I don’t even need to take photographs — Steve and the kids do it for me. Happy… Tuesday!

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Anything in ital is notes from me. And yes, it was all Trisha Yearwood, all the time, this weekend. I came across an old issue of Redbook mag, and every recipe in it sounded good. wm)

Stuffed Peppers (from Trisha Yearwood’s uncle)

6 large red or green bell peppers (I used half red, half yellow)

2½ cups long-grain white rice (or rice of your choice) (I used brown rice that I cooked with vegetable broth and some butter)

2 lbs lean ground beef (left this out, of course. sometimes I sub crumbled up garden burgers or meatballs, though.)

½ medium-size sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, with their juices

1 10-oz can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 4 cups) (I subbed Parmesan cuz I was too lazy to grate cheese, and for some reason we have several containers of open Parm in the fridge)

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Cut the bell peppers in half, top to bottom. Remove the seeds and the ribs. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, cook the rice according to package directions. In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic. Drain the meat. In a medium saucepan, bring the tomatoes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, tomatoes, pepper, and salt and mix until blended.

3. In a 9×13×2-inch pan, place the bell peppers skin side down. Evenly divide the beef mixture among the pepper halves. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and sprinkle the cheese on the top. Return the pan to the oven, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.

Note from Gwen: Before using, wilt the pepper halves in boiling water for about 5 minutes. This will reduce the cooking time from 40 minutes to 15. Serves 6.

Crunchy Slaw (from Trisha Yearwood’s sister)

1 head green cabbage, finely chopped

8 green onions, finely chopped

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup (½ stick) butter

2 3-oz packages ramen noodles, flavor packets discarded

Dressing

2 Tbsp sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1. Mix the cabbage and green onions in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the almonds and sesame seeds in the butter.

2. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Just before serving, add the sesame seeds, almonds, and crushed raw ramen noodles to the cabbage and green onions. Pour the dressing, a little at a time, over the salad mix, then toss. Serves 10 to 12.

(For this one, I couldn’t find the almond bark, so I had to sub white chocolate buttons. It turned out great. In fact, it turned out so well, we had enough to share with the neighbors, and the rest we gobbled up. Steve calls this a “will u plz never make this again” recipe.)

Crockpot Candy (from Trisha Yearwood’s auntie)

2 lbs (36 oz) salted dry-roasted peanuts

4 oz (4 squares) German’s sweet chocolate

1 12-oz package semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

2½ lbs white almond bark

1. Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow-cooker. Layer the chocolate over the peanuts, beginning with the sweet chocolate, followed by the chocolate chips, and then the almond bark. Set the temperature on low and cook for 3 hours. Do not stir the mixture.

2. After 3 hours, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop the candy into cupcake pan liners, using about 2 tablespoons per liner. Allow the candy to cool completely before removing the cupcake liners. Makes 30 to 40 pieces.

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Recipes!)

Man, what a good weekend. We saw Bag & Baggage’s production of “Of Mice and Men” in Hillsboro on Saturday. Went canoing on the Tualatin River Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Heard Greg Brown and Bo Ramsey play at the Aladdin Theater in Portland on Friday. Every time I go hear some live music I ask myself, Why do we never go hear live music anymore? Then I balance the checkbook and it’s zeroed out again and I think, Oh yeah. That.

We caught a Bag & Baggage show last season… Dangerous Liaisons… so good. And I’m not just saying that cuz our friend was in it. We can’t afford season tickets to the Blazers (or the Winter Hawks), the opera (or the symphony), but occasionally we can pull off buying a ticket or four. Usually it’s one or two. But the season tickets were really reasonable for Bag & Baggage, so we went for it. Saw this crazy version of Titus Andronicus that they did this summer… Kabuki Titus. One of the most inspired and craziest shows I’ve ever seen.

It kind of freaked me out.

That’s not a bad thing.

The upcoming season is going to be good, so I’m looking forward to it. There’s a new exhibit up of Greek and Roman art, at the Portland Art Museum. It’s on loan from the British museum and is supposed to be quite good. The kids get in for free, so I’m psyched to go to that one, too. I love taking them to stuff that I never really took part in as a kid (other than the occasional school field trip).

What’s new in your world, artwise or otherwise?

Have a great week!

xo

wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(It’s a watermelon, not a gourd, but whatever.)

This one’s for Steve Rawley.

Best spam I’ve ever received:

“You Sir/Madam are the enemy of conufison everywhere!”

You know who’s confused? This tomato:

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

For dinner: Cheese fondue, and Huevos Mexicanos with fresh pico de gallo made from tomatoes and peppers from the garden.

Beautiful weekend, happy family, bliss.

Have a great week, y’all, and L’Shana Tova.

— wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)