Cherry Tomato Crisp

I really like Martha Stewart recipes. They are easy to follow, have few ingredients, and always delicious.

Tonight I prepared 3 of her dishes. First, was the cherry tomato crisp.
I start with a layer of tomatoes in the bottom of a casserole baking dish. The cherry tomatoes at the market were unsatisfactory so I substituted grape tomatoes.


Then I made a topping in my little food processor of 2 slices of white bread, some parsley, a 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, a chopped clove of garlic, salt pepper, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Into a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes and you get the dish pictured at the top of this blog.

The flavor of the tomatoes was strong and delicious. Mary said the dish had pisazz.

The second recipe was Zucchini with lemon and thyme.

The zucchini was cut into good size pieces, and sauteed in hot olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Fresh lemon juice and thyme was added to the dish before serving.

The third dish was sauteed chicken in mustard-cream sauce.

I seasoned the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cooked them for about 12 minutes in a large skillet. The cooked chicken was removed to a platter and kept warm.

I deglazed the skillet with a little chicken stock and whisked in 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard, 1/2 cup of heavy sweet cream, and some tarragon and cooked until thickened. Pour the juices from the chicken platter into the sauce and spoon the sauce over the chicken.

Thanks, Martha for your inspiration. It was a great meal.

Tulips for Louise

I send these tulips to my friend Louise

and her family

whose husband and father, Kimble,

is so very ill.

Spring flowers on 2 coasts

Poem by A.E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.



Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy years a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.


And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

Fifty more??

These may not be cherry trees

but aren't they lovely.

And from my friend Bob in southern California

come these beautiful images of spring.

From across the Atlantic Ocean in Spain

my friend Miguel sent this photo of
of a food display in his restaurant.

Note the bowl of vegetables.

The bowl is made of cork harvested from a tree

on his finca (farm).

Also the nice arrangement of bay leaves and rosemary

behind the food.

The stone structure behind the drape

is an original spring in this 600 year old house

built by Arabs

and which Miguel admired for years

before he acquired it and remodeled for his restaurant.

Easter Buffet Lunch

I made an appetizer of mini corn bites

(thank you, Martha Stewart)

I prepared 3 sets of flavorings

Rosemary, orange peel, and black pepper.

Carmelized onions and crisp bacon

Jalapeno peppers and white cheddar cheese.

The corn batter was made from scratch, divided into 3 portions, into which the flavorings were stirred, and then baked in mini muffin pans.


We had a pasta course of stuffed shells, meat balls, and sausages with homemade gravy (that's tomato sauce to you non-Italians).

Lamb, ham, and turkey breast.

I was asked to make roast vegetables.

One pan of mixed vegetables.



One pany of yukon gold and red bliss potatoes.

The finished dish.

Coffee and blueberry shortcake for dessert.


Mary's grandson, Dante

Ed's grandaughter, Sophie

Ed's grandson, Jonathon

Mary's grandson, Roman

with his mother, Jenn

Happy Easter