School is almost over!!!

Good morning! Today is the first day of the last week of school for my kids. I can hardly believe we have been here for 8 months! As a family we have been so happy with the school our kids are attending. It has been a truly wonderful experience and really made our transition to Augusta a smooth one. The community, the challenge, the nurturing, the teachers, the friends have been wonderful.

Sage has soccer tryouts tonight, tomorrow and Thursday, so wishing her lots of luck and fun. She has a recognition ceremony on Friday and really can't wait for that. Then, she is on to Middle School! Sosie is going to be in 7th grade. She has an Honors ceremony on Friday. We are hoping that she has made honors this semester - she has worked very hard for it. I just can't believe how quickly time flies and how much older they seem. It makes you want to cherish the special moments even more. I love them with all of my heart.

Let's talk spices and herbs! They rock. I grew up with them because my family used them often. I feel they can add such great flavor in a purely natural way. My friend calls me Spice Girl because I love adding basil, parsley, mint, etc. to so many dishes. Sage now likes to make little salads and adds parsley or cilantro to give it an extra flavor you don't get from vegetables, s&p, oil and vinegar. You can grow them so easily too. Sage grew basil from seed this year and if you don't want to do that, you can buy plants - just throw them in dirt, plant in sun and water! Bam!

 

Time to put on Justin Timberlake's, Drink You Away and get cooking! The first couple of times I heard that song I wasn't so sure - now I can't get enough of it!

Today we are going to talk about a couple of side dishes. I can't find pictures from one dish and that surprises me and confounds me because I could've sworn I took them. They might be on my husband's phone so they may come later.

The first one is very similar to a dish I relayed in an earlier post. I have been making this often because Sage has taking a liking to it. Of course, then I make it too much and she doesn't like it anymore but until then......I can get fairly local produce right now so it adds such a fresh flavor to the dish. I made this with lemon linguine (earlier post) and it went really well together. Sage loved the leftovers for lunch.

Sautéed Vegetables
1T olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1 squash, diced
1/4 onion, diced (red for pretty or white for mild)
1/2 sweet pepper (orange for pretty)
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1 clove garlic, minced
Sprigs of any type of herbs you wish - I use parsley, basil, chives, sage, thyme, mint, chopped finely

Over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes.  Add zucchini, squash and pepper. Cook for a few minutes and add the tomatoes and herbs. Put the lid on and simmer for about 5 minutes. Done!

Au Gratin Potatoes II from Kathy McCorkle
6 large Yukon gold potatoes
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2T olive oil
2T butter
1 rounded tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper
2T grated parmesan
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2-2/3 cup heavy cream
minced parsley for garnish

Slice potatoes 1/8" thick.  Heat butter and oil in a very large skillet.  Saute onions, potatoes, and garlic for 10 minutes.  Place half the potato mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, 1T parmesan and 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese. Place the remaining half and sprinkle again with the ingredients. Pour 1/2-2/3 cup heavy cream (or whole milk, or combination) over casserole before baking.

This is a really yummy dish that goes so well with many of the recipes here in the blog. I have also made it with ham for Easter Sunday.

Enjoy and have a really happy day, everyone!!!