Quilter’s Recipes

Basil Lemonade (really limeade?…)
1/2 cup sugar + 1 cup water
4 whole basil leaves
4 limes, quartered
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
4 cups cold water
Garnish with basil, mint or watermelon stars*
Makes 1 1/2 quarts
Put sugar and water into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in basil and chill. When cold, pour it into blender with limes, condensed milk and 2 cups cold water. Blend 4 seconds on high. Strain into pitcher. Rinse blender with 2 cups cold water, pour it through remains in the strainer into pitcher (to get rest of juice). Pour into glasses over crushed ice, garnish.
*To make watermelon stars: cut out stars with a cookie cutter type item; thread onto a wooden skewer. If you freeze them, stars will adhere to wood and won’t slide around on the skewer.
from susanbranch.com

Energy Bites
1 cup dry oatmeal, quick
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup mint chocolate chips
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp chica seeds*
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond flavoring
(* can use chica seed/flax seed/ coconut flakes blend)
Mix everything together with a spoon. Cover, refrigerate 2-3 hours. Roll mixture into balls (a little smaller than golf balls). Put on a plate and freeze until firm. Store in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
-Rena Marketon, Park Rapids, MN

Cranberry Sloppy Joes
1 lb hamburger
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup bell pepper (1/2 regular & 1/2 semi hot)
1 can tomato soup
1 can whole cranberry sauce
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
buns, toasted
Cook first 4 ingredients in a skillet. Then stir in tomato soup, cranberry sauce, pepper and oregano. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Serve on toasted buns.
-Lael Koster, Osage, IA

“Lazy” Cake Mix Cookies “Bar”
1 box yellow or white cake mix
2 beaten eggs
5 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups M&Ms or mini chips
Grease bottom of 9×13″ cake pan. Mix cake mix, eggs and butter. Spread mixture evenly in pan. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
-Jean Meester,  Bigelow, MN

All of the above recipes are from the County Register of Eden Valley, Cold Spring and Waite Park-July – August 2014

Comfort Foods ala Minnesota

Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
Serves 8.
1 cup sweet potato puree (homemade or canned)
3 cups macaroni (either regular or whole wheat)
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
Directions:
To make sweet potato puree: Peel and cut 1 sweet potato into 2″ chunks. Toss the chunks into a large pot of boiling water and simmer until tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Using a handheld potato masher and large bowl, or a food processor, mash until smooth.
Cook pasta according to the package instructions. In the last 2 minutes of the pasta’s cooking time, add the frozen peas.
Meanwhile, in a large heavy – bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter, stir and allow to cook for a minute or two. Now slowly add the milk, stirring continually to stop the sauce from lumping up. If it’s not thickening, nudge the heat up just a bit. Add the cheeses and stir as they melt. Add the pureed sweet potato and stir well to combine. Taste before seasoning with salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta and peas in a sieve. Pour the cooked pasta and peas into the pot with the sauce and give everything a good stir. Serve straight from the pot into bowls.
-From “How to Feed a Family” by Laura Keogh and Ceri Marsh.

Palm Beach Brownies
Makes 2 dozen brownies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 2 Tbsp for the pan
8 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp dry instant espresso powder
3 3/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup flour
8 oz (2 generous cups) walnut halves, roughly chopped
Directions
Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 400F.
Invert a 9×13″ baking pan and drape it with a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side down, long enough to cover the pan’s sides. Using your hands, carefully press down on the foil around the sides and the corners to shape it over the pan to create a foil liner. Remove foil, turn pan right side up, place foil liner in pan and carefully press into place. Place 2 Tbsp butter into prepared pan. Place pan in oven for 1 – 2 minutes to melt butter, then brush melted butter evenly across bottom of foil-lined pan.
In a double boiler over gently simmering water (or in a microwave oven), combine chocolate with remaining 1 cup butter, stirring occasionally, until chocolate and butter have melted and are thoroughly combined and smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to coo to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed, beat eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, espresso powder, and sugar for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 9 additional minutes. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl, reduce speed to medium, add cooled chocolate-butter mixture and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour and mix until just combined. Stir in nuts.
Scrape batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 16 minutes, then rotate pan halfway. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and continue baking for another 16 minutes. At this point, the brownies should be pulling away from the pan’s edge and the top should have developed a few modest cracks. The brownies should have a thick, crisp crust, but if you insert a toothpick in the middle, it will come out wet. If no cracks have appeared, remove aluminum foil cover and bake an additional minute (up to three minutes, checking after each minute). Do not over bake.
Remove from oven, transfer pan to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze at least overnight.
When ready to serve, thaw brownies. Cover with a wire rack or cookie sheet and invert, removing the pan and peeling away the aluminum foil layer. Cover with a cutting board and invert, leaving brownies right side up.
Using a serrated knife, trim the dark, dry edges (saving as a treat for the baker, with a glass of cold milk) and cut brownies into squares or rectangles. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Wrap individual brownies in plastic wrap, or store in an air-tight container.