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Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s mid-June and the weather is about as perfect as it could possibly be. (Not something I recall ever saying in the summertime before we moved to Ohio.) We still have chilly mornings and glorious afternoons and evenings.
Even after 4 years of living here, I still have moments of, “How awesome is it that I get to wake up in my favorite place on earth every morning?!” It’s a gift I don’t take for granted.
ON THE BLOGS this week: Filled with Italian sausage and shredded vegetables before being fried crisp and golden brown, these Italian egg rolls are a fun and unexpected twist on pasta night.
Fluffy Italian rice cooked in chicken broth and then tossed with warm butter and generous herbs makes a terrific side dish for any meal.
This pepperoni pizza grilled cheese sandwich is a fantastic treat, loaded with savory slices of pepperoni, gooey mozzarella, and fresh basil.
Garden-fresh tomatoes, fragrant basil, and a creamy, cheesy topping make each slice of this old fashioned tomato pie a joy to eat!
Tender vegetables are breaded and broiled to perfection with plenty of buttery garlic and lemon in this crispy buttered zucchini and summer squash.
Tender crisp green beans are sauteed along with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and plenty of spice in these flavorful Mexican green beans.
Warm berry sauce poured over cold ice cream is one of my favorite desserts. I make this sauce year-round and every time I serve it, it gets raves. This fruit sauce might be the simplest recipe I keep in my dessert recipe notebook. I scribbled it out on a scrap of paper almost 25 years ago while I was visiting a friend.
Creamy sweet vanilla ice cream filled with crunchy, nutty grape nuts? Yes, please! This grape nut ice cream has been an absolute win with family and friends.
Juicy sweet blueberries are topped with the warm, cinnamon-kissed crunch of a buttery oat topping in this blueberry crisp. This is one dessert you won’t regret!
Watermelon dog treats are the ultimate dog popsicles – and best of all it only takes a minute to make them. They’re a great way to use up leftover watermelon too!
What I’m CRAVING: This triple-layer coffee-flavored cake with layers flavored as latte, mocha, and Americano drinks sounds incredible! Topped with a coffee-flavored meringue buttercream, it’s basically a coffee lover’s dessert dream come true.
My FAVORITE THING this week is this drying rack for dishes. I’ve been using this rack for a couple of weeks now and I officially love it. While I do have a dishwasher, I find that there are always dishes I hand wash because it’s simpler.
This rack is a great size, not overly large to require much space, and still sturdy enough to handle whatever I’ve put in it. It expands to fit across the sink or can be placed on a tray with a water spout to let the water drip into the sink while the stand is on the counter.
What I’m READING: In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park. Yeonmi tells the true story of how she escaped from North Korea when human traffickers tricked her and her mother into following them to China where they were then sold into slavery. Several years later she was finally rescued and made it to Seoul, South Korea. It’s a horrifying and unimaginable story for most of us living in freedom today.
“Along my journey, I have seen the horrors that humans can inflict on one another, but I’ve also witnessed acts of tenderness and kindness and sacrifice in the worst imaginable circumstances. I know that it is possible to lose part of your humanity in order to survive. But I also know that the spark of human dignity is never completely extinguished and that given the oxygen of freedom and the power of love, it can grow again.” – Yeonmi Park
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 ESV
Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!
Mary
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