Tailgating 101

So there we were enjoying the Packer game Sunday afternoon when we got the call. Surprise guests! I reviewed our half-time snack plan, and quickly audibled. I sent Vince, husband and father, long to Piggly Wiggly for a few essentials. Molly ran a down and out to the garden for some basil and she quickly whipped up pesto hummus, and I gathered the football shaped serving bowls no respectable football family should be without.

We put this spread together in 15 minutes!

Vince had already grilled some chicken (with barbecue sauce from Montgomery Ribs, delicious!) and burgers, so we really just needed a few special teams additions. I quickly sliced some apples and stirred up a peanut butter caramel apple dip and we came back from the commercial break ready to roll. Planned tailgates are for the rookies. It's the spontaneous ones that will put stickers on your helmet!

Still had plenty of time to enjoy the game.

Touchdown! Go Pack Go!

And the recipes....

Quick Caramel Apple Dip

8 oz. whipped cream cheese

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all four ingredients and serve with assorted sliced apples.

Pesto Hummus

Start with the pesto:

2 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oils
1/4 pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Blend until smooth in a food processor. Then add:

One can of chick peas (drained)
1/4 olive oil

Blend until the ingredients are well mixed. Then add:

Another can of chick peas (drained)

Blend this until everything is smooth. Serve with carrots and crackers.

Cream Puff Recipe

Here's the recipe for our cream puffs, it's simple and fun:

Cream Puff:

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup  water
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Heat butter and water on stove until boiling
3. Add flour and turn heat to low, stir for one minute
4.Once flour is thoroughly mixed in, removed from heat and add eggs all at once. Stir quickly, make sure the eggs don't cook.
5. Drop spoon fulls of batter on to an un-greased cookie sheet, cook for 30-45 minutes. Or until puffed and golden brown.
6. Cut tops off and remove extra dough. Spoon in filling and replace tops.
Filling Ideas:

Whipped Cream

Fruit

Pudding

Chicken Salad

(here are some ideas of fillings, we like the whipped cream and fruit the best!)

Cucumbers and cream puffs

Well, lookee here! We left for the weekend and were quite shocked to find a couple of giant cucumbers just lying around our garden. We picked one and chopped it up for dinner that night. Later, we recreated the traditional Wisconsin Fair Cream Puff, with a few embellishments. We're strong believers in fresh dairy products when we cook, so we used real cream for the filling and butter for the puffs. For good health and good looks, we tossed in some blueberries and strawberries. Delicious!

Fairs, food and freakouts

We're city folks as our teeny tiny garden can attest. But every Labor Day we end up at the County Fair. We're suckers for the cream puffs and we like to visit the animal barns. Molly loves the midway. This year's favorite was the Freakout -- a ride so nice she rode it twice...and then regretted it. But that may be a little too much information (or perhaps too many cream puffs) for this post.

How cute (and hungry) is that little llama?!!

Molly drops her flip flops in preparation for take-off

There she goes!

State law in Wisconsin says you have to eat a cream puff at the fair.

The 20 minute storm of the century

A quick, 20-minute summer storm whipped up Friday morning, downing trees and cutting off electricity to most of our city. Many of the century old trees in the park across the street from our house were destroyed by the 70 m.p.h. winds. Home alone, Molly spent those 20 minutes in our basement, calmly playing her ukelele.
Our three brave tomatoes rode out the storm on our one tomato vine and are still perfectly content (though stubbornly green). Our cucumber vine took the occasion to sneak around our two beautiful basil plants and we still have no idea what's growing under our potato plants. We're a little afraid to look.
That's your update from the storm of the century. And now, here are the pics:

Molly stands under a stately old tree, split in two by the storm.

We admire ingenuity and salute the people who fashioned a tent from the fallen branches.

Here we are under one of the sad, broken trees.

Here is our garden, untouched by the storm. Note the frisky cucumber vine attempting to strangle the basil.

Potato Cookies

This recipe is wheat free and gluten free. Here are the ingredients:

5 peeled, chopped, and boiled potatoes
1 cup of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. blend potatoes, milk, and butter with a hand mixer until smooth
3. Add powdered sugar and mix
4. Mix in vanilla and cinnamon
5. Drop big spoonfuls onto a well greased cookie sheet
OR
Fill a frosting piper with the mixture and pipe out shapes onto a very greased cookie sheet
6. Cook the cookies for 20-30 minutes or until they're lightly browned

Although some of the shapes didn't survive being taken off of the pan, the Molly 'n' Me cookies came off without breaking. While the rainbow shaped cookie ended up looking like a crumpled up piece of paper. I'd recommend making the cookies thicker, if you made a shape just go over it again. The cookies flatten out a little when they're cooked, so the thicker cookies kept their shape better. I hope you enjoy these cookies!

TATER TIP: These cookies are best eaten warm out of the oven.