Denice's Broccoli Salad

2 bunches of Broccoli (or one with 1 cauliflower),
cleaned and cut up
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup purple onion, chopped
1 lb. fried bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, shelled and salted
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Combine broccoli (cauliflower), raisins, onions, bacon
and sunflower seeds in a bowl. In a smaller bowl
combine mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Mix well.
Pour dressing over broccoli (cauliflower) mixture, mix
well, cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Avocado Basil Tomato Pasta

Another good recipe from a friend, Brenley Burton. The kids could not get enough of this when I made it--I made it into a meal by adding shrimp, but you could also add chicken. We made it with fresh tomatoes from our yard and it was to die for!

8 oz. uncooked angel hair pasta
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 to 3/4 large avocado, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 medium tomatoes, cut into small cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

1. cook and drain pasta as directed on package.
2. while pasta is cooking, heat oil in 3 qt. saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until garlic is tender but not brown; remove from heat.
3. Stir basil, avocado and tomatoes into garlic in saucepan. Toss vegetable mixture and pasta.

(Can also add toasted pine nuts and sprinkle with Parmesan).

Korean BBQ Beef (Wongs)

This is the recipe that has literally fed thousands of Mormons all over southern California as the Wongs have catered all of these singles conferences and 4th of July band fests. Erna was so good to share it with me.

4 lbs. of beef (sliced 1/8")
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 - 3/4 cups of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/4 sesame seeds (toasted)
1 bunch green onions (finely chopped)
lots of garlic (1 head of cloves finely chopped)

Put meat in a big mixing bowl. In a different bowl mix all of the sauce ingredients together and pour over the meat. You will need to make more sauce if the meat is not covered all the way. Marinade beef for at least 1/2 an hour. The Wongs only bbq their beef on one of their 8 grills.

BBQ Sauce

This is from Jen Izu, our good friend. You can use it for anything you would use BBQ sauce for, but I have used it to go in the crock pot over a good size rib eye roast, cook all day, and then shred at the end and serve over warmed buns. It really is delicious. (makes a lot so you can half it if you don't want too much).

3 c. ketchup
2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. white vinegar

Cook all ingredients over the stove, just until the sugar dissolves. Keep leftovers in the fridge.

lemon-poppyseed waffles with blackberry maple syrup

this recipe came from southern living magazine and tommy and i made it this morning for breakfast--and it was delicious! so i wanted to share.

The waffles:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose baking mix
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/4 cups cold club soda
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Blackberry Maple Syrup

Preparation

1. Stir together baking mix, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. Whisk together club soda, egg, and butter in a small bowl; gently whisk egg mixture into poppy seed mixture. (Mixture will be lumpy.) Let stand 3 minutes.

2. Cook batter in a preheated, oiled Belgian-style waffle iron until golden (about 1/2 cup batter each). Serve with Blackberry Maple Syrup.

The syrup:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 (12-oz.) package frozen blackberries, thawed*
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

*Frozen mixed berries, thawed, may be substituted.

kringla

so there is a pair of icelandic twins who live in our ward in north carolina. they made us some of this traditional scandinavian dessert right before we left for christmas and it was A-MAZING. it's a kind of pastry that has jam and a glaze on top, and tommy said it was very authentic, very similar to things he had in denmark. we made it again for tommy's family and it wasn't even that hard! i usually shy away from things that involve rolling out (like sugar cookies or pies) but this worked just fine. and it was worth the effort.

Kringla

Ingredients:
2 C flour

2 sticks butter (room temp)

1 (8-oz) tub of sour cream

½ c jam or preserve for filling

1 egg white

1 egg yolk beaten w/1 tsp vanilla

Frosting: mix ½ stick of softened butter with 1 cup powdered sugar (more or less depending on the consistency you want) and 1 ½ tsp almond extract. Add 1 -2 TBS of milk to thin.

Directions:

1. Mix flour and butter as for pie crust (criss-cross with 2 butter knives or buy tool or with electric hand mixer or food processor).

2. Add sour cream; mix and form into ball. Flatten and dust both sides with flour. Stick in Gallon size ziploc

3. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

4. Roll (dust surface with a little flour) into long and wide rectangle (about 1 ½ feet long and 1 foot wide.

5. Brush with egg whites and fill spoon and spread filling down middle (imagine a dough is divided in three rectangles and fill just the middle rectangle).

6. Fold each side (visualize the rectangle as 3 equal parts; fold in the two outer parts). Pinch ends or press down.

7. Brush tops with egg yolk mixture.

8. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 40 minutes or golden brown.

9. Cool and frost with icing; slice for serving.