Simple summer squash

Squash is another one of those vegetables that I hadn't truly explored until adulthood. Like a good man, squash has many good qualities: variety, beauty, and ease.

To create a simple side, skin the squash. Make sure to take off all of the outer layer; leaving the skin on sometimes turns bitter (in my opinion). Slice and butter up the pan (this is one of the rare occasions when I absolutely vote for butter over olive oil). Throw in the slices and saute for a few minutes. Sprinkle on freshly ground pepper and kosher salt, and serve. Delicious!

Mint lemonade time

I think May constitutes lemonade weather. Here's my take on the traditional drink. It's simple to make and requires just a few ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 6 tea bags (I used Lyons tea, which was the tea Kevin drank in Ireland)
• 3 or 4 lemons
• Bunch of fresh mint
• Sugar

Instructions:

1. Boil water in a pot.
2. While the water is doing its thing, slice up the lemons and throw them into a heat-resistant container. I once used a plastic drip dispenser and the plastic disintegrated into nothingness. It was bad news.
3. Add the mint bunch and tea bags.
4. Once boiled, add the water to the container full of all the ingredients and stir.
5. After 7 minutes, remove the tea bags carefully (it'll still hot) and most of the lemons and mint, leaving a few in for decoration. Once at room temperature, cover and refrigerate.
6. When you're ready to serve, add ice and sugar (both optional). It's best not to add sugar until the end so that it doesn't settle to the bottom. Enjoy! It's much better than the store-bought kind.

All-day apple butter

Despite the name, this apple butter doesn't have butter in it. It's a jam preserve that can go with breakfast or desserts. It's especially great to make during the fall when you have more apples than you know what to do with.

Ingredients

• 5lbs. apples - enough to fill the crock pot two-thirds full(I used a mix of green, pink lady, and macintosh)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/ tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. groung nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• pinch of salt

Instructions

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

When I was in college, my roommates thought I was crazy because I would pour leftover grease fat into a glass jar or metal can and freeze it until trash day. They thought the fat jar was so gross, except that I refused to clog up the drains. I was right! ScienceDaily posted an article about how pouring fat down the drain can cause overflow sewers. More fat jars, people!

In other news, I wanted to share some favorite links for more responsible cooking/housekeeping. I keep a box in the closet for clothes donations and electronics (batteries, lightbulbs, cords, printer toner) that I periodically drop off at hardware stores, grocery markets, or local schools. You can search for any nearby drop-off stations by typing in your zip code and the item you want to recycle at Earth911.com.

But the recycling doesn't stop there. Did you know, you can't recycle the caps of water bottles but you can recycle aluminum foil? Real Simple (one of my favorite magazines) has a good online guide about how to recycle unconventional items, such as carpeting, nail clippers, and even crayons.

Hallelujah! Google recipes is here

Hallelujah! Google Recipes is here. Just like Google Videos and Photos, the search engine selects the most popular/recent recipes based on your searched term. It pulls from sites, including foodnetwork.com, food.com, epicurious.com, and my favorite, allrecipes.com. But the best part is that you can sort by the ingredients you have, time period that you want to commit, and by calories---all without leaving the page. I know I sound like an ad for Google, but there is a reason why people keep using it; it's great.

Currently reading: Cooking with Nora

I just took out another cookbook from the library, Cooking with Nora: Seasonal Menus from Restaurant Nora. Nora Pouillon is the owner-chef of two DC restaurants, including one that is Michelle Obama's favorite (President Obama surprised her with a dinner there for her 46th birthday). What's unique is that Nora has been in the business of responsible cooking, serving organic everything (food, beer, even the cotton on the tables and the waiters). I was lucky enough to have eaten there (thanks to a generous gift certificate). It was as delicious as promised.

Nora suggests the following tips for home cooking:

Beet and feta salad

Beets are another one of those things that I didn't try until a couple years ago. I'm glad I did. Here's a recipe for a tasty, easy salad:

Ingredients:

• Lettuce (I like arugula or spinach because the beets are sweet)
• Beets
• Feta cheese
• Walnuts (optional)

1. Boil the beets for about 15 minutes. I've actually never timed it because I wait until the water boils and stick a fork in a beet until it's squishy.