It has been so hot and humid the past couple weeks. The last thing I have been wanting to do is heat the kitchen up!! Our grill has been working overtime, but I did take a little time to make this “everything” pasta salad! You can add as much or as little of the add in ingredients as you like. I made a full pound of pasta so this lasted us more than one night! This would be great to take for a potluck or picnic as well.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound spiral pasta
Wishbone Robust salad dressing
1/4 cup McCormick’s salad supreme seasoning
Mix -in’s
Cucumber, sliced into bite size pieces
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Pepperoni halved
Smoked cheddar cheese, cut into bite size cubes
Black olives
Green olives
Pepperonchini, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Boil your pasta until cooked al dente, drain and place in large bowl. Add all of your favorite mix-ins and mix well. Add the salad supreme seasoning and about half of a large bottle of the Robust Italian salad dressing mix well and you are done! Serve chilled.
Enjoy!
The heat and hot weather does not want to give us a break, so this is a recipe that I found on Pinterest and really liked the idea of a quick, one skillet dinner. Overall we enjoyed this dish and the fresh ingredients. I also LOVE anything with balsamic in it! I did this in a skillet, but I think it could easily be done in a wok, just as easy, if not faster!
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Italian salad dressing (I used Wishbone Robust)
3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons honey
Small pinch of red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups matchstick carrots
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, whisk together salad dressing, vinegar, honey, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and place the chicken in the skillet. Cook chicken about 6-7 minutes turning pieces half way through. Cook until chicken is done and no longer pink inside. Add half of the dressing to the chicken and stir to coat the chicken. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside. Add asparagus, carrots and tomatoes to the same skillet, season with salt and pepper and cook until crisp and tender, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer veggies to a plate and set aside. Add remaining sauce into the skillet and cook for 5 minutes letting it reduce, add the chicken and veggies all back into the skillet and coat with the thickened sauce. Once everything is warmed back through remove from heat and serve warm.
Enjoy!
Jim and I have been to Christopher’s many, many times. They even catered a welcome home party we had a few years ago when Jim returned from Iraq. I have never done a review on them. I am not sure how I have missed it for so long but here it is! Christopher’s is located in Dover NH and can be found at 16 Third Street. We went on a Thursday night about 6:00 pm and it was already filling up, lots of people in the dining room and the bar area was also getting full. We chose a high table in the bar area next to the window. We were greeted very quickly and had menu’s in our hand along with a cutting board with fresh warm bread just out of the oven… with a strawberry butter, what a great way to start!
Jim and I were both hungry, so we started with one of my favorite appetizers the crispy calamari ($8.00) served with both tartar sauce and marinara sauce! I love this dish, as the coating is light and crisp. They make their own seasoned flour for this dish! 
On this particular night we did not have their crab cakes. Those too are incredible and another one of my favorite things on the menu! You will not be disappointed with either of these appetizers!! For the main course I had one of the specials. It was a beautiful garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and avocado with lightly fried chicken with blue cheese dressing.
This was very, very good. The chicken was crisp and tender and the salad greens were just fabulous and tasted like they were just picked fresh from the garden! This salad was also large. I ended up taking half of it home. I am not complaining…who would not love that salad a second time!
Jim had a burger! I know none of you are surprised by this as Jim is a burger guy through and through! I sometimes feel that is how he rates a restaurant. If they can cook a good burger everything must be good!! Tonight was no exception, Jim ordered the garbage burger ($10.00). This burger has great flavor with sautéed mushrooms, bacon and cheese. This is a BIG burger and Jim loved every bite of it! I might also mention the burger came with fries…lightly crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and well seasoned, I love that!!
Not only was every bite of our dinner just as we would want or expect out of Christopher’s, but we also had great attentive service! We really enjoy Christopher’s and look forward to another visit very soon! Take some time to check out Christopher’s if you are in the downtown area. They also have a great website where you can check out all of the fabulous lunch and dinner items they have available!
Enjoy!
I love fruit salad but I especially love this one with the honey lime dressing! The dressing adds a sweet and tart flavor to the fruit. The day I was making this I was fortunate to have a great helper in the kitchen with me! I had Meghan with me, a sweet young lady who was helping me prepare dinner for, not only her family, but mine too! Meghan did ALL of the chopping and mixing for this salad and I might also add she made my Tex Mex Turkey Burgers and let me tell you, she did an awesome job! No one was hungry that night!!
This is Meghan grilling up the burgers she made the same day we worked together!!
INGREDIENTS
1 pound fresh strawberries, diced
1 pound fresh pineapple, diced
12 ounces fresh blueberries
12 ounces red grapes
4 kiwis, peeled and diced
1 (15 ounce ) can mandarin oranges
2 Bananas, diced
HONEY LIME DRESSING
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 Tablspoon fresh lime juice
DIRECTIONS
Add the fruit to a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over fruit just before serving, stir to evenly coat the fruit. A very special THANK YOU to Meghan for all of her hard work!
Enjoy!
This recipe comes from www.cookingclassy.com and can also be found on Pinterest.
My favorite things to make are appetizers, but I am always looking for a new way to make something we have all seen before. This recipe is one of those ideas, although this does take some time to make they were absolutely delicious. The candied bacon was the star! These can be baked as I did, but also grilled and even smoked!
INGREDIENTS
8 slices of candied bacon, chopped (see instructions below)
8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 dozen (approximately, depending on the size) jalapeño’s
DIRECTIONS FOR CANDIED BACON
8 slices of thick cut bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and spray with non stick spray. Place 8 pieces of bacon on top of the cooling rack on a single layer and sprinkle the bacon with 1/2 of the brown sugar. Bake for thirty minutes (I used thick cut bacon, if you use a thin cut, cooking times will be different). After thirty minutes turn the bacon slices over and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
NOTE- this can be done a day ahead.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE STUFFED JALAPEÑOS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise (being careful not to touch your face or eyes while working with the jalapeño’s). Scrape the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeño and place on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl mix together the cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until well combined. Once well combined add your candied bacon pieces and mix so the bacon pieces are throughout your mixture. In a small bowl combine the panko crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. To assemble the jalapeños start by adding the cream cheese mixture into each jalapeño half and top with a sprinkle of panko Parmesan mixture. Do this for each jalapeño and place back on your baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes watching not to burn. Remove from oven and serve warm.
Enjoy!
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