Summer

I love this time of year.

It's still not too hot to work outside

in the garden in the middle of the day.

Things are just a growing in

our garden (including weeds)- we are 

enjoying lettuce, onions and radishes.

I took my camera outside this evening and 

snapped some photos of things

that are growing around here.

"So then neither is he that plants anything, 

neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase."

1 Corinthians 3:7

The raised bed my hubby made for my Birthday last year.

I absolutely love it.

Our little garden.

Flowers we have been enjoying.

Super cool window boxes Josh made.

We were invited to my sister, Charity's, house for dinner.

As you can see it was delightful.

Happy Summer,

Hope

Cajun Steamed Shrimp

Wow, last week was a busy one.

We were invited away for

dinner two nights in a row.

Hence- no cooking, no posting.

Tonight was kind of a date night.

I bought some shrimp at Food Lion

and wanted to steam them.

At the last minute I decided to 

use Cajun seasoning instead of Old Bay.

It was tasty and good for a change.

Cajun Steamed Shrimp

2 lb. shrimp, raw

1 cup vinegar

2 cups water

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 T. Cajun seasoning

1 T. raw sugar or brown

In a kettle mix together vinegar, water, lemon juice,

Cajun and sugar. Bring to a boil and add shrimp.

Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove shrimp

immediately. Don't over cook- they will get tough.

Sprinkle lightly with a little more Cajun seasoning

and toss. Serve hot with cocktail sauce.

Enjoy,

Hope

Strawberry Meringue Cake

We had our Mother's day meal

for my Mom tonight.

I wanted a special dessert-

so I looked online and found

this strawberry meringue cake.

 It was delicious.
I will be making this again.

 Mix up meringue and spread in circles on parchment paper.

Ah... crispy meringue, creamy filling and fresh strawberries.

Go here for the recipe.

Alterations I made-

Used one pack of cream cheese instead of (2) mascarpone cheese.

For the filling- I added a little lemon juice and used 
about 2/3 cup powdered sugar instead of granulated.

Baked it at 300 for an hour and let it cool while we ate.

Then put it together. It doesn't need to sit 2 hours like it says.

I tossed my strawberries in a little strawberry jam to sweeten them.

Enjoy,

Hope

Mushroom & Onion Topping

Grilled hamburgers seem to be on

the menu quite often this year.

I love hamburgers, just not

McDonald's- I like to know where

my hamburger came from.

Well, If you get tired of plain

ole' hamburgers, try topping

a hamburger with this.

It's delicious.

 

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and slice an onion.

Throw in some diced jalapeno peppers (if you like heat).

  Once the onions are soft throw in some mushrooms

and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer until hot.

Top your hamburger with this savory goodness.

Mushroom & Onion Topping

2 Tbsp. butter

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2-1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 Tbsp. rum

12 oz. box of mushrooms, sliced

1 Tbsp. apricot preserves

1/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray's sauce

2 tsp. mustard

salt and pepper

Melt butter in a skillet. Add onions and jalapeno peppers.

Cook until onions are soft. Add rum and simmer for

a few minutes more. Throw in mushrooms and sprinkle

with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until mushrooms

are soft. Add apricot preserves, Sweet Baby Ray's,

and mustard. Simmer until heated through.

Serve over grilled hamburgers.

Will top 6-8 hamburgers.

I added a whole jalapeno pepper and it

was spicy. If you don't like heat-

add a half of jalapeno pepper or less.

Enjoy,

Hope

Timothy & Diana

Saturday we headed to Delaware

for Joshua's first cousin, Timothy's, wedding.

It was a beautiful wedding,

with family and friends to help make

a wonderful time of fellowship.

I was asked to take a few

reception photos.

So... here they are!

Congratulations Timothy and Diana!

You guys are so cute together.

 

 

The masterpiece Aunt Polly made for them.

Candace

I had the privilege of taking

Candace's senior photos.

She is a adorable lady

with an easy laugh that

will put anyone at ease.

Blessings,

Hope

Dan's Grilled Chicken

My hubby came home from

work the other day talking

about 'Dan's grilled chicken'.

Dan, his co-worker, brought some

delicious, grilled chicken to work and let

Josh try it. He said all it had on it was 
soy sauce and Greek seasoning.

I said, "that's all."

And he said, "yes, we should try it."

Well, this is the second time we've

tried it and it sure is delicious.

I'm not a plan-ahead kind

of cook (if you haven't noticed).

I usually dream up what I'm going

to fix for dinner on the way home

from work and then stop by

the grocery store if I need something.

So, with that being said, I can't

plan ahead to marinate chicken,

unless it's Sunday lunch.

So this recipe is the one for me.

Prepared in 15 minutes. This can't be beat.

Where's the recipe?

There's none!

Well, kinda.

While grilling chicken, drizzle with soy sauce and
sprinkle Greek seasoning on each side.

Enjoy,

Hope