Back from Ocracoke... with a Cookbook

I have once again neglected this poor little Southern blog of mine... sorry for that y'all. It came top of mind when my cousin texted me this weekend to ask if I still had "that Southern blog of yours" because he wanted to show it to one of his gal pals that is starting a new closet/wardrobe consulting business. (Of course, I told him that the blog he REALLY wanted to show her was my local retail blog...)

Nonetheless, my last post was about recipes and I do owe everyone a follow up on the successes with squash. Perhaps later this evening? Until then, more success (hopefully) to come with the following recipes I picked up this weekend in what I'm sure will be my new favorite cookbook: Pack Porch Restaurant Cookbook by Debbie Wells.

Herbed Cream Cheese Spread
Basil and Tomato Cheese Wheel
Zucchini Soup with Sour Cream and Dill
Cauliflower Caraway Soup
Potato and Kale Soup with Fresh Tomatoes
Onion Soup with Homemade Buttered Croutons (which I'll sub the chicken stock out with vegetable stock, instead)

And many more to come...

Side note: I'm totally in love with Ocracoke Village. There is no building over four stories tall (and really, only one or two inns that tall at that...) and very few places that you can't get to by golf cart. Tons of independent restaurants, bars, and retail shops and a water view at nearly every destination on the island. It's only about a 2.5 hour car ride from Raleigh and a 2.5 hour ferry ride, which trust me, is part of the vacation itself on a sunny day. So don't count that as part of your "travel time".

Another "I'm Still Here" Post, This Time with Recipes

I'm working more and more these days, so I'm blogging less and less. And in all truthfulness, I'm spending as much of my free time as possible poolside, making spontaneous getaways to the beach, and other types of goodness that don't require my computer.

My fridge is staying pretty empty these days (except for poolside beers and the occasional white wine that needs to be quick-chilled), due to my lack of time spent at home, but there's one thing that's in season that I've got a lot of: squash.

So what's a Southern girl to do with all that squash? Experiment, of course!

Here are a few recipes I stumbled upon today that I'm going to give a try before these gourds go bad - hopefully with (success) stories and pictures to come in a few blog posts in the not so distant future.

Note: Not all of these recipes call for yellow/summer squash, but that's what I'll be using. I avoided any that specifically called for butternut squash since I'll get at least one come fall in my locally-sourced and front porch-delivered Produce Box this fall, and I want to save some experiments for then, too.

And here they are:
Super Squash
Squash Medley
Squash Soup (yes, even in 90 degrees I still want soup)
Squash Potatoes (particularly excited about this one)
Squash Relish (I've yet to meet a relish I didn't like)
Pickled Squash (I've never pickled anything before - wish me luck...)

Happy Wednesday-ing!