Add a fried egg and some toast.......

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Food is an incredible substance. It will nourish, perfect creativity, interview your ideals, and fill your belly.

Hunger is also incredible, it will develop appreciation. For the simple, for the nutritious, for the here and now.

Appetite is amazing, but it is tricky. It is slick, and glossy and choosy. It will blindside you into just eating, when you should be satisfying your hunger.

Appetite asks, "what do I want?".

Hunger asks, "what will I eat?"

Hunger is much easier on a cook and the entire household.

It is practiced in our home.

We have a large stock of foods in the dry goods pantry, in the freezer and the refrigerator. From this we cook, dine and satisfy hunger. When we enter the kitchen to prepare a meal, the question asked is, "So what do we have?" and for this reason we do not employ a weekly meal plan. Instead we see what we have, and use what we have, and from there, we enjoy what we eat.

By the time Friday rolls around, an easy dinner is in fact the preferred choice for the evenings meal. This is where the title Add a fried egg and some toast comes into play. No matter what you have, a fried egg and some toast will always round out the meal. This gratin proved the point and made for a delicious and lovely meal. And I know, we will do this again (because we have done this in the past)......

Friday Night Special, put an egg on it!

Friday Night Special
by the seat of my pants
serves the hungry

Leftover Vegetable Gratin, or other vegetable of choice
Eggs
Whole Grain Bread
Butter
Salt & Pepper
Jam and Mustard, if desired

Warm the Gratin, set aside.

Slice whole grain bread, begin toasting.

While bread is toasting, fry an egg (or 2) for each person.

Butter the toast.

Top the Gratin with a fried egg, place buttered toast on each plate.

Serve this forth, offering jam for the toast and possibly a bit of mustard for the eggs. It really is delicious.

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will use and enjoy. 

And now, it is very easy to sign up for Our Sunday Cafe posts by email. You will find the form located in the left sidebar, thank you for subscribing!

this post shared with:
weekend cooking @ beth fish reads

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Alice Walter's Swiss Chard Gratin

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

When offering vegetable side dishes, you will want to have a variety of flavors. Not every dish on the table can or should be "super cheesy", "over the top with flavor" or "the best you have ever tasted".

Sometimes the dish needs to be delicious, subtle, nutritious, fresh or simply a green vegetable, prepared well and served with pride.

Enter this dish.

Alice Water's Swiss Chard Gratin

Alice Water's Swiss Chard Gratin
adapted from, the Wednesday Chef
350 degree oven

1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard - we used rainbow chard
1 c dry bread crumbs - we used whole wheat
2 T butter
1 small onion, diced
2 t butter
salt and pepper
2 - 3 t flour
1/2 c milk
fresh grated nutmeg

Wash chard, remove stems. Slice stems thinly, cut leaves into 1 inch squares. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, add stems, cook 2 minutes, add leaves and cook additional 3 minutes. Drain well, set aside.

In a large flat bottom pan, melt 2 T butter, add dry bread crumbs and saute until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the 2 teaspoons butter to the same pan and saute diced onion. To the onions, add the flour and milk, stirring until mixed well. Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute or so. Add chard, salt and pepper and fresh nutmeg.

Turn chard mixture into a prepared baking pan (1 1/2 qt), top with the buttered crumbs, bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 4-6

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will use and enjoy. 

And now, it is very easy to sign up for Our Sunday Cafe posts by email. You will find the form located in the left sidebar, thank you for subscribing!

2

Mediterranean Cottage Cheese Salad with Zaa'tar Tomatoes and Olives

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Looking for ways to eat more vegetables, led me to this salad. It is delicious and can be made at a moments notice from ingredients on hand. Paired with some whole grain bread and a piece of fresh fruit, it will also make a wonderful lunch or light supper.

With spring and summer coming on, you will want to remember this salad. When served, offer additional Za'atar seasoning so folks can add more of the delicious flavor to their serving, I did. The herby/toasted sesame flavor is really good.

Mediterranean Cottage Cheese Salad with Za'atar

This salad calls for Za'atar, which is a spice blend. I did not find on my spice shelf, but it is very easy to make, so I have included a homemade version, let's start with the Za'atar.......

Za'atar
adapted from, the world wide web
makes about 1/4 cup

1 T toasted sesame seeds
1 T marjoram leaves
1 T thyme leaves
1 T oregano leaves
2 T sumac
3/4 t salt

Using a mortar and pestle, coarsely grind sesame seeds and place is a small jar. Separably grind the each of the herbs, placing each into the same jar. Add the sumac and salt, cap and shake to combine.

Mediterranean Cottage Cheese Salad
adapted from, Kalyn's Kitchen 
serves 4

1 large English cucumber, peeled if desired
1 c halved grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 c sliced black olives
1/4 c sliced green onion
1 c cottage cheese
Za'atar seasoning

Quarter the cucumber lengthwise, the slice. Add to a medium size bowl. Around the rim of the bowl, add the halved tomatoes, sliced olives and then the sliced green onions.

In the center place the cottage cheese. Sprinkle with a generous tablespoon of Za'atar seasoning, more if desired.

Toss well before serving.

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will use and enjoy. 

And now, it is very easy to sign up forOur Sunday Cafe posts by email. You will find the form located in the left sidebar, thank you for subscribing!

PS, you may also enjoy our Homemade Household page, it can be found right at the top of the blog!

this post shared with:
weekend cooking @ beth fish reads
homemade mondays @ frugal by choice
hearth and soul @ apriljharris.com
see ya in the gumbo @ ms enplace
tuesdays with a twist @ back to basics

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Mediterranean Beef, a slow cooker recipe

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

We have made this dish a couple of times. Unfortunately, the photos do not turn out any better from recipe to recipe. Which is often the case with brown colored food. With that said, it is time to share this wonderful recipe for Mediterranean Beef, sans a better photo.

Mediterranean Beef Stew, a slow cooker recipe.

This is warmly spiced, yet not overly sweet in any way. If you love prunes dried plums that are cooked until silky smooth, you will enjoy this entree. We served it with our favorite vegetable rice, but plain rice, couscous or quinoa would all be delicious choices.

Mediterranean Beef Stew and Vegetable Rice.

Mediterranean Beef
adapted from:  Fix it and Forget it, New Cookbook
serves 6-8

1 T oil
1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 large onions, 1/2 inch dice
2 t ground coriander
1 1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
2 c beef stock OR 1 14 oz can plus water to equal 2 cups
1 pound pitted dried plums
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

Brown beef cubes in the oil in a skillet. Place beef in slow cooker. Reserve drippings.

Saute onions in reserved drippings until lightly brown, adding more oil if needed. Add to beef in slow cooker.

Stir in remaining ingredients, except lemon juice.

Simmer on low, 5 - 7 hours or until beef is tender, adding the lemon juice the last 10 minutes.

Serve over rice.

It is also delicious with some green olives added over the top........

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will enjoy and use for yourself and your family. 

You can also sign up for Our Sunday Cafe posts by email, thank you for subscribing!

1

Washington State Apple Bowl, Apple Cake

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Apple Bowl Cake.

This is a fun little baker bowl found, while out thrifting one day. I love apple cakes, and the size of this baker works very well for a small family. Plus it will be very simple to change out the fruit and spice for just about any fruit in season.

I will be honest, the instructions given make it difficult to mix cake batter and might possibly persuade you to not make this easy and delicious cake again. So I took the liberty of giving directions that will make this cake, easy to stir up at a moments notice. And especially when you have a few apples that have passed their prime for fresh eating.

Apple Cake
adapted from: the back of the apple baking pan
350-degree oven

3-4 apples
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c butter, melted and cooled
2 t vanilla
1 c flour
1/2 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon

Peel and slice apples, combine with sugar in a large bowl. Let juice for about 5 minutes.

Melt butter, set aside to cool.

When apples have juiced a bit, add melted butter, egg, vanilla and all dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).

Stir well until combined and apple slices are evenly mixed throughout the batter.

Spoon batter into the baker bowl (or a 9-inch square pan or deep pie plate) bake 40-45 minutes or until done in your oven.

Delicious served plain or even better with a little vanilla ice cream.......

Enjoy.

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will enjoy and use for yourself and your family. 

You can also sign up for Our Sunday Cafe posts by email, thank you for subscribing!

this post shared with:
weekend cooking @ beth fish reads
happiness is homemade @ mommy on demand
motivation monday @ a life in balance
see ya in the gumbo @ ms enplace
homemade mondays @ frugal by choice
hearth and soul @ april j harris
food on friday @ carols chatter

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Fudgy Chocolate Cake, a slow cooker recipe

Welcome to Our Sunday Café, we are pleased you stopped by for a visit. Today we are offering another delicious recipe from our kitchen. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did…

Fudgy Chocolate Cake, as slow cooker recipe.

This is a fudgy chocolate cake that will look like a dried out mud puddle when you go to serve it, but I ask you kindly - don't let that stop you from enjoying every bite!

It is the real drama of brown food. It looks as boring as well the color brown. And we all know the story of brown, it goes something like this........"Here is that bouquet of brown roses you ordered" (said no florist ever).

I recommend you make this cake when you have a few minutes to spare before dinner is served and enjoy it after the dishes are cleared away. Oh and please serve it along with some version of cream, whipped, iced or even simply sweetened, I think you get the idea.

Fudgy Chocolate Cake
adapted from: Fix It and Forget It, New Cookbook
ideal size slow cooker:  4 qt
serves 8-12 (not really, you might want seconds....)

1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 T butter
1 c chocolate chips - divided
1 1/4 c brown sugar - divided
1/3 c plus 3 T dry cocoa - divided
1/4 t salt
1/3 c milk
1 T vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 c hot water

Coat inside of cooker with butter or cooking spray set aside.

In mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 3 T cocoa and 1 c brown sugar.

In a small bowl, melt the butter and 1/2 c chocolate chips, set aside to cool slightly.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the flour mixture, along with the egg, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth and glossy.

Spoon into the slow cooker, spreading evenly.

Over the top of the cake batter, crumble the remaining cocoa, brown sugar and chocolate chips. Gently pour the hot water over the top.

Cover and cook on low, 1 - 2 hours, depending on your slow cooker. The cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the crock. Carefully remove the lid and do not let condensed steam drip back into the cooker.

Serve with some of that cream I talked about previously....

PS, we took this over to share with the kids last night for dinner, this is the only picture we have.....sorry.

Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting Our Sunday Cafe, as always we appreciate your time when you visit and your wonderful comments! 

If you like what you see here, we would appreciate it if you told your friends (we would love more followers!), if not, tell us. Our goal is to share relevant information that you will enjoy and use for yourself and your family. 

You can also sign up for Our Sunday Cafe posts by email, thank you for subscribing!

this post shared with:
natural family friday @ natural family today

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