It's my party....

My birthday approaches. Friends from South Portland are coming on Saturday and we will sew and cook and laugh. If the weather is good, we will have cocktails on the beach and a cookout! However, the weather in June in Maine can be dreary and so far this year has been.

I have been reading other blogs and have really been enjoying them. One blogger talks about Food Network's Tyler Florence and participates in Tyler Florence Fridays. Neat idea! As I was trying to find a recipe for a chocolate cake I used to make in the food processor with a can of Hersey syrup, one of Tyler's recipes - Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish - popped up. I read it to Jack and we went to the store and got what we needed. It was scrumptious. The wheat germ bread in the freezer is calling our names and a meatloaf sandwich is right at the top of my list of favorite sandwiches! That recipe can be found on FoodNetwork.com. It is a basic meatloaf recipe with the twist of adding a ketchup based relish of red peppers and onions to the mixture.

The weather is disappointing. One of my favorite ways to cook in the summer is grilling! Nothing fancy - just a good hamburger or steak or pork loin. I like to brush summer squash and zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle on some herbes de provence and grill. They can be served at room temperature with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Grill lots of them because the grill chef is apt to snack on them! Yes, Jack - you!

However, the weather was not going to cooperate and I had to cook the pork inside. I decided to cut the loin into medallions. It was delicious!

Sometimes I use recipes but most of the time I just cook. I read cookbooks like novels and buy cooking magazines to look at the pictures and ads. When I start with olive oil and butter, it just has to be good. Jack is a marvelous prep cook so I have the luxury of on-demand-dicing. So, with my olive oil and butter, I usually use minced onion or garlic or shallots or a combination. To make the dish above or something close to it, this is what I did. In a small saute pan, I melted some butter with olive oil and sauteed a box of mushrooms with fresh thyme leaves (3 or 4 stems) and when they were done I stirred in about a cup of chopped flat leaf parsley. In my all-clad grill pan, I heated olive oil. Because you don't need a lot of oil for this particular pan, I used a paper towel to spread the oil in the grooves. I cooked the medallions until they were done (165 degrees for pork) about 10 minutes. The medallions went on top of the mushroom mixture and I deglazed the pan with some sherry and that was it. Baby greens with Ina's vinaigrette, a bottle of wine and a good dinner was made.



Had we grilled the loin outside, I was going to serve it with a recipe that my sister gave my mother years ago - Posh Squash. I haven't had this for a while so if the sun ever comes out, I will make this and serve it with grilled meat. I make this in a Pyrex loaf pan.

Posh Squash

2 pounds zucchini or yellow squash or a mixture, sliced and steamed for about 8 minutes - still firm not limp
mix together and add
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated parm
1 medium onion chopped finely
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes