Zucchini by the Pound

To say that our zucchini plants are thriving is kind of like saying that Big Ben is well....big.  Three HUGE zucchini plants, and I've already given some away.

Our new favorite side dish:  grilled zucchini.  Slice, salt, grill, serve!  Even Brian, who is not overly fond of zucchini, enjoyed them.

One thing to be careful of......the zucchini cook quickly and smoke up fast, too.  I needed to run the fan and open the doors to get rid of the smoke.  (Disclaimer:  No smoke detectors were tripped in the making of this meal.)

Grilled zucchini is extra-special when you dot it with balsamic vinegar and a little shredded Parmesan.

Cherry Pork

I had to work this past Saturday morning.  I honestly cannot remember the last time that happened, which is a good thing!  I attended the dedication ceremony for my new job, which went very well.  Afterwards there was a cookout at the church that sponsored the new building that I will be managing.  I didn't stay, and I'm glad for one reason:  if I'd filled up on hot dogs or hamburgers, I would've missed this beauty for lunch:

Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce

I love cherries, they're my second-favorite of summer fruit.  (Peaches first, watermelon third.)  I don't eat them often, because they're usually ridiculously expensive.  Also, it's another food that only gets eaten by me, so I end up wasting part of a bag of cherries.  This was the first time that either of us had attempted cooking with cherries, as cherries are not easy to pit.    Brian put this together from an online recipe, with ingredients like honey and tarragon.  He's not usually a fan of cherries, but proclaimed the sauce delicious!  I saved the leftover sauce to pour over a little vanilla ice cream.  That will be a great little sweet treat later on.  :)

Not-So-Perfect Pairings

Last night's dinner was pork chops on the grill, basted in peach barbecue sauce.  The sauce was a recipe found online and not made up, and it called to be used as a dipping sauce as well.

It was not good.

First of all, the spices that Brian used on the pork were amazing.  I don't remember all of them but I'm sure he will tell me as soon as I publish this blog.  :)  We both used the dipping sauce, only it was a light dip instead of a plunge.  See, despite having an open mind, peaches and tomatoes aren't meant to go together.  I later found out that there was ginger in there too.....no no no.  The finished product was pumpkin-colored.  The worst part was the dishes, and rinsing out the blender.  The smell of hot water hitting the blender made the sauce especially pungent, and it was a while before I could get the smell out of my nose.  Chalk it up to a flop.

In For A Treat

Last night's menu item at Chez Crafty Mana:  fried chicken.

I chose this because I was missing my favorite meal at the Chateau in Waltham, MA:  chicken supreme.  It's a fried chicken cutlet served with a white sauce.  Brian made it happen, only I liked his white sauce better.  Perhaps it was the paprika, I don't know.  But I am pretty excited that there was plenty of leftovers for lunch this week.

I remembered yesterday that there was a pie crust in the fridge that needed to be used up because it was going to expire soon.  I had bought a ton of peaches over the weekend so peach crumb pie sounded perfect.  I prebaked the crust and when I pulled it out of the toaster oven, um....that did not look like piecrust.  Apparently it was already bad, because it resembled a taco shell, the kind that holds a taco salad.  Ewww!  So instead it became another peach crisp.  Which was delicious, but would have been better with vanilla ice cream.  And this time the leftovers made it into the fridge, so perhaps a stop for ice cream on the way home from work tonight is in order.

Day 30: Grillin' Again

Here it is....the last post for the Thirty Dinners thread.

Last night was grilled chicken, potatoes and candied carrots.  I love anything on a grill, I really do!  Sean liked the carrots, and Will pretty much refused to touch them.  I really worry about him sometimes, getting nutrients.  I won't stop trying to get him to eat veggies though.

This was fun, posting dinner every night.  I was careful not to change what we eat because it was on the blog, and from what I see we do get a variety of food.  I'm pretty satisfied with how this experiment turned out, though I am glad not to have to remember anymore to write it down!

Day 29: Sandwich Night

Tonight was pizza for the kids and sandwiches for the adults.  Cheesesteak for Hubby and that Greek Chicken sub that I liked so much.  I just remembered that I have half of it in the fridge still, too.  Looks like I have lunch today!!