Fruit Salad in a Watermelon Bowl

Ryan made this fruit salad the other night, and I just thought the presentation was so pretty. What a great way to use the whole watermelon.

Margherita Tortilla Pizzas

Ryan gets a subscription to "Food and Wine" magazine, and yesterday I was flipping through the July 2009 issue and came across this recipe by chef Jacques Pepin. I thought it sounded delicious and simple enough for me to actually pull off. It was the first time I had ever used our pizza stones, and I loved the way these turned out. They were nice and light, so easy to make, and wonderfully fresh. Fresh mozzarella is one of my favorite things in the world to eat.

Margherita Tortilla Pizzas:

Four 10-inch flour tortillas
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 medium tomatoes (2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh mozzarella, preferably buffalo, shredded (4 cups)
1 cup finely shredded basil leaves

(Bonny's note: I did not use buffalo mozzarella--just fresh cow's milk mozzarella. I also didn't shred it, but rather cut slices off and placed those around the pizza.)

1. Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees, allowing at least 45 minutes for the stone to heat.
2. Brush both sides of one tortilla with olive oil. Place the tortilla on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Thinly slice 1 tomato; arrange on the tortilla. Season with salt and pepper and top with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
3. Slide the tortilla onto the hot pizza stone and bake for about 8 minutes, until the pizza is crisp on the bottom and the cheese is bubbling. Garnish with 1/4 cup of the shredded basil, cut the pizza into 8 wedges and serve. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, tomatoes, cheese, and basil.

Bonny's notes: I used two pizza stones so we could have two cooking at once. My stones were also plenty hot after only 30 minutes, and the pizzas were done after about 7 minutes. These are so nice and versatile--you could really make them with anything. We topped a couple of ours with some cooked chicken. Delicious!

Oatmeal Carmelitas

This is yet another fabulous recipe from Jadi's blog. These are so chewy and delicious, and they kept for several days. I made them on a Tuesday and the following Sunday they were still really good. The only thing I did differently here was that I didn't add nuts because Ryan doesn't like them. You will love these! Thanks again, Jadi!

For the Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 sticks)

For the Filling:

1 (12.5 oz) jar caramel ice cream topping
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 (6 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a little more)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch pan. In a large bowl, blend all crust ingredients on low speed until crumbly. Press half of crumb mixture (about 3 cups) in bottom of greased pan. Reserve the remaining crumb mixture for the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine caramel topping and 3 tbsp of flour. Remove partially baked crust from the oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake an additional 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1-2 hours until filling is set. Cut into bars. Enjoy!