(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Doesn’t that look good? I’ll have to go pick some strawberries for dinner. (We planted some everbearings and get three crops a season from them. Who knew berries grew this way?)

Hello, dumplings. What’s up? My husband and daughter are finally back from London, and I owe them some delicious home cooking. They ate out at plenty of delicious restaurants in London, but nothing says lovin’ like something I have forgotten about and burned, just in time for dinner. On the menu:

* Irish Champ, a la Jamie Oliver (edited later to say: will make this tomorrow; ran out of time)

* Leftover Zucchini Lasagna, which is just my regular lasagna recipe, with planks of zucchini subbed for the pasta. Have I never run my lasagna recipe here? Hmm. Well, here’s Carmela Soprano’s recipe. And here’s my recipe for Manicotti. (Edited to say: No one likes the zucchini lasagna but me, apparently. Wacky Boy had a waffle with real maple syrup; Steve and Wacky Girl and I had Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato Sandwiches on homemade bread. Fake (vegetarian!) bacon bits = vegetarian BLT. And fresh tomatoes from garden! Rock on.)

* Green Bean Salad (from Food & Family)
500 g green beans topped, tailed and halved
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
50g feta cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the prepared green beans. Cook until al dente, tender enough to bite through but still crisp. Drain and cool under cold tap for a few seconds. Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving add crumbled feta cheese and finely chopped parsley. (Edited to say: Awesome recipe, thanks, Kit!) (Also, my daughter made a huge green salad, with diced celery and green onions, grated carrots and red-leaf lettuce. Really perfect.)

and…
* Zucchini Bread! (I use my Dear Late Granny’s Banana Bread recipe and sub zucchini.)

(We have baseball bat-sized squash in the garden, am attempting to use some of it up.) (Edited to say: Pawned off one of the zucchinis on my friend. She promptly wielded it like a bat and started laughing. I’m all, I know, right? I made three (3) loaves of zucchini bread. Found some white chocolate chips, Wacky Girl said, Add ’em! so I did. Oh. Yum. So good. ps if anyone uses the Zucchini Bread recipe from Dear Late Granny’s cookbook, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon is good, 3 is kind of a lot; add 3 cups of zucchini, not 2. That’s all! ta-ta for now.)

xo and happy Tuesday, also, bon appetit!

wm