Martinis have always seemed like such a sophisticated drink, probably in the past due to James Bond and nowadays thanks to one of my favorite television shows, Mad Men… Don Draper…deep sigh.

These delectable Martini Puffs are equally upscale and easy to make, as long as you can wait the full week for the olives to marinate. Equally wonderful, they can be assembled and frozen before baking, then go directly from the freezer to the oven for impromptu entertaining.
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Soup and salad… the two of the most versatile parts of any meal. Or complete meals all by themselves. I’ve previously mentioned my deep admiration for soup. My husband, Dave, on the other hand, has those same feelings for salad. Given the choice, he would take salad over soup about 90% of the time. I’ll take soup over salad 99.9% of the time when it is under 100 degrees here in sunny AZ. But once the thermostat hits the century mark, I turn my back on my favorite child. I feel like a traitor. And considering that it reaches 100 degrees an average of 106 days a year here, that’s nearly a third of the year I give up on my beloved soup. So I need a backup plan!

Currently, on this blog, I have 13 soups and only 10 true salads. What do I consider a “true” salad? One that has lettuce or greens as the primary player; not just a tart on a bed of greens used to “fancy it up” or a salad with fruit only, or quinoa laying on a little bit of spinach. But a Real Salad with lettuce! So soup is currently winning the war, I mean the race! Unfortunately, salad is gaining ground with this entry, and with the dog days of summer only a couple of months away… I need to make more soup!

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About 10 years ago I was completely intimidated by, even the thought of, canning. It had never occurred in my house while growing up and the process of sterilizing the jars seemed like rocket science to me! Then something happened so that I could no longer avoid it. We had a peach tree in our yard and branches were breaking off the tree on a daily basis from the weight of so many ripe and juicy peaches. And guess what? I discovered that not only was canning no big deal or some painstaking process, it was actually fun!

This sauce is wonderful when eaten either savory or sweet. I use it as a glaze and accompaniment for baked ham during the holidays. When heating the sauce to glaze the ham, just stir in one finely minced jalapeno pepper to spice it up a bit.

It is unbelievably delicious and decadent when warmed and spooned over grilled bananas, along with a little warm caramel sauce!

Or use it at room temperature or cold spooned over ice cream or stirred into plain or vanilla Greek yogurt.

The darling little canning jars make a cute name “place card” or party gifts to hand out to your guests as they are leaving your home after a special dinner or holiday meal. Happy canning!

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For whatever reason, it seems that most kids really like pineapple on their pizza, so let’s give them what they want! An easy thin-crust pizza with fresh pineapple, barbeque sauce, mozzarella, and bits of bacon.

If you make pizza (or bake frozen pizza) often at home, it would be wise to invest in a pizza stone.  The stones are available at all kitchen stores and produce the best “restaurant quality” crisp, thin or thick crust pizza. Without a stone, just bake on a pizza pan or cookie sheet, sprinkled with a little cornmeal to prevent the pizza from sticking.

When using a stone be sure to preheat your oven, with the stone inside, at the highest temperature your oven can be set at for at 30 minutes. I made one with and another without the bacon, delicious both ways, so go vegetarian, if you choose. Buon appetito or (E ‘ai ka-kou, in Hawaiian)!

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I barely have a second to get this post up today. So this is all I have to say, “If you know of a more delicious deviled egg in the entire world, please send me the recipe.”  In my humble opinion, these cannot be beaten!

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The best thing about this breakfast or brunch dish is that it can be prepped the night before. In the morning, just fill the cups and pop them in the oven while you leisurely make the coffee and read the newspaper. Plus it may easily be doubled or tripled. Add a layer of cooked chorizo, and mix in roasted poblano or red bell peppers, green onions, or whatever floats your boat!

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Lately, I’ve had a seriously strong craving for spicy food. I finished off the chipotle mayo that was used for the Jamaican sliders from the neighborhood Progressive, eating just a little each day for lunch, and now that it is gone… I want more! So I Googled “What does it mean when you crave spicy food?” and found this;

“…people crave it in part because it releases endorphins in the body. When capsaicin, the element of chili peppers that cause the “spicy” sensation, comes into contact with the tongue, the body is tricked into believing that it is in pain and releases the pain-relieving endorphins. This explains why, like anything that releases endorphins, spicy food can become somewhat addictive. People may crave it and build tolerance levels.”

and then there was this;

“When people have trouble cooling down they may crave spicy foods to make them perspire. Some research also suggests that people can become addicted to the rush of spicy food that is associated with spiked blood pressure, accelerated heart rate, and rapid breathing says Tammy Shames, R.D.  People that crave spicy food are perfectionists. They love order, hate wasting time, and pay attention to all the details.”

OK, now every little bit of that makes sense to me; I naturally have low blood pressure, I do like order and details, etc.  And just like Kathleen Turner’s character, Matty Walker, in the 1981 movie Body Heat, “My temperature runs a couple of degrees high.” Plus if I can get my endorphins from food instead of from the so-called “runner’s high” and actually having to run… Bring It On!

If you want to tone down the spiciness, just leave out the chipotle pepper.

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Alex Glueckler is the winner of the bagful of my Trader Joe’s favorites! ….. “Alex, here is what you have won” (be sure to say in an excited “game show host” voice!)…

One reusable “Arizona” Trader Joe’s bag (we love being GREEN), Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips (yummy and healthy), 1 liter Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (have to have it!), 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream (theirs’ is the best and the best bargain), Organic Blue Agave Nectar (healthier and just as tasty as honey), Roasted Piquillo Peppers (find recipes on this blog using them), TJ’s Dijon Mustard (so much better than Grey Poupon and actually made in Dijon France -unlike Grey), Light Coconut Milk (so versatile for desserts, Thai, and Caribbean cooking), Olive Tapenade Spread (good on Everything! – OK, not desserts, but Everything else!), TJ’s English Toffee (heaven on earth in a little plastic box- super scone recipe found here- use the cream for those too!), 1 pound Teeny Tiny Yellow Potatoes (oven roast them with just olive oil “I know you have that!”, salt, and pepper and thank me later!), 0% Fage Greek Yogurt (THE best fat-free yogurt known to man), and…. my all time favorite item… Frozen Crushed Garlic cubes (nothing I can say except – I love these!).

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Today at 5:00 PM, I will draw a name from a hat for a winner from all the comments given on Tuesday’s post – my own Ode to Trader Joe’s –  and that winner will be announced on tomorrow’s post. I’m using up the last of those Trader Joe ingredients, left from the sandwich, for this pasta. I spent $20.58 last Sunday (weekend shopping – yuck!) and made 3 full meals for a total of 14 servings. Even if you add in the few things I already had on hand; a couple of tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 cup white wine, parmesan, spaghetti…  that still comes to less than $2 per serving! Plus, all three dishes fit into the “Easy-Breezy” category – that cannot be beaten!

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I am quite sure you really do not need a recipe for a sandwich…but all of us get into ruts with what we eat. Next time you walk through the aisles of your Trader Joe’s, mix it up and think of new things to use to make a quick simple meal. Start with the bread; pick out something new, something other than the standard baguette or French bread. Look around, there is ciabatta, focaccia, brioche, and all sorts of things to try!

Then go to the produce area and pick out a bag of greens you haven’t tried before. While in produce; snag a couple of heirloom tomatoes, an avocado, a cucumber, or an Asian pear. Go down that lovely long aisle that is full of olives, sun-dried tomatoes, tapenade, mustards, olives, pickled this and that, and various flavored mayo jars, and grab a few things new to you.

Then head over to the coolers and pick out one of the dozens of cheeses you haven’t tried or had in a while; Fontina, smoked Gouda, Manchego, mozzarella-prosciutto cheese roll, TJ’s Unexpected Cheddar, goat cheese, or just a nice sharp cheddar. Next to the cheeses are all sorts of sliced meats, although, with all the flavors you have in your basket by now, you don’t really need meat for a great sandwich!

Be sure and grab a nice bottle of wine or two and a package of pasta (you’re going to need that to make a second meal with all the odds and end you are sure to have left, after making sandwiches!). And stroll down the freezer section, pick up a package of those handy cubes of frozen minced garlic and other convenient cooked and frozen items (such as the chicken strips used for this particular sandwich). Once you are finished filling your cart, go stand in the long lines of other satisfied shoppers and be ready to pull out your reusable bags to help the cashier bag up your groceries. It brings me to the brink of insanity when I watch the guy or gal in front of me just standing there – uselessly!!!

The quantities for the sandwich below are not the amounts needed for the sandwich, but instead the quantity as it is sold at Trader Joe’s. Tomorrow, we will use the extra stuff to make pasta… if you want to be prepared to make it be sure you have on hand – or pick up – a package of spaghetti, Parmesan cheese, a mozzarella-prosciutto cheese roll, and a fresh head of garlic along with your sandwich fixings.

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