Suppah Six

  It was a toasty night in the kitchen, but delicious meal.   Chicken Chilaquiles was enjoyed by a big gang snuggled onto the porch!   Our Mexican meals always seem to have SO MANY dirty dishes!  Oh well, Christopher Robin worked his magic on cleanup. 

  Grilled Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is a popular repeat.  Seemed like a cool choice for a HOT week but, yikes... it's a warm July in Maine.   Sure was tasty tho!   Substituted chicken thighs and marinated them in this fabulous recipe .  Tigger and I make this marinade frequently and it's great every-time. 

  Summer doesn't get more fun than Grilled Pizzas!   Everyone gets their range of choices from spinach and ricotta to "sauce, lots and lots of sauce". 

Our southern visitor brought the heat, so we kept it simple.  Chicken Tacos with plenty of side items. Yum!

  it was Birthday Eve for our chef, so we made it pretty simple.... but this was delish... Grilled Chicken Caeser Pasta Salad .   YUM!

Another test recipe from America's Test Kitchen:   Chicken Scarpaiello. We really enjoyed this and look for w ard to see ing how it eventually ends up published in Cook 's Country magazine. Chic ke n, sausage and hot cherry pep pers combine t o make a very fla vorful meal.

It was a grand summer evening with happy travelers and yummy food.     Thai Pork with Cucumber Salad preceded the Birthday Brownie for desert!

We Super-Sized ourselves this time.... Momma Anne brought  sunflowers, the ladies of Four Rivers brought lovely dessert- homemade ice cream!-  and our chef prepared another perfect rendition of our favorite Panko Crusted haddock !  YUM YUM.  Sides included broccoli slaw and potato salad- with a big helping of laughs!  I am hunting for ANY ideas to utilize my Mojito Mint harvest.... that is one happy plant!  I had found this recipe for popsicles , but felt it was lacking an important component - alcohol!  Pops taste nice and refreshing as is, but muddled into a highball glass with some light rum and fizzy water, they truly shine!  Our magic legged bartender strikes again. A lovely summer evening.

We are back!!!  it was good to be together again.... we celebrated birthdays, new knees and returns from travel.  Summer in Maine is busy, but we do enjoy some time together.   July is Birthmonth for 50% of our crew, though some are more vocal about it than others. Christopher Robin was the closest date, so he and Rabbit supplied Steak Tips from the Meathouse.  we repeated hobo potatoes from Independence day  and a classic Caesar made it complete. Our CIA trained chefs turned an asset and recreated a classic family tradition with the Birthday Cookie.  Glitter icing and hand-drawn striper included.

Back to Basics!!  A variety of reasons lead to Dory, Bubbles and I recreating the original team and enjoying Pasta Carbonara with Corn and Chiles. A nice simple meal of pasta, salad and bread... reminiscent of the days before we used to test our beloved chef with complexity!  The corn actually seemed to lighten this normally heavy dish and the chiles added nice kick.  Chef's Note:  would reserve more than an single cup of pasta water to have available ... a bit more would have been great to lighten the sauce. We enjoyed ourselves,  and of course look forward to the return of the the full team!

Classic Americana to start our holiday weekend - Pimento  Cheeseburgers .  This lovely burger was both topped and stuffed with homemade pimento cheese!  A tribute to our southern roots for America's birthday. We also enjoyed a new drink from our Lady Mix-a-lot... a Strawberry Basil Gin creation that refreshed and revived! BONUS MEAL:   Celebrating the holidays with friends added even more food and fun to our weekend... we closed the long celebration with a great cookout and once again, Dory did not disappoint.  This patriotic dessert was a huge hit... pretzel crust, cheesecake center, native strawberries in jello and blueberries to top it.  RED WHITE AND DELICIOUS!

This week's meal tasted great, but was team effort.  When I offered the options to Bubbles, he responded "Bacon Bacon Bacon!", so Loaded Carbonara was the menu selection. The flavor was great, but it wasn't simple!  Squirt ended up helping Dory out, as the final blend of cheese and hot egg was a bit involved.  It is important to incorporate it slowly, so you don't end up with scrambled eggs, yet you need enough heat to melt the cheese.  Surprisely, this version of carbonara did not call for cream (white wine instead) and the cheese needed some extra persuation to get creamy.  A few short trips in the microwave to gentley melt it and lots of whisking eggs combined to a delicious finale. Our side items were different - with Caesar salad rather than  mixed greens, and some sauteed squash from our friend Roger's vegetable garden .  YUM!

A great summer meal- Crispy Chicken Salad Wraps.   They were a great blend of creamy and crunchy.  We altered the recipe a bit - brushed them with melted butter instead of spraying with cooking spray and added some fresh basil, since my cilantro crop is not doing so great. We also had great side dishes - Syracuse Salt Potatoes tasted great and were fun to cook.  We made sure to use the really small red potatoes, as bigger ones would probably not get tender enough.  My chive plant was a fine producer for the butter drizzle.  Additionally, Kraft Kitchens has a great recipe for pasta salad - Family Reunion Macaroni Salad .  Good holiday weekend eats!