Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

I have never been particularly successful at growing zucchini. It is not for the lack of trying, believe me. I will get zucchini that will reach 4 inches long and then fall off the vine. Don’t ask me why. One time I was successful at growing a rather large zucchini unbeknownst to me. I happened to look out the kitchen window and saw the boys playing football in the backyard. I wondered how they were doing that since we didn’t own a football, so went out to investigate. Come to find out a zucchini plant had grown out of the compost pile yielding a football-sized zucchini. Just one.  They’d picked it and used it as a football. I couldn’t even make hash out of what was left of that poor, pathetic thing, but I digress. For those of you with more zucchini than you know what to do with, this recipe for zucchini casserole is tasty and toothsome.  It’s easy to assemble, and even the kids will enjoy it.

Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

 4 slices bread, cubed, lightly toasted

¼ cup melted butter

2 c. cubed Melissa’s organic zucchini (1 large)

3 scallions, chopped

½ t. seasoned salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

½ t. Melissa’s minced garlic

1 large egg, beaten

1½ c. shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8” x 8” pan lightly with PAM; set aside.

 Place bread cubes in a medium bowl and pour melted butter over the bread; toss to coat. Add the zucchini, scallions, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic, egg, and 1/2 cup of the cheese; mix well. Transfer the mixture to prepared baking dish and top with the remaining 1 cup cheese.

 Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

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Cheesy Herbed Garlic Bread

I don’t know about you, but when I have a salad as a main dish, particularly one as light as my new favorite with Mayfair salad dressing, I am going to need something on the side. I recently found a recipe for cheesy herbed garlic bread that sounded good, so I had to try it. I’m not entirely sure why the word “herbed” makes its way into the name because the only thing herb-y about it is the parsley or basil that you sprinkle on top, and that is optional. I will say that this bread is truly delicious! It is cheesy and garlicky and loaded with flavor. The recipe calls for it to be spread on a split ciabatta loaf. I bought ciabatta rolls from Aldi (they are amazingly good), and used them. This is a keeper!

Cheesy Herbed Garlic Bread

As seen on livinglou.com

 1 large ciabatta loaf

½ c. Duke's mayonnaise

¼ c. unsalted butter, softened

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 c. cheddar cheese

2 c. mozzarella cheese

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1-2 T. chopped fresh parsley or basil, optional

 Preheat oven to 350°F.

 In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise with butter, garlic, green onion, cheddar, mozzarella cheese and pepper. Slice ciabatta loaf in half lengthwise and spread cheese mixture over all.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Sprinkle with parsley or basil and serve immediately.

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Bacon Pea Salad

I love party food, and by “party food” I mean something that I wouldn’t fix on a normal day. I’m talking canapés, cheese dip, little weenies wrapped in bacon, deviled eggs, and, in this case, pea salad. There is something that just says summer about pea salad. This one is crunchy, fresh, and flavorful, and needs to be made ahead of time, something I always find to be a good thing.

Bacon Pea Salad

4 slices thick cut bacon
¾ c. Duke’s mayonnaise
1 T. real maple syrup
1 T. granulated sugar
1 T. grated onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 20-oz. pkg. frozen peas
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 ribs celery, chopped
½ c. cubed cheddar cheese, white or yellow
1/3 c. chopped red onion

Cook bacon until crispy in a medium/large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain bacon on paper towel-lined plate; chop. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon grease.

Whisk together mayonnaise, reserved bacon grease, maple syrup, sugar, grated onion, salt, and pepper, in a bowl until combined.

Stir in bacon, peas, parsley, celery, cheddar cheese, and red onion until coated. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

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Happy Birthday, Stanley!

In a post I wrote a few weeks ago, I mentioned Stanley, and Judee inquired as to who Stanley was. I introduced you to him in this post, but it’s probably time that I give you an update. Stanley is my cat, and today is his third birthday. This dog person, ignorant of all things feline, adopted a cat during the pandemic. My only experience with cats prior to this was when my son, his wife, and their two cats, moved in with me for six weeks while awaiting the completion of their new home. I fell in love with their cats, and longed to have one of my own.

My ignorance played into my hands when I adopted Stanley. Had I known his background, I probably wouldn’t have done so. I must say that when one of the women at the shelter followed me out to my car when I was taking Stanley home and said to me how much they appreciated my “taking a chance on Stanley” adding that he was the kind of cat who would be likely to spend his entire life in a shelter, I wondered what I was getting into. He had apparently been at another shelter and had completely shut down. He would interact with no one. So he moved to the shelter where I found him and still didn’t have much to do with anyone. He had come from a home where he hadn’t been treated particularly well. The home was full of big dogs and small children, and that was a combination that proved difficult for him.

 When I brought him home, I didn’t see him for a month. He hid that entire time. The only reason I knew that I even had a pet was because his food bowl would periodically empty, and the litter box would be used. I was patient. I had no idea what I was doing anyway, so I just kept doing it; I let him call the shots. When one day I saw his little face at the top of the steps leading to the lower level, I was thrilled. At that point I decided that I was going to hand feed him by playing hockey with little pieces of kibble, shooting them across the floor to him one by one, each time making the length shorter and shorter until eventually he was eating out of my hand.  He still wouldn’t let me touch him, but I loved being able to get that close.

A month to the day of my adopting him, I was stretched out on the bed watching something on TV, and he leapt on top of it and started rubbing up against me and purring.  That was a wonderful day! We have been best buddies ever since. He is a sweet and loving cat. He is, however, still skittish. If I move too quickly he will flinch. He still will not let me pick him up. I never grew up with a cat, I always had dogs, but I am so in love with my sweet boy Stanley, and he seems fairly relaxed with me.

For those of you who are cat people, I would like some tips on how to get him to use scratching posts. I have bought every kind imaginable -- upright, flat, wavy, triangular, and I can’t get him to use any of them. He does seem to like the furniture, and that’s not working for me.

Thanks for asking, Judee. I do love my boy, even when he awakens me at 5:00 AM to put food into his bowl that he then proceeds to ignore. Cats!

 Happy Birthday, Stanley!

Fruit and Spice Zucchini Bread

It’s not often that I make quick bread, but when I do, I want a loaf that is full of flavor, and lots of fruit and nuts. This one has all of those things plus the addition of a vegetable. Will your family realize it? No, they won’t. Will they love this quick bread? You bet they will! If you don’t like raisins (Why not?), then leave them out, or replace them with another dried fruit such as dried tart cherries, cranberries, or apricots. If you don’t like walnuts (Again, what is wrong with you? J), then substitute pecans. But, whatever you do, don’t tamper with the spices, because this is the perfect combination. This bread is slightly sweet, with a crunchy top and pleasantly dense interior. It is wonderful as is, with a bit of butter, or a slather of cream cheese. It is as good toasted as it is un-toasted, and will last on the counter for up to three days, if necessary.

 Fruit and Spice Zucchini Bread

 1½ c. flour 

½ t. kosher salt

½ t. baking soda

¼ t. baking powder

1 t. ground cinnamon

½ t. allspice

½ t. cloves

½ t. nutmeg

1 extra large egg

1 c. sugar

1½ t. vanilla extract

½ c. vegetable oil

1½ c. grated Melissa’s organic zucchini

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. chopped walnuts (Optional)

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9” x 5” loaf pan with PAM; set aside.

 Sift together flour, salt, soda, baking powder, and spices; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg until frothy. Add sugar, vanilla, and oil, whisking until combined. Fold in zucchini and raisins. Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour prepared pan.

 Bake for 1 hour or until loaf tests done.

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Fourth of July Picnic

I don’t know how you are planning to celebrate the Fourth of July, but because of the heat, I will be celebrating indoors. Whether indoors or out, a picnic is always a fun answer. There is nothing like relaxing on a blanket surrounded by colorful dishes, fragrant flowers, a glass of bubbly, and a wonderful meal topped off with a festive dessert that says party!

This red, white, and blue picnic display is in honor of the birth of our nation. It’s quite serendipitous how all of this came about. I was rummaging around in the belly of the beast (as I often do), and came upon this picnic basket that had been given to Mr. O-P and I as a wedding present back in 1995. I brought it upstairs, opened it up, and found it full of picnic items, most of which were more utilitarian than I generally opt for. When you consider every day a celebration, you generally don’t want to waste time on utilitarian.

I mentioned my find to friend and fellow blogger Alycia of Tablescapes at Table Twenty One, wherein she was reminded of a picnic basket of her own. As a consequence, I threw down the gauntlet and challenged her to create four different picnic displays between now and the same time next year, and I’ll do the same. Be sure to check her blog for her beautiful Fourth of July "yardscape," and to see what other magic she comes up with for her picnics. If you would like to play along, Amazon has quite an assortment of them; I am currently lusting after this one.

I took everything out of the basket, saved a few pieces, and donated the rest. Then I set to work turning what would probably have been an adequate picnic into a fun, rather romantic, and colorful one.

The fabric in this picture belonged to my mother. Patriotic yardage used as a backdrop she used to use as a table covering. The tablecloth beneath the basket is one that we used when I was a little girl to top picnic tables at the local park when we would have a picnic after swimming lessons. You can find something similar here.

I made a stack of red, white, and blue plates; the blue ones I found in an antique shop, and are actually a part of a children’s tea set, all in cobalt.

As luck would have it, my daughter-in-law is celebrating her birthday on the first of this month, so I had wrapped birthday gifts at the ready, conveniently in colors of our nation’s flag.

The flatware is from Target. The candlesticks are antique and to be used during those romantic nighttime picnics when sparks fly; the glassware Mikasa Park Lane.

 

Whatever you do to celebrate the Fourth make it colorful and spectacular!

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This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

 

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

I love sloppy joes, but I don’t love standing at the stove browning ground beef, sweating onions and celery, or stirring occasionally as it simmers. The best way, in my opinion, to make sloppy joes is in the slow cooker. No standing at the stove, no browning ground beef, no sweating onions or anything else. Just crumble the meat into the crockpot, add all of the other ingredients, give it a mighty stir, and kick back and do whatever you’d like for the next six hours. When the filling is ready, drain well, pile it high on toasted buns, and wait for the accolades.

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

Adapted from afarmgirlsdabbles.com



3 lbs. ground chuck

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

1 c. finely chopped celery

6 large cloves garlic, minced

1 14.5-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 c. chili sauce

½ c. ketchup

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

2 T. prepared mustard

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

½ T. dry mustard

1 T. chili powder

1 T. cumin

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. espresso powder

½ t. paprika

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste

Play all ingredients into a 7-8 quart slow cooker, being sure to break up the ground chuck as you do so. Stir everything together until the beef is well coated in all of those wonderful spices. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Drain before using; freezes beautifully.

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