Karen Clare

Here in west central Florida, summer has announced itself with blistering heat. No frequent afternoon thunderstorms yet, though I'm sure they are coming eventually.  Sharing another favorite recipe that I've already made a couple of times and plan on making more; I call it Mediterranean chickpea salad. Amounts aren't given, as they depend on taste and the number of people you're feeding. I find that one can of chickpeas plus other ingredients makes about 4-5 servings.  Ingredients: Canned chickpeas, drained Diced red onion Diced cucumber Halved cherry or grape tomatoes Crumbled feta cheese Chopped flat-leaf parsley Salt  Black pepper Garlic powder Oil Vinegar or lemon juice Directions: Mix all ingredients in large serving bowl and chill until ready to serve. Keeps for 4-5 days, and the flavor intensifies with time.  Refreshing and quite filling, able to be a light lunch on its own. 

Summer is here, and I'm trying to enjoy it. It's not my favorite time of year, but making the most of it and trying to have a good attitude as I pray that El Niño means a quiet hurricane season. I got a cheap, very basic outdoor lounge chair from Amazon and have been spending, or trying to spend, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon laying out for twenty minutes (ten for the front, ten for the back). I was looking a bit pasty so wanted to get a little color without ending up resembling Magda from There's Something About Mary . Exposure to the sun in moderation is good for you, and sunscreen actually isn't.  I'm also enjoying the extra light and the lighter traffic on my work commute from school being out. But I digress.  So far this summer, I've made a couple of recipes that I just love and plan on making a lot throughout the season.  The first is something I just kind of made up and call shrimp, potato, and corn boil. It's actually steamed, but I think it st...

As someone who enjoys cooking and cooks frequently in a rather small kitchen, I keep my spices in a kitchen drawer -- the drawer is large and fairly deep -- about 14 inches wide x 19 inches deep x 4 inches high.  The jars I had been using were cylindrical and just short enough that they could fit in the drawer standing up. But the drawer because rather disorganized and messy. Sometimes the drawer would jam if a jar went askew. So I found some new spice jars on Amazon with pretty Acadia wood lids. I like the jars because they're square instead of round, and thus won't roll. I also got some  coordinating Acadia wood "tiers" for the spices to go on ( also on Amazon ). Before I ordered, I measured to make sure that the dimensions would fit my drawer.  The jars and tiered "shelves", for lack of a better word, arrived today. So I spent the late afternoon and early evening tackling the project of cleaning and reorganizing my spice drawer.  First, I removed everyth...