Chicken and Stuff

I have a messy pile of recipes sitting beside my computer, waiting for me to type them up. So I grabbed three that might sort of go together as a meal.  And that's about as thought-out as this post is.  Although it's taken me a month to get this all typed up, which is really pathetic.  I typed up most of it one night, but the computer shut down and lost it, and then it's just sat there, this forlorn little tab I never close.

This, however, is worth waiting for. This is my favorite marinade recipe for chicken. It comes from my mother-in-law's family, so I guess I could call it Pikcilingis Chicken. Usually we just refer to it as The Really Good Chicken.

Really Good Chicken

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 egg, beaten (for any size recipe-- do not double this part)

Mix all ingredients together and marinate chicken breasts for 30 min. to overnight to 2-3 days (I know you're not supposed to leave meat in marinade that long, but it really does get excellent, without that mushy texture they always warn you about when they talk about over-marinating.  Four days gets a little dicey and vinegar-y.).  Grill (preferred) or bake.  Serve with jasmine rice, Rice-A-Roni, potatoes, whatever your little heart desires.

Creamy Buttermilk Coleslaw (from Cooks Country)

• 1 medium head green cabbage, cored and shredded (I use my salsa chopper)
• 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 8 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 T sugar
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Toss shredded cabbage and carrots with 1 tsp. salt in colander set over bowl.  Let stand until wilted, about 1 hour.  (It's amazing how much liquid comes out of there!)  Rinse cabbage and carrots under cold water, drain, and dry with paper towels.  Transfer to large bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients, plus salt to taste.  (I have been lazy and not bothered with rinsing, draining and drying the cabbage after the salting, and it was fine.  I figure a lot of the salt ends up in the exuded liquid.  Refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

I was never much of a coleslaw fan, but I could eat this stuff like candy!  Evan, who is a bit more of a connoisseur, says it's some of the best coleslaw he's ever eaten.  Cooks Country knows whereof they speak.

Raisin Bars

Filling:

• 2 ½ cups raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon

 Bar: 

• 2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup coconut
• ¾ cup butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium saucepan, heat raisins and water to boiling; simmer 15 minutes, then drain. Stir in applesauce, lemon juice and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press 2 ½ cups of the crumbs into a 13x9 ungreased pan. Spread raisin mixture over the crumbs. Sprinkle on remaining crumbs and press in lightly. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I made these one time right before we went on a trip with the Cottens, and they didn't last long around the kids.  I was looking for this recipe the other day, and couldn't find it anywhere-- only to find it days later, neatly typed up on my computer.  Disconcerting!

First Day of Fall = Soup!

This picture was taken in the Adirondacks this same weekend last year! It actually has been feeling like fall here for a couple of weeks. We don't eat much soup in the summer, but now that it's chilly outside we'll be having lots of it!

I made this tomato soup for Friday night supper.

Creamy Tomato Soup

• 4 slices bacon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (28 oz. each) tomatoes (I like to do one can of peeled, whole tomatoes and one can of crushed, but I've used lots of variations, and they all work!)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 T sugar
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 T balsamic vinegar (do NOT omit! [in my humble opinion!])

Heat a large, deep pot over medium heat; add bacon and cook until barely crisp. Remove bacon and reserve. Remove and discard all but one tablespoon of the drippings. Add garlic and cook, stirring, over medium heat, one minute. Add tomatoes and their juices, breaking up whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add broth, sugar and black pepper; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes with cover ajar. Cool for a while, then puree soup with reserved bacon. Be careful, hot soup in a blender can go fearfully awry! Return pureed soup to pot, stir in cream until incorporated, and heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar. This soup only gets better-- make the day before for best flavor!

Saturday, Rosemary made pumpkin soup for us! I have always thought, "Bleagh!" when I heard about pumpkin soup, but it was really good! It wasn't overwhelmingly pumpkin-y or spicy like pumpkin pie, just subtle goodness! There's lots of pumpkins around this time of year, I'll be making this soon.

Rosemary's Pumpkin Soup

• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 3 T butter
• 2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin (Rosemary cooked the pumpkin, whole, in the microwave)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 T sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ginger
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup half-and-half (I only had cream in the house, it worked fine)

Saute the onion in the butter. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cream. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Puree in a blender (carefully!), then add the cream and heat until hot (do not boil).

This next soup freezes well, and contains quite a few vegetables. A lot of the ingredients come from the can, so it's very fast to throw together.

Beef and Barley Soup

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 (16-oz.) can tomatoes, cut up
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 quart water
• 1 (16-oz) can whole kernel corn and juice
• 1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts
• 6 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/2 cup barley, uncooked
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 bouillon cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• Carrots, sliced (I usually use a 10 oz. bag of frozen carrots, or 4-5 fresh carrots)

Brown meat and drain excess fat. Put all ingredients in Crock-Pot and stir. Cook on high 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 hours. Can also be done using kettle on top of stove, simmer a little over an hour.

I've got a lot more delicious soup recipes, but right now I have a wiggly 18-month old doing acrobatics on me, her personal jungle gym. Time to quit!

Sweet and Savory

This is sort of a hodge-podge of recipes-- things I have been making over the last several weeks, but haven't had the time to post here!

Remember this pesto? Here's one of the things I used it for...

Four Cheese Pesto Pizza

• 6 (6-inch) pita breads
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 T milk
• 6 T pesto
• 1 can ripe olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
• 2 T Parmesan cheese

Place pita breads on ungreased cookie sheet. Mix cream cheese and milk until smooth. Spread on pita breads. Gently spread pesto over cream cheese. Top with olives. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake 7-12 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Except, this time, I didn't have pita breads. Or Fontina cheese. And I hate olives. But, I did make a pizza crust (still working on finding a recipe I really like for homemade pizza crust!) and loosely followed these instructions for the topping. I also added chopped chicken, from the following recipe. I have followed the four cheese pesto pizza recipe exactly (except for the olives) in the past, and it was very tasty.

Cooked Chicken (from Rival Crock-Pot Cookbook)

• 2-3 pounds chicken breasts or parts
• 4 cups water
• 2 T chopped parsley
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 T minced onion
• 1 tsp. seasoning salt

Place all ingredients in Crock-Pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken from water, discard bay leaf, and shred or dice according to your preference.

This is such a handy recipe for when those big club packs of chicken are on sale. I cook it (my big crockpot can take a doubled recipe of this), chop it up, and freeze it. It's great having cooked chicken ready for casseroles, and it also makes excellent chicken salad for sandwiches. And you can put it on pesto pizza!

I cooked one of my favorite chicken recipes last night--

Spicy Buttermilk Chicken

Marinade:

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 T hot pepper sauce
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt

Mix together and pour over about 1 1/2 lbs. of chicken breasts or tenders. Marinate for at least four hours or overnight.

Topping:

• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 T flour
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 T olive oil

Combine topping ingredients and dredge chicken through the crumbs. Place chicken on a baking rack and let sit for 20 minutes, so that crumbs will adhere better. (I've skipped this step before without too noticeable a difference in the crumbs. Those twenty minutes are useful for working on other parts of the supper, though!) Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on a baking sheet and place in oven. Heat oven to 400°. After about 5 minutes, place chicken on heated baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes (tenders will be done in about 20 minutes).

Last night, I served this with potatoes, because I had some neglected potatoes that were thinking about sprouting, but I usually serve this with jasmine rice. Both ways are yummy! I also did some of the tenders differently for my kids, who aren't as fond of hot things-- when I was mixing the crumb coating, I took about 1/3 of a cup of the crumbs out before adding the cayenne pepper and paprika. I'm not sure the paprika adds much heat, but it made it easy to see the less hot tenders-- they weren't as red!

Now, on to sweet things...

I found a recipe for this Millionaire's Shortbread in Hannaford's "fresh" magazine, which I stole from my mother. I wish we had a Hannaford's in our area, so I wouldn't have to resort to thievery-- it's usually full of good recipes! I wasn't crazy over this recipe at first, but every little nibble made me more of a fan. Elliott loved these, too.

Millionaire's Shortbread

Shortbread base:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Caramel filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Lyle's golden syrup or dark corn syrup (I bought dark corn syrup, but I did see Lyle's golden syrup in Wegman's the next day!)
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup (4 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8- or 9-inch pan. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream butter and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and beaters as needed with a rubber spatula. Mix in vanilla. Sift together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder and add to bowl. Mix on low speed until dough forms large clumps and holds together, about 1 minute. Using your hands, press dough gently and evenly into pan. Bake until top is golden and edges brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

While shortbread bakes, prepare caramel filling. Put butter, sugar, syrup and condensed milk in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes. (I don't know if I had the heat too high or I didn't stir enough, but I had to throw my first batch out-- watch it!) Continue boiling, stirring gently and constantly, 4 more minutes. Mixture should darken to a light caramel color. Remove pan from heat and pour filling over warm shortbread. Let filling cool about 5 minutes, then sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let chips soften until they melt, then use a knife or spatula to spread melted chocolate over filling. Let chocolate set until firm, 2 or 3 hours (or 15 in this heat!) When set, cut shortbread into squares (or cut a little piece out of the pan every time you walk by!)

A couple of weeks ago, Evan was dreaming about the lava cakes he had eaten at the restaurant "99" while working away from home this spring. It took me about three minutes to whip these up, and Evan was eating them 14 minutes later! He wolfed them down too fast to take a picture of them (well, the kids and I helped, too) but they are the chocolate cakes with fudgy filling oozing out of them when you eat them. Excellent with vanilla ice cream!

Molten Lava Cakes (Kraft Foods)

• 4 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate (or 4 oz. of chocolate chips)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 6 T flour
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 425°. Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups or souffle dishes. Place on baking sheet. Microwave butter and chocolate in large bowl on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups. Bake 13 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. (Evan felt 12 minutes would be better-- more goo, less side.) Let stand 1 minute. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately.

And, the cookie recipe I've made hundreds of times-- chocolate chip cookies. This is the recipe Evan's family makes. It's basically the Toll House recipe with oatmeal. Evan likes a steady supply of these for his lunches, and none of us are averse to eating the dough before it's cooked!

Evan's Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. water (I have NO idea why this is in the family recipe... makes you kinda wonder about those Whites-- you can probably safely omit this ingredient)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cup oatmeal
• 12 oz. (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Add flour, soda, salt and oatmeal and beat until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Eat cookie dough raw, or place tablespoons of the dough on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 375° oven for 9 minutes. Let cool in pan, if you like them chewy.

There's no recipe attached to this activity, but we made some creamed corn this year! We came home from Altamont with four garbage bags of corn. (Thanks, Knaggs!)

Evan husked it all, with lots of help from the kids.

I then boiled it, about a dozen ears at a time, for 2 minutes, dunked it in ice water, and let drain on the drainboard.

I then used my handy-dandy Lee corn-cutter and creamer to take all the corn off the cobs.

All 95 cobs, eventually. This was early in the process.

I froze it in plastic Ziploc containers, and got about 6 1/2 quarts. It sure will be delicious this winter with a little butter and salt!

All this writing about food has made me hungry! Time to go check out the kitchen before bed...

Food Processor Fun!

I love food processors. They can take a whole massive amount of basil...

(plus a few other ingredients)...

and turn it into this tiny (but wonderful) amount of stuff. Pesto, to be precise.

Much as I love the food processor I've had for a year now, I still haven't abandoned this.

It's a salsa maker that they sell at fairs and flea markets. Evan and I saw one years ago at the fair, and watched the demonstration, and tasted the salsa. It was so good, but Evan didn't think we needed one. Well, I (and by proxy, Evan) regretted that decision all year. So the next year, I bought one. It is the handiest onion chopper ever...

And it still does the best job of making salsa of anything out there! (Sorry, Most Beloved Food Processor.)

This is some of the green-leaf lettuce I bought at the farmer's market.

We made taco salad for supper the other night, it was all so fresh and yummy! I need to make lots more fresh salsa. My pesto is sitting in the fridge, too, waiting for me to use it. I often make grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches with pesto, or put it on a white pizza. We'll have to see what I actually do with it this week!

Pesto
This recipe is from Process This! by Jean Anderson. I got that book out of the library when I first got my food processor, and it was so helpful I actually went out and bought a copy.

• 2 quarts loosely packed tender young basil leaves (two humongous bunches at the farmer's market should do it), washed and dried.
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 2 large whole cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup oil (I ended up using closer to 1/3)

Place all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor fitted with the medal chopping blade and churn for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and churn 30 seconds longer to form a thick paste. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil down the feed tube, adding only enough to give the pesto the consistency of prepared mustard. Scoop into a small bowl, press plastic food wrap on top to keep from darkening (I have experience in stating this is a VERY important step!) and refrigerate until needed. Bring to room temperature and stir well before using.

Fresh Salsa

• Small white onion, chopped and rinsed
• Juice of one lime
• 5 Roma tomatoes, or 3 small regular tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2-3 jalapeno or serrano peppers, seeded if you're a wimp like Evan
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Chop it all up in a food processor or the like. My sister Bethaney uses a blender, which makes a very finely chopped salsa. Eat immediately, although it will keep fairly nicely in the fridge.

Meatloaf! (I never said I was an epicurean)

Thursday was another Farmer's Market visit. I went crazy with lettuces, this time. I bought humongous heads of Romaine, green leaf, and iceberg lettuce. I didn't use any of them Thursday night, though.

Instead, we had corn on the cob! I love the random patterns Cheyenne makes on the cob.

We also had meatloaf, and Oven Crispy Cheese Fries.

Here's the potatoes, as I am cutting them into French fry shape. It's pretty easy-- slice the potato into 1/2" thick slices, then cut those slices into 1/2" sticks. Notice the bee-you-ti-ful tomatoes and lettuce in the background. Notice, too, that I'm not smart enough to take pictures of the finished fries. Or the meatloaf, which is the point of this post.

I have lots of meatloaf recipes. Meatloaf doesn't seem to have a very big fan base, but I like it, especially when using Full Circle Farm Grass-Fed Beef! Meatloaf is also a great meal to freeze for later-- I try to make two batches at once and freeze one and cook the other one for dinner. Not that that always happens, of course. Thursday afternoon all three kids fell asleep so I took a nap (cue ecstatic music). While wonderful, that meant I didn't have much time to throw supper together. I actually formed the meatloaf into 6 little loaves and microwaved them. I wouldn't say they were quite as good as when cooked in the oven, but they certainly were faster, and it freed up my oven for the oven fries.

I'm going to have a double oven someday. Someday.

This first recipe was given to me by my husband's cousin when we were married. It has very basic ingredients, but it is one of the yummiest meatloafs I've eaten!

Betty's Meatloaf

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. dried minced onions
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce, divided

Topping:

• reserved tomato sauce
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 T vinegar
• 2 tsp. prepared mustard

Mix together beef, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and eggs. (The best, while the messiest, way to do this is just to mix it with your hands). Add onions and one-half tomato sauce. Form into loaf in 9x3x5" pan (standard loaf pan). Bake at 350° for 50 minutes. In saucepan, combine topping ingredients; bring to a boil. Pour over meatloaf. Bake 10 more minutes.

Cheddary Meatloaf
This recipe was in the newspaper some years back. It was from a firehouse cook.

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup prepared mustard
• 1/4 cup dill relish
• 1/2 cup dry Italian flavored bread crumbs
• 6 bacon strips

Mix all but bacon together. Form into loaf in 13x9 pan. Lay strips of bacon across loaf. Cover with tin foil. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes; uncover and bake additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. To serve, lift loaf out of the grease that formed when it cooked-- the meatloaf itself is NOT greasy, but it does produce grease in the bottom of the pan.

I usually make mashed potatoes to go with meatloaf, but I was wanting some of these fries that night. This recipe is from Emeril-- I've never tried any of his other recipes, but this was in Family Circle magazine, and it's a really good recipe!

Oven Crispy Cheese Fries

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 large baking potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), scrubbed
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tsp. Baby Bam (recipe following)
• 8 oz. white cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 T thinly sliced scallions (optional)

Place oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425°. Grease large baking sheet with the oil. Pat potatoes dry and slice lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Turn each slice flat and slice lengthwise into even fries. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until very light and foamy. Add the potatoes to the egg white and toss to coat. Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon. Spread fries on greased baking sheet, leaving room between fries. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle 1 tsp. Baby Bam. Flip fries, then sprinkle other teaspoon of Baby Bam. Bake 20 more minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 3 minutes, until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with scallions, if desired.

Baby Bam
This is Emeril's signature spice blend. I might halve the proportions, since I don't make a lot of Emeril's recipes. Maybe I should, though, this recipes sure is good!

• 3 T paprika
• 2 T salt
• 2 T dried parsley
• 2 T onion powder
• 2 T garlic powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1/2 tsp. celery salt

Mix together. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

And, if meatloaf is not your thing, here's a great sandwich that you can eat with the Cheese Fries. This was in the same issue of Family Circle magazine (many years ago now!) and I always serve them together. This is NOT an Emeril recipe, although it, too, is Cajun.

Cajun "Crab Cake" Sandwich

• 12 oz. surimi (imitation crabmeat)
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 rib celery
• 1 small pepper, cored and seeded
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
• 2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. hot-pepper sauce

Heat oven to 400°. Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In food proccesor, pulse all ingredients until just chopped. (Or, if you're not a Cool Kid with a food processor, chop it all by hand.) Divide mixture into four portions; firmly press one portion into 3/4 cup dry measuring cup. Invert and tap on baking sheet to remove. With hands, slightly press and shape mixture into a 4-inch patty, about 1-inch thick. Repeat with remaining portions. Bake in 400° oven until browned, about 40 minutes. Serve on buns, with Oven Crispy Cheese Fries on the side!

That's all for tonight! Tomorrow I might post some recipes that actually use all the lovely green stuff I bought at the farmer's market.

Summer Salads

I love eating salads, but I'm pretty lazy about making them. I have often told my sister Lindsey, who makes awesome salads with lots of interesting, finely chopped ingredients, that I would gladly scrub her bathroom for her if she came over once a week and made me a massive salad. Sadly, she did not think the commute from Alaska was really worth it.

These are two salads that are not that difficult to throw together, and even if they were, they would be worth the effort. The strawberry romaine salad was a recipe from Evan's side of the family, as many of my yummy recipes are. The Farmer's salad was one Bet made last week, and I've already had to make a huge one for me and Evan to plow through. Alas, Evan isn't crazy over it, so I've had to eat lots of it myself-- bummer!

Strawberry Romaine Salad

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 T poppyseeds
• Honey-roasted peanuts
• Romaine lettuce
• Strawberries

Combine dressing and pour over chopped peanuts, lettuce and strawberries.

Farmer's Salad (originally from All Recipes)

• 1 head iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 head fresh broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
  
• 4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (Bet's addition, so optional, but oh-so-yummy!)
  
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 T white sugar
• 1 T distilled white vinegar
• 1 pound bacon

Fry bacon until lightly crisp. Crumble into bits, and measure one cup. Or throw the whole shebang in, as I do. In a large bowl, combine lettuce, broccoli and cheese. Prepare the dressing. Now, if you've got a large crowd to eat this right away, mix all the dressing in. Otherwise, I'd divide the salad and only dress half of it. It's a big salad, and it doesn't keep well with the dressing on it. I waited three days to dress the other half, and it was still very fresh. Oh, and throw the bacon on. It is SO good, I had to dig the leftovers out of the fridge at 10:00 the next morning for a morning snack.