The Monday Menu: June 1, 2009

My irises continue to bloom. The garden continues to grow. It’s been a busy weekend. A picnic wedding reception, two backyard barbecues, a karaoke wedding dance at a polka bar, one 30th birthday party and one 1st birthday party later, it’s all over. I did make the birthday cake successfully. I found a wonderful recipe that fit the bill, and I’ll have it up later this week. It didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted due to a flop in the grass (topping, not the actual cake) and an encounter with a balloon, but what can you do?

I’ve been slowly adding recipes from previous weeks, including the blueberry pecan pancakes from our breakfast for dinner night, leftover steak sandwiches and, my personal favorite, The Juicy Lucy – a cheese-filled burger and Minnesota favorite.

We somehow ended up with 4 pounds of crab legs that I may have purchased Friday when I went to the store to buy a few things for an impromptu barbecue with our neighbors. They were, after all, $4.99 a pound. It was hard to say no…so I didn’t. The Mediterranean pasta was subsequently pushed to this week, but it’s going to have to wait its turn until the fresh fish is eaten first. A lot of the other stuff is me being impatient for my garden to grow. One of the downsides of living in a colder climate is the length of time spent waiting after the frost for your garden to mature. Soon. Until then, I’ll have to survive on farmer’s market finds.

Monday – Asian Jerk Red Snapper, vegetable potstickers, steamed rice, garlic ginger green beans

Tuesday – Surf and turf: steaks and crab legs, brown butter pasta, spring mix salads

Wednesday – Mediterranean pasta with grilled chicken, tuscan melon, croissant dinner rolls

Thursday – smoked BBQ ribs, baked beans, jalapeño cornbread, fruit salad

Friday – Greek burgers, Greek salad, grilled garlic potatoes