New Membership Brochure

Updating a brochure can be tedious but not with Linda Cathey as chair, assisted by Zona Lorig, Pat Faur and myself. Dr Peter Welsh joined us for comments on docent training at the Museum. League members emailed ideas to Linda prior to the meeting. We are looking forward to Arizona colors, photos and a great new look.

Historymakers Biographies in Gala book

With Zona Lorig organizing the Historymakers Gala book filled with biographies and interesting photos of our Historymakers, the meetings are fun and interactive. So much discussion on Arizona history goes into the AZ Historymakers Timeline, I love listening and contributing. Historians Reba Wells Grandrud, Zona and Norma Jean Coulter have facts and figures in their heads. Norma Jean baked a "Killer Coffeecake" and along with the extra cup of coffee, we were fired up to write the book. Looking forward to the next meeting and watching this book become a reality.

Grilled Vegetables

Lons at Hermosa Inn has a simple recipe for Grilled Fennel. We like lots of veggies so added some of the bounty from the garden like these tomatoes, zucchini, pear tomatoes, basil and parsley. Another nice touch in the grill basket is mushrooms, onion slices, red and yellow peppers.

Grilled Fennel from Lon's at Hermosa Inn page 100 Tastes & Treasures
2 fennel bulbs, cut in halves
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the grill. Toss the fennel with the olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and place on a grill rack. Grill until tender.
Serves 4

Note: You may also place on a rack in a broiler pan and broil until tender, or use a grill basket on the BBQ.
We like a little more spices so added McCormick Monterey Steak pepper and balsamic vinegarette to the olive oil and marinated it for 3 hours.

Easy Ice Cream Dessert

My friend, Carol, is very creative in the kitchen but this recipe was so-o-o simple. Especially great for hot summers in Phoenix. We won't count the calories, just enjoy the treat.

Scoop vanilla ice cream into parfait glasses. Drizzle Bailey's Irish Cream over and top with fresh fruit.

German Chocolate

Did you know that German chocolate cake has NOTHING to do with the country of Germany? The dessert gets its name from Sam German, the man who created a mild baking chocolate for Baker's Chocolate Company in 1852. The chocolate was named after him, but an entire century passed before the cake recipe we know became popular.

Try this recipe using Sam's chocolate from Baker's Chocolate Company.

Espresso Brownies page 163 Tastes & Treasures
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until blended, stirring occasionally. Add the espresso powder and stir until dissolved.
Combine the chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl and beat vigorously until blended. Add the flour and beat just until combined. Stir in the walnuts. Spread the batter in a buttered and floured 8 X 8 inch baking pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges pull from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Cut into squares and cool completely on the wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 16 brownies

Oatmeal Yogurt Fruit Breakfast Creation

Happy Fathers Day to all those Dads out there. Hope you had a good healthy breakfast like the one we had at Adobe Restaurant at the AZ Biltmore Hotel.

Summer breakfast couldn't get better than this with cool oatmeal, cream, yogurt, walnuts and fresh fruit. We biked at 6:30 am to the Biltmore along the canals with soft breezes and temperature in the 80s. Didn't want heavy food so this was just right.

I love the Yogurt Parfait recipe from Hassayampa Inn in Prescott. The Adobe adds cooked and cooled oatmeal. Nice touch. I ordered the cup and it was a lot. The bowl is even bigger- enough to share.

Yogurt Parfaits pg 52 Tastes & Treasures
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups granola
Strawberry yogurt
Mix the blueberries and raspberries in a bowl. Alternate layers of the berries and granola in parfait glasses or wine glasses and top with the yogurt.
Note: You can use homemade or commercial granola and low-fat yogurt in this recipe. A recipe for outstanding granola is on page 196 in Tastes & Treasures.
Serves 6

Who invented chocolate chip cookies?

The Chocolate Chip cookie

is America's most famous cookie. It was invented in 1930 by Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. The story goes that one day she decided to add small chunks of a Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough. The chocolate chip cookies were an instant hit with her customers and word of their popularity reached the Nestle company. Nestle must have realized that adding small chunks of their chocolate bar to cookie dough would appeal to the mass market because by 1939 Nestle had already developed and was selling small chocolate morsels (or chips) in a yellow bag. Nestle went on to buy the rights to the Toll House name and Ruth Wakefield's chocolate chip cookie recipe. They called her recipe "The Famous Toll House Cookie" and printed it on the back of the Yellow bag of chocolate chips.

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChipCookies.html#ixzz0lkSxPbeL

Tastes & Treasures page 191 Special Chocolate Chip cookies
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Mix the oats and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a non stick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute and remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 3-4 dozen