Hi, Friends!  I'm starting to feel a little Fall in the air, but I'm not quite ready for that yet! It will be nice when the temperatures cool off a little bit, though.  

I made some of my mother's vegetable soup this week because I was craving it, and it is so good.  I'm going to tell you something I probably shouldn't admit, as someone who is honing her culinary skills, but my mother's soup is cooked ground beef (I substituted ground turkey and added onion), and everything else in the soup comes from a can!  Sometimes you've just got to go simple, and I always loved it, so there's nothing wrong with that!  I love saying "my mother's vegetable soup", because I'm envious of folks who grew up with cooks in the family.  I did not, but believe me, I haven't gone hungry!

Here's another recipe for the Summer blueberries I have in the freezer.  Let's have blueberries all year round!

This is a delicious recipe that my friend, Ghee, posted on his Facebook page.  I switched up the ground beef for ground turkey, and the cheese I had on hand was American sliced cheese and shredded Mozzarella.  It's just wonderful comfort food, and I made it all pretty with chopped parsley from my herb garden!  Click on the finished dish for the recipe!

This morning I woke up early and wanted biscuits, but do you ever not make something because you just don't have the time or worse, you dread the clean-up?  No more worries!  I made these drop biscuits that were just perfect for some butter and jam!  I hardly dirtied any dishes, and they only took 12 minutes to bake.  I'm sure I will be making these more often!  I can probably make them a little prettier if I try, but they sure did taste good!  Click on the biscuits for the simple recipe!

The Hokies' first game is Labor Day night!  Woohoo!  We are playing against last year's national champions...can't wait to see what the Hokies bring this year!

Before football season and Fall officially get here, I'm getting ready for a family vacation!  I am so looking forward to family time and beach time and GREAT SEAFOOD, and beach time, and more beach time!!!  I will be sure to post pictures, you know I will!  I'll be looking for new recipes, too!

Until next time, Friends, I'm Dishing With Love!!

Denise

Hi, Friends!  It's been a few days since I've posted.  I hope you're all having a great Summer.  I haven't done much cooking at home this week, either, except for breakfast because I've been working every evening.  Here's a dinner I fixed for my sister and myself last week.  It was delicious!  Click on the casserole for the recipe!

Here's a great way to avoid an extra trip to the supermarket!  I had several food items at home but needed a recipe for something different, so I found a new recipe by googling the ingredients I had on hand.  I came up with this delicious casserole!   This recipe includes bacon, which I didn't use, because, regardless of popular opinion, everything doesn't need bacon!  I also used Panko bread crumbs because that's what I had, but next time I will use regular bread crumbs.  Panko is not for everything, either.

Here's the last of the crop of the tomatoes on Highway 53 past 140 going out of Rome.  The real feel temp outside that day we picked them was 104 degrees, but what we brought home made it worth the effort!

Here's a "memory" from Facebook that I posted a year ago August 15, so even though I haven't done much cooking recently, here's something I can share with you.  Click on the picture of the "Summer Casserole" for the recipe, and also on the cornbread for a Southern Cornbread recipe!

I had a day off from work so I rode to Columbus, Georgia with my friend Gail Reyes and my sister, Janise.  Gail leads our "Together For A Cure" Relay for Life Team that was started by her husband, June.  Here we're helping her stock up on groceries for meals we're preparing to raise money for our team and the American Cancer Society.  This has worked very well for us over the last few years!  I will be sure to post pictures of the wonderful food and if you ever get the opportunity to have Gail's food, you should take it!!

Here's the latest pictures of Sawyer with her silly daddy, Ghee, and Callie and Chloe!  Little Sawyer goes for her two week check-up this week.  Please continue to pray for her recovery and for her parents.  Hopefully I will get to see her soon! I miss her!

See you soon, Friends!  

Dished With Love!

Denise

Hi, Friends!  This past weekend our friend, Kendall, and her husband, Albert, had my sister and I and other friends over for a cookout.  They're planning excursions for a Mexican cruise they're taking in October.  That will be a lot of fun for them!

Kendall's son, Daniel, made some beautiful chicken and steak kabobs and I didn't get a picture of them or of the table before we ate.  I could really kick myself for that! The kabobs had juicy pieces of chicken breast and beef, along with beautiful red, yellow and green peppers and onions!  Those are some of my favorite things!

Here's a bowtie salad that is adapted from a recipe we did in school.  This was so good, and even enjoyed by my picky eater friend, Kendall!   The salad was a great accompaniment to the requested "Best Baked Beans Ever" dish that has already been on the blog twice, and it is a perfect side for a Summer cookout.  Or tailgate party. Or holiday party.  Yum!

Click on the picture for the recipe!

Here's something I did for myself because I had an abundance of Vidalia onions....Voila (also known as "wa-lah" in redneck country!), French for "look here, caramelized onions!"  This dish is beautiful in all the stages of cooking, especially after sampling the white wine used to deglaze the pan!  Delicious!

We ended the day by doing a little shopping.  We were in Canton with a gazillion places to shop and my sister, Janise, and friend, Fay, found some cute things for their cruise at Belk's.  I found a very inexpensive bathing suit at Ross, for a beach trip.  It was a miracle!

Earlier in the day on the road to Canton we stopped at Georgia National Cemetery.  Our friend June Reyes' grave is there.  June lost a battle with cancer last year, and he is missed greatly. The cemetery is beautiful and just leaves you in awe of all the men and women that have served our country and have passed on before us.  We enjoy a lot of freedoms that we take for granted because of the sacrifices of these servicemen and women.

This week I'll be helping open a new brick and mortar restaurant in town that evolved from a Cajun food truck!  The food is delicious, the people are great, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it.  I am about to leave my life of retired leisure behind, well, at least part-time!

Until next time, Friends,

Dished With Love, Denise