Mozzarella Pasta Salad

Good for hot days, 'cuz you know, we have a lot of those here in November. But really, some fresh homemade bread, a glass of iced tea and you're set.

10 oz. bag of fresh spinach

2 c. cooked pasta (I use shells- the medium sized ones)

1 c. diced ham or salami

1 c. diced mozzarella

Combine in bowl.

Dressing

1 c. canola oil

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 vinegar- I use white wine or rice wine

1 clove garlic

Mix the dressing ingredients in the blender,pour over salad and serve immediately

* don 't add the dressing until you are ready to serve, and go easy on the dressing, a little goes a loooonnnngggg way*

Zuchinni and Onions

This- oh my- this is *THE* way to eat your zucchini folks. A bit crisp, salty tamari, sharp tangy asiago cheese, sweet onion. My mouth is watering. Not so much a recipe as a method.

Slice up a small zucchini or 6, add some thickly sliced onion, and saute them together until tender crisp. Add a light sprinkle of garlic powder (alternately, you could add minced garlic, but that is more likely to burn.) Give a few shakes of tamari (soy sauce), then grate asiago cheese over the whole thing and let it melt. Eat it, hiding from your children who love it nearly as much as you do.

I Haluski- You Haluski -We all Haluski- Yeah!

Dorky cheer aside (I am W.O.U.N.D. up right now) Haluski (hulooshki) is a favorite around here, and pretty doggone cheap for feeding a crowd of hungry people.

You can do this the hard way or the easy way. It tastes the same, just with thinner cabbage pieces, so I vote easy.

The hard way is to boil a head of cabbage for 5 minutes, drain and julienne.

The easy way is to grab a bag or two of slaw mix (cabbage and carrots shredded together).

Go with whichever of those options tickles your fancy.

4 oz. unsalted butter. Unsalted makes a BIG difference. Really, I've experimented.

1 large onion, sliced or more if you like onions.

2 Tbsp. (yes really 2, not a typo) garlic salt

1 lb. cooked and diced bacon OR to make it a bit more filling, sliced and diced kielbasa.

5 cups wide egg noodles, cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 c. grated Romano cheese (I've also used Parmesan and a 3 cheese blend)

Melt butter in a (large) skillet on medium heat and add onions and half of the garlic salt and let sweat for 10 minutes, stirring often. (I like my dutch oven for this.) Stir in cabbage and cook until everything starts to caramelize, about 10 more minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (not the cheese yet though) and cook another 5 minutes, or until kielbasa is heated through.

Just before serving, mix in cheese. Makes a lot.

Garlic Breath Dipping Oil

My kids would have licked the plate clean.

1 tsp. crushed red pepper (or less. I used less)

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup or as needed/desired olive oil

Combine all and dip warm bread, or just lick the plate clean.

Brownie Torte

Words darn near fail me here. Brownie, chocolate and butter, whipped cream. Sigh, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this folks.

Your favorite 9x13 brownie recipe OR a box (9x13 size) brownie mix- fudgy is suggested

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1/2 c. softened butter

2 cups whipped topping, or whipped sweetened whipping cream.

Prepare brownies per recipe or box, and bake in a greased and floured 9 inch round pan.

Pour in batter and bake 38-42 minutes or until they test done. Cool for 10 minutes, then perform a magicians act to get it centered on a plate and out of the pan.

Cool completely.

Mix together soft butter and warm melted chips until smooth. Go ahead and taste it. You know you want to.

Spread mixture over brownies to edges, and drip a little over the side to make it purty.

Chill until set. Just before serving mound the whipped topping in the center, but don't bring it quite to the edges. You want that chocolate to wink and flirt with the diners. Or maybe you don't so you can eat it yourself.

I have yet to do so, but I think a bit of mint flavoring, or orange zest, or raspberry jam would fancy this up even more. Let me know if you try any of those and how it turns out.

Serves 9-12.

Simple Fantastically Wonderful Lemonade

Sort of a cheater recipe, but so good, who cares!

1 c. lemon juice (I use our store brand of 100% lemon juice)

1 c. sugar

2 qts. water

Mix all of the above together and stir well. To take it up another notch to lemonade blissdom, add assorted sliced oranges,lemons, and limes. Drink it all.

Cheater Donuts

A truly happy Saturday Morning Breakfast, and actually, pretty easy!

~As many cans of refrigerator biscuits as you think you might like

~Oil for deep frying

~Cinnamon sugar

~Powdered sugar

Heat oil in a large skillet. I don't know how hot to tell you, when it seems like its been a while, drop in a donut, if the oil bubbles and the donut starts browning up right away, its good. If nothing seems to happen, fish out your donut, set it aside and wait a little longer. Our stove heats by numbers, and I usually have mine on 9, then turn it to about 7 once I begin frying.

Fry the donut for around 30-45 seconds flip, and do the same on the other. Watch they don't darken to quickly! Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels a few minutes. Roll while still warm in one of the sugars. Eat and be merry.