Summer's Comin!!

Last night, Hoag and I sat out in the garden chairs for a few hours admiring our new "almost summer" flowers and our veggie garden that has really begun to blossom. It's such a peaceful place

We're nearing the end of lettuce season since the heat has already made my spinach seed out and get weedy. But, there are still a few beautiful heads of Romaine left.

My tomato plants are starting to show some promise. After hot and cold and hot and cold, they are getting a little height on them and a few buds.  This little yellow flower is going to produce my favorite tomato... Cherokee Purple.. mmmmmmmm

I pulled our first beet up which Hoag promptly suggested I make a beet, bacon and goat cheese salad with.. I guess I know whats for dinner tonight!

My hummingbirds make me smile every day. I am amazed at how safe they feel to post up in my garden! They're so beautiful.

These are my Black Eyed Susans. Next to Tulips, they are my favorites. Relatives to sunflowers, happy, smiling, and yellow they brigthen up my whole garden.

With almost summer comes all the lillies you can handle. They're all just about ready but a few of the buds couldn't wait to explode.

My friendly garden kitty, Monica. She takes care of the unwanted pests for me.

Summer's comin' which means sprinkler parties, Arnold Palmers and knock out roses. "these are a few of my favorite things..."

Cowboy Mac

This is one of my favorite go to meals. It can be fancied up by changing out the cheeses (Gruyere is my fave) or simplified even more by using boxed mac and cheese!
 To start, chop up one onion, a few garlic and peppers ( and whatever else needs time to saute: I've done broccoli, asparagus and eggplant in this) and saute in a little evoo.

Add 2 lbs of ground beef.  As always, I'm cooking for three very large guys that will be working out in the hills all weekend.  If this is just for two you can easily get by with 1 lb of beef and still have a few leftovers.

While the meat is browning, get a pot of salted water boiling.

Once the meat is almost brown, add the secret ingredient --> Joe's Stuff.  This is just super seasoning that my family has always used.  You can substitute Tony's or any other grilling spice mix. I also threw a little corn in here just because I had it and it sounded yummy.

Once thats finished, push it off to the side and we'll work on the cheesy deliciousness.  This starts out like a basic Bechamel.  2 Tbsps butter melted, 2 Tbsps flour stirred in and cooked out a little and a few good glugs of milk; whole milk if you're really feeling dangerous but skim works fine.  Now the amount of milk is always something that has plagued me but for this dish, you want your Bachamel to be a little runny since we're putting in something that resembles cheese but is of no color this earth could ever create --> Velveeta.  Yum. Chop up 1/2 block ( or a little more) into little squares and melt slowly into your milky goodness.  Season with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg.

Time for assembly.  You'll want to put a little cheese sauce on the bottom of your pan to keep everything from sticking and I throw some meat mixture on there for kicks too.  After that, mix your pasta ( that I skipped about telling you to cook 1 lb of macaroni or anything cute with a hollow center and drain, so go ahead and do that :)  )  with the cheese sauce and alternate meat and pasta until your dish ( which I also forgot to tell you can be any size but I found the 9 X 12 is a good fit.)

Top with a few more slices of velveeta  another sprinkle of Joe's Stuff and cover with foil.  If your going to transport it to the hills than you're done.  If not... Then bake at 350 for 40 minutes covered, remove foil, flip on the broiler and cook until the cheesy delicious top is melted and a little bubbly.  Serve with a salad so you don't feel quite as guilty!