D is for Dates

This savory dish has a touch of sweetness from the dates tamed down by the tartness of vinegar.  It is not a beautiful dish but it is an amazingly delicious dish that is ready in less than an hour.

It's time for the letter "D" in the 2025 Alphabet Challenge......

Apple and Calvados Cake from Normandy #CakeSliceBakers

This delicious cake is more of a coffee cake with chunks of apples in a tender crumb flavored with Calvados covered with a crisp outer layer.

It's time for the first Cake Slice Bakers of 2023.......

Lemon Cream Pie #ImprovCookingChallenge

Bright, Fluffy and Delicious this Lemon Cream Pie just screams SPRING and you only need 5 ingredients and 15 minutes to have this ready and waiting in your refrigerator to enjoy after dinner.

It's time for the Improv Cooking Challenge......

South Australian Chardonnay with Pesto Bruschetta Chicken #WorldWineTravel

This dish reminds me of Spring for some reason.  It is a scrumptious dinner that combines all the flavors of Bruschetta and Pesto without the carbs from the baguette.  Of course, I paired mine with pasta but if you are watching your carbs it would be perfect with just a side salad and a glass of this crisp, amazing Punt Road Chard from South Australia.

The World Wine Travel group are sipping the White Wines of South Australia this month.......

Mushroom Lo Mein #PotluckParty

This vegetarian lo mein gets it's meaty satisfaction from the plethora of mushrooms.  It is a wonderful fusion of Asian meets Italian and a perfect Meatless Monday dish.  I served it up as one of my vegetarian offerings when we celebrated earlier this month.

It's time for a Potluck Party........

Roasted Chilean Sea Bass One Skillet Dinner #FishFridayFoodies

This easy and delicious one skillet dinner is started on the stove and then finished in a hot oven.  This meals tastes indulgent and fancy but in reality is ready and on the table in less than half an hour.

The Fish Friday Foodies are roasting their fish/seafood today........

Pierogi Shepherd's Pie #BakingBloggers

This delicious one skillet dinner starts with ground beef  sauteed with onion and garlic, drenched in gravy with vegetables and topped with potato cheese pierogi before being finished off in the oven.  Delicious, easy, quick and convenient.  A perfect weeknight meal.

The Baking Bloggers are making dishes with ground and/or minced meats today.......

Sesame Ginger Noodles #FoodieExtravaganza

This amazingly easy and tasty dinner is perfect for those nights when you come home starving and have no idea what you are going to make.  You can use any vegetables that are available in your refrigerator and dinner is ready in less than half an hour.

The Festive Foodies are celebrating National Noodle Month........

Easy Chicken Egg Rolls #SundayFunday

These egg rolls using leftover chicken and packaged cole slaw mix couldn't be easier or faster.  They are the perfect start to your Chinese New Year Celebration.

Join the Sunday Funday Bloggers as we share some of our favorite Chinese recipes.......

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Paprika Oil #ImprovCookingChallenge

 This delicious and easy soup is a wonderful first course for your Holiday dinners.  The combination of cauliflower and pear is seasonal and delicious.  The paprika oil drizzle adds a splash of color and flavor.

We are making recipes with Cauliflower and Paprika for this month's Improv Cooking Challenge.....

Chicken in Lemon Cream #OurFamilyTable

Tender white meat chicken cutlets, dredged in seasoned flour, browned in butter and finished with a lemon cream sauce.

We are having Dairy for Dinner with our From the Dinner Table Group.......

Hawaiian Chicken in Foil #OurFamilyTable

Dinner doesn't get much easier than chicken breast slathered with Hawaiian flavors and grilled up in a packet with pineapple and red peppers.

The From Our Dinner Table group is sharing BBQ Foods today.  Come on in!!

Cinnamon Toast Muffins #MuffinMonday

Tender light muffins made with crunchy cinnamon cereal.  Warm from the oven and ready for breakfast in a little over half an hour.

It is Muffin Monday..........

Margherita Pizza in honor of Eleanor Oliphant

Simple but flavorful, this pizza is sure to be a hit with your family and friends.

I was inspired to make this pizza after reading Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine........

Grilled Scallops with Lemon and Basil #KitchenMatrixCookingProject

Tender Sea Scallops grilled to perfection, sprinkled with lemon juice and basil, makes a perfect first course for this Holiday season.

I'm late to the party but I hope you'll join me and the others as we share scallop recipes today.

Chocolate Mug Cake #ChocolateCakeDay

Did you know that there is a day set aside to celebrate Chocolate Cake?  My friend, Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla did and invited us all to bring a chocolate cake to this virtual party.

Now, I'm still detoxing from all the junk food I ate starting at Halloween and going right through the 12 days of Christmas.  I hate missing a party though so I found a great solution.  An individual little cake mixed and baked right in a mug.

This easy peasy recipe comes from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  It gets mixed up and cooked up in the microwave in the same mug.  The entire process from start to finish takes about 15 minutes.

It's so easy that a toddler can pretty much do it themselves. They may need some help with the microwave though.  I love that my toddler can now identify my utensils by size.  I can ask for a Tablespoon and she knows exactly which to grab.

But the toddlers favorite part of the job was scooping some out and holding it so Grammy could take a photo.

Well, not really, her very favorite part was tasting the cake.  She pronounced it "very delicious" and offered me a bite.  I declared it very delicious as well.  I was kind of surprised.  I have never made a cake in the microwave before and wasn't sure it would turn out as wonderfully moist and tasty as it did.

One more bite and then she took the mug, asked for help off the counter and went to find Grampy so he could taste it.  The next time I saw the mug was when it was ready to be washed....such is the life of a Grammy.

Chocolate Mug Cake

slightly adapted from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

3 T. flour

3 T. sugar

2 T. cocoa powder

1/4 t. baking powder

pinch of salt

3 T. milk

3 T. olive oil

1/4 t. vanilla

3 T. mini chocolate chips

Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a 12 oz. mug.  Stir with a fork to blend.  Add the milk, oil and vanilla.  Stir until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Microwave on high for 90 seconds.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before eating.  Print Recipe

More Chocolate Cakes

• Jolene's Recipe Journal: Best Chocolate Cake Ever!
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Chocolate Mug Cake
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes
• The Redhead Baker: Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Cindy's Recipes and Writings: Chocolate Mocha Cream Cake
• Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks: Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Double Chocolate Cake with Whiskey Ganache
• Palatable Pastime: Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Cooking With Carlee: Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
• Soulfully Made: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Oreo Icing

Mom's Old Fashioned Split Pea Soup made in an Instant Pot #SoupSaturdaySwappers

I'm hosting our Soup Swappers group this month. As we approach the end of this first year of sharing soup and stew recipes, I have asked my friends to share a soup that holds special memories for them.

I thought it would be a good ending for this year as we get ready to start a New Year and the second year of this group.

The holidays are often bittersweet for many of us.  We are inundated with memories, both good and bad, happy and sad.  We reflect on all of our blessings and we renew our resolutions to change the things that bring us down and interfere with our living our lives to the fullest.

As I count my blessings, I am always sure to include the friends I have made in the blogging community and especially those who have supported me in this endeavor and in my Fish Friday Foodies blogging group.

Creating and administering a group such as these can be difficult and intimidating.  You never know if you will attract bloggers and readers with the topics you have chosen.  When I announced that I wanted to start this Soup Swapper community the response was immediate and overwhelming.  I just want my friends who helped me to make this successful to know how much I appreciate them.

Food is chock full of memories for most of us.  The smell or sight of a certain dish can create joy or sadness.  It can make our tummies rumble with anticipation or dread.  It is the first need that we recognize as infants and it creates an unbreakable bond with the person (normally Mom) who meets that need.

My Mom had 6 children and a husband that came home each evening requiring that their need to eat be met.  My parents were not poor nor were they rich.  My Mom learned to feed a large number of people with minimal expense.  This meant that we ate a lot of Soup and Stews.  I think this is why I love these dishes so much and why I decided to start this group.

My favorite soup that my Mom made was Split Pea with Ham.  Mom could feed us all for several nights with one ham.  We would have Roasted Ham with Sweet Potatoes and Baked Beans for dinner the first night.  Then we would have Scalloped Potatoes with Ham on the following night.  Then the ham bone would go into a pot in the morning and when we walked into the house after dinner the aroma of Split Pea or Bean Soup would have us drooling.

Now, I love bean soup too, but split pea was my very favorite. My Mom made her pea soup on the stove top.  I have always made mine in the slow cooker but I recently got an Instant Pot and have been having a blast with it.

When I chose this topic, I went into the freezer and pulled out a ham bone that I had been saving for soup.  It went into the Instant Pot along with the dried peas and the rest of the ingredients that I always use in my soup.  In less than 1 hour we were eating dinner.  Less than one hour folks....and it was homemade....not a can was opened!

Split Pea Soup in an Instant Pot

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, scraped and chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T. olive oil

1 lb. pkg split peas

1 meaty hambone

1 qt. chicken stock

2 c. water

pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Set the Instant Pot to saute and pour in the olive oil.  When heated, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pot.  Cook and stir until onion is translucent. Press the cancel button and add the peas and ham bone.  Pour in the chicken stock and water.  Season with cracked pepper and add the bay leaf.  

Place the lid onto the Instant Pot making sure the vent is closed.  Manually set to pressure and cook for 15 minutes.  Allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes.  Then use quick release of steam and when pressure valve is seated, carefully remove the lid.  

Remove the ham bone, cut off any meat still clinging to the bone and return to the pot.  Stir, add more chicken stock or water, if desired, to thin the soup if too thick. Print Recipe

More Memorable Soups

An InLinkz Link-up

Grilled Corn Salad with Tomato and Avocado #CookoutWeek

So, here we are at Day 4 of Cookout Week. We are sharing our favorite picnic, potluck, cookout and bbq recipes all week long.  The ladies of The PinterTest Kitchen  invited over 40 bloggers to participate in this great event. Not only are there great recipes, Holiday DIY projects and decorating ideas, there is also a fantastic giveaway for our readers valued at over $400.  You can learn all about the great prizes and enter to win by going to my Welcome Post.

I have been sharing a different recipe with you each day that are perfect by themselves but when all put together will make a complete dinner.  Just in time for the weekend.

Today we are grilling up some ears of sweet corn.  Who can resist corn on the cob with a slight char? I know that I can't.  It is one of our favorite summertime treats and this recipe reminds you how versatile corn on the cob can be....if you can manage to stop your family from grabbing it off the grill and mawing down before you can use it for another dish.

Once the corn is cooked through with some golden brown spots on it, you remove it from the cob. Toss it with some fresh grape tomatoes and avocado chunks then dress it in a honey/lime vinaigrette. Soooooo good.........

You could serve it as a side for many dishes but it was exceptionally good with the Chicken Fajitas I shared with you on Tuesday.  

Whether you serve it on the side or decide to pile it right on the Fajitas, along with the Grilled Salsa Verde, you are going to love this delicious summer salad.

Make sure you take a look at all the other Cookout Week posts being shared today.  You will find them following my recipe.  Did you remember to enter the raffle??  Don't miss out on that great opportunity!

Grilled Corn Salad with Tomato and Avocado

adapted from Epicurious

4 ears fresh sweet corn, husked

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, peeled, pit removed and diced

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. honey

salt and pepper to taste

Place corn onto grate of gas grill over med high heat and cook for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through with some brown spots.  Cut the corn from the cob and set aside to cool.

Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.  Add the avocado and toss to coat. Add the tomatoes and corn and toss gently until coated. Print Recipe

More Cookout Recipes and Ideas

An InLinkz Link-up

Slow Cooker 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken #4theLoveofGarlic

Tomorrow is National Garlic Day.  We have been celebrating for the past 6 days with Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  She invited 6 of us to try out the Garject garlic press from Dreamfarm and had Melissa's Produce provide us with a slew of garlic.  We received regular garlic, minced garlic, black garlic and elephant ear garlic.  We got TONS of garlic!!

Dreamfarm is also allowing us to raffle off 6 of their amazing garlic presses.  The Garject is not your ordinary garlic press.  It is heavy duty and equipped with an ejection handle so that you need not worry about peeling the garlic before mincing.  I can't tell you how much I love mine!

I have been going Garlic Crazy around here.  I have made Quick and Easy Garlic Knots and this yummy Garlic Soup with Noodles and Peas.

You can learn more about this celebration and enter to win your very own Garject by going to my Intro post.  Hurry, the raffle ends tomorrow.

The first thing I thought of when I received all this garlic was 40 Clove Chicken.  I had made 40 Clove chicken once, before I started blogging.  I braised it in the oven and it was decadent and delicious.  The day that I was making this was an errand day and I had planned to do a Whole Chicken in the Crockpot.  I decided to make my 40 Clove Chicken in the Slow Cooker to enjoy this wonderful gift I had gotten.

The Garject, as wonderful as it is, did not help me at all with this recipe.  All 40 cloves had to be peeled.  The best way to do this is to give each one a sharp whack with the side of a butcher knife. The skin will split and then easily peels off.  I had gotten a garlic stone as a sponsor gift for an event last year, but haven't been able to locate it since our move.  That doesn't mean that I had to run my errands with my hands reeking of garlic.  Wash your hands, rinse, rub them on your stainless steel sink, wash again, rinse and all that garlic odor will be gone.

I placed the chicken, breast down into the slow cooker, surrounded it with sweet potatoes and garlic and left to take care of all my running around.

When we got home the house smelled absolutely amazing.  I guess a vampire may not have thought it smelled wonderful but I, a self professed garliholic, swooned when I walked in the door.  Within moments I had the chicken carved and the dinner was served.  We had plenty of chicken for dinner that night using the breast meat and enjoyed pot pie using the dark meat and leftover gravy later in the week.

Slow Cooker 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken

adapted from Cooking Light

1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs)

1 c. chicken stock

1/4 c. dry white wine

3 T. flour

2 T. butter, melted

2 T. lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

2 t. Italian Herbs

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

40 cloves of garlic, peeled

Treat crock of slow cooker with cooking spray.  Wash the chicken with cold water, season inside and out with salt and pepper and place breast down into the crock. Scatter the sweet potatoes and garlic around the chicken.  Whisk together the chicken stock, wine, flour, butter and lemon juice.  Pour over the chicken, potatoes and garlic.  Sprinkle with the Italian herbs.  Cover and cook on high heat for 6-8 hours.

Remove the chicken to a cutting board.  Remove the skin and wings, discard.  Cut off the drumsticks and thighs, place onto a platter.  Remove the breast meat from the carcass and remove any bones, slice and place onto the platter.  Surround with potatoes and garlic.  Strain any fat from the gravy. Ladle gravy over chicken and serve.  Print Recipe