Pies!

Exhibit 1 – Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Recipe from the Best Recipe cookbook. This one turned out very tasty, but could have probably used a few more minutes in the oven.

Exhibit 2 – Pizza Pie

Pizza Pie

Red, orange, green and yellow bell peppers (they were on sale at the grocery store). While the pizza was in the oven, Carrie and I took turns giving each other blind taste tests of the raw peppers. We both liked the red bell pepper the best, as it has a bit of sweetness to it. The green pepper has a distinct bite to it, almost bitter. The orange and yellow peppers were hard to differentiate. They were very mild-flavored, almost bland by comparison to the red and green. The pizza turned out great – the hardest part of baking these things is waiting for the oven to finish heating up to 500 degrees. Well, that and not burning my tongue as I stuff it into my face.

Lemon Shake Ups

Carrie and I were up in Illinois for the Labor-Day weekend, and were able to spend some time at the annual Pittsfield Fall Festival, which takes place around the historic courthouse in the town square. There was a parade, carnival rides (including the Scrambler), a series of beauty pageants for different age groups, and, believe it or not, a ska band. The star attraction, though, was the food. The pulled pork sandwich from Uncle Pickle’s booth was delicious, the kettle corn was some of the best I’ve had, and the tenderloin sandwich wasn’t too shabby. My beverage of choice? Lemon shake ups, sold by the Pittsfield volunteer fire department for $1 each and made from scratch per order. They are like lemonade, but sweeter, fresher-tasting and a little frothy. Here’s a recipe:

1/2 lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup crushed ice

Squeeze juice from lemon. Mix all ingredients together. Shake.

Salsa Champ

Yesterday, I entered a salsa in a contest at my company’s annual summer picnic – and I won first place! Huge thanks to Steve for supplying the recipe, which he found years ago in California:

Sundried Cranberry Salsa

1.5 cups diced tomatoes
3/4 cup diced jicama
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
4 tablespoons sundried cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 habanero chile, minced
2.5 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and allow
flavors to marry for a while before serving.
Keep refrigerated. Makes approximately one quart.

I prefer my salsas less chunky and more liquid-y, so I tossed everything in the food processor for a while. That being said, I think next time I will process everything except the jicama, and add it in afterwards to give it some crunch. Be careful with the habanero – you may want to handle it with kitchen gloves on. If you decide to make this recipe, give me a shout and let me know how it turns out.