Memorial Day at Pioneer Cemetery

Marketing the cookbook takes us to many historic events. What fun to meet and greet at our booth with living history characters all around. Carolyn Mendoza and Bonnie Newhoff enjoyed the day as they spread the word about Tastes & Treasures cookbook and our new Centennial book, Arizona Recollections and Reflections.

Thanks to Frank Barrios for working with us at the Pioneer Cemetery celebration on Memorial Day.

Special K Bars

Diane Utley of Phoenix shared her yummy Special K Bars in our recipe exchange. It is easy and simple to make.

Another idea is to combine it with the granola recipe page 196 in Tastes & Treasures and create your own special health food bars.

Special K Bars
1 cup corn syrup
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup raisins
5 cups Kellogg’s Special K Cereal

Cook over med. Heat, corn syrup and brown sugar stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved, and bubbly. Removed from heat, stir in peanut butter and raisons, add special K and stir until well coated. With back of spoon or hand press mixture evenly and firmly in a 13 x 9 in. pan sprayed with veg. oil cooking spray. Cool cut in bars.

Sometimes I have to add a little more Cereal; I do like a little more peanut butter.

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

Email buddy Diane Houser knows my weakness for chocolate chip cookies. That is probably why she shared this fabulous recipe when we did a recipe exchange.

Also try page 191 in Tastes & Treasures for a slight variation of this recipe using old-fashioned oats and a touch of cinnamon.

For less calories, place your cookies on parchment paper lined cookie sheet before you bake them. What a difference in clean up too.

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

½ c shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup sour cream
1 ½ teasp vanilla
3 cups ghiradelli semi sweet chips
1 ¾ c unsifted flour
½ teasp salt
½ teasp baking powder
½ teasp baking soda

Cream shortening with sugar. Mix in egg, sour cream, vanilla. Melt 1 ½ c chips and blend with creamed mixture. Sift flour with salt, baking powder, baking soda, add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stirring until smooth fold in remaining chips. Chill dough ½ hour. Use ¼ c dough for each cookie. Place on greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes or until slightly soft in center.

Chicken Kebobs

Chicken Kebabs

The chicken gets really tender and delicious with this yogurt marinade. And just a touch of curry adds a great flavor. We multiplied the recipe to feed a large group for a pre-wedding party.
Thanks to HungryGirl.com for this reduced calorie and fat recipe.

Ingredients:
12 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, cut into cubes (1 1/2 inches)
2 red bell peppers
1 large (or 2 small) yellow summer squash
1 onion
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash paprika

Directions:
In a medium sealable container, combine yogurt, lemon juice, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and paprika, and stir well. Add chicken and coat completely. Cover container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, if using wooden skewers, soak four in water for 20 minutes to prevent burning. Cut peppers, squash, and onion into chunks equal in size to the chicken cubes.

Skewer the chicken and veggies alternately onto four skewers, packing the pieces together tightly.

Spray grill lightly with nonstick spray, and bring to medium-high heat.

Grill kebabs for 5 minutes with the grill cover down. Then carefully flip kebabs with long barbecue tongs.

With the grill cover down, grill for another 5 - 7 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Remove from grill and allow to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, pull chicken and veggies off the sticks and enjoy.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

PER SERVING (two kebabs): 285 calories, 3g fat, 432mg sodium, 21.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 12g sugars, 44g protein -- PointsPlus® value 7*

Recipe Exchange Macaroni Salad Elaine Bannister

When I received the invitation to participate in a recipe exchange, I groaned. This is too much like the chain letters of old. But then I found out it is a great way to reconnect with friends and family. Even if they replied they were too busy or could not be involved at this time, we started communicating again . . . making plans to get together, sharing photos, etc. The internet helps keep us in touch with each other, despite the naysayers.

Macaroni Salad from cousin Elaine Bannister in Newfoundland, Canada

1 box spiral pasta (cooked)
1 green pepper (chopped)
3 stocks celery (chopped)
1 carrot (grated)
1 onion (chopped)
2 tbsp. sugar
dash salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tomato (chopped)

1/2 cup French dressing
1/2 cup Golden Italian dressing
3/4 cup Miracle Whip

Mix the 3 dressings together - add remaining ingredients. Toss! Let stand 8 - 10 hours for flour to go through salad. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Taste of Home.

Bahamian style dining

There is a definite British influence on these lovely islands so I had to try the Special of the Day - Salt Beef with Cabbage. It was quite well seasoned and full of vegetables. Tasty and flavorful with a bit of a kick. Not sure what they used to give it that punch since very little grows on this rocky, sandy soil surrounded by salt water.

We island hopped from the Nassau, New Providence Island to Abaco to Elbow Cay (pronounced Key) and the quaint little village of Hopetown. Very charming.

The dumpling on top was not very good but I would reorder the Special again. A cool and refreshing Kalik was the perfect drink to go with this dish.

A more traditional American version is Pot Roast on page 166 of Tastes & Treasures. Try giving it a little jalapenos to liven up this mild version.

School tours of Museum

Love to see the lobby full of students exploring the AHS Museum. Lots of laughter and excitement as they toured through. Nothing like a healthy homemade snack of Granola, page 196 of Tastes & Treasures to keep them loaded with energy.



Granola
4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups pistachios
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup honey
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup finely chopped assorted dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries, dates)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the oats, coconut, pistachios, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds and cinnamon in a bowl. Combine the honey, brown sugar, molasses and butter in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until blended, stirring frequently; do not allow to boil.
Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and mix until coated. Spread the oats mixture on a greased baking sheet with edges. Bake for 15 minutes or until the oats are golden brown, stirring frequently. Spoon immediately into a heatproof bowl and stir in the dried fruit. Store in airtight containers or sealable plastic bags in a cool environment for up to 2 months. Freeze if storing for longer than 2 months. Makes 16 to 18 cups.
Hint - Do not let the granola sit on the hot cookie sheet.