Meal in a Bowl Tomato Salad
aka - Caprese Salad

I call it meal in a bowl because I often have it for dinner - no cooking!! It has vegetables (tomatoes and onion), protein (cheese) and carbohydrates (french bread). Right now, while gardens and farmers markets are rich in tomatoes, it's the opportune time to prepare this luscious salad.

For each bowl,

2-3 ripe, juicy tomatoes, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
About 3-4 very thin slices through a red onion
2 oz. of fresh mozzarella sliced into bite sized pieces
3-4 fresh basil leaves, snipped into the bowl
kosher salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste


Dress salad with about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Mix it all together. Slice french bread diagonally and get ready to dip. This salad creates lots of wonderful dipping juice.


Below are etsy shops of castteam members that have some wonderful red, juicy items.




















by Rita of sammysgrammy

by Rita of sammysgrammy

Our dear Linda of Buttonwilloe wrote some beautiful remembrances of her father, who passed away recently, on her Blog.  One very touching thing that her family did was to bake her father's favorite Hungarian pastry cookies, which are called "kiffles" and give them out as remembrances of him.  I asked Linda if she wouldn't mind sharing this recipe with us.


Kiffle Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound cream cheese softened at room temperature
1 cup butter softened at room temperature
7 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar
2 cups filling: nut, lekvar (prune), or apricot

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1) Cream butter and cream cheese till fluffy.
2) Stir together flour and salt and add it to the creamed mixture.
3) Cover; chill one hour
4) Divide dough into several pieces. Lightly dust rolling surface with powdered sugar, roll each portion approximately 1/8 inch thick (as you would a pie crust) and cut into 2 inch squares. Keep the remaining dough pieces in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll them out.
5) Place a dot (a little less than one teaspoon) of filling in the center of each square. If you use too much it will ooze out in the baking and make a mess. I usually do a test cookie and bake it to see if the amount of filling is correct.
6) Lift up two diagonal corners of the dough to center, pinching together to seal.
7) Place dough on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake till firm and slightly golden. (about 12-15 minutes).
8) Cool on wire racks. Sift powdered sugar over slightly warm pastries.
9) Store loosely covered in a cool dry place. (they freeze nicely...just make sure they are completely cooled before freezing )

FILLING FOR KIFFLES:

Lecvar (prune) or apricot filling:
1 1/2 Cups dried prunes or apricots, chopped into fine bits (food processor or by hand)
Water
Sugar
Place chopped fruit in sauce pan and cover with water
Add 1/2 cup sugar (or to taste, prune may not even need sugar)
Bring to boil and simmer on low until a thick jam-like consistency