Minty Citrus Cooler – cool, refreshing summer drink!


My sister, Marla Payne, highly recommends this recipe which came from her friend Theresa Omar.
Marla made it for her daughter’s high school graduation party and for a family gathering. Definitely a cool, refreshing and delicious summer drink!
Although the original name for this beverage was Lemonade Cooler, I renamed it Minty Citrus Cooler.

Packed mint leaves.
Minty Citrus Cooler
Minty Citrus Cooler Concentrate
1 ½ cups granulated sugar                        
2 ½ cups water                                
1 cup fresh mint leaves (I pack it into the cup)

¾ cup fresh orange juice
1 cup lemon juice (fresh or frozen)
  1. Combine sugar and water. Boil for 5 minutes to create a simple syrup.
  2. Pour simple syrup over mint leaves in a large glass or crock bowl. 
  3. Add juices and let steep for 1 hour. 
  4. Strain and cool. 
  5. This makes 1 quart of lemonade base. 

  6. When ready to serve, mix together equal parts of Minty Citrus Cooler Concentrate and water. Serve over crushed ice.  Garnish with fresh lemon or orange slices and/or mint leaves.
Note from Theresa—This recipe can be varied all sorts of ways!  I’ve mixed equal parts of the base with Sprite or club soda as a punch.  We’ve mixed it, by the drink, with vodka, too—NOT equal parts, though! J


Recipe without photos . . .
Minty Citrus Cooler
Minty Citrus Cooler Concentrate
1 ½ cups granulated sugar                         
2 ½ cups water                                 
1 cup fresh mint leaves (I pack it into the cup)
¾ cup fresh orange juice
1 cup lemon juice (fresh or frozen)
  1. Combine sugar and water. Boil for 5 minutes to create a simple syrup.
  2. Pour simple syrup over mint leaves in a large glass or crock bowl. 
  3. Add juices and let steep for 1 hour. 
  4. Strain and cool. 
  5. This makes 1 quart of lemonade base. 
  6. When ready to serve, mix together equal parts of Minty Citrus Cooler Concentrate and water. Serve over crushed ice.  Garnish with fresh lemon or orange slices and/or mint leaves.
Note from Theresa—This recipe can be varied all sorts of ways!  I’ve mixed equal parts of the base with Sprite or club soda as a punch.  We’ve mixed it, by the drink, with vodka, too—NOT equal parts, though! J

Crustless Veggie Quiche

As a part of a grant (Good, Cheap & Nutritious) through the Community Foundation of Dickinson County, USD 435 Parents as Teachers families received cookbooks and had the opportunity to participate in five cooking sessions during the last few month. 
For the final session, we prepared veggie quiche, using a recipe from Leanna Brown's cookbook. That recipe is included below with some added notes explaining what we did and a few adjustments we made in the preparation -- they are in red.

Vegetable Quiche, Hold the Crust    Serves 4   From Good and Cheap cookbook by Leanna Brown
Serve it hot or cold. Makes great leftovers and can be serves for breakfast, lunch or even supper.
Serving suggestions: Add a fruit salad for breakfast, a green salad for lunch or supper.
Use your favorite veggies; the author’s favorites include: broccoli, roasted green chilies (with Cheddar), winter squash (with goat cheese), zucchini and tomato, or spinach and olive.

1 tablespoon butter (we used olive oil)
Salt & pepper
1 large onion, sliced into half moons (we diced the onion)
(additional butter for buttering pie pan or pan spray)
3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables -- we used a combination of the following veggies:
     Red peppers, diced ( sautéed in a little olive oil for added flavor)
     Mushrooms (sautéed in a little olive oil to release some of the excess water)
     Finely chopped broccoli, raw
     Diced zucchini, raw 
1 cup cheese (we used Cheddar)
8 eggs
1 cup milk
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
Seasoning blend, such as Tex Joy

Notes:
·  There are two ways to make this quiche. If you have a cast-iron or other over-proof skillet, you can make the quiche right in the skillet. This cuts down on dishes. Otherwise, start with a regular skillet and later transfer everything to a pie place to bake.
· Vegetable preparation—Steam or cook the following veggies before adding to the quiche in step #5: broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash to insure they’ll be fully cooked. For tomatoes, zucchini, spinach or any other quick-cooking vegetable, just use them fresh.
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add onion slices and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them. Cook the onions until they are golden brown and start to caramelize.
    Onions cooking . . . in the process of becoming caramelized.
    Caramelized onions. The flavors intensify as the quantity decreases!
  4. If your pan in oven-proof, simply remove it from the heat and spread the onions evenly across the bottom. Otherwise, butter (or spray) a pie plate and scoop the onions into it, creating an even layer on the bottom. The onions add a crust-like texture and a bit of crunch.
  5. Spread the vegetables evenly overtop of the onions (see note about vegetable preparation above). The dish or pan should look fairly full. We also added the cup of cheese at this stage rather than mixing it in with the egg-milk mixture as instructed in step #6.
    Barry is adding the ingredients in assembly line fashion.  He has one completed and five more to go!
  6. In a bowl, use a fork to lightly beat the eggs with the milk, cheese, salt and pepper, parsley, and seasoning blend, just enough to break up the yolks and whites for the savory custard mixture. We mixed the eggs and milk until the eggs were thoroughly incorporated.
    I mixed the eggs and then added . . .
    . . . the milk, seasonings, including parsley.
  7. Pour the custard over the vegetables and onions—it will fill in all the free spaces.
  8. Bake the quiche in the preheated over for 1 hour. Once the surface is lightly brown all the way across (and the filling in firm vs. jiggly), it’s fully cooked. Most of our quiches went into 10" pie plates and they baked in about 30 to 35 minutes. We also made some individual quiches, using silicon muffin pans -- they took about 20 to 25 minutes to bake.
  9. Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into wedges.
    Brunch is served
     Recipe without photos . . .
Vegetable Quiche, Hold the Crust    Serves 4   From Good and Cheap cookbook by Leanna Brown 
Serve it hot or cold. Makes great leftovers and can be serves for breakfast, lunch or even supper. 
Serving suggestions: Add a fruit salad for breakfast, a green salad for lunch or supper.
Use your favorite veggies; the author’s favorites include: broccoli, roasted green chilies (with Cheddar), winter squash (with goat cheese), zucchini and tomato, or spinach and olive.

1 tablespoon butter (we used olive oil)
Salt & pepper
1 large onion, sliced into half moons (we diced the onion)
(additional butter for buttering pie pan or pan spray)
3 to 4 cups chopped vegetables -- we used a combination of the following veggies:
     Red peppers, diced ( sautéed in  a little olive oil for added flavor)
     Mushrooms (sautéed in a little olive oil to release some of the excess water)
     Finely chopped broccoli, raw
     Diced zucchini, raw 
1 cup cheese (we used Cheddar)
8 eggs
1 cup milk
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper
Seasoning blend, such as Tex Joy

Notes: 
·     There are two ways to make this quiche. If you have a cast-iron or other over-proof skillet, you can make the quiche right in the skillet. This cuts down on dishes. Otherwise, start with a regular skillet and later transfer everything to a pie place to bake.
·    Vegetable preparation—Steam or cook the following veggies before adding to the quiche in step #5: broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash to insure they’ll be fully cooked. For tomatoes, zucchini, spinach or any other quick-cooking vegetable, just use them fresh.
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add onion slices and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them. Cook the onions until they are golden brown and start to caramelize.
  4. If your pan in oven-proof, simply remove it from the heat and spread the onions evenly across the bottom. Otherwise, butter (or spray) a pie plate and scoop the onions into it, creating an even layer on the bottom. The onions add a crust-like texture and a bit of crunch.
  5. Spread the vegetables evenly overtop of the onions (see note about vegetable preparation above). The dish or pan should look fairly full. We also added the cup of cheese at this stage rather than mixing it in with the egg-milk mixture as instructed in step #6.
  6. In a bowl, use a fork to lightly beat the eggs with the milk, cheese, salt and pepper,  parsley, and seasoning blend, just enough to break up the yolks and whites for the savory custard mixture. We mixed the eggs and milk until the eggs were thoroughly incorporated.
  7. Pour the custard over the vegetables and onions—it will fill in all the free spaces.
  8. Bake the quiche in the preheated over for 1 hour. Once the surface is lightly brown all the way across (and the filling in firm vs. jiggly), it’s fully cooked. Most of our quiches went into 10" pie plates and they baked in about 30 to 35 minutes. We also made some individual quiches, using silicon muffin pans -- they took about 20 to 25 minutes to bake.
  9. Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into wedges.

YUMMY Brown Sugar Bacon, oven baked

Brown sugar bacon -- it is addictive! Definitely a special treat for special occasions.
Baking it in the oven means that you save time and end up with nice crisp bacon. This is the way we always prepared vast amounts of bacon (without the brown sugar) at the Kirby House Restaurant.
Barry and I just prepared several trays full of bacon for a USD 435 PAT brunch; we baked it the night before, then just wrapped it in foil and added it to a warm oven for about 15 to 20 minutes on the day of the event. This definitely was a time saver and cut down on the mess on the day of the brunch.

Brown Sugar Bacon, oven baked
Bacon
Brown sugar
Parchment paper -- definitely a necessity, especially when making sugared bacon as it prevents it from sticking and alleviates some of the mess.
  1. Spread bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet that has sides.
  2. Lightly sprinkle each slice with brown sugar.
    The brown sugar melts and runs over the bacon as it bakes, so I just use a minimum amount. 
  3. Place in a preheated 350° convection oven; increase temp to about 375° if your oven does not have a convection setting. 
  4. Bake for 12 minutes or more . . . watch it carefully as it can go from limp to very crisp in a matter of minutes. Note: Both time and temp are variable and dependent on your oven, and if you a using a regular setting, it will definitely take longer than 12 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and drain bacon grease.
Recipe without photos . . .
Brown Sugar Bacon, oven baked
Bacon
Brown sugar
Parchment paper -- definitely a necessity, especially when making sugared bacon as it prevents it from sticking and alleviates some of the mess.
  1. Spread bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet that has sides.
  2. Lightly sprinkle each slice with brown sugar.
  3. Place in a preheated 350° convection oven; increase temp to about 375° if your oven does not have a convection setting. 
  4. Bake for 12 minutes or more . . . watch it carefully as it can go from limp to very crisp in a matter of minutes. Note: Both time and temp are variable and dependent on your oven, and if you a using a regular setting, it will definitely take longer than 12 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and drain bacon grease.

Blackberry Nut Crisp -- fruit & nuts paired deliciously!


Nutty Blackberry Crisp with
Vanilla Ice Cream—Yum!
     It's blackberry season and time to pull out my crumb topping recipe that is piled on top of fresh fruit. This is a versatile recipe and I often mix up multiple batches of this topping and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. 
     I use it to top apples, peaches, or fruits (fresh or frozen), or berries for a quick dessert. The nice thing is that you can make a large crisp, a smaller size or  individual helpings.
     Oats add crunch to the crisp but for even more crunch and nutrition, I like to add nuts—in this case almonds. The almonds can be added directly to the crumb topping but since I make several batches ahead, I prefer to add them as I'm assembling the crisp.
And, while we're on the subject of ALMONDS, check out the links to some of our other favorite almond recipes . . . located near the end of this post.

Crumb Topping for Fruit Crisp    Enough to top two 9” pans of fruit. 
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal, old-fashioned or quick 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into cubes
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients; work in butter until mixture becomes crumbly. 
  2. Store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
To assemble the Fresh Fruit CRISP:
4 cups fresh blackberries or other fresh fruit
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
About 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon zest, optional
  1. Mix  4 cups of fresh, uncooked fruit, with about 3 tablespoons cornstarch for thickening purposes, and  about 1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar (use as much as is needed to sweeten fruit). 
  2. If desired, add the prepared fruit to a saucepan and heat to thicken mixture before adding it the the baking pan/dish. For a flavor boast, add about 1 tablespoon of lemon zest.
  3. Spread prepared fruit n a 9” pan/dish.
  4. Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of toasted almonds to a half-batch of Crumb Topping mixture. (Toasting almonds enhances their flavor and is easily done: Spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake @ 350° —about 5 minutes for sliced almonds. Watch carefully as they can go from light to very dark quickly!) VARIATION: Add toasted walnuts.
    Sliced almonds after being toasted for 5 minutes in a 350° oven.
  5. Cover fruit with  topping mixture. 
  6. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Nutty Nutrition—ALMONDS
Although they come in small packages, almonds are packed with vitamin E, magnesium and fiber, and they are considered a heart-healthy food. In fact, the FDA issued a qualified health claim in 2003 that states: "Scientific evidence suggests, but does not prove, that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, such as almonds, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.”
A one-ounce, 160-calorie handful of almonds (20 to be exact) is an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium; that quantity also provides 12% of your daily protein allowance. Plus, almonds offer potassium, calcium and iron. 
Other claims include:
*they may help prevent osteoporosis as 20 almonds contain as much calcium as 1/4 cup of milk.
*they help regulate blood pressure since they’re high in potassium and low in sodium.
*some say they aid in cancer fighting due to their vitamin E and other protective nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. 

For more ALMOND information and access to online products, go to Nuts.com  (https://nuts.com/nuts/almonds/)

Some of our favorite recipes that feature ALMONDS . . .
Main Dishes

Desserts
Cakes / Crumbles

Cookies

Tart
Fresh Peach Tart

Recipe without photos . . .
Crumb Topping for Fruit Crisp    Enough to top two 9” pans of fruit. 
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal, old-fashioned or quick 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into cubes
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients; work in butter until mixture becomes crumbly. 
  2. Store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
To assemble the Fresh Fruit CRISP:
4 cups fresh blackberries or other fresh fruit
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
About 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon zest, optional
  1. Mix  4 cups of fresh, uncooked fruit, with about 3 tablespoons cornstarch for thickening purposes, and  about 1/2 to 1 cup+ granulated sugar (use as much as is needed to sweeten fruit). 
  2. If desired, add the prepared fruit to a saucepan and heat to thicken mixture before adding it the the baking pan/dish. For a flavor boast, add about 1 tablespoon of lemon zest.
  3. Spread prepared fruit n a 9” pan/dish.
  4. Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of toasted almonds to a half-batch of Crumb Topping mixture. (Toasting almonds enhances their flavor and is easily done: Spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake @ 350° —about 5 minutes for sliced almonds. Watch carefully as they can go from light to very dark quickly!) VARIATION: Add toasted walnuts.
  5. Cover fruit with  topping mixture. 
  6. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly.