I have two new awesome meals for you that you must try this summer - with pictures!

Penne with Creamy Mushrooms

For my birthday, my coworkers showered me with a lot of gifts. I was stunned and flattered and it was an absolutely wonderful gesture. One of the items I received was a book called “Pasta: 40 Wonderful Classic Pasta Recipes” by Suzanna Tee. You can find an older edition on amazon.com, used, for around $5.00. The recipes it contains are absolutely wonderful and of course worth $5.00. If you have a pasta machine, the book has a recipe for a basic pasta dough, but I have not yet tried it. I do have a pasta machine, but I have not yet used it. Of course I keep saying I will…

When I saw the recipe in the book, it reminded me of a dish I had at Macaroni Grill. Granted, the Macaroni Grill dish was never the way I wished it would be but, as I had no close approximation that I could have elsewhere or make at home, I would order it and be as happy as I could eating it. Now I have my own recipe that is everything I wished that canned restaurant dish was.

Some tips: Before you heat up the butter and olive oil, slice up all of your shallots - use them all - and get at least half way through slicing up your cremini mushrooms. This prep is what will be most of your time sink with this recipe. After slicing everything up, you will coast right through to the finished product.

When I made this, I did not have any port. It was still delicious, but I think it needed a little something else so next time I will add it. You can find Penne with Creamy Mushrooms on the recipe site, and it is now listed in the Recipe Index.

Hawaiian Kabobs

This recipe has been on the site for a very long time: It is the second entry of the site. (First entry: the Tom Special. It has been known to cause vomiting. Literally.)

It is called Hawaiian Kabobs because it calls for pineapple. Beyond that, I can’t vouch whether or not it’s Hawaiian, but hey, at least it’s not some freaky fried spam with rice wrapped in seaweed thing.

I love this recipe. If you’re looking for something a little different to throw on the BBQ, try these kabobs. The meat only takes an hour to marinate (I prefer letting it sit for two hours, but it is still good after one) and it is delicious. The marinade is a simple concoction of pineapple juice, soy sauce, vegetable oil and spice. Throw these into the fridge to marinate while you finish making the side dishes.

If you aren’t a big fan of the vegetables listed, pop some different ones on the sticks. For example, zucchini would also work very well. Be creative.

As an aside, if you have kids just take everything off of those sticks and let them have at it. The sticks are very, very pointy - I have the puncture wounds to prove it.