Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Reduction and Maple Yogurt

Dear Turkey,

I know that grilling

Fruit is super trendy right

Now, but it's awesome

Sweet and Savory Grilled Galettes

Dear Turkey,

When it's too hot to

Turn on your oven, that's why

God gave you grilling

Amazingly Retro Lentil Burgers

Dear Turkey,

This is the kind of

Thing my parents used to eat

In the seventies

Grilled Quesadillas

Dear Turkey,

Grill + Mexican

= really delicious

(and good left over)

Zucchini Bruschetta

Dear Turkey,

Hummus and pesto in one recipe? And you grill the hummus? I was skeptical, even though I do love hummus and pesto, and grilling. But I was intrigued by a bruschetta where zucchini stands in for the bread, since I do love recipes where zucchini pretends to be a carb.

Well, these things are good. They're easy to make (or you could be hardcore and make all of the toppings from scratch), you can grill them or broil them, and they're good leftover. And when you get that first magical taste of hummus+pesto you will be like, ah, I get it now.

What Dinner Tastes Like at 9 PM

Dear Turkey,

On my birthday, I pretended to be one of those hip European people who eats dinner at 9 PM. Actually, I decided that I wanted to go running at 6 PM, so that meant that we didn't eat until the time formerly known as my bedtime.

Once I looked in the mirror and said, "Mama's old." Now my son says, "Mama's old," whenever I look in the mirror. Or whenever he fees like it, whichever happens sooner. Now that I am Old, I am working on going with the flow and enjoying life and all of those cliches. So, instead of stressing about how late it was, I lit a candle on the picnic table and enjoyed my dinner. (If you don't think this is a big accomplishment, you don't know me).

Unfortunately for you, the person who prepared my dinner firmly believes that I should only post pictures of food that I actually cook, and not pictures of food that he actually cooks (good thing you don't believe that, Mom). So, here's what I actually did:

I washed this beautiful arugula and these beautiful non-local cherries. 

And then we had hummus that you make in the microwave from Minimalist Baker, grilled cod with this rub from Budget Bytes, and grilled chickpea salad with red onion and sourdough. If you are trying to decide if you're too lazy to click on these links or not, I promise you, it's worth it.

Enjoy,

Tofu

Grilled Grilled Cheese

Dear Turkey,

A wise person once said, "you've never really had grilled cheese until you've had grilled grilled cheese." They were right. With Velveeta. Which goes perfectly with homemade sourdough.

I am ashamed,

Tofu

It's Not Too Late

Dear Syracuse-Haters,

You may think that we're already driving to work in the dark and shoveling snow up here. Well, only one of those things is true. However, it's not too late for chard pizza that your mom grew ("I love summer"):

Before baking

After baking, but not over-baking

Or for grilling:

'Cuse me,

Tofu 

What's That Smell?

Dear Turkey,

Here's a sample cooking conversation:

Me: do you want some [insert whatever I'm cooking here]?
Others: oh, no, we're not hungry; we just ate.
Chop, chop, chop, mix, mix, mix, that sweet-yet-scary smell of lighting the gas, etc.
Others: what's that smell? Can we have some?
Me: what you are smelling is...butter.

Ah, butter, you make things tasty and you make people hungry, even though they "just ate." Whether it's baking, grilling, or Pasta Master, you convince my constituents that maybe they could use a few more calories after all.

Classic Example of this Scenario:

Cook a little pasta and drain it. Then sautee Your Friend Butter with some minced garlic (yes, from a jar), lemon juice (from...you guessed it), salt, and pepper. Put the pasta back into the pot while the heat is still on. Then toss with some basil (from your windowsill) and shredded cheese. Simple and delicious.

Here's a trend on the blogs lately: Money Saving Tips. Some blogs are devoted entirely to saving money and coupon-ing. So I have added Money Saving Tips to this blog. Here's the first one: if your mom has a BJs card, ask her to buy things there for you, like delicious shredded cheese. It's a lot cheaper than in regular stores, especially if you don't pay her back. 

Let's close with another showing of Your Friend Butter on the grill:

Par-boiled potatoes, corn, and tofurky brats -- all delicious candidates for Tofu's Special Helper (okay, maybe not the brats, but the rolls, perhaps, especially if they're that healthy-holier-than-thou whole wheat kind).

I moss you,

Tofu

Sourdough Challah and Other Stuff

Dear Turkey,

As the resident Gastronomical Jew on this blog, I feel compelled to share my latest Challah adventure with you. As usual, I took a perfectly nice challah and lazy-ified-it.

Challah So Easy You Could Make It On The Sabbath (just kidding, real Jews):

In a bowl, combine (this is a trope in my recipes, have you noticed?):

1/3 c sourdough starter (optional)

2 1/4 t yeast

1/3 c canola oil

1/3 c honey

2/3 c warm water

3 eggs

2 t salt

4.5 c flour

1 T orange zest

Knead until a ball forms. If you like your Challah chewy, knead it for a few more minutes. Cover and rise until doubled, about an hour. Then put the dough on a lightly-oiled piece of parchment paper and braid it however you like to braid (or not). Drizzle with a little more oil and honey:

Let it rise for another hour or so and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes:

Here's the rest of your dinner:

This is a salad that we make all the time -- whole wheat couscous, a cuke, chives, mint, raisins, and poppyseed dressing (I used Brianna's). 

And grilled corn -- take the husks off (I just got the news flash that if you want your corn to get nice and brown before your bedtime, remove the husks):

Yeah, baby,

Tofu

"I Love Summer" version 2.1

Dear Turkey,

 

Grilling makes me feel like such a cool mom -- I even do it in the rain. And here is my namesake: Tofurky Brats. Like my real name, it is frequently spelled wrong. Unlike my real name, you chose the spelling. The brats are accompanied by par-boiled potatoes which I grilled and then dipped in homemade chili aioli. And by homemade, I mean that the chili paste and the mayo came from Wegmans. Rolls must be toasted. 

 

 

And, since layers are in right now, here is this salad that we love, before mixing:

 

 

I moss you,

Tofu

"I Love Summer"

Dear Turkey,

You know how my mom always says "let's be mindful" before we eat a meal? Yeah, annoying, huh? Well, today I'm going to talk about one of my mom's more popular quotes: "I love summer."

My mom usually says "I love summer" about ten times a day during the summer, and twenty times a day during the other seasons. 

As you know, I happen to love fall, but here are some things that I love about summer:

Grilling sweet potato fries on our new grill. I didn't really know what was so great about grilling until I tried it. Less mess, keeps the house cooler, makes me look like a cool and relaxed mom when I'm yielding the tongs:

 Iced coffee with leftover whipped cream that I made BY HAND last night; the Kitchen-aid was busy making the cantaloupe sorbet:

Disclaimer: Mom, I don't really mind when you say "let's be mindful;" it's kinda growing on me,

Tofu