Summer Soup...aka Gazpacho...

Okay, I have put this off because of all the medical emergencies going on but here it is...

Gazpacho

2 1/2 cups tomato or vegetable juice cocktail
1 cup peeled, seeded, finely chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp, finely choppped parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold.

Increase or decrease ingredients to suit your needs!

Now, I need you to pray for...and I mean hard! :

Stellan
Abby Riggs
Amy B
Philip B

Thanking God for all of you!

Stellan, Abby and Philip...

Stellan

Abby

Philip

Please pray for these children. Stellan is in the PICU and not doing well at all, Abby and Philip have both had trips to the ER this weekend...and throw in some extra prayers for their parents too...they need them too!

Recipes from Blog Hop

As promised, I'm back with a few recipes that I posted on the Recipe Blog Hop the other day.

The first 2 are appetizers and/or snacks and can be found on this post. One is Buffalo Chicken Dip and the other is Spinach Artichoke Dip.

Today, I'm going to post the recipe for BLT Salad. It's a macaroni salad and goes super great with any summer meal, whether it be a cookout, barbecue or just your regular day to day menu.

BLT Salad

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

5 green onions - finely chopped

1 very large or many small tomatoes - diced (I like to use plum tomatoes)

1 1/4 cups diced celery

1 1/4 cups mayonnaise

5 teaspoons white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound bacon - cooked and crumbled

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, green onions, tomatoes and celery. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over macaroni mixture and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, add bacon.

Stay tuned for a recipe for Refreshing Summer Soup a.k.a Gazpacho!

The Recipe Blog Hop

Today I checked out the The Blog Hop for Favorite Recipes over at "...where laughter lives", the family blog of Brent of Michelle Riggs, and of course, their 7 children! I haven't tried the MckLinky thing before so I hope I did it right. It was super friendly!

I started out with one recipe and before I knew it, I was on a roll! I ended up sending 5 recipes, which I think I'll post one at a time over the next week or so. Two were appetizers which I've already shared but they can always be resurrected and the others were a soup, salad, and main dish. Brent is going to publish a downloadable cookbook with all the recipes submitted and there's already 450+ entries! <:) <:) <:) Me...getting excited...I can't wait for that...always looking for new ideas! So HOP on over and join the fun. I also wanted to let everyone know what a generous giveaway Jenna is hosting on her blog. The cause is very near and dear to my heart...yes, she is trying to help my son and daughter-in-love raise funds for their next IVF attempt. So PLEASE click on over to Jenna's post, check out the giveaway and of course, as a bonus, you'll be thoroughly entertained with new stories about her little miracle baby, Brayden! Thank you so much, Jenna!


Start here with your content. Replace this paragraph, and everything down to AND INCLUDING the word: STOP. DO NOT REMOVE OR CHANGE THE CODE BEYOND THE WORD STOP BELOW! This has been the most requested theme, so I hope we have a record turnout. Please put up a post with your favorite recipe, or if you don't have the recipe, a photo of your favorite dish and a description. Here's a sample post I did for you: http://www.mcklinkyblog.com/2009/07/mcklinky-blog-hop-for-july-21-2009.html Also, be sure to submit your recipe here too: http://www.mcklinky.com/recipes.asp! I WILL CREATE A MckLinky RECIPE BOOK, AND MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO ALL BLOG HOPPERS FOR FREE! ...STOP

Happy Birthday...

Meet the Birthday Queen***...one would think she is off on a luxurious cruise to places only the rich and famous go...but alas, she is off to get her camp on!


***(just a short aside...sorry, but I had to steal this picture from Twitter to get this post done)


Happy Birthday, Lianna, and I hope you have a wonderful, safe and relaxing vacation...I only wish I could be there too! Take lots of pictures and tweet often!

Just Another Sunless Day...

Are you kidding me? I did something today that I almost NEVER do, and that is take a day off in the almost middle of the week just to go relax, get some sun, have some fun, eat some good food, drink some good drink and chill at the beach... Not to be a Debbie Downer, but...yes, today, I will be Debbie Downer at your service!

This morning started out to be a glorious day. The sun was shining, I watched 3 hours of Big Brother After Dark on my DVR, packed up my car and was off to a faraway beach with my daughter-in-love. We stopped to pick up some ice and giant subs and off we went to Crescent Beach....oops....Rain on I95. Okay, not to worry, just a shower, no big deal.

We arrived at the visitor parking at a condo complex...what a great place to stay...another time! Okay I digress...back to our day. We unloaded chairs, coolers, bags with towels, even my little teeny tiny pink umbrella to protect our belongings and made the trek down to the beach. Of course, by now it was starting to rain but we just knew it would pass over....so we poured an adult beverage and proceeded to get soaked!!!!

Finally we carried a few things back to the car and decided to wait it out for about 15 minutes. Lianna even checked out the weather channel on her phone and we were determined to be 'faith personified'. Guess what! It didn't work. We finally went back down to the beach and gathered our belongings and decided to head back to her house to hang out at the pool. And guess what again?

It was raining there too! So after unloading a ton a soaked stuff out of the car, we ate our subs in her kitchen and then ventured out to the pool (which, by the way, was so warm!). The rain let up but the sun was incognito....

Thus my Debbie Downer post...here are a few parting pictures from my day off at the beach!

So tell me how you really feel!