I saw a recipe for a Zucchini Pie that sounded good as a side dish, but I didn’t have any zucchini squash - I had just bought some fresh yellow squash. So why not? I made a Yellow Squash and Tomato Pie that turned out delicious. Here’s how I went about it Chop up a cup and a half of yellow squash into half-inch cubes. Chop up two medium Roma tomatoes and ½ C sweet onion. Spread the ingredients … [Read more...]

So, we’ve got our green veggie for dinner – broccoli, green beans, maybe asparagus – and we need a starch or extra vegetable, maybe something with a little color. How about a Tomato Pie – tasty, healthy, easy to make and attractive? I made one last week and it was very good in spite of the fact that vine-ripe, fresh tomatoes aren’t yet available. For this recipe you want fresh tomatoes, not … [Read more...]

You eat well throughout the week, counting calories, nibbling on celery sticks and helpings of kale, and then you say, “To hell with this, I want real food.” That’s when Nancy and I get in the car and head for Riverside North. We order greasy cheeseburgers, onions rings and a basket full of French Fries. Next week, we’ll diet, but for now, we’re eating food as God intended. Riverside simply has … [Read more...]

  I don’t know why I bought a turkey tenderloin. I had no earthly idea how I would fix it, but it looked good. I knew it was healthy and it was under ten bucks, so I bought it. Maybe I should say “them” because there are always two turkey loins to a pack. You don’t often see turkey tenderloins in the grocery stores. They are the loin cuts from the bottom of a turkey breast – the tender … [Read more...]

We were having a tossed salad to go with Grilled Shrimp “On the Barbie” as Outback would say. I originally was going to put the shrimp on the salad, but changed my mind. And instead of making a big bowl of salad, I decided to make individual bowls – one for me (a Papa Bear-sized salad) and one for Nancy (a Mama Bear portion). So, I made an ordinary salad except I used Little Gem Mini-Romaine … [Read more...]

If it ain’t easy, don’t cook it. Life is too short and there are too many easy recipes that result in great food to worry over a complicated recipe. Breakfast muffins, for example. Breakfast muffins are simply ideal. They are easy to make, and the next morning you pop one in the microwave and in minutes you’re eating a total breakfast with one muffin. Last week, I made a few Sausage … [Read more...]

Liver and Onions? I expect half my readers are now saying, “Gag me with a spoon” while the other half says, “I want some.” Liver is one of those love/hate dishes, and for many, it takes an acquired taste. When I was young, I would hide in the closet if I saw Liver and Onions on the stove. That’s because Daddy made me try some. Eventually, I not only learned to eat it, but like it. My wife, … [Read more...]

There are probably as many ways to fry chicken as there are cooks. Most methods were passed from generation to generation from traditional family recipes and instructions. It’s pretty hard to mess up skillet fried chicken unless you serve it medium rare or burned, but here are a few tips to assure perfectly fried chicken.   Tip 1. Cook chicken until the juices run clear when you pierce … [Read more...]

It just so happened that on the same day I bought a package of cubed steaks, I saw a recipe for Sour Cream Cubed Steaks. I gave it a bit of a whirl even though I came up with my own version. But the Sour Cream Gravy is what caught my eye. Cubed steaks are always asty. How can they miss being round steak pounded into oblivion and round steaks are always flavorful? But they can get dry and tough. … [Read more...]

I made some Blue Cheese Dressing last week and it was so good, I decided to try my hand at another family favorite – Thousand Island Dressing. It turned out infinitely better than the standard Kraft-type dressing. The origin of Thousand Island Dressing remains a matter of dispute to this day. One theory is that the name came from the Thousand Islands region along the St. Lawrence River. A … [Read more...]