Random Food-ness

Ok. If you haven't figured it out by now...I love food. Eating it, talking about it, smelling it, finding new ways to prepare it, snapping photos of it, and reveling in the marvelous texture, flavors and hues. In my boring little life, I get pretty excited about a new thing I came up with, or a new recipe I tried. And my excitement spills over into my blog. If that's not ok with you, then you've probably already stopped reading it. Now, without further ado, some things I've had fun with this week.

These gorgeous veggies were cut up to make skewers. Then added fresh thyme and oregano from the garden

 

And added some vinaigrette and extra virgin olive oil (or EVOO as Rachael Ray fondly calls it)

Unfortunately, they were so enticing after adding marinated shrimp and grilling them, we proceeded to devour them before I could snap any photos. Sorry!

For appetizers to enjoy that night with our chilled Chardonnay, we made tomato caprice skewers with basil and tomatoes from the garden, adding fresh mozzarella and drizzling with EVOO, balsamic vinegar and freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Yum!

Thank you husband for being my hand model.

And last night I tried out a new Rachael Ray recipe. (I will share the link with you, but you must never, ever compare my finished products with hers. It's just not fair!) 

They turned out pretty yummy. My hubby actually rated it an 8 out of 10. 

Halfway through the meal, he concedes, "Ok, I'll say 8.75." How generous.

On a different note, strawberries are the most beautiful fruit ever created. The vibrant ruby, scattered with evenly spaced dimples and the contrast of the bright green leaves. Wonderful!

Lastly, I will leave you with some photos of a beautiful butterfly that graced us with his appearance the other day in the garden. He seemed to favor my cosmos, but he also detoured to the phlox. Bonus points to anybody who can tell me what type of butterfly it is!