Garlic Grilled Tomatoes

 This recipe was adapted from Steven Raichlen the BBQ king. I make these delicious tomatoes as a side dish frequently,  to serve with quiches and omelets. They're a great addition. They can be done on the grill or broiled in your toaster oven. This is a great summer recipe when tomatoes taste their best right off the vine.


Ingredients
4-6 ripe tomatoes
salt
fresh cracked pepper
crushed garlic
olive oil
thyme
grated parmesan cheese

Instructions
Cut your tomatoes in half crosswise, season with salt and pepper. In a small frying pan add crushed garlic, olive oil and fresh thyme, cook til golden, take off the heat and add in grated parmesan cheese. Place your tomato halves cut side down on and oiled grill until you get grill marks, then turn them over with tongs and spoon the garlic cheese mixture on top and continue cooking.

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The Challenge to maintain a healthy diet in a fast food society

I would say that about 85% of my diet is very healthy; the rest of it? Well’ I have to have an occasional MacDonalds hamburger, a Chile dog at the State Fair, bacon for breakfast, and a few handfuls of M and M’s...a throw-back from my younger days when I didn’t give a darn and my body didn’t know the difference. But I don’t drink soda or eat food from cans or boxes. And I prefer to do my own cooking...that way I know exactly what I’m eating.

Now that I’m over 50...or 60...or whatever....my body is much more sensitive to what I’m shoveling in it. I’m fortunate enough to have been brought up enjoying lots of fruits and vegetables. I learned along the way to cut back on red meat and starches; although I love potatoes, rice and corn, which are not really bad for you. Pasta, if you can believe it, I can do without.

Let me tell you about me and pasta. I’ve eaten a ton of it in my life, from Spaghetti to Rigatoni, to Lasagna. Had it with tomato sauce, pesto, Alfredo sauce and cheese, as in Mac and Cheese.  Added Parmesan, vegetables, and meat among other things. I ate so much pasta for most of my life that I just got sick of it. I know...amazing declaration. Everybody eats pasta. There are zillions of ways to prepare iteirou can buy it frozen or canned and kids love it. Just about every ethnic group has there own special way of preparing pasta for their cultural dishes. But I don’t like it anymore.

No, my favorite dishes are white chili, chicken fajitas, all kinds of soups and stews, a really good steak and baked potato occasionally, wild salmon with dill, butter, and lemon, a wonderful curry with rice, and sweep potatoes and ham. There are more, of course, but this gives you an idea.
And oh....just about any kind of vegetables on the side except for okra, unless it’s in an authentic gumbo.

Why people limit themselves to pizza, hamburgers and mac and cheese is beyond me. There are so many wonderful things you can do with food.

 
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How to make fabulous scones from a mix

I didn't even know there was such a thing. I'd seen mixes for just about every other kind of baked goods; but never had I ever seen a mix for scones. That is , until I met the Victorian scone lady. She called me one day, when she was in town for a trade show. She had brought some samples of her mixes, which she intended to drop off at the local bed and breakfasts.

She stopped by later and left a small bag, which sat on the shelf next to the nuts and raisins for weeks. Then, one day a guest ask if I would make some scones for breakfast. I decided to use the dried cherries in the cupboard. When I opened it, out fell the bag of scone mix, right into my mixing bowl.. This had to be a "sign" , I thought.

The bag made 6 scones and had a recipe for mixing & baking, and directions for freezing. "You freeze the cut out dough, not the finished scone". I read the directions, mixed in some dried cherries and baked the scones, all six of them. When they were done, I slathered some lemon curd on one of them and popped it in my mouth. It was absolutely the best scone I'd ever tasted! Not dry, not tasteless, not doughy, but fabulous. "Scone mixes from Victorian House Scones http://victorianhousescones.com/ taste like home made...[all you do is ]add butter and buttermilk to the mix, and bake".

I had made hundreds of scones from scratch, but never tasted any better than Victorian House Scones. After trying the first one, I went right to the phone and ordered several big bags of their mix. To find out how good they are for yourself, click on the link above and see what they have to offer.
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The secret to making delicious scones in a hurry

Don't get me wrong, I am not changing my basic attitude about making baked goods from scratch. To me, they are always better them those from a mix. When I opened my bed and breakfast, 15 years ago, I swore I would make everything from scratch. I would make only real whipped cream, hollandaise sauce, and creme fraiche. I would fry bacon in an iron skillet. I was a purest. Besides that, I honestly thought anything made from scratch was better. I was not into short cuts!

Well, that was all well and good until the first time I had ten guests for breakfast and no help. I had planned on serving Eggs Benedict, bacon, a fresh fruit cup, sour dough toast and cherry scones with lemon curd and creme fraiche. "I can do this" has always been my mantra. And I began saying it over and over, when my assistant called in sick. It took me hours to prepare everything. They wanted breakfast at 8:00 am, and so I was up and in the kitchen by 6:00 am. It still wasn't enough time! Breakfast was quite late that morning and I was totally frazzled! It didn't reach the dining room table until 9:00!

That day, I learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes you just have to use short cuts: pre-cooked bacon, hollandaise made with Knorr's packets, cool whip instead of fresh whipped cream. And occassionally, you have to make those muffins out of a box. Or use a mix for pancakes, waffles and, yes, scones! So after making that decision, I went on a mad rampage looking for the best mixes I could find. And, as far as my wonderful "scratch" scones go I finally found the mix to take their place.! And it was by accident or, actually, through my good fortune. Enter: the Scone lady!

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photo courtesy Victorian House Scones
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