So my friend Mo and I got this idea off of Pinterest and decided to make them for book club. They are amazing and so easy! Just make two pans of brownies (or one pan and cut them in half like I did) and spread ice cream in the middle and freeze. You won’t regret it. They are to die for.

Like a flat tasty pie:)

Jake and I are back in Lancaster for a spell and helping out with the family business – produce stand at a farmer’s market. This means we get LOTS of delicious fruits and vegetable that we rarely splurged on while we were in Alaska, although our little arugula garden grew splendidly there. While boxing up beautiful arugula at 4am I had the urge to make some kind of pear tart/pizza. So that is just what we did – sort of made it up from a hodge podge of recipes.

It was GOOD. More like a pie that got steam rolled, this hit the spot. We didn’t have bleu cheese or gorgonzola so we substituted sharp white cheddar – but I ended up loving it. Here we go…

To make one small flat tart (light dinner for two): 

- handful of fresh arugula

- thin slices of a ripe bosc pear

- sharp white cheddar – shredded (or gorg or bleu)

- dough! we didn’t have yeast so ours became more like a pie crust – but I recommend this! You will need flour, water, salt, flax seed (optional), baking powder, veg oil.

1. Mix together a cup of flour (we only had white), 1/3 c. water, 1/2 tsp salt, small handful of flax seed, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/8 c. veg. oil. Mix, roll up into a ball and flatten. Place this on a cookie sheet and brush with a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

3. Top dough with cheese, pear, arugula, and then a bit more cheese.

4. Bake for 10-15 min at 350. You can change this depending on your preferences of crispiness.

5. Remove, cool a bit, and drizzle with more olive oil/ balsamic vinegar.

6. EAT!

OPTION: wait to add arugula after it comes out if you want some of that bitterness to stay – otherwise it gets baked out:)

I had no part in making these but have full faith that I could repeat it. Kelli & John King were the greats in this one.

fresh halibut tacos!

1. Make Sweet Slaw (great addition to your taco!)

- Chop up a small head of savoy cabbage

- mix together and add to cabbage: 1/2 c. mayo, 3 tbsp milk, 3 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar

2. Lime Cilantro Sauce – mix together following:

- 1/2 c. minced cilantro

- 2 c minced up tomatoes

- juice of one and a half large limes

- half a jalepeno (no seeds) minced

- salt

-1/4 tsp cumin

- 5 minced spring onions

3. Fry up your fish!

- cut up something fresh if you can, if not just buy some cod. We did these with halibut.

- mix pancake mix (the just add water kind) with beer! You want it to be a little thinner than if you were making pancakes.

- heat up 3/8 in. of olive oil ( you aren’t deep frying, but pan frying)

- fry each fish chunk about 5 min on each side (depending on thickness)

4. Heat up tortillas with a bit of oil in a frypan.

5. Put together your tacos, pour the wine and eat at least 2!

The Kings feasting on their creativity.

Deckhand Jake and an unlucky halibut.

I know I say on most of my recipes: “this is one of our favorites”.  But let me tell you that I have taken this dip to many people and places and every single time at least one person asks me for the recipe and everyone loves it.   It is a dip that someone will try and then go around a party telling everyone else to try it.  And the best part…it is the easiest dip I make.

• 2 blocks cream cheese
• 1 pint of Hot/Sweet Pepper Relish (This can be found in stores.  I, of course, recommend that you make a whole batch so you have it around to make this dip anytime you like.  Recipe for the relish was posted just before this one)

Put cream cheese in glass bowl and microwave for a minute or two, then stir until very soft with no lumps.  Open pepper relish, dump in with the cream cheese, mix will.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Take to a party, serve with crackers (I like Triscuits or Wheat Thins), enjoy all the praise you will receive.

• 12 green bell  peppers
• 12 red bell peppers
• 12 onions
• 12 green tomatoes
• 15-20 Habanero peppers
• 3 Tablespoons salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 cups vinegar

Grind peppers and onions in food processor (I pulse several times rather than leaving it on so they don’t get too mushy).  Note: Habanero peppers are extremely hot, you definitely need to use gloves and may find yourself (as I did today) sneezing, coughing, and crying as you are cutting them up.Grind tomatoes separately.  Pour enough boiling water over peppers and onions to cover.  Let stand 5 minutes; drain.  Boil vinegar, sugar, and salt; add vegetables.  Return to boil and cook 10 minutes.  Pack into hot jars and seal.   *If you live anywhere near me and are interested in making this recipe, I have an abundance of Habanero peppers in my garden that I would be happy to give away.

So now that pickle-sized cucumbers are prevalent at the farmer’s market, I thought I’d try my first batch of pickles!  I opted for the refrigerator pickles – recipe found in Saving the Seasons.  Thanks to the Meyers’ women for this delicious recipe!  Also, I halved the recipe, so those are the quantities I’ll list here.  The original recipe is double what I made.

About 1 qt. small pickling cucumbers (8)

15-20 fresh dill sprigs

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 cups of water

1 1/2 c. white vinegar

1/4 c. pickling salt (You can find this in the baking aisle…even my city grocery store had it, so it must be everywhere)

1. Cut each cucumber into four spears.  In large bowl, combine cucumbers, dill, onion and garlic.

2. Bring water, vinegar, and salt to boil, stirring just until salt is dissolved.  Pour over cucumber mixture.

3. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Store in refrigerator for up to 3 months.

And that’s it!  Super simple and better than what you buy in the grocery store. (in my opinion)

I put them in cute little boxes for people at the office to take. Apparently they were a huge hit, and now I fear that I’ve raised the bar a little too high for myself….gulp. Little do they know…this is about as fancy as it gets for me.

Easy Decadent Truffles (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-decadent-truffles/Detail.aspx)

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 cups chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s Special Dark), melted

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate and vanilla until no streaks remain. Refrigerate for about 30 min-1hr. (until it’s still pliable but no longer mushy and sticky). Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in whatever you please – like nuts or other fun things (I used chocolate sprinkles, coconut, and cocoa powder).

If I was really feeling saucy, I would have flavored them with different liqueurs like raspberry, orange, etc. Maybe someday when I feel rich.

Little darlings.

Hello everyone! I’m still committed to Circle Feast, but wanted to share a recipe I recently posted on Motley Mama. It’s delicious, I definitely recommend it. If you’re like me and get stuck in long ruts of making the same thing over and over again, Golden Chicken Curry is a great way to spice up your weekly menu. You can find the recipe here.

Love to all!

This is an EASY and fun dessert to add to your grilling menu.

A fun dessert! We will let chocolate melt more next time.

Ingredients: 

Bananas (1 per person)

Dark Chocolate Chips

Peanut Butter

(Could add Nutella, Marshmallows, Coconut, Honey, etc. etc. etc. – whatever you like)

Directions: 

Cut skinny ‘v’ lengthwise of entire banana. Scoop out the ‘v’ guts and eat. Keep peel attached.

Fill ‘v’ with whatever you want. We did dark chocolate chips and peanut butter because that is what we had. Each person could fill their own banana if they want.

Replace peel over top of ‘v’.

Wrap each banana in til foil, having it fold over the slit (so you can easily check when it’s done).

Stick on the grill! It’s done when the chocolate is melted – just keep an eye on them.

Eat while hot. Tasty.

This recipe came from some camp recipe site – not sure where exactly:)

Satisfied customer.

On our travels we have been staying with many friends. To thank them for their hospitality we often try to leave a little gift, buy some beers or make dinner. We love when we can make dinner! For the last couple nights we’ve been staying in Abbotsford, BC with some friends serving through MCC.

We decided to make pasta one night – Jake’s favorite. We used some local smoked salmon and some other tasty ingredients and had a quick and easy hit!

1. Boil your water for the fettuccine. (Make this as you normally would).

2. Mince up a clove or two of garlic and saute with olive oil, salt and oregeno.

3. Chop up some kalamata olives and add to the pan along with some chopped smoked salmon.

4. Throw some crusty bread in the oven to broil a bit while you finish cooking the fettuccine and salmon saute.

5. Throw a handful of spinach in with the salmon for a few minutes – don’t let it get too mushy.

6. Mix saute with fettuccine and add a generous helping of chopped up goat cheese.

7. Serve with crusty bread and salad! (we made spinach salad since we didn’t use our whole bag for the pasta, and made olive oil/goat cheese spread for the bread – which is something I learned from Jen!).