Happy graduation, birthday, anniversary, independence, vacation day...and orzo salad with lemon, feta and pine nuts.

Well, you know I have a lot of catching up to do.  So, after friendly nudges, sweet "we miss you" e-mails, comments from my mom and husband, and straightforward "when are you going to start blogging again?," I am finally going to give up my blogging hiatus and get things back in gear.  I have no excuse, but that I work better on a schedule, and have been largely schedule-less since May. 

Here's a quick re-cap, in pictures.  

Summer Starts with a Graduation Celebration!

We celebrate our 6th Anniversary in Chattanooga, TN with a stay at Chanticleer Inn, great food, hiking, and city-exploring.  

Visits with family include a trip to Arrington Vineyards near Nashville, the Naval Museum in Pensacola, pre-Independence day celebrations, family meals, and time with friends.

 Independence day celebration in Philadelphia include a picnic near the Philadelphia Museum and a fireworks show over the Schuylkill River.  

Since returning from our Southern tour, my days have been relatively unhurried.  Window units notwithstanding, the heat still seems to slow things down to a molasses speed.  The job search, household chores, cooking (and apparently blogging) have all responded in kind, following snaillike paces of their own.

While I've occasionally turned on my oven for an occasion (pulled pork for Independence day, cookies for Bible study, brownies for my husband's guy-weekend retreat), it has been largely avoided on account of it's kitchen-stifling tendencies.  So, we've enjoyed our fill of grilled fare, sandwiches, and dishes which require minimal heat, like this delicious orzo salad.  

This has to be one of my favorite summer sides, one that I make often in warmer weather, and always elicits recipe requests.  The flavors just work so well together, it can be served cold or at room temperature, and goes well with almost anything you could throw on a grill.  

Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta and Pine Nuts

Barely adapted from Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup orzo
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives 
1/4 finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup basil, julienned 
2 ounces good quality feta cheese, crumbled

In a medium pot, cook the orzo to al dente in salted water.  Drain pasta.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar.  Pour over the warm pasta, and let the pasta cool to room temperature.  

Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, onion, basil and feta to the pasta, stir well.  Store Orzo salad in the refrigerator.  

This salad can be made up to two days in advance.  Salad is best at room temperature, but can be served cold.  

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Summer Already?...and Sweet Corn Fritters with Creole Remoulade

I cannot believe that we are already well into summer!  I feel like I'm constantly saying this, but as soon as Easter hit, the weeks started flying by!  Final papers, exams, parties and, yes, graduation followed soon thereafter.  As a friend of mine quipped, I am now no longer a student, but an unemployed counselor.  


I have lots of catching up to do, but I wanted to start by sharing a very special celebration.  Just last week my husband turned the big 3-0!  It was a number that, I think, he has been dreading for a while, but when the day finally came around, he did too.  I think what really brought him around was a couple of big celebrations with friends and family to commemorate the completion of his third decade.  How can you be sad at a party?

Our backyard bash was a blast!  You know it's a good night when the last guest leaves at 1:00 AM.  Of course, we enjoyed a feast to offer our friends, a mix of old and new favorites.  One favorite of the night, which received a number of comments including "what is it?," "I want that recipe," and "is that on the blog?," was a newbie, introduced to me by Eating for England.  I gave it a Southern twist with creole remoulade sauce, and a star was born.  I think these could be prettied up a bit with halved cherry tomatoes, a sprinkle of crumbled bacon, or chives, but they are delicious as is. 

Sweet Corn Fritters with Creole Remoulade

Sweet Corn Fritters adapted from Eating for England
Creole Remoulade adapted from Myrecipes


1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
3-4 dashes hot sauce


1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch chives, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
2-15 ounce cans sweet corn, drained
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vegetable oil


Combine the mayonnaise and the next six ingredients in a small bowl.  Cover and refrigerate the remoulade sauce until serving.


In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapeño and garlic.  Pulse 5-6 times.  Add the chives, cilantro and corn and pulse 5-6 more times.  Add the salt, chili powder, flour, baking powder and eggs and blend until smooth.  


Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the pan.  Add 1 tablespoon of batter to the hot pan and flatten with the back of a spoon.  Cook for about 2 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes, until golden on each side.  Place cooked fritters on a platter in a warm oven (about 180 degrees) while preparing the rest of the batter, until ready to serve.  


To serve, top warm fritters with 1 teaspoon remoulade sauce.  Garnish with crumbled bacon, cherry tomato halves, cilantro, chives or cheese.


Make Ahead: The remoulade sauce can be made up to two days in advance.  The fritters can be made several days (or weeks) in advance and frozen in an airtight container, with parchment paper between layers.  Defrost the fritters in the refrigerator.  Arrange the fritters on a baking sheet in a single layer and re-heat in the oven at 220 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  


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Happy Birthday to My Love, and Happy Summer to All!

An Easter Breakfast...of Sun Dried Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Sunday mornings are often a time of hurried breakfast-ing and dressing and rushing to church.  Over the past couple of months, we have set our alarm a bit earlier so that we can enjoy the morning, lingering a little longer over a cappuccino (complements of my husband) or a cup of tea.  Sometimes we succeed, and sometimes we linger just a little too long and end up in the same hurried mess.  


Easter is one of the most beautiful celebrations of the church, and we wouldn't want to enter that frazzled and distracted.  But on Easter morning, we are trying on new clothes, opening up Easter baskets and gifts, and trying to enjoy that same breakfast before heading to the church.  It has high potential for failure.  

This breakfast casserole is here to help with those hurried Sunday mornings.  It can be prepared the night before and baked while you enjoy your coffee, try on your new clothes, check your e-mail, and linger for a few minutes before church or wherever you might be heading.  While you can use a cup of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, the home-made oven-dried tomatoes really do make this casserole outstanding.

Sun Dried Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Adapted from Whipped


1 quart grape (or cherry) tomatoes, halved
Olive Oil (to taste)
Pinch of sugar, salt and pepper
8 cups day-old French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup basil, julienned 

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon pepper

9 eggs

3 cups milk


The day before:
Preheat the oven to 225.  Arrange the halved tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with the sugar, salt and pepper.  Bake the tomatoes for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  Chop the dried tomatoes.


Butter a 9 x 13 inch casserole.  Scatter the bread evenly in the dish.  Sprinkle evenly with chopped tomatoes, goat cheese, basil, salt and pepper.  


In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.  Pour evenly over the bread mixture.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.


In the morning:
Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and uncover.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the casserole for about 40 minutes, or until the middle is cooked (test with a knife) and the casserole is browned and puffed all over.  Cut into squares.  


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