That's what lulu calls them. When I tell her I'm making them she jumps around shouting for joy. Fingers crossed she is always that easy to please.

fried bocconcini

1 container of bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls)

1/2 cup flour in shallow dish

3 eggs beaten in separate dish

2 cups panko crumbs in another shallow dish

salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon oregano

oil for frying (I use peanut or canola depending on what I find in my pantry)

Get your oil heating. I use my stock pot to fry these so there's less splattering. Just pour a couple of inches of oil in the pan, along with a deep-fat thermometer and while the oil is heating you can prep the cheese.

Mix the salt, thyme, and oregano into the panko and set aside.

Drain the cheese and place on plate lined with paper towels and roll the bocconcini around to dry them off.

Dredge the cheese in the flour.

Then dip in the egg mixture to coat and roll in panko crumbs. I usually leave mine in the panko dish until I'm ready to fry.

When your oil is a 360 degrees you can start frying. I find cooking them in two batches works best. It takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute for each batch. The are best eaten right away, which really isn't a problem. I like mine with a warm marinara, but lulu loves to eat them with ketchup. I'm considering enrolling her in a 12 step program for her ketchup addiction.

Last Saturday was our last CSA pick up for the season. We added to our stock pile of potatoes, onions, and butternut squash, along with some greens and a bunch of green tomatoes.

Normally I would have let these sit and ripen, but one night while I was in Salt Lake, Katherine ordered fried green tomatoes for our table.  I loved them so much, I knew what I would have to make with these.

I served ours with a buttermilk dip, but a fresh made marinara would be great too.

fried green tomatoes

5 small green tomatoes

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup panko

1 teaspoon paprika

salt and pepper

oil for frying

Cut stem out of tomatoes and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices, set aside.

In a shallow dish, whisk together the eggs and milk, set aside.

In another shallow dish, mix flour, cornmeal, panko, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Dredge the tomato slices in the flour mixture, then the milk, then again in the flour mixture.  Place the slices in a single layer on a plate until you are ready to fry them.

Pour 1/4" to 1/2" of oil into frying pan and heat to 370 degrees and add tomatoes in a single layer.  You will probably have to cook them in two batches.  Cook for 2 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes.  Remove from pan to drain on paper towel lined platter for a couple of minutes then serve.

buttermilk dipping sauce

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup sour cream

juice of 1/2 lime (and some zest if you like)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

1 Tablespoon chopped chives

salt

Just whisk all of these together and pour into a serving dish.  If you would like it to be thicker, use less buttermilk and more sour cream.

These are my go to cookies.  When I'm in a pinch and need cookies fast, which is more often than you might think, I make these. For this recipe, I use the White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co.

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

(adapted from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook)

1 cup white chocolate peanut butter

1/4 cup softened butter

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use an electric mixer to cream together the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  In separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.  At a low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  When combined, stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Roll into balls and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pour glass of milk and enjoy.