Kim & Molly: Penne with pesto and fresh berry pie

Molly and Colin make dinner, penne with pesto, for 6 adults at a north woods cabin. Kim improvises a berry pie - blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. 

Kim & Molly: Greek Salad

Another hot day so no cooking, but a chance to use some herbs from the garden - oregano and parsley. The tomatoes are not yet from the garden but some may be ready before long. Hummus on pita bread and homemade lemonade rounded out this meal. No oven needed!

Molly: Martha Stewart salad and homemade bread

Ate this ages ago, but then went out of town and didn't get a chance to post it until now.

Kim & Molly: No-cook dinner on the deck

Back again. Too hot to cook so we raided the fridge for cheese, salami, pea pods, tomatoes, and Swiss chard. Good thing we didn't have to turn on the oven. 

Kim & Molly: Black Sheep Pizza

After a visit to the 1964 exhibit at the Walker, it was time for bite at Black Sheep Pizza in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Ours had kalamata olives, goat cheese, oyster mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes. Nice crunchy crust, but we were a little disappointed by a lack of pizzazz.

Molly: Breakfast burger

The Breakfast Blucy at the Blue Door Pub (complete with fried egg and bacon). Once I try all ten blucys at the Blue Door, I get a free t-shirt! I'm two away...

Kim: BBQ Shrimp

This is stovetop bbq shrimp courtesy Coastal Seafoods. Now that the herbs are growing like weeds (all that recent rain), it's easy to make with fresh herbs.

Kim: Korean pancake

Scallion, mushroom, shrimp pancake with dipping sauce and cilantro. Adapted from a recipe in Saveur magazine that uses fresh seafood. Too expensive and involved so I made it mostly vegetarian.

Kim & Molly: Focaccia

Wednesday, June 2
Breadsmith makes a tasty focaccia with tomatoes, onions, and basil. We added a little feta before we heated it in a 350 oven. 

Kim: Sweet cherries

I could eat a whole pound of cherries in one sitting. I really had sausages again with beans and waffle fries because these cherries didn't last more than twenty-four hours.

Kim and Molly: something...

 I've been falling behind with this. So now I don't remember what this is. I do remember that it was good, though, and that it was kind of stir-fry-ish.

Kim (and Dee): Mushroom crostini, grilled vegetable salad, & garlic shrimp

A little work on Memorial Day weekend followed by six hours of preparing and eating a meal!

Kim & Molly: Flank steak and more

Spring dinner outside before a 99ers gig. Flank steak marinade was the best we've had: soy sauce, olive oil, lots of garlic and rosemary, honey. Broad beans/favas were a little tough, but chilled with olive oil and a little parmesan put them in the right direction, left over potato salad, grilled mushrooms, bread and cheese - not just any cheese, Spanish manchego. 

Kim: Soft shell crab sandwich

A sunny, warm late spring evening at Minnehaha Falls. We arrived at Sea Salt Eatery before the crowds (that means before 6PM!). You don't really need the bun on the soft shell crab sandwich. The fried crabs drizzled with a bit of sauce and the cole slaw are enough. Washed it down with a very dry Spanish Reborado - was that the name of it? That really hit the spot.

Kim & Molly: Sausages

Bangers and (not mash)... German potato salad made with cider vinegar cuts through the fattiness of the sausages. 

Kim: Tomato salad

It's summer: warm and humid! Time for a tomato salad with the basil that is now growing in the garden. A little olive oil and black pepper - voila!

Kim: Dinner with friends

Saturday night dinner with friends. We all brought something - guacamole, salsa, and chips, 

Caesar salad, peach pie and the hosts made grilled flank steak with blue cheese potato salad. 

The first gin and tonics of the season started off the evening. Vin de pays d'Herault with the flank steak, liqueurs and coffee to finish. How did I get home in one piece?

Kim & Molly: Punch pizza

Dinner for the roadies before a 99ers gig - pizza from Punch - Siciliana, Napoli with garlic, olives & feta, Margherita + two kinds of salad. A glass of Valpolicella and we are satisfied.

Kim & Molly: Chicken curry

Not a bad curry even tho' I ran out of curry powder. A Thai recipe so it has coconut milk.

Kim: Guacamole & cheese quesadilla

It's much harder to keep this going daily than I thought it would be. And it's really hard to have something different to eat every night. Sometimes I'm just too tired or busy to be original.


Having said that, the guacamole I've been making since a trip to Mexico has been simpler and fresher than my previous version: lots of lime juice and chile powder and chopped cilantro in the mashed avocado. That's it!

Molly and Kim: wedding food

Went to a wedding yesterday. Ate little appetizer things and these cupcakes!

Molly: carp sandwich

I didn't eat this today. This was while I was in Chicago this past weekend. I've never had carp before and, alas, I wasn't too impressed by this. Kind of bland. Got it at Heartland Cafe.

Kim & Molly: BAT Sandwich

Hmmmm... Didn't have any lettuce but avocado is better. Tomatoes are starting to get good. These were bigger than cherry tomatoes but smaller than regular ones. On toasted Rustica multigrain. Love that loaf!

Kim: Pesto & Walnut Risotto

I was thinking of making this for a crowd when we host my niece's post-wedding lunch, but have opted for something less filling to serve with the lasagna. But I made enough to have for leftovers. I think it needs more pesto to get that green sheen and a bit of salt (low sodium stock may be good for you but it leaves the risotto a little bland). The recipe is from the Silver Palate gals - The New Basics Cookbook - which I don't use a lot because the recipes can be rather time consuming. Risotto always takes time but it's easy.

Molly: deep dish pizza with mushrooms and spinach

I was in Chicago this past weekend. This is something I ate. Deep dish pizza from Pequod's Pizza. I could only handle one piece.

Kim: Scallops

Scallops (fresh from Coastal), lemon juice, fresh sage (because it's already a bush in my herb garden) in a little olive oil. I forgot to take a photo. I promise it won't happen again.

Kim: Meat & Two Veg

Roast beef (from Kowalski's), mashed potatoes and carrots. Very Anglo-American and comfort food on a cold and rainy day.

Kim: Chicken Kabobs

Saturday, May 8: People came over for dinner tonight. We served chicken kabobs, a corn and black bean salad and peach blackberry cobbler for dessert (peaches still left over from the flats of Colorados purchased last fall and frozen - good for pastries, but not much else). 

Kim Bread & cheese

Friday, May 7: Sometimes a slice of crusty multigrain Rustica and a few bits of flavorful cheese is all you need for dinner.

Molly: chicken and wild rice soup

From Kowalski's (a super market that always makes me think of A Streetcar Named Desire).

Kim: Goat cheese and aparagus

Finally caught up. Here's today's dinner. Fresh asparagus with butter, lemon juice and sea salt accompanied by goat cheese on Rustica multigrain bread. Simple but delicious. 

Kim: Chicken Pesto Open-faced Sandwich

May 4 - That pesto again! This time on peasant bread with slices of chicken breast. Yellow tomatoes on the side.

Kim: Bucatini Bolognese

May 3 - Anniversary dinner at Cheeky Monkey Deli. I had fat spaghetti with an aromatic, gamey bolognese sauce topped with bacon and a lovely glass of Merlot.

Molly: cold Punch pizza

Might not look as appetizing as it was. But trust me, it was delicious. Get your own here.

Molly: gnocchi with gorgonzola

I improvised by letting butter melt on my hot gnocchi and then mixing in blue cheese that likewise melted. Yummy. That was last night. Tonight I was at work again and had nothing special (sandwich, snickers, the usual).

Kim: Strawberries in yogurt

Not very hungry after a late afternoon stop at the Birchwood Cafe for peach/cherry cobbler and tea.

Molly and Kim: Shrimp, edamame, chips, avocado

So colorful!

Kim: Le popcorn et un film

Monsieur Ibrahim with Omar Shariff - just like at the movies

Molly: Vietnamese fish

The fish special at Ngon Vietnamese Bistro (I can't remember what fish it was) with coconut rice and asparagus. I'm not a huge fish eater, but I ate every last bite. It was amazing.

Kim: Pesto Walleye

Looking for ways to use that pot of pesto from last summer 

(with rosemary sweet potatoes and grilled peppers)

Molly and Kim: Asparagus and eggs

We had Midnight Asparagus with Creamy Eggs for dinner. The recipe came from The Splendid Table (click the "read more" link below).

Molly: Chicken pie

Copying Mommy.

Kim: Potato Gnocchi

The penultimate pot of pesto (from summer 2009) went on my potato gnocchi. The pears were juicy; the tomatoes so-so.

Molly: PB & J

Worked tonight until late so I brought a pack lunch: PB & J, corn chips, garbanzo bean dip. I can't even remember the last time I had PB & J. I eat a lot of PB, but decided to spice it up tonight with the J. It's going to be hard to make this work posts interesting-looking, because I am very uncreative when it comes to pack lunches. (Notice my cool lunchbox in the background with the picture of a laughing sun.)

Kim: Chicken Pie

There's no one here. I'm all alone. Leftovers - homemade chicken pie and 2/5 of my daily five.

Kim: Pizza

Macalester paid for the pizza while I made phone calls to get people to attend the reunion in June. Mmmm... looks bloody good, no?