For the next few weeks, if I can keep myself motivated, I'm going to try and introduce you to some simple herbal vinegars and oils that I use. I use them all the time and when I started blogging I didn't even consider giving you the recipes or describing how I use them, simply because it's become second nature to me so that I don't even think about it. But . . . the other day I brought in some cherry tomatoes, washed and sliced them in half and thought, now, how do I prepare these? We are now transitioning into cooler weather and I get terribly pumped up about cooking but with that comes some major fattening-type dishes which I don't need, yet, I refuse to use the diet-type stuff. No way!!! I start thinking a lot more about gravy, breads, cheeses, creams, mayonnaise, etc. These are very caloric and I need to back off using these foods on a daily basis and just use them for special occasions. They are wonderful and are fine eaten judiciously but they are the kinds of foods that are so tasty we tend to go overboard. There's just something about them. They can be almost addictive. Now cutting back on that yummy stuff is all fine and good; but I need taste - good, strong, luscious, full-bodied flavors. Ah-ha!!!! I reached for my trusty vinegars. For starters, as I said before, I sliced my cherry tomatoes in half and threw them in a bowl, poured a little olive oil on them (nope, no recipe for this one!) and instead of lemon juice I used my Salad Bouquet Vinegar, sprinkled some Italian Seasoning Blend (you can use whatever blend you like) and then sprinkled on some garlic salt and some freshly ground pepper. I stirred that together and let that marinate for about 15 minutes in the frig and it was absolutely delicious as a side salad-type dish. Fewer calories, good for you and majorly pumped-up flavor!! For your information, I will put the recipe for Salad Bouquet Vinegar on my Recipes Page. It's a true "keeper"!
After working outside in the herb garden most of the day I came in and made some muffins. When I made the Pear Nectar a few weeks ago, I had 3 1/2 cups of pear pulp leftover and I just couldn't, in all good conscience, throw it away. Last night I thawed it out and today used it in the muffins and added some pecans too. My, my, talk about good. What a way to use something most people would probably have thrown away. These muffins are just superb!!