Lemon-Limeade

I found myself wanting to make lemonade, but I was short of lemons. Limes, however, had been on sale 8/$1.00 this week, and I had bought extra limes for the express purpose of putting them down the garbage disposal (at 12 cents a lime I can afford that luxury!). But on a whim I decided to go halfsies on lemons and limes in the traditional lemonade recipe. The end result was actually quite delicious.

1.5 cups granulated sugar
8 cups of water, divided into 7c and 1c
1.5 cups lemon or lime juice (for me it took 3 large lemons and 4 large limes, squeezed)

-Combine granulated sugar and 1 cup of water, boil until dissolved, to form a simple syrup. Refridgerate till cool.
-Squeeze lemons and limes, discard seeds but keep the pulp.
-Combine lemon-lime juice with 7 cups remaining chilled water.
-Slowly stir in sugar syrup, reserving the last 1/4 cup and adding to taste.
-Garnish with lemon rinds and enjoy.

Fresh Croutons

Even a simple everyday salad can be punched up by quick and easy homemade croutons. An excellent use of leftover bread, these little toasty pieces can be stored in an airtight container for several weeks. Use a smattering of your favorite herbs and spices - fresh chives baked with the croutons are great in the summer, dried basil and oregano are good compliments for a salad with an italian meal, or even rosemary and dried sage taste good, particularly on wheat bread. Virtually any type of old bread will do, these were made from leftover slightly stale potato rolls.

- Slice your bread or rolls as normal, butter one side.
- Cut into squares or small pieces (they do not have to be regular)
- Toss the squares in a large plastic bag; I usually use the bread bag itself.
-Add generous amounts of your choice of spices - a good basic formula is 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried parsley, cracked pepper and coarse salt. Toss and shake the bread and spices in the bag until all are evenly coated.
- Spread evenly on a baking sheet, bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, or until croutons are toasty. Be careful, one they start to burn it only takes 20 seconds or so before they become completely unusable!

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks or so. Add them liberally to soups and salads for an extra punch of flavor.

Tri Color Pasta Salad

What is better in the heat of summer than pasta salad. Ice cream, maybe? But that's not appropriate for dinner. You can make a great pasta salad by just cooking tri-color pasta, draining and rinsing, and then tossing it with halved cherry tomatoes and diced bell peppers. A bit of fresh coarsly grated parmesan finishes it off. Top with any thick dressing - I use homemade balsamic vinagrette that I pop in the freezer for a few minutes to chill and thicken. I find it much better to dress individual portions right before eating, that helps to avoid the oily slimy pasta salad fate that so many people suffer at BBQs.

Fish Cakes

These delicious fish cakes are a good way to use any sort of white fish - the original recipe called for catfish, but I used haddock instead. They are most and flaky. Although the original recipe called for them to be panfried in oil, I just lightly seared both sides and around the edge (using 2 pairs of tongs to keep the cake held together, it was a tricky task) and then baked them in the oven to finish them off. It would have been hard to successfully pan fry such a thick cake, I think those in the original recipe were meant to be thinner. But I prefer a hearty and thick fish cake myself.

• 1 pound catfish fillets (or any white flaky fish, or even a combo of leftovers)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon mayo or Miracle Whip
  
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning TM, or to taste
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely crushed buttery round crackers
• 1 egg
• 1 cup canola oil (for frying)

1. Place catfish in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until fish flakes easily with a fork. Drain off water, and mash up the fish. Stir in the onion, mustard, salad dressing, Old Bay™, cracker crumbs and egg. Mix until evenly blended. Shape into patties or cakes. (You can even mold them in cupcake pans for smaller cakes)
   
2. Fry in oil, or pan fry just the sides, or bake in the oven at 325 degrees until desirably browned (15 mins or so). Cooking time is not of the utmost importance, as the fish was cooked to begin with.
   
3. Serve with spicy mayo or aioli! Or just plain tartar sauce

4th of July Cupcakes

These cupcakes were for a picnic on the (rainy) 4th of July this year. But even if we had to sit inside, the cupcakes were delicious! All the fruit is local and fresh, from a farmers market.

Strawberries are juicy and they will leak if you slice them and put them directly on the cake - but if you slice them, fan them out, and then pat and press thoroughly with a paper towel - they will drip signifigantly less.

When baking cupcakes I am a big proponent of omitting traditional cupcake wrappers - they do not allow the cake to form a pleasing outside crust. Cupcake wrappers may be great for containing the cake and making easy transport, but they yield a mushy, gummy edge when unwrapped, which even for the best cake recipe does not do any favors. I find it much more pleasing to grease the cupcake tins thoroughly and put the batter in directly. Give it a try and I think you'll find the taste and texture well worth the extra washing and greasing of pans.