigerator all day (8 to 12 hours) or until very bubbly. Remove 1 cup to make bread and return remainder to the refrigerator. Keep in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days and feed again. If you are not making bread after feeding starter, throw away 1 cup of the mixture, but it may be fed two to three times before using for bread. This is to avoid depleting your starter.