Some Combinations

Sandwiches

*Apricot jam/jelly and Sunflower Butter

*Grilled Pepper Jack cheese and Apricot jam/jelly 

Cookies

*Almond Butter and dried cherries

*Cashew Butter and dried apricots with apricot jelly center

Toast toppings

*Apricot jelly\jam and strawberries

Salads

*Dragon fruit, avocado, grapes with EVOO, S&P, and lemon juice

*Beets, peaches, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, coconut oil, agave nectar, S&P, and champagne vinegar

Sausage & Gravy

KFC-bought biscuits topped with sausage, onion, and country-style sauce with paprika

Dolley Madison's Recipes

We are going back in time to when Dolley Madison was First Lady of the United States. She happens to be my favorite First Lady, especially after I learned that she was quite a 'foodie' in her day. It was said that she and President Thomas Jefferson introduced ice cream to their guests when they hosted (he was a widower when he arrived at the White House, President Jefferson asked Dolley help with the social events). I found some of her own recipes (at least I think they were hers, according to their sources that seem to be legit) on the internet. 

Soft Gingerbread
Mix 1 cup molasses with 2/3 cup fresh butter. Add 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water. Sift your dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups flour, 4 teaspoons ginger, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Next pour 3/4 cup hot water which has almost reached the boiling point into the molasses mixture alternately with the flour mixture. Beat thoroughly with mixer or beater. The dough should be soft enough to pour. Bake in a shallow, well-greased baking dish in a preheated medium (350 degrees F.) oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Delicious served warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Layer Cake
Beat the whites of 8 eggs until stiff and in peaks. Put aside. Cream 1 cup butter with 2 1/2 cups sugar. Add 1 cup milk slowly, mixing well. Add 3/4 cup cornstarch and 3 cups sifted flour to the butter-egg mixture. Mix well and add 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Fold in the egg whites carefully. Bake in 4 layer pans, well-greased. Bake in a medium (350 degrees F.) oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake springs bake when touched lightly. Cool on racks and frost with Dolley Madison's Caramel

Caramel
Mix well 3 cups brown sugar, 1 cup cream, and 2 tablespoons butter. Put mixture in the top of a double boiled and cook gently for 20 minutes. Just before removing from the stove, after the caramel has thickened, add 1 teaspoon vanilla, stir constantly. Remove and cool. Fill the layers of the cake and put icing on top as well.

Source: The Food Timeline

Fig & Cheese Crostini

I had quite a lot of homemade fig jam left when I made Giada De Laurentiis' breakfast panini and was wondering what to do with it when it suddenly hit me: a crostini! Lately, The Cheese Course has been my favorite restaurant to go to where they sell lots of cheese (as well as salads, sandwiches, soups). I had tasted this cheese called cambozola- which is like brie and gorgonzola had a baby together- it's very tangy with a punch in a gut with a sweet buttery comforting taste. They also had baguettes available so I helped myself to one. I drizzled honey on the top. Delicious!

Throw-Together Breakfast

Buttered toast with tomato, avocado, mozzarella cheese & bacon with a drizzle of EVOO

French Toast topped with Honey-Strawberries

Harri's Dream Sandwich

Recently I made a grilled cheese (using Gruyere and Monterey Jack) with bacon. Harri LOVES cheese and bacon; whenever I make something with those ingredients, I'm guaranteed that I'll have a four-legged visitor looking for scraps and samples of the meal.

Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic

with toasted pine nuts

served with basil-garlic butter bread topped with parm. cheese 

 

note: technically tomatoes are a fruit, so therefore in the "tag/labels" just below, I put down fruit as well as vegetable as it's often mixed with other veggies