Fruity Food Fun

Don't.  Play!  With!  Your!  Food!

Southwest Cider-Spiked Marinade

I have a tendency to throw different things together to make marinades or salad dressings.  Some aren't good enough to revisit--some are.  I use this one a lot, particularly for flank steak.  Today I'm using it for a London Broil.  My son, Grant, asked if he and his sister Sophia could ride trikes while I grill steak.  The terrible heatwave has broken (for at least the moment).  So:  Yes, my kidlets.  Yes, you can!!! I hope you enjoy this quick marinade as much as we do.

• 1/2 cup oil (I used a canola oil blend)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3-5 tablespoons southwest seasoning (I have used Southwestern Dip Mix from Miller's Market in Romney, WV and Pampered Chef's Southwestern Seasoning Mix)
• 1/2 large yellow or white onion, sliced into rings

Toss ingredients together and marinate meat for a few hours.  Grill the marinated meat as you like it (and grill the other half of the onion to serve with the meat).

Firehouse Breakfast (Egg Bake)

 This recipe was sent to me by my friend Kara (hi, Kara!!!).  The only change I made was omitting 1 teaspoon of garlic salt from the recipe.  This is fantastic and a great choice if you want something that is a little different than the usual egg breakfast bakes.  The consistency of this is like that of a quiche, but there is no actual crust.

-12 eggs, divided
-1 cup rice, cooked
-1 stick butter, melted
-16 oz. cottage cheese, small curd
-1 envelope Knorr Leek Soup mix
-1 teaspoon onion salt
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained & squeezed of excess water
-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

In a large bowl, beat 9 eggs, then add the cooked rice, melted butter, cottage cheese, soup mix, spices, drained spinach and mix together.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese on bottom of a 13x9" greased baking dish. Spread the rice and cottage cheese mixture in the dish. Beat the 3 remaining eggs and pour evenly over the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight (I didn't have time to do this the first time I made it, and I just baked a few minutes longer). Remove from refrigerator 30 min. prior to baking. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool 15-20 min. before cutting.

Serves 12

Cherry Almond Cookies

 For some reason, I decided I just had to have cherry almond cookies.  I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I wanted.  Here's what I've come up with:

Cherry Almond Cookies
makes 6-7 dozen

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat flour*
1/4 cup ground flax seed (can be omitted)
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup sliced almonds 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
4. Stir in almond extract.
5. Dissolve baking soda in hot water.  Add baking soda/water and salt to batter.
6. Stir in flours, flax seed, cherries and almonds.
7. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven, until cookie edges are lightly browned.

 *  Make oat flour by grinding oatmeal in the blender, then sifting out any leftover large pieces using a mesh colander.