If you’ve made the Roasted Ratatouille Roulade on yesterday’s post, then you already have the ratatouille needed to make this lasagna. If not, CLICK HERE for the ratatouille recipe.  Enjoy!

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I’m gearing up for a demonstration cooking class in the garden next weekend.  In that garden spirit, I made myself a delicious breakfast gazpacho drink this morning, what a way to get the day started!

I hope you’ll come out to see me at Berridge Nurseries (4647 E. Camelback in Phoenix) next Saturday, April 16th, at noon.

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This lovely spring or summertime tart is perfect as an appetizer, placed atop lightly dressed greens for a salad, or as a side dish for fish, poultry, pork, or beef. Basically, it’s good anytime and anywhere! I created it while trying to use up things I had in my fridge (what’s new?) including the zucchini, caramelized onions, and blue cheese.  I always have Parmesan and puff pastry on hand, so this was a no-brainer. Feel free to add in whatever you have on hand as well; such as sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, or tapenade… the possibilities are endless. If you’re not the huge fan of blue cheese, that I am, substitute in another good melting cheese… say Fontina, or just use more Parmesan. Just get in that kitchen and create!

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It’s hard to think of anything more satisfying than grilled vegetables. So fresh, colorful, and packed with goodness!

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I haven’t had the opportunity to cook at home much this week. In fact, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, I wasn’t even home. There were plenty of leftovers in the fridge for Dave and Marissa to help themselves to, but did they? No! Instead they just picked at stuff, never going to the trouble to even re-heat something and eat a real meal. I’m talking cheese and crackers for dinner. So when I finally was home to make dinner on Thursday night, it was up to me to use the leftovers. I made this stir-fry, using the Spanish pork from earlier in the week. That’s one of the great things about stir-fry, as long as you have nice fresh veggies, you can start with raw or cooked meat and end up with great results.

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We all know how important incorporating more color into our diets is for good health. I love focusing on the specific colors red and green during the holidays and this recipe fits the bill perfectly.

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I hope your Christmas was merry and bright! It was at the Hopkins’ house and I have a very good reason for not posting a recipe yesterday… it is pictured above. Santa brought me an iPad for Christmas and I’m having a blast with it! Thankfully it wasn’t opened until AFTER I had gotten Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast on the table, otherwise people may have gone hungry! Somehow, I did manage to make Christmas dinner, but the day after Christmas… it was all iPad, all day long! And I’m feeling the itch to get back to it right now. Before that happens, here is the potato dish I made for Christmas Eve to accompany pomegranate molasses lamb chops -yummers!

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This is exactly what happened – I mean exactly!  I was trying to decide what to do with 2 acorn squash that was a part of that Thanksgiving centerpiece I made. I successfully used the 3 sugar pumpkins last week, but the squash remains. I knew they would be the recipe for today’s post, but exactly what to do with them that would be new and exciting, I had no clue. Acorn squash and exciting don’t really belong in the same sentence… or so I thought!

As usual, I procrastinated and instead went on Facebook to waste time, I mean find inspiration. And inspiration is precisely what I found; in the form of Gwen Ashley Walters! Gwen posted an update on her page linking to her blog.. and what was she making? Acorn Squash! Not just any old squash, but a gorgeous lentil stuffed acorn squash.

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For 22 years we have adhered to a strict rule in our house at this time of year. No holiday decorations are allowed on December 1st. That means Thanksgiving stuff needs to be taken down and put away and the Christmas stuff must be left unbothered until at least December 2nd. Hey, that’s today! The reason for the rule is simple – December 1st is Marissa’s birthday and that day needs to be all about her – not about the two major holidays that surround her special day.  Over the years, the rule has been slightly modified, and Christmas lights on the outside of the house became permitted. And this year, the rule wasn’t so much modified as actually broken – just a little! I have a TV shoot here this morning and it is going to feature me and my kitchen Christmas tree. Hence, the rule was broken when I put up that little tree yesterday – sorry baby girl, we’ll go back to being rule sticklers next year!

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Finally! For two nights now we have had our windows open. The first evening we could hear the falling rain, all night long. Joy! Although the word from the weatherman is that it’ll be back up in the mid to high 80’s next week, we’re just enjoying it while we can. On that note, the winter squash dish yesterday made me crave more of the same. Today, instead of the exotic Red Kuri squash, we’ll go a little more traditional and work with the super fun spaghetti squash. Although the spaghetti-like strands of squash taste nothing like pasta, it’s a tasty and healthier way to “feel” like you’re eating pasta…

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