Veggie Appetizer Squares

This tasty pizza will disappear in a hurry at your next gathering, so you may want to prepare two.

1 tube (13.8 ounces) refrigerated pizza crust
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cauliflower
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/4 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Press pizza dough into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in baking pan.  Bake at 400 for 6 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, salad dressing, garlic powder, parsley and salt.  Spread over crust.

Top with onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, celery and green pepper.

Sprinkle with cheeses.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yield:  12-16 servings.

Italian Chicken

Simmer breaded chicken in a tomatoey sauce seasoned with garlic, oregano and basil.  A sprinkling of cheeses gives it a fast final touch.

 

 

 

1 egg

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup water, divided

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 broiler/fryer chicken (2 to 3 pounds), cut-up

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can (12 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

 

In a shallow bowl, beat egg and 1 tablespoon water.  Place the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl.  Dip chicken in egg mixture, then coat with crumbs.  In a large skillet, cook the chicken in oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until browned; drain.  Remove and keep warm.

 

In the same skillet, combine soup, onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano and remaining water. 

 

Return chicken to pan.  Cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

 

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese; cover and cook for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Yield:  4 servings.

 



 

 

 

 

Stuffed Tomatoes

This side dish is inexpensive, quick to prepare and always a favorite.

 



4 large tomatoes
Dash salt
1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cub half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

 

 

Cut tomatoes in half; scoop out and discard pulp, leaving a thin shell.  Sprinkle lightly with salt; invert on paper towels to drain for 15 minutes.

 

 



In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms in butter until most of liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with flour; stir in cream.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from the heat.  Stir in bread crumbs, parsley and 1/3 cup of cheese.  Spoon into tomato cups; sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Place in a greased 13-in x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yield:  8 servings

Mosaic Salad

This pretty salad combines garden-fresh ingredients to create a colorful side dish.  TIP:  I like to chill it a few hours to blend the flavors.

1 medium cucumber, sliced
2 medium yellow summer squash, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
DRESSING: 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Arrange the cucumber, squash and tomatoes on a large serving platter.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients; shake well, drizzle over salad. 

Yield:  6-8 servings.

Cream Cheese Cookie Cups

Need a quick dessert?  Try these yummy cookie bites. 

1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Cut cookie dough in half (save one portion for another use).  With floured hands, press about 1 tablespoon of dough onto the bottom and up the sides of each of 12 ungreased miniature muffin cups.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, reshape the puffed cookie cups.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until blended.  Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar.  Spoon into cookie cups.  Store in the refrigerator.

Yield:  1 dozen.  Prep:  15 min.  Bake:  10 min. + cooling

Honey Fruit Salad

Though fresh fruit steals the show in this medley, the subtle honey sauce makes it an especially sweet treat.

2 medium firm bananas, chopped
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
5 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon poppy seeds

In a large bowl, combine the bananas, and berries.

 In a small bowel, combine the honey, lemon juice and poppy seeds.

Pour over fruit and toss to coat.  

Prep/Total Time:  10 min.  Yield:  8 servings

Swiss Steak Supper

When I think of comfort food, Swiss Steak is first on my list. Swiss steak is a method of preparing meat, usually beef, by means of rolling or pounding, and then braising it in a cooking pot, either on a stove (cooker) or in an oven. The name does not refer to Switzerland, but instead to the process of "swissing", which refers to fabric or other materials being pounded or run through rollers in order to soften it.

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef top round steak
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 to 8 medium potatoes, quartered
1 1/2 cups fresh baby carrots
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian diced tomatoes
1 jar (12 ounces) home-style beef gravy
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Cut steak into serving size pieces; flatten to 1/4-in. thickness.  Rub with seasoned salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, brown beef in oil on both sides.

In a 5-qt. slow cooker, layer the potatoes, carrots, beef and onion.

Combine tomatoes and gravy; pour over the top.  Cover and cook on low for 7 1/2 to 8  hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.  Sprinkle with parsley

Macadamia Coconut Bars

These are absolutely divine.  No one will believe that a packaged cookie mix is the main ingredient.  TIP:  Not fond of macadamia nuts?  Try pecans, walnuts, almonds or cashews

1 package (17-12) ounces sugar cookie mix
1 cup vanilla or white chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/4 cup flaked coconut

Prepare cookie mix according to package directions.  Stir in chips, nuts, and coconut.

Spread into a greased 13-in x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned around edges.  Cook on a wire rack for 25 minutes before cutting.  Yield:  3 dozen.

.

Garden Ham 'n' Noodles

This blend of ingredients makes a very filling and comforting dish. 

4 quarts water
2 medium carrots, diced
6 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
1 medium zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sale
1/2 pound fully cooked ham, cubed
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring water to boil.  Add carrots; cook for 1 minute.  Add noodles; cook for 2 minutes.  Add zucchini; cook 4-5 minutes longer or until noodles and vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, bring the cream, milk and salt to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Stir in ham and corn; heat through.  Drain noodle mixture; stir into ham mixture.  Sprinkle with Parmesan chees and toss to coat.  Yield:  6-8 servings.

London 2013

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

When reporter Ellen Gleeson sees a flyer asking if anyone has seen the kidnapped child pictured on it, she is taken aback that the boy looks exactly like her adopted son, Will. She starts investigating and discovers a difficult truth, even though her adoption was lawful. The whole dilemma of What if Will rightfully belongs to someone else, would she have to give him up? hangs like a dark cloud throughout the whole novel.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked it because the premise of the story is a really good one. The moral dilemma would make for a gut-wrenching story, and it did to a certain extent, but the story line was unbelievable with things falling into place a little too easily. I didn't find this to be the heart-pounding thriller the synopsis promised. There was one scene that brought tears to my eyes, but the story was very predictable, and as a reader I quickly knew it would all work out.

The ending was too good to be true and the romance too shallow for my taste. But this was a very quick read with super short chapters, and I did enjoy it, although the plot was lacking. If you're looking for a suspense novel that won't keep you up at night and that reads fast and simple, this one might do.

In Black & White Life of Sammy Davis Jr. by Wil Haygood

I disliked the way this book was organized. It did not read like a typical bio at all. The first two chapters were about the previous collaborative biographers of Sammy's and their writing and publishing nightmares of "Yes I Can". I couldn't tell if this book was about Sammy or his previous biographers. The narrative is fragmented and repetitive. The story was too roundabout to capture my interest. I found it infuriating and I gave up half way through. Sorry I cannot give this bio a good recommendation.

The Sea Lady by Margaret Drabble

Perhaps I am missing something...and I admit I quit reading this after about 30 pages...but I simply could not continue. It was so disjointed and boring!

 

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

This book was so boring I could barely stand it. In fact, I had to abandon ship halfway through. The main character is kind of interesting, as are the two kids, but the story itself is so slow-paced that the characters can't carry the book. I found myself daydreaming everytime I tried to read it. The writing was over the top...the author sounds as if she's writing to try to get an award rather than tell a story. Pretentious readers may try to act like they enjoyed this mess, but don't believe them. One of the worst books I've ever read.

My Antonia by Willa Cather

My Antonia by Willa Cather is a classic American novel. Cather tells the story of Jim Burden and Antonia Shimerda. Jim is sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska after being orphaned and Antonia arrives with her parents from Bohemia. The story is told through Jim's point of view. We see the harsh realities of living on the prairie while trying to scratch a living from the dirt. We are given the constant contrast between town and country living, growing up and facing the consequences of our choices. Both characters make choices, some sad and others life altering. This is not a love story per se, but both characters share an affection and caring for each other despite the life choices each make.

While reading this story I kept hoping Antonia and Jim would end up together. Instead, the reader is given more and perhaps a true depiction of what life was like during the time. You grow to care for the characters and there are times when you wish you could reach into the book and make them choose differently. While the story ends differently than one would expect, it is still satisfying

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

The main character of The Pleasure of My Company is Daniel Pecan Cambridge, a man with so many flaws, tics and odd phobias that I will limit myself to describing those which immediately come to mind—fear of curbs, a need to touch all the corners of all the printers at Kinko’s, a need for all the lights in his apartment to always be running at an amount equal to 1125 watts, obsessively sorting his mail, and an almost religious devotion to the local Rite-Aid. These tics and phobias are his way (though he would never directly admit it) of restoring order in the universe. He is amazingly smart with numbers, yet he seems to be almost incapable of human interaction. These interactions between Daniel and other human beings are frequently the funniest parts of the novel—his social ineptitude and extremely bad timing cause many problems for both those who surround him and himself.

Daniel is, in spite of his mathematical obsessions, a hopeless romantic who maintains crushes or goes after almost every woman in the novel. He tries to get the women’s attention in various ways, usually relating to their work situation. (In the case of Elizabeth, the realtor that he spies from his window one afternoon, he invents a long-winded and complex tale about needing a new apartment, just to spend time with her.) His success varies through the novel, though, like all good comedies, he finds happiness at the end. He has a crush on his therapist, Clarissa, whose self-imposed distance from him makes him more attracted to and interested in her. He has a crush on Zandy, the girl behind the prescription counter at the all-holy Rite-Aid. Through the novel, his quirks vary depending on the situation—sometimes he can pass as a “normal” person; other times he can’t help but appear odd to others (even those, like Clarissa, who know him very well). At one point in the novel, perhaps in a nod to French novelist Georges Perec, he stops using the letter “E” in his speech. This goes very well, except for the fact that he cannot say his name.

With nothing else going on in his life at the moment, Daniel finds himself entering into an essay contest sponsored by Tepperton’s Frozen Apple Pies. Asked to explain “why I am the most average American,” he quickly comes up with an essay so full of sap that it isn’t surprising that he winds up making it to the finals. As a reason to hang around Zandy while at the Rite-Aid one day, he takes out another entry form and writes another essay, without even thinking about what he is doing.

There are, really, two parts to Daniel Pecan Cambridge, and these are exemplified in his two essays. He is able to see both sides to a point, even if he radically disagrees with one or doesn’t really
understand what’s going on.

By the end of the book, Daniel slowly loses some of his obsessive-compulsive habits—though he still does keep making magic squares, trying to balance out his universe. While he may adjust to society by the end of the book, he still remains his own man—he does not lose his colorful identity like so many others. And there is hope for him in the end—like in every great comedy.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie is a great character. Excessively smart, she gets up very early before the rest of the household, to read in the library for a couple of hours, before she has to start her day as a maid in the house. One day she is busted by the Lord and Lady who actually hadn't yet come home from their evening out, and Lady Rowan takes Maisie's education in hand, partnering with her friend Maurice Blanche to be sure Maisie's learning properly. By 16, she takes the entrance exam for Cambridge and passes. While at school, she makes an eccentric friend, Priscilla, who introduces her to a handsome young doctor, Simon, and inspires her to do something for the Great War.

In 1929, Maisie has finished her apprenticeship with Maurice and embarks on her own, setting up shop as a private investigator. A gentleman suspects his wife of an affair, and Maisie discovers it isn't at all what he thinks but the investigation opens a door to a suspect home for crippled veterans. Lady Rowan's son wants to join this unusual and mysterious group, including signing over all his money to them, so Maisie has two reasons to find out more about The Retreat. Along the way she recalls images and feelings from the past that bring her affair with Simon back to her, and we learn some of the privations and horrors Maisie experienced as a field nurse in France.

Maisie solves the mystery with help from Maurice and Billy, a friendly neighbor and fellow vet, and all is well. Except that you know all isn't well with Maisie. She's not fully recovered from France, from the loss of Simon, and she's investigating in order to be able to put things right, since there are important things in her own life which cannot be righted.

Maisie is from the lower classes (her father is a vegetable seller, turned into a horse groom), but with her smarts and education she manages both to fit in everywhere, and no where. She has a distinctive voice, and in the scenes when she is much younger, the voice very believably is more naive. Maisie's common sense and her devotion to Maurice's lessons, as well as to her beloved Dad, make her an endearing and well-rounded character. I truly enjoyed spending time with her, and looked for the sequel at the library today (checked out.) I hope to be spending more time with Miss Maisie Dobbs in the future.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

This book is wonderfully written, and opens up people's eyes to see the ENTIRE aspect of slavery that people may often overlook.

In summary,Henry and Caldonia Townsend are black plantation owners in Manchester County, Virginia. They are highly respected by most everyone in the county. Henry himself was once a slave for Mr. Robbins, and it is Mr. Robbins who helped Henry to become the plantation owner he is today. In the beginning of the book, Henry dies at a young age, leaving Caldonia (his wife) the sole owner of the plantation. Though they are her slaves, Caldonia still treats them like humans. Her daily discussions with the married slave overseer, Moses, eventually leads to an affair between the two.

The many daily occurences-both good and bad- that go on in the Townsend's slaves' lives are revealed in snippets throughout the book, making it hard to put down. Church services the slaves have on the plantation are described, punishments for disobedient slaves are seen, and the yearning that some slaves, such as Moses, have for freedom is brilliantly revealed. Additionally, the book follows an affair between the white Mr. Robbins and one of his slaves. The two go on to have children together, and one of them eventually marries Caldonia.

This novel is so engaging because it opens people's eyes to all circumstances of slavery. People see how slaves themselves viwed slavery, how plantation owners viewed it, and how others such as deputies and on-lookers viewed this matter.

Additionally, the book is very historically accurate. It mentions the Underground Railroad and US Census statistics, which further strengthened the book.

This book was overall great. It is very easy to read. It provides a number of different viewpoints that people had in this trying time over the slave issue. The only downside to the novel is that it gets off to a somewhat confusing start with all of the characters. However, there is a character list in the back of the book which greatly helps to keep track of who is who. As the novel progresses, it becomes more and more engaging with each turn of the page.

This book is amazing, and would most likely be enjoyed by anyone, no matter if they are interested in history or not. Most definitely this is a must-read.

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

Set in the late 18th century with William Blake also part of the foreground to the story, this gives you a brutally honest picture of what life was like in Britain for the working class. Anyone slightly middle class is on the periphery of the story as it deals with working class men and women and how very early in life children were forced to become adults, take on the responsibility and cares of adults and how they managed as well.

Tracy Chevalier brings together a rural Dorsetshire boy Jem and a street smart Londoner Maggie together in a very tender story - not the romance that was expected of the encounters but more of something deeper and unusual for the age of our two youngsters.

Thomas Kellaway moves from rural Dorsetshire with his family after his son dies in a tragic accident, hoping that the move will help them with their grief. He comes to London and joins the Astley's who run a very successful circus. The Kellaways are makers of chairs but they take on carpentry jobs with the circus which is financially better but does not bring them the satisfaction of a craft. Anne Kellaway is distrustful of Londoners, the circus and the Astleys but she does seem to mellow by the end of the story, but it is the story of Jem and Maisie the two Kellaway children which are at the heart of the story.

How Maisie is seduced by the wily John Astley. A simple village girl she was ripe for the plucking and Jem has to cope with the wily way of Londoners who realize he is just a simpleton who can be taken for a ride. Maggie is the one who comes to their rescue on more than one occasion because Maggie realizes that there is an innocence in both the Kellaway youngsters which she feels must be safeguarded as they are unaware of their own gullibility. How Maggie risks her own family's wrath to do this is also part of the story.

The backdrop of a revolution pending in France - seemingly very remote to the hard life of a working class family - it also brings its effect to them all despite the feeling that it is something very far away.

Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism by Ann Coulter

I really did try to read this book,but just couldn't get through it. I don't know if Ms. Coulter is mentally ill or just sociopathically angry, but for sure her style never changes, twisted facts, facts taken out of context, facts distorted, and always always the anger and hatred. It is sad to think that this kind of book has an audiance in America, doesn't speak very well of us.