Tortellini Salad

I got this recipe from my mother; the original recipe actually calls for goat cheese. However the first time I made it, I didn’t have any on hand, but I did have feta. I think you could use either kind and get good results; I’m just used to using feta. I like the flavor combination. 

Ingredients:

1 pound tortellini, cooked, drained and cooled (I use cheese tortellini)

6 sundried tomatoes, diced

6 roasted red peppers, diced

3 T olive oil

5 T balsamic vinegar

1—2 T oil from the sundried tomatoes (optional; I usually add just 1 T for extra flavor)

7 fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 ounces crumbled feta or goat cheese

Parsley to taste

Directions:

• Combine the oils and vinegar and whisk til thoroughly mixed.
• Pour the oil/vinegar mixture over the pasta.
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
• Chill before serving.
• Enjoy!

Baklava

I LOVE Baklava. Something about the sweet honey with the nuts just appeals to my palate. I recently received a large jar of fresh local honey from a friend of mine who has a bee hive. My first though to to make some baklava, and I wasn't disappointed!

Ingredients:
1 package phyllo dough
1 lbs of nuts, you can use any you want, I used a combination of almonds, walnuts, and pecans because that is what I had on hand.
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

Directions:

• Thaw the phyllo dough according to the directions on the box.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter a 9 x 13 pan.
• Bring 1 cup to a boil. Turn off heat immediately. 
• Add sugar, vanilla and honey. Stir until combined. Set aside to cool. 
• Chop nuts in a food processor and toss with the cinnamon.
• Roast the nuts until you can smell them. You can do this in the oven or in a large fry pan over medium heat.
• Place two layers of pyllo dough in pan, then butter. Repeat until you have about 8 layers. 
• Then add about 3 tbls of nuts over the buttered phyllo dough. Add two layers of phyllo dough, butter, add nuts on top. 
• Repeat until you only have about 8 layers of phyllo dough left. You should run out of nuts at about the same time.
• Cut the baklava before you bake it into whatever shape/size you desire.
• Butter the top layer then bake in the over for about 50 minutes.
• Immediately drizzle the cooled sauce over the baklava. 
• The baklava will soak up the sauce in a few hours, leave uncovered.
• Enjoy!

Lemonade

Lemonade is actually very easy to make at home. Homemade lemonade just tastes so much better than the stuff from a can. Next time you're at the store, skip the frozen concentrate and grab a bag of lemons instead.

Ingredients:
6 Lemons
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup water
Cold water

Directions:

• Bring 1 Cup of water to a boil. Immediately turn off the head. 
• Add 1 Cup sugar to the hot water. 
• Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Cut 6 lemons in half and juice them. (You can buy a hand squeeze juicer at the grocery store for about $3 if you don't have one).
• In a pitcher combine the lemon juice, simple syrup. Fill the pitcher up with cold water. 
• Enjoy!