Kitchen Delights 7/21/19

These hot, humid days, I stay inside as much as possible. I’m one of those people who hate this kind of weather! The poor construction people, who have to work in this heat. Even Alaska is getting real hot weather. They probably don’t have air conditioners in their homes.

I’ve been looking through some old photo albums. The ones I love looking at are the ones from the summer vacation trips I did with my cousins. Every year, the seven of us took a trip. Most of the trips we did were in Minnesota. Now, as we are all “lots older,” we are lucky if we can find a time to have lunch with each other. Now, I enjoy the memories, the things I got to see, and the fun times and all the laughs we had together.

Tender Pork Loin

3-4 lb. pork loin roast

3/4 to 1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

6-8 onion slices

12 oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

3 T. Dijon mustard

1 T. honey

1-1/2 tsp. paprika

3 sprigs of rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rub entire roast with seasoning salt and pepper; place in small roaster. In a small bowl, mix apple concentrate, mustard, honey and paprika; spoon over roast. Add onion slices and rosemary on top. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Take cover off, baste with juices; return to oven and bake another hour, or until done.

Yield: 6 servings

Super Nachos

1 ripe avocado, peeled & pit removed

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. finely chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped Roma tomato

1/4 tsp. salt

15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed & drained

2/3 c. water, divided

2 T. vegetable oil

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 T. chili powder

7 oz. tortilla chips

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1 c. sour cream

In a small bowl, mash the avocado with lemon juice. Stir in the onion, tomato, salt and pepper; set aside. Mash beans with 1/3 cup water; place in a skillet, cook over medium heat until hot. Stir in oil; remove from heat and set aside.

In a skillet, brown beef; drain. Stir in chili powder and remaining water; cook until liquid evaporates.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange chips in a single layer. Top with teaspoonfuls of bean and meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 degrees, until cheese is melted (about 4 minutes). Top with avocado mixture and sour cream. Serve immediately.

Yield: 10 servings

Cool Cucumber Sandwich

Great Summer Sandwich

1 T. prepared ranch salad dressing

2 slices of bread, toasted

12-15 thin cucumber slices

2 bacon strips

2-3 thin slices of tomato

Spread salad dressing on one side of each slice of toast. Layer cucumber, bacon and tomato on one side, top with second slice.

Best Ever Lemon Pie

9-inch pastry crust

6 T. cornstarch

1-1/4 c. sugar

2 c. water

Zest of a lemon

1/3 c. lemon juice

3 egg yolks

2 T. butter

1/2 tsp. white vinegar

2 drops yellow food coloring, opt.

Place crust in pie pan, flute edges. Using a fork, prick bottom and sides. Place another pie pan inside (this is to keep it flat as it is baking). Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes.

In a large microwave bowl, combine cornstarch and sugar. Add water, zest, lemon juice and egg yolk (egg whites reserved for meringue). Whisk until egg yolks are blended in. Cook on high in microwave, whisk, return to microwave, continue cooking, checking after each minute, cooking until thickened. Whisk in butter, vinegar and food coloring.

Pour filling into the baked crust. Prepare Meringue.

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

6 T. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl, beat until frothy. Add powdered sugar, a teaspoonful at a time, beating as you add, until soft peaks are formed; beat in vanilla.

Pile meringue onto pie filling, covering the filling right to the crust edge. Swirl and pull up points of the meringue. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes, or until peaks are golden.

Meringue topped pies are made for sun-shiny days!

Helpful Hints:

• Weed Killer: 1 gallon white vinegar, 3 cups salt: Heat together in a saucepan until salt is dissolved. Add a small bottle of Dawn® dish soap. Pour into sprayer. Works better than RoundUp®. Divide in half if you don’t want such a big batch. Cover and store for next time.

• Two things ants dislike are red pepper and cucumbers. Slice them and place them where you see those little creatures.

• Ferns like to be watered with egg shells soaked in the water you water them with.

• Another Weed Killer: 1/2 gallon apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup salt and 1/2 teaspoon Dawn® dish soap. The Dawn soap strips the weeds of its protective oils, so the vinegar and salt can attack with deadly force. Kills weeds on first application.

• Don’t discard empty plastic yogurt containers. Wash them, fill with punch and freeze. They make “large ice cubes” to place in punch bowls to keep cool and don’t dilute the punch. Fill them with lemonade, freeze and use them in your lemonade.

• Great-tasting hamburger mixture for grilled hamburgers: Mix 1 lb. ground beef, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 T. ketchup. Pat into patties.

• To easily clean the grate on your charcoal grill, try this trick. After you have finished grilling and fire is cooled down a little, place a sheet of aluminum foil (shiny side down on the grate). Leave on for 10 minutes. When you remove the foil, meat particles and ashes can be easily brushed off.

“Because life’s circumstances change, our happiness may not remain. But if we’re walking with the Lord, our life’s joy He will sustain.”