Recipe for Asparagus and Fresh Mozzarella Frittata with Parmesan and Chives

Since I've been raving about how much I love the Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella Pearls I found at Costco, I thought I'd show you one more thing I made with them, plus some asparagus tips my sister Pam gave me. (Thanks Pam!) If you're one of the people who commented you can't find the fresh mozzarella pearls, this recipe is one where you could substitute regular grated mozzarella, but the fresh mozzarella was wonderful melted into eggs like this. I also loved the fresh chives, which are flourishing in my garden this year, but sliced green onions would work too.

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella Pearls

You can tell how much I've been loving these fresh mozzarella "pearls" by Bel Gioioso from Costco, because I actually used a part of this container before I remembered I wanted to take a photo for the blog. I guess the fact I couldn't wait to eat some is proof enough that I'm endorsing these as one of my Kalyn's Kitchen Picks, the feature where I rave about products I'd happily buy over and over. At $3.59 for a one-pound container at my Costco, these are a great buy, with a mild, creamy flavor that just says summer to me.

Friday Night Photos: House Renovations v. 2.1.7 (Paint, Steps, Sprinklers, and a Garden Path)

There've been a lot of exciting additions to the house renovations since the last update, but I decided to start with the front steps, because after months and months of plywood steps, I'm so happy to have real steps again. There are even flowers that survived by the front porch, and today I planted a few things to fill in by the steps, hence the garden clogs in the photo.

Recipe for Parsley Hummus with Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Hummus is one of those foods I'd never get tired of eating. I'm pretty sure this particular version of hummus with lots of parsley, tahini, sesame oil, cumin, and lemon juice wouldn't be a hit with everyone, but if you like parsley and enjoy middle eastern flavors, you might love it like I did. If you have friends who like interesting flavors, make this and ask them what the seasonings are, and I doubt they'll be able to guess.

Recipe for Onion Gratin with Rosemary and Thyme

Creamed Onions was one of the dishes my family used to consider a "must have" for Thanksgiving dinner, and I started thinking about them recently when it rained for days and I had a ten pound sack of Vidalia onions to use up. I knew I'd have to get creative, since the old family version had butter, cream, and lots of full-fat cheese. Then I remembered the Broccoli Gratin I made for Thanksgiving this year, and I experimented using that topping on roasted onions. When I shared it with the guys working on my house and my contractor's teenage son Scott said, "I don't like onions, but that was good!" I knew we had a winner. If it's cold and rainy where you are, this is a great reason to heat up the oven.

Recipe Favorites: Easy Strawberries Romanoff

(Updated and added to Recipe Favorites June 2009) I keep noticing ripe juicy strawberries every time I go to the market, so I decided it's time Strawberries Romanoff gets featured as one of my Recipe Favorites. I learned to make this in college, when I worked at a French restaurant in Salt Lake called Le Parisien. The restaurant closed in 2001, but I have great food memories of the place, and Strawberries Romanoff was one of their signature desserts. The restaurant served the strawberries with small bowls of sour cream and brown sugar for dipping, but through the years I developed a preference for whisking the brown sugar and sour cream together and mixing it with the cut strawberries. Now that I'm not eating much sugar, I make this with a little Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, a product that's a mixture of Splenda and brown sugar. Of course you can also use regular brown sugar. Make this soon, while you can still get those ripe juicy strawberries that taste so good this time of year.

Friday Night Photos: 2009 Garden Update #4 - Little Tomatoes, Veggies, and Herbs

I believe there are lessons everywhere you turn in life, and right now perhaps my garden is trying to teach me that the cycle of life continues no matter what, because the garden is thriving, even though I've been doing a lot of house organizing and cleaning and not much gardening. Not only that, the weather in Utah has been rainy for days on end, but the plants seem to be loving it. Above are my first tomatoes of the year, baby Celebrity tomatoes about as big as a small grape. They aren't heirlooms, but year after year Celebrity has been a good producing tomato for me.

Recipe for Marinated Fresh Mozzarella with Herbs

This tasty mixture of mini mozzarella balls and fresh herbs might be the easiest appetizer you've ever whipped up, and I'm guessing it will impress your friends. After I discovered mozzarella pearls at Costco and made Tomato, Olive, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad, I heard from a lot of readers who loved the idea of the little balls of fresh mozzarella. I thought it might be fun to try another way to use them, and this recipe is adapted from one I found in How to Cook Everything. I used mostly basil, with just a tiny bit of oregano, but I'm thinking mint would be great in this, and in fact you could probably use any type of fresh herbs that appeal to you. (Edit: Thanks to Joanne from Eats Well with Others who tells me this is called Bocconicina which means "little balls" in Italian.)

Recipe Favorites: Blue Cheese Coleslaw

(Updated and added to Recipe Favorites, June 2009.) I'm a huge fan of coleslaw, and this version with a bit of crumbled blue cheese in the dressing is unique enough to be really interesting. Blue cheese is high in fat, so I cut down the amount of blue cheese quite a bit when I adapted this recipe, and reduced it even more for this updated version, but it takes only a small amount to give this coleslaw a lot of blue cheese flavor. I've made this quite a few times since I first posted it in 2005, so I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to update this recipe with a photo, but finally this recipe is getting the spot it deserves in recipe favorites!

Recipe for Tomato, Olive, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

This is the perfect salad to make when it's fresh tomato season and your garden is bursting with tomatoes and fresh basil. However it can also have mood-enhancing properties if it's a very rainy first week of summer where you live, even if you have to buy tomatoes from Costco and it takes every basil leaf you can manage to snip from your puny plants. I have to confess though, it was the adorable mozzarella pearls made by Bel Gioisio Cheese I found at Costco that really inspired this salad. If you're not familiar with fresh mozzarella, it's a very soft cheese that comes packed in brine. The "pearls" are tiny pieces about the size of marbles, and they were delicious with the tomatoes and fresh basil.

Friday Night Photos: House Renovations v. 2.1.6 (Sidewalks, Decks, Blinds, and a Real Office!)

Today marks seven months since I started my house renovations. Of course things take a bit longer when you change the plan in the middle and decide to tear off your teeny-tiny office and add a big new part on to the back of your house. I won't say I haven't ever been discouraged, but mostly I've been feeling grateful, and all day today I've been looking around thinking, "I can't believe I live here." There are a lot of photos this time, since I'm trying to keep a record and there's been a lot of progress. I'm starting with something very hard to photograph, but I wanted to show the blinds on my back door which make it so I can turn around and see my garden while I'm at the desk. The other window shows the Hunter-Douglas blinds, which are turning out to be great for photos.

Greek-Seasoned Grilled Pork Chops Recipe with Lemon and Oregano

All year I wait for grilling season, so I'm trying to be patient about the fact that it's June and my grill is still packed away in the neighbor's garage, where it's been for quite a while! I guess not having a grill is making me think about things I'd *like* to be grilling, and the thought of grilled pork chops with a marinade similar to Souvlaki popped into my head last week. Luckily I have a stove-top grill pan, as well as a George Foreman grill, and I've now tried this recipe using both of those. If you like Souvlaki but want an easier version, you'll love these pork chops.

Recipe for Baked Lemon-Curry Rice with Onions and Pine Nuts

I think it's entirely possible that I'll grab on to any excuse to use pine nuts, because I love them so much I can hardly be objective about whether a dish really needs them or not. This rice dish that starts on the stove and then finishes cooking in the oven already had lots of flavor from the onions, curry powder, and lemon juice, but I loved the way pine nuts added that extra something. Of course, as I already mentioned, I'm not objective about it so you may not feel the need to add pine nuts for your version.

Friday Night Photos: 2009 Garden Update #3 (Tomatoes, Herbs, and More Time to Garden!)

Today was the last day of school and the end of my teaching career, and although hugging the kids goodbye was a little bittersweet, I'm ready to move on to the next phase of my life. I'm hoping that next phase includes more time for gardening, but so far this year I haven't done much more than throw the plants in the ground and try to water them. As I mentioned in the last garden update, it's been hard to find time for the garden with so many decisions about house renovations, and the huge job of packing up a classroom after 30 years. Luckily some plants are able to flourish on their own, so I thought I'd start this update with a shot of some perennials that grow along the edge of my garden.

Recipe for Feta Cheese and Avocado Mini-Frittata for Two

Currently I'm in serious countdown mode since Friday is my last day of school (ever!) and the always stressful end of the school year is being increased by the need to pack up 30 years of classroom stuff that's my personal property. I've had a table out in the hall by my classroom door for weeks and as I sort through things, I put what I don't want on the table and other teachers snap them up. Tomorrow night my gorgeous niece Alyson (who's a special ed teacher and only been teaching a few years) will come to get some of the more prized things I've been saving for her. Her mom, my generous sister Pam, is also coming with her SUV to help me move the things home that I'm keeping (plus the refrigerator that I saved a spot for in my new blogging office.)

South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for May 2009

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipe for May was
Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw.

I've been counting down all during May, towards my retirement day and the end of my teaching career (five more days!) The end of school is always filled with stress, and this year I've had the added stress of house renovations. Even though I'm pretty committed to my low-glycemic way of eating, when I'm overly stressed I eat things I normally wouldn't touch, so I'm happy that it's time for the monthly round up of Phase One Recipes I've posted on Kalyn's Kitchen or found on other food blogs. I can see a lot of phase one foods in my future for the next month or so!