container bleu cheese crumbled (F&E)
small corn tortillas (these were whole grain, hand-made kind)
mango salsa (F&E)
Use a circle cutter to cut out 3 inch rounds from the tortillas if you want mini quesadillas, otherwise grill and cut up. Put on butter griddle, add cheese to one half and fold over. Serve with salsa. NOTE: Gorganzola is a kind of bleu cheese that is sweeter and not as tart, so if you don't like the tartness of regular bleu, use that. You can even add a thin slice of pear to the quesadilla if you use gorganzola.

BLACK EYE PEA SALSA (from Susan in our Aqua Fit Crew at the pool)

1 can Black Eyed Peas
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 avocadoes,chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 package feta cheese (F&E)
Pesto to moisten (either homemade or F&E)

TOMATO BASIL SOUP

 1-1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2-1 cup chopped basil
bring all to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes then put it in food processor to blend.
Chef says to peel tomatoes, lightly score the skins in quarters, dip into boiling water and then put into ice bath - the skin will peel at the scores.

GRILLED CHEESE

Equal parts shredded Jack Cheese (F&E) and Peccorino (Costco) - that's it

CHEESE AND CHIVE SCONES

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 tbsp unsalted butter, chopped
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp chopped chives
21/4 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400, lightly grease baking sheets. Sift the dry ingrediants into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the dry until mixture resembles course bread crumbs. Add grated cheese, and chives. Mix together. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk, stir vigorously until the butter comes away from the sides of the bowl. Drop 2 tbsp mounds onto cooking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, makes 20.

DUKKAH (dry mix you dipped olive oiled bread into)

2 cups roasted nuts (any type, I used mixed nuts)
1 tbsp whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp whole fennel seeds
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tbsp Kosher salt (cut this back if your nuts are salted)
1-2 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
Toast the coriander, fennel, cumin, sesame in a skillet, stirring constantly. In food processor, grind the toasted nuts until the miture resembles small breadcrumbs. Mix should be dry - overprocessing will release the oils and create peanut butter. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds, salt and pepper. Add to the nuts. You can also add Spanish paprika to taste. Cover and store in refrigerator. Serve by having guests dip small pieces of bread into olive oil (F&E has about 7 different olive oils - labels tell you which are best for dipping) and then dip into the Dukkah.)

The coriander and fennel seeds came from our garden, but NPP has all whole spices.

STUFFED MUSHROOMS (last minute add when another recipe wouldn't "time" right into our plans)

1 package  mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
Spinach and Artichoke Dip from F&E
grated Parmesion Cheese (F&E)
Spoon the dip into the mushroom caps, top with grated cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.

SLIDERS WESTERN STYLE

1 package 80/20 ground beef (F&E)
1 package ground turkey
1 bottle Lawry's Steak and Chop Sauce (F&E)
Slider buns (F&E mid-week)
Bullseye Original BBQ sauce
Canned french fried onions or make your own (below)
Mix the beef, turkey and 1/2 bottle Steak and Chop sauce together well in a large bowl. It's cold, it's gross, it's necessary. Koji kneads it and kneads it. You must build a piggy head out of the meat too. He mixes it so well, you need no fillers to help the meat hold together. Shape your patties to size you need (about 1/3 larger than buns) and grill.

BUTTERMILK AND CHALULA ONION STRINGS

2-4 small red onions, sliced very thin
2 cups buttermilk
Chalula or other hot sauce AP flour in small bowl
hot oil (400 degrees)
Mix the buttermilk and hot sauce in separate bowl from flour. Mixture should be orange, but use your hot sauce to taste!. Dip the onions pieces into the flour, then the buttermilk and into the hot oil until brown.

MEATBALLS IN WINE SAUCE

1 bag frozen meatballs from Costco (I used Italian style)
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 cup Pinot Noir wine
1/4 cup brown sugar
Basalmic Vinegar to taste
Heat all the ingredients, but the meatballs in small sauce pan and reduce for 5 minutes, then pour over the meatballs. I defrosted the meatballs in the microwave before adding to the crockpot and adding the sauce. Best basalmic vinegar can be purchased at NPP - Monari Fedezoni Balsamic Vinegar of Modena with beige and brown NUMBERED tag at the top of the neck. They taught us in Italy to buy this - it's sweet and rich.  

SQUASH RAVIOLI in BROWN BUTTER SAGE SAUCE

1 box dry Squash Ravioli (beige box at F&E was so good, we decided not to make our own)
1 stick unsalted butter
couple of slices of proscuitto, chopped (F&E), several sage leaves (we use our garden)
Cook ravioli according to package directions,in salted water with about 1/2 tbsp olive oil in it. In the meantime, melt butter, stirring on medium heat and removing any foam. Stir constantly until mixture starts to brown, add sage and proscuitto. Serve by pouring butter mixture over ravioli. A little sauce goes a loonnnng way..

DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

1-3 lbs green or red seedless grapes (whichever is fresher - we got ours from the Farmers Market at 2 pm that day)
semi-sweet chocolate chips (you need about 3-4 chips per grape)
cocoa powder
Remove grapes from stems, wash and dry them thoroughly (they must be dry or chocolate won't stick). Melt chocolate in the microwave - 30 seconds at a time, watch constantly, the minute you see ANY melting in the chips AT ALL - take it out and start stirring. The chocolate will continue to melt as you stir. Gloves on, one hand picks up the grape and drops it into the chocolate mixture, remove it with the other hand and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. When you have about 1/2 dozen grapes, stop and dust LIGHTLY with cocoa powder. Refrigerate until serving. THE NICE THING IS YOU CAN DO 3 POUNDS OF GRAPES LIKE WE DID OR JUST 3 GRAPES FOR YOURSELF!