Oreo-Mint Ice Cream Pie -- No Bake Summer Company Treat

This pie is oh so easy, and if you are having a big crowd, just double the recipe and put it in an oblong rectangle pan to freeze.

For pie shell:

24 Oreo Sandwich Cookies
(I used Newman's Own Chocolate Mint Sandwich Creams tonight and they were great, too!)
1/4 stick butter, melted

In a food processor, process cookies until they are fine crumbs. Then pour melted butter over all, and pulse a few more times. (If you don't have a food processor you can also put the cookies in a big Ziplock bag and mash with a rolling pin until they are fine crumbs.) Press this buttery crumb mixture against the bottom and sides of your deepest pie pan.

Fill cookie pie shell half way full with mint chocolate chip ice cream (easier if ice cream has been allowed to sit at room temp for at least 5 minutes), spooning and packing as you go. (You can use your imagination on types of ice cream.... they all work beautifully!) Squiggle Hershey's chocolate syrup over this, top with more ice cream, packing as you work, then another squiggle of Hershey's chocolate syrup.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm. Let sit just a few minutes before serving and if desired, let guests top with whipped cream, chopped nuts or maraschino cherries or extra syrup.

We went simple tonight.. just an extra squiggle of syrup.

If you are feeling extra fancy, make your own chocolate sauce by heating the following ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until chips are melted.


Homemade Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 cup half-and-half

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vietnamese Spring Rolls: The Perfect Summer Snack!

Thanks to our friends, Matt and Gretchen Crocker, I learned how to make the spring rolls I love so much at Tokyo Joe's. Only, these are EVEN better. When putting spring rolls together, a picture says a thousand words and once you see how its done, I hope you'll give them a shot. Soo refreshing, crunchy, healthy and delish. Especially dipped in peanut sauce. (Recipe to follow!)

So here we go:
First slice up all manner of yummy vegies but I think the essential ones, if you like them, are cucumber, carrot (slice very thin -- even thinner than in this picture), avocado and cilantro. Other good vegies are thin slices of jicima, red pepper, scallions. I even used some cold leftover sweet potato sliced thin.



You can find these spring roll rice wrappers in almost any oriental section of a grocery store or at World Market. They come stiff and transparent. So your job is to dip them in a fairly deep bowl of hot water (from the faucet, no need to boil), and then rotate them around in the water until they are soaked and eventually become the texture of thick plastic wrap. (Only takes a few seconds.)Just when they are soft enough to drape (as shown on top of this glass) remove and lay on a plate or cutting board.








Next, lay a small bundle of vegies, along with cooked shrimp or chicken if you like, at one end of the rice paper circle. Then carefully and snugly, roll up burrito-like. The rice paper will stick to itself just like plastic wrap.







Dip in any sauce you like, but this is my favorite!

Peanut Sauce

1/3 c. peanut butter (I like chunky)
1/3 c. teriyaki sauce
1 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. grated fresh ginger if you have it
1 T. sweet Thai chili sauce

Mix together until nice and smooth, taste and adjust ingredients to your taste!
If you don't like peanut butter the sauce above is very good without it. You may want to add a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Triple Berry Crisp

This berry crisp is wonderfully easy and delicious served warm with ice cream any time of the year!

Lightly spray largest rectangle pan with baking spray (or rub lightly with a bit of oil)

Pour in 1 large frozen package triple berry mix (about 6 cups frozen fruit). You can make this dish with the fruit still frozen or slightly thawed. Just have to cook it a bit longer if the fruit is frozen.

Sprinkle fruit with about 2/3 c sugar and toss in pan until fruit is coated.

In a separate large bowl mix:

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
1 c. flour
3 c. old fashioned oats
(Can also add 1/2 c chopped pecans)
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar

Cut with a pastry blender, two knives, or mix with hands until butter is broken up into dry ingredients, making a crumble.

Lightly pour crumb topping over berries.

Bake at 350 until topping is golden brown. (About 30 minutes)

Cool a few minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream

Seeded Parmesan Pull-Aparts

Thank you to Jennifer who shared these amazing tasty tender-on-the-inside, crunchy-flavorful-on-the-outside rolls (I dare you to eat just one) at a lunch following a dear friend's memorial service, then was kind enough to forward the recipe. I made them tonight and Greg and I both agree they are some of the tastiest little bread treats we've ever had. And so easy.... made with flaky canned biscuits. I will probably serve them for Thanksgiving this year! Enjoy!


SEEDED PARMESAN PULL-APARTS

2 T butter
1 T minced onion, dry (I used grated fresh onion, 2 Tablespoons)
2 t dill seed (I used 1 t. dried dill)
1 t poppy seed
¼ t celery seed
10-oz can refrigerated big flaky biscuits
¼ C grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 F. In oven, melt butter in 8 or 9” round cake pan, tilting pan to cover bottom. Sprinkle onion, dill, poppy, & celery seeds evenly over melted butter. Separate dough into 10 biscuits, cut or tear each into 4 pieces. Place biscuit pieces and cheese in a bag, shake to coat. Arrange coated biscuit pieces evenly in prepared pan, turning to coat top and bottoms of biscuits. sprinkle with any remaining cheese from bag. Bake 400F for 15-18 mins or until golden brown; turn onto serving plate. Serve warm. 10 servings.

Spinach-Strawberry-Pine Nut Salad w/ Berry Balsamic Dressing

As soon as my husband took a bite of this salad tonight, he said,"Wow.That's a great salad!" I had to agree! Just in time for summer, this salad is both beautiful to look at and truly delicious. Sweet, savory, toasty... The dressing is based on a Dark Cherry Balsamic Dressing I love at Nordstroms, with a few "Becky" twists.


Salad for 2 - 3

3 cups fresh spinach
6 large strawberries, sliced
Asiago or Parmesan cheese - a few thin slices, peeled with a cheese slicer or potato peeler
(Also delicious with goat cheese, feta or blue cheese)

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds (or a combination) Walnuts or pecans would also work great!

Lightly toss above with a sprinkle of sea salt

Then top with a drizzle of the following dressing. Now this recipe makes a nice batch of dressing, you can put in a jar and use again. It's one of the most delicious I've ever had. The balsamic is not too strong or vinegary because you reduce it first with sugar. Oh my goodness. Yum.

Berry Balsamic Dressing

½ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 cloves garlic roasted and minced or minced then quickly sauteed in a bit of oil
½ cup berry preserves (whatever you have on hand, whatever you like)
1/4 c dried berries (any kind, I used cranberries)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup canola oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper


In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the balsamic vinegar and sugar to a simmer, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Simmer the mixture, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. It should look like thick syrup, close to molasses. Add the roasted or sauteed garlic and berry preserves and cook until preserves melt. Remove from the heat and let cool. When room temperature, whisk in the red wine vinegar and then the canola oil (pour in a ribbon as you whisk like crazy.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mojitos for a Bunch!

(Adapted from Michael Chiarello's recipe on www.foodnetwork.com)

I love mojitos, as there's no more refreshing light summer cocktail, but they are a royal pain to make, especially if you are serving a big group. I hear that bartenders are prone to cuss when someone orders them, in fact.

So I love this recipe from Michael Chiarello,because it is delicious and serves a group with ease, but I halved the rum and cut the sugar for our taste. The lemons tend to be juicier and bigger than limes and add a nice balance to these drinks.

In a big pitcher:

Put one bunch mint, cleaned. (If you plant it, it will grow, and come back every year with abundance.)

Add 1/2 to 3/4 c sugar and mash with a big wooden spooon to release mint oil. (Or just enough sugar to serve as abrasion to mint, then use agave nector to taste)

To this add "mash" add:
Juice of 3 to 4 limes and 2 lemons

Mix well.

Add 1/2 bottle (750ml) white rum (I've also made with vodka and it is delicious. Rum sometimes give me a headache!)

Top with club soda, leaving room at top of pitcher for ice. Put in about 2 - 3 cups of ice.

Stir and pour into glasses (with the ice) garnishing each glass with a sprig or two of mint.

This serves about 8 people. If you squeeze the citrus ahead of time, you can quickly make another pitcher if you have more people.

You can also cut this in half easily (2 limes, 1 lemon) for a smaller group.

The Blessing of Loving Others, Enthusiastically!

"People may forget what you say,

but they will never forget how you made them feel."

There's something about my husband that draws friends, both old and new, like bees to honey. It is especially curious to me, since, in nearly all polls on Friendships of Men, most males claim not to have even one close friend.

This past week we spent time in the Great Northwest, where Greg grew up, reached out and made friends, the same way he's been doing all his life. He sought them out to reconnect, find out how they were doing, to share mutual triumphs and failures, sorrows and joys that make up our lives as the years pass. But mostly, to let them each know how often he thinks of them, and always with joy and gratitude. He's the most proactive, intentional friend to others I have ever observed. And thus, people bask in the sunshine of his kind approval like, as my Texas mother says, "a sick kitten takes to a warm brick."

When I asked Greg, "What makes you so proactive with people?" (As just one example, he paid $20.00 for a special search program to find a long lost friend with whom we enjoyed the most wonderful conversation over lunch last week!)He said, "There's a song called When God Ran that is a sort of undercurrent to my life's philosophy. It's a song about how God pursues us, and its a quality I've always wanted in my life. I'm an initiator."

Besides being a pursuer of people, there's a second quality I see in my husband that he may not even fully recognize. He responds to those he loves (like me, for example) with enthusiasm. He does this by adding just a little more "oomph" to his typical responses than the average guy.

Often, when folks come to the door he greets them by walking toward them, arms open wide saying, "Well THERE you are! It is so GOOD to see you!"

When I offer up an idea he likes (from a restaurant to try, to a book title)he doesn't ever say, "Good." or "Fine" or "That sounds okay." He says, "That's GREAT idea!" Or "Absolutely!" That little extra bit of enthusiasm goes through me like a bolt of joy. It's almost embarrassing how happy his simple but exuberant responses make me feel.

When I call home from anywhere, including the grocery store down the street, he greets me with, "Hi Darlin'! So good to hear your voice..." When I overhear him answer the phone from clients or friends, he always greets people in a way that conveys, "I love that you called! So GREAT to hear from you...." Someone once said, "A salesman without enthusiasm is just a clerk." I really do believe it is Greg's authentic enthusiasm and enjoyment of people that has made him one of the most successful and beloved literary agents in the publishing industry.

A few months back I wrote a blogpost based around a poem called "Blessed Are They Who Are Pleasant to Live With" as it seemed to epitomize my husband. A huge part of that blessing and of Greg's "pleasantness" is his pursuit of and enthusiasm for me as his wife. I never stop being surprised by how truly happy he is to see me every morning as I come down the stairs. In the 6 years since we've been married, not a day has passed that he doesn't rise to greet me, hold me close (as if deeply grateful to have his wife in his arms, again, this new day), gaze into my eyes and make me feel as though he's been waiting for this moment all his life. He turns a good marriage to a great marriage by the sheer level of enthusiasm he brings to our love.

And I'm learning, from him, how meaningful it is to be positive, uplifting and wholehearted toward the people we care about and too often take for granted. How much we all need someone to be happy we called; to believe we are bright, talented and insightful;that we can overcome obstacles and face challenges with confidence; to believe we matter, deeply, to another human soul. What a gift.

I'm editing a book for my pastor and I came across a passage where he mentioned a variety of people who taught him a variety of people-skills in ministry. One taught him "how to serve" and another "how to communicate" and so on. Then he wrote, "Greg Johnson taught me how to love."

Indeed. My husband has taught me volumes about how to better love others, and he's done it without a word of instruction. He's done it by simply loving me with enthusiasm, every blessed day we've been given to share together.

If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm.

Life does give back in kind.

Norman Vincent Peale