A New Brain for Halloween

The Potluck theme for today was Halloween. We enjoyed the celebration.






Using a paring knife - trim the dark green rind from a small seedless watermelon. Leave as much of the light green part of the rind as possible.

Cut a small piece off the bottom, to give the watermelon a flat surface to sit on.

Using a sharp knife, make cuts in the watermelon, creating a design to resemble a brain.

Trying Tilapia

This was originally posted by Niki on "Chippin In Together...Forever"

A few weeks ago, when I was at Sunflower Market, they had tilapia there for a really good price. So I decided to be adventurous and get some. Then I went to Macey's to get some seasonings. I got some lemon pepper because I've had fish with that on it before and really like it. I also asked the people at the meat counter what they suggested and they recommended Spade L Ranch: Fish and Seafood Seasoning. So on Sunday, I cooked up both fish, each one with a different seasoning. The fish on left is the one with the lemon pepper and the fish on the right has the seafood seaoning. I put too much lemon pepper on the one fish so I didn't particularly care for that one and it didn't completely cover the fishy taste. But the fish with the seafood seasoning, on the right, was absolutely amazing!!! It was so good! So I have to buy some more tilapia and maybe some day I'll be adventurous again and try another kind of fish.

Tomato & Pepper Harvest Salad

This recipe for Tomato & Pepper Harvest Salad in the Macey's ad last week, complete with a picture of the salad that looked delicious ~ so I decided to try making it. It was delicious and so easy to make. If you give it a try at your house, let me know if you love it like I do!














Tomato & Pepper Harvest Salad - serves 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: none
Fridge time: at least 2 hours

3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 large cucumber, seed and chopped, leave the skin on
1 medium red, gold or orange bell pepper, or a mixture of the colors, chopped
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced (I used 3 stalks)

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Mix the tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers and celery in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper. Pour dressing over salad. Gently toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Fiesta Salsa and Cream Cheese Spread

This picture shows the salsa mixed together.
I'll add the spread over cream cheese later.

Fiesta Salsa - 8 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none

1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup apricot preserves or orange marmalade
1 tablespoon finely shredded Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese
1 tablespoon chopped avacado
1 tablespoon chopped ripe olives
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

Mix salsa and preserves together.
Place block of cream cheese on serving plate with shallow rim.
Spread salsa mixture over cream cheese.
Sprinkle with remaining ingredients.

Serve with assorted crackers.

German Pancakes with Sausage and Fiesta Salsa

A New Twist on an Family Favorite

German Pancake - serves 4-6

Prep Time: 5 minutes plus pre-heat time
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

4 Tablespoons margarine or butter
6 medium or large eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cooked ground sausage

Preheat the oven to 450°

While the oven is pre-heating, place margarine in a heavy metal pan (glass can be substituted if needed) and, put pan in oven so pan can heat and margarine can melt.

While margarine is melting, put all other ingredients, except sausage, in blender and blend well, scraping edges of blender as necessary.

As soon as oven is pre-heated, give blender one more quick pulse, then pour egg batter into the middle of the melted margarine.

Sprinkle cooked ground sausage over egg batter.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Pancake will be puffy and brown when finished, but should not be dry.

(The picture shows 1/2 the pan with ground sausage and half without, to accommodate the requests of family members. See, this really is a "No Fuss" recipe. Everyone gets it "their" way.

Serve with Fiesta Salsa

Fiesta Salsa - 8 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: none

1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup apricot preserves or orange marmalade
1 tablespoon finely shredded Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack cheese
1 tablespoon chopped avacado
1 tablespoon chopped ripe olives

Mix all ingredients together. Serve over German Pancakes with Sausage.

Classic German Pancakes

This is one of our Family Favorites!

Classic German Pancake - serves 4-6

Prep Time: 5 minutes, plus pre-heat time
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

4 Tablespoons margarine or butter
6 medium or large eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 450°

While the oven is pre-heating, place margarine in a heavy metal pan (glass can be substituted if needed) and, put pan in oven so pan can heat and margarine can melt.

While margarine is melting, put all other ingredients in blender and blend well, scraping edges of blender as necessary.

As soon as oven is pre-heated, give blender one more quick pulse, then pour egg batter into the middle of the melted margarine.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Pancake will be puffy and brown when finished, but should not be dry.

Serve with lemon juice and powered sugar for classic German pancake taste. Can also serve with maple or other flavored syrups.