Salsa Fresca

Tomatoes are on! I have millions of them, so it's time for fresh salsa.

4-5 tomatoes, diced

1 tsp. garlic, minced

1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 jalepenos, seeded and finely chopped

3 TB fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Aunt Julie's Teriyaki Marinade

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. oil (vegetable or canola)

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 T. sugar

2 T. vinegar

Whisk all ingredients together and pour over meat, poultry, or fish; cover tightly and marinate for 2 - 24 hours. (I use Zip-lock freezer bags.)

Sarah's Salad

The classic! I think we started making Sarah's Salad a tradition when Jen worked at the Lion House when she was in high school. I love this salad. (I had to make a couple of changes, one out of necessity and the other by choice. I used American cheese from the deli and I had to make my own Miracle Whip because we were out - if we had any to begin with. Maybe it had just been a long time, but it tasted even better than I remembered.)

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

3 strips bacon, chopped (I used bacon crumbles from Costco, and as Jen says in the first Sisters' Cookbook, it's WAY more than three strips)

1/2 10-oz pkg frozen peas

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 c. shredded or cubed Swiss cheese (this is where I substituted American cheese)

2/3 c. chopped green onion

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. Miracle Whip

Wash and drain lettuce. Dry thoroughly! Dice bacon and saute until crisp; drain on a paper towel. run hot water over frozen peas and drain. Mix mayo and Miracle Whip together.

In a salad bowl, layer lettuce, sugar, salt, pepper, peas, cheese, onion, and mayo mixture in that order. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Toss all together right before serving. Garnish (ahahahaha) with bacon.

Raman Chicken Salad

Brian's sister Dena brings this salad to family parties and it was always a favorite of mine and Brian's, but now it's Bridget's all time favorite too. Probably shouldn't admit this, but our rice vinegar is five years old and we used it anyway! Alexa said it was fine.

Dressing:

3/4 cup Canola oil

3/4 cup rice vinegar

4 Tbsp sugar

2 season packets from Chicken Top Ramen

Whisk together and set aside.

Salad:

1 head of cabbage, shredded (I sliced it thin, then chopped)

2 pkgs chicken ramen noodles, boiled for EXACTLY two minutes and drained

1 Costco rotisserie chicken, chopped (the equivalent of about 3 cooked chicken breasts) 

4 green onions, sliced

4 Tbsp sliced almonds

4 Tbsp sunflower seeds, salted and roasted

Mix dry ingredients and pour dressing over. Stir with tongs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for as long as possible and for at least two hours. (If the recipe is doubled, which it always is for family parties, still use just one head of cabbage and don't add more chicken.)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Bridget got a cake decorating kit for Christmas and she would love to be making cakes and cupcakes all day every day. I found this recipe for Red Velvet Cake and we made adjustments using red velvet emulsion and cupcakes. They were DELICIOUS. They could have made 24 cupcakes if we had two muffin tins, but we only have one and a half.

Cake/Cupcakes

2 2/3 c. flour (the original recipe calls for cake flour, but we didn't have that)

1/4 c. natural, unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. red velvet emulsion (or an entire 1 oz. bottle liquid red food color)

1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

1 1/3 c. buttermilk at room temperature


Frosting:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I like Watkins clear vanilla)


Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-count muffin tins with paper baking cups and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift to remove lumps of cocoa powder.

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until completely combined. Add eggs and mix well. Add oil, red velvet emulsion, vanilla, and vinegar. Stop to scrap down the sides as often as you need.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer, three times for each.

Evenly distribute the batter into the baking cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Frosting Directions:

Cream all ingredients together until there are no lumps and it's light and fluffy.

Smoothies

It's summer! Smoothies for breakfast. Another thing I make all the time that I haven't written down ever, so here you go.

2-3 ice cubes

2+ cups frozen fruit (we like strawberries and peaches best because they are less seed-y than some)

1 banana

1 yogurt (vanilla works with everything)

2 tsp. honey

Fruit juice (orange juice doesn't really work, but apple always does)

Put ingredients in order into a blender. Pour juice in last and fill until about 3/4 of the level of the fruit. Pulse a couple of times, then blend until you don't see any big chunks. Add more juice if it's not blending. Enjoy!

Bowties and Sausage

This recipe is in the second Sisters' Cookbook, but I don't think I've ever made it the way I've written it down there. Hm! It's an easy skillet dish that makes 75% of your family happy. (I'm a C-average around here. I've accepted it.) The Paremesan cheese on top didn't make it into the photo, but you get the idea.

1 lb. Farfalle pasta (bowtie) cooked al dente and set aside

1 lb. Italian Jimmy Dean sausage

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 15-oz. cans petite diced tomatoes (if you can find the kind with oregano and basil - bonus!)

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

2 T. fresh parsley (I didn't have any tonight)

1/2 tsp salt

Parmesan Cheese

In a large skillet, cook the sausage until all the pink is gone, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the chopped onion and continue to cook for about a minute. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Pour in the tomatoes and cream, add the salt and parsley and stir well. (You need a big skillet for this, if you didn't get that already.) Let the sauce simmer on medium-low for about 10 minutes and it should thicken up. Put the cooked pasta into the sauce and stir combine. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the top.