Ann Kroeker. Writer

For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!

Food on Fridays with Ann

Cook an egg in the middle of a slice of sweet bell pepper? Brilliant!

I spotted the idea at a blog entitled Apron Strings. Head over via this link to check out her cute-as-can-be shots.

So late one night I try it. I slice a yellow bell pepper and toss one ring into the oiled pan.

I crack an egg and release it from its shell into the center of the ring, but…

…egg white escapes the confines of the pepper ring, oozing randomly from under one side. So much for “cute.”

I sort of herd the egg back into the center, but it is no longer attractive. Now, it is merely functional.

When it cooks solid enough, I flip it, and eat it anyway with a little salt. Apparently looks don’t affect taste, because it’s yummy.

Despite the obvious flop of this first attempt, I will make it again. Don’t let my failure keep you from an attractive breakfast (or anytime) treat.

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Photo by D. Kroeker. “Pin” these images in a way that links back to this particular page, giving proper credit.

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For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!

Food on Fridays with Ann

No celebration is complete without food, so our daughter’s graduation open house menu included sandwiches, cheesy popcorn, tortilla chips and dips (including guacamole), grapes and strawberries. In the crock pots: meatballs in sweet and sour sauce.

In the kitchen, guests served themselves lemonade, sweet tea, and water from three big beverage dispensers I borrowed from friends. And near the drinks we set up a dessert table with brownies, no-bake cookies, and ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings.

My daughter wanted things casual. We can do casual.

Even with the casual theme, however, which is quite forgiving, I wasn’t sure how this whole set-up would work. My dining room, which you can see in the above photo, has been turned into my office. To return it to its dining room status, we shut the rolltop desk (as you can see on the right side of the photo), moved the table back in,  covered it with a black tablecloth and nice centerpieces, cleared away my office junk, and set out the snacks.

My daughters worked on signage and decorated with Japanese lanterns and brightly colored crepe paper; meanwhile, I got some last-minute help from friends who helped me pull together final details. I was still mixing up a batch of guacamole when the first guest arrived, but it all came together quickly.

What fun to celebrate with friends the closure of my daughter’s K-12 years and look forward with delight to her future—and to do so with a set-up that worked well! I guess sometimes you just have to go ahead and throw the party, figuring things out along the way.

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Photo by D. Kroeker. “Pin” these images in a way that links back to this particular page, giving proper credit.

Smaller button for various uses

For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!

Food on Fridays with Ann

Not long ago, my mom picked up some natural granola bars from a farmer’s market in South Carolina and shipped them to me here in the Midwest. Rather than gobble them down, I set them aside thinking I’d save them for our next road trip.

But today I was hungry for a snack and decided to try one.

I opened up a Frommer’s Natural Foods “Chocolate Strawberry Chia Granola Bar” and took a bite.

Delicious!

I highly recommend them. Not only have they made a super-tasty granola bar, but they did so using gluten-free, Fair Trade, local, and organic ingredients as much as possible.

Like them on Facebook and learn more. The good news for those of us who live outside the Carolinas? They ship!

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Photos by Ann Kroeker. “Pin” these images in a way that links back to this particular page, giving proper credit.

Smaller button for various uses

For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!

Food on Fridays with Ann

This isn’t a recipe; rather it’s a quick meal idea if you happen to have the right things on hand.

I plucked a bag of frozen shrimp from the freezer, sauteed them in an iron skillet with a little oil, added taco seasoning (I used an Ortega seasoning packet) along with a splash of water to create the sauce, then plopped them into some warm corn tortillas with avocado (cut them up any old way), lettuce (I didn’t have much), tomatoes (I cut up some grape tomatoes I had on hand), and some diced sweet red pepper.

Usually I just substitute beans for the ground beef, but something made me think of the shrimp, and boy am I glad!

I could eat this every day for a week and not get tired of it.

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Photos by Ann Kroeker. “Pin” these images in a way that links back to this particular page, giving proper credit.

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