Shall we meringue?

Okay, so the dance is merengue and
the yummy food in meringue. Still, I
think we should merengue
while we meringue. Yes?
Cool, try not to sprain anything!

For months, I have had meringues on the brain.
I blame Cleo and Krista. Since they
posted their recipes -- click their names
to be wowed -- I have been thinking
non stop about meringues as my work
in progress will attest.
(I'll meringue a cupcake yet!!!)

So I was chit chatting about my
meringue obsession with my boss Marijo,
and she told me about a pie her mother
makes that I simply had to try. Thankfully,
she was kind enough to share the recipe
(thanks, Marijo and Mom)!

Meringue Pie

4 egg whites
1 tsp vinegar
1 cup sugar

Make the meringue crust the day before
you need the pie. Beat egg whites and vinegar,
gradually adding the sugar. When peaks stiffly
form, put into a pie pan that is well greased
and floured. Fill it, making sure it is level.
Bake 45 min at 300 degrees. Take it out and
put it away for one day (I put mine in the
microwave since we weren't using it).

Filling:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
3 tbspns sugar
1 tspn vanilla

Whip the cream adding sugar and
vanilla. Fill in the meringue crust,
which should have fallen and
conformed to the pie dish.
Garnish with toasted almonds
(I used cinnamon dusted pecan chips
because that's what I had).





OMG! This was awesome!
A perfectly light and fluffy summer
dessert.


Now, I have some news.
First, the happy news:
SPRINKLE WITH MURDER
has been picked up by a publisher
in Japan. This is very exciting for me.
I can not wait to see what the
translation will look like!
And now the sad (for me) news. I will be taking the
month of July off from Mystery Lover's Kitchen,
so that I can focus on meeting several impending
deadlines. I will miss you all very much, but here's the
great news for you: Wendy Lyn Watson has graciously
agreed to fill in for me while I'm away! I am delighted.
Wendy is a fabulous writer and says she has loads of
recipes to share. Yay! Thanks, Wendy, for stepping
in as the Wednesday gal. I know you'll have a lovely
time in the kitchen!

Happy eating and reading, everyone. I'll see you in a month!!!
Jenn

And finally, do not forget that the much anticipated releases of
LONG QUICHE GOODBYE and DELICIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS
are coming out NEXT WEEK!!! Yippee! And if you haven't picked
up GRACE UNDER PRESSURE, do so now. It's fabulous!

Oh, and the clock is ticking if you want to enter Avery's contest:

Avery Aames is celebrating the upcoming release of The Long Quiche Goodbye.

Avery's "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

Avery’s first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page.

Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started.

There, now I'm done...really!

Mac and Cheese, plus...

Our eldest daughter is home for a while and decided to treat us to one of her favorite comfort foods yesterday. She got this recipe from some very good friends and has tweaked it a bit to make it her own. While I took care of the main entree and one other side, she made this, and told me she was happy to have me share her recipe with all of you.

The original recipe called for standard macaroni noodles and no vegetables, but that's where your creativity comes in. My daughter made this the way she likes it best. She said that last time she made it she tried adding cooked broccoli, but she thought it changed the flavor and the texture was off. After tasting this yesterday (yum!) I'm thinking of other items to add too. This is definitely one of those you can make your own.

Now, I realize it's summer and we don't usually want to turn our ovens on, but around here we've been battling storm after storm, and we needed some comfort food. So we just cranked the air a little bit higher for a short while yesterday. And everything worked out just fine.

By the way, this makes enough for a party!

Mac and Cheese, plus...

6 cups of rotini pasta (there are two boxes pictured here. We only used one.

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

7.5 cups milk

9 cups of shredded cheese (we used cheddar, mozzarella, and cheddar-jack)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the rotini pasta according to package directions. Set aside.

Warm the milk in a deep saucepan. Stir in veggies and cook about 5 minutes. Slowly stir in all the cheese, and keep stirring until you have an even consistency.

Transfer half the cheese mixture to baking pans (we used two glass baking dishes), then add all the cooked noodles. Add the remaining cheese mixture. Stir so all noodles are evenly covered.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. At the end of the baking time, turn the oven heat up all the way to 500-550 and bake for an additional 5 minutes to give it a golden crust.

Cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

I'm sure this recipe can be halved, but for right now, we're all delighted to have the leftovers. My daughter says it's even better the second day.

Enjoy!

Julie

By the way, Pub Alley listed Grace Under Pressure as one of its mystery bestsellers last week!

Say Cheese for Pizza

I love pizza. Having a slice takes me back to my youth, when my mom would take us out to dinner and a movie. There was a great pizza place right next to the theater. I love melted cheese, dripping off the sides of the pizza. I love scooping the remnants of cheese and goodies off the pizza platter. I also love a flavorful pizza with zing but no sauce.

However, nowadays, I can't just waltz into a pizza parlor because I'm gluten-intolerant. Yes, there are a couple of places that offer gluten-free pizza, but really, I can't be sure. I haven't had much luck coming out of a pizza place after eating what the owners claimed to be gluten-free. Why? Flour flies everywhere.

So I make a pizza every now and then at home. I need my fix. While there are gluten-free pizza crusts that you can buy in the freezer--and the one sold in the Whole Foods freezer is really good--I love the flavor of fresh-baked bread. So this week, I bought a box of gluten-free pizza dough mix, made a fresh pizza pie, and topped it with some of my favorite things. Yum.

I made this particular pizza without the sauce and used Asiago cheese.

Asiago is similar to Parmesan and can be swapped out in most recipes. Alpine milk is what makes Asiago special. Alpine meadows have a huge variety of grass species and flowers which help create a better tasting milk.

Do you hear strains of the Sound of Music?

Can you smell the cheese? Nutty, yummy, with a crystalline crumble. Fabulous.

ASIAGO PIZZA

Ingredients:

1 10-12 inch round pizza crust

½ cup tomatoes, diced

½ cup mushrooms

½ cup green onions, diced

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes

8 slices lean salami

8 kalamta olives, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh rosemarry, snipped

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ cup Asiago, shredded

Directions:

Bake pizza crust at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.

While pizza is baking, grill mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Remove pizza from oven and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt.

Arrange tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, salami, olives on the pizza.

Sprinkle with rosemary and basil

Sprinkle with Asiago cheese. (Yes, you may add more)

Bake in oven for 10 minutes until cheese melts and turns golden.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy.

By the way, The Long Quiche Goodbye is due out any day now, so I've started guest blogging. I've already blogged at Jungle Red. If you want to check out the various blogs, click this link to my event calendar. Leave a comment.

And don't forget...the contest leading up to the launch of the book is going to end next week. So enter and remember, Say Cheese!

My "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

My first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, I am running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on my website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on my booksellers page.

Here is the link to my website to help get you started.

Our Characters Must Eat!

A very warm welcome to our guest today, Leann Sweeney. Leann writes the Cats in Trouble mysteries which have thrilled cat lovers everywhere. The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse was the #1 bestseller on the Independent Mystery Bookseller's List when it debuted and made several top twenty lists for 2009 at bookstores across the country. Leann lives in Texas with husband Mike, her three cats, and Rosie--the smart, retrieving, golf-ball chasing, busy-busy-busy mini-labradoodle.

Our Characters Must Eat!

By Leann Sweeney

I recall listening to an editor speak at a conference more than a decade ago, well before I was published, and her saying, "Don't forget that your characters need to eat." Then, when I took a class with Elizabeth George a few years later, one of our exercises was to describe what was in the refrigerator of the character we were writing about. Yes, food is important in our books.In my first series, the Yellow Rose Mysteries, the heroine's sister is a health food devotee. And she's always trying to foist her preferences on Abby Rose. Abby prefers frozen pizza. But when I was invited to a book club meeting where the members were discussing the first Yellow Rose book, Pick Your Poison, I was confronted with just how important food was—even if it remains part of the setting. See, the book club members decided to make all the food that I'd mentioned in the book for our meeting.
I was stunned, first of all, by the amount of food. And also that I didn't remember writing about most of it. But those book lovers did. In that particular mystery, there is a funeral, and I'd forgotten how important funeral food is. Even though Abby Rose is on hiatus and I am currently writing the Cats in Trouble Series—where Jillian Hart drinks lots of sweet tea and coffee—I thought I'd share the recipe for the potato salad that appears in my first book. The book club ladies couldn't find a recipe for Dill and Sour Cream Potato Salad. One woman made one up and it wasn't half bad. But she should have called me. I know the real ingredients since I've been making this for years out of necessity. I'm allergic to eggs and there's no mayo in this one!

Dill and Sour Cream Potato Salad

4 c. diced cooked potatoes
1 c. sliced celery
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 T. vinegar
3 T. Canola oil
¼ tsp. seasoned salt
¼ tsp. seasoned pepper
2 sprigs fresh dill, chopped, or ½ tsp dried dillweed
¾ c. sour cream—light is fine, not sure about fat-free
½ c. chopped green and red peppers
Additional sprigs of dill and tomato wedges for garnish

Combine potato, celery and green onion. Mix next 5 ingredients, pour over potatoes and toss very gently. Refrigerate several hours. Mix in sour cream and bell peppers. Garnish if desired.

This is a great summer recipe, one that can be made ahead of time and is super easy!

Have you entered the June contest at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen?

Avery Aames is celebrating the upcoming release of The Long Quiche Goodbye.

Avery's "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

Avery’s first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page.

Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started.

Summertime Cherry Strudel

Do you remember Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence? I was so impressed by Tom's cleverness. He pretended that painting the fence was a special treat and managed to talk other boys into doing it for him. Not only did they take on his horrible chore, but they paid him with boyish trinkets for the opportunity!


I may recall the scene a little bit too well, because whitewashing the fence was a regular summer chore when I was growing up. I always wished someone would come by so I could lure them into painting the fence for me. But along with that unpleasant job, there was one thing that usually only happened once every summer -- my mother made cherry strudel. Apple strudel was a regular event at our house, but cherry strudel was a special treat.

Unfortunately, making cherry strudel involves a chore that ranks up there with painting the fence -- pitting cherries. It's a messy job at best, it stains your fingers and the juice spurts everywhere. I used a handy dandy cherry pitter that cut way down on the time involved, but if you happen to have someone hanging around whom you could lure into pitting the cherries for you, I say go for it!

Now, I have to admit, this is a lazy version of cherry strudel because I used boxed filo dough. It makes a delicate strudel and cuts prep time considerably. Be sure to thaw the filo dough overnight in the refrigerator first, though. Have all the other ingredients ready so the dough won't dry out while you work. You can cover it with a damp cloth to keep it fresh, but if you work at a normal speed (don't take a call from your long-winded friend) this doesn't take too long to do.

Cherries and apples create juices when they cook, so there has to be something to bind the juices. Instead of cornstarch or tapioca, most strudel recipes call for bread crumbs. It sounds odd, but it works. This time, on my mother's suggestion, I tried something new and used graham cracker crumbs. They worked very well.

Summertime Cherry Strudel

10 sheets 12x17 filo dough
2 cups pitted and halved fresh cherries
1/4 cup sugar (I used sweet black cherries, you may need more if you use sour cherries)
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla or brandy (optional)
6 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar

Mix the cherries, sugar, lemon and vanilla or brandy in a bowl. (If you're very lazy, you can skip this step. Watch for the ** later.)

Melt the butter and brush a little bit on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350.
On an ungreased baking sheet, spread the first sheet of filo dough. Brush with butter. Lay another sheet of the filo dough on top of it and brush with butter. Repeat until you have ten sheets of filo dough.

Spoon the cherries onto the filo about an inch from the edge in a line along the long side of the filo. Sprinkle with the graham cracker crumbs. (** If you're not using vanilla or brandy, you can just lay the cherries in a line, sprinkle with sugar, sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and squeeze the lemon over top of it all.)

Roll the cherry end slowly, brushing the top of the filo as you go. Lay it seam side down on the buttered baking sheet and add one more buttery swipe to the top. Cut small diagonal vents along the top. Bake 25 minutes, brush with butter and return to oven for another 20 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the top to dress it up -- and serve. It's good warm and cold!

And now to celebrate the upcoming release of THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE,
Avery is hosting our next exciting contest!

Avery's "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

Avery’s first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page.

Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started.

Welcome Guest Blogger - Carol Prisant!

Please welcome Carol Prisant to our kitchen. Carol is the author of Dog House, A Love Story: One Love, Ten Dogs, and a Forty-Two-Year Marriage. Isn't that the greatest title? She's sharing a wonderful summer soup recipe with us today, along with a few great reasons you'll want to spend a little time in her Dog House. Take it away, Carol...       ~ Cleo Coyle

In my new, hilariously funny, small and very readable new book, Dog House, A Love Story, the painful truth is, no one eats well but the dogs. And if there’s a mystery, the mystery is how my patient husband and food-adoring son put up with me.

Well, actually, I know how they put up with me: we went out to diners a lot. Now the great thing about diners is that the men can order and eat a (not very good) 12 course meal while the women – or woman – can have a big (also not very good) Greek salad.

But I have a confession. I going to “come out”, and you (however many thousand you are!) have to promise not to tell anyone . . . because these days, I might be locked overnight in a restaurant and tortured for what I’m about to admit.

I don’t really care much about food. Not the cooking of it. Not the eating of it. I was born that way.

So while I could get my husband to take us to the diner (every now and then, just for a change, we went our for a pizza. Why order in? You’ll have to wash the dishes.), we weren’t allowed, of course, to take the dogs. So guess what? I cooked for them. Nothing much, you know, just tender poached chicken breasts daily, mixed with some rice and baby peas in a little butter. (Well, they need their green veggies, right?) All this was added to some very nice kibble.

So here’s a delicious summer soup recipe that panting dogs just love. Serve it in an attractive dog bowl – maybe a piece of your grandmother’s Meissen – and don’t add the pepper or shrimp. You don’t want any night time accidents under, or on, your bed.

Cold Avocado
and Cucumber Soup

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh dill
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper and
a pinch of cayenne
1-1/2 cups fresh orange juice
8-16 boiled shrimp


Directions: In a blender, puree garlic, cuke and avocado. Add buttermilk or yogurt, 3/4 cup water, dill, salt, pepper, and half the orange juice. Add remaining orange juice in increments until you like the flavor. Serve chilled with the shrimp.


If your dogs don’t like it, try it yourselves. You will. And while you’re waiting for the soup to chill, read Dog House. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be glad you don’t have a dog. You’ll be oh so glad you do.

~ Carol

You can find out more about
author Carol Prisant
and her books at her web site:

www.carolprisant.com

And now I'd like to make sure
you don't miss your chance to enter my fellow
mystery writing cook's June contest...

Win Books in Avery's
"You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

The first book in Avery Aames's A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6! To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6: You be the sleuth!

Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page. Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started. Good luck!

Comments for Carol welcome,

just hit the "comment" link below...

Chicken Stroganoff—in a Slow Cooker

Is it burning up outside where you are? We’ve had a heat wave here for the last couple of weeks—it’s been one of those things where I haven’t been able to bear turning the weather on because the weathermen tell me it’ll be just as hot for the next seven days. Whew! And the humidity is just unbelievable.

Unfortunately, we’re also about to have to get an entire new air conditioning system in our house. Ugh. The units are twelve years old and seem to be on their last legs. So it’s just a little bit warm downstairs.

What’s a Southerner to do? Pull that Crockpot out from the cabinet! Yes, usually I associate slow cookers with cold weather because soups and stews are so easy to make in them. But really, the whole point is that it cooks slowly—and without projecting more heat into my kitchen!

In the interest of keeping everyone’s kitchen just a little cooler, I’m offering up:

Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff

You’ll need:

Chicken breasts (you could use thighs, if you wanted)
1 can cream of celery soup
4-6 oz. sliced mushrooms or 1 can sliced
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 package dry onion soup mix
paprika to taste
8 oz sour cream (stirred in 10 minutes before serving)

Sprinkle chicken with paprika. Lay chicken at the bottom of the Crockpot. Combine other ingredients and pour on top of the chicken. Cook for 6-8 hours on low. Serve over rice (and I’d recommend making the rice in the microwave.)

Easy and cool for a summer day!

Or… use your Easy Bake Oven. :) My daughter wanted to do some cooking, so Easy Bake was the way to go. Nothing like cooking under a light bulb. Boy, that cake took a while…

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig
http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com

And now I want to encourage you to enter the June contest here at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen! My friend, the talented Avery Aames, has an exciting contest for us. We’re celebrating the upcoming release of The Long Quiche Goodbye and here’s how you can enter:

Avery's "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

Avery’s first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page.

Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started.

Good luck!

Chocolate drizzled pineapple-coconut bars

The ever present smell of tropical

sunblock in the summer gives me a

hankering for some treats, specifically

of the pineapple-coconut kind.

This recipe was given to me by a friend

(thanks, Kelly) and she warned me to put

aside a few of the cookies for myself

after they were made because they

wouldn't last. She was not kidding.

32 cookies gone in 24 hours, I swear!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup well-drained crushed pineapple
3/4 cup toasted chopped macadamia nuts
Six squares semi-sweet baker’s chocolate

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.Blend crust ingredients together well; pat into a greased 9-inch square or 10 x 7-inch oblong baking pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes, until just barely browned; set aside.
Sift 1/4 cup flour with baking powder and salt. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with brown sugar; stir in flour mixture then coconut, pineapple, and toasted nuts. Spread topping mixture over the baked crust; bake 25 to 30 minutes, until set. Cut into bars while warm. Makes about 32 bars.
Once the bars have cooled, melt the chocolate squares in a double boiler or microwave. Stir with a fork and use the fork to drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Chocolate will harden once cooled.

Enjoy! WWW.JENNMCKINLAY.COM

Jenn

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER***CUT TO THE CORPSE***STUCK ON MURDER

And now to celebrate the upcoming release of THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE,
Avery is hosting our next exciting contest!

Avery's "You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

Avery’s first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page.

Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started.

Puppy Chow (for humans)

Last week I talked a little bit about Puppy Chow and how my kids and all their friends love it. It's a party staple around here, and although I never actually made it myself until today, I knew the time would come where I'd have to learn the recipe.

My kids are very happy about my blog post here today. Never mind they're old enough to make the recipe themselves. It's always better when someone makes it for you. Seems like more of a treat then, doesn't it?

After talking about desserts last week, a few people contacted me, curious about the Puppy Chow recipe, so here it is, by popular request:

Puppy Chow

1 box (12 oz) Crispix Cereal

1 stick margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or to taste. I used quite a bit more)

Combine margarine, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds. Stir. Keep doing this until the mixture is fully melted and smooth. It took me about a minute and a half, total. Super quick!

Pour Crispix cereal into a large bowl, and then add the melted mixture a little at a time, stirring as you add. Keep it up until it's all gone.

Let cool.

Coat with powdered sugar. The recipe calls for a cup and a half. I didn't really measure. I just added and stirred until it looked well-dusted. Be sure, however, you allow the mix to cool. Otherwise the powdered sugar just melts.

I have no idea where this recipe originated, and I tried looking for it online. I did find a nice Crispix recipe site here: Kellogg's Crispix Cereal but Puppy Chow didn't seem to be one of the featured recipes. Or... maybe I just missed it! This one is a winner. Kids adore it.

When my sister-in-law serves it, she places a small handful in cupcake papers, so that kids can pick up a personal-size serving on the go. Works wonderfully and looks really festive, too!

Have fun with this one. It's easy and great to share with the kids (and kids at heart) in your life!

Julie

PS - If you have a moment, check out KillerCharacters.com. You may notice some familiar faces there... and meet some new friends, too!

Do you love spaghetti?

Ah, summer.

Minutes away from its official start.

And isn't it lovely?

Birds are a-plenty.

Flowers are springing up everywhere.

The scent of barbecue is in the air.

And in just a couple of weeks, when The Long Quiche Goodbye comes out... [Yep, just a couple of weeks], I'll share a special barbecue dry rub by Charlotte's grandfather, Pépère. It's mentioned in the book, as are a number of other recipes that I'll be bringing to the blog in future weeks.

In the meantime, I tried an experiment this week. That's what has been such fun about our year-long blog. [Can you believe it? MLK's almost ready to celebrate its anniversary, thanks to all of you who are reading it and spurring us on!]

But over the past year, I've dallied with new recipes every week. Each with cheese in them. And I have to say, I've never had so much fun in the kitchen. This week, I wanted to use a vegetable that I adore and make it really sizzle. Do you love spaghetti???

Spaghetti Squash. It's an ugly thing, oblong and yellow, and hard to cut in half, but that's what you have to do in order to cook it properly.

Once you've done that, the magic begins. Spaghetti squash is exactly what it says it is. A squash that, when cooked properly, turns into spaghetti-like strands of yummy, buttery-tasting squash that can fool you into believe it's spaghetti. Fool you! Add butter and Parmessan and you'll think you're eating spaghetti and it's really a vegetable. No starch! How wonderful is that? So...be careful, use a sharp knife, and go slowly to split this gourd lengthwise down the middle.

In addition, spaghetti squash can be a main course or a salad, which is how I prepared it this week. Both ways! As a main course AND a salad, using the same ingredients in both, except I added arugula to the salad. My husband tells me the entree is one of the best things I've ever cooked.

That drew a frowning eye from me, of course, because there are lots of things I cook well. What he meant was...back-pedaling quickly...I cook lots of things well and this fell onto his favorites list. Okay, I'd accept that. He loved it. What's not to love about Italian sausage, garlic, and a squash that tastes like spaghetti?

I do this experimenting all in the name of cheese. What fun!

No, it wasn't barbecue, but we enjoyed our meal al fresco, served with a crisp Pinot Grigio, listening to the birds sing their praise of another beautiful day.

SAUSAGE AND PARMESSAN SPAGHETTI SQUASH ENTREE

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

2 cups cooked spaghetti squash

½ cup shredded Parmessan plus 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup zucchini, diced

¼ cup snow peas, diced

2 tablespoons shallots, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

2 tablespoons oil

1 roma tomato, diced

4 sausages – Italian

1 more tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

Slice open a spaghetti squash lengthwise, taking care because it’s a tough gourd and wiggles. Once open, place each half face down in a tupperware filled with one inch water. “Bake” in microwave 10 minutes. Remove from oven and scoop out the seeds. Then using a hard spoon, scoop out the meat of the squash, which will form strands like spaghetti. Set aside. * If using an oven, set both squash face down in an inch of water in a baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. [May be made a day ahead and reheated.

]

Next, in a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and add diced zucchini, snow peas, shallots, garlic, and roma tomato. Stir fry until browned on both sides.

In a second saute pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and 2 Italian sausages. Stir fry, until browned on both sides.

While they are cooking, toss warm spaghetti squash with 1 tablespoon butter and ½ cup shredded Parmessan cheese.

Set 1 cup of spaghetti squash on each plate, top with the stir-fried vegetables. Adorn with two of the sausages. Sprinkle each plate with another tablespoon of Parmessan and adorn with basil.

And now for the salad - the only difference is in presentation and the addition of ARUGULA.

SAUSAGE AND PARMESSAN SPAGHETTI SQUASH SALAD

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

2 cups cooke

d spaghetti squash

½ cup shredded Parmessan plus 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup zucchini, diced

¼ cup snow peas, diced

2 tablespoons shallots, diced

1 clove garlic, diced

2 tablespoons oil

1 roma tomato, diced

2 sausages – Italian

1 more tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 cup arugula

Directions:

Slice open a spaghetti squash lengthwise, taking care because it’s a tough gourd and wiggles.

Once open, place each half face down in a tupperware filled with one inch water. “Bake” in microwave 10 minutes. Remove from oven and scoop out the seeds. Then using a hard spoon, scoop out the meat of the squash, which will form strands like spaghetti. Set aside. * If using an oven, set both squash face down in an inch of water in a baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. [May be made a day ahead and reheated.]

Next, in a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil and add diced zucchini, snow peas, shallots, garlic, and roma tomato. Stir fry until browned on both sides.

In a second saute pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and 2 Italian sausages. Stir fry, until browned on both sides.

While they are cooking, toss warm spaghetti squash with 1 tablespoon butter and ½ cup shredded Parmessan cheese.

Set ½ cup of argula on each plate. Top with 1 cup of spaghetti squash, then top with the stir-fried vegetables. Adorn with 1 of the sausages, diced into bites. Sprinkle each plate with another tablespoon of Parmessan and adorn with basil.

Lest I forget, I'm running a contest and lots of people have entered, but there are lots of prizes, so if you haven't, join in the fun!

"You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

As I said above, my first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6. To celebrate its release, I'm running a contest from June 9 to July 6! You be the sleuth! Track down the recipe on my website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on my booksellers page.

Here is the link to my website to help get you started.