Caramel Popcorn

Coat a large roaster with non-stick spray and 

fill it with popped popcorn.  

Coat a pot with non-stick spray and add 1/2 cup corn syrup, 1 cup butter and 2 cups brown sugar. Melt together, stirring with a large spoon coated with non-stick spray.  Boil while stirring for 5 minutes.  Take off heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. baking soda, a pinch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar.  

Pour over popcorn, mixing well.  Put roaster in oven for 2 hours, stirring every half hour.

Peach Pie Salad

This recipe is super easy and inspired by Oma who traditionally serves a jellylike salad on special occasions.  

19 oz peach pie filling (540 ml)

14 oz pineapple tidbits, drained (398 ml)

14 oz fruit cocktail, drained (398 ml)

2 sliced bananas

1 cup seedless green grapes

1 cup small marshmallows

Put pie filling into bowl.  Stir in drained pineapple and fruit cocktail.  Add sliced bananas. Add grapes and marshmallows.  Stir together.  Turn into a serving bowl and chill for several hours before serving.  Serves 15.

This year we enjoyed the salad on Christmas Eve with a spiral ham and Amy's hash brown potato casserole.

Other ingredients that could be added or substituted are  red maraschino cherries, canned mandarin oranges, diced apple or nuts.

-other canned mandarin oranges

If you are unable to find peach pie filling try apple pie filling along with a can of sliced peaches.

Gazpacho

This delicious cold soup was a perfect meal for this hot August day.  Grandmaman and Papa enjoyed the soup and "dinner on the deck".

1/2 red onion diced

 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large cucumber, diced

5 roma tomatoes, diced

1 zucchini, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 dash salt to taste

3.8 liters tomato juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp. white sugar

6 dashes tabasco

1 dash black pepper to taste

In a food processor combine the minced garlic with half the red onion, half the cucumber, half the tomato, half the zucchini, half the celery, half the tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, tabasco and salt. Pulse until well blended.

Pour into a large bowl and add the rest of the tomato juice, and half of the remaining onion, cucumber, tomato, zucchini and celery.  The rest of the diced vegetables will be used for a garnish.

Stir the mixture together and check the seasonings, adding more salt if needed.  Chill the soup for at least a couple of hours.
Stir mixture together and check seasonings, adding salt if needed. Chill soup for at least a couple of hours; soup needs to be very cold!
Remove the soup from the fridge and stir. Check the seasonings one last time. Ladle into a bowl and garnish with remaining diced vegetables, a sliver of fresh avocado, sour cream, and cilantro. Finally, place a grilled shrimp on the top and serve with slices of bread grilled with olive oil.

These are the shrimp before we grilled them.  We grilled them for 2 minutes on one side, then turned them and grilled them for another 2 minutes.

Blackberry Pie

Pick the blackberries as they ripen (black).  

Grandmaman put foil in the oven.

 The recipe we tried took 4 cups of blackberries.

 Sadie and Logan took turns mixing the sugar and cornstarch mixture in.  We used 1/2 cup of sugar but this amount could be increased for a sweeter pie.

 Once the pie crust was in the pie plate and the berry mixture poured in Sadie arranged the top crust with care.

 After crimping the edges Sadie used a knife to cut steam holes in the pie.

 Next Sadie brushed on a bit of milk and sprinkled a generous amount of 

sugar on for a special finish.

The pie was baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes then we turned the oven to 350 degrees for about 30 more minutes to finish baking.  We remembered to put foil on the rack below the pie to catch the juicy drippings.

We served the pie with vanilla ice cream.  Yummy.  We all decided that blackberry pie is super delicious but somewhat tart and might be nice mixed with other berries such as blueberries for a more subtle flavor.

4 cups fresh blackberries

1/2 cup white sugar (or a bit more)

1/2 cup flour (or 3 tbsp tapioca or 3 tbsp cornstarch)

2 tbsp. milk

1/4 cup of white sugar (or a bit less)

double piecrust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine berries with sugar and flour.

Place berries into an unbaked pie shell.

Cover with the top pie crust.

Crimp edges and cut vents in to let steam escape.

Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes 

then finish baking for about 20 to 30 minutes 

until the filling is bubbly and the crust is brown.

Cool on wire rack and serve with ice cream.

Cocoa Nib Oatmeal Cookies

This is a great oatmeal cookie recipe with a twist--cocoa nibs.  Cocoa nibs are cocoa beans that have been roasted, separated from their husks and broken into small pieces.  They can be eaten as a snack or added to baked goods or other dishes for added crunch, chocolaty flavor and are highly recommended for their nutritional benefits.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

(I used a combination of large flake oatmeal and steel cut oats.

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup cocoa nibs

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  

Beat in eggs one at a time.  Beat in vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. 

 Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat on low speed.

 Partially mix in oats, walnuts, cocoa nibs and chocolate chips with mixer 

and finish mixing in by hand.

Scoop dough out by the tablespoonful onto baking sheets.  Bake on middle rack of oven for 10 to 13 minutes until toasted brown on top.  After removing from the oven allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Finish cooling on a wire rack.  

Cookies will last a room temperature for 4 days.  Unbaked cookie dough can be left in the fridge for a week or can be frozen for about a month.

Grasshopper Pie or See You Later Alligator Pie

Crust

1 1/4 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

Mix and press into a pie plate, cake pan or spring form pan.  

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  

These amounts (filling and crust) are for a regular pie plate.

Filling

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup sugar

dash salt

1/2 cup cold water

 3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup creme de menthe

1/4 cup creme de cacao

1 cup whipping cream

Mix the gelatin, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, water and egg yolks.  Stir well til gelatin is dissolved and thickens slightly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in liqueurs.  Chill.  Beat egg whites stiff. Add remaining sugar and beat until very stiff, fold in gelatin and whipped cream.  Turn into shell.  Chill 2 hrs in freezer or overnight in fridge.

Fruit Pizza

4 cups crushed cereal (Rice Chex, Chocolate Chex, 

Corn Chex, HoneyNut Chex or Cinnamon Chex for gluten free)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup soft butter

1 beaten egg

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

sliced fruit (strawberries, kiwi, blueberries)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  

In a large bowl, mix sugars, peanut butter, butter, egg and vanilla.  Stir in crushed cereal.  Spread in an ungreased 12 inch pizza pan or a flan pan.  

Bake for about 10 minutes.  Cool the crust.

Cream the cream cheese with the powdered sugar.

Once the crust is cooled, spread the cream cheese mixture 

evenly over the top of the crust.

Add the sliced fruit to the pizza.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.