fried chicken as a salad, add a cookie for dessert

I baked this 'fried chicken' and used it as a base for a Buffalo Chicken Salad.  The chicken pieces had a bit of a hot sauce glaze that married beautifully with a blue cheese dressing.  The dessert is a giant, one-pan chocolate chip/pecan/oatmeal cookie that I cut into individual wedges.

garden produce in pizza and salad

As I made the pizza sauce, I threw in some chopped kale from the garden, I also topped the pie with some squash blossoms.  The salad is shavings of carrots and zucchini in an herb vinaigrette.

a look back at a summer menu

I started the day by making breakfast quesadillas - this one has some of our squash blossoms on it:

Dinner that evening started with crab toast appetizers, then grilled steak, creamed fresh corn, and ended with brownies and raspberries:

chipotle, cauliflower, and chops - oh my!

The appetizer is beer-battered boursin-cheese stuffed squash blossoms served over a garlic-chipotle salsa (try the one from Trader Joe's).  Then I grilled some lamb chops with a honey-chipotle glaze and they are served with Indian-spiced roasted cauliflower.

a new mouth to feed

Just 3 days old, here is a behind the scenes look at the little girl elephant born Oct. 2, 2013 at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, NM.  She is having a great time with her maternal herd - here you see big sister Daizy (4 years old) and Mom Rozie keeping an eye on the new calf.  Also hanging out, but not in this photo, is her grandmother Alice.

squash blossoms and stir fry

The summer season is over so it is fun to look back over some of our delicious summer meals - this is a look at our first squash blossoms from the garden that I fried with a tempura batter, a great accompaniment to the beef and broccoli stir fry.

salad and lasagna

I harvested some more kale and made this lemony kale salad -  a bright taste that included pistachios.  The savory vegetarian main dish was a delicious cheesy-spinach lasagna.