So, Erika is very close. It's eggplant stir fry. From an experiment I did last year, I discovered that I like the light purple eggplant stirfried. All that eggplant...I used it all in this stir fry. Didn't measure anything but just did everything by eye. 
Eggplant is a good source of fiber and the green peppers and onions are great for ARF's. This is my entry for Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Cate, I hope you got moved easily and that everything is getting set up! Check by her site for more great recipes.
Eggplant Stir Fry
Eggplant is a good source of fiber and the green peppers and onions are great for ARF's. This is my entry for Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Cate, I hope you got moved easily and that everything is getting set up! Check by her site for more great recipes. Eggplant Stir Fry 3 small eggplant
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, sliced
garlic powder
corn starch
soy sauce
chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
olive oil
In a hot skillet, pour some olive oil, add onions, peppers, and eggplant. Cook until tender. In a small bowl place some corn starch and soy sauce, stir. Pour into hot skillet with veggies. Add chicken stock as needed to dilute and thin sauce. Serve with brown rice. Add chicken if you want some meat. In the back is some cantelope and those lovely blackberries!
My goods start with blueberries, cantelope (which is SO much better at the market than at the grocery store), plums, nectarines, zucchini, oranges, and three kinds of eggplant.
I ALSO found some blackberries. YUM! I haven't done anything with them except eat them. They go great with cantelope and with my morning yogurt. At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to market b/c of work, but I'm pretty sure that they try to get us out of there by 9 on Sat/Sun if we go at all. Here's a little hint at a yummy concoction coming up tomorrow. 
Any guesses as to what it is?
They are my mom's aunt's recipe and I LOVE them! They are an ice box cookie and end up a lot like pecan sandies. Try them out some time. You could even make the dough and keep it in the freezer to bake a few whenever you want...like if you're up all night on call and need a snack! ;-) OH...I did a test between my baking stones and a pan with my new silpat!!! The silpat is great for giving a smooth bottom on the cookies. The textures of both cookies were the same, though I think the stone needed a little longer than I gave it. Either with work! Enjoy the cookies! 
Aunt Imogene's Ice Box Nut Cookies 
Freeze for later if desired. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 
It's not perfect and I WILL be doing it again. Because of the tomatoes, onions, and portabellos, this is a super healthy salad, so it's my entry for 
Portabello Cornbread Panzanella 
Now, I'm just not a big fan of lasagna but I do know how to make it. My mom has been making this recipe for years. In fact, she has been making it since they lived in Virginia while Daddy was in the Navy and she worked at Capitol Hill; that was more than 25 years ago. One day someone asked her if she made "real" lasagna...apparently to be real, it must be made with Italian sausage and ricotta cheese. So, she tried it that way and they didn't like it with all Italian sausage nor the ricotta. She has changed the recipe a tad to account for this. If you want to, you can make this with all sausage and ricotta, but we use half Italian sausage, half beef and cottage cheese. I've determined that I don't really like Italian sausage; there is some kind of spice in it that I don't care for. Another note, I forgot to put the cheese on at the right time. Usually the top layer is the meat sauce instead of this bubbled cheese layer. 
Anyway, Mama got this recipe in DC but found it in our local college's (Mississippi College) cookbook. In the cookbook it is in the special section. These recipe are given by notables such as Willard Scott (baked rice, which my grandmother made before his recipe submission), Ann Landers (Lemon Pie), Arthur Guyton (a world famous physician whose physiology textbook is used in many medical schools; he was director of the physiology department at University of MS Medical Center, where I attend medical school!), and even Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter (eggplant spaghetti sauce - I LOVE this!). This recipe was given by Landrum Shettles, a 1933 graduate of MC. The description reads "Landrum Shettles is a research physician and pioneer in the field of in vitro fertilization and gender determination studies. he received an honorary doctorate from Mississippi College in 1966." I thought that was pretty interesting. I hope you all enjoy this lasagna recipe. Happy Father's Day!!! 
Lasagna
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook noodles according to package instruction; drain, rinse, and dry. Combine remaining ingredients except mozzarella.
Place half (3) noodles in a 13X9 baking dish. 
Spread with half the ricotta mixture. 
Top with half mozzarella cheese. Top with half the meat sauce.
Repeat layers, ending with meat sauce.* Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. 
*If you forget the cheese like I did (or just prefer cheese on top), bake for 20 minutes and the put the cheese on top and cook remaining 10 minutes.
Because of the antioxidants in lemons and the healthy benefits of wheat germ, this is my entry to 
Honey Wheat Cookies 
Rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist.
Add butter and beat on medium until creamy and smooth. Add honey and beat another minute or so. Add the egg and beat 2 more minutes. Reduce speed and add the dry ingredients in 2 portions, only until the flour disappears. 
Scrape onto a piece of plastic wrap, wrap well, and chill for at least 2 hours (up to 2 days). Preheat oen to 350 degrees F. Place 1/2 cup wheat germ in a separate bowl. Remove chilled dough and roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the wheat germ.
Place balls on a baking pan and press down slightly with your hand. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just firm to the touch. Cool on cooling rack.
and Daddy had the pick two with a chicken fontago (?) sandwich and french onion soup
. It was all very good. When we got to the hotel, Mama and Daddy decided to get supper outside the ballpark but I wanted the full baseball experience, so I had a hot dog and Diet Coke for supper. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture, and it really is a monumental occassion...that's my ONE hotdog for the year! BTW, the Cubs won! 2-1. 
Friday we went to the 
Mama got the special of the day...Fried Green Tomato BLT with slaw
. Daddy got the Chicken Club with corn pudding.
I got the vegetable plate with grilled garlic broccoli, squash casserole, grilled sour cream cornbread, 
and watermelon vidalia salad. 
All of it was really good EXCEPT the watermelon salad. It was really bad. They let it sit in vinegar, and we decided that was the problem. It made the watermelon, and even the onion, taste "friendly." I think it would be a really good flavor combination without the vinegar. If you're ever in Atlanta and want a local eatery, try Agnes and Muriel's. In addition to good food they have good (looking) desserts. When we walked in, the red velvet cake was untouched. When we left, this is what it looked like! 
We think that a bridal shower must have eaten it. After lunch we went to the 
Daddy got the tomato artichoke soup (good) and creamy chicken salad sandwhich.
I got fruit salad (my body was craving cool fruit) and grilled vegetable salad (eggplant, red pepper, squash, carrot, red onion, zucchini). There was also whole wheat cranberry walnut bread...it was SOOOOO good. I'm looking for a recipe to try and recreate it. It was a dense, tough-crusted bread. Let me know if you have any ideas!
All was VERY good. Then we went over to a kitchen store owned by a father and two sons, Davis Cookware (?). It's not well organized but has lots of great stuff...even a 13X9 springform. They sell great coffees and teas, too. I walked out with a sifter, sil-pat sheet, and a tube of sea salt. Daddy left with Snickeroo coffee, a steamer, and a tea steeper. Great store. When we got home, we made blueberry pie and watched Facing the Giants. GREAT movie. Anyway, it was a great weekend and got me ready for a lot of hard work to come. I hope I'll still have posts, but if I slack off a bit, forgive me. I have a feeling I'll be getting up quite early and not having much time to cook.
This week I had the perfect opportunity to do that. There were some guys from my medical school class who live in my apartment complex taking their 
Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray or muffin cups. Melt the butter and 2 oz. of the chocolate in the microwave (or alternately in a double boiler). Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and vanillla. Pour liquid and chocolate into dry ingredients and stir to blend - do not overmix. Stir in remaining chocolate chips (I added a few extra). Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups - I ended up with enough batter for 14 muffins even after filling the tin to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted at the center of the muffin comes out clean.
They ended up being very "dark" tasting. That may be because I used cocoa with minimal oil instead of baking chocolate, but I liked it. I couldn't really taste the butterfinger that much but I think I may have cut the bars up too small. Maybe using the Butterfinger BB's halved would work better...or just use more butterfinger!!! Check out 
Nuggets o' Gold Brownies adapted from The Cookie Bible 
The recipe I use is from Southern Sideboards and is what I have grown up on. It always comes out moist and delicious, unlike the typical college cafeteria pork loin (so have no fear if that is what you think of when you hear pork loin!). This recipe does take some time in the oven but is quick to prepare with hands-on time. It's great for a Sunday lunch, as you can leave it in the oven while you go to church, etc.
In addition to thyme, this recipe uses dry 
Roast COVERED (This is a change from the original recipe - this keeps it tender and moist) at 325 degrees F for 3 hours or until meat thermometer registers 175 F. (I cooked for 3 hours and it was perfect). Baste occasionally with marinade during last hour of roasting time (Well, I didn't do this). You can use the juice in the pan for gravy if you want. 
My family usually serves this with potatoes au gratin, veggies, and fruit. This night, we had sweet potatoes, green beans, and rolls.
Because of all the veggies, including tomatoes, which are full of antioxidants, this is my entry to 
Fattoush
These cookies are from a recipe my mom's best friend gave us. She is famous around my hometown for these and often, people ask if there are any "Joanie cookies." The official name is the Sharpe cookies, owing to the fact that they look like Sharpe bulldogs. 
Before I give the recipe, there are a few things you must know...BUTTER IS A MUST!!! I've tried margarine and is does not work! Number two, if you have White Lily flour available, use it! If not, use a light baking flour. Number three, either use air bake pans or baking stones. These are all commands (i.e., suggestions) from Joanie! We've done experiments and found that butter is a MUST, White Lily flour DOES make a difference, and the air bake pans aren't a must as stones work as well...I don't know about "normal" baking sheets. 
I've done several variations on these including white chocolate chips, Reese's peanut butter cups (OH, so good), cappucino chips, and special edition raspberry dark chocolate swirl chips. They all work, but I think the best is the original chocolate chip. So, without further ado, ENJOY! 
Add egg and vanilla and mix. Mix together flour, salt, and soda. Add slowly to butter mixture and stir until just combined. Add chocolate chips.
Place dough on baking sheet/stone in large tablespoons (I use a FULL tablespoon sized cookie scoop but my brother thinks they should be bigger - Joanie does them bigger). Bake for 11-13 minutes. If you do them larger, they may require more time. NOW, here is the special technique. IMMEDIATELY after taking the pan out of the oven, using the backs to two soup spoons,
squunch (I don't know if that's a word, but I think it should be) the cookies together all the way around. This must be done quickly so that they don't harden too much. 
Allow to cook for a few minutes and remove to cooling rack to finish cooling. Makes about 36 cookies, depending on how big you make them.