Last week was a week of cooking camp so every day was pretty much the same, this week was a busy week for me and every day was very different. I also drove quite a few miles. 

I spent Saturday cooking Quick Meals with teens at the Doraville library.  Joanne the children's librarian contacted me some months ago and asked about my library cooking programs.  She had heard about me from Myguail, was starting a teen program and thought cooking would be a good start.

Yesterday I was very fortunate to have been asked to present a program about snacks for kids at the Roswell Library. The program was for ages 7 to 10 and started at 4:00.  I have been to many libraries in Georgia the past few years and the librarians have been wonderful, some of the libraries have been pretty far from me.  

Still on "vacation", still organizing.  Yesterday I did not work on the computer much at all.  Did not blog, didn't go upstairs to the office much.  I did relax, read, nap, talk to a potential client on the phone, did some knitting.  A pretty good vacation day!

I feel like I have not cooked for my husband and me for weeks.  We left on the 23rd to go to Pittsburgh and I did cook Saturday for the gang, about 10.  We drove back on Monday the 26th and I was so happy that we had bread and cheese.  I made grilled cheese sandwiches for us with provolone and Dakota bread from Great Harvest Bread. 

I don't consider grilled cheese to be cooking.  Tuesday was whatever night and I made some pasta with asparagus, olive oil, parmesan and red pepper flakes for myself.  Again, in my mind, not cooking because I just didn't want the asparagus to go to waste.

Wednesday I took beef pot pies out of the freezer, the label said that I froze them in April.  They were great after a day of client cooking, but making a salad to go with the pies is not cooking!  Last night I took chicken soup out of the freezer.  I had a library program to do in Newnan, a haircut in the afternoon and I had suspicions that I would need an easy dinner.  The program went well, about 40 people, 2/3 were ages 4 to 6 and we made Breakfast Anytime.  The soup was perfect for dinner. 

This morning I did some cooking.  Of course not for us, I am doing a Loving Meals meal for a family that just had a new baby.  It is so hot here and supposed to be close to 100 this afternoon so I got to the store early and am now done cooking.  I roasted some chicken that they can have cold and made a pasta salad.  I picked up a loaf of muti grain bread and some mini cupcakes.  They can eat but not have to heat the kitchen. 

Summer Tortellini Salad from Cooking Light
serves 4

9 ounces cheese tortellini, uncooked
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup red bell pepper, cut in strips
1/3 cup green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/3 cup vinaigrette
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Cook tortellini in boiling water for 5 minutes add broccoli and peppers during last minute. 
2. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Mix together green onions, parmesan, dressing, parsley and pepper. 
4. Toss together.

I have a library program tonight in West Georgia with the teens.  We're doing Pool Party to go with the summer library theme of Make Waves at the Library.  The program is at 6:30 but it's a little bit of a drive so I'll have to leave in the late afternoon.  I won't be cooking dinner for us tonight.

I need to go make a menu plan for next week because I have camp again and while I will want to eat, I'll also want things to be easy.  I miss cooking though! 

This has been a busy week.  I sometimes have busy weeks, but this one was exceptional.  Lots of fun though!

My sister and nephew arrived Saturday, camp started Monday which is why my sister and nephew came so they knew this was a working week for me.

Monday in addition to cooking class, I had my monthly class at the Y.  I teach in the senior center and I have 14 to 18 regulars each month.  This month's theme was Stone Fruits and I made Plum Crisp, Cornmeal Coated Chicken with Peach Salsa and Nectarine Salad.  I get there at 6:00 pm for prep, the class is 7 to 8 and leave about 8:30 after cleaning up.  I love this class!  Everyone has fun, asks questions and enjoys the food.

Tuesday was the library program in Jackson, Georgia.  This was a little bit of a drive but we didn't run into any traffic traumas and didn't get lost so all was well.  Of course my family came with me, they had never been to Jackson!

We had a great time. I did Quick, Healthy Meals for Teens and had a pretty big crowd.  The teens were a little hesitant to volunteer to help at first, but once one person came to help, the rest were eager.  I have pictures thanks to my sister.







In addition to the teens that attended the party, there were 2 college students who have received scholarships from the library.  To repay the scholarships the students give 30 hours of service to the library.  A great deal!

I need to get ready for camp now.  Yesterday was the competition and there are pictures.  Today we'll feed friends and family. 

Our judges for yesterday enjoying their cocktail (no alcohol!).

Another busy and fun week for me, this is the third session of cooking camp this summer.  This week there are 8 in class, 2 guys, 6 girls.  Also this week my sister and nephew are in camp.  My nephew is attending and my sister is assisting. 

I have trouble sometimes in the summer with my calendar.  Since I am doing the same thing everyday when I have camp, I occasionally don't look at the calendar and when I do I discover that I have a little too much fun scheduled.  This has happened this week!

I teach a cooking class at the senior center at the Y every second Monday of the month.  So yes, that was last night.  I mentioned to my sister and nephew that not only would there be no dinner but that we were going to the Y for a class after camp.  My nephew helped during the recipe preparation in class and my sister helped with dishes and serving.  We had a fun time and were home to watch The Closer.  I did stay awake until the end!

There will be no dinner for my guests again tonight because after class we are heading far away to a library to do a cooking class for teens.  This will be another fun class, I think there are 20 teens signed up.  We'll eat a good lunch at camp and then journey to the library. Today we have southern region foods at camp so we'll lunch on shrimp and grits, turnip greens and hummingbird cake.  Not bad before a long journey. 

After tonight  we're done with double days of classes.  I promised a good dinner for Wednesday - Scampi and Linguine.  This is one of the favorite meals in the family so we'll have a relaxing delicious dinner tomorrow.   

They arrived from Pittsburgh on Saturday and we just relaxed around the house.  I did feed them - grilled steelhead fillets that were delicious.  Sunday we had fun before the week started.  We went to the aquarium and had a good time.



No fish for dinner Sunday, we had macaroni and cheese with broccoli.  This was for planned leftovers so when we foraged for meals there was food for foraging. 

Have to get ready for camp now.  We leave the house around 7:20.  My husband gets to have fun while working at home today.  He will be ready to accept delivery of the new mattress!  I'll sleep well on it tonight. 

This week went by quickly!  I cooked for a client on Tuesday and then I've just been doing stuff all week.  I teach cooking camp again next week so I'm conserving my energy!

It has been hot here again as it has been almost everywhere.  I don't totally change the way we eat in the summer, but after the holiday weekend I was feeling overloaded with meat.  I like meat, often I crave it, but I needed a rest.

Tuesday for "whatever" night I had leftover mashed potatoes for dinner.  My husband came home from his meeting, asked about my dinner and was a little surprised by my answer.  He had the usual meeting pizza.

Wednesday I had planned for steaks and zucchini but was still feeling too heavy from the weekend.  I decided on the leftover pasta that I had - penne, two kinds of mushrooms, no meat.  I also had zucchini boats  - garlic, butter, parmesan.  Delicious.

Last night I ventured into some animal protein.  My husband works with people who cook and quite some time ago came home with a photocopied recipe.  I have had it on the counter waiting for the perfect time.

I don't know the source, nothing on the page, but it was quick and easy and perfect for summer.  Also no mayo in the slaw!  I made the slaw about 2 hours before dinner and kept it in the fridge.  It was nice and crunchy at dinner, some water was released.  I served it with black beans.

Shrimp Tacos with Citrus Cabbage Slaw
serves 4

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons sour cream
kosher salt and black pepper
8 ounces cabbage, shredded
1 cup corn kernels
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
8 small flour tortillas, warmed

1. In a large bowl, whisk the orange and lime juices, sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
2. Add the cabbage, corn, and jalapeno and toss to combine.  Let sit, tossing occasionally, for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. 
   
4. Season the shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Serve with the tortillas and slaw.

Today is continuation of errands and cleaning.  My sister and nephew arrive tomorrow from Pittsburgh for camp week.  I think I may stop at the grocery store so we can avoid that this weekend. 

My menu plan for next week is hopefully easy since my week will be harder.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I scheduled the week, but in addition to camp everyday I have the Y class Monday night and a library program for teens Tuesday night. 

Tonight I am smoking my first turkey breast with high hopes that it will give me leftovers for next week!  I'll also make a blueberry cake for snacks.

Having a good week so far.  I had a library program on Monday, thanks to Rockmart for having me.  I was scheduled to do a cooking program for the teens at 2 pm, so I checked my directions, left the house at 11 and was on my way.

I never thought I'd have a traffic trauma in the afternoon and sailed down 400 on the way to 285 and 75 North.  I was on the ramp to get on 285 about 11:10 and noticed there was no movement on the highway.  Not good.  I looked and didn't see any helicopters and thought that was a good sign.  I was now trapped, had to get on the road, but no movement.  I found a traffic report on the radio which said "all lanes of 285 are closed, traffic accident with injuries, get off and take alternate route".

Great, I was close to the exit but had no idea of alternate routes.  Called my husband who luckily for me, not so much for him, was at his desk.  I explained, told him I thought I needed to exit, he looked online, saw the accident, agreed and I told him he needed to find a way for me to get to 75 North. 

After an hour and 15 minutes, I made it on the road and off the exit.  Not good, I was now sure to be late, even leaving early.  My husband guided me, I called the library and told them I thought I'd arrive about the time the program would start. Of course I still needed to set up. 

After 2 hours, I was on 75 North!  Now I just had to find Rockmart.  I found it, drove past the library only once and was there about 2:10.  There were still teens there for the program, they helped me in with my stuff and in about 10 minutes we were cooking! 

We made island chicken, pasta salad and lemonade.  The teens were great, we all pitched in, we had a delicious lunch and the program ended at 3:30 instead of 3:00. 

Thanks to Ann the librarian for having me and understanding my traffic trauma!

Yesterday was my much anticipated hair cut and I bought some corn.  I like to freeze it for the winter and last year didn't get to do that.  We had some corn on Sunday, it was very good, so I went to Publix yesterday for corn.

This is my regular Publix where they know me and when I got to produce Doug the manager said hi and remarked I was late.  It was 11:30.  I explained I wasn't working and needed some corn, a lot of corn.  He said great, do you need a crate, there are 48 ears in a crate.  Perfect! 

He loaded the crate in my cart, I went to check out with Rebecca who just looked at me and laughed.  I told her 48 ears.  It's on special 10 ears for $1.49.  Andrew walked me out to the car and loaded the corn.  No one thought that I made an odd purchase, I think they just assume most of what I do is odd. 

I just finished a client menu so now will be husking, blanching, ice bathing, cutting and freezer bagging corn.  That should take a little time today.  No corn for dinner!

I had such a nice time yesterday cooking for dinner last night and for breakfast this morning.  Actually dinner for tonight is done since we're having pulled pork again.

Yesterday we got the wood chips soaking and the grill burning so I could get the pork butt on by 6:00.  I wanted to make sure to get the temperature holding between 225 and 250 before we went to Jazzercise.  All went well.

About 4:30 I took the meat off of the grill to cool slightly to shred.  It fell apart so easily and was so delicious. 



Since the pork was cooking without needing attention from me, I made potato salad yesterday afternoon to have with the pork.  I do not like mayo, so I made a salad from The Barefoot Contessa and for fun used purple potatoes.  It too was delicious.



I had to wait for potatoes to get tender in boiling water so I used that time to make a breakfast casserole that we had this morning.  Here are the before and after pictures.  It was very good, a recipe from Ellie Krieger.



Blueberry Almond French Toast Bake from Ellie Krieger
serves 8

• Cooking spray
• 1 whole-wheat baguette (about 18 inches long, 8 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 8 large eggs
• 8 large egg whites
• 2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the bread in a single layer in the baking pan. Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread. Scatter the blueberries evenly on top and sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the baking pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

I have leftovers for brunch tomorrow and I'll pop some in the freezer for another day.  I love having the freezer with ready to go meals.

Since I was in the kitchen anyway and since the berries are beautiful right now, I needed to make my favorite berry pie.  I love Fresh Raspberry Pie. 

All of my cooking is done.  I did not do any knitting yesterday so I think I'll do that today.  We've been to church, had breakfast and now I can hear the dryer telling me the towels are done.

I have a library program tomorrow with teens in Rockmart.  I have all of my recipes ready and just need to get all my equipment organized.  And then the rest of the day is for relaxation!  Sounds good to me.