FAST FOODS

Great homemade taste, economical common sense and nutritional value.

I've been looking for a quick and easy sugar cookie recipe for a couple of years now. I wanted one that would allow me to serve up fresh homemade cookies in a few minutes, but cookies that taste good like grandma's did. This month I think I found one... on the back of the sugar bag. Where else! Of course, never being one to leave well enough alone I tweaked it a tiny bit. Now it's exactly what I wanted... quick sugar cookies with that "grandma just baked 'em" taste.

Drop Sugar Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Sift the dry ingredients together. Cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients until smooth. Blend in milk.

Drop by tablespoonsful about 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Late summer in our garden means tomatoes, basil and green peppers in abundance.

Lunch may be a slice of excellent quality sourdough bread spread with olive oil and topped with sliced tomatoes, paper-thin slices of proscuttio and a sprinkling of basil; or dark rye bread spread with a good mayonnaise and topped with slices of tomato and red onion. Yummy!

Our evening meals tend toward quick and light. At 102 degrees who wants a heavy meal? One of our favorites is a simple pasta tossed with fresh tomato sauce. Delicious either Hot or Cold...

Shells with Fresh Tomato Sauce

For 4 Servings you will need:

3 cups shell macaroni
6 ripe tomatoes (about 2 lbs.)
1/2 cup chopped sweet white onion
1/4 cup each chopped FRESH basil and parsley
1/4 cup good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Cook shell macaroni according to package directions (10 or 12) minutes.
While the shells are cooking, discard stem ends of the tomatoes and chop into 1/2" pieces. There should be 2 to 2 1/2 cups. Mix chopped tomatoes, herbs, oil and garlic together in a large bowl. Season with approximately 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. (to taste) Add macaroni to sauce. Toss to blend. Serve at once with a green salad and Crusty Bread.

Marinara Sauce

For 4 servings you will need:

1/2 cup good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
3 Tbsp. finely chopped FRESH parsley
3 Tbsp. finely chopped shallot or sweet white onion
3 cups peeled and chopped ripe tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. Finely-chopped FRESH basil

Heat a large sauce pan. Add oil and garlic and sauté just until garlic becomes transparent (2 to 3 minutes). Add parsley, onion, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Stir in basil. Serve over spaghetti or other pasta dishes. This sauce freezes quite well so when the counter is overflowing with ripe tomatoes it's a quick way to preserve them. We love it for pasta and pizza sauce in winter.