A day off from the blog to enjoy the unofficial last day of summer! I’ll be back tomorrow with a recipe from the holiday weekend.

I spotted an Ugli fruit at the produce market this week, and decided to give it a try. I can see where it got the name since it looks like an orange that you forgot about for a few weeks. But once peeled and sectioned, this tangelo was pretty good. It has a light flavor, without any pesky seeds. Give one a try if you have a chance!

People often ask me where I find recipes. Most times, I simply do a Google search for two or three key ingredients, and then review the results. I realize though that can be a little overwhelming at times.

On the right hand side of the blog, if you scroll down, there’s a new feature called ‘Recipe Sources’. That is where I’ll list the sites which I use most frequently to find fun new recipes. I’ll keep adding to this list as time goes on! If you have a recipe site to suggest, please leave it in the comments.

I don’t have a new recipe to share today, but I have a few projects planned for the weekend. In the meantime, for those of you who have grown a bumper crop of tomatoes, try this Tomato Basil Tart.

In honor of Flag Day, my cooking club had a red, white, and blue themed meal. I am always amazed at the creativity of the group. Everything looked fabulous, and my pictures do not do it justice. We started with a blue cheese dip, along with blue tortilla chips and salsa (not pictured), and of course, wine!

We then moved on to the rest of the meal, starting with a delicious blueberry soup, garnished with sour cream.

This was followed by chicken stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese, pan roasted white and red potatoes (not pictured), and a watermelon, mint, and feta salad in a blue bowl.

We never forget dessert, and ended our meal with a lovely berry tart.

I served this dessert for Easter, but it is so easy to make that you do not need to wait for a special occasion. It is very light and refreshing, perfect for the summer.

A 3 day weekend means more time for cooking! I don’t have a recipe worthy of sharing with you today, so I thought I would make a list of the recipes that I want to try sometime soon. I won’t be able to make all of these this weekend, but I’ll do my best!

Lentil Soup with Balsamic Roasted Winter Vegetables
Homemade Vitamuffins
Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot
Mushroom Macaroni and Cheese with Mustard Greens
Crockpot Spinach Casserole
Chicken and Peapod Stirfry with Brown Rice
Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

My cooking club had a Northern Italian dinner last weekend, and I made Ricotta Gnocchi. The recipe is copyrighted, but it was a pretty simple combination of flour, ricotta, and egg. I boiled the pasta, and then tossed the gnocchi in butter and fresh Parmesan. They were pretty heavy, but delicious! I would definitely attempt fresh pasta again, and I’ll try to get a better picture next time.

Happy New Year!

I normally don’t make “resolutions” because large sweeping changes can be intimidating. I think it is more realistic to establish small goals which guide me in a specific direction. I look forward to sharing my progress with you throughout the year and will be posting to the blog each week on Monday through Friday. Taking the weekends off from blogging will give me more time to cook! Here are my 2009 goals:

1. Use more local produce. I love farmer’s markets and farm stands, but need to make more of an effort to buy and use local produce, especially in the summer and fall. This also includes fresh herbs.

2. Use more whole grains. I worked to incorporate many new grains in my diet in 2008, including barley, quinoa, and bulgur. But there are a lot of other grains out there which I have not tried yet such as amaranth, wheat berries, and teff.

3. Find more healthy recipes which are portable. Ideally, I would eat all my meals at my dining room table, but that is not realistic. I eat at my desk at work, in classrooms, and on the train. So I want to find more nutritious recipes that travel well and can be eaten anywhere.

It’s your turn now – you can share your 2009 cooking goals, or let me know what kind of recipes you’d like to see here.

As 2008 draws to a close, I would like to thank all of the people who have supported me in my food blogging adventure. The list is long, and includes food bloggers who offered advice and inspiration, my family and friends who were willing to taste everything, and all those who take the time to read and comment. It’s been a lot of fun!

Here are my favorite new recipes of 2008, in no particular order:
Mikey’s Feta Stuffed Mushrooms
Edamame Lo Mein
Black Eyed Peas and Greens
Polenta Triangles
Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
Spinach Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf
Chicken Saagwala
Moroccan Lentil Stew

I look forward to sharing many more cooking experiences in 2009.