Ina Fridays -- Appetizers -- Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers with Satay Dip

Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers with Satay Dip:  scroll down for link to recipe.

Perhaps it would have been better if I'd chosen something that didn't require grilling on a day when the high was 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

                                                           
But, oh no, I had to make a grilled chicken dish.  Right oh.

Ina Fridays -- Desserts -- Ina's Outrageous Brownies with Alyce's Twists and Icing

To say that I'm well-fed is a nice way of putting things and is somewhat of an embarrassment. Dave insists I'm simply...well...maybe we needn't go into it.  Suffice it to say he doesn't complain.  (I love that man.)

I am, however, not well-fed because I stuff my face with a plethora of sweets.  At one time in my life, I ate way more sugar than now and was much thinner. What's that noise?  I can pass by cookies, pie, cake, most candy (not Hershey's kisses), and even lots of ice creams.  I cannot, however, pass by truly decadent frosted scratch brownies.  If you have made brownies out of a box -- and many people know no other brownies than these -- you need have no fear; I won't even glance up.  No matter how you doctored them. Whatever fat and dried-up chocolate they're using in those boxed mixes is not anything I'm lusting after.

Ina Fridays--Main Courses--Chicken Chili for Two

I once heard a woman say, "You can't make chili for two people."  As I began to write today, thinking about that conversation did make me do just a little bit of research...because I often make chili for one or two!

Chili is American, isn't it?  That much we think we know, but read on.  There's also the  beans or no beans dilemma.  "If you know beans about chili, you'll know there are no beans in chili," Texans say.  Minnesotans go, "Huh?"  when you quote the beans line.  Then there's the meat.  There's chili and there's chili con carne.  After a while, you start wondering what is in chili.  Today, there are as many variations as there are cook-offs, parties, and so on.  Chili is served regularly at Super Bowl, Halloween, and at neighborhood or church gatherings.  Here's an interesting bit of chili lore from whatscookingamerica.net--just for fun:

Ina Fridays -- Appetizers -- Roasted Eggplant Spread

Ina Garten's appetizers are, like all of her recipes, lovely and luscious, but while making this I kept remembering how often Ina speaks about simple, store-bought appetizers like

• olives
• nuts
• chips
• cheese

and so on. The show sometimes drives along with Ina into town to pick up the ready-to-go food and I have to admit I'm always jealous of the shops she has available.   Her point is often that if you have too many nibbles with your apertif or sparkler, you're full.  Not only that, who wants to spend not only the whole day getting ready for company, but making yet another recipe?  I not only agree with her, I follow those rules for entertaining and make things easy on myself.  I'll also admit I adore potato chips and champagne.

Ina Fridays --Desserts and "Other" Recipes -- Eli Zabar's Shortbread Cookies Three Ways

Tiny, fluted, showered in sugar:  "Sparkly, Very Sparkly Stars"

Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

Dipped in Vahlrona chocolate and topped with fleur de sel

These cookies are always on all my cookie trays in one version or another.  Each shortbread cookie is made from the same recipe, but is simply finished differently.  The recipe is Eli Zabar's  (NYC) and I took it straight from Ina Garten, who I guess took it straight from Eli, who, it appears got it from his mother!  My cookies, however, are quite different than Ina's.  Your cookies will be something else as well.  And while these are not terribly innovative or cutting edge, they are terribly delicious.  Addictive, in fact.  Just add coffee.  Just add tea.  Just add sherry.  Just add...you.

If you watch Ina regularly, you'll know she talks about Eli Zabar quite often and even has him on the show occasionally.  Eli Zabar's is a store and catering business in the Big Apple; he's a baker; he's a gardener; well just....Check him out here.   Watch Ina cook an Eli Zabar salmon recipe here. 

    These are versatile... 

Ina Fridays -- Main Courses -- Israeli Couscous & Tuna Salad

   I'm going on vacation after this post. The blog is going with me.  See you late June! 

If you weren't up for a new tuna salad, this full-of-flavor high-five salad from Ina Garten's newest book BAREFOOT CONTESSA:  FOOLPROOF; RECIPES YOU CAN TRUST, might make you change your mind.  Made from a good many pantry ingredients (canned tuna, Israeli couscous, roasted tomatoes, olive oil) plus a short list of freshly-purchased ones (oil-cured olives, lemon, herbs), this meal comes together in about fifteen easy minutes.  While the couscous cooks, you're doing a bit of chopping; by the time the couscous is done, you're mixing up and serving.

Great for a hot night on the patio, you could stir this up in the morning before the heat begins--or even the night before.  Pop it in the frig and you're all set.  Leftovers are perfect for lunches.

Ina Fridays -- Sides, Soups, and Salads-- Easy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Since I'm writing a soup cookbook, I'm always interested in soups others make.  Not only family, friends, and neighbors, but also famous cooks like Ina Garten.  If I'm home and I've been working all day, I'm in front of the tv with my feet up at 3:00 Central Time when Ina makes one of  her appearances on Food Network's Barefoot Contessa.  While doing a little background reading for this post, I discovered this on FOOD NETWORK'S "10 Things You Didn't Know about the Barefoot Contessa":