Fruit Salsa

"Fruit salsa?" you're saying. "That doesn't even sound like a thing!!"

Well shut up, Jerkface, because it IS a thing. An AWESOME thing.

Our friends, Jeremy and Rox Taylor, made this for us. We were about as skeptical as they come. But man, we were blown away by how much taste this thing offers. It's not too sweet, and it's the perfect summer dish - bring it to a party, and watch people line up to be your friend. The cinnamon pita chips are available at Trader Joe's - they're an integral part of this amazing appetizer. (DW)

Seriously, I love fruit salsa! The ingredients in this recipe sound weird together, but you have to try it. It tastes so good. The original recipe also calls for chopped jalapeno peppers, but I always omit them when I make it. Use a small food processor to make chopping the strawberries and bell pepper easier.

1 cup finely chopped strawberries
1 orange, peeled & finely chopped
2 large or 3 small kiwi fruits, peeled & finely chopped
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, juices drained (about an 8 oz can)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/4 cup yellow or green bell pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours to allow the flavors to marinate together. Serve with cinnamon pita chips.

This recipe was given to me from our friend Roxanne and can also be found in the Better Homes & Garden Cookbook, New Cookbook- Bridal Edition. (AW)

Spicy Refried Beans

Spicy foods might intimidate you. Lord knows, they intimidate me. I have numerous instances seared into my memory - taking a bite of a pepper I misjudged to be mild, or ordering a dish at a Mexican restaurant that had too much heat to it.

Almost all of those times, I was out of reach of a glass of water or anything to quench the fire eradicating my taste buds. I don't always plan these things out well.

But don't let this dish intimidate you, because it demonstrates an important point - that "spicy" doesn't always have to mean "painful". It can mean "delicious". And that's what these are - De-Fricking-Licious. (DW)

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is make food that you normally buy in a jar or can at the grocery store, and, instead, make it from scratch. By making it yourself, you have control over what ingredients you put in your recipe, the quality of the ingredients you use, and the amount of sodium that goes into your food.

Refried beans are a food that we eat quite frequently using the canned form, but this recipe just might make canned refried beans a thing of the past in the Walker household. When I set out to make this recipe, I was just planning on following the recipe I got off of Real Mom's Kitchen website, but I just got a little carried away with adding ingredients we had in our refrigerator. The result was spicy and flavorful. If you don't want them spicy, just leave out the chipotle and jalepenos.

3 cups of dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 yellow onion, chopped
9 cups of water (I actually used 3 cups chicken stock, and 6 cups of water)
5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon The Art of Chipotle Gourmet Paste (optional)
1/4 cup pickled jalepeno peppers, finely chopped (optional)

Put all ingredients in a 5-quart Crock-Pot. Cook on high for 7-8 hours, until beans are tender. Drain the beans, reserving the excess water (you will use the excess water to thin out the beans after you mash them). Using a potato masher, mash the beans, adding a little bit of your reserve water at a time, until a desired consistency is reached. Serve warm. (AW)

Lemon Chicken with Capers

Chicken is such a versatile concept - you can do like 10 million things to it. So it's always a worthwhile treat when you eat chicken prepared in a way that you've never really had before.

Take this lemon chicken recipe, which Amy busted out on me 2 weeks ago. I was flabbergasted, because it's not in my nature to like lemon, plus capers look weird.

But I overcame my initial prejudice, because this dish was light and tasty. Plus, it's pasta-based, and I am staunchly in favor of taking chicken, preparing it in new and interesting ways, and dumping it over a big pile of pasta. (DW)

This recipe is a light, and flavorful dish. I hardly ever make lemon chicken, but when I do, I am reminded of just how much I enjoy it.

Olive oil
2 boneless chicken breast, cut into thin slices
Lemon pepper (to season chicken breast)
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh parsley

Heat oil in pan. Season chicken breast with lemon pepper on both sides. Add to saute pan and cook until no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside. In a small bowl, add the cold water and cornstarch, and mix until smooth. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, butter, and cornstarch mixture to the sauté pan you just cooked your chicken in. While stirring sauce, bring it to a boil, and reduce heat. Cook on a simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken. Add capers and chicken back to pan. Heat thoroughly. Add fresh parsley right before serving. Serve over whole wheat pasta. (AW)

Tortellini Pasta Salad

I fricking love this pasta salad. It's seriously the Best Thing Ever.

In fact, pasta salad in general is the Best Thing Ever.

I recommend making this in the morning, refrigerating it all day, and serving it cold at night. Everyone will think you're awesome. You'll be the talk of the town, and everyone will clamor to invite you to their barbecues and potlucks.

Here's what I'm saying: This recipe will make you popular. It will help you win friends and influence people. And don't skip the green bell pepper, because that's the secret weapon this thing packs. (DW)

Here is the recipe for one of our favorite summer salads. I always try to keep a package or two of tortellini in freezer, so I can make this in a hurry. I'll give you the ingredients I use in the salad, but, really, you can put just about anything in it. It's very versatile.

1 package of tortellini, cooked & cooled
Olives
Canned artichoke hearts, cut into small pieces
Green bell pepper (sometimes I use broccoli), chopped
Tomatoes, chopped
Parmesan cheese
Italian salad dressing (you can use which ever brand is your favorite)

Put tortellini, olives, artichokes, bell pepper, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese in a large glass bowl. Pour Italian dressing over salad, to your liking. Serve cold. (AW)

Grilled Marinated Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, washed and bottoms trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
Garlic Powder

Put asparagus and minced garlic in a zip lock bag. Add just enough olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic powder to coat asparagus. Seal ziplock bag and shake to coat asparagus evenly. Marinate for 30 min to 1 hour in refrigerator. Grill on BBQ for 5-8 minutes, until asparagus is tender, but not overcooked. (AW)

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This dish might be one of my favorite things in the world. If I’m ranking my favorite things in the world, it goes something like this: mid-90’s hip-hop, reruns of “The Cosby Show”, this recipe, and then maybe Hardy Boys books.

It’s not hard, either, OK, people? Quit acting like pulled pork is a hard dish because it’s not. (At least, I’m assuming it’s not; I’ve never heard Amy complain about making this dish. This is what I am basing my assumption on.)

Also, dipping things in ranch may be kind of grade-schoolish, but I don’t care, y’all. DIP THESE SANDWICHES IN RANCH OR YOU’RE A CHUMP. (DW)

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 1/2-4 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast, tied
1 can (10 oz) Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 oz package Lipton's Onion Soup Mix
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until well browned on all sides.

In a separate bowl, combine soup, onion soup mix, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Pour mixture into a 5-quart Crock-Pot. Add pork and turn to coat on all sides.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until pork is fork-tender. Remove pork from Crock-Pot and place on a cutting board. Using two forks, shred pork, and return to Crock-Pot. Serve on rolls. (AW)

This recipe was adapted from a Campbell's Pulled Pork Recipe

Farm Fresh to You Friday

Here is what we got in our Organic Fruit and Vegetable box this week from Farm Fresh to You: Fuji Apples, Navel Oranges, Tangerines, Lemons, Pears, Avocado, Artichokes, Green Cabbage, Celery, Rainbow Chard, Cauliflower, Red Beets, Leeks, Romaine Lettuce, Cilantro, Yukon Potatoes.

I can't tell you how excited I am to get ARTICHOKES this week. I love artichokes, and haven't had them in awhile. Yummy. We also got some red beets and cabbage in our box. I have always wanted to try a roasted beet salad, so now is my chance. I also found a recipe for barbecued cabbage with bacon. I hope both recipes turn out good!

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! (AW)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I hope you all enjoyed your corn beef and cabbage dinner! This was the first time in the four years we have been married that I made St. Patrick's Day dinner at home. I did the potatoes, carrots, and corn beef in the crock-pot. When I got home from work, I took the corn beef out of the crock-pot and put yellow mustard and brown sugar on the top of it. I broiled the corn beef in the oven for a few minutes to let the glaze bake. It turned out great! (AW)

Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

I love to make a big batch of pancakes, freeze them in packages of two, and bring them to work with me for breakfast. All I have to do is leave some syrup and butter at work, and then I always have a great start to my day. Its so easy.


Trader Joe's Multigrain Baking & Pancake Mix
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Here's what you do: Prepare pancakes batter according to the directions on the box. Then you add the mashed banana and cinnamon to the pancake batter. Cook over a hot griddle. Serve with real syrup and butter.

These are so, so yummy and make your house (or office) smell good too! (AW)

Homemade Bagel Dogs

What I really, truly love, food-wise, is the magic trick aspect of it all; that is, how genuinely amazing things can be coaxed from random ingredients. You combine some of this, a bit of that, you wave a wand over it, and presto - you have delicious food.

Now, I know that Amy will read that and roll her eyes, because it betrays my general ignorance about the effort and work she puts into cooking. But for someone like me, a recipe like this - homemade bagel dogs - is more than just a good meal or something to fill my stomach with; it's magical.

It's also comfort food. I had a long day at work a few days back, and on my way home, got the following text: "I made lunch. It's random but I think it will be good." Now, most men would read that and shudder; I read that and stepped on the gas. When I came home, I was welcomed with the sight of one of my favorite childhood treats cooling on a baking sheet. Where she got this idea, how she got the audacity to recreate a national after-school past-time like this, who knows. But I win, because I married this woman.

Don't let this recipe intimidate you. It's worth the effort. I have no idea how she will beat this, what other treats from my preteen years she will attempt to conjure up from scratch - Hot Pockets? Home Run Pies? Pizza rolls?!?!?

Oh, sweet fancy Moses, let it be pizza rolls. (DW)

A few days ago, I was scanning some of the recipe blogs I enjoy reading, and happened to stumble upon a recipe for these homemade bagel dogs. I instantly knew I needed to make this, and now. I haven't eaten a bagel dog in probably 12 years, but we always had bagel dogs in the freezer growing up, and I loved them. I don't usually cook with any recipe that uses yeast, because it intimidates me. But, for the love of bagel dogs, I thought I would branch out. The blog I found the recipe on is called Real Mom Kitchen. This recipe is pretty easy, but time-consuming. I suggest that you make these on a day you are just hanging out around the house, doing stuff like laundry, because you have to let them rise twice, for about an hour each time. If you try them, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

2 cups water (110° F)
2 packages, active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons table salt
5 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
12-16 quality all-beef hot dogs (make sure they are nitrate free!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds and/or coarse salt for garnish

Pour the water into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and sprinkle with the yeast. Let the mixture stand about five minutes or until foamy, then stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar and the salt. Using the paddle attachment and with the mixer on medium speed, gradually add flour, beating until well-blended and smooth, until you have a stiff dough. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook and knead thoroughly until smooth and elastic in texture. Form the dough into a lump and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Turn the dough over to grease the top. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and knead briefly to eliminate any air bubbles and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12×9 inch rectangle or until it’s about a 1/4-inch thick, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin or the board. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut 12 1-inch pieces of dough.

Dry the hot dogs thoroughly. Starting at one end of a hot dog, wrap the dough around overlapping slightly as you make your way to the other end. Place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining hot dogs and strips of dough. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the over to 400°. Fill a deep, heavy pot with water and add the baking soda. Bring to a gentle boil. Working 2 to 3 bagels at a time, carefully drop the bagel dogs into the boiling water, turning frequently with a slotted spoon or spatula, for about a minute. Lift out of the water and gently dry each bagel well on a kitchen towel and arrange about 2-inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with remaining bagel dogs.


Brush the bagels with the egg glaze and sprinkle on your garnish of choice. Bake for about 35 minutes or until nicely browned and crusty. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack

* I didn't add the egg white, or any salt, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds to my bagel dogs, and they still turned a nice golden brown color. I made 15 bagel dogs from this recipe. We ate a few for lunch, and I put the rest in the freezer to pull out for a quick meal. (AW)

Taco Salad with Lime Vinaigrette Dressing

Salad can take five minutes to make, and a lifetime to master. This is not an overstatement.

So many things contribute to what makes a good salad - lettuce-to-fixings ratio, quality of dressing, quantity of dressing, protein, crunch factor, and whether or not some weirdo puts baby corn on it.

Seriously. When weirdos put baby corn on salads, that makes me so mad.

Taco salad, while a variation on traditional salad, can still be tricky. The most important thing to do, in my opinion, is to demonstrate restraint; you need to resist the urge to turn it into a plate of nachos with some lettuce at the bottom.

This is why this recipe is so fabulous. The dressing is superb; seriously, this tangy wonder can be an all-purpose sauce/dressing for any number of Mexican-themed dishes. The ground turkey offers substance. Add some tomatoes, cilantro, red onions, and crumbled-up tortilla chips, and you have a sophisticated-but-tasty salad that’s light but substantial.

So, it’s with this, that I announce that the Walkers have mastered the Art of Salad. Boo-yah, suckas! (DW)

1 lb ground turkey meat
Taco seasoning
Romaine lettuce
Red onion
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Mexican blend shredded cheese
Lime vinaigrette dressing (see recipe below)

Brown ground turkey meat. Add your favorite taco seasoning to the ground turkey and cook according to the directions on the package. Set the turkey meat aside to cool. In the mean time, cut the romaine lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro for the salad. Serve salad with ground seasoned ground turkey meat, shredded cheese, and lime vinaigrette dressing.

Lime vinaigrette dressing:

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup plain yogurt (you can use fat-free yogurt)
1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon olive oil

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate until chilled to let flavors marinate together.

This salad can be made prepared the night before and then assembled the next day for a quick and easy dinner. (AW)

Glazed Carrots & Turnips

I mentioned last week that I had never tried turnips before. I found this recipe on the Food Network's website and thought I would try it because it sounded simple to make. It turned out pretty good. My only complaint was that my turnips got a little overcooked. Overall I like the flavor and simplicity of this side dish.


3/4 lbs of turnips, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces
3/4 lbs carrots, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt & Pepper to season



Place vegetables in a skillet that is just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add just enough water so that it comes halfway up the side of the vegetables. Add butter and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce temperature to a simmer. Cover pan with a lid, left slightly ajar and simmer for about 8-10 minutes or until tender. Remove lid, turn heat up to high, and cook until all of the water has been absorbed, tossing vegetables frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

P.S. Have you ever heard of rainbow carrots? I had never heard of them, until last week. They are so cool, they are yellow, orange, dark red, and white in color but taste like regular carrots. So, if you are wondering why my carrots are weird colors in the picture, that why! (AW)

Korean Barbecued Beef

When Amy and I got married, it’s no understatement to say that we didn't have a lot of extra money.

We lived in an apartment complex. Our life there mainly consisted of lugging groceries up to our place on the second floor and trying to do laundry in the communal coin-op laundry room without punching people.

But oh, the food we ate. We had this George Foreman grill that we put out on our back patio, and we tried our best to cook as many meals out on that back patio as possible. We lived and ate a lot in that first year, and when the time came, we left; but, sometimes, I miss that Foreman grill, because you don’t know classy meat until you’ve cooked it on a grill named after an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur.

The thing about this meal is: it’s incredibly easy to make. In fact, I would say the ratio of taste-to-effort is legendary. This is what I like about Amy’s cooking. She’ll make something absolutely phenomenal, and I’ll feel all guilty about the presumed hours she spent sieving flour or stir-frying kale or something, but then she’ll tell me how she made it, and I’m just flabbergasted.

So, here’s what you should do with this dish:

Pretend it was hard to make. It won’t be that hard. Your dinner guests will take that first bite, and instantly assume that you spent all day getting this one ready. Just don’t correct them. Let them believe what they want to believe. I’m thinking that, one day, Amy will wise up and start lying to me. (DW)

2lbs beef flank steak
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons asian sesame oil
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced

Rinse beef and pat dry. Cut steak at 45 degree angle across the grain. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add beef to mixture and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Barbecue for 6-10 minutes.

I always serve this with brown rice and cooked green beans.

* This recipe was given to me by my sister & brother-in-law several years ago. (AW)

Garlic Green Beans

Green beans are a mystery to me.

Up until about three years ago, I didn't like them. Not only did I not like them, but I didn't understand how other people could like them. They were an alien concept, and I just didn't want to bother.

But, like most foreign concepts, you may need to place them in familiar settings to grasp them. So when you introduce garlic cloves to the equation, you're translating from Weird Green Bean Language to good, old, "reasonable" English, and before you know it, you're eating green beans with steaks and stir-fry, and you're saying things like "these green beans are really doing it for me."

As far as who, precisely, you're saying these things to, though, I'm not sure. But this is what good cooking can do - take the unmanageable and unfamiliar and make them delicious, even desirable.

Also: canned green beans are stupid. Go fresh or go home! (DW)

1 lb fresh green beans, washed and ends trimmed
6 cloves of garlic, cut in thin slices
1 tablespoon butter
Garlic powder & salt, to taste

Add green beans and garlic slices to a large pot of boiling water. Boil for 7 minutes, or until green beans are cooked to desired tenderness. Drain water. Add butter, garlic powder and salt to taste. Serve while beans are still warm. (AW)

Amy's Hamburgers

Hamburgers are wicked awesome. You can’t deny this; I’m pretty sure it’s in the Declaration of Independence. We hold this truth to be self-evident: Hamburgers Rule Everything.

Here’s the unspoken, unfortunate truth about hamburgers, though: it’s the concept of hamburgers that people love, and that’s what clouds the judgment of the American people. So often, average or even below-par hamburgers are treated like they’re the Second Coming. All hyperbole (“This is the Best Burger Ever.” “No, wait a second, this is the Best Burger Ever.”) is just that: hyperbole. You can’t trust it. Beware of the man who tells you that he has the recipe for the Best Burger Ever.

With that in mind, I’ve got to tell you: this is the Best Burger Ever.

Amy first made this like a million years ago. This is how a burger should taste – flavorful, smoky, fricking awesome. They cook down pretty small, so don’t skimp when actually shaping the patties. Add such magical toppings as cilantro, red onions, romaine lettuce, etc. And for goodness sake, people: toast the buns! It will take, like, a minute, and you won’t regret it. (DW)



2 lbs ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1- 1 oz pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix*
2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce*
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/4 - 1/2 cup bread crumbs


Put all ingredients into a glass bowl and mix well. If hamburger mixture seems to soft, you can add more bread crumbs until a firm consistency. Shape into 8 hamburgers, grill, and enjoy! (AW)

*Sometimes I will substitute ¼ cup BBQ sauce for the Lipton Onion Soup Mix and Worcestershire Sauce

Chipotle Beef with Potatoes

Let me tell you about Crock-Pots, all right? Crock-Pots are BOSS. They make your house smell amazing, and they’re really not a lot of work, both pre- and post-meal. If I hear anyone ever talk bad about it, I’m going to fight them. In front of everyone.

This is one of those meals that if Amy tells me is on the docket, I get excited and kind of giddy. Crock-Pot meals have been a staple of our Saturday nights. You see, I work most Saturday nights, and Amy is often with me as well (I’m an airline pilot; she’s a stewardess), and there is, seriously, nothing better than putting my key in the front door, stepping into my house after a long night of forgetting lyrics, and immediately smelling something like this recipe.

The things that makes this dish so phenomenal isn’t just the combination beef and potatoes; although that alone will rock your face off. It’s the plethora of things you can have it, which, when I think about it, is what I love about most Mexican or Mexican-themed dishes. You got cheese, you got sour cream, you got avocado, maybe some green onions. You can improve, too – like throw in some lettuce or cilantro on top. I don’t care what you do – it’s your dinner.

This dish is messy, too, but it just doesn’t matter. Go nuts, people. I would get some good tortilla chips to go with this, because that’s what’s going to make it a party. (DW)

3-4 lbs. chuck roast, fat trimmed
1 lb. baby red potatoes
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (4 oz) mild green chilies
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons The Art of Chipotle Gourmet Paste*
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Cut chuck roast into 1 inch cubes. Mix all ingredients in a 5-quart Crock-Pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.



Serve with flour tortillas, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, lettuce, cheese, and sour cream.








*The only store in the Livermore area that I have found the Art of Chipotle Gourmet Paste at is Nob Hill/Raleys. (AW)

Farm Fresh to You Friday

Here is what I got in my Organic Fruit and Vegetable box from Farm Fresh to You: Tangerine Oranges, Minneola Tangelo Oranges, Navel Oranges, Braeburn Apples, Fuji Apples, Pears, Grapefruit, Lemons, Mangos, Avocado, Yellow Onion, Yukon Potatoes, Green Chard, Green Kale, Leeks, Rainbow Carrots, Cucumbers, Purple Top Turnips, Red Radishes, Romaine Lettuce, and Cilantro.

I am not really familiar with cooking with turnips or radishes. I found a recipe on the Food Network for Glazed Carrots and Turnips that I am going to try next week. I will let you know how it turns out!

If anyone had any other suggestions for turnips or radishes, send me an email. I would love to hear other suggestions. (AW)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Question: Is there, in the entire scope of the English language, a pairing of words more magical, more life-giving, more incredible than cookie pie?

Of course there isn’t. Those two words, when separated, are fantastic. You put them together, however, and you have something that can change lives.

(Other word combinations that I would say approach the power of cookie pie: unicorn army; candy rifle; cupcake trampoline.)

Amy made this dessert when we went over to our friends Scott and Ingrid’s Mansion On The Top Of The Hill. Before we ate dinner, the four of us, along with Dalene and Casey, hiked up to a cell phone tower and caught the sun hitting the Bay. It was beautiful. But, truthfully, all I could think was this: “This is great and all, but what’s that cookie pie going to taste like?”

And let me tell you, friends: it was perfect. Dense and delicious. I recommend this warmed with a scoop of ice cream. It’s perfect for any occasion, whether you’re trying to recover from a hike that you could’ve easily nailed 10 years prior, or if you’re sitting on the back porch with some friends, smoking pipes and talking about life. (DW)


1-9”uncooked pie crust (I use the store bought pie crust in the aluminum container)
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup butterscotch chips
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
¾ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the uncooked crust on a baking sheet (you only need to place the pie crust on a baking sheet if it is in the aluminum container. If you are using a glass pie dish, no need to put it on a baking sheet).

Sprinkle walnuts, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips on the bottom of the uncooked pie crust.

In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, eggs, sugar,flour and vanilla with fork or wire whisk until well blended. Pour on top of the walnuts, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips.

Bake for 30- 35 minutes, or until center no longer jiggles.



*I think next time I will reduce the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips to 1/3 cup each, and then add 1/3 cup coconut. Yummy! (AW)



I found this recipe on a blog I read called A Place Called Simplicity.

Mushroom & Bacon Stroganoff

I’ll be honest with you: stroganoff, at least to me, has never sounded particularly appetizing. It’s really more the name. The word “stroganoff”, at least to my immature ears, falls under the same category as “chard” or “borscht”. Doesn’t sound appealing.

Luckily, I have a wife who is not a child, and who makes dishes that, although the names may sound funny and/or vaguely Russian, come out amazing. Disregarding the funny name [can we maybe call it “pasta surprise” or “noodle earthquake” or something a little more radical-sounding?], this is what did it for me: BACON.

I’m not one of those weirdos who bows at the altar of bacon, who’s obsessed with bacon, who wants bacon on everything, who Photoshops pictures of bacon on to everything to make it more “awesome”. No, I merely respect bacon as an ingredient that can make some good dishes greater than the sum of their parts. But man, Amy’s inclusion of bacon in this dish? This is the woman I married. Smarter than me in every way. This dish was perfect with some French bread and olive oil, and we ate it while watching a Seinfeld rerun and trying hard to ignore the small waterfall of rainwater that our clogged gutters have formed directly outside of our back patio door. (DW)


5-6 pcs bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
10-15 oz sliced cremini mushrooms
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley*
Salt & pepper to taste
16 oz cooked egg noodles*

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the shallots and saute until lightly golden. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add crumbled bacon and flour. Mix until well incorporated. Stir in wine and broth and cook for 5-7 minutes until most of the alcohol has evaporated and sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add the sour cream, parsley, salt, and pepper. Serve with cooked egg noodles.

* Note- I didn't have fresh parsley, so I substituted dried parsley. I also substituted whole wheat penne pasta in place of the egg noodles.(AW)