Tasty Tools is a monthly food photography event hosted by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures. April’s theme was scoop - use any kind of kitchen scoop and photograph it. View the entries and winners.

Lately, I’ve been eating a lot of brownie-loaded chocolate ice cream (blame Dan - he brought home the first carton, and now I’m hooked). And last fall, while visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Oak Park, IL, near Chicago, we discovered this wonderful little shop called Olive and Well. It’s a specialty shop that carries mostly olive oils, balsamic vinegars and various gourmet condiments, breads and sauces.

They have lots of small casks of olive oils (probably hold a couple of gallons) with little paper cups for tasting. We tasted almost all of them and finally settled on one. Then I noticed the vinegars - and I’m a vinegar freak, just ask Dan - so I went over to see the flavors … and then I saw it - strawberry balsamic vinegar. I poured some into a little tasting cup and lifted it to my mouth - before I could even taste it, the aroma tingled my nose and my mouth watered instantly. I knew I was going to be buying this one So I did.

And what goes better with chocolate than strawberries? That’s right - strawberry balsamic vinegar. Scoop out some brownie-chocolate ice cream and drizzle it with strawberry balsamic vinegar - a dessert truly to die for.

Oh, about the scoop Years ago, when we first moved into the neighborhood and I was on the board of the Civic League, it seemed like every few months, someone was having a Pampered Chef party - I had one annually for a few years myself. This is one of the gadgets I got during those years. Works great - it has anti-freeze in the handle that flows down into the scoop when you use it, to help melt the ice cream so it scoops more easily. I love it.

The lodge has a fully equipped kitchen, six bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a back porch with rocking chairs, a picnic table and a large grill. We brought food and drinks, grilled dinner, and generally had a great time. I beat Sally and Terry at Scrabble, Danny beat everyone at poker, and we had a fabulous Sunday breakfast cooked by Paul.

When I have time, I’ll put up a regular photo album of the weekend, but here are some snaps for now:

Dan and Danny went, but … I changed my mind, and went shopping instead Got some lovely pressed glass dessert dishes at Tuesday Morning, and wandered around an Asian grocery store. Didn’t see anything I had to have, but it was interesting to look around.

So here are Dan and Danny, checking out the river. Hmmm, do we really want to do this?

Yes! Yes, we do! Kim, are you sure you don’t want to go? Yes, I’m sure, you guys have fun. I’ll pick you up at the takeout.

And here they are actually going in. We got lucky - Danny had been in touch with a couple of people from Richmond’s wild and crazy paddling group, the Corn Youth Alliance, and they waited for us, so Dan and Danny had some people to paddle with.

Bye, guys! See you at Reedy Creek!

But last night, I made fish tacos for the first time, using a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. Turned out great. Instead of cabbage, of which I am not a huge fan, I used red and green leaf lettuce from the garden. Next week, we’re going to use up the bok choy in some stir-fry. Should be good

Here’s the garden from a couple of weeks ago:

And here is a pile of washed lettuce ready to be sliced thinly for the tacos:

And the recipe:

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

Crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise
3 tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream
1 tsp. grated lime zest
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 garlic clove, minced, or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Tacos:
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets (I used flounder)
Cooking spray
8 6-inch corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage (I used leaf lettuce)
2 cups shredded jalapeno Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 425F. To prepare crema, combine the first eight ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

To prepare tacos, combine cumin and next five ingredients (through garlic powder) in a small bowl; sprinkle spice mixture evenly over both sides of the fish. Place fish in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 9 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, or to desired degree of doneness. Place fish in a bowl; break into pieces with a fork. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; top each with 1/4 cup cabbage or lettuce, 1 tbsp. crema and 1/4 cup shredded cheese.

And the fish tacos, served with Mexican rice.

This is my entry in the food blogging event “Grow Your Own,” hosted by Andrea of AndreasRecipes.com.

• Lehigh River Rafting - Pocono PA Lehigh Gorge Rafting
• Jim Thorpe, PA

• Arkansas Marvel - 4-inch, 1 lb., yellow-orange beefsteak tomato with red marbling and a mild peach flavor
• Beefsteak - 4-5 inches
• Carbon - purple/black, 10-14 oz.
• Earl of Edgecombe - orange, 3 inches diameter
• Kellogg’s Breakfast - pale to deep orange, 1 lb.
• Vintage Wine - pink with gold stripes, up to 1 lb.

• Shepherd’s Pie
• Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
• Baked Ziti
• Franks & Beans
• Tacos
• Meatloaf

Since Sunday was going to be chilly and windy, I decided to go with Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. The day before, I made my first-ever focaccia, with rosemary from the garden and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. OMG, it’s great. And it was easy, since I let the bread machine do the first half of the work. Then I just had to put it in a pan, let it rise some more, drizzle with evoo and sprinkle with rosemary and cheese, and bake while we took the dog for a walk.

I also thought I’d get a different kind of cheese for this. I’d never had Kerrygold Aged Cheddar imported from Ireland, and it sounded good, so I bought some. Guess what? It’s good

Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Focaccia

1 loaf focaccia
4 slices Kerrygold Aged Cheddar Cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil

Heat grill pan and rub with paper towel dipped in olive oil. Cut focaccia into sandwich-size pieces and cut in half. Place cheese on bread bottoms, put tops on, and grill on both sides till golden.

To go with this luscious grilled cheese sandwich, I made tomato-pesto bisque. A cook in a local restaurant that makes amazing tomato-basil bisque told me how she does it - I couldn’t believe it was that simple. No peeling or seeding the tomatoes? I’m in. I didn’t have basil, but I had pesto, so I used that this time. Both work great

Tomato-Pesto Bisque

2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1-2 tbsp. basil pesto
Salt and pepper to taste

Whizz the tomatoes and tomato sauce in a blender, then put in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in basil pesto. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.