A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Summer time is salad weather.  As the temperatures start to soar, we cool down by eating a lot more salads.  Sometimes we eat them as a main dish and other times we eat them as a side dish.   Either way, there are usually a lot of cool, fresh vegetables involved, making them both healthy and delicious.

The other day, I made my green bean Caesar salad, which is always a winner, no matter what.  It is cool, refreshing and full of flavor, not to mention very colorful.  Cool Green Bean Caesar Salad

There were plenty of leftovers, and I could have easily served it the exact same way and we would have been very happy with it.  But where’s the fun in that?  So I took the basics, and just added a few extra ingredients and changed it up a bit to make it something entirely different.

I had some leftover dressing for the salad that I mixed with some Miracle Whip, then I cooked up some bacon and pasta to turn this into the pasta salad we enjoyed as part of our 4th of July feast.  Our 4th of July Feast

I started with one salad and we enjoyed it two completely different ways.  I love it when I can changes things around like this.  It makes things so much more interesting and fun.  🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

We thought we were being smart today and went on our walk-about before it got too hot outside.  Which means we took Vinnie on a longer walk too.  We tried to beat the beat, but we were still a bit too late.  It was still pretty hot out, and is going to get even hotter still.  But as always, we made the most of it and saw lots of our friendly “neighbors” who were also out before it got too hot.

The prairie dogs checking everything out.

A turtle our for a leisurely swim.

A swallow perched high above the world.

An egret dancing on the water.

And not one,

Not 2,

But 3 cormorants.  I have never seen 3 together before.  I always thought they were a bit on the solitary side.  I learn something new everyday.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

Our 4th of July celebrations were small and low key, probably like most everyone’s this year.  We celebrated with Janet and Bob, and even though it was just the four of us, we had enough food to feed a small army, which is usually the case anyway.   Our feast was a combined effort.  Janet made the salad, the potatoes and the cherry pie (the cherries were from her tree) for dessert and I made the BBQ sauce for the meats and the pasta salad, but the meats were all Larry.  I’ve trained him well.

Once again, Larry pulled out the smoker and filled it full of meat.  He smoked brisket, ribs and turkey.  The smoker was completely full, with about 30 lbs of meat.  He is becoming quite the smoker.  It took a few tries, but now he seems to be mastering it quite well.

He started with the beef brisket, coating it with salt, pepper and garlic salt, then smoked it for about 8 hours.

Next came the turkey, that he coated with a Cajun rub that I found the recipe for.  He put that on the smoker for about 4 hours.

The last thing to go in the smoker were the ribs, that he smoked for about 2-3 hours.

And the end results …..  We all agreed, everything came out just perfect.  Larry did a really great job with all the meats.

The brisket.

He cut off the tips to make burnt ends that he coated with my homemade BBQ sauce.

The turkey.

Everything comes together to make the feast.

The meal was made complete by Janet’s fresh cherry pie and a cuppa.

We were going to play a friendly game of Farkle too, but the fireworks were loudly being fired off, and we had to make it back home before Vinnie had a nervous breakdown.  For being such a big boy, he is really very scared of loud noises.  The game of Farkle will just have to wait for another day.

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday.   Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

The bald eagle is the symbol of America.  The bald eagle was chosen to represent the United States because it is unique to North America, making it ‘our’ eagle; it is strong and independent; it is a survivor. It is  majestic, bold, and faithful. It is a symbol of strength and determination.  The bald eagle represents the principals our country was founded on.  The American people ARE the bald eagle and the bald eagle is us and is the USA.  May the eagle always fly majestically, proud and free.

Happy 244th Birthday America and MANY, MANY MORE to come.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

My blogging buddy Rory over at

is always so good about brightening up everyone’s day.  He is NEVER shy when it comes to “Gifting the Compliment” to others.  Click onto the link below to see who his latest compliments go to.  You might recognize a few names.  If not, then at the very least, you will be introduced to some new blogs and some great stuff.  I will give you a hint ….. Thank you Rory!

Gifting the Compliment

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  This day is a BIG day for Americans.  We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.  The American flag is red, white and blue.  The colors were chosen to represent valor (red), liberty and purity (white), and justice and loyalty (blue).  The stripes represent the original 13 colonies that became the original 13 states.  The stars represent each state of these 50 United States we call America.  Our flag is so important that its history tells the story of America itself. It represents the freedom, dignity, and true meaning of being an American.

Sadly, this year, our big birthday bash will not be celebrated as it usually is.  But we Americans are still showing our love and support for our big day by proudly displaying our stars and stripes.  These are the flags I saw on our latest walk-about.

We proudly display our flag too.  We’ve raised “our kids” right too.  Lucie and Vinnie are proud, patriotic Americans as well.

Happy Birthday to the land I love.  Happy Birthday America.  May this beautiful flag FOREVER wave!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  Have a happy, safe 4th of July.  ‘Til next time.

You all know I can cook ANYTHING.  I can cook the fancy foods with flair, but I can also cook the simple foods that are fun.  In the summer, I tend to cook more fun, simple foods than fancy foods.  I want to enjoy the summer too.  Usually, I am in the pool, swimming my arms off, but not this year (all the pools are STILL closed), so I just don’t have the time or the desire to be in the kitchen all day when I would rather be outside and in the water.

We had some Italian sausages down so I thought I would dress them up a bit, and make them a little more fun.  This recipe could not be any easier to make and only requires a few simple, everyday ingredients.

As you know, I am the wine aficionado.  The Mountain Dew is all Larry’s.   I guess I didn’t do such a good job of getting it out of the picture this time.  🙂  We fried up some French fries and I made a cool green bean and tomato salad to go with our Italian sausage wraps with some marinara sauce on the side for a perfect, easy-peasy summer meal.

You can use any kind of sausage links and cheese you like, I just happened to have hot Italian sausage links down.  Larry likes cheddar and I prefer Mozzarella.

Italian Sausage Wraps

1 package ready made crescent rolls

Italian sausage links, or your choice of sausage links

cheese of your choice

marinara sauce

Cook your sausages first and let them cool.  Separate the crescent rolls and flatten them out with your fingers on a lightly floured surface.  Place the cooked sausage onto the wide end of the crescent and roll it up, making sure to cover as much of the sausage link as possible.

Preheat the oven to 350* F of 180* C.

When the sausages are all rolled up, add the cheese on top.  Lightly press the cheese into the dough.  Place them on a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.

Serve these sausage wraps with your favorite side dishes and some warmed marinara sauce on the side, and sit back and relax.  Dinner is done.  Enjoy!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

My camera and I are very close, intimate friends.  We go walking together all the time.  My camera is an extra set of eyes that often sees things I would not see.  It certainly makes me look and notice things in a completely different way.  This time, we were looking at more flowers.  There were so many brightly colored flowers to see, both common and exotic.  They all shine in their bright beautiful colors.

Look closely.  Do you see the bee?

Roses on the run.

Lilies and exotics in all shades of orange and red.

Life is colorful.  Enjoy all the colors of life.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

The other day when I made my strawberry jalapeno salad/salsa, Strawberry Jalapeno Salad I enjoyed it so much as a side dish, that I decided to have it again.  This time, however, I made it as the main attraction.  It was so cool and refreshing, especially with a cool, crisp white blend on the side.

To transform the salad into a main meal, I added fresh spinach, red onion slices, cucumber slices and red bell pepper slices, then topped it all with sliced chicken breast.  It’s cool, easy and very refreshing, especially with a lime vinaigrette.

Lime Vinaigrette

1-2 TBSP honey

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup lime juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1-2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Combine everything together and mix well.  Top or toss your strawberry chicken salad with it right before serving.

For the finishing touches, I added some toasted almond slivers and sliced green onions on top of the sliced chicken breast.

This quick and easy salad is definitely a delicious way to cool down on those days when the temperatures are really soaring.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.