Spring is here and my herb garden has expanded. My husband went a bit overboard and selected some varieties I wouldn’t have thought of. Besides the stalwarts of basil, parsley, oregano and rosemary, chives and sage, which were saved in the cold frame over winter, I now have dill (for homemade refrigerator pickles), chamomile (for making tea) and lemon-flavored varieties such as lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme plus flat and curly leaf parsley. This should make for a flavorful summer.
 
About a week ago my local ShopRite had Atlantic cod fish on special. I found a delightful recipe on The New York Times cooking app, Cod Baked with Prosciutto, by Nigella Lawson, using just a handful of ingredients. Besides the cod and prosciutto, you’ll need butter, salt and pepper. After reading the cooking notes of other cooks, I used some fresh thyme from my garden.

In these waning days of summer, I am using the best the season has to offer in my cooking. For guests the other evening, I prepared Basil Pesto Cream Cheese Filled Cherry Tomatoes...yum! Week 15 CSA box from Dreyer Farms had ingredients in which to make pizzas:  Antonio’s Mozzarella, The Breadsmith Pizza Dough, plum tomatoes, arugula and corn. I did my take on two pizzas that Medusa’s of Asbury Park makes. One with prosciutto, nectarine, goat cheese, mozzarella, arugula and a drizzle of Villa Grimelli’s White Balsamic Glaze. The other pizza was topped with sweet corn, sliced plum tomatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese and basil. I had forgotten to pick up a small container of ricotta cheese, however, the tang of the goat cheese played well against the sweetness of both the corn and tomato. ​

I had a friend call me the other evening to make sure my husband and I were okay. She hadn’t seen posts from me in awhile and she grew concerned. I assured her that all was well and the reason for the gap was we’ve had our daughter and granddaughters visiting us each week for a few days each week since July. My goal was to have quick suppers on Thursday evenings after my granddaughter’s swim lesson and for the other days, you prepare what’s appealing to a one- and four-year-old.
 
Here’s a review of what’s been going on in our culinary life.

​Recently my husband and I took a ride out to Gasko Family Farm and Greenhouses in Monroe Township, NJ. He’s been diligently crafting a plan for our side garden and planters. Although we like to shop local, for the number of plants he wanted, going to Gasko would be more economical. What a place! It was like Christmastime, but people were purchasing plants and nursey stock.
 
While we were there, I needed to fill in a few gaps in my herb garden. Gasko has an extensive collection of herbs that surely beats the local nurseries in my immediate area. Although most of my herbs survived the winter in the cold frame, my rosemary and parsley, didn’t fair as well. I also need to purchase basil for pesto and my fresh tomato sauce. 

​Every family should have at its disposal nutritious, easy to prepare meals. Here are two that my husband and I recently enjoyed. We both could eat pasta every night of the week. Recently  I found on the NYT Cooking website, a recipe for  Butternut Squash Pasta with Bacon and Parmesan. The recipe serves 4 to 6; for us it became a quick encore meal.
 
For the recipe you’ll need butternut squash, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, red onion, thick sliced bacon, short twisty pasta (campanelle or cavatappi), Parmesan cheese, fresh chives and fresh parsley. For my preparation I changed the bacon to finely diced pancetta I purchased at my local food store.  

​My sheet pan pancakes were a big hit with my granddaughter. Apparently, the batch I brought to my daughter’s never made it into the freezer. Being a good Nana, I made another batch yesterday, but left them plain. I found in my June 2020 issue of Southern Living Magazine a recipe for Mini Hash Brown Frittatas that can be made ahead and frozen.
 
For the frittatas you’ll need frozen shredded hash browns, cheddar cheese, frozen chopped spinach, butter, an onion, eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and cherry tomatoes. I know my granddaughter won’t eat tomatoes and neither will her father, so I left those out.

​I just realized it has been approximately two weeks since my last post. After dinner I found that I don’t have the ability to focus on writing about the wonderful dishes I made. Is it the fog of hearing too much COVID-19 news, the election or the inability to get restful sleep?

I’m sitting at my kitchen table with my iPad focusing on the new and tasty dishes I found and made since my last post. One of those was a one skillet meal that my son-in-law sent me from the Food Network, Pork Chops with Pear-Pecan Slaw. The week that I created this dish, Whole Foods had pork chops on sale. Through tomorrow, Whole Foods again has boneless pork loin chops or roast on special for $5.99/lb. (Prime members get an additional 10% off).

Besides the pork chops, you’ll need paprika, dried thyme, kosher salt, pepper, chopped pecans, extra virgin olive oil, red cabbage, dried cranberries, a pear, scallions and apple cider vinegar.

The end of summer brings a bounty of wonderful tomatoes and other vegetables to market. Recently I found on The New York Times cooking app, a recipe for One-Pan Roasted Fish with Cherry Tomatoes. I headed down to Atlantic Offshore Fishery in Point Pleasant and picked up wild Atlantic cod for $14.99/lb. On my way home, a quick stop at Matt’s Farm Market in Wall Township for a container for red, ripe grape tomatoes and I had the making of a delicious supper. For this dish you’ll also need shallots, garlic, olive oil, sherry or red wine vinegar, honey, freshly grated lemon zest, fresh basil and mint (I left this herb out).​

This is prime New Jersey tomato and corn season. My favorite summertime lunch is sliced Delicious Orchards English muffin bread, smeared with Duke’s Mayonnaise and sliced tomatoes.
 
My daughter recently found on Deb Perelman’s food blog, @smittenkitchen, a recipe for tomato and corn pie. The pie has a rich double butter crust. The filling consists of a combination of sliced tomatoes, corn kernels, chopped basil and chives, shredded cheddar cheese and topped off with mixture of lemon juice and mayonnaise. After baking for approximately 30 minutes the pie can be served warm or at room temperature. ​