Easy Cheesy Mac

Isn’t macaroni and cheese just one of the all-time ultimate comfort foods? I know it is for me. All that cheesy, creamy goodness wrapped around soft pasta. What more could you want? Of course, there are a multitude of recipes for mac and cheese. Everything from the ordinary to the sublime. But this is one for days when you’re in a hurry to get dinner on the table. It’s really quick. It can be ready in little more than the time it takes to boil the macaroni and it’s very satisfying.

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Turkey Burgers

What’s better in the summer (or any time for that matter) than a good old hamburger? When cooked to perfection, a burger is one of life’s great All-American pleasures. And as much as I love (and I mean really, really love) beef, I know that it’s not the healthiest thing for me.  So every once in a while we have a turkey burger instead of that good old beef burger. And they’ve been pretty good. Usually somewhat dry, but I just wrote that off to it being turkey with little to no fat. That is until I found this recipe! This has to be the ultimate turkey burger. It’s flavorful and moist. It holds its shape well and is just excellent.

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Potato Salad

I wonder how many recipes there are for potato salad. Hundreds? Maybe thousands? At least. It seems that every culture, every country, every cuisine has some sort of salad, hot or cold, based on potatoes. And, of course, every cook puts his or her special touch on the recipe.

That’s what I’ve done with this recipe. I’ve tweaked it and tweaked it until it perfectly suits our tastes. Try it and maybe it’ll suit yours as well.

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Chicken Kay

The inspiration for this recipe came from two sources. The first is one of mine and BeeBop’s favorite restaurants for a quick, casual dinner – Carrabba’s Italian Grill. It’s not 5-star dining by any means, but I actually think it’s pretty darned good. I usually have the Spiedino di Mare, shrimp and scallops grilled with a lemon butter sauce. It’s a real favorite of mine. However, the last time we went we both were in the mood to try something new and ordered the Chicken Bryan. It’s a grilled chicken breast topped with goat cheese and a sauce of basil, dried tomato, lemon and butter. We both like it very much, but I knew of something that could take that dish from really good to spectacular. That little something was Kay’s Pesto Rosso. The combination of the idea of Chicken Bryan with Kay’s Pesto Rosso and Chicken Kay was born!

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Okra and Tomatoes

Okra! It’s one of those vegetables where you find very little middle ground. It seems that people either love it or they hate it. I, of course, fall into the “love it” category. I like it every single way I’ve ever had it. Fried, boiled, in gumbo, in soup, and of course the classic dish of okra and tomatoes.

BeeBop on the other hand, falls into the “hate it” category. Just not his thing. That’s okay. We don’t judge. I try to tell him what he’s missing, but that just falls on deaf ears.

Okra and tomatoes is a quick side dish that goes with so many entrees.  And the frozen okra is always just as good as fresh. Cooking okra with something slightly acidic like tomatoes, cuts out nearly all of the slime factor, too.

So, next time you’re at the grocery store, grab a bag of frozen okra and give this a try.

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No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

A couple of days before Father’s Day I handed BeeBop my copy of Hershey’s Classic Recipes and told him to pick out anything in it that he’d like for his special Father’s Day treat. What he chose was this classic no-bake cheesecake. And, although the title says it’s no-bake, you do actually bake the crust but not the filling. But don’t let that keep you from trying this one. The short baking time for the crust doesn’t heat up the kitchen too badly on these hot, hot summer days.

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Mini Caprese Appetizers

All the elements of a classic caprese salad in an appetizer!  I actually wanted to call this “Caprese on a Stick” but thought that really wasn’t quite nice enough for this little appetizer. Make these in advance if you like, but be sure to let them come to room temperature before serving. Much more flavorful that way.

For 20 appetizers, you will need:

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