Egg Salad

5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, or 1/2 teaspoon dry dill
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickles
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Sale and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and stir together until combined. Serve on toast or crackers. Or use as a filling for sandwiches.

Combine these ingredients in a medium bowl.

1 10-ounce carton grape tomatoes, cut into halves
1/2 cup whole black olives, pitted
1/2 cup red onion, diced
4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, broken into pieces
1/2 cup diced hard salami

In a small bowl combine:

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the kind in the jar for this recipe.)
1/2 tsp dry italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour this dressing over the tomato mixture and toss to combine. Can be served immediately or refrigerated up to 1 day.

This Apple Strudel recipe is one of the easiest dessert recipes I know. This recipe takes advantage of some already prepared ingredients to create an outstanding apple pastry dessert.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2 sheets frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
1 21-ounce can apple pie filling
3/4 cup prepared mincemeat filling (portion out the rest of the jar of mincemeat into plastic freezer bags and freeze for future use)

1 egg
Sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling

Lay out the sheets of puff pastry dough onto plastic wrap or parchment paper to avoid sticking. Divide the apple pie filling between the two sheets of puff pastry dough and heap into a line down the middle of the dough. Divide the mincemeat filling between the two sheets of dough and arrange along the top of the apple pie filling.

Fold the dough over the filling lengthwise and seal by applying a few drops of water to the dough. Seal the ends of the dough the same way.

Carefully flip the apple strudels over onto a greased cookie sheet. The seam side should be facing down and the sealed ends should be tucked under.

Break the egg into a small bowl and whisk vigorously with a fork to break the yolk. Use the whisked egg and brush onto the entire exposed surfaces of the apple strudel dough.

Sprinkle the apple strudel with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake for about 14 minutes or until well browned in the oven. Watch closely because it can over-brown very easily.

Remove from the oven and slice when ready to eat. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose, unbleached four
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate, melted
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1/4 cup sour cream
3 cups grated zucchini

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Place eggs in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer for about one minute. Add sugar slowly while continuing to mix on medium-low speed. Mixture will be thick and yellow. Add butter and sour cream. Next, add the melted chocolate. Mix well. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until batter is completely smooth.

Put the mixer aside and add the grated zucchini. Stir the zucchini into the batter with a large spoon until completely incorporated into the batter. The batter will be quite thick.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt cake pan.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool cake in the pan for about 5 minutes and then invert onto a cake plate. Cool completely. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

1 bunch broccoli
3 green onions, chopped
1/3 red onion, chopped
1/3 cup raisins
5 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
2 tbsp sunflower seeds

Remove stems from broccoli and put the broccoli florets into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss together.

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vinegar

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Then stir into broccoli mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour for best flavor.

Serves 4

This is the quintessential Southern pie.

Baked Buttery Crust

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) chilled butter, cut into cubes
7 tablespoons ice water, more if necessary

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Using a pastry blender, cut ingredients together to form pea sized pieces. Then add water and work gently into a stiff dough. Add more water if needed to completely moisten mixture. Do not over-mix.

Wrap pastry dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then place dough on a floured surface and roll out to about 12 inches in diameter. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie pan. Cut off the excess dough and tuck the edges under slightly. Crimp the edges between your fingers and thumb.

Place pie weights in the center of the pastry dough and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Sweet Potato Filling

1 15-oz can of sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup canned evaporated milk
2 tbsp plain flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

Mix these ingredients with a hand mixer for about 3 minutes. Once the mixture is smooth, pour into the prepared crust. Cover the edges of the crust with foil to prevent burning. Place in 375 degree oven and bake for 35 minutes or until center is set.

Cool pie completely and then chill for at least an hour. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

1 small head of green cabbage, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Combine these ingredients in a large bowl. Then mix the dressing below in a separate bowl. Toss the dressing into the slaw.

1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
2 tbsp sugar

This slaw can be eaten immediately but it tastes even better if it is allowed to chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

4 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vinegar

Simply combine all ingredients and stir. Chill for a few hours or overnight for best flavor.

Today we went to the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market at Discovery Green in Houston. I was looking forward to the market because it isn't often that I manage to make it into the city on the exact day and time that one of the farmer's markets are going on. You would think that living in a smallish town/city that we would have more access to farmer's markets but you would be wrong. We have to drive into the big city to go to the farmer's markets.

Unfortunately, there was only one farmer at the market! I asked him where the other farmers were and he said it was too hot. I will give them that it is August in Houston and about a million degrees outside, but don't they have produce to sell no matter what? Do they just let it go to waste or do they sell it to local grocery stores?

There were a few other vendors there besides the lone farmer. One of those vendors turned out to be a true gem of a food purveyor: Nisha's Quick N Ezee Indian Food. Their food was absolutely delicious. We had samples of many of their items and ended up buying several things. They told me that they will soon be opening a restaurant. I plan to keep an eye on their website for the opening of their restaurant and go there when it opens for business.

Some of the fantastic foods we got from Nisha's: Naan bread, Spinach Paratha, Pumpkin Paratha, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Mango Chutney. Honestly their Paratha is so good. Top it off with a spoonful of chutney and you are in Indian food heaven. And the Chicken Tikka Masala is perfectly spiced.

Toot's hand got in the way of the picture above but I decided to just leave it in the picture. She recently painted her fingernails orange and added little stick-on fruits from Sally Beauty Supply.

I have decided that since I write about Haagen Dazs so much, that the Haagen Dazs people need to just go ahead and hire me to eat their ice cream. Because I think they have the most delicious ice creams that are readily available in the grocery stores of this great nation. Seriously. I love that they use good ingredients. No high-fructose corn syrup for them! Their ingredient list is as simple and pared down as if you were making the ice cream at home yourself. No wacky chemical ingredients to preserve taste and shelf life, etc. Just good honest ice cream.

Which is why I find myself talking about Haagen Dazs ice cream on this website so much. I got two new-to-me flavors this week at my local grocery store. Today, let's talk about Pineapple Coconut:

Oh My Gosh! This is so good. It tastes like a pina colada. I mean just like a pina colada. It has creamy coconut ice cream with bits of pineapple. This ice cream doesn't cheat on ingredients or flavor. The Haagen Dazs ice creams are made with real cream which is what makes them so good and so creamy. I am of the opinion that if an ice cream is "low fat" or "diet", then I just don't need it. No one can ever accuse this ice cream of being low fat.

So revel in the goodness. Add this ice cream to a blender with some milk and some rum to create a grown-up milkshake.

Or make a float: pineapple soda, a shot of rum, and a big scoop of Haagen Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream.