July Recipes

Mrs. Martini’s Garden Chicken

When my neighbor, Mrs. Martini, brought over some homegrown zucchini, I was tempted to turn them down. Now I know: you never turn down homegrown produce—just ask for a recipe. Here goes:

3 lb chicken pieces with skin on
2 onions, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
salt, pepper, and Mrs. Dash

Arrange chicken, skin side up, in 9 by 10-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with seasonings. Arrange vegetables around chicken. Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake, uncovered, at 375 until skin is crispy and meat thermometer reads 180 degrees (about an hour, depending on the type of chicken). If veggies are covering the chicken, push to the sides after 30 minutes so skin can get crispy. Serve with rice.

Oatmeal Pancakes with Orange Sauce

Pancakes (Betty Crocker):

I double this recipe.
½ C flour
½ C quick oats
½ t ground cinnamon
1 T brown sugar
3 t baking powder
¼ t salt
2 T vegetable oil
¾ C milk
1 egg
butter

Combine all ingredients and fry in melted butter on skillet.

Orange Sauce:
¼ C sugar
1 T cornstarch
1-1/4 C orange juice
2 t butter

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in orange juice. Stir over med. heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 min. more. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Serve warm over pancakes.

Watermelon-Mint Margaritas
Southern Living

I admit I haven’t tried these yet, but I’m planning to serve them to guests on the 4th of July.

2 C seeded and chopped watermelon
fresh lime juice
sugar
½ C tequila (or substitute ½ C orange juice)
¼ C sugar
1 T grated lime rind
¼ C fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 T chopped fresh mint leave

Place watermelon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 4 hours or until firm. Coat rims of glasses with lime juice, dip in sugar. Process frozen watermelon, tequila, and next 4 ingredients in blender until slushy. Pour into glasses. Garnish with fresh mint sprig, if desired.

Cookie Capers

The neighbors were getting annoyed. I was wondering if our decision not to give the girls an allowance had backfired. How many lemonade/Gatorade/hot chocolate/sweet tea stands should one group of sisters have in a given week? I knew I needed to step in when they started to sell their hand-woven scarves in 95 degree heat. So I laid down the law: only one stand a week, and drinks only!

Wouldn’t you know it—the first day they had their strictly sweet tea stand, Mrs. Martini said, "Oh, I was hoping you were selling cookies." I must admit, I have a weakness for cookie baking. The girls gained a bit of neighborhood fame the day we sold Christmas cookies and homemade hot chocolate on our corner. But I can’t take any credit for what happened next. The girls came up with the idea to start a cookie business. They made an order form on the computer, which their dad and I whittled down from about 30 dessert options including cheesecake to 6 cookie varieties. The plan was to make a batch to sell at the next lemonade stand, and hand out the order forms as well. While we were thinking of it, we brought some order forms to the allergist, the orthodontist, swim team, and sent some to work with Dad. We haven’t even had a Gatorade stand, and the girls are swamped. It was like: BAM! Orders flew in. I think they have had about 20 dozen cookies ordered so far.

I suggested to Christiana that she should pay for her youth group trip to the IMAX theatre. "Mom!" she said. Sometimes you need to hit them over the head with a ton of bricks—or cookies.