It's Ann Kelly in Kelly’s Kitchen, having the best time with my out of town friends Read and Lori. Now, I'm going to enjoy my time with them and just play like a tourist for the weekend! We’re planning a girl’s day out on Friday, and we’ll start with breakfast at another fine dining establishment – my house! I was looking through the cookbook collection and found Diane Phillips “You’ve Got It Made.” Diane is known as the do-ahead diva (www.dianephillips.com) and her recipe for French Toast Cobbler is going to be the star of the show. That…and perhaps a mimosa  for the ones that aren’t driving will work! If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turned out.

We truly live in such a beautiful area. I love showing my guests around and finding delicious places to eat. We did stop at Red Mesa, the 4^th St North location, the other night and had a pretty decent meal. I took a gamble and tried the Ensalada de Pato ($13.00), a salad of mixed baby greens, pine nuts, dried cherries, goat cheese and sliced red onions with sliced duck breast that was seared to medium rare. Very tasty, but the red hibiscus vinaigrette could have used a little more tanginess. Lori loved the Cedar Roasted Pork Tenderloin ($17.00). For the enchilada lovers in the group, Steve had his favorite Crab and Shrimp ($15.00) that had a delicious poblano cream sauce and Read stayed true to his culinary love of cheese with…the Cheese Enchiladas ($13.50). The only disappointing part of the meal was dessert, which we all decided to share. An indulgent slice of Crème Brule Cheesecake that promised the traditional crunchy sugar crust. It was more like gelatin. But the cheesecake was delicious, so we’ll give them a point for that. Will I go back? Oh yes, I’d like to try that Cedar Roasted Salmon I saw on the menu.

Time to give you something just in time for fireworks! Send Kelly's Kitchen the recipe that everyone asks for when you're invited to a 4^th of July party. Send it by July 1^st for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Sweetbay Supermarket! We’ll choose one at random and it will be featured in Kelly’s Kitchen. For complete contest rules go to our contest section tab, and click on Sweetbay, then send your recipe to 949comments@coxtampa.com 

Congratulations to Sarah Hovanec of Tampa, the latest winner of a Girls Night Out at Applebees. You have another chance to win next Wednesday! Make sure you friend us on Facebook so you have inside dish on how to win – it’s the only way to know! We’ll have a winner every Wednesday afternoon in June with me during Late Afternoon Magic. Good luck girls, we'll see you at Applebees!

Today’s words of wisdom from Kelly’s Kitchen…

"Never eat more than you can lift." -- Miss Piggy, Muppet extraordinaire