Watermelon and summer go hand-in-hand. Here’s a fun way to serve it up!

This recipe comes from an image I found on Pinterest. It is important to use full fat, not lite, coconut milk. Lite coconut milk will not whip.

Placing the coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight is also a must. It will cause the cream to separate from the milk. The thick cream is used, and the milk is poured off.

If you’d rather skip the coconut cream altogether, I have another Watermelon “Cake” photo from Pinterest at the end of the post, no recipe is needed for it.

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THIS is what I said in a post back in March, “I am amazed and in awe of people and their talent.”  Do you recall that?

Well, you may not recall that very post, but someone did.

And now, I am in awe of them!

I am in awe of my student, Elizabeth, and her mother, Shelley, who is a loyal follower and regular commenter on this site!

In awe of their kindness and thoughtfulness. No, not just kind and thoughtful… their extreme and awesome thoughtfulness!

Elizabeth hand-crafted the beautiful card you see above. She wrote the sweetest message to me inside.

The card was tucked into this lovely basket.

A basket full of these gorgeous chalkboard-effect cookies.

The cookies that I blogged about loving … way back in March!!!

Aren’t they fabulous!?!

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This pulled pork may take over 10 hours from start to finish in a slow cooker, but it takes a minimal about of hands-on time.

Start it before you go to bed.

In the morning, shred the meat and enjoy soon after for a picnic lunch, a late afternoon snack, or for a big family dinner.

Heck, it’s so tasty, maybe all three!

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The 4th of July is two weeks from today. It’s not too soon to start planning the menu for your party or the dish that you plan to bring to that party you’re invited to.

Even if the “party” is just you and the kids waving around sparklers in your backyard, you need some fun festive food.

I’ve got just the thing for you.

I am in the middle of a week-long set of private cooking classes. We made a super simple Fruit Flag for dessert. Obviously, no recipe is needed!!

Skewers + Strawberries, Blueberries & Bananas = USA Flag

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The meat from these baby back ribs is fall-off-the-bone tender and oh so flavorful!

Dave requested vinegar-based ribs as his Father’s Day main course. Done! Although the ribs were delish, they weren’t the best part of Father’s Day.

On the Thursday night before, I received a text from my sister-in-law, Teresa, saying that she was on her way to town for an unexpected visit.

Teresa and my older brother divorced over 20 years ago, but she and I have always been close… since high school actually. She and my four nephews moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho some 19 years ago. Sadly, we rarely see each other.

My dad gets up to Idaho to see his grandsons and Teresa every couple of years, but we haven’t been there since 2003.

Teresa wanted to know if she should call Dad or if I thought she should surprise him on Father’s Day instead.

Surprise, of course!

So Teresa, her sister Jennifer, and their mom, Judy, walked in about a half-hour before dinner and surprised Dad. He was overjoyed and has been talking about it every day since. There is nothing better than seeing and catching up with family!

Jen, Judy, and Teresa are pictured above. Love them! xoxo

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This is a healthy, refreshing and easy-to-make summer salad, and a great way to use up some of the zucchini bounty from your garden.

It served as one of our side dishes for Father’s Day dinner on Sunday.

Carpaccio is the international name of a typical Italian dish made with very thinly sliced raw meat.

Nowadays the term carpaccio is used for any preparation made with thinly sliced raw meat, fish, vegetables or fruit.

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Yesterday morning, Connor pitched in to help me make a simple Father’s Day breakfast for his dad.

I was already working on an early afternoon dinner for 8, so I didn’t want it to be some big elaborate morning meal. These pancakes are about as light and fluffy as it gets.

Plus, with the two of us working together, it was a breeze to get on the table in less than 20 minutes.

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Happy Father’s Day…

… to all of you wonderful dad’s out there.

Photo: Me with my dad, Gene Otter, on our way to a family wedding in 1986.

Especially big wishes for a super-duper day to my own dad and my husband, Dave.

January 1988 photo of us at Marissa’s baptism.

Dad with his eight grandchildren in 1992, on Connor’s first birthday. Standing: Benjamin, Joel, and David. Sitting on chaise: Marissa, Dad, Connor, and Raina. Sitting on cool deck: Race and Jeremy.

Dad and me making Christmas dinner in 1996.

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Ten years ago, in 2003, we had a huge peach tree. It was too huge!

Somehow, it had grown completely out of control, and sadly, this was what happened to it. It was so top-heavy and full of heavy ripe peaches, that most of the branches broke from the weight.

I did what any resourceful woman would do – I had an impromptu “Pick Your Own Peaches” Dinner Party. To attend, you had to pick as many peaches as humanly possible and take them home with you! You were rewarded with dinner and profuse amounts of gratitude.

The tree was never quite the same. We had another couple of years of good harvest, but it was an ugly tree after all those branches broke off in such an inhuman way.

Then, in December of 2007, we took our backyard down to the dirt, literally. We took out and filled in the old plaster diving pool. We tore down the south and west sides of our block wall fence and the entire narrow covered patio, plus the dated columns that held it up.

And we said goodbye to the peach tree – and just about every other living thing in the back yard. The peach tree used to stand where that orange trash dumpster sits, in the photo above. And that’s my gorgeous Tanqueray in the center of the photo. How I miss my sweet boy!

All that was left were the citrus trees … the branches of the lemon tree are seen on the right, while the orange and grapefruit trees are out of view along that same side of the yard. Plus the orchid tree, which is on the far left of the photo, but can be seen more clearly in the photo above this, is directly behind Tanqueray. Also saved was the large fig tree, which is out of view, but is on the back side of that orange dumpster. The two queen palms were later transplanted, but in the end, didn’t survive. The tall eucalyptus trees in the background used to be on the side of our front yard, but we pushed out the fence and they now line the western edge of the back yard.

After living in a pile of dirt, dust, and far too often, mud, that wet winter – we were hugely rewarded in May 2008 with a beautiful backyard oasis.

I will soon be showing you more photos of the yard because we are about to embark on phase two of the backyard remodel. Anyhow, a new tiny peach tree replaced the previous monster. It’s hard to make out because it’s so small and barely in the picture, but if you look closely, you’ll see it on the far left center edge of the photo. That spot of green against the white of the house, that’s it!

Here is what it looks like now. It’s a dwarf peach tree, so it is still small today. This photo was taken exactly one month ago. It may be little but I generally get a nice size basket or two of fruit from it each year. More than enough for just Dave and me.

Along with plenty of peaches to make the dessert in yesterday’s post and enough “just eating” peaches, I was able to make a main course peach dish with what I harvested this year.

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When we left for Hawaii on May 22, the peaches on my tree looked as if they would be ripe any day.

Connor would be coming home on the weekends while we were away and Marissa was home one short weekend for the wedding shower of her college roommate, Paige.

The wedding is in August and Marissa is a bridesmaid.

I told both the kids and my dad to keep an eye on the peaches and to please please please pick and eat them. I hated the thought of the luscious fruit going to waste.

If not picked, they’d either fall off the tree and rot or more likely, the bugs would get to them as soon as they ripened. The idea of it made my stomach actually ache.

When we arrived home on June 3rd, surprisingly there were still peaches on the tree! My dad said that they were always hard as rocks when he checked and I never did remember to ask the kids if they had any.

The little fruit flies, gnats, or whatever those nasty little bugs are, had already been to work on more than 2 dozen of the peaches, but I was able to pick a decent boxful! Joy!

I made a delicious Peachy-Chicken entree one night (coming soon to a post near you) and today I am using the last of the peaches for this dessert.

It’s a partially-make-ahead dish. I’m starting it today and we will be enjoying it on Sunday for Father’s Day.

Of course, I had to make one serving from start to finish so I could photograph and post it for you today.

The things I do and the sacrifices I make for you people!

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