Fresh Pesto with Tomatoes and a Poached Egg...summer is almost here!!

California really is a beautiful place to live, and while Fall is ultimately my favorite season because of its beauty and colors. Spring and Summer are a close second and third because of the wonderful foods that explode out of these seasons!! There is nothing like gardening and growing your own fresh herbs and vegetables. Or eating farm fresh eggs.

This morning I made a wonderful homemade pesto with fresh organic basil I picked up from the farmers market, garlic, tomatoes and farm fresh eggs!! I love egg with fresh pesto and that moment when you dig your fork and knife into that yolk and it oozes out and the pesto and yolk meet each other for the first time.....mmmmm!! Then throw fresh sweet vine ripened tomatoes into the mix and your taste buds will certainly be doing a happy waddlelyatcha and doodley do!!

Enjoy your day!!

Marshmallow Fondant....so easy a caveman can do it...

I made these two cakes back on January 31st for my oldest son and my grandma. They share that day as their birthday!! This is approximately the fourth time Ive used this fondant recipe and it seems to get easier and easier every time.

So obviously I made the blue one for my son and the purple one for my grandma. I love the way blue and brown goes together!! I put the link for the website that has the recipe for the fondant....its got a lot of ingredients....lol!! Don't be 'scerd' if I can do it....so can you!! You will be amazed at the things you can do with fondant!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

Ok first off I must say, I only subscribe to 2 magazines!! Cooking Light and Food Network....and I love them both!! So anyways every month I get my magazines in the mail and I sit down and go through all the recipes and cut out the ones I am pretty sure I will use. When I was going through Cooking Lights Jan/Feb issue I came across this little gem!!

This soup......or chowder as they call it has an absolutely lovely flavor to it. It is packed with healthy things and even looks beautiful. I made a few changes to adapt to what I had on hand. It came out so good and even my teenage boys loved it. That is a hard enough task to accomplish!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

2 tsp olive oil

3 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 tsp peeled fresh ginger, grated on micro plane

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground curry

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbls brown sugar (I used agave, because I don't use sugar)

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 packages Turkey Italian Sausage, chopped

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes until cooked almost completely. Add next next 6 ingredients through ginger. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients through cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds. Add broth and agave or sugar. Add thyme and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in tomatoes and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cilantro and stir. Discard bay leaves. Yield six servings