Four Peaks Brewery offers refreshing drinks

The recipe for Stout Shake on page 92 is impressive and a cool drink for a hot summer day. Andy Ingram, owner of of Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe has some wonderful offerings in Tastes & Treasures. Try the Halibut with Penne and Basil Pesto at the restaurant or make it yourself from page 89. Fresh basil from the garden makes this very flavorful.

The brewery itself resides in the old Borden's Creamery building built in 1892. No additions were added after 1927 so you can see the old brick, wooden ceilings and 35-foot-high glass clerestory.

You can learn other suggestions from Andy's specials in The Arizona Republic called "Beer Buzz".

Bob Boze Bell

Arizona has a great promoter of history with Bob Boze Bell. His magazine, True West, is packed with stories of the old frontier. According to True West magazine website, "He has published and illustrated groundbreaking books on the West. Among the subjects are Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday. His series of Western gunfights is titled Classic Gunfights. In addition to his efforts for True West, Boze's work has appeared in Arizona Highways, Playboy and National Lampoon. He has illustrated numerous book covers and appears as a guest speaker on the History Channel, Discovery Channel and the Westerns Channel." I enjoy his short stories for The Arizona Republic.

Carolyn Mendoza posed with him at the Memorial Day Celebration at Pioneer Cemetery.

Carolyn and Bonnie Newhoff arranged the Historical League booth that day promoting the cookbook, Tastes & Treasures, as well as the new Centennial book, Arizona Recollections and Reflections, An Arizona Historymakers Centennial Commemoration. Aprons and hats were a popular item on that lovely day.

Cool Gazpacho for Hot Summer Days

Chilled Gazpacho for summer fun

A cool but spicy blend of red onion, garlic, Roma tomatoes, summer squash, avocado, jalapeño, cilantro, chili spice, and vegetable juice. This recipe is from Chef Jeremy Manley, who is known for his organic and local cuisine at Jeremy's on the Hill, in Julian, San Diego's historic mountain destination.

The garden is full of red, ripe tomatoes now so this recipe is timely.

Gazpacho is so attractive when served in mugs or clear containers topped with crouton and fresh parsley.

Directions:

Put 1/3 cup olive oil and juice of 1 lemon into a blender.
Add 6 - 8 tomatoes chopped
1/2 large white onion, chopped finely
1/2 large summer squash, chopped in 1/4 inch chunks
2 small cucumbers or 1 large cucumber, chopped.
Season with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, chopped basil or cilantro, 2 cloves garlic. Mix until the gazpacho is soupy but still has some good-sized chunks; add salt, pepper, oil or basil to taste. Serve cold.

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*