Hooray for May! May means kids coming home from college, school's out for summer, Memorial Day weekend with friends and family, and lovely sunny days to plant veggies and flowers.

This May is a little busier than usual for me. We've sold our house and are preparing to move in a few weeks. Plus, my oldest daughter is expecting her first baby in July, so May equals baby showers and nursery decorating! What fun!

As you might imagine, planning and cooking has to take a back seat with so much else going on. But being short on time doesn't mean you have to sacrifice flavor or satisfying meals.

Instead of the regular Girls Dine In event, this month I asked a few friends over for a Girls Pack it In packing party. These gals were amazing. In under three hours, they dismantled my entire kitchen, breakfast room and family room. They wrapped, they boxed, they labeled.

For this "paper plate" evening, I threw together one of my favorite summertime suppers.
Here's the easy—peazy recipes. I hope you'll try this out on a busy summer night soon.

Pulled Buffalo Chicken Sliders

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup bottled Ranch dressing (any brand will do)
1 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
1 stick of butter
1 packet HiddenValley Ranch dressing/dip mix
1/2 cup chopped green onions (optional)

Toss everything into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours, or until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork. Stir once during cooking. When you are ready to serve, shred the meat with two forks, stirring into the sauce. Pile onto slider rolls.

I like to serve with celery, carrots and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

Strawberry Lime Margaritas

1 can frozen limeade concentrate
1 cup 100% Agave tequila
1/3 cup Triple Sec
1 cup frozen strawberries
Ice cubes

Add the first four ingredients to a blender in the order listed. It's important that your liquid ingredients are at the bottom, not the ice. Fill the rest of the blender with ice cubes, leaving enough room for your lid. It's not necessary to cram the ice in - just add until the blender looks pretty full. Blend on high for a minute or two until you achieve that nice, frozen drink consistency. Serve in margarita glasses with a lime wedge. Store any leftovers in a pitcher in your freezer and enjoy another round later!

April's event theme was Spring Salad Supper

 

We had a great time preparing our meal, but things got a bit hectic and I neglected getting photos of each dish. The recipes are simple and delicious for casual entertaining or family suppers. Enjoy!

Girls Dine In Spring Salad Supper

Tonight’s wine pairing:   appetizers: Ruffino Prosecco Sparkling Wine, Italy

                            salads:     2013 A to Z Rose’, Oregon

Almond Stuffed Dates – makes around 60

1 pkg. Bacon

1 can of pitted dates

1 can smoked almonds

Stuff each date with an almond. Wrap 1/3 to ½ strip of bacon around and secure with a toothpick. Bake at 350 degrees until bacon is done. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm or room temp.

Berry Delicious Fruit Salsa – makes 10 cups

  

4 medium apples, cored and chopped

2 cups strawberries, chopped

2 kiwifuit, peeled and chopped

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, drained

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup apple butter

3 TBls. lemon juice

2 TBls. orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and chill. Serve with cinnamon chips.

Cinnamon Chips

6 - 8inch flour tortillas

vegetable cooking spray

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ tsps. Cinnamon

cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Spray both sides with cooking spray. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the tortillas. Place on baking shhet. Bake 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until crisp and slightly golden. Makes 4 dozen.

Red Quinoa and Avacado Salad

1 - 7 oz. box Red Quinoa, cooked and chilled

1 - 12oz. pkg. frozen corn, thawed

1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup green onions, thinly sliced on bias

2 plum tomatoes, ¼ inch dice (about 1 cup)

2 avacados, cubed

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2/3 cup Lemon Vinaigrette ( see Below)

Mix all ingeridents in a lrge bow. Fold in the dressing. Chill until ready to serve.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/8 cup Water

½ cup Olive oil

¼ cup White wine vineager

Juice from 1 lemon

¼ tsp. Garlic powder

½ tsp. Mrs. Dash table blend

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

 Whisk all together in a bowl. Toss with salad.

BLT Pasta Salad – serves 8

1 16 oz. box rigatomi, bowtie or other short pasta, cooked and returned to pot.

¾ lb. bacon, (about 12 slices) cooked and drained on paper towels. KEEP BACON DRIPPINGs IN PAN.

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 medium red onion, sliced thin in strips

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 bunch arugula, washed and dried ( about 4 large handfuls)

½ loaf french baguette sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds

1 6 oz. tub feta cheese

Dressing:

½ cup ranch dressing

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup white wine vineager

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. salt

Whisk all together in a bowl. Set aside.

In the bacon drippings, cook onion till soft. Add garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to pasta pot. Ten place the bread rounds in the hot skillet and cook until golden brwon and crisp, turning as necessary. Remove and cut into pieces. Let cool. Then add tomatoes to the skillet and cook, tossing for 1 minute. Add arugula and toss quickly. Add to the pasta pot, along with bacon. Gently toss with the dressing. Add in the feta cheese and croutons. Serve warm or chilled.

Apricot-glazed Salmon over Baby Spinach – serves 6

6 portions of wild salmon filets ( I buy mine at Costco), thawed

½ cup Apricot preserves

¼ cup worchester sauce

1 tsp. Mrs. Dash Table Blend

2 Tbls. orange juice

Mix together in food processor or whisk very well.

1 bag baby spinach, washed

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin

½ cup craisins

1 small red onion, thnly sliced

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup walnuts

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup Ken’s poppyseed dressing (we are cheating, but it’s still really good!)

Toss walnuts in a mixture of half sugar, half salt in a plastic bag. Arrange on a foil lined baking dish and bake for 3-5 minutes. Do not let them turn brown! Keep your eyes on the oven! Take out and let cool.

Place salmon on foil lined baking sheet. Baste with apricot sauce. Broil 6 inches from heat for just a couple minutes. Keep watch on the fish – it overcooks easily. When sauce is bubbly and fish looks to be cooking part way through, flip over and baste with more sauce. Return to broiler for a couple more minutes. It’s better to undercook than overcook. Also excellent on the grill.

Assemble your salads by first tossing the spinach with the dressing. Arrange on plates and add all of you toppings. Place salmon filet in the center. Garnish with feta cheese if you like.

Strawberry Shortcakes – makes 8

4 cups sliced strawberries

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place berries in a bowl. Toss with sugar. Add water and refrigerate for one hour.

Then drain off the fruit liquid into a small saucepan. Heat until barely boiling. Mix cornstarch with ¼ cup hot water and stir into the boiling juice. Stir until thickened. Take off heat. * If you don’t end up with much sauce, spoon some seedless strawberry jam into your warm sauce and whisk to melt.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 TBls. baking powder

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. cream of tarter

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup melted butter

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tarter and salt. Stir in melted butter, milk and vanilla until just moistened. Do not beat! Drop batter by spoonfuls onto a large greased baking sheet. Bake until edges and peaks are golden, about 8-12 minutes. Remove from pan.

Whipped cream

1 pint very cold heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Tip: Chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes first.

Whip cold cream until soft peaks form, adding in sugar as it whips.

Assemble shortcakes – slice each biscuit in half and place on a plate. Spoon on ½ cup of berries. Drizzle with berry sauce. Top with whipped cream. Heavenly!

March Menu Theme: Asian cooking

Our March event focused on incorporating fresh vegetables and lean proteins with the unique spices and techniques used in traditional Asian cuisine. There was a lot of preparation involved in this four-course meal, and everyone took part. From chopping to stir-frying, hand-making the pot-stickers, to clean up—this meal was fun and delicious!

We started by enjoying some Asian-inspired beverages. The Blue Lagoon cocktails, infused with Lychee fruit juice and served with whole lychee fruit in the glass, was a refreshing, fruity pairing to go with the spicy Salmon and avocado hors d' oeuvres.

Blue Lagoon cocktail punch

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

3 cans of cold water

1 lemonade can of vodka

½ lemonade can of Blue Curacao

juice from 1 can of lychee fruit

Ice cubes ( I made mine with lemonade)

Lychee fruit

Mix everything together in a punch bowl and serve in martini glasses or tall glasses. Drop a lychee in the bottom of the glass for an Asian twist.  Or garnish with lemon like in this photo. serves 6

Salmon Rice cakes with avocado and hot chili

1 avacado, diced

4 oz. smoked salmon, sliced into thin strips

1 cup jasmine rice, cooked and cooled

3 tbsp. coconut milk

thai chili sauce

3 tbsp mayonaise

Stir the coconut milk into cooled rice. Press rice onto a 9x13 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Chill several hours. Cut rice cakes into 1 inch squares, or circles using a cookie cutter. Roll the salmon and place on top. Mix chili sauce with mayoniaise. Put a piece of avacado (mango also works nicely) in the center and top with a drop of chili sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Serve at room temperature.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Pot Stickers     makes approximately 48

         1 package wonton wrappers

                  3 cups chopped napa cabbage

                  1 tablespoon salt

                  1 pound ground pork (Don't get lean pork, the fat is

                  good for juicy and flavorful dumplings)

                  1/3 cup finely chopped green onions

                  3 tsp. minced ginger

                  2 tbsp. minced garlic

                  3 tbsp. soy sauce

                  2 tbsp. sesame oil

                  1 egg

                  1 to 2 cups warm water

                  vegetable oil for frying

         Dipping Sauce

                  4 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce

                  4 tablespoons rice vinegar

                  1 tablespoon sesame oil

                  Shred the cabbage very thin. Place in a bowl and toss with the salt. Let sit 5 minutes. Squeeze all excess liquid from cabbage and lay on paper towels. Place everything but the water and oil in the bowl. Mix very well. Using one wrapper at a time, dip the wrapper in water, then lay on a plate.  Put 1 tsp.-tbsp. of filling in the center. Fold in half and pinch at the center. Then make two pleats on each side, sealing up the wrapper completely. Heat 1-2 tbsp. of oil in a non stick pan on high heat. Place 12-16 pot stickers like spokes on a wheel in the hot pan. Fry two minutes undisturbed until the bottoms are golden brown. Carefully add 1/3 cup of water to the pan. Cover. Reduce heat to medium or medium low and cook until water evaporates and wrappers are translucent. (about 4 minutes). Transfer to a platter, wipe out the pan, and repeat with remaining pot stickers. Serve warm with dipping sauce.

                    

Many hands make light work. Everyone had fun learning how to wrap the yummy pork filling inside the dough. After a quick fry in a non-stick pan, they were piping hot and ready for the dipping sauce.

That's the beauty of this gathering, we learn to get creative with our cooking. So many women have contacted me to say that they are recreating the recipes for their families and loving having new ideas to spruce up their entertaining!

Then it was on to the lettuce wraps...

Lettuce Wraps    serves 6-8

◦                                  6 tablespoons oil

◦                                  4 boneless skinless chicken breasts                                         Use chicken or shrimp for the filling...

                                                                                                     

◦                                  2 cups water chestnut

◦                                  1 1/3 cups mushroom

◦                                  1 cup chopped onions

◦                                  2 teaspoons minced garlic

◦                                  12-16  leaves iceberg lettuce  

Sauce

◦                                  1/2 cup sugar

◦                                  1 cup water

◦                                  4 tablespoons soy sauce

◦                                  4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

◦                                  4 tablespoons tomato paste

◦                                  2 tablespoons lemon juice

◦                                  1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

◦                                  2 tablespoons hot mustard  

◦                                  2 -4 teaspoons Thai chili garlic paste

 Stir Fry Sauce

◦                                  6 tablespoons soy sauce

◦                                  6 tablespoons brown sugar

◦                                  2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

                       1 cup chopped peanuts for garnish.

Make the sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, tomato paste, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well. add your desired measurement of hot mustard and garlic chili paste to the sauce mixture.

Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Sauté chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.

As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.

Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. When chicken is cool, mince it like you did the mushrooms and water chestnuts. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce and ½ cup of the other sauce to the pan and sauté the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce cups. Drizzle on remaining sauce. Top with chopped peanuts.

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 Then the main dish. A stir-Fry loaded with fresh veggies. Make this using any combination of your favorites. Snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, water chestnuts, whatever you like!

The key to a good stir-fry is to cook the meat to a barely-done status first. Transfer to a bowl. Then cook your veggies, adding the hardest ones to the pan first, and adding softer veggies as you stir-fry. that way, everything will be crisp tender when finished. Add your meat back in, then your sauce.

Garnish with fresh pineapple, extra soy sauce and sesame seeds. Gorgeous. Healthy. Done.

Chicken or Shrimp Stir Fry   serves 6

                  1 ½ lbs. boneless chicken breasts or peeled shrimp

                  1 head of fresh broccoli, cut into florets

                  3 stalks celery, chopped

                  1 red pepper, chopped

                  1 large onion, chopped

                  2 cups bok choy, chopped

                  2 tbsp. garlic, minced

                  1 tsp. ginger, minced

                  4 tbsp. hoisin sauce

                  2 tbsp. soy sauce

                  4 tbsp. orange juice

                  ½ tbsp. sesame oil

                  sesame seeds for garnish

Heat a wok or heavy pan to hot. Add 2 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil. Add chicken and stir fry a few minutes till barely done. Transfer to a bowl. Add more oil to pan if needed, then stir fry vegetables in the order of their hardness. I usually start with broccoli, then add peppers and onions, then celery, lastly leafy vegetables and garlic and ginger. When veggies are barely tender, add your sauce and stir fry another couple minutes. Add chicken and stir fry another minute till heated through. Season to taste with more sauce, adding additional soy sauce if you like.  Garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with rice and fresh pineapple.

  

Cilantro/Lime rice  serves 6-8

                  1 ½ cups white rice

                  3 cups water

                  1 cup chopped cilantro

                  juice from 1 lime

                  ½ tsp. salt

Prepare rice. Add cilantro, lime juice and salt to taste.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

What meal would be complete without a show-stopping dessert? No need to slave all day making something. This recipe starts with a box cake mix. Don't tell anyone, okay? I like to use Pillsbury yellow cake mix. This is one of my family's favorites and I credit my daughter, Taylor for this great recipe.

Mandarin Orange Cake

·       1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

·       4 eggs

·     1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix

·       1 cup vegetable oil

·       1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments with juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Frosting

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8 oz. tub cool whip, thawed

1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar, then the cool whip, and finally, the coconut. Garnish frosted cake with orange zest, mint leaves or mandarin segments.

           

                               

       That's all for March...next month...               Spring Salad Suppers