Have you ever been to New Orleans?
One of the famous places to visit is Cafe du Monde. There are several of them scattered around the city, but I managed to get to the one in the Market in the French Quarter. Cafe Du Monde is famous for coffee with chicory, and beignets, which are made as you watch.
Hot, puffy little pillows of dough dusted with confectioner’s sugar. They are best eaten when they have cooled enough so that you don’t burn your fingers or your tongue. Yum!
You can order a gift package of the coffee, a box of beignet mix and a cup for $11.50 plus shipping. While I’d MUCH rather take a trip to N’awlins and have the real thing, this might tide me over. And it seems like a great gift for a snowbound friend.
To order, call 800/772-2927.

Not just any blue cheese, but MAYTAG blue cheese. For sixty two years, this cheese has been made by hand on the same dairy farm in Newton, Iowa.
My mother raves about this cheese, and she recalls my grandfather (who lived in Iowa) serving it.
I think I’ve found an unusual Christmas gift for my mother. A two pound wheel of this cheese is available for $23 plus $5.00 in shipping and handling. That doesn’t seem like too much to pay for what is considered the “definitive” American blue cheese. Besides, each bite will bring back memories for her.
If you’re interested in trying this cheese, you can call 800/247-2458 to order.

Actually, this is my husband’s version of Cobb Salad. I used to make Cobb salad, and found that several of the items were being left behind. My solution was to put items in a separate serving bowl, and let each person make their own salad.
The base of the salad is Romaine. Rinse it in cold water, and then tear it by hand into bite sized pieces. If you have a salad spinnner, spin the romain dry. Otherwise, dry it with paper towel, and then chill it until you are ready to serve dinner.
Boil a couple of eggs, and then chill them.
You could use diced chicken from the deli, but we marinate chicken and then sautee it until the merinade cooks off and the chicken is cooked through. About an hour before you wish to cook the chicken, cube it into roughly one inch cubes, and put it in a bowl. Mix 3/4 cup rice wine, 1/4 cup soy sauce, a teaspoon or more of minced garlic, and several twists of fresh black pepper, and pour it over the chicken. You can also add some Dijon mustard to this mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
Fry six or eight slices of bacon. Drain and crumble.
Then cut any of the following into bite sized pieces:
Red cabbage
Tomatoes
Red pepper
pickle cucumbers
julienned carrots
Feta cheese
Peel and slice the hard boiled egg, or dice it if you prefer.
Put some finely shredded Cheddar cheese in a bowl.
Set everything out on the counter, and let your family create their own salads.
We served it tonight with garlic bread and slices of watermelon.
Enjly the produce that’s available now. Use any combination of veggies that your family enjoys, and create your own “Everything but the kitchen sink” salad.

I know that we are in the middle of summer, and I should be posting recipes for fresh produce and grillable meals, but I’m getting over a cold and I’m still in comfort food mode. With that in mind, here’s my favorite recipe for a cheddar chowder. If you have a Panera Bread store near you, serve this in their bread bowls.
This makes four hearty servings. You can double it without harming the output.
1 1/2 cups water
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup each sliced celery and carrots
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 to 1 tsp. dry mustard
2 cups milk
8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
If you are short on time you can chop the carrots, celery and onion in a food processor, a Little Oscar, or a food chopper. Don’t be tempted to substitute cream for the milk. This makes a thick soup with milk. To make the cheese sauce, I highly recommend that you invest in a good wooden spoon. It will be kind to the soup, the pot and your hand.
In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil, and add the veggies, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft when you press a fork into them.
While the veggies are cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan and blend in the flour and dry mustard. Let the mixture heat, stirring to prevent scorching. Add the milk, and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for one minute. Add the cheese and stir until it has all melted. Blend the two mixtures together in the large saucepan. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil.
For a heartier version of this soup, add 1 cup diced ham when you blend the veggies and cheese sauce together.
We serve this with French bread and a green salad. Tonight we added fresh strawberries.

6 large green bell peppers
1 pound ground beef

Summer Salad is one of our old family favorites. I could eat it every day while produce is fresh. A visitor named it, saying that it tasted like Summer to him.
Each of us has our own variation, but this is the basic salad:
Fresh, ripe tomatoes
Cucumber, preferably the small “pickle” size
Green onions
Oil and vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh dill, minced…..a lot of it
Now, I’m basically lazy, so I use Italian salad dressing on mine. I like the “Robusto” varieties with lots of seasoning and garlic, or Paul Newman’s Italian Dressing. We cut the veggies into bite sized pieces. My salad tends to have more tomato and cucumber and less onion, but you can vary the proportions to suit yourself. Add the pepper and the dill and then cover it with salad dressing. I tend to have a heavy hand with the dressing, and a lot of it gets thrown out. Actually, you could use it as a merinade the next day if you saved it.
It’s possible to use broccoli flowerettes, or even raw cauliflower in this salad. I occasionally omit the onion and substitute the broccoli. NEVER leave out the dill. It’s the magic ingredient.
Chill the salad for a bit before serving. Enjoy!

I have an old family recipe to share with you. With tomato season coming up, you want to be prepared with great ways to use them. This is called “Chili Sauce,” but the name belies it’s use. This piquant sauce is best used with pork roast or other meats. It is thick and chunky, like a salsa, but that’s where the similarities to salsa end.
Chili Sauce
12 to 14 pounds of ripe tomatoes
2 bunches celery, chopped
3 onions, chopped
3 green bell peppers, chopped

7 oz spaghetti, broken into 2

This is an absolutely perfect recipe for when the tomatoes are warm and ripe. Plant some tomatoes now, and surround them with some basil, and you can grow some of the ingredients in your own garden!
Farmer