Ratatouille was perfected in the South of France. It was a meal designed to take advantage of the Sumer vegetables. It's easy to make and it could be served cold as well as warm. The name is derived from the French words ratouiller and tatouiller which are expressive forms of the verb touiller which means to stir up.

I can't remember where I got this recipe from so please forgive me for not giving credit where credit is do. I will say that I found this on a blog somewhere soon after watching the movie Ratatouille. I thought it would be fun to have the kids watch the movie one day and then eat Ratatouille afterwards. The kids loved it. I don't think they would have liked this dish if they hadn't watched the movie though. It was a really nice way to use up my zucchini that is so abundant right now in my kitchen.

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)

1 smallish zucchini

1 smallish yellow squash

1 longish red bell pepper

Few sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish. Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

I'm always trying to find ways to put feta cheese in my food. So when we attended a dinner party at my friend Cindy's house and she served brown rice with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and golden raisins, I thought it would taste even better with feta. I went home and started working on a recipe. I think I could have used a little more feta but the husband and kids seemed to think it turned out just fine the way it was. They aren't as big a fan of feta as I am. I had lots of leftovers which I ended up eating for lunch several days in a row.

2 cups of cooked (steamed) brown rice
3 cups cooked spinach
1 cup of finely chopped green onion
1 cup of seedless golden raisins
1/2 of sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers
5 oz. fat free feta cheese
10 tablespoons Red Wine Vinaigrette


Cook the rice and spinach separately. Set aside and let them cool once they're done. (1 cup of uncooked brown rice yields a little more than 3 cups of cooked rice) In a large bowl, combine rice, spinach, feta, raisins, sun-dried tomatoes(red peppers), green onions, making sure everything is evenly distributed. Add the red wine vinaigrette and continue to stir, ensuring even distribution.

Found this on Slashfood. Easy instructions and great taste.

1 1/4 cups water, warm (110F)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup quick-cooking (or whole) oats
2-3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until foamy. Stir in the rest of the water, honey, oats, salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour.

Using the dough hook attachment on the mixer or stirring by hand with a wooden spoon, mix the dough together. Add in the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough comes together into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

When the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured flat surface. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Let dough rise until doubled in size.

Once it has risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press into a rectangle. Divide into eight equal pieces. To shape the buns, draw up the corners of each piece of dough and pinch together, forming a tight ball. Place, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the balls about 2 inches apart so that they will gently touch as the bread rises and bakes. This gives the same "stuck together" effect as you get with the store bought rolls. Sprinkle the tops with a bit of extra oats or sesame seeds and let rise for 45 minutes, covered with a clean dishtowel, until almost doubled in size.

Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, until dark gold. The rolls will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving. The rolls will soften slightly as they sit. These can also be used for sandwiches.

Makes 8 buns.

I couldn't walk past the southern Living July issue because of the picture of blackberry cobbler on it. I picked up some blackberries the other day at the farmers market and decided to try the recipe. It was very good but my guy still likes my other cobbler better.

Preheat oven to 375

Place 4 cups fresh blackberries in a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish; sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Stir together 1 large egg, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle 6 Tbsp. melted butter over topping. Bake for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired garnish with fresh mint sprig. Makes 6 servings.

My little girls favorite pie.

1 pint strawberries, stems cut out and berries cut in half
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, rinsed, leafy ends removed, and cut into 1/2-inch slices; or tart apples, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 par-baked Flaky pie Crust

Shamey’s Crisp Topping

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 ounces (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Topping
1. Dump the flour and the brown sugar into the bowl of the food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse until they’re just integrated. Add the butter all at once, and use the pulse button to cut butter into flour. Stop pulsing when mixture is the texture of moist crumbs.
2. Remove the blade from food processor, and dump the crumbs into a big bowl. Add the oats and the nuts. Work them into the crumbs with your fingers until the topping is stuck together into big clumps. It should not be one whole ball of dough but more like . . . well, like crisp topping. Only not cooked.


1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Toss the strawberries, rhubarb, flour, sugar, and cinnamon together in a big bowl. Dump this mixture into your par-baked pie shell. Using your fingers, sprinkle Shamey’s topping over the fruit, taking care to cover its entire surface area, especially around the edges.
3. Place the pie on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until you see fruit juices bubbling up through the topping and down around the sides of the tart. You may want to place a baking sheet under the tart before you bake it to catch the spilled juices.
4. Remove the pie from the oven, and set it on a wire rack to cool slightly.

It's pumpkin time!!! The pumpkin is an amazing vegetable. It's been around for 7000 years and originated in central America but now is grown all over the world. When the early settlers were introduced to the pumpkin they used to hollow it out and fill it with milk, honey, and spices, and bake it. This was how the pumpkin pie was born. I like everything pumpkin but I really love pumpkin pancakes. I bought the halloween molds at Williams Sonoma and even though they are a pain to use they make these pancakes taste even better.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
dash of salt
2 tsps baking soda
1 cup milk
2 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sour cream

Combine all ingredients. Batter will be lumpy. Spray grill with cooking spray. Bake pancakes on grill using medium heat until bubbles rise to the surface and edges are brown. Turn and bake until golden brown. Serve with Honey-Pecan butter. Serves two.

Honey-Pecan Butter:
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup honey

Spread pecans on baking sheet and toast in 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Chop nuts in food processor or blender. Beat butter and honey together until smooth. Add pecans. Serve with Pumpkin Pancakes. Makes one cup.

Do I watch Oprah? Sometimes. I did watch it last week when she had her former personal chef Art Smith on. If it has anything to do with cooking I'll watch it. I just tried these biscuits the other night and they were good. I loved the goat cheese but I think you could use any kind of cheese.

2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cold butter
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) goat cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk
Extra butter to grease pan and top biscuits
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat your oven to 425°. Place one 10-inch cast iron pan into the oven while it is preheating. Place flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter and goat cheese. Make a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the milk. Stir until the mix is moistened, adding an extra tablespoon of milk if needed.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and place a tablespoon of butter into it. When the butter has melted, drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the pan, (use a muffin scoop to drop the batter if you have one). Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake from 14–16 minutes until browned on the top and bottom. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Enjoy warm!