Stuffed tomato

This is a recipe I saw when I was watching the Create Channel, Lidia's Italy. I love her cooking show. Her dished are always so simple, easy and look delicious. Since I have tons of tomatoes from my in-laws kitchen, I decided to try this recipe. 

Baked cheesy shirmp bread 奶油焗烤麵包

We were running out of food, including baby formula. Looked like I needed to pay a visit to BJ's. My husband told me that he didn't see some of the items on the shopping list. I knew he didn't look carefully, so I have to go there myself. We asked my mother-in-law to come over and watch the twins with my husband. I was on my way to BJ's. It's nice to get out of the house and take a break from the baby-sitting. I bought almost $300 worth of groceries! Maybe I was in an excellent shopping mood. My husband said it's dangerous to let me go shopping by myself. I bought a baguette. I made some garlic bread with it, but I was thinking how to use up the rest of the baguette. If I don't use it soon, it will get as hard as stone. Carol has this really nice recipe, so enjoy it.

Bruschetta

I first learned about Bruschetta is in the movie "Julie and Julia". There was a scene of Julie making bruschetta for dinner. It was only as short as 1 second, but I was deeply attracted by the beautiful colors and the golden brown bread. I tried to make it at home and also take advantage of my in-law's beautiful tomatoes -- bright read and bright yellow!! The baguette, when grilled to golden brown, is so crunchy! This is so easy and delicious!!

Omelette 蔬菜起司煎蛋

Omelette is a common breakfast. I have to admit that I can't make a beautiful omelette. It seems like you need a lot of eggs to hold everything in place and make it pretty. It is so easy to break. If you would like to share your tips with me, please feel free to do so. Again, I used some vegetables from my in-law's garden and the mushrooms I bought from the grocery store.

Meat sauce spaghetti 義大利肉醬麵

'Tis the tomato season!! Bright red tomatoes are growing so beautifully in my in-law's garden. Not only do they look bright, they smell good and taste so delicious!! The only problem is that they produce too many of them. I have to think of many ways to consume them. We still have homemade canned tomato sauce from 2007!  :-)  Here are a few easy ways to enjoy them.

Shrimp scampi

I have become so lazy recently. I don't want to do anything, just want to take a nap. The breeze in the hot summer afternoon surely puts me right to sleep. Shrimp scampi is my favorite dish when I go to UNO. I am amazed about the consistency of the dish. No matter which UNO I go to, the taste is always the same. The smooth buttery sauce with al denta thin spaghetti, um ... um ... um ... delicious!! I tried to reproduce it at home, just for fun, and it tasted great!! The tomatoes from my in-laws' garden are just start to ripen. Nothing compares to a home-grown tomato.

Spinach lasagna 菠菜肉醬千層麵

Thank God it's Friday!! After the hot weather earlier this week, the weather has been really nice. So nice that we don't want to get up in the morning to go to work. That's why I so look forward to the weekend. We got some beautiful spinach from my in-laws, fresh from the garden, so I want to make something good with it. Making lasagna is a good idea! Again, I went to Carol's website for instructions.

Deep dish pizza 厚片比薩

We love pizza! For some reason, such simple ingredients yet taste delicious! Cheese, pepperoni and the crust please my taste buds very much! I like to make pizza at home, because I can be very generous with the toppings and not worried about extra charge. We love UNO's deep dish pizza, and we also visited the original deep dish pizza, Gino's East, when we were in Chicago two summers ago. Now I attempt to make it at home. Luckily I can follow Carol's instructions. It tastes wonderful!

Cream of asparagus and shrimp 蘆筍鮮蝦濃湯

The July 4th weekend is coming, and a lot of people are on vacation now. The morning and afternoon commute seem to be lighter than usual. The weather this week has been perfect, in the upper 70s during the day and 60s at night. We finally got to install the AC system in our house, but now it seems not necessary. Everyday when we arrive home, I can't wait to check out my daylilies. I can see the buds growing. Maybe soon we can see some beautiful daylilies blooming. Seymour is very jealous that he lost the attention to the dayliles, because I usually check him out first when I get home. After checking out the flowers, the cat and the fish, I start making dinner. After we have dinner, I usually make some bread for breakfast the next day. While waiting for the dough to rise, I watch some TV shows with my husband. This is our very simple and ordinary life. It is always good when I have my sweetheart next to me.

Spinach and mushroom risotto 義式菠菜香菇燉飯

I guess you can tell what this week's theme is, that's right, spinach! The recent weather makes the vegetables in my in-law's garden grow really well, so our dinner table is full of my in-law's labor of love. We love starchy and creamy risotto very much, and it's so easy and quick to make. Well, I know my way of cooking risotto is not authentic, so please leave some comments if you have good tips or suggestions.

Asparagus hollandaise 蘆筍荷蘭蛋黃醬

I first came to know hollandaise sauce when I was shopping in the grocery store. There was a hollandaise sauce ready-mix right next to the asparagus. I then saw it in the movie "Julie and Julia" and learned that the famous Julia Child has a classic recipe for it, which didn't look too hard to make. I also saw her making it on her cooking show on PBS.  Since then, it has been on my "to cook" list, and today I finally get to do it. It is basically to incorporate melted butter into egg yolks and produce this creamy and frothy butter sauce. The color is pretty too, like a baby duck's coat. It is a classic when served with egg benedict (a French breakfast sandwich) or asparagus.

Sha cha beef kabob 沙茶烤牛肉串

My little niece is two and half years old. In her world, everything is a game. She doesn't eat much, but if we make it into a game, she's all for it. We recorded a lot of movies of our cat, Seymour, on our cell phones. So we reward her with one clip for one bite she eats. It works amazingly well!

What a great attitude for life! I think we should all have the same attitude as my little niece. Life is a game for us to explore with curiosities. We can get a lot of fun out of it if we have the right attitude to be in it, even during challenging time.

Seafood salad subway 海鮮沙拉堡

The warm weather continues. Everyday is blue sky, making me want to fly. You can smell summer in the breeze, oh, this is so exciting. I planted more flowers yesterday. It says "easy grow, germ in 10 days" on the box, I hope it's true! I've planted many flowers and shrubs around the house this year, and I am making my rounds everyday in the morning and after work. I hope I will have a beautiful garden this year.

Asian steak salad 牛排沙拉

Today the high temperature continues. Cooking makes the kitchen and the house so hot. I felt I was going to melt. A quick salad for dinner is good. I love a colorful salad, a treat to the eyes and the stomach. Summer time is also the BBQ season. We grilled up some steak to toss in the salad. This made my husband happy, because he's not satisfied with just salad.

Guacamole cheese hamburger 酪梨沙拉起司漢堡

We love avocados very much. Avocado by itself doesn't have much flavor, but we like its creamy, smooth texture and the pretty green color. Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid, acting as a "nutrient booster" and good for the heart! I've seen some people use avocado to make ice cream or eat it with cereal. We like to use avocado to make sushi and guacamole, which is our favorite! We love guacamole in a burrito or a dip for chips. It's delicious and economic to make guacamole at home.

Danish pancakes -- ebelskiver 丹麥鬆餅

 

I first learned about the Danish pancakes at Williams-Sonoma. They look so cute like little round balls. The specially designed pan and a recipe book are also available at Williams-Sonoma. I fell in love with these little round pancakes filled with jam or cheese. They taste so light and fluffy. You can put anything you like in it and make a delicious breakfast treat.

Seafood pesto 海鮮青醬義大利麵

I bought a pot of basil from the supermarket last year. As they were growing bigger, I moved them to my garden. I moved them indoor before the winter came, and now I replanted them outside, because ... spring is here!! Basil smells so good, and the best way to appreciate it is to make Pesto sauce.

Tomato soup 羅宋湯

This soup is part of my series of "Energy Soup". I just want to show how versatile it is. It can be a warm savory soup with the same great ingredients. I know this soup is "different" from the traditional version of tomato soup.