Family, Fun, Food and a Buzz

It is always so much fun to get our LA family together for a pool/bbq party! This year we all decided we wanted it to be super easy and as trouble-free for everyone as possible. Burgers, beans and watermelon! That's about as easy as it gets! Actually, we also had smoked links, fresh corn-on-the-cob, chips and dip, potato salad and caramelized onions, but who's keeping track. 

Wiley was the first one in the pool

Wiley and his daddy chillin'

 

Misty and Wiley

Deb and Misty

Dinner's on the grill

Successful dinner in progress

Ivan stopped long enough for a quick picture

Ice cream cone cupcakes

 

After dinner, Papa got out the clippers because Wiley B wanted a buzz cut for the summer

He might be having second thoughts

No, it's still fun

The fun is definitely over!

Cutie Pie!

Bye!

A Peek at Our Garden in July

I love this time of year when almost everything is in full bloom! 

 

 Buddy contemplating a quick dip! I have had to pull him out by his collar!

Yikes! Little black bugs. Time to spray again!

 

Of course not...Never!

There is a trellis buried under there. The raccoons and possums use it as a bridge from our roof to the fence, at night, when we are trying to sleep!

This is the first place the boys run when Papa takes them outside

This is what the Bird of Paradise looked like in July 2007 when our daughter got married in front of the fountain. They have grown more than 15 feet since then,  and you can see how wide and full they have become.

This shows how much they have grown in three years

Our first flower on one of our 25-foot+ Bird of Paradise

Plumeria

Opening soon!

Blog Surfing

This recipe from My Kitchen in Half Cups has great recipe for Cauliflower Baked: Spicy and Easy.

Anne Strawberry has suggestions on How to use all that zucchini.

How about some s'mores with out the campfire? Tablespoon has s'mores ice cream sandwiches for a summer treat. There is also a healthier version of an Italian chopped salad that you can find here. If you are looking for appetizers and snacks for your 4th of July party, you can find some here. After all the burgers and hot dogs, how about some grilled fish recipes!

Chez Pim has individual cheesecakes baked in little jars with roasted nectarines here. You could use any fresh fruit. It is a great idea. You should at least take a peek!

Kittencal's Kitchen has a recipe for making ice cream with out an ice cream maker. She uses jello as the base and flavor. If you are interested, you should check it out here. She also has a recipe for Mexi-chicken salad sandwiches.

Spiced chicken with melon salsa sounds interesting. Taste of Home has the recipe here. You will also find the top ten July 4th desserts here. This Tomato Avocado Salad looks really good. If it sounds good to you, click here. And surprise, a few more Patriotic Dessert recipes.

Angel in the Kitchen has a recipe for Grilled Corn with Garlic Butter and Parmesan that sounds really good. Check it out here. Her Grilled Flank Steak sounds really good too. You can find that here.

The Kitchen has a recipe for Quick Coconut Ice Cream that uses coconut milk, condensed milk and cream. There are also instructions on how to make roasted cherries that you can add to the ice cream.

When I saw 'One Minute Fruit Cobbler' I had to check it out! The recipe uses a cake mix and mixed fruit of your choice. It that sounds interesting check it out here on Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Cookin' Canuck has a recipe for Chicken Kebabs with pomegranate spice that would be great for the BBQ.

This recipe for Roasted Mediterranean Cauliflower looks and sounds really good. Thanks to Eating, Etc.

Shrimp in a Fiery Coconut Sauce sounds good to me! You can find the recipe here on eCurry. If you are looking for lots of curry recipes, you will find them here.

I thought this recipe from Sweet Pea's Recipes for Honey Butter is very unique. If you are interested, you can check it out here.

Recipezaar has two great groups of recipes for your 4th of July BBQ, and you can find them here and here.

I forgot how easy it is to make a meal on the BBQ. Check out Mennonite Girls Can Cook and their BBQ Casserole in a foil packet.

I couldn't resist posting these recipes for Ice Cream Sandwiches from Love and  Homemade. Tillamook Ice Cream also has a recipe for Sugar Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches here.

Who could resist Red, White and Blueberry Salad? Watermelon, Jicama and blueberries! You can find the recipe here. From Tablespoon.

Peaches and Cream Kuchen

The peaches that we have been buying at Costco the past few weeks have been amazing! They have had two varieties; fuzzy skin and fuzz-less. We have been getting the fuzz-less and they have been outstanding! They are so good, their aroma draws you to them. If a peach doesn't smell like a peach, I pass on by and let someone else buy them. If a peach is hard as a rock, I also leave it for someone else. In my experience, if it feels like a rock and smells like a rock, you just bought a box or rocks labeled "peaches," and they will most likely rot before they ripen. The best way to tell if a peach is going to taste good is if it smells good. There are always exceptions, but that hasn't been my experience.

This is a great breakfast/brunch treat that I have made often during peach season. Actually, I have served it for dessert, so you can eat it any time, day or night! It is quite easy to put together and it really doesn't have that many ingredients. The recipe says to make it with fresh, canned or frozen peaches. I have only made this with fresh peaches and I can't believe that I haven't made this in the off-season with frozen or canned. 

If you have a few extra peaches, you should try this recipe. The recipe below makes 2 pie plates. This recipe is easy to cut in half. It takes three peaches to make one pie plate. It is good served warm or cold.

Dear Hubby said I needed to show the "After" picture!

Enjoy!

Pork Verde

What do you do when you are very busy working on a large project and need to make something that you can make once and eat at least twice? I went to the freezer and pulled a boneless pork shoulder roast and covered it with a bottle of this:

I put it in a 300 degree oven and after about two hours I had this:

After some pulling it looked like this:

 There is not one speck of fat on this piece of pork

I made some Funky Refried Beans and we sat down and ate this:

It's not fillet mignon, but it was low fat, nutritious and most of all, easy! Not too bad when you don't have time to cook! The pork roast is from Costco and it comes in a two-pack in the fresh meat area. They always turn out very tender and flavorful.
 
I love it when a meal comes together without much of a plan!