Wednesday, June 13, 2012

quick summer dishes

Last night I spent the evening with five of my favorite girlfriends...
 from high school! 
A miracle we've all stayed in touch, especially if you knew how long ago we graduated!
We always vow to get together more often, life gets in the way and sadly it had been a year.
One year we all drove to Santa Fe for a long weekend to celebrate a significant decade,
 we were reminiscing last night and said the 6 hour drive seemed like 15 minutes!

Anyway, I thought I'd share my favorite quick and easy summer dishes to take to a
 get-together. I offered to bring an appetizer and dessert.

Bruschetta


Not really much of a recipe, just fresh and simple.
Chop tomatoes, add sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste, add a couple tablespoons
of balsamic vinegar.
I like a loaf of rustic bread, baste slices with olive oil and grill for a few minutes.
Let guests serve themselves, top the grilled bread with a spoonful of tomatoes,
shaved pecorino romano and fresh basil leaves.


Key Lime Pie


I use the simple recipe from Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice
found here.  It has three ingredients! You mix together and pour into your crust.
I add a couple of drops of green food coloring for a prettier color.

The key :) to making this a great pie is a homemade graham cracker crust!
I use this basic recipe here.

My friend, Vanda, the gourmet cook of our group, is one of the authors of this
 cookbook released  in April. You might recognize their previous editions,
  Don't Panic It's in the Freezer & Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer
 you can find them here.
She even included one of my recipes in this one, but I'm saving it to share in the fall.



My sweet blogging friend, Lisa @ Shine your Light, just happened to have a great
 post today on freezing food and saving money. It inspired me to check my freezer
 for dinner tonight.


Here's to old girlfriends and simple recipes... :)



14 comments:

Dana Frieling said...

It says a lot about you that you still have friends from High School! I'd be willing to bet that you're the glue that holds everyone together.

Anonymous said...

Bruschetta is one of my favourites. Last year a friend and I went to Sicily and found a lovely little bar that sold the most delicious bruschetta. I think we had lunch there most days!

Suzy www.savedbysuzy.blogspot.com said...

I agree, old friends are the best! I think it makes me feel young again to remember the good old days. I love that key lime pie...my mom makes the same recipe.

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Key Lime Pie...my favorite and Nellie and Joes is the best!....Great ideas for summer!

Sew a Fine Seam said...

Yum. I'd serve that for dinner at least once a week if I could get away with it! Alas my kids SO do not know what is really good food!

Nicole {Appalachian Charm} said...

That is so neat how y'all have stayed in touch!! I always like to keep new fast recipes stashed away when I have cookers block.

designchic said...

Nothing quite like an old friend...can't wait to try the key lime pie!!

L o v e l y t h i n g s said...

Your key lime pie looks amazing...I use the same recipe for the key lime, but your crust makes it look so much better and I'm sure it tastes delicious. Also, love that photo of the bread on the grill!
annie

Leslie said...

That key lime pie looks so refreshing and perfect for summer. Glad you are staying in touch with your friends. Sounds like a wonderful visit!

Kristen {a little ditty} said...

Sounds like a fun night! I love bruschetta, just looking at your picture was making my mouth water!

Unknown said...

You are an amazing hostess and cook. Your ideas are fresh and seem effortless on your part. Im so glad you had fun with the girls..it is an important part of our lives!
Nancy
powellbrowerhome.com

Holly Gruszka said...

Big cheers for both! It's great that you have stayed in touch with your high school friends. I'm still great friends with my hs girls but we don't get together as often as we'd like to either. Holidays and maybe 1 or 2 other times a year. The bruschetta looks so good and is a favorite of mine. And we just took my niece to The Cheesecake Factory last week for her birthday (her pick) and I got the key lime pie cheesecake. It was delicious - nothing beats that graham crust.

Lisa @ Shine Your Light said...

You are so sweet - thanks for the shout out! Dinner with your high school friends …. how fun! I have to check out these cookbooks. How exciting that one of your recipes is included in one!

Lori said...

My mouth is watering. Your photo styling on this post is beautiful! Cookbook worthy

Post a Comment

When you leave a comment whether simple or detailed, it brightens my day!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Pin It button on image hover