There are so many little everyday things in life to be grateful for, such as allowing the last artichokes of the season to go to flower instead of picking and eating. Then there are those things that just annoy the living daylights out of you!  You know, things you consider to be the actual bane of your existence. During summer cooking classes, I have two such things that happen, not just once in a while, but daily… every single day, people!

The first of these has to do with the 12 aprons we use in class. Aprons – now how can aprons possibly be an issue? Here, look at these pictures and you shall understand.

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Today marks the last day of the forth week of kids’ summer cooking classes. It’s been a great month and there is only one week left. This year I had the great opportunity to partner with Shamrock Farms. They provided me with all the dairy I needed and in turn, I created several recipes featuring their products and was also able to give coupons out to my students. Certainly a winning situation for me, especially with the ever-increasing food costs!  One dessert we made used up quite a bit of the buttermilk Shamrock provided me.  It always feels good to use up buttermilk, since its expiration date is usually shorter than other dairy products.  This pie was a huge, a really huge, hit with the kids.  Plus, it is super duper and easy breezy!

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That is the literal translation for dulce de leche, milk candy. Sounds good either way you say it and these sweet little mini cheesecakes are the perfect vehicle for the sweet stuff!

I’ve used the cute little mini cheesecake molds and told you where you can purchase them before, back in December when I made THIS RECIPE. Also, I’ve told you how to make your own dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk back in April when I made THIS. But you can also purchase ready-made cans of dulce de leche in the Hispanic section of most grocery stores.

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I have a bad habit of taking a “snapshot” of images I see online that I like, putting them on my desktop, and then eventually into a folder and forgetting about them for a long time. Later, when I want to use it, like the one above – which I really LOVE, I have no idea who or where to credit it to. Needless to say, that is not my image, but it is super wonderful! Isn’t it?

Before I even tell you what today’s recipe is, let me say that the dry rub is a wonderful staple to have on hand and is great on any meat or poultry.  And the lemon garlic butter sauce is another fantastic staple, perfect for baked, broiled, or grilled fish.  That said, today we are making…. oh wait, a little story first.

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I thought I’d had good homemade hummus before, but then I had hummus made from dried chickpeas, instead of canned, and now I know what good hummus is!

Nick Malgieri, the former Executive Pastry Chef at Windows on the World and cookbook author, is a frequent teacher at Les Gourmettes.  The last session he made this recipe by another teacher and author, Paula Wolfert, who has three fabulous Mediterranean cuisine cookbooks.  The difference between hummus made from canned chickpeas and the hummus made from dried is incredible. It’s not hard to do, it just takes a little more forethought, since the beans need to soak overnight.

You can find dried chickpeas in bulk at Whole Foods and health food stores and I get the tahini at Smart and Final, but it too can be found at health food and Mediterranean stores.

Bonus:  There is a food processor tip at the bottom of the recipe.

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And an extra special Happy Father’s Day to the Superdads in my life. My Dad, Gene. Seen here doing Superdad stuff with me and my brothers, Andy and Dennis.

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Today is Phase 2 of Marissa moving away from me! Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy for her, so thrilled for this new and exciting chapter in her life!  This is what you wish for; for your children to be independent, on their own, living their lives, chasing their dreams! But I’m going to miss her! She is a perfect daughter and a gorgeous, caring, smart, and amazing woman and I am proud.  I shall be putting her on a plane to San Francisco today at 3:30.  When she arrives there, she has a place to stay for the next three nights, and then… not 100% sure. On Sunday she has an appointment to go see an apartment that hopefully (more like praying to God!) she will be able to sublease, beginning on the forth day.  If that doesn’t go through, oh I can’t even begin to think about that! And on Monday morning, she starts her new job.

When I get home from the airport I think I’ll just get on the internet and start planning my trip to visit her, to see her in her new wonderful home by the bay.  Either that or sit down and have a good cry!  Honestly, I am so excited. I am so very proud. And mostly, I am exceedingly blessed! Blessed and honored to be her mom.  Marissa, I love you!

I promised you a recipe today and a great recipe you shall get … not only am I a proud mom, I am also a carnivore.  I am not a vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, or any other such noble person.  I am more of a Big Night,  Like Water For Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, or Mostly Martha sort of movie girl rather than a Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation, Forks Over Knives, or Earthlings movie girl.  I like to live with my head buried deeply in the carnivore sand.

That said, I don’t think I’ll ever make beef, chicken, or pork taco again!  Obviously, not because I have anything against beef, chicken, or pork… but because these red lentil tacos are so much better.  Really they are!  If you make them and you don’t agree, I’ll give you your money back.  Honestly, every penny you’ve ever spent coming to my free blog, I shall refund to you, in full, if you don’t think these are the best tacos ever!!!  Now that’s a money-back guarantee if ever there was one. xoxo

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I’ve had this cute little picture on my desktop, copied from somewhere that now I can’t recall, for months and have been waiting for a time to slap it into a post. Today is just the day because I have no time to put up anything other than an explanation of why I’m not putting up anything. It is 5:35 AM and we (Dave, Marissa, my dad, and I) are heading off to Marissa’s storage unit to empty it and put all her furniture in our garage. Hopefully, it’ll only be there for a month or so, just until she can find a permanent place to live in her new home… San Francisco! 

Of course, we could’ve just decided to keep everything in the storage unit, as we have never had a problem with them before. But since we don’t know when she’ll actually be leaving, I think it’s better for us that we store it in our garage, as it will be much less hassle in the long run.

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I was surfing around the net yesterday between blogs I follow, Twitter, and Facebook and I came across a Top 10 list I can truly relate to – The Top Ten Signs of a Bad Cook posted by Chow. Check it out and let me know what you think.  Number three had me laughing out loud, I know people like that!

I promise, if you have this wonderful strawberry jam in your refrigerator, you will show the world that you are not “one of those people”!  And although it takes hours to make, it doesn’t take much effort, if you are planning on being home, just set a timer to go off every 15 minutes, stir, and there isn’t much more to it than that!

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During the “decision-making” time about what to make for our graduation class last week, I had several suggestions to choose from for one of the main courses, among them, tacos or Greek salad.  Both are good ideas and both work well on a buffet, but we already had decided on another salad, and “Plain Jane” tacos seemed a bit tame for the rest of the menu.  So we combined the two and made Greek Tacos… they were a huge hit with students and guests alike.  If your family is the more adventurous type, go with the ground lamb, otherwise, either ground beef or ground turkey work perfectly well.

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