Walking Tacos

Perfect for neighborhood pot lucks, this dish was so-o-o popular at the "Neighborhood Night Out" in Minneapolis. Over 100 neighbors attended to enjoy friendship, food and support the event. Joined by a full-size firetruck that hosed down the kids, a police patrol car, bouncy blow-up building for kids, coloring book stations and lots and lots of bicycles, this evening was a huge success.




Potluck ingredients
1. bags of individual size Doritos
2. Crockpot of taco meat sauce
3. shredded lettuce
4. shredded cheese
5. sour cream
6. taco sauce
7. smashed avocados
8. chopped green onions
9. diced peppers
10. choppped tomatoes
11. what ever people bring to add to the taco
12. plastic forks

Directions
Open Dorito bag and add taco ingredients. Grab a fork and enjoy.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has an authentic recipe for Navajo Taco on page 14 with more accurate ingredients. This recipe is from historic Cameron Trading Post. It is not quite as portable as Walking Tacos, but very tasty.

Wow Salad Presentation

While visiting Costa Rica and dining with friends at their home, Debbie Walker Bauer sent this salad photo. Now This is a Presentation! Love the use of flowers in the food.

Accompanied by the fabulous views, what a dinner party this makes.

"The salad is an arrangement of tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, olives, fresh peaches, red onion. It was delicious. They own a restaurant here in CR. He served stuffed pork with an amazing stuffing! mmmmm good!"

Grilled Fruit Kebobs

Grilled Juicy Fruit Kebabs & Dip

Grilling fruit was a new experience for me but fun. And if you're an old pro in the field of fruit grilling, you'll still love this recipe and the dip for the fruit.

Ingredients:
Dip
6 oz. fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

Kebabs
1 cup 1-inch pineapple chunks (about 1/4th of a pineapple)
1 cup 1-inch mango chunks (about 1 mango)
1 cup 1-inch peach or nectarine chunks (about 2 peaches or nectarines)
1 cup 1-inch banana chunks (about 1 large banana)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for about 20 minutes to prevent burning. (4 skewers.)

Combine all ingredients for dip in a bowl. Mix until thoroughly blended and smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Skewer the fruit chunks alternately onto 4 skewers, packing the pieces together tightly. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bring a grill (or grill pan) sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Add skewers, cover, and cook until fruit chunks are slightly blackened and caramelized, about 3 minutes per side. If using a grill pan, work in batches, removing pan from heat between batches to re-spray.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

PER SERVING (1/4th of recipe, 1 kebab with about 3 tbsp. dip): 135 calories, 0.5g fat, 17mg sodium, 30.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 23g sugars, 4.5g protein

Thanks to www.hungrygirl.com for grilling ideas and food statistics.

Two Sweet and Sour Apple Desserts

SWEET AND SOUR APPLE DESSERT
Here is another easy and delicious recipe from the recipe exchange, thanks to Jean Young from Newfoundland, Canada.
We found a new apple called Envy that was delicious for this recipe.

1. Mix together
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups graham wafer crumbs

2. Press in bottom of 8 x8 or 9x 9 dish

3. Mix together the following and spread over the graham wafer bottom
1 small tub sour cream
1 tin condensed milk
3 tablespoons lemon Juice

Top with 1 can of apple pie filling. Sprinkle cinnamon over top. Bake for 15 minutes at 325.
THIS CAN BE CUT IN SQUARES AND FROZEN WHEN COOLED.

A little more complicated (but delicious) apple recipe is found on page 163 Tastes & Treasures cookbook

Apple Streusel Pie

Streusel Topping

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup chopped pecans

Apple Pie

¼ cup chopped pecans

1 unbaked (9 inch) pie shell

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 cups thinly sliced tart apples

2 tablespoons butter

For the topping, combine the brown sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon in a bowl and stir with a fork until crumbly. Stir in the pecans.

For the pie, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle the pecans over the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add the apples to the sugar mixture and toss to coat. Mound the apple mixture in the prepared pie shell and dot with the butter. Spread the topping evenly over the top of the pie and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes longer, checking after 30 minutes and covering with foil if needed to prevent the topping from overbrowning.

Serves 6 to 8

Sharp Knives are the Best

Nothing like chopping with a newly sharpened knife. Don't put this off. Just sharpen it. Either do it yourself or take it to someone. You will be so much happier.

Now I can make recipes from Tastes & Treasures with ease.

Margarita Pie topic on talk radio

The interview with www.blogtalkradio.com/big-blend-radio/2011/07/23/food-history-travel was fun with lots of interest in Margarita Pie and Rancho de la Osa in Sasabe. The hosts did not know the Jesuit mission built in the late 1600 at Rancho de la Osa is the oldest building still in use in AZ. I was nervous about the interview since they know lots of history, so I felt good when I could give them some new information.

The interview was to promote Tastes & Treasures cookbook and Arizona Recollections and Reflections An Arizona Historymakers Centennial Commemoration book.

H. Alan Day, co-author of "Lazy B" with his sister Sandra Day O'Connor, preceded me on the talk show. He is such an interesting speaker. Both he and Sandra talked at a Historical League meeting a few years ago and it was fascinating. His passion now is rescueing wild horses and he tells us about this in his new book.

For all you foodies, here is the sought-after Margarita Pie recipe. Easy to fix and looks so impressive.

MARGARITA PIE

Pretzel Crust

1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzels

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Pie

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1(14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons gold tequila

2 tablespoons Triple Sec

2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped

Green food coloring (optional)

For the crust, pulse the pretzels and sugar in a food processor several times to combine. Add the butter in a steady stream and process until well mixed. Press over the bottom and up the side of a 9 inch pie plate sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

For the pie, combine the lime juice, condensed milk, tequila and Triple Sec in a bowl and mix well. Fold in the whipped cream. Tint with green food coloring, if you desire a deeper color. Spoon into the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours or up to 1 week. Garnish with additional whipped cream and lime slices.

Note: Do not use fat-free or low-fat pretzels in the crust or the crust will not hold together when cutting. You may substitute graham crackers for the pretzels.

We added green coloring but swirled it (not mixed it in uniformly) so it gave a marbled look.

Serves 6 to 8

Fresh Peaches and Blueberries Inspire Me

With a peach tree growing in my daughter's backyard, we feel the need to create a peach dish. This is a good one from www.hungrygirl.com. Of course, fresh fruit in the summer is always inspirational. Try the delicious Apple Streusel Pie from Tastes & Treasures, page 163.

Blueberry Peach Custard Pie

1 cup sugar
¾ cup skim milk
¾ cup (6 oz) non-fat plain Greek style yogurt
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon almond extract
Pinch of salt
1 store-bought, refrigerated pie crust
1 cup blueberries
1 cup peeled, sliced peaches

Position a rack in lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray.

To make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, milk, yogurt, eggs, flour, cornstarch, almond extract and salt. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll a sheet of piecrust into a 12-inch circle. Place the crust in the pie pan and trim so it overhangs evenly by about 1 inch. Fold the edges under he crimp or flute the edge with your fingers or a fork. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet.

Arrange peaches in the bottom of the crust and top with the blueberries in an even layer. Pour the filling on top (the fruit will float but this won’t affect the final results). Bake for 25 minutes.

After the pie has baked for 25 minutes and the filling is beginning to set, remove from oven and cover the edges of the crust with foil to help prevent over browning. Reduce heat to 350 and return the pie to the oven.

Bake until a knife inserted at the center of the pie comes out clean, an additional 20 to 25 minutes. (The pie may puff up quite a bit but will settle during cooling.) Let cool for 1 ½ hours. Serve warm or refrigerate.

Serves 10.

Nutritional facts per serving: 200 calories, 6 g fat, 41 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein 1 g fiber, 163 mg sodium