Cowboy Caviar at Master Gardener Graduation

Eating fresh from the garden is a priority with Master Gardeners. Bonnie Newhoff brought Cowboy Caviar to the last day of Master Gardener class. Scooping up the delicious fresh ingredients with corn chips, we all enjoyed finishing our final exam and relaxing with graduation ceremonies. Another popular food item was Sweet Potato Cream Cheese Pie using purple sweet potatoes from the garden. What a beautiful presentation. Hopefully, I can get the recipe but Lee created it as she went so not sure it will ever taste the same.
Photo of the graduates include (L to R) Eileen Hayden, Ruth McLeod, Cathie Herrick, Ron Brennan, mentor Bonnie Newhoff, Carol Vie and Serge Vie.

Grilled Potato Salad with Mandarins and Rosemary

Unique combination of vegetables, fruit and herbs make this one a great company salad. Lindy Isaksen brought it for the Historical League lunch in October. I told you we have great food as well as great speakers at our meetings. Lindy was curious how it would taste but we all agreed we liked it.

Grilled Potato Salad with Mandarin Oranges and Rosemary pg 176

8 small Yukon Gold or red potatoes
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup steak grill seasoning
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
2 (16 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 cup red wine vinegar, or to taste
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Parboil the potatoes in a small amount of boiling water in a saucepan for 10 minutes and drain. Let stand until cool and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Preheat a cast-iron grill pan until hot. An outdoor grill may be used instead. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, grill seasoning and rosemary in a large bowl; the olive oil should lightly coat the potatoes. Arrange the potatoes on the hot grill pan and cook for 3-5 minutes per side or until grill marks appear. Return the potatoes to the large bowl and cool slightly. Add the mandarin oranges, vinegar and onion and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or chill, covered, in the refrigerator. If chilled, bring to room temperature before serving.
Serves 6-8

Sweet Potato Souffle Celebrates Halloween and Birthday

Halloween in our neighborhood became a potluck this year with 17 neighbors joining us on the front patio to hand out Halloween candy to the Trick or Treaters. Many neighbors came in costume or wore hats to celebrate the season. The children were so excited to dress up, loved the attention and had only one house to go to on the block to fill up their bags with candy.

Since we had just harvested sweet potatoes from the Master Gardener class, my contribution to the potluck was Individual Sweet Potato Souffle pg 172 from Tastes & Treasures. This is one of Rancho de la Osa's recipes and I can understand why they like it. It was a big hit with the Halloween crowd at the party. I made two recipes because I had purple sweet potato as well as orange ones and the colors are so vibrant. It was also a birthday celebration for my girlfriend so the Individual Sweet Potato Souffle doubled as a birthday cake with candles.

Individual Sweet Potato Souffles pg 122

4 lbs sweet potatoes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
6 tablespoons self-rising flour
1 (12 ounce can evaporated skim milk, or 1 1/2 cups heavy cream)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon orange extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender. Maintain the oven temperature. Peel the sweet potatoes. Place in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating constantly. Add the flour, evaporated milk, salt and flavorings and beat well. Spray eight 4 ounce individual ramekins with cooking spray. Fill halfway with the sweet potato mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the souffles comes out clean. Cool in the ramekins for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plates or serve in the ramekins. Garnish each souffle with a pecan half.

Serves 8

Sandra Day O'Connor/ League Open House photos

Smiling faces all around as Sandra Day O'Connor greeted friends and fans at the new Exhibit Opening/Historical League Membership Open House Oct 21. Dr Peter Welsh points out highlights of the exhibit to Justice O'Connor, including a poster from her career.
Barbara Barrett was instrumental in procuring and moving the O'Connor House to the AHS property.


Justice O'Connor visits with Family Circus artist and fellow Historymaker Bil Keane.

Part of the Historymakers Hall exhibit includes photos and artifacts of Justice O'Connors career, even a Barbie doll in judicial robe.
Greg Novak, Justice O'Connor and Bil Keane. Marilyn and Robin Parke with Barbara Barrett.

More Photos of Sandra Day O'Connor Open House

Hustle and bustle were the buzz words as the Historical League put the finishing touches on tables, centerpieces, name tags and delicious recipes from Tastes & Treasures cookbook. Pat Faur and Margaret Pogue arrange name tags at the welcoming table. Linda Wegener opens boxes of crystal plates.

Pat and co-chair April Riggins share a moment with Sandra Day O'Connor during the event.


Pecan Squares pg 172 were "melt in your mouth" good.

Great Pumpkin Cookies pg 162 had hints of nutmeg, cinnamon and chocolate chips.

Cookbook Recipes served at Sandra Day O'Connor Exhibit Opening

Preparing for this special exhibit opening has taken months but it was well worth the effort as 250 people filled the Museum foyer enjoying the displays and sampling the tasty appetizers and desserts. Leslie Christiansen was the director in the kitchen making sure that everything was presented perfectly on crystal plates with doilies. After all her training and now teaching at Classic Cooking Academy in Scottsdale, she has become an excellent chef, teacher and caterer. Kay Holcombe works at precision cutting the Chocolate Mint Bars while Leslie swirls icing on Great Pumpkin Cookies pg 162. These photos are just a few of the delightful delicacies served Wednesday, Oct 21 at the Arizona Historical Society Museum. Love the Cowboy Caviar pg 180 served in corn chips. Pam Ryan and Kay Holcombe enjoy a laugh during the hectic prep time.
There were speeches in the Steele Auditorium with Sandra Day O'Connor giving an inspirational talk. She is, indeed, a wonderful role model.

O'Connor House Papago Park

Last evening the League hosted their annual Membership Open House featuring guest speaker Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Afterward, Justice O'Connor cut the ribbon on the museum's new exhibit, "Sandra Day O'Connor, A Citizen for All Seasons." Attendees were then encouraged to tour the O'Connor's adobe house, moved from its Paradise Valley location and now situated adjacent to the Arizona Historical Society Museum on park grounds.

Justice O'Connor and her husband, John, lived in their adobe house for over 25 years, leaving it when they moved to Washington D.C. following her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here are some interesting excerpts from the house brochure:

"To make good adobes, you need a compound with quite a bit of clay in it to hold its shape, and you also have to a bit of straw and other things to make it all hold together.

"We [she and her husband, John,] decided to get the adobe for our house from a pit in the Salt River bed.

"We hosted many dinners -- for family and friends, colleagues, foreign visitors, members of Congress, and other distinguished people.

"In every instance, a bit of food and drink on our patio helped bridge any tension and helped the conversation."