lunch, supper, and breakfast (two from the internet, one from my head)

My Great Aunt Grace was a wonderful cook. She made tasty home-cooked meals that were always delightful. I especially remember a warm potato salad that she made, with red potatoes, green beans, slices of ham, and a vinaigrette dressing. It was lovely. Whenever I asked my Aunt Grace for the recipe she would say, "Oh now, I don't have a recipe for that. I made it out of my head." and I would always laugh, because I pictured Aunt Grace using her head as a soup pot, popping open the lid, salting and stirring. It was actually a pretty gruesome picture, but there's no accounting for what makes people laugh.

Like Aunt Grace, I do a lot of cooking "out of my head," but also some from recipes. I like cookbooks, but I also like the internet, which has a never-ending variety of ways to do things. Often I cook with my iPad propped up on the kitchen counter.

Today I have big bowl photos of recent meals cooked from my head and from the internet. I'll give you the links to the recipes, and the ingredient list from my head.

1. Lunch (from my head)
Pommy-Nutty-Feta Salad

This yummy salad was my lunch yesterday. It featured:
spring mix
cucumber
pomegranate
red pepper
walnuts
feta cheese
balsamic and olive oil dressing (not shown, as I dressed the salad after I photographed it, so you could enjoy the beautiful white feta without balsamic spots). I have some Persian style feta which is creamy soft and not as salty as other types. If you get a chance, try some of that. It's good.

2. Supper (from the internet)
Tomato Soup - Jamie Oliver's Version

Here's the link. I love this one because it uses several different vegetables which gives it depth of flavour, and because it's easy and very satisfying. I am a pushover for most tomato soups, and I was really craving some last night. I'm glad I found this version, and I've bookmarked the recipe so I can make it again (and again, and again).

3. Breakfast (from the internet)
Vanilla Scones - Canadian Living Recipes

You'll notice right away when you use this link, that the recipe is for raisin scones. I adapted it to make vanilla scones. I skipped the raisins, and added 2 tsp of vanilla extract to the eggs and milk before combining with the dry ingredients. Instead of rolling and cutting the scones with a cutter, I patted the dough into 2 rounds and cut each into 6 wedges. When the scones had baked and cooled, I glazed them with a mixture of:
icing sugar
vanilla
cream (you could use milk, but I had some cream on hand)

I served some to Andy and Alex, then took some to church for our cafe worship this morning. They were a hit. By the way, I doubled the recipe so I wouldn't have to take all of the scones away after breakfast. That would be mean!

Whether you cook from a book, or from the internet, or from your head, cook something good today.