O.k. so when it gets to be a muggy 110 degrees and the only breeze at night comes from your husband who snores, you know you are in the South and you need a quick and easy dinner.
Summer is hot here. We don’t use air conditioning, haven’t for the several years we have lived in this house. Frankly, it is too expensive, but I also like the idea of flowing with the seasons..experiencing them rather than manipulating them. I know..I am so weird.
Nothing is worse than cooking a hot meal in a hot kitchen and serving it in a hot …read more

I love Pasta Primavera.  It is light, flavorful, and really fast.  Can you ask for more? I don’t think so!  The only thing I thought it was missing is a little “bite-cha-back.  You know what I mean.
Chipotle.

This is my entry for this weeks Presto Pasta night hosted by Haalo of  Cook Almost Anything.
One of my favorite things to experiment with is pesto.  It is just so darn good!  I like to grow different kinds of basil because each one adds a different complexity to the pesto.
Then I started experimenting with different herbs as the basic ingredients.  I found that one of my favorite spins on fresh pesto is to make it with cilantro and pecans.
Welcome to Texas.

 
While many of you may not think of cheese flautas as being basic they are a fantastic easier-than-you-think addition to your cooking repertoire.
They go together in minutes, nearly everyone loves them, and the filling variations are endless; cheese, cheese and chile, cheese and chicken, chicken and chile, left over beef, taco..the list is endless and can end up with such interesting variations as brie, chipotle, and pecan…or mushroom and parmesan…
You can have your own Mexican Restaurant at home.
If you aren’t hooked yet, then consider that they can be everything from an appetizer, to a snack…main course to dessert …read more

I love pasta.  It is quick, cheap, easy, and filling..what more can you ask?
This is my entry for Presto Pasta.

 
Yeah. I said it. Poser.
Sometimes getting breakfast around here is a big headache.  Imagine what mornings are like with 12 people, 8 of them kids…and of those kids all of them pretty much prefer different things. Cereal is not an option..way too expensive with that many people and teenage boy appetites.
I make doughnuts, and pancakes, and french toast… sometimes when I remember the night before I make cinnamon rolls…The other morning I decided to try

Cool picture, huh?
In Texas we don’t really eat much Mexican food. Everything is sort of a Tex-Mex blend. But there are just times that I really need to eat tex-mex. Comfort food. Cheap, quick, easy, yummy. Enchiladas are exactly that.
In Mostly Martha, Martha says that it takes a great chef to make a simple food (By the way, if you haven’t seen that move, and subtitles don’t bother you, get it immediately. Sigh. We loved it. ). This is simple food. You can make it with homemade Texas style chili, or a …read more