There is nothing as yummy as a quesadilla made with a fresh tortilla. Brooke is our resident tortilla making expert! She whips up the dough, rolls it out, and makes everyone a delicious burrito or quesadilla. Stored in the refrigerator, the dough can be used to create tasty, healthful snacks on a Saturday afternoon. The dough stays good in the refrigerator for about a week and are great for a quick, fresh snack.



 2   C   Flour
1/4 C   Shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 t    Salt
1/2 t    Baking Powder
3/4 C   Warm Water

Directions
In a bowl, blend flour, salt, baking powder and shortening until it resembles fine meal.
Add warm water, a little at a time, to flour mixture and toss until liquid is incorporated. Water amount will vary with different flour types.
Form dough into a ball and knead on a floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Divide, and make 12 smaller balls. Cover and let stand at least 30 minutes.

Cooking Tortillas
Roll each ball of dough on a floured surface to make 6 or 7 inch sized tortillas. Place on a pre-heated griddle or cast iron skillet (very hot or tortilla will be soggy) and cook till medium golden on both sides. Remove to a basket lined with a cloth towel or put between a towel until cool. After the tortillas have cooled completely, store them in a plastic bag.

This recipe will make approximately 12 flour tortillas.

Serving Suggestions: 
Cook tortilla as above.  Sprinkle cheese on the already cooked top and use a spatula (so you don't burn yourself) to fold it in half.  Wait for the outside to brown, and you have a quesadilla!

Use your leftover Cilantro Roasted Salmon, fresh cilantro, and fresh lime to create a delicious Salmon Taco.

I really love salmon and I hope you do, too! It’s rare to have food taste good and be good for us at the same time. This salmon recipe is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. Salmon is great for you! It gives you the omega-3 fatty acids essential to both brain function and heart health. Other fish sources of omega 3 fatty acids include mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, and albacore tuna.

 Unfortunately, salmon are often raised on fish farms (includes salmon labeled as Atlantic Salmon) to contain costs for the industry. These farms are not sustainable – they crowd the fish in densely packed pens near ocean shores, feed them fish meal that often contains carcinogenic PCB chemicals and mercury, pump them full of growth hormones, and infuse them with antibiotics to combat the unsanitary, excrement-filled waters in which they are forced to live. The PCBs are can cause cancer in humans (especially pregnant women and children) and we’re all aware of the dangers of over exposure to antibiotics. Because of all this, I always purchase wild salmon. It costs a bit more but is worth it because it really does taste better and I avoid the risk of being poisoned by the very food I am eating to maintain my good health. Now that I’ve scared you to death – here’s the fabulous recipe. Buy wild!

Cilantro Roasted Salmon

1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems 
1 clove garlic
5 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of one lime (1 ½ - 2 T)
Salt to taste
1 t. freshly ground pepper
2 – 4 lbs salmon fillets

Preheat oven to 400.  Blend garlic, cilantro, olive oil, and lime juice in a blender until creamy. Line baking sheet with tin foil and pour sauce in center of pan. Place salmon upside down in sauce and then flip it over so the skin side is down. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Bake uncovered for 20 - 30 minutes (until fish is flakey and can be easily removed from skin).

NOTE:  Use leftovers to make yummy salmon tacos!  Reheat the salmon and serve it with lemon, cilantro, and fresh tortillas.

So this is how I do it. I make the sauce. Then I use every spoon in the house to continuously taste the sauce. I love this sauce! I honestly can’t get enough of this Alfredo Sauce and I’m not usually a fan. Here is a big shout out to The Olive Garden for sharing this amazing recipe. It is well worth the work!

Some tips:

• I serve it with farfalle (bow tie) pasta so we get a full, rich amount of sauce in each bite. 
• Store the left over egg whites in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Then I do the best thing ever! I use them to make the very best egg nog in the world!
• The trick to this sauce – and this is important – is that the parmesan cheese must look like a fine powder – not simply rough-grated. The grating of the romano cheese is not as important as the parmesan; it can be grated however you please.
• For best results, cook this in a double boiler. This will prevent it scorching on the bottom.
• This sauce is even better as a leftover.
  

Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

1 & 1/2 cup milk
1 & 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup imported Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 cup imported Romano cheese, grated
6 egg yolks from fresh jumbo eggs
Salt and black pepper to taste

Procedures

·         HEAT:  milk and cream in a heavy bottom saucepan (double boiler is recommended for best results) until it begins to simmer. Turn off heat. Slowly whip in cheese, then remove from heat.

·         PLACE: Temper the egg yolks. To do this slowly whip a portion of the hot mixture into the bowl containing the egg yolks.  This brings slowly brings the temperature of the egg yolks up so they don’t “cook”.   Slowly add the tempered egg yolks back into the hot mixture. Place back on very low heat and continually stir until simmering until the mixture is thick and creamy.  

·         SEASON: with salt and fresh ground pepper. Serve over your favorite pasta.

                                                                                                                              Makes 6 generous servings.
                                                                                                                                     

I really hate onions so I rarely use them when I cook.  Well, that's not exactly true...if a recipe calls for cooked onions, I will cut them over-sized and suate' them with the other vegetables.  I pull the onions out of the mix before I add the other vegetables to my dish so I get the great flavor without having to put up with the nasty texture.  Eating a cooked onion is a lot like eating a slimy worm (in my humble opinion) so I won't do it.  When it comes to raw onions, I would rather live without the taste and that "bug on the sidewalk" crunch that raw onions add to any dish.  Yuck!  
Anyway, recent studies are saying that onions absorb air-born bacteria. Thi means that the mayonnaise may not have been the culpret at all those afternoon picnic poisoninings. It may have been the onion all along. So my potato salad is not only tasty but may well save your life!  

Potato Salad (minus onions)

Potatoes  (about 6)
Hard boiled eggs (6-8)
2 stalks Celery
1 t.       Celery Seed
1 t.       Parsley
Dash   Pickle Juice
½ t.      Dried mustard
1 C      Milk
½ C     Mayonnaise
Paprika

Directions:

Boil potatoes (whole and unpeeled).  While potatoes are cooling, mix mayo and milk until it is the consistency of Elmer’s glue. Add chopped celery, celery seed, pickle juice, parsley, and dill to taste to mayonnaise mixture. Add Salt and pepper to taste.  Peel, cube, and place potatoes in large bowl. Chop all but 2 of the hard boiled eggs into bite size pieces and add to potatoes. Slice the other 2 eggs and set aside. Pour mayonnaise mixture over potatoes and toss gently. Top with remaining eggs and sprinkle paprika on top. Refigerate.

I went to visit my sister, Vickie, one day and she was pulling some bread sticks out of the oven. Of course, they smelled delicious! But I'm pretty picky about my bread sticks so I reserved my opion until after the taste test. Oh my!  These were bread sticks extraordinaire!  They were so delicious I snagged a few to take with me for ride home.

Parmesan Bread Stix

Mix:
1 T    Yeast
2 T    Sugar
1½ C Warm water

Let set until the yeast is activated.

Add:
1½ t   Salt
3½ C Flour

Knead for 3 minutes. Cover and let rise for ½ hour.

Melt:
1 sq   Butter

Pour onto cookie sheet.  Roll out dough to ½ inch thick and cut into 1 inch wide strips. Dip both sides in the butter and then place them close together in the pan. 

Sprinkle: 
Parmesan and Cheddar Cheese (to your taste)
Garlic Salt

Let rise 20 minutes .

                                                                                                                 Bake at 375˚ for 20-25 minutes

Berry Cobbler Recipe

4 cups Fresh or Frozen Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Rhubarb
1/4 C softened Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar - divided
1/2 C Milk
1 C Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
Dash  Salt
1 t. Vanilla extract
1/2 C  Warm Water

Batter:

 Mix butter, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla with a fork.

Assembly:

Line an 8 inch or 9 inch baking dish with raspberries. Spread batter evenly over fruit. Mix 1 C sugar and water and pour over batter.

Bake:

1 hour@ 350 degrees
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
Serves 8-9

I love this season!  With autumn, comes the falling leaves, clear blue skies, comfy sweaters and the feeling of settling into home and hearth. I cherish memories of hiking with my daughters and collecting brilliantly hued leaves while talking about love, life, and good books. After a long hike we would often head home and make some apple dumplings for a before-dinner treat (yes, we often cheat and eat dessert first). Oh, what happy memories: the warm spicy smell of cinnamon and baked apples wafting through the air; the laughter as we worked together to simultaneously prepare the crust, sauce, and apples; the rush of heat when we opened out the oven to claim our treasures. Apple Dumplings with vanilla ice cream is a treat that is easy to make and oh so delicious. You should give it a try today! 

Apple Dumplings
Ingredients:
6 apples*
1 C. sugar
2 ¼ C. water
3 Tbs butter
3/8 tsp. cinnamon
3 C. flour
1 ½ C. lard or shortening
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ C. iced water
2/3 C sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon

Directions:
Sauce:  Boil 1 C. sugar, 2 ¼ C water, 3 Tbs butter, and 3/8 tsp. cinnamon in a small saucepan, and then set aside. 

Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture:  mix 2/3 C sugar and 1 Tbs cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.

Crust:  In a medium mixing bowl mix together the flour and salt and then cut in the shortening. Add the iced water and mix it together then roll and cut it into 6 thick crusts (sized to wrap one apple per crust). 

Assemble:  Peel and core the apples.  Then take one apple and place it in the center of a crust and wrap the crust tightly around it, leaving the top unsealed.  Fill the apple center with the cinnamon/sugar mixture and put a pat of butter on the top (make sure you leave space for the butter inside the apple).  Then seal the top of the crust around the apple.  Place the dumpling in a baking dish and repeat with the other five apples, making sure their sides aren’t touching in the dish. Pour the Sauce over the prepared apples, letting it pool in the bottom of the pan. Bake immediately at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream (my grandma always liked it with sweetened condensed milk, but I like ice cream better.)

*If you aren’t sure about the best variety of apple some of the best varieties for the apples are golden delicious, jonathons, or winesaps. Also, select small to medium sized apples for best results