Do Ahead Italian-Themed Entertaining Menu

August 26, 2019August 25, 2019 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Crispy, char-grilled pizza crust, savory sauce, melted cheese and toppings of choice were part of our menu for Apples of Gold this week! We added an Olive Garden Salad, and we finished with Brown Sugar Glazed Pineapple slices topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. I love this menu because most of it can be done ahead of time, so that dinner can be ready in minutes!!

If you’re saying, “Grilled Pizza?” you’ve missed my former posts about this grilled delight! It sounds intimidating to grill a pizza, but it’s SO simple!! As I told the ladies at our Apples of Gold meeting, you can have this finished before Pizza Hut could deliver to your door! This recipe makes 8 individual pizzas that are hearty in size!

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picnic food · salad · summertime

Picnic Salad

May 20, 2019May 19, 2019 RefreshHerLeave a comment

With Memorial Day coming, picnic season is in full swing! I love a refreshing salad that removes the fear of food poison! A salad dressed with a vinaigrette is the perfect recipe!

I’ve been making a fruited green salad for several years from Cooking Light, but in my Taste of Home magazine, I found basically the same recipe, only substituting the blueberries or pears with Watermelon! I was excited to try this. I love the presentation; it’s served on a wedge of watermelon.

Refreshing Watermelon Salad

4 cups cubed watermelon
2 Cups spinach
1/2 Cup red onion, sliced
1/3 Cup Blue cheese
Almonds or cashews

To make the salad, cube up watermelon and add slices of red onion and refrigerate for 30 minutes. At serving time, add chopped greens (I used leaf lettuce). Place the mixture on a wedge of watermelon and top with blue cheese and almonds or cashews.

For the dressing, I used my recipe for another salad I make:

Dressing:

1/2 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce

3/4 cup orange juice (about one orange)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I didn’t have this and it was still good)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a small jar. Pour over salad just before serving.

This will be a popular salad at your house this summer while watermelon is in season. We LOVE it!

What is your favorite summer salad recipe?

denise a

dessert · Main dish. · salad · Strawberries

Time for Strawberries!

May 13, 2019May 11, 2019 RefreshHer5 Comments

strawberries

This is a favorite season of mine – Strawberry Season! I love Strawberries so much and I love to eat them plain, but I also love adding them to savory dishes as well as baked goods. I thought I’d do a round-up of some of my favorite strawberry recipes to give you some ideas as to how to use your freshly picked berries!

Strawberries IN foods… Continue reading “Time for Strawberries!” →

baking · dessert · Main dish. · Pasta · salad · Uncategorized

A Few Ina Garten Favorite Recipes

May 6, 2019May 5, 2019 RefreshHer9 Comments

I love the blessing of cooking food for other people. When I recently made a meal for a family whom we love, I knew that they were fans (especially one of their daughters) of Ina Garten’s recipes. So I made up a menu of mostly all her recipes and set to work. I made one BIG blunder..,read on to see what I did!

Here’s what I made:

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Main entree · salad · Side dish

Refreshing the Tossed Salad

January 7, 2019January 5, 2019 RefreshHer12 Comments

Tossed salads are good on occasion, but I love a salad that’s full of good things – not just greens, but fruit, nuts, cheeses, and maybe some protein!

At Christmas I made up a salad for a side dish to go with our Christmas dinner. I wanted a green salad with great flavor and some Christmas color. I served the salad before the rest of the meal was set out. My family raved about it. They also said it would make a great entree’. So, last week I decided to repeat that salad and add some roasted chicken to make it a meal. Wow. It was so good!

Here’s how I made it:

Christmas Salad

Spring mix
Pomegranate seeds (Here’s how to seed a pomegranate)
Gala Apples – diced
Sugared Walnuts
Honey Goat Cheese
Diced roasted chicken

Place ingredients in large bowl. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Maple Dijon Dressing

1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup (more To Taste)
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar (more To Taste)
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt And Pepper, to taste

In a small jar, mix Dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Put the lid on the jar and shake well to mix.

If you want to make this as a side salad, simply omit the chicken. I found the Honey Goat Cheese at Aldi. If you can’t find it, you could use regular goat cheese or Feta.

I whipped up a batch of Pumpkin Muffins to go with this supper and it made a great winter dinner!

Whether you make it as a side or an entree’, I’ll bet you’ll be like me and will fix it for more than just Christmas!

Refresh the tossed salad!

denise a