I bought a delicious Crenshaw melon at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and after eating a few slices for breakfast yesterday morning, decided to turn the rest of it into melon balls.  I had no particular reason for wanting to do this, it just seemed like a fun thing to do.  And we all know that food tastes better when it’s cut into fun shapes, right?

As I was scooping out the flesh with the antique melon baller that has been in my family for as long as I can remember, I thought about the half-empty container of fresh mini mozzarella balls in the refrigerator.  I had never combined melon with mozzarella before, but the melon balls and mozzarella balls were the same size and shape and the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like they were destined to end up in the same bowl. Continue reading →

It’s Food Blog Friday and here I am writing about yet another lemon-infused recipe.  I can’t help it.  I love lemon.  I love this Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake.  And I love Baking Bites, today’s featured food blog.

Nicole Weston has been writing Baking Bites since 2004 – way before I knew anything about food or baking blogs.  She updates the blog almost daily with recipes, baking tips, product reviews, recommendations, and what she calls “bites from other blogs” – links to interesting recipes and ideas from other blogs.  I just ordered a new ice cream scoop based on Nicole’s recent review of her Zyliss scoop. I love learning about great products from other bloggers!

I’ve been reading Baking Bites since I first discovered food blogs and I’ve tried several recipes over the years.  They’ve all been great!  When I was craving lemon cake this week, I knew I could trust Nicole’s Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake even though I had never made it before.  I was right to trust the recipe.  This cake was perfect. Continue reading →

The Summer Fest theme this week is tomatoes and I can’t think of a better thing to talk about than slow-roasted tomatoes.  I made these for the first time last September and they were absolutely amazing.  Although I made them a few more times throughout the year with grocery store cherry tomatoes, I’ve been waiting for some good summer tomatoes to roast. Continue reading →

After being down with the flu all week, a trip to the Farmer’s Market this morning was just what I needed.  Back to the kitchen I go!

I’m thrilled to return to Food Blog Friday this week with these amazing Coconut Cupcakes from Simply Recipes. When I needed to make coconut cupcakes for a friend’s bridal shower, I knew exactly which recipe to use.  I’ve made these a few times before, and they’ve always turned out perfect – this time was no exception. Continue reading →

It’s Summer Fest time and this week we’re celebrating herbs, greens, and beans.  My contribution to the party is a simple side dish of green beans dressed in a rich balsamic browned butter sauce.  It can be thrown together in minutes and has an extremely short ingredient list, but don’t let that fool you.  The flavor of these green beans will blow you away! Continue reading →