Friday Five: One Week Late

I'm so out of the habit of writing on this here blog that I up and forgot to write a Friday Five post last week, after I advertised it and everything. Oops. But today, I do have five things to share with you.

1. I've been watching tennis for the first time all summer! Gotta love the US Open. Just turn to USA on a weekday to catch a tennis match or CBS on the weekends. The night matches that start at 6 p.m. are usually entertaining.
   
   
2. I made a delicious salmon with blackberry brandy sauce last night. Thanks to Steamy Kitchen for the recipe. My sauce was a little tart, so next time I'm going to add more blackberry preserves to sweeten it.
   
   
3. Check out my friend Janie's blog, "Inside the Sparkling." Be sure and read the great explanation for the blog name in the "About" section.
   
   
4. Even though I spent my summer in the mountains, I managed to not read a single book that entire time. That fact blows me away because I love reading. With all the reruns on during the summer, I usually devour books in that time span. I must have missed being absorbed in great book because I picked up a book last week and read it from start to finish in one night, with the Olympics on mute in the background.
   
   
5. I said I would prove I spent my summer outdoors, and here is your proof. My friend Jenise visited and we hiked to the "crevice." (I have no idea how to spell that word. Pronounce that word with a French accent, and you are probably saying it correctly.)
   
   

Friday Five: A Week in Food

I've been reading cooking-related blogs recently. I enjoy looking at the pictures of the food, so I decided to give you an idea of what I eat during the week in pictures. The photos aren't great - my camera kept blurring all the close-ups and the lighting in the kitchen is horrible - but it's a visual guide to my week in food.

1. A few weeks I blogged about the anti-inflammatory diet I put myself on, the one that Wendy said made me sound old. Thanks! This is a picture of the blueberry buckwheat pancakes I eat for breakfast every day I exercise. I eat them with butter, powdered sugar and fresh strawberries.
   
   
   
2. I make Rachael Ray's Zucchini-roni Pizza, and I love it! You use jarred roasted red peppers as the sauce, mozzarella cheese and sliced zucchini with Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes as the pepperoni. I can't find prepared whole wheat pizza crust, so next time I'm going to make my own. Anyone have a recipe?
   
   
3. The chili-salmon with zucchini and corn I made this week was a new recipe. I broiled it in the oven. Every time I opened the oven, the smoke detector went off from the heat; there was no smoke. Annoying.
   
   
4. I also used the broiler for this simple pesto pita pizza. I used my own pesto recipe with a little red pepper flakes for flavor and heat. This is a great lunch meal if I make the pesto in advance because it only heats in the broiler for a few minutes.
   
   
5. I've experimented with several tortilla soup recipes and this is my quick-and-easy favorite. I chop an onion, but everything else I dump and heat: canned diced tomatoes, pinto beans and green chiles, water and chicken brother. Crumble chips in the bottom of the bowl and top with cheese.