Just~One~Donna

It was steaming hot in my neighborhood last weekend.  It is summer, after all, and the dog days seem to have arrived.  It just so happened that while bopping around the Internet, a picture of a mint Gin Rickey, a cocktail I had neither heard of nor tasted, caught my eye as a perfect summer cocktail.   I'm telling you, this cocktail looked very appealing to me on a summer day when I was mopping my brow every few minutes or so. Mint Gin Rickey: A Summer Cocktail (This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  I will be compensated when you purchase through these links.) A Tall, Cool Mint Gin Rickey The mint Gin Rickey looked so much like a mojito, one of my other favorite summer cocktails, I was surprised I had never heard of it, nor seen it on a drink menu before.  I was excited, though!  This was an opportunity to try something new and use some of the beautiful mint leaves I have growing on my deck. My...

Today I'm sharing my grilled vegetable lasagna recipe.  I have made classic-style lasagna for a long time, but this grilled vegetable lasagna is a first for me. I've thought about it a lot but never found a recipe that really made me want to try to make a vegetable lasagna. Thus vegetable lasagna uses slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini, instead of lasagna noodles, cooked in a tomato sauce.  Eggplant and zucchini always seemed to me to be a tasty substitution for traditional lasagna noodles.  Well, with eggplant and zucchini in season right now, there really is no better time to try a vegetable lasagna. A Zucchini and Eggplant Vegetable Lasagna This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  I will be compensated if you make a purchase with one of these links. Baked Vegetable Lasagna Choose zucchini and eggplants that will give you good-sized slices, a minimum of about three inches wide. Sliced about 1/4 inch thick, these strips of e...

We all know and love zucchini season. It is the season that comes between summer and fall. It's the season when you'll go out of your front door in the morning and find a bag of zucchini there that the zucchini elves left for you during the night. That's exactly what happened to me today, so I knew zucchini season had once again arrived in my neighborhood. Make a Zucchini-Based Grilled Vegetable Medley (This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase through one of the links on this page, I will receive compensation.) Grilled Vegetable Medley Has zucchini season arrived in your neighborhood?  If not yet, it will arrive soon and I want you to be prepared. 

Summer is officially just a week away, and that means grilling season is in full swing at my house.  Steak on the grill is one of our favorite dinners this time of year.  With food prices on the rise, you'll want to make your grilled steaks memorable for family and friends.  Today's recipe won't disappoint you.  That's because it is packed with extra flavor you will love. Southwest Steak on the Grill  This kicked-up recipe for grilled steak has been a family summer grilling favorite for many years. It starts with a cumin-flavored dry rub marinade and ends with a chili-lime-butter topping that adds an extra pop of deliciousness as it melts over your perfectly grilled steak.

Making ricotta cheese at home is easy and worth the effort. A few years back I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade ricotta cheese and have been making it a few times a year ever since.  Are you rolling your eyes?  I know it sounds like one of those crazy, "Who needs to know how to do that?" kind of things. Making ricotta cheese at home is actually very easy to do.  It requires only four ingredients and takes very little time to prepare. How to Make Ricotta Cheese at Home Ricotta with Chives I make homemade ricotta cheese when I want to treat myself.  This recipe produces a delicate, sweet cheese that is delicious on its own.