This is a new “family recipe” that our son actually discovered.  While in Central Market with some friends, they sampled this dish and thought it was delicious.  So…he brought home the recipe card and you can imagine, as most moms would do, I bought some squash and made the recipe.  We all loved it, and I’ve made it a couple of times.  I even made it when we went to visit my mother-in-law.  It is definitely on our family favorites list!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound yellow squash, cut into bite sized pieces
  
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped onion  (I added this because I always cook squash with onion)
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoon butter
• Fresh lemon juice  (1/4 – 1/2 small lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  
• Salt & Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Sauté the squash and onion in olive oil and melted butter.  When it’s just starting to get tender, squeeze fresh lemon juice over it.  Then season to taste with thyme, salt & pepper.  You can vary the seasonings for a slight lemon flavor or a stronger flavor.  Same with the thyme.

Val writes, “I’m always fascinated by the different names a food has in different geographical places. When we lived in New Hampshire, shortly after moving there we were at a flea market with friends. The guy said “I’m going to get some tonic, do you want some”. Thinking he meant tonic water I passed. He came back with Cokes. I mentioned I would have liked a Coke and he said I just asked you and you said no. That was my first experience with foods being called something other than I was used to. So let’s see what you all call some things that I know have other names.”

1. How do you pronounce manicotti? Men-e-got, man-i-cotti or some other way?
2. What do you can the carbonated drink that comes in a bottle? Soda, tonic, pop, fizzy or something else?
3. What do you call a sandwich on a long roll? Sub, grinder, hoagie, hero, poor boy or something else?
4. Do you call it broth, boullion or stock? How do you make chicken stock?

You can visit Val’s site, From Val’s Kitchen, to find out her answers and also other people’s answers.  Here are mine:

1. Man-i-cotti
2. We call it a “coke,” as in “Do you want to go get a coke?” which could end up being Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, etc.  It’s kinda funny when you stop and think about it.
3. Sub sandwich
4. Broth is what I call the watery stuff that comes in a can.  I think of chicken stock as boiling the whole chicken, and when the liquid is chilled in the fridge, then the stock has the consistency of gelatin.   Actually, though, stock has veggies and spices cooked in with the chicken, and the liquid drained off is the stock.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 graham cracker pie crust
• Chocolate pudding mix
• Milk (amount listed in pudding mix directions)
• Chocolate candy bar or chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)
• Strawberries
• Whipped Cream

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the pudding according to directions and pour into pie crust.  Cut up chocolate into small chunks and scatter across the top of the pie.  Wash strawberries thoroughly and completely (remember strawberries are in the top 10 for high amounts of pesticides), cut in half, and decorate the top of the pie with them.  Add whipped cream.  Enjoy!

Note:  I made this for my husband for Father’s Day.  So very simple, but he was impressed and loved it!

If you’ve never played Four Foods on Friday, then head over to Val’s Kitchen to read other people’s answers and to enter your answers if you’d like.  Val has a fun question this week:

“Name four things related to food that are strange or funny to you.”

Go to Four Foods on Friday to read more .

Here are Val’s answers:

1. Minute rice. It takes more than minute.
2. Freshly frozen. As opposed to frozen after getting stale?
3. Pasta. The pound of pasta isn’t always a pound now, sometimes the box is 12 ounces.
4. Pound cake. Some of the frozen pound cakes are only 12 ounces.

Here are my answers here at Healthy Home Blog:

(Our son helped me with the first one & then I thought of the others.)

1.  Instructions for frozen pizza say “not to eat frozen pizza.”  (Shucks!  I like pizza hard and ice cold!)

2.  On a bag of frozen cook-in-the-bag veggies:  “Cook in microwave for 8 minutes” and then it says, ” CAUTION: Bag is HOT!”   (Really?)

3.  On ice cream carton:  “Keep Frozen Until Served”  (I guess I can’t leave it out on the counter for an hour.)

4. On can of non-stick baking spray made with oil it says, “Do not spray into open flames.”  (Hmmm….it’s made with oil.   There are lamps that burn oil.  Makes sense to me!)

I know they have those instructions on the packaging for a reason, but sometimes they just sound so obvious!

I found a granola bar recipe that sounds great and also made a new friend.  The “Domestic Nerd” is new to blogging and her second post is from Menu Plan Monday this week.  Her next post is this delicious sounding recipe.  I had full intentions of making it, but haven’t yet.  Hope to soon!  Drop by My Life as a Domestic Nerd if you have a chance and welcome her to blogging.

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Val says,  “This week I have some random questions.”

1. What kind of olive oil do you use?
2.Do you prefer salted or unsalted butter?
3. What size eggs do you usually buy?
4. What’s in the bottom drawer of your fridge?

I have my answers below.  Share  your answers, leave them in a comment below and I will add them to this post.

1.  Extra virgin olive oil (We buy it at Sam’s.  Their brand is just as good as Bertolli’s.)

2.  Salted butter

3. Large eggs by the dozen

4. I have two drawers.  One has romaine lettuce, carrots, avocados, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, and a green bell pepper.  The other drawer has apples, oranges and lemons.

I’ll add your answers here:

Karen says, ” Our drawers contain nearly the same things. I guess that is because they are supposed to be crispers.”