Friday Food Fun - Week 6 - Appetizers

Spinach-stuffed Mushrooms

½ pound small button mushrooms
kosher salt
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped fine
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ pound fresh spinach leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon parmesan, fresh grated
3 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss cheese
**Could use 1½ ounces of cream cheese

Preheat broiler. Remove stems from mushrooms and scoop out gills, if preferred. Sprinkle mushroom caps generously with kosher salt and set aside. Heat oil in pan and add garlic. Once garlic is aromatic, add spinach and salt to taste and sauté until wilted. Remove spinach from heat. Chop spinach mixture with Laughing cow or cream cheese and distribute between mushroom caps. Sprinkle with a bit of both cheeses and place under the broiler until the cheese starts to brown and bubble.

Tastes: Friday Food Fun - Week 5 - Beach Food - Seafood

1. What is your favorite seafood? Probably scallops, but I also love shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters, clams, and I like fish but not as much as the rest of these.
2. Are there certain seafoods you won't eat? No, but there are some that I've never had the chance to try. I will say, because of the way that most of it is prepared, I'm not crazy about deviled crab. I do eat it, but most of the times, I can't taste the crab...all I taste is the spices and so it's not seafood-y to me. Plus, they usually use a lot of onion and that overpowers everything else, so it's not one of my favorites.

3. Are you allergic to any seafood? Not that I'm aware of. I do, however, have a cousin who is highly allergic to seafood, among other things, and he can't even have his food prepared on the same surface or with the same utensils.
4. Do you prefer fried or broiled seafood? Broiled.
5. Do you like sushi (cooked or uncooked)? Yes!

6. What is your favorite seafood item? Well, I'm a sucker for a good bowl of clam chowder or oyster stew, some fried clam strips, or some boiled shrimp dipped in melted margarine, but really any combination of broiled seafood is bound to make me happy. I did find a really good seafood soup at a local sushi restaurant that has lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, and fish cake in it and it has what tastes like a steakhouse seasoning flavor to it. Very good soup.

7. Do you have a good seafood recipe? Well, when I fix fish at home, I usually simply spray some butter on it and sprinkle it with parsley flakes and then pop it in the oven.

8. When you eat at the beach, do you go out to eat for your seafood, or do you fix it yourself? We usually do at least one shrimp boil (with corn on the cob, sausage and spice bag), but we always go out at least one or two times for a good seafood meal.
9. Is there something other than seafood that you consider to be "beach food" that you always have at the beach? We usually buy sandwich fixings for lunch. I usually like to have a bag of pistachios at the beach. I eat them other times of the year too, but there is just something about a vacation that says enjoy what you eat and what you do, and I love pistachio nuts, so that is one of my treats.

Quote

I heard a really cool quote from my preacher the other day and I wanted to share it. I don't know who said it but here is the quote,

"TIME is the BALLOT that records your VOTE on what matters MOST in LIFE."

Let it sink in. Great quote!

Tastes: Friday Food Fun - Week 4 - Fruits

1. What is your favorite fruit? Cherries is my #1 favorite. I also like pineapple, muscadines, red grapes, peaches, watermelon, honeydew melon, figs, and kiwi.
2. If you like fruit salad, what is your favorite combination of fruits to use. I don't care much for fruit salad. But, any combination of my favorites would be fine. You could also add red apples, strawberries, oranges, bananas, cantaloupe and white grapes.
3. Do you have a fruit theme in any of your non-edible items (like clothing, jewelry, handbags, towels, wallpaper, etc.) I have cherry towels and washcloths, 3 cherry purses, a cherry billfold, cherry earrings, a cherry slide, pineapple slide, watermelon slide, and apple slide for my silver chain necklace, a cherry duffle bag and tote bag and several cherry shirts.
4. What is your favorite fruit juice? I like red grape juice, apple juice, and fruit punch made from cherries, apples, grapes and oranges.
5. What is your favorite fruit-flavored ice cream? I love homemade cherry, peach or strawberry ice cream. I like storebought cherry vanilla and black cherry ice cream and lime and orange sherbet.
6. What is your favorite fruit recipe?
There is a delicious fruit pizza recipe that is very good. You make a sugar cookie crust. The sauce is cream cheese. You could probably blend in a little powdered sugar to give it a different thickness. Then you layer slices of the fruit for the toppings. It's very good. You can choose which fruits you want to use. I also like to dip red apple slices in caramel dip and that is much easier than making a fruit pizza.
7. Are there any fruits you don't like? I do not like lemon, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, mango or papaya. There may be others that I haven't tried.

Tastes: Friday Food Fun - Week 3 - Salads

I love a good salad. At home, we use a salad mix (preferably with radishes, carrots, snow peas and a mix of lettuces). We add celery, hard-boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, black olives and/or green olives, and pickles. I use a Balsamic Vinegarette. This makes a very good salad. Sometimes, we'll add a little ham, turkey and swiss cheese to make it a chef salad. But, my ideal salad is a little different. First of all, I don't use a lettuce base. I put mushrooms, uncooked green peas, soybeans, chickpeas, fresh crumbled bacon, pepperonis, fresh Parmesan cheese, diced tomatoes, sunflower seeds, black olives, green olives, pickles and ranch dressing. Yum!