Well, the banquet is on Saturday and we have the hall on Sunday so we'll host a reunion breakfast.
On Sunday ..............

 

Hey @shootersa - just add some fresh berries and watermelon. That’ll cover the veggies.

 

Ah!! .............
We could do a melon bowl. Let the creative juices flow ............ maybe waves coming up the side with toothpick oars or something.

 

I posted this dish in the what’s for dinner thread and @Aqua Marine was curious about how I made it. I thought of this thread and thought it was the appropriate place to post my recipe. I hope it’s something you try and enjoy



I’m not gonna tell you to use a pound of spaghetti and how many heads of broccoli you need. It’s something you have to eyeball and decide for yourself, considering how many people you’re going to be feeding . In the picture above I used 1/2lb of spaghetti and two heads of broccoli flowerets.

I cut the broccoli flowers off the bunch, and blanched them in a large pot of salted boiling water for about 3 minutes ( blanched them). Reserve the cooking water because you’re going to cook your spaghetti in that water. The water will be flavored with the broccoli you just blanched, so that only adds to the flavor.

Now sliver 3 gloves of garlic or more if you like. Remember, it’s all to your taste. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a large frying pan and add your garlic and red pepper flakes if you like and bring it up to heat slowly, you don’t want to burn the garlic. Now add in your drained broccoli and sauté for a few minutes. Then add a small can of chicken broth, or dilute a chicken cube using the liquid in the pot you blanched the broccoli in. Just be careful, the cubes are salty.

I like cooking down the broccoli till it’s tender and somewhat mushy. I like it when it’s cooked down to kind of a sauce consistency. While you’re cooking your sauce get the spaghetti into the pot, and of course you know the water has to be boiling. Now if the liquid starts to evaporate in your sauce and it will, add a little bit of pasta water at a time.

If the pasta directions say its done in a 11 minutes, take it out 3 minutes sooner and finish cooking it in with the sauce. Add pasta water if needed. Turn off the heat and add a good amount of pecorino cheese. When ever adding butter or cheese to a dish, make sure you always take it off the heat. If not the butter and cheese will break down and become oily. I hope you give this a try. It’s basic peasant food that I grew up eating and loved as a child, and love today

 

I'm making this for our 4th of July get together at my sister's. I've never made it before, so I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm leaving out the onions for picky people.

Mexican Street Corn Salad

Ingredients
4 cups corn approximately 24 oz frozen
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro minced, a few leaves left for garnish.
1 jalapeno diced
1/2 large red onion diced
2/3 cup cotija cheese shredded/crumbled

Dressing
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice approximately 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Instructions

-Heat olive oil in a saute pan on medium high and add corn. Cook until slightly charred, approximately 7-10 minutes. Add to large bowl and set aside.
-Add pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, and onion to large bowl with corn and mix well.
-In a small bowl, add all dressing ingredients and mix well until smooth.
-Add dressing to large bowl with corn and mix well. Add 1/2 cotija cheese and mix well.
-Add remaining cheese and some cilantro.
-Serve or cover and store in fridge for up to 8 hrs before serving.

 

My sister is making this for the 4th, and I'm super excited! It's one of my favorites.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ingredients
6 oz strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
2 1/2 cups salted pretzels, (measured before crushing)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 oz cool whip, thawed in the fridge
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Combine strawberry Jell-O with 2 cups boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Crush 2 1/2 cups pretzels in a sturdy ziploc bag, using a rolling pin.
• In a medium sauce pan, melt 8 Tbsp butter then add 1/4 cup sugar and stir. Mix in crushed pretzels. Transfer to a 13x9 glass casserole dish, pressing the pretzel mix evenly over the bottom of the dish and bake for 10 min at 350°F, then cool to room temp.
• When pretzels have cooled, use an electric hand mixer to beat 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on med/high speed until fluffy and white. Fold in 8 oz Cool Whip until no streaks of cream cheese remain. Spread mixture over cooled pretzels, spreading to the edges of the dish to create a tight seal. Refrigerate 30 min.
• Hull and slice 1 lb strawberries then stir into your room temperature jello. Pour and spread strawberry jello mixture evenly over your cooled cream cheese layer and refrigerate until jello is set (2-4 hours).

 

Veggie Pizza

 

barley malt, rice, water, hops and yeast

 

Recipe for disaster, couldn't resist
But seriously those with teens may not know about this, never mix brake fluid with bleach. It takes 30 to 40 secounds to react, so it is easy to think nothing happens, but it will emit a very exposive gas that ignites easily. Just glade I didn't know this in my younger misguided youth.

 

Well actually some of the less mature members, although not physically kids, might identify as kids. You should have thought about that.

*reaches for the bleach and wonders if the brake fluid is still in the garage.

 

Shooter stares into bis bathroom mirror and wonders how long it takes for eyebrows to regrow.

 

Shooter is in a cheeky mood today.

 

AND… moving right along…

I despise cole slaw. I hate green cabbage in any form, and the slimy, gloppy texture of many cole slaw recipes grosses me out completely. I like red cabbage, though, and really enjoyed a simple red cabbage slaw recently served with grilled chicken sliders. The dressing was vinegar-based, and I want to try my own versions with other types of vinegar. This recipe used both sugar and honey in the dressing, which I found a bit too sweet. I think my version will use just one of those, combined with apple cider vinegar.
Here’s the recipe I was given… it was good, but I’m sure I’ll tweak it somehow!

Toss together in serving bowl:
1/2 head red cabbage thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro (your preference)
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and shredded

Mix together in a small bowl:
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon each: honey and granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon each: salt and pepper

Pour dressing over vegetables, stirring to coat. Allow to sit at least 1 hour before serving.

 

Since Shooter unintentionally hijacked a thread with his .......... humor ......... he offers up a fine family recipe

This is a berry cobbler.

You'll need 2 cups each of your favorite berries. Shooter prefers raspberries, blackberries, and Marionberries, but whatever floats your gullet or is available. Fresh is of course preferred but frozen works as well. Stay away from peaches and bananas.

You'll also need a puff pastry, Shooter makes his own but knows that the store bought works as well, or better if Shooter is having an off day in the kitchen.

Clean the fruit and then heat over low heat. Add water enough to end up with a syrupy concoction; you should not need to thicken it if you get it right, but if so, no problem. Do not over thicken. Add sugar or sweetener to taste but the proper selection of fruit should preclude needing much sweetener.

Pour the fruit into a casserole dish, cover with the puff pastry and cook at 375 for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden and crisp.

Best right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream but even good cold.
You can also use whipping creme or just a good creme instead of Ice Cream if you are a heathen.

 

Dalgona Coffee

1 T instant coffee
1 T sugar
1 T hot water
3/4 to 1 cup milk, cold or hot depending on your preference
ice (optional)

• Combine instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a mixing bowl. Mix them well. Then using a handheld mixer (stand mixer or milk frother) whisk it on high speed until the coffee mixture forms a stiff peak (2-4 mins). If you don’t have any of these tools, you can whisk it manually by hand. It still works! Just whisk it about 400 times.
• Scoop out the whipped coffee and put it on top of the milk. Serve.

 

Mango Orange Banana Sunrise Smoothie, Orange Creamsicle Smoothie And Vanilla Mint Green Smoothie - YouTube

 

In the summertime, we eat outdoors a lot, and have more picnics and longer car rides. I find myself making pound cake frequently… pretty much everyone likes it, it packs/travels well, doesn’t require refrigeration, and can be modified in a number of ways. At home we often top it with grilled fruit, chilled berries, ice cream, whipped cream, or some combination thereof. Sometimes I’ll cube it and set up a trifle bar with fruits, jams, curds, syrups, etc. The kids like to top it with a spoonful of Nutella and some toasted marshmallows.

This is my current favorite pound cake recipe. It makes 2 loaves and, since I don’t like to use the oven much in the summer, I’ll bake 4 loaves at once, early in the day… it freezes well (just make sure you wrap it well) and if you cut a loaf into separately-wrapped slices before freezing, it defrosts pretty quickly.




The other pound cake my family likes a lot is an almond pound cake… the recipe is on the Odense website… they make almond paste and marzipan.

https://odense.com/odense-recipes/almond-pound-cake-recipe/

 

• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil

• Grease 6 mini loaf pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
• Beat eggs, milk and oil.
• Gradually add dry mixture to wet until just moist.
• Pour batter into pans an inch below to compensate for rise. Optional: sprinkle sugar on top.
• Bake 40 minutes.

• Large Loaves – Don’t want 6 miniature loaves? You can also make this Sweet Bread recipe in 2 – 1 pound loaf pans or cut the recipe in half for just 1 loaf pan and bake 50 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.
• Make Muffins – If you prefer to make them into muffins, just grease miniature muffin tins and fill each to 2/3 full. Bake 12 minutes.

I used this recipe as a base for sweet breads. I experimented with different flavors. I didn't measure, so all ingredients are to taste. sorry!

• chocolate chips or peanut butter chips, or a combo of the two
• orange extract or orange zest with cardamom
• orange extract or orange zest with craisins
• blueberries
• canned diced pears or canned diced peaches, minus the liquid, with cinnamon or cardamom - or both

 

I needed an easy, make-ahead appetizer/snack to bring to a BBQ… this fit the bill and I found a great sale on bacon. Everyone devoured it the last time I made it, so that settled it!

Candied Bacon

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with foil.
In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup light brown sugar with 1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder. (I like an ancho or guajillo chile powder, but use what you like or have on hand.)
Arrange about 1 1/2 lbs. bacon strips on the foil and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. (If I’m not in a hurry, I place the sugar mixture in a shallow bowl and drop in the bacon strips, pressing them into the sugar and flipping to coat both sides.)
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until caramelized and crispy.
Cool and serve.

 

Shrimp Tampico
1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 1/2 tbsp. butter (I tend to use more depending on the shrimp)
6 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
6 tbsp. parsley, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp. scallions, chopped
1 fresh serrano pepper, minced(if you are not a fan of spice use jalapenos)
2 tbsp. cumin
4 tbsp. red salsa (at minimum, I triple it)

Melt the butter(not margarine) and oil in a stir fry pan, add all other ingredients and cook until shrimp are pink and curled(use fresh and never frozen shrimp for God's sake)
they can be used in tacos, on their own as tapas, in enchiladas, quesadilla's, burritos, or even in a cocktail
adjust the oil and butter levels depending on the amount of gravy that you need
I tend to serve mine as tapas and with slightly grilled tortillas and sauteed onions with bell peppers