A Cake, A Pie, And A Sunflower!

There are so many wonderful things about Summer!  100 degree temperature days are not the wonderful part, but what goes with them is pretty great. That would include sunflowers, tomato plants, blueberry plants, and many other beautiful, living, breathing things.

Here are the latest picture of my sunflower, and it's getting so pretty.  This was a gift from my friend, Patricia.  There's my chocolate cherry tomato plant from my friend, Renee, that has so far grown one chocolate cherry looking tomato, and it was very tasty.  It has many green tomatoes on it.  I call it Audrey 3 because it grew so big in a short period of time!  And then there's my kitchen window herb garden, and the herbs I bought from Walmart.  They are very pretty and my kitchen smells really good!

So what can you do with an abundance of Summer tomatoes, besides salsa, that is? Tomato pie, with basil grown in your very own kitchen window!  This pie is delicious.  I will admit, though, with all due respect to the tomatoes, the cheese is my favorite player in this dish! Next time I make them I believe I will leave the mayonnaise out, or at least part of it. I didn't like all of the mayo.  Click on the picture of the pies for the recipe!

Then there are the blueberries!  I've always said I didn't like baking because it's so precise, and I'm not, but I understand why people enjoy it when they yield the beautiful and tasty results of baking! It's so much fun to see what comes of putting all of the ingredients together, and then eating it, especially when it turns out as pretty and delicious as this blueberry-lemon bundt cake.  Even more fun is sharing it with family and friends!  One day I'm going to attempt a layer cake, which I haven't done since culinary school. 

I started to make this cake with Splenda, but before I finished mixing it with the butter and eggs it started looking a little lumpy instead of fluffy so I started over with real sugar.  If anyone has any experience in baking with Splenda, please share with me!

Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake! Yum!

Well, this has been an eventful week.  I did some doggie/housesitting for some new friends, Jazz and Mattie Belle.  Their pictures are in the slideshow on the upper right part of this page,   Doggie sitting has some major perks, like relaxing at the pool while working! That was a lot of fun!

Random Picture - Spaghetti for Dinner!

P.S.  I saw this on Twitter after I published today's blog and got VERY excited!  I LOVE college football!  Woohoo!!

My little friend, Sawyer, to whom this blog is dedicated and who was born the day this blog was born, is successfully recovering from heart surgery this week.  She and her parents have been through a lot the last few weeks but the outcome now looks sunny, thanks to our good and faithful Lord Jesus Christ and prayers from a lot of wonderful people!  I hope I will be able to get new pictures of Sawyer to post soon!  Isn't that a beautiful face!!

This upcoming weekend I'm going to a cookout with friends while they plan a cruise in October.  My sister has requested the baked beans, I'll be making a cake, and I'll be doing a bow-tie pasta salad that we did in school that's a big hit.  

Stay cool, Friends, it's hot outside!  Until next time,

Dished With Love, Denise

I got a part-time job as a prep cook (my favorite thing to do) at a new restaurant in town and we may start training next week, but the restaurant is not ready yet.  I'm excited to work with some good people and use my skills that I learned in school, and I'm excited to keep learning!

I have been a fan of Beamer Ball since my friend Lynette's son played for the Hokies in college for the 2005-2009 seasons!  Great team!  But, I'm from Georgia, so I have to love the SEC, too, except for the Florida Gators!  Can't wait until football season! Now that's about friends, food and fun!!