A new take on an old Italian salad...

Craig always comes hungry and rummaged through my kitchen...spied some fresh tomatoes and brought out the olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. I had no bocconchini cheese so he reluctantly used some shavings of light Jarlsburg over the tomato slices...topped each slice off with fresh chopped basil from the garden...and drizzled the dressing of oil and vinegar.

The sweetness of the balsamic vinegar dressing with the sweet basil, ripe local tomatoes and the nutty cheese were quite yummy. I wish I had had a nice crusty slice of bread to mop up the wonderful juice left on the plate...but I am not eating carbs these days. If you try this...have the bread handy.

Picture Perfect - Zest

P I C T U R E P E R F E C T

This is week 9 of the Competition and you have three days to submit a picture, after which the Top Ten Pictures will be selected by our panel of admins and posted up in a poll on Saturday morning (PST). The poll will run for 24 hours (as requested by the public!) and the winner will be announced on Sunday morning!

~ Each week a theme will be posted up on Wednesday, and you are invited to put up your best picture with that theme in mind, it should be only ONE picture please and it should be YOURS not off the internet, not a friends picture but your very own No slide shows please, and no automatic music on the page

Fine print:

Remember too the Terms of Service stated very clearly by Multiply: Content Posted by Members on the Multiply Site You are solely responsible for the content that you publish or display (hereinafter "Post") on the Multiply.com website, or transmit to other Multiply Members, including but not limited to photos, profiles, messages, notes, text, information, music, and videos ("Member Content").

You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted by you or otherwise posted or shared by you through the Service will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights or contain libelous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful material, or violate any other laws or regulations. "

Play a good clean game on PP..its all we ask! Cheating in any form will not be tolerated on this site.

Then come back and post a comment on this page:

http://fotofriday.multiply.com/journal/item/124/Picture_Perfect_Friday_Zest_

so that everyone can link to your blog and see your pic.

By all means mention your camera and lens used, and if the picture has been altered or enhanced in anyway! Out of the box thinking is encouraged!! Please open your page for viewing for all for that day...and then visit as many others as you can! Try and post a decent size pic on your blog page, so much is lost if the pic is too small or too big.

Good Luck, and have fun out there!!

......

Zest for life? Zest for living? Zestful energy? No.

I can't help it..."zest" only makes me think of food!

Cats, Blueberries and a Recipe

A visit home wouldn't be the same without Karen's cats. Above is Charlie, the homeless fellow who adopted my sister and her family. He is quite content here, but stays clear of Cinder (photo below), their younger wilder kitten. She likes to jump on Charlie's back. But then, I think he gets her back by eating her food.

Cinder is a skittish cat...she is very nervous of new people. It took her two days to come out of hiding after I arrived. I coaxed her with treats.

Mom and I at Karen's for dinner. Mom didn't like any of the pictures I took of her but this one she said was ok. She is 85 years old.

Karen found an old Newfoundland recipe book amongst my mother's things and brought it home. She and Melanie decided to surprise my mom with a blueberry meringue cake--the recipe had a sort of check mark beside it. Mom didn't remember the recipe or having ever eaten a cake like this but she did like the cake.

The cake is plain, the meringue is sweet and holds the blueberries. The recipe follows but Melanie doubled it to get a cake this size. (You can use any all purpose flour) I did not eat any of the cake, I am dieting but I did sample a teaspoon of the meringue...it was very good!

The recipe is called Blueberry Squares, but to me, squares are chewy little things like brownies or coconut gooey sweet things you find at showers and church socials. To me, this is cake. Not layer cake, just good family cake that you serve from the cake pan! So I rename this recipe Blueberry Meringue Cake.

Melanie (my niece) asking her mom (Karen, my sister) if she thought the cake in the oven was done. I miss doing things like that and it is nice to see it again.