I absolutely love coming home from church and having guests join us for dinner. We had the blessing of hosting a young man overnight who works at The Wilds. Our daughter, Alli and her family joined us, too, and it was a sweet blessing to serve them.
I want my grandsons to have special memories of eating Sunday dinner at Gigi’s house, so it is my intention to have them as often as is possible for both of our family’s schedules. Their mommy is doing a fabulous job teaching them to be gentlemen with good manners, and it’s sweet to watch them as they are learning. Oh, they’re still tough little guys, but they know to wait for the hostess before they begin eating, to put their napkin in their lap, and to wait to be excused from the table. I admire the hard work it takes to instill those kind of good habits. I know it doesn’t just “happen!”
I was so surprised that both of my eight-year old grandsons had seconds on SALAD yesterday! But then because I know how absolutely delicious this salad is, I totally understand! It has ALL the things to make you come back for more. It’s a favorite Pioneer Woman recipe I found years ago.
I often find lunch a difficult meal to make. I could probably fix a different kind of sandwich every day and be a happy camper, but I try to limit bread, so I don’t want to make us sandwiches very often. So what are we to have that will be filling, healthy and delicious?
I found this recipe for Fresh Taco Salad in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years ago and found that it was the perfect recipe for lunchtime! It has all the taco flavors we love served in the form of a healthy salad.
This comes together in minutes, making it a easy to prepare for a lunch meal!
I’ll never forget having dinner with Dale and his parents before we got married. It was a summer day in South Carolina and the fresh vegetable stands were brimming with fresh sweet corn from the fields. When we sat down to eat, there was no meat – there was a HUGE bowl of corn and another large platter of cantaloupe. Coming from a family of girls, and also parents
Happy July! That means Fourth of July picnics, picnics at the park, picnics at the lake, and also picnics in the backyard! We LOVE eating outdoors and do so at any opportunity! But with that, there’s always the need to be careful with food preservation. After having food poisoning once, I’ve been quite careful about keeping food cold!
It’s for that reason that I recently went searching for a recipe for potato salad to take to our church picnic this weekend that didn’t require any mayonnaise. The German potato salads are vinegar based, making them the perfect addition. I found a great recipe on Taste of Home’s web site. I made it a day ahead so we could have some for supper, and then also enjoy it at our church picnic.
German potato salad is typically served warm. It was delicious that way when I first made it, but it was also good cold the next day. The recipe calls for several kinds of potatoes to make it “red, white and blue.” I used what I had on hand – red and yellow potatoes. It didn’t change the taste at all. Here’s the recipe: Red, White and Blue Potato Salad
1-1/4 pounds small purple potatoes (about 11), quartered
1 pound small Yukon Gold potatoes (about 9), quartered
1 pound small red potatoes (about 9), quartered
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine or additional chicken stock
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons stone-ground mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
8 green onions, chopped
3/4 pound bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
3 tablespoons each minced fresh basil, dill and parsley
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Directions
Place all potatoes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain; transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle potatoes with stock and wine; toss gently, allowing liquids to absorb.
In a small bowl, whisk vinegars, mustards, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in oil until blended. Add vinaigrette, vegetables, bacon and herbs to potato mixture; toss to combine. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve warm.
This salad is delicious either hot or cold, and there’s no worry of it spoiling since there’s no mayo! This would be the perfect addition to your Fourth of July gathering!
Our Father’s Day was a sweet day! Even though my heart pangs at missing my precious dad, I rejoice that he’s in heaven and we’ll have eternity to be together!
Yesterday we had the blessing of being in church and worshiping, then heading home to have our daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons here for dinner.
I love a good reason to decorate the table with a theme and also create a menu for the day. I went with blue and white and folded the napkins like a man’s tie. My grandsons “wore” theirs before the meal! Too cute!
RefreshHer 