My Dad’s 86th birthday was Tuesday the 18th. We celebrated on Wednesday night with the dinner Dad requested and would probably ask for every weekend if he could.

Liver and Onions.

Thank goodness his birthday only comes around once a year!

Dad and Dave enjoy that meal, but not so much Connor, my sister, Sloane, and me. I made baked “fried” chicken for those of us with good taste.

Let’s see, we have brown liver, brown caramelized onion, brown baked chicken, light brown gravy, and white mashed potatoes … looks so appealing, and appetizing. Not!

I tried to make things better by setting a colorful and cheerful table.

And I offset the “mostly shades of brown” menu with a bright mixed citrus salad, green and yellow zucchini bake, and a sunny lemon pie.

• Colorful Citrus Salad with Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette
  
• Liver and Caramelized Onions
• Baked Fried Chicken
• Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
  
• Italian Summer Squash Bake

• Lemon Pie with Whipped Cream

I’ve posted the recipe for Dad’s liver and onions before and I’ll put up the baked chicken, citrus salad and pie recipes in the coming days. Today we’ll get right to the squash bake.

In the gorgeous tart recipe from two days ago, I peeled off thin slices of zucchini and yellow squash, leaving the center portions of the vegetables behind. For this recipe, I used those otherwise discarded pieces.

You can do the same or just start with a nice freshly purchased (or picked) squash of your own.

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