Tasty Tuesdays: Zucchini Fritters with Feta & Dill

.

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

.

I loved these zucchini fritters - the combination of zucchini with dill and feta is amazing.  The first time I made these I didn't add enough flour and the fritters didn't stay together well as I cooked them.  This time I added more flour and they were perfect.

.

.

Recipe adapted from Micheal Symon - you can find his recipe here.

.

Ingredients:

- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, plus hold dill for garnish

- 4 green onions, white with green parts, thinly sliced on the bias

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- 4 ounces feta cheese, coarsely chopped or crumbled

- 1 teaspoon lemon zest 

- 1 large egg

- 1/2cup all purpose flour

- Canola oil for pan frying

- Sour cream, optional

- Course sea salt, for garnish

.

1.  Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a grater onto a clean kitchen towel. Sprinkle with the kosher salt and let it rest while you gather and prep the remaining ingredients.

.

.2.  Wrap the zucchini in a towel and ring as much liquid out as possible, discarding the liquid. In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, dill, green onion, garlic, pepper, feta, and lemon zest. Stir in the egg and flour and mix until well combined.

.

3.  Add the canola oil to a large shallow pan; you want about a ¼ inch or enough so that when all the fritters are in the pan, the oil comes halfway up their sides. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Form fritters by hand or by using ¼ cup measure, and fry them in the hot oil in batches. Cook until the fritters are golden brown on each side, 4-6 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

.

.Transfer the fritters to plates and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill, and some course sea salt.

.

.

.

What did you cook this week?

.

Party rules:

1.  Include a link in your post back to this post

or

2.  Add the Tasty Tuesday button to your post.  You will find the button on my sidebar.

.

Tasty Tuesdays: Simple Cherry Tomato Pasta

.

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

.

I have so many cherry tomatoes right now from my garden plot and decided to use them in a pasta.  Bad news about my tomatoes though.  All six of my plants have blight.  Ugh.  But I'm still getting cherries and Romas so it wasn't a total loss.  I found this recipe on Macheesmo.  What a great food blog - he, yes he, has lots of wonderful recipes.  

.

Look at all these pretty tomatoes...

.

.

And basil growing in my screen porch...

.

.

Ingredients:

- 1 pound pasta (I used slightly)
- 2 pints (1 quart) ripe cherry tomatoes

- 2 Tablespoons olive oil

- 3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/2 onion, diced

- 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used red because I already had an open bottle)

- 1/4 Cup fresh basil, chopped

- Salt and pepper

- Freshly grated Parmesan

.

1.  Start pot of water to boil pasta.  Heat up oil in large skillet and add onion and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes.

.

.

2.  Add cherry tomatoes.  No need to slice or peel them, just throw them in.
.

.

3.  Stir and let the tomatoes heat up. Once they've cooked for 10 minutes or so, they will start to get really soft and you can break them up with a spoon.

.

.

4.  Keep cooking and stirring occasionally until the tomato mixture starts to thicken and pull away from the sides.  It will take 20 minutes or so for the sauce to start looking like this.

.

.

{ See that spoon?  It's for lefties!  It's hard to tell in the photo but it's angled so you can use it with your left hand.  Any lefties out there who have tried to use other angled spoons or spatulas will know why I love it! }

.

5.  At this point your water should be boiling.  Add your pasta and cook according to package directions.

.

6.  Add wine and basil to tomato mixture.  Also add salt and pepper to taste.

.

.

7.  Stir together and turn down the heat to low.  It won't take long for the wine to evaporate.  If sauce gets to dry while you are waiting for your pasta to finish cooking, add 1/4 cup of pasta water to mixture.

.

8.  When your pasta is done use tongs to transfer the pasta from the water and add it directly to the sauce.  Pasta water should be dripping from the pasta.

.

9.  Stir it all together and your pasta is finished!

.

.

10.  Top with freshly grated Parmesan and enjoy!

.

{ serves 4 }

.

.

.

What did you cook this week?

.

Party Rules:

- Add a link in your post back to this post

or

- Add the Tasty Tuesday button to your post.  The button can be found on my sidebar.

I'm also sharing this post @ another great recipe link party:
.

Blue Skies at Lake Michigan

.

I spent a few hours today out in Holland, Michigan on Lake Michigan.  What a beautiful day.  I wish all of our Summer days were just this perfect.  It was a gorgeous day just right for capturing photos to link up with Alicia's Summer Photo Challenge.  The theme this week is "Blue Skies".

.

.

Not a cloud in the sky...

.

.

Sometimes we perch our beach chairs in the dunes next to the channel instead of going down to the main beach area.  It's fun to sit and watch all the boats go by.

.

.

.

"Big Red"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Head on over to Project Alicia and check out all the wonderful Blue Skies entries.

.

Hope you weekend was filled with Blue Skies too!

.

Guest Post from Homemade Ginger: Easy Sheet Curtains

.

Today I have a treat for you - Megan of Homemade Ginger is here to show us how to make curtains out of sheets.  Megan's blog is full of cute projects and posts.  Recently she posted about using her homemade yogurt to make cream cheese.  Homemade yogurt is something I've been wanting to try!  I think you will also enjoy her family room transformation.  Wow - the power of a can of paint!  You won't believe the before & after.

.

I'm also guest posting at Megan's blog today and sharing my quilted coasters project.  Thanks for blog swapping Megan!

.

OK, take it away Megan...
.

Hello everyone! I'm so excited and honored to be sharing with you all today!  I blog over at Homemade Ginger and love coming up with easy and frugal DIY projects.  Last year, when I was re-decorating my 3 year old's room, I made some super easy and super cheap curtains. 

Here is the tutorial!

.

Everyone who tells me they can't sew things like curtains needs to make these, there is barely any sewing required! They probably cost under $10 total, which is also a big plus!

Here is what you need:

1 twin flat sheet (if you get them from Walmart they are only $5 and come in lots of colors!)

6 yards of ball fringe (optional...you could make plain curtains without the frills)

Thread

Sewing machine

Scissors

First, you  need to cut the sheet in half length-wise.  I chose to rip it. Yes, ripping fabric is actually a great way if you have a large piece. It also guarantees to be perfectly straight because it tears right along the weave of the fabric.  Just fold it in half, cut through any seams and then rip away!

Then, you need to fold over the ripped edge (about 1/4 inch) and iron.

Fold again 1/4 inch and iron.

Sew along the folded edge.

Now, you need to make the top part of the curtain casing for the curtain rod.  I did the bottom of the sheet (the smaller already sewn seam) and just folded it over about 2 inches and ironed.

Now, just sew along, close to the open edge to create a casing for the curtain rod. Of course you will do all of these steps to both curtain pieces.

Now, pin on the ball fringe on the outside of the curtain edges and sew down.  

And you are done!! 

They look so cute with some coordinating tie backs:

To learn how to make these equally simple tie backs, here is my tutorial

Thanks so much for having me Alissa.  Come stop by Homemade Ginger and say hi sometime, everyone!

Happy curtain making!

.

Thanks Megan for sharing your curtain tutorial with us!  If you've never visited Megan before, head on over for a visit.  I think you will really enjoy her blog.

Tasty Tuesdays: Roasted Eggplant Sandwich with Tomato Garlic Sauce

.
Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I have so many eggplant right now from my garden plot and I'm having a really hard time keeping up.  I was searching through one of my most favorite cookbooks { Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything } and found this recipe.  Sounded easy enough to me, so I tried it.
.

.
- 1 large or 2 medium firm, unblemished eggplant
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, minced
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups drained and chopped canned tomatoes (do not use tomatoes packed in purée)
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves, plus more for sandwich
- 6 thin slices mozzarella
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional; not in original recipe but I thought it sounded good)
- 6 rolls or 2 loaves of French or Italian bread
.

.

.
1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Slice the eggplant crosswise into 12 slices, each about 1/2 inch thick. Brush a baking sheet lightly with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and place the eggplant slices, in one layer, on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of slices with another tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until the eggplant is lightly browned, turn, sprinkle with onion, salt and pepper and Bake until tender, a total of 20 to 30 minutes.
.

{ Hands down, my favorite canned tomato }
.
2. While the eggplant is baking, peel and crush 1 clove of garlic. Place it in a medium skillet with the remaining olive oil and turn the heat, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes are thick and not at all runny, about 15 minutes. Peel and mince the remaining garlic clove and add it, along with the basil, salt and pepper, to the tomatoes. Cook an additional 2 minutes over low heat.
.

.
3. Use 2 slices if eggplant a piece of cheese (or two), basil, red pepper, and a dollop of sauce for each sandwich.
.

.
I really liked this sandwich.  I ate it warm right when I made it and ate leftovers cold the next day as a picnic lunch I took to the beach.  Both sandwiches were great.  Also, the tomato sauce is delicious - I think I might make just that and use it for bruschetta.
.
{ Party Rules }
.
- Add a link in your post back to this post
or
- Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post.  You can find the button on my sidebar.
.
Thanks!
.
{ Starting next week, Tasty Tuesdays will no longer be a "blog hop".  It will be a normal link party. For most of you, there will be no difference.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. }

Linking to another great recipe party:

Painting a Dresser

.

I found this dresser on Craigslist last September after searching for one for over a year.  I learned that dressers go pretty quickly on Craigslist around here!  It was so long ago now that I'm having trouble remembering how much I paid for it - I think $30.00.

.

There were several layers of paint on the dresser and it was peeling of pretty badly.  The dresser actually looks much better in the photos than it did in person!

.

.

See the hardware?  I really like the drawer pulls and was thinking of stripping the paint and reusing them, but once I took them off I realized that they were pretty cheap.  They were not solid and may even be some type of plastic.  Strange!

.

.

Now, on to the stripping.  I used an inexpensive brush and a aluminum tray to pour the stripper in.

.

.

I used a plastic scraper to scrape off the paint after the stripper did its job.  The paint was so thick, I had to repeat the stripping process twice all over the dresser.  I also used wire brush (see photo & list of supplies below) to remove paint from areas that were too small to use the scrapper - like the small rails between the drawers.

.

All stripped (except for that small bit of yellow on the back leg!):

.

.

.
Here are the supplies I used for painting:
.

.

1.  6" wide roller
2.  3" mini roller.  This was really helpful for getting in the small areas of the dresser where the larger roller wouldn't fit.
3.  Putty knife
4.  Wood filler.  I used the putty knife to apply the filler to a few areas of damaged wood on the dresser top.
5.  Sanding sponge.  I love these things!  Made sanding the dresser so much easier than just regular sand paper.  I one I used is from Gator and was coarse/medium.
6.  Wire brush.  Used this in conjunction with the stripper to remove paint from small, detailed areas where I could not use the scrapper.
7.  Foam brush.   Surprisingly helpful for applying to paint to some areas of the dresser.  I used it on around the edge of the dresser top and on the narrow rails between the drawers.
8.  Angled paint brush.  Mine is a Purdy, 1.5" with an angle.
.
I used the angled brush to cut in the paint, and then the rollers for the rest.  Once the primer was on, everything else was easy!
.
The Zinsser primer I used:
.

.
And Olympic paint:
.

.
Color matched to:  Valspar Caribbean Walk #7003-5.
.
Here's the finished dresser:
.

.
I'm not 100% in love with the drawer pulls I bought, but I was in a time crunch and needed to finish up the dresser before my Dad's party.
.

.
I bought the dresser for this area off to the side of my kitchen:
.

.

.
I love the curved front on the dresser top.
.

.

.
And these side rails make me pretty happy too:
.

.
See the curved piece at the bottom?  I like that too.
.

.

.

.
Hmmm, looks like I need to find another project to work on now that the dresser is finished!
.
Sharing this post at:
Tutorials and Tips Tuesday @ Home Stories A to Z
Show and Share Day @ Just a Girl
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors